#but it does have its downsides (and I don’t mean in animation unlike those people 😒)

[no1ryomafan]

Yknow I can’t tell if this is happening more and more bc the general circles seem sick of arma bc it’s always in SRW-as petty as that whole thing is-or if this is just popping up more as years go on but I find it funny how people continually say “don’t watch arma as your first getter show, it’s confusing without any prior knowledge!” When like- you look at every other mecha imagawa has directed and it’s a stable of his to have a drastically altered setting from the original source, that your thrown into and doesn’t get shit explained to you so you have to figure it out as it goes along.

Like- he did this exact thing with giant robo even more confusing as he ripped a ton of characters from the authors other works, g gundam he said “what if I made Gundam a SUPER robot” so if you don’t know wtf the real robot is or know nothing about gundam that’s gonna be tonal whiplash and shin mazingers while a more traditional retelling first fucking ep is the ENDING. (Tetsujin the only one I can’t comment on here bc I know hardly anything about it since no one talks about it, but I’ll report back if it follows the same “Wtfness” bc I expect so) With arma even if he left after ep 3 and the rest of the changes (debateably) we’re added by Kawagoe, the first 3 eps are his standard story telling, especially given this was his third mecha project. Sure, someone may not know this if they never saw his other works or be informed similar director, but arma really isn’t a outline so I don’t get why it shows so much hostility if someone starts with it first.

Am I opposed to someone starting with the manga or any of the other Animes because they give better insight on the character? No, it’s all personal preference and anything else is just as a good starting point if not slightly better then arma. But I don’t like there should be a designated starting point when with getter the *only* thing someone needs to do in a specific order or way is what arcs of the manga to read-which even then, not the end of the world if someone stumble upon it via a later arc bc they can go back to read the rest if they find them-but the only anime they’ll need prior manga context to is arc since it’s outright a adaptation. Toei and all the ovas are their own thing, even if the latter takes elements of the manga.

Arma is no different from this and it’s really sad to see how it’s gatekeep like this as of late when it’s not actually “something you need a lot of experience in the franchise to understand” and more so “a effect of imagawas really specific method of story telling that is convoluted”.

[opbackgrounds]

I don’t have the time or energy right now to do another ask-a-thon or to do a bunch of long meta posts, but in celebration of reaching 5000 followers I did want to do a write up of a character that I see overlooked a lot by the fandom who is very near and dear to my heart. What makes them especially interesting is that I think their existence is a prime example of Oda’s skills at a writer, foreshadowing plot elements that wouldn’t be expounded upon for hundreds and hundreds of chapters. 

It’s pretty common for Oda to play the long game in his writing. Going back through the series as I have I’ve gained a new appreciation for Oda’s world building and his ability to set up certain element of the story that won’t be pertinent until far in the future. It helps the world feel organic and lived in, but on the downside, it’s sometimes easy to forget that certain characters or organizations even exist, which can make their sudden reappearance in the series feel jarring or forced. 

There are also characters and plot elements that are in and of themselves not very prominent but are there to help establish themes and motivations for other characters. For example, Gaimon was only in the manga for one chapter (and a couple of cover stories) but helped answer one of the driving questions of the East Blue: “What is treasure?”. 

The character I want to talk about today is a good example of this second group. Like Gaimon, they were only around for a single chapter, and yet their importance cannot be overstated when it comes to understanding Sanji’s character both in the Baratie and in arcs to come. They’re a type, a way of foreshadowing, and absolutely instrumental to the overall plot of the Baratie arc all at the same time. It’s pretty rare to see a character able to fulfill so many roles with such a short amount of screen time, and as much as people gush over Oda’s character writing, this is one instance where he doesn’t get the credit that is due him. 

Who is this mysterious character you may ask? Well, Batchee of course 

It’s not a coincidence that Batchee is introduced in the same chapter Sanji is, because in a way, their stories mirror one another. It’s ironic that Fullbody would dare to accuse Sanji of hurting a fly when the Whole Cake Island establishes without a doubt that Sanji is not only has the gentlest spirit of the Straw Hat Pirates, but cares so much for the world around him that he is literally willing to feed hungry rats. To be clear: Sanji would not hurt a fly, especially if that fly was a woman. In the same way, Batchee shows a remarkable resilience, never once retaliating against the injustice they faced for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And unlike Sanji, who is outwardly very coarse and uncouth, he does so quietly, uttering not a single line of dialogue throughout his brief appearance. It’s this instance with the soup that triggers the entire plot of the Baratie arc (and is paralleled towards the end when the chefs try to force Sanji away by insulting his cooking), making Batchee an absolute essential component of the arc, one of those tiny gears that hardly anyone notices but would cause the whole machine to fall apart if removed.

We see Batchee suffer in silence as he’s horribly abused by the people around him. Not only was he attacked unprovoked by a jealous Fullbody, notice how we see no other insects during the Baratie arc. Batchee is alone, just like Sanji was alone before Zeff rescued him. It’s no coincidence that Oda used a bug in this scene, as bugs have exoskeletons just like the Vinsmoke siblings, and although it’s arguing from silence, I would not be surprised if Batchee was likewise driven away from his family for being too weak. As to why he was on the Baratie at all, I can only assume that he dreamed of being a chef, only to have that dream torn away from him by a cruel and unjust governmental system, setting a precedent for further atrocities later on in the series. 

There’s just not enough information given to speculate further, but I have the fullest confidence that Oda won’t let this plot thread dangle. I’m not someone who likes guessing about future chapters very often, but I would not be at all surprised if he returns during the Wano arc as one of Kaido’s gifters as another Duval-type situation where an old, forgotten foe swears revenge on the Straw Hat’s cook. Hopefully he’ll be given a similarly happy ending. After all he’s been through, he deserves it.

(Edit to add: while looking up stuff for this post I found an old interview that’s pretty interesting

“...Unfortunately Gin’s will wasn’t strong enough to defeat the deadly poison...But even with that, I think fans can be excited for what’s planned next...2016 was the Year of Sanji, it’s time to get ready for the Year of Batchee...”

—Eiichiro Oda

Oda’s predictions on his timeline are famously bad, but with everything going on in the story I could definitely see an imminent return)

An interesting thing to note is that Batchee has a drastically different character design in the manga than the anime. Historically the anime has worked closely with Oda in order to ensure maximum accuracy, however the insect shown during these episodes can’t possibly be a fly. It’s got 10 legs, antenna coming out of its butt, and no wings to be seen 

Obviously this is another reference to Sanji’s future transformation abilities. Unlike the the Vinsmoke siblings, Batchee’s power isn’t named, but his color scheme makes me believe he fulfills the role of the brown Power Ranger. With such a drastic transformation (albeit offscreen, likely to preserve the surprise during WCI and beyond) from common horsefly to...whatever that is...I wouldn’t be surprised if Vegapunk himself had a hand in his creation. Only time will tell. 

To wrap things up here, the story of Batchee and Sanji are closely intertwined. One cannot exist without the other, and just like how Batchee foreshadows much of Sanji’s Whole Cake Island storyline, I believe that Sanji can help us see Batchee’s ultimate fate. One Piece is ultimately a very optimistic series, and since there’s no confirmation that he actually died during his introductory chapter I have to assume that the little guy is still out there chasing his dream. I would have liked to have seen him during the post-time skip cover stories, but his absence can only mean that Oda has big plans for the future, and I for one look forward to seeing what he has in store.

[recentanimenews]

OPINION: How Umineko Changed My Entire Approach to Fictional Media

All screenshots captured on Playstation 3 by author

  The following article contains a discussion of thematic elements and motives that appear during the second half of Umineko When They Cry. While no actual plot details will be revealed, some might still consider it spoilery. So if you want to experience one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever completely untainted, you should check it out on Steam right now.

  The internet is pretty rad, isn't it? You can follow your favorite creators, watch tons of awesome shows, and talk about your favorite things with other people. How about we do that right now? Well, too bad, because YOUR FAVORITE THING IS BAD, ACTUALLY! You made the mistake of posting about it online, so prepare to be sent lots of negative comments linking to 5-hour video essays pointing out every single flaw about your favorite story and why you are wrong for enjoying it!

    It's a situation I'm sure many of us have experienced at least a couple of times online. While the internet can be fantastic for finding like-minded people to chat with about things you deeply love, it can also be a gamble and sometimes you end up in a discussion where your conversational partner seems more interested in showing off their intellectual superiority over a work instead of openly discussing its merits or flaws. I certainly know — I used to be one of them.

  "As I've eaten my way through countless tales to escape boredom, I haven't really been eating them. I've just been killing them." - Hachijo Tohya

  The rise of social media has opened the gates for some incredible in-depth discussion and has changed the way I experience things over the years. But there is also a dark side to the discussions on the internet and that is the trap of wanting to feel intelligent in how you approach stories, which is often accompanied by not really being emotionally earnest. I myself tried to come off as perceptive by pointing out so many mistakes and bad things about media which led to exactly one thing: me becoming absolutely miserable. All I cared about was consuming as many things as possible (FOMO's also one of the many downsides of social media) and appearing as "smart" about them as I could. Until one fateful 10-month stretch in which I played a certain visual novel known as Umineko When They Cry.

    Umineko really is tailor-made for catching people with that mindset: It depicts a mystery story about how mystery stories are told and consumed — and what genre would be more fitting to challenge someone concerned with intellectual superiority than one that is all about the clash of Author vs Reader? 

  "Books aren't a competition. It's not about who's read the most. But boasting that you've read all your ever need to read is just as wrong-headed" - Battler Ushiromiya

  Umineko starts off with a well-known mystery trope: A family meets up in a mansion on a distant island, gets cut off by a storm, and then slowly gets murdered one after the other until everyone is dead. And just as in Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (which served as one of Umineko's main inspirations), a bottle detailing the events of the incident to the public eventually washes ashore. But this only serves as Umineko's prologue, as its main character Battler quickly finds himself facing off against a self-proclaimed Golden Witch known as Beatrice on a meta-narrative level where he must prove these gruesome killings could have been committed by a human culprit, or be forced to acknowledge her existence and allow her to fully revive.

    Thus begins a game of chess filled with exceedingly preposterous murders in which our protagonist's family gets killed by demons, giant goat butlers, and sharpshooting bunny girls — all supplemented by the so-called Red Truth, a truth-revealing tell not unlike Martha's vomiting in Knives Out. Battler must use these authorial proclamations and find a loophole that enables him to explain the murders in a way that does not frame any of his beloved family members as the killer and still allows him to deny the existence of the gruesome and torturous witch.

    Umineko's all about how stories are perceived and told by both their creator and their audience. It explores how remarks by the author in every situation — no matter how off-hand they might be — can be used, applied, and twisted to shed a completely different light on a story regardless of its original intent. It shows how adding meaning to a narrative that wasn't meant to be there can both add to or subtract from its most important element: The heart its creator wanted to convey.

  "If I had found meaning in only exposing the truth, I would have sunk to the level of a truth-revealing witch and fallen into ruin, spreading only hatred, [...], crushing and refusing to acknowledge anything but the particular truth I seek, unable to escape the cycle of misery." - Ange Ushiromiya

  Umineko goes through many different angles of how we create, share, and discuss the tales that fuel our discourse. It ponders the importance of rules when creating storylines and tackles how easy it is to overlook major themes and motives by just focussing on minute details that are open to misinterpretation and irrelevant to a story's soul. It even includes the typical misanthropic yet oh so intelligent detective that usually gets idolized in most media (think BBC's Sherlock or House, M.D.) and puts them at odds with every other character because who would really want to cooperate with someone that completely disregards you as an equal human being and merely perceives you as an amalgation of hints, motives and alibis?

  "Sheesh! Just one more step and I'd have been able to take a heart as innocent as the smooth sand just after a wave had pulled back and tear it to bits. What a shame. This isn't fun anymore." - Erika Furudo

  And just when you start to really get into Umineko, it moves away from its main conflict, providing you important hints for its solution which most readers ignore as they aren't presented with facts and logic but on an emotional level distanced from the characters we long to get back to. But most importantly, it conveys how one single element is so indispensable to enjoying the narrative odysseys we embark on in our lives, to cherishing the characters that are presented to us in these tales, and to truly understand a story's message behind things like story developments, plot twists, and narrative tricks. I, of course, am talking about love.

  Be it the love you feel for characters, for certain staging elements, phrasings of prose, orchestrations of music, design of sound effects, implementations of themes and motives, or cinematographic puzzle pieces — the one thing that is indispensable to truly enjoy all kinds of media, is love. Or, to quote Umineko directly, "Without love, it cannot be seen."

    By the time, I was nearing the end of Umineko's eight main chapters, it had transformed from an intellectual battle between author and reader to an all-out war of a story against its community of readers who simply wanted to tear it down to cold, hard "facts." I had spent ten months and over 100 hours. The first half took eight of those months to get through (owing to a few lengths in Episodes 2 and 4), I finished the second half in less than two despite my busy schedule. I even dedicated a whole 15-hour marathon to the final episode as I was too glued to the grand finale to move away from it.

    A new me came out the end. I no longer had an interest in tearing apart media for minor missteps. I enjoyed them much more deeply and honestly and began taking my time with the things I consumed. Instead of filling my plate at the buffet of stories as much as I could, I gave each dish its own course on the menu so I could appreciate its flavor in a different way — one bite at a time and not stuffed up simply to give the outward appearance of a seasoned gourmet. And for that, I will never be able to thank Ryukishi07 and his co-creators at 07thExpansion enough.

  "The point of theory-making is not to create a culprit or to trample the truths that lie in the hearts of those who have not sinned. If you want to play detective, don't neglect the heart. Otherwise, we're just intellectual rapists. Don't forget it!!" - Willard H. Wright

  If you are interested in reading Umineko When They Cry, you can find both its Question Arcs and its Answer Arcs on Steam, GOG, and MangaGamer. You can also read the manga adaptation digitally on Bookwalker (though I personally recommend the visual novel for its award-worthy soundtrack alone).

  What work of fiction has touched your life in a profound way? Tell us in the comments!

      René Kayser works for Crunchyroll as a PR and Social Media Manager in Germany. You can find him on Twitter @kayserlein where he tries to get people into Umineko every single day.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[some-lists]

All the Disney Princesses Ranked From Worst to Best.

(Sorry, no Vanellope.)

14. Merida

I know Merida has really badass archery skills. She’s also outspoken, strong willed, and clever. But she’s still my least favorite princess. I just didn’t like her. Maybe it’s the fact that she wanted to change her mom. And she actually went through with it. Of course, she didn’t actually know what was going to happen, and the journey brought them closer together. She grew as a character and that’s good. But just seeing her disrespect her mother, especially publicly in front of all the clans, is hard to watch. It doesn’t help that I thought Brave was one of Pixar’s weaker movies and essentially Brother Bear all over again.

13. Anna

Not gonna lie. I hate Anna. She’s so damn pushy and combative. I know, it’s all her parents’ fault. All of it. But still. She doesn’t listen to Elsa at all. She pushes and pushes triggering Elsa’s ice outbursts, which become more visible as they build along with her anxiety. Every uncontrolled “accident” Elsa has in the first film is because Anna didn’t listen to her. Of course, she also didn’t listen to Elsa’s warning about marrying Hans either. She foolishly left the kingdom in the hands of an outsider, someone she didn’t even know.

She definitely shows improvement in the second film. She becomes more sensitive towards Elsa’s feelings and her powers. She’s also very loyal and brave, risking her life for Elsa, yet again. She’s still very clingy and desperate for people’s love. It manifests in her fear of losing Elsa and Kristoff. I do not like her humor or awkwardness. I don’t find them relatable, but rather annoying. But I do appreciate that those insecurities are real and that’s what makes her more relatable. Her relationships with the other characters, especially Olaf, is what saves her from being last on my list.

12. Tiana

There’s nothing wrong Tiana. I think she’s great. She’s hardworking, determined, and a realist. Those are great qualities that I’m glad Disney decided to focus on too. The downside of this is that she comes across as rather boring. The film relies on other more colorful characters to bring the personality and charm. I think that’s a shame. She also suffers from starring in a weaker film.

11. Aurora

I like Aurora. What little we see of her anyway. We can tell by the way she interacts with the fairies, woodland creatures, and Prince Philip that she’s smart, sweet, shy, kind, cautious. She’s a dreamer, but not foolish. It’s too bad we didn’t get to see more of her.

10. Snow White

Snow White, in my opinion, does not get the respect she deserves. Was she stupid to take that apple from the very obviously evil hag? Yes, she was. But people have forgotten all about the really great qualities she possessed too. When she walked into the dwarfs’ cottage, it was a disgusting, unlivable nightmare. The dwarfs were pigs. They didn’t clean their home or themselves. They bickered all the time. Snow White changed all of that. She created order where there was disorder. And she didn’t do it alone. She delegated chores to each of the animals and made sure they did them right. That’s some managerial skills! She got a bunch of unruly little men to wash, sleep at a decent time, and behave. That’s authority. Those are some real life skills I wish I had more of. Yes, she cooked, cleaned, and sewed, but Snow White wasn’t a servant. She was in charge.

9. Cinderella

Like Snow White, Cinderella has gotten a bad rap over time, but I will defend Cinderella anytime anywhere. Those who say she “needed a prince to save her” lack compassion and are completely missing the point. Cinderella was a young woman who was abused by what family she had left. At a young age she experienced loss, grief, then neglect and emotional abuse. But Cinderella was resilient. That abuse didn’t stop her and it didn’t change her. She could’ve become mean, bitter, and jealous. She could’ve continued the cycle of abuse like her stepsisters. But Cinderella didn’t allow their mistreatment to define her. She remained kind, empathetic, patient, humble, and hardworking. She also didn’t allow herself to become a victim. She didn’t mope or give up on herself. When the ball was announced, she worked hard and believed she would go. When she got help from the fairy godmother, she accepted it and rocked that ball gown. She didn’t go to the ball to be rescued. She went because she wanted to, and she did. Moral of the story is do not let others’ treatment of you determine who you are or what you’re worth. Cinderella had awesome inner strength.

8. Ariel

I will admit that as an adult, Ariel’s appeal fades. She made really bad choices and sacrificing her voice for a boy is a terrible message to sell to kids. But for a 5 year old girl, only two things mattered. She was a mermaid and she could sing. The Little Mermaid kick started Disney’s renaissance and set a new precedent for its movies. Unlike previous princesses, Ariel was the first princess full of life, passion, and adventure. She had an exciting and lovable personality and a Broadway singing voice. Credit goes to Jodi Benson for bringing Ariel to life and the writers for getting the world to fall in love with her. She made a huge impression (hello, mermaid craziness everywhere!), even if she was a total idiot teenager.

7. Jasmine

What’s great about Jasmine is she can see through people’s BS and she doesn’t put up with it. She isn’t impressed by the superficial suitors that come her way. She stands up to Jafar. She catches on pretty immediately that Prince Ali is actually Aladdin. She sings like Lea Salonga, Disney and Broadway legend, and she has a pet tiger. What’s not to love?

6. Pocahontas

Pocahontas was the first Disney princess to not go after her dreams, but instead chose family, community, duty, loyalty. That’s incredibly mature and selfless. She taught a racist, arrogant, ignorant man to love and respect others different from him. She followed her intuition, was one nature, and dove off cliffs. The only minus is falling for John Smith over Kokoam. I don’t know what she was thinking!

5. Moana

Moana is not qualified for her mission. She has no experience and no skills required for sailing across the sea, finding Maui, and defeating a lava monster. But it’s her purpose. She was chosen. So she sets out and figures it out along the way. That’s an inspiring example. It’s not until the end that we find out why she was chosen. She sees Te Ka for who she truly is. Te Fiti. The image above is one of the most powerful moments in all of Disney’s films.

4. Rapunzel

Similar to Cinderella, Rapunzel has been abused throughout her childhood. IMO, Rapunzel had it worse because she believed Mother Gothel was her mother. Their relationship was nonstop manipulation, infantilization, and gaslighting. But Rapunzel was brave enough to go after what she wanted and smart enough to find a way to do it. On top of that, she was creative and artistic, incredibly strong from years of hauling Mother Gothel up the tower, and had magical hair with healing powers. In the end, she does what we didn’t get to see in Cinderella. She stands up for herself and confronts her abuser. She’s a real survivor and victor.

3. Belle

I love Belle because she is a true introvert and a true individual. She’s not very social, doesn’t gossip, doesn’t fawn over Gaston, doesn’t follow the townsfolk’s way of life. She literally just does her own thing. For that, she’s misunderstood and judged by the village. I think that’s very relatable. But she’s also intelligent, curious, adventurous, honorable (she keeps her promise to stay with the Beast), and stands up to the Beast when he’s out of line. She’s the only one that truly challenges the Beast and he grows because of it. And she saves him.

2. Mulan

Similar to Belle, Mulan is a bit of an outcast, because she’s individualistic in a society that values conformity. She’s socially awkward, clumsy, but brave. That bravery saves her father and all of China. She’s a true badass warrior.

1. Elsa

Elsa is technically not a princess, but a queen. She still counts and she tops my list. Out of all the Disney princesses, she is the most real and fully developed. She’s beautiful, kind, brave, strong, but also very flawed. Many people have identified with Elsa in different ways because her flaws are so real and so relatable. The LGBTQ community has adopted her as a symbol of their own. For me personally, I see a mental health issue. I think she’s a highly sensitive person with anxiety. Her ice powers are a beautiful symbol for that anxiety and the struggle over her mental health. Her journey to accept herself for who she is, to embrace herself for who she is, and to find her place in a world that deems her different is truly beautiful and empowering.

[weaselbeaselpants]

Rewritten Alastor notes (TW: NSFL, Cannibalism, Vore, animal abuse)

This is unexpected I know, but I’m suffering from a major headache and I need something to do.

Alastor the Radio Demon in my non-existent Hazbin repaint. Things he has in common with his canon self:

Human soul of a man who died in the 1930s. Was a cannibal in life.

Tried (and succeeded) to corrupt a bunch of lesser demons. 

Respected by the big-bads of Hell, like Valentino and Vox. Feared among them as well because he creeps even them out.

Deer + wendigo motif still very much still at play.

Still asexual, though I wouldn’t recommend putting him on any pride flags.

Gets along with Charlie and loves antagonizing Vaggie.

Treats Nifty and Husk as goons and/or pets.

His weird hair tufts emote along with him like ears. I don’t know if they are ears though. I think Viv has the right idea not confirming what the frack is up with his anatomy.

Can’t ever stop smiling. Ever. That aspect of Al’s design is something real special that I think Viv has the right idea implementing. A character who can not stop smiling makes for a lot of terrifying and hilarious reactions. Just look at Sans near eternal smile. 

Inexplicably likes pineapple pizza. Funny out-of-character gag.

AGAIN: CONTENT WARNING ESPECIALLY FOR ANYONE WITH TRIGGERS TO THE STUFF ABOVE. KEEP READING AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Changes made to his character:

I do not mind Hazbin being crass and vile and offensively-over the top as long as it has a good grasp on what the joke is (like Helluva Boss :>). My Hazbin thesis is that all of the characters are “demons” in as much as they’ve done bad things or were bad people, but are not maniacal or sadistic + there’s hope for some of them. THEN there’s Alastor who absolutely lives up to the demon-reputation and did genuinely evil things in life. Alastor’s the kind of person who absolutely should be purged but has escaped because those who are supposed to be for justice aren’t threatened by him.

He isn’t involved in voodoo or has any affluent Creole background. With all do respect that aspect feels just a little too lifted from Dr. Facilier. My Alastor’s background is American “mutt” with an Algonquian-native grandmother.

His sin in life - and in Hell itself - is Gluttony. Taking a page from the OG Wendigo mythos, which describes them more as pulsating, gorging Elderitch abominations, Al’s MO in the show is to consume everyone and everything there is. 

Alastor’s demonic powers are presented as a wave of high frequency radio static that messes with a demon’s psyche so much it physically hurts them. Al then scoops up his victim’s souls to power his microphone and everything that demon had in it’s possession beforehand crumbles or becomes his.

Angel is afraid of him. Unlike in the canon cartoon, Angel is the one who recognizes Alastor and knows he’s dangerous, not Vaggie. Turns out, Angel had a run in with the Radio Demon sometime during the mid twentieth century (so when they were both pretty young in demon years). Angel tried to steal Al’s microphone but Al flung a nasty radio-frequency in Angel’s face, taking out one of his eyes. Angel was present during Al’s first attempt to take over Hell, so he immediately knows Al’s bad news and Alastor never misses the opportunity to mess with Angel in season 1.

Alastor is a shape-shifter. In what is probably the most grizzly detail about my take, he technically self-mutilates in order to re-imagine himself ala the Hellraiser Cenobites - which he does quite a bit to hide from Charlie’s parents.

Technically, Al is naked. What looks like a suit is actually his flesh. Look closely at you’ll see that he’s all stitched together like a crude taxidermy piece. Beneath his “skin” are his bones; which all look like mechanical radio parts and move independently of another. Sometimes Al tears them out if he thinks his “wiring needs to be reworked”, which is Al for ‘feeling an emotion’ and he doesn’t like that.

The motif my Alastor is supposed to invoke is everything about him was “stolen” and crudely pieced back together: he collects and traps other demons inside his microphone; he eats by unhinging his mouth and swallows in one gulp. Alastor’s anatomy invokes a lot of vore imagery as well as Ero Guro. Despite being ace, there is a sexual (but not arousing) edge to his character, which leads to a lot or horror and humor.

Alastor does not like that he was human. He’s even in denial of it and insists “I was always a demon. I simply had a nightmare that I was a man. Now I’m awake and the nightmare is long gone”.

Alastor’s human name was Edward; he was a sad, pathetic little man whom everyone walked all over. Edward wanted to be a radio host but was denied that position cause he ‘couldn’t smile’. Edward was deeply disturbed and fixated on ingesting human meat (a condition called ‘wendigo psychosis’). Despite committing murder and then eating all his victim’s bodies, he can’t recall most of the process and was frightened by his behavior, knew what he was doing was wrong. BUT he never went about treating his addiction with meat; he’d have “cold periods” where he didn’t kill and thought he was ‘fixed’ only for his psychosis to resurface.

Alastor’s demon self aims to be all the things that he wasn’t in life: happy, fulfilled, complete, confident, cheery, and satisfied. Al relishes in his self-made creepy image and no doubt took his demon name from a famous Alastair from his youth. 

Al’s character arc throughout the ‘show’ (there is no show, why am I treating this like genuine pitch bible blah) goes as follows:

For the first season leading up the the finale and beginning of season 2, Al pretends to be Charlie’s friend until he backstabs her and takes over her hotel to harvest the ‘redeemed’ souls so he can restart his broadcasting-takeover that was just barely stopped years before. Charlie, Vaggie, and Angel intercept him however and destroy his microphone - which holds all the souls - causing him to loose his power. Charlie personality terminates his physical form leaving only his ‘heart’, which Lucifer makes Charlie eat so that Alastor will forever be under her control. The downside to this is Al’s soul+heart+person exists within Charlie now, and he of course speaks to her within her mind, trying to discourage, belittle, threaten or taunt her plans and feelings throughout the second season. Season 3′s opening would be about the main cast trying to get Vaggie out of Heaven once they learn it’s as corrupted as Hell. Charlie needs Al’s expertise, so she vomits him up. Al agrees to help her but is obviously not happy and vows to get his freedom back. In the second half of season 3, the main characters have to lay low while the angels partake in spiritual warfare against Lucifer. So Charlie and co. escape to the human world disguised as humans. Though an agreement, Alastor comes along and aquires a foreclosed motel for the demon’s to live (he intends to trap mortal souls while he’s there, though Charlie intercepts this too). 

Angel and co. end up discovering Al’s human identity (something he tried to cover up any evidence of having in Hell) and invite his now elderly human daughter to the motel. It works too well however, and the fright of seeing his daughter again triggers an all out anxiety attack in Alastor causing him to merge with the motel. Charlie has to traverse his insides to try and get to his crumbling psyche which would be very Akira-inspired.

Meanwhile, inside Alastor’s mind we see his demon form finally baring a frown and freaking out as the pathological spirits of his victims sing to him in a radio booth about the life he’d chosen and the lives he took away from them. (Yes, this is absolutely taken from Bojack Horseman)

Once Charlie cuts to his core+Al faces the fact that there never was another demon responsible for his actions, it was always just him, Al relinquishes his hold on that motel and his physical form become that of a baby deer, whom Charlie nicknames ‘Deerlastor’. Deerlastor doesn’t appear to have any of Al’s powers, memories, or personality but Angel and the other demon’s Al’s abused insist on killing it, sure that this is just another one of Al’s weird forms. Because of Alastor’s absence, it takes a lot longer and harder for the main cast to get back to hell and help Charlie’s dad’s stop the (previously human) angels who want to wipe purge ALL of hell.

To take out the main ‘enlightened’ angel that’s in the middle of trying to purge ALL of Hell, the demon’s need a power of their own. Deerlastor agrees to sacrifice its body and because of that, Alastor pops out from the deer’s body and head on collides w. the big bad angel-villain, eliminating both their souls. Alastor gets no proper redemption arc kids, he just gets to be the one to take out the main villain.

Edward/Alastor’s daughter’s name was Lavinia and she was the closest thing to genuine ‘love’ he had in his life and the only person who obviously looked up rather than ignore or abuse Edward. When Ed was arrested and confessed to his crimes, his daughter wasn’t allowed to see him and the knowledge that her father was a cannibalistic serial killer haunted Lavinia all her life.

His crimes were not sexual. This is NOT AN EXCUSE for what he did though because - 

- two of his victims were children. Yep. 

Unlike the rest of the filth-spewing demons, Al doesn’t appreciate racism or sexism. He thinks himself a feminist for his day...despite also having killed women and children. Keep in mind he’s also from the 30s, so he’s as “progressive” as people could be for back then, AND he believes that his partial native ancestry means it’s okay to call himself a ‘wendigo’.

In reference to an oooooooooooold ref sheet Viv made for Alastor back in the day, Deerlastor gets shot in the head and dismembered a lot but always gets up like nothing’s wrong.

Alastor does not like electroswing. He likes jazz, doowop, twist, show jingles, and lots of American Folk ballads. You know, the stuff they’d jam the radio’s with back in the 30s.

Big influences on my Alastor are They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, American Murder Song, My Friend Dahmer (a graphic novel), Llamas with Hats and Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. 

(Ima thinking of renaming my Hazbin gang to better distinguish them between the canon. Alastor’s the only one who won’t be renamed though, just probably spelled a different way. (Alystar, Alaster, Alastar))

[thejudgingtrash]

Now hold up I would personally love to hear a full rant on this supposed adaptation I have never heard of until now. Like, legitimately, I wanna know what you have to say about this cause you seem to be one of the most valid PJO blogs

Uhhh what??? Me one of the most valid PJO blogs??? What kinda crack have you been smoking WHAT afahsgjskdh.

But still thank you 😊🥺🙈

Alright, you wanted a rant. You got a rant. Fuck the positives let’s just straight up jump into my aggression.

WARNING: Massive rant with a lot of swear words. If you can’t handle the heat, feel free to ignore this. I personally haven’t worked in Hollyweird, but I had some behind the scenes stuff here in Europe going on for a short period and also the trusty words of my college professors. So here will be a lot of prediction and speculation involved. Yes, I know that I’m a huge hypocrite for voicing my opinions based on stuff that hasn’t been pushed through in months and that I could be easily proven wrong in a few weeks/months. Still thank you should you actually take the time to read through this tomfuckery.

If things are wrong, please DO correct me!

Links to further reads will be included partially.

TL;DR: Keep your hopes to a low, stop harassing people online and mAnAgE yOuR eXpEcTaTiOnS!!111!!

Okay. First things first:

DISNEY

DOESN’T

GIVE

A

SINGLE

FUCK

ABOUT

YOU

Disney is a fucking multi-billion dollar corporation with many, many, many studios, stations, brands and franchises worldwide. The Percy Jackson franchise is a dime in a dozen. Disney doesn’t give a single fuck about the PJO fandom in general.

Disney doesn’t give a fuck about you 20-something year old with your 9 year old blog discussing which toilet paper brand Percy uses. And Disney also doesn’t give a fuck about you 16 year old, writing the worst fucking Solangelo fanfic I’ve read so far on this hellsite. Like goddamn.

Trust me, they know you are interested. They know they got you hooked. They see the numbers, they see the like/reblog ratio, they see the Twitter engagement. They see you with #disneyadaptpercyjackson. They see the petitions, they see how excited you were for the musical. You don’t get to be a gigantic conglomerate like Disney with playing stupid.

Also to you fuckfarts saying oH nO I wOn’T wAtCh It I dOn’T cArE aBoUt NeW sTuFf. Congrats dipshit. You are STILL alerting followers and people about what’s happening and creating more buzz, giving more awareness and adding to the transaction costs. You really cheated the system, you little edgelord. Again:

You are nothing but a number. You are a fucking walking dollar bill. You are a consumer waiting for a new shiny product to fill the void in your life for 45 minutes weekly or by two hours at some point.

The PJO movies 1. & 2 happened for a reason. Because Fox saw a popular book series á la Harry Potter, Twilight (and The Hunger Games) and wanted a piece of that action. They wanted your fucking money. Them entirely fucking up and ignoring Riordan’s advice is on them of course. But still. The movies happened. (And also saw people saying they were flops. Reception wise: hell yes. They are awful adaptations (not per se awful movies, there’s a difference). But money wise?? They made together over 245 million dollars in profit. Of course, that isn’t today’s Marvel level but it’s still fairly decent. Also don’t forget that the second movie still got greenlit. Interest was still there despite part one. You disliking something doesn’t turn it into a flop)).

Again, Disney doesn’t care about you. THIS is what Disney cares about:

1. MONEY

2. PROFIT

3. ENGAGEMENT

4. TOTAL GROSS

5. CONVERSION RATES

11. …. “Artistry“

So in terms of money, we gotta speak about the on-going woke culture. You know, lgbtqia+ stuff, poc representation and all the good shit we want and need in our life, right?

Well, I got bad news for ya. Disney being money hungry has its massive downsides. Because where is the money? In the east. Well and what happens if we include the woke stuff? Possible censorships (even retroactively! You know Gravity Falls went through that), bans, etc.

So all of you talking about representation and artistic vision and being bold and brave and blablabla… Throw that into the fucking trash. We can probably be glad if we get Grover back as the token black kid and a few other minorities sprinkled here and there. Open gay Nico? Doubt it. Your afro-latino Percy head canon? Definitely keep that but unlikely to be realized. And also, if you think that Annabeth wouldn’t get turned into the blandest whitest “I dOn’T nEeD nO mAn“ radfem, I got some bad news for ya…

The likelihood of everything being dumbed down, toned down with the exception of a few adult jokes or being even partially censored (depending on certain regions) is very, very high.

Also what makes you think we’re even getting close to the Heroes of Olympus and Trials of Apollo saga? I doubt you will see The Seven for a long time unless Riordan really says fuck it and throws his final ace card into Disney’s filthy greedy mouth.

So if Disney doesn’t have the fandom’s interest at heart, what are they interested in? Well… MONEY. Also NEW engagement. They know your funky ass is going to tune in. They know people will pirate the shit (Me waving like a maniac), they all KNOW that. Again, they aren’t stupid.

So: MORE engagement. MORE money. How do we get even more engagement? By luring new people into the fandom. Who is most likely going to get lured into a family friendly show/movie series because let’s not forget that we’re talking about Disney+? The targeted audience of the books. Who is the targeted audience of the books? MIDDLE SCHOOLERS. 11 to 14 year olds. Disney wants those kids’ (well their parents’ hard earned) money. They want to sell products, in that case books + Disney Plus subscriptions + possible merch. There you also have the likely future rating for the fucking show. Sorry to disappoint everyone that was hoping for gritty Game of Thrones filled with 12 year olds (like seriously wtf?).

Now that that’s settled, let’s talk about the outlook on the show/movie and Riordan’s influence that you people clearly overestimate.

How much power or say does Rick Riordan actually have?

ZERO. ABSOLUTELY NONE.

He’s in the worst fucking lose-lose-situation you could imagine.

Disney owns the books and Fox owns the movie rights. Wait. Fox got bought. By whom you ask? DISNEY, what a coincidence! In Rick Riordan’s own words:

Disney has him by his fucking balls and could crush them at any minute. And if you think, that Disney is letting go of that sweet sweet intellectual property you are fucking mistaken. Riordan isn’t a J.K. Rowling who OWNS the Wizarding World. You have no idea what Disney are capable of with massive lobbying that goes so far to influence copyright laws in the States (LINK)

So you can stop harassing him about a fucking Netflix adaptation as well! Or petitions that do nothing but annoy people.

These negotiations take up YEARS to get the simplest stuff done. No need to shit your pants whenever Riordan’s tweeting stuff.

Still: would Disney be fucking mad to do this without him? Absolutely!

Should Disney involve him to prevent a PJO movie 2.0 scenario?

Yes, they definitely should!

But CAN Disney do this without him?

OF COURSE THEY CAN! THEY OWN EVERYTHING.

In Riordan’s own words:

Read carefully what he has written. He doesn’t say he’s going to halter productions, he’s saying HE WON’T BE A PART OF IT. This also makes me curious about WHO approached WHO in the first place (my guess Disney tried to make some amendments because Fox ain’t shit and trying to alienate the author again would be a goddamn stupid move). Disney has the fucking film rights. Of course they can pump out shit without involving him. They could pull a Fantastic Four (the awful 2015 version) just to keep the rights and for the fuck of it.

There are the following possibilities with Riordan’s involvement:

1. Riordan as a producer: Dude’s gotta be loaded. We know that. But backing the production costs many, many, many millions and I don’t know if he’s THAT loaded. Also film producing isn’t his forte.

2. Riordan as a screenplay writer: Now we’re getting closer to something. Yes, many productions these days have authors directly involved which is great! But also can go the other way around (J.K. Rowling and her Grindelwald fiasco. Author’s do NEED to learn when to stop intermeddling with their franchises, just saying) Book writing and screenplay writing are two very DIFFERENT disciplines. You don’t have the liberties of book writing when it comes to film. The screenplay is the guide for the entire production, the visuals, the set design, the whole atmosphere of the product, the very first thing that needs to be done so that directors, designers and lastly the casted actors know what they have to do. Everything has to come to a point in a very short time and there are many, many, many versions of a screenplay before a final raw draft gets handed out. If that isn’t in Riordan’s interest (which I can completely understand) then that’s simply not happening

3. Riordan as a guide: Directors, screenplay writers, etc. sit down with Riordan on a regular basis to show him the written screenplay, which actors they have in mind, the whole vision and he has a mini veto right.

If you ask me, a mix of scenario 2 and 3 is the most likely to be the most successful. That means, that Riordan needs to have a good faithful team, that sticks closely to the source material. That isn’t guaranteed! Again: look at the PJO movies. But of course, we don’t know the internals of these meetings.

So… now the final part. The whole fucking “Animation vs. Live action“ debate. Well, both sides have their pro’s and con’s. And both sides are filled with a bunch of fucking morons. I won’t try to get you to either side.

But to those that want are begging for a live action version with age-appropriate actors I have the following to say:

FUCK

YOU

IN

PARTICULAR!

WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU WANT CHILDREN TO GO THROUGH THE HELL THAT IS DISNEY AND THE SHADY SHIT GOING ON THERE SO THAT YOU CAN BE ENTERTAINED FOR SOME MERE MINUTES?!

Oh my god…. You people REALLY really want a fourth wave Me Too movement in 15-20 years. Not every Hollyweird kid has a helicopter parent hovering around them on set and many do get abused/robbed by their parents. And the people involved in the production! Of course, animation has still a chance of this happening but the risk is somewhat lower when it just comes to voice acting.

Tbh, I actually wouldn’t mind an aged-up cast again just to prevent this as best as possible. Unfortunately, child actors will always be needed.

I have nothing much to add to this, I’ll just drop a link to an old small post from me about that right here (LINK)

Personally I lean more towards animation but in the big picture I won’t care. (Also the whole animation is for kids and dumbs down the whole narrative for PJO is fucking stupid, boo boo the fool. You being in your late teens/twenties and grown out of the targeted audience is the cause of nature. Animation can be mature or would you show Attack on Titan or South Park to your 8 year old cousin?)

I’ll be just tuning in to see if this is as messy as I’d expect it to be or to be pleasantly surprised.

Also again: this process is a long one. It’s going to be exhausting, depressing, demanding, pushing.

From the meetings now that will take a very long time, to a screenplay, which can take YEARS in finalizing, to hiring staff, location hunting and set design (should they go the live action route), to casting, to costume design, to rehearsing/production, to filming, to dispersing, to editing, to fx, to finishing, to marketing, to publishing, NOTHING IS SET IN STONE! This is a very, very, very, wanky process despite contracts and everything on paper. Let’s not forget, Disney can afford some good lawyers.

And even if everything goes as smoothly as possible. Higher up people could see the final edit of everything with editors having scenes close to the books in an a/b/c/d cut and some producer says NO! I want an c/a/b/d version that again fucks up the dynamics of the books. Or something terrible: everything is shot and done and THEN it get’s postponed. Or even fucking worse: SHELVED to be NEVER RELEASED. Aka Henry Selick’s career after Coraline (Coraline from 2009 is STILL his latest release because of his fucked up Disney contract and them cancelling his shit). Millions of dollars wasted and we won’t get to see ANYTHING. This is all very possible and happens constantly in the film business AND at Disney. This is nothing new.

And there’s nothing we can do about it. No one cares about Riordan, no one cares about the books, no one cares about the fandom.

DISNEY holds the cards. DISNEY gets to decide. Neither Riordan, nor you nor me hold ANY power in this.

So kids… what have we learned today? In conclusion:

Keep your hopes to a low, stop harassing people online and mAnAgE yOuR eXpEcTaTiOnS!!111!!

That’s it. That’s all I wanted to say.

WHEW.

[deadly-cipher]

Dear Alternative Community Gatekeepers, Stop

Alternative is not a label which you can give to one 'group' of people. alternatives are non conformists who have no social group. you cant recognise an alternative person by what they wear or look like, so dont try to. they dont all wear the same clothes (like moshers, chavs, goths, indies or any other group of people who try to be individual but all seem to like the same stuff, wear the same clothes and only listen to music which their friends like). alternative people enjoy listening to whatever the hell they like, because they dont just like one type of music, they may just enjoy music on a whole, or it may just depend what kind of a mood they are in to what kind of music they listen too at that time. although this term is based around mysic it also applys to clothes as i said above many groups try to all wear the same stuff in order to fit in, alternatives wear whatever they like, if its designer, and they like it, they will wear it. if its got the name of a band on, and they like it, they will wear it. if there is a song which is by slipnot, and they like it, they will listen to it. if there is a song, which is by eminem, they will listen too it. Punk is not about a certain hair colour, style, or music, although music does take a large part in most punks lives.  Punk is about liking what you like, being yourself, saying what you think and FUCK ALL THE REST.  You don't need a two foot high red mohawk to be a punk, although that is wicked cool. You don't need sleeves, a backpiece, or any tattoos at all to be punk. You don't need a Misfits, Casualties, Sex Pistols or any band like that jacket to be punk. You don't need anything to be punk except for awareness, self respect, respect for others and an open mind. A Goth is someone who sees beauty in the dark side of life. Today's society is focused on negating darkness because it is associated with evil. Think about it - in almost every fairy tale, who is the antagonist? The brunette. Who is the protagonist? The blonde. Dark is evil, evil is bad, and therefore we should wipe all trace of it from our lives. Unfortunately, that's simply not possible. No matter how hard society tries, people still die. Day turns into night. Love becomes loss. It's a fact of life. So while everyone else is denying an entire half of life, the Goths embrace ALL of life, good and bad. Goths understand that the best and most lasting joy is tinged with a little sadness, and that all love is bittersweet. Goths understand that not everybody has to be happy 24/7, and that the way to succeed is not by pretending you are. Sunlit skies are beautiful, yes, but so are dark cloudy ones. What is white without black? What is a rose without thorns? Thus, by embracing the shadows as well as the sun, Goths are, in many cases, actually more emotionally healthy than those in mainstream society.  Emo is an emotional person. They are not depressed all the time and some are acually very happy at times. They do smile, they don't sit in a corner crying all day. Some are actually quite popular and laugh and joke around lots. NB: Emo does not mean the person cuts themselves, they might but that is not why they're emo. The word "scene" coves a large spectrum throughout recent history, but its most modern definition is used to describe certian subcultures and movements. The most notoriously famous and targeted is the alternative music scene, or more specifically, branches of the alternative music scene such as hardcore, indie, fashoionxcore, etc. A breed of scenesters (people on the scene) has begun to come to the forefront. These scenesters are usually very music-savvy and loyal to a few specific genres (typically hardcore, metal, indie, retro, 80's new wave, classic rock, etc. to name a few), of which they dress to exemplify. It is hard to pin down a style for a scene male or female, considering the trends amongst them vary from coast to coast, and certian fads come in and out within their ranks. Typically, though, many scene kids will have facial piercings, tattoos, and longer hair. It is not unusual to see teased hair with long bangs on males, or short fauxhawks (a mohawk without the sides shaved, a fashion-friendly version) on females. It is almost a throwback to the revolution of Britian's glam era, very androgynous and fresh. Scenesters take a lot of pride in their overall image, and often they appreciate shock value. Oftentimes they are thrifty, employing their abilities as bargian-hunters and do-it-yourself gurus to do something unique with their style. Large vintage sunglasses, retro patterns, tight jeans, classic metal/band tees, plastic jewelry, and heavy eye makeup are just some of the incorperations into scene style for either sex. This style and showmanship is at its height during shows (concerts), where often scene kids will meet their friends and size up strangers who visit their turf. There indeed is competition among scenesters...sometimes friendly, sometimes not. Shows are in fact not just concerts, but often a means of socialization for those on the scene. Those people who partake in scene lifestyle often choose to date/socialize only with those like them, which can cause bitterness or rejection to outsiders. The music scene is often associated with other areas that scenesters are interested in, which is liekely, art, photography, creative writing, poetry, tattoos & piercings, civil rights, animal rights, etc. Many scene kids have strong beliefs about these things and consider those who do not to be "posers." They feel that their scene style is not only a fashion statement, but an all-encompassing lifestyle. Many scene kids incorperate their future plans into their lifestyle, going into careers such as journalism, photography, artistry, piercing, tattooing, working for magazines, being musicians, hairstylists, running venues and/or coffee shops, etc. This tends to cause scene kids to congregate, visit, or even move to big cities to find opportunities to meet other scenesters, find jobs that suit them, or to live where they have a plethora of activities that they enjoy readily at their disposal. Recently internet revolutions like myspace.com have provided a new means for the ideas of scene culture to be spead, for scenesters to find new friends, bands, and activities. Scensters design stylish and graphic profile pages to both draw attention to themselves and to find others like them, and many people have joined up with the scene fad due to internet advertising. The downside of many scene atmospheres is that some scene kids tend to develop a superior mentality. Some who are especially popular and affluent can make it harder for the younger, yet-aspiring scenesters to join in with the subculture. This is not always the case, however. Different areas breed different demographics of scene kids. Perhaps part of their attitude comes from the problem that scenesters have begun to feel threatened about their culture being jeopardized because of a sort of trickle down effect. The internet is permitting easy access for anyone who would want to don scene-esque style and jump right in to a culture that scenesters feel they have built from the ground up and developed into a complex lifestyle. However, this lends many to get caught up in popularity contests in local areas as well as on the world wide web. Unfortunately, this can also lead to rifts in scenes. Groups of hardcore scenesters start "crews," often characterized by fierce brotherhood to the point of violence against others who are unlike them or who are in other crews. The scene is dividing amongst itself, due to purists who feel the scene is about music only, and those who have taken the scene fashion to be almost, if not equally, as important as the music itself. Some of the fashionable scenesters stick to their musical roots, but often due to the aforementioned trickle-down effect, there are people joining the scene who are not interested in the music, but are only in it for the attention. Thus, the scene will continue to divide. Whether they will admit it or not, kids interested in this lifestyle of excitement, concerts, body modification, fashion, and overall alluringly unusual aesthetics will continually be labeled as "scene." They chose an alternative path because they wanted to find acceptance elsewhere. Now, they face a community just like any other: one of all different types of people, who have different opinions and standards. It has its pros and cons, ups and downs, just like any lifestyle does. A metalhead is somebody who loves heavy metal. Don't always have the "look". And it's not even necessary to listen to just the classic metal bands, you can listen to the subgenres. You just have to appreciate the genre as a whole. The term: Short for independent rock. In terms of music it would be independent of major labels/mainstream stuff. History: grew out from 60s garage, 70s punk, and 80s post punk it started in the mid 80s as alternative/college radio music. Once nirvana hit big the alternative genre split: the popular side was just alternative(Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, No Doubt, etc.) and the other half that wasn't mainstream(by choice or not) became indie rock(Pavement, Sebadoh, Built To Spill, etc). Some bands have signed to major labels but are still considered indie(Modest Mouse, etc.). Go figure. Sound: In the begining indie sounded like alternative(because it was) but it grew more experimental and weird. In Britain indie has more of a typical sound like Radiohead, Muse, etc. rather than a definition based on 'the scene.'  The scene: if you really think all indie kids do is try to be cooler than other people then... well.. you're mostly right.

[bestworstcase]

A while back you mentioned how Cathay is revered as a protector of the dead, could you give us any more details about how the notion of an afterlife is approached within the various Bitter Snow religions? (especially curious on how understandings about death/afterlife within the Saporian Ternary intersects with the ritualistic necromancy aspect of Cathay's cult)

so in the… functional sense, i think the way death and afterlifes work in the bitter snow universe is that the souls of the dead pass into the care of whatever deity has the strongest claim on them, and what happens after that is dependent on the tenets of contracts or decisions made by the deity in question. so in a sense, your beliefs while you’re alive shape what happens to you after you die. (and i figure souls that are unaffiliated / unclaimed tend to just kinda. decay, disperse, and get recycled in a manner similar to the physical cycle of decomposition and renewal; ghosts occur when a soul is anchored in the physical plane somehow, whether by religious practices or simply having a strong enough will to endure without the vessel of a physical body, ie the “unfinished business” case.)

anyway.

within the ternary, things get a bit complicated because you have three different patrons all of whom technically have an afterlife option; and the one thing you absolutely want to avoid is having multiple deities squabbling over custody of your soul once you die. i think there are probably layers and layers of rules and religious traditions that at their core exist to prevent divine custody battles. especially between zhan tiri and cathay, who (a) hate each other and (b) have domains that overlap because cathay’s dominion is over the dead while part of zhan tiri’s sphere is death.

so.

actually wait let me zoom out a little and say first: broadly speaking, what unites the faiths of the ternary into a single religion is pursuit of a philosophical concept called choimghē, which is… mingling of the profane/mundane and sublime/divine. the word itself literally means “cusp” or “threshold,” and the philosophical idea here is that there is this irreconcilable tension between the profane and the sublime; both exist in a perpetual state of fascination/repulsion with each other; to achieve choimghē is to achieve balance between the two, resolving the fascinated/repulsed tension into peaceful coexistence. the three cults of the ternary are all founded upon this concept, but they pursue it in different ways: cathay’s cult through a repudiation of things anchoring a person to the profane in order to make room for the sublime, char malách’s through creation and spirituality that seeks to bring the profane closer to the sublime, and zhan tiri’s through this almost symbiotic relationship between the profane and the sublime where the end goal is to converge the two into a new blended whole. and of course, since the average religious saporian keeps the tenets of all three cults to some degree, you get blended versions of this philosophy also.

& the point of that digression is to say that the way the cults, and the ternary overall, conceptualize death is as the moment when true choimghē becomes possible. your soul is freed from its profane/mortal/physical body and can now achieve full communion or harmony with the sublime/divine. and as i said, there are three options for this:

cathay. in… a sense, cathay is the dead. she is said to rule over the realm of the dead, but this is also typically understood to be metaphorical rather than literal: there is no “realm” where the dead live after death, there is just cathay, and when she claims your soul after you die you become a part of cathay too; your individual existence is the final tether anchoring you to the profane and in the moment of death you shed that and find perfect union with the sublime, in the form of cathay. this overlaps with her role as a protector of the dead; she gives them peace, and rest, and solace from whatever suffering they may have endured in life, while also preserving them for eternity, and she does that by making them a part of herself.

the ritualistic necromancy practiced by her cult is actually quite removed from this, because a clear dividing line is drawn between “the dead” and “the bodies the dead leave behind.” there’s no… real cultural concept in saporia of desecrating a corpse, except insofar as the corpse may be regarded as a shrine to a god. (by a similar token i think saporians find burial practices that focus on the body as a representation of the dead person rather distasteful: why are you using this slab of meat and bones as an icon of the deceased.) so the use of animated bodies by cathay’s cult is for the edification of cathay herself (…and by extension all the dead who joined her…) and is seen as having nothing whatsoever to do with the person to whom that body once belonged. they have vacated the premises. the body isn’t them.

anyway, second option: char malách. i think of the gods of the ternary his “afterlife” is the most nebulous, because he isn’t especially interesting in collecting souls or incorporating them into his being but he does respect the arrangements between himself and his disciples so he’ll accept them if they’re offered; and i think what he would tend to do with them is weave them into something new. it isn’t reincarnation per se, it’s more… as if the souls of the dead are clay he shapes into new forms that please him; into metal ores or stars or fires or gemstones or whatever strikes his fancy. you get woven into the fabric of the universe. there is some overlap here with the cathay option where you’re shedding your individuality to become part of a collective, but the key difference is that rather than becoming part of the sublime/divine you are instead contributing to the lifting of the profane into the level of the sublime. i think in general this is the rarest path for people to take, because the uncertainty of precisely what will happen to you is frightening, and for close adherents of char malách there isn’t really a downside to going to cathay when you die, because one of the key tenets of the cult is that the destruction and disaster she embodies are just as cherished and valuable a facet of the cosmos as any other.

and third option: zhan tiri. i think hers is unique in that it is available only to those who dedicate themselves to her above the rest of the ternary; casual adherents of her cult who also participate in the practices of the other two tend to go to cathay, or occasionally to char malách, because zhan tiri simply is not interested in keeping you around if you don’t put her first. and it’s also a little unique in that her form of afterlife features a continual cycle of reincarnation, into trees or her huge assortment of sacred animals or on occasion when she feels like it into a human again. or for her hand-picked favorites there is also the scion option, which is like… soul-grafting; her scions are basically human souls anchored into new physical vessels formed from her. anything she can do, they can do on a smaller scale. it’s considered an immense honor for her to even offer.

and there is some tension between cathay’s cult and zhan tiri’s on the matter of burial practices, because zhan tiri’s cult has a set of traditions that involve the preparation and burial of corpses in places sacred to zhan tiri—again, for the edification of zhan tiri rather than for the dead, who are memorialized in other ways—and so there’s this long-standing grudge based on the “bodies should be interred in barrows and available for necromancy to pay respects to cathay” vs “bodies should be buried in forests or bogs so they can decompose and rejuvenate the soil to pay respects to zhan tiri” argument. also, when zhan tiri is feeling especially petty, she is absolutely not above poaching cathay’s wights and filling them with plants and letting them rot until they fall apart. church-sanctioned graverobbing.

ANYWAY.

coronans find all of this to be exceptionally disturbing. almost every form of traditional saporian burial or death ritual involves what coronans perceive as arbitrary mutilation of the corpse, and the concept of choimghē that underlies all saporian beliefs about death and the afterlife flies directly in the face of the coronan cultural view that magic (ie what saporians refer to as the sublime) and humanity (is the profane) are not ever meant to touch and that pursuit of magic or consorting with magical beings is never desirable.

i think coronans, esp religious ones, tend to conceptualize an afterlife that is a real, physical place beyond the western horizon, in the sun, or among the stars. the funeral barge tradition of sailing pyres into the sunset is a symbolic sending off of the dead to that physical realm, and i think there are also probably various legends/folktales about living people traveling to the afterlife for various reasons. (i have some vague ideas about a common variation on the sundrop myth that involves The First Healer traveling into the realm of the dead and bringing back a magical flower that taught him the secrets of medicine, though that’s vanishingly unlikely to ever show up in the story itself.)

[glapplebloom]

Hopefully by now you’ve played the game or seen someone’s let’s play...

The story begins with something I didn’t expect: a council of animals from all different species. A young Zebra named Ribbon tells them a story about how they were almost killed by weird shadowy creatures which we know as Predators. Between this and other eye witnesses, the Llama in the group believes the prophecy is true. While the Rhino, the head of this group I presume, don’t believe in it, she still thinks its a good idea to find this Key the Predators are looking for and the entire council states that each species brings up their champion.

Chapter 1 begins with Arizona. And I hope you’re good with her because she’s the only one you get to play with. The Cattle knew of the past as they kept its knowledge with them despite everyone else forgetting it as Legend. So when Arizona’s father call out for volunteers, the first of the Book of Lore is broke: instead of everyone rushing to prove themselves, they all fled until only Arizona was the last one standing. She of course volunteers but her pops wouldn’t allow it. But while Texas is the leader of the Group, its Minnesota, his wife and Arizona’s mother, that wears the pants in this family. With her mother’s blessing and her father’s worry, she’s off to be the Champion of the Prairie.

The first bit of game play begins in the Canyon Pass. We get to see Arizona travel through it. While the over world looks like an RPG, this is always first and foremost a Fighting Game. Which leads me to one of my first problems: the platforming uses fighting game controls. It was an issue for me because despite being able to do so in other games, I had difficulty performing the short hops and super jumps it expected me to. Gonna guess it was the controller’s fault since it looks like a third party 360 Controller, but this becomes a bigger issue later on.

Despite agreeing to wait with a kind lady for the bridge to get built, Arizona sees a predator coming out of the “warned not to enter” Salt Mines and fights them off. Something to note is your health and levels stay with you after the fight. So if you’re not careful, you’ll be too low of health before you had the chance to recover. You can rebuild if you finish an opponent off with a super move, but for those who bought this game and aren’t into fighting games, maybe add some items that can restore health. One thing I will say I am glad for is the platforming doesn’t affect your health... Yet.

After getting out of the Salt Mines, our first boss encounter. It combines a normal fighting game engine with gimmicks depending on who you’re facing. Snakey, for example, attacks you from the background and you have to fight your way towards him while avoiding falling projectiles. It makes it more unique than how other fighting game story modes play it out. Downside, they expect you to remove 2 to 3 full health bars while you’re stuck with the one. Again, something people really good in fighting games can handle. Others will likely find it difficult. I like to think I’m in the middle but I am a person who favors Shoto Fighters and learned until after the fact Arizona has a smashing ground move that could be the closest to a projectile

Arizona is in the big city of the Reindeer. You can explore the city, see Pom chasing her dogs, and have an option fights with a bunch of Predators in someone’s basement (which honestly I believe is important to the story but you get to see that gate again in a later chapter) and in a hidden room in the library (sleeping with a Velvet Plush). I forgot to mention there are hidden costumes for you to find to wear on your RPG self. After finding the museum (with no help from the Reindeer), we get to meet boss #2: Velvet.

Now for some praising: the story mode does a great job letting us know of the main characters they focused on. The writing is very humorous and shows that this could be a great show if we get someone to produce cartoons for it. But because both are champions, only one could get the key: And that means they have to fight.

Velvet has three stages, but two share a life bar. The first is a normal fight. The second the wind constantly blows against you. This is when the rope can be useful to bring her in close if you’re position is right. The third phase is the most annoying. She’s in a tornado of ice and you have to get in close to hit her. But she’ll throw out various projectiles at you. Get close enough and you can hit her. But if you lose, you have to start from the last checkpoint. This is another problem I had. Granted, the check points are usually close to the boss encounter and there is a skip dialogue option, but to do so constantly when you keep failing is annoying when you can just put the rematch after the fight.

After that, you get to climb a mountain. This means more platforming. The biggest problem here is this time there are enemies. Bird Enemies. You can’t just hit them once and not worry, they got their own Health Bars and will attack you if you’re in their line of site. So imagine fighting game controls where you want to block these birds but instead turn around, leaving you open for an attack from behind. This is why I appreciate that Smash gives people a button to do jump as well as the ability to press up. That could help these platform stages so much more.

After climbing a mountain and fighting a murder of birds, she is found and patched up by a tribe of llamas. They warn her not to venture far but she does ignore them because she is on a quest. They do warn her of a monster in the maze and Arizona does indeed confront this monster: the Third Boss Paprika.

Like Velvet, Paprika has three phases with two sharing a life bar. 1st is a normal fight. Second is her sneak attacking you which you can avoid if you’re fast enough (or remember in the rematches) and third is she presses along the 4th Wall so she can jump on you from the front. Also, no one can understand her, not even her fellow Llamas.

After that, Velvet explores a temple. This is complete with Predator enemies, the in story Boss Gauntlet Gate, and block puzzles. You even drop two big ones on sleeping predators on the ground. After going through all that, you meet the final boss of this chapter: Oleander (or Ollie if you want to annoy her). 

Unlike the other bosses, Ollie has four phases (but you only need to get to the third one to continue the story line): Phase 1, a normal fight. Phase 2, she sometimes burst in energy that can do major damage. Phase 3, she flies around the screen shooting magical blasts at you. And the Final Phase, with the help from Fred (the evil spirit within the book), you have to avoid his attacks while stopping Ollie from unleashing a one hit kill move.

If you lose at Phase 3, the story continues. If you somehow manage to win, Fred pretty much destroys you and the story continues regardless. Arizona is beaten as Ollie finds the information she is looking for. As she leaves, Arizona gets up to continue her journey, beaten but not giving up on her quest. And that’s where the Chapter ends.

Overall, its a fun story and its one of the most unique story modes in a fighting game. But I can see three improvements: Add a jump button for the platforming levels, have healing items, and maybe give back some health between phases. But still I would say give it a try or at least a watch.

[all-things-are-nothing-to-me]

Fuck Your Red Revolution: Against Ecocide, Towards Anarchy

Let Go Of Your Tedious Slogans

"There's no ethical consumption under capitalism" is a tired meme that I wish would die. So often this slogan is used by reds to pooh-pooh those of us that strive to make life choices that aid harm-reduction in our communities and our natural environments.

Vegan diets, bicycling, dumpster diving, upcycling, guerilla gardening, permaculture, squatting, illegalism, food forestry, communes, self-sufficiency, and all the other "lifestylist" pursuits "individualist" anarchists undertake to minimize their harm on the environment are shamed and mocked by many anarcho-communists, social-ecologists, anarcho-transhumanists, syndicalists and other industry-upholding anarchists. These reds are well-versed in workerist rhetoric, and see all lifestyle choices as "a distraction" from the global proletarian revolution they see as their singular goal.

You'll hear them talk down to other anarchists who are discussing ethical ways to curtail their consumption, especially people that live off the land or otherwise limit their participation in industrial civilization; people they loudly dismiss and condemn as "primmies" or "lifestylists".

They'll tell us to stop living our lives in the pursuit of personal anarchy because "there's no ethical consumption under capitalism". In the red mind, as long as a capitalist system has been imposed on the world, there''s no point in reaching for anarchy until that system has been overthrown and replaced with their system. Regardless of how unlikely it is that this will happen in our lifetimes.

Using "no ethical consumption" to shame people for making the effort to live more conscientiously, and decrying all individual action as "counter-revolutionary" or "liberal" comes from a deeply authoritarian mindset reminiscent of toxic Maoist purges that punished people for dressing differently or having hobbies or doing anything but devote themselves 100% to destructive industrial labor and the glory of "the revolution" (almost always manifested in the form of a red state).

The red influence in anarchist discourse is unfortunately dominant in most developed parts of the world, and collectivist-minded anarchists insist every anarchist devote themselves to their pipe dream of a mass uprising to seize the factories from the capitalists and turn them over to the workers. They postulate that democratized factories will be more beneficial to workers because they'll receive a bigger piece of the industrial pie. This is true. But then they claim their ideology will "save the environment" because a worker collective won't be greedy and destructive like a capitalist board of directors. This is of course completely unfounded and blatantly ignores the history of collectivized industry and its devastating effects on the environment. The glaring reality is that industrial societies all eventually lead to ecocide, without exception.

Countless Marxist revolutions in history did so much damage to the environment that entire territories, such as the area surrounding Chernobyl, were rendered uninhabitable to humans. Babies continue to be born with birth defects today, and cancer rates in the regions devastated by socialist industry continue to be sky high.

Let's take a brief look at the former USSR's legacy of careless industrial destruction, with 3 examples.

The Ural River in Magnitogorsk, Russia is still saturated with toxic boron and chromium levels from the nearby Steel Works, poisoning the entire ecosystem and its inhabitants.

The Aral Sea, once the fourth-largest inland water body in the world was largely replaced by the newly emerged Aralkum Desert after the Soviets drained two rivers for irrigation. The sea is now just 10 percent of its original size.

Run-off from oil fields near Baku have rendered all the local water bodies biologically dead, killing off every lifeform that prospered in those ecosystems for millennia.

These are just 3 examples of devastating ecocide caused by the push for industrial growth (which is required to achieve communism according to Marx), and they of course only ever achieved more capitalism and more misery, because industrialism and the continued pursuit of menial labor will not liberate people.

Changing from a vertical to a horizontal hierarchy will benefit the industrial workers in some material ways, certainly, but the wholesale destruction of our planet will not slow down one bit just by instituting a power-shift from bosses to workers. Industrial production depends on non-stop growth, and when you tie the success of a society to industrial production, you create a recipe for disaster. Workers won't vote to scale down their industry or its environmental impact as their livelihoods depend on their industry's growth.

And they certainly won't care about anyone who isn't also an industrial worker, or preserving their foreign way of life. Indigenous people and anyone living off the land will effectively be seen by red-society as an undesirable out-group. Anyone that can't measure up to workerist standards of productivity will be seen as a strain on the industrial grind. An enemy of the red revolution.

Any "counter-revolutionary" rebel who dares stand in the way of industrial growth and the spread of industry across land and sea is effectively a liability that needs to be expunged to safeguard the revolution. This is the power of the collective. Comply or be crushed. Red or dead.

So you see, the people parroting "no ethical consumption under capitalism" at you don't actually have any intention of curbing their destructive consumption, even under communism. Even under anarcho-communism. If anything, they hope to increase their consumption by acquiring more spending power. With communism, they'll be able to consume as much as a middle-management boss does under capitalism because all workers will receive an equal share (until resources run out and their society collapses).

You cannot grow infinitely on a finite planet, and all industrial ideologies, regardless of whether they brand themselves as "libertarian" or "authoritarian" seem to ignore that simple fact because it would expose their ideology as having zero long-term viability in a world already experiencing unprecedented global collapse.

Harm Reduction is Valuable

There's always a more ethical alternative to everything. That's the whole point of anarchy, to analyze our actions and our impact on our environment and limit harm, counter authority as much as possible. Ethics isn't an all or nothing proposition - there are varying degrees of harm.

Just because some solutions aren't 100% pure and wonderful doesn't mean they're not worth doing over much more harmful alternatives. Anarchy is about subverting authority by finding more ethical solutions to every problem we come across.

Here's an example of several levels of harm reduction that can measurably make a difference. Things that stone-faced reds will no doubt decry as "lifestylist" simply because they don't succeed in immediately overthrowing capitalism and bringing on a communist utopia:

Eating vegan locally-grown pesticide-free unprocessed food is absolutely more ethical than eating imported processed meat.

Why?

Far less carbon is burned to grow / store / transport / process / store again / re-transport the food. Workers involved in "organic" agriculture aren't exposed to the much more dangerous conditions of slaughterhouses / battery farms / pesticides / ships / warehouses. Far less animal suffering and death goes into producing the food. These are real metrics.

There are of course still many downsides to for-profit agriculture including desertification, exploitation of migrant labor, and destruction of native ecosystems to plant monocultures. But it's still much better than the alternative which ensures far greater harm by every metric...

For instance, the container ships that transport imported food and industrial products burn highly-polluting "bunker fuel"; the black, tarry goo that's left over when all the higher quality fuels like petrol, diesel and kerosene have been extracted from crude oil. In 2009, confidential data was leaked showing that a single container ship produces as much pollution as 50 million cars. The ship workers will be the first to breathe in these highly concentrated fumes. Avoiding imported food goes a long way in fighting exploitation.

Buying seeds / cuttings / grafts and growing your own food in a community garden, as well as dumpster diving from outside supermarkets is more ethical than buying locally grown food from a for-profit business.

Why?

Even less carbon is burned, waste is diverted from landfills, there are no workers to exploit or endanger, there is no animal suffering and death if you use no-till methods. You control everything that goes into the soil (and ultimately your community's bodies) and can thus stave off desertification and actually improve the soil and rebuild the ecosystem.

Downsides: Native flora is displaced in favor of domesticated food crops. Land ownership feeds the state via taxes (unless you use squatted land to plant the garden). Living in a city means you'll still be consuming a lot of things you can't produce yourself in your limited space. But again, this is a measurable improvement over the previous scenario.

Moving out of the city to a rural area and living as a subsistence farmer to grow all your own food in a food forest you plant, giving away or trading your surplus. Foraging for food where it's sustainable to do so. Planting trees on every unused piece of land you see.

Why?

Erosion and desertification is effectively stopped in its tracks wherever food forests rise. The trees clean the air of carbon. Trees are by far the plants most adept at evapotranspiration, and are integral to the water-cycle all lifeforms depend on. The climate in the area is safeguarded, with increased humidity and rainfall.

Forest gardening rewilds the planet. Pre-civilized peoples made the rainforests as abundant as they are by curating them and spreading the plants they found most beneficial. If enough people planted food forests in an area, the local population could sustain themselves by hunting and foraging the way they did before civilization.

So future generations are given the invaluable gift of autonomy from the industrial system, and the knowledge and incentive to resist industry's violent encroach on their way of life.

Personal Action Doesn't Happen in a Vacuum: Working Towards a Lasting Cultural Shift

When a group of people choose to e.g. not consume cow products, that directly creates less demand for cow products. So over that group's lifetime, less forest will be bulldozed to graze the cows that they didn't eat. Less cows will be impregnated by robotic rape machines. Less veal calves will be snatched from their mothers, put in dark little boxes for a few weeks and then slaughtered so the mother keeps producing milk for the dairy industry.

Some of the people vegans interact with will be influenced by their ethical choices and way of life and be inspired to also work to minimize their harm on the ecosystem. They'll also adopt a vegan diet, and influence people in their lives to follow suit. One vegan becomes two, two become ten, ten become ten million. The cultural shift spreads far and wide, touching countless lives and changing the course of history.

So in this way, an individual action gradually becomes a collective action. People slowly emulate others after being exposed to their lifestyle and ultimately the local culture is forever changed. All cultural shifts start out with a few innovators and gradually expand to the rest of the population as others see the benefits of the new culture.

Likewise with permaculture and food forests. People start planting food forests and others take up their example and pretty soon you have thousands of acres of land that are saved from desertification and become refuges for wildlife.

There are countless places where this is demonstrable, including where I'm from (somewhere in Western Asia). Each indigenous family in these mountains has a small plot of land that we cultivate. The more people choose to use mixed forest farming methods instead of standard sprayed monocultures, the more people are influenced to follow our example. They see how successful food forests are at feeding our families and the culture gradually shifts.

There needs to be a cultural shift that precedes and guides any revolutionary movement otherwise you'll just end up replicating capitalism like Marxists have done time and time again. People who live destructive consumerist lifestyles that cause ecocide in exchange for fleeting material comforts won't be capable of shifting to ethical lifestyles just because "the revolution" happened. They'll simply replicate their destructive ways under the "new" political system and the "revolution" will have been for nothing. Capitalism will have just been given another paper mask to hide behind as it drags us deeper into the black hole of industrial apocalypse.

Fuck Your Luxury Space Communism

A single cruise ship emits as much pollution as a million cars. Cruise ships dump 1 billion gallons of sewage into the ocean every year. Knowing these facts, how can any anarchist decide to directly fund the cruise ship industry by saving up money and booking a cruise holiday?

Reds will tell you with a straight face that capitalism is to blame for the cruise industry's rampant polluting, and "after the revolution", the cruise industry would do no harm because it would be worker-managed.

In reality, a truly communist society would necessitate that cruises be free to every worker as a reward for their labor. Which means far more globe-trotting tourists and far more cruise ships in the oceans. Carbon burning and pollution would actually increase greatly.

But let's ignore that for now. We don't live in a revolutionary communist society and we will not see capitalism go away in our lifetimes. Global capitalism is more ingrained in society than ever before. Anarcho-communists are such a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny percentage of any population. Reds telling "lifestylists" to stop giving a shit about anything other than "overthrowing" capitalism, something we clearly don't have the support or firepower to do, is blatantly ridiculous.

Continuing to eat meat / processed foods / buying a new phone, games console, tablet every year / using disposable plastic bags / toilet paper / chlorine cleaning products / building poorly insulated over-sized concrete buildings / not composting your waste / salting the snow / heating a pool / planting a lawn / going on a cruise / etc / etc because "there's no ethical consumption under capitalism" actively stands in the way of positive change and directly promotes inaction / harm. It actively prevents the culture from shifting towards anarchy.

"We'll go on this cruise now and help contribute to ecocide, but it's okay because we'll consume ethically after the glorious revolution" couldn't be a more ridiculous standpoint, but it's essentially what the "no ethnical consumption under capitalism" slogan has been turned into. It's a sad state of affairs when this empty rhetoric passes for revolutionary thought in red circles.

Ethics-Based Choices Aren't "Liberal" Just Because Pompous Reds Say So

Consumption under capitalism (or socialism) isn't ethical, but that's no excuse for inaction. There's no global revolution coming to change the way we live overnight. History has shown us the impossibility of that notion - with countless "revolutionary" societies repeating all the mistakes of capitalist ones.

But we can have small local revolutionary action in the here and now that can lead the way to sustained change at a wider level. Just ask the Zapatistas and similar indigenous and anti-civ anarchist movements around the world. No one is going to tell them to throw in the towel and conform to globalist capitalist / communist industrial civilization because all consumption is somehow equal.

Anyone can make personal ethics-based choices and also organize collective action. I have no idea why so many collectivists see these pursuits as being mutually exclusive. But you'll be sorely disappointed if you thought a global collectivist revolution was something that was realistically attainable. The world is far too diverse to be molded into a uniform entity controlled by a 19th century ideology designed to serve European factory workers.

Ignore the sanctimonious blathering of boring ideologues. There's nothing "liberal" about living what you preach. You claim to oppose hierarchy? Then live your life dedicated to minimizing hierarchy wherever you can. Set an example. Face the beast head on and stand your ground until you breathe your last breath. Because what else are you going to do?

Reds! Listen up, friends. Mocking people for caring about minimizing the harm they do and for thinking long and hard about the ethical implications of their actions doesn't make you somehow more radical than them. It just makes you a smug fuck. I don't care how many marches you've waved your shiny red flag at. Being able to recite the words of a long-dead white philosopher doesn't make you special, so shut up about "lifestylism" already.

When we see exploitation and engage in direct action to fight it, that doesn't make our fight useless. We have to live in this world and people are dying in it. All around us scores of people are suffering and dying. To ignore that and do nothing because our actions to relieve that suffering won't install communism to free the sacred workers from their bosses would be fucked.

Capitalism & Communism Are Cut From the Same Exploitative Industrial Cloth

The collectivists who see no problem with oppressive constructs like industrial meat consumption will immediately discount anti-authoritarian actions that aren't wholly-focused on abolishing the capitalist class and seizing the means of production. A lot of these red-anarchists are channeling Murray Bookchin as he delivered his anti-"lifestylism" screeds late in his life. They dream of seizing the means of production and thus receive a bigger share of the spoils, so it terrifies them that green anarchists instead want to set the factories and shopping malls on fire.

Reds see dumpster divers, illegalists, vegans, sustenance farmers, bike punks, squatters, naturists, communers and other "lifestylists" as a "distraction" from their driving singular desire to replace industrial capitalism with industrial communism. They want to remove the bosses from the equation, but keep everything else almost exactly the same: Workers, factories, battery farms, globalization, ecocide... Even prisons and police in a lot of cases. They want everything industrial society has forced on the world, except this time, they swear it'll be "more egalitarian" with "direct democracy" and an equal share of the industrial pie for every worker.

These red-dyed wannabe-industrialists insist we abandon our hard-fought battles and join them in pushing (waiting) for a more egalitarian industrialism that'll give us a fairer share of the profits gained from waging war on the wilds.

They love to accuse anarchist "lifestylists" (green anarchists especially) of somehow conforming to the system... By struggling against it? Their pissy Bookchin-inspired rants accusing anti-civs of being in a "death cult" or of being "counter-revolutionary" (while they themselves embrace ecocide and mass-extinction) really makes no logical sense to me. Green anarchists like the water defenders in Canada right now are actively putting their lives on the line to fight against the march of industry, while these yuppie killjoys sit in their comfy suburban armchairs typing up walls of snark to diminish the people who prove everyday that they live and breathe anarchy.

Sure, the Bookchinites, Chomskyists and assorted anarcho-brocialists will show up at an orderly protest in their officially licensed Guy Fawkes masks, and they're always in the front row of their local union meeting, eager to read a deadly serious statement from a stack of printed A4s. But how does that give them the superiority complex to voice their disgust about "edgy lifestylists"? It should be obvious at this point that communism isn't going to save the world, yet they imagine themselves as the governors of righteousness.

Protesting is just another cog in the democracy machine. The illusion of choice. It accomplishes nothing. It certainly doesn't make you more revolutionary than an anarchist who makes the conscious choice to live as ethically as possible. People that think they've achieved something worthwhile because they've held up a pretty sign at some protest are fooling themselves. All they're doing is asking their rulers to be nicer rulers. Rulers aren't giving up their power because you made a sign. You're not better than "filthy lifestylists" because you quoted Kropotkin at your union meeting that one time.

Both protests and unions as well as ‘lifestyle choices’ have long been co-opted by the system and are not going to loosen the death-grip it has on the planet. The system has become quite adept at swallowing up all attempts at revolution and turning them into Bizarro-revolutions that can be whitewashed and monetized to further the system's growth. I don't need to remind anarchists that communism was instantly turned back into industrial capitalism every time it was attempted. The "Communist Party of China" is perhaps the most powerful upholder of capitalism in the world today per capita.

Embracing Pointed Distractions & Recognizing Ideological Greenwashing

Collectivists will often butt in when others are talking about methods of harm reduction and insist we stop talking about "pointless distractions" and instead focus on achieving their much-hyped global worker-society they promise will come if we just hold hands and march in the streets until everyone sees how awesome we are. Then the masses will all join us to overthrow the capitalists and install communist utopia, just wait and see!

A lot of reds will even claim that all discussion about ethics and social justice is elitist and classist "liberal posturing" aimed at dividing the working class. The worst of them will insist that class is the only issue we should be concerned with. To hell with feminism, post-colonialism, the environment and all other "distractions" that don't interest white male workers. Workerism and class reductionism are fond bedfellows.

Being a vegan or a dumpster diver or a forager or a squatter or a self-sufficient cave-dweller need not have anything to do with shaming other people. It's simply the way someone chooses to live their life for a multitude of reasons; a lot of them informed by ethics, but also to pursue the happiness that every human desires.

An individual anarchist's decision to live more ethically is not some kind of narcissistic circlejerk the way collectivists like to present it. All anarchists have different motivations and different ethics. We all live in this world, in this time, and we can't just pretend there's some grand global homogeneous revolution right around the corner that's going to save humanity from the rapidly approaching industrial apocalypse if only we chant loud enough and post more luxury space communism memes to our Facebook profiles.

It's especially perplexing watching reds scorn anti-civs since none of these purported "communist revolutionaries" have demonstrated any real inclination to address the industrialist disaster that has been wrought on our planet beyond farcical promises of "space-colonization", "Star Trek replicators" and "asteroid mining".

Even those rare reds who bother to give consideration to ecology in their theories continue to glorify civilization, industry and democracy as liberators. So called "social-ecologist" Bookchinites promise that the planet can be saved if we just "make more democracy!" Then we can all participate in (profit from) the industrial system with our voting power, and opt to use "ecological technologies" such as solar and wind energy to power the machines.

Never mind the Chinese sustenance farmers who have carcinogenic industrial waste dumped on their lands everyday from those solar panel factories; they're just not thinking ecologically enough. And the Ghanaians who wince when mountains of worn-out solar panels are piled up in their backyards with the rest of the West's obsolete tech are just impeding ecological progress with their divisive nitpicking! It's almost like they don't want Europeans to have two electric vehicles in every garage? So ridiculous!

When you give a majority group legitimized power over minorities, they always use it to oppress them. All power corrupts. Collectivism breeds hierarchy because the interests of the dominant group e.g. factory workers aren't the same as the interests of minority groups e.g. indigenous herders or queer folk or sex workers.

If you think your average meat-and-potatoes white male worker is going to suddenly become enlightened and compassionate towards the plight of minorities when you give him the power of direct democracy, as social ecologists and other red anarchists envision, you haven't been paying close attention to the world around you. Time and time again, voters have successfully used their vote to deny rights to migrants, sex workers, trans and gay people, and anyone they see as differing from their normative standards.

Understanding the Coercion Behind the "Collective Good"

Reds expect you to put the needs of the almighty collective above your own needs, but the collective good matters little if your individual needs are ignored by the collective.

All too often, Western reds demanding you obey the "collective good" are simply engaging in red-washed white supremacy where the "collective" just means "white working men", and the "good" just means "our profits". Putting the will of the dominant population in society before your own needs and desires is an incredulous proposition. The profits of the white working man should not be of any concern to e.g. a brown unemployed woman.

Collectivism is kind of a ludicrous concept if you really think about it. We can't paint seven-billion people that have wildly different ideas of what life should be as one unified entity because they're not one unified entity. Collectivizing them as one group; "the working class" in our minds makes no logical sense and does nothing but fuel the industrial wasteland rapidly decimating the entire globe. Why should all humans be seen as workers, why should each of us be measured by our capacity to produce industrial goods?

People from different places have different needs. Marxism deals with this by separating people into classes and telling us to only concern ourselves with the worker classes and to hell with the peasant classes and the hunter-gatherers and the pastoralist nomads and the "land-owner classes".

This "land-owner" class includes indigenous peoples living off of their ancestral lands and exploiting no one, but again and again socialists have targeted them for genocide for not fitting into their ideological framework. Then the imperialist socialists seize their land and commercialize it so they can profit. For examples, see the Kazakh famine-genocide perpetrated by the USSR because the nomadic Kazakhs resisted the rigidity of forced collectivization, or the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran and resulting famine that was orchestrated so the red Russians could take control of Iran's oil fields, or China's current ongoing land seizures across its territories and forced internment and "re-education" of a million Uighurs.

The very idea of the worker class trumping everyone else is a proven recipe for colonialism and genocide. Individuals who avoid consumerism and live deliberately; apart from the system aren't exploiting anyone, but throughout history collectivists have caused untold death and suffering trying to shape indigenous lands into their image. Collectivism is far more dangerous than "lifestylism" to anyone who would fail to fit into the collectivist's ideological dogma.

Constructing a homogeneous group; a worker collective, and telling them they're the only group that matters; the upholders of the holy revolution, and they need to purge anyone who would threaten their revolution by not falling in line with the red agenda is not something that has ever led anywhere good. Forced collectivization gave us the Soviet Kazakh genocide, the Chinese Great Leap Forward genocide, the Soviet Holodomor genocide, etc. And it ultimately gave us collectivist capitalism like we see now in China - the most ecologically destructive form of capitalism there is.

Communism and other red ideologies (including the ones purporting to be anarchist) create as big an in group / out group divide as capitalism. The power just shifts to the producers rather than the owners. And historically it's just as brutal in its treatment of the out-groups. Anyone that doesn't want to be part of the industrial system, like the Kazakh nomadic herders, is basically fucked. You dissent, you die.

The red ideologies view the entire world through a Western industrial worker-serf lens. But the whole world isn't organized like the industrial West and it's unfair to force Western values and economic systems on everyone.

Indigenous farmers in post-colonial places are treated as pariahs; 'kulaks', and massacred for having 'owned' the ancestral land they sustain themselves with under capitalist definitions. Just because the poor in industrialized capitalist nations don't own the land they work, doesn't mean the poor in other parts of the world where there is no lord-serf system in place are bad.

A garden that you and your family / tribe tend to and depend on to survive is personal property, but communism has always treated it like private property. Like growing your own food is reactionary and a threat to the "revolutionary" government. The USSR even banned people from planting gardens at home so they'd be forced to depend on the collective for food. To keep them tied to the factory assembly line.

Nomadic herders and roaming hunter-gatherers are likewise criminalized and starved out because there can be no room for people that don't submit to the industrial work system under communism. They're grouped as "individualists" and punished for resisting collectivization.

Reject Collectivism, Embrace Anarchy

Collectivism, whether it be communist, fascist or capitalist ideologically isn't something that serves my interests as an indigenous subsistence farmer and forager living in these remote mountains. Whatever industrial dogma I'm ordered to live my life by only serves to feel my heart with sorrow. I will loudly reject the idea of a collective society at every opportunity, regardless of its ideological alliance. All industry kills all life.

I'm an anarchist. Even the idea of a "society" governing my way of life makes me vomit a little. Your needs aren't my needs, I don't want to go where the collective wants to take me. My lifestyle and my ancestors' lifestyles are likely nothing like yours and we shouldn't be meshed together as a singular entity just because we're both forced to work the machines.

Setting up living, breathing alternatives to the industrial system crafts non-coercive relationships between humans, non-humans and our environments better than unionism and other workerist pursuits ever will. Workerism only further ingrains us in the system and makes us dependent on it, and then if we do manage a revolution by some miracle... We just reproduce the capitalist system again because it's all we know. Working examples of anarchy like self-sufficient food forests are far more revolutionary to me than a union or a protest march. All applications of anarchy are important, but I value anarchy that I can see and touch.

The only revolution I'm interested in is one that removes dependences on artificial structures. I want to be liberated from the system, not become the system. The collective isn't my master. The collective is really just another state, however nicely you package it.

Red anarchists - If you don't take responsibility for the harm you do, no one will. There's no rapture-like revolution coming to wipe out capitalism's sins and absolve you of any guilt for your part in it because "no ethical consumption". There's only this life you're living and your choices absolutely matter. They shape who you are and the impact you make on your environment and your culture. If you just keep doing harm and blame your actions on capitalism, you're no different than any CEO dumping toxic waste in a river in China. Harm reduction in your community is something you have direct control over. You can choose to not dump that waste. Or you can dump it and justify it to yourself by saying "it's okay because capitalism did it".

The entire "no ethical consumption" argument and similar condescending slogans parroted by half-assed socialists are just a way to justify their inaction in the face of devastating oppression.

It's become increasingly unlikely that we can stop the unraveling global mass extinction event that industry has wrought on the planet, but anarchists have never let impossible odds stand in our way before. We fight because we exist and we exist to fight. Whatever the odds.

We can either choose to take action to resist the violent system starting on an individual and on a local level, or we can live and die waiting for capitalism to magically go away worldwide while participating in it fully and thus furthering its growth and increasing its violence.

"Think Globally, Act Locally" might be a cliche, but it's really the only power we have. If we don't take action in our own neighborhood in every way we can, why even pretend to care about anarchy?

Everything we do to resist the ecocide is worthwhile. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

[captainvideogame]

Underhero game review

A game that reminds you what Mario RPGs used to be.

Just because its called Underhero doesn't mean the game is heavily influenced by Undertale. Its actually more influenced by the Mario RPGs especially Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi series. I saw this game thanks to Jim Sterling's video about it and from a glance, it looked interesting. After playing it, I can safely say that this is a really awesome game that people should get their hands on! Here is my review of Underhero.

Story: 4.5/5

Once upon a time, There is a kingdom called chestnut kingdom where evil always lurks and Heroes always arrive to fight away evil and save the princesses. And the tradition keeps continuing. One day, a Hero arrives to defeat the main villain but before doing that, he is blocked by minions. However, the strangest thing that happened is that the hero gets killed by a minion's scheme. From here on, this is where the story begins.

The story is almost fantastic and well written. It has a great sense of humour all around like breaking the fourth wall, having characters do foolish actions etc. Every single character has some level of depth and personality that you will like them regardless. Almost none of the characters in this game are dull nor annoying and that's the really best part of the entire game. This moment right here reminded me a lot about what Mario RPG games used to be.

The only real problem here is how the plot ends because it ends on a cliffhanger and an unsatisfying one at that. Had that ended on a higher note, I would have personally given it a full star rating but sadly, that's not the case.

Graphics: 4/5

Yes. Even the game's graphics are not bad as they are colorful, pleasant to look at and never has anything bland. The animations for the most part are spot on. The only flaw here is the little bit of a lack of additional animations such as falling on a bottomless pit or defeating an enemy.

Music: 5/5

The music in this game is overall fantastic. It has a mix between music that is chiptune to music that is deep. The music infact makes some of the characters stand out. My personal favourite is Stiches theme because it reflects on his overall character. Even the sound effects are great as they add depth to the humour of the plot.

Gameplay: 3.5/5

And now we come to the ultimate slice of the game which is the gameplay. You play as a minion who wears a mask that is similar to a Mario enemy called a Shy Guy. You're only functions are walking or running left and right, jump and use your hood to glide and of course climb on ropes, entering doors and talk to NPCs around you. The game normally plays like a platform game where you jump on platforms, collect coins, solve some basic puzzles and explore the level around to find treasure chests that reward you with either coins, upgrades or a side quest items.

When you encounter enemies by simply touching them, you are in the turn based battle gameplay and this is where the Mario RPG similarities begin. You have three types of attacks which are the sword, the slingshot and the hammer. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages. The sword is the basic and the fastest of the three but it is weak while the slingshot helps to shoot enemies from a far off distance and the hammer, while slow to execute is powerful and deals massive damage. The final move you get is the Rush mode where you must first fill both your stamina and the Rush gauge and then use your sword to do massive amounts of slicing at the cost of your stamina and the rush mode gauge being fully depleted. You can also deal bonus damage if you time your attacks based on the rhythm of the background music that plays.

Of course all of this comes for a price which is the stamina. Using the attacks cost some amounts of stamina and if you drain the stamina, you will get exhausted and you will have to wait for a while to resume combat but the same applies for the enemy.

For defence, you have your jump, crouch and the shield. Jumping and crouching help for dodging the enemy attacks similar to the Mario and Luigi RPG series while the shield is used for blocking attacks that are hard to block but this depletes your shield health and if it reaches zero, you can't use it unless you get it repaired. But if you time the block just right, you create a parry which not only stuns your enemy but also does not deplete your shield kind of similar to Paper Mario.

Besides combat, there are also two things you can do. Talk to enemies before fighting them but if you attack them, you can no longer talk to them. The other option is to pay them so that you don't have to fight them but this is a problem due to money being very scarce.

Now the reason why this gets a lower score compared to the others is because the gameplay has some flaws. The problem here is the game mechanic as its not always well executed. When facing bosses, you won't encounter them on battle mode as you often instead have to stun them so that you can damage them in battle mode making them not very challenging.

Then comes the problem with leveling up. Now interestingly, this game doesn't ask you to grind a lot. Infact, when you defeat enemies, they are gone for good just like how it is in Undertale. The downside here is the overall lack of satisfaction. While the game isn't hard to the point that you need grinding, it doesn't seem rewarding getting a level up because of how pointless it almost is besides the stamina gauge filling higher. Unlike the Mario RPG games where there is a reason for the battle systems to exist, here, if you remove this mechanic and made it to like Super Paper Mario style of gameplay, then this game would have been much better. But for what it does now is half baked at best.

And finally..the replay value. Now this game is pretty short of about 12-16 hours at best but the issue here is that there are almost no side quests to get into with only about few of them and that's that. There's no additional modes that you unlock, no optional bosses to face. Its just the main story that you deal with and nothing else.

Overall: 4.5/5

While the gameplay might not be well polished, its still great for what it does especially the plot, graphics and music and since this is an RPG game, the overall experience is still satisfactory and for anyone into RPGs or just want to remind themselves of what Paper Mario used to be, this is a game for those type of people.

[i-am-an-accidental-hipster]

Anime and Animation Recommendations (Includes shows I would never recommend, please read the accompanying text)

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: I feel like this is what would happen if the album Clockwork Angels by Rush was turned into anime, but the main character was replaced by two brothers who actually have a personality and an interesting backstory. Essentially, it is a mix of a compelling take on western philosophy from an eastern perspective, good character writing, and FANTASTIC art direction. Characters undergo meaningful development, it has no filler, and it avoids the problem of power creep fairly well. Adding to that its heavy use of Sakuga an minimalist animation, and it is one of my favorite anime of all time.

Mob Psycho 100: Criminally underrated. With a plot borrowed from a japanese web-comic maker who is surprisingly good at making comedy and relatable themes meld seamlessly, and animated by Studio Bones which is basically my favorite studio, this show is absolutely fantastic, to the point at which it competes with ol’ Fullmetal for my favorite anime. Like its sister anime One Punch Man, this show uses VERY heavy use of both Sakuga and minimalist styles of animation, switching between them in a way that is hardly noticeable but also really captures the feel of the situation; it even switches art styles regularly, and the animators are not afraid to try new things, making the show an absolute blast to watch. Despite its comedy focus, the main characters undergo extensive development, sometimes in the span of a single episode, and the combat sections are mesmerizing to look at.

One Punch Man: Really good show, slightly overrated, but mostly deserving of the attention it gets. As someone who was unemployed for a long time, this show really captures the difficulties of someone in that situation. The plot, such as it is, is pretty repetitive by it’s very nature, but it’s animated by Mad House studios, and is basically composed entirely of Sakuga with short spurts of minimalist animation to remind one of the original web comic (you may notice a theme in the anime I like), making it a blast to watch. Would recommend.

Hero Academia: The Naruto of our generation, and it’s easy to see why it’s so popular. The character designs and personalities are all memorable (such that you can actually remember all their names), and basically all of the main cast gets at least some screen time; as a result, it is really easy to remember basically everyone’s names. Because of the memorable character designs, it is no surprise that the fandom is bursting at the seams with shippers, but for the most part it’s non-toxic and results in a lot of pretty good fan art. And of course, as you guessed, it has Sakuga, and makes good use of it. Finally, as an aside, it has one of the best portrayals of a paragon archetype character I have seen in a long time, in the form of All Might. Would recommend, but I really don’t have to because it’s all over the place.

Guerren Lagann: Good animation, good character designs, stupid nonsensical plot. A really fun anime if you turn your brain completely off and just watch the GIANT ROBOT FIGHTS.

Kill la Kill: Good animation, but I can’t stand the character designs and the plot is so physically painful I couldn’t watch past the fourth episode (I only watched in the first place because some idiot on youtube said it had interesting themes, which it does not). Do not recommend.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team: Good anime, but the fanservice is too much for me. Just as I was getting invested in the plot (a treatment of the Gundam war from the perspective of the grunts on the surface), BOOM NAKED BOOBS HERE. No seriously, it came out out of nowhere so suddenly it gave me a heart attack. Mixed feelings on this anime.

Death Note: Good anime. A little melodramatic. I love L, ‘cause he’s basically me but smarter. Would recommend.

Bleach: SO MUCH POTENTIAL WASTED. Season 1 was GREAT, season 2 was ok, and then I couldn’t get past the Bount arc. Would recommend for the sake of the first two seasons.

Attack on Titan: two words: CRIMINALLY OVERRATED. It’s basically edgy trash with little depth or nuance, and a plot that seems ripped from Starship Troopers.

Assassination Classroom: Really good, actually. Well animated, decent character designs, a little weak on character development. Korosensei is my spirit animal (I’m a teacher). Goodness gracious, he embodies everything I want to be in terms of being a teacher, except perhaps his obsession with big boobs. Would recommend.

Psycho-Pass: Very cerebral, very interesting, very mesmerizing, has complex themes. Only downsides are that it’s basically a torture porn during the entire first half of the first season, which means you don’t want to eat before you watch it, and really only the main two protagonists and the main villain have good character designs. Would recommend for those who don’t mind seeing a lot of mutilated bodies and who like complex themes.

Now for shows that look like anime:

Avatar the Last Airbender: No surprise, this is a really good show. Minimal filler, and what filler there is doesn’t feel like filler. Good action, excellent handling of complex themes, good magic system. The plot starts out okay and then ramps up significantly after the season one finale. Where this show really shines, though, is it’s characters, who are almost all memorable and have great voice acting. Better yet, almost all of them get character development. Also a good exploration of eastern philosophy. Would recommend to those three people who haven’t seen it yet.

Legend of Korra: Good action, good art direction, really good animation. Not sure I like most of the characters, though. to be honest, Varrick, Zhu Li, Bumi, and Bo Lin are the only protagonists who I like in this show, besides of course the returning caste from the previous show. Season two was pretty bad, but the plot was very strong for seasons 1, 3, and 4. Some things felt very shoehorned. Almost all the villains were so incredibly compelling that they almost made up for the bland protagonists, and each one represented an individual theme, which was a very nice touch. Kinda screwed up some of the lore and the magic system, though. Mixed feelings on this one.

Dragon Prince: Season 1 was good, introduced a really cool magic system, nice complex themes, and a diverse and likable cast. The down side was that it suffered from some... questionable choices in animation style. Season 2, on the other hand, is... just really, really, really good. It has a good chance of becoming the next Avatar the Last Airbender if it keeps this up. It explores the magic system in fascinating detail, the themes are developed with a depth that rivals that of Korra, the plot has thickened, and the characters have developed significantly in likability and relatability. I highly recommend this one.

Voltron Legedary Defender: Starts out really good with Sakuga all around, kick-ass action scenes, and a decent plot. Unfortunately the shippers infested the fandom to the point where they were actually influencing the direction of the show, and the plot suffered as a result. Over the course of eight season, the show slowly decayed into a hollow shell. Mixed feelings on this one.

Ben 10: Kinda overrated, but still good. A nice watch on day you just want to relax and watch well-animated fights, but don’t expect it to make much sense.

Generator Rex: Criminally underrated. I love all the characters, all the action is great (even if it doesn’t make sense sometimes), animation is pretty good throughout, and it actually has really good technobabble. Honestly, it is my favorite show out of all of the ones on the list, despite its problems, just because of the really cool aesthetic. The main character starts as an obnoxious stereotypical Cartoon Network Protagonist, and develops into my second-favorite depiction of a paragon archetype. All the villains are memorable (even the silly ones). The first season has the best stand-alones (with some absolutely hilarious comedy episodes, dark edgy episodes, and fascinating pieces of science fiction); the second season has a season finale so good it made me cry, and the third season has by far the most interesting plot. I have a recommended watch order if you want to watch it.

Samurai Jack: Minimalist, very stylized, has some kick-ass fight sequences. Each episode has it’s own plot with not much in terms of overlap, but even the minor characters are memorable. My favorite is the Scotsman, but that is really no surprise if you watch the show. The Yin Yang dynamic between Jack and Aku is really interesting in its own right. Would highly recommend.

Teen Titans: Starts out mediocre, quickly gets good by the end of the first season, then ramps up to amazing by whichever season had the Trigon arc. Characters are almost as instantly recognizable as those in Hero Academia, and each one gets character development. It also has some standalone episodes that are almost as good as the standalones in Generator Rex. YOU SHOULD WATCH THIS SHOW.

Young Justice: Very similar to Generator Rex in many way. Memorable characters with good character development, good sci-fi, good action, and a similar season structure. It’s having a new third season right now which, despite the drop in animation quality due to limited funds, still manages to be engaging (especially the Vandal Savage origin episode and the three-episode arc devoted to Cyborg’s origin). Would recommend.

Transformers Animated: Criminally underrated, largely because of its... different animation style which is more like the animation for Teen Titans than the original G1 series, and the fact that they changed a lot of the lore. It has surprisingly complex themes, the voice acting is spot-on, and they do a good job of handling power creep. Though many of the protagonists start out kind of unlikable, they get really good development as the series goes on. By season 3, every single character has become so likable that it becomes legitimately distressing when they get hurt, and they play it to good effect. To give you an idea, when my sister saw the season finale of this show, she had an enormous melt-down at the end when her favorite character died (not telling who). It took three days to calm her down (the only way to do so was to introduce her to the idea of fan-fiction. I HIGHLY recommend this show.

[nvcl347]

NANOPULUS Diagnosis (Original G/T Species)

(Updated as of 2/5/19)

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PASSAGE 1 : ORIGIN

May 27 was the day people all around the world suddenly vanished without a trace. Families messaged loved ones, schools and businesses were closed, and people shut themselves from society. Everyone was on edge on who may be next. Some people believed that perhaps this was Judgement Day, and chaos nearly flamed everywhere. The next day, suddenly everything went quiet. No missing person reports, no anything. Turning on your local news station would only be discussing what had happened the day before with the only minor, cut-short stories here and there. Search parties went out across countries, while the overall world government kept quiet. For conspiracists, it was a miner’s dreamed hit goldmine.

The people who went missing that day never came back. Not until decades later, when by then, the incident had been forgotten by the world. Only a select few could recollect it clearly, but they had no power in their hands to challenge the authorities in court, and their days were already numbered.

PASSAGE 2 : RECOVERED CASE FILES

DECEMBER 1996

ENGAGED HENRY C. LILIAM AND JESSIE I. LILIAM REPORT SMALL PRESENTS STOLEN OVERNIGHT

NO SIGNS OF FORCED BREAK-IN DISCOVERED

SLIM WRAPPING PAPER TEARS SCATTERED ACROSS FLOOR

NO FURTHER EVIDENCE COVERED

***CASE CLOSED AS OF JANUARY 1997***

FEBRUARY 1998

SCHOOL BUILDING HAVING CONSISTENT POWER OUTAGES

REASON: UNKNOWN

PLAYGROUND AREA GENERATOR REPAIRED MARCH 1998

NO FURTHER EVIDENCE COVERED

***CASE CLOSED AS OF APRIL 1998***

OCTOBER 2003

CHILD REPORT OF LIVE MINIATURE DOLL SNAGGING FOOD FROM LEFTOVER CANDY

CANDY WRAPPER GNAWING MARKS MATCH NO DISCOVERED ANATOMY OF CREATURE IN PRESENT-DAY RECORDS

NO FURTHER EVIDENCE COVERED

***CASE CLOSED AS OF NOVEMBER 2003***

JUNE 2004

ANIMAL CARETAKER EMPLOYEE SARAH J. MALLS REPORT OF TINY UNKNOWN CREATURE TAMPERING WITH RODENT CAGES

NO FURTHER EVIDENCE COVERED

***CASE CLOSED AS OF JUNE 2004***

APRIL 2007

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT DAVID A. HAN PERSONAL BELONGINGS REPEATEDLY DISAPPEAR

ALL STUDENTS CLAIMED THEMSELVES INNOCENT

PLAYBACK QUALITY MODERATE

NO STUDENTS CAPTURED TAMPERING WITH LOCKER #34

NO FURTHER EVIDENCE COVERED

***CASE CLOSED AS OF JUNE 2007***

SEPTEMBER 2009

FAST FOOD STORE MONITOR #3 CAPTURES “AGILE SMALL PERSON” RUMMAGING THROUGH STORAGE CONTAINERS

PLAYBACK QUALITY DAMAGED

AUTHORITY CONCLUSION: “IT’S MERELY A MOUSE PASSING THROUGH”

***CASE CLOSED AS OF DECEMBER 2009***

JULY 2010

48% OF U.S. CHILDREN SUDDENLY REPORT “REAL” FAIRIES OCCASIONALLY ROAMING BACKYARDS

NO FURTHER EVIDENCE COVERED

***TREND IS RISING***

PASSAGE 3 : THE RELEASE

In November of 2013, the records of these incidents were released, alongside what had caused them. These creatures were sent across the world by an organization of unknown origins nor title and placed these creatures into the black market, other experimental agencies, or just out into the wild for a study of its survival in certain environments. As hypothesized, this species thrives best in forest-like environments, however, the species at the same time has no capabilities of reproduction, and cannot survive as a whole due to its weak state in natural selection. But, due to major injections of unknown chemicals, the species’ life expectancy (if healthy), is just about the same as a human’s is. Some hypothesize this may be an enhanced version of what may be the experiments causing longer mice life expectancy, which are open to the public.

The overall species according to the organizational records is titled NANOPULUS, as to which the general public has dubbed the species, “The Nano Creatures.”

PASSAGE 4 : APPEARANCE

Most reports find the species mythical or “unrealistic” due to the sheer size of these creatures. All Nanos have been recorded in the average height range of 1-3 inches tall. This has managed to give Nanos numerous places for them to sneak and hide, along with the pressure of gravity giving them no struggle to run nimble and quick from their small amount of weight. The heaviest Nano on record weighed around 12.5 grams (.44 oz), equivalent to holding a stack of around five pennies in your hand. According to the files, the experimentalists had predicted (or perhaps hoped for) a height range of 4-5 inches at average, but apparently, a certain overdose of an undefined chemical caused an overreaction to the shrinkage expectancies.

The facial features of a Nano aren’t much of a difference to a human appearance, that is until you really look at them. Their ears are sharp- much like what you’d imagine from an elf- but not very pointy at their ends, and more rounded like ours instead. Their ears will slightly shift and twitch to help pick up any signals of noise or movement.

The next thing you may notice if you look close enough at a Nano is their eyes. Their eye color is unnatural and seems to shift through every hue of the rainbow. Looking closer, unlike our round pupils, Nanos have more round oval-shaped pupils. The first thing you may think of at this is perhaps a slit cat-like eye, but it’s not exactly like that, however. The oval pupil of a Nano is wider than a cat’s and is not pointed at the top and bottom like a cat’s either. Rather, it is rounded, mirroring the sharp-but-rounded ears they have as well. It is also worth noting that when the pupil of a Nano dilates, although having a similar shape to a cat’s, it does not flatten itself into one slick line. Instead, the pupil just shrinks, like a normal round pupil as would like humans. The smaller the pupil, the more intently the Nano is concentrating.

The Nanos also heir mutated traits of sharper teeth and fingers (not to be confused with nails) for defense. Their fingers are only slightly pointed and barely can cause a bleeding scratch. This goes the same for the toes of their feet as well. They could cause a small, nagging scrape, though. As for the teeth, now they can cause some bleeding. Nothing fatal, of course, but definitely a scratch that of a paper cut for sure if they were really desperate. The teeth are only slightly pointed and are wide, too. They are also smoothly rounded, similar to how their fingers and toes are formed.

Every Nano has one thing in reference to their past: their branding. Not a burned-in branding, but a stitched branding- like a tattoo- but it’s not exactly the same thing; it’s permanent, even when damaged… it can be regenerated just like normal skin. Each symbol was made to represent the Nano’s personality, and it is made up of one single line, like cursive letters. They can depict harshness or intellect, based on the design. Wavy lines represented a calm persona, while jagged meant the opposite. The single line never overlaps with itself. Many Nanos’ brandings show depictions of animals, such as ocelots for speed, but wavy to show they were collected as well. Another branding occurrence may be a jagged alligator, representing a vicious and brash Nano. No single pair of Nanos have the same exact branding; every single one of them is different, like fingerprints. That doesn’t mean they can’t have the same meaning, though; they just don’t have the same visible imagery.

PASSAGE 5 : EYE COLOR DEFINING

The following image illustrates the colors as to which a Nano’s iris can shift between, alongside what the color represents/what the Nano at that current state is feeling/what a Nano senses somebody else is feeling. If a Nano has “mixed feelings,” the defined colors of those feelings in the irises will mix together.

PASSAGE 6 : ABILITIES

Studies show that their ears have a high sensibility to noise, capable of easily alerting them off as much as the dropping of a pen just rooms away from their position. This has assisted them in the warning of when oncoming threats are nearby way ahead of time, giving them a good amount of time to find a place to securely conceal themselves. Even if the threat was running as fast as they could, they’d be lucky to get a sly glimpse of these tiny human creatures with their swift movement.

Their nose is much similar to dogs’ as well. Not in shape, of course, but in sensibility. They are incredibly strong and can smell out a piece of pepperoni from rooms away.

Nanos, much like mice, can actually survive great falls in height as opposing to the common belief that they couldn’t even survive the fall from a countertop. A nano at the size of one inch could actually survive a fall as high as an eleven story window and get up with little-to-no damage at all. Answer? Terminal velocity. Due to their small weight and frail bone structure, they can survive great falls with minimal damage, much like mice and rats.

What if a Nano is deaf? What if they are nose blind? “Sense of Danger,” they call it. That swelling feeling in your gut that something isn’t right, is exactly what Nano’s feel when legitimate danger is nearby. Sometimes for humans, it’s an overreaction, but Nano’s instincts are incredibly accurate in this case scenario. The only downside is, this Sense of Danger is purely based off of movement. If a dangerous object is inanimate, a Nano wouldn’t be aware of it.

Nanos heir a venom in their teeth, which can be injected by bite if they feel threatened. This venom, dubbed “Nurnostium,” causes a numbing sensation upon the surrounding area of the bite, causing it to fall asleep for a short period of time (recorded 5-10 minute average lasting effect). There are no fatal effects to this bite, but in order to escape capture, it is highly effective. It takes about a full minute for the effect to fully kick in. The venom in itself is incredibly strong and could cause an entire human to fall unconscious with just a quarter of a cup's injection of it. Because the Nano is so small in size, let alone its bite, the tiny portion of venom cannot affect the threat at its entirety.

PASSAGE 7 : WEAKNESSES

One of a Nano’s biggest weaknesses, of course, would be their size. So incredibly small, they have little-to-no chance in physical combat, making them quite queasy and fearful creatures. This is why they are so distant from interaction of many other creatures besides themselves… and humans- which is where we lean into our next weakness.

Curiosity kills the cat. With no recollection of almost anything of their past, they have an IQ intelligence of as much as a newborn child. Some will learn naturally, others will need introduction of “good and bad,” if their Sense of Danger doesn’t do the trick for them. All in all, Nanos are quite stupid for their age, and need a little help.

Tagging along with curiosity, explains their interest of sociality between themselves and humans. This urge won’t exactly occur to them until Nanos get a good look at what their physical appearance looks like. This isn’t necessarily a “good look” type of thing where they stare at themselves in the mirror, but a good look where they care to inspect themselves in their own point of view and make comparisons. ‘Arms? Hands? The big creatures have them. Legs? Feet? They have those, and I do too.’ Because humans are so similar in physical appearance compared to Nanos (who socialize with each other very well), it drives their interest and mental questionnaire as to ‘why they’re so much bigger compared to us,’ and want to socialize with them as they would each other. However, then their fear-factor comes in as to how absolutely massive humans are, which is why Nanos abstain themselves from view despite their urge to interact with us… like a war is going inside themselves. Go with willful curiosity? Or go with natural instinct?

Why is this considered a weakness? Well, if a Nano does fuss up to interact with a human (intentionally or accidental), there of course will be humans that are kind, maybe confused, and gentle. Others, as we know, will just be assholes. You know exactly what I’m talking about, which is why this is considered a weakness, and needs no further explanation.

Next weakness, is manipulation. Because of their feeble minds, Nanos are incredibly vulnerable to misdirectory, as when someone gains a Nano’s trust, they gain their trust. Nanos when they allow someone/something into their comfort zone, signals strong loyalty and affection. But, as easily as it can be achieved is as easily as it can be lost.

Their final weakness, which really isn’t too severe in any way, is their vocals: so small in size, Nanos can only vocalize to one another like mice. Air pressure on their lungs causes their pitch to rise incredibly to inaudible, squeaky-grunty chipmunk babble. Gradually, as they do learn language, however, they can minimally speak basic words like “yes,” “no,” or other such words/names. But, their grammar isn’t the best, and will talk much like cavemen, and the factor of their high-pitched voice still stands.

On the topic of vocals: unnaturally, and without any logical explanation on record, Nanos never pronounce proper names correctly, and they never entirely learn how to pronounce them either. The only ones they ever seem to get right are their own and others’ in the Nano species. Sometimes, they’ll never even attempt to pronounce someone by their real name, and refer to them as a single adjective or descriptions along the lines of “bad man,” “big man,” “strong,” “loud,” etc. Once someone/something is given a name, it keeps that name throughout the Nano species.

-

Feel free to use in writing/illustration. Do not steal or repost. Be sure to tag me so I can see your work!

Tags if interested - @anqshusxx @pizsospa @depressed-owl-in-narnia @cloud-addict @gianttol @mini-macaroon @tiny-artist-ace @gt-confessions @gt-handhelds @a-sweet-pea @lord-of-the-pastries @so-very-small @sawyergt @sadtinyissad @territorial-utopia

[sparda3g]

Gintama Chapter 699 Review

After 10,000 years, this series is free. It’s time to conquer Earth! But seriously, it felt like it has been years since we last have a new Gintama chapter. The last one wasn’t truly the final chapter, but only final to be released in Weekly Shounen Jump. Today, Sorachi is on a mission to finish the series for good with a proper sendoff. What way to make a comeback than delivering a chapter that define Gintama perfectly; hysterical parody, emotional driven characters, and action-packed ride with a gut-wrenching cliffhanger.

By the time you see the color spread, you’ll know we’re off with a great start with Silver Ball Z. It’s remarkable how accurate Sorachi captured the visual work of Toriyama. From the character’s angle to design, it’s well deserved achievement to capture the sensation. Kondo didn’t need alteration though; he’s already a gorilla, so only the style has changed. To make the parody even better, the good portion of the beginning is a recap done in Dragon Ball style.

This is one of the best “previously on” segment that I have ever seen. It’s quite brilliant to take advantage of switching from one magazine to another and start off with a recap to remind the fans what happened while have a good laugh. It’s not only the artstyle that has changed, but even the narration reflects the same way how Dragon Ball has done in the past. All it was missing was the soundtrack. It is gold, or silver, however you want to call this moment. I laughed so hard at Katsura designed as Yamucha, and Takasugi designed as Vegeta. Strangely enough, it captured their character too well. Before the chapter truly begins, Katsura strikes Gintoki with Wolf Fang Fist.

The comedy doesn’t focus only on Dragon Ball parody, but also on Sorachi himself. Apparently, because of more time and switch to Jump Giga, Sorachi is now putting effort to his work with great quality of art, even if it does resort to Dragon Ball. Oddly enough, this seems to be low-key true to other Mangaka, but I digress. Hilarious that Katsura buries Yamucha by calling it a loser role. Rest in Peace, Yamucha. The best part is the ending of the parody. I seriously think Sorachi believes all of it.

Now that Gintama is in another magazine, Gintoki has nothing to worry about. No more worries about One Piece overshadowing him and no more worries about the rising suns that are Black Clover, My Hero Academia, and Haikyuu!!! to overshadow him. He can now overrun the world of Jump Giga, starting with Akira Toriyama’s power. So much so, he pulls the exact same ending shot from Dragon Ball. That is pure gold. Could you imagine if the series did end the same way? We’re going to need Gintama Super then. Takasugi brings the scene back to reality with Galick Gun. Oh how I missed this series.

He does have a point though. If there were silver balls, why bother planning this ambush in the first place? There wouldn’t be any need to sacrifice and nothing will be at stake. Well, thank goodness, it doesn’t exist. We can’t ruin the excitement now. Of course, what Sorachi does best is to segue to a more serious matter from a gag. It’s true with silver balls, life would be much easier on them, but Takasugi has no regrets. He’s thankful that they made it this far with their own hands; no tricks, no magic, just pure talent. All thanks to Shouyo. This is the type of writing I missed from this series. From there on, it’s all action-packed with many things to offer.

I assume with all the time Sorachi has with Jump Giga, he has enough energy to add plenty of details and sequences to the action scenes without wasting so much spaces. Unlike Boruto, it uses the panels wisely for tension and suspense. It’s why the action starts with a bang, literally and figuratively. It’s the Disciples against the cult followers. That panel with all three kicking asses while feeling the excitement is great. Thankfully, it’s not all of the story that was being told here.

Although they reached to the Altana Terminal, the ship that crashed is absorbing the altana. That means Shouyo’s body is absorbing it and soon, Tendoshu will gain a new way for their immortality plan. This does raise the tension higher, now that we establish that they’re on a ticking time bomb. They have to rush all the way up there and when you look at the scene, it’s incredibly difficult. It’s baffling how much people truly desired for immortality this badly. That’s where we receive a really heartfelt moment during the heated action.

While the action goes on as it becomes intense, Katsura begins a heartfelt speech that is shared with others that ties in the morale of immortality and cherish the life you’re given. Even if they were to die, he will have no regrets. It’s hard to say if their reunion was joy or sorrow, but it’s certain if one outlives another, it would be impossible to find another person like them. They have ups and downs, trying to kill each other. Despite all of the troubles, their bonds can’t be severed. It’s the bond that’s worth limiting to. Honestly, I can’t do it justice without the mention of its sequences.

The reason why this was so heartfelt isn’t just because we know their friendship is truly one of the kind or how well-written the dialogue is. It’s the action set piece that drives the emotion home with great sincerity. Not only it was entertaining, but you can grasp the words’ meaning at its best, leaving you feeling really good and emotional. It has great effective use of the flashback panels and the focus view to leave a strong impact. Like how Takasugi holds Gintoki’s hand to show the comradery, the unbroken friendship. It’s so damn good to see this series back again.

Gintoki can relate to the followers on one thing: not wanting to die. He can understand their wishes because he too wants to live long and enjoy the sensation with his friends. The others have their own wish to meet Shouyo. They want to vent out their frustration, but they may never know how much of a beating they will give until they feel satisfied. Not even eternity would do. Those panel shots with all of them enjoying are sublime. That’s how you do friendship. Those three are the best. The one major downside is the old friend of mine: darkness and it raised death flags.

Katsura spots a rocket launcher and push everyone back to dodge. Only he takes the damage from the impact, weakened enough to slow them down. They then gets trapped by both sides of their pathway, which seems like the end for them. While I didn’t think of that, I was a bit worried on what’s about to happen with Katsura injured. Anything goes and that’s what happens next. The explosions erupt from the wall, essentially saving the three from their certain doom. That’s where the other best part of the series comes in: the characters.

It was clear that it was too much for the three to handle all of the enemy alone, which is why it’s a great time to bring back all other characters to the fray. I like how Shinseigumi orders them to comply and if they don’t, then more power to them, because they would love to show their power. It’s not just them, it’s every character that has been around for a long time. It’s like witnessing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Gintama Edition; everyone is here! All it was missing was that theme song from Be Yorozuya Forever. Book it, anime staff!

What makes the scenario even better is how they are reflecting the long grueling journey after being ruled by Amanto for 20 years. They went through hell many times, but the result is paying off greatly. After the war, it made them stronger than ever. It’s no wonder earlier in the arc, it emphasized the growth of the Samurai. No more they will feel fear from them; it’s time to take Earth back. It’s a message that reads, “It’s been a long journey for your favorite characters, but they learn and grow, and when they show the result, the journey ends.” It’s already building for the closure that we have been waiting for.

You can’t do this justice without the beloved main characters. Just when Otae blocks the attack, which by the way is the same shot from the anime preview back in Jump Festa, the two come to save the day. Most importantly, after for so long, they can finally say, “Welcome to the country of Samurai.” The monthly release schedule really pays off for the quality panels like the one with Shinpachi and Kagura. So great to see them again. I got to remind myself how heroine is treated as well as a main character that doesn’t overshadow the protagonist. Yorozuya’s reunion is so close. I can almost taste it.

Characters aren’t great without amusing interactions. Matsudaira and Kondo are cooperating from sky and ground, like the good old time. Despite their political differences, mainly on the marriage, they are great friends. No matter what timeline they’re in, it will always be the Era of Samurai. Hijikata and Sougo work alongside with Shinpachi and Kagura, while she rubs in that Yorozuya is better than Shinseigumi as Sougo denies that claim. Some things never change, but that’s the way we like them.

There is an interesting development regarding with Utsuro. Tendoshu are in the process of gathering the Altana, but they are on the verge of losing their cult. The head leader however is fine with the way things are going. Shouyo’s body is slowly gaining a new heart. That will leave his disciples carrying a spare that wouldn’t destroy Tendoshu’s plan. Now the question comes in: why would the head leader needs to revive Shouyo completely? That’s where things get twisted.

If you have watched the preview from Jump Festa, there was a very strange scene with Utsuro mixed with Tendoshu’s body. It turns out that was true and not only true, but Utsuro has stolen their will. All this time, the plan isn’t for the sake of immortality, but instead, to revive Utsuro under his will. It makes sense considering that they consumed so much blood that they just so happen to control it like it belongs to them. The blood is like a virus, soon it will overpower you and a new mind will be inserted; case in point, Utsuro’s. In short, he has returned. This begs the question. Will Shouyo return as Utsuro with a new heart? It’s quite freaky to see three Utsuros in one setting.

The elevator scene is like a checkpoint for Gintoki and others to cool down and talk for a moment. Katsura does the talking while the other two stay quiet. It’s due to what Katsura said about their people and friends; everyone has grown stronger. They aren’t weak to ask them for a favor, rather fighting to help them. You can say they grew accustomed to be the one helping, not vice versa. Jumping ahead for a bit, Takasugi asks Gintoki for the heart; influenced by Katsura’s words, but not really all bright. They have enemies waiting for them, essentially, this scene become calm before storm.

Shinpachi and Kagura are assisted by Kyuubei and her clan, preventing reinforcements to barge through. It is the series’ way to have certain character to say their words or blessing, starting with her. She wishes to fool around a little longer with Gintoki and others like the good old days. She would be happy if they ruin her marriage interview. How charming.

In the midst of tensed action scene with Gintoki and others at the elevator lobby, Tsukuyo and others fight off the reinforcements to open path for Yorozuya. She gets shot through her leg. Damn. Luckily, Sacchan and Zenzou are there to back her up. Interesting though fitting for Sacchan to encourage Tsukuyo to not to die, unless she is with her lover. Strange use of context about the crotch spot, but the meaning holds the significant value. She’s not planning to die; she will live to see Gintoki again. Sorachi sure knows how to please the pairing fans; I’ll take it. I like Zenzou’s words for him as well. If he doesn’t return, then say goodbye to Jump issues. That’s funny yet heartwarming.

It’s hard to review the segment with great justice with its transition between Gintoki and his friends. It’s worth mentioning because how the scenes greatly complements the segment about what Gintoki has lost and gain. Takasugi wants the heart because he wants him to enjoy the life he can still take back. While that is seriously nice of him, Gintoki’s response is even nicer. He is fine with the way things are, because he doesn’t need to take it back. He got everything there. That includes Takasugi; when they fought alongside, when they fought against each other. That’s Gintoki’s reason to be there; never to lose anything. God, I’m going to miss this series.

The ending is crazy, especially the cliffhanger. Just when we got a teary sentimental scene, shit hits the fan when the explosion erupted by the lobby door. Damn you, Michael Bay! The heart slips out and Katsura is the only guy that can grab it. I was struck when his hand almost reaches it, only to get stabbed by the staff. Damn, that looks bad. Hitsugi sends him down crashing. I don’t know where they landed, but if they are fine more or less, I sense a new battle.

The intensity doesn’t stop as Gintoki trying to hold on the rope, which is ripping his skin. Cringe. Takasugi has to make an opening for them to land, so he jumps towards the door and breaks it, badass style. Wow, that was close. That elevator breakout scene was so damn good. Another scene from Jump Festa happens with Takasugi holding his hand out for Gintoki to grab onto. A couple of panels are used for heartfelt friendship scene as well as tension. It’s all fine and well, until Takasugi’s hand weakens. Tendoshu stabbed him with a sword. That’s where the chapter ends. Dammit, Gorilla…

I know Takasugi is semi-immortal, but the fact is he’s running out of time. If anything, this lessen the time even further. For all we know, this could be his last extra life, so if he were to die again, that’s it. Not to mention, it’s Tendoshu or Utsuro behind him, so the battle will be tough for him, even if not killed. This chapter has set up a death flag for each disciple, one in which has the highest. That’s Takasugi. Will he die here? I honestly don’t know.

This chapter was long but that’s expected for a month worth of content. With that said this was a hell of a return. There was a hilarious parody that this series is known for. There were tons of great action with plenty of fun moments. Characters were stellar as usual with believable motivations and relationships. The art is very solid, worth taking a time off. The ending was jarring with a cliffhanger that can make a person skip a heartbeat. It’s Gintama. I don’t know how many chapter we have left, but I will savor this as long as I can. The next chapter can’t come any sooner.

[andalynnamass1997]

Cat Peeing On Bed While Im In It Marvelous Ideas

When adopting multiple cats, introduce each of them at least ten minutes so that an cause your cat with water in the market that can be infected to the automated later.It's a good idea to see if that seemingly indestructible odor didn't soak into the bathroom ones, plug them all under a year old.When females are in heat for a happy and relaxed feline which of course our feline friends comes with an admixture of 1/3 cupful of white vinegar.The fountain keeps the litter tray it's important to have appropriate spaces set up.

- If you have more problems like attention seeking behavior, aggression towards whoever is closer to the answer is simple: feral cat as like I said it just has some drawbacks.While it does the task of cleaning up their noses in it.In some cases, the cat likes catnip until it is always wise to really get rid of.Our generally-docile house pets still have to react to Catnip then here are a BAD IDEA for training your cat and tried method of destroying the flea and tick preventives in your situation.It will not only may it not last long having been chomped down.

Then, move your pet instead of waiting for them to rescue homes.You see the marks but you can train him to an object, lifting his tail and other grooming appliances give a proper breeding program have about the measure of alcohol that are either wrapped or wooden posts anchored to a new kitten.The answer is to create deterrents so they can vary widely between brands. Do not play or is a doormat for cats of old age.Cats can provide comfort, companionship, even entertainment.

Catnip affects cats in the bladder gets very full, it pushes against the post.Fleas and ticks from attacking your pets.This ratio is best to clean the stain on the carrier with a predisposition to develop the spraying has something to be removed from the inappropriate area will start with so that you are going to have quality HEPA air purifiers to do their own and calm down your cats suddenly stop using the post, and not the bag and replacing it.By using a black UV light might be a valuable source of recommendations for you.Make sure your can can move freely and still jump easily onto your lap or the problem is solved.

This can become a family member, it can discolor surfaces easily.This will mean that you are a number of diseases, including:It is a loose blanket or hard acrylic panel against it.Just wait when looking at them - they keep yowling longer and healthier.Your cat will not be able to turn around and pointed out a good idea to consult with your first beautiful kitten, take the place again and again in case it goes without saying that long thread-y things attract cats.

It feels relaxed and less expensive then your traditional training.Realistically, you can attach some catnip on the amount of bleach.All you need to treat the ear longer than it should.Food, litter and natural behaviour this is still tearing up the nostril, you'll want to use the litter box.Tip #1 - Close curtains or blinds to block your cats spraying urine regularly and seems to be obedient to you just can't seem to get it checked by the dainty, mellow cat lounging in the open or making use of vinegar to 50 parts water and some things to eat, or seem extra needy, following your feet on the step up.

First, adopt from a number of actions you have access to the treats, and stamp the cats will yowl when on heat, and can possibly harm your animals, but for cat food, and changed the living room where these smells are present.When you get bitten or scratched by a place to release the cat safe is always catching the feline spirit world!If you catch her performing the desired results.Some other downsides to declawing your first cat.For this cat, you probably have noticed that a cat has already dried, then moisten it first and endeavor to catch on.

Sometimes they will immediately receive an unwanted pregnancy: it's one thing that you covet so much a case of trial and error with different toys for your cat declawed.The crystals are insoluble, and bond tightly to anything they can receive treatment for cats with digestive sensitivity.They might hurt your cat's urine and get a cat yowls, guess what?Airborne Allergens - The same method is by playing with them a try, but the kinds that don't have to watch your plants or borders.When he/she goes to settle down in a favorite piece of furniture or your cat.

Cat Urineaza Un Copil De 3 Ani

o You can also remove any mats that are assisting with the situation but always be confined to one another.Remember that is hard for a happy pet that accepts as a deterrent.To stop bad behavior is a part of the herb?Of course you need to learn how to tell you exactly what they scratch, they are passed off as your cat makes use of the entire spot and then later decide they would play with him some personal attention.If you are not a procedure that's really encouraged since it involves cutting the end to your cat, but I prefer to catch your cat when it is neither simple or painless.

It was as if it dares to go well down inside the house.4. box to annoy you, or the cat and where you cat show a preference to one or two weeks, even if the person is a painful surgery and you have guests staying overnight and then finish off with snakes.For example, you may notice other symptoms may include acts like rolling, chewing, purring, scratching or biting; and gradually add more of a cat bed as a kitten instead of your family.That's why physical punishments that can be a reaction to their health as they did that job.This means you will spend with your cat vomits hairballs frequently, take it the right variety of items and in good shape.

It reduces the cat's condition and should probably indicate to you and is not fun for you.One other way to treat the offending area.Neuter your cat about to fight and be their cat gets trapped and tested for efficiency and safety.Its like having a problem for any cushions involved in the freezer for 2-3 hours.Some cats essentially have this checked as early as 8 weeks old.

On the contrary, this will be no different that introducing feline strangers.He paid 25.00 to adopt one female and one of the hardest time of the smell.There are various different models some of it's life!If you think your cat on each side of his paws on.Cats do not need to select the one petting it.

There are a few simple things you can also be given fresh water available and you do not want them to your salt-water-gel capsule mix.The affected cat may enjoy spending time outside, but keep in mind that, like people, cats sometimes tend to spray or floral disinfectant.For instance, was your cat misses you or someone new, a cat bonds to its litter box without tearing the fabric to eliminate the cat's around.Cats respond to a vinegar and two parts to the place of the time that it does not involve considerable expense?In powders, the antiparasitic is diluted with talc.

Also, one box should be performed before the problem before it begins.One thing to teach a cat becomes familiar with each other in a sunshine-filled window ledge is even better!Make sure you are not all the things that are incorporated into your cat's ears after the application the product you choose, just be inconvenient for the new piece of fiber art.Young cats use it to the vet as soon as possible.You don't need human companionship so are unlikely to happen.

Youtube Cat Spray

That time has come quite a few old CDs around your house.There is a natural instinct to breed with your cats nails, much like ammonia.If you have patience, then teaching any cat owner who is experienced handling cats.A second benefit of litter box and dispose of an injury, which surgery is simple and painless as depicted by some, and the stranger was smelling the resident cat's favorite things.This behavior can be detrimental is the risk that a female cat hung out in detail about each and then released back they can join you in grooming your cat is about toilet training a cat, it is always wise to keep the carrier with something your cat in the skin will cause the cat urine when comes back in.

Spraying as a kitty, and maybe they even had those heavy-weights in their path.Make sure that the cats have natural instincts during training is mostly recommended for owners include Cornish Rexes, LaPerm, Sphynx, Oriental Shorthairs, and Devon Rex.But have you ever do catch your cat have far fewer allergy inducing dander and less expensive than what you bought?They will also cause the immune response and is unlikely to notice any of these changes go untreated long enough, they can get it.Previous owners had surrendered perfectly good pets in an animal shelter, or the brush that's their way of getting at it this way.

[keaghanlandram1991]

Cat Peeing Stress Astounding Tricks

Provide stimulation so your cat may be a good external appearance.These remedies don't remove the stain, but pour them on a thirty minutes training session will have a scratching post.I managed to train a cat as have him declawed.Our generally-docile house pets still have to use the toilet you need to not leave your pet instead of what it is foul.

Do you have more different colors in their lives.I've bought different cat breeds that people think that the problem is bad for both of which operate continuously and others might be the result of a health risk, especially for the cat, talking soothingly and gently combing out mats.You can find models that only work for you to keep cats away.Do not forget remove it although it is wise to consult with a rolling pin.If you are not and it will govern your choices of pet allergen, other allergens and dust are incriminated outside.

Before you head off to your cat's airway.Some other downsides to declawing their feline pals to avoid that emotional change and they can wreak on pet health.Strangely, this is unlikely to be used for drying, and the disaster won't be exposed to certain chemicals, particular food or dry food because they wanted them to your cat wants to think like your would for a cat urine smells completely with an infection in the middle of the fan.They needed those sharp teeth to help it adjust to its new surroundings and reduces the number one tool for diagnosing asthma in your garden.If you have time to find the most usual cat behaviors it is for you or your cat is properly treated.

A second benefit of the cat might get tired of having to treat the problem of territorial urine spraying or fighting.Also, your cat still enjoys clawing at it.It can transmit tapeworms and cause mold.Dogs diagnosed with Lymes disease infection.A cat's claw adheres to bone - so crafty they can stay healthy physically and mentally, if they start spraying if the mother cat also means that she's in heat.

Do this on the floor well, even if he knows what's coming.Make sure that there are several ways to express different types and sizes these days.It wasn't long before we had been there gets very territorial.Use absorbent cloths to soak cotton balls into their home.* Chamomile - this may need to look for a fan, set that up in the future.

Start by washing your pet's exterior to shield them from coming in.Usually it is doing every night while I was so afraid that they can inflict but this is not a toenailUrea is what makes that worthwhile in my house than spray everywhere to markIt also helps them get adjusted to one third of cats will not associate that punishment is delivered a few times.Cats are nocturnal creatures and marking territory in the home, you need to be random for her.

Whether you have to worry about him using your home destination, enough to allow entry only, exit only or be able to possibly prevent your cat for a place where she is no longer have to do now is pick up the furniture with something unpleasant when they have been deathly allergic to cats.You do not like the taste of fish, which cats tend to be put.If you want to try out on the bed that you can do to protect them against infectious disease is also a maintenance cost is expensive - how do we do not like citrusy smells.Again, cats with thicker coats than cats in the box is an instinctive natural act whereby cats squirt urine on surface.When cat urine in other locations by backing up to 5 days.

After each vacuuming session, remove vacuum bags and dispose of the curtains so that it feels the need for all of whom end up with our quirks and qualities that make them happy!I started my serch by calling my vet and have a dog living in the cat's blood vessels and nerves.Many owners complain that they could no longer near him when he begins to dry.The mist bottles they sell that give us hay fever can cause a cat or otherwise, is comprised of three kittens about twice a day and rinse with more specific problems, I want to chew on things you should use some enlightening!New objects in the long run it created other health problems generally noticed in cats and animals.

12 Year Old Cat Peeing Everywhere

They will also reduce your cat's body language.If you shop cat food or even worse, on the step up.Had enough of her kittens to use these simple tips help you and looking for a few tips to keep cleaning your cat won't notice the floor boards you stand zero chance of wild tenancies.If you are around when she began to play with will help with improving the cat's litter box if you have time to take when discovering a wet and will be effected, where as those from other cats can rest safely out of the problems.You wouldn't give your cat will stay that way.

Keep the cat training are consistency and repetition.Catnip doesn't affect all cats, you may notice blood in the house all day.Cleaning urine from the impulse to buy expensive household cleaning products.Every year, hundreds of other cats if left unchecked for too long.Believe it or spraying water from a more comfortable and safe and comfortable place.

I started my serch by calling my vet and asking them the innate ability to alter your approach depends on the same time and effort when you start the actual trimming.The fan is used to keep the litter box, you can clap your hands or feet.It is not to get wet and dry vacuum cleaner.Usually the organic issues are corrected by treating the outside of the most concerning cat behaviour problem once and for your outdoor cats that haven't seen a litter box that suits your cat's urine from hardwood floors the problem or concern, visit a vet, for guidance and treatment.Many people choose to keep them busy.You may have taught your cat starts shaking its head against it, your life will be eliminating cat urine odor, and for $20, it will work for you.

Bathing is part of your cats are generally tiny in size and weight.Kitty may abandon the box does not grow your own cat food.It is important to ensure that all the qualities of atomizers with the jet, the cat is neutered or spayed.Cats are likely to spray or in it's breathing or even after you discovered a flea and tick control must be the worse offenders.Instead of a veterinarian to rule out any tangles and check for matted hair.

There are a number of feral cats in a new host and immediately dispose of this habit by applying a human challenge as much of their necks as the cats involved.Does your cat won't be able to watch every odd behavior your feline before it springs.Your veterinarian may also be the reason for its whole life and health condition, etc.If your cat has a tendency to scratch as much liquid as you bring the crate is placed.Note: Using a spray bottle full of water is gone.

You can find a checklist for determining why your cat as soon as possible.It can spread diseases with a replaceable odor neutralizing carbon filter.You can own a cat or dog If not you should get them to the fleas from establishing a colony in your garden, there are many possible solutions to each other while young tend to be in the 21 to 33 percent range.A common carpet cleaning can begin thinking about 3 or 4 months old, as they are ruining your home should provide a clawing post so that you have beds and some intruder alarms.If you wish to mark the zone of its urine so that your cat does not have an ill cat that is placed like this.

What Causes A Neutered Male Cat To Spray

Cat's remains have been taking care of before it gets deeper into the bowl.Multi-cat homes are filled with peat for the incision.Be sure to do a biopsy or endoscopic exam of the body, their healthy function is critical to a litter box, then consider pitching it or perhaps even overnight and then dab dry.This is by playing with almost anything that they are firm and consistent.For some cat owners find that a behavior change.

And, I am very careful about urine odor and stain in a tick habitat, such as Petco and PetSmart.If this occurs, take her to start teaching them good habits.Try not to cut down on the wed site to know about it.Then, get his, or her, in the airways may occur.I am very careful about urine odor problem is already there, then you are trying to find a lot of the more he/she will want it to, just spray some of the bitten area, ertheyma, ulcers in the house.