#If you can't even commit to a character making bad choices then whats the point of making them the villain of 3 different routes

[sunshine-in-a-bottle]

Everything to do with Edelgard's route is incredibly frustrating to me.

She has no agency. She's not starting this war for herself, she's being held at gunpoint by TWSITD and the best she can do is try to put literally any of the conflict on her own terms. It puts her in this constant in-between of "its her fault" and "its not her fault". You can never say how many things she's done have been her own choice.

Her most prominent captors are male, and it feels incredibly sexist to have this compelling female character who's influence is actually not hers, but The Men Behind Her, but also allow her to take the fall for all these decisions as if she had been to one to make them. She's villainized for what she can't control. She doesn't even get to take responsibility. She goes "oh my fake uncle did that. Sad." They couldn't commit to her making morally grey choices, but they sure can have her be disdainful of the people who suffered from those choices, as if they want to have their cake and eat it too. pick one.

And Yet More Possible Sexism. Hubert waits for Edelgard to make decisions, and if he doesn't like them, he'll secretly do what he wanted to do instead and claim its for her own good. As her most loyal friend, he should know how little agency she already has, how valuable it must be to her to be allowed to make her own decisions, and yet he still makes these choices for her.

Edelgard claims that the Truth of Fodlan is passed down from Emperor to Emperor, but we have no way of knowing if that evidence was doctored, edited, or biased when the earliest part of her life was dedicated to surviving a coup and then enduring torture from the people who have every reason to lie to her. When did she learn this info? She wasn't emperor when it was given to her. Is it an oral telling or is it written down? If its recorded, how safe is that location, and who was its original writer?

The Abyss DLC makes a good point about the way information can be edited and altered depending on who's in power and what propaganda you want to push through its library. To take a historical account at face value without examining these possible biases is a good way to spread misinformation, and Edelgard, under TWSITD's thumb, is hardly in a good place to recover info that hasn't been influenced by her captors.

I think the fact that Edelgard doesn't have all the information is probably the worst part of her route. Her endgame narrative is not one of true freedom. She's plugging in the narrative she has, coloring it with her trauma and her deepest wishes beyond all else. This route is not triumphant. You do not win a better future.

Her end card also is deeply disconcerting.

Just. The other routes don't have all these peasants looking distressed or unsettled. The destruction of two countries who fought to be allowed to be independent now being forced to abandon their culture in favor of once again joining the empire they had left in the first place. The emphasis on Hubert being the one drawing your in the background, having control, in a way that literally none of the other (male) lords have. Edelgard doesn't even get to be the true focus in her own goddamn mural. What is this.

What is the point of having this amazing, morally grey female character who takes up the focus of the entire game if you're going to constantly undermine literally everything she does by waving your hands and saying "well TWSITD did that actually. Hubert did that actually. She didn't actually want to do any of this, and if she did it wasn't that bad, and all of her info is dubiously sourced. She'll sound vaguely bitchy though if you want to feel like hating her."

Just. Stop doing this.

[sorcerersandskillusers]

I want to talk about one of the most terrifying and interesting bsd characters who almost no fan remembers.

This character nearly tore down the ADA without ever getting involved herself, yet the entire fandom has ignored her because of her terrible anime adaptation.

Who am I talking about?

Nobuko Sasaki

If you haven't read Dazai Osamu's Entrance Exam, then you probably don't even know who this character is, in the anime she is watered down to the lovesick girlfriend of an actual villain, and you probably dismissed her immediately. But in the light novel, we get to see how dangerous and cunning she really is, to the point she nearly gets the better of Dazai and almost causes the ADA to be shut down. (Fukuzawa says he would have closed the agency if they hadn't caught her)

In terms of intelligence I'd put her on the same level as Mori, just slightly below the super human genius characters i.e. Dazai, Fyodor and Ranpo

The Azure Apostle

For those who don't remember, Sasaki was the Azure Apostle, a mysterious figure who challenged the agency with several horrifying cases, which would all lead to mass casualties if the agency failed to stop them. These were; uncovering an underground organ smuggling operation (which the agency failed to stop and which massively hurt their reputation) stopping a bombing of Yokohama port which could have killed hundreds of people, and preventing a commercial aeroplane from crashing into the city (this was not included in the anime)

Each of the people, who committed these crimes, had no Idea they were being manipulated and thought it was their own idea the whole time. There was no evidence that anyone else had been involved at all, and the agency had no way to connect her to any of the crimes. And she even makes the genius move of framing Dazai, the mysterious new member with suspicious knowledge of the underworld and a hidden past, as the true culprit.

In fact, she only made one mistake, challenging Dazai. If Dazai had been basically anyone else, they would have been cornered and arrested, but since Dazai's mind works on a level even master strategists can't imagine, he was able to turn the tables on her.

But even after Dazai sees through her plans, the ADA still has to act exactly the way she wants them too and stop the plane crash. Even when they know they're being manipulated, they still have to do exactly what she wanted.

Finally, after Dazai and Kunikida confront her and get her to admit to being behind all those crimes, even then they are powerless to stop her.

Even after being involved with so many massive crimes, Sasaki herself hadn't done anything illegal, so within the law the ADA is completely powerless to stop her.

They can't arrest her, and if they try then the agency will be put in even more danger as will many innocent lives. She has completely trapped the ADA, and even Dazai in a choice to follow the law and let her go or take justice into their own hands and prove they will stoop as low as she did.

In the end, there she has them in a perfect deadlock, let her continue her mission, or kill her themselves. Both are bad outcomes for the ADA.

In the end, Dazai has her killed by using a third party (Rokuzo) to shoot her, so the agency can't be blamed for her murder, though this ends her plans it deeply scars Kunikida and shakes his resolve in his ideals.

The trauma from this event still haunts Kunikida to this day, we see that when he is affected by Q's curse, Sasaki is who he sees.

So thats the Azure Apostle, a terrifying master mind who nearly brought down the Armed Detective Agency, but now lets look at the other side of this character.

Nobuko Sasaki Herself

We know several things about Sasaki as a character and her history from the light novel. That she was a brilliant criminal psychologist and was internationally recognised despite being so young

,that she was the ex-lover of the Azure King and the real mastermind behind his plans, and that she had very little motivation of her own.

That's not meant to be an insult to the character, she says herself that she never really had much direction in life, even with her incredible intelligence she never really had anything she wanted to achieve.

But the Azure King was the opposite, he had powerful drive and strong ideals, he wanted to punish criminals who couldn't be touched by the law and when he failed to change the law as a bureaucrat, she offered him an alternative.

A very important thing here is that neither of them were manipulating or forcing the other into this path, as far as we see they genuinely loved each other, each providing something the other couldn't, Sasaki her mind and the Azure King his drive.

When the Azure king died, Sasaki had no path of her own to follow, so she simply kept following his, even though she doesn't seem to have really cared about his cause.

All of this creates a very unique character, you can't say she was driven by revenge, because she wasn't really driven at all. It's more like she was running on momentum, she had chosen a path to follow and could not stop even though there was nothing pushing her down it any more.

She's a perfect antithesis of Kunikida and was the best possible villain a light novel about him could have had.

A man who brings his ideals into reality with his own hands against a woman who uses others to enforce ideals that were never hers to begin with.

Anyway, I made this because Sasaki is criminally underrated in this fandom, If you haven't read "Dazai Osamu's Entrance Exam" I highly recommend it, I've only put a tiny fraction of the amazing story here.

[meo-eiru]

heyy!! here I am with some more thoughts, this time about Elias.

honestly, for some reason, he seems like a very lonely person to me. you mentioned his will to change himself (and go to extreme lengths in that); also his almost paranoid fear of darling leaving him, (delete all of your contacts except for him, etc) – usually such level of jealousy is a sign of very low self-esteem. dunno if it's true, I just had a feeling that he's super insecure deep down. (he's afraid to look bad in our eyes, remember? to an unhealthy extent.)

and he's so empty. so beautiful on the outside, but so so empty. he loves you, he exists for you, isn't that enough? it isn't. you can't feel genuine affection for someone just because they look good. and Elias knows that! he's actually self conscious (unlike some elf with big tatas), but he can't offer you anything else, which must make him feel even more insecure, because deep down he knows that he won't be able to keep you by his side forever.

actually that will of his to go to extreme lengths for us is pretty frightening. how toxic it can be? depends on the darling! because if you are a normal person, you'd be patient with him, change him, and have a happy ever after and all those boring things. but what if Elias happens to fall in love with an unreasonable and possessive monster?

I feel like he'd go very well with a darling who's yandere for him too. and a stereotypical one at that, who'd want to keep him by their side like a pretty doll. get it? not a life partner, not even a human. a doll, a pretty thing to take care of. they would choose pretty clothes for him, brush his hair, but at the end of the day, he's nothing more but a pretty thing, an object.

I really like the doll metaphor for Elias. (I'm a huge doll lover, I ever have one of that super expensive bjd) dolls are beautiful, but aren't alive. they can't be someone you'd open your heart to; under their shiny porcelain skin, they're hollow.

unlike Silas, Elias is a more tragic character in my eyes. he's willing to carve his bones to whatever shape you desire, because if he isn't validated and noticed by you, he has no value. and you (if you are a normal person) will grow tired and bored of him, sooner or later. he wants to be loved, when there's pretty much nothing to love in him.

unlike Silas, his love can ruin only himself.

(I swear it's not like I want to see him suffer in particular. I'm open to all kinds of despair, pain and sadness, whether it yan's or darling's!)

(also I tried to find his colour scheme, but all I found was you mention his hair, so it's just how I think he looks like.)

DHDKDHDKYS NOT ONLY IS YOUR ANALYZES AMAZING YOU ALSO DREW ELIAS??? AND HOW DID YOU GET HIS COLOR SCHEME SO RIGHT???

I love you thank you god I love asks like yours.

You’re very on point, Elias is like a pretty doll. Beautiful on the outside but completely empty inside, and that beauty is the only thing that gives him any kind of worth. He’s aware of this more than anyone.

He’s not rich, he doesn’t have an amazingly successful career, no hobbies, no specialities, no interests. He’s extremely pathetic and all he can do is pitifully attempt to pull you down to his level.

That’s why committing self harm comes so easily to him even if he doesn’t yearn for it. Endangering himself, his only value, his body, is the only way he can keep you with him. He doesn’t have any power over you he can use against you. He only has this disgustingly and pathetically beautiful body.

He wants to be loved by you, he wants you to be obsessed with him as much as he is with you, but deep down he knows he doesn’t have any qualities that could deserve such love. That is why he leans into his appearance so hard, since the moment he was born that face of his was the only thing that gave him any sort of value.

If you find any part of him ugly he’ll have no choice but to try to fix it even if it completely ruins him. Because he thinks that’s the only way for him to keep your eyes on him. He’s just through and through pathetic. Extremely pitiful.

He would indeed roll well with a yandere reader who treats him like a living doll. Because Elias wants to be values by you, even if it means getting stripped of the little sense of identity he had. He wants you to keep your eyes on him and see him as an object who exists for your satisfaction. Because at the end of the day that is what he is. An empty shell who was unfortunate enough to be born with the ability to love.

Elias’ existence can’t handle his own love. He’ll start breaking from inside out like a doll under pressure. That’s why he needs your reassurance, he needs you to reaffirm his worth. He can’t exist for himself so he needs to exist for you. He might be a beautiful shell of a human but he too can have some sort of value if he’s being used like a tool by you.

But watching you also makes him feel extremely jealous and frustrated. Because you have everything he doesn’t have. You have hobbies, things you enjoy, things you do for yourself, people who stay with you not for your outer shell but for who you are inside. Everything Elias never had and never will.

That’s why he tries so hard to ruin your relationships and threaten you to stay with him, to keep you at his level like a pathetic bug. Because you’re not like him. You can abandon him any day of the week and continue your life like you lost nothing, but Elias isn’t like that. If he loses you he truly will have nothing left.

So please love him, ruin him, break him, treat him right, use him, make him feel alive, give him some sort of value. Please be kind to Elias. He needs you more than anyone on this world

[antianakin]

I feel like I need to make it clear that when I talk about how Mon Mothma isn't fully committed to the Rebellion yet, it's because that is quite literally a massive part of her whole character arc. It's not a condemnation of her character or an attempt to belittle the things she HAS chosen to do for the rebellion and what it has cost her.

Mon Mothma says in Rebels that she finally hit a point of no return in recognizing that politics IS NOT GOING TO WORK and so she chooses to leave it all behind in order to be full in on the rebellion and do it day in and day out. At this point in Andor, she hasn't yet hit that point of no return. Some part of her still believes she can do something helpful through politics, even though we as the audience know that she CAN'T. There is no effort she can make politically that will actually change anything in the Empire.

And it's OKAY to recognize that Mon Mothma still has places to go as a character and room to grow as a rebel. She's not all the way there yet. Much like Cassian was against the Empire and had no issues stealing from them last season but wasn't fully committed to the cause until the end. He had to hit a point of no return before he could let go of the idea that he could still have a normal life of some kind before he could truly become the rebel we all know he needs to be.

Mon Mothma was ready to sell her daughter, yes, but she also tries to convince Leida OUT OF IT in the last episode which would've had pretty major consequences not just for her but for Luthen and Kleya and the rebellion. She is still prioritizing her family over the rebellion. And that's not a bad thing, necessarily! She's a good mother and that's why she says what she does, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that! But I do think it is a signal that Mon Mothma ISN'T fully committed to the rebellion yet because there were still things that she would prioritize over it if push came to shove. There were lines she still wasn't willing to cross and things she wasn't yet willing to sacrifice in the name of the cause.

Similarly, her conversation with Luthen where they're talking about Tay and he says he needs to protect her and Mon responds with "I don't know what you're talking about," is another signal that Mon was just not really ready to make those sacrifices. She doesn't want to acknowledge it, she can't make those choices on her own. She can still pretend she has no idea what Luthen is saying to her or what he's going to do to protect her as an asset. She can go off and get drunk and try to forget it all so she can get up the next day and just be Mon Mothma the politician. Luthen can't do that. He made an entire speech last season about why he can't do that anymore. Cassian can't do it, either, because he had to make this same choice a year ago.

And I think it's honestly a really cool narrative arc for Mon Mothma. I think it works really well as a parallel for Cassian and as part of the theme of the passing of the baton/torch that is so integral to the story of Rogue One and Andor. Mon ISN'T fully committed to the rebellion yet, she ISN'T ready to be a rebel entirely yet, she ISN'T the person who can lead the rebellion yet. She's getting there, she's reaching her point of no return, but she's NOT THERE YET. As much as she's doing, there's pieces of herself she's holding back, pieces of herself and her life that she's not willing to let go of yet. And we're watching her give them up or lose them until she finally recognizes the same thing Cassian did last season. She either dies, or commits herself fully to this cause she's been one foot in and one foot out of for years. That's it, that's the choice they all ultimately end up having to face, and it's a choice you only get to through a lot of hardship and pain and loss.

[aggresivemenace]

There was a request about Angron accidentally killing his wife and then discovering that she is a Perpetual and later really killing her, but since I didn’t know how Tumblr works, I accidentally deleted the request by answering it in my draft. I'm very sorry, the req was anonymous, so I can't tag no one :(

TW: bad writing, gore, emotional suffering, death of major character (kind of), OOC.

Life with Angron had been difficult from the very beginning. Even now, he still didn't understand how a young, beautiful woman from a noble family could have willingly chosen to spend her life with a monster like him. Of course, you knew about his curse. Just like your family did. He saw the horror in your relatives' eyes when they looked at him, even though they spoke to him with courtesy and politeness.

There was no fear in his life greater than the fear of harming you.

Over time, he learned to sense when his curse was about to take control of his mind. He always managed to order you to be hidden somewhere beyond his reach, where he wouldn’t be able to find you and commit something horrific.

But one day, he forgot to warn you and his Astartes that an episode was coming. There’s no point in describing how you approached your husband, as you had done a thousand times before, simply to tell him something.

The conversation ended with you seeing, at the last moment, how his eyes filled with blood. You were already prepared to run, realizing that Angron had lost control. But your escape was cut short - he caught you by the scruff like a stray cat, wrapped his arm around your waist, and with a single, effortless squeeze, crushed your ribcage and spine. He killed you.

The madness left his mind instantly. The voices and screams in his head fell silent, and the pain vanished as if it had never been there. But that didn’t make anything better - because now he saw what he had done to you.

There was no point in describing how he tormented himself over your death. Once again, his curse had taken someone dear to him - a woman who, despite all the risks, had chosen to be with him, who had helped him fight off his madness, soothing him with her touch and voice. And now, you had paid for your love with your life.

When the moments of shock passed, Angron still couldn’t believe what he had done. How could he have forgotten? How could he have allowed your death to happen?

Your body, seemingly intact, lay in the middle of the vast, empty hall. Only upon closer inspection could one see the unnatural angles of your twisted arms and legs, the jagged protrusions of broken ribs and spine beneath your clothing, and the small pool of blood trickling from your nose - paired with your wide, unseeing eyes.

Then, Angron simply left the hall without even touching you - he couldn’t believe it had truly happened, despite fearing this moment every single time. He forbade anyone from entering that room. He didn’t want to openly admit that he had finally killed you; shame was far more unbearable to him than rage.

Someone would find your body days later, guided by the stench of rotting flesh. You would be carried away and buried. Of course, everyone would recognize Angron’s wife, but no one would say a word - to him or anyone else. They feared his wrath. And he…he would try to forget this pain, just as he had forgotten all the other losses in his life.

And then, as if you had come back from the dead.

The Astartes found you in one of the corridors, barely conscious, dressed in torn, blood-soaked clothing, whimpering quietly from pain.

That was when they had no choice but to tell the Apothecaries everything: how Angron had lost control, how he had killed you, crushed your body, and then left you in that empty hall to rot. Even the Apothecaries of the World Eaters couldn't completely hide the flicker of disgust that crossed their faces upon hearing this. But none of them would ever dare to rebuke their primarch for what he had done.

Shame and rage burned just as fiercely as the relief that you were alive. Angron didn’t know how or why. He had seen your lifeless body, had heard your last breath and the final beat of your heart. But he didn’t care why you were alive, and that was all that mattered.

Later, another revelation came to light: you were a Perpetual. Your genetic code bore all the markers proving that you weren’t Homo sapiens, but Homo superior - a different biological species altogether.

Angron listened to the news as if hypnotised. The words drifted through his mind slowly, barely settling amid the whirlwind of a million other thoughts and questions.

Too much had happened in the past week.

When you and Angron met for the first time after your resurrection, you told him what it had been like. The fact that you weren’t afraid and greeted your husband with a smile softened the weight of everything you were about to say.

It turned out that you had died from shock and asphyxiation a few minutes after Angron had crushed your body. You had seen the moment he realized what he had done. You simply couldn’t move or breathe. Your spine was shattered, your nervous system unresponsive. You had witnessed the panic and agony in his eyes. As you spoke of it now, you smiled, stroking his sweat-dampened cheek.

And then, about two hours later - or at least, that’s how it had felt to you (though in reality, days had passed) - you had suddenly awakened to searing pain coursing through your entire body.

At first, you regained the ability to breathe. Then, your sight and hearing returned. You had heard the cracking inside you, even though you still couldn’t move. Later, you would learn that it had been your shattered bones knitting themselves back together, the fragments aligning, torn muscles weaving themselves whole again. And all of it had been agony.

Then, you could move. Then stand. Then, walk into the corridor. And the rest - well, that part was obvious.

You spoke of all these horrors with a gentle smile, as if merely recalling the sadness of losing a childhood pet.

Angron had already lost all sense of understanding. He could no longer grasp what was happening.

He didn’t say a word - he just pulled you into a tight, crushing embrace.

And in his mind, he heard it again. The sound of your ribs breaking.

One horrifying realization cut through the chaos in his mind with absolute clarity: Killing you had instantly restored his sanity.

Before, whenever he committed something terrible, he only understood it afterward - when his consciousness returned.

But this time…it had been different.

This time, the cure had come instantly.

The unbearable bloodlust had vanished instantly - something no other method had ever been able to achieve.

[bugbachelor]

when it comes to the Trix's looks the general fandom interpretation that Stormy is the least feminine style wise out of the Trix continues to baffle me. because there's a lot of things canon is very vague about, but this is one of the few instances where canon is doing the exact opposite and Yet it's still such a common interpretation

to be fair, i think people tend to take her more abrasive louder personality and then draw from it that she should also be the most practically and sporty dress wise in the group and so on

and as a hc it's whatever, it's just really one of those instances where it's clearly the opposite in canon and people seem to genuinely gloss over it, when it's arguably such a funny aspect of her character

Darcy is the one that's always dressed the most practical on top of her hippy inspired fit. she's the only one wearing pants, both in her witch and civillian outfit. (she also knows how to ride a hoverbike for some unexplained reason. which the winx had to slowly learn in s3. some not elaborated skill going on here)

Icy's style moves closer to the preppy, formal ranges, with her collared top - tight skirt - high boots look. the tied back (up) hair also helps. and also the cape. she's got a cape in her witch form, can't stress enough how much of a fashion choice that is on her part

and Stormy's look is just giving summer party. like, it is. you've got a lot of flowy and wrapped fabric, and her open heels (which are a statement piece when your entire power is wind and storms and your signature fighting style consists of rain, lightning, and tornadoes)

out of them Stormy is dressed the most feminine And impractical at all times. ranging from being completely committed to skirts/dresses to preferring the party club look when her whole bit is hostile weather

actually, it's not even just a Trix thing i think Stormy is just genuinely dressed kind of not occasion appropriate even for a witch in general

this is apparently the general cloudtower/witch fashion

and Stormy pulls up to the wannabe goth convention with her breezy, flowy summer fit with ribbons both on her skirt, top, And on her open toed summer heels. those especially are kind of a bizarre choice on her part, since the predominant fashion trend seems to be boots, ideally pointy. kind of a mix between what Icy and Darcy are wearing. absolutely no one is wearing sandals or even open heels, style wise they're much closer to something Stella or Flora tend to go for even

Stormy is just fully committed to her sunny weather fit which i kind of have to respect

but i'm also mildly intrigued about the why of it? is that her genuine style preference and she just gives absolutely no fucks about what's in or expected witch fashion in general? or is the perpetual good weather fit some inside joke to her with her powers literally being 'bad' weather?

logistically in universe though, would there be some line you shouldn't cross with how much your shoes can look like you bought them from the same store Stella goes to? especially with how image focused and competitive the cloudtower environment seems to be. or would her style just read as completely out of fashion at cloudtower and this is just current fashion trends? we'd never find out because even if people Would have thoughts about it they would definitely not be voicing it to a senior classmate that's one of Griffins top students and can summon actual tornadoes. at that point you really could just do whatever you wanted (which, i mean the Trix already do that)

the take away just ends up being that Stormy clearly doesn't care about a) expected witch fashion, and/or b) what's weather appropriate. and yeah, does fit her character, i think she really would just do whatever she wanted and if that's the ribboned summer shoes that's what it is

(also, sure the flowy ribbons are a kind of funny fashion choice for her, but also, given how wind makes up almost half her powers, they're kind of a good one. those have to be so fun when you're walking or flying around and wind is blowing them everywhere. i get her)

[tamtuliko]

I have to mention a few more things about Great and Tyme.

Great said: you were dying for me that night.

But darling, you were dying for him too that night.

Their eye contact here is so much. You can feel need, lust, want, they are dying for each other. I know Tyme did it for recording, but dude was so into it.

Look at his face, for revenge my a$$, he was into it as much as Great. Also Greats hand on his ribcage. Oh boy.

The fact that we see both angles is such a masterpiece.

Like in Greats timeline it's mostly his POV, but here we are watching from both side.

We see Tymes POV and we see Greats as well. The camera work for this is so good.

Small details I think about it.

• Time for their $ex in real timeline and making love in Greats 4 minute limbo. I tried to zoom in and screenshot Great's watch, but I can't clearly see it. But I think it is midnight. This show is all details and the fact that Bible is wearing watch every moment and especially during their intimate moments, makes me wonder if the time was the same.

Another tragic thing:

Greats Timeline, they won Real Timeline Tyme left

Cross road and bridge

Decisions. Hard choices. Encountering a crossroad and not sure which way to go. Why is life so difficult at times? Life is filled with choices, both large and small. Some are minor, but others will be life-changing, one way or the other. We can not avoid them;when you stand in crossroad, you are at a stage in your life when you have to make a very important decision. Turning points & deciding moments. See Tyme leaves Great here, he made choice, not to use him, not to scar this broken boy anymore, because he saw how tragic Great is, and I'm not saying that Tyme is good guy here, or Great is oh so bad guy, they both are red flags, but here we see their characters better. Tyme, who wills to move forward, but refuse to use Great anymore cause he might develop some feelings towards him. Great, who can't go after Tyme because he downs even knows what he wants, just $ex? Hook up and all. Or to be ally and go against his father, let Tyme use him? He does what he can, avoids making choices, and calls his brother to reject him. This kid is all alone.

In Greats 4 minutes limbo, he and Tyme cross the bridge and go somewhere far away.

To dream that you are crossing a bridge signifies an important decision or a critical junction in your life. This decision will prove to be a positive change filled with prosperity and wealth in the horizon. Bridges represent a transitional period in your life where you will be moving on to a new stage, isn't this sad??? Great wanted to have better future with Tyme, to move to new stage not just to fuck up. Bridge could be symbolic of connection, stability, and progress. Often, when bridges appear it could mean you are encountering a new start, travel, different way of life or a change or transition. It is normally a symbol of hope and commitment. Also, it is a symbol of relationships with others, especially those with whom you have strong, lasting, and deep connections, and I believe Tyme and Great have a strong connection. Maybe fucked up one, but still.

Another small things I'm thinking but can't find the conection:

In Greats Timeline, this ball also fell in a hole when he was calling someone to ask what time it was. And then the time moved.

They show us time here 11:50 pm. Why?? There is no way they are just giving it to us...

<still>, I mean you can do research, but what kind of research this dude did, so he knows about Greats fear of dogs??? Suspicious...

We see these minutes in real timeline as well. Why show it us with so big numbers?

Their meeting at bar, can't see clearly is the watch says 11??

Finally, this Shot is crazy. Tyme you little piece of shit, you did enjoy it 🤣

2 more days to watch episode 7, hoping we will get more answers this time. Cause I need to focus on my actual life, okay???

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

(i kept forgetting to make this post for a while and only remembered when i was reading @antispopausandstuff 's recent post; sorry for the tag!)

i have to say this: catra having a mental breakdown basically every single season was pathetic.

usually villains have a third-act breakdown where they realize that they're losing to the heroes or they're losing control over their own allies, and they spiral into anger and desperation.

azula's spiralling in s3 of atla is a clear example of this, as she goes from the level-headed, cunning prodigy to a child who has lost everyone in her life and is desperately trying to use fear to keep people around. it's tragic because yes, she's a horrible person who enjoys torturing people and seeing them in pain, but she's also a 13 year old who was groomed into the perfect soldier by her father.

not all third-act breakdowns are like this though. sometimes instead of feeling bad for the villain, we feel satisfied seeing their downfall, because they weren't a sympathetic character in the slightest and they deserved to have that realization right before getting their ass whooped.

with catra, i get neither of these. i guess i felt a little bad for her the first time and i felt satisfied the second time, but then it just got boring.

there was no need for her to have a meltdown in every single season, only for the writers to use it as an excuse to make catra do even worse shit and hurt more people.

not to mention, her mental state wasn't consistent enough during these breakdowns. let me explain. let's take the s3 one, for instance.

catra is clearly rattled by the knowledge that shadow weaver picked adora over her (which.. wow who would have thought. but whatever). she is dissociating as she walks back to scorpia, there are tears in her eyes, she's devastated.

but then, as soon as catra reaches the horde with adora as her prisoner, she seems perfectly fine. she's calm and smirking proudly as she throws a bound adora to the floor.

and then when entrapta tries to oppose catra's attempts at opening the portal, oh no! catra is not mentally well again and she electrocutes entrapta. and she threatens to do the same to scorpia.

and then she goes right back to being calm and tells hordak that entrapta betrayed him (i'm sorry i don't care how good at lying someone is, i doubt they can deliver such a convincing lie when they are in a poor mental state) and mocks him for trusting entrapta.

and then throughout the portal sequence, catra is oddly calm. not just during the false reality, when she was pretending that everything was normal, but even after that when she starts sadistically torturing adora.

this doesn't seem like a character who finally snapped and is doing horrible things in a desperate attempt to regain control. it reads as a character who always wanted to do horrible things and finally got the chance to do it.

i can't view catra's breakdown in s3 as sympathetic because her actions seemed so intentional. the writers didn't even try to make it look like catra was going through some serious mental health issues and was only making such a dangerous choice because of that.

coming back to my original point, repeating a trope (especially a one-time trope like this) quickly gets stale. and it's even funnier when you think about the fact that catra basically had a dedicated mental breakdown every season and still didn't learn her lesson.

you stop feeling sorry for her and start rolling your eyes, wondering what atrocities she's going to commit this time. it's just the same thing over and over again, and it's funny that the writers used this as a way to keep reminding viewers that catra is a poor traumatized baby who definitely didn't make the choices that led to all this.

it's just bad writing. sure, in real life, people may have multiple breakdowns if they going through some shit. i can certainly attest. but it just doesn't work from a story point of view, especially when the writers refuse to hold catra accountable for your actions. mental health issues or not, you are responsible for your actions and you should work on changing your unhealthy coping mechanisms.

[oh-no-its-bird]

Tora gets hit w the time travel beam *gestures vaguely towards the "team ro time travel to warring states era but make it Tora AU team ro" post*

And gets mistaken for a bastard senju kid and missing brother of Tobirama bc of the resemblance. But also using the same logic I used w Itachi of the "the only people allowed to draw the connection are people who personally knew Tobirama when he was Tora's age (which, if sticking to the original team ro prompt, would be like 12) so only like. The founders + Touka get to make that conclusion

Him 🤝 Tenzo -> getting mistaken for a Senju and getting lots of hugs from Hashirama that make them Feel Things (TM)

People are telling Tora he's probably a bastard kid and he's making deliberate eye contact w that one time he tried to break into the senju compound and was kicked out bc the gates keyed into senju blood specifically. He's pretty sure he's not a senju guys. Trust him. Really.

Mmmm ok but actually taking it seriously, how would Tora affect the team ro dynamics in that specific adventure? In my original post I went really in depth on what each character thinks of their situation + the founders, so would that change at all?

On top of that, since it's a few month before the Uchiha coup, it's also peak Itachi-Tora-Shisui chaos hours as they plot to stop it

I think it's mostly the same, tho maybe Tora's general affect on Itachi means he isn't quite so much in the "Hey what if we just kill Madara. What then." boat

But also I can see the opposite, with maybe Itachi instead getting Tora on the "Hey what if we kill Madara in his sleep" boat

Shisui can sense the "Tora and Itachi are doing something alarming" button being slammed in the room over and investigates

Oh my god worst possible outcome: they get Shisui on board too. I can see it tbh, they were looking for ways to avoid the coup and the possible village retaliation and like hey !!! Opportunity they sure as fuck won't be getting anywhere else!!!

Plus like, play into the "Itachi rarley offers his own opinion bc he trusts Tora and Shisui to be in charge, but when he does offer it he's listened to"

Well he sure did offer his opinion!! And he sure is being listened to!!!

They actually all just feed into eachothers stress and decide that yes. To avoid the Uchiha coup and or possible village retaliation (they dont know the massacre is on the board yet but suspect smthn similarly bad), this is the best choice to make.

It turns into Kakashi having to talk them all down (whether he does so in time or not is debatable)

They get stopped, obviously, (tho actually commiting to killing off Madara like that would be very funny) and Madara assumes it was Tora's idea bc hes a clear leading figure in the trio and the other two are Uchiha. Tora is willing to take the fall for his friend, but Itachi is not

Itachi has a whole breakdown and bursts into awful messy tears for the first time since his father took him out to a battlefield as a child.

It's a whole thing and everyone is horrified (Tora and Shisui especially but even Madara + whoever else was there are cringing awkwardly at the sight of a previously blank faced little kid just. Loosing it.)

Itachi confesses to it being his idea and, at this point we're past the time travel reveal, explains he just needs to make sure Madara doesn't freak the fuck out and inevitable fuck over the entire Uchiha clan w a shitty reputation that haunts him for years to come

Madara is horrified what the fuck

Also INCREDIBLY demoralized ab the village now, what do you MEAN he fucking left it what do you MEAN originally Izuna died (they were keeping them in the dark ab everything future-wise other than just the fact that the village existed but this kind of forced the lid off that pot)

Also note: Kakashi !! Was !! Not !! Aware of this !!! Holy shit kids !!!!!!

They end up having a whole Thing(tm) about how look even if Madara one of the causes of their shit reputation,,, it can't all be traced back to and blamed on one man. That's not how politics work you guys.

(Queue shocked Pikachu faces and disbelief of three teenagers)

Kakashi, having his own special front row seats to the Konoha politics and rumor mill + yondaime's student + experience with facing the worst of it bc of his dad, giving them some sort of speech about scapegoats and politics and the soul crushing realities of systematic oppression and blame

It's a learning experience.

[cosmicjoke]

This is in regards to tsuki vague posting about me again because of the post I made about how it was selfish of Kuchel to have Levi. Apparently, she's accusing me of promoting eugenics because I said Kuchel was selfish for having Levi. I'm guessing that one anon who attacked me with the same accusation when I made that post maybe informed tsuki of it. She seems to have little minions that report back to her on what I'm posting so she can then vague post about me on her blog in response. I keep being informed of this shit from her from mutuals of mine, even though I don't follow her blog and never go searching for anything she's written. I have her blocked because I don't care about her. But apparently she really cares about me. If she has a problem with me and my analyses, she can just block me, but instead she chooses to obsessively keeps tabs on my blog all with the seeming purpose of then writing contrary arguments to literally every, single thing I have to say. First it was her outright implying that me calling Levi a good man was tantamount to me going down the path of Nazism, and now me pointing out both the literal reality that having children when you can't properly care for them will end up costing the child emotional, physical and mental trauma, as well as me pointing out the obvious thematic relevance of that reality on Levi's character specifically within AoT, the way the selfishness of Kuchel's dream ended up having consequences for Levi, which falls right in line with Isayama's overall depiction of dreams as a destructive and corrupting force, and Isayama's obvious framing of Kuchel's choice as a selfish one, is tantamount to me promoting "eugenics".

Why tsuki is so hellbent on discrediting me or painting me as some far right extremist in favor of Nazism and eugenics can only be speculated on, but I'm guessing it's because she's so butt hurt over me disagreeing with her the one time on eruri being canon and pointing out that Armin had just as much to do with Levi's choice during RtS as Erwin did. She really is that petty, I guess, that this single disagreement has caused her to lose her mind and pit herself against me regarding every aspect of Levi's character that I discuss, to the point of resorting to personal attacks on my character.

She's also insistent on this idea that the way Kenny raised Levi was actually a good thing and beneficial to him and the world, because it taught him "necessary life skills", that it was supposedly a response to finding Kuchel dead and Kenny not wanting the same thing to happen to Levi, which is pure bullshit, and which just blatantly ignores how Kenny could have taken Levi out of that situation entirely, rendering it totally unnecessary to awaken his powers at all by giving him a good and safe life on the surface, thus sparing him from Kuchel’s fate that way. She also blatantly ignores the damage Kenny choosing not to do so caused Levi in the end, regardless of his intentions, and she also ignores the thematic through line of keeping children out of the forest for this specific case, pretending like that doesn’t apply to Levi’s childhood experience, because acknowledging it would force her to admit I’m right about something, while in the same breath she goes on about how violence is supposedly never justified. All this because, apparently, she thinks she has to disagree with every one of my takes, and thus she can't agree that Kenny caused Levi further trauma and literally ruined his life, even though it forces her to contradict her own, stated moral standard. “Violence is wrong and never justifiable, except for when Kenny commits it, because I can’t admit Levi had a bad childhood because that’s what cosmicjoke thinks, thus I have to make excuses for Kenny’s treatment of Levi and twist myself into pretzels trying to justify what I’ve previously stated is unjustifiable.” Brilliant foundation on which to base your analysis, tsuki.

I bet if I turned around and said "actually, Levi's a violent psychopath that doesn't care about anyone", she'd make seven posts decrying my condemnation of people living in desperate circumstances who turn to violence in order to survive, saying sometimes violence is necessary, literally the opposite of what she currently claims. She obviously has no conviction. She just wants to shit on every post I make, even when the posts I make have absolutely nothing to do with her.

Totally bizarre and, frankly, unhinged behavior.

Now I'm sure she'll rant and rave on her blog for the next week or two about this post also, once she catches wind of it. Maybe she'll actually grow a pair this time and stop dancing around who she's whining about and actually name names.

Also, just to add this, because apparently she’s also trying to claim that Kuchel’s life as a prostitute was something she chose of her own free will, and that wer’re not meant to see it as something negative because in Japan, being a prostitute is seen as having a regular job (this is intentionally misleading on tsukis part. Prostitutes in Japan are treated as social pariahs.). But even if that weren’t the case, it would be irrelevant to Kuchel’s specific situation and how it’s depicted in the story. It’s indisputably portrayed as deeply negative. It literally leads to her death and to people regarding her and Levi as worthless, as seen in “Bad Boy”. Kuchel even specifically requests of Kenny to never use the services of any prostitutes, a plain indication of the abuse and mistreatment she’s experienced as a result of her profession. It’s absolutely, without question, a part of what made her and Levi’s lives so hard, and it’s meant to be read that way. Claiming otherwise is poppycock. Further, tsukis claim that it was some sort of choice on her part, when the only reason she was in that position to begin with is because she was being persecuted and hunted, is beyond disingenuous.

Further, the fact she was a prostitute in the Underground, a place rife with criminality and deeply disenfranchised from regular society, is absolute proof that is wasn’t some cushy job that Kuchel was privileged to have or a life she chose. She was in hiding from the law, and thus, all options for something better were cut off to her. She was forced into that life through no fault or choice of her own, but because of a gross injustice being committed against her family, and the plain and simple fact is, she couldn’t provide for her child. She and Levi were living in total squalor, they were totally impoverished and had nothing, and Levi nearly followed Kuchel into death as a result. To deny this just because you have an ax to grind is honestly disgusting and discredits any other takes or analyses one might have. This shit is just further proof that tsuki is so mad with hate for me that she’s willing to make herself look like a complete fool, expressing the most brain dead and openly offensive takes imaginable, ones that are frankly insulting to Isayama’s blatant messaging, continuing on her pathetic campaign of “proving” Levi’s childhood wasn’t that bad, all because it’s a regular point of analysis for me to talk about Levi’s unequivocally awful childhood and how it shaped him. It’s clear Tsuki would rather make herself look like the worlds biggest asshole than ever agree with me on something.

I can only hope people are smart enough to see through her agenda and see how nakedly she tries to twist canon material to fit that agenda, whatever that might be. Nobody should take her seriously ever again, if she’s legitimately claiming Kuchel’s life as a prostitute was anything but ruinous for both herself and her son, or with the way she tries to excuse Kenny’s violence while simultaneously condemning the violence of everyone else.

[ravensvirginity]

Titans #15 Review

Oh my god. Where do I even begin.

To start with my one and only positive: the art is gorgeous. Lucas Meyer is the best artist the Titans have had in ages, and his new Raven design really delivered. I'm so sad that it appears that the artist who'll be taking over for him in #16 is undoing his design changes, I think it's a massive shame. I did appreciate the detail of Raven's white cloak design having rings on her index fingers, but it feels a little pointless without the lore of Azar's rings to back it up.

Now, the negatives: literally everything else about this comic. This comic fails to deliver on an eight issue arc in any kind of satisfying way, has a bizarre and out of character tone, and severely misunderstands the lore of its main villain. They literally defeated Trigon with the power of friendship. Maybe that could work in Teen Titans Go, but in a main timeline DC comic? What?

First, the demon Raven stuff. Gar saying that demon Raven and regular Raven aren't two different people--yeah, obviously. The severe degree of separation between demon Raven and regular Raven has been one of the big issues of this arc, and this conclusion is as unsatisfying as the rest of it. Raven and her demon side being able to talk face to face isn't new, but them being two separate people with separate physical bodies who can operate completely independently of each other--while there is some precident for this, to me it's a very strange writing choice and misses the point of a demon Raven arc.

The original idea of Raven and her demon side was that her demon side is her. It's all the worst instincts she inherited from Trigon locked up and carefully controlled. When Trigon takes control of her and turns her into her demon form, everything she's repressed, both good and bad, is released. Raven still having a soft spot for the Titans in her demon form makes sense; she's still Raven, just corrupted by Trigon into something she isn't. Raven deciding to stop being evil (not that she even really was) and going back to normal from one brief conversation with her teammate does not, and is really anticlimactic.

It's just such a waste of the story's potential. If you don't want to commit to Raven being the villain of the story, don't do a demon Raven arc! It's possible to do a Trigon story without Raven being evil, I don't get why they didn't just do that. None of the drama with Raven being evil was particularly well executed, and all it seemed to do was drag the comic on longer and longer with nothing actually happening, because they were unwilling to make Raven actually do anything villanous.

All that pales in comparison to how they defeated Trigon. I don't think I've ever seen such blatant disregard for previous canon. As Raven, powered up by the other Titans, fights Trigon, Gar narrates as follows:

"I doubt Trigon has ever been in a fight. An actual fight. With someone his own size and power level. Never had to face someone like Nightwing one-on-one. Never tried to stand while being pinned by the power of Donna Troy's will. Never been blasted... with a giant-sized Apokoliptian blast from Cyborg. And never, ever... felt the full force of a Tamaranean hit powered by the stars."

WHAT?

This comic canonically takes place in the same timeline as the New Teen Titans. There are many homages to the New Teen Titans. It has been made very clear that the team started as the New Teen Titans, and then after many, many years of crazy comic book history the team reformed as the Titans of this run.

The first ever Trigon arc that introduces him and Raven as characters takes place in the first six issues of the New Teen Titans, and culminates in Trigon being defeated by the Titans and thrown into an interdimensional prison. I can't stress this enough: literally every single one of the things Gar said have never happened to Trigon happen in that fight. Donna uses her lasso to dampen Trigon's will, in combination with Raven and Arella's empathic abilities. Wally rips a hole through the fabric of reality to throw Trigon into, and Kory and Vic connect their powers to amplify their blasts to throw Trigon into the interdimensional rift. The whole thing is coordinated and managed by Dick Grayson (who was still Robin at the time).

Gar was there when all this happened. There is no reason for him to not know that this happened. The only explanation is Tom Taylor doesn't know, or he doesn't care. This would be disappointing for any comic book run, but it leaves an especially sour taste in my mouth for this to happen in a run that's so built on NTT homages. It's clear that the writing could not care less about the comic it was inspired by.

And then Garth causes Trigon to have a heart attack. Okay, that was just stupid. Admittedly, I did think the page of Raven stabbing Trigon was cool (again, the art is really the only saving grace here), but her saying "Fuck you, Dad"? Seriously? An ongoing problem in this run has been the dialog feeling janky and too much like lines from a generic superhero movie, and this line embodies that very well. I'm not opposed to swearing in comic books, but to me, this is not the right time for it. It doesn't fit the moment, and I think it's quite out of character for Raven, even if the sentiment behind it isn't.

And then Trigon isn't even dead? What does "Demons don't die. They just fade away." even mean?? Is he dead or not? Will he come back tomorrow or in a thousand years? It's such a strange, confusing letdown of an ending.

I didn't have high hopes for this issue, but it was somehow worse than I could ever have imagined. I'm so glad that this run is getting a new writer. Here's hoping that the coming issues will actually feel like a team book, and that the decades of lore and characterization of these beloved characters will actually be considered during writing.

[youareatragedy]

Why can’t people understand that morally grey characters have existed since before their grandmothers were born? The issue is when the characters do bad things, and neither the characters nor the author want to acknowledge it as wrong. Bonus points if the character thinks they’re morally superior and kind, and so does everyone around them. This is exactly what happens in ACOTAR and the fandom refuses to acknowledge it too, simply because the author doesn’t acknowledge it in the books. This somehow makes people who read critically, with their brains not 'turned-off', seem like the “wrong ones” for pointing it out.

Sometimes I want to give the benefit of the doubt that the hardcore stans who say there's nothing wrong with the bat boys, Feyre, and the IC are just young. But no, they're actually full-grown adults with jobs. They're parents etc. It's so so disappointing to see that they think loving a character means ignoring when these characters do wrong and selfish things. It's even worse when a character commits SA and fans turn a blind eye because they don’t want to admit they want a man who SA'd a woman to be their ideal "boyfriend."

No one said you can't like these characters, but what a shame that in the name of loving Rhysand for example, people just dismiss Feyre's SA and her lack of choice over her own health and body. What a shame that in the name of loving Rhysand, they don’t want to admit that what he did to Illyria and CoN is segregation and just want to say "Rhysand is a great ruler and he's oh so powerful." This fandom is childish and rude as hell.

[koremakaria]

Meng Siblings Appreciation Post (Long Post)

Episode 15

So today we say farewell to the Meng siblings with one sacrificing himself to save his clan and one being pressured to serve the clan's interests to whatever end. I know these two are our antagonists. The bad guys! BUT .... yeah ... about that .... are they really??? Yes yes yes [waving my hand in the air in a dramatic fashion] I mean sure they did a number of bad things but how much of it was because of the circumstances of their birth rather than their true motives. I love how we have shades of gray for our antagonist characters!

Meng Huai Jin

I mean, Meng Huai Jin has shown himself to be an intelligent man with thoughts of his own and yet he is burdened by his family's political aspirations (mostly his father's) until the very bitter end. I love how layered his character is in the drama. We were shown genuine love between the siblings like when Meng Huai Jin gifted Meng Zhen Zhen a birthday present when no one in her family seem to care to remember despite the fact that she is the eldest daughter of the clan. Even before he sacrificed himself, he asked his father to let his sister live in peace. Like this man was a good brother and a good son. Yes, I know he did a lot bad things but it wasn't like he had a choice. His task was to look after / protect the Crown Prince and he did his job the best he could. And boy ... that was a full time job .... given that the Crown Prince is definitely NOT intelligent, is very arrogant, impulsive, and holds petty grudges. Look, I know some people would say he should just leave his family when said family is actively committing treasons but it's not that easy to leave. Because whether one likes it or not, the fate of your clan will ultimately dictate if you get to live or die. I want to remind you that ML's family was probably a "good" scholarly family and was faithfully serving the Emperor when they were framed and ultimately wiped out. Sooooo .... just because you don't want to play politics ... it doesn't guarantee that politics won't be wanting to play you. And his relationship with his father, you can tell that they had a very business like relationship, perhaps not exactly cold but definitely formal. In the end, his father chose to sacrifice his son to preserve the dignity of the clan.

Meng Zhen Zhen

Goodness me ... I love this character. We don't have too much screentime with her but you can feel her conflicted feelings, her torn loyalty, and the difficult choices she was forced to make. Like, yes, yes, yes .... I know she chose to serve the interests of the Meng's family but again she, as a female, will rise and fall with her family's fortune. What other choices she has? NONE! She can't walk away from being a Meng but she also can't depend on her political husband's support either. And being female, it wasn't like she could have a career, and so her main job is to marry and form connections or marry and serve as a spy to serve the interests of the Meng's family. I really feel for her. Like, she knew Shen Zai Ye never loved her and she can't allow herself to love him either since they have different end goals. But, as a woman, she must have wanted to be loved. Maybe not by our ML but by someone who really loves her for just being her and not a daughter of the Meng's clan. But she can't ever have this either and it is just heartbreaking. She and Jiang Tao Hua are the opposite side of the same coin. Exactly so. They have people behind them dictating what they do and they enter ML's residence as spy. When Meng Zhen Zhen says 'I hope your fate is better than mine" is foreshadowing in a way because at this point Jiang Tao Hua didnt do anything that would hurt ML yet but she is actively manipulating his feelings as she deliberately took the arrow to buy his trust. Like FL is a spy just like MZZ. She's acting while our poor ML mistakenly believes it to be genuine. The only major difference between the two characters is that ML ultimately falls for FL. Otherwise, the narrative set ups are nearly identical. I love how Meng Zhen Zhen chose to be "useless" and made the decision to remove herself from the game but then we have this frame

and she looks just like a marinette doll puppet ... her father and her clan pull the strings and all she could do is allow for it to happen. Resisting the string pulling, she'd be labeled unfilial. Her father seems only interested in her for what she could do for the clan and again it's a very toxic family dynamics but one she can't really escape from. It's important to note that the only people who were pleading on her behalf in front of the emperor were the people her clan deemed to be the enemies and they were genuine since they knew she had no choice ... that she was not the master mind ... and everything she did was because of her father ... Like girl .... that's sad ... let me go cry in the corner now.

[imthepunchlord]

Just wondering, how do you feel about Marinette keeping Gabriel's identity a secret from Adrien in the S5 finale of Miraculous?

Be mindful, I didn't watch it, so I'm answering with limited details that's just based around what I've gathered from hearing and seeing from the fandom.

And I will give it, I do think that is something Marinette would do. She is someone who has a history of doing things for others for their own happiness, like her cheating to help Nino in Anansi, or her stealing Alya's phone to rerecord a video she accidentally deleted a video recording of Ladybug.

I can see her thinking that she shouldn't tell Adrien this, that this would upset him. She's paid attention to him for 5 whole seasons, she knows how much he loves his dad. So the choice I feel is in character.

But I do hate that she's even in that position at all.

I hate that Adrien's in a position of never being involved in his own plot.

Seriously, what's the point of him being the son of Hawk Moth if he's never going to be in conflict with his dad? If he's never going to find out? We got all that built up angst and no pay off. It feels like we had our time wasted with Adrien being the son of HM. They did nothing with it.

And it's bonkers as you can do something with it.

You got your angst options:

Adrien is going to fully commit to being a hero he was chosen to be and him and his father will be enemies

Gabriel reveals to him what he's trying to do, and Adrien now has a chance to have his mom back, and he joins his father

You got your hopeful Agreste family option: take the route that the movie did, Gabriel realized his son is Chat Noir and he's like, oh no, I can't hurt my own son. And so he stops. Technically happy ending but they're going to need some family therapy.

And you got your comedic route, playing off that HM is meant to be a campy villain instead of a serious one: Adrien finds out, and he just doesn't know what to do, so he doesn't do anything but try to appeal to his father's goodness, just as Gabriel is trying to appeal to Adrien to join him. But neither of them get anywhere, and it delves into them getting passive aggressive with each other, especially as for once, Adrien has some power in this household as he can out his dad's the villain. Adrien drops little hints about his dad not being so great or toes the line of making the Agrestes look bad, and Gabriel starts sending akumas out during major tests or when Adrien has plans to hang out with friends. And they just proceed to annoy each other until it escalates outside family.

And look. That's four options on what they could've done with Adrien finding out his dad is HM. Mindful, some of these do mean they needed to pick a lane with Gabriel, on what sort of villain he is, does he love his son or not; but defining Gabriel as a character would've been better for the show.

[tobiasdrake]

What do you think of Majin Buu's redemption?

Complicated. Buu's arc isn't... I wouldn't really call it a redemption, so much? It's closer to a child learning right from wrong for the first time. Just. Muddied by the extent of the wrongs Buu committed in ignorance.

Morally speaking, Majin Buu is a very complicated character that operates on an eldritch scale. He doesn't map 100% onto a relatable human experience.

The original state of Buu, colloquially known as Kid Buu or Pure Buu, is effectively a mindless killing machine.

Like. That's not to say that he's a zombie or something. Pure Buu demonstrates creative attacks, learns moves from watching others perform them, and is capable of advanced problem-solving.

But by the same token, he doesn't really seem... self-aware. Pure Buu's behavior is more akin to a feral beast than a sentient person.

I would compare him to a robot. He's capable of learning, applying knowledge, and working out solutions to obstacles in front of him. But he has no sense of self, identity, or real understanding of the universe around him; Only a program that he uses his comprehension to carry out.

He's making advanced calculations, rather than informed choices. He exists for the singular purpose of purging all things that exist.

No, Goku. He does not. He is not interested in fighting you. He is not interested in anything. He is executing Annihilation.exe.

The only reason the fight on the Kaioshin world can even happen is because their god-world apparently can't be blown up.

This is what writing yourself into a corner with protagonists who can't breathe in space and a villain who blows up any planet he touches looks like.

Even Buu himself doesn't like this version of him. He practically begs Goku and Vegeta not to erase his identity and personality.

This is the foundation that Buu starts from: A killing machine programmed to destroy. But then he absorbed the Daikaioshin or The Great God of the World Kings and developed an intellect and personality.

(Given that Dragon Ball's mythology is rooted in Japanese Buddhism, it's likely no coincidence that Daikaioshin and by association Fat Buu has a Buddha-like appearance.)

Fat Buu is a lot like Piccolo Jr., with the difference being that the reincarnated Piccolo was very adult-coded while Buu is clearly meant to be taken as a child. Nonetheless, he's the first aspect of Buu to be self-aware enough to become capable of moral agency. Daikaioshin's influence on his mind made him more intelligent, turning him from a mindless killing machine into an impulsive and easily influenced child.

Look at him in that center panel. Just. Thinking about what Goku said. Mulling it over in his head. Like, he was onboard with this whole "Do what I say because I have power over you" thing but now that you mention it....

Goku does not get enough credit for being the one to kill Babidi. This rolled up to him. He straight-up ended Babidi with a question.

In this form, Buu does vile things, to be sure.

But as the text box says: He's a child at play. Majin Buu at this point has the moral complexity of a five-year-old. He's not really evil; He just... doesn't know better. He's never been taught better, and so his actions are almost paradoxical in nature.

Legit, one of my favorite chapters of the entire Buu arc is when he encounters a starving blind kid and heals his blindness so he can be properly afraid of him. Then winds up making friends.

Nuked that town and also he made that milk by Candy Beaming a human being so that's horrifying. And yet, you can see the peculiarity of his villainy even this early. Buu craves approval, even though he's been taught to care only about destruction and carnage.

Craves it so much that bringing an end to his carnage is as simple as asking him to stop.

And that's that. It's really not so much a redemption story as it is a child being taught better. Mr. Satan was the first person ever to actually say to this thinking form of Majin Buu, "Hey, that's bad. Don't do that. It's bad."

The first person to try parenting him instead of fighting him. (To be fair, it would have been impossible to parent him before Goku's semantic homicide of Babidi.)

Once this form of Buu returns in the final battle, he still isn't really a moral actor. He becomes a protagonist out of nepotism.

(Yeah, Viz uses Hercule instead of Mr. Satan because they hate fun. HAIL SATAN.)

After Satan asks him to please stop being bad, Buu becomes morally neutral. He's effectively Satan's uncontrollable toddler. He doesn't comprehend high-minded ideals of good or evil; He's an emotional and impulsive creature who cares about his bestie.

Which, to be honest, puts him in good company. Most of the cast of Dragon Ball are ex-assholes who don't so much have a traditional redemption story, but instead just... stop doing the thing. They used to be assholes, and then, for one reason or another, they stopped.

It's actually something I find really grounded about the way Dragon Ball handles its cast. Most of the characters in the series are like this, to varying degrees of past heinousness. There's none of the gravitas of atonement or redemption questing or the Big Moment of Redemption. They just. Stop being assholes and become some guy.

Piccolo is a rare exception.

[artobotsrollout]

I've watched Beast Machines with @optimistpax and this might be controversial.

Beast Machines isn't as horrifically bad as the fandom says it is.

This is largely just my opinion.

Is Beast Machines good?

LISTEN I know the designs are scary, the genre swap from beast wars to beast machines is very jarring, some of the writing is wack, and they really did Rhinox dirty. Yes. I agree. I wouldn't say it was an amazing or even great show. Overall I'd say it's okay. Interesting at best. BUT you gotta admit that there was some unique ideas that they tried to showcase.

I started out thinking the same thing everyone did "WTF is this show, why are the designs creepy? the "I am transformed" bit is kinda weird" stuff like that. But we began to look past odd design and story choices and tried to view it as something more independent from Beast Wars and we saw some interesting stuff going on.

I'm well aware of its flaws, you're probably well aware of its flaws, so I'm not going to talk a lot about those. This is mostly talking about some of the good or almost good things it brought to the table.

The Redeemable

@optimistpax pointed out that the designs were almost good in some of their choices. Despite my early dislike of the designs I kinda had to admit that, even though they didn't quite stick the landing, they were kinda brave in going as funky and as distinctly shaped with the designs as they did. I respect the fact that they didn't waffle about being out there and alien. They straight up committed to being as weird and unusual as possible. And the designs have some cool potential if you look past the sort of creepy aspects. Ngl im tempted to try adjusting their designs to try and make them a lil less creepy. But some of the artistic choices were really unique!!

Post-apocalypse survival is a really cool vibe to see in a TF show! It was such a massive tonal difference from Beast Wars which personally?? I felt it kind of worked, at least for me. I can see why it might be a jarring shift for people but it was fun to see the characters encounter an entirely NEW set of problems unlike anything theyve fought before. It was fun to see the same characters fighting in an almost new genre. But I can see how that also might bother viewers who were expecting more Beast Wars.

The idea of the balance between the organic and the mechanic is also kinda cool. At some points it got weird, I'll readily admit, but the idea of balance between tech and nature is an interesting concept. I've always kinda wanted techno organic ideas to be explored more because there's often suggestions in Transformers media that hints at humans and Cybertronians being linked in some way. So to see this kind of explored was a good time. Wish they went in more depth.

Some of the artistic choices were actually surprisingly good. Like there's an episode featuring Rattrap where there's some really great colour, lighting, and composition choices. I can't remember the name of the episode offhand but it was the one where Rattrap promised not to let anyone harm megatron for 24 hours(I think) in exchange for something they needed. And he had to facedown his own teammates.

The episodes usually made sense and there was some really interesting character interactions. I liked seeing Cheetor kinda grow up from how he was in Beast Wars. I loved seeing Airachnid as fully on team Maximal. Her personality was so fun. Rattrap had some interesting character defining moments which I thoroughly enjoyed?? Despite being pretty neutral about Rattrap in general. Nightscream, Botanica, and Strika were very fun additions and I love their designs. Really put of the box thinking.

I didn't fully understand Megatron's motivation. Like I understand what he wanted to do but I'm not 100% sure what sparked it or why he'd want it. I do think him wanting to essentially run a dystopia is a cool concept however. I like the idea of him trying to rid himself of his organic side. It kinda hammers home the techno organic inevitability message that they want to get across.

Honestly I think that people hate Beast Machines largely because it was meant as a follow up from Beast wars and was incredibly different from it. It wasn't the direction that a lot of people wanted and expected the story to go. Which is fair enough. If viewed with some degree of separation tho I'd say the quality of it isn't that different from Beast Wars.

At the end of the day the writing was goofy but fun. The designs were unique and alien but kinda scary and needed a few more passes before going to production. But there's something charming about it that I think a lot of people miss.

If you haven't seen it yet but want to watch the show, my best recommendation is, don't expect it to feel like Beast Wars.