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Spotted: The next round of arrivals for my movie night! Roxanne showing off yet another new look with her daring blue hair. Is she still feeling blue from Dan or is she just trying to show us that she looks good no matter what? Meanwhile Ella dressed in all brown, which wouldn't look good on anyone, but come on, this is Ella we're talking about, of course she looks good. Then there's Cleo Anderson and she looks amazing! Looks like Manhattan is a better place for her than the OBX, but then again, Manhattan is better for everyone. Next up is Colin Bridgerton Shaw and he looks like he'd rather be anywhere but here and with the drama that is surrounding that boy, we don't blame him! Then there's Mama Evelyn Simms, rocking a denim and white look and we love it. Then there's my favorite person to take down; Waverly Broder, looking a little high, though from her recent text, it's not a shock. Then there's Charlotte Scott, rocking a gorgeous white look. Even though we're not fans of white after Labor Day, we got to say, she pulls it off! Then there's Andrew Peak, the OG bad boy who makes Chuck Bass and Caine Evans look like they played school games when it comes to the dating game. He's got a simple look and that's good, sometimes simple is better. Quinn Porter came in looking like a mermaid that's on dry land for the first time with her sparkly two piece set. Last but not least is Aki Menzies, showing us all his new dark haired look and looking like not a trust fund baby and we gotta say, we love it!
Keep the looks and the drama coming!
XOXO, Gossip Girl
@roxannelong @ellaxhampton @cleoanderson @xoxocolins @xoxoevelyns @xoxowaverlyb @charlottexscott @andrewxpeak @quinnxporterx @akixmenzies
#ggblast#ggmovienight#roxanne l#ella h#cleo a#colin s#evelyn s#waverly b#charlotte s#andrew p#quinn p#aki m
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Commercial break from jjk!!!
#chainsaw man#aki hayakawa#colouring practice#i m trying to improve on my colouring#I saw a few tiktoks using the screen layer mode for highlights!! thank u all artists for sharing your tips 🥺🥺
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[PLZ SHARE!] Preorders for my SF6 chibis charms are now open from July 7th - July 15th!! Stickers are available to purchase now!!
💜 Charms 💜
💜 Stickers 💜
#street fighter#street fighter 6#sf6#ken masters#ryu street fighter#juri han#cammy white#marisa street fighter#manon street fighter#lily street fighter#chun li#aki street fighter#kimberly jackson#luke sullivan#jamie siu#ed street fighter#deejay#deejay street fighter#guile street fighter#william guile#rashid street fighter#akuma street fighter#akuma#rashid#zangief#zangief street fighter#JP street fighter#JP#m bison#capcom
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#haru to natsu to nacchan to aki to fuyu to boku#m: haru to natsu to nacchan to aki to fuyu to boku#manga#mangacap#manga cap#yaoi#yaoi manga#bl manga#boys love
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Dumb_Bison.png
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Avatar being the friendwhore that they are, is probably gonna want to befriend Bison too. Everyone is up at arms with Bison and Avatar is like 'Stop being mean to my homeless friend' >:(
Actually thinking about it now, Avatar has no enemies (I mean to an extent). Juri literally kidnapped Bosch, JP inadvertently killed Avatar's friend in an explosion / exploited his home, Akuma did not care for them when they kept coming back, and A.K.I is working with the organization that's helping to bring back Bison.
All this is grounds for, these are terrible people and I should stay away from them. But Avatar really made them their masters.
Need to start taking notes from Avatar to learn not to hold a grudge fr.
#street fighter#street fighter 6#street fighter x reader#m bison#bison#street fighter bison#street fighter 6 x reader#sf x reader#sf6 x reader#aki#juri han#JP#Akuma#street fighter aki#street fighter juri#street fighter akuma#street fighter jp
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SF artworks from Capcom
#capcom#capcom artworks#sf6#street fighter#ryu#chun li#luke sullivan#jamie siu#cammy white#aki#rashid#ed#m bison#marisa#jp#juri han#e. honda#dee jay
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Mizuguchi Aki and Izumi Shiho — Whispering You A Love Song
#m. edits#mimiming#shoujoaiedit#yuriedit#gl manga#shoujoaisource#gl#girls love#lgbt manga#allanimanga#sasakoi#sasayaku you ni koi wo utau#whispering you a love song#whisper me a love song#izumi shiho#shiho izumi#aki mizuguchi#mizuguchi aki
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What the hell happened with Crow: an autopsy (Part 2)
Hope you didn't think I'd forgotten about this post yet. Lads, ladies, and other lovely people, here we go. I have more yelling about bird boy to do.
But first, a few disclaimers. For people who may have missed part one, yes, as the title implies, this post is part two of an attempt to analyse Crow's character throughout 5Ds' whole run. You can find part one here. Now, both for people who may not have the time/energy to read my first, huge post about this right now, let me explain what I'm about here before we start again: My analysis is not meant to deter people who like Crow from liking him. It's also not meant to convince Crow haters otherwise, even if I admittedly personally like Crow. All of this stuff is just my personal attempt at dissecting how his character was handled in the show and why that might have been. And because this is part two, and I covered the Fortune Cup and Dark Signers arc in the first post, I'll start with the pre-WRGP arc, then dig into the backstory Crow was given directly before the WRGP begins properly. Also, mind the length of this post. I'm physically incapable of writing short things.
I also feel the need to reiterate another thing before I really get into the meat of things again: If you were hoping to see any old rumours about 5Ds confirmed, this is the wrong post. In fact, thanks to the very thorough work of someone over on Reddit (another shoutout to @mbg159 here, who's the author of those posts), I know for a fact that literally all the big rumours surrounding Crow are one big pile of logistically impossible horseshit, and I think after so, so many years of people citing this nonsense, the fandom as a whole finally deserves to let these go:
No, Crow was not meant to be a dark signer, least of all the final boss of season one, and Blackwings were not the reason he got more screentime later.
No, Aki being sidelined was not the result of her irl voice actress' pregnancy.
Yes, I know these two posts are both a long read each, but I cannot begin to tell you how tired I am of these rumours. So even if you don't have time to read the stuff above, please take away this: The big 5Ds production conspiracy theories are. all. bullshit. Because, to put it in as simple terms as possible, none of them work out logistically. The events people have pretended affected the show's production in a major way all don't line up with the actual production timeline. So just can the rumours already. Please let them die. And no pitting Aki and Crow against each other on his post or because of this post, yes? I beg you, I am so tired. Ok? Ok.
All right, now we can get to the good part. In my previous post, I left off at the end of the DS arc. So, in what position is Crow at the end of the DS arc? He helped save the world by defeating Goodwin and got his very own signer mark after Rudger/Roman Goodwin's death.
And now, where is Crow at the start of the pre-WRGP arc?
(Bam. Delivery bird boy be upon ye.)
This time, Crow wastes absolutely no time coming back on screen. We see him again within the first episode of the second half of the show, and wouldn't you know it! He moved in with Yusei and Jack and the three of them have a funny, brotherly, bickering dynamic between them. Also, as a fun little add-on that is very much in line with his deeply Satellite, down to earth characterisation from the first half, Crow now works as a delivery driver to earn money for the household. That's all very nice and good.
But what is his role in the plot from here on out? Well.
First, a small note about the pre-WRGP arc. Though this arc is fun to watch because it gives us a lot of silly character interactions the show no longer found the time for once the WRGP started, the pre-WRGP arc really can't be said to bother with actual plot much. It's the known filler arc of 5Ds, and as such, Crow is not the only character who gets pretty much nothing plot-related to do during this arc. Thus, I'll only give a quick run-down of what he does get up to, just in case any of these tidbits end up showcasing a relevant aspect of Crow's character I might come back to later.
Furthermore, another thing that's pretty much obvious to everyone who's ever watched the show in its entirety but still bears mentioning: Crow gets a lot more screentime from this point on out. Technically. Why do I say "technically"? I'll get back to that further below. For now, just keep it in mind.
So, how does Bird Boy spend his time during the arc where the plot's on the back burner? To be honest, on the sidelines, mostly. Don't get me wrong, Crow's there. Most of the time. But he gets pretty much only two episodes where he's the focus, and both of those aren't exactly known for being 5Ds' most memorable episodes (even though I still like them both tbh, but I digress): For one, in episode 68, he gets to convince Bashford to move in with Martha so the depressed old man isn't spending his entire retirement living in a scrapyard.
(This episode's comedic moments are actually fairly solid. But those are just my two cents.)
And for two, in episode 85, Crow gets to bond with the boys' somewhat cranky landlady, Zora, by duelling some sense into her son, Lyndon. (Which also introduces us to a duelling tactic only Crow uses that we will later see again: Losing on purpose.)
(And here we can see Crow showing off his skills at dealing with petulant children.)
Now, do these two episodes where he gets to be relevant actually do anything for Crow? As a character? Debatable. If nothing else, they strongly reaffirm the values Crow represents which we were introduced to in the first half of the show, though. They reintroduce us to his stubbornness, to his (in comparison to Jack and Yusei) more playful nature, to his very Yusei-ish dedication to doing the right thing, to his penchant for spite, and to his strong sense of family and community and his belief that these two things shouldn't be abandoned unless you have a damned good reason for it.
You may notice that there's a sizeable gap between these two episodes. That's because those episodes are where we get the only smidgens of plot in this arc. Among them, highlights like Sherry's introduction, the first reveal of accel synchro, Aki's turbo duelling license exam, three separate story beats hinting at the machinations of the emperors of Iliaster (Luciano's little stunt with Rua and Ruka, Placido getting started on building a killer robot army, and the Jack double being unleashed onto NDC), and Bruno's introduction. So, here's the thing: Crow is technically present during most of those episodes, too, but he doesn't actually get to meaningfully interact with the plot-relevant elements. (Which is not to say he doesn't have nice moments here and there. He does get to bounce off the other characters, and, just as one example, helps Yusei and Jack upgrade Aki's duel runner, as well as help Yusei build Rua's duel board. Crucially, he doesn't get to do anything that later becomes plot-relevant, though.) Moreover, not one, but two characters who end up becoming major players in the series' finale are introduced here, which is relevant insofar as that Bruno and Sherry both end up needing a good amount of development before they can impactfully take their later roles. Now, I say this with nothing but genuine appreciation for both these characters, because I do like them, but I feel the need to point out what this means not just for Crow, but for pretty much everyone who isn't Jack or Yusei: Every minute of screentime that was dedicated to Bruno and/or Sherry was one minute less the writers could spend on the rest of the cast. This is not to say that time shouldn't have been spent on them, they needed it, especially because they were introduced so late, but it's something I do want people to keep in mind when talking about who got how much screentime and whether or not that time was well spent. (I also have a larger gripe with the definition of "screentime" in general, but more on that later.)
So when does Crow get to be relevant to the plot again, now that he's even a signer and all? Well, not until episode 94, when the WRGP arc has already started. (Note that I'm using the 5Ds episode list on wikipedia as a general guide for which arc and which season starts where. You can find it here.)
*Deep breath*
So. Episode 94.
(Pictured: One very scruffy dragon. Bird? Dragon-bird. Bird-dragon. You figure this shit out.)
That episode. The episode where Crow, who was awarded with the status of a signer during the finale of the DS arc, finally gets a dragon to match his mark. And the episode where we finally, finally, get some actual backstory for Crow that goes beyond his involvement with the Enforcers and childhood with Jack and Yusei. A backstory that's only Crow's own. Except. How do I put this politely...
This shit doesn't make a lick of sense. Neither the events in the duel between Crow and Bolger in the present resulting in Black-Winged Dragon's appearance, nor the Pearson backstory.
Now, I'm not saying this to step on anyone's toes. From a writing standpoint, I can even make a fairly reasonable guess as to why this episode/mini-arc is here, I think: As I mentioned in part one of this analysis, Crow was not only introduced very late, but also got very little backstory of his own, which set him apart from the other signers. Don't get me wrong, he did get some backstory—we know of his strong connection to Duel Monsters because he learned to read from cards, and we know of his involvement with the Enforcers/Team Satisfaction. Crucially, though, Crow doesn't really get a backstory segment that feels as unique to him as the others. Aki gets her tragic past with her parents and her powers, Jack gets his betrayal of Yusei, which also doubles as part of Yusei's backstory, who as the protagonist understandably gets the most backstory, and even the twins, though they are as always treated as one unit, get their very own segment about the time when Ruka was essentially in a coma. Meanwhile, Crow only has that one-off tear-jerker moment about learning to read from his cards and his being a part of the boys' duel gang, which, and I cannot stress this enough, is treated as more of a Yusei and Kalin/Kiryu backstory by canon than a Crow backstory. Thus, it makes perfect sense from a writing standpoint that the Pearson/Black-Winged Dragon mini-arc would be here. Crow, up until this point, has neither a backstory segment dedicated solely to him, nor a signer dragon to call his own. So, how do we solve this? Give him both in a strategic double-whammy! The math checks out. Unfortunately, the writing of said mini-arc... doesn't.
Now, look. The juicy question of whether Crow would have worked better as a non-signer or not, which I already discussed in part one aside, I personally don't hate what this backstory is trying to do. It's just that the whole Pearson-drama has some very notable, logical holes which I'll get into below. Furthermore, this is not the first time something related to Crow has some unfortunate, logical and/or chronological issues. I already brought up the infamous fridge and Rex Goodwin's rather confusing backstory in part one, both of which raise some serious questions. However, Pearson and everything surrounding him arguably blow that clean out of the water. Let's examine this more closely, shall we.
The long-overdue backstory we get for Crow begins with a mystery: Mikage and Trudge, for a reason that is never given to us, are investigating the death of Robert Pearson (whose death would have been several years ago at this point), whom Crow knew very well, and they're doing it because they found a hint that the person who killed Pearson used an illegal card, Crimson Mefist, to do it.
(Post redemption-arc Trudge actually doing his job instead of bullying random Satellite citizens. Who would have thunk.)
Thing is, here, we already encounter our first, minor problem: Pearson has never been mentioned up until this point, not even as an aside. And this issue is compounded by the fact that not only Crow seems to know him, but Trudge claims to as well, because "Satellite used to be his jurisdiction". So, a named character who's familiar to both one of our protagonists and a notable side character, and we've never seen hide nor hair of him. If we pull our heads out of the story for a second, the irl reason for how this came to be is probably pretty obvious: Pearson was never mentioned before because the writers had nowhere near as solid of a plan for Crow as they did for the other characters, which leads to him being introduced out of nowhere here because we need a backstory and a dragon for Crow and we need those now. Moving on.
The mention of Pearson having been not simply killed in a fire, like Crow previously assumed, but having been murdered through a special, illegal card immediately makes him suspicious. So, he goes to consult Bolger/Bolton, another never-before-seen character who gets introduced in service of this backstory, and who knew Pearson well. And while this guy certainly acts amiable towards Crow at first, implying that the two have a good rapport, at least, he quickly starts acting suspicious when Pearson's murder comes up. Moreover, we as the audience at this point already know Bolger's looking for Black-Winged Dragon so he can use the card essentially as collateral to save his company. And the name "Black-Winged Dragon" already leaves very little to the imagination as to whose deck this monster is supposed to fit into. But, in a small twist, we learn from Crow that this was apparently Pearson's card, and supposedly lost in the fire where said man died, to boot. Then Bolger challenges Crow to a duel, too, offering to tell the truth about Pearson's death if he loses, but demanding Black-Winged Dragon, which he believes Crow to be in possession of, if he wins. So far, so good. We've got a mystery here, and canon is not contradicting itself just yet. Until we get to the actual backstory, which shows us the time Crow spent with Pearson, that is. Before we get into that, I'd like to highlight one theme this mini-arc introduces that actually feels like it fits Crow: Legacy. Over the course of meeting Bolger again and being reminded of his time with Pearson, Crow starts thinking about whether he's taking over his former mentor's/father figure's legacy well enough.
(Crow having some Deep Thoughts TM, featuring one of Yusei's most relaxed, easygoing smiles in the entire show, probably.)
This theme, I would argue, is one of the major things this backstory introduces that really meshes well with the Crow we already had until this point. He's a community-focussed guy and absolutely a family person, if him taking care of Satellite orphans is anything to go by, so leaving behind a good legacy for the people after him (read: the kids he took care of) would absolutely be something he cares about. We see this element of legacy again in his cards during this episode, too, which canon implies he inherited from Pearson. (I'll get to THAT can of worms below.) And on paper, with the themes he's already got going, Crow being the only one to inherit his deck rather than build it all by himself would actually make sense!
However. This is where we have to get into the meat of the backstory. I'll start by listing the barebones information Crow's backstory with Pearson gives us, then going into why several aspects of it are either logistical or chronological nonsense.
So, as canon tells us, Crow met Pearson after Kiryu/Kalin was arrested, when the Enforcers/Team Satisfaction all went their separate ways. During this period, Crow had already set up shop near the original Daedalus Bridge and started out taking care of orphans, but it wasn't all smooth sailing. He was, by his own admission, "living aimlessly". Then, during a pinch, Pearson and Bolger show up, take care of some bad guys for Crow and the kids, and Crow sees a new role model in Pearson. Pearson, who rides the Blackbird, plays a Blackwing deck and owns Black-Winged Dragon. So, he joins up with Pearson, presumably learns how to work on duel runners from him, and also befriends Bolger. Then, one day, a fire breaks out at Pearson's workshop and the man in question dies, but leaves Crow his runner and his duel disk before he does so. End flashback. Because I want to tie this together nicely, we also learn later that Pearson technically left him Black-Winged Dragon, too, by sealing it in his runner. And, of course, that dragon later becomes Crow's very own signer dragon.
Several points to be dissected here. And funnily enough, Bolger's duel with Crow isn't relevant for any of them. Let's start with the big one: The timeline. I want you to remember that as far as canon is concerned, Crow is 17 during the DS arc. Moreover, it's canonically stated that Jack stole Yusei's first duel runner two years before the show's start, at which time Crow would have been 15. And their time together as the Enforcers must have been even before that, because Kiryu/Kalin was already in prison for a while at that point and Crow and Yusei don't reunite until the DS arc is basically in full swing. So, I'll make a vague estimate here and say that during the time of the Enforcers, Crow would have probably been 13-14. (Which is hilarious when you think about the fact that this gang of angry teenagers essentially took over the entire duelling underground of Satellite, but I digress.) Now we add the idea that Crow met Pearson after the Enforcers, but that he died before canon starts into the mix. That means Crow first ran into Pearson sometime around age 15, and that he then died presumably before Crow turned 17. So far, so good, that still slots into canon, even if it makes Crow pretty damn young for some things. He's even missing the personalised Blackbird duel disk he later wears during the Enforcer days, I went back to check. What he is not missing, however, are his Blackwings. And this is where canon may or may not have made an implication that, if intentional, breaks this timeline. See, during the scene where Pearson's workshop is burning down and he's already trapped under debris and has embraced death, he tosses Crow his duel disk and leaves him his runner.
(Two important screenshots, in sequence. One, Pearson with his duel disk still strapped to his arm. His deck is very obviously still in there. Two, Crow with that same duel disk, as made obvious by its distinct shape.)
What this implies is that Pearson also left Crow his deck. Which, yeah, fair enough, if I were dying in a fire I'd probably also think "fuck it, not like I'll need my cards in the afterlife". What this (and Crow's look the first time he sees Pearson's monsters) implies, though, is that Crow didn't start playing Blackwings until Pearson left him his deck. Which is factually untrue, because there is literal evidence in the show that Crow already had Blackwings during his time as part of the duel gang, before ever meeting Pearson. (The exact episode, if you want to check for yourself, is 33, where Crow summons both Bora the Spear and Blackwing Armor Master during a flashback.) However, I will concede that the show never actually states this is the case, it's just implied by what we see on screen, so perhaps the idea here was that Crow already played Blackwings before Pearson, but grew to love them even more through his mentor/father figure, and so later happily integrated the deck he inherited into his own. Crucially, canon never states this outright, either, though, so the option remains on the table. But, to give the benefit of the doubt here, the possibility that this could still slot in with canon and that it was just handled poorly is there. The same cannot be said for the Blackbird, however.
(Uh oh. So much for canon continuity.)
The above two screenshots directly contradict each other. First we have Yusei, upon reuniting with Crow in Satellite during the DS arc, casually remarking that Crow finished his duel runner. Which means that canon at this point suggests to the audience that one, Crow built this duel runner by himself, for himself, and two, that Yusei knew about it for a while already. Then there's the second screenshot, from the Pearson backstory episode, where Crow outright claims the Blackbird was left to him when Pearson died. I don't think I need to tell anyone that these two things can't be true at the same time. And again, I think this is where Crow fell victim to the writers not having a clear outline for him. At first, he was supposed to be this scrappy guy who also built a duel runner for himself, just like Yusei. But now, he's a signer, needs a backstory and a dragon, and because a theme of legacy is introduced alongside Pearson, the runner suddenly needs to be inherited, as well as (possibly) Crow's cards. Now, a crafty fanfic writer could probably reconcile the above contradiction somehow, and I know some stories that accomplished that. But the point isn't that we, as the audience/fandom could make this work, the point is that canon didn't make it work. What canon, sadly, also didn't get to work was Black-Winged Dragon.
(We meet again, bird-dragon.)
Here comes the next elephant in the room: Everyone and their mother who has watched 5Ds knows that Black-Winged Dragon was never implied to be a signer dragon up until the duel where Crow acquires it. In fact, an entirely different dragon is teased so heavily long before BWD ever shows up that it to this day is one of many people's major gripes with the show's writing.
(Why, hello, Life Stream Dragon! Fancy seeing you here.)
And yet, Black-Winged Dragon is turned into a signer dragon before Life Stream Dragon, who was teased more than sixty (!!!) episodes before BWD was ever even mentioned. Why? Simple: Because Crow became a signer and Rua/Leo didn't, because the signers all need dragons (or else the "5Ds" part kind of doesn't work), and because Life Stream Dragon thematically doesn't fit Crow.
Now, I've seen people post theories to reconcile this weird hitch in canon, hell, I've even posted an idea for how it could be reconciled myself. But, again, that isn't the point here. The point is that as far as good old, barebones canon is concerned, it isn't reconciled. Canon at first states there are five signers, suggesting that there are also five dragons. But then, the fifth dragon never shows up, and one of the signers dies, to boot. Only for canon to then teach us, oh, no, look, the signer marks can wander from one person to the next. And to add insult to injury (at least where the show's writing and internal consistency is concerned), the signer mark that was "freed up" by Roman/Rudger's death doesn't wander to Rua/Leo, who any attentive watcher would have expected to become a signer because it was heavily teased during the DS arc, but to Crow. Frankly, I'm not surprised many people were angry about this, but in case my disclaimer didn't make it clear, I don't think it's productive to pin this on Crow by claiming his cards became super popular irl. There was definitely an out-of-left-field writing choice made here, but the only answers as to "why" were left in the 5Ds' writer's room, I believe. At a guess, if you want me to throw out a non-sugarcoated theory as to why, though? They probably thought Crow would be a more interesting character for their target audience. He's a scrappy guy who sticks it to authority, he's brave, he's funny, he plays a cool deck, and most of all, unlike Rua, he never embarrasses himself in a duel on screen. Why am I highlighting that last part? Because I feel like people sometimes forget that the target audience for this show, at the time of its creation, were about twelve year-old boys. And you can feel free to contradict me on this, but most twelve year-old boys I've known and know don't want to project themselves onto a chracter who loses and gets his butt kicked a lot, and who's a bit awkward and steps in it sometimes, which is much closer to how actual twelve year-olds are—but that's exactly why they prefer the cooler characters. And Crow is the cooler character, by average twelve year-old boy logic, regardless of what the grownups of this fandom think.
So Crow gets a dragon and the writing doesn't bother explaining the how or why of it, let alone tackles any of the implications made by Black-Winged Dragon's existence as a signer dragon. (Like what does this mean for the larger worldbuilding? Does the Crimson Dragon actually have more than five servants, but chooses to only ever bestow five marks at a time? Can any "dragon" the Crimson Dragon chooses be a signer dragon, and it just so happens that the constellation of signer dragons is nearly the same as the original one in present-time 5Ds canon? Did the Crimson Dragon specifically elevate BWD to a signer dragon because it felt like it? Was BWD always supposed to be a signer dragon? Was Pearson supposed to be a signer, but died too early before the dark signer prophecy was set into motion? Am I overthinking this? (Yes.)) He also obtains his dragon in what feels like the weirdest way possible to me, because it suddenly??? Just decides to appear in his runner????? Out of nowhere??????
(Why is that here. How did it get there. Why did Pearson even put it in there. And HOW. Is it just wedged between the machinery or what???? And how on earth did Yusei, Bruno, and/or Crow never find it before this point considering how often someone tinkered on the Blackbird on screen???)
(This scenario, of course, also raises the question how the other signers even got their dragons. But like many other, interesting questions, this episode chooses not to interact with that one whatsoever.)
In short, this backstory is a bit of a mess, to say the least. For as much good as it tries to do by contextualising Crow's character and giving him something that sets him apart from the rest of the protag group, it feels like a rough draft of an episode was given the green light to be produced without any editing, judging by the contradictions and weird implications. As such, it harms Crow's character as much as it builds it, as evidenced by how much fandom backlash he still receives years later for the things that were bungled in this backstory and also in different aspects of his character writing.
Now, you may notice this post has gotten stupidly long due to just how convoluted the specific hangups of Crow's backstory are. I originally meant to cover the WRGP and even the Ark Cradle arc for Crow in this post, too, but due to how much there was to say about canon's attempt to finally make Crow a "proper" signer, I've decided that trying to force another two whole arcs in here would be a disservice to the analysis and the character, and also make this agonisingly long, so I'll close this part out here and write a part three, perhaps even a part four depending on how much material the WRGP gives me to work with.
There's one more thing I need to get back to before I finish up this part, though: The "screentime" discussion. I mentioned far above that I take issue with how some people seem to be using the word screentime, and now I can explain why. First, I want you to take a look back at the episodes I covered here, those being 65-95, essentially. Now, as anyone who usually dislikes Crow will tell you, Crow is present in most, if not all of these episodes. He's on screen. He's getting screentime, and, according to many people, hogging it, even. Okay. Now, I want you to look back up at the analysis. How many episodes did I cover where Crow actually gets something to do? As in, where he's either the focus of the plot or gets to contribute to it in a significant way? There's the old man Bashford episode. There's the Poppo Time clock episode. There's his two backstory episodes. That's four. Four episodes. If you're generous, you might add in the episode where he gets to narrate Yusei's backstory alongside Jack and the two fake Jack episodes where he gets to have an emotional moment or two with his foster-brother. If you're less generous, you'll note that none of these episodes have Crow actually interacting with the main antagonists in a meaningful way or set up anything important that pays off later. (Hell, he doesn't even get any, and I really mean, any meaningful setup interactions with Sherry, who ends up being his final-boss-level opponent during the final episodes! Aki gets more meaningful interactions with Sherry than him, not that this ever gets a payoff.) And this is why I take an issue with people claiming Crow gets so much "screentime" post DS arc. Because to me, "screentime" should be time spent letting a character act meaningfully within the story, which most of the pre-WRGP episodes aren't for Crow. He's on screen, yes, but in many episodes, it wouldn't matter one whit whether you replaced him with a nameless side character, which isn't exactly a great look for a supposed third of a protagonist trifecta. Perhaps I'm being too strict with my definition of "screentime" here, fair enough! But the claim that Crow hogs screentime already rubs the wrong way during this comparably unimportant arc, so I can't leave it alone. It feels very decidedly malicious to claim a character who during some episodes seems to only be there to provide exposition or make whatever jokes Yusei and Jack's personalities aren't suited to is stealing screentime from other characters. As for the WRGP duels and whether he's "hogging" anyone's screentime there, I'll dig into that nonsense in the next part, please be patient with me.
...Phew. Okay.
Now, before I leave you to wonder whether I'm every finishing my Crow analysis in full again, I want to attempt to do the same thing I did in part one—propose some changes that could have been made to the writing for Crow's character in order to make things slot in better with the rest of canon. With a small disclaimer, of course: These are just my suggestions as to how Crow's character could have fit into canon more smoothly and been done less of a disservice by his own backstory.
So. First, a quick-fire thing about the pre-WRGP, to get that out of the way: Crow, alongside Aki, is the only signer who didn't get his own confrontation with either Iliaster or their minions. (Yusei had Ghost, Jack had fake Jack, Rua and Ruka had Luciano.) Instead of having him confront a cranky old man in a scrapyard or Zora's son, they could have easily given him a very short side-story where he gets to experience the threat of Iliaster up close and personal, too. Hell, they could have very nicely cut the recap episode where Crow and Jack lie in the mess of Jack's terribly built coffee table and philosophise about Yusei's backstory for this, too. (As funny as their interaction about the coffee table and Jack lying on the floor with a perfectly intact coffee cup are.)
(Pictured: Two idiots (affectionate) contemplating life among the scraps of a shitty, broken coffee table.)
Then, there's the Pearson backstory, of course. So, here's the thing, I think two very different kinds of "fixes" could have worked here. Crucially, they both depend on Crow's status as a signer. I argued in part one that Crow might have worked better as a character if he hadn't actually become a signer, so I'll give both versions here. Let's go.
Option A: We try not to touch canon too much and Crow stays a signer.
How to do this? Frankly, I think what Crow's mark and Black-Winged Dragon were majorly missing was setup. The mark is the smaller offence here, since, fair enough, the idea that signer marks can wander from person to person isn't too out there for 5Ds canon. However, the lack of a dragon despite the alleged 5Ds stands out, and Life Stream Dragon's wasted setup only makes it worse. Thus, making Black-Winged Dragon make sense would have required giving him the same amount of foreshadowing as Life Stream Dragon, at the very least. And you know who could have been great for that? Sweet, ever-forgotten-by-canon Ruka. She was already shown having flashback dreams to the signer dragons' first battle against the dark signers, so who's to say she couldn't have gotten dreams about a shadowy, new dragon she's never seen before? Perhaps even dreams where she's not sure if the dragon is good or bad at first! It could have provided intrigue, it could have made the audience curious. To strengthen that, canon could have also bothered taking the question "hey why are there only four dragons now" seriously. No character in canon ever questions why there are five marks, but only four dragons. Even Rua, who was previously hopeful that he might secretly be a signer, never brings it up. If canon had bothered to actually point this mystery out, they could have used it not only to foreshadow Black-Winged Dragon, but to aid Life Stream Dragon's setup, too. What the fuck am I talking about, I hear you ask. Hear me out: Life Stream Dragon is shown way, way later down the line, long after the audience probably already accepted that it was simply never going to show up, literally bursting out of Power Tool Dragon's armour. We are not provided with an explanation as to why. Imagine if they had sprinkled in another dream Ruka could have had about the ancient past here. Imagine if they had used the opportunity to show something like, oh, during the battle, Life Stream Dragon got injured so badly they had to protect its wounded body with a suit of armour, in the hopes that it would heal. And with one original signer dragon out of commission, the Crimson Dragon sadly had to choose a replacement in between, because the Earthbound Immortals were sure to return. Bam. Black-Winged Dragon. Two signer dragons, set up simultaneously, without forcing the canon lore to do somersaults. Furthermore, to actually explain why Pearson had the dragon but wasn't a signer, they could have easily sprinkled in a flashback between him and Crow. Maybe Pearson could have mentioned how the dragon always feels like it's never really his, as a joking aside. It would have been enough for me to suspend my disbelief, you know? And then the rest of canon could have played out exactly as we know it. Crow could have confronted Bolger, could have obtained Black-Winged Dragon because maybe the dragon finally decided he was worth throwing its weight behind. The mystery behind the missing fifth dragon could have been solved, and it would have made for satisfying payoff without kneecapping Life Stream Dragon's setup or conjuring an extra dragon out of thin air. And really, stuff like the runner thing could have so easily been solved by simply picking one version (did he build it himself or inherit it?) and sticking with it. All it took was a little more care.
Option B: We assume Crow didn't actually become a signer, but try to keep his backstory intact.
Okay, this version works under the assumption that Crow, despite partaking in the final battle against Goodwin during the DS arc, didn't receive a signer mark. To make this work, I would, bluntly put, simply make it so that Black-Winged Dragon doesn't exist. Pearson can still play a powerful Blackwing monster during his flashback that Bolger wants to find and sell later, but it simply isn't that dragon. Really, Blackwings have enough to choose from there. If the backstory episodes had been placed a little later, say, during the pause in the middle of the WRGP, he could have even received something like Blackwing Full Armor Master here. (Yes, I know that card didn't exist at the time, but my point is that he could have simply received a powerup like Yusei and Jack did, instead of a completely new monster.) With this setup, they could have still added the intrigue of taking the question why there are only four signers now seriously. They could have still set up a mystery about why no one ever saw the fifth dragon outside of dreams. And it could have made Rua becoming a signer later, and in this version getting the tail mark instead of a completely new one, that much more satisfying. And Crow could have kept his "fuck destiny, I'm trying to save the world here"-attitude from the DS arc, providing a nice, amusing counterweight to our heroes chosen by an ancient Incan dragon deity. All it would have taken would have been not giving him a mark and switching out Black-Winged Dragon for something else.
So, take your pick, I guess. In the meantime, I'll try my best to work on part three faster than I did part two, lmao.
See you next time!
#yugioh 5ds#crow hogan#ygo 5ds#5ds#black-winged dragon#yugioh meta#robert pearson#bolton/bolger#orchid rambles#remember when I thought I could finish this analysis in two posts.#fun times.#EHEM anyway#here's the next big one#after december and january finally released me from their cruel clutches#I could finally find the energy to work on this again#now onto part three lol#also if anyone wants to yoink my rewrite suggestions for fics here.#PLEASE do. and tag me if you publish anything lmao#I'd honestly love to write something for Crow myself#but aki has me firmly in her clutches (affectionate) and the rest of my 5ds idea backlog l o o m s.#so yeah
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A.K.I. Lore Predictions from 2022
I have permission to post our conversation from a tiny private discord server. We’re mostly F.A.N.G girls and Shadaloo enthusiasts.
I was looking at our silly old speculations about A.K.I. back in early June 2022…and many of them end up being correct lol. This was the time when no one has any idea what her character was going to be like. SF6 was set to launch on June 2, 2023 and A.K.I. dlc would be released on September 27, 2023. In June 2022, we only had the roster leak picture and that’s it. The only clues we had that time was her acronym name, nationality, and purple claws, which points to F.A.N.G for those who actually saw the connection. But even then, a lot of people at the time thought she had no affiliation with F.A.N.G because they look so different from each other …and that most people didn’t notice any FANG traits from her. Also, a lot of people initially thought she had a Vega connection because of the claws. Another character people thought she was associated with was Kurow Kirishima from Rival Schools because they both look similar with their hair color, clothes, and …claws.
Nevertheless, I think our discord thoughts hit the target in several places. One friend was right that AKI is FANG’s biggest fan (we still referred to her as Phantom at the time because of the TOXICITY story). Comatozoid was right that Bison found someone else, but it’s Rosinante the horse LOL! And Bison has a soft spot for him. Fumi was right that AKI is a top, because official art have her chasing/trapping a reluctant FANG lol 😂😂
Minareee3 was right with the character dynamics in which AKI loves FANG but FANG told her “No,” which is basically canon in SF6. And I said that AKI doesn’t want Bison’s attention towards her because in-game she wants FANG’s attention instead lol.
I think we were all onto something back then because that’s how much we know about FANG and Shadaloo, and that we were able to correctly predict these outcomes. That’s how much we love them…even if we go on our silly shippy headcanon territory 😂😂💜💜
I like how we joked that Bison might turn his attention to AKI because she’s a cute sexy lady and FANG would get jealous. But with their in-game win quotes, Bison didn’t care much about AKI and was more interested in knowing about FANG! It’s in that win quote where BisonFANG shippers could rejoice hahahahahha.
Ngl, I was genuinely nervous on how FANG would be portrayed in SF6 if he were to appear in it. Now that we all know what happened thus far in the game, I’m glad Capcom gave more attention to FANG than what we’ve hoped for. It was definitely more than we thought. And they did a good job on his character too. They gave him a cool new look, expanded on his character by showing his more kinder side (still evil btw), and giving him an important role in the story post-WTM.
Also, Comatozoid predicted Bison’s SF6 character correctly as a homeless amnesiac lol. This was on May 31, 2024, which was about a week before Bison was announced on June 7, 2024.
Hmm, our fun-filled conversation and the Bison announcement was exactly 2 years apart. What a coincidence!
F.A.N.G appreciators are always the absolute best!! 💜💜
#street fighter#a.k.i.#f.a.n.g#m. bison#m bison#street fighter 6#sf6#a.k.i#street fighter aki#sf6 lore#predictions#works by others#shadaloo#street fighter vega#rival schools#sf6 thoughts
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🎵 don’t be suspicious 🎵
#gossip girl#gossipgirledit#gghbosource#gossip girl reboot#max wolfe#aki menzies#audrey hope#gghbo#ggedit#aki x audrey x max#gossip girl 2021#*m#*gifs
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Spotted: Aki Menzies in a new look! Well, well, well, Upper East Siders, it looks like Aki Menzies has ditched his signature pink locks for something a little more… dark and mysterious. Gone is the playful, cotton-candy hue we've all come to associate with the once-carefree son of media mogul Rodger Menzies. In its place? A deep, almost brooding shade of black that has us all wondering—what exactly is going on in that head of his?
Aki has always been the master of flying under the radar, a skill undoubtedly inherited from his high-profile father. But with this new look, it seems like he's ready to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight. The question is, why now? Is this just a fashion statement, or is there something more significant brewing beneath the surface?
Rumor has it that Aki's sudden transformation might not be just about aesthetics. Could it be a sign of trouble in paradise with his longtime love, Audrey Hope? The two have been inseparable since their St. Jude's days, but let's not forget—appearances can be deceiving. We've all seen relationships that looked picture-perfect on the outside, only to crumble behind closed doors. And with Audrey's own complicated feelings for Max Wolfe, it wouldn't be the first time a love triangle led to heartbreak.
But what if this isn't about a breakup at all? Aki's always been the type to adapt to his surroundings, to blend in wherever necessary. Could this darker hue be his way of signaling a new chapter? Perhaps one where he finally steps out from under his father's shadow and carves out his own identity in the ruthless world of the UES elite.
And let's not forget, Aki's been out of St. Jude's for a while now, navigating the tricky transition from boy to man. Could this change in his appearance reflect a deeper internal shift? Aki's always been the steady hand in his friend group, the calm in the storm—but even the most composed among us have their breaking points. Is Aki finally ready to show the world that he's not just a follower, but a force to be reckoned with?
Whatever the reason for this sudden transformation, one thing's for sure: Aki Menzies is no longer content with being the quiet one. Whether it's the end of an era with Audrey or the start of something new entirely, it looks like Aki's ready to make some noise. And you know I'll be here to spill every last detail.
XOXO, Gossip Girl
@akixmenzies
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⠀ ⠀ a. hayakawa :: -him having a plus-sized boyfriend- one shot✧
↳ pairing ✧ ➼ aki hayakawa x plus-sized m!reader
↳ summary ✧ ➼ you feel insecure about your body, but aki is there to give you comfort.
↳ word count ✧ ➼ 912 wrds
↳ content warnings ✧ ➼ (internalized) fatphobia, self-deprecating talk, fluff at the end
↳ author's note ✧ ➼ just a quick drabble i thought of yesterday. as a plus-sized transmasc, i had a lot of fun writing this. drabble might be ooc. not proof-read. requests are open.
always read the content warnings before reading. fem!readers dni.
you and aki were preparing to go on a date. you two unanimously decided to go watch a newly released movie and have a semi-nice dinner afterwards, so you wanted to dress appropriately but comfortably.
you chose an alternative-style outfit; a black and baggy long sleeve shirt with punk-rock styled pants with buckles, all accompanied with some black combat boots. you wore a few chains here and there, and you topped it all off with the earrings aki gifted you a few months into your relationship. the idea of the outfit excited you and you couldn't wait to show your wonderful boyfriend, but the second you saw yourself in the mirror, it quickly vanished and was replaced with feelings of disgust. it was not all like you expected.
you struck a few poses to try and look at yourself in different angles to see if it would change at all, but it didn't. you felt like your weight ruined the vibe you were aiming for. you sucked in your stomach, gripped at it. you hated it. you felt ugly. and worst of all, you felt completely unlovable.
"i can't let anyone see me like this..."
you sat down on your bed as tears pricked at your eyes. they started falling down your cheeks as you began to take off each piece of clothing, starting with your shoes. you sobbed quietly so aki couldn't hear. you would feel totally embarrassed if he saw you like this. as soon as you were about to strip your shirt off, there was a knock and a voice behind your bedroom door.
"(y/n)? love? are you okay? you've been in there for a long while, we're gonna be late for the movie. don't tell me you're debating on an outfit again." his tone was playful. your breath hitched and you tried to not make any noise by holding your breath. but the lack of response signaled to aki that something was actually wrong. he opened the door and saw your face red and with tear stains.
his playful attitude died as he dropped his bag and quickly approached you. he knelt down to your eye level. you couldn't look at him though. your eyes were glued to the floor. "oh darling, what's wrong? why are you crying?" aki was very soft for you, and for you only. he gently wiped away your tears with one hand and and held your hand with his other. he looked at you with worried eyes. "i- i don't know... if i want to do anything tonight... i-i'm sorry," you hiccupped. another tear fell as you slightly turned your head away. you felt ashamed. aki wiped away that one, too.
"what makes you say that?" he questioned. "did something happen?" you didn't give a verbal response, only uneven breathing. "(y/n), please talk to me... what happened?" he rubbed his thumb along your knuckles in attempt to make you more relaxed. "i just... i just feel so ugly. i look disgusting. i'm so fat, being fat is just unattractive, everyone knows that. nobody wants to be with a fat person, i just..." you trailed off and starting sobbing again. aki removed his hands from you and switched to having his arms around you. he pulled you into an embrace and hugged you tightly. he held you like that and he let you cry. he understood that you just needed to let it out before he could speak to you and rebuttal against your words.
when your body naturally calmed down, aki released himself from you and looked at you in the eyes. you still couldn't look at him. he cupped his hands around your face. "hey. love, can you please look at me?" aki whispered. you defeatedly locked eyes with his. he hated seeing your pretty eyes look anything but happy. "(y/n), i know you think you look ugly or that nobody loves you, and you should really not think like that. but i have to disagree with you. you're absolutely stunning. you're so handsome, and i love you so so much. i don't care about your weight, if anything it makes you look even more beautiful. i love you for who you are, fat or not. i'm so lucky that you're my wonderful boyfriend. i want to be with you for the rest of my life. i love you, okay?"
aki's voice was soothing, as well as his words. you sniffled and mouthed out a 'thank you' as you slightly smiled. "there's that smile i love," aki slightly teased. you chuckled out of embarrassment and replied with a drawn out 'stop.' "are you feeling any better? we still don't have to go out if you don't want to, but i really do want to spend some time together." aki kept his warm hands on your face. "yea, i feel a little better now. we can still go."
you looked at him again, this time the redness in your eyes are gone. aki couldn't help himself but lean in and give you a loving kiss on your lips. you were caught a little off guard at first, but you melted into it fairly quickly. he rubbed his thumb on your cheek. when he moved back after a few seconds, he took his hands off you and lifted you up off your bed with a hug. that you were shocked by.
"c'mon, get your shoes back on, we're gonna be late!"
#aki hayakawa x male reader#aki hayakawa x m!reader#aki hayakawa x male!reader#aki hayakawa x reader#aki hayakawa x you#hayakawa aki x male!reader#hayakawa aki x male reader#hayakawa aki x m!reader#chainsaw man#csm#aki hayakawa csm#chainsaw man x male reader#csm x male reader#fluff#gay#lgbt#drabble#one shot#plus sized#plus sized reader#sfw#requests open#aki x male reader#csm fluff#au#csm x you#csm x reader#chainsaw man x reader
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SF6 CHIBI CHARMS ARE NOW AVAILABLE!!!
The rest of my stock is now on my Etsy!! Click HERE!!!
They are also available as STICKERS!!
#taiyakipressillustration#street fighter#ed street fighter#rashid street fighter#ryu street fighter#ken masters#aki street fighter#chun-li#lily street fighter#e honda#dhalsim street fighter#m bison#jamie siu#luke sullivan#marisa street fighter#manon street fighter#zangief street fighter#deejay street fighter#juri han#akuma street fighter#cammy white#william guile#blanka street fighter#kimberly jackson#jp street fighter
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Angel Devil x Hayakawa Aki
Chainsaw Man
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