#control z 3 spoilers

[1296-very-good-year]

What I absolutely adore about Arcane in season 1 was its dedication to treating magic realistically. Science is the study of the natural world after all, and in Arcane's world, magic IS natural. Scientists would be the ones pursuing it.

Hextech was always going be invented, if not by Jayce and Viktor, then by somebody else down the line. By trying to stop them, Heimerdinger was only delaying the inevitable.

We get to see exactly how "science" can go wrong, both with Jayce succumbing to political manipulation to build weapons on behalf of the ruling class, and with Viktor throwing caution to the wind in his desperation to save himself. BOTH of them fuck around and find out. Dead child and dead Sky. (Singed is also used to explore a lack of ethics).

BUT Heimerdinger is not proven right. His position of trying to stop their research for the harm it could cause was wrong, because all scientific/technological progress can lead to harm. Harnessing fire allowed us to cook food and boil water to kill germs, dramatically improving and saving lives. It also lets us burn down cities, but that is no reason to avoid using fire altogether.

Season 1 does end with a Hextech-powered bomb going off in Viktor and Jayce's face, but it is clear that the corruption of the council and the systemic injustice the rich profited from is what created Silco, Jinx, and ultimately that bomb. Happy people don't burn down cities.

The council had control of all Hextech development from the beginning. They demanded the creation of the Hexgates - which did nothing to help the people of Zaun - and Piltover flourished. Zaun only got worse in those 6 years. All Viktor and Jayce wanted to do was give magic to everyone, but Heimerdinger made them delay it, and so their work was only used to serve the wealthy. They were never allowed the freedom to give magic to the common people.

Heimerdinger's stagnation as leader on the council for decades was infinitely more responsible for that bomb than Viktor and Jayce.

End of Season 1. Brilliant. Showstopping. Spectacular. Etc.

How does season 2 expand on this? Spoiler alert....

NOT WELL

We are introduced to the concept of the Arcane itself reacting negatively to use of Hextech. The anomaly appears that begins to poison life that comes in contact with it. Here is our metaphor for environmental destruction/pollution by industry. Interesting, let's see where that metaphor leads! (The answer is it leads nowhere).

While Heimerdinger was never shown grappling with the results of the terrorist attack that killed people he was presumably close to, he did FINALLY change enough to help Ekko create an anomaly to get home. He also worked directly to improve the lives of people in Zaun in the 3 years he was in that alternate timeline. Good stuff!

AND THEN

We are told that in all timelines Viktor goes crazy and tries to assimilate everyone into a single emotionless hivemind. Inevitably. Except, the alternate timeline where Ekko and Heimerdinger go is one without Hextech at all, where Jayce likely killed himself, and Viktor would have died from his disease. So, either there is an evil Viktor running around offscreen in that timeline, or he only ends the world if Hextech is invented.

If we make the more obvious assumption that Viktor only goes crazy in all timelines where Hextech is invented, then the through line here is that apparently Hextech should never have been pursued in the first place, and Viktor should have just let himself die.

"Hextech is a curse," Jayce says, and this is not once challenged by the narrative.

"I used to want to give magic to the world, now all I want is my partner back." .....what the fuck...

Jayce and Viktor's arcs are complete when they decide to kill themselves TOGETHER this time, along with destroying the Hexgates, the anomaly, and Ekko's Z drive, symbolically removing Hextech from the world to save the day. This is - in the writers words - the end of their story.

Season 2 says Viktor and Jayce should never have stopped each other from jumping to their deaths. Hextech was bad all along, actually.

Mel's magic is natural and wonderful because she was born with it.

And Singed apparently didn't try to use magic for his unethical science, so he gets his happy ending :)

[tuxedoferret]

Arcane finale was good....but

Spoilers for the finale of Arcane season 2, Arc 3 in general.

I'm probably screaming into the void but I wanted to get these thoughts out and see what other people think.

In general, I liked the endings for most of the characters. Their arcs make sense.

Vi, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jayce, Mel, Singed, and Viktor's story conclusions, I think were ended beautifully! (And Jinx too but I'll circle back to her in a second). Their endings made sense and were executed very well! I'm content with how their stories end!

And MOST of the deaths make sense... most of them.

Of course most of the minor characters are dead, no surprise since a majority of them we don't even know the NAMES of unless you scour the credits in the VA section.

Ambessa's death was well done, with Mel finally getting her mothers approval through breaking free of her control and finally being able to decide her own life and Caitlyn becoming a true leader.

The only thing that really bothers me, is the deaths of Heimerdinger and Warwick/Vander. Out of all of the champions in the game they're the only non-humanoid ones that made it into the show. They're also the only (game first) champions to actually die and they barely get to do anything. (I am one of the believers that Jinx is alive because there's no fucking way they would kill off one of their chief money makers, also based on evidence in the show).

With Heimerdinger in season 1 we see him serve as an oppositional force against Jayce, and then a mentor working with him. He gets kicked off of the council as a result of his conservative viewpoint. And he reflects on this, he leaves to go help the Zaunites however he can but gets shunned away. Then the goes and helps Ekko with repairing his board and getting home. In season 2 this continues with Heimerdinger helping Ekko get into Jayce's lab and them having the discussion about wild runes before getting sucked up into the anomaly. His last episode is him in the alternate universe with helping Ekko build the Z-Drive to return to his own universe. He puts it in the amplifier, is about to go with Ekko, then runs out and puts a few more things together and just... dies. Thats it for him. MAYBE he'll come back since he's a Yordle but this is new canon and the man had flesh and blood squished out of him. But in general his death feels cheap and unnecessary. What was the point of his death? How did it impact the narrative and what did the story gain from it as a result? Not fucking much really. He's never mentioned again afterwards. I feel like his death had no impact on the story whatsoever. I honestly think it would've been better if he had survived and returned with Ekko to fight in the battle against Noxus and Viktor. I would've liked to see him, either returning to the council or not, atoning for his mistakes by trying to make things better in Zaun with his inventions.

With Vander/Warwick there was so much hype around the theory that Vander would be returning as Warwick. And we were all super excited when that came true! We love it when the narrative rewards us for paying attention! But we get like... 3 episodes with him before he becomes a Viktor automaton. He was also still very much alive even after Singed drained his blood, so Viktor was wrong about how that would kill him. Warwick's role in the end felt very lackluster, and it felt redundant to just, kill him off AGAIN. Maybe I'm just a little mad because I have read up on Warwick and I feel like he had more potential for the narrative than just... make Vi watch her dad die all over again. The fight scene with Warwick could've been replaced with any big evil bruiser really (coughBlitzcrankcough). In general Warwick felt more like a Vi and Jinx accessory than his own potential character. Which kind of sucks. And maybe I'm a bit salty that we didn't get a full wolf Warwick. I think the whole his mind was reset/erased bit could've still been done if the explosion damaged his head and it healed back wrong/if singed replaced his head with one of the wolves' heads to make him fully Warwick in the end.

Isha's death kind of feels... not impactful at all to the story afterwards aside from Jinx's spiral. I would've liked it if her death did more than just that (Like I said, permanently damaging Warwick/Vander would've been nice)

This is about the league of LEGENDS and you'd think that Warwick and Heimerdinger would have bigger roles than just being killed off to further another characters story after barely impacting the narrative.

Also I feel like Sevika being on the council is like... stupid. I think she wasn't handled well at all after episode 4. She just completely disappears after running away with Isha. Why do we never see her hanging with Jinx and Isha again? I would have LOVED to see how Sevika reacted to Vander not being as dead as previously thought, the man she betrayed and ultimately ended up mirroring in the end with her refusing to give up Jinx to Piltover. I think it would've been fun if Sevika was the one to tell Vi when she woke up that Jinx gave herself up, despite all of Sevika's protests, an inversion of what happened with Vi and Vander. Putting Sevika on the council in the end is just kind of weird for her character. I understand it's like, the idea of Zaun finally getting representation on the council, Sevika getting a say in what happens in the undercity. But I feel like that could've just as easily been accomplished with finally letting Zaun have its own independence with Sevika being the "Baron" of Zaun, being the new leader. Because we've seen she's a genuinely good leader! She has a good head on her shoulders. It would've been fun to see how she'd struggle with being the new leader of Zaun, struggling against the Chem Barons if future series ever decided to look into Zaun again.

In general I'm fine with the ending of Arcane. But I feel like the endings could've been written a different way for those 3 characters. I honestly feel like it would've been better if the show ended off where the game picks up, and I don't even play League, I just like the lore from what little I've been reading.

[azazel-the-eldritch]

Sonic Movie 3 spoilers!!

I was clapping and screaming like a goddamn idiot during the whole 3rd act! Sonic and Shadow boxing in Super forms zipping across the planet was the most unsubtle Dragon Ball Z shit I've ever seen!! Also we got Live & Learn and the whole theater ERUPTED! As much as I have mixed feelings about the direction the movies are going, as well as how they altered Shadow's backstory, I'm keeping an open mind. I like that Shadow is put forth as what Sonic could've been if he wasn't allowed to heal or react to grief in a healthy way. As well, he isn't an artificial being like the games, he just came out of a meteorite? Which I guess is a more direct setup for Black Doom somewhere down the line. I also have more faith in Keanu Reeves as Shadow. He did great for what he was given. Though, I would've liked one good "Chaos Control". But oh well...

I also like that Shadow and Sonic have a heart to heart about their traumas, not unlike Sonic did with Knuckles. The two hedgehogs having such a conversation in any case is unheard of in the main series, since Sonic is so devil-may-care and Shadow is a hard-ass. So seeing it in this movie was honestly refreshing. Plus that shot of the sun rising over the Earth as Shadow remembers Maria's words is cinema. Sonic and Shadow working together and actually having some good banter and chemistry was good for how much we got.

I have to say, as much as I love Jim Carrey, I didn't much like JUST how much screen time the Robotniks have. They definitely steal the show for better or worse... Shadow is more or less background dressing or Gerald's attack dog half the time up until the Sonic's 3rd act crashout. In SA2, Gerald was long dead, but his presence was still felt throughout. He was the true antagonist all along. Here it feels very self-indulgent, which I guess is the point, but still... Eggman's redemption and apology video did get me to tear up though. Jim Carrey was intending to retire but came back for this movie, and it felt like he was saying goodbye to all of us, not just Agent Stone.

Tails and Knuckles were honestly perfect. Tails is almost 1 to 1 with his video game self, and I like that he's still very much the excitable little brother who also just wants everyone to stop fighting. Knuckles felt like a good middle ground between game and movie. He's definitely adapted to Sonic's sense of humor while still struggling with his literal-mindedness. But he also surprisingly was a bit of a moral center. Especially for Sonic when he was (justifiably) angry demanding the Master Emerald to get back in blood. Knuckles was genuinely trying to talk him down but remain firm. He does decide to have faith that Sonic would come to his senses, which ends up paying off. Knuckles actually respects Sonic as a leader and friend.

As for the post-credit scenes. Rather predictably, we got our girl Amy Rose who is... basically Thor with the flying hammer. We also got Metal Sonic, but also many Metal Sonics. I suspect that maybe the next movie will be some conflation of Sonic CD and Sonic Heroes (and hopefully reference the OVA), since those are Metal's highest points. Mixing together alternate timelines and Metal gaining independence and becoming his own warlord. Which prompts Amy to seek out Sonic and co. I do have to wonder how they'll handle Sonic and Amy. Cuz having mad feelings for Sonic is what she's mainly known for, despite there being more to her than that.

Also Shadow survived... surprisingly absolutely no one haha. I know there was talk of a Shadow series at some point, so we'll likely get more of Movie Shadow's backstory down the line. Hopefully get a proper introduction to Chaos Control.

I have more thoughts, but eh. And despite my nitpicks, I can't say there was anything I found to be bad about the movie. The highs more than make up for any misgivings. I'm overjoyed with how this series has come along thus far. There's a lot of good faith with Jeff Fowler and crew now, and I would never have guessed an animator from Shadow 05 would go on to direct the Sonic movie-verse, much less make a movie with Shadow in it.

It's a good time to be a Sonic fan :)

[strawbebby-lemonade]

Pressure OC: "The Bandit" (Z-09) Lucius Alvarez

🦈⚡️🤖

u3u

Took a while to complete and had to go to uni 😭 lol

But, here's my new oc I've been sooo obsessed with the past few days :3 hehe

:D

Here he is!

Spoilers for game/lore (and cw!)

Arrested and found guilty for armed robbery and 2nd degree slaughter, Lucius finds himself behind bars until getting picked for experimenting. Going through that process, getting tiger shark and electric eel DNA, it does backfire. Which he loses his limbs and unable to control how much electricity can his body produce. Once he was limbless and weak, he was considered a lost cause/failed test subject.

But before they could take him out of the project, one scientist volunteered to help Lucius be useful for expeditions. Which explains for his robotic prosthetics and the power box on his back

He only had these additions for 2 years, leading up to present time

During the Expendable protocol (game)

Lucius actually takes a similar role as the Xenomorph from Alien Isolation. :3

I wish I can add more info, but it's all in the reference sheet and I'm exhausted from going back to uni. It's so hot, imma die someday to this heat 😭😮‍💨

But I don't mind any questions for him!!

[preciouslittlecreature]

More Nik headcanons! This does NOT include spoilers for the new game! I'm not super happy with how this turned out, (it hasn't been edited and it's a little all over the place) but I needed to get something out so here it is! As always, these are just my own opinions so no worries if you disagree. Please don't hesitate to let me know if any of these are harmful in anyway. Have a wonderful day <3

Part 1 here!

• Takes great pride in how he looks and dresses. Invests in high quality clothes (not necessarily designer though) and hygiene products. Probably something do to with the control it allows him plus he's already got a rough job. Might as well be comfortable and look good if shits gonna hit the fan.

• I do think that gold chain has some sentimental value to him. Even sees it as a good luck charm. In my relationship hcs of him I love to see it as a gift from his SO. It is with my oc at least.

• This one's kind of... random and out of the way but he seems like he'd be good at chess, even though he rarely, if ever, plays it. Not good at checkers though. No clue why or how

• Knew Yegor when he (Yegor) first started dealing in arms and cigs, but it wasn't until after Yegor got on Zakhaevs bad side they really were able to get close. Nik probably helped him get away from Z. I wouldn't be surprised if that's part of the reason he's so loyal to Nik when he ends up joining Chimera. That, and Nik seems like the type of person to help with Yegors kids

• Speaking of Yegor, because of his experience dealing in arms he often helps Nik with that side of Chimera. Probably is the stand in leader while Nik's running around with Price

• Chimera is his pride and joy. He treats it very well and is incredibly careful about his deals and who he hires. Very few people outside the group know where the main base is. (TF141 and Laswell, for example)

• Sees the members of Chimera as his family and will die protecting them. Syd, Iskra, Krueger, Yegor, Farah, all of them. Knows their likes and dislikes by heart, helps them through hard times (and there's a lot given their jobs), jokes around with them, etc. etc.

(P.S. Used Yegor a lot here because he was in MW19, but I'll definitely include the others in later posts!)

[crowroboros]

Two Mentally ill Men in Games that I like

I'm drafting up a post about Moebius, Ouroboros, Alpha and their role in shaping Aionios and how they tie into the messages and themes of the Xenoblade series but I'm taking a break from that because I just can't look past how similar Consul N and Leo's arcs are.

MASSIVE Echo (Leo's Route) and Xenoblade 3 spoilers. I mean absolutely earth-shattering spoilers. You have been warned.

Also this is being written on the spot and in one sitting and while I'm sleep deprived so it might be messy and a bit incoherent to anyone but me. Maybe I'll touch it up a bit in the future. This is also long as hell.

TLDR; N and Leo:

Are both obsessed with their romantic partner

Are both mentally beaten down and manipulated by their circumstances which slowly strengthens their obsession and makes them spiral further

Are both possessive of their romantic partner to the point of manipulation and control to keep them by their side

Both commit atrocities in the name of their obsession (To be fair to Leo, Consul N is MUCH MUCH worse in this regard) Both reach their breaking point towards the end of their game

Both indirectly kill their romantic partner/love interest

Are both incapable of moving on when their relationship ends, leaving them stuck in the past.

Are both a major part of a game all about "going in circles", "cycles", and the human condition

Both perpetuate the aforementioned cycle

Both put on a front of being stable and collected to hide intense shame, regret, and turmoil going on within them.

Leo and Noah are two shades of the same color so to speak. Now let me be clear, Mio and Chase are nothing alike and their roles in Noah's and Leo's respective obsession with them are very very different. Chase directly had a role by texting and sexting Leo while drunk, continually fueling Leo's hope that the pair would get back together. Mio on the other hand, alongside Noah, was forcibly reincarnated again and again by Moebius. They kept meeting, falling in love, and having their lives ripped away from them by war. Mio's involvement begins and ends with her just trying to survive like everyone else.

Noah, in all these past lives, seems to be the last of the pair to die. And even thought the memories of each life were wiped upon rebirth, those memories and their complimentary feelings still lay dormant deep within him. Hundreds of memories and feelings stacked up deep within his subconscious.

Each time Noah loses Mio is more painful than the last and it culminates when the pair, in a new incarnation, lose the hope to fight against Moebius and ending the war; instead deciding to go into hiding. They have a son, Ghondor, together and hope to live out the rest of their lives in peace. Alas Mio again dies, this time from her Term Marker reaching the end. And Noah is absolutely distraught. It only gets worse with Noah's death a year or two later, for he is brought before Moebius Z and forced to witness all of his past lives; Every time he and Mio met, fell in love, fought by each other's side with the Lost Numbers...only to get killed again and again.

Noah in this moment is forced to realize that he exists in an inescapable cycle, and becomes despaired of ever ending it. Z, seeing Noah at his lowest, offers him the option to live out eternity with Mio. Noah, if he is to take the offer, will get immortality, power, and he'll even bring back Mio to live alongside him; All he has to do is become Moebius, and completely destroy the inhabitants of The City. And to Noah — having just relived the pain and suffering of hundreds of past lives and being told that nothing he does can change the world — accepts. After all, why wouldn't he? If nothing he does matters in the end, if Moebius will keep the inhabitants of Aionios stuck in this cycle of bloodshed for all eternity, then why can't he at least live out that eternity with the one he loves?

When Noah becomes Consul N and destroys The City as well as killing most of its inhabitants — including his and Mio's now adult son Ghondor — Z does keep his promise, bringing Mio back as Moebius M. But she's absolutely horrified by his actions, lashing out at him and pushing him away. Noah at this point already regrets his actions, never having truly agreed with Z on the goals of Moebius. He's disgusted and ashamed of himself over what he had just done, and it's only made worse by Mio's response. But instead of repenting or accepting that what he is doing is horrific, he puts on a front. He buries his regret deep and pretends to believe in a cause that he never truly could get behind. He spends the next thousand years carrying on as the very thing he and Mio were so desperate to destroy and internally it's killing him. N becomes despondent and hateful, relying on Mio's existence to keep himself happy all while he presents himself outwardly as stoic and collected, pretending to be content with his choice. On the other hand, Mio openly hates the life she has now been forced into — taking lives and perpetuation the cycle of war that grips Aionios to fuel her own existence — and she too falls into a depression.

On the Echo side of things, this is equivalent to the prank Chase and Jenna pulled on Leo as well as the three years that Chase and Leo kept having a long distance "on-again-off-again" thing going on. Pretending that Chase was cheating on Leo, the breaking of Chase's phone, Chase never directly saying that the pair have broken up — only saying that he's going to Pueblo — and then limiting contact for the following three years to just drunken sexts doesn't offer Leo any real closure on the relationship. Leo has based so much of his own happiness on the idea of his relationship with Chase and the bond they had together, and now he's desperate to have that back, even going as far as to continue to wear the anchor bracelet that he and Chase wore to symbolize their relationship all these years later.

Just like N deludes himself into thinking that what he is doing as Moebius is what is good for himself, Mio, and the people of Aionios, Leo is deluding himself with the false hope of rekindling his relationship with Chase. They're both holding on to their own desire for a relationship long dead and are ruining themselves in the process. Both are perpetuating the cycle that holds their respective worlds captive: Consul N with the Endless Now and the war between Keves and Agnus, and Leo (albeit on a much smaller scale) with the inability to grow and change.

Both Aionios and Echo are locations that get their identity from their stagnation and decay. Aionios has been in an endless war since its creation with the collision between the universes of Bionis/Mechonis and Alrest, slowly getting chipped away at by the Annihilation Events. Echo was once a thriving town that over the years has failed to keep up with the changing world and now sits in a state of decline with only ~50 residents by the time of Echo VN.

And in this state of eternity, both Leo and Noah are given the opportunity to embrace change and to accept that nothing will be the same forever. For Leo it's when Chase leaves Echo, and for Noah it's when Mio dies in the last natural reincarnation. But both of them are too afraid of what it means to move on and let go. So instead, both cling to what's familiar and end up back at square one.

This refusal to move on isn't just detrimental for Leo and N alone, but it is detrimental for everyone around them. Aionios and its war persists for at least another millennium at the hands of N, resulting in the prolonged suffering of the people of Keves and Agnus. While Leo's obsession over Chase results in the manifestation of The Embrace, which stalks people such as Duke and Dale and drives them to some level of paranoia. And it all reaches the breaking point when it gets the person they love most — the object of their obsession — killed.

To briefly provide context before this next section; Sometime across the thousands of years between when Consul N and M came into existence and the main game of Xenoblade 3, N and M's repressed hope and ideals of a better world manifested as separate entities all of their own as the pair sunk deeper into despair and self-loathing. (Origin is essentially a Conduit emulator and there is a bunch of Xenoblade lore that makes this already long post even longer so just know that under certain conditions and with access to certain things, one's willpower can cause physical change or manifest as a physical entity.) These newly formed entities are the protagonists of Xenoblade 3; Noah and Mio. Functionally, it is the same as the cycle of reincarnation that all inhabitants of Aionios experience except with the caveat that the originals are still alive. From here on out, the Noah and Mio who became Moebius will be referred to as N and M, while the protagonists of Xenoblade 3 will be called Noah and Mio.

When the protagonists get absolutely fucked up when fighting against Consul N, Consul M sees potential within the group and spots an out. She is presented with a second chance to hopefully put an end to the world's suffering. M ends up revealing everything to Mio; The memories of their past lives, what Consul N did and his reasons, and ultimately what M wants from this: To die. The two switch places, with Mio taking M's place and M taking Mio's.

M, masquerading as Mio, spends a month in prison where she and the rest of Ouroboros are psychologically tormented and taunted by Consul N. Whereas M saw Ouroboros as a second chance, N sees the group as a threat to the familiar. A threat to the eternity he gained with M. To him, M is his property to hold close. So he spends that month breaking down the group's hope, putting them in the same place he was moments before he was given the offer to become Moebius. He wants them to fall victim to the same cycle he has.

And when that month is up, M dies in Mio's place at the Homecoming. She dissolves into light and her soul is set free from the reach of Moebius and the cycle of reincarnation. She has escaped the cycle and embraced an unknown future in the form of Mio.

And when N realizes who just died, he crumbles. For much of the final act of Xenoblade 3, N is inconsolable. He sits alone within Origin, not speaking or moving from his place in the Amphitheater. He knows that everything he has done up to this point had just been erased, for M is now gone. He is forced out of the past he lived in and is thrust into the future alone. But rather than admit that, he only dives deeper into the mask he wears, pretending that it isn't him clinging to the past that led to her demise but instead the changing world brought about by Ouroboros.

Over in Echo when Chase, Jenna, and TJ return for spring break it is Leo who takes action and gets the entire group back together. After all, this is exactly the opportunity he had been waiting for! He can get the group back together after three years and try his hand at getting Chase back as well! Over the course of Leo's route, the wolf gets increasingly more aggressive and protective of Chase and by the end of his route, he's outright threatening anyone he views as potentially taking Chase away from him again; using his size and gun to intimidate them.

In Leo's bad ending, this culminates when Chase once again leaves the status of his and Leo's relationship ambiguous. When trying to jump on a train to escape Echo, Leo grabs and pulls Chase off the caboose. This causes Chase's legs to swing under the rails and for both of his legs to be severed at his calves.

It's here that N and Leo begin to differ, at least in this ending of Leo's route. Whereas N was in full control of what he was doing, Leo is undoubtedly influenced in part by the hysteria over Echo. Leo's obsession, possessiveness, overprotectiveness, and his aggression is all him, however it is likely that as the hysteria takes hold of the town, these traits are exasperated by the supernatural. It's why N falls into a near comatose state out of grief, and Leo loses grip on his own sense of reality, failing to grasp the gravity of Chase's injuries. Leo takes Chase to his house and bandages his wounds thinking it'll be enough. Chase slowly bleeds out and eventually dies, though Leo doesn't seem to be able to grasp this. In fact, Leo's actions and behavior after Chase loses his legs could be seen as analogous for when N decided to become Moebius. It is when Leo fully resigns himself to Echo, thrusting himself and Chase into reliving their past together. Literally in Chase's case, as he flashes back to various memories of his and Leo's relationship as he dies.

Despite the difference, thematically N and Leo's situation here is the same. They both refused to step forward into the future and the center of their greatest desire died because of it. For N, it was the possibility of a future without M. If Moebius was stopped and Origin rebooted to allow for the safe reconstruction of Bionis/Mechonis and Alrest, there is a chance that he'd never see M again. There's a chance that the rebooting of Origin's systems won't even work and the two worlds will cease to be. And for him, that possibility is too much to bear for he bases his entire sense of self around M and his relationship with her.

With Leo, when he asks Chase if the otter will stay with him after they escape Echo, he needs a concrete answer. The past three years has had Leo in a sea of uncertainty in regards to his relationship status with Chase, and as Leo says himself "seeing you leave on that train was too much."

For Leo, getting on that train meant leaving all that he and Chase went through in Echo behind for a future that neither of them can predict. He's terrified of what that could mean; Maybe they'll work out, maybe they won't. Maybe they'll be friends, maybe they'll never talk again. Why take that risk when the two can stay in Echo? Echo, just like Aionios, is stagnant and decaying; things stay the same and end up right where they began. Stuck in a cycle.

But Leo's good ending follows a different path. Here, Chase directly and unquestionably cuts things off with Leo. Chase forces Leo to move on by giving him a hard answer, making sure that the wolf simply cannot continue to hold onto the idea of their relationship rekindling.

And what does Leo do in response? Nothing. As Chase and the others flee on the train, Leo stands and stares; Dejected.

In this ending, Chase lives. However it is more similar to M's death in terms of what it does to Leo and the overall narrative. Just as M's death did for N, Chase's rejection forced Leo from the perfect eternity he tried so desperately to craft for the two of them. Leo is forced to move on without Chase, and it crushes him. In his despair and grief, he is left alone by the side of the tracks in the dark.

Two years later, Chase returns to Echo with Kudzu to formally say goodbye to the town and Leo. In these two years, Leo has undergone a lot of change. He too is leaving Echo, moving back in with his parents, and he's no longer wearing the anchor bracelet. In these past two years, Leo ahs come to terms with the fact that he and Chase are over.

Leo has managed to escape the cycle and has come to accept the future that awaits him. He's no longer wearing that anchor bracelet; which not only symbolized Leo and Chase's bond, but also the way it tied Leo down. it symbolizes the way the weight of what the past meant for him kept Leo from moving forward and embracing the changing world around him.

And his route ends with the pair parting ways.

Through both leaving Echo and moving on from Chase, Leo is stepping into an unpredictable and uncertain future. He doesn't know what will happen or whether he'll ever see Chase again, but he's content with that. In a town where all you can do is go in circles, he has managed to get free of that burden and forge his own path in life.

Over in Aionios, Ouroboros make their way within Origin and confront N. When they find the Consul, he's no longer sulking alone, but standing ready for a fight. Now that M is gone, now that all he has sacrificed for hundreds upon hundreds of years has been for nothing, he feels empty.

It doesn't matter what happens to N anymore, he just wants to make others feel the same pain and suffering he's feeling. This is comparable to the two years Leo spent dealing with Chase's absence post-Echo. Rather than wallowing alone however, N is taking out his sorrow and guilt on Ouroboros. He's lashing out, as he knows that his eternity is gone.

Ouroboros and Consul N fight, and after a long battle N is defeated again. It is here that N and Ouroboros — in particular Noah and Mio — have a heart-to-heart with him, serving as his inner conscious in a manner similar to that of self-reflection. The pair get N to realize that he fucked up, and nothing he does will bring M back nor will it make everything he has done right. But importantly, they empathize with him, understanding his reasons and how hard it was for him to keep up that act. They convince him to not allow the past to define him and to instead atone for his actions and move forward. And their words, as well as M's, finally get through to him.

N and Noah fuse together, giving N a chance not to redeem himself, but to atone and move forward with his life. He joins Ouroboros to destroy the last remaining Moebius, Moebius Z, and to set the world free from stagnation.

Moebius and Ouroboros, the symbols themselves, are two sides of the same coin. Both are cycles, seemingly endless paths looping in on themselves. But whereas a Moebius strip ends where it started, and Ouroboros ends one loop with the birth of something new. Moebius is an endless cycle of stagnation. Ouroboros is the endless cycle of change and rebirth.

Ouroboros goes on to destroy Moebius Z, the collective unconscious given physical form by the dense collection of fear and anxiety over the fate of their worlds that the respective people of Bionis and Alrest within Origin's systems felt as their universes threatened the other with oblivion.

As Origin reboots and Aionios falls apart, Ouroboros separate as they're dragged along with their respective universe. N has done it. He, similar to Leo, has managed to move on from eternity. he has allowed Aionios to be destroyed and has stepped into an uncertain tomorrow. From here, no one knows what will happen. Maybe Origin will fail and both universes cease to be. Maybe everything will go to plan and the worlds no longer are at risk of destroying each other. If it does succeed and the universes safely merge together again, there's a chance that Noah, Mio, and the rest of Ouroboros won't be alive to see it, thus never meeting each other again.

But they're content with that.

Consul N from Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Leo Alvarez from Echo Project's Echo VN are both complex and interesting characters that explore the human desire to cling to what's familiar and reject painful or unsatisfactory change. And through them, we see how staying in the past can be harmful not just to the self, but to those around you. Through these two characters, Monolithsoft and the Echo Project team tell the audience that it's okay to be afraid of how things might turn out, that it's okay to want to stay close to what's familiar. But if you resist change, if you do everything in your power to keep yourself in an endless now, that you'll do nothing but cause harm. So look forward to tomorrow, for it is a bundle of possibilities. And just

Walk on.

[zaacoy]

It's 3 am!! You know what that means!!! Delusional tang posting time let's gooo yippee!!!!!!

Said I'd dump S4 Tang thoughts here a week ago and then I just kinda. didn't. oopsies, but I can start now!!

S4 Spoilers below the cut, you have been warned!!!

AUTHOR'S NOTE OF SORTS AFTER WRITING THIS: WOW IS THIS LONG. I got a little too silly and put too many thoughts down at once oops, prepare to be reading for a good minute you have been warned (twice!!) aughdhsj

My thoughts are so disorganized rn prepare for a rollercoaster of whatever my brain spits out!!

First. Ep 4 intro.

Good to see that Tang still can never have a nice landing unlike everybody else

THE CROCODILE??????? HELLOSNBD?!?

MF GETS BODY SLAMMED?????

THIS SCREAM????? He gets to scream for like, 2. SECONDS. BEFORE HE GETS?? DRAGGED RIGHT BACK INTO THE WATER????

ALL OF THE SCREAMINGSG??? THE BASS???? THE FUCKING GUITAR????????

I can't. I cannot. convey in words how incredibly funny this scene is to me. I can't sit through it and not laugh or start kicking my feet it's just THAT good. They had Z E R O business doing this to him, this scene had absolutely NO REASON to be THIS chaotic but they?? did it anyway????? jgkngm???? I love this show sm

He's so pretty in this specific lighting I need to draw him like this soon or I will explode wowowee

HE DEFLATED. SO FAST.

That's such a funny reaction, no more energy just. Whatever. Eat me I guess I don't care just start cooking so pigsy can come back please. He is so funny

weapon. just straight up bonk him into a demon like a plank of wood

Actually now that I think about it why? Did nobody untie him??? they found him and just left him like that?? Neither of them ever untied him if memory serves I'm pretty sure pigsy did it while he was cooking. ???

"To get crammin' APPARENTLY! HMPF!"

"Oh, haha! I'M the dinner! Excellent."

Good to see Tang's sass and saltiness never leaves, they should let him be sarcastic and talk back more often

Done with all of your bs glares at you glares at you glares at you glares at y

What comes around goes around!!! Their dynamic is fun wahoo

He noms very happily!!! omnomnom (he deserves it at this point mans DESPERATELY needs a break)

THEY DID NOT HAVE TO CALL HIM OIT LIKE THAT DHDHJS PLEASE????? JAJJS The little sad noises he makes as he gets torn into, little guy behavior tbh

"-stop gorging yourself on our rations!" "I'm sorry! It's just I'm stressed okay!?"

STRESS-EATER CONFIRMED!!!!!!!!! YOU AND ME BOTH BUDDY. No wonder he married a cook, wonder if in college everytime Tang was mega stressed about finals or a big deadline coming up (the latter could be true later when he's out of college and had a job too) if pigsy, assuming he had the time, would just make a meal for him. They probably wouldn't be able to spend much time together in that situation so making him something when he knows Tang is stressed seems like a realistic thing for Pigsy to do in order to subtly show he's there for support when need be. Tang pays that kindness forward by actually paying his tab for once coughs

"HEY! I so to am perfect!" (S1)

"hmmmm, if I wasn't so cool and relaxed all the time I'd be reeeeeally worried about the consequences of this" (S1)

"I know my issue is my self confidence" (S4)

(Can't find a way to make it a gif) Tang: so ""relaxed"" in his current situation that he is shaking hard enough to vibrate in place, coupled with the look of completely calm and collected and ""coolness"". (S4)

Does it ever drive you crazy just how fast the night chan- gets shot

ACTUALLY THo S4 fleshed him out as a character so much, especially when we compare him to how he started all the way back in S1. Beforehand in earlier seasons everything was mostly stable for him. Same places, same people, consistent comfort, it gave him some sense of security that could have made his "calm and relaxed" demeanor viable back then. But now that everythings been thrown up and ruined by powers out of Tang's control, his bubble of safety no longer stands. We begin to see it in season 3 with lady bone demon's attacks + macaque's continued interference. Tang seems a lot more on edge near the latter half of season 3 then he had been all of the rest of the show and there's definitely WAY more panic present as one bad thing after another unfolds, notably when he is quite literally moved to tears as he's forced to forge the samadhi fire. It does kind of consistently crop up during other prior conflicts too but much more mildly and on a more temporary scale. Now, seemingly not long after the lbd incident as mk evidently still hasn't pushed past lbd all that well, his entire framework of stability is practically smashed into pieces. He's stuck in a scroll, he loses track of all of his friends for a while, there is no comfortable safe space for him anymore(a book can probably only realistically tell you so much about a setting, probably not enough to evoke the same familiarity that his house or pigsy's shop does), he literally almost gets eaten, there's ANOTHER massively powerful divine being threatening the safety of his loved ones along with his own, and on top of it all he can't get his powers (which are evidently in DIRE need right now) to work half the time. He had built a dependency on the routine of mundane life beforehand and S4 completely shatters that routine and subsequent stability. It's no wonder why we begin to see him crack, it make sense why we're just now seeing the actual depths of his lack of confidence and his anxiety. This has always been a problem more likely than not, he was able to cope before, or at least hide it, but he can't now. His inability to use his powers properly inevitably worsens the problem. He needs to use his powers but he cant. He needs to be useful, he has to be, but he just can't no matter how long or how hard he tries. Every odd is against him, it's getting to him and it shows. I love how lmk doesn't try to hero-speech it's way out of every character's doubts. I love how they let him break down several times throughout season 4, I love how they let him show emotional weakness not as a plot obstacle that can be ✨✨completely overcome with the power of believing in yourself!! And friends!!! And flashy magic!!! Yayyyyy!!!✨✨ but as a fundamental part of Tang that he just has to work around and deal with it. They obviously can't get too in depth into it (and probably never will) because a. This is a kid show made by Lego, and b. Because he's, y'know, not the main character, but the attention they did bring to it is nice.

I have. Accidently written a paragraph. Oops. uhhhh tldr: They did a good job portraying Tang's internal struggles through S4 while not invalidating his character and behavior from previous seasons. When you kick the rug out from someone's feet and then throw them off a 400ft cliff into a pit full of spikes they're going to be at least a little bit terrified out of their mind and are probably going to understandably show weakness somewhere along the way, I'm glad Lego takes a moment to explore that with Tang at least a little bit.

OKAY!! MOVING ON!!! SORRY ABOUT THAT GHFJJ

Mentioned this earlier on twt but the death grip he maintains on his staff when he gets really scared is a nice touch. He has a history throughout all 4 seasons of latching onto objects or people when he's distressed, a small but fun character detail!

LOOK AT HIM. GIVE HIM A BREAK HE HAS EARNED IT AND HE NEEDS IT PLEEEASDE IM BEGGING SOBS FORERVRRHRHNM

"ahh I'm sorry I'm just- I'm having a melt down and I have no idea what's going on and I just-!"

In line with what I ranted on about for an entire essay earlier- explicit mention of a meltdown! It's quick and short but the fact that they called it a meltdown at all is impressive, this is the first time I can remember a show calling one as such. A meltdown in response to a seeming extended lack of security and a disconnect between Tang and what's going on around him is realistic too, I think at least. The scene right after this when the gang (mostly sandy) does their best to bring Tang back down to earth for a moment was nice, they're such a supportive friend group I love this little found family

DHDJJ???? THIS ENTIRE SCENE WAS GREAT BUT THIS ONE??? WHERE HE JUST GOES ZOOMING THROUGH THE AIR SCREAMMG?? IS HE OKAY?????? HSJH

I HAVE. HIT MY IMAGE LIMIT UMMMM.

I had more to say and I will probably say those later!! For now this is it, it is almost 6 am I should really go to bed augahh

Remember!!!!: live, laugh, tang lego monkie kid. GOODNIGHT!!

[wellthatschaotic]

Teach me qsmp lore please. Preferably chronological order; where does it all begin & all that jazz

okay SO

buncha guys are on a train to Quesadilla Island. there is a Huge Wall in the middle of the island. a duck greets them and says "whatever you do don't press the big red button". they press the big red button. the wall Crumbles. yay! duck comes back and says "wtf now you Can Never Leave The Island". also theres a ton of like ruins/old crusty buildings on the island and their first task was to restore electricity so like. there probably Used To Be People Here.

then! new Building appears! duck says "you idiots woke up a dragon and it flew away. now you gotta take care of her eggs". new building turns out to be an adoption center!! there are two parents per egg and each parent has to be from a different language (at the time it was only spanish and english). i forget who the parents were (this was long before i was In The Fandom) but essentially government assigned gay marriage. anyway they have to take care of the eggs and keep them happy and stuff so they don't Die

also there's a guy named cucurucho who's like one of the top federation guys. hes a bitch. then theres another cucurucho (osito bimbo) whos not a bitch. he appears out of nowhere and speaks in like pre generated text to speech voice lines and also writes and gives people books to communicate

also! an enemy is made called The Code or the Binary Entity! it's. well. exactly what it sounds like. a floating mess of ones and zeroes in black and green. and it is Violent and attacks the eggs

spoiler. some of the eggs die. its very sad. there is conflict. i am going to skip to where i joined the fandom because i don't know too much about the Middle Parts

so the eggs go missing. horrible awful tragedy. everyone is upset (and begins to go Insane). forever is so angry and sad he goes and pretty much attacks cucurucho. he then gets drugged on Happy Pills and becomes an absolute weirdo. pac goes and gets kidnapped/drugged on purpose and finds a Cure. yay! the get the leftover Happy Pills and put them in a very secure safe. it is not very secure. bbh immediately steals the pills just to prove that he could. the safe is later reinforced further. also when forever was detoxing he screamed that cucurucho told him that the eggs weren't kidnapped they ran away because of an Even Worse Danger. which some of the islanders believe and some dont

bbh does not buy it and kidnaps a federation worker who he named ron and we later found out is WB011. the workers dont get names and there are tiers D-A, d is the lowest A is the highest. also bbh has fully lost all the color on his skin and is torturing himself with soul vultures and is now covered in his own corrupted blood and torn clothes. hes also canonically completely colorblind

while this is happening tubbo is flirting with fred, another federation worker (WA02). so he's a fed worker defender 100%.

tubbo breaks into fred's office and finds two books: one saying bbh is suspicious and possibly dangerous and advising workers to avoid him. then next book says worker WB011 has not clocked in or out of work for several days and is missing. he draws the conclusion that bbh has kidnapped WB011.

unfortunately bbh had some sort of psychotic episode and. um. ate ron.

also tubbo, slimescicle and. fuck i forget the third person. got coordinates from a chest surrounded by black concrete. each of them had one of the 3 coordinates (x, y, and z) and it took them like 45 minutes to connect the dots. they are led to the entrance of a Maze. when they get through the maze they find a circular room with a wheel numbered 1-8 in roman numerals, surrounded by the eggs signature belongings. obviously they all Freak Out and try to find a way to get in. tubbo enderpearls through the barriers and spins the wheel. lava pours down from everywhere. rip

a little later everyone goes in the maze and finds a room thats like some sort of control room with a big red button. when they press it theres a dialogue that said "i think i found something about the eggs disappearance. lets continue this conversation on the main channel"

at some point they find the circular room again and it has the wheel again but this time the only egg belonging is chayenne's rubber ducky. strange.

more black concrete keeps appearing, then a huge alien structure appears. THEN. they find a message on black concrete FROM THE EGGS!!! wherever they are they can't get back and can only send one message at a time. two more alien structures end up appearing.

tubbo digs a giant hole with a world eater that bbh and aypierre hate so he names it the controversial hole.

bbh is slowly testing everyone on the island to see who he can trust and who he can't, and is implying to everyone that he will burn the world down and kill everyone to get the eggs back. we support his wrongs

philza gets kidnapped and put in a bird house for like a week, thinks it's a bad dream and can't really remember what happened.

bagi arrives with nothing but a frying pan and determination. she somehow has the code for the main channel, but they don't know what to input the code in to make it work.

etoiles now has a love/hate relationship with the codes and enjoys fighting them for fun. he kills one and the only thing it drops are its sword, shield, and a book saying "protect". he takes that to mean protect everyone on the island.

at this point everyone is incredibly suspicious of everyone else btw.

also yesterday bagi told fred that tubbo was in love with him and this morning tubbo got a letter from fred rejecting him and signed it "WA02". my ship has crashed and burned i'm so sad. he has also heavily implied he will Ruin Bagi for this

i definitely missed things but this is a lot of the gist of it i think !

[caliburn-the-sword]

finished reading scarlet; last thoughts and reactions and ponderings

was about to be like "ew wtf did not want r*pe in MY y/a book" AND THEN HE SLIPPED HER AN I.D. TO ESCAPE

thorne is SO real for only being concerned about his jacket despite human bites being very dangerous lol

why are these werewolves acting like vamps

it's kind of nice how cool thorne is with lunars with all the lunar hate there is - i remember when reading cinder being apalled about how she generalised them all as corrupt

YES SCARLET KNOWS SHE KNOWS NOW

NO NOT GRANNY I'M LITERALLY IN STUDY PERIOD RN I CAN'T CRY (note: i managed not to cry in study period but god my eyes burned for a while lmao)

tf i thought wolf was just being possessive in like a protective way against ran and not just a plain old possessive way. he's honestly making me nervous rn like goodness i can literally feel scarlet's fear rn. STOP WITH YOUR I CAN FIX HIM DISEASE AND RUN (note: okay he got brain fucky wucky by mind control so this isn't him)

HOLY SHIT THEY'RE ALL FINALLY MEETING I'M FROTHING AT THE MOUTH

i think kai is going delulu. i bet his office isn't bugged and he's got a spy. literally since cinder my money has been on torin. but maybe huy

omg kai's recognition of cinder's sacrifice by going to the ball <3

gotta agree with everything cinder's saying about kai's marriage because it's everything i've been thinking since kai decided to marry levana. i wish he would see how it's a bandaid for a stab wound. he's barely fixing a short term problem, which is gonna have the same long term problem regardless

the girls (all current pov characters) ARE FIGHTING. not mad tho because i'm a messy bitch who lives for drama <3

"She'd had the bridge built for herself out of very special glass, so that she could watch (...) all without being observed herself" levana YOU MEAN A TWO WAY MIRROR??? don't go acting all superior you're not special

from what wolf has described of his Tragic Backstory there is NO way he ISN'T a virgin. i'm so sorry that was my only takeaway but i'm trying to distract myself

"We met less than a week ago and in that time I've done nothing but lie and cheat and betray you" FKSDHFSDK sounds JUST like ouat rumpelstiltskin and yet he's STILL healthier than him and not toxic LMAO

wait did wolf need to pretend betray scarlet without her knowing instead of just making THAT the plan because those supersoldiers can smell hormones?? i bet they can. i reckon he needed her to feel REAL fear (note: now that i think about it it's probably just the bioelectricity crap but also ONLY the thaumaturge would be able to detect that???)

if i keep having to read "alpha female" with my own two eyes, i'm going to need bleach. marissa meyer you owe me financial compensation for the psychological distress i've been caused. 3 is in fact 4 times too many. it is a crime that it was ever thought into existence

predictions for cress

didn't do this last time between cinder and scarlet but figured it would be fun!! you guys get to silently laugh about how wrong i am, no spoilers

first off, doc erland's place in africa becomes the home base and cinder starts her training

someone tries to recreate garan's device since it will be useful for the rebellion - could be a joint effort between cinder and cress since they have the hardware and software down respectively. idk who's gonna fill the last role of like. bio stuff and the surgeries tho but we'll see

MORE THORNE BACKSTORY

definitely more wolf pov chapters now that marissa no longer needs to make him dodgy

cress is at least a LITTLE bit delulu wackers bonkers cray z lost her marbles etc etc from being so isolated for so long. i would LOVE to get into that mindset and character voice. would make for a very interesting pov

on reading the blurb:

i'm REALLY fucking dumb it finally occurred to me that in rapunzel the hero falls from the tower and gets blinded by thorns. so that tells me exactly who carswell thorne is (rip to when i thought he was the prince from sleeping beauty cause that's embarrassing). i wonder if he gets ejected into space from the satellite and his eyeballs freeze out of his sockets or something

i wonder WHY cress would be locked up by the queen BEFORE she was even able to hack since she wouldn't have been useful then. my first thought was that glamour doesn't work on her like with shells but she's not a shell herself but that wouldn't make sense because the thaumaturges seemed surprised by cinder and michelle benoit so it can't be that. for the sake of my running joke of every fairy tale character either being related or knowing each other, i'm just gonna pin it down to her being somewhere in the family tree and leave it at that

can these people STOP getting separated from each other?? i can't handle it. from the blurb it seems like the boys got cut off from the girls??? and then kai is also separated from all of them lol. this is a prediction only in the sense that i'm trying to guess who's getting separated from who. i think it would tie well into separating everyone from their love interest like poor cinder

i wonder if this will be the book that we meet princess winter since with royal etiquette and all that her presence will p r o b a b l y be required during all them wedding preparations and what not

@eddisfargo @francforever @winterrhayle @winterpinetrees

[novadeathstar]

Dungeons and Daddies season 2 spoilers!!!

I've been on a repeat of the series this is like my 3 time around.

Season 2 really is giving the Cathulu series by how gruesome it is, obviously.

The fact however, is that these kids are cannonically gen z.

Gen z who have never once got to experience a "decent America" since ever.

These kids have to brave it on their own, what Mr. Another Burch said at the end of season 2 ep 13, "Welcome to adulthood." After realizing the horrible truth of their (not)world.

I'm not sure if that was the plan but these kids keep getting their asses whooped. They make their mistakes because theyre kids but because they have so many resources they see the mistakes their parents make. (Maybe because they are kids but they also have so much hope to do better despite their meanie dad's. [Not all of them<Shout out MARCO> love that dad]

I loved Grant, Terry Jr., Lark, Sparrow and Nick as kids, but they were kids before the harsh realities of life and rolls of the die.

Seeing that the kids are always going against their parents' decisions, the parents just not being good people in general and the kids having to become said adults in high school. (I don't know about you all but when I was 18, i can confidently say I was not an adult, it's such a social construct<personally I'm 24>)

Them being hot messes is the byproduct of circumstances out of their control. I can't blame them, I can't hate them, (Maybe lark and/or sparrow cause they're an unnecessary meanie, Normal is perfect<they need therapy on god>)

and I'm sure that's something that a lot of kids are feeling nowadays. An alienation between the child and parent.

That awkward transition of your parents looking at you as the same child but you needing to be pushed out of the nest and learn to become who you are as a person.

(Sidenote: don't get me started on the Avengers shot they got when they got the moms to come in at the end of season 1.)

I just think it's cool 👉👈

I need more mutals for dndads

[cosmical-flowers]

(@chiamew) LETS YAP ABOUT MY ENSTARS X BLUE LOCK AU BECAUSE WHY NOT YIPPEE!!! (Spoilers for Blue Lock up to ch 40)

okay this au is all over the place but I do have some character placements.

To start with Team Z, I have a feeling Aira would be Isagi for some reason, just vibes. I could honestly see Aira with very good spatial awareness. (You also have both of them being very hard working and motivated towards their goal).

Ibara would be Kuon 100%. I know he would sell out information for his team to boost himself if given the chance.

Hiiro would be Bachira because they are both very silly. Him also having a lot of belief in Aira as well would also be part of it.

Tatsumi would be Chigiri because of his injury. (To yap about the manga a bit, the part in book 3 where Chigiri basically stopped being afraid of tearing his ACL again and basically “unlocked” his leg WAS SO COOL THE FIRST TIME I READ IT AHHHH)

Chiaki would be Kunigami because their belief of being a hero (But it would be slightly different in the AU I guess)

Leo would be Naruhaya because of his playful personality and caring about others. Im thinking Madara would be Gagamaru in this au as well because of that.

Stepping away from Team Z for a bit, Mao would be Reo and Ritsu would be Nagi. I think in this AU they would split apart more though and not be as close as friends.

The Wanima twins would be Hinata and Yuta (obviously), with Hinata being Keisuke and Yuta being Junichi.

The other 2 top scorers for the teams (Niko and Barou) also have a place in the au! Niko would probably be Shinobu because of him controling Team Y from the shadows and how Shinobu is used to being in the shadows. Plus, they both have hair covering their eye/eyes.

I dont have a strong idea on who Baoru would be. (Does Aira have any enemies??? Or like, people who don’t believe in him??? Someone inform me eaughhh)

OKEY THATS IT FOR NOW TEE HEE FEEL FREE TO ASK ME MORE ABOUT IT (has only read the first selection)

Take also a character list I found online :3

[earthstellar]

Watching Earthspark Eps 11 - 18!

So today was miserable on the Saturday shift so I’m going to be getting gradually absolutely shithouse drunk and watching Earthspark. All of the new episodes!!!  

This is my first look at all of the episodes, so these are my initial takes! 

I have not eaten today as I have been on shift, so I am likely to be genuinely drunk by the end of this, but I am taking actual notes here. 

Commentary as I go below, tagging for spoilers with every tag I know of just in case! 

Episode: 11 // Beers: 2 

Is the white woman evil? I’m going to say yes, because it sure seems like it. 

I love the idea that everyone has the capacity to experience an alt-mode slightly differently; It is dependent on the individual’s perspective, what their experience is in a changed form. 

Absolutely love that. 

Also, is this the first time we’ve seen what a bot’s experience can be, while in non-root mode? I think so! Although this seems to be specific to her? but we’ll see

The implication that alt-modes can be controlled by external forces is extremely upsetting. 

Give me a moment to be extremely old, but I remember when the hottest animation around was fucking Reboot, lmao. This show looks great!! 

Oh shit, it was the internet!!! Gen Z all star!!! This show makes me feel so old but also I like that there’s more of a Gen Z feel to the youngin’s here, that’s 100% appropriate and I like it. It seems like the writing is tonally on point for the target demographic and below, which makes sense. 

In a way it reminds me a bit of Ghost in the Shell, the way there’s this 3D space to navigate The Net. 

Uh oh, an internet meme reference which is 15 years out of date. Maybe I spoke too soon? 

An alligator alt-mode! I’m from Florida so this isn’t scary to me lmao, but hell yeah Beastformers!!! Fuck yes!!! 

That flat ass landing for Soundwave. lmao just flat on the back! Fuck. 

Evil white woman!!! uh oh

Yay, the family! I still really struggle with the family-intensive emphasis of this whole show so far, but I acknowledge that it’s because my own family is completely fucked up so all of these morals fall very short for me, personally. I do like that there’s a lot of focus on being together and achieving things as a collective unit of people, though. :) 

I love Nightshade. Not just saying this because I also don’t believe in gender, but just in general, I love Nightshade. 

This bitch is a living router!!! Yes!!! God, yes!!! 

Episode: 12 // Beers: 3 

How do they clean under the glove? Is the glove just a part of their hand? How integrated is it? 

Home movies, fuck yes. 

Anxiety son trying to choose his alt-mode reminds me a lot of 12 year old me trying to choose my gender. Relatable. 10/10 

What a cute opening!!!! I don’t have siblings but is this what it’s like sometimes? Holy shit I was a lonely kid LMAO 

I love Jawbreaker a lot. 

Dot’s hairtie looks a lot like a FedEx parcel rubberband. Not hating on it, I’m just saying. 

Oh shit this is going to be a home movie episode! YES YES YES 

This reminds me of Rewind doing interviews of the Lost Light crew, I’m gonna fucking cry over the most basic shit lmaoooo

WiFi Queen watching her stories. PLAY TELEMUNDO 

Jawbreaker is my son nobody fuck with him ever

oh no creative differences 

WiFi Queen leave my son alone, no no no no 

This reminds me way too much of all the videos teenagers made back in the day of Kingdom Hearts keyblade fights in Target parking lots and it’s truly, truly embarrassing but also very much a vibe 

 ARACHNAMECHS YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION 

calm down Elita-One

Megatron like “when’s your fucking boyfriend gonna get here” lmao 

MEGATRON INTERVIEW LET’S FUCKING GO 

OH SHIT HISTORY LESSON

NO NO NO WIFI QUEEN STOP STOP STOP YOU ARE DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO SET OFF PTSD STOP 

hashtag her name is hashtag

oh god he’s explaining his fucking tilt-rotor alt mode, I already made a post about why the alt mode is inherently funny but tl;dr these things suck IRL :( 

oh shit are we getting an Elita-1 workout tape 

this is kinda shitty of Elita actually, maybe slow down for the kid??? IDK

ok it’s nice now <3 

oh shit!!! self-discovery!!! 

uh oh foreshadowing that this video definitely won’t be just for him :(  

the handling on that big ass van is not good, which makes sense 

sibling themed lesson, not surprising-- seems like almost every episode so far in some way or another. not complaining, it’s just something I really can’t relate to personally at all so I’m naturally a bit disconnected 

cute, edit with the scissors :’) 

is this what it’s like to have a family that loves you? like they’re supportive and shit? that’s real????? that can happen? lol my family is so fucked up idk this is actually depressing me but it’s fine I like the show 

Episode: 13 // Beers: 3 

god I love Jawbreaker 

Nightshade!! oh shit. I love them too

I LOVE Nightshade. lmao 

Nightshade is me. I also do not want to go Do The Thing. I want to Do Some Bullshit. 

Loner child!! Yes!!! They made a character for those of us that are only children lmao

CEMETERY YES YES YES 

oh fuck are they about to learn about death 

YES YES YES YES SPIDERS YES 

YES HOLY SHIT YES TARANTULAS YES YES YES YES YES 

PROTOFORM

UNAFFILIATED 

SUFFICIENTLY NON-THREATENING 

MOTHERFUCKER YES

PRONOUN INTRODUCTION YES

YES!!!! FUCK YES

HOLY SHIT 

I’M SO QUEER THIS IS THE BEST EPISODE OF ANYTHING EVER 

“YOU HAVE A MISSED CONNECTION” DON’T TELL HIM PROWL CALLED, STOP WHILE YOU’RE AHEAD 

did this goggle wearing asshole just call them an “it”? did they ever say they used it pronouns? I might just be drunk I’ll have to rewatch later but uhhh

Nightshade is my favourite, but so is Tarantulas 

IS HIS HOLOFORM DALE GRIBBLE FROM KING OF THE HILL WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON

HOLOFORMS!!!! 

FUCK ME THIS IS GREAT

I LOVE TARANTULAS I LOVE HIM

IT’S SORT OF UPSETTING HOW MUCH I FEEL HIM RN BUT YOU KNOW WHAT FUCK IT THIS WHOLE EPISODE IS SO REAL FOR EXISTING 

80S MUSIC SCIENCE MONTAGE YES YES YES 

THEY’RE GIVING ME EVERYTHING!!! 

oh no is it gonna take a turn now 

“I chose to survive” FUCKING MOOD

no motherfucker he will NOT lose another child!!!! 

YES DOT WITH THE REAL TALK <3 LOVE HER 

god dammit! this is my favourite episode of this whole show so far 

ha ha oh shit spider time!! 

PARENT THEFT 

OH MY GOD WE’RE DOING IT 

I’VE ENTERED SICKO MODE

unsupervised only child behaviour, I can finally relate to something in this show!!! god bless!!! 

PARTNER!! YES!! 

honestly I get that it’s the Maltos so he’s wrong on this occasion but in general I am fully on board with Tarantulas at the moment, GHOST is some bullshit 

BEASTMODE 

BEASTMODE!!! FUCK YEAH FUCK YES HOLY SHIT 

Tarantulas has a desire to adopt so strong that he’s wrongly evaluating the current situation, this was entirely predictable, if you know then you know lmao

OH FUCK I LOVE NIGHTSHADE’S NEW LOOK

HELL YEAH 

fuck off Bumblebee 

yeah I fucking love Nightshade’s new look, this RULES

YEAH TARANTULAS REDEMPTION ARC YES YES YES YES YES YES YES 

FUCK GHOST I HATE GHOST 

they’re just OK with this shit? what the fuck? I mean ok but also no it isn’t, what the fuck? 

CREDITS, FUCK 

THIS WAS THE BEST EPISODE. THIS WAS THE BEST ONE. 

Episode: 14 // Beers: 3 

oh fuck GHOST

had to pause to make some bagels at this point, lox and a schmear, hell yeah

god I love Nightshade’s new look so much

hate that WiFi Queen got stuck with a GHOST alt-mode, GHOST sucks so bad I hate them so much holy shit :( she deserves better but also I understand the Call of the WiFi 

Schloder you asshole 

lmao The Most Dad 

the tea kettle is shaped like Bumblebee lmao, wait why is Schloder fondling it like his dick, I don’t like this 

that’s not how lenses work 

it’s OK Nightshade, I can’t do math either 

oh shit is it gonna be Blurr, oh shit oh fuck 

god the texture on Dot’s hair is so good

BREAKDOWN OHHH SHITTTT

STUNTICONS!!! 

stupid deal, of course. there’s no plot without it 

is this the Big Sister Syndrome I have heard so much about 

oh shit evil white woman is back!!! Croft? 

the three dipshit hipster GHOST members, lol 

YEAHHHHH DOT 

fuck, the white woman strikes again 

YEAH FUCK UP GHOST 

oh shit 

BREAKDOWN FUCK YEAH

LMAO the license plate in Human Language too, fuck yeah, GHOST sucks 

evil white woman!!! 

holy shit that ruled also FEELINGS

FUCK GHOST 

WHY IS EVERYONE OK WITH GHOST???? FUCK GHOST 

this whole thing took 10 hours? damn 

Episode: 15 /// Beers: 3 

LOVE the discussion about which prosthetic to use <3 

oh shit it’s a Mother’s Day episode

this is gonna be hard, I might have to punk out on this one for Fucked Up Family Reasons 

love Nightshade <3 also hell yeah owl claws!! 

ha ha oh shit a bear! FUCK

what the fuck happened with her prosthetic what bullshit is this 

my mom used to be a ranger this sucks so bad like my relationship with my mom is NOT GOOD so this show is already hard to watch lmao but holy shit 

super worms? fucking GHOST doing bullshit in the woods

the dial up sound L M A O 

the way WiFi Queen says “picnic basket” is the same cadence famously used by Yogi Bear, for those who aren’t old as fuck and/or have never seen that show before 

THE BEAR IS SATAN

I love Large Son 

FUNGUS BEAR FUNGUS BEAR TOXIC WORM BEAR

oh shit Nightshade cruise mode!! 

what the fuck the fungus bear became a new bear

DISPERSE THE GOO

I will talk a lot about the prosthesis lesson at a later date, 10/10 I like seeing this discussed on a show for kids 

evil white woman is shaping up to be the Main Villain here 

Episode: 16 // Beers: 4 

oh fuck a flashback

oh fuck!!! 

man it sucks to watch kids act out war. like yeah I know this is fiction but it’s also real and it sucks

looks like they finally set off PTSD in Megatron, way to go kiddos :( if I triggered my dad’s PTSD by playing with a ball or something I had the shit whipped out of me, so I hope the kids can fucking run because it’s not their fault anymore than it was mine IRL but I can feel the sting, oh nooo

Scottish Megatron was a great choice 

HISTORY LESSON LET’S FUCKIN GO

HISTORY LESSON FROM MEGATRON LET’S GO FUCK YEAH

man this episode is actually already setting off my own PTSD!! nothing like family themed shows to really point out how fucked my own family is. gonna need more beers!!! 

THE BLUE FLOWERS alright yeah this is gonna fuck me up real bad

hold on I’m getting another beer 

shut the fuck up, kids-- IDK I know this is my own family trauma from war speaking here, but I would have absolutely had the fucking shit slapped out of me if I said or did anything during War Story Time. I’m like terrified they’re going to start getting beat for real in a minute here if they keep saying dumb shit :( 

megatron has been patient so far but holy shit kids shut the fuck up 

that having been said I am glad Megatron is better with kids than any of my family members lmao it’s not like I want them to get hit or anything, I’m just seriously on edge because I absolutely got traumatised when I like, breathed when my mom or dad was doing PTSD time and this feels like where that is going 

“what do you know of the all spark” GET ‘EM MEGS, GET ‘EM WITH KNOWLEDGE 

IDK how I feel about Dot alone being Meg’s turning point but we’ll see where this goes

very TFP-like, with restoration of Cybertron being the ultimate goal

Scots Meg, love it when the Scots comes through. shoulda just let the VA go full Scottish, that would rule

that having been said, oh fuck Shockwave! 

I like his design, 50% Cyberverse, 50% G1.

OLD FRIEND LINE I’M LOSING MY MIND

really uncomfortable how much this reminds me of a couple war memorials I’ve been to IRL, Do Not Like but I understand they were going for this exact association it just sucks for what are probably obvious reasons 

nobody bothered to secure Shockwave’s tube? ever? 

“lower class cy-brids” oh FUCK 

IT WAS A CLASS WAR, IDW/TFP influenced origin semi-confirmed for this continuity as well??? 

“we have just enough energon in us for those things to hurt” -- interesting 

I love that the park insignia is a human fist grabbing a Cybertronian finger in a “handshake” 

don’t spew centrist bullshit Megatron but war fucks with everyone’s heads so I don’t blame you. 

although yes “don’t do leftist infighting” is very good advice, he’s not wrong about that. 

Episode: 17 // Beers: 5 

what the fuck is this underground dog fighting pit Cybertronian battle arena gladiatorial contest bullshit right the fuck here 

ARE THEY IN FUCKING PHILLY 

THEY ARE!!! THEY’RE IN FUCKING PHILLY 

SHOUT OUT TO ALLEGHENY COUNTY!!!! 

what weakass drumline is this, come on there are buskers better than this 

WHERE’S GRITTY

PLEASE GRITTY

everyone is rude in Philly, these kids don’t know shit 

also “city mileage” is literally going nowhere because traffic isn’t moving LMAO

oh shit a hipster is about to get Bad Timed

OH FUCK YEAH RED EYE OWL SUPERHERO TIME

YESSSSS OUR THEY/THEM HERO YES YES YES YES YES

no honey don’t breathe in the train vent air, you’re breathing in so much pollution, noooo

they’re encountering a white woman in the wild, oh no 

OH NO THE WHITE WOMAN IS ENTICING THEM TO JOIN A PIT FIGHT

DON’T LISTEN TO STRANGE WHITE WOMEN DON’T DO IT, NO 

god dammit! 

none of the Philly people have good Philly voices but I expected this 

NO SKATEPARK HAS AN AMERICAN FLAG ON IT THAT ISN’T VANADALISED, I CALL BULLSHIT IMMEDIATELY 

Twitch is fucking up her paint so bad right now 

fucked up graffiti, oh no :( 

SHE/THEY PINS ON THE BACKPACK HELL YEAHHHHH

YEAHHH NIGHTSHADE CALLED IT OUT 

QUEERS UNITE

YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH

I LOVE THIS SCENE SO MUCH

YESSSSSSSSSSS NON-BINARY DISCUSSION 

YEAH YEAH YEAH FUCK YEAH 

please god have a trans man on this show someday, please god 

white woman quoting bugs bunny lmao fuck off 

GUITAR CHILD IS RUNNING A PIT RING??? 

SOUNDWAVE COME GET YOUR KIDS

ha ha Bumblebee’s like what the fuck “we just wanted to see wrestling” LOL 

lmao staged fight let’s go, WWE back in the late 90s early 2000s energy for real

are they gonna do the Hulk Hogan Mr. America lie detector test thing LMAOOOO

I like that the arena is made up of fucked up old subway cars though, that’s real Philly energy tbh 

GRIMLOCK HA HAAAA GET FUCKED

no memory? also reference to IDW 1 Grimlock losing memory? idk I just want there to be as much IDW 1 in this as possible tbh 

also fucking LOL Lazerbeak is doing amazing as the announcer 

Mandroid!! 

wait the mind control eyes were purple here and the bear with the fucked up fungus tentacle worm situation also had purple eyes but that was from the GHOST shit so I’m calling it now, the Mandroid shit and the GHOST shit is the exact same shit 

lmao uh oh, fuck them humans

interesting how they said “we changed you” and he instantly said “you didn’t ruin anything”, uhhh not quite the same thing but also I’m drunk and this is a child character talking so I will revisit this later if need be

Stevie fucking sucks, very true, good lesson: friends that suck are not actually friends

OH SHIT REAL MISSION TIME IN PHILLY LET’S GO

I love that fucking owl alt mode so much, jesus christ

Episode: 18 // Beers: 5

humans are fucking shitty

very similar reveal shot to the shot in TFP where Ratchet and Optimus are looking around in the plague ship, 10/10 love it 

oh fuck, Brawl’s toast

OH FUCK NICE SAVE LARGE SON

this scene looks great

Mandroid’s looking fucked up!

oh shit, Bot Brawls, there’s a name for it. and it’s just normal human bullshit, not related to Mandroid. yeah, that checks out. SIGH

EXTREMELY ANIME SHOT OF MANDROID 

holy shit those cables really jammed in there

they made one of the worms from Tremors into a giant spider worm (not a sexy Tarantulas spider worm, like a bad one) 

oh shit Hashtag’s mind controlled 

ha ha holy fuck she just rocked Thrash

MENTAL BATTLE ZONE YEAHHH

this is fucked!!! 

ha ha it’s fucking with Teslas, that kinda rules 

HA HA YES IT’S ALL CARS WITH WIFI SHIT INVOLVED, YEAH I KNEW I DIDN’T TRUST THAT SHIT!!! I WAS RIGHT!!! THANKS FOR VALIDATING ME

can’t beat the internet, y’all are fucked pretty bad right now 

obligatory “I know you’re in there” line 

if the power of family is what defeats a microchip in this episode I’m going to be so fucking pissed off l m a o

I really wish this show would stop making me feel bad for having a shitty family at literally every opportunity, it really is sort of overbearing, but I’m also drunk right now so maybe I’m just being overly sensitive, but what about kids watching this with shitty families? like dude this is so genuinely painful 

god fucking dammit 

the power of family is what did it 

I mean good, I guess, but also this just makes me feel like such shit lmaooo

also I’m an only child so I mean IDK what the fuck sibling love is LOL

if I took shots for every time they said the word “family” I’d be dead within 15 minutes, guaranteed

the little girl is the only one with any common sense lmao, I am too drunk to remember her name, I still have not eaten all day -- wait I lied I had 2 bagels

confirmed: Bot Brawls are the only option for Decepticons, it’s literally just a new version of gladiatorial battles on Cybertron (assuming that was also a thing in this continuity, seems likely but I don’t think they’ve mentioned it yet) 

fucking bummer 

I wouldn’t be laughing at a drained Bumblebee passing the fuck out but that’s just me, also apparently Cybertronians can snore despite having vents and no airways, maybe that’s different here for some reason, IDK

it could also be Bumblebee actively trying to put them at ease with the last bit of his energy in a subtle way as the Terrans/kids might not understand Cybertronian anatomy so this might not register to them as being weird, which is the option I prefer but this is just me thinking out loud 

EVIL WHITE WOMAN!!! I TOLD YOU THE WHITE WOMAN WOULD BE THE REAL ENEMY!!!!! I TOLD YOU!!!!! 

oh fuck she’s the pit fight organiser, because of course she is

OH SHIT ENERGON PATCHES. Mandroid’s reaction to it is a lot like TFP Megatron’s reaction to dark energon, hmmmm

“they’re all disposable” wow fuck you lady 

also the shithead kid learned a lesson and fixed the graffiti, good 

great ending frame on a deranged Mandroid

ALRIGHT SO THAT’S IT

I’m going to sleep now, will re-watch all of this sober once I have the time, just desperately wanted to see Tarantulas tbh LMAO and I do not regret it!! 

[rosaacicularis]

they’re canadian but they still have their accents so they argue about how to say z and talk about how warm it feels in -10 celsius weather . scar takes off his toque and grian proceeds to tease his awful hat hair while his glasses literally start condensing from the cold air

scar watched a bunch of american tv shows and grian almost exclusively watched winnie the pooh and peppa pig and that’s why they have the accents they do <3<3 they wear t-shirts and shorts when it’s -14°C. the get excited about -5°C in march <3<3 grian has a habit of stealing scars toques even when scar buys them matching ones <3<3

they remind each other to plug in their vehicles when it goes below -20°C. scar knows how to calculate celsius into fahrenheit very quickly and always does it to annoy grian. grian to combat this, almost always says the temperature in either kelvin or rankine <3<3

they both make fun of the province of quebec because it is their right as canadian citizens and have alberta rat control propaganda posters on their wall. they once took a road trip through saskatchewan just to make sure it was still flat (spoiler alert, it was). they made sure to gas up on alberta’s side of lloydminster so that it was cheaper <3<3

they go to the rocky mountains every now and then, not because they like mountains but because they want to see if they can win a fight against a mountain goat (spoiler alert, they cannot). they have never encountered one but one time the saw a moose and finally had a shred of common sense and hid in a bush until it was safe and clear <3<3

scar wants a pet polar bear, grian tries to tell him how dangerous it is. they go to churchill, manitoba (the polar bear capital of the world) to see an actual polar bear. this only spurs scar on <3<3

[cf56]

My thoughts on episode 10

SPOILERS for season 3, episode 10 of the Animaniacs reboot

So that's great. I took two hours to write this entire review, and then with one press of control + Z, it was completely gone. Great site Tumblr. Really works as intended.

I was in a better mood, but having to rewrite this ENTIRE thing sucks so badly. I try to give my genuine thoughts as I go, and it's impossible to replicate that on the second try. I want to scream. Why can't this week just go right?

So now you're getting a negative opening for what was a super positive review. I seriously want to punch a wall. A website meant for long posts doesn't have an editor designed for them. That's just great.

I can't rewrite that whole thing. Just have a collection of screenshots and some jumbled thoughts.

I'm sorry for Pinky and the Brain fans that their final showing was so short. I didn't like Brain talking about the "endlessly repetitive formulaic rebooted franchise that relies on just a handful of tired characters." You can say it's the writers taking a shot at themselves, but it really isn't. It's not their show. They didn't create the characters. Combined with the ending, it just feels a little disrespectful to the people who put their heart and soul into creating this show in the first place, and to the fans who genuinely love these characters.

Look at them being silly!

I can't gush enough about the song. Such cute animation, such powerful music!

I teared up while listening to it this time. I'll probably do the same on every future watch.

I liked that Wakko was right about everything and had the idea that saved the day. The Warners literally saved the world and they'll still be treated like garbage by everyone around them.

The Joe segment was funny, especially the zoom out at the end. I liked hearing "Waltzing Matilda" in the background.

Dot was so cute wanting to go on the teacups, just being infatuated with the idea of spinning around in a little teacup!

This segment is the epitome of "this is my life now."

Poor Wakko has the worst luck. The SAME CLOWN just happened to be at this carnival? At least we know he got down from Mars.

I thought it was weird to have two cataclysmic endings for the reboot six minutes apart from each other. Although they say this sketch was written for season 1, I find it really hard to believe that this wasn't originally meant to end the season/reboot, especially with Dot's quip at the end. I'm not sure I would want this to be the ending, though. It would have sucked if the Warners were the ones who explicitly ended their universe and killed everyone inside. That would have proven everyone right about their destructive nature all along.

I thought this was a refreshing segment. Slappy sounded and looked great. Like I expected, it was short and there was no Skippy, but I'm happy it exists. I was surprised and happy to see that they got Sherri Stoner to return for work on the reboot.

I liked how Everyday Safety was just a never-ending cascade of total nonsense.

The Council is not pleased.

I thought Wakko's bottle song was catchy. I liked that it actually sounded like Wakko blowing. I wonder if they got Jess to do that for real in the studio?

And the ending. I wrote four paragraphs about it, and it sucks so bad because I thought I made my points quite well. Let me try again.

I understand the metaphor with the abrupt and sudden ending. I know the asteroid is meant to represent Hulu. I just don't think they should have pushed their bitter disappointment with the show ending directly onto us. They should have thought it through a lot better.

If they were going to go doom and gloom, which they shouldn't have, they should've at least given the ending some emotional weight. How am I supposed to feel anything when the characters themselves don't show any reaction to their unexpected, oncoming violent deaths? I'm not saying it should have been super depressing with crying and begging. They just should have given a genuine reaction instead of doing business as usual. The closest set of siblings in the world is about to go out in a fiery blaze, and they're not even touching each other. They're just standing near each other awkwardly. Have them embrace and accept their death with a positive remark about how it was all worth it. That would at least give some closure.

What they should have done, if I could rewrite it from scratch, is give us a satisfying, happy ending. Show the Warners finally earning their freedom from the tower after 90 years. Maybe have them gaze at the sunset together, mirroring how the sun rose at the very beginning of the reboot. Even if they didn't have time to animate new scenery for something like that, anything would have been better for this. This ending just feels empty. It lacks any emotion besides pure shock and it feels like an F you to everyone who cares about the show. The creators might have intended that F you to feel like it was coming from Hulu, but Hulu didn't write this scene. The reboot writers did, and they had the power to leave us with something better. This could be the last Animaniacs we ever see.

I'm at least happy they attempted an ending. The original didn't have one at all. It just sucks that Animaniacs had to end unexpectedly and unsatisfyingly both times it's been suddenly cancelled. The reboot was supposed to fix that.

This was perhaps the most entertaining episode of the season for me. It has one of the greatest Animaniacs songs ever, maybe the best song of the season, I'm still not sure. I still love The Island of Dr. Warneau a lot, so I'm giving this episode a solid second place in my final ranking for the season.

Episode 6

Episode 10

Episode 3

Episode 9

Episode 7

Episode 4

Episode 2

Episode 1

Episode 5

Episode 8

That means that the majority of episodes this season are episodes I would consider really good. The top 4 are all episodes I would consider really great. I'll give my thoughts on the season as a whole in my collective season 3 review, but I'll need a few more days before I start writing that. I need some time to collect myself and reflect.

I'm sorry for how this review turned out. The first version felt a lot more positive, because in this attempt I just wanted to express my more well-developed thoughts, which happened to be criticisms. I liked this episode a lot. I just so desperately wish I hadn't lost that first version. It only adds to the most heavily conflicting mix of emotions I've ever felt in one week. I was feeling good, and now I'm knocked down again. I'm sorry to be the one putting so much negativity into the fandom. I want this to be a positive place for all. If I wasn't able to express my emotions here, though, I wouldn't be able to deal with them at all. So thanks to those that have been listening.

I encourage you to add to the discussion of this episode if you want. If you're from the future, please don't say anything about any of the episodes that come after this ;)

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[ladyravenjadethe2nd]

Spoilers for Part 3 of If Wishes were Kisses

So I've chosen to be funny with the title.

Isekai Making: Milluki's Isekai Academia: That time I was reincarnated into an anime too late to use my 27 step plan for world domination!

Illumi will be 7 when Milluki is born.

Yep we are getting all the Zoldycks from Momo and Shouto although Shouto only carries the one.

The exact genre is Satire and I will explain that more in a minute. Frist lets breck down the build up to Milluki's birth.

Momo and Shouto finally get together. They have been in love, but not saying it for awhile, but a near death experience causes them to fall into bed together.

They are super happy about it, but Illumi who knows when Milluki should be born has been replacing Momo's birth control pills with fakes.

Now Momo's body is weird. She can pull a cannon out of her stomach and barley look like she's lost weight. Certainly her boob size never goes down so I head cannon that fats works weirdly on her. I don't think she would show much.

So she doesn't notice right away, but she does do the responsible thing and take a test after missing a few periods even though she thinks it's stress.

Her and Shouto are hesitantly happy about it. Work is calmer. Illumi is calmer and oddly thrilled about having a sibling so it should be fine right?

They got married before they even got together for paperwork reasons so instead of having a real wedding once they get together they plan a big baby shower.

The drama has waned and the family is calm. Illumi is in his good boy persona and only gets caught half the time when he does weird shit like try to sleep in a hole or drink bleach.

Both grandfathers has chosen to chill out on Illumi's future career until he is close to highs school age.

Maybe someone else in the Todoroki clan has even gone to therapy. I'm betting on Fuyumi.

So looking at Milluki now he is an interesting character. I consider him the most 'normal' Zoldyck that has the most 'normal' sibling relationship with Killua and the reason for that is his 'normal' hobby.

The guy is a weeb. He has been watching and daydreaming about normal families and close friendships since he was kid. He has Yu Yu-Hakusho, Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon stuff in his room.

Milluki knows the power of friendship. He understands good and evil. Has seen what people with good morals are like. He is well aware that his family would be the villains of the story if he lived in an anime.

Milluki doesn't try to make Killua come back because he understands that if you have a wanting friendship mentally your going to be a bad villain no matter how skilled you are.

Milluki does think his family is better then all the other villains though because they are a family. His media constantly shows how powerful bonds are and I think that's why he is so loyal to his family.

He's relationship with Killua is pretty decent compared to Killua's with the others.

1) The torture scene is very tame for Zoldycks. You think Milluki doesn't know enough about Killua's training to know the only thing he really considers painful is electrocution? He's supposedly really good at torture, but just uses a whip.

2) Killua says he isn't sorry, but he also says that he does feel bad for stabbing Milluki and that's why he allowed the torture. I'd say being stabbed is a lot worse then whipped. Not the normal amount of Zoldyck violence so he feels bad about it.

2) Killua has never shown any fear towards him despite him being older. There was a point where he was stronger then Killua just because he was 6 years older. Killua knows Illumi won't kill him and he doesn't seem to mind most torture, but he's terrified of Illumi.

Clearly Milluki has never really tried to make Killua fear him.

3) Milluki is the only one Killua is willing to call and he does it with his regular phone. After telling Gon not to use his computer because it can be traced he calls Milluki on Whale Island who is like the best tech person ever. That bird that delivers stuff also found Killua on a boat headed away from whale island.

Milluki could find Killua, but Killua trust him not to tell their mother.

4) The yo-yos. We see Killua make a deal for information, but Milluki seems to just send Killua handmade special yo-yos. I say handmade because Killua says his brother made the alloy for them. Killua doesn't kill anymore and he has nothing Milluki would want. Could be he got them from Milluki awhile ago from a deal and just needed them sent to him, but even then someone had to be trusted with his location to send them and that had to be Milluki.

All this to say. I think that Milluki thinks of his family as being 'Zoldyck normal'. They hurt each other for 'good' reasons. They care about each other in a special Zoldyck kind of way. I don't think he ever questioned that his family 'loves' him and he 'loved' them back.

At least until Illumi kills Killua. Killua the favorite.

Milluki feels deeply betrayed by his family now.

Illumi who is in shock and not acting mournful at all. Silva who is only somewhat disappointed. Zeno is quite. Kalluto doesn't come home for the funeral and his mother who he still calls mama only pretends to cry.

She can't shed tears under her visor so to cry for real she would have to take it off, but she doesn't. She looks perfectly put together while she dramatically wails at an empty coffin because they didn't care enough to bring home a body.

Milluki feels like no one is sad his little brother is dead and if no one loved Killua, the favorite? Then it's impossible that any of them ever loved Milluki.

This is what is going though his head when the light takes him. His whole life feels like a lie. Does he have to fear Illumi killing him too? How close has he been to death every time he angers his family?

He isn't just mourning Killua he's mourning the family he thought he had. All the abuse was only justified if they loved him, but they didn't.

Being Isekaied is a great distraction. What's even better is that Milluki knows what an Isekai is and.... he knows My Hero Academia.

This story is a Satire or Parody of SI fanfics.

You see Milluki isn't a great fanfic writer himself, but he is certainly a connoisseur of the fanfiction format.

Much like one that does not paint can be an art critic Milluki has sent pages long flames picking apart fanfictions and the very worst kinds of fanfictions for Mary Sues and unrealistic power leveling is of course SI fanfictions of which he now finds himself in.

Luckily he is well read on the topic so he has a 27 step plan for ultimate power in his back pocket or he would if he was born as Deku or any one else in cannon so some plans will have to be adjusted.

If it's not clear he very much assumes he is in a fanfiction and spends a fair amount of time pissed at the author, but in order to run from his own angsty backstory Milluki is going to dive headfirst into this new world.

He will be in denial about Illumi having his memories, but that's alright because Illumi makes the same assumption about him at first.

He will try to have that Main Character energy despite mostly wanting to stuff his face with food and sit in front of a computer.

There will be a lot of him trying to exploit fandoms tropes and canon knowledge. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

He's going to be just as big as before, but for quirk reasons.

See I think it's BS that Momo has a quirk based off fat, but doesn't look like Fatgum so I think a pretty normal mutation for her quirk would be for her kid to have the same quirk, but retain a large about of body fat.

It could in fact be considered a stronger version of her quirk since he can make much more stuff then she can.

He will at first aim for Heroic to be his daytime job while he takes over the world from the shadows, but gives that up pretty fast. He doesn't exactly enjoy excise and sense no one makes him train he knows he isn't going to have a good time of it. Making support equipment will work just as well.

I also see him trying to help his parents with finances and paperwork and anything to be useful because he knows he was only tolerated for his usefulness before, but he will realize he is valued for more then what he can do for his new family and became fond of them.

He will try very hard to not have emotions about having a loving family for once and mostly succeed.

I think he has low empathy so I think he would be slow to love people.

At some point though he is going to realize that Illumi is a bit of failure at being the perfect child so by the time Killua is born Milluki considers himself to be winning the favorite child contest that only him and Illumi think are a thing.

Milluki once he has properly mourned is mostly mad and offended that Illumi killed Killua more then anything so he tries to one up Illumi in everything as much as possible.

His relationship with everyone is complicated.

He gets along mostly with Illumi until he has to face the fact that Illumi remembers then he is pissed off at him and then doesn't trust him around Killua.

I may put Milluki very low on the sociopathic spectrum actually, but I'm unsure.

While he doesn't really like Killua he is protective of him especially from Illumi.

Illumi will of course try to repair his relationship with Milluki, but he doesn't know what he did wrong so good luck with that.

I very much want Milluki to have a saving his little brother moment somewhere.

I think he will be unbearably smug that he is more trusted then Illumi around Killua.

Illumi tried to stick a pin in Milluki as a baby to train him and their parents Did Not like that.

I have a few other random notes for Milluki. Like he becomes good friends with Iida and Camie's child Raito who also likes anime.

He gives up on ultimate power at some point because it's too much work and he works out his issues mostly.

I think I'd like to see him ending his story either as an adult or close to it with a fairly boring chapter pointing out how realistically being reborn into an anime isn't going to change the kind of person you are so the chance of you having the motivation to go through with your plan to be op is pretty low.

[crowroboros]

Lucky Seven is a very cool sword, both in lore, theming, and design

~~Massive Xenoblade 1 and 3 spoilers under the cut~~

Fiora's soul and will being stored within the Origin Metal used to craft Lucky Seven is so cool to me for so many reasons:

With Aionios being a creation of Origin under the influence of Moebius, it's entire existence is thus directly under the influence of whoever is in control of Origin itself. The Origin supercomputer is based upon Ontos's core and architecture (which we know from Future Redeemed), making Ontos the prime administrator of Origin. Thus Ontos, and anyone tied to that core, carries special privileges within Aionios and Origin. (ex. Shulk carried the Monado in XB1, and the Monado IS Ontos. Rex's life was tied to the Pneuma core, one part of the Trinity Processor which was also under the jurisdiction of Ontos, A just straight up IS Ontos, etc.)

So Fiora, who ALSO was a Monado wielder (via her being Meyneth's vessel and Meyneth too having a Monado of her own as one of the two gods of the Xenoblade 1 world), too has an innate connection to Ontos and the Trinity Processor. Which is why Lucky Seven is so strong within Aionios. She (as the sword) is able to completely override Moebius's control; allowing her (the sword) to shatter the Flame Clocks, obliterate Moebius, and cut through literally anything within Aionios. Lucky Seven, which is Fiora, is essentially part of Ontos and thus can rewrite the "code" of Aionios (yes, Aionios isn't a digital world but that's the easiest way to explain how Origin and Aionios works.) That is such a cool way to explain the extreme strength of the blade.

Furthermore, it means that Fiora is still carrying on Meyneth's wish to give the people of the world a choice of how to live their lives. In Xenoblade 1, Meyneth's whole thing was acting as opposition to Zanza. She wished for an ever changing world in which its inhabitants could live and choose for themselves, whereas Zanza wished for a stagnant world bound by fate. He wanted complete and utter control over those who lived "beneath him", as he saw it. Fiora came to embody these desires and values of Meyneth after Meyneth's death at Mechonis Core, and idk it's just really cool to me that her influence on both the Xenoblade 1 party (especially Fiora) and the Xenoblade universe as a whole is still as strong as ever within Aionios.

Moebius is the embodiment of the fear of change in an unstable world. And after seizing control of Origin, Z created a world in which nothing changes and it's inhabitants serve as fuel to keep Moebius alive. Nothing within Aionios progresses. It persists for eternity, those living within stuck in an endless cycle of bloodshed and hatred.

So to have the one thing capable of combatting Moebius being a weapon that is the physical manifestation of the willpower and motivation of Fiora is just really cool to me, especially given how important Fiora and Meyneth are to Xenoblade 1 and how their entire thing in that game was giving the people of the world the ability to choose for themselves and defy fate. Fiora, as Lucky Seven, is giving the people of Aionios a real second chance at life unshackled by Moebius and their control. Just as Meyneth gave Fiora a second chance at life after Fiora was killed at the beginning of Xenoblade 1.

The way the lore, function, and theming of Lucky Seven is all tied together is good shit.

It also being why the sword is called "Lucky Seven" is very funny. (Fiora is Xenoblade 1's seventh party member, and she IS the sword.)

It could also be why the sword looks so much like a Monado. The soul within is that of someone with a connection to the Monado/Ontos.