#but these are the only 2 instances that i actually like. give credit to

[bugmin]

i remember one night when i was like 13 i n i thought somebody was shaking me awake which scared me in its own right coz i have never been woken up in the night and something good happened next but then i realized that my entire bedframe was shaking and like with a noticable force. nothing else was moving and my cat was also nowhere in the room to explain it. when i tell u i was soooooooooo mfing scared i wanted to scream for my mommy but was genuinely too baffled by what was happenign to even speak. i just sat up and waited to die but then it just stopped. there wasnt an earthquake and nothing like that ever happened again so idk i guess i kinda do believe in ghosts. since u asked

[werewolf-transgenderism]

humanities TA here — can you say more about creating a culture of trust and organically catching AI use in the classroom??

yeah! so I really fucking hate programs like turnitin or whatever other plagiarism or AI detectors are out there because 1) they would imply that I don’t trust my students, 2) they’re not at all accurate at actually detecting plagiarism/AI [turnitin literally says on the website that it’s not a plagiarism detector, it just finds similarities] and 3) if people are going to plagiarize and I’m checking for that with turnitin or something it’s easy to plagiarize in a way that flies under that radar.

instead of using something like that, I design my assignments to have frequent low-stakes progress markers (in-class drafting, frequent peer review, revision plans, extra credit for visiting the writing center, conferences with me, etc). this prevents the kind of plagiarism/AI usage that comes from just sitting down and copying published work/plugging something into chatgpt right before it’s due, because the writing process is built into the course in a way where you cannot just write (or plagiarize) the whole thing the night before or whatever and still get a good grade in the class.

I also offer no-questions-asked extensions and opportunities for revision, so students won’t feel like they have plagiarism as their only option to submit something on time. in addition, the frequent feedback opportunities from both me and from their classmates or writing center tutors helps students feel more confident in their writing and helps to work out the issues students run into as they’re writing, so there’s less incentive to plagiarize out of worry that they’re not good writers, because they know they have a bunch of avenues where they can ask for help on areas they’re having trouble with. the in-class work, drafts, conferences, and revision plans also help me get a solid sense of my students’ writing styles, so it’s pretty easy to tell when something’s not in their own words — when I’m seeing at least a paragraph or two from every student every week, I can get a good sense for who they are as writers. also, my first assignment is a personal narrative, to foreground that I want to actually know who my students are as people and how they think about their writing rather than seeing them as just as bodies in a classroom. through all of this they (hopefully!) get a sense that I/their peers want to hear what they have to say about their topics

I also have a policy where if I don’t see changes from rough draft to final draft or if I spot plagiarism or something AI-generated, my first step is to send it back to students for revision before giving them a grade, so if I do have an instance of plagiarism or AI usage, I give students a second chance before taking it up to the office of academic integrity (fwiw I have literally not ever had to take something to academic integrity, because 9 times out of 10 any plagiarism I’ve noted is accidental from incorrect citation, and the other 10% would much rather go back and redo the assignment than get a zero and potentially get a mark on their transcript for plagiarism)

[pilfappreciator]

ATTENTION TROLLS FANDOM!!

This is very important. Mostly to me but maybe you guys have been wondering this too idk but anyways:

How does troll reproduction work exactly?

Cuz I'm genuinely curious. I dont think anyone on the series production team has said anything and so far I've seen absolutely no one touch on this subject but as someone who's always had an interest in the habits of creatures (both fictional or otherwise), I kinda sorta maybe NEED to know this otherwise I'll never be able to sleep peacefully again

Full disclaimer that I'm specifically talking about the whole egg situation, I am NOT ASKING HOW THEY GET IT ON IF I WANTED THAT ANSWER I'D GO TO DEVIANT ART OR TWITTER OR WHATEVER LAWLESS PLATFORM GOD STEERS CLEAR OF. This discussion shall remain STRICTLY educational, thank you very much

But anywho. Let's dive in

So trolls come from eggs. This is basic knowledge. First instance of this phenomenon (as far as I know, I've only seen the movies) is from World Tour.

Egg pops out of Guy Diamond's hair, egg hatches and BOOM, (literal) baby. Now I understand that this whole sequence was probably just a gag and a way for DreamWorks to implement another (merchandisable) addition to the cast HOWEVER this sequence also raises a few questions

First off, as far as I know Guy Diamond has no partner (again: I haven't watched any of the spinoff shows). Either that or maybe the other troll was a sorta one-night-stand/no-longer-in-his-life kinda situation? Which is great either way cuz its shown he obviously cares for his son and we at Tumblr appreciate a loving single father no matter the circumstances, but if my former theory is correct than that would imply that trolls are capable of reproducing asexually. Like onions.

Now if that hypothesis is, as they call it, "cap" then that would mean that some sorta hanky panky has to go down before an egg comes into question. And if that's the case, does this mean that male trolls are traditionally the ones who carry the eggs?

But that can't be right, can it? Afterall, World Tour gave us yet ANOTHER egg scene later on in the movie

In Cooper's flashback, we clearly see Queen Essence being the one carrying the eggs meanwhile King Quincy is eggless. Now, as far as i see it, this could be explained either one of four ways:

1) Quincy was the one who actually produced the eggs and Essence is merely holding them for her husband (since her hair seems more fitting to be a makeshift nest compared to Quincy's)

2) Female trolls are the ones who produce the eggs. Guy Diamond is just a trans icon

3) Troll reproduction differs from genre to genre

4) There is a... *sighs* a/b/o type of dynamic among troll kind where certain trolls are capable of giving birth/siring children depending on a secondary gender

In regards to theory #3, this could also explain why Guy Diamond seems to reproduce and hatch an egg in such a short amount of time (like 5 seconds I'm pretty sure) as opposed to Queen Essence/King Quincy who's eggs presumably went a while longer before actually hatching.

Actually, speaking off eggs, are trolls the only species in their world that reproduce that way?

Because now that Band Together has officially been released, we now know for certain that it's possible for different species to crossbreed. Biggest example? Resident DILF Bruce and his giant muppet wife

(Credit to @captainunderkrupp )

When I saw these two... I swear...

And these two already have a shit ton of kids okay so like... either Brandi was the one giving birth or trollsona Daveed Digs was over here pumpin out eggs, which I mean-

DO YOU SEE HOW BIG THESE THINGS ARE COMPARED TO BRANCH AND POPPY?? Believe me I am PRAYING that Bruce gave himself some serious maternity/paternity leave because my guy is honestly a trooper

But yeah any thoughts? :))

[emeryhiro]

Part 2: My Thoughts on The Book Of Carol Episode 1 - Panel

-Spoiler-free edition-

This continues Part 1 of my thoughts [link here], specifically focusing on the panel.

There seems to be some confusion that's also upsetting some people, so I feel like, as someone who was there, it's my responsibility to clarify things and share some new things. I'll also be including my transcript from different relevant portions of the panel that don't spoil the episode itself, and just to make it clear, this transcript is word for word with what was said and has not been paraphrased by me; the only portions I removed were the pauses and instances where a speaker stammered.

Incorporating Carol into the Story

Zabel has been in conversation with Melissa (about Carol) for as long as he's been in conversation with Norman (about Daryl), which is from before writing & filming even started for season 1, discussing what they each had to say about their characters in detail. Once they began to approching season 2, Zabel then began to have more detailed conversation with Melissa about what she wanted for Carol going into the future, which we could see had already started to be from episode 1 in a huge way, with almost every single Carol scene having intention and deep meaning behind it.

D. Ross: What was it like starting to think about how to incorporate Carol into the story? Did you talk about season 2? How was that discussion? S.M. Gimple: I mean, Zabel drove those discussions. D. Zabel: I think it came out in our early conversations to make sure that the first episode which you just saw really planted Carol back into the world. You know, that was a very conscious choice because we spent 6 episodes of the show focused exclusively on Daryl, and knowing that we're bringing Melissa into this show, we wanted to make sure that we started the story off in a very strong way. To sort of re-establish the character after a couple of years, we hadn't seen her. And also to make her drive to find Daryl very compelling, motivated, and active. That came out of our early, like our first conversations about how to do it.

Collaboration between Zabel, Norman, and Melissa

I said this before, but I wanna say it again that Melissa's voice was really obvious to me in the way episode 1 was done, and Norman has spoken many times about how he's worked really hard on Daryl's story in the spin-off. The below exerpt also shows that the collaboration was actually really there between Zabel, Norman, and Melissa, and that it had great influence on the direction of the show. Even Gimpel gives the credit to Zabel, Norman, and Melissa and greatly compliments their collaboration.

D. Ross: What were your discussions? Because obviously, Melissa and Scott have worked for a long time together, and obviously, Melissa and Norman forever, but this is, you know, your first time connecting David and Melissa, so what were those conversations like in terms of finding the character and getting the input and sharing new ideas? D. Zabel: Well, yeah I'm the new guy, and so as a result, I had to be hazed. It was great because I had a whole year with Norman working on the show, and part of that was my own learning process about the characters, the character specifically of Daryl, about all the show and the aesthetic of The Walking Dead universe, and so during that time I was also having conversations with Melissa and getting ready, so there was really a lot of leadup to when we brought the character back into the show and a lot of conversations that we had after those initial ones were really Melissa and me talking about how to advance the character of Carol and how to not let the character stay stagnant, same as the kind of conversations that Norman and I had in the beginning, how to continue to move the character forward and move the story forward and expand on the universe in general, and not let the characters and the world stagnate and say in the same place, 'cause it's easy to sort of keep going through the same things over and over again. So a lot of it was talking to Melissa and understanding how she saw the character, thought the character was and the things that she felt were interesting to play moving into the future. S.M. Gimple: And that is a huge thing with both Norman and Melissa. You know they have that executive producer credit, but that's the real deal, they provided a lot towards the narrative of their characters, towards the trajectory of their characters. This is them expressing themselves. And to watch this collaboration has been amazing.

Melissa's thoughts on coming back to the show and bringing her ideas

Throughout the entire panel, Melissa seemed incredibly happy. She constantly made jokes that made the whole room and panel laugh, and she spoke really proudly of the work she had done. She also seemed very comfortable collaborating with Zabel, Greg, and Norman and had nothing but beautiful things to say about them, and Manish (Ash).

I've attached a video below [link here] of the following transcript, which I recorded from my perspective. It's at a wider view and slightly longer than the ones previously uploaded by others, and it captures a lovely and respectful exchange between Zabel and Melissa.

D. Ross: What's it like from your perspective, Melissa? I mean you have so much ownership of this character for so long, so tell me about, like, in terms of coming to this new show and bring your ideas. Melissa MB: Oh, well, Scott, David, and I talked about some of the things that were really important to me, as far as what I thought Carol might want to dive into. Things you know… 12 years of The Walking Dead, there was a lot unsaid. I made a rhyme. But anyway, we picked some of the core issues, and we kind of built on that. D. Zabel: I think one of the things I'll add is building on that, things that were maybe not fully developed or resolved in the original series for the character and also and also making sure that Carol was coming because she loves and misses her friend and is worried about him, but also has a narrative of her own, that's about the things that she's dealing with herself. So, that was really important for us was that Carol needed to have a dual narrative. It wasn't all about just finding Daryl, although that's crucial,... Melissa MB: obviously. D. Zabel: but it was how is that somehow working through her own experience and what things that are still plaguing her.

Carol and Daryl as the core of every storyline in season 2

It's clear that they have made Carol and Daryl's story the centre of the whole season and that they will be heavily involved in all of the major storylines and resolutions. Using episode 1 as an example, it was already clear that even though Ash has a really interesting backstory, which they delved into in a very thoughtful and intentional way, it was still there to serve Carol's story and ultimately, Caryls story in later episodes. The same, I believe, can be said about the different storylines in France and how they're all ultimately going to come together to serve Carol and Daryl's story and development.

D. Zabel: Every episode is big, but the way that it resolves ultimately all these different stories and these different characters by the time you get to the end, I think that's the single thing I'd say was the greatest accomplishment of Season 2 is sort of the accumulation of story and character, how all the stories are resolved specifically through Daryl and Carol, of course.

Slight spoiler warning for what's below the line. This spoiler has already been shared and talked about for several days at this point.

Reunion episode.

Whether or not the reunion will be in episode 2 is up to personal interpretation. Below is the link* to another video I took from my perspective, where you can see everyone's expressions. I encourage everyone to come to their own conclusions on whether or not they think it's episode 2.

I personally lean towards it being true, firstly because Norman and Melissa's tone/behaviour seem genuine, while Zabel and Gimple seem to be more nervous and overcompensating with their counter comments (However, Norman and Melissa are so talented as actors that they could easily fool us 😅). Secondly, why tease/mislead the audience in that way? There's no logical reason, and they know that, ultimately, it would just leave us (the people who believe them) a little disappointed after building our excitement and expectations up.

This was everyone's reaction to Gimple saying, "You know what? Let's say it doesn't happen in episode 2. Let's just get into an argument now."

*Note: Tumblr only allows me to upload one video directly to the post, so unfortunately, the second video had to be a link. I know that the link may not work in some countries like Canada, so if that's you and you'd like to see the video, let me know, and I'll send it to you directly.

My final thoughts.

I know that there are a lot of concerns about:

How Carol and Daryl's joint story will fit into the season 2 narrative and whether or not their story will be handled with care

How will Carol be incorporated into the story, and will her character be treated justly (not overlooked/overshadowed)

Is Melissa being treated/billed fairly, and is she happy with the product that is Daryl Dixon: The Book of Carol

Based on all the examples above and my thoughts in the part 1 post, I'm confident that the writers, showrunner, and, of course, the leading cast, Norman and Melissa, are handling both Carol and Daryl's joint story and their individual stories really well and with a lot of care.

Regarding Melissa's treatment and happiness, none of us knows what's happening behind the scenes, but from what I could see during the panel, everyone on that stage was treating each other as equals; no one was undermining anyone, and they were all clearly there to support each other. As always, there was also that special connection between Norman and Melissa, who were having really sweet moments just between them, smiling and whispering to each other and making each other laugh, which really warmed my heart. In terms of the audience's reaction, we all clapped, cheered, and reacted the loudest for Melissa and Norman, but especially Melissa. Everyone was so excited to see her, and I even noticed some people wanting to give her a standing ovation and were halfway standing when she came on stage but were motioned to sit back down by someone who looked like event staff or security.

And lastly, regarding the billing order, I feel that it's wonderful how some of Melissa's fans are really speaking up and standing up for her on how she should be equally billed with Norman, just like Danai/Andrew and Lauren/Jeffrey, which I wholeheartedly agree with; however, I think (and bare with me here) that we should be patient, especially for the moment. The order of billing within the credits does seem strange to me as well; however, the season is still three and a half months away (110 days) from its actual release, and these are things that could have been done in error and can still be amended for the official release. If it's not, then it's also important to acknowledge that whatever the agreement is that was made between AMC and Melissa/her agents, Melissa is a very intelligent and capable of making rational choices that are in her best interest, and as long as she's happy with it, then we should be respectful of those choices because, ultimately, we are not part of that contract and therefore can't really know why certain choices were made unless we're told by one of the parties who hold the contract.

I'm not saying we shouldn't speak up if we believe she or anyone else is being treated/compensated unfairly; however, we should still keep celebrating with her for her return as Carol to the series, her incredible performance in season 2, and all the hard work she has put in, alongside the rest of the cast and crew, to give us this new season.

~~~~~

There will probably be more parts to this as more information comes out, but for now, a huge thank you to those who read this ♡♡♡ I'd love to know your opinions if you agree or disagree with anything I've said. One of my favourite things about this community is how passionate everyone is, which allows us to have some really deep and meaningful conversations about the show and characters we love.

If anyone has any questions about the episode or panel that I haven't addressed yet or would like further information on anything I have shared, please feel free to leave me an ask, anonymous or not, and I'd be more than happy to answer and discuss it. However, I will refrain from giving away any spoilers that haven't already been released.

[showtoonzfan]

So to sum up, here’s what Viv did to Ken regarding the document:

1. Saw their fanart of Cherri Bomb, asked if she could use their pose as a reference for Cherri’s character sheet, but instead traced the pose and despite saying she’d give credit, never did.

2. Excuses the fact that her idea for Sir Pentious’s third eye being an emote to him was a copy of Ken’s character they refer to as “TF”. Ken mentions it made them uncomfortable and suggested that his hat be an AI or something Pen created himself, but obliviously in the final product of the pilot, it was never explained what Sir Pen’s hat was or why he had it.

3. MOST importantly, NEVER credited Ken for their involvement with writing the Hazbin pilot. Viv goes to Ken multiple instances, admitting she isn’t the best at writing and only comedy, and needs help. She shares some ideas with Ken, and here are the following ideas and scenes that Ken came up with THEMSELVES that appeared in the final product of the pilot:

The joke scene where everyone laughs at Charlie, but Angel dust is brought up with her proudly saying he’s making great progress, only to cut to him on the news helping Cherri out and everything being screwed up for her, saying “oh shit” or “oh fuck”.

Angel being the only patron of the hotel, and only being there for a free room, with Vaggie and Charlie scolding him that he would change and him not caring

LITERALLY WAS THE ONE WHO CAME UP WITH ALASTOR APPEARING IN THE PILOT AND WANTING TO INVEST IN THE HOTEL BECAUSE HE’S BORED.

Alastor and Husk knowing each other PERSONALLY and Alastor being the one who hired Husk to help

The joke scene where someone brings up that they’re trying to help sinners not encourage this stuff and Angel immediately says “shut up we’re keeping this”-

The joke scene of Angel telling Al he can do the deed and Al immediately going “haha! No!”.

Came up with the idea that Al’s introduction on who he is should be through Angel asking Vaggie and came up with the “wait you don’t know him?” - “eh not big on politics”- dialogue.

Alastor’s line of “If I wanted to hurt anyone here, I would have done so already”-

And yet, despite being responsible for these jokes and plot threads, when Erin had confronted Viv about being credited, Viv had all this bs to say:

At first she rambles on about how she didn’t credit because apparently the stuff Ken came up with was early draft shit? Despite the fact that everything I listed above was in the actual pilot? And then didn’t want to credit them because she wanted to make a “promotional” post despite Spindlehorse not even being created yet and Ken had every right to ask for credit since it’s true that people DO assume that Viv does all this stuff by herself. And apparently telling everyone what members did what is too much for Viv, because Ken’s getting paid anyway so that makes it okay! Then Viv being Viv thinks Ken is attacking her and pulls the poor pity me card simply because she couldn’t understand what Ken was asking her I guess, but I suggest y’all read the entire doc because I’m scratching the surface, I just bring this up because the writing was the most important part.

4. Blacklisted and talked horrible of Ken behind their back. Ken was hesitant and late into signing the document, but eventually Viv had started to speak negatively of Ken to other members, calling them an abuser ect:

Again, read the document for full context, but this is just fucking awful, especially since at the same time when this was happening, Viv had been talking to Ken at the time and being all nice. It’s just amazing how awful Viv sounds, how she thinks Ken is out to get her and her show, all for wanting credit and wanting to make sure they didn’t sign their rights and characters away. Someone who had literally helped Viv on the pilot and was there for her in a vulnerable time of need, got treated like dirt, and it is NOT okay.

Please spread the document link:

[loz-the-noob]

I find Marie’s body language in Return of the Mammalians really interesting because I can use it as Momrie propaganda BECAUSE it’s a really great physical representation of a side of her personality we don’t get to see that much in the game.

There are only a couple of instances this can be applied to in Return of the Mammalians but because I’m bored and desperate, I can stretch it to three, with a fourth scene where I think it could be improved.

Hold on to your tentacles! You’re probably going to think I’m insane after this.

I can’t believe you actually want to read this.

So, the first example I have AND the one that inspired me to write this mess is the scene during the construction of the uh, the machine thingy (does it have a name?) where Callie leaps at Marie to hug her in celebration of completing their task. And I MEAN leaps. We can’t see the whole of their bodies but judging by the suddenly acquired height difference, Callie is completely off the ground at this point. Given that the scene ends in a freeze frame, we don’t see the full force or speed of the hug-tackle either, but what’s clear is that Marie is prepared for it. Just to give myself a bit of focus because I have NO idea where I’m going with this; if the Marie-is-a-Horrible-Cousin Truthers whose splatoon knowledge ends like 6 years ago are correct, wouldn’t Marie have gone ‘Ew. UGH. CAL *hair flip* why are you TOUCHING me?’ or something? Or at the very least be completely unprepared to catch her? And that’s the thing! She doesn’t just hug her back - she CATCHES her. As shown by this here low quality image vv

Marie’s arms come up under Callie’s in a scooping motion. She is fully aware of her cousin’s physical recklessness and is completely prepared to catch her and keep her safe. I mean, the fact that Callie trusts her enough to just… fling herself at her is telling enough.

Alrighty. Next point GO!!

After Cuttlefish (I don’t like calling him that. Let’s call him Craig) after Craig gets Sucked Dry by That Bear, the Squid Sisters seem… mildly concerned, which is probably to keep the upbeat and comedic feel of the game while sacrificing a little emotional realism (coming back to this later!), but after they see he’s fully conscious and capable of floating by himself for some reason (?) everything’s Suddenly Fine Again. Except the world being in immediate danger, obviously. But here’s the thing (did I say that already? Well, there are 2 things)! For the remaining portion of the game this side of the end credits, Marie is just… holding Craig. As afore mentioned though, he can float. She doesn’t NEED to be holding him but she just is. Whether that’s because she’s happy to see her grandfather safe or whether something inside her soggy little brain saw something smaller than herself and told her to protect it is a mystery, but either way, that is some quality… body language… there…(again, lost my point. Weirdly, whenever I think about someone being held by Marie, I seem to lose focus. Huh.)

Anyway, here’s a picture of Marie holding Craig. Look at how she’s trying to engage him in something he could easily be left out of. Does this image not bring you joy???

Moving on briefly from all the Marie-talk, let’s talk a little Callie. I’m honestly thrilled about what they did with Callie’s body language in this game. She’s full of energy and quite hands-on, which is exactly how I expected her to be, even though this is pretty much the first time we see her physically interact with other characters in the entire Splatoon series. It just feels right.

It completely makes sense that Callie would spend the majority (why did that just autocorrect to Major Titty. Why.) of the pre-boss cutscene literally hanging off Marie’s arm, and the awesome thing about that is that Marie doesn’t pull away or look irritated by her cousin’s constant GRIPPING and SHAKING of her arm at all. I don’t know about you, but if I had someone attached to me like that while I was trying to think of a master plan, I’d be pretty annoyed. Unless, of course, it was Callie. I’m getting off track again here. My point WAS that Marie is so, so chill. I hate it when people try to portray her as angsty because she just… isn’t.

What all this body language shows is that Marie is a supportive, nurturing well of patience and ANYONE THAT SAYS OTHERWISE WILL BE FED TO THE BEASTS.

Which is WHY I think that during the scene where Craig is slightly rehydrated by the Captain’s tear, it would make way much more sense to have Marie reach out a hand to touch the Captain’s shoulder, or at least do something other than freezing there with an expression reminiscent of a damp, shocked cat. Now that Nintendo seems to have got their act together a little in terms of cutscenes, it would be nice to have more examples of characters (Marie. Marie is characters) using their body language to visually convey the finer points of their personality which may have been overlooked by some people *cough cough* Marie Trut-💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

Struggling to find the point of this ‘argument’? So am I. What even is this? I’m not reading it back before I post it, that’s for sure. Gnight.

[canmom]

Animation Night 169: Sex. 2.

So. Storytime.

Two years ago, we had a joke. "We should totally show some hentai on Animation Night 69." we said. Having said that, we were honour-bound to totally commit to the bit. Teaming up with @mogsk, I wrote a massive post on sexuality in animation and the history of 'hentai', from the hentai seiyoku discussed in 20th-century sexology journals to the modern subcultural kaleidoscope.

It is, genuinely, one of my favourite posts I ever wrote in this project. It's definitely not perfect - the sections on BL and the lolicon boom are especially weak, but still! There's no way I'm beating that.

Mogs, meanwhile assembled a perfectly pitched playlist of animation dealing with the theme of sexuality, from classic oldschool BL like Kaze to Ki no Uta to charming little comedies like Oruchuban Ebichu, and a scattering of actual h-anime like Weather Report Girl. For my part, I led with the genuinely classic film Kanashimi no Belladonna (Belladonna of Sadness).

So somehow - somehow! - we managed to make the idea of getting together with your online friends to watch a bunch of anime about sex just... plain fun and uplifting, to the point that @footsteps-on-the-dance-floor will tell me years later how much she enjoyed it. Not to mention, we got a pretty good cross-section of the different dimensions of sexuality in animation as well!

I didn't even get banned on Twitch.

This week, the counter has drawn the sex number. So can we do it again? Well, my friends, we're gonna try~ Tonight, @mogsk and canmom present: the long-awaited sequel to sex. Sex, 2.

This time we're narrowing our focus a bit. One of the distinctive elements of eromanga, by the analysis of Kimi Rito in The History of Hentai Manga, is how particular images get encoded as signs that can be reused by other mangaka, and these signs can become the seed for particular subgenres. So, our selection tonight is in part designed to give a brief cross-section of some of these visual tropes.

So let me introduce you to our program. CWs: sex, obviously; also a couple of these films (Cleopatra, Parade Parade) cw for rape. Here's the programme, read on for brief descriptions of each item and a lil cultural context~!

Cleopatra (1970) - oldschool Tezuka weirdness

Boku no Sexual Harassment (1994-5) - 90s salaryman BL

Interspecies Reviewers (2020) - monstergirl sex comedy, and an instance of the trend of recent cable TV h-anime

Agent Aika (1997-9) - panty shots to the most ludicrous degree

Comical Psychosomatic Medicine (2015) - ONA comedy framed as fetish education

Parade Parade (1996) - futanari + yuri

Golden Boy (1995-6) - 90s sakuga and a classic comedy

Queen's Blade (2009) - kyonyuu

Colorful (1999) - panty-centric comedy skits

after that: if you still have energy, I might take requests~

[n.b. a lot of these are TV series - we will only really be getting a 1-2 episode sample of each one, for runtime's sake.]

Cleopatra (クレオパトラ), 1970

Last time we led with certified classic, genuinely moving and good as hell film Belladonna of Sadness. This was part of a last gambit by the struggling Mushi Productions, the studio of Osamu Tezuka, credited with inventing TV anime back in the day with Astro Boy. Long before there would be such a thing as an h-anime subculture, Tezuka experimented with creating erotic animated films based on history and mythology.

Belladonna is the best remembered of the three, and with good reason. Tezuka was largely not involved by this point. The others, though... are some plain fucking weird movies, I'll tell you that much. So tonight we'll be watching Cleopatra (1970). I may have shown you the trailer before - this is the Caesar trampoline movie. That is only the beginning.

I recently finished reading Osamu Tezuka's manga Ayako, written in 1972-1973 - not long after this movie, actually, during Tezuka's gekiga phase. I'm sure it's common knowledge by now, but Tezuka was one horny old guy! Ayako has all manner of skulduggery: incest, murder, gangster stuff, more murder, etc., but the core story is about a girl who is imprisoned in an underground cell for 20-some years by the machinations of her family. As she grows up, she ends up in an incestuous relationship with her protective brother - and once she finally escapes, she is highly agoraphobic but also throws herself at nearly every man she meets.

It's very much a story of the sins of the past echoing down into the future, shot though with post-war history and gangster movies, but its central fixation is the figure of Ayako herself: the soft cloistered object of obsession and attraction. Whether they want to protect Ayako, seek absolution from her, fuck her, or exploit her.

But it's also in places a really wacky manga, with a lot of very comical contrivances or hyper-cartoonish panels with extreme squash and stretch. It's a completely different way of displaying action.

I think this gives me a sense of the sort of wavelength Tezuka was on when he draws a scene where Cleopatra is tied down by stakes and a bunch of guys line up to rape her while she shouts at them defiantly. It's all very theatrical, a huge contrast to the much more internally oriented Belladonna. Just a plain strange movie, but it's one I've been fascinated to watch for ages.

Whatever we make of Cleopatra, we'll jump into the program that Mogs drew up! Once again she's come through magnificently.

My Sexual Harassment (僕のセクシャルハラスメント), 1995-6

Our next act is some old school yaoi! One day I'll get to do that big effortpost on the history of BL, but not this day. In any case, Boku no Sexual Harassment is an OVA from the mid 90s about a young man called Junya Mochizuki trying to fuck his way up the company ranks for the sake of himself and his partner Kazunori Honma. In particular, he has an affair with his boss, Mr. Honma, running across the whole OVA.

This is perhaps best known for an infamous scene involving corn. It's here as a window into this period of BL - not quite as high-mindedly aesthetic as its 80s predecessors, and with its erotic focus being on like... 90s salarymen, which is quite a specific thing!

Interspecies Reviewers (異種族レビュアーズ), 2020

Next, a series which has the dubious distinction of proving too steamy for Crunchyroll. Interspecies Reviewers enters the general milieu of modern videogame-inflected fantasy anime, a comedy dancing along the line of whether it's too overtly porn to air on TV. The story tells of a group of fantasy characters who are the clients of monstergirl sex workers, hoping to encounter as many different species as possible. This is a frame device for a series of episodes focused around what it would be like to have sex with various kinds of monstergirl.

This is an example of a recent trend in TV anime, namely very overtly sexual cable TV anime such as High School DxD, which have in a way come to fill the gap left by OVAs. This is a niche that also includes the likes of Goblin Slayer and Redo of Healer. In contrast to those series' "big grimdark plot with a side of rape" approach, Reviewers is light-hearted fantasy sex comedy mixed with (if you live in China) a certain amount of actual porn, which fansubbers have kindly spliced back in to the censored release for us.

Agent Aika (AIKa), 1997-9

The panty shot is one of the more popular visual tropes in eromanga, to the point that Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga dedicates a whole two page spread to the history of the trope. (Surprisingly, I can't find any more substantial account in Kimi Rito's History of Hentai Manga).

You'll see it often enough in anime, overtly or subtly, and certainly in the early works of Katsuhiko Nishijima, who debuted in 1986 with Project A-ko, a classic Kanada-inflected OVA that still bears signs of its hentai roots. But there is nothing that takes the panty shot to the same extreme as Agent Aika (1997). The degree to which the camera in this action anime contrives to show panties at a machinegun rate... it crosses over into a level where it feels less like outright fetish material and more like experimental art.

This is a series that is only coherent through the erotic focus. And yet, it's not generally categorised as porn. Nobody actually fucks. Lines are very arbitrary...

Comical Psychosomatic Medicine (アニメで分かる心療内科), 2015

This ONA adapts a gag manga series themed around the idea of an education series on fetishes, paraphilias, and so on - not so different in concept from Peepoodoo and the Super Fuck Friends, from the sound of it! The ONA is produced by Shin-Ei Animation, a venerable studio known for beloved characters like Doraemon; it's a bunch of five minute bite-sized chunks which I plan to sprinkle in between the other stuff we watch as a palate cleanser.

Parade Parade (パレードパレード), 1996

Having warmed you up sufficiently, this is the point in the evening where we pull out the futa porn.

Parade Parade is an OVA by the studio Pink Pineapple, one of the giants of the 90s erotic OVA scene - I wrote about them a bit last time. It's a relatively "tasteful" example of the futanari (二形) trope, literally 'two forms', referring to basically a character with a mostly cis woman-typical body except for a penis (generally in addition to a vulva), which she will typically use in penetrative sex. This is typically represented as either the result of magic, an intersex condition, or just a fantasy world where it's not unusual.

Depending on your subcultural corner, this might be further distinguished from other niche variants of dickgirl (e.g. a futa must have both sets of genitals).

In anime and manga, the futa trope apparently traces back to the introduction of American trans porn magazines to Japan, inspiring mangaka such as Kitamimaki Kei to start drawing futanari characters. Futanari manga first spread through dōjinshi in the 80s, and became popular in eromanga in the 90s, before circling back to the West. So actually yeah I guess this one is on us trans girls! I always assumed it was like, an independent invention. The more you know...

Here we have succesful idol Kaori, who's secretly intersex - and only her girlfriend Yuko knows. She's very careful to let nobody know, for the sake of her career, but a rival lesbian idol is about to find out...

Golden Boy (1995-6)

Now here is a true classic.

Golden Boy is a comedy series about a wanderer named Kintaro, who dropped out of uni to travel around Japan getting into sexual escapades. Each episode, he runs into someone and hopefully falls for them while coming across as an idiot pervert, but gradually reveals that he's actually a decent and resourceful guy - and yet, having found love, there will always be a reason he must move on. A setup to hang all sorts of plots, carried by some honestly unreasonably impressive animation from the realist school, most notably Mitsuo Iso. It's just... very very well done.

The above clip did the rounds on here a while ago (I think maybe the dubbed version), and we will indeed be watching episode 4 to put that in context.

Queen's Blade (2009)

So this is a studio ARMS OVA - the guys who did stuff like Mezzo Forte with Yasuomi Umetsu - a fantasy story about a warrior tournament. But for our purposes it's standing in for the 巨乳 kyonyuu subgenre - meaning 'huge boobs'. So if you wanna do the meme in Japanese, that's the word you need.

This has a rather specific history in eromanga, recounted by Kimi Rito in The History of Hentai Manga. Per Rito, the popularity of the term dates back specifically to 1989, where it was used to promote porn star Kimiko Matsuzaka, as well as Western gravure porn magazines. Gradually displacing other terms like 'D-cup', the onomatopoeic ボイン boin and portmanteau デカパイdekapai, kyonyuu soon became cemented as the term for a type of character design. It grew in popularity in the space opened up by the bishōjo genre established by the lolicon boom.

So under the pen of mangaka like Kei Keitamimaki (him again!), designs with massively exaggerated boobs became very popular, defining a subgenre of their own. Artists would sometimes express anxiety over whether they would be 'allowed' to draw such extreme designs, but it became widespread in seinen magazines. Gradually, these genre boundaries dissolved and boob size started to become a symbol of characterisation.

Queen's Blade is a fairly longrunning series but as far as I understand, it's broadly a silly ecchi anime about women with very large boobs fighting to become queen. It's not the most comical example of this trope necessarily (nothing can really beat High School of the Dead's supersonic bullet dodging tits) but it's pretty up there.

Colorful, 1999

Colorful is a comedy series of brief (~7 minute) skits about boys trying to see panties and suffering many consequences. As a late 90s anime it's got some interesting stylstic Y2K stuff - look at that rotoscope clip! - as well as strong animation from people like Norio Matsumoto of Naruto fame.

So!

Mogs's encylopedic knowledge of weird obscure horny anime once again coming to the rescue: I'm fascinated to see where this night will take us. And whether I'll still have a Twitch account tomorrow.

I realise this is a much later start than we'd like with such a big programme, but I hope you will come join me for some weirdly educational sexy animation! Dip in and out or stay for the whole programme, the choice is yours - see you at twitch.tv/canmom, going live now, programme starts in about 30 minutes at 22:30 UK time!

Animation Night 169 is gonna be a little postponed - we'll be going at 7pm UK time on Tuesday (29 August) at twitch.tv/canmom! Hope to see you there! I will try to write a little more interesting info as we lead up to that~

[nikethestatue]

I've been thinking about this and it's interesting that SJM opted to give Elain and solely Elain her first sexual experience that was based on desire, willingness and sexual pleasure. Considering how she is usually viewed as naive, innocent, inexperienced, riddled with complexes, etc. only Elain had sex because she...wanted to. It wasn't based on desperation/rebellion/force like it is for so many other females, including the sisters--it was based on want. And it resulted in pleasure (which even Nesta noticed).

Thinking about everyone else--mostly none of their first experiences were positive.

Mor--slept with Cassian out of her free will, but also out of desperation--hoping to avoid marriage to Eris

Nesta--was almost raped by Tomas Mandray

Feyre--slept with Isaac Hale, but out of desperation for human contact and escape from her drab circumstances

Gwyn--raped

Rhys's Mother--desperation, saved by Rhys's father

Azriel's mother--likely raped

Of everyone that we are aware of and their first time, curiously it's only Elain and Amren who actually chose how and who to sleep with for their first time.

I think that just as everyone around her who underestimates her, readers sometimes don't see how Elain tends to go after what she wants. Except for 2 instances--and that's her turning into a Fae and being rejected by Graysen--Elain is steadfastly in charge of her life.

She found the most eligible bachelor in the land, and got engaged to him. She chose when and how she wanted to lose her virginity. No matter what everyone said to her, and expect of her, she is not budging on accepting a bond with a man she doesn't want. She does give permission to the man that she wants and expects him to follow through. She is self-sacrificing within reason, and acts thoughtfully. She'll save her sister, she'll save Cassian. she'll save Briar and Azriel, but she'll do it with the least amount of drama and bloodshed.

She is actually more in charge of her life and her sexuality than most of the people around her, and it's not something that she ever gets credit for.

[isfjmel-phleg]

Triumph (Will MacIntyre) Reading List

The forgotten founder of the Justice League has a more fascinating story than he's given credit for, so I've compiled a reading list for anyone interested in this tragedy.

Return: Electromagnetically-powered superhero Triumph (Will MacIntyre) escapes a rift in time only to find out that the Justice League he founded doesn't remember him and he has lost ten years of his life.

Justice League Task Force #15

Justice League International Vol. 2 #67

Justice League America #92

Justice League Task Force #16

Justice League International Vol. 2 #68

Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #1, 0 (this series is numbered backward)

Justice League Task Force: Trying to Fit In: Relegated to a junior branch of the JLA and mentored by a hero who used to be his peer, Will endeavors to make up for lost time and rebuild his life.

Justice League Task Force #0, #17-26

Solo: Unsatisfied with working with the Task Force, Will sets out on his own, leading a new team, and is forced to address a past from which he has been trying to distance himself.

Showcase '94 #12 ("Lost Time")

Triumph #1-4

[As a supplement to the solo, I recommend reading writer Christopher Priest's essay on the character, which includes notes for the solo, as well as the full script of the series, which offers more insight into what he had in mind for the story and character that may not have come across effectively in the finished product. For instance, there are detailed character profiles with important background info in the script for Triumph #4 that didn't make it into the actual issue.]

Justice League Task Force: Failure: Will's pride and insubordination build tension between him and the leader of the Task Force.

The Ray 1994 #14

Justice League Task Force #27-29

Deal with the Devil: During the "Underworld Unleashed" event, the demon Neron approaches Will at a particularly low point with an offer to give him back his lost years in exchange for his soul.

Justice League Task Force #30-37

Alternate Timelines and Later Appearances: The above stories form a complete arc, but Triumph has also featured in other stories, although these were very seldom written consistently with his original portrayal.

The Ray 1994 #25 (In a timeline in which Ray Terrill continues to work for Vandal Savage and turns evil, Ray is frenemies with a now middle-aged Triumph.)

JLA #28-31 (An utterly humiliated and somehow depowered Will gains access to a malevolent genie, turns evil, and attacks the JLA to regain his place among them but is ultimately defeated. This is the character's official ending, but arguably he is not written in character, references are made to incidents that have not been previously featured, and important details of his background, like his broken back--which would be affected by a loss of his powers--and his deal with Neron and subsequent lost soul, are never mentioned.)

The Brave and the Bold 2007 #18 (Triumph appears as a vision conjured by Raven to talk down a dangerous young man who apparently is a son he never knew about, from a relationship that has never before been mentioned and doesn't seem likely to have happened and, even if it had, probably couldn't have happened long enough ago to produce offspring of this guy's age.)

Trinity #23, 25, 28, 31-32, 39, 41 (Alternate universe in which there is a character called Triumph. The resemblance ends there.)

[immortal-elements]

My thoughts on the new story patch, and I'm sorry, I'm gonna be a hater... or, a heitor, if you will.

That was it? All that buildup, all that tension? And we got that?

Like, taking this piece by piece, for the story.

We hear that Isgarren still doesn't want to devote his oh so precious time to preventing a kryptis genocide, nothing new there. We then get told "go do events until the bar is full", which is... not the story pacing I'm really looking for.

2. Peitha gets ambushed by some loyalist kryptis, que 5 minutes of taking down a swarm of enemies with no further plot development or meaning, just throw 100 guys at the commander who is doing their best lawnmower impersonation. After which, we get the oh so juicy detail that the kryptis siding with Eparch are actually fearful!

3. Then, finally, the assault! After another "throw 50 guys at the commander" event, you get a "throw 100 guys at the commander, but this time the commander has to stand still for a while in the middle of it", followed by "the commander fights 100 things while climbing up a tower", which was honestly kinda fun, I can't knock that.

4. the final bossfight. I wasn't even using my unkillable build, I opted instead for my condi weaver build, which is very fragile and punishing of mistakes. Eparch was a snooze. I felt in danger only once because I decided "hey, what happens if I stand right in the middle of his big attack", and I saw my 16k HP pool dwindle to 3k. I've said this before and I'll say it again, good final bosses are hard, good bosses punish you for your mistakes. Chak Gerent is a great boss because it can very easily down you if you aren't paying attention. Eparch was such a snooze that I was able to out-sustain his damage using... signet of restoration and written in stone. But hey, as far as story stuff that happens in that fight, Isgarren shows up once you have Eparch nearly dead just so he can land the final blow and say that he helped end the war.

5. The final instance. I'm a-ok with an instance where the credits roll, I am a-ok with an achievement for watching all the credits roll. If you want to put NPC's for me to talk to into the instance, cool! Don't make me sit around while each of the kryptis that you introduced 2 story instances ago (if even) slowly and laboriously says their piece, especially if I can't go and do other things while they do! I'd love to pay attention to the story, don't get me wrong. Fleshy emotion demons that I have no connection to are not what interests me.

Boring, dull. I really really wanted to like SotO, and I had high hopes after the initial launch, but Nayos was meh, and everything that happened in Nayos was meh. 3/10. The initial SotO release wasn't bad! We got 2 very unique maps and a new hub world, which is pretty neat! That released in august of last year. It has been 10 months and we've been given 1 map piecemeal. We got 3 short story installments of 3 instances each that let us get into a lil tiny bit more of the map. So, what can Anet do to improve for the next expansion? Just give us the whole damn expansion all at once! Don't rush it, give us memorable characters, maybe lower the stakes a little bit and gradually ramp up to world ending stakes again! Releasing a map piece by piece worked well for Icebrood Saga, Bjora Marches and Drizzlewood coast are some of the best maps in the game IMO. Bjora gives me utter chills every time I am in there, as though the ambient creepiness is chilling me to my very bone, fitting with the constant blizzard. Drizzlewood coast feels like a warzone, constantly taking and giving land, resources, and mounting attacks! I love that, and the fact that it very thematically fits into the story too! I love it! Instead, we got emotion eating demons from another dimension that it is now somehow our problem to fix? All because an all powerful wizard wouldn't get his 4 thumbs out of his ass? "Wowee, here's a character I'm sure you all remember and are happy to have back! She even has her original voice actor!" and then... not writing her as the same character? Nigh immediate character assassination? C'mon.

As for what SotO got right, a lot of the non-story stuff that they introduced is honestly really good! I love the wizard's vault, (while it has wronged me personally by inadvertently jacking up the prices of mystic coins by about 700%), I love that it is like a battlepass with none of the toxic marketing strategies as a regular battlepass. I love the relic system! It took a while to grow on me, and I feel like they need to do a lot with the system to not make it "This is the BiS relic for power builds, this is the BiS relic for condi builds, and this is the BiS relic for healers", it's a very good and very customizable system! Weaponmaster training and advanced weapon proficiencies are great! While I initially bitched and moaned about the inevitable results of weaponmaster training, (catalyst has caused every weapon it touches to get nerfed into the dirt, I didn't want them touching my precious weaver sword), it's again grown on me! The customization that it brings to the table is honestly really damn good! I like being able to be a hammer wielding tempest! I like being able to use other specialization's weapons on other professions. Necromancer has become so much more fun now that I can wield pistol and torch across the board.

The SotO expansion brought a lot of what I think gw2 needed to the game. The SotO story, on the other hand...

[sulky-valkyrie]

Hawke twins- cryptophasia / twin speak (a language only they understand). Perhaps a bittersweet memory of the survivor

Happy Friday, Tea! I actually restarted this 2 or 3 times until And Idea hit me like a truck, and I'm kinda playing around with what cryptophasia could mean in a world with magic, but I hope you enjoy it anyway <3 for @dadrunkwriting

Carver woke up from the worst dreams he’d had since the archdemon died, and with a terrible headache.  He sat up with a groan and pressed the heel of his hand against his temple.

“You look like you’ve been carousing with hurlocks all night,” Stroud said.

He snorted and grabbed his waterskin to splash a bit on his face.  “Give me some credit, at least I never kissed an ogre, drunk or sober.”  He rolled his shoulders to try to loosen the tension in his neck.  “You have any strange dreams last night?”

“Nothing outside of the ordinary.”  Stroud shugged.  “The song is louder, but that’s to be expected here.  You have been in the Deep Roads before, haven’t you?”

He started to snarl something back, but held his tongue.  The Commander had told him under no uncertain terms to play nice with the Orlesians, but Maker, it was hard some days.  “I was down here before and after the Thaw.  This dream wasn’t just the usual chittering, more like going through the Joining again.  It almost felt like -”  he bit his lip.  No, that would be impossible.  He’d hadn’t been pulled into Bethy’s dreams since he left Lothering over two years ago.

Stroud raised an eyebrow but didn’t press him.  “The Roads under the Vinmarks are particularly unsettling.  Hopefully you will be too tired to dream again tonight.”

Carver nodded and pushed himself to his feet.  “Couldn’t agree more.  Onwards then?”

He wasn’t too tired.  Or maybe he was so tired he couldn’t fight it.  Their father had taught them both about shielding their dreams from spirits the week after Bethany manifested, and while it had worked, it wasn’t the way he would have preferred.  Instead of closing her mind off to everyone, she’d hid in Carver’s dreams at night, or dragged him into hers.  They’d spent every night for nearly ten years fighting each other’s nightmares together.  Hers had always been more fearsome, with many tentacled creatures dragging her into a lake that was far too dark and viscous to be water, or suits of armor grabbing her by her hair and carrying her to impossibly tall towers with no doors.  His dreams had been about his teeth falling out, or getting chased by a bear through town without any trousers on. 

After Ostagar, though, he’d tried to do it properly.  Tried to shut her out so she never saw the memories of the battle that haunted his dreams.  As far as he knew, it had worked, or maybe she’d stopped trying.  Or maybe she was dead.

The dreams were even worse that night, full of red crystals and claustrophobia and talking rocks, all playing out like a shadow puppet play across torrents of blood and fire and darkspawn screams.  People were screaming Bethany’s name, and he heard Bethany screaming his.

“Carver!”  His eyes snapped open.  It was Stroud, shaking his shoulder.  “Pack of hurlocks near, we need to move.”

Normally, that would’ve sent him into a panicked flurry of activity, but this time, all he felt was relief.  It wasn’t Bethy, this is all my imagination, or maybe some new kind of Awakened.  He stuffed his gear into his pack as Stroud stamped out the fire, then they headed out, following the scent of death and the buzzing in the back of their heads.

Using torches or lanterns this close to darkspawn was never wise or safe, so their only light was the faint glow of their amulets.  The Commander gave them to all the recruits now; it was still a vial of darkspawn blood, of course, but now, they were enchanted to give off just enough light that a careful human could travel through the Deep Roads without tripping on everything.  It had been a hard-learned lesson from too many instances of running into walls or falling into holes, and Carver’s nose still throbbed with phantom pain when he thought about the number of times Morrigan had sneeringly reset it. 

The recruits were told it was 'just' a vial of darkspawn blood, but senior Wardens knew it was a little something more.  The loss of so many at Ostagar, then later at Vigil’s Keep, had made the Commander insistent on the development of contingency plans.

The discordant melody tugged at his heart as they crept onward, urging him to go faster, begging him to find them, find something, hurry, please, hurry.  It filled him with dread even as he obeyed, marching faster, then, when that wasn't enough, breaking into a jog.  Someone was down there, and they needed him.

"What are you doing?" Stroud hissed as he sped up a third time.

"Need to keep moving, need to find them," he muttered, before breaking into a reckless sprint.

Stroud tackled him from behind and rolled him over when he was still stunned. "The song has you," he said as he slapped him.  "Fight it!"

Carver caught his hand before a second blow connected.  "It's not the song!"  It was, but not in the same way.  "It's - can't you feel it?"

"You're bewitched, Hawke!"

Struggling would only waste time.  Time he didn't have.  He took a shuddering slow breath to calm himself down.  "I’m - shit.  You’re right,” he lied.  “We need to deal with whatever is causing it.  Some kind of emissary, or a demon."  It was neither; he was certain of that.  But Stroud would never believe him now.  Play along, or we'll never make it in time.

Stroud frowned, obviously wanting to argue, but knowing he couldn't.  The whole point of this trip had been to investigate the reports of strange activity under the Vinmarks, and an emissary changing the song definitely qualified.  "You will stay behind me," he ordered severely.  "And if you run again, I'll cut you down."

Hurry, please, hurry.  It wasn't a voice, so much as a feeling, a bright descant threading through the jangling darkspawn melody that thrummed in his mind.

Carver closed his eyes and nodded as much to Stroud as the plea.  I'm trying.

Stroud got up warily, and reached for his weapon as Carver stood.  When he didn't immediately bolt down the tunnel, he sighed in relief and let go of his sword hilt.  "Which way?"

They kept going.  Stroud didn't argue with Carver’s directions, and, in fact, seemed to anticipate them.  Whatever or whoever wanted Carver to come this way, it was very near the hurlocks they’d been hunting anyway.  The desperate pleading music faded away, but the darkspawn presence never wavered, only strengthened as they neared.

Carver didn't mention that it was gone.  Maybe I did imagine it.  Hopefully whatever - whoever - they found down there would be explanation enough.  Another Awakened, perhaps?  

When they heard the sound of fighting, it was Stroud who took off running first.  Bloody hypocrite.  Carver pulled out his sword and charged after him around the corner, only to almost skewer him as he clattered to a halt.  They were at an excavated section of the Deep Roads, one with real torches and magma troughs.  “Anders?” Stroud muttered incredulously.

What?  Can’t be - Karl said he died.    He peered over Stroud’s shoulder, blinking against the glare of torchlight.

A blond man kicked a screaming genlock off the ledge then spun his staff in a low circle, setting a glyph at his feet then dancing backwards as lightning surged up through it and arced into the two remaining.  “Be with you in a tic, little busy!”  

Maker preserve us, how?  That really was Anders Thekla; Carver would recognize his battle magic anywhere, even when it wasn’t being used on him directly.

As the last darkspawn disintegrated to ash, Anders turned around.  “Stroud.”  He frowned in recognition.  “Carver?”

What the void did I do?  Before he could ask, Anders ducked back into the side tunnel that must’ve been where he’d come from.

“Carver?!”  Someone shouted.  Someone who sounded like his damn brother.  

Stroud glanced back and arched an eyebrow.  “What did you do?”

He swallowed.  “Been a Warden for two years,” he mumbled.  

“That’s not an answer.”

“Yeah, it is.”  He put up his sword and walked out.  “Garrett?  What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Long story,” Anders sighed as he re-emerged, followed by a dwarf and Garrett.    

His brother stepped into the flickering light and, for once, he wasn’t smiling.  Even when he’d been in screaming matches with Mother, he’d smiled.  Even when they’d burned Father’s ashes, he’d smiled.  “Carver, I tried.”  He knelt on the ground and gently put the bundle down that he was carrying.  “I really fucking tried.  Should’ve been me.  Always should’ve been me.”  

The bundle was their sister.  Everything clicked into place.  He rushed over as he ripped his gauntlets off, then pulled her to his chest.  Her brow was sweaty, and the veins in her throat were black.  Blight sickness.  She coughed weakly as her eyes fluttered open.  “Carver?  Am I dead?”

“Not yet,” he whispered as he pulled her close.  “What are you doing down here?  What happened?” 

"Expedition," she wheezed, breath whistling like her chest was full of holes.  "Money to get back the estate."  She shuddered in his arms.  "One less mouth for her to feed, now, right?"

"No, no, no, this can't -" he stopped and glared at Garrett.  "Why did you bring her?"

Garrett's jaw clenched and he swallowed.  "I didn't fucking -"

"You did!  You were supposed to keep her safe!" Carver shouted.  "Now look at her. Look at what you did!"

Bethy’s finger pressed against his lips. "You sound like Mother.  I'm a grown woman, Carver.  This was my choice.  My screw up.  Not his."  She coughed again.  "Not yours either."

Maker, how did she always know what was the best and worst thing to say?  His fury vanished, leaving him hollow and aching.  "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Don't," she said.  "I - I didn't think it would work, after so long, but I called, and you're here.  I can at least say goodbye."  She offered a watery smile then fainted.He shook his head as he ripped the vial from his neck.  The Commander had told them all that this wasn't an option to be taken lightly, but dammit, this was Bethany.  "Stroud, get some of that blood, and the goblet.  We're doing the Joining."

[halorocks1214]

okay so i just steamrolled thru detective pikachu returns over the past 2 days because i was sick and had nothing else better to do and right after finishing it i went into the tags and WOWIE the negative reception is very large!! i do understand and even agree with some of it but i just felt the need to get my own thoughts down (again. sick with nothing better to do) so take a peek under readmore for very typical elongated halo ramblings about his fave video game series

for the record i never played the first game (only watched a few clips of it on youtube even) but i did go see the movie in theaters. just figured i'd mention this ahead of time so my favoritism is known and to prevent myself from coming off as a perfectly unbiased reviewer

BEWARE THE SPOILERS BTW

(post-editing note: it be long under here, you have been warned)

to start off YEAG this game is not worth 50 bucks! the story's pacing is all over the place and is very basic, the graphics are not particularly well refined, the characters' expressions do not fluctuate as much as they should (professor gordon in particular ;-; i felt so bad for him), and the voice acting outside of merloch and detective pikachu himself are kinda phoned in! it felt like an early 2000s 4kids dub for real. even the gameplay aspects themselves were rather meh in presentation; the button hitboxes were annoying to deal with and as cool as i thought the "main" mechanics were they were incredibly clunky and the tension they tried to build up in the "solving the case" climaxes was just Not It. there was absolutely no reason for the loading/pauses to take that long

(the pokemon gimmicks were okay tho. i would die for growlithe)

however, this isn't a problem specific to this game. while i enjoyed scarlet it was definitely not 60 bucks material (and when i went back to it for the teal mask i even went "good lord, did it always run this badly?"). i gotta give credit to detective pikachu, at least this game ran properly for the most part and never crashed on me lmao

while that doesn't negate the criticisms i previously mentioned i simply wanted to say that this is going to be a problem for as long as pokemon keeps making money. this isn't me finger-wagging at anyone in particular (i certainly have no room to talk, i did say i liked scarlet), i just wanted to say: yeah, pokemon has been A Mess

"but halo!" you cry. "you talked like the negative reception was overblown! what gives the giant negative paragraph??"

because much like scarlet, i still really enjoyed this game sdfjnsdk. how can i say that with confidence, though, when i largely agree that there were many, many issues to be had with its performance?

the word of the day: expectations

and perhaps this is where my bias comes into it. whenever i play a spinoff game (like snap or pokepark for instance), i don't really go into it for mindblowing gameplay and stories, i do it for the same reason this series has kept me enraptured for over a decade of my life:

the pokemon themselves!!

there are SO MANY little things that the regular games don't go into, and while i have my own headcanons and OCs i can play off of, it is so much fun to see actual canon material acknowledge certain things you've only ever theorized about!!

the whimsicott were so fun to watch float around, the article asking where a furret's tail began and ended made me laugh out loud, the fact that they went hard into the "slowpoke tails are eaten as food" thing, and the "let's not get into that right now" jokes about venonat hunting other pokemon and dusknoir eating souls LIKE. i LOVE when pokemon goes into its more "serious" aspects. i know main series games do it too occasionally but outside of offhanded mentions or pokedex entries, do they go this hard into them? if they do and i'm just stupid pls tell me about it i'll eat that shit up

being reminded of less-talked-about pokemon is always a plus and how can you not pop off when you see one of your faves included in the story? (INTELEON AND WOOPER I'LL KICK THEIR ASSES 4 U) it's simply fun immersing yourself into the world of pokemon and getting a glimpse of what it would be like to have pokemon walking down the street and how that affects everyday life! maybe the story is basic, but it served its purpose and i had fun going along with it!

perhaps it's just my mental illness talking, but walking around and seeing all the pokemon and THEN doing the quiz girl's quizzes was actually kinda nice! even if the puzzles weren't that hard, i can't lie and say i didn't pump my fist when i guessed where the mystery was going like with cramorant swallowing the jewel or how the passimian statues needed to hold different berries. overall, i just enjoyed being reminded of how much i know and what i love about this series

also, the ways they incorporated the movie were pretty baller. i liked how they didn't just do a repeat of the mewtwo plot from the movie and let me tell you, even tho i called it early on, i liked that my suspicions about the aurora drop being deoxys were confirmed!! (i suppose it's not that hard to guess bcs what other pokemon comes from space, but i just recently finished playing omega ruby again and i normally don't think about deoxys a lot so LET ME HAVE THIS)

plus "i heard they made a movie about the R case" MADE ME SCREAM. i thought they were just going to ignore the movie and do their own thing but then they DID THAT. incredible. you can call my expectations low (which is valid) but holy fuck

so the TLDR for those who want this: if you want a sweet but cliche game exploring the world of pokemon with a lot of funny moments + worldbuilding, then this game is perfect for you. if you want a game with a groundbreaking story with graphics to boot, then yeah, you're not gonna find it here. i've even seen people say their own nostalgia of the original spinoff wasn't enough to get them to enjoy this game, so take my words with a grain of salt

i would say just watch compilations of the game on youtube, but not every youtuber is gonna go fully exploring the game for all of its little details, so if you care about that kind of stuff, buying the game is your best bet. also if you don't care about that kind of stuff then you should just ignore the game altogether etc etc anYwAY

as for a TLDR for the TLDR: new pokemon snap is goated and i would say a more enjoyable experience than this game esp if you didn't like it so PLEASE buy it the game's only 30 bucks and you can throw treats at pokemon PLEASE it has so many sidequests and interactions you can partake in PLEASE i prommy i won't bite PLEASE stick your fingers in my enclosure PLEASE PLEASE PLE

[daydadahlias]

i want to hear the glee thoughts and feelings

ok ur so gonna regret u asked this

So, I watched glee way back when in middle school (before I knew what a lot of the words they said meant <3 I remember watching the first time episode and having no fucking idea what was going on <3) and I really loved it!! who doesn't love a jam yknow?? and, obviously, i attached myself to Blaine very quickly because his voice is just my favorite and he puts out nothing but bangers. this last week, I've gone back and rewatched seasons 2 and 3 (because that was peak Blaine Anderson) and - because I'm the world's most needlessly passionate person - I'm getting a little fucking worked up about it !!

It will never fail to bewilder me how much of a literal SHIT HEAD Kurt Hummel was. Like, I know that we as audience members are supposed to align ourselves with him because he's an OG character and he's a queer kid just trying to be himself or whatever, but frankly it doesn't pay that much to "just be yourself" when yourself SUCKS! kurt fucking SUCKS dude. He is so whiney and so selfish and blatantly rude. and he is a shitty ass boyfriend to Blaine!

this is also rooted in my absolute maniacal frustration that Blaine never gets to be a character of his own. His character is always (throughout the entirety of the show) written within the context of Kurt and Klaine. It's very much Ken and Barbie-esque with the whole "Ken only has a good day when Barbie looks at him." Like we never get to know anything about Blaine's personal life except for ?? a throwaway line that his dad (who we never meet) is homophobic? and also that he was gay bashed when he was 15. And, just to bitch about that, it will never not piss me off to insane lengths that Kurt wanted to go to prom so he made Blaine go with him even though Blaine was blatantly triggered by it. The literal dialogue exchange in the episode (S2E20) is Blaine detailing this very traumatic experience and saying "this is just a bit of a sore spot for me" and Kurt replies "this is perfect." LIKE WHAT?? WHATTTT?? what do you mean it's PERFECT?? your boyfriend is clearly uncomfortable and triggered by this!! do not make this man go to prom with you!! And then, in that same episode, Kurt very blatantly outs Blaine's secret trauma to his family without any fucking care whatsoever for what Blaine actually went through (which is crazy considering Kurt was bullied too and should have some goddamn sympathy for the situation??). and look at my boy!! he's CLEARLY UNCOMFORTABLE!! does Kurt give a fuck?? no he does not! and he literally never apologizes for this!!

gif credit (love this set and creator btw)

This is after they're dating and there are MANY more instances when they're dating that Kurt blatantly bulldozed over Blaine's boundaries with reckless fucking abandon. And any single time they ever get into an argument, Blaine has to be the one to apologize to KURT? like even when Kurt is the one who cheats on him in Season 3?? Blaine has to apologize to him for being insecure?? Or in Season 5 when Blaine is experiencing a lot of insecurity (which was also a crazy arc considering how attractive his actor, Darren, is?? and I always loathe when shows add unnecessary fatphobia plotlines for literal skinny characters but that's a different tangent) and he told Kurt and Kurt's response was quite literally "I'm not going to apologize for being better than you." Like that's a fucking insane thing to say to your boyfriend who is standing in your kitchen crying, saying he's scared you're "going to wake up one day and realize [you] don't love him anymore" (S5E16). AND THEN?? IN AN EVEN MORE INSANE TURN OF EVENTS?? literally a handful of episodes later that's EXACTLY what happens!! Just out of the blue, Kurt decides he doesn't love Blaine anymore and breaks up with him?? Which was an absurd plotline?? (as most plotlines from season 4 and on are).

I'm also just going to add that Ryan Murphy does not know Blaine Anderson like I do, clearly, because there is nothing at all in his character that insinuates he'd be a cheater especially considering his ENTIRE PERSONALITY REVOLVES AROUND KURT. which is some fucking lazy ass writing, I'm just gonna say.

Also, further defending Blaine and calling Kurt out for being a SHITHEAD! there's that whole episode "Blame it on the Alchohol" where Blaine and Kurt go over to Rachel's house for a party and Blaine gets literally blackout drunk and kisses Rachel during a spin the bottle game. Immediately, the fact that Kurt gets so upset over them kissing says a lot about how self-involved and psychotically jealous he is (considering he and Blaine were NOT together at this point and Blaine had literally actively said he did not want to be in a relationship with Kurt).

And then this will also always bother me?? Blaine was blackout?? So Kurt drove him home?? and let Blaine sleep in his bed??? with him??? which, based on the way Kurt was acting and how possessive he always was over Blaine, this was Weird. Like if you can drive your drunk friend somewhere, why aren't you driving them back to their OWN home?? especially when Blaine wakes up in the episode (looking very cute, I will say) and his immediate reaction is "Where am I?" Like that's fucked up???? And then, later, in the same episode, Blaine says he thinks he might be bi and Kurt goes off his fucking ROCKER. and is so blatantly biphobic !! and it's gross !! and the only reason he is is because he wants Blaine to himself even though Blaine literally said he wasn't interested!!!

including gifs of drunk!blaine bc he's cute <3

And to talk down to your supposed best friend?? And act like you know him better than he knows himself?? yeah it was fucked up and biphobia is never cute. and, also, all Kurt ever did was pretty much blatantly pressure Blaine into dating him?? Like he was constantly all over him and then, the second they got together, the writers were like "ok and now blaine's only personality trait is loving Kurt." Which never made any sense to me considering that Kurt is constantly talking down to him? He constantly (multiple times in multiple episodes) complains about how talented Blaine is. Which is just not something you fucking do to someone you supposedly love and respect??

Before they were even dating, Kurt complained to Blaine that he "always has solos" and "right now, it feels like we're Blaine and the pips" and also a very underhanded comment about how "I know we're all supposed to be do-whopping behind Blaine while he sings every Katy Perry song" (S2E16). All of these things are just blatantly belittling? Also, tea time, but Kurt's ass was not fucking talented enough to be making bold ass claims about how he should be singing lead vocals.

Once they're dating, Blaine and Kurt both try out for the musical. When Kurt finds out that Blaine is trying for the lead, he immediately becomes standoffish and Blaine clearly panics, making a comment about how seniors should get the leads, not juniors. And Kurt goes "yeah that's usually how it works!" So then Blaine completely fucking forfeits the part! He auditions for a side role so that Kurt can get it and Kurt won't see him as a "threat" but then, because Blaine is so fucking good (and better than Kurt cough cough), he gets cast and Kurt is fucking pissed about it !!! (S3E02).

Once they are dating, Kurt literally cheats on Blaine, then claims that it's "okay" because it's "just texting" and, when Blaine says he's hurt, Kurt calls him crazy?? (S3E17) He never once apologizes to Blaine for what he did, only saying "I'm sorry if this upsets you but it's okay" which is not a fucking apology!! And Blaine ends up being the one apologizing to Kurt at the end of the episode, saying that he's insecure!! But Kurt does about fuck all to actually care for him!! And, during that scene, he says "Do you know how many times I've had to sit on a stool and watch you perform?" Like how fucking shitty is that to say to someone you love? Literally All Kurt does the entire series is make Blaine feel bad about how good he is??

there's a lot of other moments where Kurt is really just blatantly fucking mean to Blaine but I'm going to stop there because this is getting <3 really long <3 and I'm going to take a deep breath.

ANYWAY CONTINUING ON!

Blaine literally transferred schools to be with Kurt because Kurt pressured him into it?? Like there were literally scenes where Kurt was like "you should change schools" and Blaine went "aww no I don't wanna :(" and then Kurt continued to pressure him into it?? it's not something he ever should have even proposed in the first place?? But then when Blaine actually did transfer - and made it blatantly clear to Kurt that he did it for him - all of a sudden Kurt was like "aw noo u shouldn't have done this for lil ol mee!" (S3E01). Which was some BULLSHIT! but i am gonna include a gif of new kid blaine because look at this fucking cutie !!!

gif credit (i luv u klainegifs)

ok so, after Kurt pressures Blaine into going to his school and all of Kurt's friends are blatantly fucking mEAN to Blaine (despite him being the most talented member of the club cough cough), there's the scene where they all go to prom. Now this one.... oh this one makes me mad. And this makes me mad because it's just clearly rooted in the outright racism of Glee. And here's the reasons I'm mad:

Darren Criss (Blaine's actor) is Asian-American but Glee pretends like Blaine Anderson is a white character.

A fun fact for you about Glee is that Darren Criss auditioned for Glee's first season with his natural hair (big, fluffy, curly, beautiful) and he did not get a part. However, he auditioned again for the second season with his hair short and gelled back and he did get the part. Notice anything fucking weird about that???? he was just as fucking talented with the curly hair !!

Glee gels Blaine's hair so fucking much in later seasons that he literally develops helmet head. Look at the difference between season 2 and season 6:

LOOK AT HIS FLAT ASS HEAD !! ITS LIKE THEY PAINTED HIS FUCKING HAIR ON !!! RELEASE HIS CURLS RIGHT THIS INSTANCE!!!!!!!!!!

4. There was one episode (a different prom episode in season 3) where they did release the curls. and they pretended like my boy was UGLY!?! LOOK AT HIM

he's literally precious. But also, the producers of Glee went out of their way to try and make his curls look bad?? like they purposefully tried to give him bad hair?? and make fun of his natural curls?? and this was kurt's actual fucking reaction to seeing his boyfriend's natural hair for the first time:

he says "oh my dear god" in horror. like kurt literally go fuck yourself. Everyone is so fucking mean to Blaine when he ungels his hair!! and it's because they're RACIST!!!! name one curly-haired character in Glee. I'll wait.

I never liked Kurt but him reacting so cruelly to blaine's natural hair (and then Blaine never ungelling his hair again) is one of my biggest problems with him.

in conclusion, I will never fucking forgive the way that Glee treated Blaine. My beautiful baby boy and his bowties deserved better.

the end.

[sometipsygnostalgic]

Reddit post on musical motifs in She-ra

There was a post asking what our favourite songs in the series were. It only listed the actual songs, but people replying talked about their favourite motifs as well. Here is me giving my reply: 

i love the musical motifs in the show

i love the many, many, MANY different variations of Entrapta's theme that crop up, which i've never seen anyone talk about, especially when it plays in hordak scenes, either in contrast to his music, or replacing it.

My favourite uses of Entrapta's theme are the following:

1. At the end of her introduction episode, where it plays rather sinisterly, and then cascades into the full version during the credits (the only time the full version is heard). It's so full of energy. Entrapta's not evil but she's not really good either, she just does what she wants to do and everyone else can only watch.

2. In Signals when her light spacey theme is sort of playing alongside Hordak's dark synth, in duet. They contrast so well.

3. In Failsafe when she reunites with Hordak and it's so light and tender and has a different ending, Hordak's theme by this point is eradicated completely, you just have this somber version of Entrapta's theme instead, because Hordak's effectively a broken, new man and Entrapta is trying to show him a different path.

i love Promise, how broken that theme is, and how in season 5 it plays during such crucial moments, as it goes from catra reflecting on the broken promise, to trying to live up to it and protecting adora

then at the very end Promise reaches an incredible, triumphant conclusion

i like that bow has a theme, it's a very nice theme, but i'll be damned if i can remember any of its uses outside of Reunion and Heart

horde prime's theme is also fan dooby dastic. so sinister, like an evil church.

and then there's she ra's theme

so you have She-ra's theme in multiple forms, there's what I think of as Mara's theme where it's all "ooo OOOO" magic, 

then there's the TRANSFORMATION themes, the original one with the straight up boring heroic guitar, 

then the epic season 5 version with much slower orchestra, fitting with she-ra's new water-like form

then there's CATRA's villain theme, which is the SAME THEME except in a lower key with intense guitar!!!! it's great!!! the main instance of it which I remember is the end of s1 where she’s so happy to have finally had success in the Horde. 

and an honourable mention to the theme that plays at the end of "Promise" (the credits theme not the Promise theme), when I heard that theme for the first time in the Credits Amalgam, I HAD to find out what episode it played for!

[jellicle-brawl]

Jellicle cats, come out tonight, Jellicle cats, come one, come all, the Jellicle moon is shining bright, Jellicles come to the Jellicle Brawl!

Are you a fan of Cats the Musical? Do you have very strong opinions about which performer in which show was the BEST, most QUINTESSENTIAL performance for that character across the board? Would you like the chance to put that opinion against someone else's?

Welcome to the Jellicle Brawl! This will be a bracket for Cats performers across its many shows and performances, so submit your favorite and we'll pit them against each other. (ex, "Michael Gruber as Munkustrap from the 1998 film" vs "John Partridge as The Rum Tum Tugger from the 1998 film"). Note that even though this is a competition, our aim is to celebrate these performers who worked to bring these characters to life with their own flair! This is ultimately just a chance to hold these performers up and go "hey! look how cool they are!"

Before we get started, a few submission rules (I know it's long, most of it is just clarifying information, the rules are actually fairly lax)

1. You can make as many submissions as you like but only one submission per performer and only one performer per submission.

2. When submitting, in the character name slot use only the cat's full name (ex The Rum Tum Tugger instead of just Tugger), with correct spelling and capitalization. If the character was officially credited under multiple names, put them in alphabetical order separated by a / (ex, Admetus/Plato, rather than Plato and Admetus). This is for sorting purposes for the form, to make things easier on me later. (This is the only one I'm coming down hard on since I'm depending on it for sorting the form. For the rest formatting is far more relaxed.)

3. Please include a video or still of the performer in costume, alone if possible.

4. Propaganda during the submission period is not only allowed but encouraged. We're celebrating these performers and their portrayals; I WANT you to gush about them and tell me and everyone else why it's so good. Anti-propaganda, however, will not be tolerated.

5. The following cats can be submitted EITHER as individual characters OR with the pair as a single unit

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer (if submitting them together, please use "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer" for the submission name.)

The Psychic Twins/Coricopat and Tantomile (if submitting them together, please use "The Psychic Twins" for the submission name. If they use alternative names, list those in extra info.)

Gus/Growltiger (in shows where Growltiger was used for Gus' performance)

The Rumpus Cat/{whichever chorus cat portrayed him} (If submitting them together, please use "The Rumpus Cat/Counterpart" for the submission name and list the name in extra info)

For all other instances of performers doubling up on their characters, please submit each character individually (ex, Brian Blessed as Old Deuteronomy as a separate submission from Brian Blessed as Bustopher Jones)

6. Michael Gruber's portrayal of Munkustrap is banned because I cannot and refuse to be impartial about him, which is why he'll instead emcee the tournament with me. The 2o19 film Cats is also banned, for similar but distinctly opposite reasons. Any submissions for them will be thrown out.

There are two portrayals that are getting in automatically but I won't be revealing those because I don't want to affect submissions.

I'll decide how many submissions to use once I know how many submissions I have. We'll see how this goes then.

Submissions will remain open indefinitely as I'm not really ready to go live with the tournament yet but want to give you guys time to get in.

Obligatory tagging of other polls: @crossovershipstournament @bugcrimesbracket@orangecharactersmackdown @blue-character-brawl @grim-reaper-bracket

[oneatlatime]

The Winter Solstice part 2: Avatar Roku

This episode opens with a complete cul de sac of a conversation. I guess it was for character development? We already know Sokka and Katara are ride or die, but I like the idea of Appa getting to express opinions and be understood and listened to.

My thanks to this guy for moving the plot along.

Zuko is back to being an asshole. And he was so much more interesting last episode.

Zuko is only 16? I thought he was at least mid-twenties. He's in charge of a whole ship at 16. That's an alarming notion.

You know I haven't even met this firelord guy yet but something tells me that Iroh is right and Zuko is giving him too much credit. I'm kind of impressed by how much of a shadow the firelord character is casting over the show without even being introduced yet.

I don't get Katara's point here. It's too dangerous is exactly the reason they're there? It's a killer line but I don't think it makes sense? Also what is with their faces here? Sokka's poor teeth.

This asshole. I was hoping he was a single episode character. He's so good at being a villain that he undermines Zuko as the main villain. Although judging by the reaction of the guy on the left, Zhao's villainy is not typical of fire nation military. He's unusually evil. Also since when is Zuko a traitor? And why does Zhao wear a toga outside of his armour?

Going above the cloud ceiling actually made it worse. Did not see that coming. I have no knowledge of meteorology or whatever the relevant science is, but if they're high enough up to be above the cloud ceiling, shouldn't it be getting hard to breathe?

How. You know it's a good thing that airbenders were all monkly before they disappeared because I think they're all secretly one man armies.

Zhao is a butt, but he's a clever butt. Zuko probably would know more, although in this instance I don't know that he does? Unless that villager he kicked through the door told him. Actually that's probably why Zuko was so close on their tail. So yeah, Zhao is a clever butt.

I know the feeling buddy.

I know that feeling too.

Sokka very solidly being relegated to comic relief in this episode.

Surely if the temple was abandoned it wouldn't be so well swept? Or lit?

Airbenders once again being a one man army.

I was about to point out that there was no way they could know where they were going, but the show beat me to it. Points for self-deprecation.

Avatars can bend magma? Would that be earth bending? Or firebending because of the heat? Or waterbending because it's liquid? Actually, can water bending bend all liquids, or only water based ones? Could waterbenders bend oil? Can anyone?

I know as little about vulcanology as I know about meteorology, but wouldn't it be kind of hot walking there?

This sage's speech here is really well done. Worldbuilding, plus one hundred years of historical context, plus real world consequences to both the Avatar's disappearance and the firelords who took advantage of it. Of course the avatar never appearing would have consequences. Things have gotten warped. Also interesting that the sage uses the word 'hope.' What were they hoping for the next Avatar to do? Were the sages originally against a fire nation war? Were they hoping the avatar would appear and defeat the fire lord who started the war before it really got started? Has this 'Aang defeats the firelord' plan been in place for 100 years?

Sokka not being relegated to comic relief after all! I'd love to know the context of Sokka's dad inventing fake firebending and then feeling the need to pass it on to his son too. A party trick? Actually that would be pretty tasteless (or pretty gallows humour) given that they're southern water tribe.

How is this bridge still standing. Also pretty.

Sokka and Katara proving that they share a brain. Both a good plan, and a good save. Seeing them bounce off each other is always fun.

Momo has the most adorable sneeze!

"What took you so long?" Never has a rebuke been delivered in a more friendly way.

What is with the stairs in this temple? First Zuko can sneak up unheard, then Zhao and a whole crew/platoon/brigade/whatever shows up without anyone noticing? Is this temple carpeted?

So Aang has a maximum of about seven months to learn three other elements to a high enough standard to be able to defeat the firelord and whatever armies he brings with him. No pressure.

BADASS!!!!! You guys are screwed!!!!!!

Lava bending! Magma bending? Badass bending!

Momo saves the day! Did not see that coming!

This whole sequence is so good.

Zhao does not see nuance. Kind of satisfying to see that all the Fire sages are royally screwed. That's frankly quite realistic. Remember in school when one kid misbehaved so the whole class had to miss recess? Same energy from Zhao. Makes sense too: dictatorial empires are not interested in mercy or fairness.

I love the lighting on Zuko's boat. Very yummy textures.

And just like the southern air temple, this one also makes the correct decision and ends on silence.

Credits tell me that one of the voices this episode was done by someone with the abominably badass name of Clement von Frankenstein.

Can you believe these two shots are from the same episode? So pretty.

Final thoughts

I honestly forgot that this was part two of a two part episode. It was pretty much 1000% standalone.

This episode is also good. I think I preferred part 1, because the fire nation in general does get on my nerves a little. Part 1 had Zuko and Iroh being alternatively stupid and badass, which was fun to see. But I'm finding increasingly that Zuko and Iroh are not at all representative of the fire nation in general, and the fire nation in general annoys me. This episode is still really good, and it set up a whole lot for the rest of the season, but it also had Zhao the butt, so points off for that.

Sokka fell hundreds, if not thousands, of feet and is totally fine with it to the point where it never gets brought up again. As Sokka, or as Sokka's sister, I would have had to lie down for a bit after that.

Seeing Aang and company with the addition of the fire sage work as a team is fun, and I like how much understated yet important work Appa and Momo had to do this episode. Appa got them there safely through a hail of flaming whatever-those-were, Momo played Aang's shadow behind the firebending door and retrieved Appa when the temple was sinking, and Appa got them out of there again. They would be so lost without Appa.

There really wasn't much Katara this episode. There wasn't much Sokka either.

How are Aang and friends going to get out past the fire nation blockade again? How is Zuko?

The fact that Zuko is only 16 is something I'm going to have to turn over in my head for a bit. Learning that rattled me. I would say at first that he doesn't feel 16, but looking back at previous episodes with the knowledge of his age, I'm going to have to reevaluate all those times I called him an ass. Maybe he was just being 16. It feels crazy to put a 16 year old on a globetrotting manhunt and in charge of a ship, but this is a world where the Kyoshi warrior ladies are led by a girl Sokka's age, and a pair of teenagers are escorting a child avatar across the world with no adult supervision. Some of this is cartoon logic - it's a kids' show, so the heroes will be viewers' ages or close on, but also, every time I catch myself wondering where the responsible adults are, I have to remind myself that the war ate them up. I thought before this episode (when I thought Zuko was older) that it was a reflection of the state of the war that the fire nation had adults fighting while the other nations were reduced to relying on children/teenagers, but finding out Zuko is a teenager too puts a whole different spin on that. Seems this war has been universally destructive.

Zhao was determined to arrest Zuko (again, why is Zuko a traitor suddenly? Is it because he won the duel thing?) but the (bad) fire sages didn't try to stop Zuko; in fact they worked under his command. So I'm guessing Zhao's opinion of Zuko isn't the fire nation's opinion of him? Actually, is there any indication that the fire sages knew who Zuko was when he showed up?

This episode had good fights, lots of pretty heavy plot stuff and exposition stuff, both for what's coming and for the past and present state of their world. Not much in the way of humour, which makes sense given the subject matter. This episode could have devolved into an infodump, but it didn't.

I'm happy to see how consistently this show is sticking to the idea of consequences that can't be handwaved. Avatar disappears leads to fire sages losing hope. Fire nation going to war leads to previously non-partisan group getting twisted into serving the nation, to the point where they become the enemy of their previous purpose, which can be done to them partially because they have lost hope. Related: that one fire sage did not have to go against his fellow sages and his order's bastardised purpose. He could have taken the easy path, especially since the fire sages' purpose was changed long before he was born, probably. That's some impressive strength of character, to be loyal to an idea that basically died out before you were born. Given Zhao's general nature, all of the fire sages would have been arrested at the end of the episode regardless of what happened because Zhao had to have someone to blame, but that one sage couldn't know that. He's had weeks to come to a clear-eyed decision to betray the corrupt principles of his whole order/career/role. And he does! Good for him.

Now we have our ticking clock for the rest of the season. I loved what Roku said about how Aang will be able to learn the other bending styles because he's done it before. It establishes this permeability and connection between Aang and Roku, and maybe other avatars too. It kind of drives home that Aang isn't just a fun kid (although he absolutely is and I hope he never loses that), he's also something greater, bigger, older. He's like a cosmic entity, or a semi-divine being. And thank goodness he is such a goof, because a cosmic entity or a semi-divine being with unmatched and unmatchable skills and power that was also wrathful, or prideful, or any other negative quality, instead of a goofy happy peaceful kid would be apocalyptic.

That being said, this connection to Roku also goes kind of dark: how much of Aang is Aang? How much is an avatar an individual, as opposed to the sum of avatars that came before them? Can you separate the incarnation from the avatar? Will Aang ever get to belong to himself?

The fire sages are mostly quite old, and the last avatar was during their grandfathers' time. Is there anyone alive who remembers what it was like to live in a world where there is an avatar active? Bumi is very old, but he's Aang's age, so assuming becoming the avatar is something that happens when you're born or soon after, Bumi probably won't remember the last avatar. There was the old man from last episode that recognised Aang's airbender tattoos or clothes. Maybe he remembers the previous avatar? How closely do the last avatar dying and the air nomads getting wiped out coincide?

For that matter, even if Aang saves the world and gets reinstalled globally as the Avatar, does anyone know how to operate in a world where he's present? How do you address an avatar? Are you supposed to invite him to political events? Is he supposed to have a say in nations' internal conflicts? What is the avatar office and responsibilities in the human world? Is there even space for, or a need for, an avatar anymore, beyond the obvious 'defeat the fire nation' angle? What if, over the last century, people have taken over covering what were originally avatar responsibilities? Do those get given back to Aang? Are there any jobs that can only be performed by the avatar that have been left hanging for 100 years? How much clean up is Aang going to have to do? How many spirits like the black and white spirit from part 1 have been rampaging unpacified for a century? Are there whole swaths of the world made uninhabitable by unhappy spirits?

All the above questions could apply to a world that hasn't seen an airbender in a century too.

Also imagine how much it would have sucked being alive during the time when Aang originally should have appeared as the Avatar. Every new fire nation atrocity would have you thinking "surely this is the last straw that provokes the avatar into coming out into the open" and then, year after year, fire nation atrocity after fire nation atrocity, no one ever comes. I'd be so bitter.

The fire sage bringing up how long Aang has been gone made me think of something else: are Aang and Bumi the only people still living who know what it's like to live in peacetime? Everyone born in the last 100 years has been born into war. Forget about remembering how to live in a world with an avatar, or any airbenders, does anyone remember how to live in a world at peace?

Which makes it so fitting that it's Aang - one of two people who remember peace - that is being set up to defeat the firelord and if he does (rather, when he does - it's a kid's cartoon, the good guys are going to win somehow), it's going to be Aang, in his role as Avatar, who will be ideally placed to guide the world into transitioning to being at peace. I feel like it would be a different story if an avatar forged in war was being tasked with ending the war - for one, probably a much bloodier story. There's something quite poetic about one of the last people who remembers peace being the one destined to re-introduce/grant/give it to the rest of the world.

Looking back on what I wrote, I think I said more about random tangents that this episode made me think of than I said about the episode itself. Obviously it got me thinking. I guess that means it was good?