#I like polorizing characters

[eelfuneral]

My favorite characters tend to be the ones where the fandom is divided between people who love them, and people who fantasize about shrinking them down and tossing them into a food processor kicking and screaming.

[myketheartista]

CW for blood and non-canon character death/nightmares

Today marks a year since I did this animatic revolving around Aiah’s fears and concerns about Polor’s well-being as well as her own nightmares since the events on Buttoncraft have made her feel a bit paranoid about herself and her neighbors. I remember speedrunning this in a day or so after I initially heard the song, and I kinda lost any sense of my surroundings LMAO but I was really happy with it back then and I still am now even though there are definitely some things I wish I had/could polish up when I first made it (canvas sizing, anatomy). Regardless, I know this song still pains me /affectionate every time I listen to it,, these two really do give me brain worms =w=

Polor (green) belongs to @artistic-fuss and Aiah (purple) belongs to me, of course! The split second of PATC-H (blue) belongs to @shepscapades (our blorbo robot <3)

Song is FEEL SOMETHIN DIFFERENT by Bea Miller, Aminé

[riallasheng]

Hello!

For the headcanon game, how about:

☯ - likes/dislikes headcanon

♥ - family headcanon

Fandom/character(s) is up to you.

Thank you!

Hmmmmmmmmmmm

Doing my usual 'several' here ^^

Under the readmore cause BIG XD

Fireball XL5: ☯ Likes - the headcanon that we can toss anything / everything we 'learn' about Steve's family and past in the Flying Zodiacs out the window because not only is that a dream episode... it's VENUS' dream. Which means I get to keep the Century 21 comics canon that Steve's dad was Agent S / Agent Seven of the Universal Secret Service XD ☯ Dislikes - (that Zoonie exits XD) Nah, nah... in all honesty I can't think of a headcanon that I really dislike at the moment? ♥ - The aforementioned 'Steve is the son of Agent S which... well, okay that's actually canon. Hm. Ah. Pulling off the headcanon that Agent 21 and Agent 23 are Penny's parents - the headcanon that Steve is good friends with Penny, and is her big brother in all but blood.

Stingray: ☯ Likes - the headcanon that Marina is actually a bit older that we realize, as Terran years are actually shorter than Marine Years like they are for all other time measurements, and thus Marina is actually ~22 years old, not 19 ☯ Dislikes - That Troy is an idiot or an asshole. He's a solid, heroic and good guy, darn it all. He's got the people skills of a concussed beta fish, but he's actually smart and does his best to help people with no thought of reward. ♥ - Fisher has mostly mended the bridges between himself and his father, but the situation between himself and his mother is horrendous, to the point that his parents divorced over it and Troy actually punched the woman out when she attempted to attack the hospitalized Fisher after the ‎Exocoetus crash (that only Fisher, Gordon, and Holden survived)

Lady Penelope: ☯ Likes - That FAB 1 was rebuilt from the Rolls Royce Penny's father used into it's current 'form', using blueprints for Supercar that Penny managed to stop Steelman from getting on her first real spy mission. Penny was able to ensure that all blueprints were destroyed, and a few weeks later she was given the last set of blueprints by Zizi and Jimmy as thanks for her actions. ☯ Dislikes - That Penny 'isn't really that good of a spy'. Penny is a freaking FANTASTIC spy and she's got the comics and novels (and audio plays) to prove it! XD ♥ - Penny is actually the daughter of Agent 23 and Agent 21. ^^

Thunderbirds 65: ☯ Likes - That the birth order is Scott, John, Virgil, Gordon, Alan. And that Brains (going off the 'actually a teenager' bit of semi-canon) was actually legally adopted by Jeff when Brains was ~15... and that Brains' REAL surname (Hackenbacker is an alias darn it all XD) is Walter, thus giving the show six of the Mercury Seven in the siblings ☯ Dislikes - Except when it's just good fun / joshing (ie when the person saying it is beign sincere) the headcanon that Brains actively dislikes the Tracys ♥ - Both Jeff and Ruth fell into some nasty depressions when Val (Lucille... I've been using the name Val for her for decades XD) and Grant died in the avalanche, and Scott had to step up into the parenting role, as well as doing his best to help his father and grandmother, as a result for a few years. Ruth came out of the depressive spiral first, but it was still 2 years after the event, and Scott had pretty solidly locked himself into the role and even at 15 was stubborn enough that Ruth couldn't really dislodge him, so she just did the best she could to let Scott be a normal teen instead of an adult. Jeff got out of his spiral about a year later

Thunderbirds 04: ☯ Likes - That the helmet we see Virgil wearing during the oil rig rescue is actually standard and USUALLY the boys wear them whenever they aren't in the Thunderbirds so no one knows their identities. (The windows can also be 'polorized' into essentially one way windows and that is the default setting... but this CAN be turned off to allow people outside the craft to see inside ☯ Dislikes - ...hm. Actually can't think of one at the moment ^^;; ♥ - The Belagants are not actually Malaysians by race, although they were all born in Malaysia. Kyrano's father was from Uganda and his mother was british. Onaha's mother was from India and her father was Filipino. The Hood shares his mother with Kyrano, and his father is unknown.

Thunderbirds are Go: ☯ Likes - That iR used to be like TOS IR in that they only responded to the rescues that no one else could do, the current 'suicide run' is RECENT, only two or so years old. ☯ Dislikes - That the tag boys have the same histories as the tos boys... that is that Gordon (who is only 17 or 18 years old so far as I know) served in WASP, and Scott served in the air-force. With iR being a thing for at minimum 9 years prior to the start of the series and Scott involved with iR off the bat (and Gordon's age and involvement for a few years prior to the start of the show) there just isn't a way for the tos pasts / military histories to have occured. MAYBE Scott served for a short while, but Gordon couldn't have given recruitment ages. ♥ - That Penny's father was basically sir Jeremy Hodge from TOS in personality, appearance, etc

Captain Scarlet 67: ☯ Likes - That Scarlet and Brown were not actually dead at the time of their mysteronization, resulting in their odd behavior compared to other Mysteron Agents. (Also, Black was not killed / is not dead and has not been mysterionized, he's just being controlled by the mysterons and is still in his original body) ☯ Dislikes - That Black is a willing ally to the Mysterons instead of their first victim. ♥ - got two that I really love for family. XD Dianne's older brother is Roger Lyon from the Lady Penelope comics (he took up a false name when he joined the secret service and was born Robert Simms) Grey and Black (who both lost their parents in the Atomic Conflict and were sent to America to be raised by someone there) were actually raised by the same man - Grey's godfather, Black's uncle - and the two consider each other to be brothers.

new Captain Scarlet: ...oddly THIS is the hard one XD I don't have a lot of headcanons or know a lot of headcanons for nCS, despite being a longtime fan of it. ☯ Likes - The Mysterons of this universe aren't having a 'War of Nerves', they're just trying to cause as much terror and suffering as possible, toying with humanity before they kill them, and the reason we see the threat levels ramping up in severity as the series goes on is the Mysterons getting pissed that Spectrum keeps STOPPING them. (the og series seems to have rules that the Mysterons must follow in their war of nerves... always informing Spectrum of the next attack, only attacking something / someone once, etc) ☯ Dislikes - That Blue is an idiot. Yes, he is a bit gung-ho and impulsive, but he's DAMNED smart and more than fast enough on his mental feet to get himself out of situations he might get himself INto ♥ - annnnnd I'm stuck ^^;; sorry, I HAVE family headcanons, but I am blanking on them at the moment

[justagaymoth]

Live tweeting Red One (part one)

Broo the guy who kept dying in Agents Of Shield is in Red One

I hate the guy with the beard he is ugly (no offense he looks like very white guy) (he is Chris Evans)

Yoga girl aka basic white girl she better not be a love interest (a very aromantic thing to say)

Open credits

Wires

Kid eating lolipop with rapper my favorite scene so far

Christmas the snows coming down starts playing

Its an okay version

Santa is an electrician??

The rock shows up I love him so much

Santa loves snicker doodle cookies a kid made him cookies

Some annoying influencer tries cutting the power as a prank

That part is realistic I hate prank influencers

Santa is being escorted by the rock he is so lucky I want that

It's snowing at night very pretty

Car

Nerdia my science teacher keeps saying "he is the real Santa"

So I guess mall Santa is real Santa

Feeding the raindeer

The raindeer are moose basically

They don't talk sadly

Flying sleigh

"red one you are clear for take off" a military looking guy says the guy is in a helicopter I think

"that's for the escort fellas see you next year" says santa

This movie is weird but I like it

Ugly guy from the beginning is hunting Santa?? Chris Evans

Pretty overview of Santas city

I don't think he lives in the north poll

What

He is still in the sligh

"I don't know why but I call this version North Pole los Vargas" Mason says (he is a classmate and friend of mine)

Weird polor bear who talks and stand on two legs is giving Santa advice

A girl timed Santa he did Christmas in 5 minutes

Is this girl Ms.Claws?? She is too young

Santa not in his suit doesn't look right

"for the first time more people are on more people are on the naughty list and they don't care" says the rock

My class had a short discussion saying most politicians are on the naughty list

Someone said "even Brock Obama?"

I said "yes he is homophobic"

And Nerida said he had to be dishonest to win

Gingerbread house but life sized very cool

I missed some because we didn't pause when we talked

Something is going on in the gingerbread house??

Santa is missing!!

The rock needs to save the day

I love the rock

"candy cane packaging negative" baller line

Sold them I was live tweeting because Nerida said everyone is on their phone and not watching

Woah weird spider car has santa

The rock is saving the day yippee

Very cool action scene

Snow action scene goes hard

Sleds

Chasing car with electric sled

Dramatic music

Santa base

The Rocks charter name is Cal

There is a hot Santa agent boss lady

Such a pretty woman

Trying to track santa

The wolf is killing Santa

The wolf is a legend and bounty hunter that the government has been trying to hirer

Family drama

A pretty mom I recognize form something but idk what

2 pretty woman yay

A teen has apeared

The daughter of hot mom

Kevin betrayed the teen Kevin was her best friend

She hacked a main frame

"if you are going to have a main from don't do it out in the open no fingerprints" says Chris Evans

I like his character

Chris Prats charter is a dead beat dad?

Makes sense he hacker still bad tho

Police found Chris Prat's house because he is tracking Santa

The police like Santa a whole lot it seems weird

I guess Santa is just a guy in this like no magic

Chris Prat slides down pole

"Hi Jack" tastes him Jack is the name of Chris Prat

Hot woman says hot girl things very threatening and hot (the Santa boss lady)

Boss lady kidnappeds and puts Jack in a box

Boss lady protects mythical world

Santa is magic guy

"so things that don't actually exist you are responsible for" says jack to boss laby

Boss lady is questioning the Headless Horseman well says she will

Jacks thinks the thing she tazzed him with made him crazy

Jack hates the rock that's okay I don't like Chris Prat

Jack is on the naughty list

Level 4 naughty lister

Boss lady highers Jack Wolf

The polor bear keeps attacking Jack Wolf

"no offense but I'm not running into Aruba with a giant elf" Jack says

The boss laby threatens him he has do what she says

"the world is a mess because they fear nothing I will make them fear something" says a girl who is evil and says she will save the world

My science teacher Nerida pauses it

[caregivingchrysalises]

Hihi! I hope your day is going well, bears are very cute!! You might like the Sanrio character Marumofubiyori! They're a polor bear. I also really love cats! I hope to adopt one someday, they're such inquisitive and sweet creatures. One of my favorite animals ever are african wild dogs! They're very cool, they take really good care of their pack (like getting the momma food while she's taking care of her babys)

If I could talk to any animal I think it be cats! Especially if that includes their wild cousins, I probably won't ever meet a lion but imagine what all they'd have to say - rosie (off anon for now to show you butterflies!)

i do believe the whole palace just heard my excitement over your incredible work dewdrop~ the butterflies are spectacular, you’re so talented!

marumofubiyori is quite precious indeed, i think they’d be great friends with my favorite san-x characters rilakkuma and korilakkuma~ perhaps they’ll all have tea together (rilakkuma is the relax bear, so i don’t think they’ll be up to much more adventuring beyond tea and napping)

i must say i’ve never heard of the african wild dogs, but the royal encyclopedias show they’re quite wonderful creatures indeed!

i think lions would make quite the chatty companion to talk with, i’m sure they’ve got lots of stories to tell.

my prinxly intuition is guessing roses are your favorite flower~ am i right? do you have a favorite season? i’d love to read your thoughts blossom, thank you again for the butterflies and the ask!

[matt0044]

I think it's a sort of, and forgive me for using this term, dysphoria where a reboot/revival/spin-off is good both because of and in spite of its nostalgia factor. It's when the creative and corporate aspects seem to intersect.

A lot of the titles you dropped are reboots that have been fairly well received. Well, polorizing in cases like FLCL but that it got some fans counts for something. This is because while they were greenlit with money on the Studio Heads' minds, they were given a creative team who either understood the original at the very least or, better yet, enjoyed the original growing up.

Thus references and callbacks galore. Some of these will obviously be pushed by the studio because they know the value of nostalgia. Others will be from the creative team in charge who tend try to make it a cute reference or actually meaningful within their new iteration.

DuckTales, as you mentioned, repurposed the Moon Theme as Della Duck's leitmotif when she was trying to repair her rocket and later when she sung the lullaby. That worked for her character both in terms of giving her a rocking tune for her montage as well as sad lyrics that remind her of the pain she hides.

That's good writing. That's organic integration of past media for the present to carve out its own not unlike transformative media overall. While some were also in your face, a kid of today would see it more as part of DuckTales' vast imaginative world and only realize what it was in reference to after the fact.

Heck, a lot of thought went into the show beyond the deepcut Disney Duck mythos and Disney Afternon references. There was chart board of who were the characters and their arcs across each season, really giving it their all in this.

I could go on with examples like Castlevania and She-Ra but the point is that the intersection, as I mentioned, has a sort of effect where these callbacks either enhance the story or detract from it. New time viewers will either be confused or go in knowing that this iteration is part of an established history they'll learn as they go.

So you're feelings are very much valid as we have yet another reboot/revival that's actually backed by creative driven but is also part of a system that fears the uncertainty of originality. It'd just be so much easier if it was cynical down to the script but it throws you off with showrunners actually giving a fig.

It blurs the lines as all.

Fionna and Cake thoughts so far

I like what they're doing, but there's a nagging part of me that's really of two minds about the whole thing. It's hard to explain.

There's something I don't like about the constant callback cameos by the original AT characters. Don't get me wrong, I understand why they're doing it - mechanically, thematically, nostalgically - but it is bothering me a bit. I don't think it's even a fault of the show itself, so much as it is a fault of The Current State of Media In General.

Listen, I have quite literally been watching Adventure Time religiously since the very first episode aired. I LOVE noticing all the subtle and not-so-subtle cameos in the Fionna and Cake series as they pass by, because I recognize them all from all this time I've spent immersed in this little universe. But there are times when it starts to feel like Fionna and Cake is a series of nothing BUT cameos and callbacks, and that kinda sours things for me.

I know, I know. Mechanically, that's how it's SUPPOSED to be, since Fionna and Cake is - by definition - a fanfic of Adventure Time. It's an AU. It's a crossover. It's a spin-off. It's SUPPOSED to be that. But just like with all the other big name reboot and remakes and re-imaginings we've gotten in the past 5-10 years, it's all just a big game of who's-who and tugging on nostalgia's heartstrings to make this IP emotionally impactful (i.e. Sad, because sadness is the only emotion people ever seem to give a shit about - but that's another opinion for another time).

The Current State of Media In General is that very few new original shows are being made. Studios aren't taking any risks. A significant percentage of shows in the past decade are all just carefully constructed, reimagined, retooled, re-tellings of every possible IP you ever felt attached to as a child. DuckTales, TMNT, Castlevania, Animaniacs, Trigun, He-Man, Super Mario Bros, even fucking FLCL has multiple new spin-offs. It's all about spotting the obscure references and fawning over the little ways they changed things into something meant to tickle the emotion centers in your brain (oh look, Della is singing the Moon Theme from the NES game but now it has lyrics and is sad!). After a while it starts to feel very...formulaic? Manipulative? Corporate?

Idk man, sometimes I just want something to be completely New and original, and not feel like a cut-and-paste heartstrings-playing nostalgia-fest. Sometimes I don't want my childhood to eat well. I want my adult self to have its own new things to enjoy, that mean something to me NOW. I want something that feels Fresh, like, oh I don't know, Adventure Time when Adventure Time first came out?

Again, I get why Fionna & Cake is all cameos. I get it. I understand it. And there's a big part of me that still even loves to see it. But I also sometimes feel kinda cheated by it at the same time. Like there's a glimpse of a show in there that could have been its own cool thing if it weren't so laser-focused on Expanding The Lore. I wish I could describe this feeling better. It's complicated. I'm complicated.

But hey, if you're out there and feeling the same way, congrats on finding this post. I'm right there with ya, buddy.

Now, let's get back to enjoying Fionna and Cake for what it is.

[ao3feed-hitoshi-shinsou]

I Found Peace in Your Violence

I Found Peace In Your Violence by Dom0416

How did we end up here you might ask. Well its not everyday that your competition turns out to be your soulmate. Especially when you both are complete polor opposistes of each other. Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches and find peace even in the violence. In a world where you only see black and white till you meet your soulmate follow along with Bakugo and Shinso to see where they end up.

This is a soulmate au setting along in the timeline after the USJ. I do not own the characters nor the artwork used for the cover. I do not own MHA or any of the events that have happened in it. This story is a BoyXboy story so if you do not like that please do not read. Any mean or slandering comments will be deleted.

Words: 367, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi

Characters: Class 1-A, Class 1-B, Shinsou Hitoshi, Bakugou Katsuki, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Midoriya Izuku, Kirishima Eijirou, Todoroki Shouto, Yaoyorozu Momo

Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Shinsou Hitoshi, Kirishima Eijirou/Midoriya Izuku, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Todoroki Shouto/Yaoyorozu Momo

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31206554

[ao3feed-bnha-rarepair]

I Found Peace in Your Violence

I Found Peace In Your Violence by Dom0416

How did we end up here you might ask. Well its not everyday that your competition turns out to be your soulmate. Especially when you both are complete polor opposistes of each other. Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches and find peace even in the violence. In a world where you only see black and white till you meet your soulmate follow along with Bakugo and Shinso to see where they end up.

This is a soulmate au setting along in the timeline after the USJ. I do not own the characters nor the artwork used for the cover. I do not own MHA or any of the events that have happened in it. This story is a BoyXboy story so if you do not like that please do not read. Any mean or slandering comments will be deleted.

Words: 367, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi

Characters: Class 1-A, Class 1-B, Shinsou Hitoshi, Bakugou Katsuki, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Midoriya Izuku, Kirishima Eijirou, Todoroki Shouto, Yaoyorozu Momo

Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Shinsou Hitoshi, Kirishima Eijirou/Midoriya Izuku, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Todoroki Shouto/Yaoyorozu Momo

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31206554

[dskimages]

While passing through Georgia, I made it a point to stop by Historic Savannah and spent some time in and around Forsyth Park. It was a great way to relax a little while I enjoyed taking my pictures. The park is classic for the south and fits nicely in the neighborhood with the historic homes all around. So I managed to get a few pics like this one of the houses. For this pic, I'm actually in the park looking across the street hidden by the hedge. Over the years I've grown to appreciate historic houses. When I was young they seemed so old and I liked the new contemporary ones. But as I've aged, I've realized that those new contemporary ones are now considered old just like I thought of the ones I had thought were old. It's interesting how our perspective changes through life on the relativeness of "old". Now I see these houses I used to consider old as yes, old, but also with character and a charm of their own. I'm not saying I would necessarily want to live in one, but I can appreciate them now. . Jul 2022 . I show all my pics here, or you can follow JUST my travel pics at @DSKwanders. . Nikon D610, f6.3, 1/200s, ISO-640, 58mm, Tamron SP 24-70mm f2.8 Di VS USD G2 with Polorizer filter Adobe Lightroom enhancements . #DSKImagesNW #mydailypic #mydailyphoto #myphotooftheday #mypicoftheday #InstaDaily #InstaPic #myshots #myphotography #PicoftheDay #PhotooftheDay #PhotographyDaily #BestoftheDay #throughmylens #PhotoAddict #PicturePerfect #Nikon #NikonPhotography #outforawalk #whatISee #AlongthePath #AlongtheRoad #Colorful #historichouses https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch4p6xluOXu/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[neonrpt]

I'm black and a nonbinary in chestnut and some anons make it seem wilder than it is and maybe that's because I'm not here to complain or look for negatives, and while one storyline had some homophobic moments it was used to show how bad that character was and created drama and as a group we all conversed over it. It wasn't glamorized or just happened (1/2)

(2/2) like with other groups in the past I was in and there are more POC than white and they changed from Nina so the thing is while some one is sending hate in to have you or another rpt judge, the group is evolving in it's own way and the admins are trying to grow and learn, they have anon polls for us to give criticism. Again most other groups don't offer this. I have more gripe with that sub/Dom London rpg than chestnut cause again it's tamed and they lost triggers and try to adjust while learning from their muns and muses unlike other groups.

this is a bit long, and multiple messages were sent, so i'm putting it under a readmore bc it is Long!

Also the amount of lies about chestnut is polorizing like smut? I barely see anon you cappin

Also they don't use gifs in chestnut that goes to show you how much anon is cappin

disclaimer: ok so i want 2 make it CLEAR that the gifs thing was me! that was my concern was that i didn't know if it was a tumblr rp or a discord rp bc i was worried since many tumblr rps rely on gifs - and gifmakers don't want to be used in smut rps since the anon was saying chestnut was a lot like a smut rp, so if they're not using gifs, that's my Bad, i have since taken that lil part off . the smut part tho, that was anon, lol

uhhh okay so let's break this message down bc u brought up Many points, hm

i think everyone has the right to interpret a group and how they handle things, and if they find a situation was negative or felt uncomfortable with how a situation was handled - that's their right, i don't want 2 silence that at all? i do think esp with a storyline that has homophobic moments, idk i feel like rp imo isn't really the place to have those plotlines? like any sort of bigoted storyline a person has - i feel rp just isn't the place for that personally, like you can show a person being a Dick without making them homophobic or racist the way the anon brought up

it's good again like i said they changed from nina; but i do want 2 point out that like. "rpt judge", i'm just here to listen 2 people's concerns, i'm not an executioner by any means ?? this is Discord Roleplay. if i'm wrong abt something, and it's brought up 2 me by the admins, or if the admins feel like a claim is unfair, i take things down, i've done it Before ?? ? ?

it's good the admins provide muns the way to give criticism, but i will also say that you can have gripe with more than one group .. also i have no idea what sub/dom london rpg you're talking about - but, many groups can be Fucky, at the same time, so! it's good that they're livin and learning from their past behaviour ig? ?? ?

[matt0044]

I feel like certain character flaws for protagonists don’t always lend themselves well to long form storytelling like with Manga or episodic television taking their time with their status quo.

That is, in terms of how polorizing they can be with fans over whether or not these are meant to be endearing quirks or hurdles to leap over. The slow burn might leave some with something akin to… how did King Julian put it?

There it is.

Basically… it often feels like binge watching took off for a reason.

[myketheartista]

HEY HOMIES !!!

Here’s the big baddie 😮‍💨 my final for Digital Illustration I ! I was so excited to do this assignment when I first heard about it in Week 1, I had kinda planned from the start for it to be an Aiah and Polor piece since I can’t get their dynamic outta my head. Came back to an old rendering style I haven’t touched in ages and really tried to push the color palette this time around (I learned about gradient maps ! They’re super cool !!) In the end, I think there’s a lot about it I wouldn’t change at all. This is honestly one of my best pieces if I’d have to judge, haha.

I’m super pleased with the finished version even though it drained every ounce of my life force <3 I now vanish to pursue more back-breaking projects

[worldofthebatala]

//Merry Christmas, everyone! Was my winter holiday a good one? If having to spend about 2 weeks recovering from an acute lumbar strain counts as one, then.... I guess, pffff. GuiMontag couldn't wait to see what Patisha, Polore's wife, would have looked like, and... well, if I could find the doodles I drew of her waaaay back to 1998-2000, I'd post them. Except I won't even if I did because goddamn those drawing were godawful. One thing for certain Gui got right, though: Pati's fur isn't a full polar "white", as she's only 3/4ths Polar Bear (the 1/4th is Grizzly), so her fur pattern looks like that of an extremely washed out grizzly. I WOULD have touched up on this picture and presented all nice-like, but 1.) I DREW THE HILT WRONG and didn't realize it until AFTER I did the lineart/colors, and 2.) I don't like this color scheme. At all. As a kid, I often associate cyan colors with Polore and Patisha would have magenta, but eh. EH. This is what I get for not updating a character's design since the literal 90s. Well, that's not 100%. Patisha was previously named "Patricia" until I retooled the lore, hurrrr. I don't have a current story for Patisha yet, but I do remember what I had back in the original novels I wrote as a kid: Polore went off to find heroes to face the Big Bad at the time only to die before he'd get home, and he wouldn't return to Patricia until he was a ghost. The latest drafts of the Ba'tala story still keeps the idea that Polore would be undead and Patisha is unaware, but even that may not be a keeper. Right now, the only solid idea is that Patisha was higher ranked than Polore when they married, then was prohibited from serving in the Grand Royal Army due to her gender (which clashes with the Kumapati tradition, who are matriarchal and often have women in the higher ranks instead). So as Polore went off for adventures with Madahon, Patisha is holding the fort back among the Kumapati Clan as war was starting to break out. Most of her story, however, wouldn't come into major focus until much later, however, especially as the lives of her dearest friends and loved ones are in danger. Patisha does have some background to her that isn't related to Polore at all--she and Ezamina were military training friends and sparring partners. And rivals in who holds the title of "Biggest Boobs of Steel in the Entire Ba'tala World".

[snow-okki]

Passing the Torch

When you love Messiah so much that as you are showering you thought about Messiah and decided to spend an hour writing a rant on it instead of preparing for an exam due tomorrow.

Today’s topic is on ‘The Relationship of non Messiahs and How It Affects the Feels’ in Messiah :D

First thing. I still haven’t watched Yuukyuu in its entirety (yes shame on me XD). But thinking about the snippets that I’ve watched, I thought it was very...dark. Pitch black, very cold, it feels...distant. 

Okay, maybe that’s the intended setting, being Ariga and all that. So I thought, was it the same for other graduation installment? Hakugin was...blue, dark blue or faded blue, like a normal course of nature. Hisui was very strong green, it left a very strong impression in mind. Hagane was dark purple, the mix of Mamiya and Ariga’s color, beautiful. Akatsuki was...uh...the colors of confetti at the end? And Polor Night was grey, bleak, dull, not exactly memorable.

Messiah has always been about despair, so I understand that some things are meant to feel cold, gloomy, all the dark things, especially when it comes to graduation mission. But it hasn’t always been like that. And even when it came to the ‘graduation’ of the most despair stricken character ever in Messiah history, there was still warmth in it.

And the reason for that, I deduced, is because of the interaction between the graduating cast and those that remains. How the torch is being passed.

Let’s start with Hakugin. Gen 1 were pretty close knit, the messiah relationship is legendary (coughhakueiricough), but outside the messiah pair they’re alright. Not the bestest of friends. There’s a certain amount of gap, like one between colleagues, or that senpai in your club that you never really talked to. So when Hakugin happened it felt...normal. Souma Shuusuke graduated and Haku Eiri moved on with their lives.

In Hisui, the bond between the remaining senpai and the then new gen2 has been established over one entire freaking Eisei. But that’s not all. The entire graduation mission of Haku Eiri involved the gen2 cadets in some way or another (Mamiya’s role, Eiri asking Mamoru for advice twice, that ‘Ariga has no friend’ adlib). The events of Hisui not only marked the end of Haku Eiri saga, but also affected the gen2 in some way or another. Character development happened. The torch was passed beautifully.

To our joy, that happened again in Hagane. Though there’s no new cadets to pass the torch to (Kagami was still pretty much an outsider), Mamiya’s ‘graduation’ not only affected Ariga, but also Mamoru and Kaito. There’s this same feeling from Hisui, something like ‘We’re all in this together, and it’s now time for me to settle this myself.’ That was what makes it so heartwarming, that feeling that everyone has your back as you brace through the despair. It was why this is arguably the best installment in Messiah ever bar none. (I prefer Shibi though :P)

From then on, it’s ‘Thank you, but I have to do this myself’.

With so many side plots going at once in Akatsuki, Mamoru pretty much had to deal with his problem on his own. Sure, Ariga was there to support him, but he was preoccupied with his own problems with his own Messiah. The gen 3 have their own internal problems, but none of them are related whatsoever to the seniors. The closest thing we have to a torch being passed is from Mamoru to Ariga and Ariga allowing Kogure to touch the tip of the torch. Whereas I absolutely love the scenes in Hakugin, Hisui and Hagane where the leftover cadets send the graduating cadets off, I totally don’t buy it when they did the same with Mamoru here.

Polor Night is graduation of different cast so it’s hard to use this for comparison. Though I’d like to note how Haku Eiri’s interaction with Misu Amane really helps this installment a lot. Understandably so, since they’re the only character who has had decent amount of interaction with the graduating pair (there’s Mamoru but unfortunately his mind was ‘full of Kaito’). I wished they’d brought back Takano. He’s pretty much part of the gang already, even as a last resort butt monkey. Such a shame he didn’t even get a cameo :(

Also they tried to establish that bond between generation by having Mamoru tutor gen3. It need not be said that Mamoru’s head is so full of something else, it obviously didn’t work, both the tutoring and this bond establishing thing.

And then there’s Yuukyuu, which I won’t talk about because it’ll totally be unfair to judge before watching the entire thing in one sitting. But based on the gen3 clips that I have biasedly skimmed through, I’m guessing it’s not much different from Akatsuki. Miike and Yugi are totally in their own world. Hinamori is related to Kuroko which is a totally separate plot. Only Kogure has some semblance of relationship to the graduating pair, but he’s also too busy with his own plot and being a damsel. Instead the one that have active role with the graduating pair is...Ichijima, who was not even there during half of the gen2′s time. 

I think that’s why it felt distant. The graduation felt like such an isolated case, kinda like Hakugin, but colder. I don’t think the gen3 are affected in any way by their graduation. No one else has significant relationship with the graduating pair, except Kamikita...who wasn’t there (Just imagine if they have Kamikita comment on Ariga’s (and Kagami’s) growth at their graduation). The entire gen 3 and that stupid blue and pink pair and Souk and Salyut can all disappear and neither their stories nor the graduating pair’s would change. Yuukyuu doesn’t have that ‘sending off scene’ at the end, that’s saying something.

In short, Messiah should stop trying to cram so many plots into one installment, and build things up slowly. Not giving the non graduating characters anything to do doesn’t mean no character development. In fact, their interactions with other characters besides their partners speak a lot about their personalities. 

‘Sakura cadets cannot become friends or lovers’

While this rule is meant to reflect the depth of the relationship between messiahs, I think it speaks even more to those who dare to outright break this rule. 

[l-in-c-future]

People cried out Donald Trump crisis urging him to grow up. But the Trump phenomenon is a symptom of many forces coming together, the cry for growing up shouldn’t just be him alone, it is the cultural maturity that needs to grow up by many people. 

 These reflections will be most obviously important because they help us make sense of today’s circumstances. Cultural Maturity’s changes help us understand why, in spite of the great progress we have made over recent centuries, we should now find ourselves feeling confused and directionless. I will describe other possible explanations, and these reflections will require that we think more complexly than is our custom. But I don’t know of other interpretations that provide the same depth of understanding—either with regard to why we might encounter these realities or what will be needed if we are to move forward effectively.

As important for our task with this series of articles will be ways our modern Crisis of Purpose provides big-picture evidence for the concept of Cultural Maturity. The fact that Cultural Maturity’s changes can help us understand both the causes and the potential consequences of today’s Crisis of Purpose supports the concept’s accuracy and also its importance. And there is a further particularly convincing piece of evidence. The concept of Cultural Maturity provides the only explanation I know of that is ultimately consistent with a positive future.

However rich and powerfully significant the past’s onward-and-upward narrative has often been, continuing to cling to it presents fundamental problems. We confront contradictions that usual ways of thinking leave us unable to address. While what we have reaped, and will continue to reap, from culture’s evolution toward ever-greater individuality is profound, the future clearly as much cries out for a new appreciation of ways in which we are related—for a fresh understanding of caring, community, and the common good. 

While our ever-greater human authority—over nature, over our own bodies, over life’s deep mysteries—has similarly had immense significance, in a related way today, its opposite is arguably as much part of what is needed—a new humility to what we cannot control, a new sensitivity to when we should be listening as opposed to directing (whether the voice needing attention is the natural world, our tissues, or the unfathomable). 

And while ever more complex and wondrous inventions and technologies will certainly play a major role in shaping our human future, in parallel with these other observations, just as important for our well-being will be greater appreciation for the limits of technology as a human solution and an ever-deeper commitment to assuring that what we create serves ultimate good.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/our-modern-crisis-purposeand-how-humanitys-needed-up-johnston-md

Cultural maturity requires people to think beyond zero-sum games in a very narrow, selfish dichotomic narratives of worldviews or even monolithic worldview. Many partisan gridlocks that are paralyzing and crippling the governance that caused much disillusion, disappointment, anger, anxiety because of all sorts of disenfranchisement come from such rigid egocentric mentality. Unfortunately, these interacting forces drive many of the crisis (environmental, social, economic, political, cultural, technological) without leading us to a more promising and sustainable future. During the ‘growing up’ process, people break through from their own cocooned views of themselves, people around them and the world we live in, just like the butterflies have to break through their own cocoons before they can fly high.

Cultural maturity requires people see beyond just left and right; ‘good’ and ‘evil’; ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ in which the good/evil; right/wrong are defined by one side of vision, basically self-visioning instead of a shared co-vision.  Cultural maturity, as mentioned in one of the attached links in this article, requires different stakeholders CAN see the solutions in the mid-ground. It is an ancient wisdom of philosophical thoughts embedded in the essence of the Doctrine of the Mean (中庸之道) . It is far more than what the Western politics refer to being a centralist. It is a philosophy that people do not see the world as a large battery making up of the +ve or -ve polors but the wisdom that 2 -ves (i.e. -ve, -ve) will synergize a +ve.

Fundamentally, it is about how can we cherish our own uniquenesses while appreciating diversity; how we cherish our freedom to be authentic about ourselves while respect others the same; how we do not absurdly abuse our rights to be who we are, what we like that we hurt others the same.

It requires people do not succumb to naive hope based on hero seeking. Complex problems never have simple ‘short-cut’ answers. Naive hope is blinded by the occult belief that there are some illusionary ‘convinient’ and ‘quick’ ways that only encourage the emergence of populist politicians who reinforce the deception that will never fill anybody’s empty voidness.

The immature ‘Donald Trump spoiled baby’ isn’t just about one man’s characters. It is the manifestation of the collective immaturity of many people, drastically amplified and multiplied, finally giving birth to this baby granting permission to this messy baby climbing up under the spotlight of the world stage.

[snow-okki]

Polor Night Rant

Because my way of showing love to Messiah is to pick clean each one of its bones until there is not even a speck of dust left to pick. And also because I've finally watched it (yes I'm that late into the party).

Disclaimer: I'm not a movie critic. Tis a rant.

Also spoiler if you haven't watched it, but really if you still haven't watched it till now, you live under more rocks than I do.

Also warning: it’s long.

I should have never expected much from Messiah movie the moment I saw them still using that obviously fake explosion in the trailer.

First, the directing. IT SUCKS. Even more than in previous movies.

I get it, they're not filming everything in chronological order. But that's not what it's supposed to feel like! The transition is supposed to be smooth, the continuity is supposed to hold.

Biggest offender is the scene where Kuroko chased after Mamoru. Mamoru was walking while staring onto a piece of paper when suddenly Kuroko appeared behind him. Mamoru broke into a sprint, and then scene cuts to Mamoru being blocked by a no-named sakura cadet, and then cut to Kuroko already standing behind Mamoru fancily twirling and pointing his lil knife at Mamoru's throat.

Unless Kuroko teleported, which there are better ways to imply that Kuroko can move faster than the wind, it feels like the editor forgot to add a clip and just be like "Eh, the fans can just assume that Kuroko teleported, no biggie."

But it is a biggie. It takes the immersion out of the movie. It's like a speeding car suddenly break into a halt. Ain't fun yo.

And about continuity, this is a small but the easiest to point out example. On the scene where Guen was confronting Misu with the data from the flash disc he had acquired from his lil bro, Misu was chilling on the sofa with a paper in hand. Cut to scene where Misu brought the paper closer for him to read. The next scene is zoomed out, and we have Misu, still chilling on the sofa, with his hand and the paper he had just read a second ago dangling loosely from the sofa head.

This is not Harry Potter Movie 2001 where they can get away with forgetting which side of the forehead Harry's scar is supposed to be on. This is 2017.

(And let's not start on the biggest continuity error that is Misu's past)

Secondly, music. Previously for Akatsuki I praised it for the variety and frequency of background music being used. The movie, however….is dead silent 90% of the time.

"It's an information heavy movie, lots of talking so music won't be appropriate." Fine.

You're lucky if the talking scene is accompanied by some keyboard mashing sound. Enjoy dead silence as two old men talk to each other~

And when the movie does use background music…it feels very out of place. At least some of them.

I have a bone to pick with that 'holier than thou' music for the Kuroko serves Ichijima tea scene, and the music for Misu dying scene.

The former, it's veeeryyyy out of place. The church may be fancy, and it might be Ichijima's tea time (with Japanese traditional glass), but the entire situation is not. If the creator's trying to achieve cognitive dissonance, congrats, they did it.

As for the latter, it's…well, it's not a good background music. It works for the trailer, but as background, I feel that it's too strong. It's as if the music's competing with Misu-Amane in 'who can make the audience cry harder' competition. Amane wins btw.

Thirdly, GEN 3.

My god I wish this movie doesn't exist for Gen 3. All this movie does is putting each Gen 3 kids into a stereotype. And it sort of developed Mayo's character but NOT KOGURE AND YUGI.

Yugi constantly spouting catchphrases like "Who should I defeat?" is unnatural, with the one in the public bath scene being the worst example. He's a sportsman, sure, but athletes don't go around to everyone saying "Hey you, wanna judo me?" or something like that. Gangsters do that. (Plot twist le gasp)

Kogure…is…uh……a talking machine? Besides being a butt monkey which I highly approve, all he did was spouting information super rapidly. (Now I find it hilarious if he's related to Ichijima since Ichijima always takes his sweet time in delivering his lines XD). But other than that, he’s as bland as the wall.

Mayo is one of the highlights of this movie, his character providing the much-needed break from all the seriousness, and he gets his character development too! We have "Call me Mayo-sama, Mayo-tan is also fine!", him being the first to figure out Mamoru-Kaito relationship, and all his scenes with his mysterious leaf. This is good.

IF ONLY THEY DO THE SAME TO THE REST OF GEN 3

Fourth, and probably the most subjective point to argue, is acting.

Some butai actors are not meant to act in a movie. That, or the directing sucks so bad this gap shows.

What happens is that butai actors tend to exaggerate their movements which looks very unnatural in movie (OKKI), or they can't deliver information heavy scenes without looking like they're reading a script (Shinchan, also Okki). The blu-billions minions stick out like a sore thumb, hair wise and acting wise.

Yes I find Misu's dying scene hammy. Amane pulled it off nicely, but not Misu.

They probably could benefit from better directing, as in less 'all in one take' scenes. But alas, budget.

Fifth, the making.

If we talk about butai backstage, I think Tenimyu is the first to make butai backstage such a huge thing that it gets its own DVD now. And I still find it (Tenimyu 1st) to be the most enjoyable backstage to date, for a reason: it's a bunch of actors naturally having fun.

Messiah is so not a good series to have this 'fun' backstage.

The movie is shot under very short time constrain so there's not much time to chill, let alone bond. Actors repeatedly mention how Messiah's lines are heavy, which again means there's not much time to chill. With the story being very serious, acting blunders can't be passed as a joke, and the actors who have immersed themselves in this serious universe can't afford to joke around at the expense of their actings. And for this title in particular, the actors' relationship are not solid yet with half of them being new casts, so some 'bonding' moments feels forced (Okki and Shinchan has zero chemistry).

In other words, they're really better off making some kind of documentary or interview, something that showcases the depth of Messiah series or their characters, instead of trying to make a friendship/fun type of backstage.

Ok I've ranted enough about all the stuff I have issues with. Let's end this in a good note!

The good things!

1. The writing. All the callbacks to previous installments. The little things the characters get to do to show their personality (partially thanks to their actors as well). But not the plot. I find it too cheesy of an ending.

2. Kogure being a butt monkey. Eiri's the closest thing we have to a butt monkey in the entire history of Messiah. I'm glad some comedy is coming back. Especially that lil scene where Kogure complained to Yugi about the water splashes going into his eyes. That's adorable. *fangirl continues*

3. The making. Forgot to mention this but I find that some things are better not shown in the making. Like the shooting of Misu getting washed away by torrent of CG water. Watching that breaks my suspension of disbelief. I can't rewatch it and cry the same way I rewatch Mamoru-Kaito's scene in Shibi and cry.

But other things, like Okki totally not nailing his lines, Shinchan getting 'Messiah baptism' by also screwing up his lines, Ichijima somehow nailing all his long-ass lines with no miss, Misu accidentally hitting Guen for real, Ryoki chugging what looks like a milk but is probably not, Sugie not nailing his lines after splashing Shinchan in the public bath scene, Ichijima's wtf muscles…Many good stuff XD

Aaaand that's about it. Overall I'm not that into this movie. This feels like a spin-off, that is the main series can just continue from Akatsuki and there won't be any issue besides having to justify Misu and Amane's disappearance. None of the non Misu-Amane plot here are important or something that can't be justified by Akatsuki. Okay maybe besides Mayo's character development and the whole cult deal, which can also be explained off handedly in Yuukyuu in less than 5 mins. Sure I enjoy the fanservicy moments, but that's it, fan service. They'll be completely gone by the release of the next installment.

I really wish they've ended it with Misu and Amane settling down forgoing their goal for 'world equality', something like 'you're more important than my ideals'. That'll be poignant, and very Messiah like, and saves them the budget for that cheap-ass CG water torrent.