#am i back in my titans era ? yes I am unfortunately

[salem-xx]

this edit is not mine. it's by @thwaitussy on twitter

This edit means the world to me like that's his daughter

[isk4649]

2021/12/8 WIP Wednesday

Thanks, @a11sha11fade for tagging! I always appreciate it. Tagging @jonogueira and @kemvee, but no pressure, obviously.

I, uh... hatched? Birthed? A plot bunny a few days ago, which had me imagine what Dorian was doing when he drunk-texted Tharin in Japan. The passage from Where the Waves Crest (波の���り詰める所):

The messages app was open. A beautiful, swarthy man with an exquisitely groomed mustache smiled back at him in the profile photo. Cullen soughed. Tharin had taken the trouble to upload a picture of the man in his contact page.

The message was simple and direct.

 I miss ur sweet arse, u fuckin wanker.

Cullen snorted. “Sounds like someone else had a fun night too.”

Which gave rise to this interaction between Dorian and Maevaris, which I’m really excited about.

By the way, if anyone would like to help this poor American with Britishisms, please message me!

“You smell terrible, Dor.”

Maevaris Tilani wrinkled her nose as she took off her lace gloves and her beret. Her clothes were sprinkled with Seattle shower so ruddy common around the Christmas time.

...

With his forehead perched on the flesh of his thumbs and his fingers straddling his bedhead, Dorian muttered bitterly, “Why, thank you. Thank you very much.”

Maevaris did not lower her voice as she continued in the affected speech that mixed her suspiciously flawless Received Pronunciation accent with Ingrid Bergman’s mannerisms, “I mean it, darling. It’s like your BO became sick and threw up all over your body, and then you sat outside in the Texan sun for hours to let it really ferment on you.”

“Yes, thank you so much for your lovely and yet so senselessly verbose feedback. Unfortunately, we are not going to go ahead and accept your opinion on how I should smell like at this point in time.” When he lifted his head, his vision spun. “Because you, madam, are the reason why this BO has transpired.”

Never once straying her gaze from the menu to look at Dorian, Maevaris asked breezily, “Oh? How do you figure?”

Dorian sniffed and furrowed his brow in frustration. He was not certain whether he actually felt annoyed at the woman or if it was just an aftereffect of partying too hard. “You insisted that I come out to help you prepare and stay for your show that lasted, oh, I don’t know, a good two hours. And then you kept telling the bartender to give me free drinks until the bar closed. At 2 am. And it is now…” Dorian took out his phone and assaulted the home button with a needlessly forceful push, “…just past 8. I hate your guts.”

Maevaris rolled her eyes framed by thickly mascaraed lashes, “Honestly, Dor… People will think I pushed seven Long Island iced teas on you.” She continued in that breathy tone of hers, the one reminiscent of Hollywood starlets from the black and white picture era even more so than her accent, “Besides, I did it so you could flirt with the bloke, not so you could get blackout drunk. He’s newly single, and you could use a win.”

Dorian leaned back and let his head roll backward. The world around him seemed to tumble. He murmured, “Thanks, but no thanks. I respect myself too much for hookups now. Especially with a twenty-three-year-old himbo.”

Maevaris chortled. “Too old to mingle with twinks yet too young to be a zaddy? Your balls must be shriveled up like sultanas now. Use them or lose them.”

And hit back Dorian did against the surprise attack. “Oh, how many times have you auditioned for RuPaul’s Drag Race now? Was it… 104 times or 105 times? Did you ever hear back?”

An easy smile never left the corners of Maevaris’s lips as she looked directly at Dorian. “Fuck you very much.”

“No, fuck you. That is, if you can find yourself a man, you titanic cow.”

Without missing a beat, Maevaris replied, “Ditto.” She set the menu down, gathered her dainty hands, and smirked. “Well, you’re here now. There really isn’t any point in complaining, my darling. Might as well enjoy early brunch like a boringly stereotypical sexual deviant that you are.”

[lifeofyellowpearl]

Yellow Pearl Goes Over Old Files: The Diversion Agreement

Of the hundreds of files present on my holo-screen, my eyes fixed upon yet another of personal significance. Its personal meaning, found not within its content but within my experience surrounding the controversy brought upon by its abrupt inception. It is suspected, though seldom acknowledged, that the current resource crisis, which has come to define Era 2, had long been foreseen by White Diamond. And that in its earliest beginnings, the eldest ruler had begun making turns for redistribution of resources as well as redelegation of personnel. It is doubtless to me, with that in mind, that it was her surreptitious need for redelegation which prompted White to do what she did. Though I had heard whispers of Pink Diamond’s violent tendencies, I had never seen first-hand the full extent of her rage. That is, never until that fateful day.

I still had the duty of serving Pink Diamond as her temporary pearl since White Diamond had yet to provide a suitable replacement for the one she seized from the neophyte ruler. We had just returned to the moon base from a particularly clamorous meeting over which Pink was still fuming. Much to Pink’s greatest annoyance, White had made the unilateral decision to divert 10,000 Lapis Lazuli away from the construction of Pink’s colony. To the end that they may be redelegated to other projects throughout White’s Jurisdiction.

To make such a call without even bothering to alert - let alone consult with - Pink Diamond was not only a measure yet unheard of but a gesture of great disrespect. That White Diamond had violated the very protocol she, herself, ratified in making such a discourteous move infuriated Pink all the more. When word of this reached the young diamond, an emergency meeting was convened at which even Blue and Yellow Diamond expressed marked shock and discontent at White’s thoughtless action. And so, to placate her peers, White Diamond agreed that the order for redelegation would be - hastily - rewritten into a “mutual agreement” between White and Pink, requiring the signatures of both parties. Pink was not happy with this arrangement - especially considering that the gesture was all but purely symbolic. But, at the very least, she would be allowed to retain the Lapis Lazuli of terraform company 16. A company comprised of some of the finest that Homeworld has to offer. Pink also managed, after throwing a tantrum presenting her arguments, to secure the promise that White would no longer make attempts to divert resources away from Pink’s colony. These admittedly meager concessions were enough to earn Pink Diamond’s signature - albeit after some gentle convincing from Blue Diamond. But alas, it was not enough to quell Pink’s fury over the entire affair.

And so, for the very first time, there at the Earth Colony moon base, I was able to bear witness to one of the emotional blowouts for which the Pink Diamond was infamous. “I can’t believe her! Why would she do that! Why would she think I’d be okay with this??” Pink angrily paced, following no strict path or predictable direction, as she continued her tirade over what White had tried to do, “Oh but of course when I break the rules, it’s this huge goodman deal, but when she does it, it’s perfectly fine?? What even is that?? How is that FAIR?? I just… I can’t even….GAAAAAA!!!!”

I watched on as Pink, lost in the whirlwinds of her own rage, marched over to one of the glass panes of the base’s dome; upon which she took out her frustrations with a steady cascade of thunderous strikes. With every punch that Pink brought against the glass, I swear the moon itself trembled as though its very surface were jolted by the force of one thousand nuclear blasts! Truly it was a terrifying sight! As the rhythmic assault continued on, cracks in the pane began to appear, spread, and multiply; stoking mental imagery of potential disaster in which we are depressurized from the base as a result of the pane’s shattering.

Even more frightening were recollections of the injury sustained by Pink Diamond’s erstwhile pearl. An injury the poor gem was loath to discuss, as talks of its causation were a source of nothing but great anxiety and anguish for Pink’s loyal servant. Nevertheless, I had my suspicions of what - that is to say ‘who’ - caused that unfortunate pearl’s trauma. And seeing Pink Diamond now, in this truly horrific state, served to confirm my suspicions were correct. With this in mind, I was certain to maintain my distance and allot Pink the time she needed to fully release her anger. I did my best to remain at attention, in spite of the full-body tremors brought upon by the terror I was feeling at that moment. 

As time went on, the frequency of her pulsating strikes began to decrease. Until, at last, her onslaught came to an end and the final echoes of her thunderous rapping gave way to the default silence of this desolate place. The silence, however, did little to ease my nerves. For Pink Diamond now stood rigid and sullen with balled fists down at her sides, mumbling expletives through gritted teeth. Pink’s titanic fury had not died. It had only moved inward; barely concealing itself just beneath the surface of her inner gem. To this very day, I can still safely declare that at that moment, I was more frightened than I had ever been before or since.

My thoughts wandered back to Pink’s former pearl as many of her idiosyncrasies began to make sense to me. The ease with which she startled, the frequent hand tremors, and, most telling of all, her occasional hesitation in returning to her diamond’s side when summoned back from the pearl chamber. “I do hope her elders didn’t upset her too much.” I once heard her say. What I initially thought to be a statement of selfless concern, I now recognize to have been an expression of self-preserving fear. Indeed, that pearl had seen, known, and personally experienced, the truest extent of Pink Diamonds capabilities.

All of this, I was contemplating when my thoughts were interrupted by the tone of an incoming message. Still on edge, I fumbled with my holo-screen until I was finally able to answer the call. A Lapis Lazuli appeared on my screen. It was then commander of Terraform company 16, 528’s predecessor. I don’t remember her facet or her cabochon, and due to the circumstances leading to her unfortunate stranding on that doleful planet, such identifying information was blacked out on any and all files in which she is mentioned. I struggled to gather myself, “This is the Yellow -Er - White…” I had to pause and take a breath, “Sorry. This is the Pink Diamond control room.”

“Yeah, hey...” The Commander replied with an air of mild vexation, “I’m calling about the proposal my company sent to Pink Diamond?”

“Proposal? Which one?”

The commander nearly rolled her eyes. But she knew better than to let slip such an expression of disrespect when speaking of a diamond - unlike her loathsome colleague, 528. She did, however, sharply inhale before pursing her lips, I assume to prevent the quiet utterance of an expletive eager to escape her breath. “Uh, yeah. It was the proposal about a stretch of land that was originally reserved for the construction of a city. Peridots in my company have found that this land would be better suited for a kindergarten and that the city could be moved further north.” The Commander awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck “I eh...heh...I forwarded that proposal to Pink Diamond several weeks ago, and the city planner is really getting on my case.” Her nervous laughter did little to mask her exasperation.

I had to ponder for a moment before I remembered, “Oh yes, of course” I replied, “how could I forget such...wait, has Pink Diamond still not gotten back to you on that?”

“Nope.” The Commander’s frustration was still actively tempered but no less apparent, “Nope. Nope. Not at all. I mean, I get it. Pink Diamond’s busy but...I kinda need an answer so if you could just...”

“I’m sorry, but now’s not really a good time.” Of course now wasn’t a good time! Now was quite literally the worst possible time! I had no intention of disturbing Pink Diamond now. Not while she was in this horrible state. I’ll admit it, I was frustrated with Pink. I didn’t want to be, but I couldn’t help it. I had forwarded that proposal to her the moment I received it because I understood it’s importance. I marked it to be saved under her “high priority” tab and even let her know that the proposal was there, waiting for her reply. She acknowledged it but was so distracted by the images of “Earth’s beauty” - her words, certainly not mine - that it likely slipped her notoriously absent mind.

The Commander took another deep breath. I could already see that her forced politeness was dissipating, “Well, here’s the thing. The city planner is threatening to move forward and break ground, so I need an answer. Like...right now.”

“I understand, commander but with all due respect…”

“Please...don’t ‘with all due respect’ me. I have waited patiently for weeks, and I am running out of time. I need to know what to tell the city planner, and I need to know immediately.”

“Commander please, listen-”

“No, you listen…” I watched, over the course of our interaction, as The Commander’s demeanor change from a forced civility, to an abject annoyance, to a calm sternness, “When word gets back to the Diamond Authority that a city was built on top of a potential kindergarten without Pink Diamond’s knowledge, they’re going to be asking why she wasn’t made aware of that land’s viability before we went ahead with construction. They’re going to wonder why Pink Diamond wasn’t given a chance to make a final call. Do you understand what I’m saying?” 

I sighed. I did understand. Someone would be held responsible for ultimately allowing tons of raw material to go to waste. That someone couldn’t be a diamond, and The Commander was making it clear that that someone wouldn’t be her. I could see it, now - stained on my record in bright red lettering, ‘Failure to forward vital information to her superior.’ Such an error would not be easily forgiven. The Commander wasn’t giving me a choice, “I understand.” I said, resigned, “I will remind Pink Diamond of your proposal, immediately.”

There was a sigh of relief followed by a brief moment of silence. The sternness with which The Commander addressed me had gone. Replaced by what appeared to be a twinge of remorseful understanding, “Look...I heard about what’s been going on, and I understand that Pink Diamond isn’t exactly in the best mood right now. But this shouldn’t cause too much of a fuss, right? All I need is ‘yes’ or a ‘no.’ That’s it.”

“Yes...of course.”

“Thank you...good luck.” We both signed off with an unspoken understanding that this would not, in fact, be easy. But it was necessary. I turned to Pink, who was still facing the damaged pane, her back turned to me. Still seething. Still grumbling. Still ruminating. I began my approach slowly and methodically, so as not to startle the irate diamond. I could almost feel the ire radiating from her person as I got closer. Once directly behind her, I cleared my throat in an, albeit immature, attempt to grab Pink’s attention. It seemed to have worked as her head raised slightly. Yet, she did not turn to face me. I took a deep breath, mustering every ounce of courage that I had at my disposal, “Sorry to disturb you My Di-”

“Now now…” She growled those words with a quiet intensity that would send a chill down the back of even the most hardened quartz.

I truly wanted nothing more than to leave Pink Diamond be. Unfortunately, the situation obligated me to press further, “My Diamond, please. This is very impor-”

“I said, ‘not now’” again, I was shaken by her simmering inflection. But time was of the essence. I couldn’t let up.

And so, pushing aside the remainder of my apprehension, I made one final, more forceful, attempt, “My Diamond, I beg of you. We really need your…”

“SHUT UP!!!” In a single, rapid, fluid motion, Pink whipped around! For a fleeting second, I looked into the eyes of the frightful, raging diamond! Words could never describe that hateful look in her eyes! Much less the true extent of the fear it struck. But it was only for a second that I was able to catch a glimpse of that hideous gaze. For the very next second, I was off the ground! In the air! Ascending! Flying! Then falling!

I have no recollection of the moment I hit the floor. I can only recall the moment immediately thereafter. I was lying on my back, staring up into the heavens through the glass dome above. Only half-aware of what had just transpired. My ears were ringing. My mind was abuzz. I was all but deafened by the cacophony of voices of my now panicked inner-pearls. As the moment went by, the voices began to fade as my cruelest inner pearl regained her dominance over the rabble. Once I recovered the full extent of my faculties, I was able to hear her voice, loud and clear; just as biting and scornful as always. You stupid clod! You stupid idiot clod! You stupid worthless idiot piece of filth clod!! You just had to push her, didn’t you? This is what happens when you forget your place!! You’ve killed us! Do you understand? You’ve killed us!! You’ve killed us!!

‘You’ve killed us.’ Over and over that statement rang through my head until I was finally able to surmise it’s very grim, very literal meaning. Without looking, I placed my hand over my gem and shuttered internally when I felt the rapidly spreading cracks. In that moment, I thought of what I could have done differently. Of what I could have done better. I knew how Pink Diamond was. I knew how forgetful she was. I should have anticipated that the proposal would slip her mind. Why didn’t I remind her? Why didn’t I at least ask about its status? Why didn’t I try harder? Why didn’t I do more? I should have been more proactive! I should have been more tactful! I should have been more careful! There was little room for doubt. I was dying, and it was my fault. Stupid clod. I thought to myself, look what you made her do. Stupid...stupid clod. Though I knew that I was static, it felt as though my body were sinking, and it appeared as though the stars above were receding away, further into the ether. I felt that the heavens themselves were judging me, mocking me. And, of course, they were right to do so.

It wasn’t too much longer before I heard the rapid, approaching footsteps of a now panicked diamond. “Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!” Before long, Pink Diamond came into view. She knelt down over me, clasping her head in both of her hands with a look of frenzied concern. “OhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygod!!!” In a gesture far outside the realms of social acceptability, Pink bent down and embraced me, cradling my head in her hands as she rocked back and forth, all the while hyperventilating. With my cheek now pressed against hers, I could feel the tears streaming down her face, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” No. This wasn’t right. A diamond should never find reason to apologize to a pearl. I wanted ever so badly to remind her that the fault was mine and mine alone! That it should be me apologizing to her! That I was the one to provoke her. And now, thanks to my worthless stupidity, I have caused even further distress! I wanted so much to tell her all of this, but I found myself, for reasons unspecified, yet unable to speak. 

Pink Diamond then pressed her face against my chest, sobbing into my gem, releasing my head to hang limp and allowing me another view of the stars above. There was no room for doubt. The heavens were indeed judging me. 

“I’m sorry!” Pink cried, “I’m so sorry!” as her tears made contact with my gem, I could feel the cracks disappearing and my body regaining its vigor. It was as though Pink’s tears had healed me of the very injuries she inflicted. I was then able to raise my head and see Pink, yet unaware of my rejuvenation, still crying into my gem. Making for a somewhat awkward situation.

“My...Diamond?” Pink pulled away, seeing that she had healed me. She embraced me again, now overjoyed. “Oh, thank the stars!” she exclaimed. She got up and helped me to my feet, “I am so sorry. I-I don’t know what came over me! I was angry at the other diamonds and I just.” There she goes, again. I hated that she felt the need to apologize. Or, to be more accurate, I hated that I made her feel like she had to apologize. As if I didn’t feel terrible enough, what Pink said next still makes me cringe to this day, “Can you ever forgive me?” 

I bowed my head in absolute shame. That I had driven a diamond to the point of asking me, a pearl, for forgiveness was a misdeed that I could hardly bear. “There’s...nothing to forgive, My Diamond.” I whispered, “It was my fault. I’m the one who should be sorry...”

Silence. I didn’t dare look up at Pink, though I suspect she still felt guilty for what had transpired. Perhaps she wanted to say something to ease my distress. But there was nothing that she could have said. I am her pearl. The responsibility was, and always will be mine. 

I suspect it was her realization that nothing could be said to ease my feelings of shame and self-loathing, which prompted her to change the subject, “Um...right. So what was it that you needed?” 

In the frenzie, I had nearly forgotten. I, too, wanted nothing more than to put this conflict behind us. And so, I gathered myself and stood at attention to properly address Pink Diamond, “Oh...yes. Um, The Commander of Terraform Company 16 requested your response to a proposal. She had sent you. It was the…”

“Oh god! The proposal!” Pink exclaimed with a gasp. Pink brought up her holo-screen and anxiously scrolled through her inbox. “Gah! I can’t believe I forgot about that! Where was it? Where was it?”

“It should be at the top of your ‘high-priority’ tab, My Diamond” I said.

Following my suggestion, Pink found the proposal. “Oh! There it is! Now what was it…?” Pink tapered off as she went to sit on her throne, now fully engrossed in her current task. It seemed she had almost immediately forgotten about the preceding events. I went to take my place next to Pink Diamond. Standing at attention as she carried out her tasks. The rest of that day was largely uneventful, but that conflict would remain fresh in my mind. Amazingly, the same couldn’t have been said for Pink. For her, it really was though the whole thing never happened. 

As I observed this, I remembered something else Pink Diamond’s former pearl once said of her, “What I really admire about Pink Diamond is how quickly she’s able to forgive herself. She almost never dwells on her actions for long. Why, she hardly dwells on them at all! I sure wish I were like that!” ------

Author’s Note: Hey guys. Finally got around to posting another entry. Sorry about the delay but the truth is, I haven’t been doing well. Like...at all. Don’t wanna get into specifics but everything is kinda been falling apart, lol 😅. This may seem weird but if you don’t mind, I could use some words of encouragement if you get ‘em Anyway, here’s the Diversion Agreement. Making these documents has been surprisingly fun. They certainly make for a nice distraction, lol

[westannatasharomanoff]

THG AU Chapter 27

Chapter 1        Chapter 2      Chapter 3     Chapter 4    Chapter 5    Chapter 6 Chapter 7   Chapter 8   Chapter 9  Chapter 10   Chapter 11 Chapter 12  Chapter 13 Chapter 14  Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17  Chapter 18 Chapter 19   Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22  Chapter 23   Chapter 24  Chapter 25 Chapter 26

*Natasha Romanoff was in The Capitol for an interview. She was now three months pregnant and everyone was buzzing about the baby. This interview was to announce the winners of the baby naming competition. The only thing keeping Natasha from being furious about not getting to name her own child was the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. was going to stick it to The Capitol.*

Ceaser: I think we all know what we’re here for. Natasha, if you would open the envelope.

Natasha: Okay, Ceaser. Here goes nothing.

Ceaser: Can we get a drumroll please? *drumroll* Thank you.

Natasha: The winning name for a baby girl is Victoria, and if it’s a boy, the winner is... Triffle. *her face falls*

* Meanwhile in District 12, everyone is watching the interview together at Natasha and Bruce’s.*

Pietro: Triffle? *bursts out laughing* 

Fury: That poor child.

Maria: That’s unfortunate. 

Bruce: Triffle?! They want us to name our child Triffle?! That’s not even a name! 

Wanda: Evidently, it is in The Capitol. 

Melina: That’s okay. Triffle is a bit... odd, but we would love him anyway. Besides, Victoria is a very nice name. 

Alexei: Our poor grandson is going to be teased so much. 

Fury: Have you met this child’s parents? He’ll be fine. 

Bruce: For everyone’s sake I hope we have a girl. 

*A week later, Natasha and Bruce went to their first S.H.I.E.L.D. meeting. It was held in a hovercraft above the wilds.*

Peggy: I know we haven’t met in a while, but I assure you S.H.I.E.L.D. is as active as ever. We have three new agents today, so please give a warm welcome to Maria Hill, Bruce Banner, and Natasha Romanoff.

Grant: Wait, didn’t she just get married? Why does she still have her same last name?

Natasha: The Capitol already knows me well, so changing my name didn’t make much sense. 

Peggy: Why don’t we all just introduce ourselves? I’ll start. My name is Peggy Carter and I live in District 4. 

Phil: I’m Phil Coulson, I live in District 9.

Melinda: Melinda May,  District 2.

Lincoln: Lincoln Campbell, District 5. I know, shocking. 

Lance: Lance Hunter, District 2.

Thor: You guys know me. You also know Steve! *Steve waves*

Daisy: Daisy Johnson, I’m from 3. 

Bruce: Yeah, I’ve met you. You’re the new girl from coding. 

Daisy: That’s me. 

Tripp:  Antoine Triplett, but you can call me Tripp. I also live in District 3.

Grant: Grant Ward, from District 2. 

Jemma: Jemma Simmons. I live in District 3, but I invent medical devices so I’m always in The Capitol. 

Bobbi: Bobbi Morse, I’m also from District 2. Imagine that. 

Lance: She’s my wife. 

Leo: Leo Fitz. I’m from District 3, but we’ve met. 

Bruce: Yes, yes we have. 

Mack: Alphonso Mackenzie, District 6. You can call me Mack.

Daniel: I’m Daniel Sousa. I live in District 10 and I think that’s everyone, right?

Gamora: You forgot us. 

Daniel: Right, our friends from The Capitol.

Gamora: I’m Gamora Zen-Titan, as you may remember.

Mantis: Mantis Brandt-Snow. I’m so happy to be here!

Nebula: Nebula Lupho-Titan. *pointing at Gamora* I’m her sister. 

Peter: Peter Quill-Snow. *pointing at Mantis* I’m her sister. 

*Everyone goes silent and gives Peter an odd look. A few people stifle laughter. A moment later, Peter realizes his mistake.*

Peter: Wait, no! She’s my- *sigh* never mind. 

Bruce: Wait. Snow, Titan, I know those names! You let the children of the president and his closest advisor join a society to take them down? 

Peter: Our father is Snow’s brother, actually. 

Gamora: Not to mention none of us want anything to do with the corrupt and unfair system that is our government! The things going on in Panem just aren’t right, and anyone could see that no matter who their “family” is! Panem needs to enter a new era, and soon. 

Bruce: Fair enough, carry on. 

Loki: I’m Loki Odinson and *pointing to Thor* I’ve never met that man in my life. 

Natasha: Oh, are you two siblings?

Loki: No. I’ve seriously never met him. It’s a total coincidence that we have the same last name.

Thor: It’s actually kind of freaky, especially considering we look very similar.

Loki: For the last time, we do not look alike! At all! 

Peggy: Can we get back to business? 

Thor: Right, sorry. 

Peggy: Anyway, we need to take a few more people before we’re ready to start the next phase of our plan. *to Bruce and Natasha* That’s where you come in. We need to recruit Tony Stark, Wanda Maximoff, and Pietro Maximoff. Banner, you need to get Tony on board. Natasha, you will handle the Maximoffs. 

*Natasha and Bruce accepted their assignment and the rest of the meeting went pretty well. After the meeting, Bruce was snuck to District 3 so he could talk to Tony. He encased them in the secret bubble.*

Tony: Bruce? What are you doing here?

Bruce: I’ll tell you in a minute, but first I want to know how you’re holding up. Did they ever find Pepper?

Tony: *starting to cry* No. It’s been four months and we’ve found nothing. Well, nothing but this. *Tony pulls out a ring* They found her wedding ring in the ruins of her sister’s house. 

Bruce: *pulls Tony into a hug* I’m so sorry. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to call. How’s Morgan?

Tony: She’s still my pride and joy. She misses her mommy, but she’s a wonderful daughter. Just turned three. I’m keeping this one close, I can’t lose her like I did Peter and Pepper. Speaking of children, congratulations. I heard about the baby. You’re not seriously going to name a boy Triffle, are you?

Bruce: We have no choice. Anyway, back to the reason I’m here. The government of Panem needs to be stopped. A secret organization called S.H.I.E.L.D. is working to overthrow Snow, and I’ve been sent to recruit you.

Tony: No. No way. I can’t join a revolution. 

Bruce: We need you! The Hunger Games, the bombings, the whippings, the avoxes and muttations, none of this is acceptable! We owe it to Peter and Pepper and Vision and Sammy and everyone else The Capitol saw as disposable. This isn’t right and it isn’t fair!

Tony: I know, but this sounds dangerous and my top priority will always be keeping my daughter safe. 

Bruce: What if your daughter could live in a world where she didn’t have to worry about the reaping every year? A world where she could see other districts. A world where the citizens aren’t oppressed. 

Tony: That sounds amazing, but I can’t. What if they find out and kill Morgan?

Bruce: We won’t let that happen. Just please consider it. These people really want to make a change, and I want to be a part of it. But none of this is possible without you.

Tony: And you’re sure these people can be trusted?

Bruce: Yes. 

Tony: Then count me in. For Pepper. And Peter. And for Morgan. Most importantly, for the future of Panem. I’m joining your revolution. 

*Meanwhile back in 12*

Natasha: You may be wondering why I shut you both in a soundproof invisibility bubble with me. There is a secret organization called S.H.I.E.L.D. that has been created to overthrow Snow and I was sent to recruit you because-

Both twins at once: We’re in. 

*About two months later, everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. was preparing to deliver the first blow. *

Peggy: Okay, we want to start small with something barely noticeable. In order to do that, we need someone to sneak in and grab a secret file. With that gone, The Capitol will no longer have arena ideas for the next few years.The 91st Hunger Games is probably already all planned, given it’s in a month, but this will be a major setback and a distraction for some of the most prominent figures in The Capitol.

Natasha: If we’re doing something against the games, I want to be involved.

Peggy: Absolutely not. You are in no condition to sneak into that building. 

Natasha: What’s that supposed to mean?!

Peggy: Ordinarily, I’d send you in in a heartbeat, but...

Natasha: What? Am I not good enough? Did you see me in the games? I’m not proud of it, but I’m told I was impressive!

Bruce: Nat, you’re five months pregnant. 

Natasha: Oh, right. 

Peggy: Anyway, we’re sending in Wanda, Daisy, and Gamora. Tony Stark has made rigs for Daisy and Wanda similar to what Peter Parker made in the games. Wanda, yours will allow you to move objects with your mind.

Tony: These ones are a lot stronger than what you had in the arena. You’ll be able to move bigger objects and even people. They also work long distance. 

Peggy: Daisy, yours will allow you to pulse vibrations through the floor, creating miniature earthquakes.

Tony: You can direct them towards specific people and everything. 

Peter: What about Gamora? Are you just going to send her in with nothing?

Gamora: Don’t be ridiculous. *pulling out ID badge* I have my dad’s ID badge. It’ll give us access to everything. Also, I have a retractable sword. 

Peter: Oh, okay. 

Daniel: So you’ll be safe then? Because you have the ID badge?

Daisy: We’ll be fine, I promise. *kisses his cheek* Besides, it’s a really fast, in and out, kind of mission. We’ll be back before you know I’m gone. 

Daniel: I miss you already. Be safe.

Daisy: Don’t worry, we will. 

*After they leave*

Tony: So, you and Daisy, huh? How’d you two meet?

Daniel: We’re both involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. She and I met through this. 

Tony: Meeting through work, nice. That’s how I met my wife. *sniff* Well, I guess now she’s my ex wife. *begins sobbing* 

Bruce: *puts hand on Tony’s shoulder* You’ll be okay. here. *hugs Tony*

Daniel: Messy divorce?

Bruce: She was killed in an attack by The Capitol. 

*An hour later, Daisy, Gamora, and Wanda return. S.H.I.E.L.D. is officially up and running, and they aren’t going to back down.*

[medea10]

My Review of Kaguya-sama: Love is War - Season Two

Season One Review Here.

Here we go again! Those crazy kids, will they ever confess their feelings for each other?

HISTORY: Love is war! The first one to admit love is seen as weak and is thus deemed the loser in this fight. That reigns true in the minds of student body president Miyuki Shirogane and student body vice president Kaguya Shinomiya. Both of them are mad for one another, they just won’t admit it. So, Miyuki and Kaguya play mind games with one another to see if they can make the other crumble. In a war with many wins and losses, who will be the first one to admit their feelings for the other?

SEASON TWO: While the mind games are still happening, it seems like they’re going towards a cuter case (at least when it comes to Kaguya). Yes, she still covers her tracks so she comes out looking cool as a cucumber, but inside she’s a mess. We start the season off with Kaguya wanting to celebrate Miyuki’s birthday. It’s just that Miyuki is stubborn about celebrating his own birthday or even receiving gifts (due to his upbringing). And then we add a few more road-blocks to this story with the addition of new members of the student body.

Then we end this memorable era of the student council as new members are set to take place with an election. Despite the sad atmosphere with remembering all the fun stuff that occurred last season, everyone will be coming back to their old positions for the upcoming school year. I mean, this was the third episode! It would be a real cock-tease if everyone left their positions this early in the season.

NEW CHARACTER: Let’s enter the Student Council Election arc! With the disbanding of the previous student council, it’s time for the students to choose their next president, vice president, etc. Miyuki was skeptical about continuing his reign as president, but he’s going to run for a second term. While Miyuki is still popular, a first-year student is ready to take him down. In comes Miko Iino! She’s seen as a sticler for the rules. Even when she’s in the student council, she doesn’t waste time scolding every member (except Chika) about minor imperfections. Here’s what you might recognize her from.

*Miko is played by Miyu Tomita (known for Crim on Interspecies Reviewers)

LICENSING: This anime is licensed by Aniplex of America (just like season one) and is EXCLUSIVELY streamed only on FUNimation. I wouldn’t be so pissy about this if sites like Crunchyroll and Hulu hadn’t already streamed the first season from the start, but FUNimation and Sony want to keep the series all to themselves. The company���s a monster!

THE DUB: Holy crap, the unthinkable has happened and FUNimation has scrounged up an English dub to this series. But only for this season! What the shit is going on? Is it like when Crunchyroll and FUNimation shared the anime Free! for a while? Why is it only this season that’s being dubbed? Well anyways, if you’ve read my thoughts on season one, you’ll know that I had “strong” feelings towards this getting a dub. Meaning, the narrator had to be voiced by R. Bruce Elliott! Well…they did voice the narrator with someone from Space Dandy. I just didn’t expect it to be voiced by Space Dandy himself! In short, Ian Sinclair is voicing the narrator and I am okay with this. He’s no R. Bruce Elliott, but Ian Sinclair is friggin’ awesome. I actually think the dub is really good from what I’ve heard so far. There’s only a few episodes available at this date and time, but make your own decisions here. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

ENGLISH CAST: *Kaguya is played by Alexis Tipton (known for Honey on Space Dandy, Lala on To Love Ru, Iris on Fire Force, Mizuki on Baka and Test, Aoba on Keijo!!!!!!!!, Hana on Prison School, and Saya on Blood-C)

*Miyuki is played by Aaron Dismuke (known for Al on FMA, Hiro on Fruits Basket, Kakeru on Fruits Basket 2019, Van on Escaflowne [redub], Marx on Black Clover, and You on Deadman Wonderland)

*Chika is played by Jad Saxton (known for Charla on Fairy Tail, Hana on Fruits Basket 2019, Koneko on High School DxD, Dorothy on Black Clover, Tamaki on Fire Force, Megumi on Food Wars, and Chika on Love Live Sunshine)

*Ishigami is played by Austin Tindle (known for Accelerator on Index/Railgun, Kaneki on Tokyo Ghoul, Karma on Assassination Classroom, Marco on Attack on Titan, Natsuo on Domestic Girlfriend, and Sunakawa on My Love Story)

SHIPPING PART II: Ooh boy, we’ve got some extra cute moments between Kaguya and Miyuki this season. From Kaguya giving a slice of cake to Miyuki for his birthday to the star-gazing moment where Miyuki grabs Kaguya and things get a little too close for comfort, this season was getting a little hot and heavy! Although, we didn’t get another moment with sick Kaguya this season! And it becomes increasingly clear to both characters that it’s getting harder and harder to put up that façade in front of one another. In the case of Kaguya, she ends up going to the emergency room only to learn that her “heart condition” is just the love for the president.

Even though we don’t get any kind of love confession this season, we do get some choice moments like Kaguya becoming friends with Miyuki on LINE, Kaguya’s run-in with Miyuki’s father, and of course that awkward position in a locked room between the two star-crossed lovers. You know what I’m talking about, the misunderstanding position. Literally every high school anime has this happen at one point!

MUSIC: So…no cute ending theme like Chika’s from last season? Crabapples!

Aside from that, the first time I heard DADDY, DADDY DO, I was a little skeptical on the visuals they chose to match the music. Thankfully, that only lasted for two episodes at the most and the rest of the time I’m dancing around to this catchy theme.

And while I’m on the subject of music, has anyone else noticed the amount of 80s music references that was shown throughout the season? Maybe I’m just stuck on that episode where Kaguya is trying to vogue like Madonna.

FUNNIEST MOMENT: Underwear and man-whores! So much misunderstanding it was too much for me to contain my laughs.

ENDING: The last couple of episodes revolve around the school sport’s festival. Surprisingly, we get a fair amount of time dedicated to long-time holdout Ishigami. He ended up doing something quite surprising by joining the cheer squad and was willing to participate by dressing in drag for a skit. I find Ishigami made a cute girl. Then, we get some cute Miyuki x Kaguya shenanigans when Miyuki’s father visits the sports festival.

So the episode before the second season finale, we get a full episode dedicated to Ishigami. In episodes prior to this one, we were getting a taste of what’s up with our favorite gamer. There was talk of Ishigami being a violent psychopath in middle school with the way the faceless rumormill has been talking. Apparently when Ishigami was in middle school, he would frequently talk to this girl in his class. But then this girl gets a boyfriend! That wouldn’t bug Ishigami until he overheard that boyfriend cheating on this girl. It does get worse with what this scumbag tries to do. And that’s when Ishigami beat the crap out of him!

Unfortunately for Ishigami, his class and the girl walked in when he was pummeling the shit out of this dude. And so the truth gets warped! Especially when dude starts lying by saying Ishigami did this because he was jealous of their relationship. Because of the altercation, Ishigami was suspended from school for a time, had to see a councilor, and was forced to write a letter of apology to the jerk he beat up. That last one, he was unable to do so. If you were in his shoes, you wouldn’t write an apology letter either, you’d write a note that simply says...

“Go to hell, Dumbass”!

Amazingly, those are the exact words Miyuki told Ishigami to say to that jerk. Miyuki was the first person to open up to Ishigami after this incident. Despite the harsh time Ishigami had in middle school, after starting high school he learned who his real friends are, both from the student council and the cheer squad. I really should state that I was happy to see Ishigami get an episode revolved around him. He was introduced only half-way into season one and felt like he didn’t make that big of an impact with me. Ishigami this season stood out a lot more and I was very satisfied with the results.

Now in the final episode, Kaguya lost something dear to her. Her phone! Let me explain. She was given a flip-phone when she was 5 years old to only be used for emergencies. Kaguya really didn’t use her camera until she was in the student council and these photos are pretty special to her. So imagine her shock and horror when it falls off the school building and being told that she can’t retrieve her photos. Just as well, she had an obsolete flip-phone. Even me, with my retro media collection, I don’t own one of those! But now that Kaguya has joined the rest of society with a brand-new smart phone, she was able to join LINE and all of her friends shared with her the photos they took during those special moments Kaguya thought were going to be lost to her forever.

In the final segment, it wasn’t really anything romantic-driven. It was just another game brought on by Chika. Basically they all took turns blowing up a balloon until it pops. Or, an anime version to the Spongebob Squarepants episode, “Wet Painters” where Patrick blows a giant paint bubble. And leave it to Chika to inadvertently blow up the balloon by doing something you wouldn’t expect. It blew up, blew everyone and the school away while DADDY DADDY DO plays in the background.

We end with Kaguya and Miyuki standing up together and the narrator assuring us that the war of love is not over.

I love this series, I truly do. I just feel like the way these stories were set up, I feel as though the first season should have ended with the 3rd episode of the second season. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the ending to the first season with the firework episode. It’s just that this particular episode gave us the end of the student council, Kaguya actually called Miyuki by his first name, and with Miyuki announcing his candidcy for president again, it opens up for more to look forward to with season two. But that’s just my thought on the matter. I’m sure this was the setup in the manga, but in the 12 episode dynamic with the anime feels weird. And same can be said about having the Ishigami episode right before the season finale. I’m glad this story was told, I just wish it was placed better in the 12 episode anime season setup.

Despite my tiny gripes there, I enjoyed this season very much. There’s definitely been a lot of development between Miyuki and Kaguya this season with some overused tropes and surprising moments no one expected. I can honestly say I didn’t expect Miyuki to take Kaguya by the shoulders as he talks about stars and constellations. Although, I did expect Miyuki to freak the fuck out sometime afterward because he thought he acted like a dork. But we get the main duo get a little closer with certain moments like the star-gazing episode, Miyuki’s birthday, and Miyuki adding Kaguya to LINE. So it once again leaves us on the hopes of a season three. Unfortunately at this date and time, no word on that happening! So maybe I should go on and read one of the 15+ volumes of the manga.

If you would like to watch the second season of Kaguya-sama it seems like the only one that has it available is FUNimation, with the English dub airing once a week. But if you would like to watch the first season, Crunchyroll and Hulu have it available for streaming.

[comicbookuniversity]

Lessons for the MonsterVerse

by Bunnypwn Gold

I have always been a big fan of Godzilla. I’ve been watching the movies since I was a kid. Now that they’re making new movies again, there’s a lot to be excited about and look forward to. Recently, I re-watched the newest one from the American MonsterVerse, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, as well as the last film from the Millennium era, Godzilla: Final Wars. Both films are big, ambitious, and include some major flaws, one of which they have in common, or at least they have flaws with overlap. While the MonsterVerse, so far, is great and is on track to continue that trend, Final Wars suffered greatest from this shared flaw, and so I am here to set out what the MonsterVerse needs to do to avoid self-destruction: take itself seriously.

Briefly, I want to provide a review and synopsis of King of the Monsters. So spoilers, it’s really good. Five years after Godzilla made landfall in San Francisco and fought against the parasitic MUTOs, Monarch is struggling to figure out what it wants to do with the Titans, as the monsters are now known, while the government and military are pressuring Monarch to kill them all. At the same time, one of their own scientists, Emma Russell, betrays them to assist ecoterrorist Alan Jonah in awakening the Titans with a bioacoustics device called the ORCA so that the Titans can spur regrowth in the environment and undo anthropogenic climate change. They revive Ghidorah in Antarctica, who then awakens all the other Titans still sleeping around the world at once, thus precipitating a conflict with Monarch and Godzilla for the crown. The film sets out to cover a lot of narrative ground while introducing several important elements to the series, and all the while it held together some solid character work for its main cast. Based on the new, expansive mythos that this film lays out—with the many new Titans and the abandoned Hollow Earth society discovered in vast underground caverns which used to live in harmony with the Titans—it looks like things will only get more exciting, and the future of the MonsterVerse is set out effectively and in grand style.

Godzilla: Final Wars is also about a large amount of monsters fighting for control of the Earth, feature monsters trapped in Antarctic ice, and ends with Godzilla fighting Ghidorah, but that’s where the similarities end. Final Wars was released in 2004 as the commemorative 50th anniversary film for the franchise. In it, the Earth has been defended from monsters for decades by the Earth Defense Force, who managed to trap Godzilla in ice in Antarctica years prior. All the other monsters around the world attack at once in the present, and the EDF was unable to keep up until the Xiliens arrived from space, removing the monsters and promising to make a peaceful alliance with humanity. In reality, the Xiliens were invading the Earth in order to herd humans like cattle because they need to eat human mitochondria to survive, and they were secretly controlling the monsters. So the heroes free Godzilla so he can help them fight the aliens and their army of brainwashed monsters. The plot also involved mutant humans and a fake rogue planet that was also somehow an actual asteroid that Godzilla later blows up. It’s a mess of a movie. That aside, it’s clear the film is trying to borrow elements from the three previous eras of Godzilla movies. It took an edgier look from the majority of the Millennium movies (from 1999-2004). The use of serious, formidable super vehicles is like the various super planes from the Heisei era films (1984-1995). However, the element borrowed from the Showa era films (1954-1975) is where it falters: campiness. The difference in this film compared to the Showa films being that they purposefully made Final Wars campy, despite the opportunity they had and despite the tone of the Showa era movies.

The original film, Gojira, is a very serious and tonally heavy film depicting the horrors of the modern era, with rapid industrialization in post-war Japan, the advent of the Cold War arms race, and the reason for that arms race, nuclear weapons, with the one man capable of killing Godzilla horrified by the devastation such an ability would grant. This movie and its first sequel were the only Godzilla films made in black and white, which impacts the way they look and how their special effects come across. After a several year hiatus, Godzilla returned to the screen to fight King Kong, this time in color. Seeing those monster suits and the limited special effects capabilities in 1960 of a B-list sci-fi flick in color really emphasizes how phony it all looked at the time. Throughout the Showa era, Godzilla shifted from an entirely villainous character to an erstwhile hero, and though the movies never stopped being presented as dramatic, they were made with an acknowledgement of how they look despite the drama and seriousness the creators otherwise wanted them to have.

Over time, of course, special effects improved. Starting with the Heisei era of films, Toho was able to produce much better suits and visual effects, and so they resumed making their movies with the kind of drama and seriousness that they had wanted all along. The Millennium era began in response to the 1998 American Godzilla, which depicted the titular monster with CGI, in contrast to the Toho tradition of using suits. The Millennium era was the last hurrah to suitmation effects, and these films, overall, looked great, probably the best that a giant monster movie can look with people in suits. Accordingly, they also hold up the more dramatic tone of the Heisei era while allowing each creative team the freedom to make the standalone Godzilla movie they wanted to make. The exception to this is Final Wars, which, as previously said, was not serious at all. Despite the successes of making serious, dramatic monster movies since 1984 and the ambitions of the Showa era’s large and imaginative canon, Final Wars decided to celebrate five decades of filmmaking by using cheesy comedy, camera work that screams “we had to edit heavily to make our actors look like action stars,” and what may very well be the least convincing acting of the entire series. The only person on set who seemed to understand any of this is alien commander X, who looked like he was being goofy on purpose, instead of on accident like the rest of the cast. Final Wars had the same opportunity as the rest of the Millennium era had to present a serious, dramatic battle for the fate of the Earth, and wasted it with aliens that seem completely unqualified to invade another planet and cramming most of their monsters into throwaway fights with Godzilla that lasted on average less than a minute.

This purposeful camp and goofiness of Final Wars is presumably meant to provide a lightness and humor to the film. This is where it overlaps with King of the Monsters, which ventured into the modern era of ironic, self-aware humor to provide levity. Borrowing from the MCU, King of the Monsters cracks wise during dramatic moments relatively often, in an attempt to lighten them up. Unfortunately, the jokes they go with are the weakest material in the film, and they do more to undermine the dramatic tension than enhance the film or provide levity. It’s like the scene in Thor: Ragnarok when Korg says they can rebuild Asgard, and then it blows up more, so never mind; or Hawkeye explaining how ridiculous his fighting robots with a bow and arrow is to Scarlet Witch in Age of Ultron. Maybe those are funny jokes, but they do more to undermine the dramatic tension than they add in humor, and both have the capacity to turn parts of the audience off by poking holes in the premise. It’s rather insecure and shows a lack of confidence in the work to stand on its own merits despite critics or easy jokes from the peanut gallery. This brand of humor gave us moments in King of the Monsters like Sam Coleman mishearing Ilene Chen saying “Ghidorah” as “gonorrhea.” It’s really not that funny, it wasn’t a moment that needed lightening up, and there’s no reason he would have misheard her since he was standing within ten feet. It ultimately undermines a moment in the film for an Asian woman to demonstrate her expertise by locating vital information about the threat at hand. But yes, Sam, I guess monsters sometimes have slightly silly-sounding names, like Ghidorah, which is based on the Japanese pronunciation of hydra, a very popular and well-respected mythical dragon.

The 2014 Godzilla film that started the MonsterVerse was enjoyable, but didn’t quite live up to its potential. That’s part of the reason I delayed seeing Kong: Skull Island far longer than I should have. When I did see it, I was amazed. I expected it to be good, and I heard great things about it, but it was far better than anything I could have imagined it to be. It was a truly great movie. After seeing it, my hopes and expectations for the MonsterVerse skyrocketed. I don’t think these expectations have been let down yet, and I expect them to be satisfied moving forward. However, the one thing I wanted most going into King of the Monsters was for them to lean into the tone and style of Skull Island more. In certain respects, I think they did, and the ambitious mythos being built here is far more substantial than anything in the Godzilla franchise so far, which usually has stuck to “monsters keep showing up and fighting.” The dramatically absurd tone, though, was what they lost by using the ridiculousness of what’s happening to make quick, weak, sometimes self-aware jokes instead of to highlight the intensity of the drama experienced by the characters. In Skull Island, when the squad had to fly their planes through a permanent thunderstorm, Sam Jackson’s character started quoting a speech about how the righteous men will win by not backing down and so inherit the Earth. The speech makes the whole thing feel even more ridiculous than a permanent thunderstorm already is, and in doing so amps up the drama and tension. This ultimately makes the arrival of a giant gorilla, which the audience is expecting to see, much more impressive and intense. That’s what I wanted for King of the Monsters. Yes, there are ridiculous aspects to giant monster movies, but the characters are living it, not watching it and thinking, “This crazy.”

Having this more serious tone is also important in really hitting the audience with the larger thematic power of the film. In Skull Island, the way Sam Jackson didn’t want to back down from killing Kong, even after seeing that it’s pointless and even detrimental to the troop, is reminiscent of the way America is currently stuck in multiple seemingly never-ending wars. At least part of the reason people don’t want to leave Iraq and Afghanistan is because they don’t want to create another Vietnam, the war that this film centers around on purpose. Having that tension of a dedicated army colonel who was just forced to “abandon” his war amplifies the drama of the other characters wanting to understand the problems of the natives and come to a real solution to their problems, and it all works because of how it resonates in the current political climate. The Godzilla side of the MonsterVerse so far is focusing on climate change, which, while abstract for far too many, is also a very real and pressing concern for a lot of people, paralyzing at times. Seeing the dramatic steps needed to fix the problem almost makes Alan and Emma’s plan in King of the Monsters feel heroic. The film is filled with images of crumbling, flooded American cities, and Ghidorah, an alien creating imbalance in nature a la humanity thinking itself separate from nature, is literally a living hurricane. There’s a lot of strong, serious, intense potential to make such a movie really meaningful. If they had taken themselves more seriously, it would have had this level of impact. It really is sad that they squandered this potential on silly jokes and a story arc for their generic, useless white man hero, Mark Russell. Like I said at the beginning, it’s still a good movie, but I can so clearly see how much better it could have been, too.

To me, dramatic movies making fun of themselves in important scenes always comes across as insecure, like filmmakers can’t simply make their movie first, they also have to preempt the internet to protect their egos. As the MonsterVerse moves forward, my biggest piece of advice is to do what Skull Island did and take itself seriously. We live in a time when a lot of previously niche franchises and genres are getting more spotlight due to the demands of studios wanting more high-action, effects heavy movies to sell huge on the international market. As these genres, once mired in cultural neglect and seen as silly and childish, come into the limelight, they both prove they always were to be taken seriously and poke fun at themselves to prove they know they shouldn’t be. I get the appeal of ironic, self-aware humor and wanting to be silly at dramatic high points, because it can be very fun and, when used properly, be incredibly funny; look to Thor: Ragnarok for an overall great example. But besides issues of improper use, this kind of humor is arguably at saturation at this point. It’s being misused and overused to the detriment of otherwise good movies in an attempt to compete with Marvel, who remains the poster child on this. So MonsterVerse, let Marvel, Disney, and all those imitators try to outdo each other by proving they can make more fun of themselves before Honest Trailers get to them. Just have fun making movies about giant monsters with the kind of drama and seriousness only modern special effect can give them, and use the ridiculousness of it all to amp up that drama instead of undermine it. Get over people calling you a nerd and just do your thing. As they say, being cool is all about confidence. 

[wessasaurus-rex]

One Piece Theory of Everything - A Revision of the Inherited Will Theory

I believe I've figured out most of the manga's greatest mysteries. A lot of the major ideas that I used as a jumping point are from the "Inherited Will Theory" by King Fisher over at the Arlong Park Forums which I'm sure most One Piece theorists are already very familiar with. I know it has it's detractors but for the most part, a sizable number of people seemed to like it and I was one of them. However, I believe the Inherited Will theory was not broad enough in scale to truly explain everything.

However, one of the most solid ideas of the Inherited Will theory was the use of repeating patterns, themes and foreshadowing in One Piece to form a prediction of things to come and this is primarily what I've used to deduce the rest of the theories in this list. I'm not sure how to break these down but I'll just go right ahead. I'm sure I can maybe edit this for readability later.

"One Piece" was the Ancient Kingdom. The One Piece is both an ideology and a tangible thing, as I believe Professor Clover was about to explain before he got shot. The One Piece is the entire world united in a piece, as one nation, and in true harmony with all of it's inhabitants. Therefore...

The Pirate King is the ruler of "One Piece". I formulated this theory even before the reveal of Rocks D. Xebec and that served as a confirmation on my part that I was indeed in the right direction with this theory. The title of "King of the World" and "Pirate King" are basically the same thing. This fits in perfectly with all of the descriptions of the Pirate King as the one who "owns everything in the world" or "owns the greatest treasure in the world". The greatest treasure in the world is quite simply the world itself. How was this done? Not by force, but by 20 rulers around the world swearing loyalty to one man. But this was not to last.

Ims was the first mate of the first Pirate King, the first "Dark King" The Pirate King was Julius Caesar and Ims was his Brutus. This explains why Rayleigh's title as the right hand man of the Pirate King is the "Dark King". He is meant to serve in the shadow of the Pirate King and guard him from the darkness. But this also places him in the perfect position to stab the Pirate King in the back. This is, what I believe, happened to the first Pirate King and Ims. And yes, that would mean that Ims is an immortal being - a possibility that was already foreshadowed in Law's fruit. In order to successfully do this, this must have taken more than one conspirator - which is who I think the first Gorosei were. If we were to take the Shakespearean comparison further, the Gorosei would be the senators that took part in the stabbing. They must have been part of the 20 Kings who swore loyalty to the Pirate King, perhaps swayed or tricked by Ims. However, this betrayal did not go unnoticed...

The War between the Ancient Kingdom and the World Government was a Civil War. Imagine a war that spanned the globe that erupted after the great betrayal. This was a war between those that were loyal to the Pirate King and those that usurped the throne. Unfortunately, whether it be by numbers or the use of devil fruits perhaps, the usurpers won a crushing victory against the loyalists who were then forced to run and hide and to inscribe their messages and warnings of this great threat unto indestructible stone while the usurpers erased history in order to both establish themselves as the supreme rulers of the world and also to hide their crime in the murder of the Pirate King.

The World Government is currently the "One Piece". Or to clarify, a corrupted version of the One Piece. Instead of uniting the world in true harmony, fairness and equality, the World Government subjugates the world and controls it for the personal gain of it's leaders. Further evidence of this is the entire ideology of the "Empty Throne". The throne is empty because that throne belongs to the Pirate King. However, only a true Pirate King would actually refuse to sit on the throne and lord over the world, instead choosing a life of freedom and adventure. The very essence of this was exactly recreated in the formation of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. And we know that current "Empty Throne" is nothing but a farce as there is someone who sits on it in the shadows.

Alabasta, Ryuugu, Shandora, Ohara, Zou and Wano were loyal to the Pirate King These powers and perhaps more were all loyal to the Pirate King and fought against the usurpers, with many other kingdoms possibly completely destroyed and erased during the war. This is why they were all keepers of the poneglyphs. Ryuugu Kingdom was promised liberation from the sea and for it's inhabitants to be able to dwell on the surface by the Pirate King. To light the fires of Shandora is to keep the truth alive in protecting the Poneglyph. Wano isolated itself and kept it's borders closed because they knew that the world was their enemy - and to open it's borders is to signal the return of the Pirate King. Alabasta joined the world government but it's royal family refused to become World Nobles. I'm guessing that the King of Alabasta was actually tricked into betraying the Pirate King and then realized it later and regretted it (foreshadowed by Squard) but decided to stay in the World Government as a means to either survive or keep a mole on the inside.

The Ancient Weapons were the power base of the Pirate King If you're gonna be a King, you're gonna need actual power on top of symbolic power and I believe that's what the "Ancient Weapons" were supposed to be. Specifically, I believe Pluton was the main ship of the Pirate King, perhaps even his first ship when he first united the grandline. I also believe that Franky already built the Pluton in the form of the Thousand Sunny, perhaps as a transformation. Franky burned those blueprints because he already memorized them. Next, the power of Poseidon enabled the Pirate King to control all the sea kings - effectively granting him control of the entire oceans. And Uranus, though it has not been revealed, I am confident enough to assume is indeed Momonosuke and I believe it enables him to control ALL OF THE TITAN SIZED CREATURES of the world - one of them being Zunisha. These Titans were probably immortal and indestructible and were therefore banished instead of killed. Zunisha is one of them...but the rest are hidden away in the Florian Triangle.

The Void Century was but the start of an era of darkness. After they crushed their enemies and formed the World Government, Ims and his Gorosei continued to erase history. It's more accurate to call it the Void Era rather than just a century. The process that rid the world of it's history in the Void Century never ceased. Ohara is a prime example of that. Every time someone got close to the truth, they would snuff out the light and keep the world in darkness. This is how they are able to maintain power - through blind faith in their system of justice and ignorance of the past. And the reason why they must continue this process, even to the very present day of the series, is because a Pirate King always rises. Whether through the hopes and wishes of the people, or through murmurs of a forgotten past, a will to overthrow this darkness and for the Pirate King to rise again was inherited. The Pirate King is not a title passed down through by blood. It is a title gained through merit. But this is something that the Kings of the World Government do not understand and still see the Pirate King as a traditional King and this is why...

Ace was executed because he was the rightful heir to the Empty Throne, The Pirate Prince This explains why the World Government went to so much trouble just to execute one man. Why they would go to war just to make sure Ace died in a public fashion - it was an effort to snuff out the flames once more. To keep the world in darkness. But what they didn't understand was that the Pirate King was not born...he was made. This enables a man truly worthy of the title to rise. And a mechanism of this already exists...

The Grand line is a Tournament for the Pirate King One Piece was a giant tournament arc all along. The Grandline is similar to a grand prix. It is an obstacle course where you also face others in a tournament for the throne. It forges any man, even a simple man, to rise above and become worthy of the title. The Supernovas are rookies that made it through the first elimination. The Yonkou are simply the finalists.

Garp knew. Garp, through his own experiences and probably Roger himself telling him the backstory, knows the truth about the One Piece. It explains his distaste for the Celestial Dragons (on top of the obvious reasons) and it explains why he wanted Ace and Luffy to be marines - he wanted to reform the World Government from the inside by training the next generation to be better. I don't think he knows about Ims though nor did Roger.

The Revolutionaries know. Seeing Roger executed at Logue Town gave Dragon his final resolve but he first knew the truth from his father, Garp. However, they had a difference in opinion. While Garp still believes in the institution of the World Government, Dragon would rather be rid of it altogether. However, he has no desire to be King and thats why he didn't take the route of being a pirate that is gunning for the throne. He just wants to destroy the main obstacle.

The Donquixote Family knew. Through privileged access to information or some other means, Doflamingo's parents probably knew the truth - or at least a part of it. That is what spurned their change of heart and decision to live as commoners. Doflamingo himself definitely knew but probably didn't understand it fully as a child and instead focused and internalized more the abuse that they recieved after becoming commoners. This is the secret that he speaks of often. More on the national relic specifically later...

Kaido vs. The World Government This is the "age of smiles" that Doflamingo talked about - the new age. He knew of Kaido's plan to invade the World Government and establish himself as the knew King of the World/Pirate King. Doflamingo's entire angle is just him being in a high position in the new world akin to a World Noble. This is why he was always just gonna be a lackey - he lacked ambition. This also means Kaido already knew of the secret and instead of going after Laugh Tale, he just plans to go straight for the main obstacle, same with Dragon albeit for more selfish desires that liberation.

Tom-san was secretly royal. Just as Poseidon was from the Ryuugu Kingdom, the original Pluton was probably built by Fishmen (submarine mode?), the same Fishmen who built the Noah. This doesn't necessarily mean he had to be royalty but so far, all the secret keepers of Joy Boy had been royalty. It might also be why he was living in the surface - to hide him away in case the Ryuugu Kingdom fell. It would have been terrible if 2 weapons were in one basket so to speak.

The Will of D The Will of D is the inherited will to unite the two halves of the world in a piece - in relation to the plan of destroying a portion of the Red Line in order to truly create the One Piece. The D is not an initial, it is a symbol. (Half a circle, D) A symbol that one carries in your name to denote that your clan believes in the dream of One Piece. The original carriers of the symbol were all loyal to Joy Boy, the first Pirate King...specifically, I think they were his original crew members. Monkey, Jaguar, Trafalgar, Portgas, Gol, Marshall, Rocks...and one more yet to be revealed (Ims?) And I believe each of them came from one of the allied Kingdoms...Alabasta, Shandia, Ryuugu, Zou, Wano, Ohara...and two more yet to be revealed. (My hunch is the kingdom where Big Mom found her Road Poneglyph and Elbaf). These people and nations represent the 8 outer circles in the symbol of the Kozuki Clan. This I believe was the flag of the Ancieny Kingdom, One Piece. The big circle represents Joy Boy and the One Piece. A total of 9 circles... such as the 9 Red Scabbards...or the 9 Straw Hats. (What about Jinbei? He could be the 10th circle, signifying change and progress, could also be why his proper membership has been delayed) Theres a lot in this one but certain parts could be true independent of the rest. I just put them together for the sake of formatting.

[thatothercosplayer]

Taking a break from writing plot stuff (building up shit in drafts so I can put out things more consistently) but I am in a Big Writing Mood™ so let’s sit down and have a talk about Gundam. 

I’m gonna talk to you about.... 

5 Gundam Sidestories That Deserve to be Animated.....That AREN’T Crossbone. 

So, before I get into things, I know what you’re wondering (that is, if you’re not mecha literate): what the fuck is crossbone and why is it being excluded.

Well, I’ll tell you, fam. Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam is a manga series that was written to kind of explain what would have happened if Gundam F91 would have been made a proper TV series. 

At least, that’s what it is in theory. I can only really apply this to the first manga series- not it’s endless sequels (Cross Heart, Steel Seven, Phantom, etc.) 

For some fucking reason, people won’t shut the fuck up about Crossbone, and how it needs to be animated. There’s no explanation as to why it needs to be animated, but people just fucking want it and no one ever shuts the fuck up about it.

In case you couldn’t tell: I’M SALTY AS HELL ABOUT THIS. I can’t go anywhere to have a fucking discussion about Gundam without Crossbone getting brought up. This has been going on for close to 3 years now and it’s driving me FUCKING CRAZY HOLY SHIT WOULD YOU PEOPLE SHUT UP FOR FIVE GODDAMN SECONDS

Um.

ahem.

Sorry about that. 

So, anyways. I’m writing this list mainly to get this off my chest and expend some energy related to me being salty as fuck about Crossbone. Ya’ll ready? 

No?

Too bad. Note: The placement on of things on this list don’t really speak to how I prioritize any of them, in any manner. This is just me writing it as things come to me. Without further ado, let’s get this underway.

1) Mobile Suit Gundam Sidestory: Missing Link (2014)

What? A UC Gundam entry? On this list? It’s more likely than you think. 

Let me say this to start: I fucking love Missing Link and think it’s a tragedy that it’s as obscure as it is. Like many of the series in the Sidestory family, it started off life as a video game. In this case, it was the crown jewel of the compilation game/remake/hd collection/whatever Mobile Suit Gundam Sidestory on the Platstation 3. This particular entry is a dual-sided story about two units in the One Year War: The Marchosias Special Forces, a dumping ground for Zeon pilots who are too violent, tempestuous, or injured to work in standard units; on the other side is the Slave Wraiths, which I would say are honestly the Gundam A-Team. 

I’m serious! They’re all military criminals that were framed for various crimes, and then were taken in by a rather dubious high-ranking Federation officer who uses them to clean up their not-exactly-legal-or-moral shit. They’re not so much black-ops but more like walking redtape files. 

The things that make this one stick out are the fact that, despite an ensemble cast of 12 or so that the story flips back and forth between, nothing is ever lost in translation. No team is focused on over the other, and by the end you’ll find yourself caring about both of these disparate, ragtag teams of jaded pilots. 

Atop that, the story’s protagonists are actually a father and son duo who have no idea that they’re fighting each other in the war (at least, not at first)! It’s a beautiful case of dramatic irony and for once, IT’S NOT PLAYED FOR TRAGEDY. There is a strong underlying theme of hope despite crushing odds running throughout the story. Great sacrifices are made so that the fire of hope can still burn, and eventually the two teams find themselves bucking off the military complexes that cast thema side and find solidarity in each other. 

It’s a story about unity, hope, and most importantly: understanding. 

Of course, that’s not even touching the FANTASTIC setpieces that permeate the story. Seaside battles, battles amidst the jungles of Jaburo (not above, not under, IN the jungles of Jaburo), furious battles to protect shuttles launching to space....I could go on and on!

Did I mention the mechanical design? What?! I haven’t?! 

The new mechanical designs in this series are _superb._ The Slave Wraith is great, but what’s even better is the element that connects these two concurrent stories together: The Pale Rider.

The Pale Rider is a phantom of the battlefield, attacking everything in sight. It has no concept of friend or foe, and it is there to silence dissent and wipe out any proof of ill deeds. 

Oh, yeah, and it runs on a variant of the EXAM System. You know. The one that the Blue Destiny has. 

The same system that was made by fracturing a human soul in two and shoving those halves into computers.

You know.

The one that made a Gundam an eldritch abomination.

That one.

Yes. 

Except this variant, the HADES, is far worse. 

So, now you have an enigmatic Mobile Suit that indiscriminately ravages the battlefield, all operated by a phantom hand that you only have a name to. One of my favorite things about Missing Link is the simple fact that, quite honestly, you never see the villain. You only hear the orders they send, and feel the impact of their decisions. 

Last, but certainly not least, while the majority of the story is set in the One Year War, the final chapter (which, sadly, is not in English in any shape or form save for the Gundam wiki) is set during the First Neo-Zeon War, around the time ZZ takes place- which makes it even more unique because there aren’t many sidestories that explore this time period, even if only for a moment. 

All of this combined makes for a fantastic tale of political intrigue, espionage, hardship, and triumph that I would easily recommend. Unfortunately, the only way to experience this story in English at the moment is SD Gundam G Generation Genesis’ chapter based on the story; as I mentioned above, the story itself isn’t truly complete, even if the end is more like a bonus chapter. It is rather extensive and covers all the key plot points, and also manages to keep all the character bits that make it so good.

tl;dr Missing Link deserves to be animated. 

2) New Mobile Report Gundam Wing Dual Story: G-Unit aka Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: The Last Outpost (1997-1998)

Holy SHIT why is every fucking title related to Gundam Wing so fucking long.

ahem

So....let’s talk Gundam Wing.

After Colony, in my opinion, is a rather weak timeline with little media worth actually looking at. What few sidestories there are are mostly rehashes, there’s not much variety in mechanical design due to the majority of the sidestory designs being variants of the main five Gundams in the show, and most importantly: the overall average quality of the timeline as a whole is incredibly lackluster. 

Fucking fight me, I’ll die on this hill.

However, there’s one story that I feel rises above its compatriots and manages to to be a bit better. That would be, of course, the entry I have listed above. 

G-Unit focuses on an asteroid colony, MO-V, a rather backwater installation with a population of about 100,000. The story itself runs concurrently with those of Gundam Wing, though the effects are rather negligible at best due to how isolated the conflict depicted in the manga is. 

The protagonists of the story are twin pilots Odin and Odel Bernett, who test the prototype Mobile Suits developed at the colony, the Geminass Units 01 and 02. Things are going smoothly, however, there’s just one problem: OZ is not happy with MO-V. OZ is the villainous organization in Gundam Wing- think of them as your Titans expy ala Zeta Gundam. 

 Anyways, MO-V has not agreed to OZ’s continued demands that it fall in line with rest of the colonies that are submitting to OZ’s rule. While, at first, it was ignored because it was merely an outdated factory (it mass-produced Leos, the go-to grunt unit for OZ, but by the time the story takes place the Vertigo has replaced the Leo), news of the prototypes traveled fast and it was deemed taking things too far.

Thus, begins a six month siege, with an entire army on one side and (at most) two men on the other.

Oh, and I guess two of the Gundam Boys appear too or something and Zechs might be there as well idgaf.

I still have yet to read this in full (as it was released in English during Gundam Wing’s heyday in the US), but the premise alone is interesting, and the majority of the new mechanical designs are awesome.

Just ignore the special Leo units that OZ-Prize deploys. Two of the three are the kind of bullshit that Gundam Wing likes to pull that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Having a gigantic, flowing cape in SPACE IS ABSOLUTELY IMPROBABLE. How can you style yourself as an attempt to go back to Gundam’s more serious, hard sci-fi roots when you throw in a fucking mecha with hair extensions!? This isn’t G Gundam! You can’t get away with that! PICK A GENRE, DAMMIT. 

Uh...

ahem. 

Anyways, I love what I have seen of these mechanical designs in action. The Hydra Gundam was featured in Gundam Battle Assault 2 (aka the game that gave rise to the “Oh hey! Big Zam” meme, which I love atop of being a good fighting game), while the Geminass units, Gundam Asclepius, Burnlapius, Gundam LO Booster, Griepe, Vayeate Suivant, and Mercurius Suivant (PHEW!) all appear in the Gundam G Generation games, particularly WORLD and OVERWORLD. They units I’ve listed above are all fantastic designs and really deserve to get animated proper.

Plus....well....

The only other Gundam Wing-related project that has any chance in hell of getting animated is Frozen Teardrop, aka the Biggest Disaster to Ever Come Out of the Gundam Franchise, Ever™.

So....yeah. 

3) Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray (2002)

Fuck. Cosmic Era is such a disappointment. The two TV series it has are half-baked attempts at rehashes of 0079 and Zeta with new plots sloppily dumped in, are overloaded with pointless flashbacks and too much fucking filler of people screaming each other’s names. Asinine writing, sameface syndrome, and behind the scenes bullshit abound.

But I’m not here to gripe about the flaws of Gundam SEED or SEED Destiny.

I’m here to talk about the godlike spin-off that SEED birthed, and has been criminally underutilized by Sunrise and Bandai.

Hang on, I gotta put on some TM Revolution to get into the mood.

...

Alright, fixed.

So! Let’s talk about Gundam SEED Astray and why you should be experiencing it Right Fucking Now™. 

For one, it doesn’t focus on Kira, so that’s already a huge plus. Sorry, kiddo- you may be adorably pathetic, but you are also a bore to watch at times. Nah, fam, let’s get some hot-bloodedness up in here! 

OKAY SO this story is about a group of salvagers. That’s right. The main characters of this tale is the motherfuckin’ Junk Guild- or, rather, the ship HOME of the motherfuckin’ Junk Guild.

Yes, I have to put motherfuckin’ before I say Junk Guild, because these guys are cool. 

One problem SEED has is that there is this bad habit of tying things back to the main series in some bullshit roundabout way that kind of ruins the point of having sidestories. I’m reading, watching, playing, etc these stories to learn about people in other parts of this universe who are either independant of the conflict in the show, or are only loosely tied to it by being in the same war but elsewhere or maybe being effected by it. 

SEED Astray manages to dodge that bullet by throwing out the concept of let glory-hog Kira Yamato show up and ruin things, and instead knocks him out for the duration of his appearance. 

Uh, wait, I need to talk about the story itself. Whoops! Let’s get back to that. 

So! SEED Astray revolves around 3 prototype Mobile Suits know as the Astray Red Frame, Astray Blue Frame, and Astray Gold Frame. The Red and Blue Frames accidentally fall into the hands of junker Lowe Guele and mercenary Gai Murakumo, who find themselves pursued by nobleman Rondo Ghina Sahaku, who wants the frames back. 

As Ghina begins his dogged pursuit of both parties, HOME and Serpent Tail (the groups Lowe and Gai are parts of, respectively) continuously cross paths, taking scrap from the battlefields they pass trough and extensively personalizing and upgrading their Astray Frames more and more. 

As time passes, conspiracies are unraveled, secrets about the origins of humanity’s space travel are revealed, and THERE’S A BRAIN IN A JAR.

Yes! That’s right! Astray embraces the wackiness of SEED and goes beyond it, resulting in one of the best goddamn things that ever happened in all of Gundam: the 150 Meter Katana. 

No. I’m not making this up. This happened. And it is amazing. 

It was a katana so big that they had to make a power loader....for a MOBILE SUIT to wield! 

Now, I may be cheating a bit by putting Astray on here as it’s....somewhat been animated. Sort of. It has a short series of 10 minute promotional episodes, as well as two 5 minute promo shorts to promote the later entries in the series. However, it never got a full-fledged anime series, and that’s an absolute CRIME. The 150 Meter Katana needs to be animated.

Lowe Guile is a fun protagonist who bucks a lot of Gundam traditions by being a hot-blooded go-getter who is always ready to take on whatever life throws at him, and his counterpart, Gai Murakumo, is a cool-headed badass who can turn around even the most impossible of odds. Their interactions are unique in that they vary from antagonistic to friendly and everything in between. This is in part thanks to the diplomatic immunity that the Junk Guild has, and also due to Gai Murakumo being part of the mercenary group Serpent Tail. As a result, the two clash, team up, etc. many times over the course of the series before realizing they have a common enemy. As a result, I feel that SEED Astray shows the Cosmic Era timeline at it’s best- displaying new possibilities for the Gundam franchise, and proving that you don’t have to rehash the same story over and over to be good. 

Lastly, as things sit right now, the only reliable way to consume SEED Astray is to hunt down the shorts, or check out Brunom1′s Let’s Play of Super Robot Wars W, which extensively features SEED Astray.

I rest my case. 

4) Mobile Suit Gundam 00F (2007-2009)

Let me tell you about a crazy motherfucker named Fon Spaak.

Fon Spaak is a fucking lunatic. He is a homocidal maniac who enjoys killing, blatantly breaks laws whenever he gets the chance to just because it’s fun, and most importantly: he is the good guy. 

Yep. Got your attention, didn’t I? Mobile Suit Gundam 00F is the story about another agent in the organization Celestial Being, who supports the protagonists of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (the first season of which I still uphold to be Gundam Wing done right) from the shadows. He covers any hiccups and makes sure that operations go smoothly, ensuring that Celestial Being’s goals are met.

However, he has to deal with constant sabotage from a rogue agent who is tied to VEDA, the supercomputer that helps plan and dictate a lot of Celestial Being’s operations.

00F is, at times, the Rozencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead of Gundam 00. It’s fast-paced, funny, yet also grim and violent all at the same time. It creates a crap-saccharine view of an already shitty world, and exploits that by using the larger-than-life protagonist to contrast the rather depressing events that surround him. 

Fon Spaak is a bit of an implacable man, and when he wants to get something done, he will stop at nothing to do it.

Gundam 00F is a bit rare nowadays, like any out of print Gundam material, but it was published in English. I actually own almost all of it (still missing two volumes). If you ever run across it, I can’t recommend it enough. If, for whatever reason, you want Deadpool to pilot a Gundam, this motherfucker is the closest you’re going to get. God speed, you crazy bastard. 

5) Mobile Suit Gundam École du Ciel (2002)

Come on. Like I was really going to leave this one out? 

We’re returning to the Universal Century for my last entry on this list, and goddamn is this ever a good entry. Set in the year UC 0085- a whole two years before Zeta Gundam begins- and continuing up into the events of the TV series,  Mobile Suit Gundam École du Ciel is, by and large, my favorite Gundam sidestory, ever. 

Period. 

I love all the above sidestories, but this one has a special place in my heart for a lot of reasons. It’s nostalgic, but it’s well written, and explores a rare time period in the Universal Century. 

The space between Operation Stardust (depicted in the OVA series Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory) and the Gryps Conflict as depicted in Zeta Gundam is a time period that has, to my (rather extensive huehuehue) knowledge, has only ever been looked at by  École du Ciel. That alone should be reason enough to hunt this one down and give it a read.

If it’s not, well, read on, friend.

It has a female protagonist (a rarity in Gundam!!) who, while at first lost in this world constantly at war, eventually finds her own purpose and sense of agency as she struggles to find a place in the world to call her own.  École du Ciel is a story about coming of age, the pains of growing up, and facing inner demons set amidst the backdrop of Canada and a sea of stars. 

The original mechanical designs are gorgeous, particularly the star Mobile Suit, Le Cygne. The characters feel human despite their extraordinary abilities, and they’re not perfect. 

Most importantly, something I’ll stress above all else- while the events in the series are impacted by events depicted in Zeta Gundam, there is hardly any overlap between the two, with little to no cameos by main characters from the show.

Which is as it should be in any given sidestory. It’s a SIDE story, not a crossover. I don’t mind the occasional overlap to show that things are part of a larger world (EG: Protagonist A brushing shoulders with Protagonist B from another story who is in the midst of an important scene, and A is merely a bystander), but extensively featuring a protagonist from another show just ruins the point. 

The TV show is about them. The side story is about someone else. Ideally, that’s how it should be.

And, as things are, this story feels fresh. The illustrations by Haruhiko Mikimoto are gorgeous, especially when he pulls out his signature hand-brushed style. The Mobile Suit scenes are beautifully detailed, and they carry weight and impact. 

I can’t recommend  École du Ciel enough. If you’re a new Gundam fan or a veteran, if you haven’t read  École du Ciel, do yourself a favor, hunt down some copies of it, and join me in my regular outcries of how it’s a damn CRIME this hasn’t been revisited in any shape or form after its print run. No model kits, no anime, no game appearances, NOTHING. It’s been neglected for too long.

I don’t care if it’s in G Generation, Gundam Breaker, a trading card game, whatever,  École du Ciel needs to return, and I feel an animated series would be the perfect way to do so. 

Well, there you go. Hopefully you enjoyed my ramblings about Gundam.

[the-sapphire-general]

Sonic the Hedgehog: My Thoughts on the Series and Fandom (Part 2)

Hey! It’s me again. I didn’t expect my previous Sonic post to have a second part, but I feel that I should write this. But first, the previous part can be found here to understand the discussion I will make. Part 1 of “Sonic the Hedgehog: My Thoughts on the Series and Fandom” Second, I dedicate this post to @cellarhapsodos, who has been having mixed feelings about the Sonic series for a long time. After discussing this with her and doing a lot of thinking, I want to address this to better explain my opinions in the last post. So prepare your snacks and beverages, this is going to be a long post. Okay not really long compared to the last post, but you get my point. Let’s do this!

As I said before, the Sonic series means a lot to me. I grew up with the games, the modern games to be exact. I was ten years old when I got my first game, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Sonic Adventure came next, and I obviously put two and two together and realized they were connected. Anyway, over the years I’ve become a longtime Sonic fan, buying any Sonic game that I could find. Now it’s 2017, and I’m still a Sonic fan and I will always be a Sonic fan.. My friend and I had a debate regarding the series’ current state. We argued over why people aren’t pleased by the games as they used to back then. I believed it was all just nostalgia and they couldn’t handle change. After all, Nintendo experiments with the Mario series. Why can’t Sonic do the same? However, my friend states the series changed too fast. Being the stubborn woman that I am, I didn’t believe her and stuck with my beliefs that the fans were to blame for Sonic’s rocky reputation over the years. I mean, I love Sonic. I grew up playing his games and I idolize him. He’s what made me into a gamer, and not just a casual gamer that only plays games like, I don’t know, once a week. I got angry over her argument, so I just had to give myself time to cool off. Compared to my past self, I have improved with people who had opinions that widely differed from mine. We’re still friends and we’ll always be friends. Ending a friendship over a disagreement is ridiculous. Unfortunately, not a lot of people in the Sonic fandom are rational. Now I couldn’t sleep a couple nights ago (I get insomnia sometimes), so I stayed up pondering, and I mean pondering on my friend’s side of this debate. It was hard to face that I was wrong about this. I hate being proven wrong. Lol But in the end, I realized I was misguided. I started to think from a different perspective, and…the Sonic series did change too fast. Sega took the “Gotta go fast!” literally, and it started ever since the series made it to 3D. Now I do know about the classic era games despite that I only played a few of them so far (Sonic 1, Sonic CD, and Sonic & Knuckles), but I can point out the series’ evolution. Okay, so according to my calculations, the Sonic series changed rather fast beginning with Sonic Adventure. Sonic started off running through places, collecting the chaos emeralds, and defeating Eggman (who was known as Robotnik back then). This stayed fairly consistent in other games (I don’t know all of them, so others may be different not too different). Maybe the changes in the series occurred before, but I’ll just say Sonic Adventure started the departure. Sonic not only traveled through places and went for the usual, emerald collecting and fighting Robotnik (now Eggman), but he was placed in Station Square, and had to battle a water monster known as Chaos or else the city is doomed. The game included a more complex storyline, which I personally don’t mind, but I get that it threw people off. From that point on, the Sonic series added more story, new gameplay mechanics, new characters, and basically different experiences. Yes, some modern games did take a step back to bring the franchise closer to how it used to be (Sonic 4, for example), but without drastically reverting back to the same gameplay from before. Those are a few games, however. Oddly enough, I heard people complained about Sonic 4, so I clearly don’t get their dissatisfaction. Now I will use the Mario series in order to compare since Nintendo almost never failed to get positive reviews for their games (we don’t talk about the failures, but there were a couple). Let’s see, Mario did remain faithful to its formula and despite adding changes as time went on, the games still managed to stay true to the Mario series. I don’t know when Mario started to change but my guess are the Paper Mario games. I haven’t played them, but that’s my guess. Maybe Super Mario 64 led to the evolution. Or Super Mario Sunshine. Whenever it started, the series did change during its evolution. But it didn’t overdo it to the point of having the fans turn away. Wow! Now I’m seeing what my friend was talking about but I was too stubborn to notice. Mario did evolve over the years, but it was subtle. It gradually changed as the years passed all while maintaining the core elements that make a Mario game, well, a Mario game. It didn’t change too fast. Mario didn’t go from saving the princess in a simple story to traveling through outer space and exploring galaxies to save not just Peach but the entire universe overnight. Yes I referenced Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 because those are my favorite games. Now it came a long way, but no matter what ideas they implement in their modern games (with their latest being Super Mario Odyssey), Nintendo has kept Mario the same in certain aspects. Sonic, however, didn’t change the way Mario did. It didn’t evolve at a pace that can keep fans happy. It doesn’t mean I like the Sonic series less after analyzing both franchises and taking my friend’s point of view under careful consideration. I love the modern games because they have been my childhood and to me, they are fun. Go ahead and disagree with me, it won’t change how I see them. I never grew up with the classic games, so that’s why I’m fine with their current games. I still think nostalgia plays a part on this when it comes to the fans, even if it’s a small one, but I now consider that the series did change too fast and it caught a lot of fans off-guard and now they just don’t like the series as much as before. I should know because Crash and Spyro did the same thing, which sadly led to their tragic end. But now that Crash returned back to how his fans remembered him with N. Sane Trilogy, Spyro could return as well with a possible PS4 remake of the original trilogy (please let it happen!). Their last few games were a disappointment. For me, Crash of the Titans/Mind Over Mutant and The Legend of Spyro trilogy caused their downfall. They changed too much and too fast. I understand why Sonic fans have been disappointed for a long time, but Sega’s doing their best. I know you may think they don’t care about the series anymore and they need to listen to their fans, but they still have the right to experiment. Now I don’t mind their games today (except the first two Sonic Boom games) because I’m a modern Sonic fan, but when (and if) they do listen to you guys, I have one request for Sega. Don’t go back to the old ways too much because I really like the way you’ve been making your games. Add the old with the new somehow. Mario did it and that’s why the series is still strong today. I hope someday the fans will get what they want but not at the expense of Sega reverting all the way back to the old days and never innovate ever again. It’s okay to try new things, they just need to find a balance between classic and modern. If that’s what it takes for Sonic’s reputation to improve, then alright. All in all, despite these obstacles, the Sonic series is still alive and I do hope it will last a long time. Keep on running, Sonic.

[owl-eyed-woman]

Attack on Titan Season 2 Episode Reviews - Episode 1

It’s been a hard four years. But now, the wait is finally over. Attack on Titan is back and all is right with the world. So, with the advent of a new season (and a new era of joy in my life), I’ve decided to review/recap each episode of AOT Season 2. A bit of background: I was a big fan of AOT season 1 while it was airing, and after rewatching the anime these past two days in two glorious 6 hours chunks, it’s clear that this fangirl fire still burns. However, I have not read the manga - yes, I somehow managed to repress that temptation and yes, the struggle was very real. But honestly, not reading the manga has been a conscious decision on my part. I found the twists and turns so vital and thrilling in the first anime that I wanted to retain that experience for the second season. So expect a lot of shocked reactions and enthusiastic ramblings with each revelation, and perhaps some ill-advised speculation. There will most likely be some gushing in these reviews, but I will endeavour to include incisive critical analysis, of course. Enough background, onto the review! The show begins with a wonderfully brief recap, (good work show) before picking up where we literally left off, addressing that final, tantalising shot of the last the season: a titan within the wall. This is exactly what we needed, no pussyfooting around, no wasting time, we’ve only got 12 episodes so let’s just get right to it! Before the shock can settle in, Pastor Nick begs Hanji to keep the titan out of the sunlight, which is ominous to say the least. Hanji complies with this but, desperate for an explanation, tries to interrogate the Pastor, threatening to drop him from the wall. Pastor Nick remains tight-lipped though, knowing so much more than he’d ever willingly divulge, even under threat of death. It’s a potent reminder that they’re not just fighting titans but the worst parts of human nature, be it corruption, greed, complacency or, in this case, blind faith and irrationality. As a character, Hanji has always had this intensity about her, but her personality and thirst for knowledge has been presented more light-heartedly as almost goofy. Here though, we get to see some of the frightening ways this intensity can manifest as well as their very genuine frustration that the knowledge they desperately need is constantly hidden from them. It’s a necessary reminder of the emotional depths of a character who is too often dismissed as a ‘mad scientist’; they too have seen many comrades die for humanity’s survival and are just as dedicated to the cause, willing to kill or even be killed. But even more shocking than that, in the face of this new information, Hanji, one of the most joyful and enthusiastic characters in the show, isn’t invigorated or scheming, they’re just exhausted and terrified by the depths of their ignorance. Crucial information has always been hard-won for our mains, but not only that, it’s how much they don’t know that truly terrifies and takes a heavy toll.

No time to rest, though! Further demonstrating that AOT intends to use every second of its runtime, not only is a titan attack imminent, it actually arrived 12 hours earlier and the battle is already well under way. Following this revelation, the episode flashes back 12 hours to the activities of the rest of 104th cadets who are having some downtime at the Scout Regiment barracks. Being a soldier isn’t always high-stakes, sometimes it’s just sitting around, bored. It looks like this season will be focusing a lot more on the side characters and I am very excited if this is the case. AOT has been the ‘Eren/Mikasa/Armin Show’ for a while and it will be good for the show overall to start fleshing out some of their thus far underutilised characters, like Bertholdt, Reiner and Conny, who have been sketched more vaguely in character terms. Oh, and Ymir and Krista too! Yeah, there’s a fair few I’m excited to learn more about.

As the first to encounter the incoming Titan attack, the 104th cadets are tasked with alerting the surrounding villages, but have no time to get into gear. The difficulty of prepping ODM gear is something I’ve thought about and clearly it’s on the showrunner’s minds as well with the opening featuring the gang suiting up, so to speak. ODM gear is amazing but by god does it look complicated and very intricate (I may or may not have had a dream once about frantically trying to put together my own set to fight a titan, but I digress). I’m digging this greater sense of vulnerability or even nakedness that comes with such a simple development and the ways it may change how future conflict is addressed. Not only this, the emotional stakes have been significantly raised for several of the characters as their home towns and families are explicitly and immediately at risk. The stage has been set for some tense, future moments!

In a brief digression from this main action, we visit Eren who is still recuperating from his titan battle. While Mikasa sleeps peacefully at his bedside, Eren dreams of his mother admonishing him for his weakness and his constant reliance on Mikasa. Eren has always had a complex regarding his own weakness and inability to protect those close to him – I mean, AOT literally begins with Eren unable to save his mother. He so desperately wants to protect those around him, but, unfortunately, Eren just isn’t the best protector, Mikasa is. Because of this, Eren often resents Mikasa and pushes her away when she attempts to get closer to him.

So, what does his comment about buying Mikasa a new scarf signify? The scarf is a symbol of several things; it symbolises their bond as family, Mikasa’s devotion to Eren and how he grounds her, and for Eren, quite simply, the time he saved her life. So, with this comment, Eren is renewing his commitment to being the protector instead of the protected with a new scarf showing that he has protected Mikasa as he once did. It seems as though he has entirely missed the point– Eren has always been a bit emotionally dense, especially when it comes to Mikasa. For Eren, the scarf primarily and most importantly represents the time her saved her physically. But for Mikasa, what matters is how he saved her emotionally. Eren’s heart is in the right place, as he is trying, in his own way, to say he truly cares about Mikasa. But Mikasa doesn’t need Eren to protect her, she needs him to be there for her emotionally. I’m interested to see if this dynamic plays out this season and how Eren and Mikasa continue to grow. Regardless, it’s nice to have a quiet character moment in such a plot heavy episode, even if it is more of a setup for future development than anything momentous in and of itself.

But there is only one star in this episode and that is the beast titan! Miche, who volunteers to stay behind to hold off the titans and give the others a head start, is given the dubious honour of first encountering him in all his glory. The design of the titans has always been such a vibrant, varied part of the show, in one moment unsettling, in another goofy and in yet another absolutely terrifying. The beast titan is yet another example of Hajime Isayama’s keen eye for designing unique and startling creatures. So much meaning is packed into his design! His almost ridiculously stocky, square body suggests a terrifying strength. His as of yet unseen 17m height highlights the fact that he can’t be classified under our previous understanding of titans.* His fur sharply distinguishes him from humanity and normal titans but his expressive, humanoid face and piercing, intelligent eyes throws into sharp relief his connection to us, and the threat his intelligence presents. Long ape-like arms combine the bestial with the uncanny while the decision to reference primate anatomy again suggests an uncomfortable proximity to humanity and hints at the theme of evolution. The beast titan is so effectively frightening because he occupies this uncomfortable, liminal space between species, further emphasising the increasingly unstable boundary between titan/beast and human.

It’s only appropriate for this to be the titan that delivers us a bombshell: some titans can talk. AOT has always been about breaking down the divides between monsters and humans, and the implications of this are mind-blowing. This reveal is also perfectly paced, with his first line delivered offscreen as we focus on Miche’s reaction instead. The action of the show itself seems to pause, forcing us to stew in this feeling of disbelief before confirming the origin of the voice. It’s the filmic equivalent of someone saying “is that what I think it is?”, revelling in that moment of incredulous shock. They’ve chosen a great voice too, appropriately ominous and imposing. It’s fair to say I am both terrified and mesmerised by everything about the Beast titan: his design, his voice, his intelligence, the way he can control the titans and how he seems to be studying humanity. As a side note, I want to give a shout out the to the goggle-eyed, big nosed chibi titan. He is disgusting and I love him.

In the end, Miche, shaking off his shock, tries for one last, heroic attack before being devoured under the beast titan’s orders. I will miss you, weird sniffing guy. To be honest, I found this death scene a little too sadistic. While gory deaths are undeniably part of the appeal of AOT and essential to keeping the stakes high and tense, it seems to go on for just a touch too long as we see him being violently torn and bitten apart by several titans. There’s a fine line between impressing the visceral terror of such a death and revelling in the violence thus cheapening the moment. Ultimately though, any opinion on this is intensely personal and, in this case, I won’t definitely rule on whether Miche’s death is tasteful or tasteless.

And now after waiting four long years, a new wait begins for the next episode. It’s going to be a long, long week. See you Sunday!

*Yes, there have been taller titans (colossal ones even) but I think its’ notable that his height of 17m specifically surpasses the typical classifications of titans i.e. 15m titans. **I did not expect to write this much, I will try to keep things more succinct next time