#don't get me wrong they all are but he's underrated compared to the others

[dollopheadsandclotpoles]

Dae + His Besties

[epickiya722]

Can, I ask, why do you think Yuuji is one of the character that is so underated in JJK? He is the mc, but many people (in fandom) treat him like a side character? At first, I don't think so, but I love many shounen, and somehow Yuuji is one of the mc that is underated in their own story....

Sorry if I'm wrong, just I love Yuuji and want him to get the spotlight he deserve....

I wouldn't say you're wrong, Anon! In fact, I would say he is an underrated character. Yes, fairly popular, but when it comes to how the fandom treats him compared to characters like Gojo, Yuji is Underrated.

I feel exactly how you feel about Yuji. To me, he is the best JJK character. Oh, yeah, I'm being bias, whatever, but it's how I feel.

My guess as to why the fandom treats him like a side character because Yuji isn't like how most older gen MCs are written, let alone the others of the cast.

Let's be real, when the mid-late 2010s rolled around, how fandoms started to treat the new age MCs is opposite of their treatment of other MCs. It's because they're a different formula and honestly, I feel like folks who bash on Yuji and others like Tanjiro and Izuku, just don't want to try something different.

They're used to the MCs who speedruns their training and powerups and suffer little to no drawbacks, "trauma, what trauma" and want to be the best because they got an ego and pride they don't want hurt.

Today's MCs? Pain, not afraid to show a range of emotions, training? Oh, they get the hang of it but still a lot to learn and watch out! They have the scars to prove that they almost lost an arm!

Now focusing on Yuji, as I said he's not like other JJK characters.

He's not overpowered, but he's not weak either. He's a bit of a goof and he's says he's an idiot, but he actually isn't all dumb he makes himself out to be. He's not flashy, but he has amazing moments where he gets to show off.

He has a goal to get strong, not being he wants to be the top or anything. He just wants to help people.

He has a sad backstory, but it's only until later we realize how messed up it is and even still we don't have his reaction to realizing those messed up bits. Yuji was raised by his grandfather and he states he is a loner. But unlike how we see with most characters, Yuji is relatively fine with that. He brushes off knowing about his parents, unlike most MCs who would literally beg for answers. He's a loner, but he's not a loser. Note how people around him in his hometown treats him. They gave him a nickname to reflect his impressive physical prowess that amazes them and yet, he doesn't care for the popularity.

Yuji has this balance to him where he's both spontaneous but also pretty chill. A lot of the cast outshines Yuji because they are more showy than Yuji, even calm characters.

Unlike Gojo and even Yuta, Yuji is literally what you call the audience surrogate. Through him, we learn about the Jujutsu world while experiencing (growth).

From the start of their stories (referring to JJK 0 and Gojo's Past Arc), both Gojo and Yuta are established as powerful sorcerers from the start. Yuta may have had inexperienced but he was still recognized as a powerful kid. Both are born lucky with having such powers. The most Yuta and Gojo really develop and change is their personalities and attitudes towards certain ideas. That's it. They don't even have to do anything and immediately their auras show who they are.

In contrast to Yuji, how is he recognized?

As just Sukuna's vessel. Most of the time, he is literally called that. When he's recognized by his strength and abilities it's when he actively has to fight. Then it's like "oh, so he does have capabilities". Yuji actually has to show he can be just as capable as the others because when people first look at him it's "Sukuna's vessel" or back in Sendai it's "Tiger of West Middle".

It's not "Yuji".

Hell, he'll even be compared to Maki. It's not "Maki's like Yuji". No, it's "Yuji is like Maki". Megumi is the first character to do this. Maki is unique enough that if someone, in this case Yuji, displays a similarity to her, she is the template.

However, for Yuji, while he's unique it's almost like it's not enough to be acknowledged until he has to show them. Like, he has to prove something when he actually doesn't care to do that. Yuji doesn't care to get stronger than the next person, especially at this point. If anything, he seems to be the only one from the very start recognize that none of this is a test of strength when people are dying. Note how he acts during a fight. Every major to majorly minor character has displayed some sort of enjoyment out of a fight or fights to show they're not weak.

Not a single time has Yuji ever even smiled. Look back at all the fights and you will see that he hasn't done such a thing. He fights not because it's a game. He fights because he has to and only that.

And it's not like it gets better for him because he later identifies himself as "a cog". It's like Yuji never really had his own identity.

He's the odd one out.

It's how I think some of the fandom sees him. Without an identity, without recognizable traits. Hell, go on any post that praises Yuji and Yuji alone and there's gonna be a hater to bring up another character.

To some, I feel like Yuji only exists to them to hate on. Only a tool to bring in their praising of other characters to put him down as if that's all he's worthy of. It's a damn shame, too, that people actually feel the need to bring down a character to build their faves. Oh, feel like your fave can't stand on their own and show their greatness?

[somewhereincairparavel]

What do you think of Piper's character? I started pjo because of Jason but I can't finish it because I got spoiled :(

aww nooo I'm so sorry you got spoiled! i hope you are able to continue the books one day despite the spoiler :< I was unfortunately, spoiled of jason's you-know-what long before I finished pjo and was about to start hoo aswell :(

anyways, I'll be honest, i initially never felt much towards piper while reading hoo? i wasn't a huge fan, but I never found her boring either, just a little shallow but in an understandable way since she was just a growing teen, it was realistic. I did like the fact that we got lots of insight on jason through her though, but overall she didn't deserve the fandom slander at all, that something i heavily agree on.

Also, something i DON'T understand is how much slander she got for calling percy 'unimpressive' compared to jason?? jason was her BOYFRIEND whom she was in love with at the time, and the fandom seemingly hates everyone who doesn't kiss the ground percy walks on. i found it VERY authentic that atleast one character didn't simp over him like the long list of simps he had throughout the series lol. no, she doesn't have bad taste just because percy wasn't romantically her cup of tea. Yet i feel like if annabeth said something along the lines of 'xx character is very unimpressive compared to percy' i don't ANYONE would've slandered her, because it's percy. they would've just called her a 'loyal queen' or something. piper truly is one of the punching bags unfortunately.

her platonic connection with leo and jason is also SUPER underrated, they were a family who cared about eachother till the very end even though they were put together under false pretenses :( i hate it when people compare them with grover, percy and annabeth saying that the lost hero trio wasn't 'true friendship' because of the fake memories, no. they are TRUE friends BECAUSE of how well they blended DESPITE the fake memories. They connected so well with ease and never really had any awkward moments together either.

[TOA spoilers] I'll be honest, i still have some lingering petty resentment towards piper because of how standoffish she was to jason after the break up, especially when she let coach hedge and mellie think that jason broke her heart, which alludes that she never explained to them who broke up with who and just vaguely said that they broke up, but then again, there are too little details about the break up for me to make out what exactly happened, so there's that. and I'll admit, her moving on with so quickly also rubs me off in a VERY wrong way, not just because of jason or anything, but because of how unhealthy it is for her mental health aswell, I just feel like she needed to take a break before jumping into a new relationship right after she faced PTSD witnessing her ex boyfriend/best friend's death, but i won't get into that.

I've seen some people getting upset about rick making piper queer, calling it 'queer baiting' but i HEAVILY disagree. i think piper questioning her sexuality was very realistic and makes so much sense for her character, since she always seemed to have internal misogyny that she needed to work on and also she faced the pressure of being the 'perfect aphrodite child with a perfect boyfriend' as her mom's favourite daughter. piper moving out of chb to go live in oklahoma is also very in character. I personally never felt like she truly enjoyed being in chb tbh, not as much as leo or jason did.

I do love how she gave out so much reassurance and moral support to the other characters like annabeth, leo and jason, because it's very sweet and she's also a very underrated fighter in the battlefield too.

[charles-leclerc-official]

Hi, I am curious what you think about Leclerc vs Sainz. I feel like a lot of Charles fans underrate Carlos (imo he's an upper midfield driver, very solid) but also many Carlos fans treat him like the second coming of Christ, it's insufferable.

Do you think he's pretty close to Charles in terms of ability? I mean he isn't terrible, but Charles is better in the metrics, like one lap pace, race pace, tyre management, race starts, W2W/overtaking (did I miss anything else). I think some of it also comes down to the issues in Charles' garage but I don't know to what extent, I don't have the numbers. I would love to see corrected data from anyone if it's possible, but idk.

I feel like the gap should be bigger. But maybe ironically I am one of those people who underrate Carlos. He is a strong driver but I don't see him in the WDC conversations whereas Charles often is.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong but Charles has outperformed and maximized the SF-24 more than Carlos has. Suzuka, Spa, come to mind. I don't recall Carlos doing anything particularly extraordinary with the car this season (again please correct me if I am wrong!!) but he has been very solid.

I do know for sure that in terms of raw talent, Charles is better than Carlos. Higher peaks too.

I mean, I think that the numbers and data really speak for themselves. By any measure Charles is the better driver, but that doesn't mean that Carlos isn't a solid driver who pulls consistent results. Two things can be true and I think that usually gets overlooked. The comparison fallacy a lot of people try to paint when comparing any drivers is that if one driver is better then it means the guy they are comparing him to is bad, when those are not the only options. You can have two good drivers on a team and one be better than the other, it happens a lot.

As far as fans go, I don't really like to attack anyone for hyping their driver. Of course fans are going to say their driver is the best, we all do it, so I don't think that's unique or anything to read too deeply into.

Your assessment it pretty accurate as far as performance goes. Charles pushes things to the next level and demonstrates his skill weekly. I agree, Carlos has been solid, nothing extraordinary, but solid.

I think Carlos' best performance this year as far as driving goes was probably Austria. He stayed close enough to the front even with the SF-24 struggling to be able to podium when Max and Lando went out. Australia was probably his best qualifying lap (possibly tied with Monaco tbh)

Pretty close is subjective. I don't think they are in the same category, I think Charles is the better driver in just about every category and the data does support this. Correcting the data for all their DNFs and car trouble would be an undertaking. I believe someone did that for them through 2023, but we have more data now so.

And the gap between teammates shouldn't be too big. If it is then there is a problem. Either with the talent the team has hired or the car. They are in the same car so the gap isn't going to be massive if they are both driving well, even if one is better. Ideal results are 1-2s or as close as we can get to that.

I think one reason people get lost in the gap to the teammate "debates" is they just take the result stats and the H2H graphics, when digging into the actual track performance and data reveals a more detailed look at a drivers actual performance. Results only tell you so much. And of course there are just a lot of things that are outside a driver's control.

[starcollectorsilas]

I love seeing people compare music to their favourite characters and go like 'oh yeah this verse might be this character... and then this one is the other one... and then this little bit here is them both honestly. Or something like that' because I HAVE gone through every taylor swift song on evermore and folklore and compared it to skk. Sorry to be autistic on the writing account, but this is a fanfic writing account and I'm writing my second novel length fic about them so what did you expect.

folklore/evermore are very canon skk, and verge into fanon and some songs are the reason for very specific head canons, or some of the ways I write the way they perceive each other. 1989... DON'T GET ME STARTED OMFG HAVE YOU EVER LISTENED TO BLANK SPACE? I THINK IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO NOT HAVE AND OMG IT'S SO SKK CODED LIKE WTF. I HAVE VERY FIRM OPINIONS ABOUT WHICH LYRICS ARE THEIRS. Also the vault tracks literally exist what more do you want from me. 'i think about jumping off of very tall somethings just to see you come running and say the one thing I've been wanting' okay dazai pack it up you did that already, beast exists. 'i call my mom sister she said that it was for the best remind myself the more i gave you'd want me less' yeah yeah chuuya we know he left you get over it, it wasn't personal(think that line could go for either of them but the other line 'the way you faded till i left' feels more Dazai personally). Plus suburban legends. For personal reasons I struggle to listen to song without SPIRALING FUCK YOU THAT ONE PERSON SEHDHSSJNS but very skk as well 'we were born to be national treasures' is very soulmates of them. And out of the woods screams them in fanfic when they try to get better. Red, straight away all too well. They both remember it all too well. All too well skk cover with switching vocals anyone? The last time. The one with gary lightbody. Underrated song, is my favourite on that album, and SO THEM. 'this is the last time you tell me ive got it wrong, this is the last time i wont hurt you anymore' because they're fated to be together and are constantly drawn to each other and yet keep HURTING EACH OTHER RAGH. also 'we are never getting back together' is pretty funny and nice when applied to them. also state of grace. any taylor song with a mild drop of religious imagery is them cause yeah. but 'i never saw you coming, and I'll never be the same'... okay pack it up, we don't have time for your yearning. 'you were never a saint' (dazai abt chuuya) 'and i loved in shades of wrong' (bc hes toxic and doesnt know how to healthily like people) 'we learned to live with the pain, mosaic broken hearts' (bc they continue anyway and stick it out, living with the pain of being bad for each other because of how deeply they care). I almost do. Dazai after leaving. moving on to more religion, holy ground. 'for the first time i had something to lose' 'and i guess we fell apart in the usual way, and the storys got dust on every page' AAAAAA IT'S THEM. Can't really speak on debut- but I've listened to our song and picture to burn and if picture to burn isn't a vengeful chuuya idk what is. BOY OH BOY SPEAK NOW.

excuse me. one moment.

Mine- literally a skk au

Sparks fly- 'the way you move is like a rainstorm and im a house full of cards, you're the kind of reckless that should send me running' that entire verse screams dazai's fascination with corrupted chuuya, and the whole song is well yeah

back to december- dazai when they reunite just trust me on it just trust me on it. the repetition was intentional, that's how serious i am. 'i go back to december all the time' 'I got back to december to make it all right'

speak now- might just be me but it really makes me think of teen skk in fanfic harbouring urges to ruin the others relationship for 'some reason. I don't know, seeing him with her just... irks me'.

the story of us- first verse is chuuya, second verse is dazai, and the third is them both because they're LOSERS and they LOVE EACH OTHER and FUCK I'm CRYING NOW. 'id tell you i miss you but i don't know how' EMOTIONALLY CONSTIPATED BASTARD.

enchanted- self explanatory. for more context, i really think it's from dazai's pov in this case, could probably be both, but dazai fell first and harder so it's really like god he's been in love ever since he got kicked into that wall he wants him around forever. He held Chuuya's hand in the fight with rimbaud and then had all those close moments in the manga and went home to lie on his bed kicking his feet and giggling don't lie. (god im still crying this isn't helping)

better than revenge- they're both pretty vengeful idk it makes me think of iwsynttr for some reason

haunted- chuuya pov. 'i thought i had you figured out, something's gone terribly wrong' 'stood there and watched you walk away from everything we had' they're so sad, but the general idea of chuuya thinking he has figured out dazai and knowing how he thinks and then dazai just leaves suddenly and he's like 'Wow! I thought i knew you. How do i forget this'. 'wont finish what you started' bringing chuuya into the mafia then leaving it.

last kiss- 'you told me you love me so why did you go away' chuuya pov again oh god it hurts why am i doing this to myself? 'never imagined we'd end like this, your name, forever the name on my lips' yep yep ow.

LONG LIVE.- LISTEN. TO. THE. SONG. AND TELL ME IT'S NOT DAZAI AND CHUUYA. I COULD DO A WHOLE ANALYSIS ON JUST THIS SONG. 'promise me this, that you'll stand by me forever, but if god forbid fate should step in, and force us into a goodbye...please tell them my name, tell them how the crowds went wild, tell them how i hope they shine, long live the walls we crashed through, i had the time of my life with you' FUCK IT'S DAZAI AN HE'S IN LOVE WITH CHUUYA AND DOESNT KNOW ODAS GONNA DIE YET, JUST THINKS HE DOESNT GET TO KEEP ANYTHING HE WANTS. FUUUUUCK. THEY'RE IN LOVE AND DAZAI WANTS IT REMEMBERED PLEASE I'M SO SAD.

anyway, i can't pretend I'm normal about skk anymore i haven't even covered fearless, reputation, lover or midnights please somebody encourage me to actually write full things dedicated to each album and the most fitting songs from said albums please i'll do it and plus i need to actually gather proof for my autism diagnosis appointment so this would be a good way to to that probably. anyway yeah this'll never make it out my drafts lol

[docsfallfromgrace]

Tell me your thoughts about Strega please please please

short version: underrated villains who could've been a lot more

long version: really interesting characters atlus made and then instantly stopped caring about. the scenes with takaya in reload were minimum effort and it SHOWS. nothing ever becomes of them and i think that really sucks. “oh yeah here you get to fight with him” but then they never expand on it. i think it would've been cool if there was an extra bad ending where you agree to join takaya/stop interfering with the promised day, maybe there being more scenes with jin too. jin has so little screentime and basically all we know about him is that he's loyal as hell to takaya bc he saved him. DO MORE WITH THAT IN GENERAL?? also chidori is heavily watered down to just junpei's girlfriend AND YES im calling out some p3 fans too. don't get me wrong i like jundori and i like all of her stuff but i think they could've done so much more with her and her dynamic with the other two. these are three individuals who went through horrific experiments and had a power forced onto them that they never wanted, leading them to disconnect from bonds and life as a whole. they're traumatized as hell to the point they believe death is the only way they'll be happy. that's REALLY COOL. honestly i heavily prefer a lot of the fics and art this community makes of strega compared to the canon stuff we got. although i do still really like the reload scenes even though i do criticize them heavily

this turned more into a rant but tldr strega is fucking cool and i wish people would stop brushing them as one off villains like they do ikutsuki. do i get why people do so? yes!! absolutely!! but there's so much more potential there than some people seem to think

also takaya and jin are gay as hell

[fandoomrants]

Okk, gonna comment the new season of tua while watching!!

So, ep. 1

Waring for spoilers, duh

-Omg, Victor is sort of a player now?

-And he owns a bar! Didn't know I need this in my life but I kinda love it?

-DIEGO AND LILA'S CHILD IS CALLED GRACE, OMGGGGG!!!!!!! I hadn't thought about it but it feels so right!

-Luther as a stripper 💀💀💀 Def didn't need that in my life. I'm not too surprised he's not really good at it.

-OMG, Lila and Diego have two children?!?

-Also, are these her actual parents?! Somehow not dead?! (I could have absolutely not understood the scene)

-Was Ben in jail?!?!

-Klaus picking up Claire!!!! Tbhh, the friendship between him and Allison is a bit underrated. (She called him, of all people!!!)

-Also Klaus being afraid to die...

-A whole group of people having conspiracy theories about the timelines 😬😬

-And Five being there!!!

-So happy the moustache was fake. 💀💀

-Oh, he's also once again working with some sketchy people.

-I kinda like how some of them are still in touch?? Claire is staying with her cousins!

-Klaus is so different...Is he kinda staying at Allison's?

-Luther bringing Ben to the rest immediately while he's kicking and screaming 😬😬

-Him actually interacting with Five!

-Oh. Claire is staying with her cousins but Allison is interacting only with Klaus...

-Diego trying to be a hero again....

-Klaus and Ben's reunion!!! Idk why it makes me so happy.

-Lila approaching Allison!

-And forcing her to join the party!

-Oh, that wasn't a normal electronic cig...

-Allison and Luther being soooo awkward after everything 💀💀 Please noo.

-Oh, yes, Lila's parents are alive!!!!!!

-How did Diego believe the getting pregnant thing 💀💀💀💀💀💀

-Oh, Sloane finally mentioned....

-Wait, what happened with Victor?!

-I love how Diego and Lila are... Messy parents.

-I love little Grace's casting!

-Luther being Luther with that piñata...

-I knew something bad was gonna happen.

-Okk, Five and Lila are both in some mess. Why am I not surprised....

-Wait, THREE CHILDREN?! Ok, this explains Diego's earlier comment.

-I don't like Gene and Jean...

-But it's interesting how so many people have some memories from other timelines...

-Is "Jerome" only an undercover name or does Five finally has a name?!

-Oh, nooooo, hope Diego doesn't think something wrong with the way Lila wiped Five's mouth....Like, ew. He's still much younger than her, in appearance.

-What's that place Luther is living in?! It's not the academy, right..?

-Oh, okay, now they know about Victor, good!

-Ben literally said what I was thinking about the team thing 💀💀💀

-Kinda love how Luther is the first to jump for saving Victor! Compared to how they started in s1, that's such a character growth!

-Five with a gun! I know he's not 13 anymore but that's somewhat still fun, him being a teenager abd the most dangerous.

-They do realise that it's probably a trap, right?

-Yep.

-This guy really thought too high of them, thinking they'll all show up 💀💀

-Still, so happy they actually did!

-Omg, some new timeline where they've been to Paris.

-JENNIFER?!

-Knew we'll finally understand what happened with OG Ben but didn't expect that...

-Five never being able to back down from a mystery ❤️

-Ooh, so they'll probably get their back powers soon?

-Aw, Klaus being happy to be sober ❤️

-Diego complaining about others' skills with knives...

-Only Ben and Five actually wanting their powers back 😬😬

-I might get back to that later. This Ben is definitely different from Number 6, who seemed so shy and unwilling to use his powers.

-....And he'll definitely do something.

-Where is Allison's husband, actually? The one from the 60ies. (Forgot his name)

-Omg, is Ben gonna return their powers forcefully?!

-No, of course not.

[yolowritter]

In Defense of Ladrien

Hello there everyone, and welcome to a shorter post this time. I'll be honest, I'm in a random Ladrien mood right now, so I figured I should go rewatch a few of the Season 2 episodes with it. As you do. Then I remembered...it doesn't exist. Not in canon anyway, and that's a real shame! Despite Adrien and Ladybug's mutual crushes on each other, we don't get anything except a couple times where they blush at each other and stammer through their sentences. Which okay, it's cute, but c'mon, there's so much potential here! So today I want to lay a bit of groundwork as to how Ladrien could have been improved in this show, and also (hopefully) open up a discussion about it, since I rarely see anyone bring it up in modern MLB. I guess we're all too busy with Sentimonster angst and questioning what's going on with Lila's three mothers. Still waiting to see how they'll try to write themselves out of this predicament... Anyway, today we're talking about the most underrated lovesquare ship, Ladrien!

First of all, it's worth mentioning that I won't be going over the show episode by episode. This is just a short post discussing the ship in general, not a 7.5k analysis like I did with Chloe, my keyboard still needs time to recover. So, I'm sure we all know the basics, but I'll give a simple overview of canon Ladrien just to have everyone on the same page! Ladybug (Marinette) has a crush on Adrien Agreste. Adrien (Chat Noir) has a crush on Ladybug. That's it. That's the ship. Nothing more to it!

Okay...well, things aren't so simple. Canon does give us a couple moments where this dynamic is toyed with, but they're few and far between, leading to a...less than adored ship in the fandom. Don't get me wrong, I love Ladrien! That's why I'm writing this after all, and surely there's others out there who ship it too! But when compared to Adrienette or Marichat...it falls flat on it's face due to the utter lack of content we have to work with. Thankfully, we at least have an established dynamic! And hey, with this show, even that's a bloody miracle!

However, I have seen a lot of people (in yee olden days) say they prefer other sides of the Square because Ladrien seems...a little dishonest. In their defense, it really wasn't hard to make the claim that Marinette's crush on Adrien was (by early S2) still quite superficial, considering they hadn't actually gotten to know eachother than well, and vice-versa for Adrien with Ladybug. I can see why, especially since these are the respective personas that are "least real". Adrien is forced to conform to his father's expectations and always be perfect, while Ladybug needs to be professional and has the city's safety to worry about, hence is unable to ever be genuinely "Marinette" while in the suit. Add to that all the identity shenanigans, and it's easy to see why this ship got pretty much dismissed by a large portion of fans back when it was still relevant. And given that Miraculous has since pivoted away from teen drama and more into the "crazy butterfly man wants to destroy the universe" territory, most ships except Adrienette (and Marichat in Elation) got left behind as the storyline progressed. Ladybug and Chat's relationship evoled, we had a whole arc where Adrien was depressed, etc. That's just the natural progression of storytelling. At some point, we have to move on with the plot.

Fortunately, I am here to present the opposite argument! Ladrien would actually be a very viable ship, especially because of this hero worship that afflicts both Marinette and Adrien! It makes for amazing and complicated interactions on both sides, and here's why! It's because Ladrien was misunderstood, or maybe even misrepresented by the show itself. In my humble opinion, it shouldn't (only) be about Adrien blushing the moment he sees his crush, or Ladybug stammering twenty times in a single sentence. That's all well and good, but look at that I said a moment ago. Ladrien, by the very nature of it's existence is dishonest. Neither Ladybug nor Adrien can be themselves with eachother, even if I have no doubt they would rush headfirst into some kind of secret romance if given the oppurtunity! But...that the point of this ship in my opinion. They both view each other as this perfect, can-do-no-wrong person and have placed one another on a pedestal higher than Lila's delusions! Ladrien is fundementally doomed to this flaw from the very start...but overcoming it is what's interesting!

Just...hear me out! Let's say that after Gorizilla (or some other Akuma with Adrien as a target), Ladybug goes to check on him post-battle to make sure he's okay. Maybe she visits him that night, and surprises him with her presence. They do their usual routine of blushing and stammering, and for one reason or the other, one of them confesses that they have a crush. Regardless of who it is, or how exactly this plays out, let's say for the sake of argument that they get together after another visit or two. Maybe Marinette thinks this is her chance and can't resist getting to know the boy she loves, maybe Adrien is the one to bring it up because Ladybug is his hero. The immediate first problem is that while they know eachother...they can't be honest with their partner. And this brings up an amazing character conflict!

For Marinette, it's possible she has doubts about herself and rationalizes that of course the Adrien Agreste would never see her, but be in love with Ladybug! There's a whole other can of worms here about Marinette's feelings in regards to her mask, but that's for another post. For Adrien, maybe he's a bit conflicted because Ladybug is in love with him...but not Chat Noir, who he considers to be the "real" him. And the more they interact, the more both of them realize that the other is blindsighted by the mask they wear. There's genuine moments sprinkled in between, but feelings of inadequacy keep them from truly connecting. Think "the wall between us" metaphor. But...just when it seems like neither of them is really that happy, when they start feeling like a mistake, both Ladybug and Adrien get a glimpse of the person behind the mask. She realizes that he isn't some perfect, unreachable guy, and he in turn figures out that she's trying so hard to be good enough for him. This can happen in an infinite amount of ways, and I guarantee there's at least some Ladrien fanfics out there that do it! And I'm really glad, because it means someone else gets it!

After this we have a myriad of possibilities as to how things could go, but regardless, things absolutely change in their dynamic. They slowly start to getting to know the person behind the mask. Naturally, they both find themselves even more in love, then eventualy there's a reveal somewhere there, they get together officially, etc. You get the point, right? The reason why Ladrien is interesting is the dichotomy between Maribug and Adrichat's identities. It's the idolization that blinds them slowly fading away to reveal the truth, it's the feelings of insecurity that plague their relationship until everything finally comes to a head! If Ladynoir is parters in battle to lovers, Adrienette is high school sweethears, and Marichat is friends to secret midnight visits to lovers, then Ladrien is idols to friends to lovers! And I absolutely adore their dynamic!

Now, I'm obviously not the first person to bring this up, since I distinctly recall some great Ladrien fics from back in the day with pretty much this plot. And the reason why I adore them is that they play into the inherent dishonesty so well! I hope my point has come across, and if anybody wants to add their own analysis, by all means feel free! This post is supposed to open up a new discussion after all. Anyway, I have to go take a day off and go through my old Ladrien bookmarks! I'll see you all next time, but until then, Stay Miraculous everyone!

[ivalice-tifalucis]

Jason.

Suddenly I want to talk about Jason (it's a very long talk).

I realize I never talk about this here, but I often compare him to Queen's John Deacon. There are few similarities. The "silent" one, the underrated one, the one who prefer tea when the others would prefer wine, the one whose lyrics always about life, the dark horse, the one who is not confident with singing, the one who left the band and never be seen again.

The thing about John Deacon is that I never feel sort of bereaved, longing, or sad that he is no longer in Queen. I am a Queen fan since I could barely speak english thanks to my dad and the moment I learn that he left Queen so many years ago I was like that's ok. That's because even though Brian and Roger are the spine of Queen, the heart and soul will always be with Freddie and Freddie died 32 years ago. New fans had their hard time accepting it when they searched for Deacy but they quickly realized time has gone long and he has been living a peaceful private life. It's easy for us to let go of Deacy, because Queen regardless how good Adam Lambert is now, is over the moment Freddie died. There are no what ifs when talking about Deacy leaving Queen and public life. His statement is also clear and undeniable that he left because he thought there should be no more Queen after Freddie.

But the thing about Jason Orange is that he left at the height of Take That fandom. They just had Robbie back and they released Progress and it was very very success album and tour too. Three years later, people expect something but Robbie's not coming back and so did Jason. It feels anticlimactic for fans even though it may not be for him. There are no impromptu. Unlike the rest of the members, Jason doesn't have social media but he also didn't do or say anything leading up to that day in 2014. Take That was perfectly fine ship and suddenly one of their longest standing member at that time jumped the ship without lifeboat that could help him return. He swam to the nearest island and not planning to swim back to the ship ever again. Sure he made a statement through Take That's PR but it's just a thank yous. Something is not told and as fans we left to wonder why did he leave. What had gone wrong in the background??

Toxic fans would often like to think it's because of Robbie because Jason didn't like Rob in the 90s and, while often written off in newer documentaries or autobiographies, was the one who propagated to kick Robbie Williams out of Take That (as stated by the man himself in Look Back, Don't Stare). It's easy to make Robbie Williams a scapegoat, isn't it? However, Jason himself said back in Progress era that Robbie came back to Take That was the final piece of puzzle. Gary in his book A Better Me also said that Jason always wanted Robbie to return and felt like his job is done when he got to see all his boyband friends in the same room again.

However, it still doesn't answer the question to why did he leave? I have a habit of wondering over unimportant things and sometimes, especially now, my mind wonder about Jason and why exactly did he leave. I have some theories, it might not satisfy you but bare with me.

Here's a gif of Jason so you won't get too tired reading this post lol

First theory: tax evasion scandal. I'm not gonna pretend to be a foolish fan and not know that sometimes in 2014, Take That faced a huge backlash thanks to this scandal. Those annoying 40-50 something British guy who love to make this tax evader joke to state they never like Take That to look manly can never escape me every time I go around social media about Take That. Even though it rarely talked about among Thatters, I feel like if they are not known more now than they are a decade ago it's because this scandal still affecting them in the eyes of UK public, who are their major target market. I could also argue if only they make another big break this scandal will be gone from people's mind but sad to say they haven't done anything bigger than Progress even until now, not that I don't like III, Wonderland, and This Life, I do. But me and all of you (roughly 30 people around here) and I'd estimate less than 2 millions most royal Thatters out there who are interested are not enough. Back to the tax scandal, it is a fact that Gary, Mark, and Howard are part of the scandal but not Jason because his finance always managed by his twin brother, so I heard. I wonder whatever went behind the scene could might affect Jason's decision to leave.

Why? Because if it is true that he left because Progress is enough, he could have stated he would be leaving since after Progress or any time between 2012 to early 2014. Why did he have to wait and drag this for too long? Also, I wonder if this is why they are so sensitive about Jason leaving at first. Remember in Robbie's autobiography when they were really angry at Rob for accidentally blurted it that Jason would leave before official statement?

Second theory: anxiety, illness, physical problem or other health problems. I often wonder about this too. Progress era is the ultimate era especially for old school Thatters (lol sorry to the actual ultimate era). Who would have thought that "I'm rich beyond my wildest dream", the greatest britpop star living in private mansion in Beverly Hills with around 10 entourages including his gf, Robbie Williams, could ever reunited with Take That? I can only look this like history book and only recently realized how crazy it is. It happened. In his Netflix documentary, even his management didn't believe this that he'd rather earn so little yet did so much effort for Take That rather than earning another hundreds of millions of dollar doing another solo tour. But it happened, he needed it, the rest of Take That needed it, and we're glad it happened. And then, imagine Never Forget. One of the best Take That song ever, made in 1995 but released when Rob had left, so before 2010 this song had never been performed by Robbie Williams. The moment that all Thatters had been waiting for, to see all five members of Take That perform this song life, without others backing the others, as the original single intended. The only era where they can do this, and it only ever happened once (1). And then Jason...

And then they never did it again. Throughout Progress live tour, Jason didn't sing a single note by solo. His part in Never Forget was covered by Gary. You could even argue that his mic was never on during any of Progress live performances and I would believe you. So much downgrade than The Circus Live where he did an entire section singing two songs with his guitar. What was going on??

Why? He stated few times he was never confident in singing. Even Nigel Martin Smith berating him in the 90s for being the one with the worse singing voice (arguable though because he actually has decent voice). I'm glad Take Two era gave him the confidence to try albeit shyly. However, maybe eventually his anxiety won sometimes between 2012 to 2014. Plus the fact that we know he can't do breakdance forever. He was in his 40s at that time. Even current Take That dance lesser and lesser than they were in previous era. Maybe Jason thought there should not be more dancing in Take That. Maybe he thought his body would no longer able to. Maybe he's not strong as he used to be. He's ill? Idk, only Jason knows.

Third theory: settling down in private. It could be just my headcanon but think about it. We always joke he might as well marry to the bench because he's always photographed alone in his own thoughts. Some people even randomly thinking is he gay? He has that swag though, but I don't think at least he himself think that he's gay(?).

Lol this iconic pic

But what we never talk about is that he did have girlfriends in the past. He has been photographed by paparazzi in the past with "mystery" women (yes women as in plural) which I will not share here. He had a public relationship with Catherine Tate after all.

I genuinely think Jason is the kind who would drop everything to keep his family safe from public. This is after all the same guy who despite the height of his career barely show his family to the public, except his mom probably, but then again all TT moms always have media presence since day 1. Being in kdrama fandom and see korean actors and actresses who literally just dropped their career for their family and their privacy, I can see Jason would do just like that. Why not? He has achieved and experienced everything there is to know about being a celebrity. He doesn't feel the need to. And I feel like his relationship with Catherine Tate, since she also a public figure, was so gobbled down by media that maybe he thought this isn't right to have people judging his partner. If one day Jason appear with a wife and a child, I won't be surprised at all. I would be exploding in happiness that this theory is correct though.

Also I'm happy to see Catherine Tate returns to Doctor Who with David Tennant. I just know then that she actually is known for being in Doctor Who. I had no idea who is she outside being in Happy Now music video 😂

My theory outside Jason leaving:

Take That (and their management) know where and how Jason is (to some extent). In the interviews often Gary, Mark, and Howard would be asked about Jason to which they would say they didn't contact him for ages. Or joke that they tried to email him but then maybe he only have flip phones and doesn't even have a computer to answer the email. Look, he can be a hermit but man living in first world country and doesn't have even a smartphone to answer email in 21st century is ridiculous. I believe they still talk or see each other once in a while, especially with Howard, who tweeted that he met Jason in 2018. Hell, I feel like even Rob has seen Jason at least once between 2014 to now. I don't know, just a hunch.

His privacy is protected by Take That management and also by most of public. Continuation from previous bullet point. Yes. Because do you remember when there was George Michael's art auction in Manchester and some celebrities who came there are photographed clearly. But not Jason. It's hard to find that picture again but I found it and that's just the only the bigfoot sightings of Jason Orange that I know of because it happened after I know Take That deep enough. Between 2014 to 2017, how many sightings that I didn't know? Where if other celeb would have crystal clear pictures taken but not him on the same occasion? I wonder. Also many people claimed that they met Jason in public space in around London or Manchester, but mostly Manchester. So he is not as hermit as they would like you to think. Maybe if you go around there and if you just lucky, you might come across a wild Jason Orange.

Goddammit this guy.

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At the end of this post, thank you for reading this until this part, guys. I really miss Jason like all of you. He is truly an enigma but no matter what would always have special place in every Thatters' heart. Awww...I cringe a little when I wrote that.

Regardless my theory, I can only wish he lives a good and happy life. If you have something to say, you can also add here in the reblog or reply, or dm me, let's chat.

Also I put all Jason sightings on my tumblr with this tag called The Bigfoot Sightings of Jason Orange (because he is as blurry as bigfoot sightings).

[beanghostprincess]

Usopp is shafted by the fandom bc of racism mostly unfortunately but also I've heard a lot of people tend to not like Usopp because of how pre timeskip he's so cowardly or whatever which really throws me through a loop and floors me personally because besides the fact that he's my besutiful funny little guy for that, I also think Usopp isn't really that cowardly at all--I think he's brave. For the same reason why Nami is brave and why they both help eachother. They don't have superpowers or freak bones built into them, they are realists and grounded in the fact they know exactly what they're up against and they're just normal ppl against gods and bloodthirsty weirdos. And yet they both overcome that fear of...Dying and stand with their crew anyway. They are so brave and strong to me. Usopp is amazing and the reasons people have for not loving him to pieces are ones I always find quite shocking.

I agree wholeheartedly!! Tbh I've always thought Usopp was underrated mainly because of racism but being white I don't think I can make a proper analysis about the racism within the fandom because I don't get it first-hand. But I would love somebody to write it because I genuinely think it's very off-putting how the fandom treats him and I'd love to read it. So, if anybody knows/writes a post like that please send it to me!!

And yeah, most of the people I've known who dislike Usopp always use the "he's a coward" excuse when he's genuinely one of the bravest characters. Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji can rely on their abilities while Usopp is just- He's not built different like them. He's no swordsman. He can't ignite fire from his leg. His body isn't rubber. The monster trio is called the monster trio for a reason, lmao, and they're also pretty much normatively pretty and just guys. Like average guys. Don't get me wrong, I love the three of them, but they're extremely sexualized for a reason and it's because they're sooooo made for the male/shonen-gaze. And I actually love the Monster Trio because even if they're like that, they have amazing backstories and their personalities are extremely complex, even more if you compare them to an average shonen protagonist. But, you know, after all, they're still normative af. They're made for men to want to be like them and women to love them, so a straight white cis guy from the general audience will see them, and ofc he will resonate more with them than with Usopp (when actually the Monster Trio is also for the queers and their stories are wayyyy better than what the general audience ends up seeing, but the mischaracterization of these three is for another post, ig).

On the other hand, Usopp is not like that. He isn't normative. First of all, he's black (forever mad at the whitewashing the own show did to him) so of course racism plays a big role here. But also he's scared most of the time because he's not built like the monster trio. He's scared of dying and scared of being left out and a burden. He wants to be stronger and turn into the adventurer he dreams of being. Despite not having any talent (or not seeing his own talents), he still tries to train harder and harder every day to overcome that fear. Even when he's scared, he'll help his friends and his captain even if that means dying. And people still call him a coward because they can't fucking read properly and they just see the first layer of his personality. I honestly think people don't like him because they hate having to think and having to analyze a character that has more complexity than just fighting and being hot (two things that he also does very well, thank you very much). Usopp is brave and complex and he's so so so funny and enjoyable to watch. He's a relatable character for a lot of people and he has one of the most emotional moments in the whole show. Maybe the people who don't like him suddenly skipped Water 7 because otherwise I don't fucking get it. One of the things I love the most about him is that his dream is something he has to achieve by himself. A thing he has to do by himself and for himself. Believing in himself. Unlike the other dreams of the crew, because most of them are tangible. I know his character is often played for laughs but damn, his emotional moments hit hard and they always break me. I've always loved him and I always will and I will forever fight Usopp haters because I just don't get them.

People hate seeing complex characters because then they have to think instead of just staring at men titties <3

[pdriesta]

the boys (children) wonnnnnnn!!!! im happy but really what the score shouldve been was like 5-1.. GAVI GOAL + ASSIST ACTUALLY I NeARLY CRIED like finally HES BACK also the pedri gavi casado midfield is so fire... pedri telling gavi to chill and calm down after arguing with the other player like they are sooo back the forwards tho need some help.. lewa was basically a midfielder today for some reason not sure why and rapha was a mess like those were like 99% goal chances a couple of them that can't happen. lamine was amazing the lil goat with a goal. scezney (thats spelt wrong idk how to spell it mb) did give me a couple heart attacks but he did good i think pena tho is a lot better at coming out of the box but yeah, the sweeping doesn't really suit him but he did good so its fine.. defense cubarsi + inigo i was proud of.. man cubarsi is just soooo good like hes so underrated cuz of lamine (deservedly but still) like his passing and tacking please don't leave barca. kounde and balde too were great. but barca if u sell balde honestly fk you like you aren't gonna sell frenkie or ferran but balde seriously.. hes actually been good this szn and if they act invest in a good LW like he'll be even better.. cuz rapha kinda drifts to the inside more and hes more like a 10/9 so balde is completely left by himself compared to like kounde who has lamine and like what they pay ferran and frenkie at least 30mil and whats balde like 1 maybe 2 mil? like really come on think a lil and do some math and see who you should sell. like other than crossing hes good at everything else idk why barca don't see that and want to keep their most expensive ppl that don't do shit like if you want like i honestly don't get why they sell someone whose playing good easily top idk 6/7 people of the szn so far and loves the club like nah we gonna sell him not frenkie and ferran like its been pissing me off sooo much

i loved this message!! i am so happy we won and with tek's second clean sheet, but because i am me i did have some critiques on the match. our defense was solid. balde was amazing, so i'm not overthinking them selling him. i do think his contract will be renegotiated before 2028 and that he has incentives for him to earn more money. obviously because he is a la masia kid i am not sure he thinks much of the wages. the club found it's starting LB, no way in hell they'll let him go. a lot of media outlets let out stories like that on purpose to disrupt the dressing room but balde hasn't missed a step i am so so proud of him. THAT CROSS TO GAVI WAS PERFECTION. gavi's first goal back made me emotional like lamine commented he really he is our warrior.

as much as a love raphinha, we need another solution for the left side. of course not now, but time and time again, i've noticed he leaves too much space on the left side which causes balde to move even more forward in the high line defense. this unfortunately causes balde's errors to be paced under a scope. it's the complete opposite of koundé and lamine on the right side.

going back to what you said about players getting rumored to be sold once they play good, i think the reason behind all goes back to the financial state of the club and disagreements among the board. i have a theory because barca has been in shambles for years in the transfer market, i think the board is too scared to sell when a player is in their prime. but waiting always ends up biting us in the ass. their goal is to use a much as they can and then when worse comes to worse or when a player is overworked or injured they put them in transfer talks. it's annoying seeing how we only got €4m for kessie when in this day and age he would sell for €10-20m to saudi and €50m for dembele who just own psg a trophy and how could we forget the araujo saga right now knowing damn well we are going to get the minimum €45m for a young cb when teams are dying for reliable and experienced cbs nowadays.

[crusherthedoctor]

📞 a character others dislike but you don’t?

♠️ favorite protagonist?

🕷️a character you feel is underrated?

📞 - a character others dislike but you don't?

Elise has gained more appreciation over time, but you still get people who think she's to blame for everything wrong with '06. She was a decent if underdeveloped character who simply wasn't used in the story that well, and anyone who thinks turning her into a Not-Sally is the only way to fix her isn't trying.

There's also Zor and Marine, both of whom I will always defend. Isn't it wild how I can barely remember anything from The End's three minute tough guy Reddit copypasta, yet everything Zor says is solid gold... shout out to IDW for missing the point and making him an unironic tryhard like every other villain in the comic. As for Marine, people act as though her character development never happened, which isn't helped by Flynn being one of those very people, and I don't understand why they give her flak for her stereotypical accent, yet make no such complaints about Bunnie.

For a couple of non-Sonic examples: King Sombra kind of went through the same arc as Elise in retrospect. As in, nowadays he has more open fans, but back when he made his debut, he received a disproportionate amount of flak for being a mostly silent villain, and the way he was used. I personally appreciated what they were going for with him, mainly cause of how they conveyed his Crazy Prepared defenses and the like, and honestly, by the time FiM concluded, I think he ended up better off than certain other villains lmao.

And of course, Moneybags. Not counting the first game (cause he didn't exist yet), I don't consider it a true Spyro experience if Winnie the Shit doesn't pop up in increasingly improbable locations to make deals in exchange for, *ahem*, a small fee. He also has some of the best lines. ("What are you going to do, sue me?")

♠️ - favourite protagonist?

Gex is unironically a better written character than everyone in Frontiers and IDW put together. This realisation makes me want to drink tap water at Jerry Garcia's.

Tails has always been my main bro out of the Sonic good guys, cause of how smart he is and how much he wants to help. :D It's also why I'm vocal about how much I despise it when fans double down on reducing the franchise to Just Furry DBZ due to super forms and whatnot, since it means Tails and other characters not named Sonic/Shadow/Silver are guaranteed to be treated even more like they're not good for anything meaningful. >:|

Then there's Spyro of course, which I know will be considered ironic to some given my complex feelings on Sonic, but truth be told, Spyro isn't really that similar to Sonic beyond some snark. He does admittedly act like a dude with tude in the first game, but it's clear that he's younger in that one. From the second game onward, where he's slightly older, he's considerably more chill... at least compared to Bubsy and many others from the 90's. And speaking of, despite his dialogue consisting entirely of WOAH, I respect Crash as well, since it was the bandicoot that got little me into the world of video games.

And many things change, but my fondness for Fluttershy will never die. Just as I have a preference for funny robot-loving villains who nonetheless remain a legit serious threat instead of being a joke, I have another preference for kindhearted quiet characters... which is why I also enjoy Trip... and Tikal... look, we all have our types, I'm sure you can sympathise. ;P

🕷️ - a character you feel is underrated?

The Hard-Boiled Heavies have mostly been pushed aside since Mania came out (aside from that one IDW story, but that's not a blessing), and it makes me madder than YouTubers who pretend they're mad because there are villains with dialogue who have less personality than these guys. They're so much fun, and despite all of them having the same Egg Robo template, their designs remain distinct from each other, even in silhouette form.

I also took to Ariem early on. Like the Heavies, "underrated" refers to general lack of fandom buzz compared to other characters, since although she appears to be quite liked, the acknowledgement given to her is somewhat limited due to her being stuck in an Android-only game for the time being. Some people also have an obsession with comparing her unfavourably to either Sage or Lanolin, for reasons I can probably guess in both cases. Me? I love her design, and her interactions with Cream and Knuckles are cute. :> I know it's not likely, but I hope she appears elsewhere so that she can be brought to more fans' attention... provided she doesn't get IDW'd.

Finally, a more complicated example: Metal Sonic. Now yes, he's very popular and beloved, and remains so to this day, but during the last couple of years, I feel I've been seeing two growing sides in the community when it pertains to him: the side who loves Neo Metal Sonic, and believe he's only a threat in that form like Flynn apparently believes (given how he often turns regular Metal into a jobber), and the side who consider him lame or essentially worthless because of his minimal characterization compared to others. He might not say much, and he might be a hedgehog-shaped tool of Eggman's ambition rather than a complete person of his own, but I believe there's a lot you can do with Metal that wouldn't require turning him into Usurper the Elf Shoes. OVA Metal ain't S-tier for nothing.

[shiny-jr]

ooh wait have you played three houses?? i saw you mentioned it in one of your recent posts and i got curious. can i ask what are your thoughts on it if you have played it?

also also, have you played pokemon scarlet/violet at all? i’d really love to hear your thoughts on it, especially with its latest dlc ^^ (super sorry i’m grouping two different games in this ask, i didn’t wanna send messages back to back, but feel free to only answer one if you want!)

Oh boy, more opportunities for me the spout nonsense and my odd opinions. I will gladly take it. Buckle up, anon and others reading, because I have a long history with both franchises.

I've been playing Fire Emblem since Fire Emblem: Awakening, then Fates, Heroes, and eventually Three Houses. My take: Awakening is still the best one, but maybe I'm biased. I remember playing it and marrying Chrom on accident, whoops.

Anyways, Three Houses was alright, better than Fates but not better than Awakening. I remember it came out, and I was actually upset because I was in another country on the US release date so I didn't get to play it until I got back. Even when I saw the trailers, I knew I was Golden Deers all the way. Odd, I know, most people prefer the other teams. Claude, Hilda, Marianne, Lysithea, my dears. OH, and before I go on, I just want to say, I hate the female MC. And no, it's not what you think, I only hate her because literally why does her outfit look like that compared to the male MC? Robin from Awakening was always the better protagonist anyways.

After completing the Golden Deers route, I decided I wanted to try and complete all the routes because at that point I disliked a huge majority of the characters. I tried Blue Lions next. At first I didn't really have much of an opinion on Dimitri, but he grew on me eventually, because how could I resist such a miserable brooding man that later gets a soft spot for one person (plus his design was kinda badass)? But I will admit, his behavior immediately post-timeskip was kinda annoying. I thought I would dislike Felix, but shockingly, I didn't, I actually liked him. And you know what? Dedue is CRIMINALLY underrated, he's literally probably the nicest and loyalest dude of all time. He got some hate for his race from some characters, and I actually got heated.

After Blue Lions, I knew I had to play through Black Eagles twice if I wanted the last two routes. However, here's the thing. In both previous routes, Golden Deer and Blue Lions, I had loathed Edelgard. But, I thought to myself, I just needed to try her route and maybe I'll change my mind... Well, I was wrong. Edelgard is probably one of the characters I HATE most in any franchise. And I tried so hard to like her, like I would give her gifts and answer dialogue truthfully, only for the relationship thing to go down. Like damn, okay. I just couldn't stand her. The others in her route were mostly fine, I liked Ferdinand, Bernadetta, Caspar, and Petra. But because of Edelgard, I couldn't even finish her route once and it's still uncompleted to this day.

Now... onto Pokemon.

Fun fact, I completed Pokemon Black and White when I was in first grade and couldn't read everything. Don't ask me how I did it, because I honestly have no clue. I've played every gen since then: Black and White 2, X and Y, Sun and Moon, Ultra Sun and Moon, Sword and Shield, Arceus, Scarlet and Violet. I did indeed preorder the game when it was announced, as I have done for the generations before. Where do you think my username comes from? In most pokemon games, I love collecting shiny pokemon. Shiny.

I was hyped for Scarlet and Violet since the first day it was announced. I lost my mind the day it was first announced and eagerly waited months for it. When it came out, I dropped everything for several days. As a regular fan, I always set this tradition for myself to defeat new pokemon games within or around 24 hours and of course, I did so.

The game itself has a lot of issues, namely the glitches and quality of the frames. But, it's on the switch, so that's to be expected. It felt really rushed in that aspect. I just feel like they could do so much better if they really wanted to, like on par with BOTW or TOTK (those games have bad frames too but at least they look a lot better). As for mechanics, I really missed the mechanics from Arceus, but at least Scarlet and Violet improved upon the poor excuse of the open area that was in Sword and Shield.

Story and characterwise, I'm torn.

Here's what I like: (1) the multiple split routes, (2) certain characters.

(1) It made it feel like you really had a lot to do, and that combined with the open area of the entire map made it seem like a lot. It is a lot. So it's really fun to explore and try to complete everything. Even just walking about, you're bound to get distracted, lost, or find something completely new. I was just playing it a while ago after completing everything and there were still little secrets I didn't notice the first time around.

(2) Arven, my god, do I love a guy with mommy AND daddy issues. And he has a dog? I'm hooked. I didn't expect to get attached to him, but I did. I actually prefer his route purely because of the story within it with his companion. I didn't see that coming, and I was so worked up over it. Another character I like, Director Clavell. A good supporting professor, you love to see it. Wish he showed up more though.

Here's what I dislike: (1) the villains, (2) the gym leaders, and (3) other characters, (4) the leveling system. (5) I'll talk about the dlc last.

(1) We haven't had a good villain team in a while. Black and White was super memorable with N, X and Y's Lysandre with Team Flare was a joke, Sun and Moon's Team Skull with Guzma was actually good because they were funny and non-threatening, Sword and Shield with Team Yell was actual trash, and this Team Star being bad guys but not really bad guys was actually so boring. Let's roll it back to Team Aqua literally planning to recreate a great flood or Team Magma planning to create havoc with volcanoes, Team Plasma that wanted to liberate Pokemon, or Team Galactic that were going to harness the power of time/space/universe and their leader is trapped/died in an empty dimension. They don't make Pokemon villains like they used to, huh?

(2) The gym leaders are very forgettable this time around. Like, they don't play much of a role aside battling, and after that you don't really see them again at all. It's a shame, because some of them have potential for greater use and have really good designs. Not to mention, they were all weak as hell.

(3) The Champion was a let down. Geeta (I had to look up her name). I was iffy when I first saw images of her, I didn't like her design but I just decided to go with the flow and I'll probably change my mind. I didn't. She's as forgettable of a champion as Alder and Diantha were. At least we saw Leon in the SwSh a lot and we got to hear from characters about how strong he was. Geeta wasn't like that at all, her team was a joke. Nemona as a rival was annoying, she got on my nerves from the first few moments we met her. I think Penny had potential, but I just didn't like her.

(4) The leveling system was really annoying. What happened was, I tried to complete the other two routes first and save the gym leaders for last. However, when I did this, because I didn't have any gym badges, new pokemon caught wouldn't listen even if my other pokemon were like 20 or more levels above them. So I had to pause the other route, just to do some of the gyms that way I could actually use new pokemon. I know they tried the system to prevent people from just cheating the system by automatically getting high-leveled pokemon from friends, but it just got in the way.

(5) DLC so far... not a fan. I mean, it's something. It's there. It's a thing. But it has nothing so far that makes me like it. The rivals are meh, and the region confuses the hell out of me. I don't get why do Scarlet and Violet region of Paldea based off Spain, but then have a DLC with an island that's so very obviously based off Japan. They could've picked anything around Spain but go back to Japan when 4/9 of the regions are already supposedly based off Japan? Idk, it was kind of a let down to be honest. I haven't completed the dlc, so I still have to do that. The new map is small, but I heard the next dlc is supposed to be huge so here's to hoping that one is better?

[our-wargame]

Rewatching code geass and crazy how underrated cc and lelouch are

Like

The show starts with

A fateful encounter. Suddenly cc has found (someone) who she has been searching for, and he is granted the power he needs to pursue his deepest desire. it's like putting life on fast forward, skipping through days and days of hell/nothingness to the place where you want to be.

They keep talking about being accomplices. Now I like kallen and I adore Shirley, but many a people have argued that cc and lelouch were "just acquaintances" compared to the friendships with the others. Wrong. Other people, are not a part of their world. They are alone, they are each other's accomplices. They share a contract, they are promised.

Yes, lelouch seeks out kallen physically in a moment of weakness but it's cause she's present and c.c. isn't. When c.c. is, she vows that she will at the very least, stay with him to the end. Even if they don't achieve both of their goals, she will do what she can to protect him.

The whole, "I'm a witch. I don't know if I was ever human." And lelouch in his, "if you're a witch, then I'll be your warlock." Again, promising that they are accomplices. That even if they lose, even if they are persecuted, he will not leave her alone.

The whole resurrection movie, where original cc travels through the multiverse. If you're an odazai fan, then yeah it screams beast coded to me too.

C.c.' vulnerability gets to me. Her backstory about her geass being able to make people love her. How she realizes none of it is genuine, how she came to realize that the one person who she thought genuinely loved her was the nun who gave her geass - only to learn she was just being used. And of course c.c. goes on to make contracts with many people including mao. It ends up horribly where he believes her to be his lover. Still, despite all of these horribleness, she manages to feel something for lelouch. (Kallen and her confronting each other about their respective feelings)

The sexual tension. When he refers to her as a selfish woman, when she irritates him by pointing out he's a sore loser (falling for Cornelia's trap). Just knowing each other that well. They're more terms of endearment than insults.

They belong together, your honor.

[sunbloomdew]

Since you've played it, what are your thoughts on Derek's dlc? I thought it was great. Derek is so sweet and cute but so underrated compared to Baxter and Cove. Don't get me wrong, I love them but Derek needs more love 🥺I get so giddy when I see art and fanfics about him.

i enjoyed his dlc a ton! i think it was very adorable, derek is such a sweetheart <33

i totally agree he is underrated compared to cove and baxter,,, when i browse through their tags here derek has significantly less things about him and it's a bit of a bummer. but i think he is just as good as the other two guys, i love my all my children equally i swear (even if the amount of baxter stuff i post says otherwise)

in any case, his dlc was truly a blast. derek's family is so cool, i loved the added moments in step 2 - i had a lot of fun getting to know derek and his family better, and spending more time with elizabeth and cove. especially moments involving elizabeth, cause i love exploring familial relationships :3

i've seen some people say that they feel weird playing moments with derek cause he is confirmed to have a crush on mc, but personally it didn't bother me at all. he may have a crush on them but he is still their friend first and foremost. and even when there are moments where his crush shows, i found it more endearing than uncomfortable. he is just a little guy with a crush on his friend and how can you not find it wholesome <33

his struggles throughout the dlc felt incredibly real. his role as the oldest brother, his feelings about his sports career and how he expects too much from himself, not giving himself a moment to do what he wants - it was all very well written and have touched me deeply. i think he is a great character.

i gotta say tho that i did not expect him to sound the way he did in step 4, i was so caught off guard lmao. but the more i listened to his voice the more i liked it :D

so yeah, derek's dlc was a lot of fun, i'll have to replay it soon! thank you for asking anon ( ˘ ³˘)♥︎

[auralina33]

moondrop moony the moon guy and ukmmmmmmm fucking nightmarionne

MOONDROP

First impression: Would you believe me if I told you I originally really didn't care about this guy at all. I thought the design was sort of neat but for some reason my brain was just like "This guy's only barely gonna be a character. Common random enemy." or something like that.

Impression now: Then the game came out and the demons consumed me. This guy climbed into my hyperfixation list and comfort character list. Moondrop is an important character in FNAF SB to Me... they give me fucked up and different vibes compared to the others, like whatever's wrong with them is slightly to the left from whatever's wrong with everyone else.

Favorite moment: As much as I complain about it, Moondrop's bit of the entire Parts and Service sequence activates the hyperfixation so hard for me. WHEN have you ever seen a FNAF character just attack and kidnap someone? On-screen? In the main game? In a cutscene? And the fact that NO other character ever attacks Glamrock Freddy? (There's Vanny ig but she only ever does so indirectly). DUDE. That scene's such a goldmine and I'm so mad Moon's involvement on it was just forgotten about by the end.

Idea for a story: So fucking many of them. I kind of want to write something about Luna in the Nowhere to Run (Ruin DLC) AU because that's getting me insane lately. But I also have been considering... I've wanted to write a symbolic conversation with Luna himself in Hacked!Luna times since forever. I also want to write Luna and Melody talking about being aroace and generally having a sibling bonding moment. And that's just the ideas specific to my solo Memento Mori based AUs. On a NOT Luna-specific note, I have ideas for Moondrops from different AUs too.

Unpopular opinion: I'm Moondrop's biggest apologist and their biggest defender. They're NOT fucked up and murderous by nature they don't WANT to be doing this!! CANON LAY YOUR HANDS OFF THE HARMFUL "EVIL SPLIT PERSONALITY" STEREOTYPES OR DIE BY MY BLADE.

Favorite relationship: Sunnydrop and Moondrop as a positive, caring dynamic is my absolute favorite thing, at this point it's my headcanon they're specifically made to support each other. Also there's so much untapped potential on Moon with Vanny and I want people to explore that so badly.

Favorite headcanon: Aroace Moondrop for the win. Asides from that, okay, let me think of something that's an important headcanon to me without being 100% Luna specific- When people make Moon kind of awkward and/or lonely without painting them badly for it an angel gains its wings. Also I'm a huge fan of Moondrops who were more on the softer side personality-wise before they were hacked.

NIGHTMARIONNE

First impression: So, you need to know two things... 1. I had a Nightmarionne lover arc too 2. I was a FNAF4 girlie for a while and LOVED the Nightmares, but was also a Toy enjoyer and therefore was massively miffed there were no Nightmare Toys. I tried to make them up myself. I'm telling you all this because the day we got the first teaser hinting at a Nightmare version of the Puppet I was so fucking excited I looked at that image so many times.

Impression now: NIGHTMARIONNE MY POOR UNDERRATED FAVE. I'm not as insane about him as I used to be anymore but I still LOVE Nightmarionne and yes I understand he doesn't get much in terms of lore but I want people to utilize him in AUs more. The day Scott Cawthon confirmed Nightmarionne isn't canon was a tragedy to me.

Favorite moment: Honestly, just the entire experience of watching FNAF4 Halloween Edition for the first time and seeing this guy in the flesh. IT WAS SO COOL. The incredibly dark renders that most of his body blended into, the constant staring at the camera with glowing white eyes, the footsteps being replaced by the My Grandfather's Clock music box, which in the old games meant you were safe from the Puppet but here means it's getting closer... GOD. I don't like his post FNAF4 appearances nearly as much, even if I don't think they're bad.

Idea for a story: I've never considered writing fanfic of this dude... Mainly because my fanfic arc started when the FNAF4 hyperfixation left. It's a good idea though I do need to write him someday.

Unpopular opinion: Nightmarionne getting to be a proper antagonist instead of just a symbolic thing or a mindless monster makes me so happy but that goes for the Nightmares in general to be honest. Ok, here's a Nightmarionne-specific one, the tentacles and noodley limbs are super meh to me, I wanted to like them, but I'd honestly much rather would have had him moving around like a creepy gigantic rickety wind-up toy. His voice is also meh to me, I don't like it being so deep and monstrous, I would have loved it if it'd been a soft, calm, almost soothing sort of creepy.

Favorite relationship: Nightmarionne and Nightmare have a lot of potential to me, Nightmare Fredbear is a good addition too. Also in any AU where the Nightmares are physical animatronics I REQUIRE Nightmarionne's dynamic with William to be explored. Nightmarionne and the Puppet can be a hit... sometimes... I do love me some wicked mirrors.

Favorite headcanon: Nightmarionne just has daddy issues to me at this point because of my old AU but that makes me sound insane. Ok, here's a fun one, Nightmarionne's sense of balance is ASS with how thin and tall he is. A sufficiently angry 12 year old kicking the back of his leg could knock him straight to the ground.