#I mean theres not much ti work with for a ship name

[shinythingsarecool]

A small Hezekiah and Nathaniel doodle, mayhaps?

if u like this pls reblog bc likes don't do shit

[commanderquinn]

a list of canon ways in which lillian hart is The Fucking Worst that cora coe deserves financial and emotional compensation for:

-the basis for the big divorce counseling mission is that cora's worried for her mother's safety. that means, before going on a deep cover operation with smugglers known to kill rangers, marines, or anyone else caught trying to interfere with their business, lillian didnt leave her daughter a heads up much less a lead. once the fuck again, this woman decided that her career was more important than her daughter's mental and emotional health. once the fuck again, this woman decided she could just disappear from cora's life and then come back out of the blue without consequence

-when you go to lillian's office to look for her at cora's request, the guy working the desk knows SAM well enough to know his name and give him shit like they've got a personal history, but he??? isnt sure about????? cora's name???? word for word, he looks at her and says "it's cora, right?" you're telling me that this woman doesn't talk about her kid enough for her fellow INVESTIAGATIVE rangers to be sure about her name??? are you SHITTING ME??????? get the fuck out of here. you cant push "ranger family values" and the close ties they have in one breath then claim she likes to keep a professional distance at work in the other. you wanna have the conversation about what fresh hell it is being a working mother in a position of power, lets go, ill have that conversation all day long. but lillian hart is not a fucking example of a working mother and im gonna be pretty fucking insulted for working mothers everywhere if i catch wind of ppl trying to pull that kind of defense card. the woman's an awful parent and should be held the fuck accountable for it. you wanna know how i know????

she doesn't say cora's name enough for the ranger watching the door to be confident in it, but he remembers alllll the stories of the captain her ex is cozying up to. and lillian is the one to confirm during the quest that she has been getting the stories from cora, so there's some clear "oh she already likes the stranger more than me." i know im reading into it because its fiction and none of these people are real, but ive also, y'know been in cora's shoes, so i can tell you from real life experience that shit does exist. idk if that was the writers INTENT, but it sure does a great job at reflecting a very sad reality

-sam points out its dumb that lillian wants to speed the ship, with her daughter on it, directly at the sydicate. idk abt y'all, but my ship was pretty dinky at that point bc i was focused on outposts, and we got ambushed by like 6 ship waves once we landed for that fight. again, i get it. game mechanics get a higher priority than realism. but this whole "we have to finish this because theres a chance you were spotted trying to rescue me" shit is so. nauseating. theres no demand to drop off cora somewhere safe, theres no "lets call in the cavalry." its this fucking egomaniac looking you dead in the eye and being like "i know i just traumatized the shit out of my kid but i need you to drive us into an ambush while she's still on board. hope you're a good shot because sam and i cant kill them ourselves." and so what that we did that????? YOURE TELLING ME IT WAS JUST THOSE SHIPS???? the rest of the organization is just going to LET IT GO???? like no fucking wonder sam sees himself as the better option even through all his fucking doubt. at least he knows when to turn the fuck around because shit is above his paygrade

-she has custody rights. she is a decorated and respected ranger. sam being a smuggler wasnt public knowledge, but point out one person in akila who wouldnt believe her in a heartbeat over it. everyone in town gives him nothing but shit, and they all side with his dad who was definitely no picnic to live with. im guessing big emotional detachment there, lotta interrogation and persecution rather than teaching and understanding. HELL, sam would probably own up to his past if lillian outed him for it, he's that type of idiot. at literally any point she could put in the effort to get legal council involved. if she's SOOOO by the law, whats the hold up there???? i agree the kid shouldnt be on my ship while im in the middle of a space fight. ive talked with sam about it, and im not even the kids parent (as of the personal quest). what the fuck are you doing about it lillian????????? oh thats right. we cant get lillian on the phone. whomp whomp.

-she made cora cry. hyper independent, "big girls dont cry" cora coe. multiple times. worse, she made cora cry because she made cora feel like she wasn't as important as lillian's career. i dont give a fuck what criminals are doing. i do not give a fuck. i give a fuck that that little pixel child got her heart broken and there isnt a dialogue for me to call out her mother for being a huge fucking cunt to her own daughter but theres a thousand and one options for me to tell sam he's parenting wrong. he is, and i have no problem using them when they're appropriate, but where the fuck are they for lillian??? why am i not allowed to tear this woman a new asshole at any point, but there's like 20+ extra dialogue options added to every single npc you have a persuade option with???? todd my head hurts and its your fault

-"im sure sam's told you all about me. go on. ask whatever you want." yet there is no option to ask what the fuck her problem is. so, clearly, i cannot, in fact, ask whatever i want.

-"but the looks i got from my fellow rangers reading alexander dumas... we do strange things for kids." yeah hart??? thats your standard????? THATS your idea of going out of your way for your kid??? literally how did sam fall for this woman oh my god i cant even listen to her speak without wanting to use the power of bitchhood i inherited from a long line of angry irish women to ridicule her to tears. maybe then she'll fucking understand how small she makes her fucking kid feel every time she turns a moment of bonding into a little "woe is me and my comfort zone oh how unfortunate i am to have a brilliant daughter that wants to connect with me through her greatest passion"

-she openly admits that she dumped the cargo sam was smuggling not because she felt any connection or sympathy or just didnt want to destroy someones chance at life in a capitalist society, but because he was a good pilot and she didnt want that talent to "go to waste" so she could recruit him. thats not really a thing against cora i just really fucking hate that and the picture it paints of her priorities as a human being

-"if we're going to be really honest here... back when we were a team... cora would follow you everywhere, like a little adoring dog. i... just fell out of it. long before we separated."

i literally. do not have words for how fucking disgusted i am by that line of dialogue. oh my fucking god. oh my fucking god. i. i TRULY would not even know where to start. the dog comparison makes me violently angry and if you'd given me a punch interrupt at that moment, i would have broken my keyboard punching the accept option

-go replay or watch a recording of that divorce counseling mission one more time. while you're doing it, imagine the roles reversed. imagine youre romancing a character thats a mother bringing cora into space, and the ranger standing in your cockpit asking to finish the mission is her father who took off to live at work once it was clear his little girl liked mommy better. imagine THAT while you listen to the (imo) out of fucking pocket dialogue where sam constantly praises lillian for being "a good ranger/woman." then you come back and tell me how comfortable you are with the concept of lillian hart as a character.

[logicroute]

hades fun ramble abt how the yttd fandom treats shin tsukimi :)

haiiii so if you know me you know that i have one billion illness about some guy named shin tsukimi from yttd! and i have some issues on how the fandom writes him, this is coming from someone who has health issues so im going to be somewhat projecting but! hopefully not that much. all of it is going to be under cut!

this is going to cover a lot of spoilers.. so i wouldnt click it unless you finished the game. its also going to cover topics like ableism and a mention of toxic relationships but thats expected when you want to talk about shin and the fandom

so in game (epsically in your turn to shine) its heavily hinted that shin is someone who has health issues (chronic illness and the works), even in the base game it is shown that shin is physically weak (chapt one in the bar where he tries to open the drawer for example.).

and how the fandom made that into shin being a weak person, but not in a strength sense, in the sense that he cant protect/cant hold his own (looking at you shin ship writers.). but! thats just the only issue right? (this is also ableism to me in a way.. but i cant put my words right at the moment.)

nope!! theres more. the fandom at times made shin out to be a 'dirty' person, someone who is gross and unclean. even if that's far from canon (there being a line that shins hands are clean in game.) and to me, thats just stereotypes of people who are mentally ill coming into play. saying that people who suffer from mental illness cant treat themselves on their own. which in some cases may be true, but not in all of them.

i also think this ties into shin being a person who was in game he is saving money, he is a job hopper which some fans took as he is poor which mean hes dirty.. which is just gross that people think just because a person may be poor, automatically means they're dirty.

theres also the issue with shadow sou (also know as shadsou in the fandom) where (some) people treat it as not a part of shin, it just being a part of midori. shin didnt bring out the hiyori persona out of nowhere, it wouldnt make sense that shin is some 'soft boy'.

fans tend to forget that shin isnt the best person, even in a few pregame thoughts. he can still be an asshole without being told about the 0.0% thing. you can let him be petty, you can let him be sly, you can let him be mean. he doesnt need to be doomed to do any of that.

its the same with the shinai, we only really saw small bits of the shinai.. and guessing from his dialog, he is still close to hiyori and that can affect how he acts, but that doesnt mean a pre game shin acts just like shinai, his an ai for a reason, he learns over time and picks up his own traits. its similar to how the fandom treats highschool shin and his friendship with hiyori and thats a whole another can of worms.

people who say they dont ship hiyori and shin.. and then say they dated in the past are an issue to me. not every toxic friendship has to be romantic, yes hiyori wanted to study shin, but thats because he wanted to see how much he can push a person. even the shinai says he likes to experiment on people, and hiyori most likely did the same with shin but more in a mental sense.

theres a reason why i dont interact with people who tag stuff with their ship tag, i dont trust them to take them in a way thats just them being 'friends'. and if you see it like that or make it out so hiyori isnt that bad of a person... block me i dont want you guys near me. (this goes with those 'midori isnt a bad person!!' au writers to. get out.)

on the topic of shipping, a handful of people who ship shin with people srsly make him out to be someone whos weak and needs to be protected by whoever the pairing is with. you guys just want your yaoi. i see this the most in keishin / alishin circles. shin doesnt need to be 'saved' or whatever, he just needs to heal on his own time, he doesnt need a romantic partner in his life for that.

thats a good part of my thoughts! if you have any questions on my thoughts on shin you can send me an ask here or shoot me a dm on discord :3 (samuraiyaiba)

[just-a-little-silly]

also wanted to take a moment to answer some questions from @eye-cri againn quite honestly reading these made me so happy^^

ughrgh kajal my girl🩵

(note: this is quite a long post so yk just fyi^^)

yes indeed the skirt was a nightmare to render but was it worth it? absolutely. and yeee the earrings are such an important part of her design (shes hardly ever seen w/ out them :>>) and yes, they do ring!! (trust zeus teases her for it when they’re initially meeting) the glove is actually tied to her story, she uses it to cover a symbol on her hand linked to her powers (ill go into detail about that in a bit). also kajal is of fae descent, (hence the pointed ears, i think i also meant to add a tail to her design but we’ll see abt that). as for how she got in to the academy, she just applied to the academy for fun (fae court stuff bored her- i have so much fae lore for this universe i.) and got accepted into the night class- she wanted to get away from home for a bit and thought some fancy boarding school/ academy in gedonelune would be interesting (i honestly forgot how getting into the academy works and haven’t gone back to check in a while so. i hope that works TT). she’s close friends with caesar, leslie and hiro. (i personally like that hiro and kajal both have special unique skills- ill touch on it later.)

ALSO YES. ZEUS. KAJAL. ZEJAL. IM. THEY- 💕🥺🩵✨❤️ zeus nationnnnn YES. hes just so🥺🩵🩵.

i truly cannot put into words how much they mean to me. zeus as a character is just so so wonderful and i. cannot. describe. how much i love him :>> anyways zejal (the ship name :PP) has been my precious lil thing for YEARS now im. (i’ll try to keep this brief so i dont go on forever)- zeus and kajal are very much rivals to lovers. they start out as classmates and spend most of their first year trying to one up one another. they do eventually start to begrudgingly respect one another and before he knows it, zeus is whipped for her. she too forms her own budding crush but isn’t really sure what to do about it because she doesn’t think zeus would ever feel the same way sooo she bottles it down and ignores it- subsequently (and perhaps inadvertently) ignoring him too. he doesn’t take that too well and it stays pretty tense between them for a bit until everything boils over and zeus ends up confessing followed almost immediately by kajal. thats just a ridiculously brief summary lmaoo- theres a lot to their story TT.

as for styling her uniform, i think she keeps it pretty simple just a regular night class uniform- she will however sometimes be spotted with a large floofy orange scarf (she borrows zeus’s- she likes how soft it is and he honestly loves to see her wear it)

the type of magic she specializes in are ancient curses and incantations. girl has LOADS of ancient grimoires she could spend hours translating and decoding the spells described in them. In fact she ends up using her knowledge of ancient magic to formulate her own unique spell (a concept i might have borrowed from twst in all honesty). she calls it, “evil eye” and its basically a magic circle w/ an evil eye design in the middle - it defends her from malicious intent however, considering that shes supposed to be rather powerful i took it a step further and made it so that using it, kajal can temporarily shut down people’s magic if they intend to do her any harm. she has the symbol marked on her right palm so she can activate it faster. (smthn smthn hiro and kajal bonding over having unique abilities- hiro would actually approach her bc she knows a lot about sealing magic away + she tries her best to help him research his own curse and whatnot) i also just love how both she and zeus work with magic circles i. ugh💕.

—> also the thought of her, caesar and leslie having get togethers where they gossip about random things while drinking chai she prepares hasn’t left my mind.

[natsmagi]

(future au anon) thanks!! And yeaaah making this au is REALLY fun, making aus with friends is always so fun tbh! (Reminds me i also have a Wonderland AU that i love very much but it's more HiiKohaAi centered bc i love them very much)

ALSO TRUE NTGM COULD'VE SUCH COOL UNCLES..But we killed Tsumugi😭 amsorry

Anywayy time to tell u more about Kiiko Suou :) any pronouns but mostly uses he/they also made by me

First of all they're a producer!! Though deep inside he do want to be an idol it's just huuum let's say he doesn't think the best of himself and they think it's better for them to not "be in the spotlight" and be a "support role instead" but that ties with his backstory that I'll explain now

(*cough* and they created an illegal unit with other fanchildren anyway *cough*)

So!! Kiiko being the next Suou heir has well a lot of expectations put on them by the family ever since...he was born, honestly

But they mostly inherited of Sora eccentricity, energy, and even some of his speaking pattern + the synesthesia. Kiiko is way closer to Sora anyway and despite caring about his child a lot Tsukasa doesn't spend much time with them since he's VERY busy with looots of stuff (Family business + becoming new Pres of NewDi + being leader of Knights + protecting Kohaku's daughter from the Oukawa dirty work bad Kasa putting ur niece before ur own son)

Anywayy but hum the angst part (there always is one) of Kiiko's backstory is the Suous. Weren't very accepting of him. He acted way too energetically to their liking and it didn't help Kiiko actually have some sort of intrusive thoughts...so basically they would think and say very inappropriate things and give crazy and dangerous ideas without realizing (for example..uh well the illegal unit idea came from Kiiko and the others went along with it lol. Guess I'll try to elaborate on this unit later on huh)

Also didn't help that Tsukasa actually had a daughter with Tori beforehand (i also ship Torikasa) and well since it's Tori taking care of her now (Torikasa didn't last in this au sadly but it's fine theres Sorakasa) she's supposed to be the Himemiyas heir now but the Suous also want her to be their heir bc they consider her way more fitting for the role. And so they often compare Yui (Torikasa kid) and Kiiko like "you should take example on her and act more disciplined" and similar stuff

(and the synesthesia just made all of the Suous disappointment impact on Kiiko even worse,,)

SOO conclusion Kiiko thinks it would be bad for him to be an idol bc he'll be too much in the spotlight and will Very Probably mess up bc of their intrusive thoughts so they just choose to be a supporting role, aka producer (...and still messed up anyway but its fine Kiiko we luv u anyway)

And Kiiko suggested the illegal unit idea out of good will, too :) bc basically i have another fanchild, a MadaAnzu one (or whatever the ship name is), Yumeto, who's also a producer, but also dreams to be an idol. and he tried, he really did, he took the entry exam two times...but failed both times. So he just became a producer instead bc its the closest he can get to his dream

So ofc Kiiko and Yumeto become very close as both producers (*cough* they're a ship *cough*) and Yumeto end up venting to Kiiko about his dreams being crushed, and that's when Kiiko is like "Then just perform illegally! :D"

Yumeto ended up accepting and convincing Kiiko to perform illegally with him, except that their roommate, Setsuko (made by my friend, she's an Izuleo kid), kind of heard them on accident...and uh long story short she joins the illegal unit!

By illegal unit i mean that they're not registered on paper and just. Invade stages. To perform. Illegally (ofc they're disguised when they do)

GOD BEFORE I KNEW IT I ENDED UP RAMBLING SM IM SORRY AIVZVIPYGZ

HELP ITS OKAY THEYRE FUN READS!! i love the amnt of thought and care put into these lil guys....... and theyve got alot of really cool depth and character to them that makes everything tie together so nicely....... TBH I DONT REALLY HAVE MUCH LEFT TO SAY BUT I DO REALLY LIKE WHAT U HAVE GOING !! again while u dont have everything figured out rn what u DO have is enough to give it the feel of a complete story and thats super admirable!!

I HOPE THEY GET THEIR HAPPY ENDINGS THOUGH.......!!

[its-no-biggie]

i know i already talked a lot about characterization but its not just that. SO much of these first few episodes is really good storytelling, especially when compared to stampede. the difference is staggering

rem is introduced way more gradually- 8 episodes in and we still dont even know what she was to vash! all weve gotten is her name and a memory of her singing. but we do know that vash loved her and now shes gone and that a lot of his morality comes from her. which is extremely good to establish early on

vash being non-human is also revealed way more gradually- at first you think he might just be really talented or have Protagonist Powers but over time youre like. oh this guy genuinely might not be human (which obviously i knew going in but that means i can appreciate how subtle it is in this version). we havent even seen his prosthetic arm yet!

i also really like that so far NOTHING has tied back to millions knives. the closest thing weve gotten to any knives content is vash being cryptic about the origins of his gun. i really like millions knives as a villain and i understand that stampede needed to introduce him early to properly escalate in only 12 episodes but. having him be behind EVERYTHING did a major disservice to vashs character imo. so im glad hes taking longer to show up this time and vash can have his self-contained conflicts.

even wolfwood hasnt appeared yet! (he actually will next episode- i watched the preview lmao) i miss him but im glad he took longer to show up bc the pacing is working much better so far. getting us really attached to vash before throwing wolfwood into the mix is gonna be really good for my attachment to both characters and their dynamic

and like. a lot of this stuff boils down to the pacing. the latest episode i watched is a good example because theres a direct comparison i can make to stampede (unless there are two separate scenes in the original where a sand steamer gets attacked by pirates and the main characters have to defeat the pirates AND stop the steamer from crashing. i think its safe to assume these are adapted from the same scene, even though theyre surprisingly different). theres a few things this scene accomplishes in both adaptations-establishing that vash is proficient with lost technology, having vash defeat an unbelievable number of enemies while still refusing to kill any of them, and having vash put himself at risk to save the people on the ship.

the 98 adaptation flawlessly succeeds on all counts- 1) the lost technology is something vash had on him, and the kids reaction tells us not only about vash, but about the setting. "how do you have this?"- not only is he in possession of something thats apparently extremely rare and mysterious, but he also knows how it works. its subtle but effective. 2) vash not only avoids killing the pirates, but even bandages up the ones that he shot in a moment of /self defense/ (and the kid reacts extremely strongly to this- its a significant moment). him defeating them happens mostly offscreen but given how injured he is its still framed as extremely impressive even without putting too much focus on it. and 3) we are shown that vash is injured WHILE hes bandaging up his ENEMIES and he refuses to even take a moment to bandage his own wounds! he fights through the entire ship while injured because he doesnt even consider taking care of himself first. its not a grand heroic sacrifice to save the innocents, its just a clear demonstration of his priorities.

and while stampede DOES accomplish the same general goals, its a lot less well-crafted. 1) vash finds the lost technology in the ship, that the viewer didnt even know existed until they found it, and when he uses it he gets a shocked reaction but its a very brief moment because they need to get back to the action. 2) vash defeats a hallway full of pirates without killing them and all we get is a throwaway line from meryl marveling at his ability to take down so many guys- nothing about his refusal to kill (although there was more significant emphasis on vashs stance on killing earlier in stampede, so i wont necessarily fault it for skipping on that here). and 3) his sacrifice to save the ship is his prosthetic arm getting broken- it creates a tense moment for sure, and its certainly a reckless move, but theres a difference between sacrificing yourself in a life or death moment and intentionally neglecting to care for yourself for the sake of others. its not necessarily worse, but it has different implications about his character, and thematically i think the 98 version suits the story better.

those are the similarities between the 2 scenes. and the differences are startling- the 98 version spans 2 episodes while stampede crams it (mostly) into 1 while ALSO having time for a whole side plot about wolfwood and screen time for some minor villains who are associated with millions knives. like- the pirates have almost no relevance in the stampede version. most of the episode is focused on the villain from wolfwoods past and the guards hunting down vash and the crashing ship. its a lot at once.

so while the 98 version slowly builds tension and spends a lot of time on the characters like the pirates and the kid who has a whole character arc because of vash (that establishes the themes about repenting from sin extremely well, might i add), the stampede episode is all running! shooting! angst! lore! characters youve never seen before! its exciting and dramatic and certainly fun to watch, but thematically and tonally it may as well be a completely different story. it touches on repenting from sin a little bit, specifically in reference to wolfwood (cannot WAIT to see how wolfwoods whole "im beyond saving" judas schtick develops in 98 btw. given how much i liked it in stampede and how well 98 does at character development i have high expectations.) but again, its very fleeting and its one of the only times we get that in the show.

i know im kinda shitting on the pacing of stampede a lot in this, but i do wanna say- slower pacing isnt always better. the higher tension in stampede makes for more exciting action scenes and its what made me watch the whole thing in 2 days. it clearly set out to be more fast paced and exciting and it certainly succeeds at that. im even a little worried that as we start getting into more familiar territory, the pacing of 98 will be too slow for me and ill lose interest (like how i cant get past the first couple parts of jojos. i want to get into it but the action is so SLOW). i doubt it, because its doing a really good job of building intrigue, but it will certainly be slower going. the appeal of those big exciting action scenes just isnt there for 98 the way it is for stampede- and maybe thats more faithful to the manga, but if i had to guess i would imagine that the action in the manga is plenty exciting. i mean just look at wolfwoods fucking cross- you dont give a character a weapon like that and have them NOT use it. so anyway, the slower pacing is a bit of a double edged sword and as we get out of the introductory phase i may change my tune. but for now i think it really works

and while there are a lot of adaptational decisions that i believe do a disservice to the story, they did manage to cram all of that story into 12 episodes impressively well. that episode on the sand steamer is a great example- the fact that they managed to keep the bones of that segment while combining it with a wolfwood plotline and ending with the reveal that vash is a plant and it WASNT an incoherent mess is honestly super impressive. its unfortunate that so much story had to be crammed into 12 episodes in the first place, but skipping over characterization and worldbuilding for a remake is honestly forgivable, and much better than skipping important chunks of the story (which they may have also done. i dont know yet. but given the overall positive reception ive seen, id guess its nothing too heinous. other that the removal of milly, obviously, which is a crime punishable by death). i mean even fma brotherhood skipped over all the character introductions and jumped right into the plot lmao

anyway uhhhh stay tuned for the next update i guess. itll probably be soon because im sure ill have Thoughts about 98 wolfwood

it has been one (1) day since i finished trigun stampede so obviously its time to start trigun '98. thoughts so far

WAY better start. i was definitely right about the brotherhood effect- this version is easing you into the characters and setting way better, where stampede kinda assumes youre already familiar and just jumps right in.

this is ESPECIALLY true for vash. these first few episodes are way better at establishing just where he got his reputation- like, in stampede you really only see one town that gets ruined and blamed on vash, and then all the other stuff thats attributed to him happens offscreen. and then it turns out millions knives was behind all the thefts, which is what vash is wanted for in the first place. we HEAR that vash causes destruction wherever he goes, but what we see is really just him taking the fall for his brothers actions. but im only 3 episodes into 98 and vash has already destroyed 2 towns and been impersonated by multiple criminals. and they all seem to be unrelated incidents- he just gets mixed up in shit. he seeks it out. he CHOSE to be that billionaires bodyguard and he CHOSE to get involved in the bank robbery, because thats who he is. hes not unfortunate, hes MEDDLESOME. the characterization is completely different and so far i like the 98 version better (although admittedly the stampede version does play into the christian metaphor much better, assuming that millions knives represents "evil" or "sin")

additionally, the emphasis on how he doesnt live up to his reputation works a lot better when meryl just straight up refuses to believe hes vash the stampede lmao. like in stampede hes this kinda goofy and slightly airheaded badass pretty much right away, but in 98 hes so chaotic that even though all the evidence points to him she still refuses to believe he could be THE vash the stampede. like he seems straight up incompetent but hes NOT hes just less overtly badass. and just in general the slower pacing gives us a lot more insight into his character! its really really good and it adds a lot of much needed context to stampede.

also. milly????? milly my beloved???? my darling my sweetheart my babygirl milly????? WHERE was she in stampede. this is unforgiveable. the dynamic between meryl and milly is SO much more fun than roberto and meryl holy shit i fucking love milly

overall theres a lot more differences than i expected! im curious which one is more faithful to the manga but atm i would put money on 98. i can already see why a lot of the changes would be made to go from this one to stampede, to condense a huge arc down to 12 episodes and have it stand on its own. a more faithful adaptation isnt necessarily a better adaptation, and while i wish some of the really good stuff from 98 had made it to stampede, i understand that 12 episodes isnt a lot and within the context of a remake you can reasonably leave out a lot of character-heavy stuff. plus, since 98 was made before the manga finished, stampede will probably have better execution on things like foreshadowing and the major themes. overall im having a great time with both and im really stoked to read the manga (assuming the momentum will carry me that far..... adhd is a fickle creature lmao)

[elidelochans]

Idk who we’re gonna get in the next book BUT I can’t quit thinking about how much of Helion and Eris (the autumn court) we see in ACOSF. I just really feel like Lucian is gonna be super important in the future and so is Elain since we’re seeing her break out of her shell and (want to) take control of her powers. I’m too involved and nervous to declare them endgame (god I hope so) but to me there is no way they won’t be hella important in the (near?) future. Idk idk but that’s all I wanted to say! Love your blog ❤️

Ship wise? I have no clue either nonnie!

But I do think we will be very deep within the Autumn court. Throughout ACOSF Autumn/fall are mentioned quite alot. Half the book even takes place in the fall. We Have a little with winter and then Spring. I'd roughly estimate about 70% if the book is set in the season of Autumn.

And how we leave off with Eris at the end. The natural progression of the story feels like it's going to Autumn. Oddly enough it feels like it's following Eris. We know Eris won't be a part of a central pairing.

Unfortunately, even though I believe this where the story will go, it still doesn't give insight to the next pairing. It could be Elucien, self explanatory because autumn court and Lucien's ties to it. Like you said theres the fact Helion is sprinkled through the book which connects to Lucien. It could be Gwynriel given her bloodline and the fact Eris works with the IC meaning Az.

Luciennn ugh I love him to bits. He definitely has a big role to play, so does Elain. There's a reason why we haven't been inside their heads yet. I cannot wait to see it!

I get being worried about them being endgame. There's always going to be that lingering fear of 'what if' until it's confirmed. Given SJM's records we know a few things that hopefully will make you feel better:

1. She looooves a good slow burn. Elucien has that

2. She loves her mates. They have that!

3. She loves making her characters work hard for that HEA. Damn if Lucien isn't working hard for it. Elain will too. Lucien is longing and hurt, Elain isnt doing too much better stuck in this roundabout life.

4. All the context clues. Sarah thrives on context clues and hints. Between Acowar and Acosf especially there's hints about them all over the place. The biggest being how darkness and black swallow Elain. She's literally a flower. She needs sunlight to thrive. Lucien is the son of the day, not to mention his name means Light.

5. Her books only grow in word count. So the future books will be bigger than ACOSF. Elriel doesn't have the story to cover that long of a story. Elucien does.

6. Sarah sunk Elriel.

And thank you so much nonnie! Happy you love my little slice of Tumblr 😘❤❤❤

[osomanga]

GK 200: Mr. Tsukisamu Anpan

Otonoshin!!!

They’re coming!

God Noda even gave them a ship name- Chichi-mi?? Tou-mi? Fu-mi..yeah! Fumi!

Fumi’r coming running Oy-bon!

I can hear Nihei screaming Hashire...Supina’s Nihei I mean

No. Noda...

I can’t believe you’re going to make me call Tsurumi Anpanman. 

I mean:-

Uhh...they could be brain damage buddies.

M. Freddie Flinstone made it!

Nope. Sorry dad but your beau(or his shadow)

Beat Daddy...

...to the punch! (or the shadow culprit Hannin Hanzawa as usual did)

Oy-bon(😳): You are....

Tsurumi(sooo sincere): I knew it. We did meet once again.

Ogata(reading the manga): O give me a break already you corny bastard!

Ah..the tease. 

C’mon, we saw he still at least has tone even in his emaciated middle age! 

Give us a stripped satan by end, eh?

Or...negotiations with him are hard, eh?

Daddy smiled!!!!!!

Someone protect this beautiful  family!!

Oh and my baby Oy...

.

.

Umm...Koito looks like his bro so much. And his pretty momma. We’ll never see mom and Nakayama much anymore, na? Nakayama for one...sigh. Hopefully guy is still alive. This turn might actually have saved him. 

Back to it, Koito looks like the youngest daughter of the house. 

An utter maiden in Lo~ve!

Ah ough. Dad mode is starting to turn-on...

Averted! The usual....

Mosu!

And this looks like dad warming up to this new son-in-law that saved his princess. 

Some maidens blush, some stammer...

Koito-bon spews forth a heavy stream of complex accented kanji-hieroglyphics of Kagoshima.

.

.

And then we have this typical high school shoulder brush and stare at the stairs:-

Every meeting at the stairs...only no Tsuki to witness this time.

Oooooo....I wonder how old Yuu-kun was back then.

. 

.

Ok. Tis’ bad but, o tis’ what it is:-

Ya know how usually love triangles should be called love angles cause one side doesn’t usually get filled in(some rare cases are proper equilateral. Others get square or polygonish or spiky) but oh...when the love-hate of a complex form blooms- Let’s have ourselves a scalene tortilla chip shall we?

.

Tsurumi ⤄ Ogata: Him and how he got Ogata...nay, Hyakunosuke-kun. Keikaku musta been, but uff. 

They’ve got that first-country-hick-wife and sick-of-her + inconsiderate + been-married-too-long husband vibe by the time Hyakkun took Yuukun out. Nd ya know, he knows just where to plunge and twist the knife.

⤡

Ogata: First wife, countryside gal, divorced or just pushed out the picture? Or the lower-rung geisha now to be relegated to mistress status being replaced by the young beautiful new bride of noble blood. 

Eeeks but I’m just glad that role, it wasn’t Yuu-kun like I’d thought earlier, but oh, Yuu-kun! This really messed up your brothers head. Had you even a slight chance of the blessed path of brothers? (Theres smtg that actually is...odd). I really, really don’t want to wrap my head around what this entire cold dad is affectionate to surviving son in times of danger and whatever got to his head. 

But then again, if dad Hanazawa was Ogata v.0 but born with a silver spoon or at least lived most his life with one, I can see him being a very nasty thorn in Tsurumi’s side unlike his friend Koito-mos who is an angel.

Ogata

   ⭿ 

Koito

Koito-bon: The first person that gave Ogata a nosebleed(physical pun-ya know why anime characters nosebleed right?), and then he brutally rejects Ogata. Oh this is all levels of twisted. Koito can sense that vile ‘bonbon-ga’ in his bones, na? But sooo complicated. Spite? Actually one-sided? But not quite... Be glad you weren’t born a few years older kid. Be glad. 

Tsurumi ⭅ Koito-bon: All went according to Keikaku! Oh the connections and the skills of this sweet young noble blooded soul.

NEW Spike:-

Koito ⤰ Sugimoto: Whatever the results of the first round of golden pee bonding and Koito’s *ahem* staring. 

Ogata↭ Sugimoto: Phew... This kill-love-snipe-snap thing is tooo...complicated. 

Ogata really tangles up everything in his life, doesn’t he?

Anycase,

All in a regular day’ work for Mr Tsukisamu Anpanman and his three angels devils.

They could put on an impromptu Macbeth in just a day and play all the characters switching so fast between clothes and coordinating all the improvs and acts they’re supposed to do so smoothly. And killing random Russians in the midst of it to boot. And apparating on cue.. 

Ummm...Tsurumi?

I know you’re flashing yer victorious grin but damn each of your three witches have three rather curious looks upon their countenance.

Ok, so out of Charlie’s devils we’ve got a most of Kikuta’s larger than a panel stuff, now we got a quick flash of Ogata, so since the censors become defunct, I say we deserve ALL of Tsukishima! In HQ...at HQ.

So Ogata knows a little too much about the seargent’s bathing habits, seargent probably knows him since he was this young man-boy and Kikuta has also known them since before the war and they were the original of Tsurumi’s Tsukisamu intelligence men. I want more Kikuta and Tsukishima now. 

On that note, i’m glad that my version of Tsukishima being the ideal deadpanning left hand at least I can hold on to it. While Ogata being the white hat would make sense, Tsukishima being white hat would have actually made me choke on anpan. Kikuta being white hat might’ve made sense too...at least what lil we know of his usual congenial mask.

.  

.

Anycase, lil’ Ogata’s prolly never seen a Tsukisamu anpan(but Tsukishima was probably plagued by Tsurumi’s habits) and the usual of whenever he is trying to be good ta someone, the situation just blows up in his face, eh? 

Not only his attempt at being nice to this kid were rebuffed, the situation pretty much turned on its head and ended up as not what he thought it would be. Ufff, Ogata doesn’t handle humiliation and pain all so well...

God that’s utter despair. 

And vile spiteful despise. 

And being broken...

And hopelessness.

A bottomless fall post loss....

Unless it’s Kikuta. His eyes just look dulled out all the time. Or these two’r really related.

And it’s just regular deadened Ogata eyes...

But with the usual making-that-kinda-face cues.

.

The one eyed bros:-

(The eye that survived gives an odd look and the eye that didn’t.)

Ogata’s just a cat with a heart of glass(huh, now I remember...the glass menagerie!). No matter what he does, it won’t e’er be right...he’ll never be the one that can have even a tiny sliver of a shred of a semblance of...oh, well. 

.

Koito thinks somethings off but brushes it off. Sigh...Tsurumi I know you removed the mask to make a point but...

No nosebleed for Mr Russian. Ogata and Tsurumi prolly just blew their brains out in a flash. 

But now...Hyakkun’s left this stupid kid two hints. Oh, Koito-bon...

Koito: Don’t tell me...Father!’

Ogata: You bonbon.

vs

.

.

Too many throw back-scenes:-

1. I yearn to kill you so bad you don’t know, do you? Do you??

.

General thoughts: 元気になって戻ってこいぶっ殺してやるから

Just you get better and come back dear(wasn’t there some creepy spider or sm1 that spoke like that?). I’ll kill you dead. (Approximately)

ED note: 殺意を決意の約束。

An enagagement(contracted agreement) to fulfil and see to the end this utter desire to kill.

Battle mode engage style engage. It’s a promise to ensure and guarantee a certain fate- it’s destiny. 

O who am I kidding...they’re engaged!!

And honestly, Sugi cheating on him with prisoners and others, Ogata won’t mind so much at all so long as he comes back to kill him.

The small print: やっちゃえ杉本サン。

It’s a pun on the ahem, “popular” やっちゃえNISSAN.

Is that supposed to be a next chapter preview or is it just for later?

Also...it’s like 

Do it, Sugimoto-san! Just kill him already!

And as almost all my dictionaries push to the top, やっちゃえ is quite a slang for the fucking of do it too, ya know, just do him already Sugimoto-san! 

Heh...no subtlety left, eh editor guys?

Yuusaku’s ghost(from the background): やっちゃえ兄さん (nii-san) !! 

Ogata(gnashing teeth): It’s Ani-sama to you! 

Too many examples...hmmm...

2. The Backlight

3. I’m FREEEE!!!!!

...

Too much baggage here.

...

He grew out his hair when he first got liberated out a hospital with a fixed jaw. Now with a fixed eyesocket and only his hood, presumably no uniform what state’ll you reach eh? 

4. And of course, Hyakkun’s iconic Haha...

But on that note...you know those video game glitches where you try to push a character off the edge of a cliff or building but thats not in the game so the character just kinda walks on air in one place? 

Ogata’s looking bats. And acting far too crazy for the collected and super confident compartmentalised sniper we know. Like he really did get pushed off the edge, only he can’t fall so...

5. The Rose Filter

You see what you want to see,

Hear what you want to hear.

6. The More the Curls, the Crazier they get

7. Shhh....

O My God wait

Shiraishi been disappearing in recent chapters...

Shiraishi distracting Genjiro-chan like that

Ogata having his cape and some stuff

This was a save Ogata mission wasn’t it??? If it was I’ll love Yoshi-chan more than I already do(which would be tough seeing as how much I do adore this bald idiot, but still)

Fuck!!

Yoshi-chan coulda prodded Sugi to action with Asirpa, eh? Asirpa-chan...

Or is it...all three of them? I mean...nah that’ll be much.

Asirpa: Sugimoto~! Ogata is escaping!!

This could make sense?! 

Or nah? Shiraishi is just being silly. Or not?

But he is Yoshi-chan’s sweat dropping quite much...and he is the escape king.

Fuck...

They were in Akou for long. Oh dear, dear.

Lady Godiva meets crazy liberated soul:-

Asirpa: You’re going to shoot??

Sugimoto: I’ll aim for the horse!

Ogata(cat ears; thinking): Aim??? You?

Me: Liar! You just barely missed him. But yeah...your aim sucks Saichi-chan.

.

.

.

.

Description straight out of Wikipedia but Ogata being Lady Godiva in a hospital gown is like one of the descriptions:-

Other attempts to find a more plausible rationale for the legend include one based on the custom at the time for penitents to make a public procession in their shift, a sleeveless white garment similar to a slip today and one which was certainly considered "underwear". Thus Godiva might have actually travelled through town as a penitent, in her shift. Godiva's story could have passed into folk history to be recorded in a romanticised version. 

However, these attempts to reconcile known facts with legend are both weak; in the era of the earliest accounts, the word "naked" is only known to mean "without any clothing whatsoever"  

Also but penitents oughtn’t ride the damn horse nor steal a bonbon handguns. Generally off the net:-

A public penitent:-

In the early Church, in some dioceses, persons separated from the rest of the congregation by wearing a special robe, having their hair closely cropped, and worshiping apart during the liturgy. In some places they received from the bishop a special laying-on of hands each Sunday. Only after satisfying his or her penance was the person readmitted to full communion with the Church.

The approx. hairshirt a penitent wore:-

Looks similar to the hospital gown, eh?

Also in these old descriptions there be a fine blurry line between the penitent, the heretic who were punished thus in nude humiliation. And in this case the lunatic. 

The practice of requiring penitents to give public satisfaction for their sins as a condition for absolution and reconciliation with the Church. 

In vogue up to the early Middle Ages, public penance could be either solemn or not, depending on the gravity of the offense and the amount of scandal given.

When public penance was also solemn, the reason had to be a grave one....common were apostasy, murder...

Apostasy=renunciation/giving up prev held beliefs- defection

Oh don’t get me wrong...I’m dithering. Theres no real connection. And since Hyakkun’s riding a horse and re-armed himself...

Sigh...

On that note:-

The Japanese traditional tale on a penitent:-

Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s ukiyo-e on Hatsuhana

Penitence: Stood in the cold under the freezing waterfall and repent till you pass-on.

And Kuniyoshi’s penitent Mongaku, the most famous of a penitent’s penance-

Also Mongaku:-

The final scene where the penitent priest is seen suffering under a waterfall awaiting death.

Triptych by Toyohara Kunichika- The Austerities of Mongaku

Oooo...

The flippant magician’s flipped biology version!

.

.

Nonetheless, Ogata riding off across the river to wherever...we’ll see him again soon to connect even more dots and create even greater pandemonium. That’s for sure. 

Anyway,

Peeping Tom Sugi’s gonna get struck blind...

Like seriously...that curse should have been hanging over Saichi’s head not Hyakkuns.

Or is that...

[ravenaveira]

OK I just need to go off about KH3 again

Im sorry your probably gonna be seeing alot of these posts because I am friggin PISSED and no Im not saying this ONE THING ruined the game for me or that the game is bad thats not my intention I personally gave the game a 8.9 so clearly I enjoyed it I just didnt enjoy THIS shit

The romance between Sora and Kairi omg its just SO BAD it makes my danm blood boil because it didnt HAVE to be this bad but you wanna know why it was so bad this game and worse than any other game in the franchise?

Because Kairi was off the island

You heard me right, Kairi being off the island and put onto the battlefield destroyed this relationship for good and turned it into the biggest friggin joke its ever been when before there were actually some decent moments between them but this? this was downright laughable and so forced it felt like Sora was being held hostage and forced to say and do the BS that he was and it just felt uncomfortable to watch

Like him saying ‘Im strong with you Kairi’ which apparently in JPN he said ‘your strong Kairi’ which somehow makes it better to some people but bruh both are equally bad and equally laughable because neither of them are true

Kairi’s not strong and never has been, Kairi is just a love interest and has never been anything else from the moment she was introduced all she was is Sora’s love interest and that was literally all there was and all there still is to her character

Oh well without Kairi Sora wouldnt be alive she was the only thing keeping him tethered to the real world and lit his way back

So tf what? she deserves a friggin medal because she ‘believed’ ? dont make me laugh, wow Kairi’s one big moment of use was just ‘believeing’ in Sora which literally every single other character does but when Kairi does it suddenly its the biggest contribution anyone could give her because thats literally ALL she did so yea bravo Kairi, you believed

And then everybody proceeded to nearly get bodied all over again xD nice save Kairi, you literally almost made everyone die TWICE

Know who ACTUALLY did something to stop it a second time? Namine, Lingering will, The past keyblade masters, Yen Sid, those are the ones who actually DID something that made a difference and ACTUALLY kept them alive this time

Kairi literally barely kept him alive, brought him back to the light, just for him to nearly die all over again and her whole role ends up being a total failure that changed NOTHING

So yeah congratulations, her biggest moment amounted to nothing

Oh and dont get me started on that stupid hug Sora gave Kairi when she was about to get struck down by Terranort

Bruh dont give me that ‘he was moving too fast’ or some crap like that so he only had time to do that, BULLSHIT did you SEE how fast Aqua came at Riku in the ROD? Sora managed to get between them and shield Riku with his keyblade in literal seconds, but with Kairi he just hugs her?

You see now why I say this ship is laughable in this game and forced af? that made no danm sense, even if he would of pushed her out of the way it would of made more sense then just friggin hugging her as if thats really gonna stop anything

Bruh Sora and Riku had a more believable romantic moment in that entire ROD moment with Riku saying Sora’s name and then Sora appears to help him save the day and they summon a friggin rainbow keyblade, and then Aqua is about to friggin body Riku with literally only seconds to react Sora manages to protect him

Now I’ve seen people try to argue well everybody really was useless or needed saving in this game so its not just Kairi

BULLSHIT and lemme tell you why

Yea its true people like Riku and Mickey who are far more experienced still struggled and needed saving but guess what? they were DOING something, they held their own they didnt just friggin stand there they put up a danm fight and DID something that actually CONTRIBUTED

I mean bruh Riku and Mickey were literally fighting by themselves at the end of the game against THREE PEOPLE, again BY THEMSELVES holdin their own while everybody else had atleast 1 person helpin them, Aqua with Ventus and Kairi with Lea but Riku and Mickey? solo and doin the danm thing idc if they eventually get defeated or knocked out or struggle alot the point is their DOING something or atleast friggin TRIED to do something

Aqua gets roasted alot too but we’ve seen what she can do in BBS, she held her own and even fought and beat Vanitas, again even if she eventually was defeated or knocked out etc like her Vanitas fight in KH3 again she friggin TRIED and friggin DID something

Ventus got bodied but again we’ve seen what he could do in BBS and Ventus is no pushover, he unfroze himself with sheer will power and his glare was enough to give Xigbar [now Luxu] PTSD everytime he sees him or someone who reminds him of him, he too took on Vanitas and tied even though he didnt WIN he didnt lose either so his performance against Terranort in this game I agree was underwhelming but understandable given thats still his friend but he still did something in the end and wasnt totally useless

People raggin on Lea need to STOP because its thanks to him Kairi didnt get friggin smacked down early on because he took the danm hit for her and got sent flying instead of her defending her danm self

Keep in mind Kairi and Lea got the EXACT SAME TRAINING and even HE reacted with common sense but Kairi? even AFTER SEEING Lea get sent flying after defending her that STILL didnt make her defend herself and she just friggin STOOD THERE

Or how about when both Kairi and Sora got knocked back and Lea literally fought Saix and Xion and Xemnas BY HIMSELF to protect them

Gtf outta here man and put some respect on Leas name because he DANM sure deserves it for all the crap he took from Xemnas and the utter disrespect of having his keyblade I assume broken or damaged, being shot by multiple lasers AND having his hand stomped on by Xemnas this man was still TRYING even with all odds against him and being clearly outmatched he still TRIED

Meanwhile Kairi just gets her arm grabbed, I wanna make this very clear

She is not lifted off the ground like Sora was with young Xehanort, she was not pinned to the ground, she was not backed into a wall, she did not have both arms forced behind her back NO

Her feet are planted firmly on the ground, she has one arm being pulled above her head but she has another free arm which may not be her dominant arm but is still better than having none and she does NOTHING

She doesnt try to get her other arm free from him

She doesnt struggle or pull away from him

She doesnt try to turn around to lessen the pain of her arm being pulled behind her

She doesnt stomp on his foot to try and get him to loosen his grip on her to give her a chance to break free

Know who was in a similar situation and handled it way better with no battle experience?

So dont tell me it wasnt friggin possible for her to do anything in that situation because thats utter bullshit and you know it, Kairi didnt even STRUGGLE she didnt even TRY to get free

She used her free arm to reach out for Sora to ‘save’ her though, but not to even attempt to free herself

Yet THIS is who people are hoping is the main playable character next game to go rescue Sora?

Girl couldnt even save herself yet yall think she can rescue Sora? what a joke but unfortunately some people are actually serious about this and actually want a playable Kairi after this travesty of a performance

Before yall had good arguments, Kairi WAS inexperienced and she DIDNT have any battle training so she really COULDNT contribute or do much but that all changed in KH3, now she DOES have the SKILLS and the TRAINING and the means to be able to contribute and DO something and theres absolutely no more excuses why she shouldnt

Kairi says herself, this time I’ll fight too, this time its my turn to protect you

And when she fiiiiiiinally gets the chance to do all that, everything the fandom has wanted and waited years for her to finally be able to do, this is what she does

THIS is Kairi off the island, THIS is battle ready Kairi, THIS is Kairi DOING something and by doing something I mean NOTHING but getting in the way like Sora said years ago when he left her back on the island which now makes total sense because this is what happens when Kairi goes with Sora to the battlefield

Now we know what Kairi is truly capable of if you give her a weapon and the training to use it, absolutely nothing

And people actually want playable Kairi next game xD

Honestly I somewhat blame the fandom for this because I wouldnt be surprised if Nomura tried giving her a more active role because the fandom desperately wanted this for years and I guess this was his attempt at throwin them a bone but to be perfectly honest? he should have just left her ass on the island atleast then she had an EXCUSE to be useless but because he tried to give the people what they wanted and actually gave Kairi combat skills he just made Kairi 100% justifiably hateable now and I am so glad to see more people finally turn on this chick because the excuses for her has finally run out and its about danm time she got the hate she deserves because Sora deserved better

I think thats the part that hurts the most, I can accept Sora dying but its HOW he died that I cant accept and do you even need to guess how it was? thats right, saving Kairi

Seriously FDB

Listen Nomura, you tried and failed miserably, its time to stop, seriously, its time to stop, Kairi had her chance and she blew it and now its time to let it go and bench her ass on the island like you been doing out of everybodys danm way and leave the rescuing of Sora to Riku and everyone else who is actually of some danm use and knows wtf they are doing

Kairi can just stay on the island and ‘believe’ since thats apparently all shes good at doing, let her just ‘believe’ that Sora will come back while Riku and everyone else actually do the work of getting him back and she just be there to greet him when hes back

Im hoping the secret ending is hinting at us playing as Riku trying to save Sora because Im all for that, but if they really try to shoe horn playable Kairi in after all the negative reaction from this game Im not saying I wont play it but it will definitely make the game unenjoyable if majority of it has you playing as someone you strongly dislike instead of Riku whos actually a pretty popular and beloved character amongst majority of the fandom while Kairi is descending to one of the most disliked

So Im hoping Nomura has learned from this and just doesnt even try with Kairi anymore, just stop it

This game would have been so much better if he’d just manned up and took the risk and just abandoned Kairi in this game by letting her actually STAY dead and Sora accepts this and moves on [of course over time not instantly] but with the help of Riku and everyone else by his side Sora’s able to move forward and live on keeping Kairi in his heart forever and at the end instead of what we got hes just sitting on the beach watching the sunset while everyone else is playing and he takes out and looks at Kairi’s charm remembering how he didnt get to give it back to her this time but then all of a sudden a paopu fruit washes up near his feet which is unusual but he picks it up and as he does notices something in the distance but is blinded by the sun but he can vaguely see Kairi before she fades away, similar to how Axel saw Xion here

Lets say Kairi is holding the other paopu too, and once she disapears Sora cries for a moment but wipes them away and smiles knowing that Kairi’s still with him, he then proceeds to take a bite of the paopu fruit which would tie in perfectly with the title screen showing Sora with his back turned and a bite taken out of the paopu hes holding

This way Kairi’s importance to Sora is still in tact but shes no longer here to get in the way or need saving AGAIN, her character ends on a high note and Sora grows from the experience realizing that he cant save everybody no matter how hard he tries some people simply cannot be saved and he just has to let them go even if he doesnt want to

But nope, instead Sora dies saving Kairi like in KH1 and its just not sweet, its not even bittersweet, its more of a slap in the face than anything and Sora has zero growth from this, it just changed from Kairi needing saving to Sora needing saving and honestly we JUST saved everybody else and already we have to save ANOTHER person? its just ugh man I cant

Theres plenty more things I didnt like besides this but this is the one thing that pissed me off the most because I never expected it to be THIS bad

Also I know I use Sora and Riku as a comparison alot but that isnt because Im some salty Soriku shipper whos just mad my ship aint canon because honestly I dont give af when it comes to Kingdom hearts pairings I could literally care less about any of them hell Roxas could marry a tree for all I care or form a three way with Ven and Aqua I DONT CARE the only pairing I ever had a problem with is Sokai and thats because of my strong dislike for Kairi more so than the pairing itself and I think Sora deserves better than Kairi so this isnt just some bitter Soriku shipper because like I said I DONT care but I do somewhat ship Soriku, just like I somewhat ship Roxion and RokuNami and some older ships more out there like Sonami or Namitas etc no one cares but you get my point

I dont care about Kingdom hearts for the ships theres far more important things going on than to be worried about some stupid pairing, but Sokai just leaves a bad taste in my mouth everytime its even mentioned

And now no matter what they do with Kairi or Sokai in the future it wouldnt change a thing because after KH3 its irredeemable, the damage is done and theres no undoing it unless you give it one long ass arc like Riku to slowly redeem it but I doubt Nomura cares about the romance and Kairi enough to actually dedicate such an arc for it so yeah the damage is DONE

My bet for next games playable characters, Riku, Aqua, Roxas, Ventus, Xion, those are the only ones who make sense to me since they all have the strongest connection to Sora and are capable fighters and I feel Aqua although not having a strong connection to him like the others she would wanna repay Sora for saving her so thats my bet

If anyone bothered to read this whole thing then lemme know who do you thinks gonna be playable in the next game?

Also if you like Kairi and Sokai thats perfectly fine this isnt to bash the shippers or demanding you dislike it cuz hey to each their own, Im just saying I DONT

[ear]

PLEASE share your vld reboot ideas aja the show canon is garbage and your mind is so galaxy brain

OK OK ALRIGHT!!!!!!!!!! alright so idk what kind of. earth landscape this reboot occurs in…. like yallve got this retro 80s/90s neon future verse going on but i didnt think my reboot version would fit into that so yall go wild with whatever hc for this earth reboot thing u want cuz im not creative and i didnt really think that far ahead

ALRIGHT here we go. this is so long i HAVE to put this under the cut but i hope yall enjoy the creations of my MIND……

- akeno “KEITH” shirogane: (age: 19) [gay] hes japanese/black/galran. hes still half galra in this reboot bc i fuck with that honestly but hes got more visible galran traits. his bottom canines are larger than usual and poke out from his bottom lip so he wears a mask to cover his mouth and his eyes r still purple but instead of his sclera being yellow(tinted), hes just like. got some odd golden flecks in his eyes. he normally wears a dirty mechanics jumpsuit with the top half tied around his waist and a black or white tank top underneath (hes still a high school flunk out so he works full time at a car repair shop so hes able to buy food and shit at LEAST + hes still got his motorcycle to keep in shape). his casual clothes r just regular grey sweats, hoodies, and adidas or whatever brand is closest in their future lol. hes blood related to shiro who ill get to in a second.. shiros blood related to him as his uncle (brother of keiths dad) ALSO his hair isnt long in this reboot, hes got a short messy head of hair that he mostly just pulls back into a TINY little pony tail on his forehead (like in the game show ep) so it doesnt get in his face while hes working. he also has goggles bc thats the one thing from yalls reboot ideas i actually like (endgame lion: he momentarily pilots black during shiros disappearance but his permanent and stationary lion is red)

- fal’allura “fala, ALLURA” naguna’ephy: [lesbian] (age: 21 or close to that in alien standards) shes altean on her fathers side and teem (what we’re gonna call nymas race) on her mothers side. she bares more altean features except her eyes are solid yellow and shes only got four fingers on each hand. instead of crescent shaped facial markings, she has painted on red and golden lines across her nose and her upper lip. her hair (very dark purple with silver highlights and literal glowing, twinkling stars) is VERY long, brushing the floor as she walks except and (now bear with me cuz this might be hard to explain) her hair, the farther down u look kind of fades away? like it becomes semi to absolute transparent… idk how else to explain it but i hope u understand…. she does wear a crown but its more like a headdress.. (imagine beyonces headdress).. she doesnt wear it often, usually only on diplomatic missions to greet other worldly rulers bc its heavy and it makes her neck hurt :/.. her dress! looks like this! but a little more spiffy .. u know.. her casual/training clothes are just…. idk imagine a royal looking sports bra and leggings?? i guess … ALSO ALSO ALSO she can still shape shift but instead of limiting her shifting to just the changing of skin tone and height, she can completely mimic different alien species but only humanoid races.. like she can have those indented looking knees and huge ass horns and all that but she cant like. turn into an earth lizard u know what im saying. also also also also she still speaks with an accent just… not a british one….(endgame lion: no lion. she keeps leading and piloting the castle ship until destruction, where she leads and pilots the atlas)

- alejandro “LANCE, ale” reyes-leon: (age: 19 ½) [bi] hes cuban/black/vietnamese. his dad is black and vietnamese and his mom is cuban! hes got longish afro textured hair he keeps back in a pony tail most of the time like this or a bun when training bc hes too lazy to put any actual effort into styling it. hes got a couple moles/freckles scattered across his face and hes got sectoral heterochromiaaround his left pupil so theres a little bit of blue in one of his other wise dark brown eyes (like this).. i havent really figured out what his clothing style is.. i thought about keeping his clothes close to vld canon like his jacket (bc that was a really good jacket) but im gonna go a little wild here so hold on. he wears one of those surfer type looking skin tight turtleneck shirts underneath his heavy bomber jacket.. he wears just regular ripped jeans and hightops like in canon…….. hmm……. he wears a pink bead necklace under his shirt that was made by his little cousin just a couple weeks before he was shot off into space and he hasnt taken it off since…………. he also has a tiny stick and poke tattoo on his ankle he did when he was thirteen bc he thought it would look cool but it turned out kinda lop sided so he never takes his socks off in embarrassment (endgame lion: blue to red (during keiths reign as black paladin) then to black when shiro leaves voltron to lead the atlas alongside allura)

- takashi “SHIRO” shirogane: (age: 31) [gay] hes japanese/black. hes keiths uncle and the only family keith really has .. his design doesnt really change much except hes got long hair (like kuron) but its pulled up into a messy bun or pony tail.. in MY canon hes still gay and married to adam (whos name isnt adam i just cant think of a new name for him yet) (and adam lives dont worry) and theyre working on adopting a daughter before shiro has to leave for kerberos. shiro usually dresses in work out outfits so like. gym shorts… tank tops.. leggings.. imagine those white blonde dudes who always wear a man bun and only eat vegan and drink chai from starbucks bc thats exactly how shiro acts but ONLY ironically ……… when shiros abducted on the galra freighter and forced to fight in the ring, his hair streaks white but instead of just a clean scar across his nose, he has multiple long scars scattered across his face from a one x one between his face and some debris thrown at him by a gladiator. his prosthetic looks and remains kinda the same i guess but this time its decked out with claws on the finger tips so it looks a little more galran yeah? (endgame lion: no endgame lion. he pilots the atlas alongside allura)

- francesca “frannie, frankie, PIDGE” eleonora: (age: 15) [trans girl lesbian] shes . just italian i guess. so anyway shes not gonna be an asshole bitch like canon pidge.. shes gonna be the caring sweet but KINDA mean little sister we always wished we had.. the little sister who would tell u, with all honesty, that ur winged eyeliner was smudged before u hit the town with the girls and made a fool of urself……. ANYWAY shes still gonna be the ‘hacker’/computer geek techno girl but not as much ykno? shes JUST a little girl so she just kinda does her own thing. i rlly like all the fanart i see of her wearing overalls and stuff SO thats her canon design…… she wears faded overall jeans over a short sleeved pale pink tshirt w a dog one it and scuffed up chucks. she wears glasses but instead of just taking them from matt she has an actual prescription and is basically blind without them. i literally cannot stress this enough but shes such a nice girl like the team pretty much adopted her as their little sister the moment they boarded the castle ship. idk what else to add on to her!!!! i literally did not put any thought into pidge at all! (endgame lion: permanently green)

- opetaia“HUNK” tuitama: (age: 19 ¾) [bi] hes samoan/black. hunk was adopted and has two moms and three other siblings, all of who are younger than him. im not sure about his fashion other than i KNOW deep down in my heart that he would wear cargo shorts…. i cant find it in me to get rid of his bandana thing so i let him keep it except he uses it to tie his hair up instead of using it as a head band thing….. HUNK in my au is more of a tech freak/engineer than pidge so he handles most of that stuff with the occasional help from pidge (like wiring… she has tiny fingers that can grab the wires easier) hunk probably wears the crocs/sandals with socks combo but just because he loves hearing lance bitch about it whnever he struts into a room. hunk also looks good in his vest so im gonna let him keep that but it looks more modified… like it has a bunch of pockets and stuff to keep bolts and nuts and other stuff he needs to work with.. thats also why he wears cargo shorts; just for the pockets.. (endgame lion: permanently yellow)

also ur probably wondering “if lance is in black and keith is in red and allura doesnt pilot a lion, THEN WHOS PILOTING BLUE????” …….. heh… peep this………..

- ADAM elsammak-althani(thank u mal @fuckvld for ur gorgeous arabic adam hcs..): (age: 32) [gay] i dont have much to say about him other than read mals hc lists and that ADAM LIVES IN MY REBOOT and he also joins the voltron team and pilots the blue lion (i FIRMLY hc that hes a very free/wild spirit and just loves to make jokes and is just.. a really fun guy to be around and obviously blue would open up to him in a SECOND. dont even @ me) (endgame lion: BLUE!)

[charlyoddsox27]

its 6am, i havent slept, im bored, so im posting a list of the mercs in order of whom i like the most and reasons why, because thats something i should do i guess?

here goes

(spoilers for the comics down below but either way i think im the only person on earth who has never read them before now)

~~~

~~1. Medic~~

reasons for being my favourite:

• fucking. look. at. him. 👌

• 'mad german doctor' is one of my favourite tropes and he is a pretty bang-on satirical depiction of it

• cute-ass german accent

• he has pet pidgeons hE LOVES HIS PIDGEON PALS THEY KEEP HIM COMPANY

• healers are the most respectable class imo and since Medic pretty much started it he's automatically the best, thats how it works right?

• he sold some random persons soul to satan in exchange for a ***ballpoint pen*** and can i just say, fucking mood??? (he is literally the "i'd sell you to satan for one cornchip" meme)

• "yes, Archimedes...I couldn't agree more." *shudders* b oi .. .

• so many more reasons to love this gross old doctor so little room in Tumblrs posts.

~~2. Spy~~

reasons for being my second favourite:

• cranky, done with everyones shit, just wants to be left alone, fucking mood

• he's a spy i mean c'mon. look at the swanky-ass suit, look at the class radiating from this asshole.

• he may be a dick but he has a soft side he's just too jaded to show it most of the time (see: Scouts death in the comics?? real tears. honestly wish they'd panned that out more.)

• masks are hot tbFH--

• he enjoys a nice glass of whisky by the fireplace and so do i (fun fact: france is the biggest importer of scottish whisky in the world so its a nice touch)

• shapeshifting is fucking cool are you serious like he can just. do that. what a legend

• "i have a cyanide pill in one of my molars, if i break it then spit some in your mouth before i die, we can avoid being tortured." *'heavy' bursts in to save them* "PFFTHBTHF--"

• "SEDUCE ME."

• arrogant frenchman is one of my other favourite tropes and this is the most arrogant frenchman ive ever seen

• he's the only fully sane Merc, maybe apart from Engie.

• people love to hate him bc he's an asshole but...come on. after working with all those other weirdos for years, you'd be pretty jaded too.

• as a gross shipper, he's the easiest and the most fun (imo) to ship with Medic (rip me)

~~3. Pyro~~

reasons for being my third favourite:

• would have tied with Soldier if it werent for that one picture of them in the comics holding a puppy over their head with the most adoring expression on their mask??? good Pyro. goodest Pyro.

• doesn't do much in the comics but makes up for it in pure charm. look at that soulless face and tell me you dont love it.

• ambiguous gender ambiguous gender amBIGUOUS GENDER AMBIGUOUS GENDER. she/he/they? trans? nb? whatever you headcanon, it'll never be confirmed so its literally up to your own imagination. fucking ace, Valve 👌👌👌

• likes to burn things. god damnit. they like to burn things, guys. but they enjoy it so much, you just cant hate them, you can only feel a sympathetic joy that this precious lunatic is having fun in their own little world.

• canonically mentally ill (schizoprenia? it could be hallucinogenic drugs but i like to think its schizophrenia.)

• pretty sure they burned a pair of pedophiles in the comics. at least i think thats what those panels were insinuating. "lets open an orphanage and have an endless supply of kids to--" sounds pretty red-flaggy to me tbh. plus they were the villains so, eh?

• bludgeoned a bear to death until its skull was pulp because it insulted their special interest. you go, Pyro.

• for a few bits in the comics they have a really cute family dynamic going on with other Mercs, Soldier for example."Miss Pauling, Pyros on my side of the car." "Miss Pauling, Pyro cut off my hand." fuckin' cuties.

• when they start putting on like 50 shirts to keep warm in the Russian mountains. chubby.

• a gas mask that can function as both badass, and completely adorable.

• just. everything about them. how could you not love them. they're not in the wrong, you are. stay away from my misunderstood child and let them burn things god damnit.

~~4. Soldier~~

look I'm sorry, I love Soldier and he was gonna be tied with Pyro but that fucking puppy drawing sold me.

• absolute gold every second he speaks. he could sneeze and i'll laugh.

• such a dumbass you cant get annoyed at him for it. like. just agree with him and move on. no point reasoning with a boulder. "haha! silly Miss Pauling, thinking theres different types of blood." Medic: "haha yes! indeed, silly."

• HUTTAH *NECK SNAP*

• i'm not American and even i can see how blatantly his character mocks stereotypical Patriotic Americans™. but its so dumb and laughable, its adorable.

• EVERYTHING ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH ZHANNA IS A BLESSING. EVERYTHING.

• the first "meet the Mercs" video i ever saw was "meet the Soldier" so he holds a special place in my heart

• (preaches about experiencing the horrors of war; has never actually been to war. shh dont tell anyone though--) *neck gets snapped*

~~5. Demoman~~

• I'm Scottish. even though his accent is absolute garbage (no offense to the VA), any representation is very nice.

• Black AND Scottish?? i mean has a character like that even existed before TF2??? amazing example of representation right there. there are barely even any black people in Scotland, how did this happen. I love it. more of this, please.

• he's a drunk guy who blows shit up for shits and giggles and god I wish I could too, sounds like a miracle stress-reliever.

• his sassy black scottish mother. combining the stereotypical black mother with the stereotypical scottish mother is literally the best thing that ever happened.

• the bit in the comic where Medic explains that Demo can't remember what happened to his eye bc he scooped out part of his brain, and the look on Demo's face. just. the look.

• again, he's scottish, he's stereotypical, and he's awesome.

~~6. Sniper~~

• underrated

• piss jars. piss jars everywhere.

• "no dad, im not a crazed murdering lunatic, I'm an assassin. ...well one's a job and the other's mental sickness!!"

• "meet the Sniper" has kickass music

• ruffled gross old man who isn't actually old, he's just seen some SHIT

• actually given development in the comics + some really good scenes with Spy.

• so suave...so...handsome. handsome ruffled bushman. me like.

• he dies first in the comics but gets brought back and gets a cool-ass scar. and then he's just walking around naked everywhere for the rest of the comic. Medic, where the fuck did you put his clothes.

• isn't actually Australian. thats like one of the biggest twists in the comic. "no wonder i was never inhumanly strong and my chest hair didn't grow into the shape of Australia!!" Classic.

• says "bugger" a lot and i love that word

• he needs a hug, let me hug him. and give him a bath.

~~7. Heavy~~

I'm gonna be crucified for putting the big lad so low but i promise i dont dislike any of the Mercs. he'd be higher up but...ive never really liked big huge tank-men tbh :/

• loveable as fuck

• will murder you if you bully his puny little Medic

• i looove Russian accents omfg

• he like big gun. i can respect that.

• when Medic was killed and he went APESHIT on Classic!Heavy and I lost my fuckin' mind over that shit

• he probably has a soft spot for small cute animals. i love imagining him being swarmed by Medics flock of doves and petting them like "good bird...so many good bird..."

• actually smarter than people give him credit for???

• i really really wish his character was a lil more fleshed out but. that's just me. i love him but he doesn't have the same appeal to me as Medic or Spy.

• his entire relationship with Medic...ugh. yes. best friends and/or boyfriends. all good to me 👌

• he named his gun Sasha and that's adorable

~~8. Engineer~~

• gOD, FUCK, I REALLY WISH HE DID MORE IN THE COMICS. i barely know anything about his character. i like him a lot but...god, he...he doesn't...do.....anything.......

• he built a cool robot arm for himself and AI turrets and teleporter machines and guns that fire magic healing powers and immortality machines, in the 1960s. what. some kind of wizard fuckery is this.

• smoothest voice in the west

• "y'all"

~~9. Scout~~

oh god i really am gonna be crucified. i dont hate him i just. like him the least.

• shitboy

• reminds me of a shitty ex but also kinda relateable in a way

• some genuinely funny bits in the shorts.

• gross horny hetero teen boy with a god complex and serious daddy issues. also, he can't read. the "sex bom" tattoo on his chest will be an eternal testament to that. nice job, Spy. you raised him good.

~~~

hoo boy there we go theres all the boys, all the beautiful boys (and Scout) in order of how much i love them. if i made any errors in my info about the canon, feel free to send me death threats 💙 (no seriously tell me though, being a newbie is embarrassing)

so uh. yeah. that took two hours to write. its now 8am. im still bored lol. bye i guess.

[survivorrokkenjima]

Episode 5 - "I really felt like I was in an amazing spot" ~ Bobby

To makes things short: Melisa tried to get Ava to be voted off. I tried to an extent…. But things got messy and I could tell no one was going to vote Ava out. So I kinda just sat back acting confused. I warned Melisa last minute that it was NOT going to work and basically everyone was lying to her. Furthermore, hopefully gained some trust with Gianna finally. Told her I was the vote Ariel.

So Jester goes home. Which is great for every human tribe member. Then theres tribe swap. I hate this freaking swap. Yawaaa! I would been ok with the swap if i just have ended in the same tribe with Tim and Pule. But here we are, tim and pule are both on the same tribe and here I am stuck with Melisa and Jessica which are the least human tribe member i would have love to be with. They were both sketchy before tribal earlier. Honestly, Im just glad i was able go manage to convince both of them to vote for Jester instead of Ava because that meansnwe are on the same side. I am just afraid tho that they might sense I am close with Tim and Pule and they try to make alliance with Bobby and f the other girl, Sorry i forgot the name, and the four of them vote me out. Specially with my situation right now. Haaays i'll try to ride along as much as I can. 

Woooo! In the pieces tribe! Ariel and Melisa are on it which is good! And Bobby, which I connected with during the boggle challenge. I just need to connect with jasmine. I’m in a decent spot right now. As for the challenge.. going to be tricky with my 1-9 shift tomorrow. Hopefully I can attend it. 

https://youtu.be/D26N6L5_UTM

Not the 5-5-5 I predicted. Luckily going into it I thinnnnnk the whole OG witches was still good with me. Verrrrrry interesting VCs though lol it feels like there were 3 others that actually felt at risk? I totally over analysed but I needed elle safe, but also it's going to be a struggle to meet back up with Elle and Bobby or any OG witch bc of the other tribe's having them down in numbers. I lucked out (?) By being on the only tribe with majority og witches. Plus hilariously I know everyone on our tribe 😆 which is probably more of a hazard than I like to think. I assume our buffer is Gianna. Ava said they were on the chopping block before. Unless Danny or Els want to be super spicy, we should be fine for now. The challenge went. 😅 I'm hoping for second place. Who plans a challenge in a weekday morning hahahaha anyway hoping for the best preparing for the worst. I told els if it came to it I'm with them first. I'll cut Ava 🔪🔪 if I need to. Though I would be more keen to cutting danny before ava for personal reasons, it's probably not the best game choice. However I'm thinking wayyyy ahead. Imagine we win. As the New Witches motto goes: Life Life!! 😆♥️

OH MY GOD ok so this is like the aftermath of everything that has happened after the double tribal. Firstly, Jester was out (I'm so sorry my man) and I'm kinda guilty that I voted him out LIKE he literally just told me he won't vote me out because we're both Filos. But man, you can't just stay in a sinking ship, and you my friend made yourself go straight to Atlantis. I mean had it not been for his scramble in Emily's vote he should've been fine. LIKE REALLY FINE I even think he is in a good position before that scramble because he has me, Nasir and he also has ties with Jessica on that side. Oh well, sad to see you brother hope to see you soon. What's funny about the Jester vote was that it was a unanimous vote AND MELISA AND I ARE LITERALLY LYING TO THE TEETH WITH EACH OTHER lol I was surprised she was in the vote but I think when she caught a whiff of Jester's name, she's like ok y'all I'm out. Maybe her greatest takeaway from me is that I can't be trusted LOL I really lied to her about the Emily vote THINKING she's with Emily, but I figured maybe she isn't and Emily was a lone wolf. Anyways, the scramble leading up to that Jester vote was CRAZY but I'm glad I came out alive. Then came the swap. I had the majority in the Humans tribe but I'm also not complaining about the swap like c'mon let's just mix things up already. We were doing the process then I realized it's going to be 3 tribes now. When Raffy said that only one more slot left for the new Humans tribe, I was NERVOUS AS HELL because the other people who weren't picked yet were Jessica and Melisa for the former Humans tribe AND I FOR ONE KNOW that they don't trust me AT ALL! But when I learned that it was Elle who was going to do the last pick, I was like oh yeah I got this, Elle is my girl from the Boggle challenge and I know she would pick me. Luckily, she did and I was put in a really good tribe with Tim and Nasir like we got this in the bag for sure. I have never shown disloyalty between those 2 so I'm confident we could make it to the merge. Merge time is another game so for now I'm with these 2. Challenge came and I woke up the usual time I wake up and the challenge started already. Luckily, I came in time for the crossword one (which was hard as hell btw I don't think anyone here knows Umineko so that was very challenging, at least for us). I kinda let them take the reins on this one because again #ThreatManagement. I could've helped in the logic puzzle, like I eat logic puzzles for breakfast and dinner lol I literally start and end my day answering logic puzzles on my phone. But this one, I didn't bother anymore and just let them do it. Overall, I'm not worried that we'll go to tribal. If we do, it'll be an easy vote anyways. What I need to focus on is establish relationships with Elle and Tyecha because come the merge, it's go time baby.

Arrrgh, this is so conflicting. I wish i haven't connected with Bobby, it would have been easier to vote him out. Oh before that. I totally sucked at that challenge, half the time I was out looking for signal and that freaking Logic Puzzle is so HARD. How do you supposed to solve that??? Anyway, so yeah, we lost. Coming into this new tribe, I was 100% human strong. But i think that was mostly emotional decision to stay with the former human tribe. Also, I just felt very vulnerable being not active as much as I want too, so the first thing I did was to follow my emotion to stay human strong. But, after I connected with Bobby, i do really like him. So I think I can work with him and Jasmine and take either Melisa and Jesica. Remember Jessica and Melisa are both in an alliance in our previous tribe, and I am not in that alliance. Also, i really do think Melisa was just playing me when she said we should vote for Ava because that is what the majority is doing. I am smarter than that Melisa. I haven't really have made an alliance with the 2 of them, we just happen to vote the same person last tribal. If I vote Melisa tho, I do have to work with Jessica's feelings. Which i dont think im good at. Also Im gonna hate my self if i do that because I feel like I locked in Melisa and Jessica with my vulnerability just to stab them at their backs. I don't think that is me. But I don't know why I feel like, Melissa and Jessica is just pretending they are humans strong too. I feel like they are probably planning to take me out. As they should, that is the smartest move they should do at this point. Just take me out. But I don't think they will, after I offer myself as a number to ensure the two of them have a number if in case this trive will go pagonging. I feel like if I don't take Melisa out this time, she will probably take me out later, if not sooner. Also, the Bobby plan feels like Bobby trap. This is a hard vote, but I have to do, what I have to do.

I definitely love the new tribe!!! We are adorable!!!! But idk what it is about me and these comps! My phone was being a pain in the butt and it was hard for me to help out at times. I feel like I have bad luck in this game but I’m still a fighter who doesn’t give up and I’m so glad that we won because if not I may have been going home! Let’s see what happens!!! 

And that's on having a tribe of all veterans 😂😂😂🤭🤭🤭 I'd like to thank Els in particular for this win. The rest of us sat back while they did the logic puzzle in 7 minutes!! Danny, Ava, and Els carried that. Myself and Gianna barely helped 😂 but even with me leaving for 30 minutes in the middle I would like to think I helped more than Gianna who was rarely there. It's awkward bc I literally have past connections with all of these players and if we go to tribal ever, it will be spicy for sure. Everyone is simply discounting G and I'm like no besties I've made that mistake before 😅. Excited for this win!! Hoping the quad can reunite at merge and dominate! Also hoping Ava and myself aren't instantly targeted haha. Also also I'm trying to not move black pieces at all so looks like I'm playing this game with no advantages. Also Raffy overestimates our abilities he told us that challenge would take less than 30 minutes and we won with 89 minutes 🥴🥴 sir

~

Els approached ava about working with us both and Danny approached me about working with me and ava so I HOPE that puts us in a great place. Ultimately I want to keep winning so all of us make merge. Hilariously danny made the group and didn't even say hi 😅

Thank god no scrambling today. We can all breathe and rest easy. But I know I still have work to do. I need to further strengthen my bond with Nasir and Tim separately. I know they're both playing me but I just have to lie low for now and do my damage later during the merge. I need to use this time to rethink how I'm going through with other people. Like Melisa, I really felt I burned her, having lied to her twice. I mean I know I have to lie but I need to lie in a way that they don't feel burned by me. So this short peaceful period will be dedicated in planning my steps during the merge. I'm interested to see what is happening tmin the pieces tribe. If the two Witches members there are all kumbaya and shit, I think Ariel has to play the middle game. I just know that Melisa and Jessica are working together so Ariel should be on a good spot stuck between two opposing alliances. Personally I hope it's Melisa even though I trust Jessica less. I think I can still salvage something with Jessica unlike with Melisa whom I lied to in the two votes we had in Humans tribe.

I hate tribe swaps. That being said. This is is neither the worst or the best one I've been in so far. I really wish I bonded with some people enough to make alliances but they're really just not that active 🥺 We're at what, 14 people after this? So either one more round or 3 before merge probably. I just need us to simply Not Lose 🤠 how hard is that? Easier with 3 tribes I'll tell you that much. P.S. That challenge relay was awful and I hated it this is my Yelp review 😂😂😂 I'm calling the store manager (tbh the last logic puzzle was fun tho) (and I don't hate crosswords except when they're themed around something I don't know 😂, otherwise they're kinda fun) ALSO I THOUGHT SPEAK THE BLUE TRUTH ON THESE WAS A MADONNA REFERENCE 😭😭😭 (her third album "True Blue", first one to break the "Like a" pattern of Like a Virgin and Like a Prayer).

https://youtu.be/7XYK_OD_yLw

Hey guys it’s Me back with another Voice to text confessional and I just wanted to say that I am extremely proud of our tribe for winning we were all really nervous I was extremely scared we were going to have to go to tribal but we ended up having the lowest time even with our disadvantage so I’m super proud of us and I mean even if we did go to tribal I already knew who I’d be voting for like with this tribe specifically I kind of have like a mini little boot list order in my head and it feels pretty straightforward to me and I know that’s probably not the best thing but like yeah oops I pretty much know who I would get rid of (Gianna then probably Danny) but I genuinely do like this tribe and we did well so hopefully we don’t even have to go to tribal

I’m so happy my tribe won! Honestly feel really good with this new and I think I’m making some good allies 

I think the sound is as good as it’s going to get. So let me know if I should re-shoot the whole thing   https://youtu.be/r0A7kPOYrqw

I feel like this tribal should go smoothly (brood my fingers, not jinxing it) but I’m sad we lost the challenge. I feel like I need to watch this anime lol. I like Jasmine, we were boggle partners and takes a bit then so it was lucky that we were out on the same tribe. I was extremely lucky that Jessica (who I consider my number 1 right now) is also on the Pieces tribe, once the last person picked Pule at the swipe, I was so excited 😂. As of now, everyone is pretty much in agreement that Bobby should go and Bobby is throwing lots of names around, but anything can happen before tribal. 

We lost. I didn’t do great in the challenge, I’ll admit. It was the hardest challenge ever. Why I’m I always in the losing tribe. Is it me… I’m I the problem? ANYWAYS. Bobby is pushing for Ariel to go. Which I wouldn’t be opposed to. However, Bobby (I feel) can be a little pushy… trying to push his agenda while also seeming like it will be my choice/idea. (Idk if that made sense). So me no likey. Melisa and Ariel seem down for Bobby to go. I did talk to Jasmine, who I really like and could see myself working with, and she said she was a little bit annoyed with Bobby during the challenge and that she will be down to vote him out. I’m letting Bobby know I am voting out Ariel (lie) so he doesn’t try anything last minute. Hopefully Bobby will be voted off at tribal. Fingers crossed.

https://youtu.be/lTVXgWYtkRI

I HATED THAT LAST IMMUNITY CHALLENGE

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fz5wZDJo1Lg

The tribe swap isn’t what I was expecting at all. I thought that maybe we were doing a merge but to go to three mini tribes what a curveball! This game is full of twists & turns and tonight’s tribal I’m sure will be no exception! 

~

The immunity challenge was just that….a challenge! Being on a losing tribe isn’t ever a good feeling. No matter how confident you may or may not be you’re only safe if you have the immunity idol. Being down to a small number like 5 players on a tribe you’d hope to have an easy vote but we all know this is Survivor & nothing’s ever easy in Survivor. I hope that the people I trusted with tonight’s vote were being honest with me & that things go as planned!

I was watching the other tribe’s run the challenge and it looked like Elle did everything omg. But Tim also submitted the last puzzle? It was weird though it was Elle talking and Tyecha’s discord motifs from her other game and taffy’s comments and silence lol. Beyond that I am shocked we won but that shit was brutal and I again am going to be scarred from a relay race haha. I feel bad the tribe endured two hours and is still voting someone out. Ava told me it was Melissa who tried to vote ava out last time. Also Danny just asked me if it was us who would I vote out Els or G. Obviously I would prefer G as I’m trying to stay close to Els bc I know they like to hand away advantages haha! And I’m only going after white pieces still for some reason. Anyway I enjoy winning 🏆 

https://youtu.be/XPMl40vJYa4

~

Edgic:

MORP3 - Pule  MORP3 - Tim CPP4 - Amy UTRP3 - Jasmine CPN3 - Elle  CPP3 - Ava CPP5 - Melisa MORP3 - Jessica CPP3 - Els INVP1 - Nasir MORP3 - Danny UTRP2 - Tyecha  UTRM2 - Ariel UTRP2 - Gianna MORN3 - Bobby

Winner’s Pick:

Tim Melisa Amy Danny

Power Rankings:

1 - Amy 2 - Pule 1 - Tim 3 - Jasmine 5 - Elle 2 - Ava 1 - Melisa 2 - Jessica 4 - Els 3 - Nasir 3 - Danny 4 - Tyecha 4 - Ariel 5 - Gianna 5 - Bobby

[wanna1things]

Soulmate!Hwang Minhyun

me, aggressively screaming into the void: I LOVE MINHYUN im so whipped for this boy and his 2 pairs of gucci trainers

Genre;; fluff + job! au??? school! au but like teachers! au and soulmate!au ofc

Warnings;; uhh mentions of stress

Pairing;; Hwang Minhyun x reader

Requested;; nope

Soulmate AU Type;; when you and your soulmate are close together you can see a faint red string connecting your wrists (red string soulmate au yesss) ++ you can also see the red string when either one of you is hurting (emotionally anD physically;; the other soulmate like the one who isn’t hurting can see it but the one who IS hurting can’t) (sorry this is difficult to explain i hope i did it okay??)

Summary;; When you start your new job at the local high school, one teacher really catches your eye… And he always happens to be there for you whenever you’re down.

Style;; bullet point

Word Count;; 1414

Also in this series;; Daniel | Woojin | Jihoon | Jinyoung

i love this I love minhyun

honestly your whole life you thought the red string thing was fake

your friends all seemed to have found their red string or at least seen it but

you’d never even caught a GLIMPSE of the thing

your friends were the ones who told you about it after they found their own soulmates

honestly it all sounded rather,, extra to you lol

and to be honest you were quite sure you were destined to be alone

and you know what those destined to be alone do?? they get a job!!!!!!

once you finish your studies

majoring in english

you decide to apply to work in a school which was close to your college

it seemed like a nice school, not too much drama but not too little

(come on everyone needs tea once in awhile)

you apply with your closest friend at the time, Jaehwan,, who (thank god) already had found his soulmate honestly if you turned out to be soulmates with him you might die from that laughter 24/7

you both manage to get jobs but your departments are opposite sides of the school :(

he is over in the music and performing arts area

whereas you’re in with english and social sciences

the first department meeting you go to you notice someone

i mean you’re pretty sure everyone else in the room noticed him too lol

one of the business and english teachers was… the most beautiful man you’ve ever laid your eyes on??

even though he wasn’t wearing particularly smart clothes he might as well have been he looked like a model

while you’re staring at the beauty of this guy on the opposite side of the room to you someone pokes you in the shoulder

“I see you’ve noticed Mr Hwang Minhyun. Before you ask, hes room 311. I’m Mr Yoon Jisung, by the way, philosophy teacher, room 309. Nice to meet you!”

“haha yeah sorry he’s just,, very good looking. I’m y/n y/l/n, english teacher! I can’t remember my room number but uh nice to meet you too!”

the jisung guy turns to his computer and pulls up a file and searches up your name lol

“Ahh, y/n… you got lucky, you’re room 310. Right next to your new love interest Mr Hwang!”

ah great

now you have to face him every day

honestly you two never end up talking

you wave at each other occasionally in the corridor, sometimes he’ll pick you up a coffee from the machine and leave it on your desk but

nothing more really;;

that’s until one day you’re staying late to start planning classes for tomorrow

when you get a text from literally the LAST friend you have who also hasn’t found their soulmate

it’s only a sentence long but its enough to bring tears to your eyes

‘y/n, I found my soulmate!’

you want more than anything to be happy for them but you can’t help but feel useless

like why do you have to be the last out of everyone?? will you ever even find your soulmate?

a soft knock on the door interrupts your tears and minhyun walks in with two cups of coffee in one of those like cardboard things lol

“Hey, y/n... I could hear you from next door, what’s wrong?”

you don’t even have enough time to question how he managed to hear you through a brick wall before your tears are flowing again

you know how it is,, whenever someone is nice to you ; you always cry more lol

he puts down the coffee on your desk and pulls one of the chairs over to sit next to you

in complete silence he puts his arms around you and like;; cradles you while you cry and rubs your back and hands you tissues every so often

you swear that in between the blurs of tears you see a faint flash of red uhm

but you brush it off as it being a piece of his clothing and just;; continue letting out your emotions lol

when you’re finally done you sit up and thank him and he just smiles right back at you

“no need to thank me! do you want to tell me what’s up? if you don’t that’s totally fine but like sharing is caring…wait no i mean a problem shared is a problem halved”

you laugh at his mistake and mumble back

“i’m the last person left out of my friends who doesn’t have a soulmate…”

minhyun pats your shoulder when you say this and he leans down to look into your eyes

“Hey, y/n, that doesn’t mean anything!! Look at me!! I still haven’t found mine”

YOUR HEART STARTS SUDDENLY RACING AS YOU REMEMBER THE FLASH OF RED uhh 1+1=2 is this what you think this is??

but then you notice the red charity bracelet around his wrist and your hopes = gone

he winks at you and grabs a post-it note, jotting down a number and passing it to you with one of the cups of coffee

“I have to go work on my stuff for tomorrow, but if you ever need anything just call me and uhh enjoy your coffee!”

he stands up and starts to walk out the door and you shout a quick “thank you” and he just responds with an “anytime, y/n!”

you like text him almost immediately as you sip the coffee

somehow he… has put the right amount of milk and sugar like damn is this boy a magician or psychic or something ??????????

you end up texting until literally 2am

the next day you both turn up to work looking like you got dragged through a bush

minhyun pulls it off (he could pull of wearing a TRASH BAG) but… not sure if you can say the same about yourself lol

you keep this up for a good week

and you two are so close now even the students are starting to ship it

you can’t deny that you,, have feelings,, for minhyun

he’s just the right amount of kind and funny it’s amazing HE’S amazing

anYWAY y’all out here talking until 2am every night

until you find yourself falling super behind on the work and marking for your students

you literally lock yourself in your house one friday night and try to mark like 1000 english test papers

you’re not even 100 in and you’ve already forgotten how the hell english works

suddenly theres a knock at your door

its like 11pm so honestly… you’re confused who the hell is it

you grab your baseball bat and unlock the door to a very confused looking minhyun

“were you going to hit me with that?? I text you to say I was coming”

again you didn’t have time to question how the hell he worked out where you lived before you’re rushing back to find your phone

15 unread messages from minhyun

‘haha yes omg did you hear jisung today he was telling the class jokes i could hear the groaning from my room lol’

‘hey’

‘hey’

‘hey y/n’

‘where u at’

‘WHY WON’T YOU ANSWER’

‘what are you doing that is more important than me :(‘

‘if you don’t respond in 3 minutes i will be worried’

‘it’s only been 1 minute but i’m worried you’re always on your phone 24/7 this is not like you’

‘that’s it y/n’

‘i’m coming over’

‘see you in ten!’

‘five minutes away!’

‘two mins now!’

‘let me IN it’s cold out here!!’

whoOPS in future don’t put your phone on silent in a completely different room when you have a minhyun wanting to make fun of jisung

while you’re trying to process still how he managed to get here you look down at your hands and you see a faint red line tied around your wrist in a bow

the string flows from your wrist and is tied in a bow around minhyun’s wrist

you look up at him and he smiles widely at you

“that’s how i managed to work out where you live, I followed the string just like i did when you were sad before”

boy;; damn knew y’all were soulmates for thAT LONG

honestly you don’t know whether to fist bump because you scored the most beautiful human or to cry because it was damn worth the wait OR kiss him

you decide on fist bumping and then doing the 3rd option lol

um tiny bonus:

when you tell jaehwan and jisung they... fist bump too

p.s. jaehwan cries

YES I LOVE MINHYUN NOW IM GOING TO SLEEP

[archer3-13]

Gundam Seed Destiny Watch Notes

episode 1

- strong opening sequence both in terms of tension and emotional weight. it works because it pulls the audience away from the rather nonsensical and incoherent battle of orb into shinns immediate perspective.

- to sort of summarize its emotional impact, i feel more for shinn in that 3.5 minutes then i ever felt for kira or athrun as characters during all of seed.

- that’s hyperbole, but to get more specific consider how each character is introduced to us the audience [in the original broadcasts]:

-in gundam seed destiny, were thrust into the chaos and confusion of a battle. For those familiar with seed they’ll recognize this as the battle for orb, for those not however it’s a good immersion tool to connect us with the emotions of our focus character for the flashback shinn. Things are confusing, panicked, theres an attempt at evacuation but its clearly last minute and disorganized, battles raging and orbs on the backfoot. Shinn and his family are evacuating, civilian cloths, and well shinns the most obviously important one by value of his face hes dressed in mundane enough clothing to blend in with the earflap beanie being ridiculous enough to make him look more mundane [in my opinion]. His sister loses her retro cutting edge flip phone, and childishly refuses to go forward without it. Shes scared, shes young, everyone’s scared, and shinn in the heat of the moment runs to get it. And by shear coincidence and chance, that gets him out of the blast zone, the camera cuts leaving it ambiguous as to who fired the killing shot. It's impact is clear though, shinns beanie is thrown off his head as he struggles both in physical and emotional pain to take in the sight of his dead family and its not a pretty sight lingering long enough to atleast convey the sense of the images burning themselves in shinns head and definitely long enough to leave people uncomfortable. Shinns dad is crushed by a tree, his moms been seemingly torn apart likely by debris, shinns sister likewise has been shredded, her cut off hand having lured shinn to the gruesome sight to begin with. The battling mobile suits catch his attention, sorrow turns to rage and is swallowed by grief, and shinn torn between despair and newfound hatred simply gives up and wails in agony.

- in gundam seed we are introduced to athrun and kira through the opening theme animation in a still shot. The next time we see them in that animation athruns posing in a military powerpoint following his squad, and kiras cosmic naked with lacus on some ethereal plain. Ahtrun follows up with a confrontational still with cagalli backed by fire. Kira gets a group shot at the front of the archangel crew. Kira later still gets some random ass slightly sexual shot of a mobile suit exploding with a naked holographic lacus convulsing like shes having an orgasm as he looks on stoically, and later finally ends with a shot of kira looking up stoically as the strike goes through its launch animation.

- now, I suppose the immediate counter argument to that would be “hey, asshole, isn’t comparing an anime opening animation to a full on flashback sequence an unfair comparison? We all know anime ops are notoriously style over substance”. and my own answer to that would be “no, its not an unfair comparison because ops still tell us things through visual communication and most other anime these days and shows in general [of any quality anyways] are smart enough to lay down character groundwork before smash cutting to the theme song”.

- to go for a more grounded comparison that illustrates what I mean, lets go back to the original gundam in 79. The original gundam opened right out the gate with the theme song and op animation, no canned narration no nothing just bam, title song. Gundam seed opens with an admittedly effective shot of ginns descending down to earth as the zaft pilots steel themselves for war against the earth, which smoothly transitions into seeds canned narration about the war and how its supposedly speedy conclusion has been dragged out for 11 months. Then seed hits us with the op animation. And yet I would argue 79 has the more effective first foot by smashing immediately to the opening. Why?

- Aside from the 79 theme song itself being [arguably] superior to seeds first op song in every conceivable way, id say its communication. 79’s op is uncomplicated, simple and direct. Whats the gimmick? Giant robots, whos the hero guy? This kid whos shooting a gun and giving a thumbs up in the aircraft thing man he looks brave, supporting cast we should know? These idiots and some other robots look at em go, whats the conflict? These green guys with a prominent lead red guy they look mean, whats the heroes relation to his supporting cast? The supporting light and center of things good to know, heres a closing shot of the gundam look at it go, I hope that you got that its name is gundam. Its arguably deceptively optimistic for the shows actual content, but it works in forming an immediate emotional connection to amuro as the guy were suppose to root for which is good considering how he is in early episodes [an understandably frustrated teen, but hes very intentionally written to be aggravating at times so that immediate positive connection is good at keeping the audience grounded with him]. Its only then when we have our connection to the protagonist that we move into the brief canned narration. And certainly its not essential to introduce your protagonist first, star wars a new hope gets away with introducing luke like ten minutes into the thing. But it helps that lukes suppose to be something of a dark horse, the unexpected wrench from humble origins in the empires plan.

- by comparison we open seed with narration that takes twice as long to convey the same amount of information 0079 gets out in under a minute, and the opening itself is a lot more scattered and nonsensical, trying to convey a lot more then 0079s own opening. Whats the concept? Giant robots cool, whos the main character? Maybe these two guys, one of thems closer to the front then the other so I guess him, but also these people are probably important too? Whos are supporting cast then, this gaggle of clowns I guess but aside from the jerseys who tf knows what their relation is to maybe protagonist man? Whos the enemy? The guys in the different coloured jerseys presumably, they keep trying to blow up main protagonist man atleast so probably them? Whats the protagonists relation to the supporting cast? No fucking idea outside of being the main one of them, but hey atleast we know pink haired lady and main guy are going to probably fuck. That’s not to say no information is conveyed, athrun and kira are successfully established as a pair that parallel each other, muru and raru [the antagonist of seed] are established in a similar manner or atleast connected, as are natarale and that lady who commands the archangel ship whos name I never remember. We know who correlates with which gundam of athruns crew as they pose for mens magazine, and who pilots what in general. We know flay’s sad. But again, the problem is that its seeds first foot forward and for the most part it’s a confusing if flashy mess with only some vague generalities on the setting being conveyed through canned narration and the most important info from the opening seemingly being that kira and lacus are gonna fuck considering how much time they spend hovering around it. And even that turns out to not be the case.

- which brings me back to seed destiny and why it did the overall better job with its first foot. It brings us into shinns character first and foremost and it establishes both a lot of directions shinn could go as a character well introducing us to him at a very vulnerable moment emotionally. At the very least it conveys to us that survivors guilt and anger are going to be two big things shinn grapples with as a character, all well using pretty much only visual cues, sound cues, and minimal dialogue which better sells the intimacy of the vulnerability.

- but, I might still hear you say, its not a fair comparison anyways because your comparing apples to oranges, ops to private moments of grief. And no I say, im still being fair considering kiras ‘proper’ introduction as it were is only just… okay. We get the info that hes a computer wiz of some sorts considering the speed hes typing, its reinforced through casual mention in dialogue, we get the impression that hes worried about the war in some manner, a flashback to athrun and his friendship as kids reinforcing their status as a narrative pair, and then some suggestion of being a bit socially awkward and scatterbrained as hes pulled out of the flashback by a friend. In total all we really learn is his primary skillset as it were, a connection between the war and his friendship with athrun which is suggested by his concerns over it and the previously established narrative paring of the two, and that hes easily distracted. Its not nothing, but its certainly less narrative meat and potential then what were given with shinn if nothing else, and again its not the actual first impression we get of kira. The op is even if only sublimely.

- anyways, this was suppose to be about seed destiny. Seeds first op is alright, I privately refer to it as ‘seeds first op but better’ which it basically his. Similar pacing, similar visuals, but just cut together a bit better with a better song overlaying it [if your into that kinda rock anyways]. We get pilots and their associated machines, we get connections drawn often between trios this time such as masked man number 2, the blond guy on the Minerva and durendel. What I do rather like is that instead of just giving us a still shot however they kinda approach establishing the pilot trio of the Minerva a little more gracefully by having them in essence wave/salute in succession as they launch. More importantly for my money though is the tidbits related to shinn they throw in, shinn being pushed into the background of a similar shot from seeds op starring athrun and kira looking on the two with anger/resentment. Shinn also gets his own naked spirit scene with a girl, a blond one this time whos name I also forget but it also feels more like hes trying to comfort her instead of kiras similar scene from seeds op so I like it a little bit more then the more sexualized one kira got. Kira and shinn are also firmly set up to fight at some point with a brief clash in the op so some more interesting narrative meat especially since it hovers long enough to drive that point home then seeds more frantic cuts. Some teasing of kira and lacus, some parallel shots starring athrun, cagalli, luna and more, lacus and another more provocatively dressed lacus acting in opposite to each other… all around definitely not revolutionary but serviceable and better then seeds 1stop atleast.

- this does bring up the concern however of destiny relying on seed imagery which sets a bad precedence but I feel theres at least enough intentional subversion to serve as the narrative parallel as it were. Whether to destiny’s benefit or not is a different matter.

- canned narration time! Mercifully short thankfully and voiced by the lady who commanded the archangel I think. Uneasy peace has been established and we further tease that kira will have a role in this story somehow with him and lacus ambiguously walking on a beach under a sort of duskish sunset palette, well kira continues to look like a wet cloth and lacus continues to smile kinda creepily. Through no fault of the animators im sure.

- title and episode one is called “angry eyes”. Hopefully that will be appropriate wink wing. I never got why the plants look the way they do on a related not, like surely that’s more of a waste of space then it is economical. Its unique ill give em that much. Also cagallis here and what looks to be a passenger class jumbo space jet. Riding economy class from the looks of it for some reason.

- seriously, why doesn’t she have a private craft? Peace time and orb pacifism and all that sure, but shes an important dignitary and head of government, surely something with speed if nothing else would be better to use for political expediency? Or atleast somewhere timmy wont overhear your political planning.

- cutting to a military base destiny manages to show off both some pretty decent writing and seeds continuing problems. Visually its conveyed that the military base is in a bit of disarray as people rush to organize things and messes pop up as they clean up to look presentable for whatever ceremonies scheduled to happen. Luna and her driver get some casual back and forth that establishes their friendship, the drivers a reckless ass in his driving and luna well exasperated by it doesn’t comment suggesting familiarity with his behaviour and at least tacit acceptance of risk and danger [being more so annoyed with everyone’s panicked straightening up even]. Destiny then goes out of its way to have the driver clarify through dialogue that everyone’s cleaning up for an important visit and establish through dialogue that most of everyone is green behind the ears. Something that we already know visually for the most part and something we could have established visually as well respectively. Its not the dealbreaker by a country mile, just disappointing is all and indicative of seeds tell don’t show problem. Despite its visual language often being its best part when they actually put in the effort and have the budget for it.

- space helicopter! And the visual language continues to show its strength by having… rey [that’s his name right] not outright state his relation to durendel, but imply it visually. Rey notices the space helicopter [why do they have that in the plants?] smiles very happily, rushes over to where its landing and stands at attention in the back but in a place durandel can clearly see him. Durandel pauses in his talking about state matters to offer rey a similarly warm and affectionate smile in return. Its speaks volumes of their relation without having to say anything, and its even helped by the dialogue around it being about other things.

- speaking of, the dialogue in this instance also highlights the problem of the previous car scene a bit better. This feels more naturalistic despite essentially being exposition of a similar nature. It reminds us of blue cosmos existence, that their poking their head around and causing trouble, and in a context that makes sense and flows more naturally because its durandel talking matters of state with an advisor.

- incidentally, to kinda track durandel as a means of highlighting his ‘sudden heel turn’ into an inexplicable villain at seeds end and why it makes no sense and doesn’t gell with whats previously been established [or not if im wrong], im going to be noting durandel in particular. And in this particular instance he notes blue cosmos as ‘more of an idea then a true organization’ asking for clarification on the matter from a subordinate, well noting that well they can work on stricter enforcement of ‘the treaty’ it wont ‘eliminate terrorists’ presumably like the other party making a request of him to enforce the treaty more strictly hopes. Largely this snippet of discussion seems to be in reference to an as of yet heard request from another party incidentally, but considering cagallis presence in the jumbo jet… its almost definitely her. Putting that aside, durandels words and reactions in these few snippits so far paint the picture of a ‘pleasant sceptic’. Hes willing to try the other way but he clearly holds doubts about its success in essence.

- first shot of cagalli with background athrun! She looks sad and or constipated [hopefully that wont be a trend]. Meanwhile athruns rocking quattro four vaginas sunglasses but in a dark red.

- durandels advisor notes her as ‘orb hime’ or orbs princess as its translated in the subs. Durandels response is a brief narrowing of eyes, followed by a smile and a remark about her being an ‘awfully busy person’. Its not the most flattering opinion to hold about her obviously since the remark seems to be mostly made in jest, but its ambiguous in that moment as to why he feels irritation towards her even if its just in the ‘what a hassal/shes childish’ kind of manner the tone, remark and smile would imply. Said tone, remark and smile I would also like to note do come across as somewhat fond as well though, so its arguably not ‘I dislike you because you’re a child’ irritation but more so ‘im being patient because you’re a child’ kind of irritation.

- cagalli and athrun. Athrun makes things weird remarking about cagalli needing a dress, but he does follow it up with some decent advice about ‘not being what you aren’t’ but also how its important ‘to be take seriously’ in matters which cagalli presumably is trying to attend to. Cagalli is reluctant/begrudging about it, kinda leaning into durandels earlier implication about her being childish. Like its weird to bring up and make it about a dress but its not a bad point in general really. Also its an unofficial visit, hence the passenger ship.

- careless remarks about ‘those damn naturals’, but its used to drum up how everyones still very uneasy about the political situation and tease the Minerva. Also, random hot topic crew that athrun notes with athrun specifically noting the blond girl of the bunch.

- apparently the Minerva is going to be ‘the first warship’ to launch since the peace treaty. Cagalli notes it with some obvious frustration as well as frustrated hesitation as to why durandels proposing the meeting here. Athrun points out that cagalli was the one who wanted a low profile continuing the be the more insightful of the two.

- beauty shot and the plants colonies are way bigger then I always think they are. Which just infuriates me more because that is in essence double the profile for at best the same amount of space as a regular gundam colony.

- cagalli and durandel greet. Not much to note about the dialogue itself as its pretty box standard but durandel notably sounds more flowery and enthusiastic about it then cagalli. Also some guy in a suit is with cagalli, whos he I wonder? Durandel makes note of athrun and clearly sees right through the clark kent guise but doesn’t comment yet.

- hot topic trio strut and a shadowed shinn in an alleyway tease us as cagalli and durandel begin talking. Durandel congratulates her on her success noting his ‘envy’ of her rapid success though clearly in a facetious manner. Its not mocking, just clearly said because hes expected to be polite. Also third guy in suit, who are these people? Outside of extras destined to die and clearly identical twins. Also cagalli plays down her accomplishments as needing more to be done and durandel jumps on that to question her motives for the meeting. Noting it as a complicated issue she apparently wanted to discuss.

- cagalli doesn’t think its complicated, notes that durandels been unresponsive and vague on his end, and directly insists that durandel and zaft, and im quoting here, “stop putting to military use the technology and human resources that have come your way since the war with orb.” Athrun puts on his shocked face and durandel just smiles in response clearly being ready for this.

- now, im going for a direct quote there because I wanna put a pin on this because its so… weird in the context of cagalli herself. Narratively this is obviously suppose to sound ominous on our end, and not to mention this is very obviously suppose to be an easy statement for durandel to shoot down. But when ya get down to it, what the fuck does cagalli think shes asking here? What thought process and series of events led her to ask this question, because as shes wording it the overall implication its providing is ‘I believe your holding orb citizens hostage and forcing them to build weapons with stolen orb technology’. Cause like, if that’s what she believes and is trying to get across that’s an insane accusation to just throw out there in a private under the radar meeting like this. But if its not and shes just poorly wording her apprehensions from seed about orb building weapons then it’s a weird way to word that apprehension, and it’s a weird implication to hold that orb citizens are always under orbs jurisdiction regardless of if they decide to become citizens of another nation or not which implies they’re orbs property in a way. Is it a combination of the two, and shes worried orb citizens are building weapons based on stolen orb secrets? Whatever the case, its an odd look for her, and doesn’t help with the impression of naivety on her end.

- hot topic gang, girl [stellar that’s her name right?] admires herself in the mirror and blue hair boy asks wtf shes doing to green haired leader. Leader boy responds ‘being a happy fool’ and suggests blue boy try being a fool sometimes. It’s a quick scene but good at establishing a dynamic for the group, the pecking order as it were, and some camaraderie banter between them. Quick cut to cagalli demanding an answer, and cut back to stellar twirling and giggling like a school child lost in her own world. Cue accidental bump into shinn and accidental boob grab.

- stellar storms off upset and in a hurry, and shinns black tagalong yolant comments on shinn ‘groping her’ much to shinns flustered embarrassment. Apparently they’ve been out shopping for whatever reason. Not the best scene to ‘reintroduce’ shinn on what with the groping, but I appreciate that we get to see him in a more casual setting and cloths first. Fashion choices remain as weird as ever in ce, but again I appreciate that we see shinn acting flustered and his rapport with yolant whos more cool and casual, teasing shinn because he knows shinns gonna be flustered and uptight about it. Also shinns established to still be carrying his sisters phone alluding to ‘lingering hang ups’ to say the least.

- commercial break animation cut. These are always kinda fun in shows, but honestly im more weirded out then anything. Why is lacus in a weird translucent sexy ballgown getup all in one colour? Why a haro orchestra? Why have the commercial cut be kira and lacus when they aren’t even around for the first 8 episodes? It feels desperate to reassure the audience that kira and lacus will be returning is all.

- durandel time! Nothing too specific stands out, he praises cagallis bravery and participation in battle, praises cagallis fathers refusal to buckle under pressure, and uses that as weight for his rhetorical question about how the political situation of the world is. Actual admiration? I feel so. Athrun gets to have the shocked face upon seeing zafts newest frontline suit, the zaku warrior. On the zaku warrior note, I don’t actually hate the design itself but it does kinda feel desperate on the showrunners part to copy paste with minor alterations the zakus design for their own show. It atleast was redesigned to look like an advancement on the ginn.

- more durandel talk time intercut with hot topic infiltration time. The hot topic gangs infiltration stuff is pretty standard faire as we see they both have men on the inside already, and advance combat skills to take on armed zaft personal with just the three of them and the one other guy who kind of disappears after this. More importantly durandel and cagalli talk, or more so durandel talks at cagalli. In essence well he displays sympathy towards cagallis give peace a chance stance he correctly identifies the essential problem that such a stance of not picking fights or allowing others to pick on you requires strong force of arms or some force of political power to back up otherwise you’re a sitting duck with no bite to your bark. You know the same problem/question gundam wing obsessed over and then cleverly side stepped by having relena become queen of the earth and abolish all weapons forever. Other things to note, durandel specifically uses hime when in essence talking down to cagalli after she expresses discomfort with the title. durandel also identifies that cagalli might in truth be more so worried that the north Atlantic federation is going to use zafts use of orb personnel as excuse to call foul on the peace treaty, which he then turns around as justification for why zaft needs to build and maintain military power [also, he notes that hes not forcing orb refugees to build this stuff, their simply using their own skills to make a living for themselves]. In essence durandels position is that zaft needs to maintain military power so that they aren’t caught off guard and on the backfoot by the Atlantic federation if things do go south. A bit warhawkish of a position, but honestly a fairly reasonable one considering the north Atlantic federation has consistently expressed a desire to genocide the fuck out of the coordinators/zaft in the past. Also, cagallis only response during this is “to much power will lead to more conflict”, which is a ‘pretty sentiment’ as it were but also doesn’t entirely make sense. In the sense of, the greater military build up there is the more that conflict will arise, its an understandable sentiment but also not one that entirely plays out in reality. Durandels response is ‘there will always be conflict hence why power is necessary’ fits with the sort of sceptical side hes been highlighted as having but isn’t even the only answer you can give in that situation. Like, if you look at our modern world you could arguably say that the build up of military power to the levels its currently at has actually decreased the amount of conflict around overall, atleast in regards to war [because as war becomes more and more expensive to wage the less willing people actually are to pull that trigger and commit, the same principle behind mutually assured destruction in a way]. Or hell, WWI was horrific because of the advancement and buildup of technology sure, but its causes were more so rooted in ultranationalism and imperial gamesmanship coming to a head and causing a political breakdown of alliances and deals. Point being, cagalli has a pretty sentiment, but it doesn’t necessarily hold up to reality as it were.

- anyways, gundam jacking time by hot topic crew. We get names as well, sting for green hair, auel for blue hair, they jack the gundams [love the theme here by the way, its really good faux orchestrate violin kinda stuff with well integrated techno elements] technobabble, stellar displays kira levels of computer typing so I guess shes a computer genius now as well or maybe they all are? Whatever the case, hot topics epic gundam jack is altered by the usual dying guard pushes big red alarm button routine.

- confusion, panic, athrun jumps ontop of cagalli throwing her to the ground in a matter meant to protect her but just leaves me thinking that probably hurt, well durandels guards take the opposite approach and don’t exactly grope him but it looks a little silly how their best method to protect him in that moment is a group hug? Anyways, jacked gundams step out, we get names though no specific attachments just some guy saying “chaos, abyss, gaia?” and sting formulates the combat strategy in an effective manner directing the team to target the as yet launched suits first. Also blond girl is given a name and its stella, as auel mentions it dividing up the workload between him and her, and they proceed to star blowing shit up.

- durandel! His shocked face is weirdly adorable as he reacts in fearful surprise to information that the gundams from ‘hanger six’ have been stolen. Cagalli and athrun meanwhile look on in slack jawed shock at seeing more gundams. Speaking off, during the destruction we see some gundam gimmicks in action to wet the appetite with stellas [gaia I think] transforming into a doggo which is a ma form I love and wish we saw more often in gundam as a whole, auels [abyss I think] gundam shows off some weird wing cannon things and a fuck of chest laser, and stings [chaos I think] boring and shoots a gun but also shows off some missile compartments in his own wing things.

- luna, though I don’t think weve actually gotten her name yet, and rey though I know we haven’t gotten his name yet, make a break for some uniquely coloured zaku warriors probably intent on helping but get knocked down by the force of a blast which also impedes the zaku warriors by covering them in debris. Which shocks the both of them and clearly irritates rey.

- durandel wastes no time in taking charge the situation, calling in for backup from the Minerva and getting cagalli to be escorted to a safehouse. What is weird however is that when cagalli athrun and their escort take a wrong turn and get caught up near some of the fighting athrun pulls cagalli one way well letting the poor schmuk guard wander slowly off the other way to get caught in a blast. Only to have them take another wrong turn and have to duck and cover again. Its tense sure but a bit repetitive.

- cagalli wallows about the situation, athrun reassures her in a surprisingly tender couple of seconds, and a dinn gets cut in half and coincidentally explodes… ontop of a zaku warrior in such a way that it falls down perfectly intact in front of cagalli and athrun? Whatever the case, the invisible hand of the author practically screams at them to get in the fucking robot already through this act and its legit comical in a way. Whatever the case the two take in the destruction raging about, and athrun makes the command decision to drag cagalli off presumably to the zaku warrior.

- but before that, long launch sequence of the ‘impulse’ gundam with its yet revealed pilot. Its actually a kinda fun sequence both in animation and music, and its good for highlighting the gimmick of the impulse. Which is ripping off the victory gundams gimmick of being multiple parts that can operate independently but combine into one suit. A very toylike gimmick used by a tomino who did not give a shit, but its what were stuck with I suppose.

- cagalli continues to be three steps behind everyone as shes surprised when athrun tells her to get into the zaku warrior but im willing to cut her some slack for now and given the situation. It is annoying to have athruns impulses consistently being action, ‘I cant let you die like this’ and all that, well cagallis is frequently inaction though. What is odd is how however is how the zaku warrior opens and closes here, the hatch is clearly on the abdomen area but a protrusion on the suits chest extends out for some reason and then the protrusion retracts first before the suits hatch actually closes. It doesn’t make much sense.

- the zaku warriors up and running and stella alludes to the pilot being more so the danger then the suit itself. Regardless with the zaku warrior athruns able to put up a decent struggle, apparently the shield beam resistant, but sting interferes to very briefly put pressure on athrun before shinn interferes. That’s right, shinns very obviously the impulse pilot and we get a needlessly long assembly sequence to some cheesy heroic music as everyone watches in surprise. The suit assembles and the end credits song begins playing in the background as shinn, presumably privately, questions what the hottopic trio are doing and if they ‘want another war!’ before rushing to engage them with the ‘sword impulse’ a nice red variation of the suit with a huge double bladed sword with small beam edge in the usual seed style. Seriously it looks like the sword strikers sword doubled and were scotch tapped together its kinda funny looking. Anyways durandel gets a shot of looking on pleased at the impulses presence from a command center, as his earlier words about conflict being inevitable echo again and athrun and cagalli look on in shock. Smash to credits.

- nothing to really note about the credits, it’s a long extended shot of destroyed equipment as everyone poses dramatically. Of special note though is that it transitions from night to sunrise, with kira and lacus being the last characters in the shot looking like a married couple gazing distractedly towards the sunrise. ‘oh Charles is it not beautiful? Why yes it is emily’ they seem to say as everyone else is miserable around them. Truly the worst honeymooners, but its… definitely biased as it were thematically speaking. Also destroyed freedom gundam is I think technically the last actual thing seen in the credits.

- preview, and its some random gibberish trying to sound poetic that basically boils down to ‘we did have peace but was it only temporary because of human nature?’. Title for the next episode is ‘those who call for war’ and things end with an image of a blue impulse and the words “from the new path before you, fly, impulse!”.

[vexkader]

Solis Part 7

  The elevator rose and rose above the white gleaming city. Sun beamed off the buildings and slightly into my eyes. Shaping off the curved glass of the lift. The early evening made everything have just the yellowest of hues to them. Soon to be red as the evening grew on. 

  The party was at the Maxis Tower, one of the tallest buildings here in Ishtar. The view was magnificent, as I could see the bay and beachfront. Cars below zooming home and wherever. Some freighters in the sky, heading to Earth or Mars. Anywhere between. 

  With a ding, the lift stopped and the doors slide open. A long carpeted hallway was greeted with a door at the end, and a few maintenance closets. The odd thing about this place was it seemed older, if that's the right word. Ceramic walls, a rough carpet beneath my paws, a greeter by the ending door.

  The human stood up straight, fancy clothing all and held a holopad in his hand.

  "Name?" He asks me, all perky readying himself like it was his destiny to push names. 

  "Vex Kader." I reply, not so enthusiastically.

  "I see you there, and done! Head on in!"

  The doors behind him outlined in a lime green, and slide open as I approached them. A beautiful room with walls of windows appeared in front of me. Low beating music played, synths just enough to be heard beyond the talking. And truthfully I felt under dressed. 

  Everyone here was in some type of business attire. Sleek suits, cutting off into straight edges. Silver, black, white, some blue, some purple. You named it, all screaming importance over my just casualness. 

  I looked for the only familiar face I knew, but as I looked around I saw former clients. A few of which I hoped to never see again, and likewise to me. But I slinked around, looking for Friday. Even if she may not have been the happiest to see me, but as fate had it she found me first.

  "Vex, guess you did show up." Her voice startled me, as I quickly turn around. 

  "Oh, there you are!" I say almost relieved. "Yeah yeah, I made it. Probably wont stay long though."

  "Hm? Whys that?" She asks me curiously, a drink in her paw. Head tilting in a canine way. 

  "Ah, let's just say a few faces in here I didn't want to see again." 

  "I guess that's fair, but come on. Let me bring you to my dad, besides the business bit you have, hes hosting."

  I nod and follow her, weaving through suits and ties, along with a couple skirts. Friday's paws clinking on the hard surface. Looking around it all felt odd. There was hardly any anthros here, almost everyone was human. Varying shades of humans that is. 

  I knew most high-profile business owners here on Venus were human, but at this rate it felt odd. I swear a few probably recognized me as well. Probably the cyan on my tail that set me off, but it wasnt something I could help. 

  After reaching the opposite end of the party, I saw another coyote. His muzzle starting to grey a bit around the edges, dark fur like Friday's. Deep brown almond eyes peered right at the two of us, meeting mine at the same height. 

  Next time him was another coyote, light in fur like your traditional ones. Cold icy eyes like Friday's, standing about the same height too. It was safe to assume these were her parents. 

  "Dad, this is Vex. He's the one I told you about that could take your job."

  Gripping his drink, he swished it around a couple of times. Then took a sip of it, staining his lips red for a few seconds. "Vex.. I've heard your name before, not a small one in your line of work. As shown by a few of the guests here. Mine is Kim." 

  His voice was serious yet accented slightly, sounding like he was testing me. I did not feel like playing a game with him. 

  "Quite so, I know my stuff and I'll get your job done. What is it?" I ask, crossing my arms and leaning on a back paw. I wanted it as soon as possible to get out of here. 

  "After the party, I can't talk around prying ears. This matter is sensitive." He smirked, taking another sip. "Please please enjoy! There is plenty of food and drinks to go around."

  I wasnt happy, I wanted this job and out. "With all due respect, I'd rather just take the job and go. I didn't come to-" I was soon cut off by him. 

  "Your accent! It is unique, I don't think I've heard it before?" He questions me, bringing his wife in close. 

  "Welsh, my mother was from the isles. And yours?" Fine, I'll play this bullshite if it meant I got a job. 

  "My parents were from the East Asia-Pacifica cities, specifically Korea. They came to Venus to start our ship building company, on vacation back there is where I met my wife, Ara." He went on, talking about his wife and parents. 

  Truthfully I hadn't a care in my heart over the Pacifica cities. Most were split up between old cultural boundaries anyways. What were they, Korean? Japanese? Chinese? I hardly kept track of my own! Welsh, English, Scottish? I didn't care, all I knew is it made my voice sound funny. 

  Kim and Ara kept me distracted for a while, Kim mostly trying to pry into my life. As I did the same to him, each of us budging with small tidbits we deemed unimportant. Waiting for someone to give some leverage. 

  By this point on, few stars glistened in the night sky. Neon lights and traffic whites shined below, a city of night life humming and buzzing. The last of the guests left, slightly intoxicated and heading to their lifts home. Kim looked to me and breathed in, the music dying out as now nothing remained except the lights of the tower, the smell of hours old food, Friday, Kim, Ara, and me. 

  "So," he begins. "You're looking for a job aren't you?" I nod slowly, looking to his face. "She told you about the ruins?" He motioned his drink to Friday, as she stood motionless. Watching how this played out. 

  "Aye." Is all I said. 

  "Good. Now listen closely." He begins to speak of the job. "Theres an artifact buried under Iceland, I believe its inside the glaciers there. However, I havent been able to get in close." His voice trailed off and was low at the end, peaking my curiosity. 

  "How come?" I ask him, stepping forward with my right paw. 

  "The natives have proven.. trouble some. Resistant to those who go there."

  Natives? I was not aware of any native populations. 

  "What.. what do mean by natives?"

  "A small group, should be easy to avoid. But my last hires messed with them too much, and could've even get the damn ruins open. So I've heard you can though." 

  Well that was a quick topic change. 

  "That's besides the point, are they armed?" I was worried for my safety, I havent been in a firefight in over a year. I was probably getting rusty, and I had no plans to visit the jovians after it almost costed me my life. 

  "Yes, but again. Easily avoidable. I will be paying you in cash, if that makes it better." Mhm, that it did. That always sweetens a deal. 

  "How much are we talking? If I'm going to 'possibly'" I mocked slightly, "be dealing with dangerous natives with guns. It needs to be worth it." 

  He huffs, setting down his drink with a clink. Red wine staining the clear glass. "Two hundred thousand. In cash."

  That.. wasnt bad, certainly wasnt my highest paying job, but this is no jovian raid. 

  "Fine, I'll do it. I'll set off tomorrow." With a smile, he shakes my paw, giving a tight grip. "I will send you everything else." He tells me.

  With that I set off, leaving the family behind. Leaving the ballroom, I could see the door boy had go home. Leaving me alone and down this empty hall. As I reached the lift down, I could hear the door open behind me and close again. Paws running along the carpeted floor. 

  "Vex, hold on a minute!" Friday calls out, turning around I could see her. Struggling to run in the business skirt. 

  "Yes?" I asked, wondering what she had to say. 

  Huffing and puffing, she looks up to me. "About the other night."

 "I thought you didn't want to talk about it." I tell her. 

  "It's whatever, I just wanna say I'm sorry." An apology? This surprised me, making my ears perk. 

  "I thought you were angry." I lean against a nearby wall, almost amused by this. 

  "Well I was, but after thinking about it." She pauses. "We were both drunk things escalated and-" 

  "I get it, no need to go on." I cut her off, raising a paw and getting off the wall. "These things happen, not like you'll have a cub." 

  Rolling her eyes, she sassily crossing her arms at me. "Okay, they happen for you. Not for me, I never really done that before."

  "Oh? Well, if you wish to remember it next time." I say giving a sly smile, trying to add some comedy this.

  "What? No you.. mhnrrg." She growls a bit in frustration, pretending to air choke me with her paws. "Listen jackass, you're decent enough when you're not trying to be smart or drunk. Just please don't screw this job up."

  I sigh, looking down with my own arms loosely crossed now. "Yeah.. yeah I get it. I'll apologize too, it was our faults. Sorry it couldn't happen under better circumstances."

  "Its fine, just again don't screw this up. Then maybe I'll see you around." See you around? Did she really say that? I didn't know what to say, just awkwardly nod and duck away. Heading into the lift and trying get away from this. It started to feel a bit too personal now, which I had enough of. I was just ready to get to Iceland. 

  

  

[componentplanet]

There’s No Such Thing as ‘Huang’s Law’

Over the past decade, Nvidia has more or less invented the modern AI and machine-learning market. The company continues to make remarkable strides generation-on-generation and Ampere’s performance per dollar is very good. Nvidia currently has no serious competition in the GPU AI market.

But — having said all that — there’s no such thing as “Huang’s Law.” That’s the appellation assigned to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang by the Wall Street Journal‘s Christopher Mims.

So, what is Huang’s Law? Well, it’s a misunderstood definition of Moore’s Law, but with the name “Huang” in front of it instead of “Moore.” Specifically:

“I call it Huang’s Law, after Nvidia Corp. chief executive and co-founder Jensen Huang. It describes how the silicon chips that power artificial intelligence more than double in performance every two years.”

Why the Definition Doesn’t Work

Mims begins his explanation by conflating Moore’s Law with Dennard scaling. Moore’s Law predicted that the number of transistors on a chip would double every two years. Dennard scaling predicted that building smaller transistors closer together would reduce their power consumption and allow for faster clocks. Moore’s Law is a measure of density. Dennard scaling measures performance per watt. It’s true that these two distinct discoveries are often combined in colloquial conversation, but in this specific case, conflating the two obfuscates the truth of the situation.

Mims writes: “Moore’s law has slowed, and some say it’s over. But a different law, potentially no less consequential for computing’s next half century, has arisen.”

As we’ve discussed a few times on this website, the meaning of Moore’s Law is complex and prone to periodic shifts. If you mistakenly conflate Moore’s Law and Dennard scaling, Moore’s Law has slowed a great deal. If you strictly consider Moore’s Law as a measure of transistor density, it’s actually kept close to its long-term historical pace. This chart from 1970 – 2018 makes that quite clear. What broke was Dennard scaling, which ended in roughly 2004.

Absolute CPU clock speeds have increased very slowly since 2006, as have TDPs. Transistor scaling, in contrast, has continued at a brisk pace.

To back up his argument, Mims turns to Bill Dally, Senior VP of research at Nvidia:

Between November 2012 and this May, performance of Nvidia’s chips increased 317 times for an important class of AI calculations, says Bill Dally, chief scientist and senior vice president of research at Nvidia. On average, in other words, the performance of these chips more than doubled every year, a rate of progress that makes Moore’s Law pale in comparison.

Image by Nvidia via WSJ

I’m the one that labeled this image — the original lacks labels — but based on the timeline, these are the GPUs the graph is likely referring to. Pascal launched in May 2016, Volta was announced in May 2017, and Turing shipped in the back half of 2018.

I’m going to ignore the fact that “an important class of AI calculations” is literally not a metric and treat the 317x performance claim as truthful. That’s an enormous increase in performance. The only trouble is, Huang’s Law is self-evidently dependent on Moore’s Law + the remains of Dennard scaling + the chum bucket of additional technologies like FinFET that engineers dump into every node to squeeze reasonable improvements out of it.

If you check the chart, most of Nvidia’s performance improvements are tied specifically to node transitions. Turing is the only exception. Nvidia has significantly improved performance without a node transition twice in recent history — first from Kepler to Maxwell (the first tiny bump just before 2015) and then from Volta to Turing. But good as Nvidia is at wringing additional process from the same node, you can also see how important new process nodes have been to Nvidia’s overall performance. Huang’s Law, if it existed, could not be a replacement for Moore’s Law. Huang’s Law is enabled by Moore’s Law.

As the benefit of node transitions drop, the rate of AI performance improvement is going to slow.

Why Huang’s Law Doesn’t Exist

First, the existence of an independent Huang’s Law is an illusion. Despite Dally’s comments about moving well ahead of Moore’s Law, it would be far more accurate to say “Nvidia has taken advantage of Moore’s Law to boost transistor density, while simultaneously improving total device performance at an effectively faster rate than Dennard scaling alone would have predicted.”

Huang’s Law can’t exist independently of Moore’s Law. If Moore’s Law is in trouble — either in terms of transistor scaling or the loosely defined performance-improvement inclusions, Huang’s Law is, too. TSMC has forecast only limited performance improvements at 5nm and below, and that’s going to have an impact on how much performance each new generation of product can deliver. This is going to put more pressure on Nvidia’s engineers to squeeze better performance out at a per-transistor level, and humans aren’t actually very good at that.

Second, it’s too early to make this kind of determination. When Gordon Moore published his first paper in 1965, he examined the time period from 1959 – 1964. Later, in 1975, he revised his paper again, and increased the expected time to double from one year to two. That same year, Caltech professor Carver Mead popularized the term “Moore’s Law.” By the time he did, the “law” had been in effect for about 16 years. If we look at the WSJ’s representation of Nvidia’s timeline, either Pascal or Volta was the first GPU to really offer any kind of useful AI/ML performance. “Huang’s Law” is all of 3-4 years old. Even if we use Dally’s 2012 figure, it’s just eight years old. It’s a premature declaration.

Third, it’s not clear that AI/ML improvement can continue to grow at its present rate, even if we assume Moore’s Law improvements continue to deliver substantial benefits. Adding support for features like FP16 and INT8 allows AMD, Nvidia, and Intel to increase AI performance by executing more instructions in a single clock cycle, but not every type of workload delivers suitable results this way and there aren’t an infinite number of useful, ever-smaller low-precision targets to choose from. Over the last few years, manufacturers have been very busy picking low-hanging fruit. Eventually, we’re going to run out. We can’t subdivide a floating-point standard down to “FP0.0025” in an attempt to build a hyper-efficient neural net. Amazon, Google, Facebook, and similar companies do not have an infinite amount of space to devote to building ever-larger AI networks.

Consider the smartphone. Ten years ago, it was not unusual for a new smartphone to double or nearly-double the performance of its predecessor, to say nothing of the visual upgrade once “Retina” displays hit the market. That doesn’t happen any longer. The rate of improvement, which was meteoric in the beginning, has slowed.

If a person had proposed a “Job’s Law” of smartphone performance improvement back in late 2010 based on the rate of improvement from the iPhone -> iPhone 3G -> iPhone 3GS -> iPhone 4, they would look pretty silly in 2020.

Again, this is not some knock against Nvidia. The AI/ML market has exploded quickly, with dozens of companies working on silicon, and Nvidia has led the entire industry. Jensen Huang is an incredibly successful CEO. But with Dennard Scaling gone, low-hanging fruit being quickly gathered, and TSMC warning of fewer performance improvements on future nodes, it’s premature to be declaring that anyone has established any kind of law governing long-term performance growth. Dennard scaling lasted for decades. Moore’s Law (again, strictly defined in terms of density) is still chugging along 61 years later.

I say we give it a decade. If Huang’s Law is a real thing now, it’ll still be a real thing in 2030. If it isn’t, it never existed in the first place. No matter what the answer is, Jensen Huang will still go down as one of the business leaders who pioneered artificial intelligence and machine learning.

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from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/computing/315277-theres-no-such-thing-as-huangs-law from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/09/theres-no-such-thing-as-huangs-law.html