#bird popo

[randowwriter]

Worthy Of Trust

@ans-arcade Here's my latest fic for the Scramble! This is the MitsuHal fic! :) It ended up surprisingly pretty long!

[onedivinemisfit]

Sailor Mercury~ and Popo the bluebird

AnS (c) Akizuki Sorata

Art: Me

[gogglebob]

SBC #36 Ice Climbers & Ice Climber (Arcade)

One day, a letter arrived. Popo and Nana had been living together for some time now. For seventeen years, it had been the same: every winter the vulture would descend upon the nearby village, and every winter Popo and Nana would quest up the mountain to retrieve their stolen foodstuffs. Even though they were literal saviors, the couple had to live far from the village. They learned a long time…

[starrylightseeker]

My lore based Xavier playlist

Long post... yes, I put an unnecessary amount of thought into this

𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 + 𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐇

Beautiful Stranger by Laufey

Wanderer from The Host OST

Carry You by Ruelle, Fleurie

If the World Falls to Pieces by Young Summer

Chasing Stars by Fleurie

Already Mine by Us the Duo

So Close from Enchanted

Lumière by Stephan Moccio

Da Capo from Honkai Impact 3rd

Find You by Monsta X

Love U Already by Fleurie

All of the Stars by Ed Sheeran

Maze by The8

Honest by The Neighborhood

Strange Birds by Birdy

Middle of the Night (inst. cover) by Power-Haus

Heart by Heart by Demi Lovato

Love and Deep Space by Sarah Brightman

Many Are The Stars I See, But In My Wye No Star Like Thee by Ursine Vulpine, Annaca

Wait for me (inst. cover) by L'Orchestra Cinematique

Remembrance by Tommee Profitt, Fleurie

Secrets by OneRepublic

Francesca by Hozier

凝眸 (Gaze)(inst.) from Love Game in Eastern Fantasy

不得 (Not Allowed) from The Story of Pearl Girl

𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐒

Start of Time by Gabrielle Aplin

那些我没说的话 by 時代少年團

Love Wins All by IU

Turning Page by Sleeping At Last

Meteor Showers by Andy Kong

j's lullaby by Delaney Bailey

Love Letter (with you) from Alchemy Of Souls OST

when the dust settles by Ella Martine

Jupiter Theme by Gustav Holst

Nobody Else by Ailee

失憶 by Esther Yu

anything for you by LANY

Orpheus by Vincent Lima

Repeat Until Death by Novo Amor

Die In Your Arms by Ashley Kutcher

Someone i'll wait by Mhir

Forever Star by 张洢豪

𝐌𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐒

(Shooting Stars - prince xavier)

Old Pine by Ben Howard

Forget Me Not by The Civil Wars

Like Real People Do by Hozier

My Lady from Miraculous Ladybug & Cat Noir Movie

Runaway by Chase Atlantic

In the Light by The Lumineers

Would That I by Hozier

Broken Crown by Mumford & Sons

Little Star by Paul Kim

Like A Star by Taeyeon, The One

Starfall by Mack Lorén

Don't Cry, My Love by Cha Eunwoo

Star Star Star (☆★☆) by Girls' Generation

Dearly Beloved (Kingdom Hearts) by AmaLee

How Does a Moment Last Forever by Celine Dion

A Thousand Years by Christina Perri

(Lumière)

Until Eternity (Orchestral Ver) by Blackbriar

Lilili Yabbay by Seventeen

Starlight by Dreamcatcher

𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒

Starry Sound

Dust by Seventeen

好想好想你 by G.E.M.

Enlightenment

Hands of Gold (cover) by Peter Hollens

When You Come Home by Mree

Starry Witness

Snowy Pines by Weston Brown

Shinning Traces

Idea 10 by Gibran Alcocer

When Darkness Comes by Colbie Caillat

Find You by Ruelle

I, Carrion (Icarian) by Hozier

At All Costs (demo) by Benjamin Rice, Julia Michaels

As the World Falls Down (cover) by Aaron Richards

Every Atom by Lantern on the Lake

Shinning Light

Promise by Ben Howards

Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby by Cigarettes After Sex

You Might be Sleeping by Jakob, Clairo

Shimmering Sunlight

Be Your Light by Victor Ma

Bitter Coffee by Lxpse, dream city

Put Your Records On by Corienne Bailey Rae

Moment's Respite & Childhood Snacks

Le Festin from Ratatouille

You Are My Light by Zhao Lusi

Dawn to Dusk

I Need You Most of All by Stephen Sanchez

Love in Slow Motion by Ed Sheeran

Perfect Sunset

Nothin' Like You by Dan+Shay

Precious Bonfire

magnetic - summer by joan

Fluffy Trap

Bunny by Yerin Baek

Garden of Secrets

Sink in by Amy Shark

Dream by Jun

Fragment of Time

Cherry Blossom Love Song by Chen

I'm in love by Yerin Baek

Close Feelings

In the Kitchen by Mree

My Love is Mine All Mine by Mitski

Starry Eyes by Cigarettes After Sex

I Will Be There by Odessa

A Day of Snow

Popo (How deep is our love?) by Yerin Baek

Back Hug by Girls' Generation

A Night of Warmth

My Lady by EXO

Nap of a star by TOMORROW X TOGETHER

Northern Lights by Kennie

Tender Night

Snooze by SZA

Tip Toe by HYBS

First Love by JOONIL JUNG, SOLE

Heartstring Symphony

Strawberry by DALSooobin

Starlight by Taeyeon

21 Days

我有喜欢的人了 by Zhao Lusi

next door by Amelia Moore, ASTN

No Restraint

Lay You Down by RINI

Dive by Jooyoung

Talk by Hozier

Wander In Wonder

Far Away by RINI

Happy Birthday, Xavier / Celestial Message

One Day by Taeyeon

I see the light from Tangled

Dance With Me by Caleb and Kelsey

Can I Have This Dance? from High School Musical

Lihim (Nuarin Sasabihon) by Arthur Miguel, dwta

Floof Attack

Selfish by Damien Dawn

𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔

Timeless by Taylor Swift

While You Were Sleeping by Laufey

Dancin' Away With My Heart by Lady A

𝐁𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄

How Great Is Your Love by Girls' Generation

No Matter Where You Are by Us The Duo

Square (2017) by Yerin Baek

LOVE COUNTDOWN by Nayeon, Wonstein

Timeless by Taeyeon

Back to the City by Kep1er

I think He Knows by Taylor Swift

No One But You by WayV

Blue Eyes by Taeyeon

Little Light by Doyoung

[scrivenger-grimgar]

Combining my WWX ghost king post and my Ravencore WWX post, ghost king WWX definitely has corvid features.

Black feathers are his signature. They even drop from his hair!

All of his ghost devotees (the wen ghosts, those ghosts who choose to follow him) can turn into crows, ravens, blue jays, or magpies, and even mundane corvids trust him implicitly.

They’ll sit on his shoulders, arms, on his lap, on his head, and groom his hair. He’ll walk around the burial mounds ghost town with younglings bundled up in his robes. He sleeps in his cave under a blanket of birds. He asks his crows to watch over Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling, and they keep track of things just in case he forgets something important. Popo and Uncle 4 follow him around to make sure he takes care of himself, even if he’s a ghost now!

His blue jays enjoy teasing Nie Huaisang, too, working for him even as they pull his hair and pick at his clothes and brushes, bringing him critical information.

Wen Qing specifically accompanies him with Wen Ning on the mystery solving journey with Mo Xuanyu.

The corvids are to Wei Ying what fish are to He Xuan. Wei Yings birds are much more self sufficient, however.

To specify, there are the mundane birds, which are like Jin Ling’s spirit dog, and then there are the ghost birds, which are ghosts that follow Wei Ying that learn to take the form of birds to hide from cultivators and assist Wei Ying.

Wei Ying can also shapeshift into a large Raven, with a silver markings on the underside of his wings.

[darkwingphoenix]

Revenge Collection of @loominggaia memes because @niittinaatti tryna steal ma niche

STAY IN YAOUR LANE

The Evangeline cousins as Cobalt, Cyana, Skylie, Saphirra, and Lazuline wreak havoc on Cerulea and Rodrig via intense scream-scolding:

Amber and Maui attending their first World Athenaeum dorm party at a pool

Cerulea: Hey, can you not exile us even though we almost executed Lucius for being trans?

Cobalt having already taken to referring to Lumine as her real name and not her deadname:

Justinia, Sai, and the cousins cheering him on:

Citrine tryna make Maia and Lumine get her shit (Amber's already gotten used to her tactics and won't do it)(Neither of them bend to this either, so she has to suck it

Cobalt and Skylie having totally different personalities but having the same values and moniker all the same (Both have the title of Dragon King/Queen, it's canon in my AU now):

Battle bucketheels on Ascendii warships (They fight with swords and were reprogrammed to play music from music boxes built into them when not fighting)

Krug, Shuck and Yip-pi-Popo be like in their swamp:

One of Skylie's subordinate generals with his pet bird (He's an ogre):

When Saraia made Queen, the biggest flying thing to exist on Gaia since the dinosaur ages, Skylie made this song:

Skylie when she finds a fossil

Various Saraia Memes time!

Skylie: Uh, you don't always hafta buy fossils, you know that, right?

Darshaan: Yeah, so stoppit!

Saraia every time

Time for Custom Memes!

Saraia to Gultopp/Blomi, Skylie to Cyana or Cobalt, and Darshaan to Karenza or Isaac after the above ends:

Me when @niittinaattii tries to copy me (Ignore the last part

Amber going on a date with Tyria (Justinia told Saheli and Mako they could tag along, and Cyangeline did the same with Acacia):

A buncha fauns murdering a random Evangeline slave hunter:

Citrine and Maia to their parents:

[sangahnomiya]

I have a headcanon that this side character from a shoujo manga I like — kihal from akagami no shirayuki — is filipino, bc I am silly like that and like hitting charas with the pipino-beam. and now I will subject you all to the headcanon too

it all started a few months ago, when I DEFINITELY should've been sleeping and for some reason decided that I wanted to figure out what kind of bird kihal keeps. his name is popo btw

NOW FOR SOME REASON I COULDN'T FIGURE IT OUT. there were quite a few liberties taken with popo's design, so I couldn't guesstimate what he was supposed to be. he acts as a messenger bird, but only pigeons or doves can be trained as messenger birds. the colour of his plumage suggested that he was more of a tropical bird, but I couldn't seem to find any that matched his description

after much internal screaming and banging my head against the wall as I swore vengeance upon the animators and the artists for making popo's species so ambiguous, the lovely @sabraeal (THANK YOU SO MUCH BTW HUHUHU) brought up the idea of popo being inspired by Philippine legends, which had never occurred to me before. which is really funny considering I'm literally pinoy HAHAHWGAHDGF

so I dove back into more researching and lost a bit more sleep bc I wanted ANSWERS. the legends she referenced in particular were the tigmamanukan (a mythical blue bird of omen that appears to people) and the limokon (a kind of dove that people also viewed as an omen bird. it's also known as alimokon in some parts of the Philippines)

according to the wiki, the tigmamanukan is theorised to be either the asian fairy bluebird, the palawan fairy bluebird, or the philippine fairy bluebird. sadly, none of them match popo's appearance, though there remains the possibility that the tigmamanukan is actually another kind of bird 🫣

while I couldn't find any myths about the tigmamanukan in my book (I forgot the title of the volume sorry), I was able to find this myth that referenced the lemugen/limokon/alimokon.

here's another one!

but the appearance of the alimokon STILL didn't match popo, so I was back to square one :(

so I shelved the whole thing (with great reluctance) for a few months and forgot about it till TODAY, when I was researching on local birds for work. AND SUDDENLY I SAW THIS LIL GUY. WHOSE APPEARANCE IS THE CLOSEST MATCH TO POPO THAT IVE EVER SEEN

the image was sourced from here, tho I'm not so sure if that's the original owner.

this is the celestial monarch, a bird that's endemic to the Philippines!!!! though their sizes are different, this is the closest match I've ever gotten to finding for popo. ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDD it also fuels my Pinoy Kihal headcanon so a WIN IS A WIN (I haven't even yapped abt the connection between the walnut stone whistles in AnS and the Philippine epics that incorporate the power of betel nut stones)

however, the celestial monarch is considered to be a critically endangered species by the Philippine Red List. if you've read this far and are interested in helping preserve the celestial monarch or other endangered species, you might want to check your local wildlife conservations to see what you can do to help!

though the name only refers to the Philippine eagle, the Philippine Eagle Foundation is one example that I know of. 10/10 would recommend going to the Philippine Eagle Center btw

[southernhispanics]

Popos and Bird from SANGRA in the 70’s. Be sure to check the hashtag for more photos of this varrio.

[trigunbookclub]

i'm a little late to join the party, so i'm doing my best to catch up! but i was taking a look at the schedule, and i see that it's sepearated into volumes. would you happen to know the schedule by chapters?

Hello! Not too late at all--anyone's welcome to join at any time! I had to dig a bit, but they have the chapters listed on Wikipedia! I'll copy and paste here in case it helps someone navigate it easier, but I'm throwing it under a cut because it'll be long. I also recommend checking out @trigun-manga-overhaul for the most accurate translations, and it's all separated by volume there :D (I've been reading their browser version since it's easiest for me to take screenshots) Okay, chapter masterlist:

Trigun 1

00.High Noon

01.The $$60 Billion Double Dollar Man

02.Looney Tunes

03.Hard Puncher

04.Popo

05.Assault

06.Die Hards

07.Rem

08.Duelist

09.Then, Between The Wasteland and Sky

10.Little Arcadia

11.Son

12.River of Life

Trigun 2

13.Blood and Thunder

14.Diablo

15.Fragile

16.Scars

17.Slaughter Cafe

18.Gathering of the Devils

19.Eye of Invisibility

20.Fifth Moon

Extra: Day In Day Out

Extra: Trigun Pilot

Trimax 1

01. "Hero Reborn"

02. "Lina" (リィナ, Rina)

03. "Bravo, Girls!" (ガールズ・ブラボー！, Gāruzu Burabō)

04. "Hero Returns"

05. "Dancing Revolver"

06. "Sin" (罪, Tsumi)

Trimax 2

07. "Return of the Blue Wing of Death" (死を運ぶ 蒼き風 再び, Shi o Hakobu Aokikaze Futatabi)

08. "Resume our Business"

09. "Samurai Showdown" (サムライショウダウン, Samurai Shoudaun)

10. "Wolfwood" (ウルフウッド, Urufuddo)

11. "Desperado"

12. "Home Sweet Home" (ホーム・スィート・ホーム, Hōmu Su~īto Hōmu)

13. "Darkness" (暗闇, Kurayami)

Trimax 3

14. "Reservoir Dogs" (レザボア・ドッグス, Rezaboa Doggusu)

15. "Cement" (セメント, Semento)

16. "No Escape"

17. "Emilio the Player" (エミリオ・ザ・プレイヤー, Emiro za Pureiyā)

18. "Long Goodbye"

19. "Families" (ファミリーズ)

20. "His Life as a..."

Trimax 4

21. "Countdown"

22. "Bluesy Killer Horn" (ブルージィ キラー ホーン, Burūji~i Kirā Hōn)

23. "Bottom of the Dark"

24. "Den of Thieves" (魔窟, Makutsu)

25. "Crying Wild Bullet" (クライング ウイルド ブリッド, Kuraingu Uirudo Buriddo)

26. "Those Who Stood Idly By" (かたわらに たたずむ ものたち, Katawarani Tatazumu Monotachi)

27. "Doomed Sinner" (絶望の罪人, Zetsubou no Zainin)

Trimax 5

28. "The City And Then The Banquet of Dogs" (街 そして犬共の宴, Machi Soshite Inudomo no Utage)

29. "Breakout" (ブレイクアウト, Bureikuauto)

30. "Loss" (喪失, Sōshitsu)

31. "Villain" (凶人, Kyoujin)

32. "Death Deal" (デス ディール, Desu Dīru)

33. "Let Us Walk the Path to Redemption" (せめて歩ませよ我が購いの道を, Semete Ayumaseyo Waga Aganai no Michi o)

Trimax 6

34. "The Gunslinger" (ザ·ガンスリンガー, Za Gansuringā)

35. "double team"

36. "Cross X Assassins" (クロスXアサシンズ, Kurosu X Asashinzu)

37. "Death Omen" (死兆, Shichō)

38. "Colorless Expression" (色無き相貌, Ironaki Sōbō)

39. "Seeds Voyaging to the Stars, A World Inside a Pod" (星を往く種子 莢の中の世界, Hoshi o Yuku Shushi Saya no Naka no Sekai)

Trimax 7

40. "happy days."

41. "Separate Ways" (セパレイトウェイズ, Separeito Uizu)

42. "The King of Loneliness" (孤独の王, Kodoku no Ō)

43. "Good For Nothing and the Blues" (ろくでなしとブルース, Rokudenashi to Burūsu)

44. "When They Arrived, It Was Already the Beginning of the End" (辿り着けばそこはすでに終わりの始まり, Tadoritsukeba Sokowa Sudeni Owari no Hajimari)

45. "Conflict" (コンフリクト, Konfurikuto)

Trimax 8

46. "Invasion" (侵攻, Shinkou)

47. Silent Ruin

48. "Counter-Attack!! (カウンターアタック！！, Kauntā Atakku)

49. "Escape (脱出, Dasshutsu)

50. "Separate Paths (それぞれの道, Sorezore no Michi)

51. Wolfwood Spin Off - Freed Bird ([外伝] FREED BIRD, [Gaiden] Freed Bird)

Trimax 9

52. Home

53. Gale

54. LR

55. Battle to the Death

56. Prostrate Demon

57. Fortitude

Trimax 10

58. Reckless Conduct

59. Sworn Friend

60. Sudden Change

61. Death Omen

62. Final Battle

63. Homecoming

64. Wolfwood

65. Final Farewell

Trimax 11

66. Zero Hour

67. Slap Sticks Days

68. Thunderstruck

69. Return of the Wicked

70. Get Ready, Get Set

71. Someone to Defend

Trimax 12

72. The Journey Ends - But Heavy Breathing Still Echoes

73. Corrosive Thunder

74. The Interceptor

75. The Gunslinger

76. + - 0

77. resonance

78. Run Livio Run

79. Lantern

80. Their Own World

Trimax 13

81. False Doppleganger

82. Double Duel

83. Demon Fire

84. Black

85. Battle of the Mystics

86. Tag in a Person

87. catch-as-catch-can

88. Apex Wings (尖翼)

89. VS

Trimax 14

90. When Conflict Comes to An End (相克果つる刻, Sōkoku hatsuru toki)

91. overkill

92. Side by Side (サイド・バイ・サイド)

93. Never give up! Never surrender!

94. Ticket to the Future (未来への切符, Mirai e no kippu)

95. Mind Games

96. Double Wings (双翼, Sōyoku)

97. Never Ending Song

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball GT 48

✨GT Stands For Guilt Trip✨

Well, we finally made it to the home stretch.  This is the Shadow Dragons Saga, the last arc in Dragon Ball GT.  And it’s pretty fucking terrible, let’s make that clear up front.  I was willing to be diplomatic about GT when I started.  I was prepared to wade through the nonsense of the early episodes, and I let my interest in Tuffle lore keep me engaged with the Baby Saga, and I barely remembered the Super 17 Saga, so I powered through that one by sheer curiosity. 

But the Shadow Dragons Saga sucks ass.  I say this with zero respect to anyone who worked on this anime.  This arc is like watching an oil spill happen.  This arc is like the time I found a dead bird in the vent duct of my dryer.   I’d rather go to the dentist than watch this crap, because at least it wouldn’t take as long.

I’ll be honest with you, dear reader, liveblogging GT has really worn me down.  I wanted to cover this one for the sake of completion, and so I could have a handy reference to each episode in the future, and I also thought it could be a lot of fun to critique the show in a playful sort of way.  But I didn’t take into account just how awful this show really was, or the mental toll it would take on me to spend so much time on it. 

So from here on out, I’m just gonna augur in and get this over with.  Strap yourselves in, because we’re about to see quite possibly the worst Dragon Ball saga ever made.  I’m not sure if the individual episodes are worse than the ones we’ve seen so far, but the arc as a whole is a master class in how to piss away your audience’s goodwill.

✨"Good" "Ideas", Poorly Executed✨

Oh, where do I even begin?  Okay, so when Dr. Gero opened up that portal between Hell and Earth, it caused all these disasters across the Earth, on top of the damage done by Super 17 and Gero’s allies.  Dragon Team decided to summon Shenron to wish away all the death and destruction, but the Dragon Balls were cracked, and when they called Shenron, a bunch of smoke billowed out of the Balls, and a new, shady-looking Dragon emerged. 

King Kai warned Goku that it wasn’t Shenron, but the dragon itself seemed to identify as the same Shenron that Dragon Team had used in the past.  I’m pretty sure it’s the same guy, just changed beyond recognition.  Anyway, this is sometimes referred to as “Smoke Shenron”, and he never actually does anything in this form.  He just tells the good guys that he’s not going to be their “lapdog” any more, and then he takes the Dragon Balls and splits himself into seven parts, each one taking a Dragon Ball in a different direction. 

One annoying part of this is how no one can agree on who’s going to explain this situation. King Kai starts, but then the Elder Supreme Kai cuts him off, but then he’s so furious about it that Kibitoshin has to explain it instead, and then Dende and Mr. Popo show up to add their thoughts.  So I’m just going to give you the summary without getting into who says what.

During the Majin Buu Saga, Kibitoshin heard about the Earthling’s plans to use the Dragon Balls, but he seemed to have no idea what they were.  Later, the Elder Kai caught wind of it, and expressed disapproval.  According to him, the Dragon Balls were a special dispensation to Namekians, and should only be used sparingly.  The idea of the Earth having its own set was bothersome to him, and he seemed uncomfortable about using them to undo the damage of the Buu crisis, even when he was one of the people resurrected by the wishes.  In Dragon Ball Z, it sounded like he was just objecting to the whole thing on moral grounds.

But in this episode, we learn that his warnings we based on very real, very serious dangers. Each time you use the Dragon Balls, you introduce “minus energy” into them.  This arc really lays it on thick with the terms “plus energy” and “minus energy”, so get used to that.  I guess the deal is that it takes plus energy to grant a wish, so each time the Dragon Balls get used, they lose plus and gain minus?  Fuck it, who cares?  The point is that if they get used too often, the minus energy builds up inside the Dragon Balls, until they can’t contain it anymore, and this is what led to the events of this episode.  The next time Shenron is summoned, he comes out looking all weird and instead of granting wishes, he buggers off to start destroying the world.

In theory, the Dragon Balls can safely release this pent-up minus energy after each wish, but it takes about a hundred years for that to happen.  This is why the Dragon Balls scatter after each use.  By the time anyone can find all seven of them again, centuries would have passed, and the minus energy from the previous wish would be gone. 

However, that natural cooldown period got hijacked when Bulma invented the Dragon Radar.  Thanks to her, the Dragon Balls could be gathered much more easily.   Hell, just look at the last episode.  Goku, Trunks, and Pan went to gather the Balls at the tail end of Episode 47 and it didn’t take any time at all.  So over the past forty years, they’ve been making tons and tons of wishes, and that’s overloaded the Dragon Balls.  

The danger now is that Shenron will destroy the Earth.  I think there was a line about how it’s been cut off from the rest of the universe, but I’m not sure if I interpreted it correctly.  There’s also some concern that Shenron might continue his rampage and destroy the rest of the universe as well.  So Goku resolves to hunt down Shenron and kick his ass, which will presumably restore things to normal.

Okay, so that’s the premise.  Here’s why it sucks.

1) This is just a retread of the Black Star Dragon Balls.  I’ve already explained my gripes about the BS Dragon Balls, but the short version is that there was a prototype set of Dragon Balls hidden away for centuries, and using them can destroy the whole world, and Mr. Popo knew about them the whole time and never said anything.  The BS Dragon Balls were written out of the story in Episode 40, so now we’ve returned to the classic Red Star Dragon Balls we’ve always known, and suddenly they turn out to have the same problem, where they’re too dangerous to use.  So it’s not even original.

2) Why didn’t anyone say anything about this until now? This is the worst kind of retcon, the kind where new lore is introduced that doesn’t even remotely fit into the established history.  As this episode states, the gang have been using the Dragon Balls for decades.  During that time, they met Kami, who created the Dragon Balls, and other characters like Mr. Popo, Guru, Moori, and Dende, who know a great deal about creating and maintaining Dragon Balls.  Throughout Dragon Ball and DBZ, characters will pose questions about the kinds of wishes they can make, and what rules apply, and the experts will mull it over and give clear, concise answers.  On occasion, Shenron himself will counsel the characters who summon him, explaining the limitations of his powers and making helpful suggestions for how to word their wishes.  

The point I’m making here is that the Dragon Balls are extremely user-friendly.  The hard part is gathering them all together, but once you’ve done that, there’s plenty of guidance on how to use them and what not to do. And at no point did anyone ever bring up the dangers of overuse.  And yet, when Episode 48 comes along, you have King Kai, Kibitoshin, the Elder Kai, and Mr. Popo all going “Yeah, you assholes blew it.  You shouldn’t have used them so much.”  

3) If the Dragon Balls need 100 years to reset, then why do they work the way they do?  From the start, the Dragon Balls turn into stone for a year, after which they change back into orange crystal orbs and they can be used again.  This was written into the story to explain why the characters can’t just constantly re-gather the Dragon Balls for continuous wishing.  But it’s implied that this is a cooldown period to reset them for the next use.  This is further clarified when Dende reactivates the Dragon Balls in the Cell Saga.  They ask him to upgrade the Dragon Balls to grant three wishes instead of just one, and he can do it, but it means adjusting the “wishing power”.  Shenron can’t be made to grant 800 wishes in one go, because there’s a limit to what he can do in one summoning.  Porunga seems to have far greater capacity than Shenron, which is why he can resurrect people multiple times, restore whole planets, and always grant three wishes every 130 days.  But I assume this is because he’s built different.  

So there’s already a lot of logistical considerations built into the Dragon Ball concept.  And yet this episode suggests that the 1-year cooldown is only one percent of the time the Dragon Balls actually need to reset.  If that were true, then why didn’t Kami or Dende fix it so they turn to stone for 100 years instead of just one? 

Also, this episode mentions how Dende upgraded the Dragon Balls to grant more wishes, which only compounded the problem.  Well if Dende knew that was an issue, why the hell did he do it? And if he didn’t know, then how is he qualified to make and maintain Dragon Balls in the first place?  Dende doesn’t have much to say in this episode, which doesn’t make any fucking sense, because he should know more about Dragon Balls than anyone else in the show.  He’s a Dragon Type Namekian!  He literally studied the art of making Dragon Balls!  That’s why they recruited him to become the new Kami of Earth!  Moori said all of this when he recommended Dende to Goku! 

It really, really annoys me how this series keeps deferring to Mr. Popo for all of the Dragon Ball lore.  Popo is an attendant to the reigning Kami of Earth.  He’s not a Namekian, and everything he knows about Namekian culture and Dragon Balls, he learned from Kami, a Namekian.  Dende is a Namekian.  Everything he learned about Namekian culture and Dragong Balls, he learned on Namek.  He knew all about this stuff before he came to Earth, and then he kept studying it afterward.  And unlike Kami, Dende didn’t lose his memories of his people. 

If this Shadow Dragon nonsense made any sense at all, then Dende should be the one explaining it to the others.  Instead, they’re all explaining it to him, like he’s some idiot who never knew how any of this worked.

Seriously, how the fuck would Mr. Popo know about an evil dragon destroying another planet?  He’s never left Earth.  What would he know about any of this? I could see Dende reading about something like this in some book of Namekian legends, but not Popo.  Hey, speaking of Dende...

4) Why don’t they just kill Dende?  Everyone talks about this Shenron problem like it’s irreversible, but Shenron’s not invincible.  King Piccolo killed him with a ki blast, and he’s a weakling compared to most of the characters in this show.  But even if Shenron got stronger from all this minus energy, and killing Shenron isn’t an option, then why don’t they just kill Dende? 

This has always been the way it works.  When Nappa killed Piccolo, Kami died too, and the Dragon Balls were deactivated.  When Guru died, the Namekian Dragon Balls were deactivated.  When Kami and Piccolo fused into one, the Earth’s Dragon Balls were deactivated.  According to GT, their fusion somehow reactivated the Black Star Dragon Balls, which is why Piccolo allowed himself to die in Episode 40, so they would never endanger anyone again.  So it’s clear that the people making GT understood this concept. 

Well then, the Earth’s Dragon Balls are under the stewardship of Dende now, so if he dies, they should stop working.  This was a major plot point in the Buu Saga, where they needed to keep Dende alive in order to wish everyone back to life after Buu was defeated.  Kill Dende, kill Shenron. 

I’m not saying they should have actually gone through with this, but why doesn’t anyone bring it up?  Or, a more humane option would be to break that sculpture of Shenron that Mr. Popo made.  I’m pretty sure Kami and Dende always had the power to turn Shenron off when it suited their purposes.  We never saw that put into practice, but the pecking order was always very clear.  Shenron is not a “god” or a “mysterious legend”.  He’s a magic familiar under the control of Dende.  Shenron can’t do shit without Dende to allow it. 

5) What about the Namekian Dragon Balls?  If this is a problem on Earth, then why has it never been an issue on Namek, where the Dragon Balls can be used much more frequently?  Do they just know how to avoid the problem, or do they wait 100 years between wishes?  I ask this because we’ve seen Porunga grant a dozen wishes in about as many years.  Oh, and in GT, they used Porunga again to restore the Earth after it exploded in Episode 40.  So the Namekian Dragon Balls have been overused at least as badly as the Earth’s Dragon Balls.  So where’s their Shadow Dragon problem? 

But maybe I’m being too hard on this story.  Yeah, there’s a lot of plot holes to this, but ultimately it comes down to a pretty cool angle.  The final boss of Dragon Ball is the Dragon himself.  Goku has to fight the Dragon to save the universe, and the Dragon has split into seven, which means Goku has to throw down with seven badass monsters, like some kind of awesome fantasy martial arts gauntlet.  Right?

Right?

You’re shaking your head, are you saying that the Shadow Dragons are not badass monsters?  Well that can’t be right, I’m sure that.... Oh.  Oh.

6) The Shadow Dragons suck ass.   Goku tracks down the first one and he looks like a joke.  Then a rock falls on his toe and he cries out in pain, revealing that he doesn’t just look like a joke, he is a joke.

This is played off like some sort of “appearances can be deceiving” trope, where the moral is not to underestimate your foe.   But that’s really not what this series needed at this stage.  You kind of knew that the Shadow Dragons would get increasingly difficult with each one, so the very first one would be the weakest, but this is ridiculous.  By the end, the last three give Super Saiyan 4 Goku a hard time, but the first four Shadow Dragons are total chumps.  They play their tricks and give Goku some trouble, but not because of any physical strength they possess.  And then you finally get to the “serious” Dragons at the end, and the fights suck, because GT is terrible at presenting fight scenes.

And this is what makes the arc so damned infuriating.  The Saiyans Saga from Z worked because it opened with a devastating conflict--Goku dies, for goodness’ sake!-- and then it promises an even more terrible enemy will appear in one year.  So the heroes train and the story winds on and the arc relies on this suspense.  What are the two Saiyans going to do when they get here?  How strong could they be?   Can anything stop them?  Then they finally arrive and the first thing they do is destroy a whole city.   The second thing they do is kill several major characters.  After it’s over, Goku spends the next several episodes in the hospital, because Vegeta broke every bone in his body!  The Saiyans Saga did not fuck around, and the reason it’s such a classic is that it delivered on the hype.

The Shadow Dragons Saga is the polar opposite to this.  This arc opens with dire warnings about seven monsters who will surely destroy the whole world, and it blunders the execution in every possible way.  The last Shadow Dragon is the only one that really matters, and he throws a clock at Goku, just to give you an idea of how “intense” that battle is.   You watch this garbage hoping that each new Shadow Dragon will redeem the disappointments that came before, and then you finally look up and notice that there are no more.   All of the Shadow Dragons came and went, and they all sucked. 

✨Positivity Page✨

There was a montage of all the wishes made over the years, so I guess that was pretty nice.  I’ll be honest, it’s gonna be really hard to find anything nice to say about these next few episodes. 

✨Is This Episode Worse than "The Roaming Lake"?✨

Yes.  It is worse.  The Roaming Lake is pretty much guaranteed to make a clean sweep of this thing.  All hope is lost.

One major problem with this episode is that very little actually gets done.  Most of the runtime is spent infodumping the Shadow Dragon concept, and I think I’ve already made my opinion on that very clear.  They spent a lot of time explaining the thing, but they managed to avoid every question that I had about it.

The rest of the episode shows lots of pointless scenes of Shadow Dragons flying around the world, choosing their bases of operations and selecting their powers.  One of them flies into a volcano and he’s going to be their fire guy.  That sort of thing.   Then Goku remembers he forgot the Dragon Radar, so Pan offers to let him have Giru, but only if she can tag along.  Then they find Haze Shenron, who looks like the love child of a frog and a moldy potato.

✨The Blade Braxton Memorial Haiku*✨

Yeah, this show gets worse. 

Don’t worry, though.  We still have

Plenty of Giru.

[jacquelinemerritt]

Dragon Ball Z: Abridged Episode 46 Review

Originally posted May 20th, 2016

Back to action-comedy at last.

“Percussive Maintenance” is a fairly straightforward episode of Dragonball Z: Abridged; it focuses on a single battle while cutting between various “B-stories” happening simultaneously, and it’s a prime example of just how entertaining Team Four Star’s work is when they’re in their comfort zone. There’s never a dull moment in this episode, and that’s because even the cutaway gags play to the strengths of the creators, as each involves some form of bickering, which Team Four Star has been excellent at since the beginning.

Their ability to balance all four stories in “Percussive Maintenance” shows how much they’ve grown as creators too; when compared to the fifth episode, “Vegeta: Kills Bugs Dead,” which I described as “too disjointed to clearly follow” and having “no real thematic or tonal connection” between its stories, “Percussive Maintenance” manages to keep a consistent tone throughout the entire episode and connect each story to a singular goal.

The consistent tone is achieved through the constant presence of bickering,1 and the stories each are all connected by a desire to stop the Androids and Cell: Bulma develops the remote detonator to destroy the Androids, Krillin and Yamcha argue against Tien, who wants to join Piccolo in the fight against Android 17, and Goku chooses to wait at the Hyperbolic Time Chamber so he can jump in and train as soon as Vegeta and Trunks are finished (to be able to defeat the Androids).

This episode also engages in a bit of meta-criticism as well, subtle though it may be, during Piccolo’s fight with Android 17. As he and the Android lock arms and scream into each other’s faces we cut back to Android 18, who complains about how useless their posturing is, and later, when the two of them are trading blows to the chest, she laments how much stupider their battle has become as we see them making anatomically impossible indentations in each other’s chests.

18’s comments are pretty clearly a criticism of the original series, which is notorious for including way too much screaming, posturing, and ridiculous/pointless violence, but it also serves the actual story too, as Cell shortly shows up and proves that Piccolo and 17 have done nothing more than waste their stamina on each other.

Rating: 4/5

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Stray Observations

1Fun fact: a lot of screenwriting books and teachers would tell you that leaving your characters to bicker is a terrible decision that isn’t going to help your story at all, but it works incredibly here because the bickering is not only entertaining dialogue on its own, but also rooted in character. Team Four Star also proved, way back in the eighth episode, that bickering can be an effective way to establish character too; we learned a hell of a lot more about our cast as Vegeta and Nappa argued with our heroes than we did from most anything in the seven preceding episodes. Take note, aspiring screenwriters.

This episode contains a number of clever cuts where one character will say something in one scene and have their thought continued by a different character in another scene, and I have to wonder if Team Four Star was drawing on Archer for inspiration here, as that’s a technique that that show has basically perfected.

Android 16: “I have spotted a pelican. So maje-*squawk* So majes-*squawk* Majesti-*squawk* That is a big bird.”

Goku: “We have to wait for Trunks and Vegeta to come out of the Hypertonic Lion Tamer.” Mr. Popo: “That one was on purpose.”

Dr. Briefs: “You can’t kidnap an orphan; they weren’t wanted in the first place.”

Dr. Briefs: “Gero puts explosives in strangers and that’s fine, but I want to do it to my children and your mother gets all uppity!”

Yamcha: “I’ve been stabbed and blown up, and left by the only girlfriend I ever had!” Krillin: “Same, but when my girlfriend left me, she took all of my money. When yours left, she took all her money.” Roshi: “Gonna need a Senzu for that one.”

Nail: “Why are you back-flipping?” Piccolo: “To gain some distance.” Kami: “You can fly!”

Yajirobe: “Why are you mad, the eggs weren’t even that good!” Dr. Briefs: “Most of those weren’t meant to be eaten that way!” Okay, so if those eggs are clones of his wife, how did he mean for them to be eaten? I am rather disturbed by the implications here (in a good way).

[thegoldendoorknob]

Let me just drop my opinion on every monster hunter monster I’ve fought so far here now that it’s 12am oops

-

Apceros/Aptonoth- Underrated as far as herbivore fodder goes, they'll almost guarantee you one raw meat when you carve them, and really that's the only reason you would attack them.

Bullfango/Bulldrome/Kestodon/Rhenopolos- Charging monsters... I only like them better when they attack monsters too. Otherwise they have that nitpick I have with predators and prey ganging up on you for no reason.

Cephalos/Cephadrome- First sandshark, I'd accept them, but Genprey do the same stun-bite and are a lot less annoying about it

Feyline- I love them in every game but 3. I have no idea what is their DAMAGE in 3...

Genprey/Gendrome- Speaking of, an ok prey

Hornetaur- My experience stems from them biting my ankles in bonepiles, I don't appreciate their 'tude

Ioprey/Iodrome- Second-most boring prey

Kelbi/Anteka- Horns horns horns. It would be cool if a proper monster of some kind used those hard to track jumpswaitaminute

Melynx- Cute cats that are pretty dodgeable unless you're mid-fight

Mosswine- I like this guy- I think he's based off a yokai or something

Velociprey/Velocidrome- THE bird wyvern. Deceptively hard with their crowding- which puts them at the top for me.

Vespoid- Stun, stun, stun...

Basarios- What a cool guy on paper, has probably fathered more monster rigs than you think. I only like fighting him with hammer tho.

Diablos- Our favorite herbivore! I like the high damage to enforce dodging their slow and telegraphed moves

Gravios- Papa Basarios, I like him less though. Them and basarios have weird... flesh feet...

Gypceros/Yian Kut-Ku- I hate them both, but Gypceros narrowly wins because it's flash bang is an extra layer

Khezu- Low-Rank flesh BULLY.

Plesioth- I'm suffering stockholm syndrome for the meme, but there is no denying just how much their hipcheck makes them stand out alone, only fighting a more fair Deviljho hipcheck for dominance. Also, the only proper fish-wyvern for a while...

Rathalos- Flagship darling. Earlier games look like hell, though I appreciate his tail always dragging on the ground no matter what iteration you're fighting.

Rathian- The fairer Rathalos. Rise seems to have put more of her moveset into grounded Rathalos, which makes sense, though I wish she had more oomph outside of variants

Original Fatalis (Generations)- GU is the only game I barely fought them in. Outside of it's lore, the fight didn't seem much to write home about. Their variants on the other hand...

Kirin- Pony bastard. Despite everyone's claims, it seems like it always had a learnable method to it's madness like any other monster. I'm willing to wager the majority of it's grief stems from the small pool of electric monsters players have to worry about in the lategames

Lao-Shan Lung (GU)- Precious mountain baby. One of the first sieges, and first DPS races. I would probably have hated him if it wasn't for the fact his Generations bombtrack is pretty fun

Azure Rathalos- Did you ever want Rathalos to fly in the air more? Of course you do.

Silver Rathalos/Gold Rathian- Heavily dependant on game. I feel like I had the most fun running IG against their world variants, though

Black Diablos (World)- MHW:IB Diablos is crazy ok. I'm fine with it just constantly comboing into burrowing, because it encourages rare item usage in 5th Gen. It's dangerous sand waterfall trick in LR is something I actually WANT it to do in MR, because it'll stop it's combo

Blango/Blangonga- My friends are so tired of hearing me bring them up, but they are straight up the 'easy rajang' the series can use to replace him

Ceanataur/Shogun- Not fun to fight. His deviant, though...

Conga/Congalala- Hell YES. Only good monke, we need more fartmonkey. His apex was unexpectedly tough

Giaprey/Giadrome- The worst drome. I just... they have nothing.

Hermitaur/Damiyo- Now this fight is fun- It's a more engaging hard-shell basarios style fight with clear openings

Popo- Hey Tigrex...

Remobra- I hate them, but do I hate them more than rhenopolos? It's a hard tiebreaker.

Rajang/Furious- MH's favorite monkey. A fight that's tricky to learn, but a consistent rhythm when you understand it, similar to Deviljho. World is definitely one of the hardest variations, but I also think it raised new hunter's expectations of future Rajang a little too much.

Chameleos- Cool little guy. Shame about the item theft

Kushala Daora- Out of the Elder Trio, I like Kushala the most. Would I like fighting it before the IG? Eeeh, probably not.

Lunastra (World)- Pretty novas and flame effects, but an annoyance to deal with in-game. Her wingbeat fire attacks are neat, but World beat that as far as the special effects department goes

Teostra- A more involved Lunastra, but prior to Gen 5 he was a lava-camping asshole. I like his little blast-clicks.

Akantor/Ukanlos (Gen)- He's a uh, big guy alright. I'm kind of surprised at how basic his fight is- though I feel as though Tetsucabra and Zamtrios probably stole some of his stuff in hindsight

Tigrex- I just can't understand this fight, I know I won't either. I've at least figured out how to make them charge less, and how to tell if they're breaking out the crazy charges

Lavasioth- Cool fish, lava camper >:(

Nargacuga- This wyvern on the other hand- I got used to them, kind of. Phases are clear, and once you understand their openings and how they combo, the fights gradually get more smooth.

Yian Garuga- The only dangerous bird wyvern. I'd respect it's crown, but fuck em. I never liked that shoebill skeleton

Baggi/Great- My boy!!! A pretty blue, a pretty pompadour, and they aren't shy of putting you to sleep.

Giggi- Does a good job at scaring 3U first-timers

Jaggi/Jaggia/Great- I'm not impressed by base jaggi, but Jaggia and Great are pretty safe and easy to learn. I appreciate it when a Jaggi helps me carve faster, but the Jaggia can be little nuiscances

Ludroth/Royal- Water Jaggia. Royal's ok in his water fight, cool glowing eyes. Gets demoted to easier shoebill status past 3 :(

Uroktor/Agnaktor- I misname Agnaktor for Akantor all the time, god help us all. Another lava camper, so... (The hints of Najarala burrowing are here, though...)

Barioth- Apparently famously replaced Nargacuga. I like him less, because his tail swipe extends far enough to catch plesioth's hip-check

Barroth- First brute wyvern!!!! I like his lore more than I like his fight.

Deviljho (Gen)- Classic pickle. There's so much more involved with his gen fight, it unfortunately blows his World fight out of the water. Despite that, I still love new interpretations of the pickle fight

Gigginox- Now here's a gross wyvern fight. Drops babies down to join the fight and better mess with you, and has counters that don't narrow down to 'fuck you, lightning'

Gobul- For the original Nibelsnarf, his fight wasn't too involved.

Lagiacrus (3)- It's fight was so much more involved in the water! It has enough switchups that it doesn't become boring, unlike its land iteration.

Qurupeco- It's gimmick is okay, but if you strip the top layer of a 2-on-1 fight off, Qurupeco is kind of boring

Uragaan- No, I don't like this crimson chin. Will lava-camp on a dime

Alatreon (GU)- I ended up fighting them because I heard all the drama about their World variant. It wasn't really a fair fight; I came into the HR with MR armor, but it was fun to see all the moves they converted later in their original form.

Alatreon (World)- Speaking of drama... If I was playing World as it updated, I would probably have hated them as much as the rest of the fandom does. However, I bought World a solid year after it's updates ended, and I knew about his fight in the distant lategame. I had the advantage of quietly preparing a gearset for them, and ultimately found them pretty fun if not stressful on that DPS race after the hornbreaks. Conceptually its pretty interesting too, you can see every elemental elder dragon that bled into Alatreon's moveset, from Velkhana's ice beam to Kirin's thunder grids, it's all there to play I-Spy with. They had a good idea- the playerbase largely never cared for elemental damage over that affinity meta I'm so tired of, but in practice it was pretty horrible. Despite this- I still wish for a bigger elemental-focused meta in the future, or at least something to combat the hyperoffensive affinity/damage builds copypasted across every weapon.

Ceadeus- A slow, Lao-shen'y dps water fight. Such a cool whale monster, though it seems everyone agrees that they shine the most once you reach the sunken city in Area 3

Wroggi/Great- Tied for my favorite bird wyvern, just an angry little tree-frog with a good armorset

Arzuros/Lagombi- Mmm, Conga did it better. I do like the bear's silly honey steal, though

Duramboros- HHHhhhhhhhhhh Banbaro did better than you

Nibelsnarf- More interesting than Gobul, tbh. You're more likely to fish them up on a stun without retries, and the barrels are also easier to place against them. Miserable without items

Volvidon- Lagombi but it doesn't put you to sleep. Being annoying is at least engaging

Zinogre/Stygian- The fight I always feel like I'm on top of until I actually fight them. It's not that I never learned their timing, or have low element resist. I just feel like I end up making more mistakes than advantages whenever I fight them.

Amatsu (GU)- Absolute bonkers fight once they enrage. There's a lot of wiggling around before that, though..

Brachydios- No

Ivory Lagiacrus- The landstranded Lagi, without the water, it's moveset is unfortunately pretty basic....

Lucent Nargacuga (R)- I feel like it's 3U fight should be more engaging- once you figure out to watch it's eyes in Rise, you notice it's pretty close to a basic Narga fight until the tail gets powered-up

Savage Deviljho (World)- The dragonblight pool attack is really cool!!! He just doesn't feel like Jho without his deadly pins is all

Kecha Wacha- So begins the interesting starting bosses in 4U. There's a lot here that got used in Bishaten later, but I feel like Kecha wins out once he moves to the vines. Goes double the speed if you let them swing circles around you

Najarala- Snake! A cool gimmick with the sonic scales, good armor, and just a really neat skeleton never to be used again. I guess my only gripe is getting your footing back if they bump into you with that coiling trap

Nerscylla- Honestly, arguably one of my favorite monsters. She's so fast, always keeps to areas where she can speed around on the webbing, and you have the added bonus of trying to cut the webshots to knock her off-balance. All of that combined with those giant punishing mandibles of hers whenever she gets a KO on you makes her a really fun fight

Seltas- The first boss of 4U. I find him more interesting than his queen, but I'll admit his attacks are pretty basic vespoid-level attacks if he's not clawing at you

Seltas Queen- I would like them more if they just didn't look like... that? I like the tail, I like that she parties up with Seltas (and even kills them if she's low on health). But I don't like anything else about her design-wise, and her fight isn't much more interesting. If I wanted to get charged at with little thought, I'd rather fight Tigrex

Tetsucabra- Tetsu is.... okay. I have armor grinding fatigue, but their new attacks are appreciated. Their MR fight sucks though, I'm tired of charge-spamming monsters

Zamtrios- Swiss-army knife shark. There's a little too much to keep up with in their fight, but I'd rather fight them than Tetsu

Gore Magala/Chaotic- Hot damn. This baby can fit so much Frenzy and lore in them. A fight that forces you to plan carefully, but fight efficiently. Is heavily punishing of small mistakes in 4U- deals a little too much damage in rage than I'm comfortable with, but overall just a pretty solid fight (Ignoring those wing hitzones in LR...)

Shagaru Magala (GU)- I felt like they were impossible when I first fought them. A true formed Magala that really puts your focus to the test. Its hind legs are its only safespot, but that won't stop it from slamming you whenever you get too comfortable. Those + shaped blasts are still an attack I mention in other hunts

Raging Brachydios (World)- A flashy fight, but that's all Brachydios ever got going for them. I already didn't like brachydios, raging just gives you more things to rage about

Seregios- Love them! Its falcon-style talon and sweeping attacks are fun to hunt around, and it's speed is something Rise was in dire need of down the road. Now if I could just fight them outside of the desert, lol

Maccao- Another interesting take on the bird wyvern fight. I like its crazy kick-charges, though the attacks outside of those I'm not too enthusiastic about

Moofah- : )

Astalos/Boltreaver- A cool Fated 4 member! Of the four I unfortunately like Astalos the least (and I'm disappointed in his Rise fight being more like his HR than his MR fight...), but it remains a valuable member of its team. More interesting takes on bugs like this, please

Gammoth/Elderfrost- A simple fight initially, I like her MR fight more for having options where her safezones used to be. I don't think there's any way you could get closer to the hunts of prehistory than the Mammoth itself

Glavenus/Hellblade- There's no avoiding my bias for my favorite all-time monster next to Bazelgeuse. There's almost no real-world connections to really be found in this dinosaur, but I think that contributes to why I like them so much. It's just interesting to me how they balance out its breath attacks with that sharp tail, even having the ai pull feints based on your positioning with some attacks. Learning the safespots on those tail swings is one of the more cooler things to pick up

Mizutsune/Soulseer- A surprisingly fast fight, I appreciate Mizu's weasel war dances, lol. Like Nargacuga in that its fight is tricky to learn, but once you pick it up, you can come up with an answer to everything. Soulseer might be easier, but that parry mechanic is just very interesting, and a fun spin on the actual fighting moves rather than reskinning its element

Malfestio- Arguably the most interesting bird wyvern, though I'm willing to bet it's stolen from Hypnocatrice's kit. I like its little head turn around as a creative way to pounce you. I think it's only real failing is the jester aesthetic kind of getting in the way of a proper owl fight

Silverwind Nargacuga- A pretty interesting deviant, I just hate its guts lol

Rustrazor Ceanataur- I don't like Shogun, but this guy's ok. Mostly because he sharpens with Glavenus's skull and borrows their attacks, lol

Nakarkos- Bone octopus!! I wasn't impressed by their fight initially, but I really warmed up to it once I started fighting their MR version with the giant lasers and more interesting skeleton head trickery

Ahtal Ka- I love this bug. They combined the body of a praying mantis with the silkweaving of a caterpillar to make a fun mech fight where for once, the bug towers over you. All of this complete with a pretty gold carapace, and a lotus themed weakspot all culminating into the symbolism of the wheel on her back at the end is all very cool.

Valstrax (GU)- Holy Shit It's Mega-Latias. Jokes aside, I love how fast he is in generations. Like Narga and Mizu, it's all a matter of learning how to maneuver around that speed, and where all his tells and openings are at. Once you master his fight, the win feels all the better at the end

CG Valstrax/Risen (Rise)- Wirebugs? No problem. Valstrax wasn't the hero Rise asked for, but he was the hero they deserved. To bring back a monster not only faster than you in GU, but continue to remain faster than you in Rise, the fastest monster hunter game to date? Is really, really impressive to me. I mostly like all of the changes made to his bullet phases- they may be dodgeable, but Valstrax will use those evade openings to change to jet, charge, zoom around and generally outmaneuver you for slipping up. And unlike GU, you can't cheese the ambush with an area change, you HAVE to master the dive if you want to survive it solo. A dive that becomes reasonably harder to time when Valstrax continues to shoot at you from the sky in Risen form. He's just a very fun and solid elder fight, easily one of my favorites

Gajalaka- Would you believe me if I said these cats were at least more consistant than the felynes in 3? As long as you put yourself between the Gajas and the monster, they usually won't come up as a problem

Girros/Great- An interesting snake-lizard boss, though World can't fool me. There's a Royal Ludroth in there, and just like old RL, he's pretty easy to juke

Jagras/Great- I love their gluttony gimmicks. I think being a little more like Zamtrios could've made them more interesting. Maybe even incorporate some Congalala in there, where the food he eats determine statuses behind his bites.

Anjanath/Fulgur- A good rex! I like the cooling fins they have for when they get too hot, that little sit that they do when resting in Rise, and that fur covering their top half to make them more interesting than the average dinosaur

Bazelgeuse/Seething (World)- The best monster, I'm sorry I don't make the rules. As a fun fact- the exploding scales work like hardened sweat, so it's like just shedding is dangerous. Another weirdly improbable but loveable monster, I think one of my favorite aspects of its fight is just how much Seething throws its weight around to tackle you

Dodogama- A friend : )  a more interesting Jagras, as it stands currently

Jyuratodus- They made Lavasioth boring. How could you make Lavasioth more boring??? At least it's similar to a lungfish, I guess.

Kulu-Ya-Ku- Bird Up is the best Kulu. Whether it be eggs, pots, flintstone, FFXIV crystals, this guy's got it covered. My only wish is for Kulu to be more of a coward in later titles. It's an egg thief, it already has no honor

Legiana/Shrieking- A stylish, iceborne Rathalos (and maybe even a hint of Seregios). The regular fight is superior in my book, Shrieking flies a little too much and loves to roleplay Qurupeco in its spare time.

Odogaron/Ebony- The first of the garons, I love them. A dedicated corpse-eater that sacrificed any fur or scales for that tough meaty hide, I think they mesh quite perfectly in the veil. I just love how much they do those curving attacks, they're fun to dodge and punish

Paolumu/Nightshade- Ugly little bald wrinkly heads. Unfortunately Pukei and even their father Khezu wins me over more. Nightshade blowing the sleeping gas around is kind of neat, though. I don't think we see much of that outside of attacks like Rise Chameleos..

Pukei-Pukei/Coral- Speaking of, the more interesting not!khezu fight. I'm glad Pukei gets buffs based on the food he eats, though Coral wins me out on its moves in general.

Radobaan- Damn, they made Uragaan actually fun, and all they had to do was make him more fragile to partbreaks. I love how he's got a diablos skull on his back

Tzitzi-Ya-Ku- Diet gypceros but boring :(

Tobi-Kadachi/Viper- I actually don't like Tobi all that much compared to Odogaron. I guess it's just the stunspam

Vaal Hazak/Blackveil- Chefs kiss just a really cool elder dragon ok. Not only is it made with clear parts taken from girros, not only does it seem to have clear relations to kushala when you break it's hide revealing the metallic skin underneath, but it can also grow a living spore colony off its hide as well. A cool elder dragon, with a slightly annoying personal status effect packed with it

Nergigante/Ruiner- Porcupine boy. I think I would like his design more if it wasn't so weirdly abdominal-heavy? I have trouble imagining how this guy walks around normally... Anyways, I like the pressure Nergi makes to break his spikes before the divebomb, it's a nice tease to the focus on the later dps-races

Zorah Magdaros- Cool snapping turtle mountain, I think it's a suitable comparison to Lao Shen in the tempered fights. It's just unfortunate the only two required fights are so story-heavy that everyone assumes you'll be spending 3 hours sitting around, when their tempered fights actually cut it pretty close even for MR gear

Xeno'jiiva- The new elders in world are just winners, as far as I'm concerned. But while Xeno looks really cool with the translucent skin and the laser beams, the kit is basically Safi's but less. Still, it's a fun fight to finish the vanillagame on before they grow up

Kulve Taroth- Who gave royal ludroth that nice coat? Joking aside, I like any phase of Kulve that isn't the first one where you have to break her shell off. The shell phase is just painful spam of that tail attack if you don't stunlock her, but afterwards she gets fun when she goes faster with the rapidfire gold attacks and novas

Beotodus- Onto iceborne, Beotodus is easily my favorite of that piscine trio. No lava camping, no boring muck, just this snow shark trying to sneak bites at you.

Banbaro- Finally, the better duramboros. What it lacks in natural aesthetic, it makes up for it by throwing an entire forest at you. My only contention is he stole Bazelgeuse's job >:(

Frostfang Barioth- Well... its more interesting than regular barioth. Definitely not by design, but I think the whole freezing your feet into the ground stuff should be considered for the future of the ice status effect. Slowness makes a lot more sense than the same stamina debuff as water

Namielle- Has one busted up face. I love its whiskers, though. I like how it manipulates both water and electric damage in its attacks, and has clear indicators when its charged up and when its uncharged over the course of the fight.

Velkhana- Ice armor also has it's own clear indicators over the fight. Unlike Namielle though, I never want to face Velkhana with anything less than an insect glaive ever again. Pretty dragon, but there's no denying exactly how much they had to steal from kushala for that skeleton. Those slippery ice pools were the most bearable part of that fight with hammer, which only makes me all the more salty they didn't transfer that to Rise

Shara Ishvalda- Just a cool fucked up big dragon. I bet that eye trick is done through layering Shara's eyes and adding a lighting effect to make it work like the seeing-eye portraits in haunted houses, giving the illusion of always following you. The fight certainly gets a bit tight in the latter half, where Shara's usually stolen half of the arena from you at that point. ...They still seem so weirdly inkwash-y that I want to believe someone on the FF team designed them.

Safi-jiiva- Big Xeno! Not a very flashy fight, but seems fun to gun through with friends. Sapphire of The Emperor is still my favorite nova in iceborne visually. I've only done their training battle, so my opinion is probably subject to change if they get too annoying

Fatalis (World)- Speaking of fights I haven't done, I'm looking through the window at this fight like a starving victorian child

Izuchi/Great- My first MH, though the sad thing is you can only fight Rise monsters for the first time, once. Great Izuchi was one of those bird wyvern fights that stood out to me, and then immediately god outclassed after I got used to the game

Rachnoid- Lamaar! Don't go nibbling those heads!

Aknosom- Secretely a Kut-ku fight, but also a kut-ku fight handled in a fun manner compared to..... the usual..

Almudron- Pass. The mudball is the only cool thing going for him

Bishaten/Orange- Alright tengu-monkey, has some of Kecha's attacks in there, but it does a fine job mixing it up with those fruit and pinecone throws

Goss Harag- Arguably, the best regular rise boss. Goss is here to show people how to do the bear fight right, and they do it by fighting like a proper ogre rather than a bear. They play consistently, and they provide enough of a challenge with the damage Goss can deal with the dual ice-blades. It's just a shame they never saw a variant...

Tetranadon- A zamtrios-type that never lost its way. While zamtrios gets mixed up between 3 forms with no real identity, Tetranadon takes the clear sumo route with its inflated attacks, making a more interesting fight overall than the ice shark. Once again, it's a shame it never got a variant

Somnacanth/Aurora- I'm not fully sure how to judge the Somna fights. It swims around a decent amount, not too much to be annoying, and jumps between different flashing and explosive shells when the time calls for it. I think it mostly suffers because they decided to put mizu in the same game, and hunting mizu is a lot more technical than hunting Somna. I do think Aurora was a step in the right direction- they fight more aggressively than regular Somna and spend less time swimming around unless going for physical blows

Rakna-Kadaki/Pyre- Nerscylla's crazy sister! While Rakna is much slower than her 4U counterpart, she weirdly makes good practice for the smaller spider. Her web-launches are much slower, but more powerful, which better encourages players to cut the line when the opportunity shows itself. The bonus fire damage when webbed was a good idea, but unfortunately you'll end up escaping before Rakna goes for the fire combo more than half the time. Pyre, thankfully, skips the middleman and just blows you up in a matter of seconds before you get time to react to some of her attacks. I like their joint efforts with the baby rachnoids- it's the first time we've seen that kind of team-up in a while

Magnamalo/Scorned- Good shit. A flagship that's not too hard, but feels too fast on a first playthrough unless you really wrapped your mind around the wirebug speed. Cool samurai tiger, cool halberd tail, when am I going to see him and Glavenus turf war, huh?

Ibushi- An elder best left to the Rampage where it felt his fight belonged. Fighting him outside of it just feels weird, since his best attacks are all integrated into Allmother Narwa anyways, he feels a bit redundant outside of his comfort zone. I remember the rampage being tight at the time- Ibushi actually won a couple of rounds while I was trying to farm his gear in my alt file.

Narwa- Still not at the real fight, Narwa's vanilla fight before the update was... okay. I wasn't really impressed by it- I actually found it too easy at the time, because all of her attacks were pretty slow and easy to react to. It's only after the update that I felt she could live up to the final boss title

Narwa The Allmother- Now we're cooking with gas. Allmother drags you into an arena where you no longer have to shift your focus on siege weaponry until she novas, so the most of the fight is just between you and her, and she thankfully has more catered attacks to this situation. Now, we have a monster that is more dangerous to engage in the air, which is a title only shared by Valstrax in Rise. All of her attacks have more oomph, and she's not shy of breaking those big attacks up with bites to reposition herself either. ...Now if only she didn't steal Ahtal Ka's dragonators p:

Espinas/Flaming- Cactus dragon is here. Ridiculously hard on the first impression, then later fights mellow out as you learn more about them. I think it's a shame that Flaming ended up easier than basic Espinas, though the regular version doesn't usually capitalize on the stun window anyways, so he's alright outside of his initial spawn

Garangolm- New monkey discovered! Strangely, I think most of it's attacks seem pretty unique to it, I'm kind of hard-pressed to find other monsters to compare it to. Despite that, Garangolm ended up kind of.... boring. Oops. I like how it just blasts around on its hands, but unfortunately there's a monster at the end of Sunbreak that just does the same thing, but better.

Lunagaron- The second puppy! I still love Ebony Odogaron's fight the most, though Lunagaron has an interesting transformation gimmick I like. I just wish that its 'werewolf' farm hit harder than a wet towel outside of the lunge attack

Malzeno- Castlevania itself is here. And.. with a good chunk of Velkhana's kit. Oops. Well, despite all the tail attacks, his ground blasts are pretty interesting, his grab is just a pretty fun attack, and I like how Malzeno zooms around the arenas once he's enraged. I don't think it would've been bad if they just ported the Malzeno from the demo, but alas he was only kind of hard compared to the elders following him.

Magma Almudron- Special shout outs for being the better monster compared to basic Almudron, and probably one of the few fun lava monster fights. Its just much more aggressive, spends much less time clowning around, and its lava attacks are just more dangerous and interesting than its old kit

Gaismagorm- Ok but- did we have to have 3 goblin shark-mouthed elder bosses in Rise??? I actually understand Gais, but if they were committing to that, I felt like they should have just given Narwa and Ibushi normal snouts instead. Anyways- Gaismagorm is that much more interesting take on Garangolm's charges I mentioned, except Gais is the size of the entire battlefield. So, when he charges you're pretty liable to get chipped. The final boss of Sunbreak really kicks in once the gems are off and he lights up. Attacks get much harder to dodge, they summon meteors, sun turrets, all of this cool stuff to stop you. Gaismagorm might have not been a difficult final boss, but he definitely earned the respect a final boss elder dragon deserves in this series

The Risen Elders- Eeeeh? To be honest- the battles don't stand out as much to me as Valstrax's did. I'm at a loss on what attacks were clearly unique and endangered me, so... that's not good for post-100 variants

[nvrcmplt]

nara making ola and popo little beds in his temple out of discarded bird nests. they're lined with the softest wool to protect their delicate wings

It was divine, to be graced with beds for weary wings and exhausted night flights. Attention to the wool, fresh from their stems and warmed under sunlight, the duo flutter and smile with grace. Ola, the first to land upon her nesting grounds, tail curving with soft glows of light green hues - her hands of six, move in wonder, digging around in the wool, adjusting the edges and making sure every part of very much covered well so that her frame could step inside. Sinking into the bliss of softest after napping in twigs and leathery green leaves. "Oh, thank the spring." Her commentary akin to praising the lord that looked over these lands and with a yawn a big as the sun itself, did she rub upon eye, antenna and wings to ready herself for a slumber.

Popolalium stared in a moments' wariness, but the scent of the forest was quick to ease his heart. Fluttering with a subtle buzz and adjusting his toes over nest sticks and eying the cotton so fluffy in his new home for now. He hummed with a smirk growing upon the tiredness oozing from his shoulders. Gentle like his sister, he moved with ease to hope inside the nest's opening. Landing with folded knees and moving arms of four, to grab a bunch of the fresh cotton to form a bubble under his head. Not needing to adjust or make sure his wings were to be protected by all sides. As he knew, he'd not move a muscle at all when he finally curled upon his side and held himself in a fuzzy red abdomen.

"Goodnight, Your Majesty. Thank you once again."

[zaph1337]

Monster Hunter Rating 47: Blango

Next on the agenda is something special. Something unprecedented. Something that Monster Hunter had before now never known. It is not enough to just introduce this monster by its name; no, it is something more than a name. IT. IS. MONKEY.

Okay but real talk it’s Blango. It-it’s Blango.

(How it appears in the Second Generation of games)

(How it appears in Monster Hunter Generations)

Appearance: Much like how Anteka seemed to be a hodge-podge of different animals, Blango are inspired by the Japanese macaque, yet have the face of a mandrill, which are the largest monkeys in the world (that has nothing to do with the review, I just thought it was neat). It’s an interesting combination, given that macaques are known to live in snowy areas like Blango are, but mandrills aren’t. It certainly makes them more intimidating, though, given how they inherited the mandrill’s giant canines. I think this actually makes them look scarier than the small raptorial Bird Wyverns; the latter would still scare the daylights out of me if I met them irl, but big teeth do a lot for fear factor.

The fact that these are the first monkeys in Monster Hunter does a lot for them, as I never had anything like them to skew my frame of reference. I won’t deny that they’re pretty plain otherwise, but they’re still a cool concept. 6/10.

Behavior/Lore: Blango live in snowy areas--chiefly mountains--in troops led by a Blangonga, which is basically the Blango equivalent of a Velocidrome. These troops are highly coordinated, and by combining that with the strength of their Blangonga leaders, Blango can successfully defend their high-tier spot on the food chain from most monsters that could compete with them, such as Khezu. They prey on monsters such as Anteka and the woolly Popo (which I’ll talk about soon), and either hunt them normally or bury themselves in the snow to ambush passing herds. Perhaps because resources in their habitats are rather scarce and their neighbors are dangerous, Blango are highly aggressive and territorial, yet different troops have been known to coalesce into single groups that can have multiple Blangonga in charge--behavior which is sometimes seen in primates in real life. There’s no info on how effective these groups are, but they’re surely forces to be reckoned with.

Because Blango aren’t stand-alone monsters, they have the same problem the raptors had, that being the bulk of the information about their behavior is reserved for their leaders and how they interact with the packs. I could talk about more here, but then what would I be able to say about the Blangonga in its review? All that said, Blango have one thing going for them: despite living in similar habitats to their real-world inspiration, the Japanese macaque, Blango are much more aggressive, which makes sense given their more hostile homes--it’s not like macaques have to deal with, say, electric nightmare chickens. This may well be a coincidence, but it’s still neat that this contrast exists, and that there’s a logical reason for it. 5/10.

Abilities: Aside from their coordination, Blango rely mainly on their physical strength and nimbleness in fights. This normally wouldn’t be very interesting on its own, but they do have one trick of note: throwing chunks of ice. Again, it sounds boring, but somehow, these bits of ice can inflict a very special status condition: Snowman. A hunter marred by this terrifying affliction will be encased in snow below their neck, greatly hindering their movement speed and preventing the poor soul from attacking or using any items--save for the ones that can end the nightmare.

Okay so obviously its a ridiculous status condition brought about by a monkey throwing ice in lieu of its excrement, but that’s what makes it great; it’s funny to imagine someone being pelted with ice and having a ball of snow spontaneously form around their torso. As a result, what was doomed to be another below-average score in the Small Monster Abilities department is instead brought up to a 5/10.

Equipment: It was difficult to find weapons using Blango materials that didn’t also use Blangonga mats, and Blango don’t have armor, so this’ll be a very short equipment review. Let’s start with an Insect Glaive called the Wardance Cudgel:

This doesn’t look bad, but I’m concerned that it’s supposed to look “tribal,” and while I’m sure there are other monsters whose equipment bears a similar motif, I can’t help but feel that it’s in bad taste to have this theming present in weapons associated with violent, territorial monkeys. Giving the MH devs the benefit of the doubt for a moment, I like how the different ends of the glaive are bird-shaped. It’s cute, though I question the effectiveness of such a design. Moving right along, here’s a Long Sword called the Blango Destroyer (which probably refers more to the Hunter wielding it, imo):

I can always appreciate different takes on the Long Sword, and this is no exception. Not only is the “sword” a different weapon than normal (I don’t think it qualifies as a cudgel, though), the “sheath” is closer to being a shield in shape, and it kinda makes me think this would be a sick Charge Blade. I also like how the sheath is modeled after a Blango’s face; it really takes advantage of the mandrill inspiration.

It’s tough to rate these without taking the Blangonga weapons into consideration since they have the same aesthetics, but honestly, while the designs are interesting, some of the weapons look a little bland to me by virtue of their white color. They’re not bad, but they don’t appeal to me as some of the other ice-based weapons in the franchise do. 5/10.

Final Thoughts and Tally: While Blango stand out due to being primates and having an interesting concept behind their design, they don’t really do a lot for me. That’s admittedly not surprising, as--and I get that I’m being a broken record here--Small Monsters aren’t made to be as interesting as the large ones are. I do have high hopes for the next monster on my docket, though; hopefully it’ll live up to them. 5/10.

[always-me-meha]

Agh shit now some of the things that bird told me is playing back in my head aghhhhh I swear she said that stuff to get me jealous or make me start a fight with him lol

Idk to believe her or not mang..... just cause dee told me she's a liar and stuff and caige said the same thing. Again it's all past shit anyway.

Sigh gotta love people's mind games.

I'm an honest person! The only time I lie is when I'm ashamed of something and scared to get yelled at or a serious lecture I don't need haha. I always open up eventually tho.

The one thing I'll never ever admit to a certain someone is that I smoked the jib 🫢

That's something I just...... like I said feel ashamed of and I hope I can bury it deep in the ground and never touch it again.

But but yenno what's crazy? I'm happy I got to experience this. Idk why.....As bad as it is. It was just like a whole new...... perspective of what's going on in town I never knew of and probably shouldn't know of. Like I had no idea the drug problem was this bad.

You see the odd jibhead losing their mind in town stumbling around till the popo pick em up. But now I've been exposed to the inside loop lol I see it everywhere now. People who were once invisible now stand out to me. Instead of judging them and making fun..... I question their story and how they got there.

[wowowwild]

Cringetober Day 2: Self Insert

I didn't know if I'd be able to find the original so I redrew her from memory as close to model as I could.

This is the original concept art, love calling it that:

This is the self insert oc I named myself after! She goes by Ace, a shortened form of her middle name (Aceline, her mother was French) and is set in the 2012 tmnt universe. I always have a blast telling people how I chose my name lol. I was really interested in the concept they had going with Karai with her being able to transform between human looking and her fully mutant form so obviously I made up an evil organization that kidnapped orphans and turned them into mutant super soldiers! (Weird and extra, I know. In my defense I was 11 when the show came out.)

FAQ below cut but feel free to send me asks!

Anyway her code number was Experiment 013 and together with 014 (fish, Lily) and 015 (bird, Veronica) they escaped and decided to fight back to end the organization! (I never named the organization. Got lazy lol.) There was also 016 (chameleon, only name was the nick name Popo, a shortening of Tampopo meaning dandelion, again, I was 11) who was a bit younger than the others and died during a harsh training exercise which prompted the team to make there escape that day.

They use ASL to communicate in silence during missions, I think more spy/heist/secret agent media should do this bc ASL is rad. They use it bc I was learning ASL as I developed the story.

You can see in 014 and 015's concepts I tried to design masks for them to wear as well. They had built in filters to block out harmful gasses and stuff.

They all have their specialties. 015 has the most real world skills and is very strong willed, has few doubts or insecurities. 014 has the most emotional maturity and brings more logic to the table. 013 is the tech/plans person. They all do martial arts bc this is tmnt.

Obviously Ace has a special place in my heart. I used her to work through a lot of stuff. By the time I was 15, just a bit before the show ended, I had begun to explore my gender. Ace uses she/her, but she helped me realize I wanted to use he/him! (Tbh she would probably use she/they/it)