#either they hate each other (and she's always in the villain role even if he's more in the wrong hmmm we should unpack that)

[benadrylcandlewhack]

I bring a sort of "Optimus and Elita both get to live and least be on good terms with one another" vibe that the majority of Transformers canon doesn't like

[millidew]

its been almost 6 years since kaito and ouma have infested me. here's me talking out of my ass for over 2k words

to love the ouma-kaito dynamic is to love the themes of v3. to see one of them as 100% correct and the other as 100% wrong is to hate the themes of v3.

there must be balance. which is one of the themes!

at first, they each represent one end of their spectrums: lies, distrust, and logic VS truth, trust, and emotion. but it's not all black and white— they're far more similar than they think

to get the obvious visual foiling out of the way: short vs tall, scrawny vs muscular, pale vs tan (relatively...), round eyes vs sharp eyes, cool purple vs warm purple, black and white vs a colorful galaxy, and a tight "straitjacket" vs what's basically loose pjs

they're visual opposites, but they're also both purple, charismatic leaders, would rather die than their let go of their respective roles of hero and villain, and both want to end the killing game. they're also both SO dramatic. they cannot be separated.

all this is to say that they're the same, just taking different approaches (i mean, just compare their early FTEs. what are you two FUCKING talking about. your ass is NOT a pirate kaito shut up). ouma hides drops of truth within his lies and lives to poke holes in others' poorly concealed lies. kaito talks about being honest, but is also constantly lying to himself and others. and it's so fitting for them to essentially die with each other.

lying your way to the truth, and 10 other tricks to surviving a killing game:

v3 is a game that asks: who are you? why are you even alive? what parts of you are really "you"?

in other words: what is true and what is a lie? does it matter?

the flashback lights are all lies. tsumugi can literally rewrite their "truth" as she wishes. and of course, there's the fact that they're all fictional characters come to life.

and there's the big lie of ch1, brought back in ch6. although this is less relevant to me, personally, because kaede fully intended and did try her damnedest to kill so either way she's still at fault soo

the theme of the survivors is that they all have a reason to fight to live even if the world is hell, because they're pushed forward by the connections they made— kaede's encouragements, the training with kaito that led to shuichi and maki's happiness, and himiko's memories of tenko and angie. even though maki loses kaito, because she had those good times with him that led to her change in self-worth, she'll be okay in the end. she's not enforcing her own loneliness anymore.

basically, "maybe the real reason to live is the friends we made along the way"

shuichi explicitly says that his feelings are true, even if they're born of lies. to lie, there has to be a truth. to be truthful, you can't lie. yin yang and all that

it's even shown with the game mechanic of perjury. kaede and shuichi can literally lie for the sake of finding the truth

he rejects being forced to choose between "hope" and "despair," breaking the cycle. it's pretty easy to apply this to the other dichotomies in v3: truth vs lies, trust vs distrust, logic vs emotion. even heroes vs villains.

ultimately, i think v3 aligns more closely with kaito's ideology, because of course truth and trust is a good thing....!, but not without poking massive holes in it too. because kaito's a prideful hypocrite and the game does NOT let you forget it <3 more on that later

little white lies AKA ouma is sick of your shit part 1:

"is the truth worth it? aren't feel-good white lies ok? what even is a lie?" ouma asks with his little hater heart. (ch1 and ch4)

here, we see ouma questioning the individual nature of common sense ("gut instinct", if you will)— how can kaede decide if his talent is a lie? what is a lie? if ouma is 99% lies by weight, what is ouma??? an annoying grape??

we all want the truth, right? but the truth can be ugly. that's what ouma's always showing.

this is something shuichi also tackles with his feelings on his own talent. by exposing the truth, he causes pain to others. but this isn't about him, so you'll just have to keep that in mind

in the death road to despair in ch1, it's kaede's optimism that causes misery to the rest of her classmates. they're lying to themselves when they try to do it over and over. again, ouma calls her out on it, pissing off kaito who supports kaede 100%. the idea they can all get out and become friends is…also really unlikely. and even with kaede's murder "for the greater good", ouma disparages her for doing it in the first place: she lost the moment she seriously considered the thought, and played right into monokuma's bloodthirsty lil' paws.

right after the ch3 execution, himiko still refuses to let herself feel… until ouma calls her out on it. stop lying to yourself. and they all let it out, crying together. it's a good thing, and spurs on himiko's arc to be more true to herself. you did a good thing, ouma. now onto ch4! yay!

the "truth of the outside world", and ch4 as a whole, is probably the most in your face way of showing this. but more on that later.

the boys are back:

if you want a good relationship with someone, vulnerability is key, one that ouma unfortunately can't replace with a lockpick. you have to be honest. maki and shuichi were honest to kaito, which let him help them out.

ouma is definitely not vulnerable, up until the very end. ouma's distrust of everyone pushes them away, leaving him alone— without the "reason to fight to live" the others have— living out of spite and determination, until he dies for that too. like maki, he reinforces his own loneliness, but unlike her, he never makes those connections that make him change into a more well-rounded person.

kaito's better than him, which is a really low bar, but the game goes out of its way to tell you that he's still hiding secrets and adamantly refuses to let down his hero persona, harming both himself and those around him. you are COUGHING UP BLOOD, you are NOT okay. while his sidekicks still know something is wrong, he refuses to truly let them in, instead just brushing them off.

and that pisses ouma off. at the very least, ouma's honest about being a liar. kaito, in his eyes, is a coward. (not only that, people still like him despite being a liar..... but that's probably more to do with kaito being way less of a dick).

ouma, in kaito's eyes, is also a coward. he can call ouma a two-faced coward as much as he wants, but pot, meet kettle

chapter 4 AKA ouma is sick of your shit part 2:

ok. seriously onto ch4 this time. it's the perfect set up to the insanity of ch5. the tension is insane. also, ouma does not shut up about kaito having a crush on him. ok man.

from now on, it's the kaito & ouma show, the truth & trust & hope & emotion & hero VS lies & distrust & despair & logic & villain show.

and the game puts kaito, and all his themes, in the wrong. poor gonta and shuichi are just along for the ride

the stubborn belief that worked so well for maki in ch2 makes kaito refuse to believe, despite the evidence pointing to it, that gonta is the blackened, endangering everyone. and this is the cause of kaito and shuichi's rift which ouma takes great pleasure in. i'm sure this greatly validates his own distrust and loneliness, seeing it as the superior option

kaito's a liar, shuichi's a liar, and gonta is...not a liar but still technically wrong. YOU'RE ALL LIARS AND KAITO/SHUICHI STANS. YOUR FAVE IS PROBLEMATIC. OUMA'S FUCKING PISSED

it's the hypocrisy that gets to him the most imo

does he know?

anyways, it's a great showdown between their two ideologies. up until now, i'd say the score was roughly 3:1 in kaito's favor, but now it's definitely more even. it even features ouma punching kaito instead of the other way around like last time: something made possible imo because of kaito's sickness, which ouma forces him and everyone to acknowledge by doing this

this is a massive L for the hero side.... can the sidekicks clutch this victory and save the princess?

(interestingly enough, note that kaito doesn't even seem to hate ouma after all that. at the start of ch5, he puts ouma and gonta in the same category as having snapped under the pressure due to monokuma. his feelings, of course, change later on.)

...

are you sure about that

yeah, the truth sucks sometimes, huh?

what now?

chapter 5 AKA the boys are back 2 AKA voyage without passion or purpose AKA the sickest chapter name ever

ch5 combines ouma and kaito's ideologies through their swansong, their magnum opus, their collective theatre kid dream

the hangar man. THE HANGAR. no more cameras. no more prying eyes. no more heroes. no more villains. NO PASSION (KAITO). NO PURPOSE (OUMA). WHAT'S THE POINT. IT ALL BLURS (probably because of the blood loss)

think about it this way: kaito is literally dying, hypocritically refusing to let his friends in. ouma is metaphorically dying, because he lacks the "reason to fight to survive" everyone else has, because he has no trust, no friends, no bitches... anyways

(also the poison, which is. you know. is also literally killing him but shush)

the closest he had was, imo, miu for a little, then kaito in ch5. but in the end, it's all spite, not connection, that drives him. ouma kills himself to prove a point, and they both die as a middle finger to the mastermind— a hollow victory, in many ways.

think about kaito sitting alone in the exisal, hacking his lungs out in the metallic silence of the belly of the beast, having just learned one of the truths behind ouma's act, then killing him, then having to lie to all your friends for the hope that ouma's final, crazy plan works out. he's finally stooped to ouma's level. he's so used to the smell of blood by now. does ouma's blood on his hands look any different from his own?

even kaito's motto: "the impossible is possible! all you gotta do it make it so!" is pretty much an admittance. you can make a lie (impossible) the truth (possible).

also ouma bleeding out looking like shit laying in kaito's galactic coat like a cape. kaito squeezing his eyes shut before before pressing the buttons. these images changed lives.

the lying truthersssss...working together!!! to literally pretend to be each other!!! to blur into one being!! trusting each other to see it through for their shared goal!! at first glance, maki thinks it's her fault— that ouma manipulated kaito using her, but kaito disagrees, saying it was for the sake of ending the killing game.

this is all to hammer home the idea that we shouldn't see them as "hero" or "villain." the cast sees them as it first, but of course, we know that's not so simple by the time kaito steps out of the exisal.

in the end, they fail, but kaito puts his and ouma's dreams in their hands. they can do it better this time.

plus, kaito finally stops lying to himself and others about being a liar, the thing ouma gave him endless shit for. it only took him 5 chapters

is it wrong to call "that was a lie" ouma's catchphrase?

i still can't believe maki believed him. love makes you stupid i guess

extra thoughts:

you might be wondering why i call him "ouma" and not "kokichi." i do the same with some other characters: kirigiri, togami (though i switch between that and byakuya nowadays), and komaeda. it's because i don't know them like that. we are NOT friends. "kirigiri" is out of respect however

don't you think ouma has his own "sidekicks," his "villain lackeys," if you will, in DICE?

kaito's execution music should've had the "reach for the stars" line from sdr2 and i'm still mad about it

and they should've both in that exisal idc

kaito somehow exited that exisal with a new jacket. it's my headcanon that, in respect of a fellow theatre kid, ouma stole a second jacket from kaito's room and put it in the exisal

VR au post game low(high)key codependent oumota is everything and i'll happily read 1000 fics about it

also just outside of the Themes of it all, and tbh my main draw to this duo... they're so funny. they are SO. FUNNY. THEY'RE SO GOOFY TOGETHER. STOP TRYING TO ONE UP EACH OTHER

they should run around and beat each other with toy hammers. it's enrichment.

this isn't like thematically relevant but their love hotel events really show how well they could work together. they want a rival to pump them up and fight back so bad!! they'd have the craziest vigilante beef

WHY IS THIS 2.1K WORDS/???!> i am so weak to rivals man

tldr: look at this meme.

tldr 2.0: a true kaito fan is also a true ouma fan and vice versa. you may not like it, but they're two peas in a pod. don't worry though, they're not happy about it either.

[yeehaw-fuckers]

man… i hate how people hate on vinny everyman cause he was complicit to habit’s various vile deeds through the show and decided to continue the investigation!

🎉SO I WROTE A WHOLE RANT/ESSAY DEFENDING HIM 🎉

IMPORTANT NOTE- words or paragraphs in red are important/key parts and bold or caps is just for emphasis also if my spelling is shit its because im excited lol

btw please don’t take this too seriously, these characters are fictional, and this whole thing is just an analysis on morally grey characters and the hate they get

comments are very appreciated and ill always try to comment back to yall

❗️❗️SPOILERS❗️❗️

(DONT READ UNLESS YOU FINISHED THE EVERYMAN HYBRID SERIES OR YOU DONT MIND SPOILERS)

first of all, are yall forgeting that they (the characters) are literally in a loop where they repeat the same roles over and over again! LIKE THEIR DECISIONS ARE MADE FOR THEM NOT BY THEM so keep that in mind

vinny has been a victim (like every other character) in all iterations/universes, throughout each-one he’s never learned how to defend himself or say no to peer pressure!

habit has made VARIOUS EXAMPLES (via murder and torture) of people who either didn’t listen to him or that he straight up didn’t like!

as the show goes on you see how habit now becomes dependent on vinny and how vinny becomes dependent on habit (cause all of vinny’s friends are dead and slender man is still out there)

it becomes a bully v.s victim situation where the victim has to stay with their bully to be safe, a situation that many people blatantly ignore for the sake of habit’s charisma and character,

he became adaptable to the situation, becoming complicit towards habit’s violent tendencies and even insulting or pushing habit cause he knows that habit cant get rid of him if they want to defeat slenderman!

for my other point, aka continuing the investigation,

DUDE! who tf wouldn’t follow the investigation on slenderman or habit, THEY ARE KILLING PEOPLE AND THE POLICE CANT DO SHIT ABOUT IT! and yes I acknowledge that vinny did remove incriminating evidence of himself that would make him look bad, WHICH IS A SHITTY THING TO DO btw

but other characters have also made shit decisions or mistakes in the series, ITS LITERALLY A REALISTIC THING TO DO!!

for example jeff gets stephanie sent to a fucking MENTAL INSTITUTION because he SUSPECTED that she was working with slenderman

(she wasnt, shes a victim of slenderman and also emo as fuck)

do i think it was a good idea to pressure others into the investigation, no! thats a terrible idea and he should have done it by himself or atleast warned gang about his knowledge of information!

do i think it was a good idea to summon habit, HELL NO, but if we are going to be honest habit is apart of this never ending loop too!

BUT in the end hes not necessarily a villain, hes a morally grey person like the rest of characters, except for habit and slenderman they are straight up evil,

it’s realistic storytelling!!! and some people throw it out the window so they can place blame on a character that they dislike cause people cant handle morally grey people without forcing them into a hero or villain arcs!!

-from your fella named, yeehaw-fuckers

[mortalityplays]

It's obviously kind of an oversimplification to say Gomorra is 'about' homosexuality. It's about a lot of things. But it's also completely true and I would even possibly argue that it is the load-bearing point of the show.

On a macro level, the whole thing is about the endlessly bloody and destructive struggle of a life in organised crime. But even in that sense it puts a very specific thematic point on the way love, relationships and blood relations are constant casualties of this way of life, and the effect of that relentless human loss on the players who keep choosing war over peace. Ciro blazing his trail by killing women, children and parents specifically is not a 'kick the cat' villain beat, it's the whole point of the material. Genny being perpetually struck down by his own nuclear family because he is competition to them is part of it. Being in the life means eventually sacrificing those you love on its altar. You murder your wife, you send your son to die in the jungle, you send your father-in-law to prison.

As we absorb that, we're presented with this succession of queer characters living in the periphery of the story. One by one they're introduced to us, they explicate themselves as divergent from heteronormative sex and gender roles, and then we watch them die or disappear. It's heavily implied that the 'lesbian' from the tower blocks may be a trans man, but she doesn't exist in a context where articulating that is an option, and she dies in a white wedding dress inherited from her father. Conte's relationship with a trans woman can only exist behind closed doors. He dates her sister in public, he puts off introducing her to his mother, he appeals to his catholicism to distance himself from his own sexuality. Gege panics and folds because he's afraid for his boyfriend and his daughter. What do I care about the guy fucking you in the ass? Genny sneers, before he beats Gege to death with the watch that signifies his connection to a mob family. Much like the harrowing shit the show delves into around race, the message is 'there is no mercy here'. There is no oxygen for the articulation of queerness. It can only survive unspoken, in negative space.

And there's no argument that the show is about the negative space between Genny and Ciro. Neither of them know how to articulate their relationship. They're best friends, they're worst enemies, they grew up together, Ciro raised Genny, they're brothers, they're father and son. They use the word love. They also use the word hate. They come as close as anyone ever gets to putting bullets in each other's brains. They keep taking turns to ask each other can we do this now? and the answer is always not yet. Even when they're on the same side, they can only discuss the nature of their relationship by proxy, through their mutual relationships with others. Pietro is one. And I could write a fucking essay on the Enzo situation.

The negative space is physical, too. They hover around each other. They talk nose to nose. In the first season they can't stay apart, they grab each other, they pepper each other with kisses. After the life erases all of their visible human connections and sets them at odds, they're shot like orbiting planets. Empty space takes up entire frames between them. Ciro is fucking constantly looking at Genny, to the point that shots are composed around his furtive glances. After they finally reveal themselves to Analisa, Ciro catches Genny by the arm to pull him away from the meeting. That's not a gesture we ever see between other characters, especially in a context like that. They are constantly either 1 inch or 12 feet apart.

But most of all, there's negative space in the title. Gomorra. Yeah it's a play on Camorra. Don't worry about it. Don't think too much about it. Just ignore the primary association with that word that floats into your head when you hear it. It's absent from the show, right? It's absent from the life. This is a mafia show about two straight friends.

[longitudinalwaveme]

2024 Flash Annual (and General Musings About Si Spurrier's Flash Run)

I bought the 2024 Flash annual today, and enjoyed....parts of it. Which is actually a reflection of my feelings about the run as a whole. Here are my thoughts about the storyline so far, starting with the stuff I'm not crazy about.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Bad

I'm not a huge fan of Wally's kids suddenly having been aged up into teenagers. I liked them as younger kids, and it's frustrating to have them be advanced so rapidly into the more standard teenaged sidekick role.

Linda has been somewhat out of focus in the most recent issues of the story. I appreciate the attempt at tackling postpartum depression, but it feels as though the plot thread has been mostly lost amidst all the craziness.

Barry swearing is weird. He's such a clean-cut guy, and even though he's supposed to be somewhat out-of-character due to all the reality warping shenanigans, it's still odd to have him swearing constantly.

Amanda Waller is back, and she hates superheroes. Again. She's not exactly out-of-character or anything, but she's not really adding all that much to the plot. She's just here because of a tie-in crossover.

The tone of the book is rather dour and depressing. While it's not as relentlessly awful as it probably could be, I have to admit that having the entire Flash family be either depressed or on edge and at each others' throats is a bit depressing.

The Speed Force-related technobabble makes my brain hurt. I know that the Speed Force is always weird and esoteric and doesn't make sense, but this arc has been taking that up to eleven. I neither understand nor particularly care about the Arc Angles or the weird dimensional space-time stuff, and it frustrates me that so much panel time is devoted to that over and above character interactions.

This one is really minor, but I don't care for Evan's new astronaut costume. The original Mirror Master look was better.

Good Stuff

While the dour tone is a bit off-putting, I do at least respect the attempt to portray depression and burnout. For the most part, the symptoms are shown quite realistically, and, at least in Wally's case, it is a continuation of long-running mental health struggles. (Wally also suffered from depression shortly after becoming the Flash, so it does make some sense that his depression might resurface at some point.)

It's good to see Gorilla Grodd again. Before this arc, he hadn't done much for a few years, so it's nice to have him return (even if I'm not sure how he managed to get control over Gorilla City again).

The interactions between Wally and his kids (when they happen) are really solid, at least for the most part. I also like that Irey is still friends with Maxine Baker and that plot point wasn't dropped when the new writer took over.

Abra Kadabra makes total sense as part of the evil scheme, and Spurrier has thus far written him very well. I think it's been a good while since he was a major antagonist in anything, so I appreciate having him back as a Flash villain. I'm also relieved to learn that he was the Piper and not Hartley (mind-controlled or otherwise).

This may be the most interesting and threatening the Folded Man has ever been. Not that that's a particularly high bar to clear, but it's a nice change of pace to have him as a major villain.

Bart Allen and Max Mercury have been written well, and I'm glad that they're a team again.

Hartley has gotten to play an important role in the events of the story and is playing the role of tech support for the Flashes, just like he used to do during Wally's run. I'm very glad to have him around, and I hope that we get to see him in costume before the end of the run (especially given the way that Kadabra's evil scheme has co-opted his theme).

Evan McCulloch is back! I've missed him, and he and his phonetically-written Scottish accent have been one of the highlights of the run for me. He fits in with the book's plot and tone really well, given his weird eldritch powers, and this story has been a good showcase of just how dangerous he can be. I also particularly liked the bit where the Folded Man sarcastically suggested that Evan McCulloch's reward for participating in the plan was a hug; that was a good joke.

Unanswered Questions

Is McCulloch still dealing that Speed Force drug? And how was that connected to the overall evil plot?

Who or what is promising the rewards to the villains? Is it a pre-established villain, or some unknown cosmic horror?

Is Eobard Thawne involved in this scheme? If not, is one of the other Thawnes? I have to assume that at least one of them must be, because otherwise the "Crown of Thawnes" makes little sense.

What exactly has Evan been promised as a reward for his participation in the evil scheme? He's the only one we don't have a definite answer for, and I'm really curious as to what might be motivating him. If I were writing it, I would probably have the reward be a promise to let him go back in time and stop himself from accidentally shooting his father, but I do somewhat doubt that that's what he's actually been promised. Maybe it has something to do with reuniting him with the Rogues?

Are the social problems in Central City going to be addressed outside of Irey's ill-fated attempt to solve them? Is this going to be the next story arc, or an ongoing subplot? If so, I hope Hartley gets involved.

Is Evan still addicted to cocaine? Okay, admittedly this doesn't have much to do with anything, but I am curious.

Regardless of what Evan's been promised, Len needs to find him and whack him upside the head. This scheme is much more dangerous than anything he's been involved with previously, and he seems to have completely gone off the deep end in terms of the behavior he's willing to engage in to get what he wants.

[chrkrose]

I know Team Green hates Daemon, and I agree there are 172838 reasons for him to be hated. But Nettles is one of the only things that make him somewhat likable because even though the green side keeps going on and on about the grooming, let’s be real: the public wouldn’t care as long as Matt Smith had chemistry with the other actress. People didn’t care even when his scenes with young rhaneyra were framed as grooming.

And I’m sorry, a lot of y’all takes is always framed through the lenses of “how can I make Daemon look even worse than the scumbag he is” which fair, but then don’t pretend Nettles is in the center of those thoughts because she’s not. If she was, the first point in any meta would be to determine that Rhaenyra is the true villain of Nettles story and just because Rhaenyra was a victim of Daemon, that doesn’t make her worthy of being “sisters in pain” with Nettles when 1) Rhaenyra was racist against her and 2) Daemon was the one to actually save nettles; if it was up to Rhaenyra, Nettles would be another head decorating the gates of the red keep. It’s hard to take any of those metas seriously when y’all weaponize Nettles arc against Daemon and use her just the same as Team Black does, just for a different purpose. It’s still all about victimizing Rhaenyra, and Nettles is just an means to an end. So in the end, are y’all that much different from Team Black or Rhaenyra stans when it comes to Nettles?

George loves daemon; he never wrote his arc with nettles as a commentary on his pedo tendencies. He wrote that arc in spite of his pedo tendencies. He wrote that arc as a way to show “look, Daemon killed a bunch of people, groomed a few others, did terrible things his entire life and is cheating on his queen with a way too young girl, but look how cool and badass she is and how much she suffered in her life, and this time around Daemon really likes this girl and is willing to do selfless acts for her and protect her, a lowborn girl nobody else cares about, so here, he’s light too, see how gray and complex he is?”. And the truth is that public would eat that up because even with Daemon choking Rhaenyra, killing his ex wife, laughing at his second wife’s funeral and ignoring his third wife screams while she gives birth to a demon baby, he still has tons of people who think he’s awesome. That’s just the reality of it. Now, we can argue about the problematics of the storyline, we can argue about how George wants Daemon to get away scot-free, all of this are valid points and tbh I agree with many. But it doesn’t change the story.

I can’t actually engage with team green discourse when it comes to Nettles because y’all don’t see her as a character of her own. If y’all did, y’all would see she’s way more interesting than Rhaenyra and Daemon combined. That her arc is so much more than her relationship with either of them. That she disrupts the status quo, she comes bringing with her a pletora of questions about what it means to be a dragon rider, what it means to have dragon blood. She brings the perspective of the small folk, of the ones forgotten and not cared about when the royals are destroying each other. She survives. She becomes a legend. She is sooo much more than all of this.

The reason why I want Nettles in the show has nothing to do with Daemon, Rhaenyra and whatever takes y’all have on that relationship when it comes to them both. Nettles is not the “new Rhaenyra”, she has nothing to with that character. She’s not a folder to her story, she’s doesn’t exist solely to prove a point or to be used as a weapon to help in her victimhood. Rhaenyra is not the “new Rhea Royce”. Rhaenyra is Rhaenyra, a victim of Daemon as much as a villain in Nettles story. Nettles character doesn’t exist solely to villainize or whitewash Daemon, or to play a role in his story as a folder of his previous relationships. She’s her own character, with her own arc, with her own importance, with her own role, with her own message. Her romance is her own. Her importance is her own. The sacrifices made in her name were made because she was worthy of them. Stop using her just to make your point when the point you want to make is not about her, you are not sounding any better than the ones who dismiss her as just Daemon’s bastard or want her cut off entirely from the show. Your noise is sounding very similar to theirs if I’m being honest.

[hevexns-realm]

Hello! I came here with another random question:

What type of games characters in your AU like: Video games, board games or sport games? And which ones? 👀

EEEE I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE-

Sonic, tails, and silver all love video games. Even if Sonic loves physical sports, he tends to make video game nights for everyone who wants to participate. While Sonic plays a few more edgier games like COD or even Diablo, silver and tails prefer cozier games like Minecraft or animal crossing!

Shadow is more of a board game type of guy, and the game of life is one of his favorites! Although he does play the occasional call of duty with Sonic. Sometimes he uses the voice changer Iris lets him borrow for his drag queen role and uses it to mess with little shits online who are being assholes. It’s funny as all hell, and when the villain group gets ahold of the shadow clips, they’ll be laughing about it for a few days-

Mephiles isn’t much of a gamer, he’s more into novels, audiobooks, the dark academia type stuff. HOWEVER, he does play horror games or mystery type games on occasion, when he has the time. (He refuses to admit this, as he doesn’t want anyone to associate him with his snapcube alternate counterpart. He hates the bastard with a passion, even more than I do-)

Blaze, Nazo, and seelkadoom are all similar to mephiles. They view most video games as a waste of time, or at least the violent/stressful ones. Although, they each have a comfort game of some kind. For blaze, it’s coffee talk (episodes one and two) while Nazo and seelka have a soft spot for cult of the lamb, as it’s a co-op game that they can play with either each other or can take turns playing with Iris when it’s a quiet night.

Adding onto Nazo, he really likes games where there’s always a little something at risk. The higher the risk, the more competitive he gets. This especially goes in gambling, when he knows that there’s a giant pot on the table. When it comes to physical activity, he prefers fencing, speed skating, and a little bit of the waltz on occasion!

Seelka is really into physical sports. His training is arguably the most vigorous, and is the most athletic of the three. It shows through his physique in his work attire, and Iris needs to restrain herself every time she sees him in that suit. (Every other day tbh- and nazo isn’t much better about it either.)

Iris doesn’t really know what games are, but she loves dancing and swimming! She’s actually participated in the Solaris festival as a dancer multiple times at this point, and she loves it even more throughout the years! ^^ outside of the physical stuff, she loves messing with people’s heads. Making them think she’s one thing when she isn’t. She does this with a lot of older rich men, and once she’s gotten larger spoils, she shares them with her friends! (Nazo and seelka get the largest amount before her-)

Iblis loves monopoly, the game of life, anything that relates to mortal life the way she wants everyone to live. She wants them to live their happily ever after, as long as it’s safe, she’ll be happy to support her subjects achieve their dreams!! ❤️❤️

Aeon is a valorant/league of legends player, but she plays a ton of other video games as well! (Non-toxic player, but she’s more than happy to match energy if needed-)

Rouge loves monopoly, but she and iblis have a serious rivalry with the game. Any other game they’re fine, but since both of them are good cheaters, they tend to try and expose the other! ^^

Amy loves card games! UNO, go fish, even some solitare, you name it, she’ll play it! Although, she really likes to play with nazo, as he’s literally a high-class gambler, he knows every trick in the book. She learns a lot of things from him!! ^^

Taglist:

@thebreadmeower @hunniegl4zed

Sorry it took so long, school was long, got some press on nails, and currently getting sick QvQ||

[brandongamesall]

Here's a short synopsis on why the walking dead season 2 was a great story, but barely places second place as one of the best telltale game sof all time.

1. Kenny was a beloved (half of the time) character that got to be relived for a role taking care of Clementine.

Even though he was a hard butt, everyone can agree this season made Kenny's chatacter come towards a brighter light of who he actually is, and clementine is the one person who can either let him do as he pleases, or puts him in his place.

2. We got to fall in love with more characters most of the time.

We got to feel the characters presence, personalities and traits. Though, they fell short on trying to grow a connection with clementine towards episode 3 and so on, you could tell episode 1 set the stage of what group you're going to be with.

3. They had the greatest villain that has ever lived in telltales the walking dead series!

Though short lived, Carver was actually one of the most evil hearted spirits to ever walk this universe. He felt like the governor from the tv show.

Now, here are the reasons why it fell short from being better than season 1:

1. Kenny was too hard headed and would butt heads with any character for any small disagreement.

The main prospect of this would be Luke and Jane. His hatred towards many people made everyone dislike him, especially at the end when he went on a rampage and even knocked clementine on her butt. He held too much anger and showed all of it.

2. The characters you grew to like from episodes 1 and 2 were starting to be dismantled from clementines story the next episode.

This goes with Luke being put into the background, Nick being killed off more and more ridiculously as each episode rolled by, Alvin Senior, Walter, and Matthew being the main people. And Becca. She had the biggest 180° change that I really hated and I always hated her as a character. The only people you can try to enjoy are Jane, Luke, and Mike.

3. Kenny was the main central person you kind of had to side with.

What I mean by this, Kenny never was agreeable in most situations, but other people always made him the better choice. The game kind of forces you to want to be around Kenny

Overall, I really love this season, but it never can stand above the first season. Though, I still think this is one of the better games I've ever played in my life

[davekat-sucks]

Feferi, Fefetasprite and ghost Nepfef (the ship) are the greatest proofs of wasted potential envolving a troll I've ever seen in hs.

It would be cool if the author remembered the relationship (by adoption) that Feferi has with the Egbert-Harley-Crocker-English and addressed Feferi as a "nice" aunt. I would like to see Feferi in the role of guardian of the Dream Bubbles and having relevance with the ghosts.

Fefetasprite interacting with Erisol and Arquius... it would be bittersweet, sad and emotional if given the opportunity to her (and not exploding).

And ghost Nepfef: They seemed to get along well in the dream bubbles, I would like to see some friendship, or maybe something more, appear there.

It's a shame that the author seems to hate Feferi and put that bootleg version of HIC in her place.

And yet, Andrew Hussie discarded Feferi. He says she is nothing more than a joke character like the rest of Blue Team, despite being tied to something bigger. And part of his excuse of not wanting her in is because he hates her typing quirk, thus would have other characters make an excuse to drop the )( thing. To continue pushing Feferi aside, people saw how the fandom was loving Aradia and uses her to replace Feferi as the one to guide the Dream Bubbles, despite the person with the best connections to Horrorterrors, especially to Gl'bgolyb. Aradia may be a Derse Dreamer like Feferi, but Gl'bgolyb had whispered prophecies about her future, likely with Sgrub and the events that come, to Feferi. Which is probably why she had trust and wanting to connect with the Beta Kids because her lusus told her what it is to come. The only other thing that would even come close to tying the horrorterrors with any other trolls would either be Gamzee or Eridan, due to the blood color of horrorterrors are a shade of purple or violet. It could have gone to either one due to them being villains. With Gamzee being part of Lord English that it becomes ironic that horrorterrors would share the same blood color as one of the components as their enemy or Eridan, the one that despite had helped Feferi to feed Gl'bgolyb, would also be the one to kill Feferi too in his despair and his action was needed to move the timeline along.

It would have been interesting for Nepeta and Feferi to have talked to each other either as their ghost selves or reflecting as they were as Fefpetasprite. Nepeta and Equius moirail relationship would be something that Feferi had thought she and Eridan were back then and would have wished it was back then. But then she hears about how Equius would try to make Nepeta keep distance from other lowbloods, it might get her to think twice about it. While in turn, Nepeta could sympathize that the people she had trusted or wanted to believe in, were not great or had left her for good. Cause at least for Nepeta, she can always fall back to Equius after death. But Feferi, she doesn't have anyone. It's not like she can go to Eridan if he is in an emotional mess for his actions that he feels guilty and believes distancing himself from her would be for the best. She can't go back to Sollux since he's back with Aradia, his real girlfriend. Her lusus died and the Dream Bubbles she and her other dead friends get to live in is her only evidence left that her lusus had cared for her. So who does Feferi have? Nobody. And that's sad. Feferi was brushed off as a joke character and Hussie created Meenah to apologize to Feferi fans. They couldn't have two fuchsiabloods because that would mean typing out similar quirks involving the )( thing. And Hussie prefers the femdom attitude that Meenah has over the sweet but passive aggressive Feferi. Because Meenah would be like Vriska. And we know how much Hussie likes Vriska. He loves her so much that we would have many other Vriska clones later on. That's why Meenah was even lesbians with Vriska. I really feel so sorry for Feferi fans.

[convenientalias]

Well, I finished My Journey to You

I can't say I'm a huge fan, but it was unique and enjoyable. More thoughts...

The Good

-Yun Weishan and Shangguan Qian have great chemistry, especially in the first half of the show. I only wish they had more scenes together in the second half instead of wandering off into the land of heterosexual romance.

-Pretty much everyone gets whumped.

-Gong Yuanzhi!!!!! I initially thought he would be the second male lead, before Gong Shangjue showed up, and I kind of wish he was, except I like his role fine as it is. Obsessively loyal didi!!!! Poison boy!!!!! And when I say everyone gets whumped, it's true, but Gong Yuanzhi probably plays whump the best out of all the guys lols, although he's hardly front and center.

-The aesthetic is unique. A lot of wuxia feels kind of similar in terms of costuming and effects. My Journey to You tries for a slightly darker, more mature vibe in terms of production. (See: Yun Weishan's drapey black robe, for example. Also, everyone's always whispering for some reason.) Sometimes this annoyed me actually (bc I don't quite think the plot stands up to the level of seriousness the production is playing at), but for the most part I think it's nice as a change of pace.

The Bad

-I really just. Could not care about Gong Ziyu or Gong Shangjue. Or their romances. Ziyu was a bit better than Shangjue in terms of romantic vibes by the end but they're both just so boring. I don't want either of them to be Sword Wielder I really don't care.

-The ending was so confusing??? Too many twists and reveals and most of them didn't even really matter. I love a "this is what was really going on all along" flashback but some of these reveals directly contradict what the show told us earlier in ways that really annoy me. Also the final villain... is he dumb? bc he could have achieved his goal much easier in other ways, just saying.

-Not that he's unique in that. Everyone in this show overschemes, and especially Wufeng. You could just have had the brides infiltrate WITHOUT revealing their infiltration just so they could prove they weren't fakes even though they were fakes etc etc. Like. WHY.

-I hated Gong Zishang and Jin Fan's relationship I'm sorry. Just. She harasses him constantly and makes that her whole personality, but it's okay bc it turns out he was in love with her all along?? One of my least favorite ship dynamics.

What Could/Should Have Been

-Gong Ziyu acting just a bit more seriously affected by the Wufeng!Yun Weishan reveal. Sooooo anticlimactic as it is. I wanted more drama!

-Shangguan Qian should have gotten to successfully betray Gong Shangjue and fuck him up. Like, I wanted to see her try to murder him or see him get captured by Wufeng or something. Him or Gong Yuanzhi or both. Ideal vision: Gong Shangjue kneeling in chains at Shangguan Qian's feet, staring at her in abject betrayal while she's like "I was only ever manipulating you all along" (while secretly she has feelings too. or doesn't. honestly I don't even care I just wanted her to destroy him).

-Alternatively/in addition I wanted to see Gong Yuanzhi eventually come to accept Shangguan Qian as his family member, and maybe become protective of her. They had such good banter but then they just stayed at odds forever :(

-More development in Yun Weishan and Shangguan Qian's relationship. I wanted to see them slowly grow to trust each other and become more sincerely allies, possibly at conflict due to only one of them turning away from Wufeng, but if so, they should have become archnemeses. WHAT DO YOU MEAN they don't even interact in the last three episodes???? What the fuck.

Overall

I had fun, but I think I just wanted more, you know. Not more as in more episodes (the show hints at a season 2--I don't know that I'd watch it), but more depth in some of the characters, more clarity in the plotting, more drama over the plot points that should have been genuinely dramatic, more badassery from our spy women. I probably got a little overhyped for this one or I wouldn't feel as disappointed--the gifsets on tumblr definitely showcase the aesthetic, which is delicious, but set my expectations a little too high for some other aspects.

Which leaves my favorite female-led wuxia of 2023.... Ye Cheng??? Damn. Now that's arguably a worse drama in terms of plot and depth of characterization, it just hit my id more squarely and was more melodramatic and fun.

If anyone has thoughts on what my next wuxia watch should be, I'd be happy to hear them! I have a couple options in mind already :D

[gamesception]

lets read rgu, chapter 26

So, yeah, the main story is complete with chapter 25.  Chapters 26 and 27 are in fact side stories incorporating some elements from the anime that didn’t make it into the manga before.  This chapter, we’re bringing in Ruka, a character who ime is often underrated.  People I’ve watched Utena with in real life often see him as a superfluous blue Touga who randomly shows up 3/4 of the way through the show and disappears without a trace or fanfare two episodes later.  Though my appreciation for him may also be tainted by misinterpretation - the first time I watched the show I thought Ruka was the guy who had come between Juri and Shiori in the first place - the guy who liked Juri but Shiori in her jealously had “stolen”.  That’s not the case, but Ruka was still a lot more than just an unnecessary extra Touga.

Unfortunately, the same difference from the anime that made Manga Juri’s own arc so much less compelling and work so much worse will likely hold back Ruka’s bonus chapter as well.  “The guy I like doesn’t like me” is just so much less compelling as an underlying motivation for manga Juri’s angst than “I can’t confess my feelings to the girl I like because those feelings are a love that ‘dare not speak its name’, so I will keep that love secret and obsess over it, while the girl I love misinterprets my increasingly guarded and withdrawn attitude towards her as condescension and contempt and reacts by trying to hurt me by “stealing” the boy she thinks I like, which none the less succeeds in hurting me by making me see the person I love with someone else, but because it’s all based on misunderstanding I’m still left with the thought that if by some miracle she learned my feelings for her she might return them, and so we spiral around each other in obsession and animosity forever.”

There are different ways to interpret anime Ruka, because the show is deliberately opaque about him, but I always read him as playing a villainous role as an affect hiding a princely motivation.  The dude finds out he's going to die, and his only regret is that the girl he liked was all heartbroken over some falling out between her and her best friend that led to them hating each other, but they’re both too proud to resolve the conflict directly.  So with his last few weeks of life he 1) deliberately becomes a villain, 2) torments both the girl and her former friend, hurting both of them worse than they hurt each other 3) defuses the hatred between them by redirecting it towards himself, and 4) literally takes that hatred with him to the grave, giving them the chance for a fresh start.

If you take all this as deliberate, as I do, then it’s a ridiculous xanatos roulette of a plan, but it succeeds.  By the end Juri’s locket shatters - representing either that she’s given up on Shiori returning her feelings or accepted that she can’t keep her feelings locked up if she hopes anything to come from them, and she publicly expresses her anguish by openly sobbing in front of everyone, the dueling arena metaphorically drenched in her tears.

All the duelists in the show - or at the very least all the student council members - highlight or comment on some aspect of the fairy-tale prince archetype, typically by failing to live up to it in some way.  If the core identity of the Prince is in their selfless, even self sacrificial devotion to the Princess, then Saionji is unfit because his devotion is possessive and cruel.  Likewise Miki's is conditional and idealized, Juri's obsessive and fearful, Nanami's jealous and immature, Touga's ambitious and insincere.  They all demonstrate potential tripping points by which Utena might have failed to live up to the Princely archetype.

Ruka, on the other hand, is more subversive and deconstructive, exposing a tragic aspect of the archetype that had previously gone unexamined: the Prince MUST save the Princess(es), even if they don't want to be saved, even if he will become hated as a result, even if he must die in the process.  Where the other duelists demonstrate ways Utena could have failed to become Anthy's Prince, Ruka foreshadows the dark fate waiting for her when she succeeds.

Though of course that’s all assuming that Ruka’s manipulative villain persona was an affect and he actually was there to help Juri & Shiori by drawing their hatred away from each other and towards himself.  You could just as easily argue that he was sincerely after the power of Dios to cure his illness and save himself, that that any benefit Juri and Shiori experienced in the aftermath of his two week rampage through their lives was purely down to their own growth in the face of the difficulties he selfishly subjected them to.

Manga Ruka is playing out a version of this, but it doesn’t work as well because manga Juri’s anguish - ‘My pride is hurt because Utena beat me in a duel and Touga likes her more than me’ - just isn’t as compelling and really shouldn’t require any sort of grand manipulation to save her from.

But Manga Ruka puts on a grand show of manipulation none the less, getting Juri out of her house by challenging her place in the fencing team, stoking her jealousy of Utena by spending time with the new girl, setting Juri up for an unexpected rematch against Utena in the fencing room which she loses, using the shame and disappointment of that to goad Juri into a match against himself where she wins, and from there getting her to challenge Utena to a proper rematch in the dueling arena.

But before the duel Juri overhears Ruka bragging to Touga about how easy it was to manipulate Juri, and this aggrieves her pride so badly that she refuses to duel Utena again after all.

Which, I mean, good for her.  Even if you accept my reading of Anime Ruka’s motivations, that still leaves this gaping criticism over how he goes about achieving his goals.  The condescension, manipulation, and frankly cruelty of it is anything but Princely, and that the anime /rewards/ his behavior with success, again if you’re assuming as I do that the eventual outcome is what he was aiming for in the first place, is pretty sketchy.  Manga Juri gets the opportunity to call out and reject that manipulation in a way that Anime Juri didn’t really get.

Also, I’m literally all for any of the characters in Utena being on the receiving end of a Dramatic Slap with the soul exception of Anthy.  Ruka’s face is exceptionally slap-worthy.

But there’s gotta be a duel, so Ruka duels Utena in Juri’s place, using imitating Juri’s attacks and style to show her that she could still beat Utena if she wished.

Ruka effectively wins the duel, but at the last moment his unnamed illness catches up to him and he collapses to the ground, forfeiting the match by removing his own rose in a nod to how Juri’s second duel ended in the anime.

And like in the anime Ruka leaves and dies without telling Juri.

On the one hand, a sacrifice to spare her pain, but on the other hand a patronizing kind of manipulative move, making the choice for her and denying her the chance to say goodbye.

The duality of Ruka in a nut shell.

Honestly, this bonus chapter was pretty good, probably the best it could have been given how much less Manga Juri’s character had to work with.

[adhd-puppet]

Puppets Don't Dance.

Welcome Home AU

Cast 2/3

Human Julie Joyful as Darla Dimple and Home (giant human version) as Max

(SORRY Julie, you always seem to be the villain in these AUs, but enn here we go, also her Chracter is aged down to be a child.)

🌈 America's favorite child actress, "adorable" , "innocent " and "lover of puppets". No one is loved more the Julie in Hollywood.

🌈 But really she is not any of the above, devious, bratty, spoiled, controlling are better words to describe her. Not that it matters, she has everyone working in Hollywood wrapped around her little finger.

🌈 She is not easy to work with, not that it matters. When every one of her flims are five stars, she pretty much knows she can act however she wants.

🌈 For her next movie, she has agreed to star in a movie, that also star Puppets as side Chracters, anything to make her look good and help the "little people ".

🌈should be clear, SHE HATES PUPPETS.

🏡 The real force behind Julie, larger then life I am not even sure Home is human.

🏡 Butler, driver, manger and bodyguard, Home does it all for Julie. Is why no one crosses her either.

🏡 Rarely speaks, but commands the room, when he shows up

Both have a strong hate for Wally, and if he pushes them too far, he may just never work in this town again..

Howdy Pillar as Woolie

(Another age change, an age down. In the flim Woolie was one of the older characters, for thie AU I am keeping all the puppets close to each other in age. Howdy is is late 20s early 30s at most. )

🐛 Howdy is a talented piano player as well in writing music. He wants nothing more then his music to be heard in a flim.

🐛 Unfortunately for poor Howdy, his role is be used for the flim's studio logo. ( Caterpillar pictures: Where we make a flim inch by inch). Not the role he wanted, but at least he has a trailer on the studio where he lives.

🐛 He spends every night playing his music in the studio lot, when everyone is gone. This is when he meets Wally who overheard his music one night. He is the first who drops the harsh truth on Wally on who Hollywood wants in their films and ite not them.

🐛 Still it did not take long for Wally to give him hope, and join in with Wally and Barnaby to chase their goals.

Frank Frankly and Eddie Dear as Cranston Goat and Frances Albacore

(Yet another age change, both are being aged down to late 20s. Yes they are gay and live together).

🦋✉️ Frank is the grumpiest of Wally's new friends, and the boy friend of Eddie. They spend most of their days at Y/N office looking for roles. Old friends of Y/N, Especially frank.

🦋✉️ Frank's dream is to host documentaries as well act in movies. Eddie just wants to star in romantic comedians with Frank. The two are always seen together.

🦋✉️ They meet Wally, his first day in Hollywood, Eddie taking more a shine to him, they Frank. Eddie being drawn to Wallys hope forces Frank to follow along. Y/N feels his pain. Still they are a great couole and support one another and their friends.

There you go a part 2. I have more planned to show. Snice a few people have been so nice to even read and like my last posts. So thanks to anyone who gets this far!!

[ducknotinarow]

💭 for all Shredders: Technology, Flowers, Regret, Change, and Dreams

| send 💭 + topic for a head cannon on

"Look out for Shredder, I didn't spend use in this identity to not still carry terror."

| Technology |

"Even with how behind the earth and it beings are the tech available has proven of use."

Shredder being from a more advance species is often annoyed by how behind the earth tech can feel to him at times. Always aware that there is something better out in space that can more achieve what he needs and wants. Often Shredder finds himself seeking out those who are good with it and often it's why Stockmen had failed to live to his expectations with how often he fails. To Shredder he is all talk he ended up liking Chaplin because he held better results in the end and never once went around his back. If your someone skilled when it comes to technology? you will be on his radar. Like certain purple banded turtles.

Shredder himself dose understand it but he's not someone who can make it himself. It very much how we can understand our own modern tech but don't me we know how to manipulate it and such like those in engineering and such can. Why he tends to seek out more scientific uses he truly sees the potential in it.

| Flowers |

"Useless, they hardly last once in bloom and hold no value. Even the most beautiful blossom with soon wilt"

Flowers often represent life and it's cycles so for someone who well doesn't fully care about the lives of others of course he isn't going to care about the life of a plant either. But that one mention of one beautiful flower? I don't care what anyone wants to say Shredder had a soft spot for Karai. He didn't hold a reason to take in this orphan girl and raise her as his own. You can understand why he has people like Hun under his control and such. But Karai? sure she fills in a role to be his heir so he can in a way keep up his ruse through her but he trusted Karai a lot even with his secret of being an utrom. When She was kidnapped by Bishop? Shredder literally went ballistic for him about it? A guy who tries to act like he doesn't care about anyone? hell Hun was getting a chance to be back on his good side if he got her back and he was pretty pissed at him.

| Regret |

"Turtles"

Lets be honest Shredder maybe would have achieved a lot of his goals if them dang turtles never got involved but as the show went to show us many times over? that wouldn't be the case. Shredder and the Turtles are connected in a way. They created each other nearly you could even say if it wasn't for Shredder the turtles wouldn't be where they are now. Dude created his own fail safe u-u even after he is gone the turtles are still having to deal with any Shredder that comes back thats a connection that I feel none of them like to think about however u-u

| Change |

"Change comes and goes and sometimes we must embrace those changes for our goals."

I don't see shredder as someone who can change himself seeing how the show makes out the spirt of Shredder alone as someone who holds on to ambitions and obsessions after all. It's often his own down fall the only change he tends to take well is anything that can be of use to him. Be he's lived a long time and has learned to work with the changes of the world around him. From being in charge of a ninja clan to this big shot millionaire in New York who had the mayor in his pocket thanks to his wealth? A changing environment sure but personally no he can not. bloodthirsty, insane, selfish, wrathful, sadistic, and relentless. He hates anyone who challenges, impedes, or otherwise wrongs him holding grudges long after the fact

| Dreams |

"I only dream for my conquests!"

As shown he really is mostly in for his own gain here, Shredder someone who takes and demands control and has been easily able to get it. Through resources or pure respect even sometimes fear Shredder simply looks for control and I feel this is what lead him being the villain he is now. He was a criminal among his own race yes I know I should guess call him Ch'rell but dude went so far into making himself in Shredder I just XD look I aint dead naming him okay. He is embodiment of the stereotypical megalomaniac of course he's simply seeking anything that puts him in the position he feel fits him.

"Don't waste my time."

| Technology |

"It can have it's uses but doesn't often have much against transitional or hands on approaches"

Unlike the 03 version Oroku is very much someone still set in the ways he grew up. His clan didn't seem to take much of modern conveniences, and where He could see some use he tends to avoid resorting to tech to often least till Karai brought forward a kranng bot and he saw that they could be made of use for the clan. Even bringing in baxter to be his primary tech support so to speak. So he did learn to see how technology can benfit him even going so far as to make use of the mutagen from the kranng as well, seeing how he is willing to mutant himself later. He dose also see the benefits of more than just Tech seeing how he goes about securing resources for even bio level use.

| Flowers |

"She..loved Jasmine flowers."

Even Shredder head of the foot clan isn't immune to human emotions as much as he tries to be. My toxic trait is I do feel he truly loved Shen but like in many other times in this show? His hate for Yoshi was always stronger and even impacts later relationships like his kids. As twisted and wrong people may see it he did love and care about Karai. And I extend this to Casey and Angle for the Foot au as well. He dose care when Yoshi was thought long gone and dead and all he had to worry about was the future of his clan? I feel like their lives weren't as bad. Yeah they didn't get normal childhoods and were growing up in an environment full of love either. He very much raised weapons over children.

I feel he saw things in his kids and did try to parent them but it was alway in this mind set harsh parenting, he was strict, abuse would be there to. Karai was throw into a pit of snakes to overcome her fear and Casey with a fear of Rats? In his mind its all to make them strong to face this world that will try and take them down. I feel he was nicer when they were younger, considering Karai's memories.

But unfountetly he learned Yoshi was alive and I feel things got worse after that. And feel these once good memories I'd why it's hard for the kids to fully turn against shredder till given a good reason. In cannon it was karai learning Yoshi was her dad for example.

| Regret |

"Being to soft on my children."

To Shredder he was to soft on his kids and that's what allowed any chance for them to go against him. He turly felt he was setting them up for success well ignoring giving them some very basic needs none of them really had fulfilled. He just never met if he could let got of his obsession maybe he would have been better and then his son would been more enemies to lovers situation xD.

He only disappointed in Casey because he went against him and thier family. He turly dose think casey has potential and sees himself in his son not once had he ever seen casey as not his son. Even if he dose tend to put casey below Karai this is connected to his obsession however u_u. Knowing his son was broken down by something as simple as love? Pretty familiar isn't it?

| Change |

"Only the weak accept a need to change."

This man would literally let the world end then let go of his hate for Yoshi. So bi he isn't going to change no one is enough for him to change for not even his kids. He will always hate more than he loves he can't ever let go of that he's never fully let love in to change him re refuses to change u_u which is a shame I still think he'd be a decent dad and spoil his kids if he could but that's my toxic trait uwu.

| Dreams |

"Mostly I dream of the future of my clan."

Shredder man be old school but from stuff we get to see he had dipped into other avenues of bussniess running a company in Japan even that he sometimes has to go back and check in on. Shredder dreams for Karai to take over once he finally passes on. So je wants everything in order why he's so hard on her (and casey for the au, as stated he thinks casey would basically take on Tiger Claws role, being in charge if the ninja in the clans training and such. I can't personally say for Angle since she baby but he has trust funds and such for each kid set up as well.)

The foot Clan is one of his priorities and he wants it to contuine to succeed especially it it means stomping out the Hamato Clan.

[brick-a-doodle-do]

Vara has no idea just how much he influences Irza bc Irza is just so hard to read sometimes

He usually uses the tail or other small signs but sometimes those won't even tell him what Irza is thinking...and this guy can give a death stare from simply thinking and not noticing he's staring at someone lol

And I never really finished the idea of Vara having a sister....

Was wondering if maybe he doesn't even remember having a sister or that she doesn't remember them for some reason

I just

Really wanted to see his sister either be a hero he clashes with or a smaller villain than Irza that appears alongside the scientists that created Ezephr...

Was thinking that she might be hating Vara bc he was so weak that running made him cough blood if he went too long as a kid, and yet he kept shouting about how he'd be a hero and save everyone all the time...but that's a dangerous job. Wondered if maybe she supported it but maybe an accident happened and that changed it?

I had a dream about her when I first thought of giving him a sibling and all I really remember was that she had dark brown hair that had lighter brown patterns like a tabby cat...also her hair style and stuff but I don't remember if she had cat features or not

Remember, their parents are an anthropomorphic cat as a mom and a sprite, basically a forest spirit, as a dad...it's hard to tell what she'd entirely look like

honestlyeeeee that's such a powerful role that's insane that vara doesn't even recognize that !!!

LMAO i feel that. sometimes you just zone out....with a really accidentally-offensive face ASJVSJD

and MMGMDH MORE VARA SISTER CONTENT !!! YIPPEE

i, for one, think that is a GREAT idea. just. mmm to have her be one of the scientists is such a cool way to tie in eze to vara's life, because as far as i'm aware, (except for one thing you sent me), ezephr and vara definitely don't have as much of a relationship with each other as irza and eze does. so mmAMDBJV idk i think the eze scientist idea cool !!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO i like that. poor vara is trying thooo :(((( i gotta ask tho why is he coughing up blood ? what's wrong with our cat boy ? :c ,, that aside i think that some kind of confrontation between vara and his sister would be cool cause y'know. vara definitely isn't the best fighter or hero out there, but he did make it in some sense. that'd be pretty cool.

oo and another cool thing, (don't gotta add this at all, if you ever follow through with this cvncx), maybe since you want vara to not really remember having a sister, he's always subconsciously been really eager to prove himself and never really knew why until like maybe he sees his sister and unlocks some kind of memory from something she says., idk.

aha i love that you had a dream about her and that's where you got your inspo cxvxcn but OOO i like the tabby idea! i have such a soft spot for those guys <3

I LOVE WILD CHARACTER DESIGNS !! also wait do we have a dad for vara ?? i totally forget eueueu

[non4ry]

new re4make trailer how we feeling?

I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS. I haven’t posted about it because I know I have some friends who are avoiding re4make spoilers completely SO. I am going to give this a ‼️‼️ HUGE RE4MAKE SPOILER WARNING ‼️‼️

I have the most thoughts about ashley so i’m gonna save those for later in the post because there’s a lot to unpack with her, but other than her, I am kinda interested in this new direction they’re taking with Luis? Him being alive and filling in a partner role is super cool and the minecart scene was so silly (speaking of that I am so so glad they’re showcasing the humor aspects of re4 that were so iconic in the original while also removing the tasteless humor and still keeping the serious tone of the game!! looks like really good writing so far) A lot of the voice acting and general gameplay quality seems a lot better in this trailer than the older ones. All of the character designs for the villains look amazing, the game actually feels like it’ll be kinda scary! I do genuinely love the horror elements of Resident Evil (even though the only actually scary one is 7 imo), so I’m glad to see them touching up on that a bit.

One of my only qualms is that I feel as though Luis is replacing Ashley in some aspects/parts? But it also seems like they’re taking a much more serious and almost Unwilling Antagonist route with her. I’m not too entirely sure how I feel about it yet, my other two characters I’m thinking about with this direction being re5 jill (a storyline I hated) and re7 mia winters (a character I loved) my opinion will definitely be influenced by the actual game itself, however I support women’s wrongs and I think girls should be allowed to do whatever they want.

I really hope that this direction with her doesn’t turn into unnecessary torture though, I am really nervous about that already seeing as how they are considerably more violent with her than they were in og. (This trailer showed her being Choked out instead of just grabbed, the scene of her tied up, all of the sacrifice scenes, etc.. I just hope they’re kind to her.)

On another hand though I do really love how this Plagas Infection opens up for taking her more seriously, acknowledging her as a person who is Actually struggling with this horrible thing that’s happening to her (because we barely saw it in the original, she was just a punching bag for the villains) I also hope they don’t abuse this over and over again to get her out of the story like they did with having her conveniently be kidnapped several times, I want to see her more, I want to see her fight and live and exist, overcome her fears (which given a lot of her dialogue with leon seems to be a direction they’re taking! She seems to be nervous about him at first but is slowly warming up to him and his kindness and reassurance, which is so much more realistic and human and I think does her a lot more justice than her immediate crush on him in OG.)

Speaking of Leon I am so excited to his character direction and his interactions with Ashley feel so much sweeter and genuine, as kind and gentle as he was to her in the OG game I always found myself a bit off put but how . Inhuman their dialogue interactions were, when we’re supposed to be seeing them build this bond and trust to each other and escape the hell they’re in. I am so so glad that they kept Leon’s gentle nature with her instead of going out their way to make him this emo asshole that everyone characterizes him as.

To summarize I am generally really excited, there are definitely some things I would have done differently (mostly with ashley’s design) but I am excited to see the vision they have in mind for the game and it’s characters. I would love to hear your thoughts as well because honestly this trailer gave us a Lot of new stuff and I haven’t even touched on the gameinformer gameplay yet either .

[jokerfic]

Interesting take re: the show hitting its stride in season two… I mean Jerome was great but like. Fish is mostly in S1 and that’s where she really SHINES 😩 when you said “fish is my actual mother who birthed me” I felt that in my SOUL. She’s SO GOOD. Like sorry I know it’s the Ozzie and Eddie show but Fiiiiiiiish. I’m like Firefly’s shitty brothers about her.

Granted Lee is gr9 so. And she mostly shows up in S2 iirc, which, fine, fair. She was good even BEFORE she became a crime queen but god she was SO GOOD after!!! But then S5 seemed to relegate her back to Gordon wife????? Wrong and bad and dumb. HOWEVER I do like the idea of her and Babs in a really awful toxic throuple where they co-parent Jim’s kid and technically both date Jim but he’s not around much so they’re mostly dating each other I mean they don’t really like each other but they have SO MUCH IN COMMON come on it would be funny. You know it would. And it would be FUN. And interesting!!!

oh, don't get me wrong, it's not that I think we should throw all of season 1 in the trash! the establishment of Fish and Oswald alone + the examination of the workings of the criminal underworld (always fascinating in Gotham, part of why I really like the Penguin HBO series even though it's so unnecessary lol) + Jerome's origin make it valuable viewing. It's just that I think the show was confused about what it was and wanted to do, and the tone is markedly different from what follows. There's a sense that they wanted to play it straight, like a grimdark detective show, where Bruce Wayne is firmly just a little kid and Batman and all his Rogues are firmly ten, twenty years away from taking the forms we're familiar with.

They ditched all that pretty quickly and just went for a sillier, comic book-inspired approach where Bruce is a kid but also still Batman, kind of, and his villains are all taking their final forms well ahead of schedule (I don't blame them-- Batman without Batman or his Rogues is pretty dry). TBH, I give Barbara QUEEN credit for sort of "unlocking" the show-- it's fairly blah in large chunks until her little serial killer arc, straight out of a soap opera, and from that point on, the show completely stops taking itself seriously, which IMO is hugely to its advantage.

You're right about Fish, though. (One of my favorite things about Unpretty's Sorrowful and Immaculate Hearts series is the way she kind of picks and chooses elements from whatever Batman media she likes, and it is strongly implied that in her version of Batman, Fish-- a friend of Martha Wayne's dating back to childhood-- birthed a child, gave her up for adoption, and that child later becomes Catwoman. I think about it all the time-- what a clever tie-in.) And Lee, and Barbara. One thing the show does not struggle with is having interesting female characters who get to do a lot, even if it REGULARLY does them dirty-- case in point, LEE AND BARBARA BOTH IN SEASON FIVE. You're right, Lee gets shoved into the "cop wife" role even though it makes no sense, and what tf is with Barbara getting pregnant and completely defanged?? no. no, no, no. one of the reasons I'm writing a third Gotham fic set in No Man's Land is so I can undo some of the baffling shit that happened in season 5 (blaming it on a rushed schedule and an abbreviated number of episodes, thank youuuuu).

Lee and Barbara would make a good couple (leave Gordon out of it he doesn't deserve either of them lol) if they didn't hate each other! but let's be real, in a place like Gotham, a long-standing rivalry is basically a romance. I seem to remember them even burying the hatchet a bit in season 5, just because old grievances tend to take a backseat in No Man's Land. (I cannot wait to write the story set in No Man's Land.)