#but honestly the inconsistency with the characters... is hard to overlook

[child-of-dreamworks-animation]

@helterskeltermess

Oh, you get it.

While I can't blame the whole thing entirely on Joel Crawford, who happened to have directed both Croods 2 & pib2, and was certainly responsible for part of the issue, the main reason behind character inconsistencies, I think, is DreamWorks' decision to swap the animation team.

I mean, well, switching directors mid-production or mid-series isn't normal, but it's not that uncommon as well. The Shrek series has passed onto several directors along the way, yet no obvious character inconsistency is reported/spotted. Same with the Kung Fu Panda, the characters, by and large, stay in line with their personalities at their first appearances. HTTYD series is a bit complicated: the movie trilogy was directed by Dean DeBlois (so no inconsistency issues for sure), the TV series (RoB, DoB, RTTE) and multiple shorts were all handed over to different newbie directors(?). Although in some episodes, there might be some slight drift-aways from the original, but mostly it's doing fine. (I'm a die-hard fan for the httyd series, but yeah, I'm still very much unsatisfied with the way they deal with the movie finale :()

But in the case of pibtlw, well, FIRST, there is that incredibly long time span in-between the 2 movies. And SECOND, a switch of directors: originally Chris Miller who directed the prequel (approx. 2014-2016?), then Bob Persichetti (2019, also head of story of pib1), and finally Joel Crawford (2021?-2022). WHAT WITH the cancelation of the original piece Puss in Boots: Nine Lives and 40 Thieves and incessant changes of the scripts. AND the acquisition of DreamWorks by Comcast/Universal, during those turbulent days, a lot animators were laid off and left for other studios. In the end, with one thing and another, the former animation crew of pib1 was dissolved, and the story lost its track as a natural result. (Shame, they have made such beautiful concept arts back then.) I doubt if similar things have happened with Croods 2, but I never checked. I'm only aware that the majority of animators of pib2 come from Croods 2. So that's the cause, I suppose?

And speaking of Puss in pibtlw, true, he wasn't wildly out of character, but still he'd gone a bit too far. Vain, narcissistic, gloaty, (even going from party to party, and not taking his past deaths seriously) definitely sounds like him, but he's never appeared to me to be someone who would be actively looking for death, or put it in another way, he wouldn't laugh at death or life-or-death matters. Seriously, he knew the consequences, and he had seen deaths on multiple occasions already (see Shrek3 & pib1). Puss might well be tempted to conquer death (having so many lives under his belt) just as much as to live his life to the fullest. In other words, Puss still holds Life dear, however frivolously he is playing around Death. (Paradoxical? yeah, I'm well aware...)

The thing is, being arrogant/playful doesn't automatically discount Puss' love & passion for life. And by introducing that oppressive, larger-than-life Death Wolf into the sequel, DreamWorks has probably pushed Puss' personality a bit too far: initially, he was too big of himself, and then in the middle, he was so terrified petrified of death that he knew no better than simply running away. Multiple factors contribute to that, for sure, but still, Puss wasn't like that in pib1, was he? He was chivalrous, noble, and valued honor above all else, nowhere close to the somewhat selfish and all-abt-himself character in pibtlw, surely?

Additionally, I believe the change in style is also partly to blame? I'm not essentially against introducing that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse art style into the sequel, it's just... I find it a bit too dramatic and comical to fit in? Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is first-of-its-kind in the (possible) animation series, so whatever they did with the style would be just fine. But that's not the case with pib sequel. The 1st movie, dated from 11 year ago, embraced a realistic style. So did the Shrek series. For consistency's sake, the sequel should have followed the original style. It's a bit outrageous actually to switch style amid series. But the new style is trendy and sooo cool, oh yeah, I know, still not a big fan* ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ , sorry to disappoint. And all those comical visual effects, while amplifying the emotions & drama, don't do much good closing the gap. In fact, I think the over-emphasis on drama and comedy seems to deprive the characters of their subtlety and delicacy (which btw supplemented by vast details in pib2, yet still... not quite).

Then again, I am not sure whether all these are the result of change of director/animators/head of story, or simply something lost in time--a lot had happened, you know. Just... Pity how the story could have turned out otherwise, had it been narrated by the original crew, retaining that original flavor. That's all.

*actually, what I'm saying up there is while the new style doesn't suit pib2 (the best), although somehow paradoxically I can't imagine a pibtlw in realistic style either, the visual effects in itself is still STUNNING. I've watched the latest trailer of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse twice, not without my brain buzzing after the 2ed watch lol, and I can't put in words how much effort animators have invested in this and how simply WONDERFUL it looks. It will win another Oscar, for sure.

This is a bit controversial, so I will put it under a read-more.

Anyway, haven't said this earlier but I think there is a tiny discontinuity in terms of Puss' personality between the first movie and the second. (I am not saying pibtlw isn't good, it's just... pibtlw is fantastic on its own, but to take the first movie into account, I suspect there is a slight shift in the character development of Puss.)

Puss has always been cocky and narcissistic and self-important throughout the series, but he isn't all that reckless. He isn't reckless to a point where he utterly disregards the value of life like he did in the sequel.

Puss has seen death after all. In the first movie, he witnessed Humpty giving up his life to save his hometown San Richardo. He knew what death meant.

Sure, committing suicidal acts by stuffing himself in a cannon only to prove Kitty wrong is definitely something Puss would be up to (typical of orange as well), but that's probably because he still has plenty lives to spare (he was on his fifth at that point).

Playing at adventure when the stakes are not so high is perfectly fine, but really... stamping on a boy's face (whether on purpose or not) with no apology whatsoever is surely a bit too much? Yeah, Puss is that awesome legend, that superstar that everybody looks up to, but at least some respect for life, for others?

He paid due respect in the first movie. He respected Kitty's privacy, and in return Kitty confided her tragic back story - that's basically how they ended up together in the first place. Trust and mutual respect.

And Puss wasn't too puffed-up to annoy Kitty. I mean, of course Puss is known for his irresistible feline charisma. Kitty knew it. There's a line in the first movie in which she said "I know you have a reputation with women". But after spending days, months, years together, Kitty is fed up and eventually she grows immune to it, much to Puss' dismay, which is all kinda cute. Anyway, this is beside the point.

All I am saying is Puss would never be as cautious as Kitty, (he had a, relatively speaking, secured childhood, lucky boy), but he certainly wouldn't overextend himself to a degree where he mocked death in the face???

Idk, it's been over a decade between the first movie and the second. Lots can happen. And there's Shrek (sorry, I'm not a big fan of the Shrek series but... he wasn't that full of himself in Shrek either??? *correct me if I get it wrong*)

It's just... it appears to me Puss is a bit out of character at the beginning of the sequel, but the rest is fine.

[about-faces]

What do you think of a Harley/Harvey romance? Or do you think they won't just fit and better left as friends or antagonists? Do you think Harvey would be a good fit as the 'token dude' among the Gotham Sirens (Harley, Ivy , Selina)?

Honestly, I don’t know what kind of dynamic Harley and Harvey should have. You’d think they’d have some common ground to build on, between their names and their taste in split fashion! But beyond that, they’re a pair of characters I can never quite figure out when it comes to them being together as anything but antagonists, which is boring to me.

(Note: when I speak about Harley, I’m taking about my own personal understanding of her, as I prefer the character. She’s been so inconsistent ever since she became the Sexy Elmo of the DCU, to the point that she’s more a vague merchandise concept than a character. For all intents and purposes of this, I’m thinking of her as Arleen Sorkin’s Harley from BTAS for the most part)

The big fundamental difference is that Harley is all about fun, while Harvey is all about pain. The guy literally wears his agony on his face, and is a big wet blanket for any irreverent antics Harley might want to commit. It's not even a Bert-and-Ernie situation where there's a wacky character and a stoic, straight-laced character, because Harvey is just TOO serious and TOO tormented to be any fun for Harley. There's little room for give-and-take between them. There's just Harley trying to be wacky while Harvey stares at her like someone who has entirely forgotten the concept of fun.

Now, that's not to say that Two-Face can't be a fun, wacky, flamboyant character for Harley to play with! But we'd have to go back to his late Golden Age characterization, where he was entirely focused on outlandish crimes based around the number two. I could possibly imagine a Harley who encourages Harvey to be that kind of Two-Face again, doing something like... oh, let's say, robbing a circus while riding on two horses at the same time. Harley might have a great time with THAT Two-Face!

Now, one might thinking about going the opposite direction. That, instead of encouraging his worst criminal instincts, there's some potential for Dr. Harleen Quinzel to actually be a healing influence on Harvey Dent. Unfortunately, I can't stop thinking about that comic where Mark Russell had Harley "cure" Harvey of needing to listen to his coin, which not only overlooks the core reasons why the coin is so important to him (Russell just kinda treated it as an obsessive quirk and no deeper), but it also shows how Harley's professional care only resulted in making for a more deadly, unpredictable Two-Face:

(Sidenote: brilliant as Russel is as a writer, you can tell he doesn't understand Two-Face because Batman doesn't refer to him as "Harvey.")

I'd love to see Harley as someone who truly empathizes with Harvey Dent, someone who actually understands his trauma from abuse and his internal divide, but it seems impossible to consider how both characters are usually written. It would require a Harley Quinn who actually does fundamentally care about helping people and a Harvey Dent who is written as both a good man and a victim.

Which is where Stjepan Šejić's Harleen was so fascinating and frustrating alike. Harvey is a major character there, and he's miswritten as a hardline dickbag who is all about being Hard On Crime, just for the sake of clashing with the tragically-empathic Dr. Quinzel.

This Harvey Dent is not sympathetic. He's a moralizing prick who straight-up advocates for a fascist police state, including releasing Arkham inmates to show Gotham in order to unleash martial law. It's a perversion of the subplot from the 1989 comic strips, where Harvey wants to resign for unwittingly almost aiding a plot to do exactly what he tries to do in Harleen. To top it off, this Two-Face is willing to re-flip his coin to get a desired result, which is just Bad Two-Face 101.

And yet, despite ALL that, Šejić makes an impressive stab at showing how his compassionate take on Harleen is two-of-a-kind with even this jerkass Harvey Dent.

Even now, I don't know what to make of this, nor do I know what it could possibly mean for either characters. But I remain intrigued by the potential implications of two tragic characters who both lost everything and became "monsters" all in the name of trying to help others. Two irreconcilable people, bound by fate and ideals and "Ha Ha."

So no, I don't know what kind of relationship these two could ever have. I'm even more doubtful there could ever be romance between them. But in other circumstances... who can say? Maybe in some AU, there's a tormented, scarred crime boss driven by revenge and punishing the Haves (Halves?) on behalf of the Have-Nots, and he surprises even himself by bonding with a whimsical, colorful, tortured, and tragically unstable mischief-maker in pigtails.

Maybe. Just maybe that'd work.

[tathrin]

✏ 🐺 ⚠ 📚 please! :D

Answers for this LotR ask-game.

✏ rewrites: here's a pencil, which ONE thing in the novels/films are you changing?

Oh gods, just one? Ughhh that's hard. Okay, even stretching the definition of "one thing" to the utmost limit to be an entire character subplot...I'm still torn between Give Arwen An Actual Coherent Plotline (which I think would do the best thing to fix for the movies) and Show Legolas And Gimli's Friendship Arc (because that's at least something that just gets largely overlooked-and-glossed-over with the occasional flicker of lip-service paid to it at random rather than being an absolute cluster-fuck of incoherent half-assed thoughts that stumble all over themselves without any actual fucking resolution/explanation like the Arwen Stuff). Much as I would personally like to see the latter, I think if I were actually given the chance to change one thing, then it would be the Arwen Situation just because that's such a fucking MESS and it really needs fixed.

If we're going with literally just one single thing, then: Denethor burns to death on the pyre instead of running like three fucking miles to the end of the city what the fuck.

🐺 GROND GROND GROND: which of the battles is your favourite to watch? is there a combat scene in particular that you enjoy?

The Battle of Helm's Deep. As much as it bothers me that the elves are there without any plausible explanation, and especially that they just fucking disappear from the entire plot as soon as it's over, it also looks so damn good to watch! And my irritation is mitigated by the GRIN that I absolutely cannot stop from breaking out over my features every single time I hear "that is no orc-horn!" and see the look on Théoden's face when Haldir walks in (and the smug little grin on Legolas's face too because let's face it, he doesn't get to be a little shit in the movies the way he is in the books and that is a crime) as well as by the absolute fucking BEAUTY of that battle itself, not least of all the heart-wrenching scene where Haldir dies. THAT MUSIC OH MY FUCKING GODS AM I RIGHT!? Gods, even when you're watching it as critically as possible and picking-out the bits where cause/effect break-down and narrative order was shuffled in ways that don't make logistical sense and picking up on the minute little errors and inconsistencies...it's still so damn fucking good.

(btw I know I cannot be the only one who noticed, but since it seems that many of the little details that the early movie-fandom used to talk over obsessively in the 2000s have fallen out of common knowledge in more recent years...who else desperately wants to see the footage of the cut where it's Legolas who hauls Gimli out of the water after the wall is breached, rather than Aragorn? Because it's Legolas's hand that actually pulls him up, but then the footage cuts to Aragorn helping Gimli away...but it was Legolas whose hand pulls him out of the water, Legolas who yeeted himself down the stairs on an orc-shield to get to Gimli, so why don't we get to see the rest of that!?)

PJ, the Extended Editions are godsends don't get me wrong...but could we have ALL the deleted footage sometime? Pretty pretty please with elevensies on top?

⚠ fucking buckleberry ferry: from the clip of Dom and Billy discussing the one swear word they could theoretically get by censors, which line would you change?

I honestly don't know, because I don't know that that would actually do anything to add to the weight of things? But a very soft, "oh fuck" when Théoden sees the Nazgûl flying towards him, perhaps!

📚 boxset: how were you first introduced to Middle Earth?

My little brother actually read them first, and he made me read them. I think I was in eighth grade? Give or take a year or two.

Our mom had a collection of "classic novels" that she'd gotten from some kind of book-club some years back, so we had copies of all four books on the "fancy shelves" in the living room next to all the "real literature" and boring biographies and stuff, so I read nice pretty leatherbound editions first, with lovely maps and illustrations, and I think that added to the "weight" of the story in a way, because none of my other fantasy/sci-fi books ever merited such treatment so it made them feel special.

But it also made me leery of reading them tbh, because I'd spent my whole youth being told that the books I liked were crappy books that just Could Not Compare to the Worthwhile Literature that real readers liked (and which were, imo, usually shit). So I'd actually ignored LotR my whole life because it was on the Fancy Book Shelf so I assumed they were also crap. But my brother insisted that I suck-it-up and read them anyway, and that I had to read all of them and not just The Hobbit and call it a day (he knows what a stubborn, contrary person I am, and that it was A: going to take several thousand words for me to give them a fair chance and also B: the Hobbit alone wasn't going to blow me away) and I was reluctant, but he persisted and I did and oh boy was he right. Then like one or two years later, we found out they were making movies so of course we had to re-read them so we'd be ready and I think we both read them at least a dozen times between then and the release of Fellowship, to the point where mom eventually bought us each our own paperback copies so keep us from pestering each other lmao.

(The Silm took a while. I had to literally trap myself on a train freshman year of college with nothing else to do in order to get through that one the first time shhhh.)

[deamsgirl]

For the fic writer asks: 🌿💞💥

🌿How does writing make you feel?:

Like I'm herding cats, honestly. 😂 I'm not a meticulous outliner/planner by any means, so when I write, I go wherever the story/characters take me. It's chaotic but it's also a lot of fun, and it feels so, so rewarding to finish and share whatever crazy results I ended up with.

💞what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language:

I definitely enjoy the characters more than anything when writing. I usually don't do overly-complex plots (or any plot, usually, let's be honest 🤣), so I focus more on the interactions and relationships between the characters. I feel the same way as a consumer, too. I can overlook a lot of inconsistencies in the plot if the characters are engaging, but if I don't feel drawn to or moved by them? I have a hard time staying interested in the narrative.

💥find your least kudos'd fic - say something wonderful about it.

72 Hours - This actually wasn't the fic I expected to have the lowest amount of kudos, but it does make sense. It's still pretty early in the story and it deals with some heavy, emotional themes. But! I'm really excited about this fic and where it will go because it is giving me a chance to delve into the more serious side of Gary's character to show his resilience and adaptability. And also his paternal and protective side, which I am so here for. We get to see that with Ash all the time, but we don't really see Gary interacting with others in a true mentorship role.

Also, I usually write Gary and Tracey trying their best to annoy each other, but I never get the chance to expound on the fact that they genuinely like and care about each other as much as I want to. This fic is going to explore their relationship more deeply and I think it's going to turn out to be very sweet despite the heavy-handedness of the themes. ❤️

[ceescedasticity]

@tanoraqui said: I’m honestly not sure Thingol WOULD be sympathetic to a king with a missing daughter. I suspect part of why he initially reacted so badly to Beren is he thought of himself and his family as relatively untouchable by strife, so his attitude here might be…sympathetic, but not stirred to action, much less action against his own kin. What aren’t the Noldor telling him THIS time?

I really hope not. Or at least, that Thingol's irked enough by Eöl marrying Fingolfin's daughter and not telling him that he's willing to see him as a possible bad guy and launch an investigation pretty fast.

This situation is not a good look for Thingol no matter what.

Case #1, the least bad look, is if he had no idea what his vassal was up to, which is embarrassing and not holding his own but forgivable — Eöl is outside the Girdle and clearly very sneaky and using weird magic and hard to keep track of.

Case #2: If he knew Eöl married Fingolfin's daughter and never noticed she was not being allowed to contact her family and detained against her will, that's harder to explain. There's not having an eye on your sketchy vassal, and then there's having an eye and overlooking what he's doing. Plus if he realized Fingolfin didn't know, not mentioning it is… diplomatically inconsiderate.

Case #3: If he knew she wasn't being allowed to contact her family and was detained against her will and let it stand— I hope Thingol wouldn't do that, no matter who the wife was. That's inconsistent with my read of his character. He did imprison Lúthien up a tree, but— I don't think he'd do that.

Case #3 I don't think is salvageable. We're not going to see actual war because with the Siege (let alone the Girdle) that's not feasible, but I think we see all the Noldor treating Doriath the way Nargothrond and Doriath treated the Fëanorians after the Silmaril Quest debacle. And I don't think that would change unless Thingol stepped down.

Salvaging Case #1 is doable. Thingol could put 90% of the blame on Eöl pretty easily. There'd be bad feelings, but it's diplomatically salvageable.

Case #2, hmm. He could say he didn't realize Fingolfin didn't know (implication: it's Fingolfin's fault for not announcing she was missing). That's not going to go over well with the Noldor, but it scans.

If he did know Fingolfin didn't know and lacks plausible deniability, he could try to turn it around with "you didn't tell us about the Kinslaying". But I don't think that would go over well with anyone not firmly on his side already — because, after all, his lack of knowledge of the Kinslaying didn't make any of the victims more dead. This was an ongoing situation.

Even given the above mitigation strategies for #1 and #2 — if Thingol is not willing to put the blame on Eöl, if he says the Noldor are wrong, won't check, and won't authorize them to check… Then I think we are probably looking at trade embargoes. We are probably looking at infiltration of Nan Elmoth. Depending on how much the Noldor suspect we may be looking at a raid on Nan Elmoth. The Noldor would probably try to restore relations with Doriath after Aredhel was safe, but they would consider themselves the wronged parties and I think most people outside Doriath (and some inside) would agree.

And given that lack of mitigation, or in Case #3, I think Thingol's only real route to try to save face with his own people or try to get Círdan or the Nandor to take his side is to say the abduction didn't happen. Aredhel is lying. She must have been willing. She isn't dead!

My guess is the immediate [after travel time] result of Fingolfin finding out Aredhel was in Nan Elmoth possibly under duress would be Angrod or Aegnor in Menegroth going "So that's the situation. As you can probably imagine we're all very concerned. The High King is requesting that you step in as Eöl's liege lord and see that Princess Aredhel is escorted safely to her kin, either to us here or to Himlad, so this can be sorted out."

*at any response not to the effect of 'wtf I will be looking into that right now'*: "If that's not going to be possible in the immediate future we would offer to locate the princess ourselves, given your authorization to operate in Nan Elmoth as needed."

*if Thingol doesn't seem inclined to bargain on either of those*: "Uncle is very distraught about this. I wasn't informed of this officially but I think he sent another messenger to Nargothrond to discuss possible trade embargoes…"

Though I don't think they'd actually get to the second or third point because, as I said earlier, Thingol would feel sympathy for a king with a missing daughter.

—Or if Fingolfin's not in a patient mood, we probably get Finrod in Menegroth going "Princess Aredhel, who was abducted and imprisoned by your vassal Eöl, is being rescued by her kinsmen. Sorry about the violence, not sorry about the territorial violation, let's discuss mutual reparations."

[deliciouskeys]

001 for Butchlander and 002 for Homie, because I love to be obvious!

Tackling them out of order.

002 | Homelander

* How I feel about this character: 

I want to mush him and squeeze him and torture him and pet him and never let him out.

Oh and he’s a very interesting character and a joy to write. Somewhat as a result of the writer’s room, and somewhat as a result of Antony Starr’s acting.

* All the people I ship romantically with this character: 

I’m a whore, I will read him having sex with just about anyone, and I could make a case for him getting romantic with many characters on the show. Top romantic (heh loaded word) ships are Butchlander, Homewell, Maevlander, Starlander.

* My non-romantic OTP for this character: 

I honestly don’t know what this question means because all my ships are horny ones. But I wish we got more Black Noir being a father figure to him (I wish Noir had more to do in general before they decided to give him some background just before killing him off).

* My unpopular opinion about this character: 

Hmmmm. I’m a little afraid that if Kripke writes him a “redemption arc” in the show they’ll botch it with some incoherent drivel à la s3e8 so I’d almost rather they just didn’t.

* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I have more than one.

I’d rather see him depowered and live than die at the end, somehow.

I would have liked to see more of him trying to parent Ryan with Becca around.

I kind of wish he hadn’t killed Stillwell but mostly because I thought she was a cool character.

I wish he hadn’t taken over Vought because that decreases the chance we’ll ever see him operate outside of it.

* my OTP:

Billy Butcher reprogramming HL with tough, but genuine, love. And sex, definitely lots of sex. [refer to section below for much more word vomit about them]

* my cross over ship:

Heh, I think Makima from Chainsaw Man has a nice parallel to the Homewell dynamic. I’d read Batman x HL, I feel like Batman could deal with his bullshit effectively.

* a headcanon fact:

Homelander prefers his sexual partner be strong and wield soft power over him.

============================

001 | Butchlander

* when I started shipping it if I did:

Because I was watching the show very rapidly, I didn’t start shipping it outright until S1E8, but if I had a week between each episode it probably would have materialized no later than E6.

* my thoughts:

Scorchingly, achingly hot. The show canon is stingy with their onscreen time together, but each scene they meet in is glorious. One of the reasons I’m willing to overlook the inconsistent writing in s3 is that they are ramping up the butchlander element in the show. I love that they have ended up sharing a child while both being utterly unequipped to parent. I don’t remember any other enemyslash pairing setting that up and it’s so damn fun.

* What makes me happy about them:

I like to imagine scenarios where their respective traumas and defects (I don’t think they’re “the same”, kripke) fit together in such a complementary way that they end up accidentally helping each other become a little more emotionally functional.

* What makes me sad about them:

One of them lost his wife because of the other and that is a hard wound to heal.

* things done in fanfic that annoys me:

I don’t like when Billy cries too much. I don’t like when writers go all out with Butcher’s cockney but it sounds like Dick van Dyke (easy to criticize, hard to adhere to this rule). I’m more tolerant of different HL characterizations because I think canon has shown us more variety from him in different scenarios, but I tend to enjoy it less when he’s written as a sadist monster with nary an indication of any other emotions.

* things I look for in fanfic:

Generally prefer Bottom the Homelander [not because he has a better ass, but] because the fic is more likely to characterize both of them in ways I find more IC. Generally like when they at least start out antagonistic and hating each other if it’s a multichapter. Love when there’s an element of coparenting Ryan involved. Love when it’s an E rated fuckfest because [I’m here for the porn canon won’t give us, and] they are both presented as characters with energetic libidos.

* Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

Honestly? I feel like they’re both likely to end up alone, because I feel bad for whoever ends up with them if they’re not a strong person. Billy with Maeve, as alluded to in the Maevlander post seems fine endgame to me. Butchie is a big fat nope for me, not only because of Annie but because it gives me incest vibes since he sees him as a younger brother. Billy with some strong woman like Rainer probably works. Homelander… needs someone who can spank him if he gets out line. If Victoria Neuman can become that person remains TBD.

* My happily ever after for them:

Haha, I’ll take almost any iteration where they end up together and parent Ryan. I’m intrigued by Billy getting upgraded with Compound V and how they’d keep from becoming a terrible powercouple of supe cunts. I’m intrigued by HL getting depowered and Billy having to rehab him into being a functional human being out of that mental wreckage. I’m intrigued by them staying as human x supe, with both of them having a weird love hate relationship with being involved with a “race” they generally looked down on.

* who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Billy is the big spoon. I will only entertain the thought of HL being the big spoon if it’s written in Russian for reasons I can’t quite fathom and must have something to do with early childhood traumas 😂

* what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

They are pretty different people in terms of pastimes in canon. I named enjoying the outdoors in another meme. I’d like to think they’d also both enjoy having (or aspiring toward having) a normal family life, raising a child as if they’re normal, well-adjusted adult men, doing normal domestic things. Emphasis on the as if.

[natalie-k-pan]

10 Ways the Loki show Disappointed Me

part two

6) The trailer was misleading advertising. Marvel’s done it in the past with little to no backlash:

Iron Man 3 presenting the Mandarin as the ultimate foe for Tony to defeat, only to find out he’s a charlatan in a minor role.

Falcon and Winter Soldier was presented as a light-hearted buddy adventure, only to tackle darker themes about nationalism and racism. (Not saying that those themes were bad, just that the TFAWS’s trailer was not truthful to the story).

In the case of Loki, the trailer presented the plot as Loki making time-traveling shenanigans and being captured for breaking the timeline. They included the D.B Cooper clip, and the scenes of Loki in New York and as king in Asgard. These clips never show up in season 1. The D.B Cooper scene was a off-the-cuff moment, and the highly-anticipated (imo) President Loki was around for five minutes.

The trailer shows the storyline being about Loki breaking the timeline, with Mobius saying in a voiceover, “You picked up the tesseract, breaking reality. I want you to help us fix it.”

Marvel’s publicity team knew what story we would want to see from the character. And that’s not what we got: it was a mix of Loki tagging along with Sylvie to take down the Timekeepers, and detective-esque  scenes of trying to overthrow the TimeKeepers. 

It was never about Loki having an adventure, breaking the timeline, and having to fix it.

There’s a difference between having scenes that don’t make it into the final product, between not revealing enough of the story to spoil plot twists...and deliberately choosing certain scenes and quotes  to present a false version of the story.

I guess Marvel was worried that no one would watch it if they showed us the real product.

7)    Loki’s powers were wildly inconsistent, especially compared to what we’ve seen before.

In the past, we’ve seen Loki do illusions, duplication casting and in Thor 2, some very light telekinesis. After hearing of his mother’s death, he throws several pieces of furniture in into the cell walls with his mind. This is after losing the person who probably mattered most to him at the time, and feeling responsible for her death--it’s a powerful move showing his magical capabilities.

In the show, in Episode 3 we see him pull a Roomba towards himself in order to use it as a shield during a fight--pretty in-line with what we saw in the Dark World.

One episode later, an entire flipping tower is falling towards them, and he reverses it with his mind alone.

It was in the face of death, you say. Of course he was going to pull some cool new magical move.

Sure. In the face of death, I could see him jumping from throwing chairs to something heavier, like maybe a crumbling wall or a fruit stand.

BUT A TOWER?

 WHY?

 HOW??

He’s never done anything on that scale magically. In episode 2, he got tossed around by a (human) Alabama man. Why would he not use that move to bring the roof crumbling down if he was fighting for his life then?

So he’s got massive telepathic power when a building is falling but can’t use it in a fight against regular people.... okay?

Honestly, due to the fact that they’ve weakened him so much, and when Loki said, “I think we’re stronger than we realize”, I’m betting Season 2 will include Loki discovering the extent of his magical powers. 

 I don’t like this idea because again, it contradicts the previous canon. In Thor 1, Hogun literally calls Loki a “master of magic”. He went toe-to-toe with Thor and the Avengers and now can’t beat regular humans. A thousand+ year old being unaware of his own untapped potential doesn’t seem correct (yeah, they did that with Thor in Ragnarok, I know).

This Loki’s power levels jump up and down according to the plot, trying to make us believe that due to his spoiled past, Loki needs to apply himself to learn more about his powers.

 8)  Loki was out of character.

His lying and scheming was way too obvious. I was incredibly confused the first couple of episodes because it would be strange how he would be a pathetic buffoon  one minute and yet The only moment I was sold on his competence as a liar was episode 2 at the renaissance fair where he attempts to fool  the TVA. He was actually competent for once, but he gets caught, and goes into apologizing and sucking up 30 seconds later.   

He gets drunk when they’re on the mission on Lamentis. This didn’t make sense--when he was trying to conquer Earth, he had the opportunity to also goof off and he’s always been shown to take things seriously, with the exception of Ragnarok.                                                 

The “I’m a narcissist” scene. While Loki is the type to crave attention--in Avengers, Tony calls him a diva who wants his name plastered to the skies--it comes from a place of feeling overshadowed, never able to match his brother Thor.  Which we can see has some basis:

In Thor 1, his adopted parents raised him to hate his race,

lied to him about it,

 and when he was hanging over an wormhole, his father finally rejected him.

In Avengers, Thor tells him in  that his slights are “imagined”. 

 Thor 2, his adopted father told him his “birthright was to die”.

While it doesn’t excuse his actions in Thor and Avengers, it’s pretty clear that his family, particularly his father, have let him down.

So to make him experience character development and understand why he does what he does...the writers took him back to Asgard, and had Sif beat him up repeatedly until he admits he does terrible things because he’s a...narcissist.

It was pretty hard to watch that scene, especially because I related to Loki as someone who felt overshadowed and overlooked. He tried too hard to be what his family wanted, to show that he was “the worthy son”.

But here in the fantastic year of 2021, this show decided to throw away all of that emotional nuance away.

 9) The costumes were bad.

The brown variant jacket with its ugly orange block letters.

The guard suit on Lamentis looked like a cross between a purple sweater and a plague doctor mask. honestly makes me shuder to see it

Loki’s green-and-gold costumes are some of the most distinct, instantly recognizable outfits of the MCU. And he almost immediately loses it in the first episode. It ends being given to Sylvie, (like most of Loki’s better characteristics) and he stays in a detective skinny-tie suit instead. The costume is okay, but it lacks the flair and style he’s had previously, and he never gains it back.

10) The season finale really did showcase this show in the best way-- ig hype followed by disappointment.

For five episodes, we rushed towards the ultimate villain, the mastermind behind it all. Episode 6 was like...being handed a pack of bubble wrap, swinging your hand hard, expecting that satisfying pop! only to have it slowly putter out with a sad little sound.

First, Kang looked like he got his costume from Party City. The purple cape isn’t doing him any favors. Then, the man sat there and monologued for forty minutes, making jokes, telling us how he set the plot up, and how the multiverse worked.

 I know Marvel gets flack for there always being an CGI climactic action scene, but…they had 6 episodes leading up to the Big Bad, and for it to end that anticlimactically with a man in a Party City purple cape was a letdown. The finale had no menace, no teeth. In the words of Mobius, it was just…talkie-talkie.

All in all, this show really suffered from ignoring Loki’s past, where he would realistically be emotionally-wise, and a lack of focus on its title character’s development. Settings and costumes being better/unique would be also be nice, especially given its popularity. At the end of the day, I don’t see the character I empathized so strongly with in this show.

[buttofgrayson]

As someone, who's favorite character is Dick Grayson and I find often reasons to be angry at or even hate the batfam, can I ask you to rank them from your most preferred character to the one you dislike the most?

Haha you feel my pain! Yeah being a Dick Grayson fan is rough when it comes to the batfamily. Let's see if I can rank them for ya!

1. Dick Grayson

Of course my favorite batfamily member and my favorite fictional character of all time! I tend to really like characters I feel like I would like if they were a real person and Dick fits that perfectly. Not only that I feel like he works as a character more than so many others. He's Batman and Superman without their narrative problems (being to powerful, not able to be an underdog, limited story potential, lack of fun). So honestly I think he's DC's best protagonist. Likeable, admirable, fun, sexy and exciting and engaging. Dick has this energy to his character that leaps off the page and it just pulls you to him.

2. Barbara Gordon

I love Barbara so much and really always longed for better stories for her. She's someone (like Dick) that you really feel like you would like and admire even if they were real. She works amazing as a character and could fill almost any role you want for her. So versatile. Personally though I think she's pretty hard headed and can come off as very condescending. I feel she's kinda bad at thinking about others feelings because she's just so in touch with her own. Not a total bad thing but something that can be a bit annoying.

3. Bruce Wayne

As I get older I find myself amazed at how much more interesting the rest of the batfamily is compared to Bruce. He's like our window into these more likeable characters lol. That sounds bad. I like Bruce because he's such a pure idea. You always understand his actions through the person you know him to be. He's such a clear understandable character that you can instantly spot something he says or does that's off because "Bruce wouldn't say or do that". He has a consistent voice. As a person? He's infuriating. He's hard headed and he expects his family to take sacrifices for him just because it's what he wants. He's been especially terrible to Dick but in all its consistent with the person I know him to be.

4. Cassandra Cain

Cassandra just like Bruce is a very boiled down consistent character. And she's best girl! So strong and so caring she really is a lot like Dick. More than a lot of other batfamily members (minus the quips). And she just has such an interesting backstory and themes of her own. I can't find things to dislike about her. The only thing is that I'm just more likely to read other batfamily characters because sometimes she can be a bit one note.

5. Damian Wayne

Damian is a mistake. He should've never been invented. As a character his entire purpose is "what if batman had a son?" But he does. He had three of them already. Damian's existence actively makes the batfamily worse because it takes from all his brothers relationship with Bruce in a "well those weren't his REAL sons" sort of way. This was the moment there became too many batman characters. Does he work as a Robin? Yes. Does he work as a Robin as well as Tim? No. So why is Damian higher on the list than Tim? Because Damian breaks everything around him but isn't broken as a character. As a person though I like Damian a lot. His demeanor as a mean kid is pretty charming and it makes it really mean something when he progresses and is actually a really good person.

6. Tim Drake

Poor Tim. He's too old to be Robin and too young to be his own man. Red Robin and Drake both didn't really work well as identities and at this point he might just be the character with the most unused potential. It sucks because this character used to work so well. He works as THE NEW ROBIN! A Robin for the new age! Kinda spiderman-like. Learning from the successes and mistakes of his predecessors and making his way to be Robin the way he wants to be. It works so well! He's so likeable and charming and he fits the role so well. Sadly he doesn't have it anymore. Big oof. Sorry Tim.

7. Jason Todd

Jason is a broken character. And I don't mean that in a "he's so broken and sad!" Kind of way. I literally mean he doesn't work in a storytelling sense. He's incredibly inconsistent. A muddled character because people wanted to have their cake and eat it too. They want Jason to be a killer who hunts criminals and is against the batfamily but they also want him to be a part of the batfamily and to have his murders overlooked. It makes no sense unless you want everyone involved to look like an idiot. Look guys I know the animated movie was good but that character that was in that movie is only worth telling that one story with. Keeping him as the killer villian would be to tell that story over and over again (like we've been doing forever) and making him a proper batfamily member would take everything his fans like about him away from him. Jason isn't who fans want him to be either. He isn't charming or funny or sexy like Dick. He's pretty unlikeable and the parts you like about him is the parts he got from Dick (and Dick does better). I know I sound like I hate Jason but I really don't want to. It's just the honest truth.

8. Stephanie Brown

How dare I! Stephanie is best girl! She really is. I think she's pretty fun and likeable. I never dislike seeing her or anything. I like her spoiler costume a lot. So why is she so low on the list? Because I don't know much about her. Something really just stopped me from connecting to this character and I don't know why? Unlike Damian or Jason I have zero strong feelings for Stephanie in either direction and that's almost as bad as if I disliked her. I don't know there just hasn't been a hook for me to feel like she's worth taking a dive into. I can tell at the very least she is a better character than Jason but aside from that I can't say I like her. I have no attachment to her.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale’s Top Ten: Favorite ML Characters

Similar to my Least Favorite list, I am going STRICTLY by how I enjoy the person’s character in Canon only.  This is also my opinion, so Odds are you won't agree exactly with my list. and it does get a bit rambley

Let me know what your favorite characters are, I would love to hear about them.

_____________________________________________________________________

10. Juleka Couffaine:

Interestingly While her Brother made the other list, Juleka is a character I find very interesting. She gets a lot of funny quips and comments which you wouldn't expect from the quiet girl. She is actually one of the class that I find has an interesting character, she wants to model, but is lacking in confidence and finds herself in situations where she is photographed badly. She has anxiety but she still tries to live her dreams. She is a supportive Girlfriend Friend to Rose, a trust worthy member of the Help Mari bag Adrien club, and also just adorable. I love seeing her on screen and her akuma, while interesting in design has quite an interesting performance that is always fun to enjoy. Heck, the producers of the show used her Akuma THREE TIMES in season 3. She is a rocker girl with a soft side, and she actually helps give Luka a good chunk of his personality (so there is so MAJOR points for that.

9. Alya Cesaire / Rena Rouge:

Marinette’s blogger best friend and Fox Heroine of Paris. Alya has a lot of personality. Dedicated to finding the truth and being a good Wingwoman to Marinette. Alya does have a few faults, where she gets carried away in whatever catches her interest and sometime pushes Marinette in scenarios that can be considered Awkward, but she always has the best intentions and will fight for her friend. Now A LOT of people have recently become very bold with their feelings of negativity towards the girl, (salty fans) And I know an au or two have not been kind to her (one in particular that came out during Oblivio comes to mind). But I am not judging on Fandom criteria or salty au’s. I like Alya’s character and I can't wait to see more.

8. Lê Chiến Kim / King Monkey

The energetic Athlete who may be a bit slow on the uptake, but always down for a dare. He is the embodiment of endearing and he always makes me laugh when on screen. I just love how much energy he has. He is a dork and he doesn't give a damn what you say. One of the few characters that got even better in season 3, I love this monkey boy and his wonderful antics. Nothing more to it except, only he would bring a swimsuit in a train.

7. Max Kante / Pegasus

Our robot making class genius got a heck of an upgrade during season 3. His character shining like a diamond. He rocks his transformation, his relationship with his mom, best robo bud Markov, and his dynamic with the jock bro Kim are all wonderful. He gains mad respect for Marinette and I just love how he plays off of everyone. The boy is smart and has a way of getting a few good moments in pretty much any episode.

6. Alix Kubdel both Present and Future:

Whether she is a roller blading graffiti artist with some cute sarcasm or a time lord that is simply trying to correct history, Alix is a character I enjoy seeing on screen at any interval. I think if I HAD to pick, I lean towards present Alix, because I find her much funnier, plus her dynamic with EVERYONE is great, I was especially loving her bits with her bff Nathanael. but Bunnyx has me curious on a LOT of things regarding the future. Though her reveal did mean that adults got no time limit on powers seems like a cop out, but if the price is seeing Bunnyx then its Time well spent.

5. Kagami Tsurugi/ Ryuuko:

Okay, I know there are a lot of people that are not a fan of Kagami. You are wrong, but that is your opinion. Kagami is easily one of the most interesting characters in Miraculous ladybug. She is a mirror (like her name implies) of both Adrien and Marinette. She reflects the feelings Adrien has, growing up with a controlling parent with hardly any free time that enjoys fencing and just wants to make friends. She reflects Marinette’s crush on Adrien, both seeing him as the sweet guy underneath and not for shallow reasons. Kagami’s confidence paralleling Marinette’s when she is driven. Kagami can also be hilariously awkward and really wants to make friends. Her time as Ryuuko is also a delight to see. Now I know some people are all complaining that her characterization is inconsistent, and honestly, I don't see it. Kagami has always been an intense person, when she wants something, she goes for it, even if she is unsure of how things will turn out (her feelings for Adrien) or how to go about it (Trying to make friends with Marinette) She is honest to the letter and I think that is something very admirable.

4. Nino Lahiffe / Carapace

GIVE HIM MORE SCREEN TIME!

Nino is Adrien’s best bro. Nino goes out of his way to be supportive and caring for Adrien. The boy got akumatized because he was pissed at Adrien’s dad for NOT letting his son celebrate his birthday! Nino is so loyal, both as a bff or as a BF. He is a caring older brother and a cool superhero. The Dj/ Film director wannabe is a chill and fun dude that Totally deserves Wayzz (More then another turtle I know *Cough* Cough*)

I honestly can't find a single thing to dislike about Nino, he is just such a good dude. Sure he can be a bit of a foot in mouth guy, and can be a bit naive on somethings, but he is such a bro you can't help but love him.

3. Plagg

It Physically hurts me that I can't put him higher on this list. The two in the main spot are just in Leagues of their own. Plagg is the most developed Character in the series and I will FIGHT ANYONE on that. Plagg starts out as selfish and only caring about cheese but becomes a friend and Confidant to Adrien. He cares about his blond son and wants to see that boy happy and safe. He does know the rules and if he knows Adrien is not doing the right thing (i.e. trying to be another hero when he is chat noir) he will call him out on it. But Plagg also encourages Adrien’s teen rebellion, such as when he was so proud of Adrien sneaking out to go to London with his class. Plagg is the perfect Kwami for Adrien and his jokes and Banter is the best part of the show’s comedy. I love this little entity of destruction and I want more of him.

2. Adrien Agreste / Chat noir

Honestly Numbers one and two are interchangeable, but I think Adrien fits perfectly as the second spot on the list. I love how compassionate and caring he is. Adrien is an interesting character. In season 1 you would find that Adrien and Chat noir were pretty much opposites, Adrien was calm, obedient, composed, almost formal, while Chat noir was wild, flirty, impulsive, rebellious and a wisecracker. Both forms maintain his need to help others and his passionate love for his friends and his Lady. 

Adrien/ Chat noir’s dynamic with Marinette/ Ladybug is always a delight to see, changing depending on which side is being seen. The flirty chat with Ladybug, the sweet love struck Adrien with Ladybug, The cocky yet caring Chat with Marinette, and the Sweet caring friend Adrien to Marinette. The love square allows for exploration of their character and I wish we could have seen it better utilized. Chat noir loves Ladybug, even if she doesn't love him the same way, he still fights by her side and will do anything for her. (a few minor bumps, but hey it happens, he is allowed a few hiccups)

As the series goes on, Adrien starts acting more rebellious, starts joking more, even a bit more flirty, he starts becoming more comfortable with himself and others, he even lets himself be selfish at times. He cares about others and he is afraid of being locked away alone. His fear of being alone has made him very naive and trusting of others, willing to overlook behavior to an extent, with the exception that it doesn't hurt anyone he cares about. (Lila being someone that has crossed this line, and seeing Adrien actually being intimidating for once.) Is he flawed? Yes. That what I love about him, he is portrayed at this perfect model, but that is more of a mask then Chat noir, and Adrien is slowly peeking out and I can't wait to see him shatter it completely. 

1. Marinette Dupain Cheng /Ladybug

What can I say about this lovable daughter of mine?

She is without a doubt one of the best teen hero main characters I have ever seen. (And I am taking Kim Possible Level, Danny Phantom level) 

Marinette is creative, caring, compassionate, competent, clumsy, competitive, considerate, and a bunch more C words that mean good things. She is a top notch designer, guardian in training, and all she wants is to win over her crush, who she doesn't know is in love with her alter ego.

Marinette has a LOT going for her and I enjoy how she overreacts and I find myself relating to her in a lot of ways. Though she is worlds more competent then I will ever be, and she is 14.

Marinette also takes the weight of the world on her shoulders, always having to plan ahead, always having to be ready, and now she is the guardian.

I can talk on and on about how amazing she is and how interesting her flaws are, but I feel so many other people have talked about that to death. I will simply say that she is very likable.

She gets the audience to WANT her to succeed, she is so selfless that you feel for her everytime something doesn't go well for her. The season 3 finale felt Like LITTERAL Knives in my back seeing how much unnecessary pain she was in, all because of something that really wasn't her fault. (I am still salty about the finale) I really want her to be happy, and I hope she and Adrien do get together in season 4. Or I will be flying over to Paris and Punching EVERY PERSON writer at Zagtoon. INCLUDING a punch to Thomas so hard his non-existent grandkids will hear it.

Back on target.

Marinette is a delight and I am glad Miraculous ladybug exists because it introduced us to an amazing Heroine and Character.

[ranibell]

Disney Fairies Shipping Rant

(Warning: unpopular opinions ahead. You may disagree, but I’ll defend my opinions! I don’t mean offense to any of the people who like certain pairings in this series--what you like isn’t a reflection of you as a person, or your intelligence or heart, it’s that simple--I just have a hard time understanding why it is some of these are as popular as they are.)

I marked 4 “NOTPs” on that shipping meme, and...let’s talk about it, I guess!

I’ll start simple. Tink/Bobble:

This was particularly big back in the day with the first couple of TB movies before the majority latched onto Tink/Vidia. I never really “got it” but for the most part I wouldn’t have ever had reason to dislike them as a ship if it hadn’t been for the shippers themselves...

I liked Terence as a character, as well as his relationship with Tink, and the Bobble/Tink fans were very vocal about disparaging Terence in favor of Bobble, when that’s really unnecessary. It’s possible to like an underrated character without the need to bash a popular one just because you’re personally not interested in them.

I basically won’t go into it any more than I have in the past--after I did a two-part video reading of comments on this one Tink/Bobble fan art piece, I wrote up my feelings here and it still stands up. Basically the sight of the ship leaves a bad taste in my mouth not because of the characters involved themselves, but by the attitude the ship seemed to be entirely based on.

The only thing I would add is that I ship Bobble/Clank and to me, they’re as good as an old married couple that just wasn’t confirmed because it’s Disney :(

Clarion/Milori:

What can I even say? I’ve ranted extensively on my old blog, but to rehash, here’s the deal: There was no reason Milori’s character needed to be invented in the first place. The major plot holes and inconsistencies in The Secret of the Wings seemed to have prompted his becoming a character, but I think more importantly it was for the cliche, forced “forbidden romance” sub-plot between him and Clarion.

They didn’t need to replace the female Minister of Winter from her position to bring in this Lord of Winter, his role and existence wasn’t properly set up, and his backstory + relationship with Queen Clarion wasn’t developed at all, they just relied on the fact that having a tragically star-crossed love interest who’s attractive is enough for people to accept at face value.

And they were right, I guess... 🙄

So again, for me it’s not that the pairing of these two characters in inherently a bad thing, but it has never tracked for me that such an underdeveloped, boring pairing is one of the most popular in the fanbase, like most people just accepted it because it was canon and I’m like “we’re allowed to....NOT ship canon pairings, if they add nothing to the characters and story...you don’t have to just accept it”

Zarina/James:

This is another one that is a majorly popular ship in the fanbase, and to me it’s similar to shipping Anna with Hans, but possibly even worse. He manipulated her and tried to get away with murdering her. In James’ case, he emotionally/psychologically manipulated Zarina for A YEAR before betraying her and then tossing her into the sea to die.

There are a lot of people who think Hans should be able to have a redemption plotline, and I’ll make no comment about that, but the big difference between him and James is that we KNOW Hook will never be redeemed. We know he has never and will never feel remorse about his actions or treatment of Z.

He goes on to become the most fearsome pirate of all time, murdering without second thought--and still goes on to manipulate Tink and capture her in a lantern, because, I quote, “a jealous female can be tricked into anything.” His line in TPF mirrors this attitude (“Fairies are such gullible creatures”) so like....he is and will always be a misogynist who never held respect for Z or Tink or any fairy/female.

Also, The Pirate Fairy was as poorly written as SotW if not more so, and Z herself wasn’t a well-developed character, so I should say “to each their own” for anyone who wanted to believe there was chemistry between Z + James and ship them, but it’s gross and disgusting and wrong. (no offense)

Tink/Vidia:

Back to something much less sinful, but even more heretical within this fanbase. Vidia is one of THE most popular fairies from the movies, and Tink/Vidia is one of the most popular ships. That’s fine. My stance happens to be different, because I guess I don’t view things the exact same way.

Vidia was cruel to Tink at first--and she’s nowhere near as bad as James; she’d never seriously want to hurt/kill somebody. But even after she is redeemed from her antagonist position....she’s honestly still pretty b*tchy to her so-called “friends.” I won’t be forgetting the scene in Legend of the Neverbeast anytime soon when Gruff sneezes/gets snot on them, Rosetta says “ew, my mouth was open!” and Vidia replies “It’s always open.” Like, there’s just no need for that, ever, it’s mean-spirited and didn’t need to be said, it didn’t help anything.

People seem to love sarcastic characters with a secret heart of gold, but I just can’t dig the way Vidia is treated like this amazing character just because she didn’t turn out to be genuinely evil, no matter how her attitude stayed. In the books, her character is more interesting to me--and she’s portrayed as a mean person, but also she knows it and the narrative doesn’t treat her like one of the girls who, oh, it’s just okay that she treats her friends poorly!

So yeah, Tink/Vidia never sat right with me. Also, within the books, they actually hate each other, not even like a sassy frenemy relationship, they can’t stand each other. Tink does NOT have a lot of patience--she would never stand for Vidia’s nasty attitude and just not call her out on it every time. They would never work in a relationship.

So, the reason people will hate me for having this opinion is because many seem to embrace Vidia as this lesbian icon (like those posts about how if she was your favorite fairy growing up, you’re gay) and Tink/Vidia as this natural pairing to come from their interaction in the movies. Lots of people automatically ship it, and I can see the distaste toward Tink/Terence as if it’s the boring, straight ship with no merit besides being basically canon.

Nobody has to ship Tink/Terence if it’s not their thing--I happen to like them, but they objectively have a LOT of development throughout the books, films and other media. More so than any of the canon ships like Clarion/Milori which people ATE UP even though they had NO development. If you ship Clarion/Milori and think Tink/Terence is boring, ya basic and hypocritical, but I digress.

What I mean to say is that if you’re not into Tink/Terence or basic, overhyped “straight” ships in general, your other option is not immediately Tink/Vidia. I’m bisexual myself, so it’s not like I’m anti-Vidibell because of homophobia or something. I really enjoy and appreciate f/f and m/m ships as well, and there are so many amazing fairies to ship Tink with who would have a more healthy and beautiful dynamic--which I think...good representation is better? Just me??

Tink had a lot of chemistry with Silvermist, in fact, someone who is genuinely kind and caring for Tink and vice versa. Tink/Sil is probably the most beautiful and natural pairing in the whole movie series, and it’s like no one has ever even CONSIDERED it because it’s so much more entertaining to have an enemies-to-lovers dynamic with the fairy who was mean to Tink, rather than the one who objectively cared the MOST.

Also, Tink and Zarina--they had a helluva dynamic in TPF. Stay hydrated with a drinking water game every time there’s a potential moment to read into wrt shipping them in that film. But then people want to ship Zarina with a man who tried to kill her instead.

So that’s the thing--I’m not mad at Tink/Bobble and Tink/Vidia because they go against Tink/Terence, but because of the attitude about it when arguably there are way better options than the ones people promote and those ones get entirely ignored and overlooked. It just grinds my gears. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If you ship these pairing, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings by calling them out like they’re these awful things--tbh the only one of these that I genuinely think is entirely and inherently bad in concept, is James/Z and I have no remorse if I offend anyone who ships that. Unfollow me, nasty.

To explain that in practice: if a picture of Clarion/Milori, Tink/Vidia or Tink/Bobble is cute, I’m still gonna reblog it and even tag it for those who enjoy the ships, because it doesn’t hurt me or anyone even if it’s not my taste. If J/Z is ever even implied I’m blocking people XD

[fleurderussie]

Rereading Pride and Prejudice. Part 2. First impressions

Okay, okay, okay, I actually intended it to be the first part, but I was unexpectedly blown away by my own thoughts on Mr. and Mrs.Bennet and when I got back I realised that I’d already written too much for anybody to read, so, here we’re at the second part of my essay that is basically part number zero.

As I’ve mentioned before, there’s some pleasure in finding the hints about the ending of the story that you’d read before. And I daresay there’s A LOT OF foreshadowing (can I call it foreshadowing? Sorry, English isn’t my native language) in Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen is a master and I respect her even more now after noticing all these little (sometimes - not so little) details that point to the chain of events. 

First of all, the ball where Jane and Bingley see each other for the first time. Jane is a beauty, Bingley is Bingley, Mrs.Bennet already counts their future children (only to pretend afterwards that she isn’t quite sure whether he liked her or not) and later Charlotte Lucas discusses the whole deal with Elizabeth. 

Jane is known for her easiness and lightness of heart but at the same time she’s quite good at hiding her real feelings and Charlotte gives a comment that I didn’t pay attention to at first (it’s easy to forget as the conversation takes place early in the book) but that hits me hard now:

“If a woman conceals her affection with the same skill from the object of it, she may lose the opportunity of fixing him”

Elizabeth strongly disagrees and even says that Charlotte makes her laugh and her words are not the case for Bingley and Jane’s love, but...we all know what is going to happen after some chapters. (Charlotte, by the way, kind of foresees her own wedding, saying in that very scene, that it’d be better for people to get engaged before they really got to know each other!)

And it’s not the only case of Elizabeth’s opinion turning exactly against her. 

Thanks to their mother’s care, Jane falls ill and has to stay at Netherfield for some time. Lizzy, being a good sister (I absolutely love their friendship!) follows her. During her stay there was a bunch of conversations, one of them - with Mr.Darcy. Darcy states that Mr.Bingley only boasts that he could leave a place at any time, had he wish to do so, while in reality he would stay if a friend asked him to stay, being, hence, too easy to persuade. Lizzy disagrees:

“You appear to me, Mr.Darcy, to allow nothing for the influence of friendship and affection. A regard for the requester would often make one readily yield to a request, without waiting for arguments to reason one into it”

Lizzy praises friendship - and I give her all the credits for it! - but later, when Bingley, basically, does what she was talking about: yielded to his friend’s request and left Netherfield, she is angry at him, calling him inconsistent. 

While Elizabeth is quite inconsistent herself and Jane Austen makes sure that WE KNOW IT. She is disappointed in her old friend for marrying for the sake of not being an old spinster and really struggles to forgive her (now, I’m not in any way blaming Lizzy as I experienced something like this myself), but at the same time she can easily justify Wickham’s actions, which, in my opinion, are much more morbid:

“The suden acquisition of ten thousand pounds was the most remarkable charm of the young lady to whom he [Wickham] was now rendering himself agreeable; but Elizabeth, less clear-sighted perhaps in this case than in Charlotte’s, did not quarrel with him for his wish of independence. Nothing, on the contrary, could be more natural.. she was ready to allow it a wise and desirable measure for both”

Here, she calls it a WISE decision while in Charlotte’s case marrying for money and position is something unforgivable, though Charlotte’s perspectives were far worse than those of Wickham’s. Not to mention the fact that Wickham is just an immoral scoundrel (but more of it later). And, surprise-surprise, Charlotte foresaw it TOO (I’m honestly amazed at this woman’s talents):

“When Darcy approached to claim her [Elizabeth’s] hand, Charlotte could not help cautioning her in a whisper, not to be a simpleton, and allow her fancy for Wickham to make her appear unpleasant in the eyes of a man ten times his consequence”

BOOOOM!

It’s actually amusing how many times Elizabeth was completely wrong. I mean, it’s right there, in the title, but still, Lizzy is so amiable as a character (jokes aside - she’s my forever number 1 in any list of favourite characters) that we easily overlook her lack of judgement and even rushness in deciding one’s character. Moreover, Jane Austen tricks us into feeling like Elizabeth, thinking like Elizabeth and, man, being Elizabeth! Not that I complain about it, but once you start looking at the events from the side, everything seems quite obvious. 

But more of this “obviousness” and other things in the next part (yes, I’m here for a loooong ride)

[bluerosesburnblue]

As frustrating as Sora's treatment can be by Yensid and the others (except Kairi, Donald and Goofy. And Namine too I think). I also kind of like that part of Sora's character journey (so long as it keeps getting payoff). A lot of fans always talks about Roxas or Riku are the most relatable. But for me personally I find Sora to be incredibly human and relatable. I remember talking to someone about how sad I was for Sora in the KH3 ending. But they insisted it had to be done because Sora was the -

only main character who’s never suffered so he had to get a bad end. I disagreed but didn’t pursue it since that seems to be a common view of his character. He’s not tragic enough therefore not as good. I’m not claiming Sora is the most tragic (though who knows the future. Nomura is sadistic) character. But he knows sadness. He lost his home and friends. He’s been abandoned by those he counted on most. He’s been betrayed and had to fight his best friend. Called worthless and belittled by most-

lost and scared in new places. Facing dark evil to the point he’s sad he’s not as innocent as he used to be. Resented for things he has no control over. Torn apart. Ect I’m not even counting everything. I remember playing KH1 when I was little and going through stressful times at school. Sora wasn’t the smartest or strongest like Riku. But the 2 of us tried to stay positive and focus on what really mattered to get us through the hard times because it needed to be done. I think we’ve all-

know what it’s like to be overlooked in favor of someone who everyone thinks is better then you. To be taken for granted. To have people ignore you just because you dare be yourself (different). Sora has gone through a lot of trials he hardly gets credit for from both fans and characters (it kind of bugged me when Mickey decided to fight Xehanort he only called Aqua and Riku to help. I guess its Masters only). Lots of people know Sora is special and are grateful for his caring empathetic -

presence in their lives. But it’s a lot of them are inconsistent how valuable they see Sora’s ultimate strengths and the accomplished they achieved alone. I see that. I see a lot of Sora s who are happy kind people who struggle through things and don’t let themselves change for the worst. That’s why I don’t see Sora as some Mary Sue figure he gets labelled as.  Sora uses the pain he’s endured to reach out and struggle together WITH others until they’re better. I love to Sora get recognized-

and every time he does and wait for the day he gets the acknowledgement of how awesome he is. Sora doesn’t succeed because he’s perfect. He succeeds because he surrounds himself w/friends who help him and he follows his heart over any kind of ego based title or old master. That’s why I hope future installments take advantage of Sora’s dissapearence. Have the characters try to find the right way w/Sora gone when things get dark (or too bright. Foretellers are light based fanatics).

Hey, up until KH3, I was one of those fans who preferred Roxas and Riku (you can probably blame that on being an introvert and having Days as my first game). But KH3′s given me a new perspective on Sora and I really appreciate him now. He’s a good kid who always tries his best and that’s really what we should all strive for

I’m honestly surprised that there’s this idea that Sora’s never had to deal with self-doubt on the same level as Riku and Roxas. He has; he’s just better at hiding it behind a smile. Riku’s was self-doubt born of his own great fall after cockiness, Roxas’s was due to being a manipulated pawn for the vast majority of his life while conscripted into a gang that lied constantly, Sora’s is born from the overwhelming pressure and expectations others put on him in part due to the fact that for the longest time he was the only one who could fulfill them

Sora’s “never suffered?” Sora’s suffered a lot and I always recognized that. Sora had the unique role of being “the only active Keyblade Wielder, who’s also never had formal training and is running on hearsay and willpower.” He’s had to pave the road in the present without even being able to see the road behind him. That suuuuuuuuuucks. And to do it all while your two closest friends are missing? Yeah, he had Donald and Goofy but they barely knew what the hell was going on and Donald didn’t even care about helping him at first!

Literally all this boy wants to do is go home with his friends. He is never allowed that simple pleasure because he just happened to get a giant key by accident

And, like you said, suddenly as more and more Keyblade Wielders are added to the mix, many of which are part of the old tradition, the more Sora is put down. Him managing to do everything he’s done with minimal guidance is incredible, but it wasn’t “right” so no one in the old order cares. He’s like that kid who got every answer right on a math test but because he didn’t do his work the “normal” way, then he gets half credit for everything (this is from experience because I have a friend who did that in high school)

It’s a situation where if you haven’t been in it before, you will at some point. Desperately trying to get recognition, being overlooked for whatever reason despite doing great things and knowing you are. Ironically enough, his earlier struggles have gotten more relatable and also respectable for me as I’ve gotten older. And now that I can see his arc in full, I agree that Sora has some of the most universally relatable struggles among the cast. Maybe that was intentional. Maybe it’s just my changing life experiences. Who knows. We should all try to be a little more like Sora, regardless. Continue to strive for good things even if all of the adults are being massive idiots and telling you you can’t possibly succeed

[moved99999999999]

U guys wanna know what I think about that hell hotel show

I feel like twitter’s very tired of seeing ppl talk about Hazbin Hotel, so I putting my opinions on tumblr where they belong. I’m not a “professional critic” by any means, but I’ll try my best given what I know. And don’t worry, I’ll be incredibly nit-picky to suit the internet’s needs.

I’m gonna mainly focus on HH itself instead of Vivzie’s accusations because that's a WHOLE other can of worms to open.

During the time of me writing this, I haven’t watched any YT reviews, but I’ve read a few threads criticising the show, so take that as my social influence bias.

My ted talk is allllll below the cut. Enjoy~

Context: 

My first exposure of Vivzie’s work was her “Die Young” animation that I came across around 2016. Instantly I fell in love with how “smooth” and lively her animation was, and especially the fact that it was hand drawn. Animation like that was extremely rare to come by (and still is) and seeing her execute it so well with such complexed characters was amazing to my fetus self. 

A few years later and I see the first trailer for HH. I instantly went OH I RECOGNISE THAT STYLE AND THOSE CHARACTER TYPE DESIGNS and was looking forward to what it had to offer. 

On “opening day” I watched the pilot ASAP to avoid my opinions from getting warped by all of the key-mash memes and post call-out bitching (literally the extremes of the HH opinion spectrum), and overall.....

I thought it was good. 

Not ground breakingly amazing, not horrifically terrible, but charmingly good.

(Ok now it’s actual review time)

Animation Quality:

As a hand drawn animation that has the freedom to get creative with its shots, a lot of effort was clearly put into how everything moves (it definitely didn’t take any lazy flash puppet shortcuts for the main sections of the show) and I can appreciate that. However it tends to be... rather inconsistent, most likely due to the varying skill level of the animators on the project. It’ll be nice and smooth one minute, and then awkward and choppy the next which can make the viewing pretty confusing at times. I’ll be honest I found myself overlooking these inconsistencies due to the characters and backgrounds themselves being very visually engaging, especially considering how over designed some of them can be (which I applaud the team for handling cuz wow that must have been painful). However, the needle thin and exaggerated art style makes some things incredibly hard to look at. While it helps with adding fancy details, it hurts in catching peoples eyes in the right place.

It’s also chalk full of little details, visual gags, and references that are hilarious to look at if you have the luxury of pausing every two seconds (the news segment and Sir Pentious turf war w/ Angel and Cherri are good places to look). But I feel like these lil details were put in at the cost of some some continuity errors (Charlie not wearing her coat in one shot, and having it back on in the next, papers being blank, etc.) and lip-syncing issues which really shouldn’t be happening considering all of the detail they were able to put in. There are also some shots that have just SO MUCH detail put into them, only to be shown for less than a second. I get that’s the cost of animation sometimes, but save the detail for the shots that need it, because at that point you’re just causing the animators to waste their efforts.

However, I was surprised at how professional the soundtrack and editing was. Not one but THREE songs in this single episode was really surprising, and the variation and quality of each was great (as cringy as Charlie’s song is)

But overall, the production quality is surprisingly good for a project like this, the editing, sound effects, and sound track act like a cherry on top. Of course there are some noticeable drops in quality, but given time and a budget, it has enough chops to look like an actual show.

Writing: 

As far as overarching plot goes, it seems like it’s going to be one of those procedural shows that tries to be serialised, but it’s a creative twist on hell and has an interesting premise to begin with. You can get really creative with seeing how you’d dive into getting redemption out of all of these seemingly lost causes, and I’m sure there are many people willing to know the backstories our main cast. As a pilot, it did it’s job of launching the plot very well, setting up the premise of the hotel and introducing characters in a very engaging way. I was legit really interested in each segment with who in introduced, and it didn’t feel like I was being overloaded with names to remember (which can be a problem for many medias and introductions). The cohesion between each scene is VERY smooth, and I genuinely enjoyed some of the cliché cuts/gags. 

Unfortunately I can’t extend this interest to our main character. Charlie is one of the most generic tropes we’ve ever seen. She’s a boring Disney princess who has a “cute happy positive goal to change her world” and the only thing that would make her more generic is if she wore a dress and cried “I’m tired of being so privileged”. 

(Although it’s impossible to tell, I honestly think Viv is just projecting through her, especially considering how horrifically accurate the hotel’s opening mirrors the internet’s reaction to the pilot itself)

I would be more forgiving if she was a supporting character or someone less important, but she’s the freaking protagonist, arguably the character that has to be the most interesting. Angel’s personality seems to be “flirty porn star”, and while that’s just as bad as being a boring Disney princess, at least he gets a few jokes and has a profession more interesting than Charlie’s. Around the end of the pilot he just seems like he’s getting involved because Viv likes giving him attention. If he’s supposed to be leeching off of the hotel, wouldn’t not care if it survives or not?

(There’s that whole stereotype issue that everyone keeps bringing up, but I genuinely think that’s BS because people are blatantly ignoring the fact that Angel is a porn star, Vaggie is portrayed as helpful, and that the show takes place in H E double hokey sticks.)

The transitions may be smooth, but the dialogue pacing can get really awkward at times. This paired with the animation sometimes having awkward quality drops makes some movements incredibly jagged, and has some detailed shots show for incredibly unbalanced screen time as mentioned before. 

I don’t have enough to give voice acting it’s own section so I’m just popping it down here:

The voice acting is legitimately better than several big name projects I know. It’s consistent, great at expressing the character’s mood properly, and each voice fits each character perfectly. My only gripes are that Alastor and Sir Pentious tend to grain on you after awhile due to them keeping a single tone for too long. 

Character Design: AKA the only thing I have legitimate experience with.

First thing’s first. The characters are WAY too over designed. There are so many markings and accessories that are incredibly unnecessary. I think the mindset for these characters was “the more complicated and attractive the better”, which makes them look like they’re designed by an edgy tumblr artist (heck I fall for this too some times).

Especially if a character is going to be animated, you have to keep in mind the value of simplicity. You absolutely don’t have to fill in your character with markings and trinkets to make them look unique, I mean just look at the gen 1 pokemon starters. Thanks to the limitations of the game, the sprites were forced to be simple, and it was that simplicity that made them such unique and varied creatures. You can tell Blastoise is a bulky water blasting turtle just with a quick glance. 

Many of the characters suffer from over complication, but I’ll look at Husk for example. He has these stripes all over him that do not contribute to who he’s supposed to be at all, and only look like they’re added to make him more unique. The markings that DO help are the little card suite marks on his wings, because those at least infer he’s linked to a casino/gambling type of theme. I would say his outfit helps as well, but formal wear and bowties are worn way to often by the main characters, which brings me to another problem.

They may look different, but they feel way too similar. From the same skinny body type, to generic head shapes, to outfits, the focus characters just don’t stand out amongst each other. Even the ones with interesting features still suffer from feeling generic. I’d say Sir Pentious is a good example of this. He has a serpentine/naga body and clever hair style that make his concept really creative, but his skinny body type, complicated eyes all over his tail, and generic “young but supposed to be at least middle aged” face just push him back into obscurity. He’s even wearing the SAME outfit as Alastor (who's an even worse offender of that generic face problem), and unless Viv has some plan to link the two, I’d say the characters need to stop using a dress code.

A successful character design can to tell you who the character is just by looking at them. You should be able to tell if a character’s personality, function, age, the universe they belong in, and if they’re important or not, and that’s a big problem when it comes to the background characters. If you pause on one of the extras for a minute you can see all of the effort put into designing them, and that takes away so much attention from the main cast. Not only that, but they have actual variations in their body types and outfits, which makes them more intriguing than who we’re supposed to be interested in.

Regardless, this pilot has potential, and if they can get someone to comb out the flaws, you can end up with something good. No one can deny a legitimate animation was made here, and the team successfully executed the start of a story, and that’s something anyone can look up to.

TLDR: The pilot is good. It has some major flaws, but it has potential to be a good show.

If you actually read this far epstein didn’t kill himself.

[beybladeimagines]

Hello! First of all, thanks for doing my request with the All Starz and Disney World. It was wonderful and fit well with the characters, especially with Michael (LOL). Secondly, a (kinda) rare pair request - Yuriy and Takao. Considering their interaction at the end of Season 1, and how Yuriy smiled at Takao (as a Yuriy stan, it makes me melt just thinking about it - shout out to my fellow Yuriy stans), I can't help but get all fuzzy inside about this overlooked pair. Thanks again!

Mod Note: Aw, thank you so much! I’m so glad you liked the Disney World one! It was honestly a lot of fun to write, so I appreciate you letting me explore that idea! I hope you enjoy this request as well!

Surprisingly, Tala doesn’t see Tyson as that much of an annoyance. Granted, Tala does antagonize him and push him with his words, but all at once he has a deep respect for Tyson’s abilities and leadership. Tala is aware of the infectious influence Tyson has over other people. He has a way of embedding himself into people’s hearts, mainly because Tyson makes and keeps a lot of his promises. That kind of determination and dedication stands out to Tala, primarily because he’s surrounded by pretty shady people and he’s accustomed to being cut-throat in order for things to go his way. Tyson is kind of this beacon of light that pulls him towards a less bitter path. If anything, the smile he gives Tyson could be a small (but mighty since it’s coming from Tala) sign of appreciation and acknowledgement of Tyson’s powerful and benevolent influence. Even in G-Rev, when BEGA is starting to appear and Boris is making his appearance, Tala doesn’t hesitate to inform Tyson of his intentions. If it were anyone else, he wouldn’t bother discussing his feelings and plans. To me, this is a sign that he trusts Tyson. Aside from the friends who he’s had for years, who else would understand how much this moment means to him? That moment they shared also provided Tala with the courage and strength he needed to pursue his goal. Although he can do anything on his own, having Tyson’s support really validated his feelings and plight. To get that kind of good energy from outside his social circle just made Tyson even more of a worthy person to have within his life.

Despite whatever amount of respect Tala has for Tyson, he does not tolerate the way Tyson can succumb to self-doubt and weakness. Although we see him teasing Tyson’s inability to keep up with the other bladers, this kind of dynamic would be a bit different if they were together. First and foremost, the way in which Tala conveys his support is through an aggressive form of motivation. He’d call Tyson out for his inconsistencies and would most likely take time out of his day to build him back up again. If Tyson is feeling insecure about his abilities, Tala would train him (even if Tyson were still his opponent or enemy), because he values their relationship and the stability of their connection more so than an unfair advantage in a fight. Tala’s persistent presence is meant to mimic the kind of support and good nature that Tyson has left him with during their previous encounters. Tyson would most likely express some kind of resistance towards the help, as he’s a bit prideful in that regard, despite knowing all that he can learn from Tala. Tala’s efforts should say a lot, because if it were anyone else, he’d quickly discard their feelings. With Tyson, he’d want to see him in his best state, because when Tyson was okay, then he too could feel at ease.

Their relationship is very physical, loud, and playfully contentious. There are many times when Tyson’s aura can be overwhelming for Tala, but all at once, it proves to be uplifting and it gets Tala more engaged in their relationship. What might start off as a minor fight actually leads into a form of competitive flirting. Their jabs at one another become playful. Tyson has always been good at letting insults roll off of him. He turns everything into a joke, which signals to Tala that some things just aren’t and shouldn’t be seen as big deals. Through Tyson, Tala learns to take things easy. It’s hard, because he’s conditioned himself to be cynical of everyone, but all at once, if someone was actually out to hurt him, he feels confident that he’d be able to handle it. After all, Tyson does that, so why can’t he? When it comes to kissing, Tala mostly does it to shut Tyson up, but consequently, Tyson also initiates the kissing for the same reason. If Tyson feels like Tala is too worked up over something, he’d definitely sit himself on the red wolf’s lap and crash into his lips. Tala likes to let his hands roam, so they’d most likely find themselves all over Tyson’s back, hips, and hair. Acts like these, although intrusive, do help to keep the peace and upon the make-out session completing, they forgot what they were so worked up about in the first place.

[moononmyfloor]

Review: The Tyrant's Tomb by Rick Riordan

Thoughts on The Cover

Well, if you've seen my previous posts by now you'd know that I'm not a big fan of loud and action-packed covers. I prefer classy, if not always subtle. But you might like it! See, Reyna is owning the bigger portion of it, which is a nice change. :-)

Ok to Low Points

Halfway through the book, I was STILL unable to "get" into the story

Literally, not much was going on for 2/3 of the whole book, which is very surprising considering:

The time between the release dates of The Tyrant's Tomb and The Burning Maze is the longest as of yet. Whereas other books within a series have come out within twelve months of each other, these two books will be released within eighteen months of each other.

.....and that even the most boring books by Uncle Rick had some silver linings here and there to keep you engaged. Even The Dark Prophecy had the gang arrive and settle in Indianapolis, visit the zoo and free Griffins and REVISIT the emperor. Here? Apollo and Co. escorted Jason's hearse into Camp Jupiter in a frankly insulting manner(more about that later), Apollo got sick, we see that the noble prophecies are being tattooed on Tyson's back, Apollo and Co. went on a lil' trial quest and returned, Apollo got more sick.🤷‍♀️ I was so confused I opened the previous books to see how far those stories had progressed by midpoint.

It got slightly better later on, but it doesn't change the fact throughout the 1st half of the book I just kept on turning pages SIMPLY because I wanted it to get it on with and finish the story. Sad.

2. The so-called Tyrant

I didn't see much tyranny, like...only 3 pages were spent in the Tyrant's Tomb and his company, bad old Commodus and Caligula had more appearances than Tarquin who re-appeared in the very last chapters only to get immediately vanquished courtesy of Diana.....yeah. That's that.

3. How Jason's final voyage was depicted

Uncle Rick doesn't write emotional crying scenes well.

People talk about peeing and pop chewing gum bubbles while delivering the hearses of valued, honored characters.

And I seriously wonder in what position and condition poor Jason's body was after all the drama his coffin underwent.

And based on the spoilery lines(which sadly turned out to be not spoilers at all) we saw in the Magnus Chase series I thought we'd at least get a Percy-Annabeth cameo in this, that Jason will have more of his closest comrades mourning and sending him off. Nah. Nada. Not even a mention of Annabeth. Then why did Uncle Rick mention things like Annabeth and Percy being at California and even Magnus joining them at their time of crisis? Utter puzzlement. And we were also robbed of Nico's reaction to Jason's demise, considering how much Nico valued Jason as a brother-in-arms and a friend. Let's not even talk about Thalia. Why, Uncle Rick? :-(

Which brings us to...

4. Plot Inconsistencies

Why do I have to talk about this in each and every book? :-( Seriously, why would you write about Percy and Annabeth going to New Rome to attend college and being broken hearted over Jason DURING the period of Demigod communication malfunction, only to have us know they have YET to travel across the country and when we meet them again it would still be at New York? And now the communication is working, proving that Uncle Rick conveniently forgot about the clues he conveniently dropped.

AT LEAST I'm glad one thing is consistent in the Trials of Apollo series, that when Zeus decided they'll stop meddling too much in demigod affairs at the end of Heroes of Olympus, he meant it and now it's super duper hard to seek a god even for dire needs, no matter how wonderfully (ill)timed that decision was, costing lives of valued heroes.

5. The Haiku-titles weren't amusing at all this time.

I found one fun haiku .

O, blood moon rising

Take a rain check on doomsday

I’m stuck in traffic

6. The whole Apollo-Reyna debacle.

I would say Uncle Rick pulled a clever twist by turning fan theories on their heads here, but it too way more plot space than needed and when he got to the "Gotcha!" part, I was not feeling it. For YEARS now, we heard abut this no-mortal-no-demigod thing over and over, and fans predicted it might mean Apollo's the one for Reyna. And when it initially seemed like it was the route that Uncle Rick was indeed taking, the only thought that circulated inside my head was; "Reyna doesn't need this completely random and unwanted baggage! Give the girl a dam break!!" But then he was like; "Lol nooo. You kids are wrong", but STILL I was not happy...well, for obvious reasons.

What's the point of this whole plotline? So unnecessary. I mean, the fans always wondered WHY exactly would Reyna think she needs a partner in her life, but now I see Reyna might not have had time to contemplate her personal life logically like WE had what's with her dramatic life. Of course the shallow gods would think her heart was something to be "cured" and Reyna never stopped to think that it's quite the opposite till Apollo provided her with a breather and reason. And to answer why din't she choose to join Amazons instead of Hunters is probably that she wanted to be her own person and not be under her sis the Queen once again. She'd indeed have the freedom, calm and few friends so she wouldn't feel lonely and bored with the Hunt. She might even choose to leave Hunters after she found herself in her own time. I get it. But the way it was dragged and executed was meh.

If Uncle Rick intended this plotline of Reyna to be empowering for female readers, in my opinion it was not. Yes, even a badass girl could have weaknesses, not enough self-confidence and wobbly life choices, but Reyna took too much time with her "Eureka!" moment.

It was funny while it lasted, at least.

“Lester.” Reyna sighed. “What in Tartarus are you saying? I’m not in the mood for riddles.”

“That maybe I’m the answer,” I blurted. “To healing your heart. I could…you know, be your boyfriend. As Lester. If you wanted. You and me. You know, like…yeah.”

HAHAHAHA. That Totally came from the left field Lester, even for you.

“Your girlfriend was pregnant when you had her killed?” Reyna launched another kick at my face. I managed to dodge it, since I’d had a lot of practice cowering, but it hurt to know that this time she hadn’t been aiming at an incoming raven. Oh, no. She wanted to knock my teeth in.

“You suck,” Meg agreed.

I mean, if THIS is not the ultimate deal breaker then what is? Apollo might have changed for better by now, but it doesn't mean we can overlook what he did. I for one certainly don't need a loveline for him in this series. I'm glad Uncle Rick drew(or at least seemed to have) a clear line here.

High Points

It took half the page count even for Uncle Rick's special brand of snark to return. Nonetheless I managed to find some good ones. Which is what matters, right?

1.

“So,” I said, making a second attempt at nonchalance, “are you and Thalia, er…?”

Reyna raised an eyebrow. “Involved romantically?”

“Well, I just…I mean…Um…”

Oh, very smooth, Apollo. Have I mentioned I was once the god of poetry?

Reyna rolled her eyes. “If I had a denarius for every time I got that question…Aside from the fact that Thalia is in the Hunters, and thus sworn to celibacy…Why does a strong friendship always have to progress to romance?"

Preach, sister. But then again I would have to ask did YOU have to swear to celibacy to prove your independence....which is sort of the point🙄..

2.

Even when I was a god and could speak any language I wanted, I’d never sung well in Italian. I kept mixing it up with Latin, so I came off sounding like Julius Caesar with a head cold.

LOL

3.

It was time to be helpful. I needed to be repulsive for my friends!

Which you're most of the time...the latter sentence I mean.

4. Don't we all relate? 😂

“O protector of Rome!” I read aloud. “O insert name here!”

5. And one more.

I bet Gregorix was wishing he’d pursued that business degree his mom always wanted him to get. Being a barbarian bodyguard was mentally exhausting.

.

Heartrending quotes.

1.

This was the source of all our communications troubles—one sad, angry, forgotten little god.

2. This was the wisest quote I saw in the book. The simple indescribable deepness of letting go.

“Good-bye, Apollo,” said the Sibyl’s voice, clearer now. “I forgive you. Not because you deserve it. Not for your sake at all. But because I will not go into oblivion carrying hate when I can carry love.”

Even if I could’ve spoken, I wouldn’t have known what to say. I was in shock. Her tone asked for no reply, no apology. She didn’t need or want anything from me. It was almost as if I were the one being erased.

3. I was saddened to learn about Julia's untimely loss, but I'm sure everybody had a meltdown moment at the following scene.

The old god’s face hardened a bit more, which shouldn’t have been possible for stone. “I see. Well. I’ve concentrated the last bits of my power here, around Julia. They may destroy New Rome, but they will not harm this girl!”

“Or this statue!” said Julia.

4. Honestly? I too forgot until Apollo pointed it out and then I had *shivers*! They're one immediate family, grieving over one loss that affects all of them in various ways, and having mixed reactions about each others the members who survived!

I shivered. How easy it was to forget that this young woman was also my sister. And Jason was my brother. At one time, I would have discounted that connection. They’re just demigods, I would have said. Not really family.

Overall Conclusion

This is the most bored-outta-my-mind I felt after reading a PJO universe book. Am I finally growing out of the Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus fandom? Oh dear, I hope not. I can't imagine living without it and I'm SO not happy with this new development. Just as I feared, Uncle Rick couldn't keep it up after the excellent Burning Maze and now.....please, for your fans' sake who had been loyal for years, I hope at least the final book delivers. Just so we could at least part ways/go dormant with pleasant sentiments and a content heart.🙆‍♀️

[minikitti123]

Hey guys, Long Anime Post Here

Hi everyone! This post is gonna be extremely long, so please buckle up! I recently finished watching The Promised Neverland, and I thought it was amazing! I decided to head over to MyAnimeList and take a look at some of the discussions that were going on, and I came across one that I disagree heavily with. The person tries to show inconsistencies within the show, and many of them made no sense to me. I felt compelled to put my arguments and reasons as well. I really enjoy discussions about anime as well as analysis, so I had fun writing up my criticism of this posters problems with the show. I thought the show was awesome, but i know some disagree. Please feel free to share your thoughts with me as well! 

The link to the original post on MyAnimeList is here: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1774785

My original response is here: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1823693

MyAnimeList is here if you wanna check it out as well: https://myanimelist.net/profile/Minikitti123

THIS POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE ANIME THE PROMISED NEVERLAND (NO SPOILERS FOR THE MANGA, THOUGH i HAVE READ IT. THIS IS A WARNING. IF YOU PROCEED, YOU WILL MOST DEFINITELY BE SPOILED.)

(The original Poster is in Bold, my answers are in regular.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Everyone saw her leave with bunny, then next scene bunny is gone and magically in dinning hall. Nobody in the show questions that's strange we just saw her leave with bunny. How did it magically get there? Instead, they contemplate what to do and decide to go drop off bunny. As we’ve seen, Isabella keeps several toys from the children over the years, so it would make sense that she took the bunny from Conny before leaving (whether or not Conny knew she took it is another question altogether, but something tells me that Isabella took it without saying anything and Conny didn’t notice). Ray most likely knew this and set the bunny out of purpose. Whether that was a smart move on Ray’s part, I don’t know. I agree that there were probably better ways to do this but I think that it causes tension, there wouldn’t be as much stress watching a scene if everything went to plan, would it? Also, they may be top scorers, but they are still CHILDREN. Even some of the smartest people I know make mistakes in highly stressful situations, and some people overlook simpler, better answers to problems because they’re too busy making it difficult. “Even tho they are characterized perfect intelligence test scorers, they forgot an important scene that happen couple mins ago. You know what you need in intelligence test? A good memory. It's as if some fairy casted an amnesia spell on all these characters to forget what they just saw. Everyone on this forums said it would be explained and the plothole disproved; however, later episodes only further proves the plothole and ruins the characterization as well.” I don’t necessarily see how this RUINS their characterization. I know several very smart people with a problematic memory. And even if they aren’t, it doesn’t ruin them completely, it just honestly makes them feel more relatable to me, they are incredibly smart but still forget occasionally, ect. Either way though, it is logical to assume that Conny could have set the bunny down before leaving for Isabella to grab. Conny is seen as a little slower on the uptake, so it isn’t that hard to believe she might have absentmindedly set it down and forgot to retrieve it. She is 6, after all. The other characters know that about Conny too. Emma looked shocked that the bunny had been left behind, probably because she DID see Conny with it, and might have been wondering why she set it down. (Sidenote: In the manga, Conny isn’t carrying her bunny in that scene, the anime might have been better off going that route but whatever.) Later, in the story reveals Mother is trained to be high IQ and meticulously collects the toys. Why wouldn't she ask about the bunny from Connie that she just saw? Why would she let bunny be in house, so other kids could find out and thus revealing everything? It goes everything against the character. Isabella could have done that, but it honestly makes more sense for her to just take it without Conny’s knowledge to me. Conny is seen as absentminded, so she most likely wouldn’t have noticed, and if she did, Isabella could have lied and told her it was in the suitcase. Isabella most likely hid the bunny, but Ray would have known where to look and set the bunny out. To be honest, this could have been done better but I don’t necessarily think it ruins anything. Isabella might have thought she didn’t hide it well enough? Not sure, but that’s what I think. Lastly, how come Ray let Emma and Norman leave with bunny, which exposes him trying to ruin Mother because he did nothing to stop them. Ray's suppose to be smart and top scorer. Mother would have figured out Ray betrayed her. 200iqbtw I mean, there’s no reason for Emma and Norman to go without having to take it to Conny, and I’m not sure if Ray could have convinced Emma and Norman to go to the gate for no reason except curiosity. Maybe Norman, but I think that would be against Emma’s character to do that. It could have been done better, but with Emma’s stubborn attitude, would Ray have realistically been able to stop her from going to give the bunny to Conny if she really wanted to? Also, Ray wasn’t meaning for them to leave Little Bunny behind. If they had come back with the toy, Isabella would not have found out and Ray could have probably put the toy back where he found it. That was a mistake in the plan, and was used to create tension. I quite liked it actually. Realistically, Ray should just told them and show them hiding behind bush. Or they finally question Mother's authority and go stalk mother see what happens to Connie. Avoiding the whole bunny plothole situation. Is the writer so desperate for drama to create a betrayal/spy reveal that they have dumb down Ray and Mother? Right, the characters are only smart enough when the plot needs them to be and dumb enough to create shallow forms of tension. This is just one of many inconsistencies. Think about how much Emma loves Isabella, and how much she loves the house. Do you honestly think, with her stubborn, loving personality, that she would have believed Ray? She most likely would have had a similar reaction to Don, and with no proof to back it, what could Ray do? Also, Ray is shown messing around with Emma in the first episode, so Emma could see this as him trying to trick her. Norman I can see a little better, because of his curious nature. Plus, where would they hide? There weren’t really bushes, and hiding in bushes is pretty unrealistic anyway. The demons could smell them, and they barely got away. That would be extremely dangerous for the kids. The writer desperate for drama? He has to create suspense, that’s part of what makes a good story. It’s his job as a writer to make us as the audience feel these things, so yes, that’s the effect he was going for. I don’t see how this dumbs down the characters, and if they hadn’t left Little Bunny, Ray’s plan would have been fine. This is not make the characters “dumb”, it makes them more relatable. Also, Isabella has been working with Ray for 6 years. Ray has never before caused a stir, and has watched his siblings die all this time, all the while spying on them all. What reason does she have to suspect him now, after all this time? If Ray’s plan had gone perfect, there would be no reason except for maybe Emma and Norman’s reactions in episode 2. 1. Ray is given instant camera with Polaroids that works. Who is still working in factories making Polaroids in 2045 during demon apocalypse? Also, why would the mother give Ray a instant camera, a potential threat of proving demons are real. She suppose to have 200iq, where is it??? This is a spoiler for the manga, so I won’t go into this too much, but Krone did say that there were humans other than the ones at the farms, ones that are equal to those of demons. Also, Ray mentions in episode 5 that all the machines he got were “older models”, so realistically, they were probably just old relics and might not even be in make anymore. They don’t make quite a few old video game consoles anymore, but you can still buy them, can’t you? Isabella is shown to be close to Grandma, so she might have special privileges to get items like that. As for you thinking Ray would take a picture of the demons, the next shipment after he received the camera was to be his own. The demons don’t show up unless it is for shipment. He wouldn’t have gotten away with that, period. The most he could have done was take a picture of Isabella’s secret room, but that would have been dangerous and could easily be explained. Isabella is probably thinking, “what’s the harm?” She also has a soft spot for Ray, so in my mind it actually does well for her as a character. 2. The children have complete access to metal utensils, poisons, scalpels, medicine supplies, tools, etc.In what reality would you give your children any access to these. Does no one remember elementary school???? Utensils were plastic, scissors were blunt, desks and chairs corners are blunt, you play with soft balls, glass were plexiglass, and you most certainly had no access to chemicals/poisons lolollllololollllooool. While they do have access to utensils, they have to get a key for the medical supplies and scalpels, so they don’t technically have complete access to it in Isabella’s mind. They were able to access those items because of Krone’s help. Isabella never “gave them access”. Plus, this isn’t elementary school. These kids all do chores, cook, help around the house, ect. The poison was made from standard items kept around the house, like detergent or soap, so it wouldn’t have made much sense to hide these from the older children, who have to do their chores and such. Plus, if Isabella is killed, the kids would be in danger from the signal set off by Isabella’s chip, which Norman and Emma find out from Krone. 3. The kids have unlimited linen rope making all obstacles pointless. Norman first showed the magical rope when he was going to climb wall. The rope turned from only 25 meters rope only enough to tie around tree, then to over 100 meters+. It was so poorly animated and ridiculous. At that point, I thought might as well give the kids ladders. Also, what was the point in having cliff reveal climax, if they can just zipline across with infinite linens? I don’t know if they’re unlimited, but given how many kids there are I don’t think it is that far out there for them to have that much linen. It miht have been a bit more out there as a scene, but it makes at least a little bit of sense. He used the higher altitude of the tree branch in order to create tension on the rope and the gravitational force gave him the momentum to get up the wall. He is very intelligent, so he would have known this was his best way of getting up the wall with his lack of physical ability. A bit far out there? Yes. But this is an anime with demons, is it really all that deep? The cliff reveal was to create even more tension, thinking that there’s no way they can escape unless it’s through the very dangerous bridge, in which Norman figures out another way. 4. Ray steals several canisters of lamp oil. There's still people working oil rigs in 2045 in post apocalypse to get lamp oil???? Mother doesn't even notice nor cares something that is precious. They seem to have plenty of lamp oil, considering Isabella and the other children are seen using them throughout the series. Ray has had 6 years to prepare, taking one or two at a time would not be nearly as noticeable as you think. Like I said before, manga spoiler, but Krone does mention other humans besides those in the farms. 5. Endless supplies of food, when they plan their escape on the end of shipment date. How can you have more food at the last day of shipment date, when you spend all those resources training and exercising. You have to eat ton food to build muscle; otherwise, your body starts to eats itself. Also, how does mother not notice food supply being used rapidly? Literally, a huge indicator they are training. She suppose to be smart and monitoring supplies, so she can request more. They never claimed to have an infinite amount of food, but if every kid took a little from every meal every single day for more than two months leading to the escape, that could build up to quite a bit very quickly. They most likely at about the same, probably just a little under to be able to save food. Gaining muscle wasn’t necessarily their goal, it was more to become faster, more vigilant, faster at making decisions, ect. Isabella was busy keeping her eyes on Emma and Ray, and possibly even Don and Gilda, but she had absolutely no suspicion about any of the other children, making the build up of food a lot more reasonable and realistic. They most likely don’t take enough for her to notice, taking in small increments. -Unlimited access knowledge, despite them being sheltered and demons don't censor. How nice of them. I wouldn’t call their knowledge infinite or unlimited, and I’m sure the demons do slightly sensor, but this is supposed to be an “orphanage”. What sense would it make for the kids not to know a single thing about the outside world, wouldn’t that make them more curious? They are supposed to grow up happy and healthy, with hopes and dreams and aspirations. It makes sense for them to at least have a tiny bit of understanding about the outside. a. Norman knows how to lockpick, when it is convenient for the plot to make rope. It is convenient, I’ll give you that. But he might have learned it from a book, who knows? b. Ray knows rfid chips and how to make small taser. Why would demons give them information on rfid chips or how to make a taser???? I’m sure the demons didn’t just give children all the information to make a taser, but Ray is more in the know about everything because of his memory. He has Isabella to give him occasional information and machines, so he experiments. Ray is shown as being excellent with machines and is very intelligent. c. They know to look for cameras, listening devices, and even Morse code in 2045. The demons are smart enough to conquer the human species, but too dumb to notice pattern codes being written on books? It’s not that the demons aren’t smart enough to notice the codes, they probably just don’t bother checking. They most likely consider the children to be just meat, even if they are incredibly intelligent meat. They are underestimating them BECAUSE the demons have the upper hand. They probably think that there’s no way that a mere human could get the best of them. None of this makes sense why would the demons give them the world's information and not censorship. Majority of dominant groups in history censors information from the losing side. Because, like I stated, this would make them even more curious. Even just not being allowed past the gate gives the characters reason to be curious and to try looking outside. To an extent, I am sure they are censoring, just not as much as you might think they should. Also, The demon goal is develop high iq kids not knowledgeable ones. Instead, the books would be filled with math questions, probabilities, puzzles, and other problem solving to increase IQ. It shouldn't have the world information because that would make them curious about the world and want to explore outside of the farm. The writer seems doesn't understand the difference between high IQ and being knowledgeable. I’m sure they have plenty of books like that, but the demons are underestimating the abilities of the children so they think it couldn’t possibly hurt. I personally think NOT having the information would make them even more curious. I’m sure the writer understands just fine, thank you. -constant last minute flashbacks to gain pitty pts, instead of a natural character building from the start. How am I suppose sympathize wit 2d characters in a contrived scenario with demons and now you develop them when they are dead or their story arc is over. Why didn't you develop them from start, so I get to be immerse how real characters are? It is like building a house's foundation last and walls fall apart. I like how you say “last minute” flashbacks like this isn’t employed in basically any shounen anime ever. This technique is used all the time in anime, and are not really even constant. If you don’t like the flashbacks that’s cool, it’s your opinion, but I happen to like what it does for a character. The characters are developed well, in my opinion, even without the flashbacks. Sorry, just my opinion, I think it works (overuse is kinda monotonous though, to be fair). -Plot armor Plot armor Plot Armor. This show should be called Plot Armmor a1. Mother breaks Emma leg, but can't kill her cause Plot armor. There is no real threat in this show because of plot armor this show established. I’m sorry, what? Do you know how many problems that would cause for Isabella? Even if Grandma is on her side, I doubt all the demons would be so forgiving of her mess-up. She would have taken a serious hit in her reputation at the very least, especially since Emma is so valuable as merchandise. The threat is real, because now Norman can’t run away without leaving Emma behind. Plot armor is a no here, because there is a very good reason for Isabella not to kill Emma. a2. Norman no death scene when red shirts are given. Can't kill main character offscreen that's bad writing, so he has PLOT ARMOR. Making all flashbacks pointless. It isn’t necessarily bad writing, it just makes the audience wonder a little more and the ends are a bit looser, it leaves room for interpretation. I don’t know why you would see this as plot armor, that makes no sense. a3. Don going ziplining without a safety rope. Ofc he get it first try cause he has plot armor. To an extent, this is a fair point. However, the kids are shown practicing ziplining using rope, so doesn’t it maybe make sense he would have practiced with slinging the rope and sliding on the same rope? If he didn’t get it first try that night, he would be dead, but it most likely wasn’t his first practice. a4. The constant empty threats or glances, when they have plot armor. You know they aren't going to kill the main characters early. What makes it even worse is that they know they have plot armor established in episode 2, when Norman calculates their value. They had to kill 36 kids to get 3 perfect scoring kids. To an extent the threats are empty, but Emma got her leg broken and Norman was sent off, and Ray was next. Ray would have gone through with his plan to light himself up if not for Emma and Norman. Just because those other children aren’t perfect scorers, that doesn’t mean they weren’t highly valued. I’m sure there were several older, intelligent kids who made it to 12 as well. So, to an extent, I see your point, but I disagree. This why Asian horror films and older horror films don't put their characters under threat early. It's insulting and gimmicky because once you see one horror film with jumpscares/fake tension moments and nothing happens then you know gonna be same for rest films. I don’t really understand the point you’re trying to make here, so I’m just gonna leave this one alone for the most part. I think it does very well at building up tension and some of the jump scares genuinely shook me a little bit. Instead, they spend time developing their characters first. So, that viewers emotionally attach to them, when shit goes down in end you care for them. This is why the whole crux of decent horror/thriller/psychological show is character development, which this show has major problems in. I don’t agree that the characters are developed badly, so there isn’t much point on me commenting on this part. mom -conflict of character empathy b1. 1st ep shown hugging Connie picture alone implying she does have empathy for kids. However, 2nd ep kids figured out she has murdered at least 36+ kids possibly even 60kids, and she goes so far as collects kids toys that were shipped. How does it make sense for her to show no signs of trauma, have no coping mechanisms, nor she is emotionally disconnected? She continues to try emotionally connect with the kids. You would have to be a psychopath to have a remainder of all kids she watch die and go on as if nothing happened or committed suicide along time ago. The toys would constantly trigger her traumatic events. I don't understand how can people say she is realistic. 36+KIDS!!! PEOPLE!!! NOT EVERYONE REACTS THE SAME WAY TO TRAUMA. Sorry, I just had to get that part out. Isabella, having been in that place herself, obviously does have empathy for the kids, because she understands what it’s like to be in the dark and to later on have to face the horror of it herself. But, even in real life, sometimes people do what they have to do to survive. And that’s what Isabella does. In my opinion, her even showing empathy and emotion at all is proof that it fucks with her at least a little. For example, the longing way she touches the photograph Ray takes of her, or her face when Norman asks if she is happy in episode 10, both show her as affected by it all. She sings that lullaby constantly, almost like an anxiety crutch. Emotionally connecting with the kids is her wish, even if she does have to kill them later. Despite it being really screwed up, she really does want them to be the happiest they can be before death. After all, there’s not a single thing she can do to stop it. Is she a psychopath? I don’t think so, but I don’t know for sure. Maybe? The whole reason for her being a mom is to survive, everything she has gone through, why would she kill herself? Like I said, everyone deals with trauma differently. - 200iq btw perfect scores c1. Mother brings in krone, who trains and gives tons info to kids on how to escape. It completely backed fired for mother. How did she not see this coming, when becoming nanny is competitive field. The reason Isabella brought Krone was because she was already actively suspicious of Ray, and wanted to deter him with a force he couldn’t control. Ray is used to knowing everything and being able to control a situation, but this is not something he was prepared for. She might have seen it coming, but she most likely thought the kids wouldn’t get anywhere either way, so she was underestimating them. She killed Krone either way, so I guess it doesn’t matter. c2. She does literally nothing, which exposes Ray as spy. Why didn't she do anything to protect his cover? Why didn't she do anything to reinforce her side of story??? Up to this point in the story, she is most likely at least a bit suspicious of Ray. She probably figured it wouldn’t matter if his cover was blown, because Emma would never leave him behind regardless. c3. She lets them go to wall all the time and only caught them once, let's them train, gives them tons information to help their escape, she let's them tell other kids exposing her, let them plan, and in end she even let's them escape. Only time she catches them is to break Emma's leg, which is sign of desperation. After completely losing the information game for doing nothing, she begs for help from grandma to deal with krone, which was her mistake to begin with. How is she 200iq and playing 10d chess again? Like I said, she is underestimating them. With all the difficulties like the wall, the younger children, getting over the cliff, the security near the bridge, ect, she probably just thought it wasn’t possible. She might have been desperate and only caught them this time to break Emma’s leg because of Norman’s upcoming shipment. She needed to ensure none of them would go anywhere. She didn’t really beg grandma for help, she knew grandma would take her side and gave Krone the chance to not betray her, even though Isabella knew she would. Pretty decent strategy, but not perfect. c4. She wasted all her time on radio and signaling demons, which is bad idea because why would tell your 0 tolerance boss, who eats humans, that you majorly fucked up. Instead, she could have used that time to catch up to Emma break her leg again and forcing all kids back home again. She even caught up to them in end. Imagine not wasting that time on radio. Honestly, I completely agree with this one. Maybe she wasn’t thinking straight because she was panicking? I don’t think she could have forced all the kids home, but they wouldn’t have left Emma, so that would have definitely been the better option for her to take. Maybe she wanted them to escape after all? She seemed fine letting them go in the end scene, maybe she was giving them time or just genuinely didn’t think about it? But honestly, would it have really mattered? The kids might have been able to overpower her together, and even if they killed her, they would probably have enough time to get away before demons showed, and the tracking devices were now null, so.. idk. krone d1. krone copes through violence and beating doll. She is only character that is consistent with her story. However, she is a useless character for the story and actually ruins the other characters. I don’t think she is useless, she is another take on the trauma and stress of going through what Isabella did, and was good for creating tension and giving the children information. I quite liked her, actually. Her death scene was haunting to watch, and it could maybe show that this is what would happen if Isabella messed up as well? Who knows. -mom loses development because time spent on krone. -mom looks like a moron. krone trains kids and give them tons info. This also weakens the kids characters, instead of the kids the opportunity to prove their smart. Mom actually gains because of Krone. She is shown as business woman, no nonsense, though she is also seen bragging about her children to Krone, showing she does actually care a little. It gives Isabella more edge to be even scarier later on. It doesn’t weaken the kids’ characters, because half the information they asked, they already knew the answer. They were trying to test Krone to make sure she wasn’t going to lie. They needed the information, and they got it. Not stupid on their part to use an opportunity freely given to them. Always make use of what you have before it’s gone. d2. Her flashback of them learning martial arts made no sense. Seeing how moms never use it. In the ten years, not once she used it and only gets dull over time. Also, the kids would never fight 1 on 1 lolol this isn't a fighting anime. To an extent, it makes sense, but I agree with your point a bit. However, I think Isabella used her fighting knowledge to successfully make a clean break in Emma’s leg, so there is a tiny reason for why this is in there at least. d3. ep 3 or 4 krone shows tracking device shows kids location during hide and seek. ep 7 the first thing krone shows kids tracking device only shows 1 dot , when emma and norman are there. In ep 11, they show that there were kids behind door overhearing whole convo to prove moms selling them to demons. Krone should have saw all bright dots on tracking device of all kids behind door. However, none of them show up on tracking device. Even tracking device only allowed to show kids when plot needs it. This is actually a very good point, and one I hadn’t really thought of. norman e1. 2nd episode he has trouble climbing tree, so emma has to climb for him. forgot episode #, but he runs up perpendicular to wall lolololo. He defys the laws of gravity, yet jumping to otherside of cliff is impossible for him lol. Bad writing because it ruins the climax reveal of the cliff, since he can obviously just jump over. Also, they could just escape that night. They built up that cliff reveal by having viewers being curious as why is security lax, only to be ruined by previous scene norman running up wall defying gravity. Norman doesn’t defy laws of gravity, he uses the gravitational pull of the higher branch to gain momentum enough to swing himself up, in like an arc. Is it a little crazy? Yeah, but it’s an anime, and it fits his character well enough at least. Obviously he can’t just jump to the other side, he doesn’t have the strength of Don to throw far enough, and the area he was at first wasn’t the area they crossed anyway. This does not at all ruin the reveal in my opinion. e2. He's shown to care about kids, but connie death traumatic experience but shows nothing afterwards. That's not how first time experiencing trauma works. They would be having nightmares involuntary screaming for at least a week. You can't just magically alter your body's reactions. Norman is shown having nightmares later on, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t having any about Conny before that scene is shown. Not everyone screams in their nightmares, some people twitch, gasp, or just sweat and lie still. I’m just saying, everyone has different reactions. e3. He's curious to go to wall all time, but never curious to lockpick the gate and see whats outside the wall or open all doors in house find mother lying even more. He already knows Mother is liar, when she said going to wall is dangerous. Why wouldn't he want to explore more? Again he's curious, but never questions the following: -why can't they go past line mother said not to - which first episode they prove she is lying and at the gate during day looks like 5 years old. -why they never allowed to go to outside -why do they never meet the parents adopting -why have they never gotten any letters from kids that are adopted -why they are labeled numbers on side of their neck If he was realistically this smart, then he would have question everything mother has lied about and realized sooner they're in a prison with numbers labeled on them. There’s a simple reason for this, and it’s that he trusts her enough not to look into it too far. Plus, none of the rooms give anything away, only the gate, the fence, and the secret room, which he does not know about at that time. Young people, even if they are curious, place heavy amounts of trust in the words of adults, and he has no reason at this point not to trust in Isabella. He suspects she lies, but most likely thinks that it is for his own good. The letter thing is more suspicious, but I highly doubt he is gonna disobey just for that. Norman has been in this place since he was a baby, and all his siblings have numbers, so it makes sense to just think of them as normal. Even though he is curious, he is placing trust in Isabella as his caretaker, which several children, even ones who are victims of abuse, do as well. It’s just a kid thing. e4. He shows off to krone that he can run faster than her. He is characterize as mature and strategist, yet shows off all strategies and proves he's faster than krone. Basic strategy 101 don't give your enemy all your strategies and don't showoff proving your capable. When you are strong, pretend you are weak. To create doubt and uncertainty. Krone would have most likely known Norman was holding back on purpose. Norman is still more nervous about Isabella than he is of Krone. That strategy would work, but I think Norman has it to not hold back. Krone might have gotten a little more slowed due to having already been sprinting for 20 minutes. e5. doesn't even contemplate on capturing or murdering mother. Killing mother eliminates the threat, who knows them. 2nd reveals the demons response time to situation, how far is reinforcements, and that moms tracking device signals them. Ray and Norman contemplate this in episode 3, but it is revealed by Krone in episode 7 that killing Isabella would set of an alarm to the demons. Norman is playing everything safe and planning before launching an attack. He is planning ahead rather than being impulsive. e6. Capturing is best option before they escape. So, mother doesn't warn or goes after them like it did in finale. It was so bad. She could went after them and break their legs again. Capturing her might have worked, but think about how strong Isabella is. It would have been difficult. Emma tried to hold Isabella back and got her leg broken. Don is one of the strongest and I have my doubts he could have taken down Isabella. e7. Why did Norman plan on escaping on last day of shipment, when food supplies are depleted, as noted above. Also, the demons will know they are escaping because no one shows up for shipment. The best time escape is a month in so they have 1month of food reserves to start a new life and the demons wouldn't know. How are you going to survive with low food rations?? Are chickens just gonna magically appear and feed them? What kind master plan is this? Food supplies are not depleted, they are being stored. Waiting until the last minute was a good idea so they could gather until the very end. They stored food for months for this. The demons wouldn’t have known without Isabella letting them know that night, and being the night before shipment, that gave them an entire day to get gone before the demons came after them. ray f1. exposes himself to mom doing nothing to stop norman or emma from going to gate and delivering the bunny. He could have said he can deliver the bunny and the rest can stay in house. Mom should known ray betrayed her and stop giving stuff. Ray should known this exposes him. I gave my answer to this above, but to summarize, it could have been done better, but if all had gone to plan, it would have definitely worked. Isabella has a soft spot for Ray I think, so she allows him closer to her regardless. f2. Only wants them three to escape, when having groups people spread increases his chances for survival. if they escape in all directions, this is best chance of them surviving. Also, more cannon fodder/ red shirts to protect main characters. Ray should know this by reading all his books. Larger groups don’t necessarily mean increasing chances of survival. In fact, the more people, the worse it would be to get them all out safely. They would never want to split up the entire group, there’s no way. I hate to say it, I wanted them all to get out, but when Ray said it was impossible I found myself agreeing a little bit. The plan worked and I am very happy it did, but it could have easily gone wrong. The “cannon fodder” comment is gross and I’m just not gonna touch that one. f3. gives away info that don and gilda knows the truth, when they can be potential wild card. Why give enemy info?? Now, Mom knows to watch them, but of course she doesn't cause of plot. They get away training and building ropes. He does, but Isabella was smarter and caught him. Isabella doesn’t watch them as closely because of Emma and Ray being the more dangerous to look out for, and she probably didn’t think Don and Gilda could do it on their own. What Isabella didn’t know was that there were more children involved. f4. Fetus memories Not fragmented memories. Fully detailed fetus memories of bridge and being close to demon hq lololo. Again deprives ray demonstrating his genius and instead given knowledge by the writer. Why didn't he share any info on bridge being demon hq, beforehand? He doesn’t have fully detailed memories, just snippets. He doesn’t know everything, just where he came from and a bit about the demons and other children. If he had full details he would have known all about the best way to escape, but he didn’t. He didn’t know about the bridge, just that the babies came from headquarters and they came through the gate. f5. Escaping at night is dumb strategically wise. Because of poor vision and they are running. If one of them trips, someone sprains their ankles. It's over. Of course that won't happen because that's realistic. Also, if the demons have Helicopters or Predator drones with thermals, they are fucked. He's suppose to be the Technology expert btw. This is a fair enough point. It would be very dangerous. But, to be fair, during the day they would have had no chance of getting away without alerting Isabella. The fire would have only really worked as a plan at night. The demons may be capable of that, but they were watching the bridge, not the cliff. Ray was planning on being a distraction so he thought the kids would make it to the bridge before Isabella could alert the demons. emma g1. there's no backstory about her or any explanation for her behavior. There's literally nothing. You see glimpses of the dynamic between her, Ray, and Norman in Norman’s flashback, and the one fron the very beginning. She is characterized as being stubborn (she keeps trying to see and talk to Norman while he is sick), but kind and fun-loving, just through those flashbacks. There is something, but obviously you weren’t looking hard enough. g2. emma cutting her ear was pointless and only delayed mother like 10 seconds. She even caught up to them, despite her wasting all her time on radio and not going after them. She could just met up in forest with other kids like mother told her to, then taser the device in the forest before going to the wall. Her cutting her ear only told mother that she is escaping. If she didn't cut her ear, mother would assume she was with kids. Perfect test scorer btw. Emma did not have the time to very carefully cut the tracker out, and the other children had the taser, so this was honestly the best way to make time for herself and the children. What you said could have worked, but I also think that Emaa cutting her ear placed a lot of pressure on Isabella, distracting her and possibly making her lose focus, which is possibly why she made her dumb decisions. I think it was a good move, but maybe not a completely 100% necessary one. g3. let's ray going thru suicide plan, instead of telling him norman's plan. At no point she just tells ray the plan before he lights the match. She suppose to be caring. Why would she risk matching lighting up. Another pointless dramatic scene for sake of being melodramatic. They had all this time to train, hid food, tell other kids, but can't tell ray cause drama. Emma could have told him Norman’s plan, very true. But then it wouldn’t have been as exciting to watch, it wouldn’t have the same tension, the suspense. I think this moment actually places even more personality to Ray as well. Plus, Ray might not have agreed and found it too risky, he wanted to die anyway, had since the beginning. This was Emma’s best shot at saving Ray’s life. The writer’s job is to make drama. Just saying. g4. Experiences traumatic experience even goes so far to puking on Connie's death, then nothing. Ptsd patients take therapy and even necessary meds. Next day just gets over it and everything is fine. Realistically, she would be having nightmares for month and screaming involuntary at night waking up whole house. It's like they forgot traumatizing experience seeing Connie's dead body. Of course, because Connie is just another plot device shock value. Emma doesn’t just “get over it”. She has nightmares, she is probably constantly thinking about Conny, she wants to save the other kids because of what happened to Conny, which is why she keeps mentioning her in the first couple episodes. She still has trouble putting up a wall around mom, and she is so determined partly because of what she saw. I don’t know how you can honestly say that Emma doesn’t care, it’s ridiculous. Also, forgot to talk about demon scene saying it's ok to kill the kids. This is bad writing because brain dies off first in couple minutes. This why you are taught in middle school health class, taken cpr, or watch medical dramas past 6mins and they are brain dead. 3mins in and the brain is already suffering severe damage. How can demons live off dead brain mush, when they been culling off kids for an intelligent brain. why does pointing out terrible writing matters? Because you are lowering the writing standards for horror/psychological/thriller genre. The only thing going for this genre has is the quality of writing. It's not fighting or boobie anime, where you can have shitty writing, but amazing fighting choreography and as anime connoisseurs call it "artwork". The millions dollars that is spent on this anime could been spent to help bigger budget with other better animes or even help Japanese films for better productions. Or instead of giving them money for a fake 2d emotional abuse children scenes, actually donate the millions of dollars to real abused children charities. Your point here is ridiculous, plenty of people love this anime (me included). I could say the same thing to you, I’m sure you enjoy a show that I don’t. Why waste money on that, donate to charity instead! Let me tell you, I donate to charity every single month. What people do with their money and budget is THEIR business and not yours. If someone wants to use their money on making a shitty movie or something, let them. It’s their money. I had fun writing my opinion on your critiques, but this makes you sound tepid and shallow. This would makes sense for superhero shows that have awful heavily edited action scenes, but is high rated cause the viewership is bunch 5 year olds, who can't think yet. However, people here watch 100+ animes, read tons of mangas, and write long descriptive reviews and not realize the bad writing in this show? What's worse is that 62,587 believe this show writing is perfect and complete masterpiece. 97,932 think the writing is actually good. This is far more horrifying than demons. Does it make you feel better to discredit other people’s opinions? I really enjoyed this show, and you didn’t. That’s fine. But what you’re saying is that people shouldn’t enjoy the show, and even call them five year olds, and that is ridiculous. Grow up. I know you aren’t gonna read this, but I had fun, and I hope people liked it. Please feel free to put your opinions! I’d love to chat about them!