#and how the villains extracted such a great cost for their defeat

[trollhunters-eldritch-princess]

no series has ever managed to fill me with a sense of pity and tragedy more than the series finale of Trollhunters.

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe: The Fantastic Mutants chapter 6: Frightful Finale (originally posted on April 7, 2021)

AN: It's been far too long since I entered the world of Marvel Gems. What with Steven Universe: Alternate Future, the holiday season and my return to college, I've just kinda got distracted from my big crossover universe. But no longer! I will resolve Fantastic Mutants and maybe get to work on the next stories in this trilogy, no matter the cost.

Also, one disclaimer before we start. My deepest concerns go out to the family of Tom Kane, who I imagined voicing Magneto in here in a reprisal of his role from Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Wolverine & the X-Men. Keep in mind that I came up with the cast long before he had that possibly career-ending stroke. Anyways, let's get a move on at last.

--

The moment that the Blackbird landed in Doomstadt, the Ultimate Alliance immediately charged to Castle Doom, ready to rescue Steven and stop Doctor Doom & Magneto.

"Hang on Steven, we're coming!" Connie yelled while riding atop Lion. Deadpool was behind her on the big cat, hoisting a boombox over his head that blasted 'I Need A Hero' as the heroes drew closer to the castle.

However, armies of Doombots dropped from the tops of the castle walls to defend their master from the invaders. The robots began firing lasers while setting up protective shields around the entrance to their namesake's palace, to keep them from breaking in.

"Oh great, Doombots." The Thing groaned, but then began getting himself pumped up. "But then again, I've been waiting this whole adventure to say this! Y'all know what time it is?"

"It's only 2:50 pm, Ben. Why?" Pearl answered quizzically.

"Dumbass, he's gonna say the thing!" Deadpool yelled excitedly.

"You got it!" Ben grinned as he turned to the Doombots. "IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!" Right off the bat, the ever-lovin' blue-eyed beast began tearing Doombots apart, which excited Amethyst greatly.

"Now this is more my style!" Amethyst cheered, and she joined Ben in tearing the robots apart.

"Good, you two keep them distracted while we break down the doors!" Wolverine commanded as the rest went to beat down the entrance. However, with every Doombot taken down, more began popping up.

"They don't seem to be stopping!" Amethyst said. "Can this get any worse?"

"As a matter of fact, it possibly can." Garnet predicted with her future vision, just as the castle entrance went down and the Frightful Four emerged from behind it.

"The doctor has ordered us to keep you from getting in his way." The Wizard announced. "But it seems we might have our work cut out for us with this many intruders."

"Just as long as he still does whatever he wants to do with that dumb kid he had captured." Mole-Man responded.

"We'd rather die than let you harm Steven!" Peridot yelled, taking up arms with the remains of some Doombots nearby to form a massive sword.

"Ah, who cares?" Trapster shrugged. "He's got more where they came from anyway."

Even more Doombots emerged to fight the Ultimate Alliance, and they seemed stronger than those before them.

"Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and I will take care of these villains!" Connie began planning. "The rest of you take on the rest of the Doombots!"

"You got it!" Lapis obliged. "Hey, where's the Professor?"

"I am staying behind in the Blackbird, but I shall assist in any form I can from here." Xavier announced from the plane using his telepathy.

With a nod to each other, Connie and the primary Crystal Gems prepared for battle against the Frightful Four.

--

All around the operating room that Steven was forced into by Doctor Doom, various medical devices surrounded the boy as Victor experimented on his hybrid nature. Doom had taken blood samples, X-rays, extractions of saliva, but it was nothing short of a breakthrough.

"There has to be something I could use." Doom muttered to himself as he examined his gathered data. "I've been working tirelessly, yet still nothing is working!"

"You'll never win Doom." Steven said weakly. "No matter how hard you try, my powers will never be used for your evil deeds."

"Famous last words Steven." Doctor Doom scoffed scornfully at the boy, but then he began gazing upon his gem. "Wait, that's it! I'll just have to take out your gemstone! I have yet to decide on what to do after that, but I believe I just made a breakthrough!"

A dull thud sound was then heard throughout the operating room.

"What was that?" Doom asked quietly.

The thudding got even louder and louder until finally, Juggernaut's fist broke through the wall and allowed Kitty Pryde & Mystique to leap through the hole.

"Kitty!" Steven cried happily. "And Mystique?"

"No time for questions." Mystique said to Steven. "Creed, now!"

On Raven's command, Sabretooth leaped into action and used his adamantium claws to break Steven free from the operating table he was restrained to.

"Wait, why are you helping me?" Steven asked the Brotherhood members as he lifted himself off the table.

"It's because of you, squirt." Sabretooth answered. "Magneto was all like, 'Ooh, we can't let him harm a fellow mutant even if he promised to help us with our cause', all thanks to you. But then again, he did basically have the same endgame as your X-Men friends anyhow, just with more violent extra steps."

--

Back outside the castle, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl & Connie were all pitted against the Frightful Four, one of them fighting one member each.

"So what's your origin Wiz?" Amethyst asked the Wizard. "Were you laughed at because of your poor fashion sense?!"

"Oh haha, very funny." Bentley Wittman scoffed. "I'm merely jealous of the Four's fame, especially that infernal Human Torch!"

"Oh, so classic jealousy then?" Amethyst replied before using her whips to tie up the Wizard and spin him around. "Geez, grow some dang humility!"

Meanwhile, Pearl was pitted against the Puppet Master, who had decided to defend himself with animated statues of his current boss.

"My puppets are unstoppable!" the Puppet Master boasted, but Pearl proved him wrong by cutting them down with her spear. "What?!"

"You should consider thinking before you speak." Pearl snidely replied before the statues simply put themselves back together. "Wait, how?!"

"It's puppetry, I don't have to explain it!" Phillip Masters shrugged.

"Kinda like how no one can explain your girlish features!" Deadpool jeered the puppeteer's appearance, which caused a puppet to punch him in the face.

"So your gimmick is that you have this gun you use to trap people with?" Connie asked the Trapster while expertly dodging his special glue.

"Yeah, I mean, it's in my name." Petruski replied and aimed his paste gun at her.

"Didn't you go by a different name in the past?" Connie remarked, making the Trapster frightened and then furious. "I think it was Paste Pot Pete, right?"

"SHADDUP!" the villain formerly known as Paste Pot Pete yelled angrily, and he wildly fired his paste gun everywhere he could point it at, covering random spots with his glue. "DON'T CALL ME PASTE POT!"

Connie thought quickly and just as Pete was about to fire his paste at her, she cut the gun in two, disarming him.

Finally, Garnet was pitted against Harvey Elder, aka the Mole-Man, who despite his abnormal height and poor vision, he was able to keep up with her with a fighting style resembling bojutsu that he used his staff for.

"We won't let you keep us from Steven!" Garnet yelled while the leader of the Moloids ran circles around her. "Why are you throwing your lot in with Doom, anyways?"

"He promised us things in exchange for our services!" the Mole Man declared. "Very special things, riches, glory, our own castles!"

"Well, my future vision tells me he won't actually give you those things." Garnet informed Harvey. "Instead he'll just run and hide once defeated while you're left to be arrested."

"WHAT?!" Harvey exclaimed in shock, leaving him open to get punched in the face.

--

"I thought I could trust you Erik!" Doom exclaimed as he stared down the master of magnetism. "Now you dare turn on Doom for that boy?!"

"He is essentially a mutant, just like I." Magneto boldly declared as he defended Steven and Kitty. "And I refuse to allow you to do him any harm."

"This is my land you mutated ingrate!" the doctor roared. "I can do whatever I please here, and you are powerless to stop me, lest you incur the people's wrath for endangering political immunity!"

"When has political immunity ever stopped the Brotherhood?!" Magneto boomed, floating up as a show of power. "Men call me Magneto, master of magnets! And I welcome you to die!"

Using his mutant abilities, Erik made everything in the operating room float in the air with a raise of his arm, and threw that arm down to launch them all at Doom. "Go children, find your friends! I shall handle things from here."

"Right." Steven obliged before he and Kitty fled the battle, leaving the leader of the Brotherhood to combat the king of Latveria.

Doctor Doom burst from the pile that Magneto had trapped him in, and retaliated with a powerful electric shock and that sent Magneto flying into a wall.

"Damn you!" Lehnsherr growled, creating a barrier around him to defend from further damage and unleash electromagnetic shocks from the barrier.

"Come here!" Doom roared, lunging at the mutant terrorist.

--

"The Gems have got to be outside the castle!" Steven exclaimed as he and Kitty ran from a slowly growing army of Doombots chasing them down.

"How would you know that?" Kitty asked.

"I remember when the Doombot said that the castle had intruders, that must be them!" Steven reminded his mutant pal while a Doombot tried to grab him. Suddenly, that same Doombot was stabbed through the neck by Lady Deathstrike's claws.

"Can't believe we're resorting to this." Deathstrike muttered before turning to the children. "I suppose you are looking for those Gems, correct? Go, we'll handle things from here."

As the pair continued running, Avalanche and Pyro appeared beside Yuriko to fight. With a confident nod, Avalanche stomped his foot and caused the castle to cave in on the robots, crushing them to bits.

As for Pyro, he was busy melting more Doombots into liquid metal, which gave the Blob an opening to run them all over with his immense girth.

"Oy, wait up ya squirts!" Juggernaut yelled as he bolted through the wall, covered in Doombot remains. Behind him, Toad and Mystique joined the massive mutate as Steven & Kitty finally reached the front of the castle, where the Crystal Gems, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the X-Force, Spider-Man, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver were waiting.

"Steven!" Pearl yelled excitedly as she wrapped her arms around Steven, and Garnet, Amethyst & Connie followed suit. "We were so worried sick, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Steven answered. "He just took some samples of my blood and saliva, that's all."

"Steven, long time no see!" Spider-Man cried, giving the half-Gem a high five.

"Peter, Wanda, Pietro!" Steven replied, seeing the web-slinger along with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.

"Ah, so you brought my children along?" Magneto asked as he suddenly appeared behind Steven with the Brotherhood behind him. "How quaint."

"Magneto!" Wolverine yelled, and he and the X-Men got ready for a fight, but then Xavier strolled in on his wheelchair. "Uh, Chuck?"

"Erik." Charles politely greeted his archrival.

"Charles." Erik replied in kind. "It seems we are once again at a point where we must align our interests for a common good."

"Indeed it is." The Professor examined thoughtfully.

"Uh, I guess this is pretty common, right?" Amethyst asked the pair of elderly mutants.

"Quite so Amethyst." Xavier declared. "Now then, what brought you to turn on Doom?"

"It was that boy there." Magneto revealed while pointing at Steven. "He convinced me that I could never allow a fellow mutant to be harmed, and I allowed him and Ms. Pryde to flee while I contended with Doom."

On that topic, the Frightful Four rose up to strike back against the Gems. "Et tu Magneto?!" the Mole Man yelled. "Well, we'll see who has the last laugh when the doctor comes for you all!"

Just then, loud mechanical wheezes and groans came from deeper within the castle. Everybody gathered turned back to the front gates and decided to go inside, hoping to see what was up.

--

"That helmeted fool shall rue the day he ever crossed me!" Doctor Doom muttered hatefully to himself as he tended to a massive machine until a security screen brought up the Ultimate Alliance making their way through his castle, now joined by the Brotherhood of Mutants. "Excellent." Doom purred before he pressed a few buttons on one of his metal gauntlets, causing the machines to turn on. "If Steven won't let me have that gem, I'll rip it from his corpse!"

Four gigantic purple and blue robots slowly stood up straight as their eyes began glowing four different colors, blue, red, green and white. The Sentinels Victor had been waiting to complete were finally ready, and he couldn't be happier to unleash them on his foes.

--

Phew, so glad I finally finished this! This took ages to write, since I intended to finish this chapter in February but then Alternate Future and college got in the way, plus I'm starting to get a little burned out since I have to balance two massive Steven Universe fanfictions. Hopefully I can at least get the next story started in the summer. But I'm getting ahead of myself, sorry to keep you waiting!

[blueskittlesart]

My hot take on vld season 6

Because I’ve seen a lot of discourse about this season so I figured I’d do my opinions in an episode-by-episode breakdown. It’s pretty log sooo:

Episode 1: Omega Shield

Okay. So upon first seeing this episode I was MAD. (Mostly because of how close Lotor and Allura seemed to be) But I get now why that had to be done and I actually like the direction they chose to go with Lotor, but I’ll get to that later.

I’m a bit annoyed that this seems to be the “Hunk development” we were told we were getting. (Heads up, vld, one episode does NOT count as full development.) However, it was really refreshing to see him be the focus of an episode, and we really got to see the growth that’s been going on for him in the background these past few seasons. Like, at the beginning of the show he was this timid little teenager who couldn’t fly without getting motion sick, constantly tried to take the easy way out, and generally avoided confrontation at all costs, not because he was cowardly, but because he was, understandably, really fucking scared of space. (And I don’t blame him. Space is huge and terrifying.) But now, we get to see him being a commanding force. We see him take charge of a situation and whip others into shape, using his capacity to learn new material (arguably his most important trait) as a weapon to get his job done. It was amazing to see that side of Hunk, even if it was just for one episode.

And then of course we have Lance just fucking dying. As much as my allurance heart wants to appreciate that scene, I can’t entirely ignore the fact that Voltron continued its pattern of having a life-changing, traumatic event happen to a character (other examples include Lance almost getting sucked out into space through the airlock in season 2(?) and Keith being ready to sacrifice himself for the greater good in season 4(?)) and then never address it or the trauma it may have caused again. Lance died. He fucking DIED, and two scenes later we see him smiling in the background as if nothing happened. Maybe they’ll use it for some angst in the future, but it honestly just feels like bad, neglectful writing to me at this point. They want dramatic scenes without having to address the way those scenes will impact the characters and the story. 

Episode 2: Razor’s Edge

Finally, the Keith and Krolia development we’ve been waiting for!! There’s very little for me to complain about in this episode. I loved the subtle details, like the way Keith’s dad wore the jacket that was later given to Shiro. I think Keith’s parents’ backstory was done really well, and I’m really happy that he gets to reunite with his mom again.

Honestly the second they saw that giant space fish thing I thought “lion turtle.” A huge animal with a forest on its back where the characters get trapped for a while?? Come on. I’m glad Keith and Krolia got that time to bond, even though it hasn’t really been addressed yet. Also I’m in love with Keith's dog (I had him pegged as a cat person but hey, at least I know Shiro is still on my side.)

Plus we finally!! got!! the “boy from Cuba” line!!! and yeah, it was in reference to Allura, but it suggests a lot more Lance in the seasons to come, especially since they’re going back to Earth soon. That line, at least to me, seems to really put a lot of emphasis on how connected Lance is to his Earthen heritage, and I really, really hope that will be explored more in the coming seasons. 

Also side note, but that Lance scene where he knocks over the metal thing (tool of some sort?) and just kind of stares at it as it clatters to the ground was so fucking funny?? That was one of the top comedic moments of this season, not gonna lie.

Overall I was really happy with this episode. It was plot-driven and interesting, and everything seemed to fit really well.

Episode 3: Monsters & Mana

I have never once played D&D in my life, and I’m just gonna state that now so no one comes after me for this section

I’ve seen some complaints that this was a filler episode, and yeah, maybe you’re right. But it was a GOOD filler episode. It was engaging, realistic given the timeline and story, and provided a lot of subtle foreshadowing in an interesting way. 

It makes sense that everyone on the team would need a fucking break after all this excitement. At that time in the story, they were relatively inactive, since they were working with Lotor and all that. They couldn’t have been working on the castle at every waking moment, and playing a game like M&M is a great way to pass their time. 

I’m gonna get into some elements of the characters that I found interesting here too. Namely, Shiro and Hunk’s backstories. Shiro’s “master” in his little cutscene had one messed up eye, dare i say Iverson? yeah, we don’t know much about Shiro’s life on Earth before Voltron. But the parallels from what we DO know suggest to me that there’s correlation between the M&M character backstories and the main-story character backstories. Which bring me to Hunk. His character Block’s backstory was that his “village was turned to stone by an evil sorcerer.” I don’t know what this means, but I have a few speculations:

1. Hunk’s hometown was ravaged by some sort of natural disaster while he was in space (we know he’s a Pacific Islander, right? So I don’t think this is too far off base)

2. If the Earth has already been invaded by hostile aliens (Sendak’s “I know your weakness: you value the lives of others”) Hunk’s family or home were directly impacted (this one seems to be the most logical to me, since Block’s quest is to “save” his village, which Hunk could easily do by defeating the Galra/other hostile aliens on Earth)

3. Some other form of disaster has and/or will affect Hunk’s family/home and he’ll have to either save them or deal with the after-effects of it 

Either way it’ll be interesting to see how next season plays out back on earth!

As for some of the other foreshadowing, I take you all now to the way Shiro keeps fucking dying. Shiro’s “twin brother” was played off like a joke in this episode, but thinking about it, I see it as a subtle reference to the whole clone Shiro ordeal. the original Shiro, now dead, was the clone Keith killed, and “Gyro” (his “twin brother”) is the Shiro who was revived at the end of this season. And judging by the big role he played in defeating the boss at the end of the episode, the newly-revived Shiro will be extremely important in upcoming seasons.

Episode 4: The Colony

“But even if they do reach the quintessence field, then what? The last time anyone got in there, it turned Zarkon evil.” THIS IS WHY YOU FUCKING LISTEN TO LANCE.

I honestly really, really love the direction they decided to go with Lotor. they totally brought him back around into the interesting, dynamic villain I knew he could be and I’m so happy about that.

On to what specifically I noticed about the plot of this episode. One big thing for me is the revelation that quintessence can, in fact, be extracted from other beings. This only brings up more questions, though: What did Lotor want the quintessence for? The Galra Empire already seems to have plenty of fuel. How was he harvesting the Alteans’ quintessence? Did he have druids helping him, or did he discover another way to do it? Did anyone else in the Galra Empire know about this? The whole operation raises more questions than it answers.

And when Allura found out and just fucking YEETED Lotor across the room? I may have watched it at 3 am but I was still screaming at the top of my goddamn lungs, at least on the inside. She gave him exactly what he deserved with no goddamn hesitation and I love it.

Shiro going full clone was crazy, but we all expected it. I’ll admit that his being used to steal Lotor was not what I would have guessed, though. It kinda turned out to be a pointless use of him in the end though since Lotor escaped immediately

Another thing about Lotor’s plot that stuck out to me: He knew that there were living Alteans. He knew how much Allura wished she could have her planet and her people back, and how much it hurt her that she’d never be able to see them again. And he still kept this place secret from her. He still took her people and exploited them for his plan, and then was stupid enough to think she’d see that he was doing it “for the greater good?” Even if it WASN’T such a despicable fucking thing to do, those are Allura’s people. She’s wanted nothing but to see more Alteans for the past year at least. She’s not ever going to see things his way. 

another side note: i want romelle to snap my neck

Episode 5: The Black Paladins

Holy mcfuck is there a lot in this episode. First off, as an artist and animator I really need to take a moment to appreciate how fucking beautiful everything was in this episode. The shadows, the movement, the colors, the cinematography, everything about this episode was artistically stunning. The animators really outdid themselves with this one. 

Okay, since there’s so much to talk about with this episode, I’m gonna break it up. We’ll start with what happened on the castle.

Pidge... is fucking amazing. That’s all I can even say about this kid. This is a fifteen year old girl, she’s literally a couple months younger than I am, and she’s dealing with all this shit and pulling through. That’s amazing. She has literal adults looking to her for help in a life-or-death situation, she had to be under insane stress during this episode, knowing that what she does could mean the difference between life or death for all of them. And she pulls through. Pidge Holt is so fucking strong and I love her with all of my heart. Someone get this kid a peanut butter cookie.

It’s interesting to me that not only did she instantly recognize the code from Shiro’s arm, but also had a program ready to destroy it. It reminds me of that Voltron comic where she’s able to take down her fellow paladins because she observes them and knows their weaknesses. She watches, She listens, and she prepares for every possible contingency, no matter how badly she wants to believe they’ll never happen. And that’s why she’s dangerous. 

Okay. now for all the mess that happened with Shiro.

Mother of god, I am SHOOK. Even the SETTING of the damn thing was so goddamn thought out and interesting I don’t know where to start.

There were so many other clone Shiros. Why were there so many other clone Shiros??? Were they planning to release more at the same time, or were they backups in case the original clone was compromised? Were they tests? What???? Were???? They??? For???????

And that Galra form Keith. Is that something he discovered in the two years he spent with Krolia? Something he can consciously activate? Or did it just happen to come out because he was in a moment of high emotion and adrenaline? It also seemed to give him a boost of strength, because Shiro was only able to push him off after the form deactivated. I hope we’ll get to see him use it again!

“I should have abandoned you just like your parents did. They saw that you were broken. Worthless. I should have seen it, too.”

Holy fuck clone Shiro is MEAN. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must’ve felt like for Keith to hear that from Shiro, who’s basically the one person he’s been able to rely on dependably for his whole life. In his vlog he even said that his trust issues are BECAUSE Krolia left him, and having his older-brother figure, who he looks up to and trusts like no one else, reaffirm those doubts he already has must have been devastating, even if he learned later it wasn’t really Shiro. I doubt that’s an image he’ll be able to get out of his head quickly.

All those flashbacks of little Keith... he had that mullet his whole life I guess (I mean he probably learned how to cut his hair from Shiro so like. is anyone surprised). But in all seriousness, does the Garrison take middle school aged students too? because he looked way too young to be a high schooler. (Side note: Are they letting the middle schoolers fly the goddamn spaceships?? Who the fuck decided this program was a good idea??)

Keith also told Shiro he should “send [Keith] back to the home already.” By “the home” did he mean the shack his parents lived in? That’s doubtful, since without Shiro he’d be living there alone. I would assume Keith was put in foster care of some kind, most likely an orphanage, which is probably what he meant by “the home.” It’s a minor detail, and just something I noticed, but I figured I’d point it out anyway. 

I really, really loved this episode. It’s probably one of my favorites in the whole series. 

Episode 6: All Good Things

(My klance obsessed ass feels the need to point out that the blue and red stars are still in the astral plane, and were shown in the very first scene of the episode. Just saying.)

So did this episode just confirm that when a paladin dies in their lion, their consciousness stays within the lion? Because damn, that sets the stage for a LOT of angst fic. (Fic writers, get on this.) 

Lance supporting Allura is my goddamn aesthetic honestly. Friends, lovers, siblings, I don’t care, but I’m happy their relationship is getting development!

KEITH GOT A STRONGER CONNECTION WITH THE BLACK LION!! HE CAN USE ITS WINGS!! This gives me so much hope for black paladin Keith again in season 7 because he’s clearly got such a strong connection with Black... he deserves this. also black deserves a paladin thats a real fucking person and not a fake bitch

Coran development?? In my Voltron?? It’s more likely than you think

Then of course, we have Lotor going full Azula. I said this before, but I am so, so, so fucking happy they chose to make him a villain in the end after all. I was so worried after last season that they’d throw away all his potential as a villain in order to go for a shitty redemption plot, and I was completely fooled up until the last second, just like the paladins. And that’s a big part of what I love about it. We were in the paladin’s shoes. We didn’t know what to believe, we either liked Lotor or were suspicious, but most people truly believed the plan was for him to be redeemed. The writers really did a great job of making us feel the way the paladins did, seeing Lotor’s betrayal and eventual descent into madness, and that’s truly the kind of thing that makes me love Voltron. 

anyway lotortron (aka whoretron) is fucking ugly and im glad its stuck in the quintessence feild for all eternity

Episode 7: Defender of all Universes

Beautiful fight scenes, insane dialog, wonderful storyline. All in all, it was a perfect conclusion to the season. 

The fight in the quintessence field? Absolutely beautifully done. Suspense, beautiful cinematography, and it all tied back to the show’s underlying theme of teamwork in the best way. I have no complaints in the slightest about how this was done. Honest to god, I loved this whole fight. (I am curious about what will happen to Lotor, though. will he be literally destroyed in the quintessence field when the power gets to be too much for him, or will he just kind of stay there festering until someone manages to travel in there again? Maybe the paladins will go back and get him later in the series.)

The castle is gone now I guess?? rip (More Coran development?? in my Voltron???? It’s more likely than you think) BUT ALSO if they do plan to make another ship like they said, they’re gonna need another Balmeran crystal to power it, which means more Shay!!

So now... that scene at the end. Shiro’s revival.

When Lance started crying, so did I. Literally, I saw his tears and I just fucking broke... my Lance stan heart couldn't take it...

and finally shiro’s white hair is ugly as fuck lmao

so TL;DR: This season was a big win in my opinion. I can’t remeber feeling this good about Voltron since maybe season two. I’m 100% ready to see some Lance and Hunk-centered storylines in season 7 if my predictions are right, and to hopefully see some main villain Haggar (FINALLY)

Thanks for reading!

[zachsgamejournal]

REFLECTING: Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII's Biggest Problem is Jenova

I love Final Fantasy VII, but it’s not perfect. The game has a great allegory for environmentalism, militarism, and capitalism. President Shinra has become rich extracting a natural resource from the ground and turning it into energy: Mako Energy. Using his profits, he’s able to fund a private military and threaten with literal force any that oppose or challenge him. With the influence of his power and money, he’s able to control local governments and act on his impulses without reproach. And while commits to war for profit, his reactors literally drain the planet of its life force. He’s the perfect antagonist to our band of misfits. But somewhere near the end of the early, amazing chapters of the game--there’s a bait and switch. President Shinra is left murdered, and Jenova/Sephiroth are revealed to be the true antagonists.

Problem is...they don’t quite work with the frame that’s been set.

Jenova is an alien. She travels around, consuming the life force of planets. A parasite. For the victim planet, I’m sure this is unpleasant, but it’s not necessarily any different than orcas hunting seals, right? So while you definitely don’t want Jenova destroying the world--she’s not exactly the same level of evil (if evil at all) as Shinra. And Sephiroth, her almost-son (he’s infused with her cells), is the victim of experimentation, indoctrination, and lies from Shinra. He’s very much a victim in this story. His reaction is...excessive and murderous, but he’s still not a man of greed that has murdered and pillaged for the sake of pure power and selfishness. Sephiroth is broken and delusional, Shinra is evil.

It’s important to establish your villains early. While it’s fun to trick your audience, it causes confusion. If you establish a clear villain and hero, then switch them out later on, you leave your audience wondering: “What’s this story even about?” FF7 starts off with great back-to-back sequences, introducing new characters and concepts at a healthy pace that keep the game interesting, while building up a hundred and one reasons to hate Shinra. The peake being President Shinra murdering thousands of his own citizens to make a point against a handful of eco-terrorists.  But as we’re about to confront this living monster, the game says, “JK--here’s the real final boss: Jenova.” And then there’s hours of confused plot twists trying to legitimize a weak antagonist. But the real enemy is still Shinra. Shinra discovered Jenova, safely hidden away, and began to experiment. Shinra created Sephiroth. Everything that Jenova and Sephiroth accomplish and attempt is due to the reckless and selfish actions of Shinra. And they don’t feel bad.

The easy fix: Jenova isn’t an alien. She’s an Ancient, or Cetra.

If we establish Jenova as an Ancient/Cetra, then Sephiroth’s hypothesis becomes true. His feelings of being betrayed and manipulated by Shinra become true. And his actions of terror and revenge, while evil, become empathetic and human. He’s not just a one-dimensional bad guy we have to defeat to save the planet. He’s a multilayered victim that we must unfortunately destroy to save the planet. Shinra is still the bad guy, but while they’re killing the planet slowly through greed, Sephiroth and Jenova have a plan to kill all humans in a single blow. It creates an uneasy and dramatic three way battle between opponents that are sometimes ideologically aligned.

From my understanding, the history of Jenova and Sephiroth is that Jenova landed on the planet. The Cetra, who could use the life stream to conjure magic, struggled to battle Jenova. The humans, who could not conjure magic, refused to aid the Cetra. Sephiroth, reading about this, takes offense and vows humans to be his enemy and goes to rescue Jenova and take back the planet. The second part works, except this planet doesn’t belong to Jenova.

What if Jenova were the queen of the Cetra. A meteor hits the planet and causes much chaos. The Cetra, who can conjure magic, survive easily. The humans struggle. Jenova agrees to assist the humans. Part of that is showing humans how to turn the life stream into materia. While it helps the humans get back on their feet, they become addicted to its power. The problem is, materia does not return to the planet. The use of it hurts the planet. The Cetra, who are well in-tune with the planet, sense this. Jenova orders the humans to cease, but they ignore her. A war begins.

The Cetra easily over power the humans at first. But human technology grows, and they create massive, terrible weapons which the usually peaceful Cetra cannot defeat. Jenova battles the weapons and is gravely injured. She goes into a deep sleep to recuperate, but the Cetra cannot continue to fight without her. A cease-fire is reached and the human weapons are buried.

Now unchecked, the humans continue to develop materia-based technology. The Cetra, without their powerful queen, are unable to stop it. Their connection to the planet grows weak and their numbers dwindle. Humans spread across the world. Eventually, Shinra begins an aggressive consolidation of Materia and Mako Energy production. He uses his immense wealth to fund a private army and quickly dominates the planet, monopolizing the Mako industry.

Learning of the Promise Land, the secret home of the Cetra, President Shinra sets out to find this supposed unlimited source of Mako energy. In doing so, he discovers Jenova where she sleeps. Shinra orders scientific study, and Sephiroth is the result of that experimentation. With her cells infused with his own, Sephiroth is inhumanly powerful. He becomes a great war hero and poster boy for Shinra. But upon learning of his origin and the actions of Shinra, Sephiroth becomes vengeful and delusional. He declares all humans his enemy and strives to rescue Jenova and save the planet by killing all humans. Cloud stops this first attempt after seeing Sephiroth destroy Cloud’s hometown.

Sephiroth falls into the lifestream and now slumbers in the north crater. Jenova plans to return there, utilizing Sephiroth clones to travel. Her goal is to reconnect with Sephiroth and complete the plan for vengeance and cleansing. Sensing the danger that Sephiroth and Jenova represent, Cloud’s team plans to stop them--which happens to be Shinra’s goal. But Shinra is greedy, not altruistic. Sometimes it’s an uneasy alliance, but mostly it’s antagonistic.

Aerith is a Cetra descendant. More pure than Sephiroth. She plans to use her power to stop Jenova and Sephiroth--and she has the strength to do it. With this realization, Sephiroth murders Aerith. Jenova and Sephiroth are able to call for another meteor to cause a catastrophic destruction of human civilization. They also awaken and control the buried human weapons to wreak havoc.

With Aerith dead, Jenova, and in a lesser way--Sephiroth, represent the last of the ancient race of Cetra. It’s this sad truth that makes the final battles with Jenova and Sephiroth so bitter. Both of them are victims. Jenova saved the humans at the cost of her own people. Sephiroth was tricked into unwittingly using the power of Cetra to further destroy the planet and erase their legacy. With their will unyielding, the only way to save humanity is their destruction.

But in the final confrontations, Aerith’s spirit reveals itself. Her love and passion for her human friends mixed with her Cetra ancestry convince Jenova to surrender her quest for vengeance. With her hatred subsiding, she begins to fade into the lifestream. Sephiroth is alone. He’s the last of the Cetra, but not a true descendant. Being both not-human and not-Cetra, he has no place in this world. He has no place in the lifestream. Jenova gave him some sense of belonging, but that is gone now. All that is left is rage and hatred.

Cloud defeats him.

As Sephiroth dies, he reminds Cloud that Cloud himself is an outsider. He’s the result of experiments and his merging of Sephiroth’s cells makes the pair of them more alike than any other two beings. If Jenova is “mother”, then the two of them are brothers. Sephiroth insists that Cloud is now alone. That the legacy of Cetra lives through him, and the humans will not accept him. Cloud reflects on the new family he’s made with his companions and tells Sephiroth he’s wrong. Sephiroth dies and fades away.

As Cloud’s team escapes the crater, the meteor is attacking Midgar. The lifestream comes forth and stops the meteor. Shinra is in shambles, but not destroyed. There’s an opportunity for humans to start over with a new appreciation for the lifestream.

But will they?