#and back to the villain his motivations really made 0 sense when you thought about it???

[zevranunderstander]

watched absolution today. it was not good fam.

[scope-dogg]

Gundam Narrative: Thoughts

This movie had something of a lukewarm reception from critics and fans. I think a big part of that is that it was more or less a direct sequel to Gundam Unicorn, which as I mentioned earlier was excellent in most ways. Directly compared to it, Narrative doesn’t really stack up. It looks worse than Gundam Unicorn (despite being a theatrical release,) the story is worse than Gundam Unicorn, and it’s a hell of a let cornier than Gundam Unicorn.

That said, being worse than Gundam Unicorn doesn’t necessarily translate to “bad.” While I definitely wouldn’t consider this to be an excellent movie, and in fact there were parts of its runtime that I’d consider to be downright poor, ultimately by the time the end credits rolled it had done enough to win me over. While I definitely see why some fans consider this movie to be one to forget, I ultimately enjoyed my time with it.

The plot setup is that while we saw only two RX-0 units in Unicorn, there exists a third unit called the Phenex that went rogue. In UC 0097, one year after the conclusion of the events of Gundam Unicorn, the Phenex has reappeared and has gone on the rampage. The Federation has dispatched a task force to capture it, only to be joined by Michele Luio and Jona Basta, respectively a representative of a powerful corporation who has a special interest in the Phenex, and Jona Basta, a fairly average mobile suit pilot who’s nevertheless been assigned the Narrative Gundam in order to recapture the Phenex. Both have history that ties them to the elusive machine’s former pilot, Rita Bernal. Meanwhile, a rogue Neo Zeon faction also seeks to capture the Phenex for themselves. Amongst their number is Zoltan Akkanen, a mentally unstable reject from the cloning project that brought forth Full Frontal, who seeks to enact his own agenda.

The movie’s biggest problem is that it’s straight up too short for what it’s trying to do. It’s 90 minutes long, and honestly it felt like a full hour of extra runtime to fill out blanks and just slow down what feels like a rushed pace a little would not have gone amiss. It doesn’t help that much of the runtime is flashbacks to Jona, Rita and Michele’s past, which is delivered in chunks and makes things feel choppy and sometimes repetitive as the narrative keeps revisiting the same flashback scenes multiple times. This is kind of a shame as the actual story itself is pretty good once you get past the sometimes-confusing way it’s delivered. Honestly it took me right up until the end for me to come round to liking the movie, and I think a part of that is because that’s when everything finally clicked into place. The characters are mostly pretty good - Jona’s a sympathetic lead, Michele is a fairly nuanced character, especially once her backstory’s all delivered, and Zoltan comes across as totally unhinged in a way that makes him an engaging villain, but not so unhinged that his motivations don’t make any sense. As far as the storytelling goes as a whole, I think it has a strong beginning, a weak middle and a strong conclusion. This is largely because the best animation and battles are front-and-back loaded, but also because the early part introduces the characters and builds intrigue, the middle starts to make things confused and things don’t resolve properly until the dramatic conclusion.

I can’t really sign off on talking about the story without mentioning what’s likely to be the biggest sticking point for a certain segment of fans. Some gundam fans express disdain for “newtype magic,” and prefer it when the series trends more towards being a more grounded war drama. If that describes you, this movie is definitely not for you. Unicorn was already considered excessive by many in regards to the power level afforded to newtypes by psychoframe-equipped mobile suits and their overall centrality to the plot. Narrative goes even further beyond that, to the point where it honestly gets silly. Personally, while I like the grounded war drama side of Gundam, the newtype stuff’s always been important to UC ever since the original series, so I typically welcome its inclusion, but even I thought that it was pushed to beyond reasonable levels here. I made the conscious choice to just try and accept it and enjoy it for what it was, knowing that this was ultimately just a side story rather than anything with real lasting ramifications for the setting, but I think that many others will hate it and see it as the series jumping the shark, and they might not be wrong.

On the presentation front, as I mentioned in the preamble, it’s definitely weaker than Unicorn. It’s not bad looking, but as a followup to Unicorn that was released on the silver screen you’d probably expect more, doubly so considering the movie’s short runtime. That said, it makes do with what it has quite well - while most of the mobile suit designs return from Unicorn, the two stars of the show, the Phenex and Narrative Gundam (coming in three variations,) are well-animated and feature in exciting battle sequences. The final battle in particular is a glorious pyrotechnic ballet with an exciting conclusion. While visually it falls short of the mark that Unicorn set, Hiroyuki Sawano returns to deliver another excellent soundtrack that elevates the rest of the package another level - particular mention deserves to be given to the track “Vigilante” which was probably the highlight of the whole movie.

Ultimately, while I think that as a direct sequel to Unicorn it’s definitely lacking, I think it’s still better than its reception would indicate and that it’s at least worth a watch. Just know that it’s more of a bonus side story and not the next epic chapter of UC Gundam - if you set your expectations accordingly I think it’s definitely at least worth a watch.

[garrothromeave]

the hell is mystreet season 6??

(warning, long post ahead)

ok so before i start this

1) ive never posted shiiiit on tumblr before so watch me suffer, im just here to talk about stuff that my friends who dont know anything about aphmau have to listen to me rant about for hours on end

2) i havent seen mystreet in like years (except season 3, i watch that frequently since im laurance and shadow knight deprived) so please bear with me because i might be completely wrong on this lol. it’s just like, pointing out things i remember

3) im sure someones already talked about this but who cares

4) im gonna do this stupid thing where i just explain myself a bit at first, if you dont want to read that just skip to the part where you see “the actual thingy:” in bold and italics 

5) mild disclaimer; i am completely aware that jessica is not a professional writer. i know that she did her best to appeal to her fans, and honestly, respect for that. while this post will come off as aggressive and probably look like hate, that’s not my intention in the slightest. it’s just... intense criticism. im sure y’all probably already know that, but yeah, just stating that anyways. i do believe that jess is doing her best, and in no way do i want to dismiss any hard work she’s done. that being said; prepare for a very strongly opinionated post.

haha watch there be 10000+ typos in this making me look like a complete dumbass

ok here we go 

one of the main reasons i stopped watching aphmau back in 2017 was the mess that was season 4. like, in the first few episodes of the emerald secret, i thought “woah!! this is kinda cool, im a sucker for mystery!” because of course i was, it was something new and something exciting. the only problem i had with it at the time was kim, but that’s just because i always found her annoying and out of place. i just didn’t understand why garroth dragged her along and honestly i still don’t to this day BUT, moving on.

anyways, as the season progressed, 13 year old me was of course just “:0!!” the entire time--that is, up until the reveal of the main villain. i remember watching the episode, seeing the reveal of ein, and then stopping. like, just for a quick break, but i was still just overwhelmingly disappointed. like, and this was the time when pdh was airing and ein just got made alpha (i think?) and i had really really liked eins character in pdh. either way, that really sucked and actually opened my eyes to a lot of things.

one of the main things bein’ the fact that this was supposed to be a slice of life kinda series that decided to take a turn to a more edgy kinda approach. which, i guess i regularly wouldnt mind? but seeing as mcd was kinda bein neglected at the time it just didnt sit right with me. BUT WHATEVER, point is i stopped watching mystreet all together at the end of season 4.

like, a whole year later my brother tells me that shit’s getting intense in season 5 + 6 of mystreet, and my brilliant self decided to give it a shot--but i refused to watch all of season 5, so i only stepped in when ein made an appearance. so whenever that was, that’s where i picked up because i didnt care enough to see 

and y’know--i honestly didn’t hate it at first. in fact, i found it oddly cool. it wasn’t enough to get me into aphmau again, but it was enough to where i was intrigued. i dont know why, but i never watched the finale, so i didnt see the ending until just a few weeks ago--but back then, i thought it was neat. looking back on it however... im just so confused. 

side note: only got back into aphmau this time around because of mcd. mainly because like, i adore the first season and the first half of the second season. and being nearly 18 now, im a lot more appreciative of plot and well-written characters n junk. 

the actual thingy:

ok back on track. imma stop spilling out my story of how i got back into aphmau, and lets just skip to what rewatching mcd made me realize of season 6′s plot and shit:

-emmalyn. how the fuck does ghost even remotely exist? if she’s emmalyn as claimed, then why have we already seen emmalyn in the mystreet universe alive? look i get that creators can do whatever they want with their stories but at the same time please provide some sort of explanation good god. and maybe they did and i just havent seen it, so if there is one--let me know. but until that day imma just sit here confused as fuck

-ok so imma just be real, the whole ‘ultima’ thing is just... not great. in my opinion, anyways. like... i saw someone mention this in another post, but if this ultima stuff was like, a really big deal, why isnt it mentioned in mcd? though i suppose since its a curse of sorts, it could be later on past the time period in which mcd takes place--but even then, how did it manage to make its way into aaron’s family bloodline? 

-WHY IS EVERYONE AT STARLIGHT ITS JUST SO CONVINIENT like what happened to this place being the most expensive shit on the planet or whatever, and how the gang happens to run into like, the werewolf trio and blaze and kai and guy and nate all of these people like god damn life doesnt WORK LIKE THAT 

-im sorry but turning people into relics? thats... thats the best you could come up with? plus, like, how does that even work? in mcd it’s established that relics are separate entitles that choose their wielder, based on a ‘personal’ connection (being a descendent of a previous wielder) or if they’re a good match personality and (i think?) moral wise. so the whole turning-people-into-relics doesnt make much sense to be honest. 

-irene really over here using her god powers to only keep her friends alive like god damn not a great god if you ask me 

-can i talk about how incredibly predictable aphmaus death was? like i just kinda sat there waiting for it to happen and when it did i literally went “haha! wonder when she’ll be revived” because god forbid we actually kill off characters 

-when aphmau + demon warlock fought in the irene dimension there was no passage of time whatsoever in the real world whiiiiiiiiich really bothers me because they fought in there for at least a few minutes

-speaking of aphmau and the demon warlocks fight does it bother anyone else that it had to be aaron who took over the fight?? like we get it hes the big protector blah blah blah but god damn it wouldve been cooler if aphmau had fought this battle as her. aaron fighting this battle was so underwhelming

-...love. like, thats the only thing thats needed to break out of a forever potion? love? LIKE YEAH, GOOD GUYS GOTTA WIN SOMEHOW, but its just so cliche and overdoneeee

-oh yeah and also when travis went bonkers and became the demon warlock or whatever, why’d he only take over katelyn and garroth?? like, zane had been influenced by the potions in the past as well? DONT GET ME WRONG--i do love some good brother edge, but uh, the demon warlock was just bein kinda a dumbass by not possessing zane too just sayin’

-can aaron please go to fucking jail for mass murder now like holy shit, he just got sent home on a fuckin boat. also why did blaze forgive him for killing him thats not even remotely realistic. then again, nothing in mystreet has ever been realistic when it comes to characters and motives and personalities, (cough katelyn being actually abusive and travis being an actual pervert) but yknow whatever

-katelyn and kawaii chan literally added nothing to the plot whatsoever. like lets be real, katelyn lost her personality the moment season 5 started and kawaii chan just kinda sits there :I

-ok im sorry this was bound to come up but cmon guys imagine laurances potential if he was in season 6 like god damn this is beyond maddening. AND YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A REALLY REALLY COOL PARRALLEL?? IF IT WAS LAURANCE WHO SNAPPED GARROTH OUT OF HIS MIND CONTROL THING, because it would mimic laurance’s speech to get garroth to snap out of his rage in season 1, episode 100 of minecraft diaries. like how fuckin rad would that have been? missed opportunity 

-also?? why does kim/ghost know magicks?? like, if i remember correctly, emmalyn is a scholar--not someone who knew magicks. i mean, i guess research? study?? but its been established that knowing how magicks works =/= being able to use magicks. i dunno, just doesnt seem right i guess. maybe its explained, i wouldnt know (yes i know that makes me look like a dick leave me alone)

-melissa should have stayed dead. LIKE, NO, ITS NOT AS SIMPLE AS “haha it takes more than a few bullets to kill me”??? look ive got nothing wrong with melissa (cough lie cough) but yknow it would have just been cool a character... stay dead? for once? its just too fuckin cliche that shes alive god damn

-can i also just say the only good thing that came out of season 6 was travis’ dads sacrifice like damn that made me actually sad

-howww was lucinda turned into a relic. or yknow, anyone else? like im sure they explain it better in the actual show i just dont remember, but its just that easy? turning anyone into a relic? granted, a normal person wouldnt be able to produce a good relic, but idk man. IM JUST SAYING; that the only really powerful relics that aphmau should have been able to wield is the one that aaron + zane produced because shad relic and esmund relic moment. lucinda isnt even like, connected to a divine warrior. ALSO, another point, if its seriously that powerful of a relic getting one from just a magic user like lucinda, why go through the trouble? i mean i guess ofc youd want the “all powerful” one that the ultima produces but i mean damn whats the point

-ok this is just going to bother me but in one of the episodes (i think might have been in season 5 actually) where that like, guardian dude was chasing aphmau and zane and at one point they split up and the dude just chuckles at zane diverting paths and goes under his breath “youre not the important one here”, suggesting that aphmau somehow is? first of all, id argue that any ro’meave is significantly more important than aphmau was, especially not knowing much about her other than that shes with aaron. i might be missing some bits an pieces, but if i was that dude id forget about aphmau and go after zane 

-killing off derek for shock factor sucked, and i know the moment was supposed to be really sad because like “oh :( aarons dad is sacrificing himself for his son” but lets be real dereks still was a shitty father and i dont think his reasons for doing what he did was very good at all

-less about plot or more like: why the absolute fuck did the gang bring kim along instead of, oh i dont know, a life-long friend? like, laurance or dante maybe?? im sure its explained, i never saw aphmaus year or most of season 5, but god DAMN id hate to be apart of this friend group AND GOD LIKE, imagine reconnecting with an old friend who ends up getting closer to your best friends and taking priority in their lives over you (cough laurance) like god damn lol

-im just going to preface this one with: i dont remember everything that’s happened, so if im wrong i apologize in advance--but (you actually can correct me if im wrong and please do) didnt like, irene reincarnate her friends in order to give them better lives? I DONT KNOW IF THIS IS TRUE, ITS JUST WHAT I REMEMBER--however, if im correct, then:

a. why the hell would she bring back someone like zane, or gene, or ivy, etc.

b. why the hell do they all have the same exact names? first and last? again, im aware that the whole mystreet+mcd tie wasn’t originally supposed to be there, but i dont think that means such a coincidence can be excused? its just a bit much if you ask me.

c. why the hell is the fact that (as much as i literally hate this) aaron is a decedent of shad being ignored? like, you’d think that something like this would be something thats actually important, or something the demon warlock couldve taken advantage of. or are we completely erasing every other connections to divine warriors besides aphmau + irene? because even if irene did reincarnate them or do whatever it is she did, does she even have the power to sever the connections between them and their ancestors? my guess is, no.

d. speaking of irene why on earth was aphmau able to talk to/see irene, they’re literally the same person are they not? did she like, fuckin reincarnate herself without actually doing it?? BUT--i will give it to them, the demon warlock did refer to aphmau as something along the lines of being “one of the 3 parts of her broken soul” or something like that. however, my point still remains. also what are the other two did i miss that or is it never explained

now; if irene in fact did not ‘reincarnate’ her friends then please ignore that little bit right there :)

but yes, those are a few of the problems i have with season 6 off the top of my head. i would go into like, season 4 and 5 more as well, but i honestly didnt feel like it. at some point i might go into other things, like how important laurance could have been to the plot of these later seasons, or HELL, even dante. i might also go into what could have made season 4, 5, and 6 actually good--maybe... a rewrite? perhaps? but im getting too far ahead of myself, so i just leave you with this for now.

and i know that as soon as i post this 15 more things are just going to pop into my head BUT im going to try and not edit this post because why stress myself with that even more

anyways thank you for coming to my tedtalk 

[musical-chick-13]

Control Z: S2 Final Thoughts™

-Very torn on Alex being The Bad Guy™ (*cue Billie Eilish*). It was a very interesting choice that I genuinely didn’t expect, and I think there’s a lot of room for compelling storytelling if we get season 3 in regard to the fallout. It’s also hilarious to me that she had, like. No help or money and still did this more effectively than Raúl.

-However, there was...nothing? To suggest that she was capable of this? In season 1 Raúl was just...kind of always a jerk. His very quick fixation on Sofía made sense when recontextualized with...everything the show revealed about him. And when the logos showed up during his house party, logistically he kind of was the only one who could have put them there. Alex has always been a pretty nice person, I feel like? She helped a lot with Isabela coming to terms with what happened to her, kept trying to be Javier’s wingman, recognized and seemed very sympathetic toward and reluctant to enable what everyone felt forced to do to prevent their secrets (including her own) from coming out. And she, unlike...basically everyone else, recognized and owned up to what she did in said sequence of events.

-And like. It just looks. Bad. To make the Overarching Vigilante Villain™ who Targets Innocents Who Weren’t Even Involved (sidebar: I still don’t understand why Luis was mad at Maria, and they never explained his issues with his mom?) a proudly out, underage lesbian girl who’s been preyed on by her adult teacher (whom she later has to solely depend on for housing and support). Like. Yeah, let’s demonize the happily queer, statutory rape victim. 🙄

-We have a lot of queer characters, but one of them is Luis (who is now dead), one of them is Gerry (the one who killed him and is also terrible), one is Gaby (who is a predatory teacher), one is Isabela (the best character on the show, but is sadly no longer on it), and now Alex, who was turned into a villain. Claudia and Maria are sapphics and good people, and I guess Felipe is all right (though I doubt we’ll be seeing him again), but we’re at the point where, even with all these queer characters, the ones left who are creepy/bad/dangerous outnumber the ones who aren’t, and I’m...not really sure that’s better than having fewer queer characters.

-RIP Javier/Natalia :’( I get why Javier felt creeped out with the whole thing regarding his dad meeting up with her via Creepy Tinder, but Javier really...should have heard her out. As one-of-my-fave-characters-of-all-time says: The situation’s a lot more nuanced than that. But this show is about flawed people, so I'm not just too frustrated.

-Speaking of which...do we...need?? The narrative glossing over Raúl’s shit and trying to make Javier look bad by randomly having him act out violently? He tried??? To protect Raúl?????? The whole season?????????? He took a bullet for this asshole in the season 1 finale??????????????????? Like...I get that it was motivated by a desire to protect Natalia to be sure she got the money she needed to pay off her debt, so it’s not just completely unmotivated, but given how dedicated he’s been to not using force to solve his problems, it still makes zero (0) sense??? Writers do know that they can just...write their characters consistently, right? If they REALLY didn’t want to put him with Sofía, they don’t have to make him look like The Worse Choice™, they can just have him and Sofía deciding they’re better as friends or have him move on peacefully with Natalia, THERE WAS?? NO REASON????? FOR ANY???????? OF THIS???????????????? God, I hate mainstream writers, I hate them so much.

-MARIA/CLAUDIA!!!! I AM VINDICATED!!!!!!!!!! And I do have to say, if they were going to make Proud Lesbian Alex a villain, I’m glad they at least had the sense to build up a healthy sapphic relationship to make sure there was still positive wlw representation. And the fact that I could see it before it happened is a good sign, both for the writing team and for the actresses involved. See, I can still give this show compliments!!!

-I think Maria and Natalia had the best growth this season, and I didn’t expect to end up caring about them as much as I did. Also, I’m a sucker for sisters y’all. :’)

-I still hate Gerry, but they did a much better job of making him relatively interesting this season. I’m glad he accepted that he likes men, and him choosing to turn himself in was an actual, genuine moment of growth. He finally did something I could wholeheartedly support, so that was kind of cool. And...tbh, good on him for recognizing that him bringing a gun to a confrontation has a bad history of ending in blood and that he refused to take that risk again. You know what, I actually think I simply don’t like Gerry, I’m not even sure I necessarily hate him.

-Pablo didn’t do a whole lot, but honestly I don’t think there’s much he could have added to any of the plotlines this season. Good for Maria for a) dumping his ass and b) making her OWN choice about not carrying her pregnancy to term (which, wow, for once wasn’t condemned by the narrative!).

-The writing for Sofía was...a mess. But I talk about that in a much longer post, so I’ll spare y’all. If we get season 3, hopefully they’ll return to giving Sofía the kindness, sense, and moving mental health representation she had in season 1.

-Speaking of which, I think it’s telling that the episode after she peaced out on Raúl, she almost immediately went back to the generous, kind, forgiving character we know during her scene in the hospital with Rosita. And the show actually took the time to, like...mention her mental illness. And then she set up a Master Plan, showcasing the intelligence we knew she possessed. It just proves that the show is better and more consistent if she’s NOT around Raúl.

-I never really liked Susanna. I still think she should have been the Bad Guy™.

-I’m not talking about Raúl because I hate him. But him doing one last selfish thing was very on brand and a good writing choice.

-So...how about that final scene, huh? If we get season 3, I wonder if we’ll get a flashback of exactly what happened that led to Susanna falling off the roof.

[amethystroselily]

(This was originally written on Twitter and that’s why it’s so bad. (Now with unnecessary censoring!!!) I don’t go on tumblr enough to know the general consensus on Geto here. This might only apply to Twitter. I don’t know)

I don’t know why everyone on Twitter thinks none of Geto’s actions were his fault or even immoral. He was a deeply flawed person who made terrible decisions and that’s what makes him such a good character.

EVERYONE at jujutsu high was in similar traumatic situations as him, he’s the only one who decided to lead a r*cist m*rder c*lt. And while I understand why he did it, it definitely wasn’t a GOOD or honorable decision.

And his daughters. He loved them, but he also literally raised them in a c*lt. I’ve heard ppl say he wouldn’t have cared if they didn’t end up following his ideology, but, like, he did attack an institution full of ppl he was once very close with for that reason, so while I Don’t think he would have killed them or anything, I do think he would have been p*ssed. So I think he tried very hard to instill his ideology into them. We know he was doing that to other people, bc y’know, c*lt leader, so why wouldn’t he be willing to teach that to his kids? Even ppl who are usually against forcing their beliefs on people, instill their beliefs In their kids. So why wouldn’t a guy who thinks he’s SO right that he thinks EVERYONE should follow his beliefs also instill those beliefs in people he raised? He would have thought it right and moral thing to do, and that’s the problem. I think ppl tend to think he’s a “good person” bc he can explain his thought process in a way most people can empathize with, but that doesn’t mean he’s a good person it just means he’s a good character.

Him being right isn’t about whether his emotions were valid or not, it’s about how he handled those feelings and whether he helped more than he hurt. And he definitely did more of the latter. While he did tend to rationalize things as a way to help humanity, he was more driven by anger, bitterness, and self righteousness than his desire to help people. I think that’s why he never actually accomplished anything. He seemed fixated on revenge and ki/ling people, and a lot of his plans were about kil/ling non-sorcerers, rather than saving sorcerers from them. I think he let his hatred get in the way of his original goal of saving people. I don’t even think it was about saving sorcerers by the end there. He was completely willing to kil/l sorcerers just so he could kil/l non-sorcerers, and I think that takes away a lot of the validity of the reasoning he pretends he has. By then he’d spent a decade in his little echo chamber of hate, so at that point maybe even he would acknowledge it was no longer about saving people.

Also can we talk about how stupid his plan in vol 0 was? It’s kind of unrelated, but he is not the genius some of you think he is. (Affectionate, this time) The man was running on pure self-righteousness at that point (probably the result of only surrounding himself with ppl Who worship him for the last ten years) Maybe Kenjaku’s kind of blurring ppl’s perception of Geto? He does seem to be using Geto’s cursed technique much more efficiently than Geto was. But that’s probably bc he’s ancient and knows a lot of information Geto didn’t.

Anyway, back to my original point, his ideology was blatantly flawed, he’s just charismatic and really good at deflecting, so it seems like it makes more sense than it does. Bc it does make sense to him, and ppl like him, they want to agree with him bc he’s charming, and likable, And Tragic tm, so they do (both his cu/lt and readers) , but like, his ideas are pretty flawed (and borderline eug/enics-y?) and the narrative doesn’t want you to agree with him, it just wants you to understand why he’s the way he is. I guess Gege did really well at writing a cu/lt leader at least. Bc I swear some of you genuinely agree with him.

Like how happy did he think everyone was going to be when the vast majority of the population was de-ad??? Including a bunch of their loved ones? What was he going to when someone had a baby who was a non-sorcerer? Ki1l it? What was he going to do if ppl revolted bc he murd/ered all their loved ones? Kil1 them too? There’s only going to be like ten people left on the planet. I refuse to believe this b1tch thought that through.

I actually think KENJAKU’S plan may actually be more ethical. At least their end goal isn’t literally to k1ll people, and allows far more people to survive than Geto’s. Ppl dy/ing just happens to be part of the process rather than the actual goal. And oh my god, that’s such a LOW bar. Kenjaku may actually be helping ppl more than Geto, which isn’t much, but like I said low bar. He’s just less motivated by emotion and doesn’t have a tragic backstory (YET) so he comes of as more ~EVIL~. But it’s actually hilarious that people see Kenjaku as so much worse than Geto when they’re about on the same level. Kenjaku is considerably less outspokenly m*rderous and Geto is a better friend, so it evens out I guess? I would say it’s bc Kenjaku’s trying to ki1l the mcs and Geto wasn’t, but that’s not even true. Geto literally tried to kil1 all of the second years, and Kenjaku couldn’t care less about whether anyone lives or di*s, he’s just just trying to “evolve” ppl. He took Tsumiki h*stage But as far as he knows or cares she could win the culling game, Geto would have literally kil1ed her for being a non-sorcerer. (He attacked a elementary school, he wouldn’t care that she’s a kid, don’t lie to yourself)

And, yes, a lot of Geto’s traits could make him a good person, but those same traits are the ones that make him such a bad person. (Passion, charisma, even empathy at times, bc he empathizes so much with select ppl that when non-sorcerers (who he no longer deems ppl) hurt them He feels wronged and lashes out at the things he deems not worthy of sympathy)

Anyway it’s ok to acknowledge his flaws, or even feel neutral on him, he doesn’t have to be perfect for you to like him. (This isn’t a Kenjaku defense post, btw, it’s just funny that that’s true) I’ve seen way too many posts claiming the only bad thing Geto’s ever done is hurting Maki, and like, that’s nearly objectively false. And like half of them were completely unironic. A sympathetic villain isn’t the same thing as a hero.

This isn’t even Geto hate, I LIKE him, but the widespread perception of him being completely justified just feels so wrong. Why do so many people feel SO protective of him? Is his c-ult leader charisma just that effective?

I actually think pretending none of his flaws exist takes away SO much from his character. It strips away his agency and turns him into this tragic can-do-no-wrong figure that he just isn’t. He’s someone who couldn’t handle their own tr*uma and decided to take it out on the world. The way he decided to handle that is no one’s fault but his own.

[thevindicativevordan]

Metallo

I wanted to talk about one of my favorite DC villains, a guy who I’ve always thought was incredibly cool. A guy who I’ve thought makes a really awesome contrast for Superman. A guy who has never been in stories that have utilized his potential in my eyes:

Let’s talk about Metallo.

Metallo’s Background

He’s one of Superman’s oldest Rogues, and also one of the Rogues who has gone through the most revamps. The Golden Age Superman fought a guy called Metalo aka George Grant who created a suit of armor made out of the strongest metal on Earth (something that would resurface in the Grant Morrison revamp during the New 52) and a super strength serum that made him Superman’s physical equal. In an odd way he was an evil proto-Iron Man/Post Crisis Lex Luthor:

The John Corben take wouldn’t show up until the 1950s, created by Robert Bernstein and Al Plastino. This was the foundation for the modern conception of Metallo:

Right off the bat Corben was positioned as an Anti-Superman, predating Bizarro who wouldn’t show up until later. Corben worked as a journalist to cover up his real activities as a murderer and thief. An accident that nearly killed him and crippled his human body, forced him to accept a deal with a scientist to transfer his mind to a new artificial body. The scientist transferred his mind into an android body covered in synthetic bulletproof skin, gifting Corben with super strength. The synthetic skin idea would be used in Byrne’s revamp and the DCAU incarnation. He was initially powered by uranium, but was told he would need Kryptonite to fuel himself permanently. Corben would also act as a romantic rival for Clark via wooing Lois with his pretense of being Superman’s secret identity.

Ultimately John Corben would die in his debut issue, after mistaking a museum prop for the actual Kryptonite he needed to power himself. I often wonder if the character might have been better off if he had not been killed off in his debut, similarly to how the Joker was saved from dying in his debut by editorial. There were many intriguing ideas present in Corben’s creation: He was a romantic rival for Clark Kent, he used his journalism in a similar if villainous way as Superman did, and he was powered by the very thing that could kill Superman while still possessing enough raw strength to stand on equal terms with the Man of Steel. If they had kept him around, fleshed him out more, might Metallo have enjoyed more long term respect?

 Regardless, Corben’s death paved the way for the third Metallo: His brother Roger Corben.

Roger likewise had a lot of interesting ideas that would eventually get folded into the modern Metallo. He was not a petty thief, but had a personal vendetta with Superman over the death of his brother. Superman accidentally caused the very accident that crippled Roger, adding to the man’s feud. Roger was also a leader within the Skull organization, rather than the small time criminal his brother was. This Metallo’s design would form the basis for the Geoff Johns/Gary Frank revamp during Secret Origin, and I suspect the Johns conception of Metallo as a member of a wider organization and whose transformation was caused by Superman has it’s roots here.

Sadly the take on a more fleshed out Metallo would not last. The Roger Corben version of Metallo would meet his end with the rest of the Pre-Crisis Superman Rogues Gallery in the seminal Alan Moore story Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

Enter John Byrne:

During his Post-Crisis revamp of the Supermythos, Byrne returned to the John Corben take of a petty thief injured in an accident, who is rebuilt by a mad scientist Professor Vale. Byrne added his own twist though, with the scientist believing Superman to be the first scout in a full blown Kryptonian takeover of Earth, and specifically crafted Metallo to be an Anti-Superman weapon powered by Kryptonite. Metallo was to be humanity’s defense against the threat of Superman, an idea that would be revisited in Johns’ and Morrison’s revamps. Unfortunately petty thieves don’t make for great heroes, and Metallo killed Vale, ultimately coming into conflict with Superman not over any desire to protect humanity, but to simply eliminate a thorn in his side.

This incarnation of Metallo has basically served as the basis for his appearance in outside media, with a design that blatantly draws on the popular Terminator films.

This version of Metallo would also acquire a variety of powers thanks to making a deal with Neron that included the ability to transform parts of his body into weapons, transfer his consciousness into any technological or mechanical device, and manipulate his size:

Personally I’ve always loved that powerset upgrade, and think it’s crucial it sticks. It let him kick the shit out of Superman AND Batman in Loeb Superman/Batman, which basically solidified for me that this dude was a badass you didn’t want to mess with. Shame he’s never come close to matching that initial impression since.

The DCAU mostly used the Byrne revamp’s take, but they did change a few aspects which would end up carrying over to the mainline version. Most important was the replacing of Vale with Lex Luthor as the mind behind Metallo’s creation, something that would be incorporated in both Johns and Morrison’s later revamps.

One aspect that they introduced that didn’t carry over, that was still utilized to great effectiveness in the show, was that Corbyn’s transformation had robbed him of most physical sensation. He couldn’t taste, smell, touch, all the little things that made us human, and that drove him nuts. Ultimately he would learn that Lex was responsible for what happened to him, and he would swear a grudge against both Lex and Superman. Malcom McDowell was a fantastic choice to play Metallo, and is still the guy I “hear” when I read Metallo’s dialogue.

Now we come to the guy who crafted the next big revamp of Metallo: Geoff Johns.

This version of Metallo incorporated a ton of aspects from the multiple revamps that had preceded it, in much the same way Secret Origin did to Superman as a whole, while also adding a few new twists that I consider essential to the character now.

Like the DCAU, Luthor was the one who transformed Corben into Metallo. Like the Roger Corben take, this John Corben was accidentally crippled in a fight with Superman that gave him a personal vendetta against the Man of Steel.  Similar to Byrne, this Metallo was created to be an Anti-Superman weapon. Corben and Lois had had a brief romantic relationship, similar to the original debut of Corben. Johns even incorporated some of the Golden Age Metallo by having Corben suit up in a mech suit made of “Metallo”, the strongest metal on Earth to fight Superman before the accident. Johns also added a key bit of lore that I love, that Corben served as a soldier under General Sam Lane, and became the man’s surrogate son, the child he always wanted as opposed to Lois and Lucy. Here Corben is motivated to fight Kal-El by a mix of xenophobia, need to impress his father figure, desire to impress Lois, and a simple dose of blood lust.

The last major revamp came from Grant Morrison during the New 52:

Morrison kept a lot of the Johns revamp: Corben was a soldier serving under Sam Lane, he had a brief romantic relationship with Lois, he was distrustful of Superman’s heroics, and his transformation into Metallo was connected to Lex. However Corben was a much more sympathetic figure under Morrison than under Johns, genuinely believing Superman to be a threat, he volunteered to be merged with the Metal-0 superweapon (another callback to the original Metalo) to defend humanity, but Brainiac hijacked his cybernetics and turned him into a weapon. 

While Metallo would get another visual revamp for Rebirth, posted in the first image, Corben has more or less stayed within the confines that Byrne/Johns/Morrison established.

How I would use Metallo

I said earlier that Metallo is a guy I loved that I’ve never thought has lived up to his potential. He’s a villain with a lot of cool ideas, he’s a villain who has been continuously used by a lot of my favorite writers, but he’s never lived up to the Anti-Superman characterization that’s baked into him. Too often he’s just been a glorified henchman, or a petty thug, rarely if ever challenging Superman except in the most basic physical sense. I think that’s a great disservice to the ability of the character to be a much more important Rogue. That writers so often refuse to focus on him or any of the Rogues beyond Lex also hasn’t done him any favors. Instead of creating countless new OCs that are tossed aside by the next writer, someone needs to come on board with a passion for revamping the classics.

A lot of Superman’s Rogues suck not because they aren’t cool or don’t bring any interesting ideas, but because the ideas don’t do a good job in contrasting with Superman’s attributes. Metallo is a great example of this, look at all the interesting ideas creators have crafted around him, yet none of them have really been able to push those ideas as a way to explore and contrast Superman, so we get basic “Metallo tries to kill Superman, fails, Superman sends him back to jail” stories. That’s a failure of creativity in my eyes. I think that by choosing from some of the revamps listed above, a better, cooler, more interesting Metallo can be crafted.

The basics as established by Byrne/Johns/Morrison are great! The essential ideas that should be incorporated from all of the revamps listed above are:

1. Corben needs to have a military background as in Johns/Morrison. The petty thief origin is too dull, there’s nothing really to be mined there from a characterization standpoint. As a soldier Corben can serve as an interesting critique and contrast of Superman as an icon of America. The “American Way” has always been a dicey add-on to the original “Truth and Justice” motto. Often it’s been used to cast Superman as an obedient stooge of the government, as he was in The Dark Knight Returns, a characterization that has dogged him ever since. I think Corben can serve as an interesting character to explore Superman’s relationship with the American military-industrial complex. I would have Corben be what said complex wants Superman to be, at least in the beginning: A human WMD they can aim and fire, who will always follow orders no matter how reprehensible they are, who has a firm “America First” mindset. That way you can contrast the mainline Superman, and show that Superman is not that while also establishing what “The American Way” means in his eyes. Or you can have Superman drop that aspect of his motto in-universe, out of disgust for how his government perverts it. Either option is fine with me, I didn’t mind when Superman renounced his American citizenship.

2. If Lois often has to end up working with Clark’s exes, whether it’s Lana, Diana, or whoever, I think it’s only fair that Clark has to end up facing down an ex from Lois’ past. It’s important to show that Lois had a life before Clark showed up, and I think Corben is a good way to explore some of that. He’s the possessive ex-boyfriend who doesn’t respect Lois’ personal space and is convinced he can “win her back” via sheer determination. You can also compare and contrast the way Clark courted Lois, did Clark occasionally make the same pigheaded assumptions as Corben did? Corben debuted as a romantic rival for Superman, and I think that aspect still has merit. I also like his status as Sam’s surrogate son, it adds for some nice tension with Clark’s father-in-law that the guy he actually wanted to marry Lois was transformed into a weapon to kill the guy who ended up being his son-in-law. 

3. Corben is a true believer in the threat Superman poses, and is willing to take on the transformation into Metallo to protect humanity. It’s xenophobia yes, but with all the Evil Superman stories going around, it’s hard not to sympathize at least a little bit with Corben’s viewpoint, which tie into a deeper attribute of Corben’s I think needs to be brought up: Corben should be a sympathetic villain. I wouldn’t make him a bloodthirsty psycho, Superman has plenty of those. Corben should have villainous valor, willing to tackle on whatever threats to humanity are out there, whether Superman or others. I would make Corben instead someone who has the genuine desire to protect humanity, but lacks Superman’s concern for collateral damage. In that way you could contrast the two’s brand of “heroics”, Superman’s loyalty to humanity as a whole over one nation, and concern with protecting lives first and foremost, Corben’s desire to protect humanity’s future for the “greater good” even if it costs a few lives in the here and now and loyalty to America above all else. 

4. I like the idea of Superman being inadvertently responsible for the accident that cripples Corben and mandates his transformation. It adds to his sympathy, helps justify why Superman might continue to believe Corben could find redemption (he wants Corben to change and also wants to find a way to earn Corben’s forgiveness one day), and provides a good personal reason for why Corben would hate Superman, blaming Supes for his current state. I would also have him blame Sam and Lex as well, but he would subdue those resentments for as long as he remained working for the military. Only after he finally snaps would he target those two.

5. Finally I would keep the ability to shapeshift his body into weapons, and to manipulate technology. I would have Corben emulating Adam Jensen from Deus Ex, able to “hack” tech around him for his own purpose, armed with a variety of weapons that make him a huge threat not just to Superman but to everyone. Finally I would get rid of the Kryptonite heart. I’m tired of every battle with Metallo going the same way: He shows up, blasts Superman with kryptonite radiation, Superman lies on the ground gasping in pain, Metallo stands around gloating like a moron instead of finishing Supes off, Supes beats him by tricking him or by someone else intervening. I want to see Metallo as an Anti-Superman weapon realized beyond jus the Kryptonite. How about incorporating the DCAU version’s lack of feeling, so that Metallo doesn’t feel pain from Superman’s blows or his powers? How about giving him an internal temperature controller, so he can’t be melted by heat vision or frozen by arctic breath? How about an invisibility cloak that hides him from Superman’s vision, sound mufflers that let him sneak up on Supes even with his hearing, basically go WILD with his Anti-Superman status, let us see a real fight between someone who can counter each of Superman’s powers! You have Kryptonite Man and Lex for the villains who mainly make use of Kryptonite against Superman, I think Metallo should go in a different direction. Morrison making it so that “Metal-0″ was already powerful enough to hurt Superman is all the justification you need as to why he still poses a threat in my opinion.

I’ll go over the basic arc I’d want to see him undergo and the kinds of stories I think he’s positioned to tell in another post.

[torivikachu]

okay I promised myself I'll get to this topic one day, so here's my venting about Orochimaru in the whole SNS dynamics and in general.

first of all -

there is a Russian expression that is roughly translated like "the crook-backed can only be changed by grave" and well that's like literally the case since he just made a fucking 180° spin after his revival /okay mb a 179° one he still is kinda creepy in some cute way /

so I wanna start from the beginning.

when Orochimaru was first introduced he was sort of an ultimate villain, a disgusting and merciless and heartless and just the epitome of fucking evil, you know?

I mean his tongue? dude that was the creepiest thing I saw by the age of 12 /and probably till my current age of proud 22 / and I already discovered some pretty heavy hentai shit by then /aaand showed to my 6 yo sister....talk about childhood trauma / so I was ready to pretty much everything BUT THAT

and his ripping off faces and reviving the dead and killing his sensei and all those experiments on humans .... he is THE CREEPIEST villain in Naruto. I mean it.

this is why seeing him on Boruto all cute and caring parent / even though his son is a homunculus / really throws me off.

but lets return to a moment he marked Sasuke.

first of all, when Naruto sees them battle, he charges right in and goes all kyuubi to protect Sasuke and encourages him / even if in a somehow mocking naruto-isch way - well what do you want a guy never had anybody encourage him before how is he supposed to know this stuff / - so Naruto already sees Orochimaru as a threat to Sasuke.

if you remember, Naruto was unconscious and didn't know about the mark since Sasuke asked Sakura not to tell him. so he just went on believing it was over and honestly thought he and Sasuke were okay / which they actually were until Itachi was back in town /

and then when the 4 of Sound find Sasuke and convince him to turn to Orochimaru, even though Naruto saw they were falling apart, he felt betrayed. and twice as much, because it was OROCHIMARU Sasuke turned to. fucking Orochimaru, who Sasuke believed to be better suited for helping him / even though it meant he'd have to sacrifice his body / then anybody in Konoha, even with his hands not functional Orochimaru was his choice and that must have hurt Naruto bad.

he chose to believe Sasuke was abducted, but then he caught up to him and discovered that he was not, that Sasuke was leaving him for the damn snake and the worry the betrayal the devastation he felt ...

it could have broken him, but he chose to fight. he channeled all of this heartbreak and pain into motivation. and that is exactly what I admire about Naruto.

so back to Sasuke, who made the hardest choice of his life / yet / and comes to Orochimaru. he is drained, physically and emotionally, but he enters the life of constant fear and being on guard, because he can't trust the snake - his intentions of taking over his body were clear as a day.

I am not sure if Orochimaru would make any sexual advances... I think he is into many nasty things pedophilia being one of them, but I like to believe he never did anything to Sasuke. he might have watched or examined certain parts way too intently but I think fucking a body that was going to be his would be too much even for him. but you never know with those psychos.

anyway, he admired Sasuke. way too much. and he felt like a collector owning the best precious thing in the word. and yes for him it was like that - he felt like he owned Sasuke and he liked it. he enjoyed it.

pretty sure Sasuke didn't like that and his rebellious and disrespectful way of speaking with Orochimaru sure shows that.

but Orochimaru never let it phase him. I think he got a bit dillusional after his fight with Sarutobi - whether it was his encounter with the deadly technic that chopped some of his soul or the aftermath... he got more careless and overconfident and he really must have believed he owned Sasuke since he didn't see it coming when the latter attacked him.

so, even if Sasuke did feel something towards Orochimaru, it was disgust, pity and maybe a little respect for all the power the guy harnested. there is a chance he developed some ill-motivated teacher/student bond with him / since the guy was a bit of a batshit crazy parody on a parental figure for three years for him / but it wasn't that strong.

but Naruto didn't know that. all data he posessed was

1. Orochimaru has a weird obsession with Sasuke

2. Sasuke went to Orochimaru

of course Naruto was fucking jelous of Orochimaru! no wonder he went kyuubi after Orochimaru flaunted his ownership of Sasuke on that bridge and almost destroyed a forest in his wrath while Orochimaru kept sliding out of bodies one after another and just enjoying the display of anger.

and when Sasuke killed Orochimaru, I bet Naruto thought that was it! nnnnice! Naruto vs. Orochimaru 1:0! Love wins!

uh huh.

then Sasuke goes on rampage with his band of Orochimaru pets / I think Naruto didn't like that aswell /

but then Sasuke suddenly needs an advice.

guess who he turns to?

a fucking Orochimaru!!!!!

but Naruto didn't know that, he was busy saving the world?? but then Sasuke and his messed up team of hokages and Konoha enemies join them and Naruto had to sense Orochimaru, but I guees he was too happy to see Sasuke to pay much attention to it.

and then Orochimaru is redeemed and can continiou his research / though outside of Konoha - I am pretty much Naruto still doesn't exactly like the guy / and Sasuke keeps using his help for his missions so Naruto HAS to put up with that. he does everything he can, he even lets a homunculus made by Orochimaru / no offense to Mizuki I like Mizuki / enter the academy, because he wants to be a good person and good hokage and not let bad feelings interfere with his ruling...

and Orochimaru agreed to lay low...

and I am pretty sure Sasuke didn't really see the problem and it annoys him when Naruto would bring it up. he doesn't consider Orochimaru to be better than Naruto, it was just a better choice back then and he is a good ally if you think about it.

and I am both relieved and disappointed. I mean I like the fact that he could be redeemed but he was such a strong villain... he had a purpose, he had some messed up principles, he was such a catalyst in SNS dynamics...

but good old days are over, so we have to live in a era of Boruto, where nothing makes sense anymore.

peace

[clearturtletrash]

Horikoshi’s writing of Shouto and the problems I have with it

If you’re a fan of the way Shouto’s treated in the manga, don’t read, we’ll end up disagreeing on everything and you’ll probably end up offended lol. Because I’m not (satisfied, that is). 

This post is spoiler-heavy for anime onlys, and for manga readers not up to date with the last arc (and last chapter for that matter, which is 301).

So, about Shouto and how he’s handled, along with ‘his’ story.

I don’t get how Horikoshi, whose writing I respect immensely, managed to depict such an incredible and alluring storyline with the Todoroki family, with some of the most complex character writing I’ve seen, but fumbled the one character he had to actually focus on.

Literally more than half the people in the Todoroki storyline are more interesting and more developed than Shouto at this point. Hawks, Endeavour, Dabi, Rei… a good bunch of fans are way more invested in their story than his, and I am too. It’s really sad, because if you asked me two years ago Shouto would have probably been one of my favorite character. But he was completely shafted, given no internal conflict, and at this point, I have the same interest in him as I do for Fuyumi and Natsuo, which basically means his only interesting feature to me is that he’s Endeavour’s child (oh, and he does have a cool design, but that can only get you so far).  

Deku and Katsuki are more popular than him by a landslide compared to before if we believe the Japanese popularity polls, because Hori actually bothers to give them focus, conflict, and cool moments (even though, sometimes I feel like Horikoshi forgets Deku’s his main character lol). It’s a testament to how great Shouto was and how much potential had that he’s still that popular despite everything. Because, let’s be real, Endeavour and Dabi have taken the focus because they have much more emotional energy, while Shouto is just stuck in the crossfire, as a punching ball and stress relief (and eventually as the person who’ll save him I guess) for Touya (see how he was relegated to first aid during the big fight against Tomura? how he did absolutely nothing against Touya who was burning him alive? And how Touya had no interest in Shouto outside of the fact he was Endeavour’s son? Story of the way Hori treats him). He has no particular interesting insight to give on the Todoroki family either as he was too small to remember the important events, so even on this point we can’t count on Horikoshi to write something for him, everything comes from Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Rei. He's really had one great moment in S2 and S3 and that’s it. The way Horikoshi struggles to give him a personality doesn’t help either (he admitted some time ago he was hard to write sometimes, and… yeah, I can see that).  I’m really trying to like his character but the manga gives us nothing, and keeps developing Endeavour, Dabi, and Hawks, which is great (I really love all three of them) but makes no sense given who’s supposed to be the main focus.

In the Endeavour agency arc, Endeavour’s thoughts and struggles were heavily touched upon, and Bakugou and Deku are in sync for 90% of it while Shouto’s just… there. as fodder for Endeavour, and maybe as a link between Endeavour and Bakugou/Deku too. He’s supposed to be a part of both these storylines, but instead, he just ends up as a way for them to overlap. we don't even take a peek in his thoughts, even though it's supposed to be an arc about the Todorokis!

I say all this as someone who eagerly waited for the day Horikoshi would portray Shouto, Katsuki, and Deku as a trio, but yeah, Shouto feels more like a third wheel than anything. if he wanted to establish them that way, he should have done it right after the sports festival arc, but after this arc, they have no scene together, and the focus shifted on Deku and Katsuki. Too little too late I guess.  

To come back to the Todoroki storyline, I feel like Horikoshi simply woke up one day and decided Endeavour was more interesting to write lmao. at this point, it’s more Endeavour’s storyline than Shouto’s, even though Shouto’s supposedly one of the main characters. it has come to a point where, even though I know it ought to focus on Shouto because he’s (at least he should be) the main focus of this particular storyline, I’m hoping it won’t, because that’s just the least interesting aspect of this whole thing.  

I’d say even Ochako’s treated better by the story, because at least Horikoshi tries to challenge her views and beliefs (even though for now it’s not very conclusive), while Shouto’s inner growth hasn't been put into question in how many chapters?

(btw, by inner growth, I’m not talking about his problem with his fire side, because that’s just been rinse and repeat for more than 200 chapters. I mean, srsly it’s been already 3 times since this problem has caused him to lose/fail... and it's not even satisfying like Katsuki or Deku (except for the first time in the sport festival, because that was when his character was still handled very well by Horikoshi). Why? Simply because when he loses, the stakes aren’t high, it’s all training or exams, so he’s just like, "oh, I have to maybe learn how to deal with it!", but there’s no real pressure he’s under. It’s not like Deku, who, if he does not progress, will break all his bones, and who failed to rescue Katsuki because of his broken arms (=and had a mental breakdown immediately afterwards and blamed himself). It’s not like Katsuki either, because Katsuki has a personality that makes low stakes feel like high stakes, which isn’t the case for Shouto. just compare Shouto's reaction when he loses because of his setbacks to Katsuki's reaction when he lost to Deku the first time (mental breakdown), or when Katsuki failed the provisional license exam (another mental breakdown, not caused just by his failing, but yeah). And anything else about Shouto's inner growth is tied to his reaction to Endeavour’s arc, which isn’t a flaw, and 100% depends on the way Endeavour acts. Apart from this, he has 0 internal conflict).  

Sorry, I’ve gone off on a tangent lol.

To get back to the point I was making, and to further develop my analogy with Ochako, let’s look at their relationship with Deku, because there’s a major difference there, which is clearly in favor of Ochako.  Deku has a big impact on Ochako, yes, but the reverse is also true. People complain she’s all about him (which, yeah, probably), but at least, she made a big impact on him too. She was the main reason ‘Deku' became his hero name. Shouto and Deku have a nice friendship, and Deku clearly considers him one of his best friends. but... it’s all one-sided in terms of impact, I can’t think of a single thing Shouto has done who changed/motivated Deku, while Deku literally changed his life. Because of this, he’s not one of the people who’s intrinsically tied to Deku’s character development, because he’s not Ochako, Inko, Katsuki or All Might (and probably soon Tomura).

His writing feels so fast compared to the others too. Shigaraki / Deku and Toga / Ochako have been paralleled for ages, have had a conversation at least once, and have had deep encounters early on. Nonetheless, both Deku and Ochako are just coming to terms with the fact these villains aren’t so different from them. However, Shouto’s only interaction with Dabi is a ten second eye contact when Dabi kidnapped Katsuki. Dabi had more interactions with Endeavour for fuck's sake! Shouto then learns Dabi’s Touya, and speed runs the development of Ochako and Deku. He doesn’t even need 10 chapters to process they’re ’the same'. Where were all the reflection and doubts? Okay, it’s his brother, so the parallels are easier, but still, it shows Horikoshi doesn’t allow Shouto to have that much introspection, and I feel it’s because Horikoshi just doesn’t care that much. Even worse! Horikoshi introduces another hero parallel to Dabi in the character of Hawks. A parallel much more interesting and compelling, because it parallels Dabi MUCH BETTER. They’re opposites in every ways (particularly in regards to their relationship with Endeavor), and know each other. Touya and Shouto don’t even seem to have spoken to each other...

And so, the only thing that still was interesting and that Horikoshi still bothered to develop was Shouto’s relationship with Endeavour, but in the end, even that was overshadowed by the much more complex, fucked up, and challenging relationships of Endeavour and Touya (and Endeavour and Hawks) as seen in 301 and before. Clearly the one Dabi’s fixated on is Endeavour.

one last thing: Shouto's stuck in a weird loop where Horikoshi kind of makes him comes close of the Bakugou and Deku duo, and then when we start to think they’re an actual trio, he does everything in his power to make it very clear how that’s NOT where he belongs either, since OFA/All Might/Deku/Katsuki is another storyline. It’s as if Horikoshi doesn’t want him here (see: how he decided the ‘win all might’ scene didn’t have to include him), but puts him there sometimes anyway. It’s probably because Shouto’s so popular, which, yeah, would be fine, if he could stick to it!

His supposed admiration for All Might (I feel like everybody forgets it's a part of his character, and I don't blame them) is brought up once every blue moon, which compared to Deku and Katsuki, is just ridiculous. And, once again, All Might has a much deeper and more interesting relationship with Endeavour than with Shouto. At this point, I don’t even know what Hori could do to make me want to read about him. I much prefer the dynamic of Hawks/Endeavour/Touya and Katsuki/Deku/All Might.

I hope the future will prove me wrong for his character. Actually, I hope everything I’m saying is wrong and idiotic, and Horikoshi will make every scene I criticized worth it and a means to an end. I mean, he clearly has the talent and writing ability to pull off some of the best character development I’ve ever seen, so anything’s possible. but yeah, I don’t really believe it for now, and I’m frustrated, because Shouto had so much potential.

tldr; I liked Shouto as a character, but he dwindled after some time, and now I feel as if he’s not the focus of his own storyline, because this place is occupied by the much more dynamic relationships of Endeavour, Touya and Hawks. And I’m not even mad, because their dynamic is much more interesting. However, I feel like Horikoshi grew bored of Shouto, and has put much more soul into Katsuki and Deku as of late.

I’m welcoming any responses, if people are seeing an aspect of his character I don’t, please enlighten me! I miss enjoying his character, and I’m not opposed to seeing him in a different light. I just needed to put down my thoughts in writing to make sense of them lol.

[sophierose002]

Who is the best villain in TTS? 

These are my thoughts on who is the best villain and why between these three: Varian, Cassandra, and Zhan Tiri. Here we go:

ZHAN TIRI: Starting in the first season, this warlock is the definition of foreshadowing. There was a promise that this evil being would be an antagonist for the ages. I was expecting  the final form, which we had in the final episode, instead we got creepy blueberry, which is not only nightmare inducing but absolutely infuriating. This is great and all, she plays her part well and both of the voice actresses are phenomenal, but, personally, I was unsatisfied with her lack of motivation. Yes we know she hates Corona and wants power... but is there anything else? Probably, but for whatever reason we never know. I would have loved to discover more about her relationship with Demanitus and what went wrong. Why does she want to destroy Corona? Why does she crave power? Why did she turn on Demanitus? We can only guess, but the lack of answers kind of keeps her from becoming the legendary villain we were promised. 

CASSANDRA: While she definitely stole the show and owned the shock factor, I feel that Cassandra’s redemption dragged on for too long, which resulted in me losing interest in her character. I think Moonstone Cass is epic! However, when it comes down to it, her reason for turning was rather weak by the end. Even though the feeling of being overshadowed had been festering inside of Cass for years, it’s still not a valid reason as to why she would destroy her best friend. I thought her betrayal was masterful, but shouldn’t Cass have known that Gothel used Rapunzel? You’d think Rapunzel would have told her. That should have brought them together not tear them apart. Overall, I found her story line to be excessive and exhausting. If she had redeemed herself after the mid-season finale, she might have been my favorite bad guy. Unfortunately, I found her need for power to be unrealistic and too far from her character. (Don’t get me wrong though, the entire first half of the season three was fascinating, but her redemption arc took too long to really enjoy it. Instead I was dying for it to be over - and not in a good way.) PS I like good guy Cass better than evil moon lady. 

VARIAN: Zhan Tiri was the promised villain, Cassandra was the shocking villain, Varian was the believable villain. Out of all three, I must admit, our angry alchemist had the most realistic motivation, because - for the first time in the series - Rapunzel did someone wrong. This is a villain who doesn’t have the stereotypical need for power. He feels trapped and thinks there is no other option but to fight the princess. While his actions are clearly wrong, we can sympathize and still in a sense root for his character. Let’s not forget, he is a fourteen-year-old child! This also helps us comprehend that his actions can be clouded and that he hasn’t reached the maturity of an adult. While Cass seems to think she isn’t the bad guy, Varian understands that he’s spiraling into this darkness and that he’s barely holding onto his sanity, and yet he continues because of his intense emotions and lack of guidance. He isn’t a perfect villain; moreover his rage and guilt for his father’s imprisonment is rational, the fact that he went from 0 to 100 in seconds and told Arianna that he was going to destroy Corona for turning their backs on him... that was a bit too far. 

My final thoughts: I’m a sucker for strategies and “The Secret of the Sundrop” takes the cake for me. I loved the incredible and extravagant battle in “Cassandra’s Revenge” along with her - not as intricate - plan. I felt that “Plus Est En Vous” lacked plot but succeeded in visuals. Finally, “Cassandra’s Revenge” was my favorite of these episodes; however, I think the greatest villain was Varian. I’m overjoyed that he is now redeemed, but something about not having special abilities other than your brain is captivating to me. He had the best motivation, and his age made his full decent into darkness all the more disturbing. (Also, he’s has nothing on creepy tongue, blueberry crawling backwards freak.) 

In conclusion:

1. Varian

2. Cassandra

3. Zhan Tiri

These are simply my thoughts; there is no right or wrong, and I won’t be offended if someone disagrees. Feel free to share your opinions. This post’s purpose is to make you think. 

[bnha-mha-imagines]

Okay, get this: a new lov member who’s really awkward and shy. Everyone thinks she’s just a normal gal but it turns out she’s absolutely out of her mind? /sigh/ I don’t even know anymore 😔 rip. I’m so bad at requesting it should be my new party trick. Anyways, I hope you have a good day and I love your writing!!

Ahh thank you! :) I’m not sure if you wanted this to be cute or disturbing so I went with the latter because nothing I’ve posted so far is dark themed (all my stuff is like, fluff haha)! :0 Let’s get some well rounded writing up in here! 

New LOV member who’s secretly insane

Warnings: DARK THEMES that include but are not limited to: Blood, dead animals, disturbing images, cannibalism, death, hearing voices, sadism/masochism, violence, mentions of self-harm etc. etc. You get the picture. 

^^^Don’t read if you’re sensitive to similar topics. I went ham on this, yall. 

Disclaimer: The reader depicted in this is chronically insane and is an extreme case. This is in no way a depiction of a person with a mental disorder. I don’t want to spread any misinformation, most people with mental disorders are lovely people and are not crazy/dangerous in anyway

Under the cut vvv

Tomura Shigaraki:

Look, he wasn’t a fan of the whole awkward-shy act, but hey, you were pretty hot and you had a quirk that the League definitely needed

So he let you in, figuring he’d just need to have that timid attitude of yours whipped out of you

But OH. It didn’t take long for him to realize you were completely bonkers. 

Dabi was giving you shit like he did everyone, and all it took was a poor comment on his part for your usually pleasant expression to contort into one of malice and...joy? The way your face darkened and your eyes swirled with an unhinged gleam… 

Maybe you’d be more interesting than he initially thought~ plus, seeing you threaten Dabi was definitely some brownie points in Tomura’s book

At times it gets frustrating because you can get out of hand, and he honestly couldn’t even handle the League WITHOUT another crazy added in the mix

But you were powerful and an important addition to the team, so you were stuck with this sorry lot whether you liked it or not

Kurogiri:

He was a little surprised, but pleasantly so, when Tomura recruited you for the League. You were actually...rather normal compared to the rest of the bunch, but he was far from complaining!

You were also modest and well-mannered, and Kurogiri especially admired that. The rest of the League was full of squabbling hotheads, so you were a breath of fresh air!

At the bar, he’d talk a lot with you seeing as you were one of the calmer villains, but overtime he noticed that certain comments would raise a few red flags. 

One day you bring in the mangled body of a cat and...oh. 

The way you casually set it on the bar counter and grin at Kurogiri happily while you ask for a kiddy cocktail… all the while your hands were still soaked in its blood.

Tomura’s decision made a bit more sense now. You were completely off your rocker! He treats you pretty much the same as before, but is usually the one who has to reel you in when you start to show your crazy too much. 

Dabi:

When you first joined the League, he couldn’t believe it. Was Tomura fucking stupid? How could a shy, pretty thing like you possibly fit in with the baddest villain organization?

Needless to say, he was kind of an asshole to you. He’d make rude comments, blatantly say you didn’t belong here, condescendingly give you names like “princess” 

For the most part you would bear it all with a grin, and though he didn’t exactly understand you reaction, he would scoff and roll his eyes. “Weirdo”

One day he happens to strike a particularly strong chord with you, and suddenly you’ve shoved him against a wall, hands wrapped around his throat

You choking him wasn’t what off put him. It was the demented look in your eyes and the lopsided grin overwhelming your face. You were practically begging him to insult you again.

“It feels soooo good when you call me names!” you giggle, fingers squeezing into his neck. “Maybe you can choke me next?!” Your eyes were excited at the sadistic thought. 

He shoves you off rather easily after he gets over his initial surprise, rubbing his neck. “Crazy bitch…”

The fact that he didn’t ignite your crazy ass on the spot means you’d gained his respect, if in the slightest. Clearly you’re a better fit to be a villain than he thought. He still picks on you, but significantly less.

Himiko Toga:

She was excited to have another girl! She flocked straight to you and grabbed your sleeve right away!

“Aiiya! You’re so cute, look at you!” She poked your cheeks and you got a little flustered under the attention. She thinks you’re so shy and adorable!!!!

She makes it her mission to become your bestest best friend! But she can’t help but get a little excited from time to time.

“(Y/n), you’re too cute! Please, can I cut you up!? Just a few slices here and there! You’d look ten times cuter if I do!” And she’s grinning.

Her grin completely falters, however, when you agree. “W-What?” she didn’t expect it at all! She was used to getting brushed off.

But no...the crazed look in your eye at the mention of spilled blood… you were practically dripping with insanity. 

Kurogiri stopped the both of you before you both had the chance to completely slice each other up, but from that moment on your were pretty much conjoined at the hip.

Crazy cuties flock together

Spinner:

When a cute, shy thing like yourself joined the League, he was a total flustered mess! You were absolutely adorable!

Like Kurogiri, you were a breath of fresh air, a nice change of pace to the usually colorful bunch that he got to hang around with.

You were nice to him, and he always gets embarrassed when you compliment him! So naturally he assumes that you’re the sweetheart of the bunch! 

You’re talking, and finally Spinner outright asks you, “How’d you even get roped into villainy?” because it blows his mind such a normie like you are in the League

And, very casually and chipper, you describe how you murdered your family in cold blood. They hadn’t even done anything to upset you. You just wanted to. 

“O-Oh.” He honestly didn’t know what to say...but he didn’t really get a chance to speak as you suddenly pull a necklace out from under your shirt. It was a strange looking thing, a shriveled black lump on a string. 

“Look! I even carry a piece of them around with me!” His eyes widen, and you just giggle and tuck the petrified piece of corpse jewelry back into your shirt. 

Twice:

Needless to say, Twice had some mixed feelings about you when you first joined the League.

“What the hell is such a prude bitch doing in the League?” “Aww how cute! Finally a fresh face! Happy to meet you!” 

He’s honestly probably the first to realize you’re absolutely batshit because he’s always half doubting your sincerity

Let’s just say he isn’t surprised when you’re on a mission and you start gnawing and eating at a fresh corpse on the ground

“Wow, that’s fucking bad ass” “Ew!!! That’s disgusting, what the fuck!” 

And hearing his voices go back and forth, you just look up, blood smeared across your face, a strange gleam in your eye and you grin!

“Hahaha! Twice, you always say the funniest things!!!”

After the mission he tries to avoid you as much as he can. Though your quirk and tenacity was something the League definitely benefited from, that didn’t mean he wanted to be anywhere near you after the shit he saw that night

You were fucking wild

Mr. Compress

After Shigaraki let you into the League, he was pretty interested in you. You seemed pretty average and you acted like a timid civilian, so what kind of quirk did you have? Surely something must have caught Tomura’s eye that he wasn’t seeing.

So he, being the man of charisma and mystery that he was, made it his secret motive to find out what you were hiding. 

He took it upon himself to show you around the hideout as your own personal guide. Not that you were complaining! Compress is so flashy and entertaining that you were actually enjoying your time with him.

Not gonna lie, he was acting a little too charming and over-confident with you, trying to get you to slip up and spill a secret

And spill you did! Though not intentionally. It sort of all happened at once. Compress was moving ahead of you and all of a sudden he was thrown back against the wall.

He hits it with a grunt and slides down to the floor, looking up at you with a stunned expression. What the fuck did he do to merit that?!

But you weren’t even looking at him. No, you were whispering under your breath, staring at the ceiling and grinning like a madman. 

“You’re right! That was fun!” you spoke to the empty room, pausing a moment before letting out a loud, crazy laugh. “You always were good at jokes!” 

Slowly he rose and moved away from the room where you stood conversing with your imaginary voices. 

Telekinesis was a pretty powerful quirk! Though it seemed your perks also came with some hefty flaws… very interesting!

Magne: 

Magne was so excited to have another girl in the League! She loved Toga, of course, but at times Magne found her to be a bit...much 

So when you first arrived, seemingly normal, she was so ecstatic! She wanted to do all sorts of girl things with you that she couldn’t really do often in the boy-dominated League

You were so cute and timid, she couldn’t help but want to have a girl’s sleepover with you and Toga!

Your true colors started to show, however, during the middle of a truth or dare game. Magne had asked you what your favorite crime to commit was, expecting something calmer like robbery or identity theft 

Color her surprised when your face contorts into the craziest, most terrifying look as you narrate a violent murder and proceed to grab a pillow and rip it to shreds with your hands as a ‘demonstration’. 

Cute AND violently psycho. She can roll with that.

[transformersvn]

Thoughts on Transformers: War For Cybertron - Earthrise

My thoughts on this are less cohesive than last time, so I hope you're ready for a long ramble as I try to figure out exactly what I think about the series.

Tl;dr - still looks really pretty, but Siege’s weak writing hasn't improved.

Spoilers below the cut.

Earthrise generally suffers from being part 2 of 3. It's focused on getting characters from point A (Cybertron) to point B (Earth) and doesn't really do much in the meantime. You could've cut episodes 4 and 5 and it wouldn't have affected the plot all that much.

Megatron and Optimus

They need to stop having fights. It'd be best for their characters and the plot if they hadn't spent several minutes pointing guns at each other and saying that *this* time they were actually going to kill them. Just follow through already and if you can't then keep them apart until the climax.

Optimus getting distracted by Cog running up and going 'Optimus! What are you doing?!' was stupid. Cog should've been glad that Optimus was finally at the point where he wouldn't sacrifice every last Autobot to save Megatron if given the opportunity.

Them being trapped together was pointless and stupid (aside from that one screenshot we all made). Megatron's point that Optimus keeps screwing up and it's Megatron who pays the price was interesting - but it was surrounded by so much nonsense that it fell flat.

Speaking of…

Autobot Decepticon teamups

Are they trying to lean towards ending the series with mutual cooperation and peace? Their 'we all need to work together' moments were always horribly shoehorned and the Autobots didn't once try to put measures in place to defend themselves when the Decepticons inevitably betrayed them.

I like hero/villain teamups, but it doesn't work if the heroes are stupid about them.

Scorponok fight

There is a big room with a big enemy in. The Autobots have shut themselves in a corridor on one side of the room. They need to reach the other side of the room without getting killed. Whose idea was it to try and kill Scorponok instead of just evasive maneuvers to the other side of the room?!?

To be fair, Optimus did try and run distraction, but Bumblebee decided that was a stupid plan and standing still and shooting at the enemy - that none of their blasters had even scratched - was a better one.

It was a stupid fight. If they wanted a Megatron/Optimus moment so badly then, hey, the Autobots have rigged the station to blow and the Decepticons don't know that - have Megatron set off an explosion by accident and trap him and Optimus (who could've been diving forward to try and stop Megatron, thereby getting close).

The Dead Universe

You could've replaced this with Optimus getting a vision from the Matrix and Megatron having a short visit from future!Galvatron. It wasted time that could've been spent on actual character development.

Skylynx had about 3 lines that he just repeated variants of the whole episode.

Was it clear to anyone who hadn't seen the 1986 movie exactly what the Megatron/Galvatron link was? They were pretty vague about it.

Also, if Skylynx's advice made Optimus go 'hmm, yes, I should stop looking back and actually kill Megatron to prevent my own death', then Galvatron's advice to Megatron should've made him go 'I don't hate Prime this much/if he’s dedicated all his effort into stopping Prime and still failed, there must be another way'. I suppose, he didn’t kill Optimus when given a perfect opportunity, but that also just felt like an extension of their endless *points gun* “one-liner” *tables are turned* cycle.

Elita

Poor, poor, badly written Elita. She can't get anything done without Jetfire - the big strong man - questioning her or being the one to save the day, or making a desperate plan to try and fight their way out of captivity when they're going to be sacrificed, but we never see their escape attempt.

I don't think she acts like someone who is on a doomed planet. Breaking into prisons camps makes less sense than trying to find a way to fix things. Let her fail, fine, but give her a fighting chance to try and reignite Cybertron or, say, find someone who is rumoured to be able to create synthetic energon - which could've been a reason for prison breaks at least.

And it was probably meant to be read differently, but Elita's silence over her name when Megatron called her Ariel to her face, versus Optimus snarling that ‘her name is Elita-1!′ when Megatron used 'Ariel' around him, kinda makes me wonder whose decision it was to rename her.

Cog

They don't get to make me sad about a character death when that character had previously stopped Optimus from finally trying to kill Megatron and also failed to just bloody shoot Deeceus. And had he really taken the enemy ship? Really?

Misc

We never found out why the station was trapped halfway through the Spacebridge.

Optimus's voice actor still sounds like a bad Batman when he's angry, though he might've gotten away with it if Megatron's voice actor didn't have such a good "Prime" snarl.

Everyone is miserable, which isn't necessarily a bad thing in a series about the struggles of war, but when it's aimed at kids you have to ask the question: are they enjoying it? It is fun to watch?

Ultra Magnus's head was sort of flagged up as important - specifically its location was noted by Elita - but never appeared again once Megatron left Cybertron. Did he take it with him?

For having such a hard-on for the 1986 movie, their decision to have Megatron beg for mercy (something quite out of character for this version of Megatron) and not include Optimus's 'you who are without mercy now plead for it?' line was a weird whiplashy moment.

Showing Glavatron and Unicron in the trailer when they literally appear for one episode and five second respectively was seriously false advertising. When did people forget that watching a trailer is supposed to give you an idea of the type/style of plot the media is supposed to deliver?

The editing is bad in several places. There were often moments where there would be an explosion in place A, then it'd cut to a battered character in place B getting up in a ruined room, making it look like they'd been in said explosion. Confusing in a series where palette-swapping and similar character designs already make it difficult for newcomers to tell what's going on.

The velociraptor-bot at the end looked like 90's CGI and I really hope Kingdom doesn't all look like that.

If Hot Rod doesn't show up and get the Matrix in Kingdom I'm going to be severely disappointed.

Starscream really likes speechifying to a tiny audience. He makes his bid to become leader in front of a nameless Decepticon, Soundwave, Ravage, and an injured Megatron - who promptly shoots him. I have to admit that he’s probably the character they did best by, his coup moments were pretty good and captured Starscream as we all know him.

Like the question of what exactly was under siege in Siege, Earthrise only gets to Earth at the end of the last episode.

Wheeljack felt weirdly useless. He didn’t get to go through with his plan of blowing up the station and couldn’t open a pair of blast doors that Soundwave had 0 problems with. After not being the one to fix the Spacebridge in Siege, he’s not feeling much like an engineer.

You had to guess motivations and plans and fairly often piece things together backwards after the fact. Having an idea of who everyone was made that easier for me than for non-fans, but I still ended up running on incorrect assumptions about what people were going to do and why.

...

So, there you go. I guess I’m still going to watch Kingdom when it comes out, but I think I’ve lost all my optimism for it being any good.

[taiblogcomics]

Robin the Readership of Plot Development

Hey there, beta chat programs. Looks like it's time again to review another terrible issue of the New 52's Teen Titans. But not just any issue, as I intoned at the end of last week's review! No, my friends. We've got a gimmick to this issue~

So, it's the anniversary of the New 52's beginning. Like, not today. Back in September, actually. But in the comic's timeline that we're following. It'd been a year of publishing their reboot, and I don't know if you remember this from the last time we covered it eight years ago when it was new, but what they did to celebrate was this: Zero Month. All of the comics--at least, all of the ones that hard survived as far as 12 issues--spent the anniversary month putting out a 0th issue to explain some backstory. It helped it some cases! Others... not so much~

Here's the cover:

So every cover of the Zero Month was like this: washed-out grey background, character breaking on through to the other side, and not much else. Some folks who remember back that far might remember Catwoman #0 having an infamous pose, but otherwise all these covers were identical in composition. There's really not much to say about it. When every issue released that month had roughly identical covers, none really stood out, which is not what you want in a cover~

So the comic opens with the taunting phrase of "Before the New 52"! Which it's really not. "Before the New 52" would imply the old continuity. But all they really mean is "before the events of issue 1". Anyway, this is an origin story for Tim Drake. We start with three full-page splashes of him doing a bunch of gymnastics for a crowd, which includes his parents. I was afraid it was going to jump right into the essential parts of Dick Grayson's origin, but with Olympic prospects instead of circus stuff. Fortunately, nothing happens here, and he finishes his routine with no ill effects and heads out to meet his parents.

Like in the previous continuity, Tim starts with both parents. Which is noted by the person watching him in secret--Batman. Yes, in this continuity, Batman's already scouting Tim rather than Tim seeking out Batman of his own will. Batman notes that he doesn't want to recruit a new Robin, not so soon after Jason, and not while Tim still has a family. That's... kind of ominous, Batman. ...Are you the villain? Speaking of Tim's family, though, his dad meets him in an extremely ominously-lit room and tells his son that it's okay to want more and be bigger than just this family. Come on, Dad, that foreshadowing is way too much.

Just to prove me wrong, Tim sneaks out of his room that night to go apply for a job: Batman's apprentice. Heck, he'll even settle for an unpaid internship. He's deduced that Batman's HQ is in the old Gotham Aviary. He's wrong, but Batman is content to let him think he's right. In fact, every clue he's followed has been something Batman's planted. Tim puts out the armour-piercing bit, though: what happened to the previous Robin? Batman scowls and disappears, telling Tim he'll never see him again. That seems highly unlikely, given how many comics Batman was appearing in at the time~

Tim's not ready to give up, though. See, he wants to follow his dad's advice and become something bigger than not only his family, but than himself too. And so he keeps trying to find ways to get Batman's attention. Unfortunately, he gets someone else's as well. See, he's been using his hacker powers to transfer money out of criminals' accounts into charitable organisations. This is pretty cool. The problem is, he's now targeted the Penguin's stash. The Cobblepot fortune has been stole, and the Penguin is big mad about it.

The Penguin traces the activity back to Tim--I guess he's not that good of a hacker--and sends some goons to his house. Batman arrives just in time to save Tim from a shootout. And to this book's credit, it doesn't end in the tragedy you think it will. Tim's parents both survive the gunfire and are placed in witness protection. But to keep them safe--and to give Tim that "life bigger than this family" they keep talking about--they agree to have Batman look after Tim instead. And Batman decides that the best way to keep an eye on Tim is to make him his partner, just like he wanted. Superman may be the Man of Steel, but Batman is the man of irony~

And so, Tim Drake forges his own identity as Batman's partner. He opts not to wear Jason's old uniform, mostly out of respect for Jason, but also because have you seen Jason's old Robin uniform? In fact, to set him aside as his own identity even more, he opts to call himself Red Robin rather than just Robin. Sorry, Tim, but "Batman and Red Robin" will never catch on as a popular name. Anyway, he's already begun his research, looking into stories of metahumans his own age. And... that's the end! It ends on yet another splash page, depicting him and Batman as crime-fighting partners, even though this is the zeroth issue for a team book without Batman in it~

This issue... is not that bad. It’s a fair origin for Tim Drake, I suppose. I’ve never actually read A Lonely Place of Dying, which was Tim’s origin in the pre-New 52 continuity, so I don’t know how it compares. At the very least, this one surprised me for a New 52 origin. I’m very glad they didn’t kill off Tim’s parents, even if they more or less removed them from the story anyway. That’s always what made Tim unique, that he still had supportive parents around. And while they may no longer be around in the technical sense, at least it didn’t end in gunshots and tragedy.

The other major change is mostly Tim’s motivation. In this, it seems Tim’s doing it more or less to prove something to himself, to make himself into something bigger. In the original? Again, I haven’t read it, but my impression of the story was that Tim noticed something change in Batman’s demeanor after Jason Todd’s death. He thought Batman needed a Robin to balance himself out, and volunteered himself for the job. And that’s what impressed Batman: that Tim volunteered for it, rather than letting tragedy lead him there like it did for himself or Dick Grayson. And that, I think, is a bit of what’s lost in this origin. And that Batman’s so pissy about it. “You didn’t discover anything that I didn’t let you find out” and all that. That’s dangerously close to the same rhetoric as Harvest~

Next week, we’ll get back to the main story, and the story will get back to sucking~

[kinetic-elaboration]

June 15: 1x02 Charlie X

Today, Charlie X.

Kirk showing off his fancy new Green Captain’s Wrap Shirt while the Antares crew are stuck wearing the old uniform hand me downs from the pilot lol.

I want to know more about these “entertainment tapes.”

I know this ep is about Father!Kirk but all I’m hearing is Daddy!Kirk.

Charlie patting Rand on the ass was an honest mistake though, I think we have to give him that one.

I get a real kick out of every single time someone tries to pawn off talking about sexuality on someone else. In this ep and every other ep. They’re always so awkward. Although in their defense, they are colleagues. I don’t want to talk about sex with my co-workers either.

The Thasians. I love those old alien societies. We don’t know what they were like.... they are only legends... Could they still exist? The world may never know. This was a plot point in the last ep too but I don’t even care, it never gets old.

The musical interlude. This scene is better in theory imo just because the Spock lyrics make me so uncomfortable. Also I cannot totally read the expression on Spock’s face.

That said, this song is basically like a Pre-Reform Sex Fantasy. Uhura you kinky bitch.

Uhura just casually roasting everyone on sight.

It’s Thanksgiving!!! Apparently!!

Poor Kirk, always conscripted to be someone’s father. He’s not terribly good at it. But he’s trying.

Didn’t know what UESPA was but I guess it’s what the Federation was called in the early scripts? That’s so fucking weird. I thought it was like a sub-Federation agency.

And now a scene where Kirk and Spock play chess and flirt. “Our chess master Spock,” he says, as if he didn’t JUST kick Spock’s ass and as if he didn’t ALWAYS kick Spock’s ass.

Good, Charlie’s learned that not all women are interchangeable.

Nevermind.

EVERYONE IS SO HORNY IN THIS EPISODE OMG DOROTHY.

“I already talked to him about the swat,” Kirk says, lying.

I love awkward Kirk. Can you even imagine him at 17? He’s obviously remembering and not enjoying the memories. He was definitely Emo and full of Feelings.

When you like someone, you go slow. Like, you wait for a whole five years. While on a mission into deep space. Go really slow. You need to know the other person feels the same.

Kirk, the king of the slow burn.

Those tights..............oh no............oh why.

I love that Kirk’s like “you know what helps sexual frustration? FIGHTING.”

"I came out here to attack people and I'm honestly having such a good time right now."

Charlie really goes 0 to 100 in terms of showing off his powers in public. Just disappeared a guy, like that.

“I’m grounding you Charlie. I will pick you up and carry you myself.” Actual dialogue.

I love how interested Spock is in the Thasians.

De went 10000% Southern on his pronunciation of “this boy.” That was deep Georgia there.

Charlie keeps changing outfits, like father like son.

Can you imagine Spock at 17?*

Mr. Ears.

Spock brings out the big guns with the first name. I feel like this might not be a “Jim” situation but perhaps it is. When you’re forced to recite poetry, you know it’s serious.

LIZARD.

Poor Janice. Her quarters are really nice though. I like the intense pink. Knowing what iPads and tablets actually look like, their PADDs are kinda hilarious.

“You need me to run this ship and I need him.”

“I like happy looks.”

“Out of the chair.” Major XI flashbacks there lol.

Spock was judging Yeoman Rand so hard there at the end. “Um, this is MY moment to stand behind the Captain’s chair and share a look with him?” McCoy obviously wanted to comfort her lol. I’m just gonna say it, he’s the bigger slut.

Look I laughed through a lot of this episode, because I always laugh through star trek, just out of pure glee but Charlie is a sad figure ultimately. Very classic Trek: no villains, everyone and their motivation is understandable. Of course he’s confused and he uses his power wantonly; he’s 17 and he’s never known humans. But at the same time, he can’t live with people now. That’s the price for surviving, but he was just a toddler when the choice was made; he didn’t make the bargain; it was made for him.

The Thasians are so advanced that no one knew they were even still alive. I guess in addition to being totally non-corporeal they are also beyond the sensors of any Federation (UESPA??) ships. I do feel bad for Charlie; he can never touch them or experience any sort of love with them or have any kind of human-like relationship with them. They are TOO alien. I enjoy those ST eps that focus on the alien/human divide, how and when it can be bridged and when it can’t. The Thasians aren’t evil but Charlie will never live like a human with them so he will never live fully with them.

Look I don’t know what to tell people who don’t like Kirk or don’t acknowledge that he’s a great captain because this was an EXCELLENT Kirk episode. He’s so cool and smart but still a little awkward in a humanizing way, and at the end of the day, he might be angry with Charlie, he might want to defeat him in a sense, to gain back control of the ship, but he still believes with all of that Kirk optimism that Charlie can be taught to live with humans; he wants that for him; he wants him to thrive as well as just survive, and that’s so lovely.

Plus I mean he can really wear those red tights.

*I did. A lot. So much.

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Spider-Man: Far From Home Thoughts Part 2.5 a.k.a. Spidey: Far From Homecoming?

 This is a short instalment discussing Far From Home as a follow up to Homecoming (and to a lesser extent Spider-Man’s appearances in other movies). I couldn’t decide where to put these thoughts in the other parts so I decided to separate them out like this.

 What is so striking about Far From Home is that in a lot of ways it simultaneously is better and worse than Homecoming in a lot of ways. By this I don’t just mean some elements unambiguously improve things and some elements worsen them, what I mean is some individual elements do both.

For example the action is unambiguously better than Homecoming’s mostly forgettable affair. Spider-Man’s first and final encounters with the villain are undeniably better than in Homecoming. Where the Vulture showed up and we got a frantic scene of Spidey simply being assaulted here we get Peter trying to fight back but ultimately failing as Mysterio unleashes the best scene of the movie. Where in Homecoming Peter doesn’t beat Vulture so much as he survives hard enough against him to the point where Vulture lost, here Peter 100% beats Mysterio.

However the wacky humour and hijinks as well as the Stark worship is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much worse. The teachers are utterly insufferable (and break some laws as well) but their humour is also just poorly crafted. Everyone saw one of the teachers dropping his camera in the canal so far ahead of time it hurt.

Mysterio compared to Vulture though is one example of a grey area.

Where we comparing both to the comics Mysterio and Vulture both being so connected to Iron Man hurts their standing an awful lot. But of the two Mysterio gets it worse. Mysterio’s entire plan revolves around Iron Man, his tech stems from Iron Man, his backstory has 0 independence from Iron Man. The Vulture at the very least started off briefly as his own man before Tony Stark wrecked his life and thus forced him to become a villain, a villain who is a dark reflection of Iron Man.

Mysterio is as well but in a very different way and more abstractly. Ironically even though there are clearer cut comparisons between Iron Man and Vulture, Vulture’s driving motivation isn’t to literally all about replacing Iron Man. In fact if you tweaked Vulture’s character or story arc you could make his character work independently of all the Iron Man stuff, but that’d be impossible for Mysterio. Mysterio’s whole goal is wrapped up in Iron Man, whereas the Vulture’s arc was merely set in motion by Iron Man’s.

Now that’s a complaint that’s really more applicable to comparing this to the comics. When viewed in the context of the MCU in isolation there is no issue with either of these guys being connected to Iron Man exactly. In fact it’s consistent within the bounds of these Spider-Man movies. The problem is...it’s also consistent with the MCU. In the MCU Vulture was the FOURTH ‘dark reflection of Iron Man’ villain we’d encountered and Mysterio is the fifth. Were we to look at the Spidey films on their own that’d be fine, but would make a third villain like that cliché, but in the MCU as a whole it’s incredibly unimaginative. In fact Mysterio might be the worst example because the movie is blatant about his motivation to literally be the next Iron Man and derives his motivations and henchmen from old Iron Man appearances.

Moving on we have Spider-Man’s suits.

I didn’t actually think about this whilst watching the movies but this movie wonderfully downplays the tech incorporated into Spider-Man’s suits.

Across the film we see five suits specifically.

The hoodie outfit (which is an illusion).

The Civil War suit (which in one scene is also an illusion).

The Infinity War armour.

The Night Monkey Stealth suit.

And finally the new red and black costume debuting in this movie.

For most of the movie Peter doesn’t wear the second or third suits and when he does he doesn’t fight in them. Yes folks that trailer of Peter webbing up bad guys and then chatting with the cops is a trailer exclusive.

As such Peter doesn’t have access to the advanced tech functions of those two suits, mitigating one of the biggest criticisms of Homecoming. It’s not even clear if the advanced protocols Ned hacked in Washington were still enabled after Homecoming. We do learn however that down to Earth everyman Peter Parker has a friggin nanotech suspension unit in his bedroom to house his Infinity War armour.

The only tech really on display from his suits that I can remember are the web wings and the parachute from his new outfit. Peter makes personal and effective use of the parachute, symbolizing I guess how he’s grown more competent and experienced as in prior films he was made to look childish and bumbling as a result of them.

That’s another vast improvement over Homecoming. Peter in terms of being a fighter and a hero in general is not the incompetent bumbling fool he was in the last solo film.

And as much as I love this as a Spidey comic fan both these changes raise some questions.

Namely how and when did Peter grow in his skills exactly and why didn’t he incorporate any of his advanced tech into his new red and black suit? It doesn’t make sense within the context of the MCU Spider-Man’s universe. This of course equally applies to his feelings for MJ which are totally out of nowhere.

It also just inconsistent with the message of the last movie. This Spider-Man is gonna be more tech focused but not in this movie.

And yet he still is because he gets Tony’s magic science sunglasses, his holographic workshop and his...soundtrack?

Going back to Michelle, she’s more likable in this movie than the last one but her softening feels rather forced, like it’s happening just to hook them up. Equally Ned’s role as confidant is lessened and he gets demoted to a more comedic sidekick than anything else. So he’s hardly the man in the chair the last movie built him up to be. I hated that angle for his character of course, but I’m saying for the MCU Spidey fans who DGAF about the comics it’s inconsistent.

Unfortunately just about the only thing regarding the supporting cast remaining consistent is Aunt May being irrelevant beyond making Peter feel awkward that men lust after her. The only difference is it’s one man particularly in this movie.

We have other issues regarding Peter’s characterization, the Spider Sense and his relationship with Tony but that’s talked about in other installments of this series.

P.S. there was also far less quips and far more annoying humour

[toothedsmile]

The puppeteer : Chapter three

Masterlist

Chapter three – First day at school

A/N: I have no idea how exactly the schools in Japan are so I’ll just base the school where reader is in of my own school here in Belgium. I apologize to anyone who might find this annoying or confusing but I hope you’ll enjoy nonetheless. Reader will most likely transfer to UA at some point  but I won’t tell when so…

Skippable :  But here is a quick explanation of how schools work here (at least where I went) : Pre-school, this is pretty much like day care, these are usually located around primary schools to make going over to formal education easier. Primary school, this begins at the age of 6 but I began at 5 as I was just born late in the year but in the same year as my classmates. You stay in primary school for six years, so until you are 10-11. Then begins secondary school which I think is like an equivalent to high school but still different. This begins at the age of 10-11 or 12 depending on date of birth, you also stay here for 6 years until you are 17-18 (18 is the legal age here and in case you were curious you’re allowed to drink at 16 but no hard beverages, that’s 18) then you start university or higher education. Also, just like in japan you have one class you stay with for an entire year in primary and secondary school. Midoriya and the others would here in Belgium be in their fourth year of secondary school. (further details can be found in the addition explanation chapter)

A little while had passed since the letter arrived and you were still a little salty about it but you were able to live with it. Your parents had decided to let you go to another school that wasn’t UA as they thought it might’ve brought some bad feelings to you. Sadly as they didn’t want to move or have you travel far distances by yourself to go to school they chose a school that was close by your house but also close to UA, so that you could look upon your dream school with disappointment and regret.

Today was the first day of your new school It normally started at 8:40 AM but because you were in a higher year you could arrive at 9:30 so you had enough time to go so you could wake up at 8 AM so you had enough time to do whatever you needed to do in the morning. The school you went to was very different than the others around as it was based on schools in Europe (I think, idk). You were in class  4HC1, fourth year hero course class 1. While it might not be an actual hero course where it is deemed as the main part of the course it was an additional class you could take along with rescue classes. You arrived at the Multipurpose Hall, which was also used as the mess hall, it was a big room that could keep around 250 students inside. It had tables, chairs and windows that looked out to some trees where you could do recreational things during the pause. In the Hall was a small podium where the principal stood waiting for the time the bell rang to give a speech and have everyone be with their classroom teacher.

It took some time and there were some students who were late when the principal had already begun calling of the classes and the names of who ere in those classes. After 5 minutes she arrived at your class and called your name along with 20 others. You all followed your teacher to the classroom and had to introduce yourself, luckily you could do this from your seat.

Surprisingly your friend for two years ago was also in this class, they had moved to this school two years ago but seemed to remember you seeing as they waved at you with a huge smile and mouthed to you that you should ‘Come to me when we have to go to the other lesson’

Your first hour, which was actually 50 minutes long, existed of introducing yourself and other information that was given about the school and classes you had to go to, you were happy that it happened in this hour because it was supposed to be math. The teacher said that they were your English teacher but they were the person who would look after your class the most, like a homeroom teacher.

When the bell finally rang your friend had stood up quickly and went outside, sighing to yourself you thought ‘Of course, it probably wasn’t even to me they said that.’ You walked out the door and were immediately greeted by an arm that slung itself around your shoulder and a happy yell of “Y/N!!” right into your eardrums.

Shocked you turned your head and saw your friend looking extremely happy with a gigantic smile that could rival the sun.

“Y/N! I’m so happy to see someone I know! I didn’t know you transferred to this school. There’s so much that I have to tell you like OMG, I don’t have many friends as I somehow haven’t managed to bond with anyone like I have with you but that’s fine because now you’re here and I’m so happy that I see you again even though we saw each other during the vacation and other times because you’re the only one out of our friend group who actually kept in contact with me for those years but never mind them because who cares, not me hahahaha.”

You blinked, kept silent and blinked again. There was so much information, you forgot they were like this. After recollecting yourself you smiled back at your friend, who was still smiling mind you, happy that there was a familiar face among the 19 others you don’t know and forgot their names of.

Swinging your arm around their shoulders you finally spoke to them. “F/N!! I’m so glad to see you, I forgot you went to this school to be honest but I’m sooooo happy that you’re here.”

You let each other go as the position wasn’t so handy to maintain while walking nor was it that comfortable unless you were sitting down. They lead you to your classroom and explained everything that had happened to them during their time here that they hadn’t already said to you in messages or small meetings during vacations.

You were very happy to learn that because this was the first day of school everybody was allowed to leave at 3 PM, thus skipping any lessons that might’ve happened after that hour. You both decided to hang out a bit more after school in a small café like place where they served delicious ice cream and other desserts with a variety of drinks, there you explained what had happened to make you not go to UA as your friend knew you really wanted to go there.

They seemed sympathetic but didn’t seem pitiful like your other friends and said that “Things happen, I know you would be a great hero that would save everyone whether it was from a villain or from themselves. Just keep trying so you can go to UA.”

It made you feel a lot better about yourself.

“You know, you could be a vigilante. “They said as they wiggled their eyebrows and smirked at you. “You’d be a hero before anyone else, you could save people and heck! I can be that person in the chair with a headset to tell you where you have to go with screens all around me!”

You Furrowed your brows confused. “W-wha? First of all that seems dangerous but a very nice idea and anyway, I don’t need a person in a chair. But if I do I’ll tell you.”

The both of you exchanged such glances that you weirded some people who saw it happen out but you didn’t pay attention to them as you had started thinking about the idea your friend gave you. While yes it was seen as a bad idea that unlicensed heroes actually do hero work under a disguise and most of those who did were either seen as reckless or straight up as villains no matter the motives of the person in question.

You thought back about a vigilante who previously called himself Stendhal but afterwards turned into the now called villain Hero killer: Stain.

While you thought his motives made a bit of sense you didn’t like the execution. (pun totally intended with 0 shame)

You also thought about your own motives which included both egoistical ones but also selfless ones such as wanting to genuinely help people and bring a smile upon their face but also wanting to make yourself seem better and to prove yourself that you weren’t as useless as you showed during the entrance exam for the hero course in UA.

“Hey Y/N, you still on planet earth or have you gone to introvert land?” you snapped out of your little daze and looked back to your friend who seemed a bit worried about you.

“You were either forcing your two braincells to think or you just straight out rebooted out of nowhere. Anyway, what do think huh? About my idea.”

Pursing you lips you looked a bit to the side not really wanting to admit that you actually thought about their suggestion but caved in after they gave you the you-better-tell-me-or-I’ll-annoy-you-so-hard-like-you-don’t-even-know look. “To be honest I was actually thinking about it and like, it doesn’t even seem like a horrible idea but it also sounds straight up stupid and dangerous but like that’s what a hero has to do right? But I’m going to think about it.”

They smiled at you, happy that you thought about their suggestion seriously. They didn’t mind you dreams and even though it was kind of illegal to do vigilante work they wanted to support you trough and trough in any way they possibly could.

Taking your hands they smiled proudly at you. “You know, whatever you want to do, I’ll support you the best I can possibly can.” They squeezed your hands for good measure before letting go and proposing to ask the check and go home as it was getting rather late.

You both said your goodbyes and walked home, they had to take the train but you didn’t want them to go to the train station alone so you went with them and looked so that they went inside the building safely.

You both waved and you started walking home a bit faster than normal because you didn’t want to be out while it was dark.

After a short walk you got home safely where your mother greeted you and said that they had waited for you with dinner.

An hour after dinner you went to bed, stomach happy, feeling alright and light.

You were ready to continue your goal of becoming a hero to rely on.

 I Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

[im-fairly-whitty]

:0 I thought I was the only one who liked Hans! I see so many people hating on him and I always have this quiet "I like him o,o'...."

YOU ARE NOT ALONE FRIEND

He’s really such a sweetheart who was done so dirty by the production crew, it’s so easy to see how badly his character’s arc was manhandled off track and it’s painful. 

Not only does he have a love at first sight moment, a lovable animal companion, and a tragic backstory that he’s worked hard to overcome, but he’s actually incredibly capable and kind and thoughtful for the entire movie until he just…isn’t. For literally no reason other than unskilled plot doctoring.

As the youngest of thirteen Hans not only has endured an intense amount of hazing and bullying (pretending your sibling doesn't exist for an hour is normal, pretending they don’t exist for a week is not) but he’s come out on the other side far more socially adept than Anna (who was only ignored by one sibling).

He’s put together, well groomed, well spoken, friendly and kind and courteous. Not to mention that when he arrives in Arendale he is so love-starved that he falls head over heels for Anna in the exact same way that a dozen movie princes have over the years. The difference is that they actually have real chemistry, real political reason to be married (both being the youngest of a dysfunctional royal family) and have shared childhood trauma that put them both in a place of needing someone who literally even sees them and cares about them as a person.

I’m not saying that it was necessarily a good thing for them to try and get married immediately, but it was very believable given their shared trauma and socio-political standing.

Then once Elsa has an anxiety attack and books it for literally no reason, leaving her own court in a panic, it’s Hans that steps up to support Anna in barking down the Duke of Weselton to put him (diplomatically) in his place. He steps into the role of leader flawlessly even though his own experience of leading must have been limited due to his intensely overshadowed upbringing, but he rises to the occasion, organizing welfare and disaster relief efforts and holding down the fort at his pseudo-fiancee’s request.

When he later is in Elsa’s tantrum palace he deliberately tries to keep her safe, trying to talk her down instead of charging her like some of the other diplomats. 

If it was really in his character to be the villain then he would have been much more manipulative around Anna during the party, would have pushed much harder against Elsa’s refusal, would have helped whip the crowd into a frenzy at her display like the Duke of Weselton, would have started digging his claws into the kingdom as soon as Anna left him in charge, and certainly would have tried to kill Elsa in her ice palace while she was vulnerable and outnumbered since she was clearly and obstacle in his way.

BUT HE DIDNT.

HE DIDNT DO ANY OF THAT. 

If he had done any of that it would have made sense when he suddenly did a 180 to “surprise! I was the bad guy all along muahaha!!” But he didn’t. Not only is he the perfect royal gentlemen around Anna and the court, but he even acts kind and thoughtful and brave when none of the other characters are around.

His villainous reveal when he suddenly spurns Anna is surprising, but the reason it’s so surprising is because it’s not a plot twist, it’s a character break. It’s unexpected because the rest of the story has absolutely nothing to do with or support this sudden catastrophic break in character, meaning that it’s not the magician’s reveal that leaves the viewer gasping with awe.

It’s bad writing.

After he abandons Anna to freeze to death (which doesn’t make sense either, it would have been much smarter to try and help her and at the very least keep her around to be able to eventually produce legitimate heirs to the throne instead of monologuing for literally no reason) his character is completely different, suddenly becoming a hand rubbing mustache-twirling baddie with no believable build up or motivation that doesn’t feel two dimensional.

All so that the real villain of the movie could be rebranded to a sniffly anxiety-ridden hikikomori who uses gloves as a security blanket and still seems to care about and love her sister for some reason despite having deliberately not even spoken to her at all in over a decade despite living in the same castle.

(I mean seriously, if you think about it the real magic of being a Disney princess is having even a shred of social skills after being trapped in social isolation for the majority of your life.)

TL;DR - Hans was a perfectly lovely character who got backed over by the rebranding semi truck and deserved better, he’s a completely separate character on either side of the “plot twist” scene with no logical character development. He could have been played off as a villain if his character portrayal has been written better but they ended up depriving him even of that, leaving his arc flat and confusing and out of character. 

And instead we were given a fairly useless victim of childhood troll abduction who gets one ukelele solo and a new sled in exchange for sassing Anna the whole movie and deciding to marry her after one day, literally hours after lecturing her for being ready to do the same with another man. He doesn’t even do anything in plot, not even managing a true loves kiss, reducing his character potential to Anna’s one-star uber driver up the mountain to her sister’s ice cube condo.

All these characters deserved better arcs and better writing, and there are good things in the movie, but the blatant manhandling of Han’s character is terrible writing that I will be salty about for approximately ever.