#but several missions focus on telling the same story from a season that happened 2 years ago (zavala's family) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

why-this-kolaveri-machi · 3 years ago

Text

chin fucking up, amigo.

Titans 3.02

... eh?

SPOILERS ahead.

1. you know that music video for billie jean where michael jackson would dance along the pavement and the tiles would light up under his feet in different colours? yeah? me too.

titans hasn’t met a table top or a support arch that it doesn’t want to light up in a headache-inducing blue like the world’s most boring nightlight. i mean, i’m not an expert on lighting or cinematography or just... colour by any means, and the quality of the video i’m watching is poor given that i can’t access hbo max, but all the orange and teal and neon is making it very difficult to really differentiate between say, the batcave and the gotham police department and hell, the titans tower. i feel like there’s oftentimes a gap between idea and execution with titans, with gotham being this almost otherwordly hellscape with an aesthetic pulled from a gothic horror novel, but the colours and design just... leave it flat and dark and dull.

1.5. like what really frustrates me is that titans has a delightful mix of tones--the fights often remind me of schumacher-era batman camp, with the contrived quips and the start-stop rhythm and krypto just sallying in and ending the fight with a fucking SuperBark (tm) but in the same episode you have red hood just casually pulling out severed heads out of a duffle bag and desperate people blackmailed into killing themselves out of drug overdoses. I MEAN. it’s wonderful! but it looks all the same. it sounds Absolutely Bonkers on paper but on screen both Quip and Murder happen in the same washed-out blue and i wanted to be excited about the batcave, dammit!

2. things re: red hood have happened at such a breakneck speed that it feels like there’s so much that’s happened off-screen that we’re not privy to. a real proper mystery!

things that are intriguing about the red hood arc so far:

a) what was that chemical he huffed just before going to fight the joker? is it a regular old performance/adrenaline booster or is it something more lazarus-juice adjacent? if it’s the latter, i can’t imagine he got that much information from a lone chemistry textbook. and where is he getting the resources to set up his little chemistry lab? is somebody else orchestrating things behind the scenes?

b) the red hood persona, costume and mask, plus the elaborate plan he’s putting in place to both string along gotham’s rogues and enact his revenge against the titans seems too... fully-formed and elaborate to have been concocted in just a few days. how long do you think jason’s been planning this? just... stewing in resentment and building rage, dismissed and passed around and underestimated and realising that the power he thought he would get by being robin is no power, no protection at all, but something that’s left him even more vulnerable than before?

c) do we think that the scarecrow is at least partly behind this transformation? because yes, it was batman that set up this whole hannibal lecter-esque situation with him, and he would be irresponsible enough to have jason-as-robin go talk to him regularly regarding “~profiling~” criminals. it’s not too far of a leap to assume that scarecrow could’ve been manipulating jason at a very vulnerable time, and that he could’ve passed along some of his chemistry know-how, too.

d) ... or fuck, i wouldn’t put it past titans to introduce ra’s al ghul in a fucking ten second aside

e) anyway, the thing that won’t leave me alone is jason seeking out the joker not necessarily to fight him, but to orchestrate his own death. the whole thing has to have been part of a bigger plan. he broke batman with it, after all. and he’s starting to break the titans, too.

f) i love it! i mean, it does re-tread some of the storybeats we had with deathstroke last season (turning the titans against each other as revenge, etc) but it’s... tighter, this time, and at least for now seems better-executed. and as a red hood story it’s different enough to be really interesting, and i appreciate the ways in which its reframed the revenge story to focus on the titans rather than just the batman. like fuck everything up, i say! turn it on its head! slash the innards out of that sacred cow and strew it like garlands in the path of the Story You Want To Tell!

(and yes i am fully aware that by the time i post this review, there will be a whole lot more information out but if i come across like a fool then goddammit i will be a fool!)

2. i love how every season of titans starts off with, ‘oh dick, you thought you were settling into a role and a life and a pattern of relationships? well fuck you, here’s a terrible and traumatic thing, tons more responsibility, and circumstances that will lead you to uproot your entire life and move somewhere else.’ and dick’s just like, ‘well, ok. fuck you, but all right’.

can you imagine? the man was just settling into leading a team in sf and smiling for the first time in years, and now he has to deal with jason’s death, bruce experiencing a full fledged breakdown, coming back to a city that represents more bad memories than good, red hood, and a frightening new case that seems to be targeting him and his team. it’s a testament to dick’s growth that he’s not reacting to this stress like he did last year, shutting everybody out, making irrational decisions and experiencing sharp, short bursts of anger. (not to mention a full fledged psychotic episode.)

2.5. but i’ve also talked about dick performing a fair amount of unwarranted emotional labour for his team(s) in that he just lets them take out their frustrations on him and... does nothing. be it his team exploding at him for jericho (both in flashback and present-day) or donna and hank needling him for handling deathstroke poorly or barbara berating him for not handling the bank situation as well as she thought batman would though just the previous episode she had talked about how fucked up it was that bruce just expected dick to step up and replace him in gotham without any real notice. i mean it’s all perfectly understandable and sympathetic from their end--and i’m not trying to bash them here!--but hank, my man, the same chin you’re asking your amigo to keep up is the one that you punched last year and never apologised for. just sayin’.

2.75. @superohclair did a wonderful breakdown of what the ‘fear’ contract could imply here and there’s not too much i could add to that. it’s just really interesting that fear ended up being such a defining feature of their lives, albeit it’s the fear of seeming less than invincible in the face of bigger, more tangible fears. am i making sense? dick feared loss, and abandonment, and the more existential concept of turning into something that he didn’t want to. bruce so feared being alone that he’s scouting kids to replace robin within days of jason dying.

it also goes some way in explaining the tense sort of... restraint that bruce and dick show in the wake of loss and tragedy, like anything less than complete control of your emotions can lead to tragedy. it’s conditioning that dick couldn’t shake off when he was at his lowest in detroit, hating his legacy but unable to let it go either.

2.775. but i definitely appreciate the softness that dick displays with his team now, checking on them after a mission-gone-bad, welcoming back old members with no caveats or resentments (and kory’s delight in seeing hank back! hank and dick hanging out together and hank trying to prop dick up!), and appreciating their teamwork in solving cases. that’s always been the essence of dick as a person, and the beating heart of this show: flawed and traumatised people coming together to a place that will always be open to them, where they can be their worst and be supported still, allowed to make mistakes and grow from them. that’s family.

2.8. coming back to bruce for just a sec, it’s interesting how that gotham rogue was so certain when he said that ‘batman doesn’t kill’ but it’s not a rule that either jason or dick put much store by when they were robins. the ‘no-killing’ rule clearly didn’t mitigate dick’s fears about turning into batman and jason’s never been seeing giving two shits about it. it seems to me of a piece with bruce’s distant, second-hand sort of parenting that we see in dick’s flashbacks from s1 where the fear was never about personally disappointing batman, but taking lessons from him on finding a place in gotham’s hellish ecosystem and surviving.

3. kory having waking flashbacks! i don’t buy the bullshit parasomnia episode explanation from fake!HPG (because c’mon, justin has to be some sort of tamaranean ruse) because for one, you have to be actually asleep for that diagnosis.

(and here i was, hoping against hope that HPG would actually end up as the team’s therapist)

curiouser and curiouser! i wonder if these flashbacks are from the time between kory landing on earth and the beginning of season 1, when she was completely amnesiac? it’d be cool if the show was considering repercussions from that time, and if kory hasn’t gained all her memories back.

4. i just love the vibes between gar and conner and kory. gar Having Things To Do is only one part of my wishlist for him, however: other parts include having an actual story arc, and actually bonding with members who are not conner and kory. (dick! dick! hank! dick!)

anyway. time to move on to watching ep3 and seeing this family bond and nothing terrible and tragic happening at all, nope, nosiree.

#titans #titans spoilers #meta #dick grayson #jason todd #red hood #koriand'r #garfield logan #bruce wayne #his name is justin.#a byronic cupcake #a tragic jalebi #badass strawberry truffle #manic pixie pop tart

12 notes · View notes

bbq-hawks-wings · 5 years ago

Text

BBQ gripes about fanon Hawks

Not even gonna put this in the character tags aside from the spoiler one I use just for the anime-onlies on my blog. I'm salty. I just wanna vent. I want to keep the general character tags fun because it was awful when I went looking for new content and found so much Not Fun material a while back; and I don’t want to become what I hate. Basic point - my blog, my vent, and unless it’s reblogged (which you are welcome to if you like) this post dies here.

Please know this isn't a callout post or me claiming that others are being fans of Hawks "wrong" because they disagree with me. I am a huge proponent that (with very few exceptions) fiction and fandom should be free to be enjoyed, reinterpreted, or otherwise indulged in however the individual fan prefers; and if I don't like it, I let them have their space and go do my thing elsewhere and leave them alone (hence why this not going in character tags). I just have been annoyed with the rampant mangling of Hawks' canon personality/characterization - that is, confusing common fanon interpretations of him with how he’s actually written/portrayed and then getting angry (like, actually-angry-spilling-into-publicly-dragging-real-people, not just disappointed) when he acts like canon Hawks in canon. Non-canon is open season and by and large has my blessing, it’s just frustrating when it gets dragged into discussions about the manga.

This has been going on a long time, but I just want to get it out of my system in my personal space. All this is, is my "Overthinking Tumblr blogger Shakes Fist at Cloud" moment.

#1 Hawks is a sociopath/unempathetic.

I just... I... You can't be reading the same manga I am if you genuinely come to this conclusion about who he is in canon. A man with nothing to gain by looking like this when considering the depths of the suffering inflicted on others that he bears some amount of responsibility in...

...cannot be called unempathetic.

"But he killed Twice and Best Jeanist!"

Twofold counterargument to this one, starting with BJ - we don't actually know he's dead. There's a body, there's a disappearance, and we have no idea wtf happened, but we also don't know wtf happened. It's drastically ooc for Hawks to murder someone in cold blood. For someone who places emphasis on speed specifically "because when two sides keep fighting and won’t give up, someone eventually has to die" it makes no sense for him to not have had a plan and simply ambush a man in his own home - this goes doubly since he was in contact with the HSPC and had time to "premeditate" anyway.

And as for Twice: Hawks ran out of options. He wanted to detain Twice and keep him from escaping and helping the MLA. He was able to do so when alone, but the moment Dabi cornered him Hawks had a choice to make - probably die in the fight and let Jin go or make absolute certain he can’t and still probably end up dying because he's in bad shape and still probably won't make it out of this, regardless. I don't need to harp on this - it's been said a couple different times now by several people. Even in 266 when Dabi initially ambushes Hawks, Hawks thinks to himself that he’ll carry Jin out of the building to keep himself and Jin safe before Twice retaliated and Dabi literally forces Hawks into a corner.

Jin's loss was a blow, but the chips on the table being wagered are human lives, not feelings. Up until that point, Hawks did everything he could despite the weight of his decision. Human life is human life, and Jin’s life isn’t more important than the may more who will be saved by quashing the MLA’s revolution. Simply equating “could kill someone” with “unempathetic” is fundamentally flawed, and mistaking someone who is pushed to kill despite every attempt to avoid it as unempathetic and even sociopathic has missed the point to the extreme - the mere fact he avoided lethal force for so long alone proves he possesses empathy.

#2 Hawks is a compulsive liar.

He is a good liar, but he does not like lying. He does twist the truth, but always when forced to keep a secret. Even then, his lies are predominantly spun from truth and omitted details instead of outright fabrications. He doesn’t gaslight, and he doesn’t make up stories/details if he can help it.

When Hawks told Endeavor his dreams for the future, that was the truth. When he told him he thought he was cool at the hero billboards, that was the truth. When he tells Tokoyami to focus on his strengths instead of merely covering his weaknesses to be a better hero, that was the truth. When Tokoyami asks Hawks for his weakness and even why he took him on as an intern in the beginning just to ignore him, he tells him the truth. When he tells Jin he "doesn't belong in a cage" and that he considers him a good person, that was the truth. When he recognizes he’s profoundly wounded Jin for deceiving him for months, he tells Jin the truth. When confronted by Dabi and he doesn’t need to lie anymore in this fight to the death, he tells him the truth despite not actually needing to in hopes to learn the truth behind Dabi and Shigaraki.

I don't have a better segue, so I'll just mention that a lot of folks who believe this also believe the next point.

#3 Hawks is unapologetically emotionally manipulative.

The context makes a huge difference and we need to look at when and why he manipulates others as well as the fact that he does.

At the hero billboards, Hawks plays the heroes on stage as well as the crowd. He's trying to shift the mindset of, "oh yeah, just another hero ranking" to "wake up, mf's, things are changing and you better be ready to change, too!" Rocking the boat is a huge no-no in Japan. Despite being part of his “persona” there is still real social risk involved with this move but one that he deems necessary to turn heads and get gears turning. This is not just an elaborate ploy to get under Endeavor’s skin, but an effort to reach a wider audience while he has them captive.

He does use the public crowd around him and Endeavor before the Hood fight as an excuse for its appearance, but the original intent was to mentally prepare Endeavor for what was potentially (and proved to be) the fight of his life without outright telling him so he could maintain his undercover status. When he realizes he’s part of the reason for Endeavor’s permanent scar and life-threatening injuries, he feels remorse.

He lies to Jin to get information out of him, but linking back to #2, when calls Jin a good person and offers him a way out, he’s telling the truth. He does feel guilt for having to manipulate an otherwise well-meaning person and betraying them, especially given his long-running history of being used and the ongoing issues he suffers from because of it.

When he meets up again with Endeavor to drop his clues about the League’s movements, he squirms when he realizes the interns don’t know him well enough to know he’s blowing smoke because he does NOT want these kids to actually buy what he’s selling. This espionage mission is hard to navigate, and he has to tread carefully lest he setup the dominoes in the wrong places.

This is all to make the point that Hawks is more than capable of emotionally manipulating people, but it’s not in his nature or something he does to any and every person he comes across just because. We haven’t had much opportunity to see him operate outside of the HSPC’s orders which is where the bulk of the instances of his manipulation comes from - those orders requiring him to operate covertly and thus, by nature, necessitate lying, manipulation, and strategically withholding information.

If anything, when he’s making an appeal to someone else as his own person - not as a hero on a mission- we actually see a level of vulnerability and transparency we don’t otherwise catch.

Though it’s technically canon-adjacent and not necessarily canon in and of itself, in My Hero Academia: Team Up Mission where he works with Bakugo and Midoriya he operates on a level of transparency with them we’re not used to seeing; and my theory is he took it as an opportunity to operate without ulterior motives and build report instead of bucking back against “training up the next generation of heroes” like he initially did with Tokoyami.

Which now actually segues better into the next point.

#4 Hawks never lets people get close to him.

There’s a surprising amount of evidence that Hawks wants the ability to be an open book. Back at Team Up Mission, the restaurant staff note he regularly takes people he likes to their establishment - so we’re basically told outright this is a special place to him reserved for enjoying himself and only people he likes get to share it with him - so we already know what that says about how he sees those two despite their sparse interactions. We already know he’s taken Endeavor there when Endeavor made no move to input as to where he wanted to have the lunch meeting.

Though he kept Tokoyami at arm’s length initially, we have at least three canon instances of him sharing personal interactions with him with other canon-adjacent indications he cares for and values his intern. We’ve readily established that while Endeavor may not consider himself close to Hawks, Hawks does hold Endeavor as near and dear to his heart. While his only mission regarding Twice was to get information out of him, he still made a genuine effort to help and save him because he wanted to and considered him a friend despite the circumstances.

We still don’t know very much of Hawk’s past, his personal relationships outside of work, etc.; but despite the HPSC’s extensive efforts to strip him of his identity he not only possesses a faceted, complicated personality but seems to want to share that with others readily when and in the ways he’s able. Getting into the truly squishy, vulnerable parts of him may take a while, but on a scale of closed to open, he seems to lean towards open.

#5 Hawks is hopelessly in love with Dabi and will abandon everything up to this point for him.

This isn't to throw general DabiHawks shippers under the bus. Most of them know VERY well at this point that canon has sunk that ship, and they're just having fun with it at this point - and you know what, power to you! They look great together! In another life, the character chemistry could have been incredible. There’s a lot of great DabiHawks shipping content I thoroughly enjoy despite not shipping it myself.

It just isn't canon. It never was and never came close. Even now, with the Endeavor reveal being very much imminent, Hawks' view of Dabi is one of a lying, malicious, callous, murderer. Though he’ll likely be crushed at the revelation of what Endeavor’s done, that doesn’t equate to him defecting (especially not immediately) and falling into Dabi’s arms.

And Dabi hates Hawks just as much.

Again, this is not anything against the ship or the shippers - just an annoyance I have with some who were so wrapped up in the ship they were genuinely mad when the ship sank and they dragged that frustration out into the real world against real people when canon didn’t align with fanon.

Ships are some of the most stupid things to rail against creators and fans over, and the amount of harassment they receive now over shipping has me ripping my hair out when I know it’s a mere fraction of the total pool of shippers who are frothing at the mouth while the rest are super cool and happy doing their own thing and keeping to themselves.

Ship what you want, regardless of “validating evidence” and have fun. Don’t make it others’ problem when it isn’t canonically validated.

#6 Hawks is a dirty cop.

Only half upset with this one because it comes down to the nuance and lack of precise definition of this phrase I have a problem with. Lots of people hate cops for very real, legitimate reasons. Police forces - being a voluntary, government-employed force enforcing government rule - are notoriously prone to corruption of every kind.

It's implied the HPSC is itself corrupt, though to what extent we don't know. (Granted, buying a young child from his family to raise as your personal puppet is pretty high up there.) By continuing to follow orders from the HPSC and not vehemently fighting back, many see him as reinforcing a corrupt institution and at least partially liable for their continued hold on society.

Fair enough, but... The issue I have with this is it reduces Hawks to his job.

I believe a huge chunk of this take comes from my experience as an armed service member spouse, but it's easy for me to empathize with a guy

Who was promised the moon for himself and his family in exchange for his service not realizing what was actually being asked of him

Is praised outside the organization for "being a hero" and "upholding this country's core values" while first-hand witnessing the corruption of it when inside

Is viewed as a cog valuable only in services rendered instead of being treated like a human by said organization and worked into the ground because of it

Is frustrated by the insistence to keep the status quo instead of improving procedure/infrastructure/environment because egos need to be padded over real, human problems being solved

Has his autonomy or otherwise ability to operate under his own judgement restricted in favor of maintaining organizational control at the cost of effective action

Has DEPENDENTS who rely on his continued work to provide for them and is thus unable to refuse an order, even when it's morally reprehensible and even outright illegal

Whose cries, both those calculated and desperate, to the organization (who have placed themselves as the sole resource he can turn to) for help (even for his own body/mind) fall on deaf ears until he breaks to the point of becoming unusable or dangerous - and even then minimal effort/responsibility is taken in favor of keeping him functioning in the organization as long as possible.

Hawks fights back against the HPSC constantly. He raised concerns over letting civilians suffer to get him in with the League of Villains and then still defied orders by reducing casualties to zero. Despite orders to keep his mission top secret, he's informed Endeavor of his motives/movements independently from the rest of the heroes. He had long refused to take an intern (read: fresh meat for the machine) to train until this year, and even then sought to minimize his encouragement of Tokoyami for as long as possible until he realized Tokoyami was made of the real mettle people needed in a hero and not just another youngster endangering himself on a pipe dream.

He even takes initiative to keep his personal to-do list from the HPSC to a minimum by squashing problems before they come knocking asking him to fix it for them. He knew of the League of Villains and anticipated the escalation of their movements immediately after the USJ incident as well as has a network of informants and connections with local police forces to stay in the know.

His methods for apprehension of criminals are, and continue to be, to react and detain them so quickly they can't retaliate or endanger others in the struggle, thus minimizing human loss and injury despite the insinuation the HPSC has told him that gloves are off in the current situation.

He might be "a cop" depending on the definition we go with, but he isn't a dirty cop. He doesn't plant evidence. He doesn't shoot first and ask questions later. He doesn't blindly take orders. He largely doesn't see "villains" as dirt under his shoe but as people pushed to extremes. He's a morally convicted individual trying to rebel within the system instead of tearing it down outright. He may be wrong in the assumption, but he genuinely believes he can do more on the inside of the system than outside.

#7 Hawks is a manwhore.

Ok, this one is not serious and actually just to end this all on a lighter note after ranting until I'm blue in the face.

I'm 100% guilty of this myself. Something about that chicken makes me and many others salivate - either for themselves or to watch him with someone else. We love dressing him up slutty, portray him as flirting unashamedly, and placing him in as many overtly sexual scenarios possible.

The best part about all of it, though, is that it’s almost the exact opposite of how he dresses/conducts himself in canon. His clothes are loose fitting and high-coverage. He’s personable, but never gives any indication he’s romantically/sexually involved or interested in anyone. The asscourse is real only because we cannot confirm either way due to his baggy clothes. His overall figure/body shape has been hinted at, but only recently confirmed; and his jacket had to be literally be burned off to get a good look at the pattern of his shirt under it!

~~~~~~~

And with that, I release the frustration and move on.

Enjoy fanon as much as you like - even I do! Just be aware of where canon and fanon diverge, and definitely don’t take the difference out on real people. Please also be aware of how others hold their favorite characters dear before flooding the general tags with negativity and creating a hostile environment for them. People latch onto their “comfort characters” for a plethora of reasons, and when they lose that character to the plot, the fandom, or otherwise, they should still be allowed to grieve and celebrate what they had in a safe environment.

Retaliation in response to others coming against your favorite is also not acceptable behavior. It sucks, but the most mature thing to do is step away from the general fandom, stick to blogs/spaces you know are safe, and let the storm blow over. Comfort characters do not justify mistreating real people no matter how much they may mean to you.

When “canon gets it wrong” is where fanfiction and pockets of the fandom community comes into play. Leave those people alone and let them be. For those who aligned themselves with canon, they are not free game to take personal frustrations out on. Leave those people alone and let them be. Unfollow the people/tags you need to for your own sake and others’, and the fandom will be a better place all around over time. Venting belongs in controlled spaces away from the rest of the fandom and with enough warning for those who not only don’t want to endure it but who for their own safety shouldn’t.

Fandom is a community, and healthy communities do not endorse members lashing out when they don’t get their way.

#spoiler!hawks #let's talk hawks

64 notes · View notes

multi--dimensional · 5 years ago

Text

Happy Candlenights, Sirs!

I’ve never posted a fic here, so my apologies if the formatting is weird.

This is my half of @thecandlenightszone exchange, and my partner is @Kentuckyfriedbooks! I know I’m a little late, and I’ve already asked them for forgiveness.

Critical information: In order to make this idea work with what I know about the show (AKA nothing past The Eleventh Hour), I had to mess with the timeline a little bit and take advantage of the weird passage of time. Essentially, I’m moving the pre-Crystal Kingdom Candlenights party to a different point in time and adding another Candlenights between it and the chaos that happened after Crystal Kingdom. Hopefully that makes sense.

With that, here’s the story! I’m gonna go read mine. :)

Temperatures were dropping, precipitation was getting more and more frozen, and the skies were getting dark sooner at the same time thousands of lights lit up the night in every town. The halls of the Moon Base were decked, and a particular small room had a little shrub proudly displayed on its only table. Another Candlenights season was kicking up, and Angus was ready for it. He’d saved up from missions, made several trips to the Fantasy Costco, and he had hopefully gotten everyone something they would enjoy more than the books he’d handed out last year.

He’d managed to find a proper strop for Magnus, enchanted to protect the blades that it sharpened so that they’d dull slower and be less likely to break. There was a solid bronze handle attached to it that made wrapping it far harder than it should’ve, and in the end he gave up on neatness and twisted a hunk of paper around it like the end of a hard candy wrapper.

Merle’s was more difficult, but he ultimately decided on a pot full of purple starbuds. During the day, the blooms were wound into a tight, dark purple cone, but come night, they’d unfurl into a star-shaped flower with a twisted center, and clusters of white speckles on the petals would be visible. Its broad leaves were also a great downer when dried correctly; Angus’ grandfather used to smoke them occasionally, and it surprised him that he’d been allowed to buy them at all. He wasn’t certain, but thought Merle would appreciate that feature. He’d only wrapped the pot, not trusting himself or Merle to not kill the plants if he put them in a box.

Their presents were sitting in a corner, waiting to be handed out, and he was currently trying to wrap Taako’s. He’d been at an utter loss for his present. He wanted to get him something he’d really like, but realized with surprise that he didn’t know what that might be. Magnus was an open book and loved to talk about woodworking, and Merle was a Panite, so a woodworking tool and a plant seemed like obvious choices. Taako, though not exactly quiet, didn’t actually talk about himself that much. Angus knew he loved to cook, but he also knew that cooking was a sore spot for him, so an enchanted utensil may not be a good idea. He liked magic, but already had a powerful magic focus. After perusing the shelves of Fantasy Costco for a few hours (across the course of a few days, as Garfield’s staring quickly unnerved him), he decided to get him an Alchemist’s Ring. He was pretty sure Taako liked jewelry, and if he, Merle, or Magnus ever needed to resort to a health potion on the field, this would make it stronger. It even seemed to fit with his style, which was very lucky. At the last second, he grabbed a basic acrylics set and a mug that said “World’s Best Wizard.” He proceeded to paint some pink flowers around the text and wedge the word “Flip” before “Wizard”. (Taako had reluctantly given a demonstration of his acrobatic skills when Angus had asked why his friends occasionally called him that, and he was still amazed.) Now, Angus was definitely a better detective than an artist, but after a few restarts and a lot of touch ups, he was very proud of his handiwork. It was just too bad he couldn’t give the flowers a scent. Maybe he’d try a prestidigitation on it when he gave it to Taako.

He carefully dropped the ring box into the mug, set it into a box, tucked his spare towel around it, and wrapped it the best he could. Mission accomplished. Giddy, he placed the gifts under the shrub and turned on the mostly-working fairy lights. He knew the boys held their own traditions around the same time, almost two weeks away, so he’d keep them there until then. He turned to the handful of mismatched candles on his dresser, closed his eyes, and attempted to cast prestidigitation. They flickered to life on his second try, and he let out a whoop.

It really felt like Candlenights in his little room. All he needed was a macaron; it had only been one year, but he already viewed them as a Candlenights tradition he wanted to continue.

He knew cooking was a testy subject for Taako, but couldn’t help but hope that he’d get another one for Candlenights this year.

...

Wednesday morning dawned bright and clear— literally dawned. The sun was barely over the horizon and Angus McDonald, Boy Detective and notorious Early Bird, was already up and at ‘em, hanging out in a corner he’d claimed in a lounge dome near his dorm. It was magic day once again. Six months of weekly magic lessons had only grown his enthusiasm, and he was pouring over the pages that he’d dedicated to magic notes in the back of his beat up little notebook.

He looked up at the quiet whoosh of the door opening, and the thumping of snow-laden boots on the entry rug.

“Hello, Madam Director!” He chirped.

The Director jumped, gaze quickly swinging around the small room and landing on Angus. She relaxed and exhaled an embarrassed sound somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle.

Angus’ eyes had widened to the size of saucers. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Madam! I didn’t mean to scare you!”

“It’s alright, Angus,” she started, regaining her composure and gliding to his little corner. “I wasn’t paying attention, I suppose.” She started removing her gloves and took a seat on the couch across from him and smiled gently. “What are you doing up this early?”

“Oh, I’m always up this early! Early bird gets the worm, my grandpa always said! Which was strange, since he sometimes got annoyed at how early I was up. What about you, Madam?”

“I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I took a walk.” As she put her gloves in her shoulder bag, her hand nudged something and she peeled up. “You know what, Angus? I know it’s still a little early in the season, but I’ve got something for you.”

The Director pulled something out of her bag, and Agus breathed a quiet “Whoa.”

It was a small parcel, wrapped in shiny, blue paper, scattered with delicate silver stars and elaborately tied with a sleek, grey bow. It was completely free of wrinkles, almost seamless, and he couldn’t tell what was holding it all together. If he didn’t know better, he’d even say it glowed just the tiniest bit. Angus had to wonder if there was a spell for gift wrapping, or if the Director had just been hiding insane proficiencies in paper folding and knot tying. He was reluctant to even touch the gleaming paper, especially since he was pretty sure he knew what it was.

The package was the size and shape of a book, and it was well known among the base that Caleb Cleveland: Kid Cop was his favorite series. What was less well known was that he already owned all the books. A copy or two would be an easy gift for him if someone wasn’t sure what else to get him. He had half a mind to thank the Director, bring the present back to his dorm, and display it as it was.

She had the slightest of self-satisfied smirks when he looked back up. She pushed it towards him. “Go on, open it.” She must’ve seen his hesitation, because she chuckled. “Don’t worry about the paper, I can wrap it back up afterwards if you’d like.”

He nodded and took the gift. It felt heavier than he expected it to be, more sturdy than his usual paperbacks. Maybe an exclusive cover? He worked off the bow and removed the paper, still careful to keep it from tearing.

Inside was a box, which he also opened and slid the contents into his free hand. It was a book, as he expected, but it wasn’t Kid Cop. It was a journal. The cover was made of beautifully tanned leather, with a pen holster on the spine and a cover flap that was fastened closed with a large, walnut wood button. There was an engraved jellyfish on the right side, dyed purple, blue, and green. He ran his fingers over the engraving, and the jellyfish seemed to float under his touch. Soft, tiny lights in its umbrella blinked once, twice, and went dark again.

The Director reached in front of him and pointed at the button. In silent awe, he unfastened it and pulled open the flap. On the inside, hand-engraved, were the words “Detective’s Notes.”

“I noticed your old one was getting a bit ratty,” she said. “The button is charmed. It stores two spells. If you tap it two times, it’ll cast ‘reduce’ on the notebook so you can put it in your pocket. Tapping three times will cast ‘enlarge,’ and it’ll return to normal.”

“I-- Thank you, Madam Director!” Angus’ eyes were starting to well up, but he grinned ear-to-ear. “I love it! I haven’t gotten a new notebook in... I think 2 years? Maybe? This is fantastic, I actually have clean pages! I won’t need to keep scribbling in margins, and putting Fischer on the cover, did you do that yourself? Thank you so much, it’s so cool! What spell was that? Oh, that pen holster is gonna be so great--”

The Director smiled softly as he rambled on, but as she watched, her face changed. She slid off the couch and knelt down to Angus’ height. Her smile had disappeared, the corners of her mouth turned down in concern as she looked him in the eye. “Angus, I’m going to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me.”

Startled by the sudden change in mood, he settled down and nodded.

“You are happy here, right?”

“Of course, Madam Director!” She didn’t look convinced, so he continued, “I’ve got my own room, I live on an awesome floating base, and I’m able to use my detective skills to help people. Almost everyone here is super nice, and I’m getting to learn magic!”

The smile returned, and tension drained from her shoulders that Angus hadn’t fully realized was there. She reached out and ruffled his curls. “Good, I’m really happy to hear that. I just want you to know that no one’s forcing you to stay here. You’re extraordinarily bright, Angus, but I fear that I may have dragged you into a situation you don’t want to be in. We all love your company, and you’re a great help, truly. But if you ever want to leave, just say the word. Or even if you want to stay on the base, but keep out of missions. Just. Let me know if you’re unhappy.”

This was clearly something that had been weighing on her for a while. Angus nodded solemnly. “I will, Madam Director. I promise.”

“Thank you.” She tentatively opened her arms, and Angus stepped forward and hugged her, notebook still clutched in one hand.

“Happy Candlenights.”

Her eyes crinkled into a true smile. “Happy Candlenights, Angus.”

When the hug ended, the Director looked at him with a hint of slyness in her gaze.

“You said ‘almost everyone.’ I feel like you might be referring to Taako, Magnus, and Merle. Just a little secret, Angus: Taako’s teasing isn’t meant to be hurtful. He considers it friendly ribbing of an equal. You mean quite a lot to him. Merle and Magnus, too.”

Angus beamed. “That’s what I thought! At least, I was pretty sure, but it’s...”

“Hard to tell with those boys, yeah.”

They both smiled.

“Oh, hey! Can you-” Angus moved to grab the box, planning on asking the Director to rewrap it, but when he turned around, it was already done. He looked back at the Director, who was clearly trying not to grin.

“Can you please teach me that?”

“You know what, Angus? Talk to me next Candlenights, and I’ll give you some tips.”

...

Magic lessons went by far quicker than Angus liked, as per always, but they went well. Taako commended him on his Mage Hand, the basics of which he nailed a while ago, but the aesthetic? Not so much. He had finally gotten a fully-formed, not nightmarish hand today. They had started working on the different facets of prestidigitation too, which was coming along nicely.

Now they were walking across the main campus of the base. Angus wasn’t quite sure where, but he hadn’t been shooed off yet, so he stuck around. He’d noticed that Taako was more bundled up than he normally liked, with a shorter hat, and that he’d stopped to pull Angus’ beanie over his ears and make sure he had gloves on before they went outside. While it did make him grin, he didn’t think about it much. They were thousands of feet in the air in the middle of winter. It was cold out.

What he hadn’t quite yet discounted was the way Taako kept looking around once they stepped outside of the mess hall. He couldn’t tell if he was nervous or expectant, but he was... something, and it was putting him on edge. Taako only said that “Everything’s good, Ango D’jango” when he asked if something was wrong, so he was trying to put it out of his mind.

To help ignore how distracted Taako was acting, Angus started rambling about any and everything, from the lesson to how pretty the campus looked covered in snow, and that was when a snowball landed two feet in front of him. He heard the vinyl squeak of winter material as Taako quickly hopped to the right, and a quiet thump as a second snowball hit his arm in spite of his best efforts.

Behind a mound of snow not twenty feet away came a voice. “Merle, you have the worst aim.”

And from a tree ten feet to their right came: “Hey, sorry we aren’t all gifted with decent athletics!”

A red pom-pommed hat atop a familiar bearded face popped up from the mound, and Magnus grinned as he threw another snowball. Angus was bracing for impact when he was swept off the ground; Taako had picked him up and tucked him under his arm as he ran for shelter. Dodging hits all the way, he crouched behind a half wall that normally framed a seating area and set Angus down next to him. He was smirking, and a competitive gleam lit up his eyes.

“Start making snowballs,” he ordered, already starting on his own pile. Angus started to do so, but after spending fifteen seconds on one, Taako interrupted. “Don’t go for shape, just get it packed. Have you never made a snowball before?”

Angus shook his head. “Not in the middle of a fight!”

“...Oh. Well, here, just— grab a double handful of snow, and—“ he quickly packed it into a lopsided ball, and Angus mimicked him. “Yes, perfect! Keep doing that!”

In no time, they had a pile of ammo the height of Angus sitting criss-cross. The battlefield was quiet. After a few moments, footsteps crunched across the snow towards them, and Angus knew why they hadn’t returned fire: Taako was luring them closer.

Indeed, Taako was peering through a crack in the wall, grinning an evil grin. Angus found another hole, and sure enough, Magnus was out in the open halfway between their wall and his mount, trying to be sneaky.

“Hey, bubula,” Taako whispered, “Wanna see a trick?”

Angus nodded vigorously.

“Alright, cast Mage Hand, but keep it low.” After a second, two Mage Hands appeared near the snow. Taako put a snowball in each, and his Mage Hand wrapped around it. Ango had his do the same. “Load it up, wind back,” the Hands drew back, and Taako peeked his head just barely above the wall. Angus followed.

Magnus made eye contact with them and froze, then paled when Taako yelled, “And fUCKING CHUCK IT!”

His Mage Hand launched the snowball directly into Magnus’ chest, and he stumbled back. Angus’ came damn close. From then on, it was all-out war. Magnus and Merle were worthy opponents, but Taako and Angus fiercely defended their base, their Mage Hands giving them twice the throwing capacity. Angus even got a few hits in, and Taako yelled encouragement each time.

The battle ended an hour later, when Merle used Shield of Faith on Magnus, allowing him to barrel through the onslaught and dump a Heroic Memories Shieldful of snow on both of them. Angus was laughing too hard to continue at that point, and while he didn’t want to head inside, he had to admit to himself that he was getting cold. Taako seemed to agree and started complaining about how elves aren’t meant for this weather, he was going to catch his death out here, etc. etc. Magnus and Merle gave each other a knowing look at that, though Angus wasn’t sure why.

Davenport had a platter of hot chocolate ready for them when they came in, serving it with his usual cheerful “Davenport!” Angus grabbed a mug and thanked him profusely, clinking mugs with Taako.

Time to cross “snowball fight” off his bucket list.

...

Another week and a half passed relatively quietly. There were no missions, no big disasters (unless an exploding snow duck counted-- so he didn’t have the cleaning part of prestidigitation down yet). Just the usual, wonderful mess of mashed together traditions that came with the season.

Angus had spent most of the day in the library, and bolted back to his dorm when he noticed the sun going down. It always got frigid on the base when it was dark, and he wasn’t prepared for the cold because hadn’t planned to stay so long. He’d just gotten sucked into an older Caleb Cleveland book that he’d read probably a hundred times now. Those older books were pure gold. It was just a shame that Grant Andrews had died. His son had tried to take over, but he just didn’t have the same style.

Not to mention aging Caleb up to a teen was probably the worst decision ever.

Angus made it back minutes after sunset, and was still stomping his feet to get some feeling back to them when he opened his door. His alarm bells immediately went off. Something felt different. He scanned the room from the doorway, investigating each corner, but nothing looked like it had been moved. Nothing was missing. He took a tentative step inside and shivered. It wasn’t as cold as it was outside, but it was definitely a few degrees cooler than the hall. As small a room as it was, it was normally warmer than the hall.

Wait.

He glanced at his Candlenights shrub. The fairy lights were off. He could’ve sworn he left them on; he almost never turned them off during the holidays. Still glancing around, he crept towards the shrub and flicked them on.

There was a fourth gift under the shrub. He’d missed it in the gloom, and it was no wonder why: in contrast to the rest, this one was covered with black fabric, and a sleek black feather was tucked into a fold at the top. It was half off of the table, like whoever put it there was in a rush or afraid of being caught.

Someone had been in his room. He had no clue what might be under those wrappings. He should go get someone. Taako, or the Director, or one of the guards.

But no one but the Bureau members could even get to the Moon Base. None of them would try to hurt him... Right?

Despite his better judgement, Angus found his hand drifting towards it. He tugged part of the fabric away to reveal a cover with a very familiar design, but an unfamiliar title. The top was bordered with golden yellow roses whose petals seemed to be made of gemstones. Below them was a large police badge, with a wooden wand crossed behind it. Inside the badge was written:

Caleb Cleveland and the Secret of the Amber Rose

That was strange. Angus didn’t know of a Caleb Cleveland book with that title, and even stranger was that the badge and wand was the cover style used for the older books. They didn’t use that style anymore. His first thought was that a new book had somehow come out without him knowing, and they’d reverted back to the old covers. Maybe they’d even gone back to the old format, with Kid Cop! He started to pull away the rest of the rest of the fabric, and his eyes drifted to the bottom of the cover.

By Grant Andrews

That... couldn’t be right. Grant Andrews died years ago. It was far too official looking to be an old draft; people had already unearthed some of Andrew’s drafts, and he didn’t bind them. Was it a forgery? Did someone try to publish something in his name? Could it be a super obscure early series book?

Okay... when was this published?

He flipped to the copyright page and skimmed. It was published... This year?

Alright... It had to be a forgery, right? A fanwork? If it was an official fanwork, it’d be published by Blueglades. He kept scanning, and... nope, definitely not. Silver Sea Publishing. He’d never heard of that company.

Angus’ eyes kept drifting to the summary in the jacket. It looked... really good. Really true to the series. He glanced at the copyright page, then back to the jacket. As much as he wanted to solve the mystery of where this book came from, the mystery printed on its pages called to him more. He climbed into bed, lit the bedside candles with prestidigitation and a quick, proud smile, opened the book, and dug in.

...

As dedicated a reader as Angus was, he was still, almost invariably, the “early to bed, early to rise” type. He woke up just before dawn the next morning, the Secret of the Amber Rose fallen half-open on the bed in front of him. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, stopping dead when he realized his glasses weren’t on his face. He looked around and found them on his bedside table. Oddly, the candles were out-- not burned down, just out. Eyebrows furrowed, he reached for his glasses, put them on, and scanned the room for the second time in twelve hours.

Once again, he found his shrub tampered with. The three presents he had placed underneath were gone, replaced with three different ones. Further investigation proved them to be from Taako, Merle, and Magnus. He laughed; they must’ve broken in to leave their presents, and couldn’t resist when they saw some with their names. Very on-brand. He grabbed the presents, sat down in front of the shrub table, and set to opening them.

He tore open Magnus’ first, and immediately wondered if he and the Director had worked together. It was a wooden pen, and looked to be made of the same walnut wood as the button on his notebook. There was a built-in grip near the nib, and a small carving of a wizard’s hat at the end, which had the word “Ango” delicately carved around the brim. It was beautiful, and he put it right into the pen holder so he wouldn’t lose it.

Next, he grabbed Merle’s. It was a Trick Tract, and he almost sighed and put it aside, but decided to skim through it. A few pages in, he started to actually read it. Merle had put some thought into this one; it was about a boy detective investigating a supernatural occurrence on All Hallow’s Eve. In place of the normal message at the end was a short, handwritten message that simply said, “Happy Candlenights, Fancy Lad.” It was no masterpiece, but it was... good. Angus reread the final page a few times, grinning, before he finally closed the tract.

Last but not least, Taako’s. Something shifted around in the box as he lifted it, so he slowed his movements and put it down gently. He peeled back the wrapping and found a note on top of the box, written with a flourish that made it almost illegible, “IOU, magical difficulties. Happy Candlenights, Mr. Wizard.”

Well, that was cryptic, but he continued on and opened the box. His face lit up enough to power the Base.

It was a box of assorted macarons. It looked like Taako felt the same as him about making them a tradition.

As the sun rose and cast shifting hues of light through his small window, Angus gathered his presents and moved them onto his bedside table. He cuddled back into his blankets, picking up his book and choosing a cookie to nibble on.

He couldn’t have asked for a better Candlenights.

-------

-A strop is a piece of leather, usually nailed to a piece of wood, used to sharpen straight blades.

-I basically blended night sky petunias and the first and middle stages of moonflowers to get purple starbuds. They’re both really pretty, and I got the side effects simply from someone describing the scent of moonflowers as “intoxicating.”

-I pulled the Caleb Cleveland reference full circle, lol. The idea that the series went downhill ‘cause the original author died is my personal headcanon, but I love it, especially because it means I got to do this. Krav is definitely bending rules here, but he did it for his bf and his boy. Don’t tell the Raven Queen.

Happy Candlenights, everyone! @Kentuckyfriedbooks, I hope you enjoyed!

#theadventurezone #taz #taz balance #candlenights #candlenights exchange #angus mcdonald #candlenights 2019

18 notes · View notes

gracekraft · 6 years ago

Text

Steven Universe - Punching Up

It’s the end of the year and I wanted to spend time reflecting on the Steven Universe comics that I spent the better part of the year writing. I feel like they come out so fast that I don’t have time to properly talk about them. So as the volumes have started coming out, I thought I would take some time to talk about each of the stories featured in each collection!

Issues #5-#8 are collected in this Steven Universe Punching Up, #5-#7 are stories I wrote while #8 was written by the incredible Melanie Gillman! The stories featured in here were some of the first stories I came up with when I pitched them to Boom.

Issue # 5 - A Day in the Life of Lion

Illustrated by the stellar Meg Omac! ( @magecom )

I always thought it might be fun to make a story featuring the kind of mischief Lion gets up to when Steven is around, which seems to be like 80% of the time. I also remember there was a Steven Universe panel a while back where a little kid asked where Lion was, so I thought kids might enjoy a Lion story too.

I was honestly a little surprised I was allowed to do this since it’s a departure of the Steven’s point of view only that the show goes for. I normally try to keep to that in writing the comics but thought it might be fun to deviate away from it slightly.

This story is essentially a series of vignettes about Lion’s day, so pretty much exactly what the title says. I always love those episodes in a show where they deviate away from the usual story and story-telling format where we get a glimpse into the life of a character we don’t see as often but their POV on events is refreshing. I also love those stories about the secret life that pets lead when their humans aren’t around a la Hamtaro. Sadly Lion does not have a fun crew of other magical lions to go on adventures with, but he still gets up to some innocent mischief around Beach City.

Lion and cat Amethyst’s shenanigans were definitely inspired by a super old comic I made about them interacting. I always thought it would be cute if Lion was curious about cat Amethyst and took care of her like a little kitten. Cat pals!

Lion messing up the things in Pearl’s room is definitely taken from many an experience of my dog doing the same. He gets into anything that isn’t behind a closed door or out of his reach, and it’s not unusual to come home the a grand mess. Sadly no matter what you say he won’t understand you, only act innocent and leave the scene of the crime. Thus Lion is no different.

Lion’s adventures on the boardwalk were fun. Sadie and Greg are some of my favorite humans, so I enjoyed giving them a little spotlight, especially with their wariness yet acceptance of the magical pink lion that inhabits Beach City.

I thought a short detour to Rose’s fountain would be a nice peaceful, introspective moment within the comic. But even when it seems a little deep, Lion still has his cat antics and moves on.

I also wanted to give Lapis and Peridot a little spotlight since I always enjoy their barn life shenanigans. I’m really happy with how Meg captured each of their personalities in this scene, it translated very well from the script!

Lion finally gets his lizard prey after traumatizing Peridot. Honestly I still have no idea what those lizards are. Tiny gem mutants? Gem-infuenced fauna?? Whatever they are Lion eats them so I continue to add them in. And of course I had to end these adventures with a brief encounter with Garnet, who has a silent understanding of Lion. And then bookending it with Connie and Steven’s return, blissfully unaware that Lion even moved from the spot they left him.

Peach Panther and Purple Puma

Illustrated by Rii Abrego! ( @riibrego )

My inspiration for this was Amethyst’s line to Pearl in “Back to the Barn” when she says “Hey Pearl, you should come wrestling with me sometime!” I thought it would be fun to revisit the wrestling ring once more in the comics, Tiger Millionaire was one of my favorite season 1 episodes and we pretty much had seen the last of it in the show after “Tiger Philanthropist.” Thus, this is supposed to take place later in time than it appears based on Amethyst’s season 1 attire in this issue, but sometimes miscommunication happens in the higher management.

I wanted to write a story where Pearl gets out of her comfort zone and lets loose for a while. When I first wrote this story, I was still dealing with burnout and insecurity after my previous job ended, and I channeled that frustration into this story. At the same time, this is also one of my more self-indulgent stories in that it’s filled with a lot of things I like (Beach City Underground Wrestling, Pearl and Amethyst having a fun time together, cute character shenanigans etc.) so it was great expressing my feelings in a story I especially enjoyed.

Inventing Pearl’s wrestling persona was really fun and I’m grateful to have had to chance to add something fun like that to the comic canon. Between Purple Puma and Tiger Millionaire, I figured Pearl’s persona should match the cat theme, and I really liked the sound of Panther (goes well with Puma). Pink Panther already exists so I tweaked it to be the Peach Panther. I’m super happy that Rii captured the exact look I was going for with Pearl’s outfit. Pearl is not a fan of shapeshifting (and now we know why) so I figured she would be able to at least give herself an outfit and Steven would help jazz it up with the silly pink cat ears.

I’m not the most knowledgable about wrestling so I did a lot of research to get the names of moves right for Mr. Smiley’s commentary. I also had to go back to see what the names of the Beach City wrestling team names were and what the individual fighting names were. It was fun getting to pick my favorites to feature in the comic!

I loved writing the last page because it has those cute, wholesome interactions I am all about in Steven Universe. I’m also super happy with how well my script translated to the final pictures!

The Crystal Gems and the Sea

Illustrated by Meg Omac!

I love revisiting tiny details from the show in the comics, and this one is no different with the focus on the Gem Sloop from “Cat Fingers.” I thought it would be fun to have the Gems and Steven go on a mission where they couldn’t simply warp there, a fun sea-faring mission! There’s definitely several stories in addition to this one where I figure out a scenario that I’d like the write and then work backwards to figure out how the characters end up there.

Steven and Onion stories tend to involve G.U.Y.S or G.A.L.S one way or another, so I thought it would only be fitting to start the story off with them. While Steven has matured quite a bit from the earlier days of the show, he still has a childish wonder about him, and I figure he still does that thing where he sees something in the spur of the moment and thinks about how fun it would be to also do that thing, and then he finds a way to do so. While he won’t go to the extent of jeopardizing a mission to have fun, if he can still fit some games into a less dire mission then where’s the harm?

I’m really happy with how the character acting came out for the Gems’ and Steven’s interactions. It warms my heart to see how the Gems have grown to trust him more and more as the show progressed. I wanted to add some moments that reflected this growth and had fun writing it in.

Also I have to share the description I wrote for the eel monster because this is the kind of stuff I actually write to give an idea of what I’m trying to describe. She also ended up looking like an aquatic cousin of Centipeetle, and Sea-ntipeetle if you will.

I see some folks picking these comics apart for details that hint at something in the show, but I’ll be completely honest, while I do my best to write close to what’s believable for the show, nothing ties directly to it. Any monsters or instances that seem to hint at something greater are usually just completely coincidental! But it makes me happy that folks enjoy what I add in the comics.

The action panels for the fight are some of my favorites. They came out nice and dynamic are really convey the type of action I was hoping for. Fun and exciting!

I always see some folks complaining about how “townie” episodes are boring filler, but I just can’t disagree more! There’s definitely some townie eps that are among my favorite episodes, because even if they’re not about epic Gem adventures (though some still are) they feature important lessons for Steven to learn from his human half. I thought it would be fun to have Onion and his Dad be integral to the mission because townies and the human half of Steven’s life is just as important and valuable.

And that concludes the issues I worked on in volume 2 of the Steven Universe Ongoing series. I still really love this first batch of comics. Rii and Meg really hit it out of the park and added their personalities to the comics and made for very fun reads!

#steven universe #steven universe ongoing #steven universe comics #steven universe comic #comic recaps

538 notes · View notes

lady-griffin · 6 years ago

Text

Crypt Teaser

youtube

I’ve been wanting to talk about promo since I first saw it, but work has been overwhelming and I needed time to write my thoughts down. So sorry, if no one cares about this promo anymore.

I’m going to be talking about what I think the Crypt promo is hinting or foreshadowing at. But first…

It is very interesting Sansa is made to be in the center at the end, especially since Jon is at first in the center - standing between both Arya and Sansa as the three meet up.

But then as they walk to their statues, he moves around Sansa to be on her side, which puts her in the center. This is a 100% deliberate choice, they could’ve easily had them all walk straight towards their own statues with no rearrangements.

They literally have Jon stay behind Arya and Sansa and then move around Sansa, so he wouldn’t be in the center.

So why?

One reasoning, is that it might actually be to avoid certain Targaryen imagery -- specifically Aegon the Conqueror who in official art (?) and fan art is often flanked on both sides by his two-sister-wives.

The second, I imagined Jon being in the center, flanked on either side by his sisters, my mind went to Aegon and his sister-wives… so perhaps, it’s best to avoid that idea altogether. Especially if you don’t want your audience to be weirded out by Jon and Sansa (if I think what is happening is happening).

It could also be that visually Sansa is the tallest one, so it creates more of a symmetrical aesthetic.

Especially, when both Jon and Arya draw their swords to face the upcoming danger.

If Sansa was on the side as both Jon and Arya pull out their swords, that would’ve sideline her from the action – keeping her in the center, keeps her in the scene.

It could also just be to cement the idea that Sansa is a major player to this season and to the end of the story.

Basically, from just a promo standpoint, it makes sense to put Sansa in the center, though this promo is all about Jon. Either just to avoid certain Targaryen visuals or to reinforce already existing ideas.

Now let’s go into some of the story/plot-driven reasons for this promo and its choices (foreshadowing).

One idea (and I’ve seen this a lot) is that this promo is hinting at the Winterfell Crypts residents waking up and attacking. Now there are many theories about this, so I’m not going to go into all that much. But that seems like a possibility…

Winterfell’s Crypts are mentioned a great deal and the Big Bad is a being who can raise the dead and we know Winterfell will be a major setting so it all adds up. But in all honestly, I think this a more of red herring idea than actual foreshadowing.

One of the main reasons is that “realistically” most of the bodies in the crypts are just ashes and pieces of bone, so what exactly is going to be reanimated?

Really, I think this season is all about the politics and the Walking Dead is a red herring/false start, so that’s what this promo is potentially foreshadowing for us, not the old kings literally coming back and attacking, but more who will become the next “Stark Kings" or those remembered by history (more about that later).

But reanimated old Kings would be fun to see.

Jon, Arya and Sansa's meeting or their walk coverging is very nice. It gives the impression of the Starks being a united front and it’s also a nice homage to when Sansa and Arya were first reunited in front of Ned Stark’s statue.

But really, the meet-up/convergence of these three, is reflecting the past tension between Sansa and Arya in the past season(s) (and when they were young).

Their past fights and “stand-offs” are no longer important or relevant when the three walks converge as the two sisters have a new mission when Jon enters the scene. They can’t find amongst themselves, when they have Jon to protect.

But yet, the promo doesn’t end indicating that Sansa and Arya will protect Jon. But instead, that Jon and Arya will protect Sansa.

The idea of Sansa potentially being kidnapped is a possibility and Arya and Jon drawing their swords to protect her, could be hinting at this. But this moment could also just be showing that Sansa is more vulnerable to outside threats, but nonetheless is protected by the Stark family.

The two Starks that might be viewed by outsiders as “wild-cards,” the King who bent the knee and the girl who grew up to be a “Faceless assassin,” have no hesitation in standing against the upcoming threat and protecting their own.

The Starks are a unit or pack.

Also, while I’ve brought it up, it is important to note that Jon was in the center, but moved to Sansa’s side. This might be a stretch, but this might indicate that Jon is not the key to get the Stark Alliance.

Daenerys and her camp (as well as Cersei) both focused on Jon being the key to getting the North (which makes sense, he was the King). But Jon moving to the side, putting Sansa center and front, shows the audience who the central figure to the Stark Family is.

Which leads into the idea, that Sansa is central to the Starks’ Future.

Multiple times she has been referred to as the Key to the North and has been viewed as the legitimate heir to Winterfell. And both Tywin Lannister and Roose Bolton (and Littlefinger) believed whoever sired a child with Sansa, would be in control of Winterfell as that child would be the future Lord.

So, Sansa is definitely a key to the future of House Starks in several ways.

The real interesting thing though, is this promo isn’t about Sansa or even House Stark as a whole.

It’s all about Jon.

All the lines pertain to him and it’s about who he really is and his story, and yet Sansa still gets a lot of attention. More so than Arya, as the time between them isn’t split evenly. Hinting that Sansa plays an important part to who Jon currently is, but also where his story and future are going.

And I know I keep repeating this, but it’s odd to make Sansa the central character in the end – as

A. The Promo isn’t about her B. Jon is a more central character to the story

But really a main idea that I think some people are overlooking, is that Jon is heavily connected to the Starks and their present and future. He is an integral part to the Stark Pack.

The Intro Walks of Jon, Sansa and Arya.

Jon’s 1st walk is 17/18 seconds long Jon’s 2nd walk is 9 seconds long

26/27 seconds altogether

He gets the most time and two separate walks to boot.

This makes sense, as he is the focus of this promo and is one of the biggest focuses of the show’s overall story.

Jon walks right past Lyanna’s statue. This is a reflection of Jon always wanting to know who his mother was, but was blind (lied to) about the truth. He walks right past the truth and his real mother and later pauses and stares directly at the man (Ned) he based so much on who he is now.

It is telling that Lyanna’s line is spoken before Ned’s though.

Indicating, that Jon will learn of his true parentage, falter in his identity, only to be reminded (by Ned’s line) that he’s never been a Stark in name and yet, has always been a Stark in blood.

When Ned’s Line is spoken and Jon is looking at Ned’s Statue, it really does come across that Ned is directly talking to Jon in that moment. While Sansa also looks at Catelyn’s statue, it’s different as we don’t get the impression she can hear Catelyn’s words.

Jon can hear Ned’s words.

Also Lyanna’s line, while I think is reminding us of who “Jon really is” isn’t the one where she told Ned that Jon was Aegon Targaryen, instead it’s her begging Ned to protect Jon.

Though Robert, who Lyanna afraid would hurt her child, is now gone. So who is this past plead about now? The Starks? Maybe. Or perhaps, another Targaryen who might see Jon as a threat.

Lyanna’s line is also interesting, because her pleading is connected to Jon being taken in by Ned and Ned claiming him as his son, which caused a rift in Ned’s marriage and in the Stark family.

Finally, I think both Lyanna and Ned are indicators of who Jon will choose in the end. Jon is a Stark through Lyanna, but also chooses to be a Stark through the father he chooses.

This is further emphasized by the statue of Jon in the end. As in the books, the statues are really only reserved for the former Kings and Lords of Winterfell, but will get to that in a bit.

Jon’s parentage reveal will have a big impact on Jon, as it should.

A big portion of Jon’s identity is constructed around him thinking Ned is his father and he himself is a bastard. Learning that he’s not Ned’s son is going to shake Jon’s world, no matter what, but also learning that he is a Targaryen and has a claim to the Iron Throne is a whole other thing on top of that.

Before Jon’s first walk ends, he looks back and pauses, almost as though he heard the feather fall, only to turn back to continue forward.

This could be interpreted as many different things, but for me it really comes down to Jon “hearing” Lyanna. Everyone is so focused on Rhaegar being Jon’s father, that they forget Lyanna is the mother Jon never knew he had and has wanted from the very beginning.

I think there will be a moment where Jon is in front of Lyanna’s statue, perhaps finding a connection to a woman he never noticed all the times he was in the Crypts of Winterfell as a child. Always so focus on the Old Kings of Winterfell and how he would never be one.

Jon turning back to continue walking leads into Sansa’s walk beginning – at first this makes it seem as though she is just following him down the same corridor, but she is not.

But nonetheless, the feather falling ends Jon’s walk and begins Sansa’s.

Sansa’s Solo Walk is 6/7 seconds long

Her walk is less “dynamic” than Jon’s, less overall shots and plot info being laid out, but she looks back onto her mother’s statue as we begin to hear Catelyn’s voice and the beginning of her quote --

“All this horror that has come to my family…”

Catelyn’s full quote is about how all the tragedies that have fallen upon the Starks was because she couldn’t love Jon.

What has happened to the Starks has nothing to do with the fact that Catelyn ostracized Jon, but it is still an important character moment for Catelyn and one of the few lines she has about Jon.

It also puts a certain idea into the audience’s head –

The salvation for the Stark family, the future where they won’t be the victims of countless tragedies, is contingent on them embracing and loving Jon.

However, unlike Cat, who couldn’t love Jon because she thought he was Ned’s son, the Stark children (Arya and Sansa), might have the opposite problem.

Finding it difficult to accept Jon when they find out “he’s not one of them.” Though that might be more Arya and less Sansa, but will get into that in a bit.

I would like to point out that both this teaser and the Tapestry one, bring to the forefront the pain Catelyn felt for Ned bringing Jon home and the rift it caused in their relationship.

You could easily bring up Jon’s parentage without that aspect, so it’s interesting that idea keeps being mentioned. But back to the walk -

Jon’s walk ends with him looking back as the feather (Lyanna) fell to the ground.

Sansa in the show has been associated with both the feather and Lyanna’s statue as well as sporting if not the same hairstyle in the promo, one very similar to Lyanna’s when she was married to Rhaegar. Possibly indicating a bridal future for Sansa, but also -

That Jon’s connection to the Starks are through his mother and Sansa (possibly his future wife).

Overall the emphasis on the feather is quite interesting.

Though it makes sense, since it’s the only iconic item to Lyanna Stark within the active narrative of show, the blue rose is hinted at in the promos, backgrounds, and extra featurettes of the show, but it’s not as prevalent in the show as it is in the books.

When I first watched the promo, I really thought Sansa was going to pick the feather up from the ground –

Showing the connection between Lyanna, Jon, and Sansa, as while as telling us that Sansa will carry on Lyanna’s dying wish of protecting Jon. And connecting aunt and niece as connections for Jon to his Stark family.

The first part of Catelyn’s quote is the end of Sansa’s walk, but the second part is the beginning of Arya’s quote.

Arya’s Solo Walk is about 4 seconds –

Arya’s walk is shorter than both Jon and Sansa’s and she doesn’t look at any statues (past figures). So, you might think there’s less to discuss.

However, the second part of Catelyn’s voiceover is over Arya’s walk.

“…it’s all because I couldn’t love a motherless child.”

Catelyn line being over both Arya and Sansa, connects the two sisters to not only Catelyn, but also Jon and put forth the challenge of them being better than their mother in how they treat him.

However, the part of how Catelyn couldn’t love Jon, could be hinting at a future struggle for Arya.

Arya has certainly changed from the girl she used to be.

In many ways, her world view has become more than a bit severe. And Arya has grown a strong sense of place with her identity as a Stark and seeking revenge for those who’ve wrong the Starks in the past.

She slaughtered the Freys for the Starks and was more than willing to behead the Northern Lords in order to protect Jon.

While that last one might indicate Arya would never “turn” on Jon, it also shows that Arya’s loyalty might not be exactly to who Jon is now, but to her memory of him. To her family.

If she feels he doesn’t have the same loyalty, then….

Arya is also not exactly the most open person anymore, nor understanding – especially when it comes to political games or shows.

Sansa might be willing to give Dany Winterfell or at least be willing to say as much and bear and grin it, but Arya might have a harder time swallowing her tongue.

While Jon and Sansa take after who Ned really was, someone who was quite capable of deceiving those he loved and doing dishonorable things for a greater purpose. Arya (and Robb) seem to take after the image of who their father was, the honorable man who never strayed from the path of what he believed was right (though Arya is a much darker and twisted take on that idea)

And Arya also has gained some of Catelyn’s less than admirable traits, so...

Plus, Catelyn’s struggle was that she couldn’t love Jon, because she believed he was Ned’s bastard. So, it would be interesting that Arya might struggle with her relationship with Jon, because he’s not Ned’s bastard.

Perhaps not that literally, but --

Arya and Jon always got along, as the two outsider children and Arya found comfort in Jon being different in how she thought she was different (though arguably young Arya was likely projecting onto Jon).

But Jon being revealed to not being her brother and him possibly playing the political game and showing more loyalty to Dany, even just for show, might not go over well with Arya.

I’m not saying Arya is going to hurt Jon, but there might be some tense moments. Especially since…

Jon and Arya’s reunion has been built up so much by the fans and the characters within the show as being this wonderful and sweet reunion to happen - so there being tension between these two wouldn’t surprise me.

But while I think this might a struggle for Arya and the seed for some tense moments, Arya will protect her family, no matter what.

The Statues in the crypt are great in my opinion. Doing the wonderful surface-level job of hinting at their deaths (like many of the season promos have done). Especially since, Jon and Sansa, walked past fallen characters who now have their own statues.

Perhaps this is telling us these three will die in the upcoming battle, or perhaps the statues are telling us who will be remembered in history.

You can’t have a legacy until your dead (and you will die in the end).

Jon, Sansa and Arya will be remembered. The Statues to me don’t really signify their upcoming deaths, but that they are immortalized by their actions and the present for future generations.

Bran being absent is very telling. Showing us what role, he might play in this story.

Bran and his story are strongly tied to magic and the Night King, his own absence from the trailer and his lack of statue, indicates that while he might be integral to defeating the Others (him, not dragons), he won’t have a role to play afterwards.

He might not be remembered as an important figure in history or at least not in the political history. While Jon, Sansa and Arya will be remembered just as Arya remembered Aegon, Visenya and Rhaenys.

Its also possible, Bran might get his own promo highlighting his importance to the story, but separating him from the Stark narrative.

Basically, I believe, the statues are telling us who will be important in the history books. Those three will be the ones who future generations remember when they’re playing with each other as kids and who the future songs will be about.

The Torches Going Out

This is far from new. The candles, torches or fireplaces going out representing the Others and Winter coming has been a stable to GOT promos, since pretty much the beginning. But it’s also starting to take on a different meaning, or not different, but clearer.

Fire may destroy the wights, but we’ve seen within the show itself that even dragon fire is nothing to the Night King. Fire (the dragons) aren’t effective when it comes to White Walkers.

Actually, and this is random, but when I saw this and when I was thinking about it, I thought of the matching phone game – Empires & Puzzles. In the game,

Fire is effective against Nature and Nature is effective Ice and Ice is effective against Fire.

Fire (dragons) can destroy the Weirwood Trees (Winterfell)

The Weirwood Trees (Bran) can destroy the White Walkers

The White Walkers can destroy the Dragons

Similar to the Tapestry Promo, this may be less of a war between two opposing force, but three forces.

Either way I think promo worked really well and I’m excited to seeing the Starks once more (which is the true goal of a promo). Sorry for the messy writing and analysis.

#House Stark #Jon Snow #Sasnsa Stark #Arya Stark #Crypt Teaser #Jonsa #GOT #Game of Thrones #Lyanna Stark #Ned Stark #Catelyn Stark #Game of thrones teaser

115 notes · View notes

yurireview · 6 years ago

Text

Ambition and Affection the drama of Croix and Chariot

it's been 2 years since the LWA premiere and I still like the dynamics of Croix and Chariox even though the dynamics of Diana and Akko is very good, I think the engine of the series were the two teachers who took separate paths ... that said I will begin the review in honor of my favorite dynamic and for the anniversary of the series

Litte Witch Academia is probably one of my favorite anime has all the elements for a good story, the focus is fun, true friendship and a path of the “hero” well simplistic but with great development, it can be said that it is one of the few Current projects that do have a soul unlike the current anime, but in the middle of this show there are 2 characters that really give a maturity to the show

Croix and Chariot were the reason why half of the season was the best part, it had an incredible development and it really made me wish that the anime had focused on that issue from the beginning to show us a lot more, but let’s continue with the review

Croix and Chariot

I hate that in the Fandom they tend to simplify their connection with saying “They’re like Diana and Akko if there was no jealousy” which is ridiculous if they can really figure out how deep Chariot and Croix’s relationship is not that they do not have parallels but that It is very different because of the context of their situations.

The anime leaves a lot of them in the mystery but what little it shows is quite revealing, to start with Croix was an excellent student and did not get together with other people because she did not care and did not need it. This image summarizes what Croix was then and his contrast with Chariot even before she met her.

Croix’s life was just becoming good enough to excel and achieve his goal that was all, only had his knowledge … but look at the change of Croix to meet Chariot, this shows us how special this girl meant to her.

Many in the fandom have wondered that it took an introverted girl to join Chariot who was the opposite of her and that probably Chariot’s dream would have seemed naive and stupid.

The answer to this is given in chapter 23 in the conversation of Diana and Akko, which point to one of the main points of the series as a whole and this is that many were fascinated by the magic of Chariot, but few realized that the first to fall in love with that cheerful and silly half-wit was Croix, even in the midst of all her seriousness and cynicism she was attracted to Chariot’s cheerful and problematic magic and encouraged not to give up and what makes this better is that it was Croix who in the end was the one who tells him the famous words “Believing is your magic”

Many have referred to this anime as the “Harry Potter in anime” which is inaccurate … but I must focus that Chariot and Croix’s part is like a less dark version of Dumbledore and Grindelwald, if they realize in spite of the “Friendship” of the two young magicians that really united them was the attraction of the Deathly Hallows were ambitious young but clear with different goals…with Croix and Chariot is basically the same, even in spite of that instant connection Croix ambitioned the “Magic to change the world” and influenced Chariot to help her look for it but each with different goals

it must be a tremendous irony that Chariot took Croix words as a personal motto while Geller took the words of Albus as his personal motto

“Believing is your magic” “For the greater good”

After becoming close they went to look for the wand … each one with their respective dream to neither of them the dream of the other seemed stupid, until Chariot was chosen, that was the beginning of the problems since for the first time Croix looked at Chariot with frustration and anger as he had ruined all his goals and I must say that this reaction is normal in someone like Croix

But if we continue the scene when Chariot cries exclaiming that he did not want that and thinking that Croix hated her, after seeing her cry Croix hugs her and swallowing her pride, her anger, her ambitions just for not seeing her cry … she trusted in her and encouraged Chariot to move forward at that time his affection for her was greater than his ambition which unleashed one of the Words and as we saw in the case of Akko this word has to be with a special person and clear a feeling of immense gratitude both parties.

Although I must say something curious Croix is the only witch who is not even allowed to touch the Shiny Rote and this is because Croix is the kind of witch that is supposed to be protected by the Grand Triskelion … What would happen if she used the magic of world reconstruction with its ambition to become the most powerful witch? Taking your dream to the extreme and transforming into something else

People like Croix are very explosive and their dreams are quickly transformed into very unpleasant things, in the whole series we see that their only emotional link is to Chariot and otherwise had no remorse, just imagine:

What would happen if she unleashed the words or found a way to dominate all the power?

Here again I can make an accurate comparison with Harry Poter … just imagine how many deaths would have been saved if Gellert Grindelwald could not have obtained the power of the Deathly Hallows for magical protection, as Dumbledore himself said. “He lost the control when receiving power ”

In the incident of the Shiny Rote and the “chosen” was something that created a big wound that would affect both long-term, but as we see in chapter 12 of Akko vision, there Chariot is with the Shiny Rote next to Croix who looked at her and applauded him, sharing a nice moment what basically eliminates those who say that right there they stopped spending time together.

I must say that this memory is very romantic

Although Croix was half resentful, he had not turned away but his relationship with his special person, to see the way Chariot executed his mission and truly the distancing worsened when Chariot became an “Idol” and the famous “Shiny Chariot” was born “

If you remember chapter 23 Croix tells you that thanks to the Full Dream Spirit his plan is now possible, but if analyze Chariot little Flashback this is a lie, after several months of using the Full Dream Spirit it was confirmed that it was a Total success and Croix told him the effects, but really Croix if he wanted to help his way with that spell because Croix thought that was the way to get the Seventh Word that’s why he let go of his frustration when Chariot said “I do not want that power” , is angry that the “Chosen” is a stupid who does not see the “reality” of the magical world, it is more Chariot stopped looking for the last word in concentrating on his show.

One of the reasons why Chariot believes she is responsible as Croix for the theft of magic is because he knew in his heart that Croix had become selfish and ambitious for power through her, but decided to ignore him and trust in his methods…because of her affection for her, she pretended that everything was fine, but in the end that caused much more damage to both of them and to the people who lost their magic

After their fight even when they separated Croix was watching her as her career was broken and even with everything that happened between the two Croix worried and was very surprised to see how Chariot destroyed herself because of all her problems and pressure that it was carrying … although the reality is that Chariot became selfish and that made Rote reject it.

Returning to the current events in the series, you will notice that the day that Chariot retired was when Croix truly went on his way and a plan to carry out his mission and if we see the bigger picture, Croix had already surpassed Chariot in terms of “Achievements” when they spent 10 years each separated by their way, Croix was admired and they said that the future of magic was on their shoulders, since she was a revolutionary in “modern magic”

In the incident with Akko in Chapter 15 where Chariot confronts her, she says this very revealing phrase:

“You have not changed in anything, you are always trying to get things for yourself”

Chariot sentence proves what I mentioned before and makes a lot of sense with the guilt he has for the Theft of Magic because she let herself be deceived and ignored the truth until Croix herself confessed it, although ironically Croix revealed this information because she thought that Chariot was not going to be an “Immature” because from Croix’s perspective “Good justifies the means” for her. What good is it for a few to preserve their magical talent if the magic in the world were to disappear?

In all their interactions there is a kind of tension that only people who liked in the past possess, are practically enemies and have different goals and ideologies … but in their confrontations, none of them actually seeks to hurt the other because they can not .

If Croix had wanted to kill Chariot, he would have done so long ago and the same with Chariot, she could stop Croix before he started his plan, only that he did not really want to confront her and not give her away even without knowing his plan.

Why do you think I did not give it away? Why do you think he did not tell Akko about Croix? again I can use something from Harry Poter … when Dumbledore was asked to face Grindelwald he did not make his decision in 5 years where there was a lot of confusion and chaos in Europe, where he said “I had an emotional bond for man”. … basically Chariot had the same dilemma with Croix, she really wanted to stop her without having to face her directly and her internal conflict is very well done.

Although Croix is not better, he had the same weakness for Chariot and this is clear in chapter 21 where he was holding Chariot to arrive with Akko

When one of her attacks left her unconscious and Chariot was going to die in the fall, Croix did not hesitate 1 second to go and save her in a state of panic, forgetting all her goals.

A simple and powerful scene that gives us a good background of both

The moment Chariot reacts and stares at Croix for the body language you can determine that he was feeling our “villain” and asks him to stop trying to save Akko to which Chariot refuses knowing that Croix was not going to stop her anymore.

Chariot just decides to stop Croix when he hurts Akko revealing the truth in the worst way crushing the dreams of his special student and fuck if it was such a well done scene

In the only real showdown in the whole anime was between Croix and Chariot in chapter 24 when both abandoned all their emotions to fulfill each his dream, even though it lasted little I would say that Croix won by managing to stop Chariot and defeat her

When Croix breaks the seal and thinks that he already won by getting the magic that changed the world, upon receiving it he realizes that not only can not use it but it is not what she expected … something curious about Croix is that it is the Witch who has an ambition of real power not “smiles” and see that the “Great magic” was about that left her shocked

In this part he shows us how his own egoistic dream is in constant conflict with and I dare to say, the love that Croix has for her. That is why in the series this is what leads to their contradictory actions. She can never really settle on either, no matter how much she tries on herself. She may think that she knows what she really wants, but in fact, she has no damn idea and the moment Woodward appears she reproaches him that nobody is guiding her and that she felt set apart.

Being stripped of her dream and consequently of her ambition, the other great thing she had left was the feelings towards Chariot and that is why after her magic gets out of control she asks Chariot to leave her and to save her several times, showing true repentance for what he did and recognizing that it was all his fault.

When Akko uses great magic the result is something that Croix never came to expect since honestly it is such a joyful magic that I really do not think Croix would have imagined something like that.

Understanding this should not be surprised that Croix helped Chariot and the little witches or the speed with which Chariot forgives her and re-establishes what they previously had … it can be said that Akko not only revived the magic in the world and he gave the redemption to Chariot but he made Croix understand what really mattered about magic and about his own feelings.

In the final scene of both that I must say is my favorite because it symbolizes a new beginning for Croix and Chariot that has a lot of romantic charge in his farewell especially by Chariot his facial language to the departure of Croix is amazing and his final words are even better “! Croix will be waiting! … I’ll be waiting for you”

No doubt a great conclusion and definitely the only couple (lesbian) of the series

#chariox #lwa #chariot du nord #croix meredix #diakko #litte witch academia #albus dumbledore #gellert grindelwal

137 notes · View notes

orionsangel86 · 6 years ago

Text

14x02 - Episode Review - Without the Bells and Whistles

Bucklemming colour me impressed. This episode was a rich character driven story that left me full and satisfied and that is something I NEVER say about Bucklemming. I am amazed at how character focused these first two episodes are and truly hope that Dabb keeps up the momentum among writers. It is a change of pace with the show, and a change of focus, but it is WORKING so far.

As always with BL episodes there were some pacing issues and clunky dialogue in parts, but damn Dick Speight Jr is doing a fabulous job making the show look beautiful. As with 14x01 there is a lot to discuss, though I will try to be brief as I have a desperate need to write a separate post about Cas because my angel had me in tears in this episode and he needs an essay written about him in it.

Without further adieu, a long review is under the cut.

Michael and the Bait

Firstly Jensen did spectacularly in this episode. Such a drastic difference from 14x01 and I’m not sure if that’s because of Dick being a more hands on director or Jensen finally making a choice but he has settled into the role and plays Michael as a sinister psychopath on a mission. Michael has far more personality in this episode. He is more interesting to watch and managed to hold my attention unlike in 14x01. This makes me happy.

So what’s the deal guys? Michael spends this episode focusing on his monster experiments, brags about owning Dean, and then just leaves? Obviously that’s not what happened. The clue is in the key moments:

“Why be the hunted, when you can be the Hunter?”

“Rule no.1 you can’t have a trap without bait. Rule no.2 Once the trap has been sprung, you don’t need the bait anymore.”

Michael’s plan has been set in motion. The scene with the vamp girl being foreshadowing for the bigger picture, the bigger goal. Is Michael going after the hunters? If his plan is to make a world where Monsters are in charge, then the hunters need to be eradicated. It makes sense. It also therefore makes sense that you would set your sights on hunter central – the bunker. So Dean was let free so Michael could keep a watch on the bunker and it’s residents through him. As far as the rules go, if Dean is the bait, then releasing Dean is Michael not needing him anymore directly. The trap itself is the mystery, but I suspect we will find out more about exactly what Michael has done in 14x03, and it will most likely all have to do with this mysterious scar. I don’t think Michael is hiding “in” Dean so much as has an “open connection” to him where he could jump back in at any time without Dean’s consent. But we shall find out soon enough I’m sure.

Mary x Bobby

Obviously I support this ship, but I support it even more seeing as they have now paralleled Mobby to Destiel in two episodes in a row.

“My FBI is a little rusty”

This week, Bobby is our Cas mirror and Mary is our Dean. The fond pat on the back was the only hint we got that this was romantic, but like with 14x01, I ask you to try to find a single viewer who doesn’t see “something there” between this generic heterosexual couple? They are continuing to show their relationship through nothing BUT destiel parallels and it continues to delight me that this is now the shows go-to way to portray romance.

On a slight side note, Bobby being from an apocalypse AU world, he is the classic hunter right now who only sees in black and white, and the way he went for the vamp girl even after she tried to explain how she had never harmed a human. Bobby’s take on things this season will be an interesting one as it’s a continuous theme in this show to explore what makes a monster, something that dates back to John Winchester days (the ultimate black and white hunter). Also his understandable suspicions about angels making the dynamic with Cas a potentially interesting one. I wonder if this Bobby will ever utter the phrase “family don’t end with blood”?

Nick – It’s a chicken and egg situation

*sigh* I’m still not won over, and I probably won’t be. I expected this episode to be Nick heavy, and the flashbacks irked me because I simply don’t care. But I get that they would be necessary for a general audience. My lack of care is my own issue. It doesn’t matter how much Mark P acted his arse off trying to give us a decent performance (his first in years), I’m still not gonna be a fan. I’m still gonna skip those scenes in subsequent re-watches but that’s just me. I just don’t find it interesting even if he is being embedded into the story in a way that is paramount to the plot and the characters own struggles and development. I will acknowledge that importance and move on. I suppose the take away from Nick’s role in this episode when not specifically tied to Castiel (which I will yell about later) is whether or not he murdered his wife and child before he was possessed by Lucifer. The set up in the episode, the scripting and the direction implies that yes, he did. Though that could be a misdirection.

At the beginning of the episode, when he was asking Castiel what would possibly make him say yes to Lucifer to begin with, he had seemingly forgotten all about the brutal murder of his family, until Cas reminded him. Perhaps he had just repressed the trauma to the point that he had removed it from his mind to save himself further torment – but then murderers do that as much as grieving widows. Interestingly of all the things we learn about the murder case, we never actually learn Nick’s whereabouts, only from Castiel saying “you weren’t there” which is entirely unreliable because how would he have known other than from reading about the case himself? We know Nick’s neighbour is jumpy around him, so what did the neighbour actually see? We know his wife and child were killed with a hammer – an extremely intimate murder weapon and one that has been meta’d before in relation to Demon!Dean. Strangers don’t murder people with a hammer. It’s the weapon of crimes of passion, of extreme emotional connection to the victims. There is nothing cold and detached about a hammer. People who pick hammer’s to kill seek out the mess and extreme violence that they cause. It’s horrific and so much more gruesome than a knife or a gun. To kill an infant with a hammer? Even worse. To then see Nick murder the neighbour in the same violent attack, it is very easy to assume that he was the original killer as well.

If we assume Nick was the killer what does this mean for the canon of the show? Is this how Lucifer picks his vessels? What does this say about Sam? Who had to consume gallons of demon blood before he could contain Lucifer, Sam who had to be “corrupted” from a young age to prepare him? Was Nick already corrupted enough thanks to his apparent violent streak?

OR was this new kill with the hammer a result of what Cas called Lucifer’s “influence”, the “damage on his psyche”? Did Lucifer create the monster? Or was the monster already a part of Nick? If the season is going to continue the themes of previous seasons in exploring the shades of grey between men and monsters, then Nick is a key component. Is he the innocent victim of the devil? Or is he a tormented killer, who just so happened to get what he deserved? How would this affect the boys? If they are already struggling to find compassion towards a man wearing the face of their abuser, how does this potential new bit of information fit into that story? Perhaps, if Nick really is the killer, once this is found out it gives the writers an easy way to ultimately have him killed off without any guilt of tormenting and villainising an innocent. My money is actually on this theory. Plus it gives me a reason to continue hating him for the hell of it. But hey, that’s just me.

Castiel – The Angel with Too Much Heart

Oh Cas. What DON’T I have to say about you in this episode? I was amazed by Bucklemming’s dedication to Cas as a character and devotion to getting him right for once… I feel like I have slipped into an alternate universe because of this.

In 14x01 Cas was physically beaten, and in 14x02 he is emotionally beaten. I can’t help but wonder if this spells gloomy foreshadowing for Cas in the coming episodes. I want to write about this in depth as this episode is a fascinating insight into Cas’s psyche and his character arc going forward BUT I am leaving that for a separate post so in this review I will just sum it up:

Consider what happens to Cas in several points:

He overhears Bobby saying “angels ain’t known for their veracity” about Jo – that he doubts she was telling the truth. Cas shrugs it off and “tends to agree with him” but the awkwardness is obvious. This isn’t the Bobby who saw Cas as a son after all.

He is told he cannot go along on the mission to save Dean because his “angelic presence would be sensed by Michael” therefore his grace has rendered him useless.

He is made to relive his own possession by Lucifer “you were in a lot of pain, and Lucifer saw a vulnerability and he exploited it” though not talking about himself, the implication is obvious to anyone with a good memory of previous seasons.

He is made to relive another dark chapter of his history when his grace was stolen and he was human. Cas gives Jack a heartfelt positive speech that does show he is in a better place now “I had Sam and Dean, but I had something else that was extremely helpful. I had myself. Just the basic me, as Dean would say without all the bells and whistles” (which btw is so so good for human!cas meta) but the truth is actually far more depressing than Cas lets on, and the pain of what happened at that time, how Dean kicking him out of the bunker only encouraged the view that without his grace he was useless and unwanted by Dean – hence jilted lover.

He is surprised by Nick trying to “snap” him to oblivion which could easily be a trigger for Cas bearing in mind Lucifer has blown him up before via that very gesture.

He had to relive his “greatest regret” and what he did to Jimmy and his family. “You’re just a stone cold body snatcher, you’re no different from Lucifer” and you can SEE how much that pained him. How much Nick twisted the knife at those words.

He was told by Jack that he wanted to meet “The only real family that I have left” which is a slap in the face to poor Cas who sees Jack as part of his own family (and his reaction to that line is heart breaking).

Then the worst thing, he is made to face the possible conclusion that Dean may have to die to save the world. “Dean doesn’t matter” oh boy. No hate to Jack who doesn’t really have any real reason to put Dean ahead of the world, but to Cas, who is in love with him? Yeah that’s the killing blow right there.

Right at the end Jack says “Do you think he’d want it any other way?” and Cas KNOWS Dean wouldn’t, because they have been in that situation before as well, and when that happened Dean asked Cas to take him out. So he had to relive that painful moment as well. One that he refused, and because he refused to fight Dean, got beaten to a pulp after proclaiming that he would “be the one to watch you murder the world”. I have no doubt that Cas would still take that view over the alternative.

So Cas was emotionally beaten all episode. Forced to live through his worst moments and biggest regrets, and then have to face the fact that putting Dean above saving the world just isn’t right and he needs to prepare himself for that eventuality. If this episode and the last have told us anything, it’s that Cas is once again in a pretty low place. That much beating, both physical and emotional, are going to have an impact, and I am now really concerned about where Cas disappears to in episodes 4 to 6.

There is so much more to discuss, specifically in relation to what his view of his grace as “bells and whistles” could mean for human!Cas meta writers, not to mention the basic fact that any argument now about Cas hating being human just isn’t true. He still had himself, and he still believed in himself even when human, and even if he didn’t back then, he does now. He doesn’t see that period of his life as a total negative. That is HUGE.

Summary

A+ episode for Cas development. Amazing as that is being a bucklemming. It has also left us with lots to speculate and theorise which is always a great thing - keeping people tuning in. The Michael!Dean mystery as well as the Nick mystery probably won’t get revealed any time soon, but are enough to have people talking about them for a while.

Sam was still very much in Leader mode, though didn’t really get to do much this episode, but the way I see it, 14x01 was for Sam, 14x02 was for Cas, and I fully expect 14x03 to be a Dean heavy episode (which is fair since I am sure we are all missing him by now). Jack is also one to watch. His inner turmoil is textually acknowledged several times over and seeing as he is basically a mini Cas, the possibility that Jack could decide to do something drastic is probably very likely. I wonder if we will see Kelly’s parents again any time soon - I kinda hope not as I reckon that would spell certain doom for them.

It was a strong episode, and I enjoyed watching it (other than the Nick stuff). Probably my second favourite Bucklemming episode if I was to rank them all now which is very impressive (11x18 will always be top imo).

That’s all for now, as I am in the mood to write some Cas stuff. As always if you read this far kudos and please reblog and comment and send me asks as I love all that stuff. :D

#supernatural #episode review #castiel #spn meta #spn speculation #spn spoilers #season 14 #14x02 #my meta #my review #my thoughts #my poor angel #mirrors and parallels #michael!dean

123 notes · View notes

ruwithmeguys · 6 years ago

Text

Arrow Season 7 wishlist

I had a season 6 wish-list: about half of them came true.. Sadly, the rest didn’t and there were some really juicy ones.

In no particular order... (I’ll add to this as I go and please be assured; anything I say about characters relates in no way to the actors who portray them)

1) One of he NTA needs to go...

Okay, so this is a dark thought; especially to start off with. But they did this. The writers/creators/producers/executives; they screwed with characters many of us were warming to or flat out loved and forgot how loyal we are to OTA regardless. They FORGOT. I mean, I was very sure they were more attune to their audience than that and we were clearly wrong.

But not in every way. They got a lot right. I’m not holding a grudge; there’s no point. I... have no interest in Rene beyond Zoe, I do NOT like Curtis and Dinah... she shows potential.

But they can’t come back from the clusterfuck of the civil war arc. They can only push forwards. I’m doing the same.

The problem is that, until the majority of us see serious growth, something to keep us/me interested, we’re going to stay in the ‘I don’t give a crap’ squad, which tells me that maybe - just maybe - something huge is going to occur in the first or second episode to make us all spit out our food/drink during the airing of 7.01.

Unfortunately I couldn’t care less that Curtis has a boyfriend or that he’s working with Felicity. People who act likes dicks tend to get the good things in life. Granted he’s suffered: I understood Paul’s reason for divorcing him but his genuine desire to NOT fight for his marriage confused me. This and the fact that he seemed to just exist for a full season (5) made me feel reluctantly sympathetic. Especially when part of his literal reason for existence was to reunite Olicity who didn’t need his help but... that was his thing.

Now? Sympathetic? Not so much. He’s become a massive juvenile, callous and selfish hypocrite that makes us all question his existence on the show. Even his fans.

However, as the sole homosexual character on the show with a love interest, they won’t kill him off. He has zero SL. He very literally has to be joined to Felicity’s, each time. The boyfriend is the only difference. I can’t ‘like’ this person. The man needs to learn humility. He’s become unnecessary enough that he wasn’t even present in the trailer: the ONLY character who wasn’t in it. That’s a bold neon light on the truth right there. Being a judgemental ass is a bad look.

I don’t have blind faith in Beth but I very much love everything she’s said about S7 so far. I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt THROUGHOUT the season. She’s already proven a better spokeswoman. It’s all good.

Dinah... there’s potential here. Now that she’s finally stepped off her high horse, I’m hoping Oliver’s incarceration will make her question her own horrible choices and what it REALLY means to be a masked vigilante, because she clearly didn’t know in S6. Thankfully, shes actually mentioned this. I don’t need a LI for her this season; that fell flat. Right now, I need her to find purpose that doesn’t make her a hypocritical ‘insert expletive’.

(I’m a huge fan of love interests occurring when we least expect it: two people that shouldn't fit but do, which is part of the essence of Olicity)

Leaving the civil war arc behind, I still kind of like her. I WANT to like her again.

Oliver went to prison for them all; surely that should change them all?

She, Rene, Curtis; they have no idea what true heroism means. They’re only in their second/third seasons and they still haven’t been through anything to close to one year of Oliver Queen’s life.

I’d like to see her find this. And I’d like to see her change and accept responsibility for who she’s chosen to be. It would provide a nice mirror to BS’s viewpoint and actions in season 6.

But Rene... this one is dicey. While he made more headway than the other two, I felt it was partly undeserved. If he wasn’t obnoxious, he was confusing. When eh apologised, he managed to add in a few insults. That kind of, you know... nullifies the apology. But he got away with it. His ‘Hoss’ and ‘Blondie’ have gone dry. Over-dry. His zero care about going against Oliver on trial made his defence fall flat, even when Oliver showed distrust. The only time I liked him, was when he was with Zoe.

If any of them get killed, it will be Rene. I’m not saying it will happen; but IF it does, it’ll be Rene.

So either... kill Rene or change all of them, because honestly at this point, most of us aren’t here for them.

2) If Felicity isn’t allowed friends, can we get a couple of scenes between her and Dinah or Lyla or both that aren’t all based on their night lives. Give me a few heartfelt moments. Give me something real to believe. Friendship is built; it doesn’t just exist because the writers tell us it does. Show not tell. A mistake made with LL in season 4.

3) Reunion sex for Oliver and Felicity because, damn if they’ve been deprived. And, why not? I mean, chuck in some hot argument sex, some poignant love affirming sex, some flirty flirt sex, some nude shower scene sex, some epic love reaffirmations; go for it!

They've been put through shit; some of it because of friends. If even ONE friend cock-blocks them, this includes Diggle, they’re on my shit-list.

4) Give Oliver the agency he needs during this prison arc; let us see the process of him falling back into that dark place he started in, S1. Let us see him crawl back upwards without Felicity’s help.

We know, thanks to Stephen, that Oliver has - in the 5 months since has incarceration - realised his choice was a ‘fucking bad choice’ in terms of what it’s done to Felicity and William. In fact I’d go out on the limb and say he knew that immediately when he got in the cell judging by the dead look in his eyes.

So let’s see him escape prison because this is BEGGING for a break out, and let us see him go to his family, because you know part of the reason he breaks out will be because of THEM. Because he HAS to. Because he’s needed.

Let’s see him and Felicity heal this forced separation, which was, at part, due to him. It was selfless, because he didn’t WANT to. He did it because he thought it was the right thing to do. He’s going to regret it and it’ll hurt to watch in all the best ways.

5) I’d enjoy a scene between Diggle and Felicity which focuses on him being there for her and mentioning that he wasn’t last season.

I’m sorry. I love Dig. But if he’d been there, Oliver might not have gone off on his own.

6) Given that this is a season about redemption, then can all characters be included?

Why? Well...

The theme redemption doesn’t just mean characters finding it, it means characters failing to reach it. People who may realise that it isn’t for them, like BS possibly. Or people who try really hard but can’t and are left devoid.

It involves characters who don’t need redeeming: people like Felicity who, this time, is done with reacting and is going to be proactive. Who deserves nothing but the happiness that has been robbed from her as a woman and as a wife.

It means understanding that redemption isn’t always clear cut and can mean unusual realities occurring.

It means the city, who need to open their eyes to what one man, his wife and his best friend did for their city all these years.

7) Focusing.

I won’t lie: I’m biased, BUT. I’m not wrong when I say Olicity need to be focused on this season. I’m not talking A full season: and there will be plenty of focus apart before they’re together.

I’m talking time to focus on them as a couple. Separate from them as parents and them as parents, them as friends to others.

This is a normal thing: for a show to focus on a couple that has been put through the mill. I’m guaranteeing it won’t be a lot.

I do think it will be more than you expect.

I’m highlighting this for a reason. A lot the fandom are under the impression that they get sidelined: Olicity are given quite a bit more screen-time than we think. But some of us notice the lack of other things happening so, those people, rely on more Olicity in order to forget that. Episodes 6.13 - 6.15 come to mind.

Like it or not, they were focused on in season 6. I know Felicity had little story and Oliver was sidelined several times but, sometimes that happens (it happens quite a bit in Felicity’s case). Doesn’t mean we won’r get what Oliver and Felicity NEED in season 7 and onward.

8) Felicity

I never needed Smoak Tech.

I just want her to be INVOLVED.

The fact that she’s a) in protective custody living under a different name and looking after William and b) in contact and in actual scenes with Watson, getting more and more INVOLVED (I like this word) with the law whilst committing crime like the ultimate paragon for getting shit done and for being the backbone of (Oliver) heroism in the city and a paradox (a very good person doing the right things by being a cyber badass and vigilante hacker) makes me feel like I’m going to enjoy season 7 already.

Then we’ll get a prison breakout. Olicity reuniting. Olicity re-acquainting Themistocles with each other through touch, words, sex etc. Re-finding what it means to be a vigilante in eyes of the public will be just as much her mission as Oliver’s.

9) Paying homage

Let’s have tribute to everything Oliver, Felicity and Diggle have done for the past 6 seasons. We’ve had focus on Tommy, on Robert, Moira and LL. They died: none of them needed to.

Robert died to save his son.

Tommy died to save the woman he loved.

Moira died to save her children.

Laurel died because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and it was reaffirmed in season 6, that it was partly due to her lack of skill and experience, her incredible stubbornness to listen to anyone else’s logic, and her need to reach that high.

They all died, except LL, for love. And all of them had tribute paid to them, some more than others.

But now that’s over so can due attention be given to what these three have sacrificed over the years? Can we have people see how much Oliver has given to the city, what Felicity has both lost and gone through, the time and effort and heart John has spent on their mission of three?

You don’t have to die to have people recognise the amazing good you’ve done. This isn’t the time of the Renaissance artist: let’s have a little respect paid to the OTA as separate people and as a team of three amazing heroes and as people who have loved each other in many different ways: team mates, partners, friends, family... lovers. Married soul mates. Brothers/comrades in arms.

Let’s have that moment that makes us all glad we’ve been watching for years, where the city, Rene/Dinah/Curtis and the law recognise them.

I’ll probably add to this list.

49 notes · View notes

advrik · 6 years ago

Text

BluReviews | Issue #2: Harvest Moon: Light of Hope Special Edition

Before I begin my review, I want to preface it with a few things:

1. Yes I am aware that this isn’t the actual Bokujou Monogatari series. You don’t have to yell it in my ear, I’m sick of hearing it.

2. I will not be addressing the issues with Soleil beyond this preface. Yes it was poorly done and really should have had some QA being done regarding it.

3. I have been playing games within this genre since the very beginning. Like, I made it a personal mission to rent Harvest Moon on SNES in 1998, then later asked Santa for Harvest Moon GB that same Christmas because I loved it so much. I own literally every game the series, spin-off or otherwise, that has released in the US.

All right, on with the review.

Harvest Moon: Light of Hope launched late last year on the PC, and on May 29th 2018 it made its console debut on the Nintendo Switch and Sony Playstation 4. I admittedly did not pay it much heed at first due to the fact that it was on the PC first and I just don’t play PC games. Heck, I don’t even play games on my TV anymore really thanks to the Switch and its hybrid nature.

But enough about that.

As I was saying. Light of Hope made its debut on consoles as ‘Harvest Moon Light of Hope Special Edition, complete with an iffy new marriage candidate and a season pass. Now I know season passes as a whole are on their way out and not generally viewed in good light, but Harvest Moon? A game that is built around the changing of the seasons? Perfect.

Anywho, let’s get critical.

Presentation

...

All right, I know what you’re thinking.

“That looks like a mobile game!”

It most certainly does and it probably started out that way actually before being bumped up to a full-blown release.

(Screen was zoomed out)

The overworld graphics are by far and large, the biggest hit against the game. First-impression wise, they are TERRIBLE. Everything is either way off scale with each other or the perspective is off. Like really off. Like, these are very hastily made, amateurish tilesets.

And that is a real shame.

I could go on a rant about how bad the overworld actually looks, but I don’t want to rant. I want to talk about the pluses in this game because I feel that, despite the negative press (covfefe...), there is a lot of good here.

When conversing with a villager, the characters are presented with some rather expressive models instead of the stoic pieces of art found in Story of Seasons. And this is a nice addition because the models are a joy to look at; They all feature a multitude of emotions and expressions, with quite a few I really liked, like this on here with Tabitha.

Gameplay

Oh man, where Light of Hope stumbles (and falls down the stairs) in the graphics department, it makes up for big time on the gameplay side of things.

I’ll try to break it down into chunks that way I’m not presenting a huge wall of text here.

Context-Sensitive Tool Usage As has been from the get-go in the new Natsume era of Faux-Harvest Moon titles, having to cycle through your rucksack for certain tools is a thing of the past because now, depending what you are doing, you automatically use the necessary tool for the job. Admittedly I was iffy on the whole concept in the beginning when The Lost Valley launched, but it has since grown on me after certain refinements were made. This is but one of the aspects of the Natsume games that sets itself apart from the other farming sims in a good way.

Crop Mutations Oh man, if this isn’t the best thing to happen to the farm life genre since cooking was introduced in Back to Nature, I don’t know what is.

This was a feature I loved the idea of from the get-go. It not only put an absolute huge emphasis on farming crops once again, where Story of Seasons had progressed into a social sim of sorts. Crop mutations adds so much to the Natsume games that it’s actually something I want other developers, indie or otherwise, to look at and go “We should try something similar!”.

For example: There’s a type of Tomato in the game called San Marzano. It’s a mutation of, of course, the tomato. But you won’t get this simply by growing a ton of tomatoes on your farm. Oh no. You have to venture to the northern most part of the map to the dry field and plant some tomatoes there in either autumn or summer. While there is a chance that they’ll grow by themselves, you can sprinkle some fertilizer - either regular or special tomato-based type that boosts hybrid chances - the first few days of growth to further boost the chances.

Once you successfully grow ten of them and sell them to Sam, the seeds will unlock and you can then start growing the fruit itself rather than hoping for a mutation. This then opens the door for further mutations, such as the Red Zeppelin, which requires a tomato-based fertilizer from the start in order to even have a chance of mutating.

This is by far and large my favorite feature of the game. It just adds so much to the game that I actually miss it when I play something like, say, Stardew Valley.

Natsume have taken a few extra appreciated steps in managing mutations by including pop-up bubbles over certain crops that tell you beforehand if a certain unit is going to mutate or if it’s something you have never grown before. It’s appreciated stuff like this that shows that the folks at Natsume DO listen... sometimes.

Character Interactions One of the biggest complaints I had seen towards the Natsume games has been the lack of interactions with the villagers via conventional means, such as gift giving. Well, that’s back in full force here in LoH. You can take items from your rucksack and give it to your favorite guy or gal or god or goddess or sprite or... Ahem. But that’s not the only way you’ll be earning the affection of the locals.

The requests feature from past Natsume games makes a return here, and all of them not only boost your friendship with that character, but it also nets you a nice gift in the form of an item, cash or even valuable cooking and fertilizer recipes. And there are a ton of requests too, it feels like there’s never a shortage of people needing help.

Raising the friendship meter of villagers always, doesn’t seem to matter who it is, unlocks the coveted “heart events”. But since Natsume has taken the conservative stance when it comes to including same-sex relationships in their games, there won’t be any scenes involving any sort of romance with characters of the same gender, but there’s still quite a bit to see and experience. Way more in fact than I ever expected going into this game.

Sound

First I am going to complain about the sound effect. Yes. The one sound effect that early on had me turning off sounds all together, and it is the same sound effect that has plagued the Natsume games from the beginning and seems to be unstoppable.

The watering can sound effect.

It is obnoxiously loud and horrible sounding. After several games, you’d think that someone would have heard that sound two-hundred times a day in-game during testing and thought to themselves, “Wow, this is horrible.”

Annoying sound effects aside, the music is great. It’s not Animal Parade or Back to Nature quality stuff, but it’s catch in its own right and I have found myself humming the autumn theme a few times.

Closing

As I said in the gameplay section of this “review”, Natsume has listened to some of the complaints against their games and have implemented more QoL features for crop mutations. They have also thrown in character interactions that long-time fans of the genre are familiar with by allowing us to gift villagers once more. They’ve included a tool upgrade system via the blacksmith. A legit mine with 100 floors is here. Friendship/heart events are plentiful. The music is good and varied.

There’s a ton to do in this game, whether you prefer the social aspects or you’re like me and choose to focus on your farm. If you can look past the gaudy cheap mobile-esque graphics, you’ll find a legit good game here.

Verdict: Recommended, but wait for a sale. The graphics would be an easier pill to swallow if you’re not paying full price.

#Harvest Moon #Harvest Moon Light of Hope #Natsume #Review #Blog #BluReview #article

8 notes · View notes

ursae-minoris-world · 7 years ago

Text

KALTENECKER: Who is your favorite Voltron character? (part 2 : Keith)

...and, my last answer for @ashrayus‘s ask for the Voltron ask meme ! As a follow up to that one about Hunk !

Thanks a lot for tagging me, by the way, I’m having way too much fun doing this !

Sooo. I didn’t think I would get that much attached to that guy that fast. Oops.

(Me : “oh, you think you’re cool ? I’m not impressed. No way I’m getting attached to a character like that”. Narrator’s voice : “it didn’t go as planned...”).

So yeah… the one that really grew on me was Keith, to the point that I think he’s probably my fave now (well I love him different ways that I love Hunk, if that makes sense ; it’s hard to compare). This is funny because when he was introduced, for some reason, I really wanted to hate him (lol).

He had this epic introduction scene and I just thought “Ok, here comes the cool guy, he’s gonna be the leader and overshadow every other character... and I liked the others, damn ! So annoying.” Which is funny considering it was Shiro who first was set up to be the leader and it became explicitly so pretty soon. But, even without the leadership, he had this sort of Main Character aura. Well I thought he would be the 80’s hero stereotype, and the others would be kinda reduced to side-kicks, and it rubbed me the wrong way. But then he kept surprising me.

His soft, worried expression when he saw Shiro caught me off guard. Then, when Lance interrupted, and he wasn’t able to recognize him despite having been in the same class, and clearly trying honestly hard to remember, got me chuckling despite myself : “OMG, not good with people, are we ?” lol.

And him begrudgingly saving the garrison trio along with Shiro, and then being salty when they had the guts to complain about how he did it was… more relatable than I expected. Also, it was pretty cool to see him using the fact that his hoverbike was overloaded as an advantage to gain speed. And when he excitedly drove of that cliff, it was kind of endearing.

Then he brought them to that shack in the middle of the desert when I expected to see his family or at least a somewhat decent flat, and I started getting intrigued. Added to that heartfelt dialog with Shiro (“good to have you back”) and when he then admitted how lost he had felt when booted from the Garrison… How his voice breaks, the sad look Shiro and him exchange… I started connecting the dots about their past. And getting really invested in it.

But a voice in my head was still saying “well of course the cool hero has a tragic back-story ! Don’t fall into this trap !”. I don’t even know why I was so stubborn about NOT liking him lol. But I couldn’t help but being fond of this emotional and vulnerable side I was starting to see in him, and that I really didn’t expect (same goes for Shiro, but I really liked Shiro from the start).

(you all took that decision together as a team, Keith !)

And the moment I let go of that curious mindset of “I don’t like the stereotype so I’m determined not to like this character” was when, at the Castle of Lions, out of sheer provocation, Lance tells Allura that them being attacked has to be Keith’s fault. Keith starts sarcastically “Say whatever you've got to say to make yourself feel better.” And, as much as I actually enjoyed the reply, I was still thinking, a bit annoyed “yeah of course he would be more mature and not react to the provocation”. But then… Keith explodes. And I realized that he was not being mature, but trying to appear so by bottling up his emotions and that they had just...blown up on him. And that was such a good character flaw that it completely scraped the “cool guy” stereotype I had seen at first. And I started really liking him.

And he just kept growing on me.

Basically, what really got me with Keith was this struggle he has, with desperately wanting to belong… But also being terrified to let himself get attached, because then it would hurt too bad if he gets rejected again. And how that ends up being a self-fulfilling prophesy. Because the way he keeps a distance by trying to protect himself doesn’t allow him to grow deeper bonds with others, or communicating properly with them. Which, in turn, results in misunderstandings and conflict. He ends up running away (come on, it was not the only reason why he left, but I bet this was at play too), isolating himself from the people he cared for.

(Canonically his greatest fear is being rejected by Shiro...)

(...and of course it ended up happening… or well, not really, it’s complicated, but it must have felt pretty close to him)

And it makes complete sense that he struggles like that , it all comes from his childhood trauma ; and honestly he keeps getting traumatized again, like losing Shiro not once but twice already, and being there not only for Ulaz’s death, but also for Thace’s after having fought alongside with him, and Regris’, who was his teammate and with whom he had at least been on several missions ; that doesn’t help ! And the growing tension with Shiro after finding him again ; and the gap that has been slowly widening between him and the team (his “found family”), culminating in his decision to leave. Heck, even having to leave Red, with whom he had such a great bond, to pilot Black in season 3. And then, leaving Black too for Shiro’s benefit. So far, the story keeps feeding his narrative of “I’d better not let myself get attached” : it seems each time he bonds with someone, they end up separated, or, in worst case scenarios, that person even dies.

It just breaks my heart and I really, really need him to solve this issue. He deserves to be loved, and for that he needs to learn to accept that love, too. Because more than once, we see him dismissing it or misinterpreting it when others try to show concern or support. I kind of hope the tide will turn now that Krolia is in the game. And I really cross my fingers for Kolivan to not being killed off, and forging deeper bonds with Keith as well, although I’m really worried about how that will turn out.

Also, I like how deeply emotional he is, but how he tries to bottle it up, and how that doesn’t work at all. Please Keith, please open up to others.

I’m also extremely curious about all the secrets that surround him. We found up about his galra origins, we finally met his mother, but there is so much more I want to know. For instance, I’m dying for his back-story with Shiro. I need to know more about his family history, how his parents met, what happened to his father. I wonder if Acxa could, indeed, be related to him. I want to know more about this weird connection he seems to have with magic and quintessence. I want to see if those visions of galra invasions (both in his dream in “the Ark of Taujeer” and in his visions in “the Blade of Marmora”) could be repressed memories, like some theorize. I want to know what happened between his father’s disappearance and the garrison, did he hop from foster family to foster family like many of us headcanon ? How did he get into the garrison ?

(I don’t thing that’s what Kolivan meant by “undetected”, Keith !)

Another thing I like with Keith is how he is balanced. Yes, he is extremely talented in some fields. He’s an amazing pilot and a great fighter, and it’s really cool to see him improve in those domains. He’s also pretty good at improvising on the spot in dangerous situations. He’s extremely focused, loyal, dedicated and resourceful.

But at the same time, he can be pretty awkward in social situations. He has a hard time managing his feelings. He might be really good with blades and in close combat, but struggles when he has a gun. He gets caught almost every time he tries to be sneaky, which is both endearing and worrying, considering the risks of this while he works with the Blades. He is the worst liar ever and it’s hilarious (I hope Kolivan has given up any expectation to make him go undercover, that would be a disaster).

Anyway, some characters are well balanced by being moderately good at everything and being a jack of all trades (Lance for instance). But Keith… he’s amazing in a few domains (flying, fighting with a sword…) but pretty bad in others.

So despite his obvious talents, he is quite far from the cool, flawless character that I first thought he would be.

Although he has a quite eventful and compelling arc, I don’t feel he overshadows the other characters as he’s often (and sometimes painfully) out of focus… We barely saw him at all in the last two seasons. And honestly at this point I’m invested enough in his story that I wouldn’t even complain if he hogs the spotlight a bit more at times.

I ended up getting way too attached and it’s hard to watch him getting hurt by the story all the time. I really hope he gets some good comforting moments soon (same goes for Shiro, by the way).

Yeah, I also love Shiro very much, I think he’s an amazing character. Honestly, there is such a good cast of characters in this story, including really charismatic side characters (Kolivan ! Matt ! Krolia ! Shay !). So it’s really hard to pick a favorite.

#voltron #voltron thoughts #keith #ashrayus #meme #asks #my stuff

13 notes · View notes

mubal4 · 5 years ago

Video

tumblr

We Love Comebacks

There are many, many stories throughout history of great comebacks. I think we mainly associate them with sports. Whether it is a team coming back in a game where we all thought they were completely out of it, that incredible season following a disaster the year before, or that individual that battled back from adversity and injury to make it back. Our culture loves the underdog and loves the comeback, feel good story. Most of those stories are heartwarming, inspirational, and in some cases, emotional. When the comeback story you are sharing is about your daughter, it certainly intensives those feelings 😉.

A year ago, this month, our oldest daughter, after competing in her first two gymnastics event, for her new team out here in AZ, at a practice, she got injured and tore her ulnar collateral ligament. When I found this out, I had no idea what that all meant. Fortunately, that doctor we had, who was outstanding, told us it is the same injury that most major league pitchers get. However, when that happens, they go in for what you probably have heard, Tommy John surgery. There was some humor to our first visit when the doctor asked if Bella would be playing any major league baseball. When the answer was no, we were all glad to hear that surgery wasn’t needed. However, she would be done for the season and would have to go through many months of physical therapy. Throughout the rest of winter and most of the spring, she was at PT 2-3 days a week and, still going to practice at the gym. Of course, she couldn’t do much upper body stuff, but this gave her time to work on core and leg strength. It also gave her a lot of time to reflect on the sport, her mission, and what this all means to her. I also think it gave her the chance to slow things down a bit and gain some perspective; not only with gymnastics but her teammates and coaches, as well as life in general. Oh, forgot to mention that they did immobilize her arm in a robotic brace-type thing (you can tell that I am up on the medical terms 😊) for a several weeks and then a soft-type brace for several more. The doctor & staff and the physical therapy team were outstanding, and we are incredibly fortunate to have been connect to them. Not only were they great at what they did but they were exemplary human beings. They took great care of Bella and showed that they were invested in her healing. They also made sure they connected with Robin and I throughout the process too. I can say enough about them all but thank you very much.

As time went on, and Bella continued to work at healing, and being patient too, she improved and got stronger. By late spring she was released to go back to full participation at gym and continue to keep doing her PT exercises. She began to work hard at the gym and focusing on her new routines since she would be moving up a level on the team. The injury, and new level created some additional pressure and stress for her. However, it was summer and meet season was far off in the distance. The following several weeks she was intense in her workouts and continued PT exercises, but she pushed it a bit too hard and had to head back to the good doctor. The good news was that she didn’t damage things further, she just hadn’t gotten strong enough in the ligament yet to go full bore like before; she needed to have a bit more patience and focus more on strengthening that ligament and the muscles around it. I think this is where that different perspective set in with her. We had a few conversations about it, but I can’t say for certain what was the ultimate trigger, but her mindset changed. She slowed down, stepped back, and began looking at the big picture……….at least this is how I’ve interpreted it for the last few months. Summer vacation gave her time to heal further without having any proactive for a couple of weeks and gave her the opportunity to be a kid for a while. I think this is where that reflection happened. As school started up and practice got back to the normal routine, fortunately she was just about 100%, and focused on getting ready for her first meet (this past weekend). Throughout the fall she worked her butt off and thankfully has been healthy (knock on wood 😊). That said, there were still the challenges, frustrations, and struggles, just like anything, throughout the process. However, she was different, at least from what I noticed. In the past she would dwell on a bad day at the gym for a time; not long, but for a day and sometimes it would get her upset. Now it was much different, she would still get upset or frustrated but by the time the car ride from the gym was done, she would be fine and focused on what was for dinner. We also noticed, and were told, that she was taking on more of a leadership role with her team at the new level. Could it have been her teammates seeing the way she was coming back from the injury, was she becoming more vocal, was it that her mindset enabled her to focus on more than just her score and performance? Not sure but I did see her have less anxiety when it came to gymnastics and she seemed like she was really, really enjoying her sport, and her team.

So fast forward to last weekend, her first meet of the year. Not only the first meet of the year but it came a few days after New Year’s Eve, in Anaheim, CA, she was at a new level with new skills she had to perform, and oh yeah, it was her first meet since her injury. To be completely transparent, Robin and I were more stressed out than Bella was, for sure. Actually, she was quite calm; a bit nervous; but overall, she seemed at ease. We talked before her meet started and there were no expectations. She was very excited to compete again, after almost a year away from it, and she wanted to see where the level of effort, hard work, and sacrifice the last year would put her.

Well, she killed it. I want to make sure we are clear here because we are not talking about how she placed, finished, or what her scores where; none of that matter. What was most important, and something we all spoke about throughout this process, was what progress are you making and how she felt!!! See, this meet was the litmus test. Yes, to see how her injury would hold up, but we have known that would be great for the last several months. More importantly, how would Bella hold up mentally and emotionally. She knew, as did we, that she would be rusty and mistakes would be made, therefore, no expectations. For her, this was a test of mental toughness, patience, and where she was with respect to where she would want to be at the end of the year. That, right there, that is why she killed it. No, she didn’t win anything or have crazy high scores. What she did was go out and compete without stress, anxiety, and fear. She wasn’t thinking about results, scores, or placing. She was focused on one skill at a time and one event at a time. She walked away, safe thankfully, but proud, satisfied with her effort, happy, and excited to take that next step.

From a dad’s perspective, I am incredibly proud of the person she has become and what she has learned from this process. It sucks to see your kids get hurt and have to sacrifice doing the things they love. However, when they grow from the experience and learn how to become better adults from it, well that gives me tons of fulfillment. The next 5 months will be exciting and interesting, and I am blessed to be able to experience the journey with her.

Great work Bella. Love you!

#dontcallitacomeback learningpatience becomingagreatadult proudpapa

0 notes

alexandrasanimationblog · 5 years ago

Text

Character Archetypes

Week 3 (09/10/19)

Based on Vogler’s 8 character archetypes, I’ve selected various animated characters that I believe fall into each one. There are various ways of thinking of archetypes but we will be focusing on Vogler’s interpretation of them.

The Hero

Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008)

Traits of a hero and how Aang falls into that role:

Identifiable

Aang is one of the youngest characters

Bald with arrow tattoos

Is the only Airbender

Wears bright yellow and orange monk attire through most of the series (apart from episodes that required him to wear a disguise)

The Most Active

The majority of the series follows Aang and his journey to master all four elements and defeat the Fire Lord (except for some filler episodes in which he is not the main focus or follow a different character)

Has Flaws as well as Strengths

Aang is Kind, Selfless, Wise and Powerful, however, he is also Childish, Impulsive, ruled by his emotions and somewhat Naive

Changes or Grows

Aang eventually learns to master the four elements and save the world while also growing as a person and realizing the importance of his role as the Avatar and to not be as Naive and Careless about things

Faces Death

There are many episodes in which Aang is kidnapped, imprisoned or almost killed in battle. Most notably, the last two episodes that focus on his fight against the Fire Lord

Self-Sacrifice

From the very first episode when he jeopardizes the safety of a Southern Watertribe Village, Aang sacrifices himself to save the people of the village. Throughout the show, he puts others before himself and many times his selflessness is used against him.

The Shadow

The Truth from Fullmetal Alchemist (2003-2004) and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009-2010)

Traits of a shadow and how The Truth falls into that role:

Represents the Energy of “The Dark Side”

The Truth actually falls into the category of an anti-villain. It is the divine being the guards the Gates of Truth and Alchemists are met with The Truth when they commit the ultimate sin: Human Transmutation. The Truth acts as a divine punishment and takes something precious from each Alchemist depending on their reason for attempting Human Transmutation. (e.g.: Izumi had her internal organs removed because she tried to bring her dead baby back to life) It makes good Alchemists feel guilty when they encounter individuals who committed the same sin for malicious reasons.

Needn’t be a physical being + Could be a personality trait within the hero

The Truth is a silhouette of light, surrounded by darkness but is said to represent the universe as a whole and the individual ‘truth’ of each person. Being able to enact divine punishment and to have more knowledge than humans, it is the closest thing to a ‘god’ in the series.

“Who am I? One name you might have for me is the world, or you might call me the universe, or perhaps God, or perhaps the Truth. I am All, and I am One. So, of course, this also means that I am you. I am the truth of your despair, the inescapable price of your boastfulness. And now I will bestow upon you the despair you deserve.”

-The Truth (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Threatens the hero and forces them to rise to the challenge

Our hero, Ed, wasn’t the only one affected since he and his brother attempted to bring back their dead mother together. Ed lost his leg when they realized that their attempt didn’t work and Al lost his entire body. Al nearly died as well, since his soul didn’t have a body so Ed sacrificed his arm to be able to save Al’s soul by binding it to a metal armor. Ed actually meets The Truth several times in the series and each time is determined to come back to get his and Al’s original bodies back (which he does by the end of the series).

The Shape-Shifter

M’gann M’orzz/ Megan Morse or Miss Martian from Young Justice (2010-)

Traits of a shape-shifter and how Megan falls into that role:

Changes appearance or mood

One of Megan’s abilities is to shape-shift and she uses that to her advantage during covert missions to mask her green skin. However, it should be noted that her usual appearance is also not her true form as it is friendlier to humans (just with green skin)

Can’t be trusted: brings doubt and suspense

While Megan is one of our heroes, her powers have strained her relationship with some characters. In a ‘lover’s game’ with Superboy, Megan shape-shifted into Black Canary and the moment was caught on camera. Canary was hurt and uncomfortable by the incident but forgave Megan.

In season 2, we find out that Megan and Superboy broke up because she attempted to alter his memory of him being mad at her after an argument which caused him to break things off and be suspicious of her.

Aware of ability

Megan is very aware of her abilities and uses them both in battle and for personal reasons.

Could be a love interest

She is the love interest of Superboy for the majority of the first season.

The Mentor

Kakashi Hatake from Naruto (2002-2007) and Naruto: Shippuden (2007-2017)

Traits of a mentor and how Kakashi falls into that role:

Often a teacher or trainer

He is the captain of our main protagonist’s team. He is in charge of the two deuteragonists as well. (Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke)

Represents our ‘better self’

In many situations, Kakashi acted as the voice of reason both in battle and in general. He guides Team 7 by telling him what’s right and what’s best and always looks after them.

Often a gift-giver (but gifts must be earned)

Kakashi helped teach Naruto how to create a new technique using his Rasengan by changing the form of his chakra to be adjusted to nature. He also taught him various other things and gave him various ‘gifts’ throughout the story.

A mentor might prove an example of what not to do

Kakashi, although good-natured, has his own flaws and attempts to prevent what happened between him and his friend Obito to his students, Naruto and Sasuke. Kakashi still feels regretful over his friend’s death and does all he can to help Naruto bring Sasuke back to their Village to be changed for good.

The Herald

Chris McLean from Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, Total Drama World Tour, Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, Total Drama All-Stars and Total Drama: Pahkitew Island (2007-2014)

Traits of a herald and how Chris falls into that role:

Call to Adventure/ Gives the hero motivation to begin the journey

Chris is the host of the reality show Total Drama and is both the one who brings (or brings back) the characters for each season and announces their challenges, rewards or punishments giving them a goal to achieve in each episode with the ultimate goal to win the prize money if they reach the very end.

May also issue a warning

Other than announcing the challenges, Chris issues the punishments and warns the players of the consequences they have to face if they lose (other than possible elimination from the game)

Heroes are often afraid of the challenges presented by the Herald

Most punishments in the series (for comedic effect) are either disgusting or dangerous so the heroes fear to lose. However, it’s safe to say that they also fear the very dangerous and/or disgusting challenges they must face to not receive punishment.

The Threshold Guardian

Karma Akabane from Assassination Classroom (2015-2016)

Traits of a threshold guardian and how Karma falls into that role:

Not usually the ‘main’ villain

While Karma is the protagonist’s (Nagisa) close friend, and ally, he is also his greatest competition and rival. He often challenges, gets in the way or makes fun of Nagisa, preventing him from reaching his full potential as an assassin.

Might be a guard/thug/mercenary

While class 3-E isn’t known for having the best reputation, Karma was originally expelled for his violent behavior. He is a ruthless assassin, extremely sadistic and physically strong. He is feared by his classmates at first.

Represents the ‘ordinary obstacles’ we face in our daily life

Karma is Nagisa’s friend and yet he is a bad influence and often a bully to him.

Tests the hero (makes them prove their worth)/ Can be overcome and turned into an ally

Karma is just an annoyance to Nagisa through most of the series but he eventually becomes a challenge he must overcome when they dueled to decide on whether they’ll try to kill or save their teacher. Karma was angry at Nagisa for suggesting to save their teacher and mocked and refused to listen to him. After a long battle, Nagisa chose to pin Karma down in a choke-hold. Karma had the opportunity to win the duel but gave up his chance when he saw how determined Nagisa was to have him listen to him. He eventually agrees to help save their teacher.

The Trickster

Mushu from Mulan (1998)

Traits of a trickster and how Mushu falls into that role:

Delights in breaking the rules

Mushu’s way of helping Mulan is by constantly suggesting ways for her to get better through shortcuts or by ‘acting like a brute’ therefore ‘manly’.

Comedy sidekick + popular with the audiences

Mushu is arguably the most popular character in the movie and acts as Mulan’s sidekick and protector

Controls the hero’s ego

Mushu’s purpose is to help Mulan and actually offers her great advice in times of need

Brings light relief to a darker story

Mulan’s story is about a woman at war but Mushu manages to make the situation lighter through his sassy one-liners willingness to support Mulan

Might be a ‘catalyst character’

While the initial reason why he decided to help Mulan was to restore his status as the family protector dragon, Mushu’s final purpose is to help Mulan survive, bring honor to her family and grow. He achieves this by the end of the movie and even gets rewarded.

The Ally

Alciel/ Shirō Ashiya from The Devil is a Part-Timer! (2013-)

Alciel is the loyal second-in-command general of Satan (Maou) and when the two get transported from their dimension to modern day Japan, he takes care of the housework and researches for ways that they can regain their powers while also trying to protect his lord from potential threats.

#research #archetypes #ba1a

0 notes

aspiestvmusings · 7 years ago

Text

SCORPION SEASON 4 TEASERS by EPISODE:

THIS POST WILL HAVE INFO ON ALL THE SCORPION S4 EPISODES.

INFO/SPOILERS TBA LATER...WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE.

The list is on-going (new items will be added when they become available):

Current status: info/teasers for eps 4x01 - 4x22 available..kinda

SPOILERS WILL BE UNDER THE CUT

GENERAL S4 SPOILER/TEASER FOR QUINTIS FANS:

The Quintis continues to be strong in the episodes. We get constant Toby/Happy scenes and development. More focus on some eps, a little less in others. But just like in past seasons, there is a continuous Quintis storyline going on (among the other continuous plots related to Quintis). Every ep has some sweet, cute, funny, or more serious/dramatic Quintis scene. And their teamwork...both case related, and personal, continues to be strong. They are written as an amazing Team working the cases & an amazing Team outside work... being a married couple/family. Look out for some scenes you might not have expected to get. And while you should not expect kiss scenes and such in every episode, no season will pass without some shippery scenes like that...or similar to that. ;)

And yes, we have not, don’t and will not get as many Quintis “domestic” (dates, hanging at home) scenes... as we do for the shows main ship, but that is logical, because:

tv shows always reserve more focus...for such things...for their main ship, the secondary ship gets less focus in that way. You just have to accept this about main/secondary ships on tv shows.

there have been no domestic scenes (except 2x16 end) to avoid building an extra set (Happy’s apartment)... this is why we’ve only seen the outside of her/their house...until now. (and no date scenes either cause the married dorks mostly go to Kovelsky’s, and they’ve avoided actually building that set...so far...too..)

but no, I would not change it! Even if I will not object..at all...to the domestic scenes, and everything else. But what we’ve gotten..is a lot.

Also..unlike the main ship, which has one genius/1 normal, our face ship consists of 2 geniuses so they’re both less traditional, also in what they consider date nights & romantic nights at home (re: installing security system)... and their first date, traditional dinner at a restaurant didn’t go so well... (1x20)

And since this show is a comic-book family show, then smooching is basically all that is shown on the show. So we don’t... usually... get to see their private moments. But who knows... lots has changed this season, so perhaps we’ll also be getting some domestic or date night or similar..scenes... ;)

SEE/READ THE SPOILERY TEASERS FOR PAST EPS - ONES THAT HAVE ALREADY AIRED (401 - 416) - HERE

teasers for episodes that have already been aired will be moved to the other post, and this one shall have the teasers for upcoming episodes only...

4x19 "Gator Done” – source1 – Teaser/Fun thought, not a spoiler (don’t read into this) #H2O #DNA

“See you later, alligator?” and, btw, the case...originally...isn’t about gators at all! But instead tiny insects! Oh...

Get ready for a lecture on DNA!

This episode focuses on H2O... a lot! On many ways...

Team Scorpion (including Ralph & Flo) have been very busy with building & inventing new things! I love it! Time to reveal those new “inventions”

The solution to the weeks case (in the swamp...where there are gators...according to the Doc...) is pretty clever... considering some other plotlines happening at that time #reversedsolution #whatsinthebox #whatsinthecanister

I kinda have a feeling that somehow in some way this episode case/story was influenced by 2017 hurricane season... #thisisjustmyguess

Go Team Patty, Ralph, Sly & Flo!

Half of the team heads over to “Florida”/gator land! #swamp

Have I said how much I love Walter? The thing he is trying to better himself at in this episode... and his cute awkward way of doing it ... so relatable!

The team is divided into “three teams” in this episode: 1 person in the garage, 3 “meeting the alligator” and 3 + 1 working on another project.

Guess who stays in the garage during this episode? #HappyStaysInTheGarage #waitingonthenewsfromDocBrown #parallelsto306

This episode is a follow-up on a storyline that has been kind of mentioned earlier this season... (think: Sly fighting for the Science Club in 404 & then the WhizKids in 414). An idea/mention from past episode has been turned into a storyline. #waterproject

Oh, and this episode tells us also a bit more about Patty. And I just love how the Patty & Sly friendship has grown over the season. #PattyIveNeverHadATardy #WeestAltadenia

#IfYouSeeAScreenshotOfThisPleaseDontReadTheseAsRealSpoilers #myreactions #notspoilers #dontoverthinkthings #Igeekoutovertheweirdestsmalldetails #QuintisFeels #HereWeGo #Iwannasaysomuch #IhopeyouwilllikeitasmuchasIdoalready

4x20 "Foul Balls” – source1 – Teaser/Fun thought, not a spoiler (don’t read into this) #LetsPlayBall

This episode is all about sports & playing ball. In other words: the greatest fear of the Team Genius

According to Walt this is the biggest threat they’ve faced...til now (I beg to differ, dear Walt & Team Scorpion writers... we’ve seen this before... and will again... soon... ;) )

What is going on between Happy & Florence? What’s THAT all about? And how is Ralph connected to all of this?

Happy is on a mission ...and she’s scary. No-one really knows what she’s talking about....

Happy also steals a limo & kidnaps a 6 feet 4 tall athletic guy! For the sole purpose to have help reaching for stuff on the high/upper shelves. ;) #asafellowshortpersonIgetit #HappyPattyFlorenceAllinTinyClub

Several blasts from the past? We just got a mention of the “interloper” in the ep 416. And there’s another mention of him in this episode. You never guess by whom!

Who is Inmate #98763, the future step-son (whose?)?

How do dandelions help save the day?

Guess whose is back? This episode features many many (loved & not loved) guest characters we’ve met before, but only one is significant to the episode main plot.

How did Cabe (kinda his doing) got the team into this weeks mess?

There is also a small Quintis side-plot..that I see as similar to 322 thing, and it provides for some great Quintis moments/talk. And can we just appreciate how far Happy’s come? (we again see how strong the ship is, and how much she’s evolved...and how she “learns this weeks lesson”... or... will there be a twist...coming soon...?)

The ep ends with the team having a meal together...as a family... at Not-Kovelsky’s

Just like in S1 with Drew & Ralph & baseball... the team again uses math science to play the ballgame!

#IfYouSeeAScreenshotOfThisPleaseDontReadTheseAsRealSpoilers #myreactions #notspoilers #dontoverthinkthings #Igeekoutovertheweirdestsmalldetails #MajorQuintisFeels #HereWeGo #LetsPlayBall

4x21 "Kenny, and the Jet” – source1 – Teaser/Fun thought, not a spoiler (don’t read into this) #PlanesandTeens

There is a (jet)plane in this episode.

There are no snakes on the plane. But... the team does make an unexpected discovery... regarding cargo on the plane...

Quintis & vehicles... all sort of vehicles! #motorcycles #planes #wheels #BeCarefulHappy #HubbyIsWorried

Toby is very worried about his wife & mother of their future kid(s), though it’s not her who gets hurt in this ep

I get a lot of s1 Pilot & Xmas ep “feels”... with some “parallels” (some things in this ep remind me of some scenes in those eps). I can find parallels/similarity to things in eps: 101, 121/122, 223/224, 305... etc

Quite a Ralph-ep! #TeenageRalph #RalphAndKenny

Walter uses/tries to use math & science to solve a personal/non-science dilemma he has...

#IfYouSeeAScreenshotOfThisPleaseDontReadTheseAsRealSpoilers #myreactions #notspoilers #dontoverthinkthings #Igeekoutovertheweirdestsmalldetails #KindaRalphEp #TeamEp #MajorQuintisFeels #HereWeGo

4x22 "A Lie in the Sand” – source1 – Teaser/Fun thought, not a spoiler (don’t read into this)

OMG! #thisepshouldhavetheothergreatstuff #seasonfinalePt2

Team Scorpion plays/does MINESWEEPER

The case takes us to the desert .. a sandy place...in Africa. #ThisEpisodeAndCaseDoesNotSayFinaleToMeAtAll #haboob

There are secrets keps that need to surface, but will they...before the episode ends? THAT is the question.

OK, yes, the Quintis family plan storyline does get a resolution..kinda ...in S4/this finale. #Icannotandwillnotspeakofthisjustyet #ButTheFinalAnswerComesAtTheVeryEnd #AfterTheDayAndTeamIsSavedWeGetToItFully

What do pterodactyls (a kind of ancient flying reptiles) have to do with any of this? Why are they even mentioned? You might find out, when you tune in for the ep.

This episode mentions several creatures... pterodactyls, centipedes, and scorpions... included

This is everything the Quintis fans & Happy/Quintis have wished for... forever... This is exactly what she/we wanted & how she/we wanted it. :) #accurateonbothaccounts

This is a very Team-centric episode. Kinda. (but Flo, Ralph, and Patty aren’t going to the desert... to name a few characters..so..)

Toby, the doc, in action!

Where have all the (medical) books gone? Tune in to find out what has happened to Toby’s “library” (book collection)

And why is Toby “testing” his own blood?

And what does Happy say that Toby responds with a simple "I know.” ? #IveKnownSinceEps307and404ThatStartedTheJourney

The Doc is worried about the Mechanic #NoMoreStuntsForawhilePlease

A little Happy/Walt talk... that IMO is missing something (that can still be added before the scene is filmed) that should be included. #parallelsto223

Sly sets it all off... with his actions, and more... and we learn a few things about what has been going on “off screen” for a while...

Everything is not what it seems...or sound like. Some stories are a bit “tweaked” ... sometimes... is the lesson of the hour.

Tell her... is still valid! And it applies to several characters/storylines, actually.

There are twists...major twists happening within the hour. #calmbeforethestorm (do I mean the sandstorm though?)

There is a small (few weeks) timejump within the episode (think s3 finale & the “3 weeks later” moment... this is done in same style)

The S4 finale...in some ways..also reminds me of S3 finale. And yes, among the many references to past eps... the island adventures are also mentioned.

#IfYouSeeAScreenshotOfThisPleaseDontReadTheseAsRealSpoilers #myreactions #notspoilers #dontoverthinkthings #Igeekoutovertheweirdestsmalldetails #MajorQuintisFeels #HereWeGo #FinallyTheFinale #SlyEpKinda #RevealingAnytingElseAoutTheCaseAndEpWouldBeSayingTooMuch #CannotTellWhoTheTeamIsDealingWith #Iwaswrongaboutsomething #Iwasrightaboutsomethings

YOU HAVE REACHED THE END OF SEASON 4

22 EPS IN TOTAL

PS. ? [question mark] - means that it is a guestimate, not certain date

IMPORTANT NOTICE: “Teasers” are not actual spoilers (and spoilers aren’t “accurate, detailed, word-to-word, singular truths/descriptions of a scene/plot”) The goal of spoiler teaser is to “mislead”. Teasers tease & Spoilers spoil (both are misleading & easy to misinterpret). But only because the teaser does not give the context or the details, and hence fans tend to interpret it whatever way they choose, and consider it “factual”, when teasers are usually about little things, not revealing any actual plot points.

Read THIS POST & THIS POST on spoilers & how to “read” spoilers. And do not overthink things! Teasers are little fun comments, not spoilers that you should take as direct descriptions of scenes.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: PLEASE READ THIS “DISCLAIMER”/POST WITH INFO ABOUT “HOW TO READ/UNDERSTAND TV TEASER SPOILERS POSTED ON THIS BLOG” POST IN HERE

Last update: March 28th, 2018

26 notes · View notes

elizabethrobertajones · 7 years ago

Text

Kinda fell off the grid with Crippling Arm Pain for a couple of days and watched Asylum, Scarecrow, Faith, Route 666 and the first half of Nightmare in a haze of "ow ow ow ow" and I don't have a whole lot to say about them and their individual moments that relates to season 12 that we haven't already said when anything relevant happened at the time IN season 12 while it was airing...

This whole section of season 1 though, makes a shift in Dean and Sam's dynamic which I think is where they drew most of the angst from for like, the rest of the show, and as usual I'm still obsessed with 12x22 and that very specific message of Sam leading and Dean stepping back and letting him do it. And very specifically where that came from and how as a reversal of season 1 in some ways back to the pilot, Sam gets walked back out of what he gets walked into over these episodes.

Sam perpetually comes back to the sort of "you have to let me grow up" thought like in season 5 & 8 ESPECIALLY off the top of my head before 12, although I think 3 was as well in response to knowing Dean would die, and tbh kicked off the entire arc from 3-5. So yeah, it's been a lot of Sam's lingering feeling about Dean and their dynamic and in 12x22 we see another gesture which I don't think (apart from the endless IMPLICIT trust of just working with Sam every friggin' NORMAL day of the week treating him like an equal when this ISN'T a plot thing) we've had aside from Swan Song, in terms of Big Symbolic Okay You Are An Adult Now Seriously How Are We Still Doing This Plot Oh Right Season 8 Needed Old Angst Warmed Up On All Fronts moments.

(Uh, sorry, I'll pick a fight with Carver about the laziness of season 8 character arcs on my own time because everyone else likes that season and generally it seems the show did well re: audience response to going back to basics and rehashing multiple seemingly resolved character arc things instead of going somewhere new :P Long post 99.9% not about that last thought AT ALL under the cut)

Anyway! In the first part of season 1, Sam is with Dean to find John. And he passes it off as a road trip to anyone who asks, and John is the thing keeping Sam from just meeting up with him and they charge off father & son guns blazing revenge mission - he's disappeared, and then sends them on another hunt when they catch up to where they lost him, also on a hunt he makes them take on his behalf.

For a few episodes Dean can fob Sam off about going to work cases while they look for John but he already kinda knows, then at the end of Phantom Traveller it's confirmed for them that John changed his answer phone to redirect to Dean, and the family business is now his. For Dean that's just like, welp, I'll shoulder THAT burden for my family too, no problem, already got a whole crushing weight there anyway hahaha.

For Sam that makes it a lot more complicated, that John doesn't WANT to be found and he's now effectively trapped with Dean working the job while trying to convince him John is more important, and Dean is convinced John’s orders are more important.

Bloody Mary doesn't have any real resistance to doing the case, and Sam's preoccupied with visions & Jess's death still, so I think his head is still spinning about what he's actually doing and the case doesn't help settle him AT ALL. In Skin, he's the one who makes them backtrack for a personal thing which turns into a case, and he learns the crappy lesson that he can't have normal friends and essentially sees that Dean feels like a friendless freak even if he pretends this is all cool and part of the job, but rather more focus on Sam as the rebellious child being dragged back into the awful family and his own sense of sacrificing normality for the job & revenge from his perspective (looking ahead to how this bubbles over). Hook Man, he offers token protests to doing the case while we start with him obsessing over finding John, and in Bugs it starts with Sam checking for cases in the newspaper while Dean hustles - we know from Bloody Mary Sam has Dean's money and he really is freeloading as a road trip not just in what he keeps telling everyone, but that Dean is allowing him to stay at a careful remove from feeling like he's actually just doing the job again.

Bugs also has all the good family stuff where we finally have Sam and Dean rehash the trauma of Sam leaving, as of course this is all open wounds to them because Sam left and they don't see each other again until the Pilot, so this is a needed and much-delayed conversation directly addressing for the first time not just on screen but ever, between them about Sam going to college and how HE felt in the family, like the outcast who wanted to be normal, and he gloms onto Matt who is having similar issues with his dad that baffles Dean about why Sam relates to it so much.

They're still going over early childhood > Sam leaving stuff in their dynamic and Sam really IS the kid brother on a road trip, and he is treated that way by the narrative in a lot of ways like this (also as in Sam sees this as a distraction and John and revenge is the real story/job/mission so hanging with Dean is as useful as road tripping :P I don’t think it’s just a cute excuse he uses over and over), probably up to Home, where it all starts getting more personal and real.

Sam gets to see Mary with his own eyes for the first time, and they have a bit more of a sense of being in it together and Sam being inducted into the family mythos, revisiting stuff that was very very abstract to him, and for a multitude of intents - writerly from the show and from Chuck and his "narrative symmetry" and the motives from the demons who conspired to kill Jess, that needed to happen to Sam to make it more real to him (in the same way Dean felt all along about Mary dying because that pain didn't go away just because it had been a long time. The point is NOT what Sam says that Dean doesn’t know how it feels - it’s that SAM didn’t but it’s fresh and awful and despite growing up surrounded by grief, fancy learning coping mechanisms from John? Hence, follows in his footsteps, revenge-obsessed).

Anyway! Asylum changes their dynamic now - Sam is beginning to be openly frustrated even before John sends them a case that Dean's dragging him around on the job when they should be getting revenge, and I think he's now still sort of road tripping until the end of the season because of his speech in Shadow about being a person again, and the flip only being demonstrated in 2x02 that he now is the one more dedicated to hunting and doing the job.

And during Asylum Sam vents to the psychiatrist under the guise of complaining about his road trip, presumably similar stuff but less murdery to what he yells at the end, and there's a whole thing with him being annoyed the kids think Dean is his boss. The fight continues in Scarecrow with Dean standing up for being a good soldier - I mean son - and Sam stomps off to find John. 2 episodes in a row he uses the road tripping excuse to vent about being stuck in close quarters with Dean bossing him around when he meets Meg and vents to her as well, but he has his realisation about family when Dean is in trouble and goes back.

After that he's immediately smacked with Faith, which is the first challenge one of them has of the other dying, and to which Sam has to save Dean at any close. His characterisation in this whole first chunk reminds me of season 10 Sam a great deal as I’ve recently rewatched it too (he has a "where's my brother!?" line in Skin which has like, the exact same delivery as 10x01's opening, among other little things which stood out to me) but this one episode in particular... Because he does save Dean, at a great cost, even having some very ominous-for-season 10 discussion about the evil black magic spell book and the desperation of Sue-Ann to bring Roy back, all of which made me laugh bitterly when I came through here on my post-season 10 rewatch, because it was pretty much word-for-word Sam's season 10 all in one episode, right down to the freakin pothole in Nebraska.

I think it's interesting Sam is the first one to make an ethically dubious/bad choice to save Dean (dubious since he didn't know it was bad, bad because he doubled down on it after - also looks much worse with at least 10 more years of canon rather than in the immediate moment it's just a bit edgy :P) while in season 2 Dean saves Sam selflessly and after a whole season of feeling brought back against the natural order (something I think is only exacerbating how he already felt since Faith and finding out what Sam did for him).

I think this is a way to tie Sam deeply into the family and make him prove he'd go so far for Dean after all his rebellion and anger at Dean, with Dean represented as the boss and the good son/older brother, that Sam isn't actually going to really stomp off any time soon. He takes several strong lessons in a row about family and reconciliation, starting with the mirror family in Bugs and like, every episode after that except in Asylum because it abuts Scarecrow and is an ongoing emotional arc one starts and the other resolves, again proving to Sam he was wrong and being with Dean and doing the job is more important than revenge. (For now - he still has this choice all season and makes a false analysis for easy conclusion to the story by the writers that Dean's all he has left and he doesn't know where John is, even though they only just talked to John for the first time to get solid proof he's alive, AND Sam thought he knew where he was for the first time as well and only didn't go there because of going back to help Dean).

That all shifts Sam's dynamic from a fairly equal partnership, where Sam was kind of along for the ride, but without being strictly tied into the family business because he was road tripping, he was basically like... a support hunter Dean took with him to not work alone, just, you know, the best hunter Dean knew for the job :P And that changes after the midseason to really make Sam ductaped firmly back into the family business. But once he's there, Dean goes from equal partner to older brother who is ALSO his boss in Sam's eyes (even though Dean's really just desperately following John's orders, and is the one fighting in general for the family business to continue, in an a-political way about Sam's role in it, just that Sam sees him deciding things and feels like it is Dean ordering him around... They have issues about it, basically :P), and once Sam reconciles with THAT he does ethically sketchy stuff to save Dean and doesn't regret it, which is more of a blood pact thing to reaffirm commitment and loyalty.

In Route 666 Dean calls the shots, and Sam plays a trust game with the church thing so they both get in a power play of sorts and Sam teases Dean the entire time about Cassie...

(But this is all Buckleming characterisation, which I tend to find completely backwards, and thanks to watching with my mum, I went from 1x13 to 10x03, and remembered I still want to write a tooth-grinding post about their characterisation because something about it really sets my teeth on edge specifically about Sam and it just occurred to me watching 10x03 that that was how they wrote him in 1x13 and it was vaguely justified there because specific scenario but like... is that just their impression of who Sam is? Anyway in 10x03 there's lines he could have said seriously or whatever but there's like, a Buckleming Face Sam has/Jared uses and it makes me massively intrigued to know wtf tone suggestions they put in their scripts because almost without fail Sam only acts like this in their episodes and the grimace Jared uses delivering their Sam dialogue, even relatively inoffensive lines, is like at least a full 30% of why their episodes make my teeth grind because wtf he never does it in any other episodes with any other writers, it's like he has a separate personality to play Buckleming!Sam?? This is all massively beside the point except to say on realising that I decided that I just cba to analyse that one for personal arc stuff :P)

And in Nightmare, Sam's back to a sort of subordinate role in the power dynamic because he has to prove to Dean his visions are real (I think Dean totally believes him he just really really badly doesn't WANT them to be real but it means Sam spends the first 10 minutes needlessly arguing his case wanting to be believed) and then at the end Dean coddles him with a protective you've got me you'll be fine speech, which again puts himself in the role of protector to Sam.

I feel like from here on out their dynamic is hashed out a bit more firmly with all these specific things having happened in relation to all the main arcs - Sam's powers, the family business, John, Sam n Dean, saving each other from death, the whole lot, which as I said up the top, OBVIOUSLY day-to-day they still act very equally and usually, unless plot reasons, have 100% equal trust on cases and work side by side very well. But long-term, I can see a LOT of character stuff settling on Sam that becomes his pattern of thinking (e.g. the stuff in Asylum & Scarecrow especially betraying how he feels as the younger brother being bossed around) that in the first handful of episodes at least up to Home wasn't an issue or a part of their dynamic and they were going for a brothers on a roadtrip vibe without a lot of these Dire Obligations or Life And Death Pacts and so on.

I think Sam hasn't really been able to get out of this because season 5 was supposed to resolve it, but season 6 and 7 have something constantly wrong with him until Cas fixes him for good, so Dean spends a great deal of Gamble era having to deal with each new thing that happens to Sam, frequently acting with power of attorney to fix him and get his soul back etc for his own good. Sam has a blissful free space in his life from 7x17-7x23 and got to work equally and fairly and without any massive interpersonal drama or whatever with Dean (though for most of season 7 after they reconcile say from 7x09 onwards they have one of their best dynamics with the least interpersonal drama once they let go the Amy fight), and then Carver takes over and gives Sam 1 more year or so of recovery off-screen only to smash it all up with a sledgehammer and regress him all the way back to how bad he was in 8x23... Which we’ve been recovering from for all the characters ever since.

Anywho I said I wasn't going to get all obsessed about that, but the point is that watching season 1 and knowing where Sam is going to be coming from in season 12 about his own personal growth and how HE views it, I can see some interesting stuff because a lot of season 1 is Sam VOICING how he feels about their dynamic, job and lives, because it's the exposition season to get us involved in their lives and there's a lot of telling and explaining hot they feel about this that and the other. Knowing how Sam says he didn't want to lead and so on, his original issues with leadership was that he felt he had a mind of his own and Dean didn't and he didn't WANT to be bossed around by Dean, and to do his own thing. And season 1 subsumes him into the family business, and it leaves me thinking about the ever-relevant 10x05, and how the line about John in "The Road So Far" was that he took away their free will.

I sort of feel like watching season 1, you can see Sam giving ground over and over again in these fights. I know there's more to come, but the important flip next is in 1x16 where it stops being Sam swinging against Dean's position in the family, and goes back to Sam vs John, where it stays for the rest of the season and of course ending in 2x01 with John leaving them on a fight and 2x02 Sam having given himself over to the job and not really getting a break from then on to even dream of something normal until he hit a dog...

So that's all totally different territory in season 1 because there wasn’t much/any Sam vs John stuff in season 12 that I can think of (idk if sharp-eyed Sam fans caught a narrative about it I didn’t see making its way onto my dash), so I think I've watched the parts now which exposition most clearly how Sam ends up essentially following Dean into the family business and in the main arc stuff seeing himself as still being the kid brother being bossed around and made to do it somewhat against his will to have a normal life even if as I say, in general unless this point is being made, Dean rarely if ever acts like this towards Sam and Sam seems to have all the freedom he likes to call the shots in their dynamic because Dean will totally trust him with all the normal parts of their job without being precious about taking his lil brother into fights...

Obviously there’s a hell of a lot more intervening trauma and I think Carver era does a LOT to Sam to beat him down from a relatively balanced, happy-with-himself-and-the-universe place so to actually trace WHY Sam felt like he did in 12x22 you’d start at 8x01 and begin counting THERE, but looking at season 12 through a season 1 lens is really interesting to me.

39 notes · View notes