#and that specific gimmick of hers is not actually very funny

[dreadark]

i imagine ivan is very much Not a picky eater (because well... the first few years of his life he was eating literal trash scraps, and then he just molded himself to expectation so his actual taste is...?)

though we do know he likes sweet things

so in some au where ivan... is alive... and somehow gets the freedom to cook for himself

he'd probably just do weird shit like put sugar in chicken soup. sugar covered broccoli. sugar in guacamole. till tries to steal his food as revenge once and immediately spits it out because wtf i thought this was tomato sauce what's wrong with you why are you eating spaghetti with raspberry jam

[landoffreaksandfrogs]

POV: you are eridan

[blueikeproductions]

So with TFONE attempting to simplify the Primes and some recent cartoons trying to theme some shows around them, it has led to a thought how this could work.

The biggest problem the Primes have is that nobody really knows or cares that much about them. The only one most actually care about is The Fallen because of the Bay film. Vector Prime via Galaxy Force is fondly remembered by TF fans, but that version also predates the modern Prime mythology.

Transformers Prime was intended to look more into what it means to be a Prime, but never truly does so. It also introduced the modern 13 Prime lore, but also does very little with it. It’s mostly limited to Solus�� Forge being a reoccurring weapon, Megatron grafting a Prime arm on to him, with creatives unable to decide who it’s supposed to be, and Alpha Trion making a cameo (more so to reference G1 than do much with the Primes).

RiD15 also uses the Primes, with Micronus (the main rep and Optimus’ life coach) and The Fallen (the first season’s main villain) as the stand out ones. Despite Micronus being the first Mini-Con, he has no influence on the cartoon’s Mini-Con gimmick it adapted later in its run. Liege Maximo appeared in chapter books and is the only (not Fallen) one who got to properly do something. I still greatly insist Onyx Prime should’ve been the rep due to the Beast theme instead. Also Thundertron, but that’s a different problem.

Cyberverse used Alchemist Prime specifically, but while being one of the better characters, he’s not very memorable. Onyx and Alpha Trion have minor roles, with Alpha Trion getting a toy… that nobody bought. He was also there for G1 ‘memberberries, in a role similar to the old cartoon. The Cyberverse staff were not shy admitting to only writing the show for themselves and like minded fans and not actual children.

And now EarthSpark uses Quintus in a major role… but it feels like there’s some conflicting ideas about who he is. Storyboards suggest he’s more benevolent having everyone’s best interests in mind, while the show keeps insisting he might be shady and a dead beat dad.

And like the aforementioned Onyx, the series isn’t great about using Primes better themed to a show. Combiner Wars opts to NOT use Nexus Prime, when instead perhaps they could’ve made him into the evil leader of the Combiners, forcing them to wipe out non Combiners so Cybertron is theirs to rule. Vs the show just having them fight… because reasons. He also never got a toy in the Combiner themed line. This could’ve also been tinkered with once more in RiD15 for its Combiner Force, casting him as a neutral who gifts power of combination to the Bee Team and the Pack, seeing who’s more worthy to use the Enigma for an upcoming problem involving an ancient Combiner unique to the show. (Also having Chop Shop as a minor villain again.)

I think the problem is largely NOT letting the other Primes being proper characters. Vector Prime and The Fallen are allowed to be characters, with Vector allowed to be part of the Autobots, make bonds with them and the kids, and have a little arc of his own, remembering the value of life throughout time.

I think if we went back to that, having a surviving Prime join the Autobots and find their footing in the modern era on Earth during the battle against the Decepticons would help.

It’s actually kind of shocking in the current “DEI” era that they don’t have Solus Prime in such a role, working alongside Optimus. The downside to this is current writers would probably make her into a more arrogant Captain Marvel type, but ideally Solus should be cast in a role similar to Vector in Galaxy Force. I feel like it’d be funny if she especially bonded with the kids, a loving but firm grandma, who drives them around, with the gag being the kids are ferried around in a big purple construction vehicle. Solus is also happy to fix things with a gentle tap of her Fixit Felix hammer, usually the kids’ phones, but an episode sees some repercussions, where the phones and other gadgets start Transforming into semi sentient-semi automatic weapons.

Think the Appliance Bots from ROTF.

Amalgamous is really the only one that’s too abstract to use as he is. I feel like the trick is to create an in-story reason why he can’t infinitely Transform, limiting him to being a Six Changer like Sixshot. This way the writers and artists can be more creative, and have a character arc where Amalgamous learns to be one of the Autobots with a running gag he forgets he can’t change into whatever he wants anymore and turns into a car or dinosaur that isn’t appropriate to the situation.

Liege is easy enough. He’s the Sideways trying to nudge the Autobots, Decepticons and humans into doing what he wants for nefarious reasons.

I feel like Prima would be a hybrid of TFA Ratchet & TFA Ultra Magnus, a cranky foxy grandpa that means well and tries to guide Optimus and the kids, but he’s quite literally an overbearing helicopter parent trying to dictate what Optimus should be doing. While still powerful in his own right, Prima does get overwhelmed by Megatron’s sheer rage.

The 13th Prime is up in the air. It could be Zeta, Rodimus, Adaptus, Mortilus or a brand new Prime for the scenario. I got nothing.

I am a bit concerned about Vector. He was already used effectively, but his schtick is time travel and manipulation, and to move the story of TFONE along that didn’t help him against Quints or Sentinel. Can you even use time travel effectively anymore? Maybe if Vector was more in line with Time Patrol Bon, not that anyone watched the Netflix reboot of it.

[gamesception]

Sception Reads Cass Cain #42

Batgirl (2000) #21 - December 2001 Writer: Kelley Puckett……….Pencils: Damion Scott Inks: Robert Campanella…..Colors: Gregory Wright

My short break turned into a 6 month hiatus, but the first issue of the new Cass Batgirl run releasing tomorrow (at time of writing this) has finally given me the push to start this project up again. While this isn't the most consequential issue to come back to, it is a good one, and it has Stephanie in it, and references og Cass's initial dynamic with Shiva, which is topical since the new book will at least start with a focus on modern Cass's relationship with her mother.

Most of the usual team here this time, only we have a different Wright on the colors than usual. Which did give me a brief moment of panic that I'd been attributing colors to the wrong person, but no, most of the previous issues specifically credit Jason Wright, but this one specifically credits Gregory.

The issue opens with Cass preparing for a training routine, and I have to point out that the evolution of Damion Scott's art style that I brought up in a reply to a post that was going around recently (link) regarding inconsistency in Cass's appearance was already well underway by issue 21 of her ongoing.

The training sequence itself is pretty extreme as Cassandra demolishes dozens of dummies and a few (potentially load bearing?) stone columns in her cave...

Before nearly taking Spoiler's head off and making herself sick with the effort of stopping her own punch and/or the realization of what almost just happened. It's a cool-then-funny sequence which also reinforces how Cassandra is capable of absolutely destroying people, but that she very much doesn't want to actually hurt anyone, traits that will of course be key to events later in the issue because Kelley Puckett is just good like that.

Anyway, Steph is here because Babs sent her to get Cass and bring her to the Clock Tower, since Cass wasn't responding to calls while engrossed in her hours-long training regimen.

*I wish I didn't have to, Mirthful Mike.

But yeah, this issue is a sort of tie in to Joker: Last Laugh, a miniseries / crossover event from 2001 that frankly I didn't much care for. Unfortunately we'll have to look at an issue from the main miniseries run next time, but for the moment Bab's summary is all that needs to be relevant for the current issue.

The more interesting thing going on in the same panel is the little exchange between Babs and Cass about whether Cass has been studying her super villain files. With Cass answering 'no' in a kind of embarrassed way, which Barbara reads as Cass being embarrassed about not doing her homework, something Babs obviously things Cass ~should~ be doing but that she's kind of given up on Cass ever caring enough ~to~ do, with Cass just not caring about the part of the job that she's not good at / the part of the job that Barbara does. It's a whole thing., and a point of tension that at this point in the comic is slowly building and then later will be forgotten about and unmentioned for a huge run of issues and then even later than that will explode out of nowhere. Again with my recurring comment about this book being fantastic on the build up of character arcs and not as great on the follow through.

BUT ANYWAY, Babs is completely misreading this situation, because Cass isn't embarrassed because she think she's been caught not doing something she should, she's visibly embarrassed (love the art from Scott here, again with managing a very expressive Cass despite being in the full face covering mask) because she thinks she's been caught doing something she shouldn't.

One of the first rules Bruce gave her was 'no costumed criminals'. She's not supposed to be fighting supervillains or metahumans or any other weirdos with special abilities or gimmicks that might invalidate her body-reading ability, which we've already established is her primary and near only defensive skill. At least, that's the in universe justification for why this book mostly avoids big scenery chewing bad guys who would otherwise distract from the intended tone and core themes.

Now, Bruce would have intended that as "don't fight them, but absolutely study them so you know what you're dealing with if you have do", but Cass is very much the sort of kid who would have heard that as 'supervillains are entirely off limits, I don't want you to fight them, or look at them, or even think about them', like the whole subject is a taboo - one she'll absolutely break, but that she'll feel guilty about breaking and try to hide from authority figures, because that's how she deals with guilt in general, lying (poorly) about it, trying to hide it. Because she doesn't think she deserves to be Batgirl, so she's completely insecure about it and sure she's going to be fired the moment anyone sees through her.

And that's especially the case given the reason she's been so carefully studying the particular supervillains she has - super powered martial artists. The same reason she's been training so hard that she's destroying her cave, missing calls from Barbara, and nearly killing unexpected guests who wander into her sessions, but that's a subject the comic comes back to later.

This habit / character flaw / broken coping mechanism of lying to hide guilt (misplaced or otherwise) is just so compelling to me. The way the lies taint every relationship, distancing the character from anyone they should be able to rely on, the way the they inevitably build up as the character feels guilty about the lies themselves and makes up more lies to hide that, like a matryoshka doll, or a tower of cards waiting to fall, the way that by the time other characters start pulling on the strings thinking they know what's going on there's a usually a cascade of revelations each more shocking than the last. Alphys in Undertale is a prime example of this.

The disaster when everything falls apart is usually the best part of this dynamic, and sadly Batgirl (2000) will choose to subvert that part (again, fantastic set up, but never quite following through), but we aren't there yet.

Anyway, it's just a couple short lines of dialog across as many panels sharing space with a blunt info-dump, but it's a really good character beat speaking to both Cass's flaws - the whole lying and hiding anything she feels guilty about - and Barbara's - assuming she already knows what's going on and not digging any further or following up (which only enables Cass's lying and hiding) because the reason she assumes makes her annoyed and angry (which Cass of course picks up on, reinforcing her feelings of guilt and insecurity).

It's a complicated and unhealthy dynamic between two people that otherwise genuinely love each other, and the tension and angst that comes from that is also fantastic.

The original Cass Cain Batgirl run was full of this drama that comes from making these variously maladjusted characters care about each other and exploring the fraught relationship dynamics that result. That more than anything else is what made Batgirl (2000) great and that post-flashpoint Cass has been lacking (the parts I've read anyway, still need to get around to that Outsiders run). Even my constant complaints about the flanderization of latter day David Cain basically boil down to this, because original Cass's relationship with Cain was overflowing with this sort of tension.

Anyway, that's a ton of talk about two panels, lets see if I can rush through the rest of the issue a bit more quickly...

...

So Babs gives a reason why Cass and Steph aren't wanted in this otherwise all-hands-on-deck emergency situation, a reason that's a little bit dumb, but way less dumb than the reason we'll get next time, and Cass says she's fine with it, which takes Babs by surprise. You can see the fight she was ready to have about it, you can see how confused she is when Cass just says OK, because again Scott is just so good at these facial expressions. Babs, or at least this version of her, is susceptible to making inaccurate assumptions about people, about Cass in particular, but she's a smart enough cookie to notice when Cass acts outside of those assumptions and start questioning whether something else is going on.

So Cass goes to train in Bab's star trek holodeck (I admit that thing was a bit too sci fi for a gotham book for my tastes), and refuses to let Steph sit in, which calls back the scene earlier to reinforce it in the readers memory before what happens later.

The power goes out, and Cass comes out sheepishly, this miserable look on her face (again! So good!), because she thinks she broke the holo room, and there's no way to hide & lie her way around that, but the problem isn't Cass...

It's this guy, Shadow Thief (jokerized), a villain I know nothing about and have never seen or read outside of this comic. He's got some weird tech that, I think, drains electricity from nearby devices to make himself (but not his weapons) intangible?

Scott draws him in an extra exaggerated, cartoony, and rubbery style, which works here to emphasize his weird powers and/or jokerization, but does kind of foreshadow how all of his comic art starts to look more like that over time - which again isn't bad (as you can see in the panel here it actually looks pretty cool), but I still prefer the earlier style.

Anyway, Shadow Thief also a notable supervillain martial artist, so Cass actually has been studying his files, and knows exactly how to deal with him -

Catching the throwing stars he throws at them with her fingers (look at her smile! She's loving this!)

Throwing out some cocky banter to play on his ego

Grabbing his very tangible sword to draw him to the roof so Babs and Steph aren't caught in their fight.

All great stuff.

And yeah, Barbara has absolutely picked up that somethings going on with Cass. Eventually it will be revealed that she just already knows about the fight with Shiva, and I don't think we ever see how she found out, but this is pretty clearly where she started to suspect something and it's not too much of a stretch to jump from that initial suspicion to just knowing everything, at least not with this character.

Even without his sword, Shadow Thief has special martial arts techniques that somehow let him sort of hit things despite his Shadow Field making him intangible....

And now Cass does, too.

One of the usual principles of early Batgirl (2000) - no supervillains - serves to keep the focus tight on the more emotional themes of the book. Cass is so far out of the league of any of the typical criminals she runs up against that fights are always over in a flash, keeping action scenes short and punchy and leaving more space in the book for other things. But it is nice, every once in a while, to make an exception for a more drawn out and elaborate fight scene like this, where Cass can really show her skills.

But the real drama of this issue happens when Babs finds a way to remotely deactivate Shadow Thief's intangibility field mid battle. That 'oh, shit' face is so good.

All Cass's joy gone in an instant. She was having so much fun. She was so happy to have a real opponent she could cut loose on instead of inanimate dummies or holograms. Someone good enough to keep up with her, and with a defensive ability effective enough that she could put her full skills to use without having to worry about actually hurting them. Yeah, Shadow Thief's a villain, but they were playing with each other, trading banter. Having fun. Despite Shadow Thief's murderous intent, this was almost more of a friendly sparring match than a real fight.

But once again she gets a stark reminder of what her skills were originally meant for, what she was originally meant for. Earlier in the issue Cass was throwing up at the thought that she even could have hurt Stephanie, and now she probably killed this guy. And there won't be any hiding this - forget what might happen if Bruce finds out about the guy she murdered as a child, he 100% is going to find out about this man that she murdered, on the roof of Barbara's safe house, while wearing his symbol. Her entire life is falling apart, here.

But Stephanie is here. And helps Cass save him. Helps her save herself.

And of course Cass wants to hide what happened from Barbara. And of course Stephanie, being a good friend, keeps her secret, even if it probably would have been better to talk to Barbara about what happened and what Cass is feeling about it. Then again, if Babs knew it might have gotten back around to Bruce, and that ~wouldn't~ have been a healing conversation.

And the issue ends with a Flashback to Cass agreeing to fight Shiva, a real fight, to the death, using all of their killing skills. An bargain struck many issues back, so this is the reminder to readers that the fight is coming up soon, only a few issues away now. The final page is this panel of Cass back in her cave, with Shiva's file open, a video recording of her fighting on loop, as Cass sits with her face in shadow. She isn't going to fight to kill Shiva. She can't. So Shiva is absolutely going to kill her.

So yeah, a strong issue to come back to, catching us up on the overal serial plot of the book at the time, but also strongly grounded in original Cass's core emotional themes and the intricate dynamics of some of her core relationships, including now to Stephanie, with this being a huge early moment of vulnerability from Cass and support from Steph pushing them from like work friends who pal around some times to real friends who rely on each other.

And despite making exceptions to include a super villain and extended fight scene and callback to an ongoing serial narrative arc, this issue still mostly adheres to the core early Batgirl (2000) playbook.

It tells a complete story in a single issue; tightly focused on Cass's core character themes, motivations, and frought, layered relationships; expressed mostly through the artwork with relatively minimal reliance on dialog and even less on narration, with an overall sombre or even tragic tone punctuated with moments of levity or heartfelt human connection.

I'm writing this before having a chance to read the first issue of Cass's new ongoing, but more than anything else, more than reverting her canon to the pre-flashpoint history (which I don't even want, post-flashpoint Cass is a new character and I'm sure she has fans who care about her as much as I cared about original Cass), even more than restoring the original version of David Cain, what I hope for most from the new book is a return to this kind of storytelling.

[wilcze-kudly]

Beifong babies ask like you asked <3

I feel as if the person I’ve seen you least talk about is Huan. Do you have any thoughts on him, either in relation to Kuvira or his interest in art? I’m sorry I can’t be more specific rn, my brain is…very frazzled. as expected 😭

I actually have SO MANY thought about Huan, I just never had the time and place to file them away. I've always liked Huan, and thought he could've been an incredibly intriguing character with a lot of potential. I can confidently say he probably was concieved primarily as a gimmick character, a bit of a jab at 'edgy', modernist artists. However, Huan has a lot of potential as a character and an exploration of themes.

First of all, Huan is interesting becaus he is one of the few "pacifist" benders of the show. This is especially intriguing due to him coming from a family with such a prominent amount of bender fighters. I wonder if he ever felt pressured to be a fighter too, or if he feels inadequate due to following a different path.

I personally like to think that Su gently pushed Huan to be fighter too, when he was a child, due to her own upbringing, which I imagine had Toph valuing her daughters careying on her legacy. But Huan was too much of a tender and sensitive soul, and didn't like the idea of destroying or fighting. I like to think he spent a lot of time with Aiwei, who nurtured his individualism, talents and hobbies. I like to think Aiwei was the one to help convince Su to let Huan pursue his artistic interests.

Due to this, Huan and Aiwe were always pretty close when Huan was growing up. So I think Huan ended up absorbing some of the Red Lotus' teachings about individuality and freedom.

For some reason, I think Huan would be a good big brother to his younger siblings. He cares a lot for Opal, Wei and Wing even if he doesn't show it often. I think for most their lives he just kinda let them do their own thing and was pretty antisocial, until the shit with Kuvira happened. Huan was one of the only people to see how affected Opal and the twins were by the betrayals of Baatar Jr and Kuvira and the danger their family was put in. He also felt srather guilty when his little siblings were out there risking their lives while all he could do was evacuate.

This motivated Huan to step up as a big brother and try to 'defend' them from Suyin trying to 'fix' the family and Baatar and Kuvira.

I also like that he seems so good with kids and enjoys spending time with them. Its a sweet. And it seems like it makes sense that he would value Ikki's childish doodles, since children just playing with colours and shapes is a very pure form of creativity.

Huan's relationship with freedom of self expression and individuality is also domething that caught my attention, especially in relation to Kuvira's regime and especially his infamous "crushing my individuality" line.

Sure, this line is objectively really funny, and pretty memeable. But let's add some context that adds themes I'm 78% sure weren't intended.

I've spoken at length about how Kuvira draws heavily from the Soviet union. I've also probably mentioned how my high school had a focus on humanistics, particularly Polish literature, although what I'm about to discuss extends far beyond Poland. And one of the 'eras' of literature and art that stuck with me the most was the period of time when Poland was the Polish People's Republic, essentially under the thumb of the Soviets. For creativity, it meant what you might expect. Basically, a mandate on almost every piece of music, literature and visual arts to be essentially Soviet propaganda.

I, as you may guess, dislike the time period with a passion. But some of my favourite novels and works of art have come about as a response to the danger the Soviets posed to creativity. It's fascinating to see what creators chose to bend the knee and alter their works to go through rigorous censorship, and what creators chose to resist, often getting blacklisted if not worse.

Many wrote bleak, heartwtenching stories about the death of art in the Eastern Bloc and how it impacted society as a whole. The emptiness of the propagandised happiness, the false idols of theatre and movies, the cheapness of it all, the ridiculous censorship that often contradicted itself.

I think Huan, being an artist could've been a very good vessel for exploring these concepts and storylines, especially with how self expression and creativity is still often censored and attacked irl, most visibly by conservatives in the USA. [Damn I asked for asks on the Beifong babies and weilin to escape the shitshow across the pond yet here I am]

We are especially entering a new era of war on our rights to express ourselves as different groups begin to try to control and restrict how we create and consume content in the still relatively new medium that is the entire internet. This could be something poignat to have been touched on.

These may be concepts that would be difficult to explore in a show like tlok. But atla was able to allude to the concept of propaganda and Huan was the perfect vessel for a mini storyline like this. Exploring Huan's identity as an artist and creator would be a huge benefit to the show, judging by how many people in the fandom have their own creative inclinations and how tlok as a show encouraged us to follow in Korra's footsteps to push through diversity to achieve freedom and enlightenment. Why should self expression by seperate from that equation?

Anyway :/ those are my Huan thoughts which kinda poured out due to how much I've been stewing in them lol. Thanks for the ask I always love recieving them especially if they have something to do with the Beifong Babies. Today was a rough day and I appreciate the distraction and chance to ramble.

[littleeyesofpallas]

Now that i've made some headway into the new games I can revisit this* little series of posts:

*[Kanto] [Johto] [Hoenn] [Sinnoh] [Unova] [Kalos] [Alola] [Galar] [Hisui] [Champs] [Paldea] [Paldea2] [Paldea3] [Teams] [Misc.]

Katy's name in Japanese is Kaede[カエデ] from kaede[楓] the japanese word for the maple tree. While the link is likely the Japanese use of maple syrup as a natural sugar in a lot of traditional pastries, it's kind of an odd choice of design when the Japanese maple is so well known for its deep red leaves, and even other maple trees are distinctly associated with various shades of red, orange, and yellow... Yet she's all brown with just a dash of minty green in there?

I covered Brassius' name in the lead up to game release but his Japanese name is Korusa[コルサ] as in Colza, another name for rapeseed or canola. He shares a namesake plant with Natane and Nabana, in Sinnoh/Hisui, but appears otherwise unrelated. Weird that his design is plant themed yet totally unrelated.

Iono's name was one I wasnt sure of at first, in Japanese it's Nanjamo[ナンジャモ] which is a pun on Nanjamonja[何じゃもんじゃ], which is and exclamation that gets translated very loosely as something like "what the hell is that!?" What i didnt realize at first and that apparently Nanjamonja-no-ki[なんじゃもんじゃの木] is actually the common name of the Chionanthus retusus, the Chinese fringetree. Incidentally I also thought for a moment that her name was a reference to nanjamonja-goke[ナンジャモンジャゴケ], the Takakia lepidozioides moss. But Iono's English name seems to come from the "...iona..." in Chionanthus...

Kofu's name is Haidai[ハイダイ] from the chinese name hǎidài[海带] for a type of Kelp/seaweed(Saccharina japonica). The English name might be a halfbaked attempt at appropriating makonbu[真昆布], the japanese name for the same plant; noting that the ko...bu[こ...ぶ] and kofu[こふ] are written similarly. Anyway... Given the chef gimmick, the seaweed you have to barter for for him, and the fact that one of his town's unique features is a chinese restaurant, it would appear to refer to it specifically as food. It's also the logo on his apron.

Larry's name is Aoki[アオキ] from aoki[青木] the spotted laurel/Japanese laurel tree.(Aucuba japonica​) Funny enough it reminds me of Norman's name being Senri from the Senryo plant, which is a similar looking plant with red berries, and they're both normal type specialists. His highlights are similar in shape and color to aoki leaves. And they seem to have gotten Larry from Laurel.

Ryme... Her name is Raimu[ライム] as in Lime, homonym with Rhyme. She raps, but she does not appear to resemble limes... Her sister Tyme is taimu[タイム] like the herb thyme. I dont know why the english localization felt the need to remove the "h" in both of these.

Tulip's name was already Rippu[リップ] as in Lip from tulip.

Grusha/guruusha[グルーシャ] I've done before too. He's named in Russian, grusha[груша]: "pear." His big winter coat makes his head and torso pearshaped.

Rika's name is Chiri[チリ] like Chilipeppers, the genus Capsicum. Some other languages opted to name her after cayenne, but the English name Rika comes from Paprika. Funny enough it has nothing to do with Chili from Unova, as his name, like all his brothers', was originally a reference to corn, not any sort of pepper.

Poppy is popii[ポピー] is poppy. Although they come in a few colors they all have the distinctive black center, which I assume is meant to be reflected in the design of Poppy's hair.

It's just Larry/Aoki again...

Hassel's name in Japanese is Hassaku[ハッサク] from hassaku[八朔] aka the "jagada," a type of orange cultivated in Japan, known for being larger than most oranges; about the size of a grapefruit.

Geeta's name is Omodaka[オモダ] from Omodaka[沢瀉] a tree called the threeleaf arrowhead/Chinese arrowhead (Sagittaria trifolia). Its also prominently featured in Japanese family crests, like that of the Sawada, included above.

Might as well get Team Star is in on this too! In the same way Guzma and Plumeria were kind of villainous alternatives to trial captains, for bug and poison type respectively, the Team Star sub-bosses kind of occupy a sort of pseudo/demi-gym leader status.

Giacomo's name is Piinya[ピーニャ] as in Piña:"Pineapple." His puffy autumn uniform vest and spiky hair makes him look like a pineapple.

Mela's name is Meroko[メロコ] seemingly taken from the Meloco... Of melocotón, Spanish word for "peach." Her red is a little too vibrant for it to be obvious, but her yellow to red hair appears to be peach inspired.

Atticus's name is Shuumei[シュウメイ] from Shumeigiku[秋明菊] Japanese name of a flower called the "fall-blooming anemone"(Anemone hupehensis japonica​). It comes in a few shades of pink and violet that seem to match the poison type color motif.

Ortega's name is just a tiny tweak from Orutiga[オルティガ]:"Ortiga" spanish name for nettle, a broad family of herbs known for their stinging hairs.

Eri's Japanese mame is Biwa[ビワ] from biwa[枇杷]: "loquat"(Eriobotrya japonica) a tree with a long history of its fruit and leaves bring used for food and tea. It is sometimes erroneously called the "Japanese Plum."

And just to round things out a little...

Nemona's English name came from her Japanese name, Nemo[ネモ] from the Nemo nemphilia, a broad range of flowers known for their baby blue color. Oddly thats not reflected in her actual design..

Laughably Arven's name was Pepaa[ペパー]:"Pepper" and you would think it would refer to... You know... peppers. But given the English name, Arven from Mentha arvensis, it's actually a reference to peppermint which does make sense with his herb theme.

Penny's name is Botan[ボタン] from Botan[牡丹] Japanese name for the "tree Peony"(Paeonia suffruticosa) The peony has long standing cultural importance in China and by some proxy Japan, and is often compared to the Rose's prominence in Western Europe; this is incidentally why Chairman Rose's brother in Galar is named Peony. Incidentally this is likely why they had to name her Penny, as Peony had been taken.

Clavell's name is actually the same, Kuraberu[クラベル] approximating "Clavel" the Spanish name for the Carnation. He shares a flower name with Champion Diantha in Kalos.

Oops, first pass thru i forgot about the school faculty so i've added a post for those

[pileofpawns]

Hello, my name is Turtle Johnson. I make posts so good, that I bring back the dead.

This is my introduction post! The bit above is just a reference to the Super Ghostbusters album by Vargskelethor - You can actually call me Plum! I’m your local turtle girl who likes to talk about silly stuff on the internet. This post is really fuckin long and you DON’T have to read it /gen

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Side blogs:

@tortuga-stims －Stim blog

@usagi-yojimbo-fanworks-archive －Inactive. What it says on the tin

@super-ghostbusters-lyrics － stupid ass gimmick blog

About me:

*Note: I’m aware that I don’t need to provide any of this information, but I choose to because this blog is very personal, and I am going to end up talking about these things one way or another.

she/her pronouns please, though I don’t mind they/them or any turtle-themed neopronouns.

You can default to feminine language when referring to me but I honestly don’t care what gendered language you use! I might not be a guy but you can call me one if it’s funny.

I am a cisgender woman.

I am white.

I’m from (and have lived my whole life in) the Midwest USA.

I am multiply disabled. I have physical, neurodevelopmental, mental, and sensory disabilities. I won’t bother listing everything here but notably I have ADHD and chronic pain from a mix of sources. I also might be autistic but I’m not quite confident enough to self-diagnose at this point, and I’ve yet to get professionally evaluated for it.

I’m aroace! (More specifically, sapphic-oriented bold stripe aroace. No romantic or sexual attraction whatsoever but women sure are pretty.)

I’m 18 years old

I’m a college student! Between classes and everyday life, I’m often super busy so the time I’m online varies wildly. Don’t worry if I disappear for long periods, and feel free to remind me if I forget about something.

I am alterhuman and a furry/scalie! My scalesona and main kintype is a three-toed box turtle. You can still call me a human, though. (I’m both!) The vast majority of my art is of anthro animals. When I was younger, I felt a connection to housecats and (later) owls.

I do not have a DNI, but I do block freely. I don’t participate in internet discourse. Just don’t intentionally be a jerk and we should be fine. I am supportive of endogenic systems, multi-spec lesbians and gays, sex positivity and kinks, and human rights for all. Free Palestine, free Congo, free Ukraine, free Sudan, free Haiti!

I don’t have any kind of formal commission sheet or whatever out there but if you wanna pay me to draw something for you please reach out and we can figure things out!

Please let me know when I fuck up. If I’m accidentally being a jerk or spreading misinformation or anything, please let me know. This usually won’t upset me but even it does, it’s more important to me that I know I was in the wrong so I can change.

About the blog:

I primarily post about my many interests and fandoms (see the list below). I also post the occasional art piece I make, talk about silly things in my life, queerness, disability, and alterhumanity, and make nonsensical shitposts.

I try to keep this blog accessible as possible but it is by no means perfect. Please let me know if you need anything to be changed, like adding image descriptions, captions or transcripts, or tagging specific content warnings. I promise these requests will never annoy me. I typically won’t add image descriptions to things I’m reblogging (I’m currently trying to get into the habit of tagging these as “undescribed” or “no ID” but the vast majority aren’t), but I do usually add IDs to my original posts. I tag common triggers such as blood, violence, death, unreality, and food, in multiple formats, though I lack consistency for what formats I use.

Everything will be tagged for organization and so you and I can search for stuff easier. “plums art”, “plum rambles”, and “plum shitposts” are the tags I use for stuff I make.

This blog is generally SFW (there will never be anything explicit) but there might be the occasional mention of sexual topics, bit of crude humor, artistic nudity, or slightly suggestive post, which will be tagged as such. “nudity”, “sexual topics”, “genital mention”, “genitals”, crude humor”, “18+ blog”, and “suggestive” are the tags to filter if you don’t want to see it. Minors can interact with the blog as a whole as this is all extremely rare and I trust y’all to use your best judgement. (Also I’m like BARELY an adult myself lmao)

My blog header is a reference to a meme, it’s not a threat or anything!! My url is a reference to a collection of old OCs. My icon is my turtlesona, Tir! The title of this post is a reference to the Super Ghostbusters album by Vargskelethor, which I highly recommend checking out. It’s a riot.

I generally don’t do chainmail or reblog bait, even if the intent is to spread positivity. (ex: “Send this to 5 blogs you love”, “Reblog if aro people are valid”, “Reblog for good luck,” etc.) I don’t mind being tagged in tag games but usually won’t participate ^^”

Feel free to send in requests for drawings, fic, stimboards, or anything else through the ask box. I also am always happy to receive media recommendations! If you know any good funk music pleeeeeaaaaase share. Of course, you can also ask me questions or say hi there! If a question is more personal than I’m comfortable with, I’ll let you know privately, so don’t worry about being nosy. I like to yap about myself but I’m able to draw the line. :D

I like to pester my wonderful brother @/jonebone616 on here a lot >:3

Some things I like:

(Stars indicate stuff that I really love and am likely to consistently post about a lot. They’re probably special interests shhdhshs)

⭐️ Turtles!! (and zoology in general to be honest)

⭐️ Makin and appreciating art. I draw (digitally and traditionally), write, and dabble in other craftsy things.

⭐️ Sonic the Hedgehog (mostly the games universe)

⭐️ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (particularly *2003*, Mutant Mayhem, and Rise)

Video games, especially their history and trivia! I am very bad at actually playing them, lol

Animation/cartoons in general

Dungeons & Dragons

Magic the Gathering (very casually!)

Usagi Yojimbo

Tales from the Stinky Dragon (Infinight Interns)

SpongeBob SquarePants

Rhythm games (Incl. Samba de Amigo, PaRappa, Rhythm Doctor, Rhythm Heaven…)

YouTube Poops (YTPs)

My Little Pony (G4 + G3)

Game Changer + Make Some Noise (Dropout shows)

Super Mario

Note: To be clear, there was period in 2023 where I was very hyperfixated on South Park. I don’t watch the show or really interact with the fandom anymore. I’m well aware of all the problems SP has, so don’t bash me over my brain briefly latching onto a “problematic” show against my will over a year ago. Interacting with art has no inherent morality.

Other sites:

I post my writing to ao3 under PileOfPawns

You can talk to me on discord @ pickledplums (if you send a friend request please tell me who you are if I wouldn’t already know)

Sometimes I put things on YouTube @ pickledplums

If you wanna buy stickers and stuff of my art, you can find me on RedBubble

What you can do with my art:

I’m using “art” here to refer to pretty much everything I’ve ever made - Drawings, writings, ideas, shitposts, whatever. You can do pretty much anything with my art without needing to ask for permission, as long as you’re not making a profit off of it. For non-personal stuff, please provide some kind of credit whenever possible. If you do anything with my art, I’d love to see!

You can:

Make physical goods that include or are inspired by my art, like prints, stickers, keychain, buttons, and shirts, as long as they aren’t mass-produced and/or sold for a profit (without my explicit permission). You’re welcome to make your own merch of my designs available on RedBubble, too!

Modify my art, as long as the intent is not solely to remove the watermark and/or signature when applicable (if it gets removed incidentally while trying to do something else, it’s fine). For visual works, this means you can crop it, draw over it, add effects, put it on top a background, etc. For written works, you can edit it, share snippets, and continue/expand upon it.

Crosspost my art to other sites, with credit.

Use my art as your profile picture, social media banner, or digital wallpaper; as emojis or messaging stickers; as AAC symbols; in “edit” videos or similar content

Redraw/rewrite, be heavily inspired by, copy, or trace my art. (Seriously, go wild. I do not care). I like to say all of my ideas are “public domain” (not literally) - Feel free to steal any of them, regardless of whether or not I’ve done anything with them yet.

🐢🐢🐢 That’s all!

Thank you for reading, and enjoy your stay!

[Image ID: An animated gif of a yellow smiley face with a floating hand happily waving at the viewer. End ID.]

Blinkies below by @/radiotrophicfungi

[crystalelemental]

Full tier list is here, breaking down the E-tier. I'll be honest, a lot of this tier is where I have general frustrations that aren't enough to make the significant dislike of F, but I have. Problems.

In case anyone was wondering, I am not going into the same depth as the last one.

Zinnia: neat concept, horrid execution. Delta episode sucks and she exudes nothing to me.

Hau: inoffensive but incredibly boring. Don't like the USUM decision to force him into serious battling.

Marnie: should be interesting as your rival, but all the neat stuff went to Piers, so she's super bland.

Malva/Siebold: Kalos E4 members I do not respect.

Gaeric/Calaba/Liam: Pearl Clan members I don't really care about.

Hugh: "You're about to feel my rage." Shut up, dweeb.

Kofu: bland.

Mina: uninterested, also your trial sucks ass.

Sophocles: I will never forgive Festival Plaza.

Molayne: couldn't care less.

Marlon: Centrist.

Burgh: Not flamboyant enough.

Magnolia: should be great! Unfortunately Galar decided to kick the only old lady professor we ever had to the curb for her hot granddaughter. Thanks for that.

Trevor: Dweeb, sucks at his only interest.

Maylene/Norman/Ramos/Wattson/Blaine: uninteresting Leaders.

Lana: Specifically bad in games, anime iteration is much improved. Games all she seems to do is go on about swimmers, which weirds me out.

Wulfric/Ilima: meh.

Giovanni: Loser lord supreme. Never accomplished a single goal his entire life. Literally had an entire criminal empire that kept Kanto in thrall that he probably inherited from his father, and lost it overnight to a ten year old boy and his rat. They keep trying to imbue him with some grand evil importance but he continuously shows us even in Masters that he is an impotent garbage man. I hear the manga makes him neat.

Juan: pointless, they should've done something more interesting to replace Wallace's gym.

Cress/Cilan/Chili: there's a reason you three weren't taking on Plasma.

Clemont: I actually do not like him, and the anime didn't help.

Bea: where are your organs?

Oleana: Actually really frustrating, because people seem to only like her for being blandly conventionally attractive, but she exudes nothing of a personality despite wild over-dependence on a man, and abuses Bede for personal gain. Hate her.

Misty: Never liked her, sorry.

Surge: Bootlicker.

Jacq: Man, I think it's just the "app designer" thing, but he rubs me the wrong way so bad.

Salvatore: actually inoffensive, but they give him nothing at all to work with.

Nita: I kinda like the Maison sisters, but Nita feels bland.

Buck: literally forgot his name.

Lucy: very little knowledge. I did like the anime iteration though.

Argenta: little to go on.

Benga: Kinda hate him after Masters had him talk to Lance. "You haven't been through enough to fight me, middle aged Champion man!" You are like twelve. Cool your jets.

Ortega: needs his ass beat. Not in like a bullying way, but in an "Eri needs to have a very blunt conversation about how manners work."

Mela: I am not compelled. Outfit is atrocious.

Victor: the unfair one. It's Reddit's fault.

Sina/Dexio: I never liked them to begin with, but then someone posited that Diantha could've used her acting skills to do their faux superhero thing in XY to keep infiltrating Team Flare and now I'll never forgive them.

Noland: eh.

Selene: cute outfit, nothing to work with.

Trace?: I hate the Let's Go rival. He's so bland and non-confrontational in every way. He exudes nothing to me.

Chase: Pikachu sucks, deal with it.

Elio: He gives me monkey child vibes. I do not like monkeys.

Juliana/violet boy: Really uninspiring protagonist designs.

Bellis: all you do is talk in different languages at random without reason and I hate that gimmick.

Wicke: exudes nothing but bad vibes. My wife caught it too and we agree, she should've just been evil.

Charon: at least a little funny in how boring he is.

Faba: bland and too expendable, easily dupes people into getting over Lusamine in USUM.

Archer/Ariana/Proton: Team Rocket just sucks, man. Nothing going on at all.

[sphinxlosestheirmind]

oh it’s so over I’m inspired I’m going to write the best social media Reiji/Ryoken/Thomas fic you’ve ever seen no one @ me

(REIJI IS 16, RYOKEN IS 18, THOMAS IS 17. THIS IS CANON!!!! Unless you’re really freaky about like two year age gaps it’s not pedophilia!! Idk how people are specifically about ships in this fandom so don’t attack me!!)

Anyway I love this ship and I’ve taken to calling it GimmickShipping (GS) more under cut if you even care..

(Also I love saying “under the cut” so much, ALSO COLORED TEXT, I will be using it always and forever from now on)

The ship name came about first because I love these three and think they’d be really cute together. I’m in love with them all & they’re silly so who better to pair them with than each other!

Ok anyway actual reasoning now hah:

1. All sorts of characters have their own “gimmicks” to them that match up to their decks but these three just stood out so much to me in significant ways so I’ll list it here.

a. Reiji’s D/D/D, or different dimension demons, are such an intriguing concept specifically in the sense of his show (Arc-V) being about dimensional travel and different dimensions. I thought it was pretty ironic that this would be the deck to give him, specifically since he’s trying so valiantly to stop his father’s dimensional take over. (Almost like trying to stop a demonic takeover I guess? This metaphor is weird, take it with a grain of salt!)

Additionally, Reiji is a product OF the dimensions, seeing as without them he would have never been created (like, Leo probably wasn’t going to have any more kids. He had Ray, he ADORED her, he didn’t want more kids let alone had any intentions for Reiji specifically).

b. Ryoken/REVOLVER is all about guns. He has bullet earrings, he’s named Revolver for fucks sake. His dragons are very cyberpunk/gun themed, fitting to this narrative. His VRAINS bodysuit has the bullets decorating it all over, specifically seen on his cape-thing.

His whole thing is more stylistic in nature than story here, but I do think character design says a lot about the character as well. His deck also speaks for itself (again).

c. IV!!!! My darling Thomas Arclight! Ahhhh, how I love him. OKAY, I’ll get to the point! His was what prompted the whole thing, which is why I’m putting him last funny enough haha! His gimmick puppets definitely helped with the name, because they made me motivated enough to think about what a “gimmick” actually was!

Thomas’ whole thing is fan service- but puppets are an ironic gimmick to him as well. He’s a puppet to his father, just like his siblings are and his father is to the Barians/Vector. He plays with people like dolls, puppeteering them to his fancy as he dances to his father’s whims. He’s a very funky guy to me, and I dearly appreciate him helping me come up with the name.

Anyway hope you enjoyed this little rant hah. I just love them a lot and them being together makes me very happy, as well as literally no one else writing anything about them paired let alone as a trio! Might link the fic, might not, we’ll see how long it takes to write.

[moe-broey]

So I’ve been loving all your FEH stuff! Your art is very very pretty it looks like candy and I want to eat it to become all powerful. But now I got a question! Got any thoughts on Anna? She also gets pretty sidelined by the plot which is a damn shame because I find her dynamic with Askr siblings FASCINATING. With all their complications with making friends, Anna seems like the only friend Alfonse and Sharena have successfully made and I would kill to know how that happened.

EXTREMELY THRILLED TO HEAR THIS HAHAHA esppp thank you!!! That is SUCH a compliment... deeply honored to have my art achieve edible-looking status 🫡

ALSO. I'VE. BEEN ROTATING THIS IN MY BRAIN SO BAD. The unfortunate thing I'll be upfront about is that I don't have a lot of thoughts about Anna, aside from like, appreciating her gimmick and finding her funny.

But I DO agree she does have a fascinating dynamic with the siblings. Like. I think it's so interesting to see how Anna is their superior, as the commander and leader of the Order of Heroes, while at the same time Alfonse and Sharena are literally the prince and princess of Askr. Which IS par for the course for the Order of Heroes to have royalty in their ranks, but still!! It's a dynamic I can't quite put words to, but it is SO interesting to see how it plays out. (Also worth mentioning though, I feel, Alfonse and Sharena wanted to join the order not as royalty but as themselves, as people. What they stand for, believe in, and want for the future, ect -- so their status doesn't always play a huge role, but, you can't erase it completely, esppp as they ARE the prince and princess Of Askr)

AND ALSO. All that said, Alfonse isn't afraid to call Anna out when he feels her schemes are getting slightly unethical LMFAO. Despite each of their status/titles/roles, they do feel like they're on equal footing. And with Sharena, her relationship with Anna is very friendly -- but I feel like that's also just how Sharena is LMFAO.

In my head though, the way I see it, each of their relationships with Anna do feel professional in nature? Which isn't to say it can't be personal as well, I do think each have bonds with each other. But espp when I've revisited Book 1, I got the sense that Anna is more of a boss and mentor to the siblings -- esppp when Sharena starts crying recalling the disappearance of Zacharias, Anna is quick to resolve it in a professional way and also take the responsibility she felt as the commander to all three of them (WHICH. ALSO. WILD TO THINK ABOUT. Like what IS the timeline here???? I WANT TO KNOW SO BAD.)

(also also that moment Was from Book 1, so maybe I'm not accounting for character development here, I only revisit books when I'm feeling VERY autistic about something specific in particular LMFAOO)

AND HONESTLY IF I. THINK TOO MUCH ABOUT THAT I go insane, like. I know it's just a consequence of Zenith being In A Mobile Gacha Game, and the point isn't really the world of Zenith itself it's to get all the guys from the mainline games to make money LMFAOO BUT. Askr feels so lonely and empty, actually. Like I feel like we have a more fleshed out/more world building for Embla than we do Askr! A LOT of fascinating family stuff there actually. But in Askr it's just Alfonse, Sharena, their parents, and Anna. That's it. And honestly I HAVE to wonder, like! Where did Anna come from, anyway? I know each Anna has their own lore, so I suppose she could just be from Askr, herself. And I guess it wouldn't matter any which way, but I am just so. I WANT. LORE. AND TIMELINES LIKE. When did Anna become the commander. How long has she been the commander. You've given me a whole new thing to violently chew on wood over HAHAHAH

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

Can you ramble about gochi usa for a few paragraphs?

I think Gochiusa exists in kind of an interesting place within the meta of cute girls doing cute things anime, right. Cause a lot of cute girl anime have some sort of gimmick apparent within the very premise in order to stand out from the crowd, which can feel like a necessity given just how many cute girl anime there are. Sometimes it's a band, sometimes it's a sport, sometimes it's a hobby of some sort, hell sometimes it's that they're an isekai. You don't really get cute girl anime that just are cute girls doing cute things these days quite as often, it's always fairly specialised.

It shouldn't be said that Gochiusa doesn't have anything like this - your main hook in the synopsis is that it's primarily set within a coffee shop, and the two main characters' names are puns on hot drinks to lean into that. But that's kinda nothing, right? They're not fishing, they're not rifle shooting, they're not writing manga, they're not dedicated to one particularly complicated board game, they just kinda have part-time jobs. And the show is very much aware of that. So despite the coffee shop being part of the premise, the series as a whole rarely leans into it. It's mostly just cute girls doing whatever. Part of this is cause of its age - the manga started in 2011, even that long ago there was less competition and less need to set yourself apart from the premise alone. But it's still kinda noteworthy that it's a relatively modern cute girl anime without a core thing to set itself apart.

And that's where we get to the fun part. Without needing to be dedicated to one specific thing, Gochiusa kinda gets to do anything it wants without any real disconnect. They'll go to the pool, to the festival, to the halloween party, to the christmas party, to work, to just regular old school. There's no strings attached. It's just kind of normal. And since it doesn't need to justify anything it does, it can focus on just being really entertaining the entire time. The characters are adorable, the jokes are consistently funny, the slice of life is ultra-relaxing, the fuckin town it's set in looks like this

(stole these screenshots from here)

And while Gochiusa does all these normal things as pleasantly as other cute girl anime could only dream of, there's still a little bit of magic in the setting, of all things. Main character Chino's grandfather is currently in the body of a small fluffy rabbit. It's implied that other main character Cocoa accidentally did this when she was joking about casting spells as a child. It's not assumed that this is normal or anything, but for how supernatural that actually is it feels fairly incidental when you're watching the show because hey, who cares about the mechanics of this background magic when Cocoa and Chiya have got English homework to do?

It also needs to be said that a particular area Gochiusa excels in is that really every core character has a well defined relationship with one another, or in other words, there's no dynamic that goes unexplored. This is something that more cute girl shows struggle with than you'd think, but it goes a long way to sell you on group friendships and making the characters believable and shit. How differently does Syaro interact with childhood friend Chiya than she does with her crush Rize, or newly met friends Cocoa and Chino, you know? This even holds true for a good amount of the supporting cast too, whom happen to also be fun enough to carry scenes on their own without making me miss the main characters at all.

I'll say very briefly that the show does have a particularly rough aspect to it early on by way of some rather tasteless fanservice. It is thankfully only of the oldest character, but it's still far from necessary and pretty early on the series realises it doesn't need to operate like that in order to be enjoyable for the audience. So that gets phased out quick.

Past this point I start running into the issue of struggling to convey why I think something is especially good, because fuck me is it easier to talk about obviously bad stuff than obviously good stuff. And that's even harder with Gochiusa because nothing about it screams "yeah no I'm obviously good in an easy-to-describe way". It's a cute girls doing cute things anime without much of a gimmick, in written text format there are few ways I can come up with to actually sell that. And yet, the show's just really really good lol. On my most recent rewatch which was followed by season 3's airing, my face muscles started to get tired from smiling ear-to-ear every episode. Saying that out loud by the way makes me realise season 3 was almost 4 years ago - maybe I'm due for a rewatch lol.

Also as one last brief thing, Chino is just one of my favourite characters in any anime I've seen. Cute as hell design and I especially love her hair, that helps, but she also just has a nice simple character arc that happens across the series, without ever being overstated or anything since hey, Gochiusa is chill like that. Said arc is mainly one of a quiet introvert girl opening up and becoming more confident. She still enjoys her alone time and has solo hobbies the series respects, but she's also capable of taking initiative and making more of her own friends and such. It's nice. Also Gochiusa isn't immune to the passage of time so a lot of this stuff takes place over the course of Chino graduating from middle school and going into high school, which is something the anime hasn't fully gotten into yet but which a season 4 would cover, I imagine. Hopefully that can come soon - the series always does well enough to where I assume it'll happen one day.

Actual last thing just for fun

The dads look like this lol

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

One of my most consistent thoughts throughout 100 Gfs has been "This is a weird topic, but you've handled it surprisingly well." Some of the issues feel like unfortunate aspects of the culture in general, while others are topics that are handled so poorly so often that it really leaves a bad taste in one's mouth. It says a lot that Nozawa and Nakamura can take some of the least-liked tropes in the genre and actually do great things with them. A little self-awareness goes a long way -Mod Bubbles

//There are two reasons why that is the way it is.

//The first is that the very reason why 100 Girlfriends does a lot of what it does, and plays around with the ridiculous tropes it has, is purely to rip the everloving piss out of harem and romance as a genre.

//Rightfully so.

//But what's clever about it is they utilize these tropes and poke fun of them while simultaneously avoiding falling in the traps that said tropes have set for previous mangaka's.

//The cast of 100 girlfriends includes a literal MILF, who is the mother of one of the other girlfriends, and also is a blatant lolicon and shotacon; the main character's 12-year old cousin, a girl who became a masseuse purely because she wanted to grope women's breasts, someone's actual grandmother who is 89 in the body of an 8 year old, someone who is usually very stoic and serious but starts acting like an actual baby when she's coddled, someone who only dates you because you're also dating her older sister, an actual sleazeball drunk and gambling addict, a girl with a violence fetish, a fucking cat, and a BRITISH LOLI!

//And yet none of these bass-ackwards tropes put me off these characters because they are FUNNY! And they aren't done in a way that makes you dislike the characters because the entire purpose of why they're like that is because you're supposed to see it as a joke on characters in manga and anime who are like them UNIRONICALLY.

//The second reason I think was put best by Gigguk when he did a video on this series. Because the core concept of the manga is about a guy getting 100 different girls to fall in love with him, and share him with the other 99, there is no way in hell that anyone can take a concept like that with any due sincerity or seriousness.

//So Nakamura just said "fuck it!"

//100 Girlfriends can get away with what it does because from the VERY CONCEPT, you have no suspension of disbelief, so really, the way the manga carries itself isn't by trying to make you pick a team or get engaged in the narrative; it's by trying to find a brand new, absolutely absurd way to either make you laugh, tug on your heartstrings, make you audibly say "What the actual fuck," or oftentimes, all of the above.

//Like Danganronpa, 100 Girlfriends shares the premise of having this widespread colourful cast of different characters, all based on stereotypes and well-known gimmicks and tropes, constantly getting into unrealistic and stupid hijinks and situations, for people to sink their teeth into and react to, but UNLIKE Danganronpa, where I definitely have a mixed opinion on a lot of its cast (looking at you specifically, Danganronpa V3) I could not tell you a single character in this manga that I dislike, at least not outside the main cast.

//And I think the reason why that is, is the difference between Kodaka and Nakamura as writers, in that Kodaka's style of writing is very DATED and relies on more classical character tropes, whereas Nakamura's humor is very modern, and keeps up with modern day events, in a similar fashion to something like how South Park constantly rips the piss out of modern society and why it's so stupid. And Nozawa takes this absurdity and runs with it with the illustrations.

//Hell, in the most recent chapter of the manga, Uto quotes Winnie the Pooh, and they make a joke about how he went public domain, and therefore, discussing whether or not she's allowed to get away with that. And it's really goddamn funny when it doesn't need to be.

//Anyway, bottom line is I love this manga and anime too much for my own good. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

-Mod

[ladyirisreviews]

Super Lesbian Animal RPG - Review

"women pr-pretty" the game

Super Lesbian Animal RPG is a very charming RPG maker game I had the pleasure to know about as soon as it came out.

The setting is a world where anthropomorphic animals exist with magic and with modern advances in technology, more specifically though, the story is set on the Sapphire islands.

You follow Melody, a young pink fox trans girl, who just joined a guild with her childhood friend and just recently girlfriend, a hyperactive bunny named Allison, alongside 2 other friends, an absolutely shredded tiger named Jodie, and an overly curious cow who dedicates all of her free time to study magic, Claire, who is also trans.

Melody and Allison joined Claire's guild, The Novas, despite not being capable of using magic, but Claire was prepared for that, she made a ritual she found in a book that would let them use magic.

After starting it they are transported into some sort of astral plane, and Melody is told to pick between 3 doors, which will determine what type of healer she wants to be, something she wanted to be to support Allison as much as she could.

After the ritual is done and some days pass, they are ready to start guild duties, but first Melody and Allison need to go through a made-up dungeon Claire prepared for them in Allison's basement (against her will).

Here is where the adventure starts and hijinks immediately ensue.

The plot honestly surprised me at various turns, it deals with numerous subjects in a tasteful way, and honestly, I don't want to say much about it to avoid spoilers, there's some surprises I don't want to ruin.

I do want to mention the characters though, simply put, I love them all.

Their interactions feel very organic and they are genuinely funny, the characterization is very well done, each character is very unique and have their own arc to go through, even the antagonist side gets to have interactions.

I especially like Claire and her honest to god chaotic aura, I just vibe with her.

Also, have I mentioned the vast amounts of lesbian relationships? I just feel so seen, it's so refreshing to see actual queer characters and relationships created by a queer person, it's as good as I hoped it would be, and I hope it's the start of me coming across more queer RPGs.

Now I want to talk about the actual gameplay, I don't want to give too much away about the characters either.

The combat is turn-based, like you would expect from an RPG maker game, but it's got a neat gimmick, every action a character does that aligns with their role will generate star power.

Each characters has unique skills that use up star power which are very useful, the ones I used the most were Claire's magic that hits every enemy and Allison's directional attacks, which is quite interesting, every enemy has a directional weakness besides their elemental ones.

The flow of battle is a blend between building star power and deciding the right moment to use it, while also managing everyone's health because enemies do quite some damage, it's a satisfying combat system despite being relatively simple.

The exploration is also very solid, for starters, there's no random battles, you instead start battle by making contact with enemies on screen, they also don't respawn unless you leave the dungeon, which makes exploring easier.

The dungeons are nice to explore, they have light puzzle elements and are not very long, they are just very well made.

Another thing that makes them work for me is that throughout the dungeons, the party will engage in conversations, making the whole experience more engaging in my opinion.

The game also has a number of optional sidequests that are very worth going through, some rewarding you with some very good equipment.

It's also incredibly pretty and has an amazing soundtrack to go with it, I just can't give enough compliments to the game.

And that's all I can say about this game for now, I can't really go into much detail without entering in spoiler talk or dissecting every part of the game, which I don't want to do, I really want people to enjoy the game as blindly as possible, it's very funny, charming and honestly it will stick me.

I really want to play it again after a while and try a different sub-class for Melody, and also the game is still getting some minor updates, so I am excited to see what the dev thinks of doing.

So in short, game good, woman pretty, be gay and kiss your girlfriend.

[childeproof]

clone high oc + self insert information dump :]

jimmy h, known mostly as jimmy // clone son of jimi hendrix

goes by jimmy not jimi ( same sound, diff spelling to stand out from clone father )

went parachuting because his clone father was a paratrooper in the 101st airborne division at one point ( hated it )

he’s well liked by british clones of musicians from their clone father’s era ( think john lennon, eric clapton, etc )

^^ i think it would be a neat gimmick if british people esp ladies were fond of him in general. brit magnet.

jimmy is a cis man, uses he/they pronouns without preference, sexuality wise i haven’t decided quite yet. I think i’ll leave them unlabeled

^^ one of jimi’s song lyrics was continuously misheard as “‘scuse me as I kiss this guy” fun fact. also he wld sing this incorrect version live on occasion & fllw it with a fake makeout session. did u know? lol

jimmy is a deep sleeper and has interesting dreams similarly to their clone father. i think he keeps a written record of all the dreams he can remember, just for fun

he’s deff the type of guy to go “this reminds me of this one dream i had”

1st gen clone

i do think they’d follow in their clone father’s footsteps as a musician ^_^

richard “richie” pyror // clone son of richard pyror

has a huge soft spot for animals much like his clone father, I think he’d own a dog or two

huge class clown but hasn’t seriously considered a career in comedy. he has a very blunt humor but it’s still clever and it often makes you think to get the joke

2nd gen clone

i think he’d be more of an actor than an actual comedian. deff joined the school’s theater troupe btw. he’s a funny actor but he doesn’t want to do stand up

richie uses he/him pronouns and identifies as straight 🙏 subject to change but i think he’s cishet

he’s a very clever & witty person in general

very expressive in the face

i think he’s actually a chick magnet bc funny guys always get babes it’s a real phenomenon please believe me!!

uses richie as a nickname to stand out from clone father but rlly doesn’t mind being called richard

jean-michel basquiat // clone son of jean-michel basquiat ( second clone high self insert of mine )

fully goes by his clone father’s name, doesn’t mind being viewed as him bc he’s confident in his own character

does go by “johnny” / “johnny-boy” as a nicknames ( jean is pronounced similarly to john so it fits still ) but they’re not necessarily his preferred name

was hit by a car once like his clone father ( too busy on his phone to notice it coming ) ( embarrassing memory )

2nd gen clone

pals with debbie harry ( she likes his art! ) we do not speak of Andy warhol currently.

does street graffiti mostly inspired by the human body, sketch book is full of anatomy and natural poses. rlly big on the beauty of human form

currently speaks french & english; occasionally jots down notes in franglais

there’s probably a clone high friend group consisting of clone children of the infamous 27 club.. and he is a part of it. i am srry. like imagine being a clone and having ur clone father die so young. imagine approaching that age.. that’s gotta be scary, u need a coping group for that.

jean-michel uses he/him prns & probably neos since he’s new gen. i think he’d be queer generally like he wldn’t use any specific labels just queer.

rlly science smart ^_^

ella baker // clone daughter of ella baker

no differentiation between her name and her clone mom’s name

valedictorian of her class :)

sort of unknown, but prefers to be in the “background” of life much like her clone mother; would rather work behind the scenes

friends with harriet & frida even though she’s a 1st gen clone, she finds them to be nice

always “knows a guy” for every situation, i just think that gimmick is funny

i’ll develop more later + I think she’ll get glasses

she/her prns, i think she’d be a lesbian also. but that’s just me.

arthur “artie” ashe // clone son of arthur ashe

cis guy, he/him + “straight”,, rlly bisexual just unaware

has a man crush on Ryan Reynolds n also Nick Jonas don’t ask. me why don’t ask. and also jude bellingham. he thinks it’s normal

2nd gen clone

his adoptive father raises him alone btw no mother

still into tennis like his clone father, i think he’d get agitated whenever ppl make fun of the sport 😭🙏

also talented at soccer! but mostly focused on tennis.

glasses wearer.

pretty chill ^_^ 2nd gen clone

jeanie clisson // clone daughter of jeanne de clisson

works summers on cruise ships!

pirates movies online once new gen clones teach her how ( she’s 1st gen )

her name is jeanie but don’t make genie jokes she’ll actually kill you

i think she’d be a more masculine woman ( i’m not sure if butch is entirely appropriate to use though ) and she’d have muscles & wld work out. cld probably bench press jfk /hj

has an attack dog named smth sweet like “cupcake” lol. & also wrestles for the girl’s wrestling team

she/her pronouns, cis woman, don’t bother talking to her if ur a man ( “my clone mother only pirated because of a man. i pirate because i’m badass” )

it wld be funny if joan or marilyn ( CLONES THE CLONES ) fell for her

thea dexter // clone daughter of timothy dexter

trans woman, she/her, idk her sexuality yet

has insane luck just like her clone father, i think she’d be able to find money on the ground rlly easily

1st gen clone

makes capitalism work for her. a lot of her get rich quick schemes should NOT work but they DO <\3 probably runs a minor pyramid scheme /JOKE maybe. probably. but she does do get rich quick schemes

gandhi wld deff fall for her get rich quick plots n it wldn’t work out for him just for her

topher wld be like “as a cishet white man I recognize my privilege over you, a trans woman” and she’d be like “if you feel so bad just pay me” and it’s a running gag I think. that every time topher sees thea he gives her a dollar or two.

do not let this bitch onto the internet SHE’S GOING TO SCAM PEOPLE. /hj

josephine “josie” baker // clone daughter of josephine baker ( my 1st clone high self insert )

cis woman she/her bisexual

had a thing with frida at one point ( inspired by her clone mother ) ( they’re still friends after the break up and do once a month ex “dates” for fun )

shares a soft spot for animals with richie ^_^ her adoptive mother is a zoologist too, which helps, her adoptive father is a stay at home dad

loves cheetah print ( faux fur ofc )

dating joan hahahahahahaa!

she owns a cat named chiquita.. wld like more pets but can’t have more

more of a actor & singer than a dancer or comedienne, super funny but only situationally, not rlly into stand up. can dance but not rlly a dancer person, her passions rlly lie in singing

2nd gen clone also

[squeak-art]

whats the day to day in miitopia verse for ur folks

Depends on the person! readmore bc im goin through most everyone lmao. For some info tho, my main verse takes place roughly 2 years after the events of the game

For the 'main' postgame team of Mim, Calia, Dela, and Kets, if they don't have some kinda quest stuff going on (the occasional face and/or monster incident still happens, funni postgame plot antics i came up with so that i could do more silli stuff w writing the lads still) they tend to hang around the Travel Hub and just sorta do whatever--

Mim tends to team stuff or the horse (named Creamsicle) and also just likes to socialize at various lil cafes and such, and if Calia isn't keeping to herself she likes to follow Mim around. Calia, being near-blind due to... reasons, as well as just being a very likes-her-own-space sort, tends to prefer to just stay in familiar locations and do whatever activities it is a cleric does

Dela's also fairly social, but aside from that she tends to spend time semi-training Kets in how to be better at sneaky spy and info-gathering stuff-- she's the thief and he's the intel, more or less. They also do their own more private 'quests' on occasion for ppl who may need information or certain objects taken from another-- assuming the person isn't doing anything too bad and they pay decently, or if it's a special case that they feel they need no pay for.

The rest of the main 10 are not always available, and tend to stick to their home locations-- they do occasionally join up for various quests and all and still all maintain a lot of contact with eachother, but the others have their own lives to live too and can't just always dedicate to being part of the active party.

Quarty and Rasi, on top of being an active couple and doing Couple Things, tend to also like to help eachother with their careers on occasion! Although he isn't much the performer type, Rasi helps Quarty with practice and rehearsal performances and testing new songs out, and Quarty helps Rasi with certain knight-in-training tasks, though he isn't very good for combat practice help since bladed weapons were never really his thing.

They're not always together though, and while Rasi often has to deal with knight things, Quarty is also helping in teaching Dinzy in Popstar music type stuff! Dinzy otherwise does normal school-aged kid stuff, but she loves going to Quarty to learn his ticks and help out.

Val and Nal-- the twin brothers of Neksdor-- actually run a business together! A sort of weird combination restaurant and tech help place, though part of the gimmick is that if someone isn't really in a position to pay they'll "accidentally" charge less or even "forget" to charge, since in the end their ultimate goals is simply to help the people of their communities who need it. Every since being part of the main team, they've more than had the funds to be able to sustain this sort of thing.

Aside from their work, they also deal with Micha-- an android from Nimbus who was rescues and now stays with them, mostly on account of Nal knowing how to manage all that techy stuff. It's sort of like raising a kid if that kid was a very learning-how-to-be-a-person robot with dangerous weaponry on hand. She's friendly, just... needs a bit of direction.

Zinni and Sprout, the weird sibling-like duo of the Fey Realm, don't really have any specific tasks they tend to-- they just sorta play the part of secondary protectors to the place, in the even that they're either better suited for something or the Fab Fairies aren't available. The two also have a lot of learning how to be in an actual community to do, seeing as Sprout is a wild child from the forest, and Zinni is a cult escapee

There's also Hazari, who is Kets' half-sister, and she's... got issues. Mostly relating to some not very kind views held by some parts of the Fey folk, and also havin the complex of being all mature and cool and smart at the ripe old age of like... 14-16 or so. Zinni and Sprout at least try to rein her in a little, seeing as she does need to be able to get along with the others on account of being one of the 4 new recruits to the team. She's also concerning obsessed with getting the approval of the Great Sage, much to Marin's dismay.

Visula, a semi-Vampire (as there is two flavors of vampire) from Peculia, mostly spends her time away from home for... reasons, and usually is in the traveler's hub somewhere doing her own things, and occasionally pestering Mim and Calia, the later being due to them being childhood friends before Calia had moved to Greenhorne! Honestly out of everyone Visula probably has the most normal day to day, just hang out and vibe and talk to friends.

Most of the Origins team is uh... dead people. Ghosts. Save for Vivo, due to him being a True Vampire and thus an ageless entity. He prefers to be active at night (The sun isn't all that dangerous, but True Vampires are at least mildly bothered by it and him having albinism doesn't help) but for the most part they all just stay at his place, hidden away and playing games and chatting and all that-- he hasn't gone out much since the events that went down roughly 200 years ago (though to be fair, he spent most of that asleep)

Marin and Nori live in a cabin in Powdered Peaks, near the edge closest to the Travel Hub, seeing as that's Marin's home before everything as well. Although they do both travel between the various other places often, in part due to that simply being what Marin does, and in part to help with Nori's atonement and rehabilitation, they spend a decent amount of time at home too. Marin does a lot of personal studies on magic and nature-related stuff, as well as a lot of magic training to keep her skills and spells sharp, and Nori just... kinda does whatever. She hasn't figured out her place or herself out enough to stick to one thing quite yet.

Much to their activities when traveling, aside from... well, traveling and camping and such, also involved helping people out as they go in typically small ways, though larger situations to also arise at times. Though, Marin does tend to avoid the more populated places, on account of not really being much of a people person, despite her reputation and how she acts,and wanting to not get caught up in too much weirdness that results from basically being the land's equivalent of a celebrity.

And... Trence. He used to live alone, but in more recent times Hasal, a living ghost not unlike how Nori now is, ended up showing up and opting to stay with him in Lumos. There's not much to do unless you count dealing with all he monsters and the very much vengeful ghosts there, but while Hasal does who-knows-what like the mysterious lil freak he is, Trence likes to tinker around with robotics and tech and program and stuff in his freetime, and has also taught himself how to fight enough to manage his job and situation, even eventually making himself a custom scythe that has a flippable blade! He's a bit of a workaholic too, though, and... doesn't treat himself the best, but Hasal has been trying to help with that.

...

Oh, right. and Vigil is... a necklace ghost man. Guardian Spirit. He just sort of vibes with Mim most of the time lmao

[sinelanguage]

L, R and U for the fandom asks?

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves.

hah, was struggling for this one for a bit, simply on who to choose.

Alfred from Fire Emblem Engage is probably one of my, irrationally, least favorite characters, perhaps in that entire game. I think because he's a standout for Engage's weaknesses: a one-note character whose gimmick outstays its welcome, and while there's an undercurrent of potential with his character it's never actually realized due to the simplicity of the story Engage seeks to tell. He's also a sweet boy that fandom has the tendency to latch on to, while his sister is 100% better, which annoyed me

but this is for positivity!!! anyway, while Engage designs are over the top in this weird, colorful v-tuber way, once I got past that I kind of dig what they've done with him, design-wise. The country he's from is this idyllic spring-time farmland, and I like how that motif caries into the flowers in his outfit as well as the delicacy of the lace. It's over the top, but endearing to have the 'obsessed with muscles' character dressed in this delicate outfit.

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

I think the greatest of all time is going to be a lot of platonic relationships in Ace Attorney-- Phoenix and Maya is just about peak when it comes to their friendship and banter throughout the series, and Phoenix and Mia strikes such a unique and mentorship relationship. And the entire Fey clan has just this... terrible web of animosity and power struggle! bad, tense family (and especially sibling) relationships are great, and man does the Fey family do that well.

There's a reason why AA3 works so well as a trilogy ender, and it's because all the Fey relationships are so intertwined and complicated. it's great.

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites

need to get back to work so a speed round for this (with a theme!!! sorry going through my last fandoms I'm like, predictable):

Yunaka, Fire Emblem Engage: Speaking of Engage, Yunaka is fun! Engage character gimmicks are very one-note, but Yunaka is funny to me in the sense that she's putting up a very obvious farce on who she is. She's a character who wants desperately to be something else, and will put on a face to get there, even if that farce cracks quite a bit. it's really fun, even with Engage's storytelling problems

Sanji, One Piece: Sorry to anyone who thought I had taste!!! I like Sanji, unfortunately: he's a mix of a lot of specific brands of angst I enjoy (self-sacrificial moron driven by self-worth issues). on TOP of that, he's abrasive and annoying, not to mention extremely rude-mouthed, he puts up an aggressive front over his own feelings. on top of that, under that exterior, he's a kind person. good mix of things, unfortunately

Eunie, Xenoblade: Eunie is an abrasive loudmouth who doesn't admit her own feelings, even at the end of the game when she will never have the chance again!! she's headstrong and loud and opinionated and it seems like she's the type of person to wear her heart on her sleeve, but softer, vulnerable things she keeps close to her chest.