#(TOEI I LITERALLY GAVE YOU MY MONEY)

[duhragonball]

32 episode in out of a 64 episode run and the closest we've gotten to Super Saiyan 4 is butt-pliers.

I'm just... trying to fathom this. Wasn't Super Saiyan 4 one of the few things Toriyama actually gave the crew that made GT? Why did they take forever getting there and waste all that time on completely asinine shit? They literally turned Goku's (at the time) strongest transformation into an asspull when they had plenty of time to devote to Giru saying his own name and Tuffle smirking.

I can't wrap my head around the fact that some people say this show was better than Super. Super had some low, low lows, but I genuinely think I'd rather watch any episode of that than GT. I knew it was created largely to keep the DB content machine churning out a new episode in that prime time slot, but I hadn't expected it to be so... obvious about it. Like it's not actually trying to be anything more or less than 20ish minutes of television. Say what you will about the Star Wars Prequels, George clearly didn't make them because he wanted more money. The story was poorly executed and had some major flaws, but it was a genuine story with a beginning, middle and end and all the other stuff a story needs. Your section on great "ideas", poorly executed only further cements the fact that GT has no ideas, and on the rare occasion they do it's utterly squandered in favor of Morishita's episodic structure. GT feels like they started working on each episode the day after the previous one aired, and frankly I wouldn't be shocked if that was the case.

Sorry for the rambling ask, but it's really incredible that halfway through this show they still can't do better than the Roaming Lake. Because as bland as it was, it was at least a story.

I need to clear up a misconception here. Akira Toriyama did not design Super Saiyan 4. It was, in fact, designed by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, who was one of the main character designers for the Dragon Ball anime franchise.

Later on, Akira Toriyama did a drawing of Nakatsuru's design, and this is probably what led people to assume that it originated with Toriyama.

In fact, the drawing was included in the GT DVD box set, along with a message from Toriyama about the show, where he praises Nakatsuru's uncanny ability to imitate his own style, to the point where even he, Toriyama, had trouble remembering which designs were Nakatsuru's and which were his own.

What Toriyama did contribute to GT was mostly used at the very beginning: The logo for the show, the new looks for the main characters, designs for some of the machinery (most notably Giru and the GT Ship), and he drew some images of Goku, Trunks and Pan on some alien worlds, which probably helped inspire a few of the early episodes.

And Toei didn't waste any time using that stuff, because they knew which way their bread was buttered. I'm certain they would have loved to have even more input from Toriyama than what they got, because they knew he was the driving force behind the franchise's success. But he was finished with the manga, so his limited contributions to GT were all they were going to get.

The thing you have to understand about Super Saiyan 4 is that it was part of Plan B. Plan A was the Grand Tour, with Goku, Trunks and Pan roaming the universe hunting the Dragon Balls. But according to Kozo Morishita, that plan fell through when they decided the scripts just weren't working. So they changed the focus to a battle-oriented plot, and that's how we got into the Baby Saga. And of course, it wouldn't do for Goku to get a new transformation right away, so it took a while for him to get there.

Afterward, SSJ4 kind of became the symbol for the GT brand. They put it on the cover of the DVD set I bought. SSJ4 Goku was on Volume 1, even though he doesn't appear in that form until the very last episode on the set. Then they put SSJ4 Gogeta on the cover of Volume 2, even though he only shows up for half an episode near the end. But come on, what else were they gonna put on those covers? Giru? Rage Shenron? That pervy space deer? People love SSJ4, and GT's the only anime where you can get it.

If they had it to do over again, maybe SSJ4 would have been given the focus from the very start, kind of like how Dragon Ball Super remained squarely focused on the different "godly" Super Saiyan forms. But GT never had a focus beyond "more Dragon Ball cartoons in the golden timeslot". They kept changing the plans until they ran out of show. So even when they managed to do something right, it usually wound up being too little, too late.

This is why the "good ideas, bad execution" defense never made sense to me. I literally saw someone on Twitter use that very line today. I think they said "concepts" instead of "ideas", but same thing. I mean, if you like Super Saiyan 4, fine, but it doesn't make sense to praise the show and then say the execution was bad. The execution is the thing you're watching. That's like eating a really lousy cake and saying it was still okay because the cook had some good ideas about baking. No, that's not how this works.

A lot of GT's success seems to stem from the willingness of fans to overlook its flaws. At the end of the day, it still features a ton of popular characters, and it resembles DBZ closely enough that it can be a serviceable continuation of the property. I have to assume the "asspull" scene just doesn't bother some fans the way it bugs you or me. I'm not sure anyone finds it hilarious or anything, but they don't find it insulting, and that might be enough to earn GT a free pass in the hearts of a lot of the fandom.

And that may have been the guiding principle for making the series as well: Just get it done, because it's better for everyone to have some Dragon Ball on TV than none at all.

[izzyizumi]

CURRENT MOOD of the Digimon Adventure side of dashboard today:

[koushirouizumi]

* d o n o t r e b l o g (f a n d o m)

( i cAN’T BELIEVE KIZUNA GOT ACCIDENTALLY LEAKED ... )

[giuliafc]

Never Give up!

Written by: JuliaFC

Beta: @rose-beagle-bagel (I beg your pardon, got the names confused!)

Summary: After Gabriel lowers his bar by locking Adrien up in his room unless he relinquishes his ring (because apparently, 'it interferes with his work'), Chat Noir can see only one solution. But Ladybug doesn't agree.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc, TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Written for the "Snippet July" challenge of the Miraculous Fanworks Discord server @miraculousfanworks AND for LadyNoir July @ladynoirjuly Day 8 — Tyranny/Admiration. Let me know what you think!

oOoOoOoOoOo

Adrien knocked at the door of his father's atélier and waited for him to tell him to come in.

"Adrien," commanded Gabriel. Adrien gulped and stood there.

"You wanted to speak with me, father?" he asked, his heart drumming in his ears.

Gabriel gave him a cold stare. "It has come to my attention that you wear items of clothing that haven't been agreed in the exclusivity contract of the Agreste brand."

"What?" Adrien had to check that he'd heard correctly. "Father, I only wear the clothes you provide for me."

Gabriel's gaze hardened. "Show me your hands."

Adrien gasped. "Is it about my ring?"

"François complained after yesterday's photoshoot. He told you to take the ring off because it was interfering with the outfit, and you refused. Is this true?"

"I-it is." Adrien gulped. Gabriel’s gaze punctured his soul and the boy put his left hand on top of his right one, as if to protect his Miraculous from his father's attention.

"Hand over the ring."

Adrien's face paled "No! No, father, why? You can't—"

"I can and I will, Adrien. Your attachment to that junk has affected your work. It's stated clearly in your contract that all you wear must be pre-approved. I won't give you my approval for something that can damage your image."

"Father!" retorted Adrien, his body tense. "It's only a ring!"

"Go back to your chamber. I'll cancel your enrollment at school; from tomorrow you shall resume your homeschooling lessons with Nathalie." Gabriel sneered when Adrien gasped. "You won't be allowed to see any of your friends nor to set foot out of this house until you relinquish that ring."

Adrien's eyes widened in shock and his mouth hung open. "You can't be serious, father? Containing me in my room, for a ring?"

"If it was only that, you would've relinquished it here and now. Evidently, it's not 'only a ring' to you. You're refusing a direct order. I won't repeat myself, go to your chamber."

Adrien balled both hands into fists, his arms shaking, his eyes looking down. "I can't believe this," he muttered. He got up and, glaring at his father with tears in his eyes, dragged himself out of his office.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Chat heard the soft thump behind him and saw Ladybug sitting graciously next to him. His gaze scanned gloomily the city of Love beneath them. A view that until now, had been for him and his Lady, only. A look that he would never see again. His heart sank when his gaze met bluebells. It was the only way.

"You said that it was important, Chaton?" said Ladybug, but she immediately noticed his heavy gloom. "What's wrong?"

"I… need to give my Miraculous back." Ladybug sucked her breath in. "I'm sorry."

She put a hand on his shoulder. " W-what's going on?"

He lowered his gaze as his hand played with the Miraculous on his ring finger. "My life at home isn't easy, Buginette. I have a lot of restrictions and up to now, I have been able to pencil time for our patrols and escape timely enough to help you in the akuma fights." He sighed. "But things have changed today. My fath-uh-family is very controlling. I can’t do anything that isn't 'pre-approved'." He paused. "Today, I've been asked to relinquish my ring. I've been literally locked up in my own house with no possibility of getting out until I do it."

He found his eyes looking at Ladybug; all he saw was disbelief in her face.

"I never knew that your civilian life was so difficult, Chaton. I can't believe that someone you call 'family' would forbid you from wearing a ring. Can you not just put it on a chain to your neck?"

Chat Noir sighed. "No, M’lady. They would see the chain and ask me to remove it. By contract I'm not allowed to wear anything that is not branded Ag—uh, family brand. Until today, the rule never bothered me; now… it bit me in the back."

"I cannot believe that a family member could be such a tyrant!" Ladybug's voice was high and cracking and Chat Noir's green eyes were on the brink of tears. He explained to Ladybug the truth of his situation, trying to avoid any detail that would give his identity away. He explained how his mother died a year ago, how his father hardened since her death, how he sometimes didn't even have time to breathe with all the commitments his family was pushing on him.

"Woah," muttered Ladybug absent-mindedly. "You're always so cheerful, Minou. I would never have thought you were going through such-such hell." Her eyes were burning with anger. "I don't know how you do it. Honestly, I admire you, Chaton. It sounds as if you had your hands full, but you were never late for a patrol and you always arrived as soon as possible during akuma attacks. You must have the best organisational skills in the world."

Chat Noir smiled. "Thank you, Buginette. Your admiration means the world to me." His smile faltered. "How do you want to do it? Should I take you to my room and detransform?"

She grabbed his hands and looked up at him with a frown of pure determination. "No way, Chaton. You're not giving up on the only freedom you have. I'm not doing this without you either." Her voice cracked. "It's you and me against the world, remember? Ladybug and Chat Noir. If you're giving up yours, I'll be giving up mine. Together or nothing." She smiled softly as she said that and he smiled shyly back. "We will find a way," she continued. "But first, c'me here." She opened her arms wide and Chat Noir's eyes filled with tears as he let her wrap him into a hug.

Yes, she was right. They would find a way. They were an unstoppable team and there was nothing on this planet that they couldn't overcome together.

---------------------------

Author's Note

Hi there! Here we are with day 8. I know… but with a prompt like 'tyranny' all I could think of was angst. Hope I managed to save it at the end with a little fluff. I hope you like it and will leave me a comment. You know that comments are my bread and butter!

Until (hopefully) tomorrow, bug out!

[shootingstarsummit]

for anyone that follows me for anything other than precure i am so sorry but i just need to go on a big ol rant about hugtto so feel free to ignore.

i did not think it was possible, but now that i've finished hugtto, i can safely say that it has dethroned go princess as my favorite season of precure, my favorite magical girl show, and possibly my second favorite anime of all time.

•hana gives haruka a run for her money as my all time favorite cure - she is an absolute sweetheart and i sobbed nearly every time she did the fucking "fure fure" thing

•harry is my absolute FAVORITE mascot of the franchise, i adore him so much and i loved how he had his own arc. and while i normally despise anime babies, i found hugtan quite likeable!

•homare's arc was wonderful and i LOVED her episode with harry. i thought it gave a fantastic message about unrequited love and the struggles of romantic feelings in general

•while saaya was my personal least favorite of the bunch, i still thought she was very well developed, and i love how like cure mermaid she chose to depart from her family's expectations

•what can i even say about emiru and lulu. their arc was fantastic and they are both incredibly strong characters on their own. lulu was the funniest character in the series and i adore her relationship with traum

•the villains!!!!! i love how the earliest villains turned into the weird cousins that are just there for some reason. all of them were very fun and unique, and i think the main antagonist had very relatable motivations.

•as a nonbinary person, henri made my heart absolutely soar. his relationship with gender and expression was so so well-written, and i loved how masato grew because of it as well (also they are gay i do not take criticism)! i wish he had gotten more time as cure infini, but it's so incredible that he became a precure at all. it's a real shame that toei as a company has shown such transphobia irl when they had spread such a wonderful message in this season.

in conclusion, watch this show! thank you for staying for my rant. i understand why this season isn't for everyone but if i get any hugtto hate or "wah the plot holes" in my comments i will break your toesies. i literally want to draw every character in this show so please bear with me if your dash is flooded with hugtto art. i have officially finished 9 of the 17 currently completed precure seasons! max heart is up next for me!💜

[ffamranxii]

Sailor Stars thoughts:

1. The anime does its absolute best to make the Starlights unlikable. Taiki is a fucking asshole (he won’t even give a dying girl, who he explicitly was taken to visit, an autograph, and tells a bunch of children that their grandfather’s theory about souls becoming stars is dead wrong), Seiya is a Nice Guy who hits on Usagi constantly despite being told multiple times she has a boyfriend, and Yaten is a mildly sarcastic cardboard cutout. I know the manga doesn’t expand on them much but the anime is supposed to help make these people real. Counterexample is Chibi-Chibi, who hardly speaks in the manga and relies on her cuteness alone to be likable. They gave her a very cute voice because it was literally all they had to work with, given how often Chibi-Chibi actually appears

2. The dub cast for the Starlights is frankly awful. As civilians, Taiki alternates between a woman trying too hard to make her voice deep and having a bad cold, Seiya sounds like a prepubescent boy, and Yaten sounds like a woman (which they’re not, as civilians); as Starlights their voices are VERY high pitched, especially Yaten’s. Their sub voices just sound like woman talking a bit deeply and then normal women.

3. Why the FUCK did Toei think literally changing sex was less controversial than crossdressing? The Starlights are women and have always been women. Plus, them being male civilians in the anime creates a paradox, because if they’re men with sailor crystals who can become senshi, why can’t Mamoru - who is confirmed multiple times throughout the series as carrying the earth’s star seed and thus being Sailor Earth - do the same? Naoko said Mamoru can’t be a sailor senshi because he’s a man, but the Starlights don’t abide by this rule, they change their fucking biological sex

4. Why is absolutely no one concerned that Chibi-Chibi, a THREE YEAR OLD, just goes off on her own and has her own little adventures? She wanders into some strange old man’s house and they’re all “oh that’s just Chibi-Chibi,” and no one is worried that a literal stranger invites a three year old into his house where he gives her toys and candy? The 90s were WILD, man

5. Why does Chibi-Chibi, again who is THREE YEARS OLD, have a thigh gap?

6. This one’s on Naoko because it’s like this in the manga, but the anime is supposed to expand on the universe so I blame them too: Why does literally nobody question Chibi-Chibi’s motives? Some strange pink haired child who fucking falls out of the sky one day up and brainwashes Usagi’s mom into thinking she’s her second daughter, and nobody bats an eye at this? That’s sus as fuck and literally the only question anyone has is “is she your kid or Chibiusa’s?” She doesn’t even have a NAME, “chibi” is just a random word she says!

7. I am DIGGING the mobster feel of the Animamates’ civilian forms. Especially Iron Mouse and Tin Nyanko, who clearly launder money through a shady car dealership.

8. The Starlights’ only redeeming qualities are their snazzy entrance music and Seiya’s red suit

9. Why is Aluminum Siren the only Animamate who understands that a senshi has a pure star seeds? Like, y’all killed the senshi of your home planets to take their star seeds so YOU could be senshi (which is presumably why Galaxia wants more seeds, to make more Animamates with them), shouldn’t you know that?

10. Aluminum Siren/Lead Crow are trying their damn hardest to give Harumichi a run for their money in the quest to become the Best Space Lesbians.

11. So the Moon Kingdom fosters loyalty through child soldiers. I’m assuming Queen Serenity has her own senshi in the form of our senshi’s mothers, etc. (Which begs the question of if the Asteroid Senshi are supposed to be the future kids of our senshi or if they too are child soldiers from the asteroids they’re named after.) Kinmoku seems to foster loyalty by having the Kakyuu’s senshi fall in unrequited love with her. (In the manga it’s stated Kakyuu has a husband who died when their planet was destroyed.) I mean, whatever works, right?

12. I LOVE Tin Nyanko’s dub voice. She’s only around Usagi’s age and she sounds it

13. The dub actress for Lead Crow seems like she’s half assing it. Her voice doesn’t raise properly when she yells, she never sounds really angry, and it’s just so odd. I find a lot of dub voices do this, while the original Japanese VAs will scream their lungs out into the mic

14. On the reverse, Galaxia’s voice actress is a badass. She’s supposed to have a deep menacing voice but I like the one they gave her in the dub. She’s quiet, and sounds almost kind, and that’s a fucking TERRIFYING sort of villain we don’t see a lot of. Even when she’s pissed she doesn’t raise her voice.

15. Why are Lead Crow and Tim Nyanko the same height? Lead Crow is like 5’10 and Tin Nyanko is 4’11 like Sailor Moon

16. As an aside, Tin Nyanko and Lead Crow don’t like each other, which reminds me of the cats vs crows trash can showdown in Haikyuu lol

17. Haruka’s hate boner for Seiya gives me life

18. FINALLY someone calls the Starlights out on being assholes but it’s only after Makoto sees them harassing a THREE YEAR OLD (Chibi-Chibi). Literally everyone BUT Usagi thinks they’re assholes. “They sing such beautiful songs!” Bro. You can sing pretty and still be a fucking dick.

19. Lead Crow goes after Sailor Moon only after reading Siren’s notebook. Ditzy SIREN is the smartest Animamate, lord help them

20. Kakyuu’s dub voice is SO GOOD. She’s my favorite minor character, I’m still bitter they didn’t show Sailor Kakyuu

21. Seiya’s crush on Usagi was so awkwardly shoehorned in. I hate it. Jesus fucking Christ Usagi is sobbing in the goddamn rain about how much she misses Mamoru and Seiya is STILL coming onto her.

22. It is literally so fucking funny to me that Mamoru spends all of Stars fucking dead. He’s just a perpetual damsel in distress.

23. Rei literally lectures Usagi about leading Seiya on and how “you need to do the right thing and tell him you already have someone,” AS IF USAGI HASN’T BEEN DOING THAT AT EVERY AVAILABLE OPPORTUNITY. THE FIRST TIME THEY MET SHE SAID SHE HAD A BOYFRIEND, SHE’S TOLD SEIYA OVER AND OVER THAT SHE ISN’T INTERESTED IN HIM, THAT SHE’S GOT A BOYFRIEND, THAT SHE LOVES HER BOYFRIEND. The fucking MISOGYNY here, like it’s Usagi leading Seiya on instead of Seiya being a fucking Nice Guy who can’t take no for a goddamn answer. Shut the fuck up, Rei.

24. Pretty sure under Kakyuu’s headdress is a pair of odango

25. The fact that Iron Mouse and Aluminum Siren both die when their bracelets are removed yet Tin Nyanko doesn’t implies that Tin Nyanko was the original Sailor Mau. Mouse and Siren dying implies that forcing senshi powers on a civilian is dangerous and that Galaxia’s bracelets are the only thing keeping them alive (albeit brainwashed). Yet Tin Nyanko seems to revert to “good” when one of her bracelets is destroyed. Galaxia has to intervene and kill her personally. Tin Nyanko may have offered her senshi powers to spare Mau (this applies only in the anime; in the manga she’s explicitly said to have killed Sailor Mau)

26. Oooh Galaxia’s angry voice is so commanding and sexy

27. Don’t gimme that “we love Usagi but we love you Starlights just as much.” No you fucking don’t. The whole death scene in the anime is just so... ugh. Bad.

28. The Outers fighting Galaxia is hilarious. They’re supposed to be stronger than the Inners yet Galaxia never even has to get out of her chair to kick their asses. The writers were trying real hard to make us fear the worst and back the senshi into a corner but literally they’ve made this an impossible battle to win that only becomes winnable due to plot armor.

29. Rewatching Stars and classic after Eternal and Crystal makes me miss the battle damage the fuku took. The new series always has them looking pristine, but in classic they actually get roughed up and battle scarred. It makes it more real.

30. Aww how come Uranus and Neptune got to keep their names when they joined Galaxia? I wanna know what whack ass Animamate name they would’ve gotten. (Also Galaxia literally just sent them out like Pokémon, wtf)

31. I feel like Saturn dying shouldn’t be possible since she’s literally a senshi of death but... whatever, go off I guess.

32. So.... Uranus and Neptune joining Galaxia to try and take her star seed is a cool idea that absolutely did not happen in the manga, and needed more than half an episode of development. Would’ve been a cool plot if it wasn’t so rushed.

33. So much of this season was rushed so they could tie the series up at a beat 200 episodes. If they really didn’t want to go over 200, they should’ve cut the Nehelennia arc (which isn’t in the manga anyway) and and focused on developing the Animamates, this sweet Harumichi betrayal plot, and explaining Chibi-Chibi??? Her existence makes no sense without Sailor Cosmos, and they just... didn’t include her??? Wtf

[kob131]

You know Hero Hei, it’s hard to feel sorry for you (or even try to be neutral towards you) when you’re still pulling the same manipulative bullshit.

Shocked face, overexaggerated title, contrasting colors, aggressive language- I’m pretty sure if Trump’s Political ads had thumbnails, they’d looked identical to yours (and I only say Trump because every other politician follows an older version of your formula.)

‘This is a follow-up to Neath Oum’s hitpiece on me-’

There you go again. Hit Piece is defined as a disingenuous article or similar such piece of media designed to turn public opinion against a person. Issue is- this is not a public article, it’s a fucking tweet thread and it’s not made to turn people against you (and consider the replies to his tweet, it wouldn’t even slightly change public opinion of you), it was made to explain why he doesn’t like you.

We can actually see how a hit piece would sound like IN YOUR VIDEO, as Neath forgoes a lot of the manipulative techniques you use in your videos to get an emotional reaction out of his audience before even beginning.

‘I have nothing but respect for Monty Oum-’

Your numerous videos slandering his friends when the man outright told people to stop watching his show for saying one of his friends was a lesser voice actor than two others in ONE instance says otherwise. 

‘*insert a bunch of sarcastic stuff here*’

I wouldn’t bitch too much but this video is only 6 minutes and 13 seconds long and about half a minute passes without him saying of substance. And I’m keeping his shit vague because it’s meaningless and just meant to rile his audience up. 

‘It won’t negatively affect me at all.’

Cool...and Neath is never shown to intend it too. Here’s the tweet thread that Hero Hei is talking but never sources (https://twitter.com/neath_oum/status/1307345624958812160). Not once does he ever say anything about exposing Hero Hei and ends it by reiterating it’s about explaining his blocking.

Also of note-

Because his lies exacerbate conflict or generate controversy where none existed

Neath says this in his chain. Now consider Hero Hei portraying this as an attack against him...when he never says to spread his thread, use manipulative language like you do or use the attention grapping tactics you do. And now you’re just proving him right when you could have stopped this 40+ second monologue, made a title like “I respond to Neath Oum’s Twitter Thread” and used a different thumbnail. 

(Note: I am skipping from 0:37 to 1:22 because at 0:44 he says to skip that segment as it’s a catchup and I’m trying to give him some benefit so I’ll just skip it and assume he gave a neutral recap.)

‘He begins hyping this thread up and being really suspicious and vague about it!’

You mean like what people said about your original video on the subject which you dismissed and mocked them for?

To paraphrase you Hero Hei-

‘Read beyond the first sentence.’

‘In my opinion, this means nothing and so i will not comment on most of this.’

You mean opinion of the target of the so-called ‘hit piece’ who would have every reason to downplay what is being shown. After I having already seen for myself that you’re a damn liar and the very first part of the ‘hit piece’ is talking about how you lie by omission? You clearly do care because you made (an admittedly low effort) video on it and yet you can’t even address it properly? Speaking as someone who has had hit pieces made on him, you’re an idiot.

Also your ‘if you want to read the whole thing, you know where to find it!’ shit is inexcusable. It’s a known fact that audiences likely won’t seek out something that would discredit their subject. They’ll be far more likely to just accept whatever you say, especially if say...their emotions and tribalistic instincts were being played on by portraying Neath as inherently wrong and using emotionally charged language to elicit a certain reaction out of them.

“Most of this stuff is from a year ago anyways!’

Stuff which you yourself bring up before to make and support your points. 

‘This isn’t really worth my time, it’s desperate.’

I have literally heard politicians pull this, how is everything out of your mouth killing your credibility?

‘*tries to portray Neath’s beginning statement as aggressive towards people asking for proof* Well I dunno why anyone would be upset you accused someone without proof but okay-’

A. ‘ Finished some stuff earlier than expected. For those who (civilly) asked for info and proof about hero hei, here you go.’

That is Neath’s opening sentence. This is not being aggressive or dismissive or at all negative towards the people asking for proof. I can’t think of a way to be more neutral than this.

B. Funny considering you accused Pedantic Romantic of being a stalker and yet never provided actual proof, just out of context screenshots (effectively lies which is WORSE.) So clearly you don’t care that much.

‘Funny that he says he found additional evidence about this when he retweeted a thread made a month ago by another twiiter user that I debunked in another vide Man this is some worthless stuff.’

Gee Hero Hei, I’ve noticed that you like to portray this as irrelevant without saying why, continuously using those kinds of terms. Kind of like news outlets when bitching about someone they don’t like, all using similar terminology as if to subconsciously reinforce an idea in the viewer’s head. Also funny since those same news outlets ALSO tend to rely on the reader’s bias...

‘See, he even admits that he’s taking this from someone I debunked!’

Well actually, you just pointed out one single mistake that wasn’t connected to their point but sure.

‘This is so lazy Neath!’

Hero hei, you literally just take what other people say and vomit it out- You do the same shit.

‘Animelog is by Toei actually!’

No Hero Hei, it’s not. Toei justed signed up for them. It’s still operated by AnalyzeLog...which is funded by Net 10 ventures, the company Neath CITED.

Benjamin Grubbs is the founder of AnalyzeLog. In 2018, AnalyzeLog was founded with seed funding from U.S. venture capitalist Next10 Ventures. In December 2019 AnalyzeLog Digital struck a deal with Toei Animation. Shogakukan followed Toei animation deal in April 2020, and just last month it signed a collaboration with animation studio Shin Ei Animation, creators of “Doraemon” and “Crayon Shin-Chan”.

‘He tries to compare Toei being a founder of Daisuki to it’s massive investment in AnalyzeLog!’

... Hero Hei. When you found something like a business, you are INVESTING in that business. Jeff Bezos fundamentally invested in Amazon when he started it up because he had to use his own money to make it happen.

... Do you think your audience is brain dead or something?

‘*covers Neath’s screenshot of his video titles*’

Hm, pretty sure that’s the definition of ‘suspect’ Hero Hei.

‘So this vice president of Rooster Teeth did horrible things to his wife and Neath is defending this or something-’

*grabs Hero Hei by the collar*

Nuh uh, you ain’t getting away with that shit.

First, short one about Rooster Teeth, the lies I am talking about were lies of omission. These screenshots show the titles of some of his videos. Titles and screenshots are what drives viewers when deciding what videos to watch. In the titles, he used "Rooster Teeth Vice President". Using "Rooster Teeth Vice President" evokes the image of the second highest ranking person at Rooster Teeth. However, he used "Vice President of Product and Engineering" in the video description, so he knew what the person's full rank was but omitted it from the titles. By seeing the actual rank, viewers would know that the terminated person was not the second highest ranked person at Rooster Teeth. Not including information in a title to give viewers the wrong impression amounts to lies of omission.

Some will argue that he didn't lie since the full rank was given in the description, it's just click bait and no big deal. That's fine but omitting information from the beginning warps first impressions and are still lies, even if small. That said, continue reading for more of his overt lies.

This is the full set of what he said in regards to RT. Notice something? Yeah- HE’S NOT DEFENDING THE MAN. Hero Hei just shoved that shit in. With NOTHING to indicate such a thing...you know other than ‘he dared to speak out against me!’

‘He seems to be complaining about the video title-’

TITLES (multiple) which comes up NUMEORUS times in his thread but sure. And you clearly agree with him since you bitched about his opening thread (just you know, effectively lying about it.)

‘*quotes an out of context sentence from the above quoted set* No I wasn’t trying tyo give people the wrong impression!’

First, short one about Rooster Teeth, the lies I am talking about were lies of omission. These screenshots show the titles of some of his videos. Titles and screenshots are what drives viewers when deciding what videos to watch. In the titles, he used "Rooster Teeth Vice President". Using "Rooster Teeth Vice President" evokes the image of the second highest ranking person at Rooster Teeth. However, he used "Vice President of Product and Engineering" in the video description, so he knew what the person's full rank was but omitted it from the titles. By seeing the actual rank, viewers would know that the terminated person was not the second highest ranked person at Rooster Teeth. Not including information in a title to give viewers the wrong impression amounts to lies of omission.

Some will argue that he didn't lie since the full rank was given in the description, it's just click bait and no big deal. That's fine but omitting information from the beginning warps first impressions and are still lies, even if small. That said, continue reading for more of his overt lies.

Funny how context CHANGES things, like showcasing Hero Hei lying AGAIN.

‘I didn’t say that because Youtube has a 100 character limit for video titles so i couldn’t fit in!’

Yeah it does have 99 characters in it...

Except here’s the thing: you could have cut 33 characters from it even with inserting ‘of Product and Engineering’ easily.

Rooster Teeth RT Vice PRESIDENT VP of Product and Engineering ARRESTED, allegedly BEAT his WIFE Numerous Times and LAUGHED about it!

There, 66 characters and I made your video title better (by cutting out needless details) and more truthful.

I don’t trust you enough, especially with the shit you’ve already pulled in this video alone.

‘*mocks Neath for bringing up the Vic stuff from over a year ago*’

Hero hei, your channel has permanent ‘ISWV’ merch being advertised. 

*doesn’t even bother to address what is said, just mocking the use of names.*

“Neath Oum s-said mean things about me mommy, make the scary man with 2/3rds of my audience stop mommy!’

See how stupid that sounds?

In fact, let’s stop here because he says NOTHING of worth and Hero hei killed his credibility (along with any chance of me even giving him anything beyond basic human respect) at this point.

Considering the very little he DID cover ended up being just shit flinging from him AT BEST- he actually made Neath look pretty damn good. Because HH in comparison really does look like the embodiment of that ‘crying behind a smug face’ meme.

So congrats HH. I actually though the comparison was the result of personal bias against you and felt uncomfortable about. I now see it was entirely DERSERVED...if I choose to ignore how you implied Neath was defending a man BEATING HIS WIFE because he pointed out your clickbait bullshit.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Alright...

... A wee bit more rested, and w/ a better quality video, we are back at it! XD

In no order:

Okay... Seems the Wozes aren’t switching off... Which is vaguely disappointing. I wanted to some day see them fight over the recap.

THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY A FAMILY MOMENT. Sworz is scolding Heure, and he even straight up is like ‘Are you listening to me?’ like a frustrated dad, oh my god. XD

So... What did Mirror¡Shinji just hang out in there mirror world and didn’t get effected by the time alteration, or... What. Not complaining, just curious,

Ah. So this, too, is Decade’s fault.

That look Sworz gave his son there was somewhere between proud and suspicious.

Oooo, infinite mirror trick!

Really? We’re really just gonna... Skip Geiz coming home? Really? *cries in exasperated, friendship-obsessed language*

Well, the boys are still working together well--even if this fight isn’t going great.

I love the parts of these three hanging out discussing things. I just live the Zi-Ot3, okay?

They’re having a sit down to discuss all the multiple timelines and goals of everyone involved, using chess pieces. This is adorable.

Awww. Sougo’s asking what future they want. I think he’s been playing it down, but is genuinely kinda bothered by the ‘Geiz is still gonna kill you’ thing. Partially bc he really wants to think that he can not become Puma Zi-O, rather than the only option being to kill him.

Oh my god, that cute little smile.

Geiz.exe has stopped working. God, Sougo, I get why you’re asking, but you know Geiz is bad at feelings! You’re gonna break him!

I think that also just showed very well that whatever Shiro Woz has said, Geiz is still just getting more conflicted. That was the face of someone who has no idea what they want anymore.

Tsukuyomi to the rescue! She’s well-acquainted w/ Geiz’s problems w/ interpersonal relations.

Aw, look at the babies investigating!

Oooo, editor man looks good!

This is so ‘amateur investigators’ and I LOVE IT.

Geiz ensuring the other two cover their mouths and noses before coming in (also him just using the collar XD). Even if it’s tiny, I love protective Geiz.

Yay! Shinji lives! It’s okay, dude. It’ll be okay. Having watched the ep once I get why you’re upset, but I promise it’s okay.

Also, Ren, come get Shinji. He’s gonna get himself killed again. Does he still owe you money in this timeline?

So here’s my question. Was Shinji actually trying to kill himself bc he thought it might stop his mirror self, or did it just look like that bc he was trying to cover up all reflective surfaces and accidentally trapped himself?

They’re all sitting here. I love this. I love the Zi-Ot3. I LOVE THEM.

Geiz is one of those people where, if punching it doesn’t work, he just punches harder.

I feel like this is a perfect example of his personality and fighting style though. Just, like. Go for it. Just tank right on. Like, oh, this guy reflects attacks? Simplest way to deal with that is just sacrifice myself.

Sougo is like ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea’ and thinking it’s theoretical, but Tsukuyomi literally standing w/ this face like ‘no, Sougo, you don’t understand just yet, he absolutely will do this.’

Sougo’s goofy geometry pyjamas. That is all.

Junichiro does the only acceptable movement for describing Woz’s appearance w/ hand motions.

Why is Sougo shocked by this thing? HE SAW IT LAST EPISODE!

I get that Sougo’s distracted, but does have to walk in the middle of the path and where is everyone?

Sougo can’t think and talk to Kuro Woz at the same time. I will admit, dealing w/ Kuro Woz is a bit much, so...

I LOVE THIS SCENE. Kuro Woz is being Kuro Woz, and Sougo just walks away. YES. Force the asshole to walk after you! Do it!

Also pretty sure he’s bullying Kuro Woz again, and I love it.

My first guess is that the reason the Zi-O II Watch wouldn’t activate was that Sougo was doubting himself? Or something like that?

If you are a Woz, you have no sense of personal space.

Elbow him in the stomach, Sougo!

Kuro Woz is... Really not getting it that Sougo’s not interested in that, is he?

Tsukuyomi expressing concern, very valid concern.

Okay, here’s the thing. Even if he’s not saying ‘only I can do it’ exactly, he’s still very much not suggesting Sougo do it. Like, at all. When he actually tries it, he does it. He knows perfectly well he could die doing it. And if he dies, then Tsukuyomi’s on her own trying to prevent Puma Zi-O (Shiro Woz does not count). And besides, if Sougo dies doing it, that’d be sure to prevent Puma Zi-O, right? But even if it’s not explicitly stated, he’s making an active decision to risk his own life rather than Sougo’s. Have I mentioned I love protective Geiz, even lowkey protective Geiz? Bc I DO.

This is like, another reason why I see him as the ‘protector’ sort of point of the triangle that is the Zi-Ot3. That’s just who he is. He’s the tank, the guardian. Even if he’s not quite noticing it right now, he’s absolutely shifting into being willing to die to protect the other two.

Also, it’s kinda another show that, no matter what else happened, he doesn’t really want Shiro Woz’s future, either. Bc he can’t be the ‘saviour’ or anything if he’s dead from this, ya know?

Tsukuyomi’s like ‘I knew it, you bloody idiot!’ and also pointing out that Sougo was against the idea which causes Geiz to have feelings for a moment bc he’s actually touched Sougo doesn’t want him to die, but also CONFLICTED. XD

I love how both Geiz and Sougo have come to the conclusion that if either one of them stand still in one place for a certain amount of time, either Shiro or Kuro Woz respectively will be somewhere in the vicinity and they can just yell. ^^

Also, I love how he seems to almost always have Tsukuyomi w/ him when he talks to him. It’s like he’s decided he needs a chaperone or something. Reasons vary from funny to sad.

So I guess Geiz is asking what Shiro Woz’s future is like. Apparently... It’s the same? So... No new inventions or anything? I dunno, I find this answer suspicious.

Okay. ‘It’s as if time has stopped.’ This line ratchets the suspicious factor up. It seems simple and sensical enough for the online translator to be right about it, so I’m just gonna take this as what the line basically means for now. But... Remember how a lot of the symbolism in this series has been about ‘restarting clocks’ and stuff like that? In the Build arc, Junichiro had that speech bout how you can only restart your own clock, which Sougo reiterated when meeting Heure. Just this past arc, Hiromu’s father’s watch started moving again at the end. Therefore, I hypothesis that ‘time has stopped’ is not actually a good thing and there is something else going on here.

WHO IS GOOGLES? Seriously, was he Geiz’s brother, his friend... Is that even a guy, I can’t really tell, I shouldn’t be assuming... It’s nice to see their dead body again, I guess, but I need more information here, Toei!

That was not the face of a person I trust. Admittedly, at this point, anyone w/ Woz’s face doesn’t have the face of a person I trust.

Okay, not you in real life, Keisuke, you’re a sweetheart.

See, this makes me think we’re not meant to trust Shiro Woz even more. Geiz only seriously tried to kill Sougo when he knew only about the crimes Sougo committed as Puma Zi-O and nothing about him in the present, when he perceived Sougo as moving toward that path, and when he thought he had no choice (Kasshin showing I think made hims start to wonder if it was even possible, but he got some hope again when Sougo was willing to actually give up and had to be pushed back into it etc.). Shinji, however, is not, whether now or in the future, an active or willing participant in these incidents. It’s like a Yummy, twisting innate wishes out of shape. He’s terrified and upset, and may even have been trying to kill himself to make it stop (not sure though bc this is a kids’ show). When Geiz actually considered things, saw Sougo as the person he was at that moment rather than just as Puma Zi-O, he balked at going through with it. Shiro Woz knows perfectly well this guy is innocent. But he doesn’t hesitate at all. Big red flag. Did any of that make sense? I don’t think that made sense.

Also get away from Shinji you bastard. Ren!

I literally spent this whole episode yelling for Ren to come help Shinji.

No, wait. I’m sorry. Ron.

I mean, I guess Geiz, who looks kinda like how I’d imagine a baby Ron might look, is protecting him, so there’s that.

Ron! Come help Shinji! Ron? RON!

Okay, so... Ryuga was an actual thing in Ryuki? I’m so sorry, it’s been so long since I watched Ryuki.

Heure is absolutely getting revenge on Shiro Woz for the car incident and you know what.... Valid.

Honestly... It’s nice to see someone beat Shiro Woz up a bit for once.

Rider Kick interruptus. All the little hiragana digitise out of existence when Sougo pulls him out of it, that’s a nice effect.

Also I feel like that was slowed down, but I dunno. How fast do you move in a Rider Kick?

Dramatic friendship moments in suit for you viewing experience! XD

I love this, though. These two, I feel like are gonna have a sort of dynamic ‘don’t you dare die on me I’m the only one allowed to kill you’ on Geiz’s side and ‘I’m the king and I didn’t give you leave to die’  on Sougo’s side. XD Like, not necessarily exactly that, I’m being silly w/ the wording, but you get the point. I hope.

Anyway, Sougo is upset that Geiz was risking his life like that, which results in more feelings.

I feel like it might be an important distinction that he uses the Zi-O II Ride Watch not purely in order to gain power and become king or whatever, but in order to save people--most specifically, at the particular moment, a rather self-destructive warrior-type friend. Though the preview does indicate it comes a little late... DX

Geiz is embarrassed. I mean, like I said earlier, there’s a level of this that’s basically him making a choice to risk his own life rather than Sougo's... Or even Shiro Woz (I woulda made Shiro Woz do it).

Sougo is like ‘nope, nope, nope, that’s enough of that.’

So Geiz recognises the Watch? Maybe. He wasn’t there when Kuro Woz dropped it off. Tsukuyomi was, though. Did she not know it? Hm.

I managed to pause it when it looks like Geiz is looking at the camera like he’s on the Office bc Sougo’s power up isn’t working. XD

Also, oh my god. Sougo gets pulled into the mirror world, and Geiz’s immediate response is to rush over and try to follow him/pull him out while yelling (well, yelling ‘Zi-O’ we’re not quite to regular name status yet) worriedly. I LOVE THEM.

I’m assuming everything is backwards, but I couldn’t read kanji in the first place so...

Did Okuno drop his voice an octave for Mirror¡Sougo?

Sougo is initially surprised to see another version of himself, then worries that it’s him from three days in the future again.

Mirror¡Sougo is doing this weird head tilt and it’s so hilarious I just... Can’t.

Sougo makes the unfortunate discovery that not all other versions of you that appear are your friend. I’m sorry, sweetie.

Wow, Mirror¡Sougo just straight punched him.

Okay, I know we all saw it in the preview, but... Mirror¡Sougo does this, like... Really weird walk/motion, and... It just. Has to be seen. I’m serious. HE’S FREAKING WINKING.

Sougo is confused.

Okay, I know this is serious, but it literally looks like he pulled the mirror Ride Watch out of his hair.

Mirror Driver has very weird, distorted voice.

Also WHY IS HE HUNCHING LIKE THAT NO SWEETIE THAT’S BAD FOR YOUR SHOULDERS!

Preview: I saw a translation that said ‘I’ll cut the future’ but the online thing here says ‘create’? Personally, I’d prefer create, but it’s probably ‘cut.’ In other news... If they make a mention that defeating Another Ryuga might be the way to get Sougo out of the mirror world, that would raise Geiz’s ‘sacrifice myself to defeat it’ thing to also being sacrificing himself to save Sougo. And. I love it. ^^ XD <3

Anyway, that’s all for now. Digital macaroons for anyone who read all that. And if you don’t like macaroons... Caramels! Digital caramels.

I’m slightly worried about the little ‘what’s your future like’ convo bc it might indicate Shiro Woz is getting his claw sin between my kids, but pretty much everything else was great. Geiz doesn’t seem to even consider suggesting Sougo try the plan, and Sougo’s genuinely upset when Geiz tries to do it, and at the end, Geiz is upset when Sougo disappears into the mirror world. Tsukuyomi tries to mediate, and do so quite well, is the one who clearly is well-aware that Geiz will absolutely go through w/ the sacrificing himself plan and that he needs dissuading. Looks like she’s unable to stop him next eek, though... And, finally the Zi-Ot3 are investigating together again, and frankly, I just LOVE IT.

How about I subject everyone to my new favourite picture again? (It’s not technically spoilers now, there was a version in the preview for next week)

If you could all the ‘XD’s in this post... You get another hardy handshake.

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 081

Episode: Futari wa Precure Max Heart 31 - “Baldez Resurrected! Just barely break through with teamwork!!” Date watched: 15 October 2018 Original air date: 25 September 2005 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/XZoV9ih

I am a terrible person and I’m going to the bad place for making this but also I’m not sorry

Lacrosse episodes are usually good episodes. This is no exception. The Verone girls’ lacrosse team is really shaping up, we even see Maki and Megumi (from MH11) working together. Honoka finds Nagisa’s enthusiasm inspirational. The day of the match though, the girls look across the field at their opponents to find that they’re all built like tanks.

#swole

Not only that, they play a mean game of lacrosse too. They keep tight on the forward players and intercept several passes. They know all of Verone’s plays, and they’re up 2-0 at the half. Nagisa decides the only way to win is to switch up who plays what position, and she assigns herself to the rear guard while Megumi is tasked with trying to score. However, right as the second half is about to start, Viblis snaps her fingers and destroys half of all life in the universe - I mean, transports Nagisa, Honoka, and Hikari into a parallel dimension or something. It’s still the stadium, but with nobody else in it, and they’re completely gone from the Garden of Rainbows. Nobody in the real world seems to notice their absence but we also don’t really see things from their perspective.

Anyway, the evil trio all turned up to this fight with a horde of American football player type Zakenna and they taunt/threaten the heroines. Nagisa’s upset about missing her game and she gets rightfully indignant when they scoff her away, to the point that she actually tries to charge the villains untransformed. Honoka and Hikari have to restrain her but they quickly get caught up in the exchange of ideals.

big pink energy

They all transform and what follows is a fantastic fight, with the girls laying it all on the line. Luminous’s Heartiel Brooch powers her up and she defends like a champ but her combat style still consists of mostly dodging, getting lucky with the baton, and things like that. Black and White kick ass and take names, but the conservation of ninjutsu seems to be in effect as only a few of the Zakenna attack at a time. The three girls finally perform Extreme Luminario to dispel the villains, but the enemies dodge every which way. In that moment, the Heartiel Brooch powers up the attack and it splits into three, each branch chasing one of the villains, until they converge back together and beat a hasty retreat. The attack destroys all the Zakenna and after a beat, everybody is returned to the real world, just in time for Nagisa to take forward in the match and score the winning goal. The captain of the opposing team comes over to compliment Verone and she and Nagisa share a high five.

Oh also, like the title suggests, Baldez revives and returns to the mansion. But it is seriously not focused on.

His scenes bookend the episode and that is literally all that we see of him.

What can I say about this episode..... it honestly makes me think that a lacrosse anime could be a thing! I’d give it a shot and I don’t normally watch sports anime. The lacrosse action in this show is generally strong (shows you where the money went) and the visuals combined with my attachment to the characters keeps me invested in the outcome. As a fan of Honoka I wish they gave this same consideration to her science club but it’s harder to make that visually exciting, and I already called out their terrible lab technique at least once, so maybe that’s best left alone.

As always the battle of ideals is inspiring but it feels particularly poignant in this episode. The girls all insist that life is worth living and their interests are valuable, spitting in the face of the antagonists who consider the girls’ education and passions to be irrelevant because they plan to destroy everything. The way Nagisa absolutely SNAPS before she’s even transformed and her teammates have to restrain her is powerful in conveying how firm her beliefs are. The actual battle is pretty good too, although as I alluded to, the inverse ninja law comes into play here and most of the hundreds of Zakenna just stand around while a handful of them get beaten up at any one time. Luminous’s fighting style is.... nonexistent, still, and we’ll see how Toei learned to use a defensive character better in Yes 5 (which I’ll start around the new year if my current schedule keeps up). However, her powered-up state with the Heartiel Brooch is impressive and the upgraded Extreme Luminario is a sight to behold.

I couldn’t get a good picture of that so have this instead.

Lastly, out of absolutely nowhere, a new heartiel shows up. This one is Bravun and she embodies courage and bravery.

The best thing I can say about her is that she at least shows up right by Honoka, Hikari, and Seekun so they don’t have to hunt for her or have them just inexplicably have met offscreen. She’s played by Adachi Mari, whose vocal credits are small and mostly include bit parts in other Toei anime. Her biggest role of note in the franchise is Queen Bavarois in Yes 5 GoGo, which we’ll get to sometime next year.

Next time: Odango! Is Tsukino Usagi nearby?

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 0 Arienai

[smokeybrandreviews]

Real Bad News

A friend of mine sent me an article claiming Disney is looking to create a Dragon Ball Z franchise, helmed by Kevin Feige, with the intent on making it larger than their MCU and Star Wars worlds, combined. It’s always the Mouse House, ain’t it. I just got done critiquing Obi-Wan and now this. F*ck, man, they won’t stop until they own everything! Okay, so my gut reaction to this news was "Bad. I feel bad about this." How the f*ck can Disney even make a DB franchise with all of the violence, toilet humor, and sexual innuendo? Impossible! It’d have to be completely watered down, even if they release it under the 20th Century imprint. So i did some quick google-fu and found out that they don't own the rights to Dragon Ball. That's still Shueisha, Toei, and Toriyama. What Disney owns is the same rights Fox did, the rights that gave us Dragon Ball: Evolution. Unless Disney goes back to Shueisha, Toriyama, and Toei, they are incredibly limited in what they can and can't do with those rights. What Disney has with DB is similar to what Star Trek has with Paramount.

I imagine they'll have to create their own universe and can only call those characters by the names they own, but not make them LOOK like the characters, you know? Star Trek created the Kelvin timeline because they don't have the rights to anything created before. That's why the Klingons look different and Picard is an android or whatever. It's why they pushed Spock's black sister that never existed and there is a whole ass cat person on Lower Decks. This is the sh*t Disney is probably going to forced into as the Japanese rights holders hated Evolution so much, they literally created Super in response to it. Evo was so bad, Toriyama rushed Battle of the Gods into production in response, which led to Dragon Ball Super, which gave us the Broly movie (Which is f*cking amazing) and now, Superhero. Dragon Ball Super: Superhero is making so much money in Japan, it’s stupid. AND it’s getting released here in August. They don’t need Disney’s money and, being a whole as Japanese company, Disney can’t even threaten them with acquisition if they don’t play ball. I doubt they'll give us Yanks a shot at that franchise proper again, especially with a Super continuation all but guaranteed at this point. also, if I'm not mistaken, Sony owns the US distribution rights for anything Dragon Ball through Funimation! All that said, after my research and with a better understanding of the rights situation, I still feel pretty bad.

Feige does Marvel justice because he's a fan of the comics. He knows the business of Hollywood very well, too. Both of these things Dragon Ball is not. I don't see how Disney resists the urge to Americanize the narrative in an effort to "broaden the appeal", ie: Whitewash the f*ck out of this show in an effort not to offend or alienate middle America. Dragon Ball, and most manga, are hard to adapt because they are intrinsically Japanese. They approach storytelling completely different than we do and trust their audience way more than any domestic content creator. Seriously, you ever get a Normie to try and watch an A24 film? There’s a reason why mainstream studios don’t fund sh*t like The VVitch or Uncut Gems. And that’s just narrative dense, slow burn, character studies. Imagine having to sell that lore heavy plot, with horrific violence and absolutely evil antagonist, to Karen from Wisconsin. Now, i love the MCU but i love it because i love Marvel comics. None of these stories challenge the audience like, say, the character of a genocidal, narcissists, prince, who is responsible for millions of lives taken, getting the happy ending of marrying the richest woman on the planet and having two beautiful kids. Like, people were mad that Thanos snapped. Imagine them getting a face full of Vegeta, whole ass bodying a planet full of innocent moth people on his way to murder a bunch of earthlings for the Dragon Balls.

Like, Vegeta is a whole ass Thanos, one that gets personally bloody, and he literally never gets his comeuppance. Motherf*cker THRIVES! On top of that, his overtly racist, alien, boss who might as well be Space Hitler and enslaved an entire planet until he got tired of them and blew it the f*ck up, gets a pass, too! This motherf*cker not only comes back to life, but gets to be the fourth most powerful creature in the goddamn universe! People were mad that Thanos had a real point. Motherf*ckers were actually upset that there were cats out there saying "Thanos was right" which he kind of was. In the end, though, Thanos died. He got what he deserved. Twice. How the f*ck are they going to react to someone as irredeemable as Freeza getting redemption? The motherf*cker came back to life, twice, and immediately started Hitler-ing again with no consequence! Like, he’s out there, buying, selling, enslaving, and destroying whole ass planets, and no one is doing anything about it. Goku and Vegeta are just like, “Eh. We stay ready whenever he wants to come and try us but f*ck the rest of the galaxy.” F*ck, i forgot about Goku! How do you Mickey Mouse Goku into a likable character?? How does the Mouse House Square that sh*t? You can't separate the atrocities from Freeza, just like you can’t separate the constantly wold-endangering selfishness of Goku. He’s the f*cking main character! This motherf*cker is not Captain America, he's a slightly more reasonable Omni-Man!

I trust in Feige, always. When it comes to Marvel. I am a little sus about his Star War and even more skeptical that he can handle a franchise like Dragon Ball. The MCU structure cribs a lot from anime and manga, it's basically set up like the narrative arcs or sagas in shonen releases, but these are still very American stories being told. Just because it looks like anime, doesn’t mean it is. Definitely doesn’t mean the man that built the MCU understands anime. As much as people like to claim it to be, Avatar is not an anime but it is the closest thing to it I've seen anyone in the West, outside of France, make. That sh*t was already very Americanized from the outset, some would say very it ever appropriated a great deal from Asian culture, and the live action remake is one of the worst films ever made. If you can’t even adapt something for the American audience, that was already made for the American audience, the f*ck chance does Dragon Ball (or any other anime or manga for that matter) have?  I don't see a live action, US created, Dragon Ball Z capturing that same spirit of it’s Japanese origins, especially when it's being made under the stifling creative conditions of Disney. I trust Feige to make something but i am very much dubious about the end product. I'm curious what they will create but, don't misunderstand me, it's probably going to be bad and it certainly won't be anything close to Dragon Ball Z.

[smokeybrand]

Real Bad News

A friend of mine sent me an article claiming Disney is looking to create a Dragon Ball Z franchise, helmed by Kevin Feige, with the intent on making it larger than their MCU and Star Wars worlds, combined. It’s always the Mouse House, ain’t it. I just got done critiquing Obi-Wan and now this. F*ck, man, they won’t stop until they own everything! Okay, so my gut reaction to this news was "Bad. I feel bad about this." How the f*ck can Disney even make a DB franchise with all of the violence, toilet humor, and sexual innuendo? Impossible! It’d have to be completely watered down, even if they release it under the 20th Century imprint. So i did some quick google-fu and found out that they don't own the rights to Dragon Ball. That's still Shueisha, Toei, and Toriyama. What Disney owns is the same rights Fox did, the rights that gave us Dragon Ball: Evolution. Unless Disney goes back to Shueisha, Toriyama, and Toei, they are incredibly limited in what they can and can't do with those rights. What Disney has with DB is similar to what Star Trek has with Paramount.

I imagine they'll have to create their own universe and can only call those characters by the names they own, but not make them LOOK like the characters, you know? Star Trek created the Kelvin timeline because they don't have the rights to anything created before. That's why the Klingons look different and Picard is an android or whatever. It's why they pushed Spock's black sister that never existed and there is a whole ass cat person on Lower Decks. This is the sh*t Disney is probably going to forced into as the Japanese rights holders hated Evolution so much, they literally created Super in response to it. Evo was so bad, Toriyama rushed Battle of the Gods into production in response, which led to Dragon Ball Super, which gave us the Broly movie (Which is f*cking amazing) and now, Superhero. Dragon Ball Super: Superhero is making so much money in Japan, it’s stupid. AND it’s getting released here in August. They don’t need Disney’s money and, being a whole as Japanese company, Disney can’t even threaten them with acquisition if they don’t play ball. I doubt they'll give us Yanks a shot at that franchise proper again, especially with a Super continuation all but guaranteed at this point. also, if I'm not mistaken, Sony owns the US distribution rights for anything Dragon Ball through Funimation! All that said, after my research and with a better understanding of the rights situation, I still feel pretty bad.

Feige does Marvel justice because he's a fan of the comics. He knows the business of Hollywood very well, too. Both of these things Dragon Ball is not. I don't see how Disney resists the urge to Americanize the narrative in an effort to "broaden the appeal", ie: Whitewash the f*ck out of this show in an effort not to offend or alienate middle America. Dragon Ball, and most manga, are hard to adapt because they are intrinsically Japanese. They approach storytelling completely different than we do and trust their audience way more than any domestic content creator. Seriously, you ever get a Normie to try and watch an A24 film? There’s a reason why mainstream studios don’t fund sh*t like The VVitch or Uncut Gems. And that’s just narrative dense, slow burn, character studies. Imagine having to sell that lore heavy plot, with horrific violence and absolutely evil antagonist, to Karen from Wisconsin. Now, i love the MCU but i love it because i love Marvel comics. None of these stories challenge the audience like, say, the character of a genocidal, narcissists, prince, who is responsible for millions of lives taken, getting the happy ending of marrying the richest woman on the planet and having two beautiful kids. Like, people were mad that Thanos snapped. Imagine them getting a face full of Vegeta, whole ass bodying a planet full of innocent moth people on his way to murder a bunch of earthlings for the Dragon Balls.

Like, Vegeta is a whole ass Thanos, one that gets personally bloody, and he literally never gets his comeuppance. Motherf*cker THRIVES! On top of that, his overtly racist, alien, boss who might as well be Space Hitler and enslaved an entire planet until he got tired of them and blew it the f*ck up, gets a pass, too! This motherf*cker not only comes back to life, but gets to be the fourth most powerful creature in the goddamn universe! People were mad that Thanos had a real point. Motherf*ckers were actually upset that there were cats out there saying "Thanos was right" which he kind of was. In the end, though, Thanos died. He got what he deserved. Twice. How the f*ck are they going to react to someone as irredeemable as Freeza getting redemption? The motherf*cker came back to life, twice, and immediately started Hitler-ing again with no consequence! Like, he’s out there, buying, selling, enslaving, and destroying whole ass planets, and no one is doing anything about it. Goku and Vegeta are just like, “Eh. We stay ready whenever he wants to come and try us but f*ck the rest of the galaxy.” F*ck, i forgot about Goku! How do you Mickey Mouse Goku into a likable character?? How does the Mouse House Square that sh*t? You can't separate the atrocities from Freeza, just like you can’t separate the constantly wold-endangering selfishness of Goku. He’s the f*cking main character! This motherf*cker is not Captain America, he's a slightly more reasonable Omni-Man!

I trust in Feige, always. When it comes to Marvel. I am a little sus about his Star War and even more skeptical that he can handle a franchise like Dragon Ball. The MCU structure cribs a lot from anime and manga, it's basically set up like the narrative arcs or sagas in shonen releases, but these are still very American stories being told. Just because it looks like anime, doesn’t mean it is. Definitely doesn’t mean the man that built the MCU understands anime. As much as people like to claim it to be, Avatar is not an anime but it is the closest thing to it I've seen anyone in the West, outside of France, make. That sh*t was already very Americanized from the outset, some would say very it ever appropriated a great deal from Asian culture, and the live action remake is one of the worst films ever made. If you can’t even adapt something for the American audience, that was already made for the American audience, the f*ck chance does Dragon Ball (or any other anime or manga for that matter) have?  I don't see a live action, US created, Dragon Ball Z capturing that same spirit of it’s Japanese origins, especially when it's being made under the stifling creative conditions of Disney. I trust Feige to make something but i am very much dubious about the end product. I'm curious what they will create but, don't misunderstand me, it's probably going to be bad and it certainly won't be anything close to Dragon Ball Z.

[bolbianddolanhouse]

BNHA self insert AU [Book 2]

Beginning of Book 2 Read here to catch up!

Chapter 11: Oh Shit, He’s on X-Games Mode

It’s Saturday, day of our roof Ki Ki! Hoshi and I kept everything low-key as possible. For the most part, I slaved away in my room, making the cyberkid outfits for the twins. Not going to lie, it was all very exciting to be sneaking around like this. Wonder if this was like when my mom did things under my dad’s nose in the dorms? To answer your question....no, I didn’t tell my parents that I’m doing this. Might get in trouble but FUCK IT! We’re just a bunch of kids, groovin’, vibin’ and extremely gay.

First ones to show up were the twins for the make over. Lucky us that the class rep went to bed early tonight, so he didn’t see the twins come in. Same thing with the others, some resided in the dorms and they snuck in everyone else in the group ahead of time. We got things JUMPING! It was something out of those voguing videos I showed them. Some came in drag, some in casual cosplay and it was overall really cool. I was in my halter top and parachute pants and Hoshi in his himbo outfit. We all danced and hyped each-other for hours, in those moments, I didn’t care about the time! It was just perfect.

“Thanks for coming!” I said to the twins as they were packing up their set up “here’s something extra for an amazing night.”

They see me handing them cash and they shook their heads “We don’t want your money, it’s cool.”

“Huh? Why not?” I was confused.

“Mifa and I were thinking that we’d just come when you ask us to mix master for these things” Dore smiled her trademark goofy smile “We’re been wanting to do this kind of thing, play want we want, play according to the vibes of the place! Your group gives off the vibes we wanna play for, so we’ll be reserving saturdays for Ki Ki’s.”

“Deadass?” I responded “I’m so happy you two like the vibes we give here! So I guess it’s cool if we do this again next week? Same time?”

“Hell yea!” chanted the twins.

They leave and I check the time, it’s 5am.

“Aww shit, Hoshi, we gotta go to bed!”

Hoshi yawns “Yea, get’s go” He says as we make our way to the room “ya know, that was the most fun I’d had in a while. You really showed out on the dance floor.”

“You did really good too!” I praised him “When you threw in that C-walk, I knew it was game over for your opponent!”

Hoshi laughed “Shut up! That rocket launched death drop was the queeniest move I’ve ever seen! It could totally be passable as a fighting move.”

We got to our room and just flopped onto bed.

“Hope you don’t mind my stinky-ness” I apologized “I’m too tired to take a shower.”

“I don’t mind it” he said as he took off his shoes “we’ll just shower later.”

“Ight then” I turned to my comfortable position “night night!”

“More like, good morning!” Hoshi snickered before laying down to shut his eyes “see you when I wake up.”

A few days ago, we got Hoshi’s bed in the room along with one of those foldable room dividers. It feels weird not sleeping in the same bed as Hoshi but everyone needs privacy every now and then. Wonder if he feels the same way? I’ve noticed that he’s developing to be a little more independent from me, it’s not concerning, but is he doing it because he feels like a burden? Whatever it is, I don’t feel like I’m a position to ask.

-Later in the day-

“Hey did you guys hear the music last night?” asked one of the girls in our class “It was so weird! It was like there was a dance battle with the people cheering and the beats were something else!”

Hoshi and I were sprawled out on the commons room couch “I’m sure it was the intel students.” I answered to make us sound innocent.

“It wasn’t them” the class rep spoke up “I checked outside my window to their dorms, no party of any sort!”

“Oh then do you think it was inside the dorms?” asked Toei-kun.

“Who knows? I didn’t see anything” the class rep responded “but next time, I’m going to investigate!”

“Aww don’t be lame! What if it’s the 3rd years?” I commented.

“I don’t care! It’s a nuisance!” he crossed his arms “Call me lame all you want, thank me later.”

I gave Hoshi a look and he gave me one back. Crap, we gotta be careful now! Wonder what mom would do....wayment! I got an idea.

“Oop, I don’t like that face” Hoshi joked “what dangerous little idea is floating in ya head Lili?”

“Oh wouldn’t you like to know weather boy” I teased and giggled “Can’t give all my ideas out like that!”

“Oh just kiss already!” cried out one of the girls “seriously! I can’t stand all this tension, pining and coy looks. Literally, everyone here doesn’t care if you two are a thing” she stands up “We. Ship. It!” she said with claps after every word.

Everyone in earshot agreed “We don’t have a thing for each other!” Hoshi and I yelled back.

“Stop it everyone!” sensei said as he walked into the room “I’ll tell you this, your mom and dad said the same thing but everyone knew your dad had the biggest dumbest crush on you mom. He told us behind closed doors.”

“Wait, how did my mom not know?” I asked as I know my mom doesn’t let anything slip by her like that.

“We didn’t say anything, some of us wanted her too” he admitted “so it was a competition for her heart and attention. So this scene reminded me so much of those days where she’d pop in to help us with strategy or english homework and Iida-kun would be all over her, not letting any of us shoot our shot.”

“Ew you wanted my mom sensei?”

“Well...at the time I did” he flushed in embarrassment “but I accused her of doing naughty things with your dad on the night of the school dance because her purse was in his room. But it was a coincidence and she hated me ever since” he sighed “Never get on her angry side is what I learned from all that.”

“Wow, that’s mega messed up sensei” Hoshi shamed “no wonder you’re single.”

The whole class hollered at that roast and you could see sensei’s life crumble...he never did recover from that roast.

But I told Hoshi about my plan for next time, since the twins don’t want my money, I’ll pay Sube to warn us when the class rep is on his way to the roof. I asked her to be on guard for us and she said yes when she saw the money. Every weekend from then on out, we didn’t get caught...or so we thought.

-3 months later, parent meeting at UA-

“Thank you so much for coming to this meeting!” chirped the principal “this is a better turnout than some of the other departments.”

“Shall we get started?” spoke up Midnight “Theres a lot to discuss.”

“Yes, well, there’s some issues within the dorms” started the principal “every weekend, there’s a commotion going on for hours after lights out. Nobody knows were it’s coming from but that’s within the hero dorms.”

“Weird, Lili hasn’t mentioned anything about it” Tenya chopped “and she’s a light sleeper!”

“That’s because she’s part of the problem” the principal pulled up security images “your daughter and her friend have been recorded coming back from something at around 5am. Oddly enough, it looks like they didn’t leave the premise.”

“Why isn’t the teacher more aware of what’s going on?!” out-bursted one parent.

“They have a point” Ita spoke up “my daughter and her friend were attacked a few months ago in those dorms, and even then Minoru didn’t know until the damage was already done!”

That got the other parents muttering to themselves “I’m capable of protecting your kids! They wouldn’t have hired me as a teacher if I wasn’t!”

“You and I both know that the Rat Man didn’t run any sort of background check!” Ita argued “Aizawa was hired because of his quirk but didn’t have any type of teaching credential! And neither do you! Like seriously Minoru, why the hell did Nezu hire you?!”

“I ask myself that everyday since that Rat died and asked us to bury him in the school garden” Midnight sighed stressfully “Stupid Rat had too much power and knew his word was law!”

“Can we stop talking about Mr. Nezu?!” butted in the current principal “Look, if you think you can do a better job at finding out what they’re up too, I invite you to do so.”

“Fine, I will” Ita huffed.

“Me too!” Tenya gave an affirming chop.

“Us too! We’ve been noticing our daughters sneaking out on Saturdays” said Kaminari “pretty sure they’ve been hired to mix for whatever this is.”

None of the other parents said that they’ll help, so the meeting went on as planned. Ita and Tenya decided to snoop on the following Saturday...

“This really takes me back” Tenya sighed “just us hanging out, under the stars, with an urge to kiss you.”

Ita blushed as she felt her husbands arm wrapping around her waist “Please contain yourself Tenya, I’m trying to see what’s going on. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve used Mimi’s quirk” she said as she squinted to control the quirk “better stop grabbing my ass and grab those binoculars!”

“But it’s been so long since we’ve gone out alone” he picked up the binoculars “just one little makeout under the stars? Please love?”

“The faster we bust this, the sooner we can do whatever you wanna do with me” Ita said as incentive “And I mean anything, anywhere, as long and rough as you want it~”

Tenya put the binoculars immediately up to his face “I’m focusing on the target as we speak!”

After a while, they finally saw something “Hey, did you see that? The roof access door opened!” Ita perked up.

“Whoever they are must’ve stolen the keys!”

“Actually, the roof access door is the only door in the dorms that isn’t secure” Ita admitted “it might as well be dead-bolted with a piece of gum! I’d go up there to smoke with Aizawa and Shinso all the time.”

“Ah! I was wondering where you’d run off to” Tenya came to realize things from the past “can’t believe all this time, the roof is where you were. No wonder you and Shinso were so close and how Aizawa oddly favored you.”

“Yup, HOL UP! Look Tenya” she refocused on the roof “more people are showing up to the roof! That means that they’re all students.”

Suddenly the lights set up turned on, revealing the faces of the people on the dorm roof. “I don’t believe it, there’s Lili and Hoshi, Dore and Mifa” observed Tenya “there’s at least 15 people on that roof, and are some of them in...drag? Is that the correct word?”

“It is! Aw you remember!” Ita gushed at their partner “watching all those drag shows really stuck in your head huh?”

“We’ve been married for almost 19 years, of course I remember drag terms” Tenya said confidently “But what are these kids doing? There’s no way this a conspiracy meeting, why would you dress in your best drag just to talk?”

“GOD you’re making me so wet right now” his wife growled, biting her lip “careful babe, I’m close to just saying ‘fuck it’ and teleport out of my clothes.”

Tenya took off the binoculars and turned to her “You are really tempting me” he laughed “if this was a real mission, we’d be breaking so many laws right now.”

“When has that ever stopped me?” Ita giggled as she turned to face her husband “Or is it a crime to show my husband how badly I want them?”

“God I wanna-” the distant sound of electronic music interrupted Tenya “oh? That’s weird.”

Ita looks again and zooms in on the action “Are they? WAIT! Tenya! They’re voguing in pairs” she says in disbelief “it’s a vogue style dance battle! These kids are having a Ki Ki!”

“Oh my! That person with the feather boa is really sissying that walk” he said peering in the binoculars “Looks like it was just a misunderstanding, I don’t think this is a bad thing.”

“Me either, if anything, we can blame the lack of extracurriculars in hero schools” she said matter of factly “This isn’t something I’d bust them for but I’d like for them to do it openly and in a safer location.”

“I see” Tenya responded “what’s the next step?”

Ita rubbed her eyes to deactivate the quirk “We can either report this to the principal as a misunderstanding and talk to Lili later OR we can talk to them now and report later” she blinked fast “Which-ever we do, it will start a debate on whether there should be extracurriculars in hero schools. And you know my feelings about that.”

“I’d say we leave them- what the?” Tenya was refocused on the dorms “Ita, Denki just pulled up to the dorms.”

“What? I can’t see right now, can you tell me what he’s doing?”

“He’s entering the dorms...OH Kyoka is with him too!” He commented “and they’re going in the elevator. I think they’re going to crash the Ki Ki.”

“Stupid Denki!” Ita groaned “he’s going to ruin everything because he doesn’t understand what a Ki Ki is!” she grabbed Tenya’s arm “We gotta zip in first before he busts in and opens his mouth.”

He puts his hand out “Do what you do best darling” he encouraged his wife as she puts his hand on her chest.

“Hee Hee, oh you! Just like old times” she giggled “Hang on!”

They teleported to the roof of the dorms and everyone froze in fear.

“Mom? DAD?!” Lili screeched “Wha-what are you doing here?!”

“Hi Lili, and hello to y’all too!” Ita warmly greeted “sorry to zip in like this, but there’s a nuisance coming up on the stairs.” she turns to her husband “Stand your ground! Let’s defend these kids!”

“Right!” yelped Tenya as he got in his fighting stance “Let’s do this!”

The others we murmuring on who were we talking about until the roof access door swung open. Out stumbled Denki, swatting away a bird, and Kyoka.

“Why don’t this bird leave?!” Denki winced “OW! Not the face!”

“You’re hopeless!” Kyoka cringed, then her gaze shifted to her kids “Dore and Mifa! Do you have any idea how late it is?!”

“But mom we-”

“Mom’s right babygirls” Denki stopped them from responding “You’ve been sneaking out and that’s not very cool” he noticed their outfits “and that’s not appropriate clothing! We talked about this girls!”

“Denki, Kyoka...please listen to us” Ita spoke up before the situation escalated “I agree with the sneaking out, not okay, BUT these kids aren’t doing anything bad. I don’t see why you don’t agree with their cyberpunk aesthetic.”

“It’s too revealing and just strange!” Denki pointed at the his daughters “I said they could dress however they wanted when they move out pay for their own things. And as long as they live under my roof, I will have a say in their decisions! I don’t want them to be like you, running aloof with your partying and making out with random boys!”

“WATCH YOUR MOUTH DENKI!” Tenya raised his voice “that’s my wife you’re bad mouthing! She was young when that happened, she’s nothing like that now!”

“Denki, shut your mouth before you say something regrettable” harshly whispered Kyoka.

“This is some real tea” Lili commented “the twin’s dad is kind of a bigger asshole than I thought!”

“And I thought my dad was controlling!” Hoshi blurted.

“We are going home this instant!” Denki demanded “you can deal with the rest of this but my daughters are my business, lets go girls.”

“NO DADDY!” screamed the twins.

“Excuse me?! Did you just use your no-no volume on me?!” Denki was appalled by the display of rebellion.

“We don’t want to go home yet!” Mifa said as she grabbed her sister’s hand “Dore and I like mixing for them, we feel like ourselves with them and I don’t have to hide anymore!” she takes a deep breath “Mom, dad... I’m gay and there’s nothing you can say or do that will change my mind.”

“And I support her 100 percent” Dore added “I feel like my truest self in this style, the sounds I produce for them and their dancing in response to it makes me feel so good! Like music mixing is something worthwhile and not something I do for money or because somebody asked me to.”

“Girls, is that how you truly feel?” Kyoka walked up to their daughters “Come here, I won’t yell and I’m not upset” she holds her arms out “I just want to hug you” the girls run into their mother’s embrace “I love you and accept you no matter what, no need for rebellion. If you want us to be more understanding, then I’ll listen and let you be yourself in a safe environment.”

“You’re on their side babe?” Denki was having mixed feelings about the situation “I’m sick and tired of being upstaged by you! Miss Perfect Spouse, Parent, Agent, Innovator and everything else!”

“Woah, me?” Ita questioned “Nobody asked you to compete with me! Honestly, it’s like you want me to kick your ass when you wanna challenge me.”

“I challenge you in a dance off!” Denki pointed at Ita “Winner gets to report this, loser has to buy the other a coffee.”

“I see you brought up our little wager from 1st year huh?” Ita smirked “I accept your challenge! Lili.”

“Yes mom?”

“Pull up my hype playlist and pick the 8th song” Ita said as she took off her light jacket and holsters “Hold these for me babe?”

“Gladly! Kick his ass darling” Tenya said as she plopped her things in his arms “kiss for good luck?”

“Yes please!” she eagerly got on her toes to kiss her spouse.

Denki turned to his wife “Will you kiss me good luck?”

“What happened to your tough guy act?” Kyoka sneered “I thought you were too cool for good luck kisses?”

“Aww man, I did say that” Denki recalled and turned around to see his opponent “no matter! You’re going down!”

“Bring it you dumb Pikachu!” Ita teased “Are the beats ready?”

“Locked and loaded mom!” Lili responded and grabbed the mic “Up on the floor is battle of the parents! We got my lovely mama in all white and this man’s in the black track pants, get up and get hype y’all! Pump the beats!”

Lili started the requested song and the two started their battle.

“Get it Shawty by Lloyd!?” Tenya gasped “Denki doesn’t stand a chance!”

Everyone watched as the two danced battle style. It was a close call up until the end of the bridge of the song where Ita flipped into a death drop, causing everyone to scream in shock on how on beat it was. The song ended and the two did their final pose.

Lili picked up the mic again “Alright, alright, alright! That was really close, not gonna lie fam.” she pointed at the two panting adults “Who do yall think won this one? Is it my mom? Or this man’s right here?”

Everyone cheered when Lili hovered her hand over her mom and fell silent when hovered over Denki.  “Oof that’s cold” Ita said as she wiped her forehead with her arm “it’s been a hot minute since I’ve strut my stuff like this! But I still got the moves hehe.”

“I hope you’re happy Denki” Kyoka sighed “Lets go home.”

“Do you still love me babe?”

“Yes but you’re the worst dancer” she giggled “I knew you wouldn’t win, but I love that determination of yours.”

“You were amazing darling!” Tenya said as he picked up his wife “I’m proud to call you my wife.”

He starts attacking her with kisses “Tenya please! You’re embarrassing me in front of the kids!”

“Hm? Can’t I love my wife publicly?!” He paused his kisses “Does it embarrass you Lili?”

“No but please get a room!” Lili snapped “It’s one thing to do this at the house, another to do this at our Ki Ki.”

“Oh right!” He puts his wife down, remembering why they’re there “We’ll be off now.”

“But please know that this has been brought to the attention of the school for the wrong reasons” Ita spoke up “But that doesn’t mean that has to be stopped! I will report this as non-lethal activity and fight for extracurriculars in hero schools.” She smiles “So that way, if passed and approved, you can do all this in a safe environment and at a more reasonable time.”

“You mean it? You’ll do that for us?” said one in the group.

“Of course! I’ve been an advocate for well-rounded education in hero schools for quite some time now” she explained “yeah you’re training to be heroes and fight crime, but you’re still kids! You should be able to do non-hero activities in school, make friends outside of your program and express yourself.”

The couple left and the group packed up early. Later, the petition to start extracurriculars in hero-schools started as promised. The group decided to hold off rooftop Ki Ki’s for a while until there was a say on the matter.

-Late May, in Homeroom-

“Okay class, settle down” sensei said to start class “I’m excited to announce that we’ll be training at the USJ in two weeks in duos.”

I gasped as turned to look at Hoshi and they had the same idea.

“BUT! I’ll be choosing the pairs” sensei broke the news, the class groaned “No complaints! I’m doing this so you can work with others in different situations. In the real world, your friends aren’t going to the same agency as you and new people cycle in and out all the time. This training will help with that.”

“Aww wack” I slumped in my seat “I work best with you!”

“I don’t do well without somebody on the offense” Hoshi replied “there’s only so much I can do.”

Sensei announced the pairs and I got stuck with Toei-kun. Now, Toei is the class dumbass. You look at him and wonder how the hell he got into UA! He got in through recommendation of his grandparents, UA alumni. He’s got a good quirk but his reaction times and strategy are the absolute worst. I guess it doesn’t matter, I’ll be the brain-cell of this team.

What can I say now other than it’s spring time? Iwa’s birthday passed, the sports festival passed and I didn’t do that much better than last time. But since then, I’ve had a support item done for me and a costume re-vamp. I got ribbon twirlers as my quick use lasso so I can stop using the ones in my hair. My costume got added sleeves and new obi with durable fabric. Plus, I’ve upgraded my mask for something in the same shape but that will actually protect my eyes. It’s so weird to know that I’ll be turning 18 soon, mom tells me that’s legal adult age in American culture! I planned a party but I didn’t account for hero school dorming when I planned it when I was 12. But that won’t stop me! This year it falls on a Friday, so I can celebrate day of at the dorms and a family celebration at home on the weekend. I told Hoshi all the details and he’s making sure everything will go according to plan.

-Mid June, Training in the gym-

“Come on dude!” I groan at my partner “I can’t save you every time! All you had to do is take two steps to the left to avoid that rock blast!”

“Sorry Iida-san, I really thought I was done for that time” praised Toei “We make a great team!”

“Actually Toei-kun, according to the class ranking” the class rep held up a clipboard “Your team is in last place, Iida-san is the main point earner in both combat and rescue. Which is weird because we aren’t doing rescuing practice, she’s earning points by rescuing you.”

I peer at the clipboard and saw our points and scoring “Oh man, sensei is giving us pity points at this point! And we still aren’t close to begin to surpass the next team!”

“Hey, points are points!” Toei commented, unaware how badly we’re doing in the ranking “We’ll be tops in no time! We’re two of the best!”

“Ho! Don’t lump yourself with her Toei” warned the class rep, pushing up his glasses “Sensei paired you and her together because you’re one of the bottom students, Iida-san had a higher standing than you in everything.”

“Oh” Toei quickly deflated “Man, I really thought I was doing well.”

“May a suggest you take up some tutoring with the class rep?!” I chimed in “They have the best grades in the class!”

The class rep blushed “I mean- um, I do have good grades” he covered his face with the clipboard “You don’t have to talk so highly of me Iida-san, it’s not fair.”

“Can you Hashima-kun?!” Toei perked up “Don’t be shy! I need help, won’t you please tutor me?”

The class rep nods, still beet red. That made me curious, does he still like me? It wasn’t that long ago when he confessed to me and we had that awkward date. But why does he still act like this?

-Later in the dorms-

There was a knock at my door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Hashima, may I come in?”

I quickly put on a shirt and kicked my dirty laundry under the bed “Okay, come in!” I say as I causally pretend I didn’t just do a boob check on myself.

“Were you busy?” he says as he walks in.

“Oh not at all! I just finished reading the book for literature” a total lie but I wasn’t going to admit I was groping myself in the mirror for like an hour “What brings you to my room? Hoshi is studying with his partner.”

“It’s alright, I came to give you this parcel that’s addressed to you” he hands me a flat packing box “it was in the mail bin and I guess it was overlooked.”

“For me? Thanks” I accepted the box and saw who sent it “Oh! It’s from grandpa Hakamada!” I rip open the box “Oh FUCK! It’s the silks I asked for training! I’ve been having such a difficult time getting my hands on real silk to test out” I gush “I wanna see if this is more effective than muslin since it’s stronger and looks prettier-” I catch myself geeking out “Oh um, sorry, I really get into fabrics and fashion heh.”

“Oh it’s quite alright” the class rep responded with a smile “It’s like me with hero facts and history. Say, can I ask you a question?”

“Uh sure?” I could tell that it had to do with our brief dating.

“Did you like me at all when we dated?” He sat at the foot of the bed “I was just remembering all the things I said and how I didn’t do what you wanted to do.”

“I wanted to see if I could” I sighed “to be honest, the moment you set that boba drink in front of me, I wanted to call it all off.”

“That would’ve devastated me but why did you stick it through?” He was shocked at my honesty.

“I wanted to seem like I was a likeable person” I sat on the bed “And if you confessed and admire me, then I must be, because I don’t think of myself like that. Like, what makes me so special? What’s something you see in me that I don’t? How do you feel around me that I don’t feel?”

“You didn’t have to prove all that, I would’ve understood if you wanted to leave at any point of that date” he looked at me with meekness “Lots of people think you’re likeable, I for one think you’re amazing! I wish I was as brave and bold as you are.”

“What?” I was confused.

“You just openly express yourself and not care about what others think! You stand up for others and win every time” he turned red and his voice got racked up in nerves “And- um, you’re really pretty. N-NOT THAT I WISH I WAS PRETTY! But, you’re also really nice. I saw when you started sewing that dress for the dance just to not go and give it to Hanagi-san. All the makings of a hero” he sighed “I’m jealous of Togata-kun, he sees you all the time and get’s treated by your generosity everyday. Bet he’s a better man than I am, lucky you.”

“We’re not-”

He puts his hand up to silence me “Say what you want about it, but you and Togata-kun are perfect for each other” he stands up to leave “For someone who doesn’t remember names very well, you sure picked up on his real fast.”

He leaves and I sit there, feeling very attacked. Oof, is it that obvious? I can’t know for sure until I hear it from the source.

-Chapter 11, End-

<Previous - Next>       

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who Series 12 Review Part 4/10: Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror

Air date: 19 January 2020

Last week’s episode wasn’t that good, but this one is a bit better. If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard of Nikola Tesla despite having heard of the Tesla car brand or the Tesla coil, this is a good place to start.

In light of Thomas Edison’s appearance in this episode, I’ve decided to give this episode’s spoiler-free thought in the form of a Family Guy cutaway:

Let’s break all the spoilers down after the break.

Edison was a dick? Who on earth is Tesla?

When I heard that Thomas Edison would be in this episode, I couldn’t wait for the opportunity to use the clip I had for the spoiler-free thought. A lot of people seem to assume that Edison had a rivalry with Nikola Tesla, yet the most that Wikipedia says is that they are portrayed that way in popular culture. When Edison died in 1931, Tesla contributed the only negative opinion about him to the New York Times. I think that’s why people never talked about him.

At school, I don’t think we ever learned about Tesla. In fifth grade, we did a unit on notable figures throughout history that culminated in a night where everyone dressed up as a particular notable and guests had to guess which figure they were cosplaying. Luckily enough, we were all given a compendium of all the essays everyone wrote about their notables and sure enough, while Edison was on there, Tesla wasn’t even mentioned. In fact, I think the first mention of Tesla that I heard was from this South Park episode:

In 2012, Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal published a comitorial (an editoral comic, I don’t know what else to call these types of comics) named Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived. In it, he talks about how Tesla came up with the ideas for radio, radar, remote controls and other things, while Edison was basically a businessman who patented and sold ineffective inventions (DC) and inventions made by other people (the light bulb).

Soon after, Alex Knapp published an article on Forbes and Inman published a response on his website. In the episode, the Doctor mentions how Tesla would have been a billionaire if he hadn’t torn up his contract with Westinghouse. Inman notes in his response that he did so out of kindness because they were going through some financial troubles, but after looking on Wikipedia, I found that Westinghouse was basically begging Tesla to stop taking his money otherwise he would have to “deal with the bankers”. Nonetheless, Westinghouse still managed to continue funding the rest of his life, so there.

As far as primary evidence goes, the notion of a rivalry between Edison and Tesla is largely unfounded. A lot of people have had something to say about Inman’s comitorial, however me putting links to it does not mean I’m taking his word as gospel. Based on my schooling, I can agree that Tesla is an underrated figure. Over a decade ago, in fifth grade, if someone had chosen Tesla to be their notable, I can bet that nobody would ever be able to guess who he was.

On a side note, Inman was involved in saving Tesla’s US legacy, namely his laboratory at Wardenclyffe. He and Jane Alcorn joined forces to crowdfund the purchase of the site from Agfa and was successful in May 2013. Now known as the Tesla Science Center, the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and work is underway to renovate Tesla’s laboratory into a museum. If you can’t wait for that, there’s also the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade, Serbia (the airport is also named after him) or the Nikola Tesla Memorial Center at his birthplace in Smiljan, Croatia.

Burning tokusatsu references

You know that thing the Doctor put in the TARDIS to scan the Orb of Thassor? That’s literally the Orb Ring from Ultraman Orb. And yes, that needed a separate section alone because it was just that important.

I could compare the Skithra to some spider monsters in Kamen Rider, but then I found that they were actually scorpions, unlike the Racnoss. I tried looking in that direction, but none of them fit the description.

This is probably a low-ball thing, but stealing things is also a thing in Kamen Rider, particularly in the case of villain Riders (in recent years) whose equipment is made up of stolen components. Some examples include Blood, Killbus, Metal/Phantom Build and more recently, Jin (Flying Falcon).

Edison was also immortalised in Kamen Rider Ghost as the Edison Damashii, which gave the titular Rider the power to use electricity in his attacks. The secondary Rider, Specter, stole Edison’s Eyecon briefly during his “I’m gonna kill my best friend if it means I can save my little sister” phase at the start of the series. Ghost was eventually able to get it back and he was nice enough to lend Specter the Eyecon again on a couple of occasions during the series. Suffice to say, Tesla didn’t get an Eyecon, not even among the 71 extra audience-pitched Eyecons that Toei created for the Ghost movie. However, he was somewhat acknowledged with the Denki Gamma being based on the Tesla coil.

Other general thoughts

Graham and Ryan are starting to become the comic relief of this series.

What happened to the Silurian blaster? Couldn’t you have used it to defend Wardenclyffe when the TARDIS shields went down?

Tesla apparently invented the “death ray” in the hope that he could prevent warfare due to its power. Look where that got us.

At one point, the crystals of the TARDIS console room turn blue, making the interior look that way. It really harkens back to the Eleventh Doctor’s second console room from The Snowmen onwards.

So, like Ada Lovelace and Noor Inayat Khan, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla have been in the TARDIS. But why didn’t the latter men have their memories erased while the former women did? Here’s the simple answer - Lovelace and Khan visited the future while Edison and Tesla stayed in their own time. Indeed, the TARDIS has components that no human would ever be able to understand, but they do run the risk of being inspired by them, which could have affected history. Eh, maybe it’s best to invoke Zi-O’s Rule 3 and move on.

Summary and verdict

I hope this episode (if not this review) will act as a turning point for people’s views on Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. The summary of the matter is that Tesla was a real inventor while Edison was just a patent troll. Some pretty great tokusatsu references this week as well.

Rating: 9/10

Stay tuned for the end of the week as I review the fifth episode, Fugitive of the Judoon. I’ll be doing a mid-series review as well.

[d-dumais-blog]

The Problem With Netflix & Anime Strike

There’s been a lot of talk lately within the anime fandom about various streaming services.  Newcomer Hidive is jumping in, while Daisuki is jumping out permanently, RIP.  Funimation will presumably change significantly after the purchase by Sony is complete.  Netflix and Amazon are upsetting people left and right by doing the unforgivable sin of offering shows that people want to watch.  And industry darling Crunchyroll is jumping into the con business with yet unseen success.  Everyone has been asserting their own thoughts on how to improve Netflix and Amazon and I’d rather not sit here and describe at length the same points everyone else has brought up.  I’ll instead focus on what I think is the biggest problem with these two sites, and what I think helps Crunchyroll succeed.

The anime industry is less of an industry and more of a niche community.  It thrives on a select few willing to spend lots of money while the larger majority prefers to consume content through illicit means.  This is no surprise because of how anime was originally popularized.  Anime was originally very difficult to get over here in the West, and lots of things weren’t legally available.  As a result communities formed up to share anime.  Most longtime fans were once a part of an anime club at some point.  These clubs helped to form anime fandom and lived because the heads of the club would bring shows for the community to watch.  Tape trading of the 90s gave way to the torrents of the 20000s and finally into the streaming sites that dominate the internet today.  Fans of anime are used to someone telling them what to watch and then jumping directly into it.  The industry stays afloat because of people that are willing to buy figures and blurays and such.  It’s the same group that used to import laser discs and like having a collection of sorts.  For the record, I’m in that group.  I buy a large amount of blurays every month and enjoy having friends over to watch them like an adult’s anime club.

Crunchyroll succeeds largely because it is essentially an online anime club with a cover charge.  It succeeds because of the sense of community Crunchyroll provides.  It has done an incredible job of building a community, and engaging with the fandom at large.  The social media team over at Crunchyroll is excellent; kudos to Victoria Holden and Miles Thomas who helm the team.  The entire company is extremely active on social media, in particular twitter where they’re regularly talking about the shows on their site as fans rather than as a product.  They’ve also ventured into other social media sites like their live stream of Kanna eating on repeat which literally had thousands of people watching along.  Crunchyroll feels like part of the community more than it feels like a multimillion dollar business and that helps them greatly.  I genuinely think Crunchyroll could charge more per month for its service and no one would care.  Those willing to pay for Crunchyroll don’t do it because it’s worth the money; they do it because it’s something they want to support.  There are certainly those that pay for it out of convenience, but these are the more casual fans and not the bread and butter of the industry.  These fans arent’ the long time fans, they sign up to watch on their game console because Attack on Titan is airing.  They typically don’t stay active for long.  Those of us who have been fans for years and years are willing to obtain the anime we want by any means necessary and pay for Crunchyroll more because we like Crunchyroll.

And here in lies the biggest difference; people don’t like Netflix and Anime Strike (Amazon).  Neither site has any social media presence, and they feel so distant from the community.  The common complaints about these sites seem so obvious to those within the fandom, but totally alien to an outsider.  Take Netflix for example: Netflix is condemned for not simulcasting their anime.  Netflix prefers to share only polished products.  All of their anime are released at one point in time with dubs in five different languages.  This helps shows appeal to a more mainstream audience, but it hurts its appeal to the hardcore anime fandom.  Anime fans are used to unpolished messes.  Ping Pong launched without a real opening, Dragon Ball Super has some of the lowest quality animation Toei has ever aired (and that’s saying something we’re talking about Toei), and My Hero Academia got significant touch ups for the bluray release over its initial TV airing.  We as anime fans are used to this low quality and production value; hell I remember watching anime online ten years back in 240 quality because that’s what was available.  If Netflix had anyone working there that could represent and speak for the community it would go a long way.  Netflix does not have any community manager specifically for its anime content.  This is clearly a problem and a void because a fan page on twitter, @NetflixAnime, has to regularly inform people that the page is not official and suggesting anime on the page won’t help Netflix see it.

Anime Strike has its own twitter page but it is incredibly weak.  It only tweets out some of its shows episode releases, with minimal fanfare.  They don’t even do it for every show.  The page is inactive for days at a time and rarely has more than one tweet a day.  Crunchyroll is more active every hour than Amazon is active in a week’s time.  It would go a long way if it felt like anyone working there was actually watching these shows.  Amazon continually locks down some of the best shows of each season, and these shows are hurt because no one in the community is championing them.  If Scum’s Wish was on Crunchyroll it would have been the talk of the town; Welcome to the Ballroom should be blowing up online, but people only talk about the giraffe necks.  A cursory search online informs me there is currently no community manager for Anime Strike and it doesn’t look like Amazon isn’t hiring for one either.  Because there’s no one working to engage the community the burden is left on fans to communicate far too much.  Quick example, no it’s not $15 a month for Anime Strike, it’s $13 a month because you don’t need to sign up for full prime there is just prime video.  It’s not my job to correct people though, and this message isn’t being communicated by anyone.  This doesn’t necessarily fix the price issue people have, but it certainly helps.  The point being, there’s a lot of misinformation about Anime Strike and no one there is helping to fix it.  

It may seem like a simple thing, but I really think fixing the social media plans of these two services would work wonders to improve their standing in the community.  Anime fans remember these things.  Hell I’ll never forget Funimation’s awful tweet about Erased in which they liken a starving girl to college struggles.  I like anime and I spend a lot of money on it, both on various streaming services and on blurays.  I want to see these companies succeed.  I’d love for Anime Strike to be a good service I’m paying for it.  I’d love to legally watch Violet Evergarden as it airs.  Hopefully if enough of us keep telling them what we want they’ll finally listen.  

[giuliafc]

Feeling Clowned

Ao3|| FFN

RATING: M for very mild sexual references

TW: PPD (Postpartum Depression)

It was a year since the defeat of Papillon. A year since Chat Noir had vanished. Left pregnant, alone and heart-broken, when Marinette solves the puzzle and discovers Chat's identity, she feels clowned. (Snippet July and LadyNoir July Day 6: Silence/Clown. Story wordcount 999 words)

Written by: JuliaFC

Beta: KhanOfAllOrcs, Agrestebug

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc, TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Written for the "Snippet July" challenge of the Miraculous Fanworks Discord server @miraculousfanworks AND for LadyNoir July @ladynoirjuly Day 6 — Silence/Clown. Let me know what you think!

oOoOoOoOoOo

It was Nino's fault. He returned from a trip from London, and handed her a copy of Vogue. Marinette looked at the magazine. A pair of forest-green eyes looked back.

Adrien.

Today marked a year since they defeated Papillon—a memory that would live forever in her nightmares.

——- Flashback ——-

After handing over M. Agreste and Mlle. Sancoeur to the authorities, her heart had broken for Adrien. It broke even more when they saw why Gabriel was fighting. Chat… had gone berserk. His fighting skills had gone through the roof the very moment he'd seen the coffin.

But in the end, he hadn't wanted to 'pound it' with her. The desperation that seeped through him was only comparable to her own elation, which died when their gazes met.

"What's wrong, Chaton?" she asked, but Chat Noir stayed silent. Instead, he hugged her so tightly that she couldn't breathe. She didn't know why, but that night more than any other time, he needed her. And she gave in to him. She felt the burning desire in him and, finally, she matched it with her own. She guided him to a dark corner, and they detransformed. One kiss led to another, clothes were thrown off, limbs became tangled, climaxes were reached in a synchrony of moans until they both collapsed in an ecstasy that didn't cure the pain, but maybe, just briefly, helped them forget it.

They dressed again, re-transformed, and with more kisses and promises of love, separated. That night had been the single happiest night of her life. But it didn’t last. A couple of days later, Marinette was listening to Chat Noir's message of goodbye. On her Bugphone's Voicemail. "Something's come up in my civilian life and I won't be able to transform for a while," he said. "But I'll keep an eye on the news and if you need me, I'll be right back. I love you, ma Buginette."

——- End of Flashback ——-

He hadn't been there for her. True, the news had been eerily quiet since Papillon's defeat, so Chat Noir didn't really break his promise, but… where was he the day two lines appeared on the stick? When all her dreams shattered, when she felt ashamed of her growing belly, when her mother started asking questions because of her morning sickness? When she moved out and begged Alya and Nino to take her with them? When she gradually isolated herself from human interaction? She left COUNTLESS messages to tell him how she was doing. What she was feeling. That the baby had kicked. That it was a boy, and healthy. That she'd seen him on the screen. That she was going into labour.

To make things worse, Adrien had also gone. The morning after Gabriel's arrest, his aunt put him on the first flight to London, without even a goodbye. So, in one day, she lost both boys she loved.

And now she knew why. As she skimmed through the interview in Vogue, it became clear as day.

"Adrien Agreste reveals about the Lady who stole his heart."

"Sorry, ladies, this heart is already under Agreste."

"I may never see M'lady again, but I'll never stop loving her."

Marinette looked at the word 'M'lady' on the paper in horror. Adrien was Chat Noir. Now it all made sense. His desperation. His disappearance. His silence.

She exploded in a low-throated laughter, her eyes shining with a light full of madness.

"What's so funny, Marinette?" asked Tikki.

"What's so funny, you ask?" she uttered between croaky laughs. Baby thought it was an amazing moment to start crying, and she stood up, picked it up and started feeding it, her frame still shaking from the laughter she couldn't contain. "’What's so funny’?" Marinette repeated in a baby-ish voice, her finger gently poking Louis's nose. "Maman's been clowned, baby."

The confusion in Tikki's eyes enraged her further.

"You all clowned me," hissed Marinette. "Master Fu in primis. But even you. And Plagg. You KNEW it was him since the day we faced Dark Owl. WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" She shouted, and Louis grabbed more strongly at her breast, as if looking for comfort.

"Tell you what?"

Marinette laughed again. "That Chat Noir was Adrien fucking Agreste!" Tikki gasped and Marinette's laugh hollowed. "Why didn't you tell me when he disappeared, Tikki? I blame you and Plagg the most. And Adrien right after."

"Adrien didn't know," said Tikki quickly. "He still doesn't."

"Oh, he doesn't know?" she muttered mockingly. "He raves in a fashion magazine about how much he 'loves M'lady' and doesn't think to transform to check his messages. Not even once, in a year! I could have died, and he wouldn't know!" She groaned at Tikki's frown.

"Yes, I blame him. Fuck his life, fuck Gabriel being Papillon, fuck his busy schedule. One. Full. Year! He hasn't transformed ONCE!" She looked at 3-month-old Louis nursing on her, and for an instant, her gaze warmed up, to then harden again. "He has a great life over there, everything that he wants. And instead, I'm stuck with THIS! And it's all his fault. Why didn't he reveal himself to me? Why did he leave me alone?" Tikki tried to pat her head, but Marinette pushed her away. She sat in her nursing chair, sobbing. She sang a lullaby, using the words 'maman's been clowned' instead of the rhymes. Then, when Louis fell asleep, she put him in his carrycot and sat at her desk.

The gleam of madness in Marinette’s eyes scared Tikki. "Please don't do anything rash. I told you already: you're sick. You need to see a psy—" But Marinette interrupted her:

"I'll make him pay for what he's done." She wrote something on a piece of paper and didn't give Tikki time to argue. "Tikki, Kaalki, unify!" she shouted.

Just wait, Agreste. I'm coming for you. And you won't like it. Not one little bit.

"Voyage!" She grabbed the carrycot and jumped through the portal.

-----------------------------------

Author's Note

*ehrm* Hi!

Uh, er, about this story… This comes from a MUCH MUCH LONGER bunny that has been screaming into my hidden bunny trapping basement for about 3 or 4 months. This is a sort of prequel to it, because the story would start with the following scene.

It's a REALLY delicate subject, because some of you who had babies may have recognised it: Marinette in this story suffers from PPD (Postpartum Depression). She went through a lot since Adrien was literally abducted by Amelie. She loves her Chaton, but now she feels betrayed and 'clowned', especially by his silence, and feels trapped.

The story planned after this is quite long and painful (although there would be lighter moments as well), but I don't know how something like this would be received by the fandom, so if you want me to write the sequel, leave me a comment and let me know. I won't take the subject lightly; I had two kids and a miscarriage in between and I was at the brink of falling into depression myself, having been left alone with them, and with a husband who would make things worse. I know how important and serious this subject is.

I hope you liked the story anyway and will leave me a comment, even if you don't want a sequel to it. You know that comments are my bread and butter!

Until (hopefully) tomorrow, bug out!

[giuliafc]

Betrayal Chapter 6: Chat Blanc

<< 1 -- 2 -- 3 -- 4 -- 5 -- 6: Ao3 || FFN -- 7 >>

Written by: JuliaFC

Beta: Coffeebanana

Summary: Alya and Nino go back to school and Marinette and Adrien have a good talk.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc, TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Written for the "Snippet July" challenge of the Miraculous Fanworks Discord server @miraculousfanworks AND for LadyNoir July @ladynoirjuly Day 17 — Mistake/secrets. Let me know what you think!

oOoOoOoOoOo

Alya looked at her watch. "It's time to head back to school, guys," she exclaimed. "We have literally the time to walk across the road." Alya and Nino stood up, and Adrien released his transformation and made to stand up too, but Marinette, after releasing her own transformation, grabbed his leg and signaled him to sit down.

"We'll be late back to school, M'lady."

"I know… can you cover us, Alya? I have something to tell Adrien and it can't wait for patrol." She waited for Alya to give her a thumbs up and drag Nino down the trap door. When they were alone, Adrien sat down next to her, looking confused.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Marinette took a big breath. "We promised last night to tell each other everything." She looked down and took firm hold of the material of her jeans. "I had no idea how hurt you were because I kept secrets from you, Minou. The pain I saw in your eyes last night when you found out that I told my identity to Rena before you was an eye opener."

"Well, yes. I didn't like that. Especially finding it out when we landed on her balcony and asked for her help."

Marinette's eyes filled with tears. "I'm really sorry, that was a huge mistake on my part. I…was breaking down badly and needed a friend."

"But I'm your friend too," muttered Adrien. "You always said that Chat Noir was your partner and your best friend. I tried to help, to initiate the talk, but you pushed me away. But... it's okay, I understand. Kinda."

More tears fell out of Marinette's eyes. "I'm sorry Adrien. I…"

He cut her off. "We've fixed the issue now, Marinette, it's fine." He grabbed hold of one of her hands and she squeezed it firmly.

"It's not. I can tell that you're still hurt. I told Master Fu so many times that I didn't want you kept out of the loop. Yet, as soon as I take over his role, I make the same mistake." She dropped his hand and cupped both hers on her face, starting to sob. "I was so scared! I tried to protect you, but instead I just made things worse and I was nearly going to cause the very thing I was trying to protect you from!"

"What do you mean?" He put a hand on her shoulder and used the other one to gently take her hands off her face and tilt her chin to look him in the eye. "You're scaring me now. What were you protecting me from?"

"Chat Blanc," said Marinette listlessly. Then she noticed his confused frown and sighed. "Do you remember St. Athanase's day?" Adrien nodded. "That day I made a silly mistake and used my Miraculous for personal gain to deliver a present to your room, right to your bed."

"Yes, something from a fan in Brazil, you said? I tried to find out who gave you that parcel, to thank them, but I was never able to."

"Of course you weren't. It was a lie." She blushed to the roots of her hair when he pouted and folded his arms to his chest. "Th-the present was from m-me."

"I had seen your signature on it, but I thought somebody had commissioned the beret from you. I didn't think it was a personal gift for me, Marinette. Had I known, I would have worn it every day. It was exquisitely made."

A shadow of a smile popped on her lips. "Thank you. Initially I had signed the card that I left with the present, but when I came out of your room, not noticing that you had come in right behind me, Bunnyx appeared and brought me to this horrifying future where you had been Akumatised." She paused at his gasp.

"W-why…?" he muttered, but she cut him off.

"I don't know. Bunnyx was adamant that I shouldn't know more about it, but somehow by seeing me getting out of your room as Ladybug and finding a present from Marinet—"

"—with hearts embroidered on it!" he thought aloud.

"Uh, yeah, that…" She blushed darker. "Of course now it makes sense that you had worked out my identity, since it was, well, you. But until yesterday I had no idea and when you called me Marinette and you attacked m—"

"I attacked you?" he shouted. "I'd never make myself hurt you or fight you, M'lady!"

"You were an Akuma, Adrien." She cupped her hand to his cheek and gave him a peck on the lips when she saw the panic in his eyes. "You'd destroyed the world. Nothing was left. I was turned into an ash statue, and Papillon had followed the same fate. I think you may have been the only living being left. You'd even destroyed the moon."

Adrien considerably paled.

"You attacked me because you wanted my Miraculous to make the Wish and bring things back to what they were…before."

"Before what?"

Marinette looked down. "That's the bit I don't know. You said that 'our love had done this to the world'."

Adrien gasped and his complexion became even paler. "I-I was an Akuma though, right? You can't really trust what an Akuma says?"

"That was my mistake." She met his panicky gaze with her sad one. "I pushed you away to protect you. I…tried to shelter my heart from you the best I could so I wouldn’t fall in love with you. But…I failed miserably at that too. And felt terrible about it. So I pushed you away even more, and nearly caused the very Chat Blanc I didn't want to cause. I'm so sorry."

Adrien blinked as his heart sped up. "Wait a second, did you imply what I think you were implying?"

Marinette smiled shyly as her gaze dropped. "Yes, Minou. I also fell for you twice."

To be continued… day 18

-----------------------------

Author's Note

There you go. Chat Blanc is out of the way. This prompt was so good for it, I couldn't ignore it. I know it has been done and redone but… it fit perfectly!

I hope you liked it and will leave me a comment. You know that comments are my bread and butter!

Until (hopefully) tomorrow, bug out!