#I saw people in the gravity falls fandom also use the same logic

[starscream-is-my-wife]

Skywarp in my AU where Megatron is second in command, AKA I want to try to explain outlier powers

Context for Megatron having space powers from the Transformers cartoon production bible:

That's awesome, I miss gun megatron so much

[kingofthewilderwest]

Do you think Mabel gets too much hate? I noticed when a female character acts selfish she gets hated on but when a male character does the same it’s praised

We’re free to love or hate any character with or without reason. That said, I feel sad seeing Mabel hate and agree Mabel receives too much hate. I feel like the rhetoric claiming she’s unforgivably selfish is skewed. I think people have decent criticisms regarding Mabel’s character and how she’s presented. However, I don’t think they sufficiently describe the full picture.

Anecdotally, I don’t think this is a case of sweeping sexism because Ford also receives more criticism than I think warranted. My perspective on how much hate each character proportionately receives could be incomplete, though.

But anyway. Let’s talk Mabel.

First though: please don’t try to debate this with me. If you don’t like my opinion, no worries. That’s chill. I’m just not interested in using my recreation time debating this. Thanks! :) However, if you want further clarifications, analyses, case studies, etc. I’m happy to talk more, because this is NOWHERE close to exhausting my thoughts on this topic.

Mabel’s Selfishness: The General Critique

I think everyday anti-Mabel criticism tends to use points like:

When other characters act selfishly, they’re called out and the narrative punishes them. But when Mabel wants something, she gets it, and it’s a reward (The Deep End, The Time Traveler’s Pig, Escape from Reality).

Mabel never learns how to give up something important and deal with that loss. Even when she lets something go, it’s not something that would have been good in her life. For instance, her failed puppet performance is “dodging a bullet” rather than losing something meaningful, since Gabe’s just a puppet kisser. In the end, she doesn’t have to live with sacrifice (Boyz Crazy, Sock Opera).

Mabel even selfishly causes the apocalypse by giving Bill the rift. She’s never held responsible for that (Dipper and Mabel vs the Future).

The narrative reinforces that Mabel is a good person even when she’s not (The Last Mabelcorn).

People particularly look at Mabel in S2 over S1; many claim that’s when her character began to feel selfish and insufferable. 

This isn’t everything, but I have tried to characterize the rhetoric fairly based upon what I’ve seen.

I find these discussion points understandable. Mabel can be self-focused and sometimes ignores others’ feelings. Alex Hirsch admitted in DVD commentaries that he focused on Dipper learning lessons because he put himself in Dipper’s shoes. And some of Alex’s writing intentions could’ve been clearer, like instances where the twins resolve conflicting desires. We could talk about how the show could be improved or the character is legitimately not-selfless.

At the same time, I think how fandom uses these talking points isn’t 100% fair to Mabel’s character or the show’s full narrative. 

I want to point out that Mabel hate for her selfishness covers two fronts: one claim that Mabel is selfish, and another claim that the surrounding plot doesn’t handle her selfishness satisfactorily. I think there’s fair constructive criticism when it comes to narrative framing (even if I disagree), but I don’t think the same dialogue is good rationale against Mabel’s personality. At times I see the two concepts conflated. The narrative may annoy you if you think selfishness isn’t addressed in plot, and contribute to you disliking the character, but claiming “Mabel is selfish” because of that is flawed logic. 

In this analysis, I’ll cover both fronts. I’ll tackle the four points I mentioned above and explain why I find them too harsh. I’m not going to cover all my thoughts (yes, my original draft was longer!!), but I will argue:

Mabel reverses her selfishness - and that’s the big choice sealing the climax of multiple episodes. She doesn’t get off “consequence free” either (Boyz Crazy, Sock Opera)

Mabel sacrifices for others. The narrative does show that Dipper and Mabel meet in the middle, not that Dipper feels guilty enough to ameliorate his sister’s wishes (Sock Opera, Escape from Reality)

Mabel giving the rift to “Blendin” mirrors Dipper offering a puppet to Bill. Both twins are emotionally compromised and believe they’re making a harmless deal with an inconsequential item. Neither would’ve made these choices in calmer circumstances. Sock Opera doesn’t have Dipper deal with his culpability; relax up on Mabel (Sock Opera, Dipper and Mabel vs the Future)

Mabel’s selfishness is addressed, handled, and resolved. The moral of The Last Mabelcorn isn’t defending Mabel’s goodness; it’s Mabel embracing imperfection. Mabel learns she’s a bad person and changes her perspective of herself multiple times in canon (The Last Mabelcorn, Lost Legends)

I could also have talked about how selfishness isn’t required to be resolved in her character arc, all the times Mabel does nice things for others, how she doesn’t always obnoxiously hog the spotlight, and other things, but I want to cap the length of this essay.

So let’s begin.

Can Mabel learn from selfishness if she’s consequence-free and never handles meaningful loss?

Anti-Mabel Argument: Circumstances don’t adversely affect Mabel. This means she never has to sacrifice for her brother like Dipper does for her. For instance, in Sock Opera, Mabel sees that Gabe is a weirdo over-obsessed with puppets. Her failed puppet performance was “dodging a bullet” rather than losing something meaningful, so she doesn’t learn true self-sacrificial love. Mabel never learns how to give something important up and deal without it. So, she never changes.

Boyz Crazy not only is an episode where the climax is Mabel learning to act against her selfish desires, but it’s got an explicit apology in dialogue. “I’m sorry I went bonkers,” she tells Candy and Grenda. “A catchy song made me realize that you were right. Can you ever forgive me?”

While Mabel has to learn this lesson again in later episodes, it’s to note: most GF characters are fairly static, and Dipper also has to learn multiple times not to hit on Wendy. Character progress doesn’t happen all at once. And in the next episode I’ll talk about, not only does Mabel confront her selfishness, but it’s the last time she lets her boy chasing impact Dipper. It ends after this.

I’m talking Sock Opera.

Mabel’s sacrifice in Sock Opera is big. She doesn’t get off “consequence free.” She decides to sabotage her performance before knowing Gabe’s a weirdo. Mabel is fully willing to lose her most viable romance option… for Dipper. She realizes her brother would be willing to give something up for her, and she’s going to reciprocate by giving up something big for him. 

Mabel might’ve dodged the bullet of dating Gabe, but she still gives up something big and will feel it. Sure, she makes the puppet show to impress Gabe. But she’s also entertaining a full audience. She can feel the people booing her, see them storming out and leaving. Mabel is someone who wants everyone happy, so much that seeing everyone happy except Robbie puts her in Crisis Mode. I don’t know about you, but just because I saw some guy kissing puppets, I wouldn’t think, “Yay! I had a happy outcome to this play ordeal!”

Mabel VERY much says, in the dialogue, that her brother would give up something big for her. And that’s what her Big Choice comes down to. Every episode climax in Gravity Falls comes down to The Big Choice. Here, Mabel’s Big Choice… is to sacrificially watch her hard work burst into literal flames.

Mabel apologizes to her brother, “I’m sorry, Dipper. I spent all week obsessing over a dumb guy. But the dumb guy I should have cared about was you.”

In following episodes, Mabel does put Dipper in mind. She gets momentarily distracted by crushes in The Love God, but that’s in a quest to solve her own mistake - a mistake that came from trying to make everyone, from Robbie to Thompson to Dipper, happy. She wants to include Dipper, from the Ducktective finale to her birthday party planning mission. And if you’re focusing on how she teases Dipper, why aren’t you also targeting Stan, who makes the same action without change?

Mabel Hate rhetoric focuses on how Bill was “right” in Sock Opera and she still acts selfishly in the same patterns after that episode. But, the climax is Mabel resisting Bill and demonstrating self-sacrifice, and that arguably does influence her character afterwards. It’s one step in an incomplete process. She might not be ready to handle Dipper separating off with Ford, but that’s because her arc still isn’t completed.

We do see Mabel dealing with meaningful loss like the collapse of her puppet show. She does show sacrificial love for her brother. And, as I’ll talk about more, she continues to grapple with and grow in selflessness through later decisions like Escape Through Reality.

Does Mabel ever realize she’s a bad person?

Anti-Mabel Argument: Narrative reinforces Mabel is a good person even when she’s not. Alex Hirsch wrote with rose-tinted bias because Mabel represents Alex’s twin sister. The Last Mabelcorn showcases that. Instead of Mabel learning she’s a bad person who can’t receive a unicorn’s blessing… the unicorn’s criticisms against Mabel get nullified – the creature’s lying about Mabel’s impure heart. Mabel got affirmed for who she was rather than dealing with her imperfection.

First off: if you haven’t watched the DVD commentary for The Last Mabelcorn, you should. It’s a wild story how this episode got made. Alex Hirsch trashed the script of an entire episode 48 hours before it was due. He crunched to write a new episode - by himself - from scratch. So yeah. A few lines of final dialogue could’ve been tweaked to improve the message, but the fact he wrote as successful an episode as he did in that short of time is incredible. And the message of The Last Mabelcorn is there:

Mabel learns she’s an *IMPERFECT* person. She embraces being imperfect instead of groveling for impossible perfection and meaningless approval.

Maybe that’s not the “Mabel learns selflessness!” episode you wanted, but this is a fascinating lesson, and one I don’t see touted tons in media. I love it.

Mabel spends the episode attempting to be pure of heart through kind deeds. Wendy tells Mabel they should solve their problem the dirty way. Mabel keeps refusing until the unicorns anger her. This is the moment of triumph: she punches a unicorn. Mabel forsakes the route of “pure” good deeds to do what she first considered dirty. That’s the hero moment, dudes! 

Mabel says the unicorns are “worse” than her, not that she’s good and they’re bad. Mabel comes out of the adventure declaring, “Today I learned morality is relative.” That’s because the episode’s climactic Big Choice isn’t about Mabel accepting she’s a “pure” person; it’s about Mabel accepting she can make “impure” choices.

Ford is the person at the end who tries to tell Mabel she’s good. But Mabel contradicts what he says with that “morality is relative” quote. What she takes away is that she’s imperfect, she can make non-sparkly-decisions, and that’s okay. She’s become more aware of herself and her flaws, but also accepts she can make choices others might shake their heads at. 

So. Ford and Wendy might’ve called Mabel “a good person” in key parts of the episode, which is why I say Alex (not in a time crunch) could’ve considered tweaking lines to make the point clearer. But I don’t think the episode depicts Mabel as a selfish jerk who never learns her flaws.

And frankly? If I had to choose between a standard “you’re not perfect” episode and this? I’d MUCH rather have this, where characters learn lessons, but we also get the show’s humorous, slightly subversive, slightly truthful “anti-morality.” That’s a Gravity Falls thing, after all. (For other anti-morality examples: Stan saying Summerween is about celebrating “pure evil,” Mabel deciding it’s good to lie so Stan doesn’t get arrested, Mabel deciding being an asshole to employees is productive, etc.)

So yes, Mabel realizes she’s a bad person, even if it’s not in the way you expected. And that’s still not the end of her character arc. 

Does Mabel ever sacrifice for others Dipper?

Argument: Mabel only agrees to leave her bubble after Dipper promises to drop Ford’s apprenticeship. This apprenticeship would have been huge for Dipper. But all Mabel “sacrifices” is leaving a fake world she’s hiding in, goofing around instead of helping people in literal Armageddon. 

Much of Mabel and Dipper’s relationship is about how they’re opposites. We repeatedly see the best place for both of them is the middle. Alex Hirsch talks about this tons. Whether it’s perfectly implemented is a debate for another day. I do think these concepts can be seen even in episodes like Escape From Reality where there’s been criticism of narrative execution.

I’ve seen people say Mabel “gets her way” because Dipper turns down Ford’s apprenticeship when he sees it makes her sad. Hirsch has said in commentaries Dipper was making a mistake wanting the apprenticeship. Mabel wants to avoid growing up while Dipper wants to grow up too fast.

We don’t have to take Hirsch’s word-of-god for it: the story does show that Dipper was erring with the apprenticeship. Ford intends well, but his bias against siblinghood means he’s polluting Dipper’s values. He suggests that Dipper staying with Mabel is “suffocating.” He suggests that Dipper is “greater” and should be doing something with it. “Dipper, can you honestly tell me you never felt like you were meant for something more?” And later: “Listen to me, Dipper: this town is a magnet for things that are special. And that includes you and me. It brought both of us here for a purpose! Stay here with me, Dipper. Become my apprentice. Don’t let anyone hold you [back].”

When Mabel and Dipper make resolutions in Mabel Land, Dipper says he’ll drop the apprenticeship. This emotionally touches Mabel. But being emotionally touched doesn’t mean that’s WHY she makes amends with her brother. Instead, Mabel reassures him that he can take the apprenticeship if he wants. She leaves the choice up to him and is willing to let him live in another state during their teen years. She finds his needs and desires important.

And honestly? It’s Dipper himself who realizes the apprenticeship is bogus; it’s not because Mabel is forcing her brother to change. “Mabel, I thought you were living a fantasy, but look at me! I actually thought I was gonna stay here and be Ford’s apprentice. Spend my entire teens cooped up in a basement with a lab coat? How ridiculous is that?” He sheds the idea because he realizes it’s a bad one, not because he’s ameliorating someone too selfish to accept her brother leaving her.

It’s also to note Mabel Land tempts everyone. Calling only Mabel selfish when everyone else gets pulled in… seems incorrect. Bill considers it a diabolical, inescapable prison. People like Soos, Wendy, and Dipper who know it’s a prison get drawn to Mabel Land’s temptations. Heck, Dipper gets tempted with an old vice. He might have grown more mature, but that doesn’t mean he can’t trip occasionally (we can apply the same understanding to Mabel and “selfishness,” by the way - someone can both grow and keep tripping). Mabel, meanwhile, wants to use the bubble to help and comfort her visiting friends (which is, for the record, not selfish) and thinks reality should be avoided because both her and Dipper’s lives have been adversely affected. Dipper’s pain is important, too. Mabel has been in this prison longer than Soos, Wendy, and Dipper, and the prison was designed for her - ergo she’s going to be more manipulated by it. Lots of her actions are avoidance tactics because she’s scared of growing up, yes. The court trial is a lot, yes. But we should bear in mind that this is a child scared of growing up and feeling the burn of conflict with her brother. Emotional and psychological context is important. We all get vulnerable. Do our lowest lows define our entire personality?

When Dipper and Mabel make their compromise, both reject temptations. Dipper rejects a bad apprenticeship; Mabel rejects a bad reality. They offer each other solutions where they don’t get what they originally want. They meet in the middle, and this is the best way for both to move forward in the aging process. They’re both satisfied and confident with their choice. It’s not Dipper giving up everything for Mabel, ameliorating her because she’s sad. It’s about the twins learning they can make it through life together, through thick and thin.

Potentially muddled thematic framing does not erase the resolution the twins make. It does not erase that Mabel’s depicted as someone willing to give up major things for her brother.

Okay. But that rift thing. How can you excuse the APOCALYPSE??? JUST TO HAVE MORE SUMMER!?!

The point is that Mabel is emotionally compromised and outmanipulated.

She’s a terrified twelve year old going through a Very Rough Day. She’s terrified about the future, she’s learned bad news after bad news, and she’s afraid her life as she knows it will be wrenched apart. It feels like everything she loves - from her best friends to her brother - will be distanced from her. 

Would you have handled this well as a kid? Adults have issues with this, too.

When she meets “Blendin,” she’s told that trading one inconsequential item will save her future. It’s self-focused, but it’s important to understand: she wouldn’t have made this choice in calmer emotional states.

Compare this to Dipper making a deal with Bill in Sock Opera. The twins literally make the same mistake for the same reasons, duped by the same villain.

Dipper: Decides to give Bill one of Mabel’s belongings, a puppet, without her knowledge. Mabel: Decides to give Bill one of Dipper’s backpack items without his knowledge. 

Dipper: Irritated with Mabel because she isn’t helping unlock the laptop.Mabel: Frustrated with Dipper because it feels like he’s abandoning her to be “special” with Ford. 

Dipper: This is an inconsequential bargain. Bill is just unlocking the laptop. He’s just taking a sock puppet - Mabel has plenty of those.Mabel: Nothing bad will happen. Just a few more weeks of summer. And she’s giving an item Ford allegedly won’t notice is missing.

Dipper: The laptop counter is ticking. Only a matter of minutes before the data gets erased.Mabel: Summer is ending in a week. Separation from Dipper is imminent. 

Dipper: Not thinking clearly due to sleep deprivation.Mabel: Not thinking clearly, emotionally compromised from a walloping bad day.

Hirsch and company have confirmed that only this combination of factors convinced Dipper to make a deal with a demon. Mabel wouldn’t have shook “Blendin’s” hand in less severe circumstances. It’s ironic that, in Sock Opera and Dipper and Mabel vs the Future, rhetoric attacks Mabel in both episodes.

So yes, Mabel gave Bill the rift. But yes, Dipper jeopardized the town’s safety by letting Bill into his body.

I know that, at this point, people might argue there’s a narrative difference. Dipper learned from his mistake but Mabel didn’t. However, I disagree. There wasn’t dialogue in Sock Opera where Dipper explicitly confronts his transgression and works it out with Mabel on screen. Same thing with Mabel and the rift. I know fans wanted it addressed that Mabel started the apocalypse… and frankly I would’ve enjoyed that too… but it doesn’t make Mabel’s writing as a character suddenly, “OH NO SELFISH SELFISH! AND THE NARRATIVE IS LETTING HER GET AWAY WITH BEING SELFISH!”

It’s no different than how writing handles Dipper in Sock Opera. And again, give a terrified kid a break instead of calling a large emotional low “irrevocably selfish.”

By the time Take Back the Falls comes around, Mabel encourages everyone to work together to fight Bill. Mabel risks her life to save the town and her family. Mabel works together with Dipper and puts the people she loves first.

Lost Legends: Fixing remaining narrative holes

After S2 ended, Mabel’s selfishness is head on tackled. That’s the ENTIRE point of Don’t Dimension It in Lost Legends. I suspect Alex Hirsch read Mabel criticism and intentionally reacted through Lost Legends. In this story, Mabel acts out of self-focused energy and doesn’t realize her actions have negative consequences to others. It puts the Pines family in an interdimensional conundrum. Once Mabel runs into other Mabels from other dimensions, she comes to terms that she’s self-absorbed and needs to be attuned to how others feel. Mabel realizes she put everyone in this mess. She apologizes to her family and resolves to be better.

It’s great.

I’ve still seen people criticize it. And that’s where I think Mabel hate rhetoric definitely goes too far. I suspect there’s bias in how people responded to that comic. By the time Lost Legends came out, criticisms for selfish Mabel were rampant and people were set in their perspectives, so seeing a character arc about Mabel’s selfishness got unfairly nitpicky responses. 

I’ve seen people say things like, “Well, she only learns when she interacts with herself, not with others!” But that’s a cool way of presenting story! Mabel sees herself in a literal mirror and takes away truth. Sometimes we don’t see our flaws until it’s right in our faces. This is Mabel’s in-the-face moment. The “I’m selfish” revelation doesn’t have to be with Dipper to be relevant toward how she treats Dipper. She takes away the full lesson she’s self-absorbed and needs to fix that. She immediately makes sure to talk to Dipper about becoming a better person. She owns responsibility toward how she’s treated her brother - and mentions the entire summer as the scope of her fault.

“I’m sorry for being selfish this summer,” the comic ends. “I guess it took me dealing with myself to realize what you put up with. It’s time for us to start some new adventures! And this time I won’t always hog the spotlight.”

There are other criticisms about Lost Legends, which I feel boil down to “I don’t know, still doesn’t satisfy me, not enough.” It makes me wonder what would get people satisfied. Does every possible angle of how someone could learn selfishness have to be covered thoroughly? No franchise can cover that scope. Isn’t there still lots of takeaway with Mabel? Don’t Dimension It alone is an episode’s worth of material, the same amount of content which most fans deemed enough to wrap up Dipper getting over Wendy, Pacifica being a brat, and Gideon being creepy on Mabel.

Mabel’s selfishness gets addressed, multiple times, and gets a final-final resolution in the comics.

Final Thoughts

I think it’s an interesting point you make, anon friend, that male characters get praised while women get condemned. I haven’t talked about gender aspects or other selfishly-acting male characters like Stanley (whose selfishness people perceive as lovable). I said earlier I don’t think it’s rampant fandom sexism, but there still could be a point there. Maybe you’re right it’s a factor. It wouldn’t be the first time gender perception’s done that.

I think there’s also point to be made that Dipper is the protagonist. Mabel’s a deuteragonist. It’s more common to write life lessons for the protagonist. That’s fine. Dipper learning more lessons than Mabel and Dipper giving up a little more than Mabel is a result of being a protagonist, not narrative excusing Mabel for her flaws or letting her waltz around scott free.

So yeah. I think Mabel’s gotten too much criticism for that flaw. Constructive criticism is almost always interesting in fandom dialogue, but rampant hate movements make me sad. Talking about how narrative structure could’ve been improved I find cool; pinning it on the character’s humanity bothers me. I think lots of the dialogue turns into criticizing Mabel unfairly as a person, and given as other GF characters have glaring flaws, it feels imbalanced and uncomfortable that SHE gets disproportionate attacks. 

This is Mabel we’re talking about. Mabel Pines, who’s SO selfish she tries to rescue Mermando when that means she’ll never see him again. Mabel Pines, who’s SO selfish she knits everyone sweaters during the Apocalypse. Mabel Pines, who’s SO selfish she calls out Dipper when he’s leading on Candy. Mabel Pines, who risks her life in multiple daring moves to save the town, parachuting through the sky into the demon’s lair… acting as a decoy to distract Bill Cipher… and more. Mabel Pines, who spends an entire episode trying to make everyone happy, down to Robbie, whom everyone else didn’t care enough about (but Mabel did!!!). Mabel Pines, who encourages Soos to date women and find a romantic connection he’s satisfied with. Mabel Pines, who fights in Globnar and risks her life, just so Soos can have a happy birthday and forget about his dad. Mabel Pines, who decides it’s better to be friends with her enemy Pacifica than fight petty battles. Mabel Pines, whose love for her brother helps even the thirty year rift between Stan and Ford mend. Mabel, who couldn’t give up on Stan and found a way to restore his memories when all others thought it lost. Mabel. Fucking. Pines!

[chaoskirin]

Fanfic -- A Temporal Folly -- CHAPTER 5

Fandom: Queen Genre: Sci-fi/Horror Rating: R Chapter Title: Detached (Chapter Five) Word Count: 2265 (oops!) Chapter Summary: Same thing, with 100% more Roger! 

How we all mourn the broken Holding onto the slimmest ledge Our fingers slipping by the second Drawn to the inexorable truth That to change the fates of the never-ending masses Is to destroy the fabric that binds us all

2019

Roger crashed into his vanity, upended his chair, then fell to the floor. Winded, he fought against gravity to regain his feet, momentarily blanking on the logistics of up and down; in the end, he succeeded only in rolling onto his side.

What was he doing in his dressing room?

He was too fucking old for this shit!

Roger would admit that, unlike Brian (whose feet were firmly on good ol' Terra Firma), he often had his head in the clouds and had no qualms about breathing the vapors. So he wasn't surprised when his mind skipped past every logical explanation like dreams or hallucinations and went straight to alien abduction as an assured reality. It sure felt how he imagined an alien abduction would go, although the completely empty dressing room unnerved him a bit, and the blue light oozing out of the walls like a thoroughly squeezed snail was an odd touch. Had he acquired the good shit?

It said a lot about him that his second guess was "drugs," Roger supposed.

"Right. Up on the feet then," he told himself. Now that the initial shock had worn off, he reintroduced himself to the concept of three dimensions and peeled himself off the floor. His joints popped and cracked in protest.

As he tried to regain his bearings, he squinted at the weird gecko-like beast, stuck by its little spade-toes up in the farthest corner of Roger's dressing room. As calmly as he accepted his alien abduction, he took this in stride, only partly because his very brain seemed to have short-circuited. The rest was because he kinda hoped he'd made first contact before his dear friend and space nerd, Brian May. Wouldn't that just rankle!

"Where are your eyes?" Roger inquired at the toxic blue creature. It grinned with a maw full of sharp, irritating teeth.

In answer, it shuffled toward him, hissing like a leaky tire. Alas, it seemed he'd have to fight the thing. So much for peaceful first contact! How could he possibly fight this cow-sized creature, though, with its lack of eyes and weird suction-cup toes and its feral, white-rimmed grin?

He did what any blue-blooded Brit would do. He bunched it square in the mouth.

The thing was fast. In the blink of an eye, it had Roger's arm crushed between its teeth. He tried to cry out, but the creature already had itself wrapped around him; consequently, the only sound he could produce was a less-than-intimidating squeak. Every time he gasped, the creature constricted tighter.

---

Witness. ---

1993

The alarm buzzed. John reached over and snoozed it.

Five minutes later, the radio started playing Sinatra, despite John ripping out the FM transmitter just the night before. Grabbing the entire clock-radio, he launched it across the hotel room, where it shattered against a mirror.

Then, for good measure, he sat up in bed and gave the lamp a good solid kick. He'd be billed for it, and probably even kicked out of the hotel. Maybe he'd sleep in a ditch tonight for the thrill of it. None of that mattered, though, since he'd wake up in the same bed, at the exact same time, annoyed once again by Come Fly With Me through a tinny, sub-standard speaker. He glanced at his watch.

"Three. Two. One." As he pointed at the door, somebody rapped on it and called "Room service!" "Fuck off!" John growled.

He'd seen Groundhog Day back in his own Theta-Universe just before traversing the portal. The coincidence wasn't lost on him. Who knew such a temporal anomaly wouldn't be caused by driving off a cliff, but by mucking about in the past!

The most annoying thing was that he couldn't write anything down, because everything would disappear when the day started over. Infuriating! He had so many questions, and limited memory with which to remember them, or their answers.

"What is this," he grumbled, sliding out of bed. "Sixty? Seventy? A thousand?"

Every morning, he made a tick on the wall. The next day, of course, it was gone.

It was at least sixty, though. He knew that. And in those sixty days, he'd pursued every opportunity to speak to Freddie, but this universe's version was reclusive and distrustful. Once, frustrated with the lack of positive response, John tried to drag him off so they could talk, and ultimately ended up in jail.

It didn't matter. By then, he knew he'd wake up the next morning safe in the hotel bedroom.

Today would be different, though, John mused as he brushed his teeth. Humming a cheerful ditty that was definitely not Sinatra, he pulled the hairdryer out of its wall holster and used it to smash the mirror. If his actions didn't matter, if everything would reset in 24 hours, why shouldn't he take out his frustrations on inanimate structures? He spit the toothpaste out in the middle of the floor. "It's a glitch," he told himself. John often spoke to himself now, since he had no friends in this universe. He technically didn't exist in it, which meant no one recognized him, which meant he had no friends. "We fucked up the code. It was too much. We shouldn't have--" Today would be different.

Over the past few weeks--relatively speaking--John worked on finding the key to fixing everything. By the very nature of time-space, the machine he and his other self built also had to exist in this world. He should have entered into the Iota-Universe at the machine's location, but the glitch interfered and spat him out elsewhere. After triangulating all possible points of interest, he found it in the basement of an abandoned school only a half mile away from the hotel. The proximity made sense. And if he was right, which he'd find out today, the location of the machine, the hotel, and Freddie would create a perfect line.

That revelation didn't matter much before, but now it made sense. It was the continuum trying to correct itself, pointing the way to solve the problem. If John could get Freddie to the machine, his presence would act as a battery, activating it and allowing everyone to go home. He had to. At this point, he teetered just on the verge of madness. Living the same day over and over couldn't have been healthy for anyone.

--- Today, he'd try a different tactic. Today... Today it would work.

It was sad in a way, how meeting up with Freddie had become routine. The first few times John saw he old friend, he couldn't even approach for the tears in his eyes. And Freddie looked so whole and healthy. Standing in the presence of Queen's legendary singer made John's heart soar!

But while this Freddie had similar mannerisms and a rather sizable ego, he was reclusive, bitter, and almost hopeless. In the rare occasion John managed to find the right combination of words and platitudes to get this version of Freddie to talk, every word dripped with regret and bile. After Queen failed, Freddie's life folded in on itself. He repressed his sexuality. Settled down with Mary. Lived miserably.

John had doubts about taking this Freddie back to the Theta-Universe, but he still waited in the same park every morning just to catch a glimpse of his old friend. Sometimes they'd talk. Sometimes they'd fight. Today, John intended to test his theory on the machine.

At eleven o'clock and four minutes, Freddie sauntered past the park fountain.

As casually as he could, John pushed himself off the bench, falling into step just behind Freddie. He tried his best to act as if he had somewhere to go and just happened to be traveling in the same direction.

Astute, though, Freddie glanced over his shoulder. "Are you following me, darling?"

Every day the same question.

"Yes, actually," John replied. Before Freddie could get angry, though, he regurgitated a bit of trivia Freddie gave him just a couple days prior: "I saw you at the Itherian last night. You sing, right? Was that you?"

Yesterday, the spiel was too desperate and overstated. Today, John reined in his anxiety and evened his tone.

It worked. Freddie's face lit up, every trace of doubt vanishing. "Hey, yeah! I don't remember seeing you there."  

Damn. A new variable. He could ruin the entire day if he answered wrong. Crossing his fingers in his pocket for luck, he tried, "Oh, I don't like to be around people. I kinda stay toward the back when I go to those things."

"There were only eight people there, dear," Freddie replied, arching an eyebrow.

"Eight too many," John muttered, trying his best to let his anxiety float to the surface.

"Oh, you've got it bad, haven't you? Poor dear. Well, did you like the set?"

If John continued along this conversational path, Freddie would ask which song John liked the best, and John had no answer for that. At that point, Freddie would see right through him and the day would be a wash. "Loved it," he said. And before Freddie could ask the wrong question, he quickly added, "I actually have a little place in the basement of an old school just down the block. I could use a regular. You want to see?"

Was that too creepy? It sounded too creepy. He'd have to work on his delivery for tomorrow.

To his surprise, though, Freddie said "Lead the way!"

---

"Interesting that you had to break the lock," Freddie grunted as John led him down the steps. Every one of them creaked underfoot with a squeal that sounded like each board was about to snap in half. Had they been that loud the other times John came down here? They must have been. He was just nervous and his senses were playing tricks on him.

"Ah, it's a work in progress," John said, whisking the dust-discolored sheet off the machine. His heart hammered as he turned to Freddie, who was staring at the contraption with a mix of disgust and curiosity.

"Is this what you intend to use for music?" Freddie asked. "Good God, is that a broken television set?"

"Actually, the truth is..." John fiddled with the dials, clicking the calibration from 6-2-5 to 6-2-6. It should have turned it on, which would give a heaping portion of credence to John's story. Shifting the sub-space translator node into the low-mid position, he said a quick prayer...

Please work. Please work. Dryly, Freddie scoffed, "Did you build this yourself?" as nothing at all occurred. "It's liable to belch dust before it creates music."

"I'm gonna explain, I promise. It's just that I'm from an alternate universe..." The truth slipped past his lips has he re-calibrated, trying 6-7-6 instead. Normally, that would be too high, especially with the translator node where it was. Maybe too high was just right for the Iota-Universe, though? "I was going to show you--hoping to take you back... There's this place where Queen made it, Freddie."

"Oh dear," Freddie drawled.

"Give me a minute," John snapped.

It had to work. It had to!

"How do you know about Queen?" Freddie asked. John briefly looked over his shoulder, to find Freddie peering down his nose. "I've not told anyone about the name. You've been breaking into my house. Looking at my sketches!"

The stray thought that this Freddie was also paranoid touched on John's thoughts as he tried to troubleshoot. "No, you must have told me--"

"I don't even know you!"

John sighed, resigning himself to another failure. He could try another approach tomorrow, of course. And the next day if he had to. And then the day after that. He started to wonder if perhaps he'd have to rebuild the machine! That'd give him an excuse to see if remaining awake for multiple days in a row would allow him to move past the same stretch of twenty-four hours, but was it worth the trouble?

He wasn't sure he liked this Freddie.

As John fiddled with the calibration, something slammed into the side of his head. The force caused him to spin around in a half circle and collapse onto the dead machine. As he lost consciousness, Freddie raised the two-by-four in his hands for another attack...

That was the first time John died.

Then his alarm buzzed.

"Ow," John grumbled. Sitting up and kicking off his sheets, he rubbed his unbruised temple, gritting his teeth. Though the pain was gone, the memory caused more than a couple tears.

He never bothered Freddie again.

---

2019

Roger could no longer struggle. Though his lungs reflexively tried to suck in just the barest hint of oxygen, he could no longer breathe. Though not one for giving up, he had to admit that this was over.

All he could think about was how wrong it felt to see that glimpse into John's mistake. How could he possibly have lived the same day over and over without going insane?

And Freddie...

That monster wasn't Freddie.

You wasted your time, Deaky, Roger lamented. You should have stayed.

You have witnessed,

the creature said, squeezing Roger tighter and tighter until his ribs cracked and snapped. Choking with pain, Roger's vision closed in until the lack of oxygen dragged him into a surprisingly peaceful demise.

[animeniac]

Starbomb Ch. 1

Fandom: BNHA Pairing: Bakugou x Uraraka Genre: Romance and Comedy probably Summary: After Uraraka sends Bakugou flying into the air, the short-tempered hero-in-training gets the idea of marrying Uravity for her quirk one day. Shenanigans ensue.

Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII

Somewhere between ten and twenty meters into the atmosphere, Bakugou Katsuki realized his helplessness. Perhaps his blasts could return him to a comfortable distance from the ground, but for that moment, he would have preferred to use that energy in a more constructive manner and aim it at his assailant - Uraraka Ochako. He should have put her in her place when he had the chance.

Then, Bakugou's eyes met with hers. Amongst the blonde's barking and the roars of laughter from his classmates below, the cacophony faded into his stark realization. Uraraka's smug smile shined up at him with a haughty taunt. She was in power from the moment she shoved him into the air, and there were few options he could do to give him the advantage in a fight. However, he envied her position, and as he stayed suspended, he wished for her advantage.

Explosions could not have possibly incited the degree of futility that anti-gravity did. Eventually, his opponents could more than likely find some kind of pattern, but this feeling - his stomach turned in his gut like some kind of painfully slow roller coaster.

Before teachers returned, she decided to give him relief - but not without the last laugh. When she increased gravity's pull on him with a simple hand sign, she made sure that he would be light enough to catch in her arms. And so, she did. "Sorry," she apologized, "you were pickin' a fight with Deku, so I had to do something." Naturally, the gesture earned another burst of laughs from her peers.

"I'm gonna blast your fucking face off, fucker! Put me down!" he shouted.

When Uraraka finally released him, she turned around to Deku who sweat bullets and put his hands up slightly below his chin. The anti-gravity girl always found his nervous gesticulations endearing. He was always modest and kind towards everyone - already, a true hero. She smiled, "Where do you wanna eat lunch today?" Surely, he could have handled himself, but she didn't mind having a bit of fun with his long-term tormentor.

Satisfied, the crowd that had swarmed the scene dispersed to their desired corners of the campus for food at the same time that a teacher noticed the commotion. Unfortunately, that meant that Bakugou had to refrain from seeking his revenge at that moment. Lucky for her, too! He would have destroyed her.

Midoriya didn't want to anger his former childhood friend. While he thoroughly appreciated Uraraka's heroic deed, he would have spared Bakugou the humiliation. Fortunately, the bellicose boy had remained pensive above the ground instead of attacking everyone in sight. While he had made headway with his integrity since entering U.A., that particular moment signified a profound mark of maturity.

Iida grinned and touted Uraraka's bravery as he patted her shoulders, "Your courage knows no bounds, Uraraka."

Whether or not Uraraka and Midoriya were aware, Iida like the rest of their class implored their relationship. Since they adored Midoriya, they wanted him to be with someone like Ochako - a sweet, delightful cutie that had been by his side since the first day of school. Within the insufferably chaste classroom, they yearned for the class sweethearts to realize their feelings for each other and take the plunge into a fruitful relationship.

So then, witnessing what they saw as a grand, romantic gesture only heralded the monumental confession that would cement a timeless romantic bond.

Well, everyone cheered for them except for Bakugou who had been indifferent up until that day, and, when grazed by the objectively endearing display, he developed an acrid taste of revulsion that stuck with him for the remainder of the day.

"Let's sit by the tree outside. It's a nice day, right?" suggested Uraraka to her group of friends as she led the way around the corner.

Her male companions gleefully followed.

Midoriya enjoyed the warm air that Uraraka carried with her. Her encouragement had nurtured him since his beginning as a hero-in-training. Without her, he was uncertain how he would have developed into the person he was at that point. Somehow, the rumors and sentiments of the class regarding his friendship with Uraraka hadn't reached him. Maybe he had been too wrapped in his personal goals to pay much heed to the future of their friendship.

For the time, he enjoyed the seconds one by one.

Bakugou mumbled and snarled under his breath since the infuriating incident. He incinerated his lunch before he could finish it, but that was FINE! He wasn't hungry anyway - not with the sickening image of that girl on his mind. In fact, her smarmy smirk burned into the foundation of his minds and exploded and expanded into his dangerous fixation.

Kirishima thought he could allow the rage to gradually leave Bakugou's body by staying quiet. For most of that year, the bomber man had made progress with managing his destructive anger. However, that day was different, and he had no idea why. Perhaps the most confounding mystery of his scuffle with Uravity was how he didn't put up much of a fight. True, they weren't on the battlefield, but typically, Bakugou would have put more effort into somehow retaliating.

Bakugou recalled the fluttering in his abdomen accompanied by the heated bursts in his chest as he stared down into her wide, brown eyes. And, no matter how many times he violently shook his head, the sensations clung to him. This situation had gotten out of hand and became more complex than he could comprehend in one sitting. Maybe, he had witnessed first-hand the helplessness that she could incite in a foe.

Then, his great epiphany arose from beyond the horizon of his despair and brightened his outlook. He had heard about the concept of quirk marriages - two people with quirks could conceive a child with an unprecedented quirk. Naturally, since Bakugou aimed for the best in every aspect of his life, marrying for power was the only option he saw at that naive stage in his young life.

Rejuvenated was his hunger but not for the lunch that he carelessly disintegrated. From that point, he mused over his fortuitous brush with fate and voraciously anticipated the inevitable.

That onset of humility and infirmity must have meant one thing and one thing alone - that anti-gravity power was destined to merge with his future.

He flashed his sinister grin as he unleashed a notebook from his satchel and slammed it to the table before him.

"W-What are you doing?" questioned Kirishima. There was a huge chance the blond couldn't hear him through the thick, malicious air.

Once his pen hit the paper, he didn't lift it for the rest of lunch period and the entirety of class. The logistics of their powers came together as he sketched out the sweet melody of raining destruction. Nebulaboom! Supernova Destruction! No, Starbomber! The ideas flooded pages of his notebook while he sat through the remainder of his lectures.

By the end of the school day, he had built the necessary resolve to share his intentions with Uraraka herself.

"Round-face," he addressed her immediately following the bell. "Meet me down in the courtyard of the dorms in an hour." Although he could have said what he wanted to in that instance, he had to explain his logical conclusion and that would require food in the interim.

Uraraka glanced over her shoulder and had to do a double-take to make sure that he was talking to her. "Uh, okay," she replied. Naturally, she assumed that he wanted a rematch of some kind. Maybe a respectable spar. However, there was an uncanny sense of calm about his aura that hadn't been present earlier that day. She shivered before she walked away with her group of friends.

He wasn't going to try to kill her, was he?

The rain had been falling all afternoon since lunch. Bakugou's soaked shoulders failed to slump as he waited from the time he retrieved a new, late lunch. She hadn't shown up yet. The weather may have dampened him and all his clothes, but it hadn't dampened his determination!

Soon, the rain paused and allowed for sunlight to pass through the tree that he sat beneath.

After having forgotten about the entire agreement, Uraraka spotted the angry young man through a window from the cozy, warm dorms. For some reason, she assumed the weather would have deterred him. Rain would have surely subdued his quirk. Didn't he need sweat or something? And, he wasn't the type to give her such an advantage. Either way, the rain had ceased.

She sighed and made her way down the stairs and to the courtyard against her better judgment. At that point, she would have understood if he lunged at her. "Sorry," she apologized. "I forgot that you said you wanted to fight. I don't really wanna get in trouble, okay?"

Uraraka at least respected Bakugou. She trusted him enough to ally with him in times of need, but she would never even trust him to watch her abandoned belongings. She wouldn't trust him with much information, either. Definitely, she knew that she couldn't trust him to treat Deku well. Maybe she could have also apologized again for sending him into the air. Everyone knew Bakugou's fragile pride could break under innocuous circumstances.

But, yes, she at least respected him - for whatever reason.

"I'm sorry for earlier, too. I won't do that again unless we're in a fight," she vowed with an unnerved smile.

Jumping to his feet, he disregarded every word she may have said and began, "You think you can prance around from here on out like I'm some pathetic wimp and juggle me like I'm one of your cheap, shitty circus tricks? Never again, round-face! You're going fucking down, and you're mine now, got that? From this day on, you focus on me because I'm not holding back, and you're not going to run away from me either."

What was he saying? She tilted her head after that vehement monolog. "Uh," stammered Uraraka, "So, do you wanna fight?"

"Give me a break," scoffed Bakugou. "This isn't some pathetic question. I don't know who the fuck you think I am. I'm telling you what's going to happen."

Was he saying that he wanted to fight later? She bit her lip and slowly backed away. He certainly was not being clear, or maybe, she didn't understand his language. "'Kay," replied Uraraka. "I'll see you later then?" She limply raised the palm of her hand to wave goodbye despite her uncertainty on what exactly he said.

When he didn't respond and remained still with his fuming nose in the air, she slowly shuffled off to the dorms.

"What was that about?" asked Midoriya when Uraraka returned.

"I dunno. I couldn't really tell what he was sayin'," she shrugged before they joined up with Iida.

So then, Bakugou knew that he had cemented his future and the vitality his lineage with ease. He could go back to training to become the world's top hero. However, he found her behavior following their encounter to be rather obnoxious. There was a fine line between overly chummy behavior and a flippantly distant demeanor, and on that fine line, was the satisfactory reaction that Bakugou expected.

Of course, if she thought his explanation meant they were suddenly friends, he would push her away from him. But, that never fucking happened even once. He didn't have the time or the emotional intelligence to contemplate his sentiments. Oftentimes, he'd assumed that he either felt anger or frustration. The possibility that he could have wanted her closer failed to cross his mind.

He wanted her under him. And, naturally, he was not capable of understanding that phrase as a double-entendre.

All in all, he expected a simple acknowledgment from time to time. Why did he expect that? He had no time to think about that shit all day. The fact of the matter was, she wasn't giving it to him!

The important and most angering aspect of this situation was the issue that she hung out with that damn dork and his nerdy friend day in and day out. A few weeks passed, and she repeated the same worn out joke of avoiding him. Was she taunting him yet again? Did she doubt his capability? No, she looked down at him and mocked his entire proposition! He didn't have the time or energy to dwell on this for too long, and so, he needed to address the issue as soon as possible.

Indifferent to his witnesses, Bakugou took a stand once Uraraka blew the final fuse one day by bumping into his desk without a simple apology. Accompanying the cry of the bell, Bakugou roared, "If we're going to get married, then you can't dance around with that nerd."

Of course, that spark of drama caught the eye of every one of his classmates. "Married? What are they talking about?" murmured various voices as they stopped to spectate the scene.

"What?" gasped Midoriya. Did he miss something?

"I don't know what he's talkin' about!" declared Uraraka as her face colored red. Where did that come from? And, why did he have to say something that stupid in front of Midoriya? She shivered beneath the gaze of everyone in class. Maybe this had to do with his outburst on that rainy day a few weeks before - but, thinking back, she couldn't remember anything that would have indicated marriage. "You've got the wrong idea."

"Don't you dare fucking play games with me, Uraraka," Bakugou growled each syllable of her name as he stepped towards the woman. "I already told you what was going to happen."

Iida stepped up first. "I am not sure what you're referring to, but we're all too young to get married."

"You butt out of this."

Everyone wanted to boo. Afterall, the degenerate known as Bakugou threatened the bond of 1-A's sweethearts. How characteristic of him to ruin a pure love between Midoriya and Uraraka - who weren't dating, mind you, but that was aside from the point. The potential of their loving relationship mattered the most.

Midoriya put a few fingers to his chin and tilted his head down to contemplate the situation. Bakugou often had difficulty putting himself in the minds of other people outside the battlefield, so this case must have hardly differed. Perhaps, he saw the advantages in reproducing Uraraka's quirk with his, so for that reason, he wanted to marry her. The potential of that happening sank Midoriya's stomach.

If Bakugou wanted to marry Uraraka out of love, then Midoriya could respect it. If that wasn't the case, then Midoriya had to decide if he should intervene. They were a few years away from being able to legally commit, so was the conflict worth a fight? There must have been something that Deku failed to properly detect. Meanwhile, the grief and shame in Uraraka's frown were enough to urge Midoriya to end the scene somehow.

Kirishima knew that he was the only one who could possibly quell the situation. He stepped in and blocked the trio of Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida from Bakugou's line of sight to say, "Hey, you didn't tell me anything about this. We should talk about it when we study for that test tonight."

Right, they had an upcoming exam.

Bakugou could rationalize postponing this interrogation until he took care of his present affairs. "Yeah, okay," he mumbled before he exited the scene.

With that, the class collectively let out a deep sigh - everyone except for Shouto who had something he needed to address with their class's infamous Katsuki Bakugou.

[aquaburst3]

I heard some people in the fandom say that they fear Lotor as a character, thinking his is predestined to be a sexist perverted dickhead in VLD. The thing is the creepy Lotor some hate and fear (which is something I agree with *shutters*) came from the subs, or as it was called Beast King Go Lion, which were a lot darker and edgier than any of the other versions of the show, being more akin to Berserk or a darker version of Game of Thrones. It had things like forced cannibalism, the Galra drinking the blood of the dead, people being sliced in half,  decapitating heads, showing trophy heads, blood raining from the sky and making people explode, on screen deaths of women and children, and a whole lot of other things even darker then that! If it got a western rating, it would be rated R, hands down. The only reason why it got dubbed in the west in the 80s because of miscommunication  and the people who bought it wanted to buy another show to dub instead. (Although, it makes me wonder why the people who brought Voltron over to the west to dub it back in the 80s, thought, "This would be a great show for kids!" when they saw all the above things mentioned. But it could've been 4Kids logic, I suppose.)

The darker elements I just mentioned did not obviously carry over into VLD. In fact, all of the other adaptions of Go Lion, including Defender of the Universe or the dubbed version of Go Lion, had the more messed up elements from Go Lion scrapped automatically.  Do not get me wrong; the creators of VLD aren’t ignoring Go Lion (because they gave Shiro his Go Lion name and use some of the subbed terms like Galra and Altea, after all), but they did leave out the, for a lack of a better word, fucked up stuff like I mentioned before on the way side while doing this new version.  Sure, VLD can get dark like having on screen deaths of the secondary characters, all of the Alteans except for Coran, Haggar and Allura being killed, planets being destroyed like the Death Star did in Star Wars, hinting at the mermaid people being eaten by a giant sea monster and the fights getting more intense, but not anywhere near as dark as Go Lion ever was! A lot of the violence and themes in VLD are still appropriate for kids and adults to watch together.

Lotor and his subbed counterpart are two totally different characters.

Subbed!Lotor, or Sincline as he was named in that version, was a lot more twisted. He had the obsession with Allura and wanted her to be his because she looked like his dead mother, killing people to get his prize. He wanted to kill Akira, or Keith as he is called in VLD, take Allura to be his. He had no compassion and was outright sadistic, laughing after he murdered people. He was super unhinged. He  once killed one of his slaves because they spilled wine on him. He has really bad temper tantrums. He even killed his own grandmother and father!

Dub!Lotor, while by no means a saint and some of his actions were still wrong, I would never justify some of his actions, is not anywhere near as dark or perverted as Sincline by a huge long shot. He had a lot more shades of grey to him. He was belittled by his father constantly for his half!Altean side and wanted to prove himself more to be worthy in his eyes. He  helped out the team on occasion. His obsession with Allura came off as more as an intense crush, even respecting her as a person more and having a soft spot for her.   He had a rivalry with Keith. He did not derive pleasure from killing others and had compassion for some other people.  He rebelled against his father numerous times, not agreeing with everything he did. He was a huge dork, who fell out of a tree while on a mission among other embarrassing things. Hell, dub!Lotor never even had a harem! 

I find it more likely they will adapt the dub version of Lotor then the more one dimensional and creepy subbed counterpart...who also gives me nightmares, because it is more appropriate for the target audience and the creators grew up on Defender of the Universe! Lotor instead of his Go Lion counterpart.

Not to mention, Zarkon was just as bad as Sincline when he comes to women in Go Lion since he had a harem of his own and killed Sincline’s mother, which obviously never carried over to VLD at all. So I highly, highly doubt Lotor will be the same way in VLD if Zarkon never had a harem in this version or any other version outside of the twisted Go Lion one. The worst I can Lotor being like in VLD is him being a flirt or having a squad of fangirls and fanboys who follow him around for being a good looking crowned prince -- that’s it.

Also in the previous versions: Allura was white, Pidge was a cis guy, Pidge sounded like Gollum from Lord of the Rings, Coran was dead serious 24/7, Keith had Shiro's personality, Lance was the hot head, Lance had a mullet, Keith was part Altean, the Blade of Marmora was never a thing, the team was all together off the bat and a ton more.  The staff said numerous times that VLD is taking its own direction, not  copying the storylines of the other versions totally. They did it before already by making Galra Keith canon among many other things. Hell, the only the general storyline of Defender of the Universe/ Go Lion  is the same in VLD.  The only moments I can think of that match Go Lion dead on are when Shiro fights Haggar in the end of season one and when Keith flies the Black Lion -- that is literally it. So the VLD staff don’t have to make Lotor a perverted dickhead like his Go Lion counterpart and can make their own version of the character, making VLD!Lotor into an anti hero or a complex villain. I can even Lotor possibly getting a redemption arc since his Defender of the Universe personality and backstory does present that chance, especially if he was that person in the Weblum like I honestly think he is, but even that is just a theory.

  The show staff on VLD are super talented people, the show being made by a lot of the same show staff who worked on Avatar and Korra,  so I have little doubt they will make Lotor far more multidimensional than his previous counterparts and make him more likable no mater what personality they decide to give him.  I highly, highly doubt they would be able to get away with Lotor being a super sexist perverted stalker along with all of the stuff his Go Lion counterpart did on a Y7 show. The worst case scenario I can see happening is him being like Gideon from Gravity Falls, even than that is less likely since it would be copying a character from another show made by a rival studio.

If I had to guess what Lotor would be like in VLD right now, it would be a mixture of Space!Zuko, mirror!Lance and Marik from YGO with a touch of Duke Devlin from YGO. Someone who has a has it out for the team for putting his father into a coma and wants to please his father, despite his father belittling him a lot. Over time, he might learn to not walk in his father’s footsteps and create his own path. Like Lance, he would have self doubt issues, love pampering himself and be a flirt.   With that said, that is just a guess.

Either way, I’m excited about Lotor and curious to see how the show staff will update him for a modern audience in VLD. The show staff, from what I heard, are excited to add him to the show, which is always the sign of something great.

[apollodaysworld]

I hate how people look at Keith's stunts, (things like driving off that cliff in episode one and using the geysers to get to shiros location in s2s1) as examples of Keith being "Stupid" and "reckless" when in reality, both those things were very calculated and thought out actions.

Keith is a smart person who understands logically and pragmatically the way in which his Environment works, and functions, and through that understanding, is able to use them to his advantage, without regards for his own safety, which produces results that often are dangerous, that you cannot see the logic behind because it is not explained, only shown.

For example, driving his hoverbike off the cliff. Because Keith has such an understanding for the way Gravity, rock, dirt, (his environment) works, he was able to remember and know that that cliff was there, how far a fall it was, and where to go to make a suitable escape. While he was driving he was calculating all of that. But there's even more to it than that! Not only does he understand his environment, but he also understands his own body and his motorcycle as if they were also part of that environment, as tools at his disposal. He understands how that hoverbike works, and he understands exactly what he needs to do in order to fly it the way he wants to. He understands it's weight, its capabilities, its speed, and it's power, and the same can be said for Keith's own body. And it's because of this incredibly logical understanding of it that Keith is able to utilize it as fast, and as efficiently as he does. An example would be this. "I know just how much this bike can and cannot handle, so I'm going to take the Shortest route, because The Weight is too much, and it's slowing us down. If we're too slow, we'll be caught. If we're caught, everythings over. Do we have time to readjust everyone's weight and discuss more options? No." This was shown, not explained, and only understood through observance. Keith Knew the bike was slower than it usually was because of the added weight caused by way too many people on it, so he took the shortest route that would lose their enemies the fastest-- Which was off of a cliff.

We know this, because this makes sense, and was even commented on in canon by Keith himself, and Lance. Lance complained about their enemies gaining, and "Can't this thing go any faster?" To Which Keith replied, "We could lose some non-essential weight." This wasn't just a jab at Lance, (something which is annoying to Keith because with a full understanding of their situation, how slow they are already, the stakes at hand, etc,) this is lance reiterating something Keith probably figured out before he even started up the bike.

It was a half-serious truth and an explanatory answer to lances question. So not only does this answer hold more truths to it than you may realize, but Keith probably found it pretty annoying as well, to be told something he already knows and is currently already 12-steps ahead in dealing with. Being told this can make you feel underestimated, and like others are treating you like you're stupid because instead of trying to understand you and what you're doing, they're going off on you. If Keith saw how half the fandom depicts him (reckless, stupid, wild, and making arbitrary decisions all the time in place of the Analytical thinking he exhibits), he'd be /pissed/. I doubt he'd be happy to see people looking down on him, or flat out dismissing him altogether for their lack of understanding.

It is when you understand that Keith IS this way that you see how smart and capable he is and why. He is not special for no reason. He's not this "cool loner kid genius" stereotype for no reason, or just to be a stereotype, because he isn't. At all. He's incredibly intelligent, and puts an extremely heavy amount of logical analysis and understanding and marries that Intelligence to Physical Reality. things like tools, environment, weight, motion, weapons, machines, and even his own body.

This is why you see him doing the most dangerous, wild, reckless things, and consistently see them done Well, pulling them off seemingly effortlessly and without a hitch. It's not luck. It's not just instinct. It's an extreme, pinpoint-accuracy understanding of the world around him and the way in which he affects it, and how. He has it, and he's intentionally using it for it's exact intended purpose.

Shiro as a character is best friends with Keith, and a born leader because of his ability to understand others and approach them appropriately. It is because of his understanding of people that he is so close to Keith, and values him as much as he does because Shiro actually does understand all of this about Keith. Shiro doesn't favour Keith as a student, cadet, and pilot arbitrarily. He favours him because he knows he's good, because he genuinely is, and Shiro understands how and why through seeing the way that Keith works. Shiro uses that understanding of people, and in turn, Keith, to approach, interact, and influence him to the best of his ability. Keith most likely understands this about Shiro as well.

Another example of Shiro's great understanding of others can be seen in how he interacts with Pidge as well, quickly ascertaining her character, motives, and even identity within a day (As evidenced by him repeating her fathers quote back to her when she was down.) He later reveals he knows her identity in a moment of privacy, safety, and comfort, because it was appropriate and wouldn't freak her out, and he did this knowingly for Pidges comfort, and for the betterment of their relationship. If he had done this any other time, for any others reason (like say, out of the blue, for no reason at all) it would've been weird, mistimed, invasive, and threatening. Shiro knew this too, which was why he didn't reveal he knew right away. From this (and many many more examples) we can gather Shiro does this with everyone; Understanding them, and then utilizing them and influencing them to be the best they can be. Which is what makes him such an effective leader. I hope this explanation can shed some light on why Keith is not a reckless child full of anger relying on baseless emotions and doing everything flight or fight, Why he is given as much attention as he's been given instead of Lance, and why Shiro favours him as much as he does.

I am getting so sick and tired of Fandoms fanatical devotion to Lance and presumptuous characterization of Keith. They treat Keith as if all he is is some hyper-emotional child acting on anger lumped in with an emo stereotype-- As if being the best fighter pilot in his class, the pilot of the Red Lion (the most difficult to mater) pulling off as many dangerous feats as he does and fucking piloting the black lion, The lion which will only take Born Leaders, for pilots, is all just a fucking accident and means nothing, isn't deserved or shouldn't be possible-- And they treat Lance like he's the main character and deserves the world just because he's entertaining and relatable, and should, therefore, be coddled and babied. Not only is it gross, but it's insulting and shows a clear misunderstanding for who Lance is himself and his own character. Lance is not the type of person that wants to be coddled or babied or taken care of (By Shiro, Keith or anyone really). If he saw how fandom portrayed him, he'd probably be disgusted too.

End rant.

[kingofthewilderwest]

I can’t help but notice that RTTE and Homecoming don’t really fit with both sequel’s timelines. Like how in RTTE, this was the first time Hiccup saw signs of a Bewilderbeast, but HTTYD 2 was supposed to be. And in Homecoming, it was supposed to be the first time Zephyr and Nuffink saw Toothless and the first time he and Hiccup saw each other in 10 years. It’s just leaving me confused.

Heya there! Hope you’re doing well!

I’ve chatted about this before, but I think it always depends on how “strict” you are with your interpretations, and how much you’re married to metacontextual material like interviews and original creator intent. If you go with a very concrete perspective, these are inconsistencies, sure. However, I’d say they’re resolvable with other plausible, logical Watsonian interpretations. There’s more than one valid way to approach fiction, and it’s fun to explore and understand them all.

I think it’s fair to note all narratives can, and usually do, contain hiccups. Even in a single movie, there’s snags in the storyline, but those tend not to disrupt plot. They’re more like hiccups than earthquakes, and that’s how I see the Homecoming and RTTE plot points here. I don’t think they have to be considered disruptive.

Last: I’d say retconning is normal even in good storytelling. Gravity Falls is an example of conscientious continuity-compliant retconning that embellishes and improves story rather than disrupts it. Even in cases where retconning adds a few kinks to earlier content (ex: Klingons having head ridges starting with TNG), it doesn’t mean the story’s worse for the addition. Writers can add new content that reinterprets the old, and I think that’s fair choice to make. 

Technically nothing in HTTYD 2 proper said this was Hiccup’s first time seeing a Bewilderbeast. It’s true HTTYD 2 plot flows more organically if this is his first time. We can rationally infer DeBlois intended it that way. After all, RTTE S6 was faaaaar from being written, and Dean wasn’t involved in writing that. So he would’ve thought of Hiccup as viewing the Bewilderbeast the first time.

At the same time, it’s not weird to say that Hiccup could have seen a Bewilderbeast before. He could still be surprised and confused to hear about someone controlling an ice-spitter dragon when Eret mentioned it. I’d be surprised - who was controlling the dragon? What was the dragon doing out? Was it related to the Berserkers? Was it the same species he saw before? What WAS it?

And he could still be awed coming to a full-sized Bewilderbeast dragon, out in the open. That’s a spectacle of the like he hasn’t experienced. This is a rather different context than the RTTE incident and can leave him feeling stunned, since he’s here to revel in the moment rather than quickly scramble against enemies. And honestly, even if he had seen that species of dragon before, I wouldn’t blame him for gawking. I’d be speechless the first 32 times I stood before a dragon like that.

In the case of something like this, we know what was originally intended by DeBois. But new writing content from the DreamWorks Dragons universe can reinterpret that. We don’t have to fixate on original creator intent when final canon content allows other angles without creating in-universe contradictions.

The Toothless reuniting with Haddock family thing I think can be interpreted likewise. Toothless not recognizing Hiccup was only “confirmed” by DeBlois in an interview. Strictly speaking, it’s not in THW movie content itself. That means it’s not set in stone, and creators can add new material to the franchise to alter, change, modify, or add nuance to it. 

We could say it’s inconsistent with Homecoming and that’s a viable approach. I’ve also seen other interpretations that explain a logical continuity between THW and Homecoming. This is a good post of one possible way we could interpret the material. Toothless might not have recognized Hiccup because he never saw him with a beard, even during Homecoming (he did, however, hear and smell him). Zephyr might have felt afraid of Toothless because this dragon approached them threateningly. 

Personally I like to straddle the line between creator intent and the power of self-created Watsonian interpretation. I like adhering to creator intent because they know the material best. But I also know there’s no one set way to connect the dots of the material we’re given. Fans have the power of creating multiple coherent Watsonian interpretations where we synthesize officially distributed movies and shows. So, I like to understand creator intent to get a firm handle on the media and universe. But I also think it’s enjoyable, as a fan, to take the best and most logical of what I’ve got, and weave the narratives together into the most contiguous whole I can.

(There’s also the people who weave things together more loosely and liberally. They’re valid, too - but I personally enjoy making my theories as “solid” with “evidence”, “logic,” and “respecting creator intent” as possible)

And even if there were blatant contradictions that couldn’t be given a strong Watsonian spin… I wouldn’t have minded that either. Canon continuity is overrated and overfixated in fandoms. Story is an exciting thing and at the end of the day, small hiccups don’t matter for the power, enjoyment, characters, and worldbuilding fiction allows us to experience.

I see the RTTE and Homecoming incidences as areas where, strictly speaking, different writers at different times made different things. They did contradict in production intent. But I also see the in-universe world as logically congruent, with nothing getting in my way from believing Zephyr could be awed at a brief moment running into Toothless during a holiday, while being afraid of a threatening dragon in a vulnerable boat ride.