#I think I like the concept better than the execution but that’s ok

[aubstacle-of-course]

Find a thread to pull, and we can watch it unravel

[earlyspringtranscendence]

reading rabbits by terry miles. its both good and bad. going to listen to the podcast after.

[gamegirlx]

HEAR HEAR!!! LMK S5 SPOILERS!

i, as an individual human being with free speech, have just finished the fifth season of monkie kid, thus i have THOUGHTS that must be shared.

OK BUT TO QUICKLY ACKNOWLEDGE WHAT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WORRYING ABOUT FOR THE LONGEST TIME- THE ANIMATION.

it's... ok!

if anything, I GOTTA SAY, they are doing they're best! and it shows!

like okay, ofc the older seasons get better animation but like bro YOU GOTTA GIVE IT TO THIS ANIMATION STUDIO for sOmEwhAt keeping up with the animation!

One of the things I noticed is how they actually improve aimating the characters throughout the episodes, and that's pretty epic!

NOW, i wanna address the writing of s5!

It takes a moment of pondering and such for me to cooperate my thoughts into a neat paragraph of words but ALRIGHT-

The concept IS GREAT. The execution??? eh.

the first half of the show was OK, nothing more, nothing less.

the SECOND HALF of the show, now, they were cooking some really epic scenes, interesting concepts, damn good character interactions that *COULD'VE*, i say, COULD'VE been good, IF ONLY THE PACING was better.

here are some random nitpicks i have:

goofy ahh medusa monkie kid oc villian reveal was underwhelming, bruh- NOW HE'S COOL AND ALL, bro's got the sassiest voice ever oh fOR REAL THOUGH, BUT maaaannnn, he def could've used WAY MORE BUILDUP in the first five episodes of the season

that one samadhi fire episode with red son and mei was unneccesary, i think it exists just for dragonfruit content but in term's of shipping, the interactions between mei and red son weren't even that fluffy or romantic. :(

there are quite a few loopholes and, like, exxagerated moments that could've been fixed if the writers just paid more attention to, like ehhhhhh, u'll see moments here and now where the characters are kinda dumb for not doing this or that, etc

the writing and climaxes in past seasons were DEFINETLY better than season six, but okay lemme just say tho, maybe im coping real hard but HEAR ME OUT !!!

SEASON FIVE IS GOOD ENOUGH.

Ya'll shouldn't ghost this season just because the animation looks worse.

This is kinda like a Monkie Kid S1 situation, in which the show was still finding it's animation groove and the story was still in it's early cooking stages but LOOK AT WHERE S1 GOT US (psst psst s2-s4 were FIRE.)

IN MY HUMBLE OPINION,

i believe that the story buildup for the upcoming sEASON SIX of monkie kid will be fricking epic.

ah aH AH- NOT TO MENTION that the animators will inevitably improve, too!

I SAY, GUYS, instead of dumping this show and roasting it for it's so-so season 5, i say we support the team and the show! Let's show the cast and crew that monkie kid is WORTH investing the time into making better! BECAUSE MONKIE KID IS A GREAT ANIMATED SHOW.

AND LIKE GUYS i haven't even mentioned the silly little stuff i like about this show!

(those will be for future rants fr)

NEVERTHELESS. i've stated my case. please spread the word that SEASON FIVE OF MONKIE KID SHOULD BE WATCHED.

and i thank you.

[nyc3]

hello I recently and after going through it I would like to ask some questions if that’s ok of course and sorry if you perhaps got one of theses questions before

1.what is your general opinion on Shigaraki cause I’m curious as a shiggy fan and just curious in general what other people who don’t like him as much or just in general don’t like him think of him

2. How would you write/rewrite shigaraki just in general or if nine was the main villian and Shigaraki was like a secondary villian and or maybe him joining up with nine

3. What do you think would have happened if nine found tenko

sorry if this ask comes off as annoying or rude I’m just general curious hope you having a good/night

Hello!

It's ok, I would try to answer the question the best I can as english isn't my first lenguage so sorry if you find errors here and there. So let's go:

1_ This may sound strange as my constant comments and critiques about Shigaraki may make look like I hate him, but isn't really the case.

I think is more he's a frustrating character to me because while on paper his concept is fine, I feel his presence ends up being detrimental to the quality of the story because the mangaka didn't know how kept Shigaraki relevant and his solution was artificially increase his status sacrificing other more interesting characters with potential just to elevate Shigaraki, especially Nine and Overhaul.

2_ Honestly I never thought on an in deep rewrite of Shigaraki overall character.

But If I have to say something he did works as a early antagonist considering the initial states of MHA and while I'm not fan of having a singular main villain (because in my ideal story multiple major villains should fight for the power) I think Shigaraki and Nine surely can coexist in the same story. They can even influence each other in fact.

After all an important part of Shigaraki as a character is how he develops a sense camaraderie and tries to became a better leader (even if there's a lot of problems with the execution if that idea in canon).

But Nine already had those qualities since the beginning, he's a good leader who always cared about his teamates and tried his best to protect them. He was a hero for them basically.

So why not make Nine a figure which inspires Shigaraki rather than his rival and Tomura attemps to became a better version of himself while looking what makes Nine a beloved leader, while at the same it time creates a contrast with AFO who was the only prominent figure on his life before.

It would also be funny if AFO didn't see coming how his two attempts of "successors" would became closer allies rather than rivals and join forces, eventually opposing him. Nine would never follow AFO selfish ideals, and he probably will fight to free Shigaraki from his control.

3_ This one is interesting, because I don't think Nine and Shigaraki have a big age difference in the first place.

Despite Nine got a more adult vibe he probably is at best middle 20s, which would make him 4-5 years older than Shigaraki in terms of canon age.

So in a scenario where Nine found Tenko after what happened to his family that day they both will still be kids.

But despite Nine seem to only care about people with stronger quirks and you can think "why he would care about a random kid in the streets?" I actually think Nine has this unconsious instict to protect others in a vulnerable situation regardless of their actual power. After all how he could guess people like Slice and Mummy were strong but he helped them anyway?

That being said I think Nine would do exactly the same for Tenko if he found him that day, extending a hand to him (metaphorically at least lol) and both would escape together while trying to survive on the cruel world of the streets as two orphans without any place to go.

Think about it as Nine being the big bro who tries to protect Tenko the best he can, because he knows Tenko can be a really strong person and both could take on the world someday. Of course Nine won't try to fuel Tenko's trauma unlike AFO, perhaps he will attempt to heal him and Tenko will recover a bit of his own selfless and sweet self with time.

While they grown together as a found family they eventually will meet Chimera, Slice and Mummy like Nine did in canon.

Idk how their lives should continue from there, but pretty sure all them will still fight for create the ideal world Nine always wanted for all of them.

So that's it, I tried my best to answer each question but probably I could've added a lot more but didn't want to make this too long either.

Perhaps one day I will do more post with ideas about how I would like the story to be. It's very fun write about Nine and Shigaraki actually.

Thank you for ask and read!

[yfere]

Going to obsess over Husk and Alastor for a second

ok. ok. OK. so. more on why alastor and husk's dynamic makes my head spin. is because, on paper, I have. NO idea,,, how they work??? they have the absolute most clashing personalities I have ever seen, and yet alastor chose husk and continues to choose him as a confidant and a co-conspirator and workhorse, even though he has much more obviously like-minded people around him in Rosie, Mimzy, and Niffty. And Husk -- I'm a little more forgiving on Husk's end because a) he has zero choice in his involvement here and b) he's kind of a bleeding heart himself, so I can kind of understand the moments where he looks out for Alastor or shows care outside of the bounds of his contract. But still. I look at them, and I'm just... why????? I'm so intrigued by it.

Because.... listen. What I understand about Husk is this. That he's a very compassionate person at heart, and cares about other people, even though he tries desperately not to. Hell, from the way he acts he seems like more of a true believer in Charlie's ideas for redemption than even Vaggie at times. He has a high degree of empathy and can easily see through people's bullshit (probably part of what makes him a terror at cards). I think at core he's a very sincere person, and this is part of why it is absolutely not in his nature to sugarcoat things, or refrain from speaking his mind. Husk is also a person who demands two things from the people around him - one is to treat him and his boundaries with respect, and this is why he snaps so much at Angel to begin with, and also what made him so furious with Alastor in episode 5. The second thing that Husk demands is honesty and vulnerability from the people around him, and he's openly disdainful of "fake" people. He tells Angel outright that he would treat him better if he were "real" -- his respect and affection for Angel was contingent to an extent on Angel being willing to drop his mask.

So you take this person, and stick him with Alastor, the fakest of fake motherfuckers in Hell, who can't stand the concept of being vulnerable and whose basic operating philosophy is "wear a mask smile so that you can hide your true feelings and always seem in control." Alastor, a person who is so desperately hungry for respect and power that he goes ballistic over what he sees as disrespect (even if it's just plain honesty), who pathologically needs the upper hand, who is casually and constantly disrespectful, who showboats relentlessly, who spits out one liners and strikes a pose even when he's a hair's breadth from death and fleeing the scene. THIS guy.

...who hand selected as one of his closest companions a person whose philosophy and personality is diametrically opposed to his own. I think... that says something about alastor, though it's hard to say what exactly that is, yet. maybe he likes watching husk "I lost the ability to love years ago sike I'm falling in love again" care and then suffer for caring and start the cycle all over again, similarly to how he said that he wanted to watch charlie try her hardest with the hotel and fail. on the other hand, as much as Alastor tries to stay aloof from the hotel's residents (not him looking over them all from a proverbial theater box in episode 8 as they prepare to face execution day), I don't think he's lying about his affection for them. maybe there's a small part of him that's looking to be surprised, or even proven wrong. maybe he thinks he'll be happy either way, and that's part of why he doesn't act the saboteur. or maybe there's even another element to it... alastor doesn't only court respect and fear, he courts adoration, and deliberately looks for and soaks up the affection thrown his way by charlie and the rest. maybe alastor is attracted to people who can't help but genuinely care for him, even against their better judgment.

[guardianspirits13]

Ok now for a list of things that I'm kind of iffy about or wish they had kept from the books. It's worth noting that I can't think of a single show exclusive scene they added that I did not like, and most of the changes were integrated flawlessly.

Starting out, the pacing. I'm hoping this gets better with time, especially given that the second episode has much more time to breathe. The whole first episode felt a little cramped, and some of the exposition felt a bit... exposition-y. I don' t think there is much they could have done to get around this though so I'm not gonna dwell on it.

As a fan of the series, I love how they introduced the structure and function of the PJO world with the intro, but I think the jump from "Percy sees things" to "everything is all real" felt a bit abrupt. I am curious what first time fans think about this, and again the first episode covers a lot more ground page-wise than ep 2.

Manchild Gabe... I am not sure how I feel about this. In the books he seemed downright threatening and even with Percy's 12yo bravado, he was still an intimidating figure. His bickering with Sally seemed more like your typical dysfunctional relationship than a power imbalance... both can be harmful in their own way, but I'm still undecided on how much giving Sally a bit more agency in her relationship with him effects the larger story. The whole "not all monsters look like monsters" thing works well in the books with Gabe, but I guess they were redirecting it to foreshadow Luke's betrayal? I'm not sure.

...which brings me to Sally. I was unsure about the casting, but she has earned her stay to me. I always imagined her as a bit more subdued, especially with the more intense iterations of Gabe. She's kind and gentle and has a rebellious streak, but as worried as she might be for Percy she hides it inside of herself. I think her being a bit more expressive as a character works in this setting though, especially since we aren't seeing her through Percy's kid colored lenses. She feels a bit less like the perfect, kind, and understanding mother Percy sees, and a bit more like a real-life single mother trying to keep some of that childhood wonder alive despite everything. She does seem younger than I would have expected, but that's a nitpick on my end. I think she is one character that I will always have a separate book/show counterpart for in my mind.

Ok. Now for Clarisse. Out of all the characters I was skeptic about, I think she's the only one who didn't win me over. This is a writing issue, nothing at all to do with the actress. She was characterized more as a 'queen bee' type mean girl than a bully who picks fights just to feel worthy of her father's approval. She would be better fit for a vindictive daughter of Aphrodite than a daughter of Ares. My mind might be changed in the future but we got most of her scenes in these first two episodes so I'm doubtful. The one moment that had potential was when Percy broke her spear, but the Clarisse I know would not back off just because there is an audience.

There was no hellhound... I was kinda looking forward to it, and it does emphasize that even camp isn't really safe for Percy and is a catalyst for both his quest and the idea that there is a traitor. I can kind of see why the cut it for thematic purposes so Percy feels safe for once in his life, but that's only if I squint.

The scene cuts. I know, I know they're supposed to mimic book chapters. I get it. But it just doesn't work for me, it feels like there's a lack of establishing shots and the black screen is long enough you think the tv is buffering. It's an interesting idea in concept, but the execution falls flat.

OH also as far as things that were missing- the 3 fates. I know this is in the show since it was in the trailers, but I'm curious as to where they're gonna put it now.

Anyways minor nitpicks aside these two episodes were an emotional roller coaster and absolute masterpieces of television cinema.

[dutchdread]

Hey Dutch what is your opinion on crises core reunion ? I had few ca tell me it didn’t do anything for zack and aerith relationship it just made things worse ? I don’t know we’re they get that belief from but it’s there opinion. Did you think the story was ok and gave good context on what they mean to each other?

People give too much flack to Crisis Core. I only played the original CC back on the PSP so I can't say anything about whether or not Reunion made it better or worse, but I enjoyed the original. But part of that is because I simply had lower expectations for portable games than I do for AAA pc or console titles. I won't deny that the game has a bunch of stuff that could have been done better (Cough, genesis, cough), but it had its strong points as well. I think some of the basic concepts of Crisis Core are good in principle, like theme of hopes and dreams, and watching how Zack through adversity unwillingly becomes the hero that he always wanted to be. But the execution was often lacking. I love the idea of watching a several friends slowly break, and I think there is potential in tying that story into them being "monsters" and exploring what it really means to be a monster vs being a hero. But again. The way it was handled made it rather ridiculous and overly obtuse. The constant quoting of Loveless, ESPECIALLY without it ever getting a clear meaning that allows the player to connect with it, Angeals random dramatic self-pity, and a bunch of other stuff just made it so that storywise a lot of the bad overshadowed the good. But I played CC for Zack and Aerith, and they were perfect in my opinion.I loved seeing Aerith like an actual 16 year old girl and how her time with Zack rubbed off on her and caused her to start living every day to the fullest. I still think that the scene with Aerith hugging Zack from behind is one of the most romantic scenes in FF, simply because of how viscerally real it is. Her trying to make small talk, him just being there, choosing to mourn in the presence of the woman he loves, not needing to be consoled, but just needing her presence. And then that hug "sometimes you don't need words to tell a person how you're feeling" indeed. This is also a part of the reason I am convinced Aerith was still projecting Zack onto Cloud at the end of Rebirth "our place", "the church", Yeah right. For Cloud and Aerith the church is just a place they happened to spend about 5 minutes at one point, not even the place they met. Meanwhile Zack went there to see her for I think about one and a half years. He goes there instantly in intergrade, he goes there in Rebirth, we see him waiting there for Aerith at the end of rebirth, the core visual for Crisis core was changed to TAKE PLACE IN THE CHURCH. But the Church is Cloud and Aeriths place.....yeah right. Either that is an intentional hint that Aerith is still projecting, or the writing has fallen off a cliff. Then we have the other character moments, Cloud and Tifa pining for each other, the parallels between Cloti and Zerith. Zack promising Aerith he'll come for her underneath the water tower. And my favorite Aeriths "23 tiny little wishes", all encompassed in the one with to "spend more time with Zack". Which is then ultimately fulfilled via Cloud in the OG/rebirth. And then of course there is the ending, my favorite ending of any game ever aside from Nier:Automata. Man I bawled my eyes out. So yeah, I like Crisis Core, it's messy, but it's messy with a lot of gold in it, and for a portable title I think that's not half bad.

[cyberdragoninfinity]

was thinking about this since there's the action duel event in duel links, what's your opinion on the action duels in the actual arc-v anime?

OH THIS IS A GREAT QUESTION i looove action duels. i love a funny Spinoff Series Duel Gimmick, i think theyre so SO fun. but also like everything else in arc-v action duels are....hm. it's very 'the concept here kicks ass but the actual execution in show is DETERMINED to throw itself off a cliff" LMAO

LIKE THEYRE SO COOL ON PAPER. AND FOR LIKE ALL OF SEASON 1. youve got this natural progression of Solid Vision where the sets and the monsters have physical mass to them and are also kind of alive but dont worry about it, you can climb around on shit and RIDE YOUR MONSTERS!!! and duck and weave and explore and it's so fuckin cool, it's got such a crazy kinetic energy to it that just entrances me. I didn't realize until literally like a couple days ago that the Japanese game show influence is HUGE wrt the way duelists navigate Action Fields and scramble to grab Action Cards and such and it's such a such a fun vibe to bring to the ever-evolving depiction of this insane card game. It's like if a yugioh duel was also Wipeout but was also an old Nickelodeon kids' game show but was also the battle at the beginning of a pkmn movie but was also an old crash bandicoot game. fucking obsessed with them

And the Action Fields in season 1, these critical Duel Settings, are also just especially so cool, and it's frustrating that after that point we kind of just Dont Get Action Fields until literally the last few duels in the series. 'Crossover' is barely an Action Field let's be so real. It turns the immediate area into a platforming minigame but it is not nearly on the level of MASS SWORD GRAVE DUEL FIELD or TURN PARADISE CITY INTO ZOOTOPIA DUEL FIELDS.

and i think that's kind of just another unfortunate element of how much the wheels on arc-v's quality/storytelling start falling off by mid season 2 and 3. it's like seeing budget cuts in real time. we can't do Cool Volcano Field anymore. get on the Bland Floating Platforms.

at least we'll always have yuya's hippo showgirls

but anyway. i think the one (1) big issue Action Duels have, and the one thing about them that has me a bit Agonized watching action duels is the GODDAMN ACTION CARDS. FOR SOME REASON THE WAY DUEL LINKS IMPLEMENTED THEM IS LIKE LEAPS AND BOUNDS BETTER THAN IT IS IN THE SHOW. Like the way in DL you have to carefully pick out your 3 Action cards, they have to fit the 10 point quota the game gives you, they need to work With your deck and not Critically Carry Your Deck and Your Ass, I wish all of that was how they were in the anime!! Would make things more interesting!!

Cuz like in the show it's more 'ok random burst of Action Cards is scattered on the field' which could be cool but then the writing doesn't do anything remotely unique with them 90% of the time. They're like the Plot Crutch of all time in-show. It really just has this vibe of "it doesnt matter if your dueling sucks if you just grab the asspull action card that's in every single action duel that just Makes Your Opponents' Attack Miss" and thats just what Yuya does for like. every action duel he's in. other people have talked more eloquently about it but you really kind of realize just how BAD Yuya is at dueling when you sit and look at duels he won because he pulled the Convenient Ass-Saving Action Spell at the last minute and not because of anything he did with his dueling ability. And I do love me some Yugioh Plot Ass Pulls but here it just never feels earned... just like a bunch of other shit in arc-v HJDFGSDF. it just feels like the writers backing themselves into a corner and popping an Evasion Ex Machina. I Am So Goddamn Tired of Seeing Evasion. Miracle is Also On Thin Ice

THERE JUST HAD TO HAVE BEEN BETTER WAYS THEY COULD HAVE IMPLEMENTED THIS FEATURE. like idk make action cards more like speed spells in 5ds where theyre already IN your deck. or. or. oh the world if action cards in the show were more like a Chopped Basket where you get a set random selection of them predetermined before the duel and then characters have to really figure out how to use them creatively to help bolster their deck. life could be a dream

tl;dr I LIKE ACTION DUELS A LOT AND I THINK THEYRE SOME OF THE MOST FUN 'GIMMICK' YUGIOH DUELS. BUT WHY DID THEY MAKE ACTION CARDS LIKE THAT wish they were used in a more interesting way!! wish we got to see more insane duel fields past season one!! really curious to see how theyre handled in the arc-v manga. yugo stuck in the volcano field to look at if you dont like my posts

[fizzlewizard404]

Ok, the more I've thought about it, the more I think I understand why the conclusion they gave the Collector was so off to me. And I think it was mainly two things; the execution of it, and the vagueness of it. Let me explain.

Disclaimer! I am not claiming to know everything about writing or how to do it, so take this with a grain of salt ^^

(Major spoilers below!!! You've been warned!)

First of all, I feel the need to clarify that, a lot of the vagueness here does probably have a little bit to do with how much time they had left for this. (The shows cancelation and all that.) The crew had about, like, 10 minutes to properly wrap everything up? So they needed to make it fast enough to fit as much in. With a good majority of the characters and the conclusion of their arcs, there just isn't that much to go that in depth into.

Luz? She can properly travel between both realms now, her insecurities and guilt complex have been dealt with, and she can properly be herself around the people she loves.

Eda? While, she does still have to deal with the curse, shes properly accepted it as a part of her, and feels free to be around the people she loves.

King? While he's definitely still got a lot to learn about himself, he's more free to do so than ever and has the support and help to do so from the people around him, and those he loves. I can go on with basically everyone else, but I think you get the idea by now.

The more I think about it, in theory/concept, I think having the Collector go back to space can work. But you have to establish three main things in order for it to do so.

1) Give us enough of an idea for what exactly he will be doing in space to grow as a person. Presumably, to me anyway, I feel like they're most likely on some kind of quest to undo as much of their siblings's doings. Until, potentially facing them directly again.

2) Make sure to note that the Collector is fully aware of the fact that he has a genuine and loving support group/found family that he can return whenever he feels the need to see them again. And especially make it clear that they do just that when they can. Not too often, but still somewhat regularly.

3) Inforce the fact that the aforementioned support system/found family (Luz, King and Eda, though this can include others later on) really do care about the Collector's well being and that they are willing to be there for him when they can be.

Alrighty!! Now that I have those things out of the way, let me explain how the show messed up properly showcasing them, despite how expertly everything before this was handled.

When the epilouge's beginning starts after Luz has finally put an end to Belos's evil-doing, we get to see everyone slowly start getting use to the new circumstances of their home. None of it can ever be the same way it was before, but that's definetely for the better in most cases. After all, everyone's gone through a lot as of recently. Especially this episode.

Including, (and in my opinion, most of all) the Collector. For the last ??? amount of years, everything in their life has been... stagnent, inauthentic and overall not great. Even during what we saw during For The Future. Despite it's happy, cheery and colorful surface, it was only really a facade to mask the lack of actual care and support that Collector has in his life.

The stories and adventures he plays out with King are like his own interpretation from a game of broken telephone. They can only really immitate the genuine experience and connection formed when the real thing happened. All the denizens of the Boiling Isles are reduced to a sparkly, cute puppeted version of themselves. Lacking any real emotion in order to go along with the tone of the story.

Realistically speaking, King is the only somewhat genuine thing in the Collector's world. He's the only person that they can trust and talk to. Sure, he techically has his distant, idealized connection with Eda, but she's (at least to the Collector's knowledge) always stuck as the owl beast. So that's kind of impractical for him.

In all of these stories and games of pretend, the Collector takes what would otherwise be Luz's role in King's life. They're jealous of the relation she's had with King for so long. Collector knows that while he's close to King, they can't be as close to him as Luz.

Going by this information, we can come to the conclusion that the Collector desperately wants to have real friends, and people who won't use him or lie to him. Much like how his (presumably) distant, but still likely very ill-intentioned siblings, the Archivists did. First so they wouldn't have to deal with him, and later to take all his friends away. This pattern continued with Belos, which also lead to betrayal and abandonment for the Collector.

For his entire life, Collector has struggled grasping empathy and the overall concept of death. He said it himself, clear as day. "Toys break all the time! You just fix em'!". There is a fundamental misunderstanding for him in this regard that they are unaware of.

As for the struggle with empathy, his status as an all-powerful immortal tends to make him kinda unapproachable for most non-immortals. So in order to actually play with people who he wants to play with, but are afraid of him, he forces them to do so against their wills.

Near the beginning of Watching and Dreaming, Luz and Co. are finally able to try explaining what it means to understand other people to the Collector. And after a bit, it seems like they're finally starting to get it. Kindness and forgiveness! Who guessed it was that easy all this time?? Soon after this, the Collector tries applying his newly found morals towards the first person they can. Unfortunately for everyone, that person is the furthest thing from somebody who can be reasoned with.

The Collector starts to feel as if they can finally fix things, only to nearly get blasted by Belos, mere seconds later. Thankfully, Luz swept in to safe him and tries explaining to him that he did do the right thing, just... not with the right person. Soon enough, we find out that Luz did get grazed by Belos's power. She immediately starts disintegrating and disappearing before everyone, but more specifically, before the Collector's eyes. Moments after this, Collector is... scared, but mainly confused. King and Eda are completely speechless, only being able to stare ahead of them. The Collector tries to bring Luz back, only for nothing to happen. Things go from bad to worse when King and Eda lose themselves entirely and start fighting off Belos.

In this moment, right before Luz comes back with her titan powers, the Collector is about the lowest they've been in forever. Having just realized that they can't just fix everything with the snap of their finger, and completely powerless to do ANYTHING. King and Eda are there, but they're not there. Luz is gone. There's nowhere they could go from here. It's hopeless.

A bit after Luz comes back, the Collector decides to do something with their currently fading power and help everyone in the Archives (yknow, from falling hundreds of feet in the air towards their certain deaths).

After Belos is defeated and all the goop goes away, the Collector gently falls onto the floor of the Archives, exhausted. The moment they see Amity (someone he doesn't know well, but knows is close to Luz) walk towards him, he covers his head, expecting for her to start scolding or even attacking him. But she doesn't. She reaches her hand out to him as a friendly sign of peace, and understanding. His face literally lights up when this happens.

After all of this, while I think that Collector really can't be in the Isles all the time, considering how many people probably won't be that ok with having him around all the time after what he did, it's still obvious to me that they do finally have people who they can lean on and properly be better around. Luz, King and Eda.

...Too bad that their send-off scene doesn't make any that clear!! Like, whatsoever!!

While, yeah you can say that the main trio are DEFINITELY also exhausted after everything, I don't think that would make them all of a sudden be totally fine with the Collector leaving into space on his own.

Firstly, unless we can assume that what I said earlier about him undoing the Archivists's damage where he can, it seems like he's just, isolating himself so he can't hurt anyone until he feels worthy enough to ~maybe~ go back to the Boiling Isles eventually? You know. Like the same thing Luz wanted to do in Thanks To Them because she felt like a burden onto everyone around her? But there atleast, the show made it clear that everyone seeing Luz confess to this, had a problem with it.

During this scene. We don't see anyone other than King go after the Collector. Sure Luz is looking, but that still doesn't count for much. The phrasing of King's last onscreen words to the Collector are "I hope I see you again" before he gives them François. The way this was worded makes the idea of King giving François to the Collector seem more like an almost permanent goodbye gift. Like, the two of them won't be seeing each other again, or at least for a LOONG WHILE.

I think that adding on a "soon" at the end of "I hope I see you again" could've made it a lot better, and make it more obvious that François being given to the Collector is to remind them of their newly found family and that they will be there for him, wherever he is in the universe. Which I feel is way more fitting coming from King. Like his own version of "I don't know what the future holds, but it would be so cool if you were in it" to the Collector.

One thing that I feel like made everything make way less sense is the "No one argued" line from Luz. It makes literally no sense to me considering everything they've been through together? Like?? You'd think Luz and Eda would atleast ask him if he'll be okay going away on his own?? Considering that Luz was able to recognize where the Collector was at the beginning of the episode, it feels extremely out of character for her not to recognize what they're going through here, especially when taking into account that she went through something VERY similar as of very recently herself??

As for Eda, she just kind of, lays back away from the whole situation to begin with? For some reason? Which also feels weird to me since she was also open to being there for him earlier in the episode? She's grown enough at this point to know what to say to kids when she can tell they're not doing well at the moment. Not to mention how she would also probably be able to recognize the Collector trying to isolate themselves as something she's also gone through to protect the people she cares about!! She's fully aware it doesn't work out well when you have absolutely no one by your side! So I feel like having her atleast also reminding the Collector that they're all here for him would've meant a lot more.

As for why all of this came off as really jarring to a lot of people (i'm mainly using myself as an example here btw), The Owl House has always been a show that's overall narrative message has been about found family for different people. The main example I'll be using here is for neurodivergent people. Whether or not it's something like ADHD, autism, or any kind of personality disorder.

The Collector, to me anyway, is extremely ND coded in a few ways. So, in a way, to me personally, having it seem like nobody out of the main trio was actually concerned with the Collector's well being in this scene, felt... jarring? It gave off the message of "neurodivergent people deserve love and belonging, unless they have unstable emotional regulation and struggle grasping empathy, in which case it's okay if they isolate themselves from the people they love because those loved ones don't care about them enough to where they would have a problem with the person isolating themselves", which would be ridiculously insensetive and insulting from what's otherwise such an open-minded and emotionally mature show. I read it this way when I first watched the episode when it aired, and I feel safe to say that it was not what I needed to hear at the moment. I feel like I'm doing better now, and I understand why it hit me the way it did considering everything I mentioned earlier.

I'm not calling anybody who worked on TOH ableist for any of this, and I want to make that clear. This was obviously unintentional on their end and I'm glad that I can understand that now. This show has been here for me and so many other people through so much and other than this on gripe I have with the Collector's send-off scene, the finale was everything I could've asked for and more. That's all.

[weresilver]

Fuck it Friday

I still have an hour of my Friday, ok.

Because I've been writing and I wanna share some of it. This is one scene of a prologue that I'm sending to, like, a few different people because I'm nervous about the whole concept. But it's fine.

This is an entire scene of a thing. A Hawaii Five-0 thing. Different First Meeting, canon divergence, all wrapped in a nice little Alternate Universe package, I guess? Set in the beginning/during season 3. Danny's not on the team.

Overall, blame @corvid-cryptidd. He's a horrible enabler.

Steve wasn’t sure what to think of all of this. He hadn’t believed Joe when he said he was Shelburne, but all the lies were starting to get him. The fact that he’d been in Suruga before, that Joe had been moving Shelburne just hours before Steve got to a location, stung. Moving and backtracking in order to avoid Wo Fat — and himself — was smart, and exactly what he’d have done. Joe did know how he operated better than anyone else.

His old commander had had a change of heart somewhere along the way, though, deciding to bring him back to Japan after his failed search just last week and take him to meet Shelburne, but none of it made all this secrecy easier to swallow. Whatever this was about, whether it was Wo Fat’s father or something even deeper, his father was executed for it.

They approached the seaside village mostly in silence after Joe’s explanations, but some noise ahead caught Steve’s attention, as if it was being intentionally made. Joe stopped walking, and Steve followed suit.

“Commander White,” a rather short man greeted. He extended a well-toned arm to Joe for a handshake that Joe quickly met. The vest and equipment — including the M16 rifle over his shoulder — made it easy to place him as military. With a nod towards Steve, he asked, “This is?”

“Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett,” Joe introduced, and Steve extended his own hand to the man. “Steve, this is Major Daniel Williams.”

Now slightly closer, Steve could see the American flag on the vest, though no real indication as to what branch the man — Major Williams — was part of.

Eying him up and down with a frown, Williams shook his hand and threw a glance at Joe that Steve couldn't begin to decipher. He shook his head softly.

“You gotta be kidding me,” he muttered, turning around to head back the way he came. “Come on, then.”

Steve could spot more well-armed personnel as they walked, none of them Japanese, all of them carrying themselves in the same way as Williams. The same way Steve saw several other operators move. None of the locals paid any mind to them, though. “What’s with the Army escort?”

“Got a problem with the branch choice, McGarrett?” There was a challenge in his voice, clear even if he didn't turn around to face them. 

“No problem,” he said, easily enough. “I'm just curious." Williams glanced back at him, but didn't say anything. “Wo Fat’s still looking, isn’t he?”

“Wo Fat is in Yakuza custody,” Joe answered easily enough. It explained why Joe had decided to bring him to Shelburne now, at least.

“Whether he stays there,” Williams added, gesturing wildly at the world around them, “Remains to be seen. While regrettable, Anna Douglas’ death at least served as a wake-up call.” There was annoyance in his tone, directed, Steve supposed, at the powers that be. “The CIA no longer wants anything to do with him, the Yakuza wants a piece of him.”

“The man who killed Agent Douglas has been arrested,” Steve said, uselessly. Williams nodded, but his shoulders remained tense. This man clearly knew that Hiro Noshimuri was dead, why else would the remaining Yakuza families be gunning for Wo Fat?

“Good for them.” Williams muttered, stopped from saying anything further by the man approaching them with easy, unhurried steps, interrupting their walk to talk with Williams. Steve couldn't hear what they were saying, could barely make out lip movements, and a glance at Joe told him he couldn't either.

Instead, Steve’s focus went to the man’s vest. The UK flag and S.A.S.-like emblem only added to Steve's apprehension.

“Just get moving, MacTavish.” The man avoided Williams’ swat easily enough, giving him a mock salute as he stepped back. “Go.”

“Aye, sir.”

MacTavish walked between the shacks toward the treeline, finally letting them move on. It wasn't long before the three of them came upon what looked like an abandoned shack, but Joe and Williams stopped well before they reached the door.

“Joe?” He questioned, glancing backwards.

“Go on,” Joe nodded toward the door. “You deserve some answers, Steve.”

[bhaalble]

Ok so past. The most non-spoiler way to say it is The Big Grey Warden Fight. Here are thoughts so far (spoilers ahead)

-First two hours had me NERVOUS they apparently saved all their cringest lines for those two hours ("People are always dying. It what they do" they could never make me not burst out laughing at you). After that though I genuinely think they found their footing. Still the occasional cringe or eyeroll moment but now at extremely manageable Bioware levels. I can feel the Gen Xer/Millenial in the room with me but they are no longer beating me over the head with Joss Whedon

-God this game is fucking gorgeous to look at every environment I could be in for hours. They keep bringing us to these highly anticipated locations and it keeps being better than I imagined.

-Roleplaying definitely feels more limited. In the spirit of Dragon Age 2 Two I've elected to play as the wisecracking scoundrel hero I feel the game is angling for after my attempt to oc kept crashing and burning. This isnt inherently a bad thing but time will tell if this will be like Hawke (where I am pretty locked into playing specific archetypes but there's enough wiggle room in there to play different kinds for freak) or Inquisition (where there's really only One kind of guy the game will let me realize via dialogue and if I want to do anything different I'll need to hc the shit out of them)

-Companions have proven vastly charming ajd are finally starting to develop the kinds of conflict I associate with Bioware companions. I very much get people who say they feel a little too nicesies for the series, I've felt that in different bursts on my own. That said they are all individually compelling enough for me to still be engaged. Possible my time with FFXIV has also just increased my appetite for groups of people who are Friendships. Neve Lucanis and Davrin have so far all been massive hits with me

-Was a little worried the choices were gonna feel too edgeless but I actually think the linear storytelling lends itself well here. My Shadow Dragon Rook chose to help Treviso believing their organization could handle the other archdemon without them and oh boy were they wrong!!! And the consequences of that have felt deeply palpable on an interpersonal level and a worldstate level

-Glamour system a lot of fun. Wish they let you try things on in the shop before purchasing

-Trans stuff has been both a lot of fun to play with and shockingly well-executed with some genuine variance in play. As a personal preference I tend to kind of repel when fantasy worlds have identical concepts of transition/identical terminology but its been really good to have as a dialogue option. Taash being possibly nonbinary/transmasculine has also been a kind of delightful surprise and I'm really excited to see where they go with it. never in a million years did I really expect them to do this with an R.O.

-BLIGHT IS SO FUCKING BACK DRAGON AGE HORROR IS SO FUCKING BACK ORIGINS/AWAKENING IVE MISSED YOU SO BAD

-DWARF LORE DWARF LORE DWARF LORE

- Weishaupt genuinely inspired a level of hype in me I haven't had for dragon age since my first time playing the battle of denerim. Extremely cinematic in a genuinely compelling way and the use of all the companions (not just whatever two I clocked on here) made it feel so much BIGGER and more engaging.

-In general I think its finally perfected making my inner circle feel like an inner circle rather than just a collection of guys i found in the woods. Its not just banter big team meetings, finding them talking to each other around the Lighthouse, cutscene interactions all make them feel like a proper growing unit. Almost like thats the theme or something-

-I don't mind the simple puzzles (because I am stupid) the environments are fun enough to navigate that it stays fun to complete them for me but I do wish maybe the companions would wait a little longer before prompting you. Hearing "we just need to destroy two more crystals", destroying one, then hearing "ok, one more, just up ahead!" in the span of ten seconds is. Something.

-While I do think that HR writing people are moaning about is a bit exaggerated (likely due to both the anti-woke weirdos and also the lack of companions just going for the throat on each other's lived experiences right away) I do think occasionally its a little too precious about anticipating the discourse. The poor Lords of Fortune get hit by this pretty hard the amount of emphasis drawn on btw we dont steal any cultural artifacts and we employ sensitivity Tomb Raiders is a little clumsily executed in a way that pulls you out of genuinely a cool idea (pirates turned guardians of a way of life that imperialism is trying to snuff out)

[melrosing]

Ok speaking of changes GOT made… is there any changes you like? I struggle to find big moments, but there are small additions I love. Like Ned praying before he dies, Robb hitting the tree when he finds out, the chemistry that Kit Harrington and Rose Leslie have…. But there are very few structural changes I think improve the story.

hmmm so I can't lie there is a LOT I just don't remember anymore about the show, so wringing my mind a little to come up with something.....

I won't mention things that I think were adapted well (like Ned's execution) as those aren't adaptational changes. and I also won't mention things that I like the idea of (e.g. Jaime's dyslexia) but not the execution (they made out it was part of the longrunning 'stupidest Lannister' joke).

and like.... well I'm stuck already lmao?? I'm not even trying to shit on the show I just feel like it was a consistent exercise in either understating GRRM's work or butchering it entirely. so I can think of only a few things:

I can't find the link to where I talked about this at length but the scene in which Jaime and Ned duel in the streets of KL was a good one imo. I think it was more in character for Jaime to just recklessly fight Ned himself, and a neat parallel to what I suspect will happen between Ned, Arthur and Howland - in that when Ned is attacked from behind by one of Jaime's men in the midst of their fight, Jaime angrily ends the duel bc his man has essentially dishonoured it. I think Ned's fight with Arthur will end as it did in the show (with Howland stabbing Arthur from behind and Ned finishing the job, bc he needs to reach Lyanna), and this is like a parallel to show Jaime and Ned have the same principles, yet each have broken them in times of desperation. My personal theory is that this was a change GRRM recommended - the parallel seems notable to me, and not one that would've even occurred to D&D, esp. given they never gave any particular shit about Jaime's story. And this may sound spurious but I recall that GRRM remembers in an interview, saying the weather was different in the show version of the scene than in the books.... which makes me think he was maybe onset for this one, possibly because of the rewrite??

I'm v much in favour of ageing up the youngest characters. My ideal starting ages for the youngest characters in AGOT would've been Jon/Robb/Dany - 18, Joffrey/Sansa - 14, Arya - 12, Bran - 10. To me they all feel much too young for the roles they play in the story, and it occasionally kills my suspension of disbelief

I way prefer the book’s version of the Red Wedding but I do feel like Catelyn's single cry of despair works better than the book's manic laughter. maybe the laughter was a more vivid image for the books idk

I do actually like how we see Robb's grief onscreen it's very movingly played by Richard Madden. I also love Catelyn's expressions as Robb rides back from the Whispering Wood, like both these scenes are great reminders of their mother/son relationship in a setting where they aren't really allowed to be just that. and like just Michelle Fairley tbh I really like her work as Catelyn even though I don't like how the character was adapted more generally

Breaking the 'concept but not execution' rule just to say I think it was definitely a good idea to explore the High Sparrow as this weirdly charismatic figure so we can see how others might be taken in by him, even whilst we see the extremes of his faith. but that subplot was not executed well at all so fuck it

Yeah I agree that Jon and Ygritte having a slightly more charged romance also works. In the books Ygritte comes and goes quite quickly and I think there is something to be said for lending a bit more gravity to that relationship. I don't think they necessarily had to be the grand romance that the show makes them out to be but I didn't hate it

I might be forgetting other things that worked because some seasons I haven't seen since like 2015, but honestly it just doesn't work for me as an adaptation. things I liked in the show before reading the books feel completely naff in hindsight, knowing how they were supposed to play out, so..... eh

[swimsauce]

Twitter is busted rn so I'm gonna just write down my earthspark s3 thoughts here. Mostly ranting who gives a shit

Uugghhh this part was better overall I think. The last 3 eps are pretty good. It's still very noticeable that the script quality has decreased, the dialogue and pacing are pretty bad. But there where fun concepts, however executed to varying degrees of success. I'll just list it off

-prowl was a fun addition but wasted potential. His arc of being an older autobot stuck in his ways is good, he must learn to warm up to the terrans and live with the fact the old Civil War is over. His development is too fast and slow. He should've learned his lesson earlier and not at the end when he has a fucking wack ass convo with bee and op about how he's stepping out of line. It should've been called out sooner and his episode with robbie and thrash would've been a more appropriate place for him to learn to "trust the students" instead of being right in front of starscream. Feels like they wanted a little bit of his tfa arc without properly humbling him and giving him good character interactions (like his connection with tfa bee and sari to ground him). Thrash was right there to be his little bond mate like how jawbreaker is to grimlock or twitch is to megs, etc. His arc shouldve been tigther. Idk his gay moment with megatron was cool tho

-the chaos terrains are revived and on neutral territory. Whatever. I hope they get development instead of just being le evil robot cuz "they where born evil" is such a stupid angle.

-the decepticons going to cybertron could be neat if the story continues. But god damn what a shattered arc they had. Starscream being comically evil is still very clearly not the arc that was planned and it shows in its poor execution. Breakdown just shafting bee for the cons when in s1 he was clearly a more neutral con like tarantulas was is such wasted potential. All nuance in the splinter decepticons has been nullified, it's literally only megs who is "on the good side". It's not that I think all the cons would adjust to peace time or that they should all be so friendly but it's so annoying how it feels their arc/theme of moving on has been completely dropped.

-the quints are evil again, ok sure. If u don't got the civil war plot it's usually the quitessons as the enemy which is fine normally. But then being a splinter species much like the terrans and having a connection with robbie and mo is so neat, but it's completely disregarded because the quints just kill all other quintus prime offspring. Such wasted potential. Maybe have a good group and bad group, or some sort of nuance to the quints finding more of their kin? Idk there was that one grunt that kept getting beat up, lost an arm and head piece, I though he could've stuck around, maybe he could've aligned with the maltos after being rejected for failure, or become a secondary bad guy. Idk just anything more than literally repeating the 86 execution scene but missing all the sauce that made it good. The twist of thr gf being a quint is fine idk. Just poorly executed again

-God damn the dialogue and script is bad. Even good concepts get butchered or clearly aren't as well executed as they should've. I already mentioned the 86 reference, but the recreation misses the og point. It repeated shots used in the movie but without their purpose. In the movie hot rod and kup spin the water to purposely trip up the quints. In this the quints spin the water to push robbie/mo down further to the bottom so they can reach the bot corpses and grab a weapon? Fucking masterful gambit. . It lacks good set up and reason as to why it was done. In the movie it was to show the cunningness of hot rod and kup, the two of them being ACTIVE in their escape. In the show it's just a reference and a poorly thought out device to get them weapons. It makes robbie and mo PASSIVE in their own escape.

The whole ep with prowl and robbie/thrash could've been so fun, but prowl is so dull. He's supposed to be sharp and quick to see details, but the writting is so poor he misses shit and acts to late. When they're trying to find the quint shapeshiter and he suspects robbies gf, it would've been cool if he acted faster, maybe restraining the quint before robbie/mo catch on, maybe causing a rift in the new team, then have him proven right when robbie sees the blood. The way he just points out the blood and doesn't even move when it's entirely clear she should be questioned is such poor pacing forcthe scene. A supposedly quick witted character wouldnt just stand around when its perfectly clear someone should act. (reminds me of the dodgy writting of him in idw where it feels like the writters wanna imply hes smart without actually writting him well enough to showcase thaf fact. Lots of telling not enough showing)

There are other scenes like this where if it just went through like one or two more rewrites it would've been a solid scene, but they get held back by stupid details that just derail good character beats. It fucking sucks to see

-fair maestro sucks bring back mandroid or a similiar character. Him modifying himself with robot parts to be more like a transformer, trying to be techno organic much like how robbie/mo are techno organic . Idk he was a good foil. Maestro could be reworked to be a human who seeks out transformers for more nefarious science shit byt instead he just does stupid shit with them. Not even like fun tfa shit just lame shit. No where near as threatening as even tfp or tfas human villians.

-terrarronus slays I love her power armor power up. She's neat

Tldr the ending of the season was an improvement over s2, but man it still sucks to see how far it's falling. And I can still see so many good ideas in the show! Bringing old g1 characters like prowl is fun. Quints are cool dudes, and relevant to the quintos prime angle. The hate plague or some sort of infection episode is always a neat idea. Terratronus is awesome, I loved her use in the climax. But god damn it's so sloppy in execution. It cleaned up some of its sloppy ideas from s2, like the chaos terrans, but the thread there is still hanging. What about other autobots like prowl, it seems there are more of them around, where are they? Tarantulas is still out there, are there other neutrals or "good" decepticons still on earth, and what's their deal? Starscreams deal is so underutilized, i hope he gets at least some closure or arc that isnt shit. The chaos terrans just being evil and bratty for the sake of it is so shallow, do something more interesting with them. Maybe if the cons come back from cybertron we could get something interesting from them. Who knows. I know it's not the staffs fault, the writers room complelty changed and the animation house is different. But if we do get another season, they better clean up the plot more, they have a long way to go to fix up what they busted from s1. It sucks to see wasted potential like this

Idk I want it to be good but man 😞 fuck hasbro

[themattress]

The Dream Saga

It really do be like:

The Dream arc is my personal least favorite of the Sailor Moon manga. On a technical level it's stronger than the Dark Kingdom arc, but the addition of Codename Sailor V does wonders in making that arc hold more weight, whereas this one feels the fluffiest of all the arcs. The main characters receive more development and the lore is deepened, but otherwise there isn't that much to offer beyond serving as the requisite bridge between Infinity and Stars. In some way I prefer the Eternal movie adaptation, which makes concepts like Pegasus, Elysian and the Dead Moon Circus pop with vibrant movement and color. On the downside, some scenes had to get cut in order to meet a designated runtime (where'd the Shitennou go!?)

Sailor Moon SuperS, directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara with Yoji Enokido as head writer, has many of the same problems that S suffers from, and in certain areas it's even worse....but.....

.....I personally enjoy it better than S. And while the Dream arc of the manga / Eternal is far better written, the SuperS version sticks in my memory more whenever I think "Dream arc".

There are three reasons for this, so hear me out

1.) As we all know from the show Ikuhara would go on to do after this, Revolutionary Girl Utena, he is very skilled at directing a surreal, enchanting and sometimes frightening atmosphere based in dreams and fairy tales. So much of that exact style is present here, and it leaves a lasting impression. This was the story arc he was practically destined to direct.

2.) Yoji Enokido isn't a bad writer, but he isn't the best fit for Sailor Moon. We saw that in S and we see it again here, where most episodes follow a banal kid-friendly formula and the majority of plot advancement is squeezed into the back half, all while characters feel like Flanderized shadows of their former selves. However, at least SuperS has consistency. Unlike S, where Enokido took the reigns halfway through and the drop in quality was obvious, SuperS is Enokido's from start to finish, so you never feel that kind of dramatic whiplash.

3.) Remember how in S, Professor Tomoe remained an excellent villain from start to finish? Well, in SuperS, the entire villainous group is like that. The Dead Moon Circus was just OK in Takeuchi's version, whereas here they really shine as exceptional villains. Unlike the Daimons, the Lemures remaining campy Monsters-of-the-Week from start to finish works because they're circus freaks so you fully expect the wackiness. The Amazon Trio go from one-note ciphers to richly humanized (ironically enough) antagonists who are both creepy and despicable yet also funny and kind of relatable, and who achieve a very well-executed redemption. The Amazoness Quartet retain their lovable childish fiendishness and sisterly closeness while being made even stronger characters with an arc about grappling with Peter Pan Syndrome. Zirconia almost gives Tomoe a run for his money in being a lead villain who is both creepy and hilarious, while Queen Nehelenia is the most foul and ominous endgame threat since Death Phantom. And all of them have such great, memorable musical themes! SuperS is a show I will gladly watch the whole way through, warts and all, solely for them.

[dufferpuffer]

Unpopular opinion: had JKR died after writing OotP, the series would have been better that way. The last two books have rather poor pacing, do not add much to the setting or characters, destroy all of the credibility of Voldemort as villain (for the adult leader, at least), and probably do more harm than good to Severus Snape's character. Yes, we wouldn't have had Grindelore (or Grindelwald in general), Snily and Kreacher redemption, but... these are still not enough to redeem the existence of HBP and DH. And fans would almost certainly came up with a better series continuation/finale.

I read this as "Unpopular Opinion: JKR died after writing OotP"

For HBP - I'd say that is unpopular. I like that one, I like how everything went in it, I think she finally worked out how to write a decent mystery... and it was great for Dumbledore's arc.

I'm not saying the Author is particularly good, she was just fine - but she did a decent job in specific ways I don't trust fandom to: I like that she is a nasty, biting, distrusting, traumatized little weirdo that knows what its like to suffer and be trapped. I like that she knows what its like to be deeply mentally unwell, crippled by it - and how fame and money don't change that. I like that Harry Potter is a miserable, nasty, darker version of the Muggle world - and I think most things since the books ended just... forget that. Make it cozy. The love softens the hurt. But she never did that. She made Love a theme - but allowed her characters and her world to be brutalized at every turn. It's great!

This fandom? Handling Dumbledore after OotP? Handling Draco Malfoy? Handling the recent death of Sirius Black? Handling the sheer concept of Harry being a doomed child-soldier...? Shit, we can't do that now, with all the hindsight. All the expanded world-building we got in the last two books, now that Harry was older and given more independence...? Gone? Like 70% of who Snape is and why he does things is in those last two books. And he was one of the few things done perfectly: He is the thread knitting the entire story together. it might be called Harry Potter - but the story is about Severus. He was everywhere doing everything, and you don't realize till right at the end... yet can go back, through every book, and see it quite clearly, now that you can look back on them with Harry's adult eyes and not his kid eyes. She pulled it off really well. It makes a re-read of the books almost mandatory just to go WOAH. It's not One Piece, but it's good - especially for childrens fiction. I'm pretty happy with what we got, especially in HBP.

DH... eh. That one dragged its feet... I like most of the ideas and set-pieces: Starting the book with Moody's death shattered the entire concept of the Order - Hedwigs death was a nice touch, Harry's complete loss of 'Home'... the death of Charity... the wedding getting interrupted... the idea of these kids camping and starving and getting captured over tiny mistakes... But yeah - the way they are executed and tied together is lackluster. Especially the final conflict and the goddamn epilogue. It feels like it was rushed. That there were dot-points and they were strung together and said 'good enough' - because ending something is hard. But HPs ending was unsatisfying. We can do better.

I don't really know what you mean by it destroying Voldemorts credibility as a villain. Like he wasn't the most compelling villain overall, but I don't know what in the last two books was particularly bad. Maybe I'm forgetting something. I don't think about Tom much... But as an egocentric manipulator, only interested in his life story, using prejudice that already exists in the world for his own gain despite not caring for it himself...? I think that went ok.

Please don't take this wall of text as like angry at you or anything - I just blab! It's an interesting idea, Harry Potter without the final two books. You're right in saying 'not wanting HBP' being an unpopular opinion... I dunno if the same can be said about DH :^9

[vennyvenadito]

🦋💜Hawkmoth/Gabriel deserves better💜🦋

Ok

This is gonna be controversial but I can’t keep my mount shut anymore

This is an unpopular opinion but I have to say it

Gabriel aka Hawkmoth can be a good villain but the show don’t let him to be one and they are also the reason why his character is so over the place

First I would say our moth boy is smart and he really show it a lot

Now I know what you gonna say

“But his ideas are always bad and he is really dumb”

I know but hear me out

I don’t denied that he can be dumb and mess up a lot but I think this isn’t entirely his fault…it’s actually the writers

Why? Well

I would definitely say that Hawkmoth is not only a victim of bad writing, but he is also a victim of plot armor

There are episodes where he almost won but for some lame reason lose

And in fact not all of his ideas are but

You would say is because of Mayura and yeah, you guys are right on that but I’m talking about when he didn’t have her on his side

Episode like

-Puppeteer

-Animaestro

-Oblivion

-Sentibubbler

-Volpina

-Jubilation

-Illusion

-Stormy Whether

-Catalyst

-Ephemeral

-Risk

-Strike Back

-The Owl

-Malediktator

-Troublemaker

-Miraculer

-Antibug/Vanisher

-Derision (I still hate this episode)

-Collector

-Optigami

That’s proof to me that he can be smart and a treat but again, is the show who don’t let him be

And in fact, it’s also show that the show don’t know what direction go with him

In one episode is a broken man who lost his way and is trying to bring back the love of his life but no in the right way of course and he is also trying to hold it back for his son, but keeps himself away from him for his grief and still show humanity and maybe the change there’s still some hope of salvation for him

And then he is this horrible monster without feelings and he can go as far even to destroy humanity and can’t barely care about his own child and neglect him a lot

In one episode he can come out with the most smartest plan to archive his goal and almost got it, but then again, villain always loses

And then in another episode has the most dumbest plan ever

And then he is this goofy and cartoonist villain

Don’t saying that silliness can’t work with a villain

Look Bill from Gravity Falls and Discord from MLP

They are goofy and chaotic but they are still a treat and dangerous to everyone (with one already redeem)

If they want him to be a treat or an irredeemable villain than they could done something like Belos from The Owl House

Those two parallels each other a lot

-They lost an important person of their life with one of them killing them out of rage

-They have this little child on their care but neglected them (and also they didn’t born in the traditional way one being an sentimonster and the other an grimwalker)

-They are willing to destroy everything to archive their goals

-Both are also broken and lost their ways in their life and instead of trying to fix their mistakes and move on, is already to late for both of them, their path become dark

The difference here is at least in The Owl House the writers did know what to do with Belos unlike Miraculous, Belos did have moments of sympathy and moments of guilt about killing his older brother, of the little they show about his past we can have an idea how was his life before become this horrible monster, but the show let it clear there’s not salvation for him anymore and he is way far to be redeem

I insist his dead could be handled a little better, but even tho, they did an awesome job with him

But with Gabe, look, they did had good ideas but the execution wasn’t great

I mean, come on, a villain who can take advantage of the persons feelings and transform them in monsters, that’s a cool concept

He been the father of one of the main characters, also a good concept there

But the writers did a terrible and miserable job with those concept and don’t do anything interesting with them, if they do, then they go with time travel or memory erase because this show has something towards consequences and show progression

And the fact in the leaks is show that Adrien won’t be in the final battle with his father and is only Marinette it’s make me angry

And speaking of our bug girl, let’s go back with the plot armor problem

This girl doesn’t has the power of creation, instead she has the power of plot armor in her hands

And Intuition is the prove for that

Is basically

“Gabriel v.s Plot armor” the episode

In this episode is show that Gabriel in fact, did use the power of second chance a lot of times, all the episode we saw he did used it

But the problem was that the lucky charm of Ladybug always change, isn’t the same object, didn’t matter what he do or change something about his plan, the lucky charm always manage to change and give Ladybug the opportunity of win

So yeah, this is prove enough to me that no matter how smart his plan can be, the show is always against him

He is even more of a wasted potential than Chloe is

And I would say it, he is much of a punching bag as Chloe as well

But at least with her they kinda know what to do with her (I say kinda because they did a terrible job, and is mostly because Thomas’s hate boner for her), they want to keep her as a brat, I hate that, but you know what, ok, good for you guys, keep going

But come on, why you keep Gabriel like that??

You want him to be a good villain or not??

The poor man is goin on circles because you don’t know what to do with him

In fact, you know what, I’m happy he is leaving in the season five finale, not like he deserve this or I’m happy he got what he wanted, but more like “you know, good for him, he can finally rest from this mess that this show is, he can be free for now”

Good for you Gabe in that, good for you my dude, hope you enjoy your freedom

And look, I’m not saying this beacuse, who those who don’t know, he is my favorite character (yeah you can kill me for that), but mostly I’m saying this because I want his character to make sense, to be consistent and has deep, which he has but the show act like he doesn’t sometimes

It’s make me sad seeing my favorite character been treated like this, because I know in the right hands he can be a great character

I wouldn’t care is they wanted him to be redeem or not, at least, make him a great an iconic villain

Belos is one of the best villains a I have never seen in a while

And this is why I starting to work in AUs about Hawkmoth, because I know he has potential and there’s a lot of fun things you can do with him, if no anyone can sees it that way, than I can because I care about this character

Let me show some love for my moth boy please if no one wouldn’t do it

I wanted to vent a lot about this main problem I have with the show and why Hawky deserves a lot better like the other characters in this show

I would like to see your opinions about this

Deer out