#he has come so far!!!!!!!!!! his growth arc is so SPECIAL

[bitchslapblastoids]

you guys you guys you GUYS!!!! these are the same person

they are the same person!!!!

and this may seem like a shitpost but i'm actually feeling quite emotional about it

[amaryllis-sagitta]

DATV more thoughts about Solas [after I saw More Crossroads Stuff]

Not gonna lie, I'm seriously struggling to stay sympathetic towards him. The sadboy shtick got tired in that note from The Missing #3 if not earlier, and the pestering messaging from the game feels like a setup. "Look! He has REGRETS. HE REGARTS, OKAY????". Cool. But then, the seemingly common sense response from both Rook and the NPCs around is to go on an angry rant about how performative and hollow Solas's regret is, and how he will 100% without all doubt go full Farquaad on the world as soon as he breaks free.

His characterization in this game feels like BioWare tries to pander to stans and haters at the same time, but moreso to the haters if you haven't entered the game with an already Solas-favorable attitude. And yet, I don't feel like I have any room to make up my own mind when trying to fill in Rook's shoes because someone's always breathing at my neck repeating HE'S THE GOD OF LIES AND TREACHERY. LIES AND TREACHERYYYYYYYYYYYYY. It makes a principled Rook, who wishes to understand Solas without the ulterior motive of outwolfing the Wolf, look dangerously naive. Being understanding towards Solas is no longer portrayed as a choice of open-mindedness and mirroring but one of... a leap of faith that borders on folly and forbodes a bad ending (*cough cough* parallel to Varric *cough cough*)?

On the other hand, there is an attempt to portray Solas as a victim of toxic codependency, but what does it matter? It's truly an accomplishment for Mythal's appearance to obliterate not one but TWO arcs about breaking the cycles of abuse and untangling from poisonous influences that instill a toxic sense of duty. Morrigan's eyes were pried open too, and she moved past the "mistake" of defiance towards her mother. Solas remains the #1 Mythal Stan even if it implies him basically regretting he has ever existed, because every step and every decision since he joined the world makes him complicit in unspeakable evils.

All in all, despite using Solas to reach her own goals and maintain her own position, Mythal is vindicated by the narrative if not straight up absolved by the weirdest clapback from the assumed moral objectivism of the Fade spirits so far -- she was driven by Benevolence in the beginning and not sheer greed or hunger for power. This is supposed to be evidence to support Mythal's special place in the universe as "the best of them all". Meanwhile, she is responsible for the Blight. For the sake of survival of the first elvhen on the Earth, she would destroy the Earth's very primal creative force. But letting the other Evanuris have the Blight would take things a step too far. Okay? Yay? Are we supposed to consider this growth?

Where is this supposed benevolence? The Mythal we saw showing benevolence towards the elven People was FLEMETH, the one who prevailed in the post-Veil world and "grew wiser". It's the Asha Bellanar. It might be MorriMythal who keeps watching over the Veil Jumpers in Arlathan. Not the shard we petition for help supposedly consumed by the nature of Retribution, that dwells on the hurt and reproach of all the betrayals she experienced, and replies with cynicism to a Rook who tries to come off and principled and show that they care for injustice whenever, however and to whomever it happened.

My greatest gripe with the Mythal thing is that all of this could come together somehow if that encounter was a beginning of a true arc of reflection, moral change and tangible reparation.

I haven't completed the game yet but I have read about the potential implications of this for Solavellan and... ughhhhhhhhhhhhh

I've always been kinda lukewarm about this romance personally, but it looks like the version of a Solasmancing Lavellan that is strongly hinted by the narrative is... either a sycophant or kinda done dirty by the Mythal thing? I'm going to see once I reach the endgame (I'm building up towards the "good" Solavellan ending because I don't have the patience to explore what "bad" Solas means considering how he is characterized at his best).

[bonefall]

While we’re talking changing who appears in places- can we change the cats helping out with Sunbeam’s rock trial? I was so confused why the cats selected to help were selected. Sure Cherryfall because she was going to be the one opposing Sunbeam, why not, anyone can do that though honestly and not who I take issue with being there. But Alderheart was there? The medicine cat? Don’t you think he has better things to be doing than pushing a rock around? Where’s Lionblaze aka “I may as well still have my god given super strength”? He could easily be the cat that gets pissy for Sunbeam “not listening to senior warriors” and maybe with age feels that she doesn’t respect him, head of patrols, enough to warrant her staying this sabotaging her in the third trial. I felt robbed that Plumstone who seemed to be established as another bg strong cat was absent. Sure sending Sunbeam with all the strongest cats would make it easy but it’d also be making it safe considering Ivypool didn’t want the rock to hurt anyone and it’s a pecking rock. Why not send your strongest cats to deal with it?

I feel very strongly about this trial, can you tell?

I'm a bit dissatisfied with certain trials in general. Most of the time I LOVE the new trials they made, I think they've been super creative so far, but some have been so lackluster that I need to shine them up.

Namely Berryheart's active attempts to get challengers killed. Someone has to get ACTUALLY hurt by one of those, instead of them just being generally unfair and no one raises an objection about it. I did not like the spring-powered adder that went BOING out of a log.

I will say that I would like to expand on Plumstone in this arc, plus her whole little family. They're in an interesting place, with Bumblestripe coming back from Ferncloud's Parting while leaving his father with the Tribe, Blossomfall still reeling with emotional abuse she suffered at the paws of the impostor, Stemleaf's death and Spotfur raising his kits, and Shellfur's mateship with Fernstripe.

Plumstone ALSO has some stuff going on. She's besties-maybe-dating Thriftear, Bristlefrost's sister, and yet she's one of the more outspoken cats about how she's getting tired of the ThunderClan nepotism. She's strong, reliable, and a competent warrior-- so HOW is it fair that Nightheart keeps getting all these undeserved "chances to prove himself" when SHE is here, SIGNIFICANTLY more orange, and wants her own chance to shine??

I still see her personality as being "a dear" lmao, she's not mean, but she's also not willing to bite her tongue either. She will say what's on her mind, and point out unfair treatment when she feels it.

Thriftear supports this. Yeah, she's a descendant of Firestar and a great warrior, but she EARNED the respect she gets. Bristlefrost did too. Nightheart doesn't even want his legacy, why is this clumsy humbug still getting special treatment?

Good-cat bad-cat pair type thing going on.

So I'm probably going to let them both act as a unit, since BB's Dewnose isn't in ThunderClan and that was a really random pair-up anyway.

("wait! Elder Bones! Where did Dewnose go?" Probably ShadowClan, here is the BB!ThunderClan family tree. There's been shuffles; the Cloudbright kits are now Whitewing, Foxleap, and Icecloud, 3 "singlet" litters, spaced out over years.)

Quickie thoughts on touching up the trials;

(DISCLAIMER: NOT SOLID. WE DON'T REWORK UNTIL ARCS ARE COMPLETE.)

Berryheart's are going to need serious overhauls. Nightheart's were really cute and I enjoyed them, but BB is supposed to be about how her group is escalating towards violence. I do not want them to stay so "cute" for the story I'm telling.

I also don't want to keep Nightheart failing his last one on purpose. I want his growth to be more based in self-realization than trying to let Sunbeam "save face."

I kinda want Fringewhisker to get injured during one of her own, and then Antfur dies as collateral damage in Nightheart's last. I'd like Nightheart leaving to be half him realizing that his BEHAVIOR is a problem, and half for his own safety.

In ThunderClan, I'd like the boulder one to be more about Sunbeam assembling a team, almost like she's a patrol head.

Since it's her second trial and she displayed some pretty fantastic leadership skills with her first one, I've got an inkling of an idea that Squilf actually talked with Ivy about wanting to legitimately assess her talent.

Like, "We both know that this whole trial-system was just to appease the other Clans. These are meant to be easy because idgaf. But wow, Sunbeam was actually impressive with those kits. What else can she do, if we give her the chance?"

I really like writing Squilf as she's described in Bramblestar's Storm, where her good leadership comes from being attentive of details and making everyone feel useful.

Man... maybe ill save Rosepetal for this arc and let her be deputy during this. Something feels very Rosepetaly about this. Maybe even have Rosepetal be clearly treating her as if she's a Secondary Apprentice, preparing her to take over her reputation of being a prolific mentor... Nightheart comes back from his trip only to find Sunbeam with twice as much respect as status as he ever had.

I can always axe Rose later to get Ivypool in... But I also REALLY love all the Ivypool Deputy Drama with how there's a conflict with ShadowClan... man. why are there so many interesting girls.

Maybe Rose doesn't have to be deputy, but Ivy assigns Rosepetal as the only "mandatory member" of the Boulder Patrol. Like a tutorial tip lmaooo

Sunbeam: "I think I will pick......................" STARES AT ROSEPETAL, "aaalderrr-" Rosepetal frowns "--pluuuuumstone??" Rosepetal nods, "Wise choice."

And lastly. The final Sunbeam trial. Ngl hated it. It felt really boring compared to the previous two, which were super interesting and excellent ways to give some spotlight to background characters.

Riddles don't even feel like a ThunderClan thing. Idk that was a very RiverClan (philosophy) or ShadowClan (trickery) kind of thing.

I think I'll hold off on thinking about it though; I think it would be SUPER cool if I totally overhauled that last trial to make it foreshadow the later books, somehow.

I DO want to keep that disney channel ass Cherryfall being a bitch part though. I love her so much. I'm so glad she's walking in her father's pawsteps and becoming the snot-nosed brat of ThunderClan.

I will definitely be changing how Sunbeam HANDLES it though. Hate the way that the books emphasize never telling anyone anything.

In fact, I kinda want to make Sunbeam approach Sparkpelt for advice, to show she finally has a figure she feels like she can trust.

Explicitly contrast the way that she NEVER felt like she could approach Berryheart, and that so much of her appeasing, avoidant behavior had been because she didn't feel safe or respected.

Here, in ThunderClan, she has family. She begins to realize that even if Nightheart came back and dumped her, Sparkpelt and Finchlight would NEVER kick her to the curb.

So she goes to Sparkpelt about how she is being bullied by Cherryfall, and they TALK ABOUT OPTIONS.

Like, you know,

Spark: "We could go to Squirrelstar or the deputy."

Sun: "I don't want to cause a fuss if I don't have to... besides, idk, I don't want to set the peat on fire, it would be nice if I could be on good terms with Cherryfall later."

Spark: "that's very wise of you, but just remember that Squilst is a very fair person. We can always go to her. Do you want any backup at all or do you want to do this on your own?"

Sun: "I think... I think I actually do need to do this on my own. If I was being confronted, I think I would just double down if I was being attacked in a group. That was right with Brambleclaw because you weren't trying to convince him, but... what do you think?"

Spark: "I think Cherryfall's just like her father and her ego is everything to her, so I think you're right on the mouse with all this. Honestly, I don't even know how much I'm helping here!"

Sun: "Oh but you are helping! You're helping a lot! StarClan... it feels so nice to just... have someone to listen. Thanks, Sparkpelt."

Basically, tweak the trials to bring them more in line with the themes and messages of BB, y'know? And also beef up the Clans themselves, by stressing the various personalities that are at play here. Especially since I quite like how Sunbeam in ThunderClan has some super neat traits she wasn't expressing in ShadowClan.

Like... it feels like it could be a really cool story to tell about how supportive environments can make you really shine. How you can suddenly seem like a brand new person, just by having people who have your back and encourage your autonomy.

[elderwisp]

Director's Commentary !

Environment and Character Designs:

꩜ So in this scene, the backdrop is the sun setting so there are colors of orange and blues blending together! I like a lot of symbolism in colors and i've mentioned here how i resonate orange with taryn and blue with atlas. so throughout it felt like two personalities clashing a bit until the final shot of taryn, the background is a dark, stormy blue. this whole post is about choices and i felt that the blue solidified atlas's decision to not let taryn in. as for the character design, atlas has a white rabbit on his shirt as a little nod to his arc coming up as well as his nickname, bunny. another note is both taryn and atlas both have eyebags but each are for different reason. while taryn is a bit stressed out due to current events, atlas has been experiencing symptoms of withdrawals such as irritability, nausea and the most notable, lack of sleep.

Atlas's Decision

꩜ atlas has a lot of respect for taryn, so much so that he does not want to bring her along. while taryn has had a somewhat hopeful but naive view, atlas opens up about how getting better isn't linear. he's aware that his struggles with addiction won't be fixed by someone he cares about and it's not something he wants to put her through. when kai says taryn "isn’t enough to fill that hole in your chest" i think he misunderstood atlas but he's close. it's less of the fact that she isn't enough, atlas believes there's nothing to change about taryn, the issue is, atlas believes bringing taryn along could bring a harsh reality that might alter her. if atlas found himself responsible for harming another romantic interest, he would genuinely hate himself so it's much better to push taryn aside and give her an opportunity for something better (HOWEVER WISP COMMENT it's not his decision!). he also makes sure to remind her that she would have been more than enough for him as a final show of admiration. if only things were different.

Strike a Chord

꩜ sometimes the quietest person in the building can be the most perceptive, especially true for a person like taryn. throughout tessellate, she's struggled to put together who atlas is especially since atlas presented himself as who he thought taryn would like to see. however after some boundaries were set and things were communicated, atlas has slowly started to uncover himself going as far as taryn being the one person he doesn't lie to. so with a lot of truths coming out, this is the moment she speaks freely and reads him like a god damn book. the isolation is crippling, there's desperation to be seen and she could be the one but the fear of losing taryn is enough to solidify his decision. at least his own misery loves company... i'm curious what kind of company it'll bring. hmm.

Final notes!

꩜ i had a lot of fun writing this! conflict can be so difficult to write especially when it's characters you want to see succeed! but i think a lot of tessellate is built off of character development and growth as well as complex situations. while we won't be seeing these two together for a while, i think this final conversation was able to emulate something special. in relationships, there reaches a certain point where two people's mindset become unmovable objects and there is a set mentality that doesn't allow either parties to move forward. neither are wrong, both have valid reasons but to be able to break that down between two characters was so freaking cool!

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 18 thoughts:

Well that sure just happened

I'm fine

Noelle ate my daughter. But I'm fine. It's fine.

Her girlfriends are gonna save her!

I'm fiiiiine

Anyway, that's like, the end of the arc so there's a lot of other stuff that happens!

Taylor casually drops that she's mostly blind in conversation and Brian kinda freaks out. Understandably.

She got eye drops that she is supposed to be doing but never mentions doing them. I'm very disappointed in her. I'm also worried her eyes aren't going to ever get better.

I do love that the moment Dinah says she only has a 58% chance of going home and Taylor realizes it's because of her, she forces the situation by taking Dinah home right away. She is far from perfect, but she does have her moments.

RACHEL LET DINAH PET HER DOG!!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! LOOK AT THE GROWTH!!

One of my favorite lines, when Taylor asks Dinah the chance of trouble before they go into the medical clinic "When there's trouble, it's you.  Eighty percent of the time." Just, kinda embodies the spirit of Worm I think.

I'm still fine.

Taylor sure thinks about Rachel as Rachel a lot now, instead of mostly as Bitch. GAAAAAY.

I really want to know what's on those papers Dinah left for Taylor. Triumph saw them but didn't seem to react. One might have been a message for him, since Dinah would know he would see it. Something that will come into play later maybe.

I love Parian making a giant wiener dog for everyone to ride on. Like, it is a definite upgrade in transportation from "door with glass stuck in it dragged down the street" but it doesn't have much of a supervillain vibe to it.

Noelle just starts it off with grabbing possibly the strongest cape available in Brockton Bay. At a minimum, one of the most versatile to clone. No big deal. Not like even just normal Vista could become very dangerous if she wanted to be evil.

Freaking PRT all "this is a Class A instead of a Class S cause Eidolon is a big man baby and needs to punch something all on his own to prove he's strong". Sure are helping people Alexandria. Good job. What a hero.

I think Eidolon is Bargain Bin Scion. Scion Lite. Blue Light Special Scion. A shitty version of Scion created by Cauldron basically.

Clockblocker is so fucking fascinated with Skitter it's amazing.

Tattletale made Eidolon maaaaaad! I love her.

I'm perfectly fine.

The scene with meeting the Chicago Wards, oh god I loved it so much! Skitter tells Bitch to clear the plywood out of a window and she just instantly fucking kicks it open, then a giant swarm comes in and swirls around everyone and covers Skitter, making her hair move and trailing bugs behind her like a gown, and then starts speaking with the swarm. And Tattletale waits until the perfect moment before asking the Wards their names and powers, very clearly backing Skitter up as her 2nd. Just such a "ok I was playing nice but now I need you to know who you are working with!" power move. Fucking amazing. Also it was Skitter being assisted by Bitch and Tattletale! GAAAAAAAAAAAY!! LESBIAN SUPERVILLAIN POWER POLYCULE!

I think Grace has neat powers but could have been more creative with her name. I fucking love Tecton though, assume tinker. Dude has got to love fights like this, where he is allowed to do all the property damage he wants. He'd make a good villain.

The other two are kinda neat too but they didn't last very long.

Every time they are going anywhere Bitch specifically offers Skitter a ride. GAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!

I love seeing the range of power adjustments the clone Vistas get. Some are pretty basic - can do stuff from farther away or not be slowed down if a lot of people are around - but then we get ones like Paper Mario Vista and Imagine Dragons Vista, with much more wild powers.

Everyone stand back while Eidolon goes and shows us all how strong he is! God.

I'm 100% FINE.

Side effect of being blinded probably, but it is neat how good Taylor is getting at listening, and sometimes even seeing, through her bugs! Just listening in on Eidolon and Noelle from blocks away.

Imp almost gets crushed to death by Eidolon's gravity power cause she ignores warnings from Skitter to run. Sounds about right.

Noelle making rat clones and bug clones (that Skitter can't control) is fun.

Fucking projectile vomit attack suddenly! Did Noelle absorb the girl from the Exorcist??

Texas Wards kinda getting their ass kicked. (Also what the hell is going on in Texas that the whole state apparently just has the one Wards team, vs most places have a Ward team per city?)

Fight is going kinda poorly. Travelers show up to help! And then Trickster betrays everyone to feed my daughter to Noelle! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm fine.

The Most Powerful Man in the World Interlude thoughts:

Scion just really is empty in there isn't he?

Not a person, just a construct of the entities in 3 dimensional space. Sphere moving through Flatland and being seen as a circle style. No mind, just does what this guy tells him.

Duke is a very good dog.

Kevin talking about Scion 100% sounds like someone talking about a lover that has been lots of trouble for them but that they just can't quite.

Lisette is having a weird day.

I really wonder how the next Endbringer attack is going to go now that Scion has been told to kill them. Wonder if it'll be different.

Crusader Interlude thoughts:

Shockingly, it turns out that the Nazi is an asshole. News at 11.

Night and Fog were basically constructed by this Gesellschaft group. Seems like a branch of Cauldron pretending to be Nazis for more control over things. Or maybe not directly a branch of Cauldron, but they get powers from Cauldron. Maybe not related, but they make weapons, which is very much what Cauldron can do, and we haven't seen anyone else yet reliably make powers with control over the outcome.

This poor TA is having a bad day.

Taylor triggered 2 or more times in that locker. I was 100% positive of that the second the TA said "You can’t really distinguish a single trigger event from having two in quick succession." I probably should have realized this earlier.

Really curious where Theo and Aster's stories are going. I could see one or both of them being a major part of the end of the world (based on stuff from Trickster's visions on stuff from Noelle's interlude I'm thinking a 3rd or 4th generation cape might play a part in it), but I could also see them being red herrings.

Theo is upset but realistically getting abandoned and left with the PRT is the best option that could have happened to him.

Jessica Yamada Interlude thoughts:

This poor woman

Faultline Interlude thoughts:

OH MY GOD Gregor and Shamrock are super fucking cute together!!!!

Faultline is amazing and very organized and detail oriented and an assertive leader who wears a dress shirt with slacks and cowboy boots and threatens to get a bullwhip and I would really like her to tell me what to do k thx.

Not positive I would trust the minor precog abilities of Shamrock to make me Simurgh proof, but it's better than nothing.

The quarantine zone of the city of Madison is doing great!

Wasn't expecting to get to see Matroyshka again, that's neat! She should probably stop eating people but otherwise she's fun.

Faultline just not being able to stand Tattletale is wonderful. I hope they bother each other for years to come.

I like this crew, so I was not happy that they got really fucked up by Contessa. But I also want to like Contessa (as much as I can like someone who works for Cauldron) and this did make her seem really badass.

Noelle Interlude thoughts:

I'm fine.

Regent keeping up the jokes under pressure, good for him.

Finally got some good descriptions of Noelle's powers doing stuff which was very good.

I'm fine.

Also fun to see various clones and their powers.

AND THE VISION! OH MY GOD THE VISION! So much good info from that. It helped me get a much better idea of things and confirmed a lot of things I already thought. (Like Cauldron has basically hijacked an entity, more or less. Not the details on how though.)

I'm fine.

The fact that Noelle can let the god dandruff take control is interesting. Like her connection never got fully closed compared to other people. Which is what I assumed only taking half a vial did. Really curious to see if we ever get more info on Oliver.

Her Earth Bet self is like, 15 years younger. But still has the same name. Kinda wild.

I'm fine.

Also her Earth Bet dad gave her the name Echidna, which like, I get it's the mother of monsters or whatever, but I can only think of the cute adorable little creature!

I'm fine.

I obviously wish Eidolon had been able to defeat Noelle and save my daughter but him having a big sad about it not being fair that he can't get stronger is pretty funny too. I do not like the guy.

I'm fine.

I'm sure Tattletale has a plan and everything will work out.

I'm fine.

I'm 100% absolutely fine.

[wherevenusholdssomeofficespace]

Zack I think is a character that I think highlights the fundamental thing that sets MML apart from both PnF. Change.

Phineas and Ferb was defined by its formula, it's stagnation. The first day of summer was nearly the same as the least on some fundamental level. It was only that last day did the status quo really shift forward (and even then the holiday episodes we had didn't showcase an evolution... but that kinda has to do with PnF's nonsensical timeline). Sure we did get some character arcs with Buford and Baljeet and Vanessa and a lot of references to continuity, but in general the show was about characters stuck in patterns. The finale was about them finally breaking the patterns that made them unhappy.

Milo started with that change in status quo, and then kept breaking it.

Zack is in many ways a catalyst for change to Milo. Which may be a bit weird to say about a kid whose life is defined by its unpredictability. But if you think about it, Pre-Zack Milo's life was pretty consistent. He had 1 friend. Everyone avoided him. No birthday parties. He wasn't in a band. He didn't go to games.

But he made one friend... and then his other classmates became more open, and he joined a band with one, with him and his crush even began to like him back. He got to visit a farm and go to a football game.

He ended up in space and time traveling and sure, those didn't have anything to do with Zack, these are still big things that are unusual, even to the Murphy family. The big adventures that started after Milo met Zack. The show starts with Zack's world being ripped open by meeting Milo, and Zack in turn bringing some more normalcy into Milo's life, which was special in its own way. And then as a community they are able to face the more intense stuff Murphy's Law throws at them and do even grander things.

Including things the Murphy's had otherwise given up on, such as Brigette and Martin's skating thing. And Murphy family Christmases. And Milo birthday parties.

Of course Zack is also the character with the clearest arc and character growth. I find it truly tragic we never got a S3 with a spring version of going the extra Milo. I think it would have really highlighted how far Zack came. I imagine he would have been helping Milo out without the overthinking. But even without it by the time of Sphere and Loathing in Outer Space Zack had come a long way from the terrified boy who considered leaving Milo behind, to someone who followed him into space, and into a storm of the very thing that made Milo so intimidating to him in the first place.

[traintrainingmontage]

Somehow it's 4:30 AM here so here's a sleepy headcanon for an engine that I love but never talk about: Sir Handel.

I think that out of all of the younger generation of engines, Sir Handel is the one who actually has the most potential to lead the various engines of the Skarloey Railway should Skarloey and/or Rheneas no longer be around to do so. Why? He goes through a lot of growth as a character over the course of the books, and unlike Peter Sam, who is rather happy-go-lucky and just has unfortunate things happen to him, Sir Handel is humbled time and again by his own ego and mistakes. As we've seen over the course of the RWS, it's the humble engines with level heads who are the most successful, and just as Skarloey started foolish and became wise with time and experience, Sir Handel undergoes a similar arc.

There's countless instances of Sir Handel being bratty and getting his comeuppance, but over time, this particular trait seems to be tempered more and more. In the stories in Four Little Engines where he throws tantrums, doesn't get along with the coaches or trucks, and is not terribly keen on working, he's clearly still in his bratty phase, testing the limits of what he can get away with and hoping to only do the jobs he wants. There's consequences for his actions, certainly, but they don't seem to stick too well until he's shut up for a few days. He then tries to get along better with the coaches... and they run him off the rails instead. However, when Skarloey takes his train and earns his respect at the end of the book (a far cry from Sir Handel calling him rubbish at the start), we start seeing his character begin to change for the better... at least a little bit.

In The Little Old Engine, we have Sir Handel feigning being ill to skip work on Gordon's advice and the consequences come back to bite him hard. What's interesting about this particular story is that it really feels like Sir Handel actually internalizes this lesson in a way that he may not have previously; he realizes for himself that he hadn't thought this plan through--even before he's punished for it--once he sees what's happened to Peter Sam. That's growth right there; he's never been shown to have that sort of self-reflection before now.

In the next book, Gallant Old Engine, we finally have our beloved story "Steam-roller," where Sir Handel gets his special wheels and Skarloey goads him into facing off against George. He's more insufferable than usual at the end, up until the kids claim that he was almost beaten by George, and so he shuts up about it. It's clear that Sir Handel is starting to get that there are always consequences for his ridiculousness, particularly when he least expects them.

Once we get to Mountain Engines, though, Sir Handel's demeanor has settled down quite a bit. When he has a bad day in "Mountain Engine" and he badmouths the coaches, Skarloey calls him out on his behavior and he actually blushes and feels a little ashamed after Rheneas' subtle admonishment while talking to Culdee. A younger Sir Handel certainly would have leapt to defend himself (although his comment about scrapping the coaches really does feel rather cruel given that he basically said, out loud, that just because they were "awkward" with him, they should all be sent to die).

Finally, in Very Old Engines, Sir Handel is rather well-behaved, although he's also in the spotlight less. He goes to get his trains when he needs to and stops making a fool of himself. Moreover, he acts in concert with the rest of the engines and really feels less like the troublemaker of the bunch. (And of course, we get to see him being rambunctious in his youth once more in Duke the Lost Engine.)

By the time we get to the Chris Awdry books, Sir Handel has mellowed out a lot. He feels more reliable, even though he gets injured while helping on the Talyllyn. It's clear to see how he's learned from his mistakes, and now that he's over 100 himself, he's not nearly as full of himself (or stupid) as he was in his youth.

While I do think that Sir Handel's personality lost some definition after Mountain Engines, I also enjoy that his character arc has been defined by lessons taught by the three older engines (particularly Skarloey) on the railway. It feels like an inheritance of sorts, a passing of the torch, which is appropriate given the mentor/mentee relationship established all the way back in Four Little Engines.

(Sequel post: Sir Handel and Peter Sam's Inherited Roles)

[jesuis-melodrama]

Thoughts on Miraculous World: London – At The Edge of Time

Miraculous Specials generally have no bearing on the plot. Think about Miraculous New York and Miraculous Shanghai, they could've been never produced and the narrative would've been exactly the same for it. Even the well-written Miraculous Paris have no influence on the main narrative except, perhaps, giving the Adrien and Marinette some perspective which they might never show. I don't think either of them are going to discuss that time their alternate selves came into their world again.

But Miraculous London surprised me. I had a lot of people asking me what I thought of it, because the writing turns out to be quality, and I agree.

I think the writers wanted to start Season 6 off with a bang, they didn't want to deal with all the nitty-gritty and the 'closing up of loose ends' at what is meant to be a fresh beginning. So they created Miraculous London in order complete the first arc of Miraculous, the Gabriel Agreste Arc, even though the story was not set in London. London appeared briefly, as a guest location. The special would've been more suitable named as Miraculous World: Bunnyx's Burrow – Spying on the Timeline.

Firstly, it's pretty lame that Lila cannot change the rules of Akumatisation. Who made up this concrete rule that Akumas have to forget everything they did? I always assumed it was because the people were being taken advantage of without their consent so their memory is purged once the infection is lifted, but even for people who were Akumatised willingly?? Even for the Butterfly Miraculous Holder themselves?? I think this just comes down to plot convenience.

Marinette, who usually goes into hysterics when faced with failure or impossible situations (think the end of Season 4), is disturbingly calm as she goes to free Kagami and Adrien.

This change of attitude, change of reaction, symbolises a growth in her character, a development that is forced upon her. And Marinette demonstrates her ability to lead and compartmentalise by stoically accepting the brutal responsibility.

I will commend the writers for portraying Adrien's grief very well.

Also, I'm pretty sure this pose is meant to reference Evangelion, it's far too close. And we all know Monsieur Astruc is an anime nerd.

The breaking of the background and the colour scale going to black-and-white (left) to represent his numbness and landslide loneliness is quite revolutionary for Miraculous' animation, which, famously, has stuck to the same, increasingly uninventive models and sets.

Lying to Adrien, at this point, however, is also plot convenience.

Bug Noire rationalises it pretty well in the special, explaining to Nathalie coherently why no one should tell Adrien the truth. But it's not a logical thing to do. Do they plan to keep lying to Adrien forever? Never reveal the true identity of Papillon, till the day he dies? Nathalie plans on taking this information to the grave? Marinette intends to marry and have children with a man that she keeps the truth of his own father from?

Marinette thinking that this is the best thing to do – placing everything on her shoulders in a desperate attempt to shelter Adrien – makes sense. She's young, she's self-loathing, she tends to make rash decisions where she takes the brunt of the damage. Nathalie not telling the truth to the authorities so she can continue to act as Adrien's legal guardian, I personally would've advised for to make that decision. But Nathalie agreeing with Bug Noire's hare-brained scheme is implausible. She's a grown woman who should've learned, at this point, that keeping the truth from someone, especially a truth as crucial as this, is not going to work out.

Again, do they plan on lying to Adrien for the rest of his life? How is Marinette supposed to carry on when their children start asking her and Adrien about the late Grandfather Gabriel? The fandom enjoys bringing up Chat Blanc as an excuse for not telling Adrien anything, but I don't think we're all remembering that episode correctly. Adrien wasn't driven to madness by the weight of secrets, he was forced during that episode to act by Gabriel under duress. Given time, space, and understanding, he can absorb this new, hitting truth without world-ending dramatics.

Perhaps Nathalie is lying and reassuring Bug Noire's frayed mental state by pretending she's going to adhere to her plan but is secretly planning on telling Adrien after a few months when things die down. I sure hope so. Because everyone – Nathalie, Marinette, Félix, Kagami – in his life all banding together to lie to Adrien is overkill and plain ridiculous. I fully support Adrien becoming a supervillain when he finds out, because what the hell.

In brighter news, I love the design of 60 years old Alix. The glasses, the fur-lined waistcoat, the black bowtie – gorgeous. They're leaning more into the Alice in Wonderland theme the older Alix gets. I'm pretty sure Fluff is inspired by the White Rabbit. A bunny with time-travelling powers whose Miraculous is a waistwatch? Someone on the writing team reads Victorian literature.

Also, after repetitive seasons of unnecessary fillers, I love how Lila gets started on a plan straight away. Like I said, I'm surprised by how relevant Miraculous London is, it jumps right into the plot. Lila, of course, isn't like Gabriel. She's not going to waste time making grand plans, casting illusions. She knows what she wants and she's heading straight for it.

Chronobug getting a neat little gold finish after wearing Bunnyx's fluorescent vest was fun. I love how yellow she is, and all her spots are illuminated with a diamond glitter effect. It reminds me of the 22-spot ladybug and of the old power-up edits artists created for Marinette post-Season 2.

I do have to wonder – was that fluorescent vest a special material? I doubt it, because at the end of the special, when Marinette de-transforms and casts her healing magic, you like see the vest floating away like a discarded plastic bag. Interesting thing that fanfic writers might want to incorporate into their stories, apparently the colour of the parka your characters wear may determine the colour of their battle-suit.

I really, really liked this shot.

It's the small details that really let you know how much effort the writers put into their story. One of my biggest irks about the negligence of small details in Miraculous comes from this magazine cover in Season 4's Optigami:

Where the subtitles and headings are nonsense Latin. The writers couldn't be bothered to change it to the most generic statement: Adrien Agreste Shocks In Teal was the bare minimum they could've done. They could've described what he was wearing, and they chose to do nothing. This always bothered me, because for all that Miraculous started as a single man's passion project, I'm not seeing a whole lot of passion in it. I can't see soul. The fact that the writers are willing to skip out on small details like this tells me of the lack of focus they're putting into the visual media.

But that scene, where Chronobug slides under her desk – you know those video games where the set are completely untouchable? You're an avatar who always get prevented by a forcefield when you try to go near a desk? That's what the animation of Miraculous always seemed like to me, the characters can't interact with their surroundings, and that only cements the uncanny effect. Chronobug being able to go under her desk is such a small but relieving detail. It make her world feels more real.

Goofy-ahh pose.

Real talk: I love how well-thought out Ghost's power is, especially compared to her more combat-able alternate, Timestalker (? for this name, I had to find it out from the Miraculous Wiki. Really? Timestalker? That was the best they could come up with? To be fair, I was criticising Miraculous for not being literal just a paragraph ago...). Ghost's only ability is to phase through solid objects, and it's perfect for her mission to retrieve all the Miraculous. She can't fight, because she doesn't need to fight. It's her purpose and her defence against any pesky heroes that comes her way, and it highlights Lila's caution and her dedication to her task.

Unlike Gabriel, who's often so lost in his own emotions (think of the many times he insisted on going after Ladybug even though Chat Noir's Miraculous is right there, or in the episode Evolution when he could've saved Emilie but chose to pursue Ladybug in revenge instead), Lila is filled with rage, but she's capable of separating her feelings from her goal. It makes her much more calculating and dangerous than Gabriel.

That being said: what on Earth is Lila's goal? What did she Wish for? Did she already knew about the Miraculous, and that's why she went after? How did she come to uncover Gabriel's undercover identity as Monarque? Season 5 never explained it, Lila just finds out off-screen. Although the special does wrap up loose ends, it doesn't answer everything. I always thought that Lila was just an opportunistic girl who lies to get what she wants, but turns out she has three identities? The theory that she's a time traveller from the future who came back to defeat Ladybug before she reaches her prime still stands, but I can't decide whether or not I want the writers to head in that direction.

Watching the trailer, I thought Félix was Ghost, or that the special would be related to him in some way, seeing that he lives in London, but Félix wasn't even mentioned.

I hope we get to see a lot more of Félix in Season 6, I hope that his relationship with Adrien gets more development. I'm fascinated with sibling (or cousin) relationships, because it's been an integral part of my personal life, and it's a relationship I always zero in on in any media I consume.

This line from Ladybug is incorrect:

"There's nothing I can do [against Ghost]".

She can take all the Miraculous before Ghost gets to them, but the point stands that for the sake of the plot, she has to prevent Ghost from ever discovering her identity.

I can't believe they mentioned Troublemaker, as if Miraculous has a linear storyline. For so long, Miraculous' episodic format has haunted it, all development is wiped away at the start of the next episode and the characters never grow. Miraculous likes to pretend it's linear, but that aspiration is busted when you realise that means twelve days canonically passed between the Christmas Special of Season 1 and the celebration of King's Day in Dearest Family in Season 4. I hope this mention of the past means that there will be less focus on filler and more on telling a relevant story in Season 6.

I don't understand why Ladybug can't take the Butterfly Miraculous when she saw it dangling at the edge of the catwalk over the pool in Gabriel's underground tomb. What set future events is she disturbing? Lila making a Wish is a set future event, but it's okay to disturb that but not okay to prevent her from ever getting her mitts on the Butterfly Miraculous? The story picks and chooses what's allowed and what's not, I can't figure out the rules around it.

Also, Gabriel made his wish to save Nathalie? Wow. I did not expect that. So, Gabriel did wise up a little at the end. Emilie is not going to return for Season 6, she has completely passed away, and it is Amélie we saw at the end of Re-Creation. Season 6 really is going to be a clean slate, none of the major antagonistic figures of the old will have a role in it. I hope this means the writers have paved a well-thought way for Lila, and she truly is going to shine as a villain.

That being sad; how can Lila use the Butterfly Miraculous limitlessly? The special shows her acting two different Akumas on herself without exertion. While she is still proven to be a child? Her ability to utilise its power is also adroit, how is she managing that? How is she literally using the Butterfly Miraculous better in six hours than Gabriel has managed for a full year? This supports the theory that Lila is a future Butterfly Miraculous Holder who came back in time because how else is her familiarity and confidence supposed to be explained?

Tell Adrien the truth. I cannot emphasise this enough. Miscommuncation is a dull, dull plot point. I don't want to see characters fumbling around each other like blindfolded men. I want to see them try their best and still fail. It's more terrifying that way, it's more impactful.

This horror segment is done pretty well:

When Chronobug widens her eyes and the music reaches that low, horror movie-esque strings. The terror that hits her as she realises that the lights are supposed to be off by default. This is a clever way of demonstrating her deductive skills because it's a deduction the audience can make alongside her. We watched at the beginning of the special how Ladybug stepped into the stairway filled with light and we assumed that was the norm with it. It's only until the lights turned off after Ladybug's exit that you realised: hey, that's not right. It means someone entered just before we did!

Real clever. This is a bit of actual intelligence. Miraculous is usually filled with convolution schemes that had no realism, so it makes Marinette's intelligence seem a little far-fetched. How can anyone (adult viewers, especially) buy Ladybug's cleverness when her plans of trapping Akumas with a spoon and a towel is plain ridiculous? But this is real, this is possible. A Sherlock Holmes moment, which Bunnyx even explicitly referenced.

More evidence supporting that Lila is a Future Butterfly Miraculous Holder, her identity as Timestalker more than a fair physical for Ladybug.

Akumas usually fail to get the upper hand on Ladybug when they go melee one-on-one with her, but Timestalker managed to successfully repel Ladybug. The choreograph was really well done.

This shot, where Chronobug and Bunnyx are highlighted as two bright but tiny splotches on a pure white landscape, it really screams This isn't over. You are still puny, you have no idea what you're in for. Meaningful visual storytelling. It's them against the big, wide world.

Lila has such a cute set-out here. I like that she purchased all watches that she used as her Akumatised object, and they seem like pretty expensive watches too, if they came with their own gift boxes. Her brown leather shoulder bag is adorable, and I like that she has a stand for her notebook. This is a sophisticated girl who knows the importance of presentation.

I'm going to lose it. Remember what I said about the writers not caring about the small details? What is the writing at the top of the page supposed to be? Viking runes? They couldn't be bothered to spend ten minutes recounting the story in word form?

I love how angry Lila's voice gets, how it trembles as she says "Why did I write that? Did something go wrong with my PLAN?" We're starting to see elements of her real personality, her quick fury, her violent temper. She's a perfectionist, and despite her low exam scores, meticulous in planning and quite intelligent, enough to be a match for Ladybug, until she had to settle for a stalemate rather than a complete victory.

Neither of them won anything. Ladybug still doesn't have the Butterfly Miraculous and Lila doesn't have her identity.

Whenever we see Lila post-Confrontation, she's always dressed up in some disguise or the other, to fool people. This is the first time we've seen her where she has no need to camoflauge herself. So, is this what Lila actually looks like? She has pale blonde hair and lavender eyes? Her outfit is also super cute, serving private school in a V-neck woollen blouse, white shirt, and pleated skirt. It looks quite similar to the leaked Season 6 concept art of Lila where she looks like she's going to sell me Girl Scout cookies.

So, I think the resemblance in the outfit means that this leaked concept art is genuine, as the eye and hair colour and outfit match (they're even saving money by keeping Lila's tights and re-colouring her boots).

I wonder how Lila's voice actor feels. Did she always knew she was going to have a big role? Lila had one appearance in Season 1, vanished for the entirety of Season 2, and while enjoyed better representation in Season 4+5, it's nowhere close to Gabriel's once-in-a-episode cameo. If the same format plays out for Lila Butterfly, that means Lila will be appearing once in an episode. I look forward to that, I think Lisa Kay Jennings has a beautiful voice for Lila; soulful and sly.

Finally: why does Miraculous Holders have a ridiculous amount of power over the Kwami? It doesn't make sense. Canonically, Kwami are the physical form of abstract concepts. The Miraculous is nothing more than a vessel for their power to be channelled through, so that the Miraculous Holder can wield their abilities. It's not some sort of collar, and it certainly doesn't explain why Gabriel can mute Nooroo and how Lila can just freeze him in a single snap. Why does the narrative keep insisting that these forces older than Earth are childish and incapable and naïve? I feel like the Kwami shouldn't even care about humanity, not because they're evil, but because they don't understand and they don't want to understand. Human civilisation will, after all, pass in the blink of an eye for them. Instead, they're so concerned with little things like secret identities. Yes, I know the answer is because it's a cartoon. It's still not a well-written plausbility.

The London Special does a great job adding facets to Marinette. She cares, but she's short-sighted. She tries her best, but she's still not enough. She's so empathetic, she's selfish. She considers everyone, to the point that it goes back to what is most convenient for herself. I don't like Marinette – I think that anyone who follows me for a length and read my stories can tell – but I still respect her character and give her credit where it's due. And she is wonderfully five-dimensional.

The story goes over-the-top at proving her brilliance sometimes, however. Why does Marinette have the ability to re-make the Miraculous? It took Gabriel Agreste an unholy amount of research, money, privacy, and technology to melt the Miraculous down into his rings. You're telling me that Marinette can undo all that with spare equipment she found around her bedroom? What?

Just in general, the London Special was really good. All my mutuals were right, there are issue, but the writing is quality. This gives me hope for Season 6 (and expectations too, unfortunately), and I hope that the story will continue to move forward.

Also, regarding the animation, I found out from its Miraculous Wiki page that it was done by SAMG which, sadly, we may not be seeing them anymore, as Season 6 is supposed to be animated entirely by Dwarf Animation, a French company, who also produced the Miraculous film. I'm glad that Zag Toon is finally keeping it local. Out-sourcing their animation work to multiple different international companies not only means that the quality is inconsistent and that the episode order is whack, but it also spells some pretty ugly intentions for their corporation too. Mainly that they don't care about art, but keeping things cheap. Miraculous already looks pretty cheap. If I didn't know any better, I would say it seems to be a small indie series; with its uninspiring models, lack of extra characters (featuring a completely empty Paris), but Miraculous is one of the most popular animated shows, shows in general in the world. They're making bank on merchandising and streaming. So, why does none of that profit shows in their animation? What Dwarf did for the Miraculous movie was spectacular, and I can only hope they'll bring that level of quality to its main series.

[onyx-archer]

Hunter: A Casualty of Cancellation

Been a hot minute since I did one of these for the Owl Show, and because someone I don't think is very smart tried to act like my opinion on Hunter was "objectively wrong," I'm writing this out of spite. That said, I am still going to approach this much like I did my previous posts about TOH of this ilk (which you can find HERE and HERE if you wanna see those and haven't yet, the latter actually hints at the existence of this post as a possible thing, so the prophecy has been fulfilled).

As post's title should explain, the subject of this post is Hunter, a very popular character in the TOH fandom. He's a character that I have pretty mixed opinions on because of how he was handled. On one hand, I think he meets the criteria to be a "good" character (for whatever that subjective view is worth), but on the other, I don't think he's got much in the way of substance. While I don't have a problem with a character lacking a bit of depth, it's one of those things where I don't get the hype. A lot of that comes down to how the show is written in Season 2, namely it's second half. I'll explain what I mean under the cut.

Now, as I mentioned in the Stringbean post linked above, there are a few things within the show I consider "casualties" in the writing department due to the cancellation. Stringbean was the highest on that list, for reasons stated in the other post. The Collector is second highest, because I don't really care as much about him getting trimmed down to the bare minimum. And bringing home the bronze is ironically the Golden Guard himself.

I want to make something abundantly clear: I don't hate the character of Hunter. I'm not his biggest fan, sure, but I don't think he's a "bad" character. I think he meets a sort of "bare minimum" standard of "good," as I mentioned earlier. I'm only putting the words "bad" and "good" in quotes because quality is an extremely subjective concept, and while this is a post detailing my opinion, I know some more anally pedantic people reading this are going to try and insist otherwise. Those people know who they are, and I hope they know I think they're stupid.

With that said, I don't think Hunter has a lot of substance/depth, or at least to the capacity that other fans do. I've seen the show a number of times, and I've never really saw him as anything special. Given what I've said about him in the past, I think it's obvious that a lot of why I think this comes down to him being a Cancellation Causality™, having been unable to reach his true potential as a character.

A lot of people like to latch onto a character based on the potential the character has, and not necessarily the character as they are written in the source text. This isn't an inherently bad thing, as we all do it. I do it all the time. It's fun to think of all of the fascinating things you can do with a character that an author doesn't really utilize to their full potential. I think Hunter is one of those characters for a lot of people.

It's undeniable that the character is not "whole" as far as his character arc is concerned. Yeah, he has a complete arc, for all intents and purposes, but much like a lot of things within The Owl House, the cancellation had an impact on how he was written. Part of this is because the show had to expedite a lot of things that they likely would have spent more time on had they gotten more time, with Hunter's growth as a character likely got some changes when they needed to get down to the bare essentials to have the show end in a reasonably satisfying way.

As I mentioned in the Stringbean post, I'm aware this is fueled by a lot of speculation, but I'm willing to bet that Hunter's arc to becoming a member of the "Hexsquad" (as the fandom has collectively agreed to call Luz and her Hexside friends' group) was going to be a more gradual process. We likely would have seen him be more prickly with the group for longer than we do in the final product, even if a lot of key events of Season 2B stayed the same. I personally doubt that would be the case, given the pacing ramping up more, and plot points being dropped.

We know that starting with Season 2B, there were cuts. We know that the Galdorstones because Dana herself stated as much. We also know Galdorstones are an "ingredient" in making a Grimwalker, and what is Hunter? Oh, right, a Grimwalker. The Galdorstone plot elements likely would have been in Hunter's arc as a character, with some kind of self-acceptance of his Grimwalker identity.

Hunter being a Grimwalker in the series feels just like a convenient way to have him feel isolated from the rest of the main group (outside of his lack of natural magic abilities), and ultimately means nothing for the character. Him being a clone of Caleb Whittebane means basically nothing in the greater context of the narrative, and like a footnote of Hunter's arc. Part of this is because we don't have much context for Caleb beyond brief mentions and whatnot, but also because we know next to nothing about Grimwalkers. At the end of the day, this is a thing that adds the illusion of depth without really doing much.

Of course, I understand why we don't get the details/additional context for Grimwalkers and Caleb Whittebane; those details don't really matter for Luz's arc, which, as the main character of the series, takes precedence over literally everything else. Dana and the team had to make a choice, and they chose to focus on Luz's arc (which I cover in my post about people "not getting" what her arc is), rather than Hunter's arc, or any other character's arc. It was more important for the sake of the show ending in a satisfying way in what little time they had.

With that said, however, it does leave Hunter as a character with this vague idea of having substance under the surface (i.e. character depth), but it's been shaved down to the bare minimum for the sake of brevity. We can all assume things about his upbringing and whatnot, but that ultimately doesn't mean much because we don't see that stuff. It's not in the show, and because the show has a distinct lack of in-universe supplementary material, it means nothing. We can assume a lot about who Hunter is because of how Belos views him as an object, and subjected him to things that we can certainly label as "abusive," but as an abuse survivor, I don't really need Hunter for that when Amity exists and has a more tangible arc that involves her abusive parental figure.

Speaking of, that abusive parent thing is really only used well in one episode for Hunter, in my view, and that's in the episode "Eclipse Lake." Hunter contrasts Amity in that episode in a very good way from a writing standpoint. Both are kids that come from crappy homes, and both of them are hunting the same thing. He is able to effectively weaponize Amity's insecurity caused by her mother's abuse to make her think Luz is going to break up with her if she fails in finding the Titan's Blood, and he's able to because we know he's in a similar boat to what he projects onto Amity and Luz's relationship. It's the one time where Hunter's arc highlights what the character's journey could have been, as they could have returned to this insecurity angle later in a proper Season 3, and have Amity be someone who helps Hunter understand that his new friends won't cast him aside if he "doesn't get results." They could have done this in either realm, but they didn't have time.

Then there's his budding feelings for Willow. It's a sweet relationship at it's core, and the fact that the show never got the chance to properly explore it in canon, it's become the fandom's favorite ship to write that isn't Lumity, and sort of dominates a lot of the fanfics I see now because Lumity has been explored so much by comparison (it's honestly a little annoying, as a Lumity fan). Dana even implied that it's canon in a livestream after the finale, but because it didn't get explicit confirmation within the show, it is just that: implied. It could have been something that not only expanded on Hunter's character, but also Willows (not that I think she really needs the added depth at the end of the day, but that's a discussion for another day), and that's just what cancellation does to the non-essential characters in a story.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying a character needs to be "essential" to justify their existence in a story, nor do I think characters like Hunter or Willow are "unimportant." I'm just saying they simply become less essential to the broader narrative of the series.

Ultimately, that leads into why I think Hunter is such a bloody frustrating character to think about: all of the things that make him who he is feel like they were done better elsewhere with other characters, or had to be trimmed down to a sliver of relevance for the sake of getting things done within the time limit the cancellation of the show put on things, because it wasn't an essential piece of the plot when cuts had to be made.

I can't really accept that he has "depth" in the way a lot of people do because I don't equate headcanons and assumptions with depth. Hunter's a character that has the visage of a character with depth and intrigue and all of the qualities of what most would consider a "good character" on the surface, but lacks a lot of that, at least to me, because he didn't get the time devoted to him that is required.

Amity serves as a strong point of comparison to me, because she has the time put in pre-cancellation to be interesting. We see her gradual arc from "Mean Girl at the top of her class" to "dorky sapphic girl that's happier than she's ever been" over the course of her many appearances, and I feel like if the show had gotten a proper 3 Season order, we would have seen more of that from Hunter. We would have seen him gradually open up to others, and gradually become happier and have his "Amity breaking the pendant" moment equivalent where he gets to finally accept that he deserves to be happy.

We get hints that he's happier in the Human Realm because he is allowed to spread his wings and discover things he's passionate about, but we don't really get much beyond that because the show didn't have the time to properly explore Hunter's progression as a person up to that point. It's like a sandwich that had chunks of it's filling taken out of it before you get it. You might still enjoy the sandwich, but you might also be like "man, I wish it had more stuff in it."

Those are my thoughts on Hunter put into a post. Ultimately, I know there's gonna be people who say that I'm still "objectively wrong" about any of this, because some people don't actually know what objectivity is... but that's to be expected. Hopefully there's enough people out there who understand where I'm coming from. I'm not really looking to debate my position, but I'm open to hearing others' opinions.

Until the next random Tumblr essay!

[dr-lizortecho]

LOVE your answers and would also love to hear more about why you love Tyler! He's not at all the kind of character I usually love---I like softer, awkward nerds lol---and he was gross in his S1 interactions with Vicki, but I ended up loving him and Forwood became my OTP. I'd love to hear what you see as Tyler's strengths and why he and Caroline are the perfect match :)

Hi anon! Sorry I’m only formulating my response to this now 😭 I forgot- but…

Tyler isn’t generally the kind of character I adhere to either! So it’s a surprise for me that not only do I love him, but he’s my favorite character from the tvdu. Now this can be easily attributed to his growth (I did NOT like him in season one- and watching the start of that season even knowing where he ends up hurts). His character growth is so beautiful- because you can watch 1x01 and see how he treats his friends and Vicky and it all makes sense, he’s still the same guy from the later seasons. This is because they never try and change him, or even try to absolve his sins. Instead he’s given a realistic growth arc- in which he confronts his issues and their roots and works on them. Not only this but his interactions with his friends and family change along the way, his openness and his kindness shining through. On top of that his character has a very relatable and solid understanding of reality, he understands nuances rather easily and has emotional competency not too many of the other members have (not that they lack it- just they lack the same level of self introspection).

Tyler knows his limits, he understands how far his growth has reached and how much further he has to go. And sets clear boundaries in his relationships not just to protect those relationships and himself, but to acknowledge how far he has come with his anger and trauma and how much further he has left to go.

So for his strengths I will always claim his emotional competence and his heart are what makes it. Because he has a good heart- even if he doesn’t know how to use it or listen to it at the start of the show. Then there’s his level headedness and overall social intelligence, which makes him a great pack leader and an asset to the cast.

As for his relationship with Caroline I think it’s their special blend of communication that sold it for me. Because they are so emotionally open and push each other to grow into better people.

[emeraldspiral]

My hot take on YYH Netflix is that normally condensing a story this drastically would not work at all, but YYH is kind of a special case because Togashi very obviously was making things up as he went along and it takes quite a while for YYH to settle on what the story actually is.

Like, if you just saw the first episode you'd probably think the show is about Yusuke's ghost shenanigans and the story's over when he comes back to life. They spent a whole four episodes on it in the anime, and that's after cutting out a lot more issues from the manga. But there's not a lot that happened while Yusuke was a ghost that's of any consequence to the rest of the story, and anything that was, like Kuwabara becoming a good student, didn't need Yusuke to be a ghost in order to happen. Like, while he's a ghost he learns ghost abilities like being able to possess people or talk to them in their dreams, but when he comes back to life he doesn't retain any ghost powers like Danny Phantom, he gets completely different abilities that he only learns about after coming back to life.

So it really doesn't feel like we missed out on anything by having Yusuke get resurrected right away and establishing the threat of demons invading the world from the beginning and having that be the reason Koenma wanted to resurrect him, rather than introducing all of that only after Yusuke came back to life. It doesn't feel rushed, it just feels like it knows what the point is and gets to it.

The story also doesn't really dally around with the idea of Yusuke doing actual detective work, which also gets abandoned pretty quicky in the managa/series. He doesn't get any gadgets or get assigned a bunch of different cases that all just end up being a gauntlet for him to fight through, he pretty much just has the one big case. I think combining the Three Thieves arc with the Rescue Yukina arc is actually a significant improvement for the story. Cause like, originally the Thieves arc was just a vehicle to introduce Kurama, but then Hiei ended up becoming a regular character too and his appearance in that arc was totally inconsistent with everything established about him later. It makes so much more sense for his motive for participating in the heist to be his sister, rather than wanting to take over the world with an army of demon slaves. It also doesn't feel like we lost anything of value by cutting out the 4 Saint Beasts arc when helping Hiei rescue his sister is a much better motive for him to cooperate and bond with the others than Hiei just being forced to do community service. It also eliminates that awkwardness of Hiei kidnapping Yusuke's girlfriend and trying to turn her into his demon slave and then being instantly forgiven by Yusuke the next time they meet and never addressing it again.

Where I feel like it went too far was bringing in the Dark Tournament stuff. Having Yusuke drop everything to go train with Genkai for a whole month in the middle of a case while Hiei apparently makes no progress toward finding his sister just didn't make any sense. We didn't get to know Yusuke well enough to really understand how much growth he had to go through to earn Genkai's spirit wave or what emotional barriers he needed to overcome to beat Toguro. We didn't get to know Genkai long enough for her death to hit as hard as it should. We didn't get to see enough of Yusuke and Kuwabara's bond to understand why it made more sense to kill him instead of Keiko in order to motivate Yusuke. We didn't get as much build-up for the opponents the fab four would be facing and things like Kurama's fox form and Hiei's dragon are just there and not things that that were built up as their only desperate options to have even the slimmest chance of survival.

It really feels like a shame that they didn't go with the original ending of the Rescue Yukina arc where the Toguros took a dive on Sakyo's orders. Like, if they were worried about not getting a second season, the story already had a perfectly satisfying conclusion that you can just accept as an ending as long as nothing else comes afterward to tell you the bad guys are still alive. But Toguro, Bui, and Karasu are all clearly unambiguously dead by the end of the Netflix series and all the important plot points about Toguro and Genkai's past has already been put out there, so there's no way to go back on that and do the Dark Tournament proper with a more fleshed out story and fan-favorite characters now.

Hypothetically, if there were more seasons though, because the vast majority of the series is already covered and there's really only two arcs left that are too distinctly separated to be combined I could see a season 2 and a season 3 that adapt Chapter Black and the Makai arcs in a way that's more satisfying.

Like, S2E1 could cover just the House of 4 Dimensions, ending with the reveal that Genkai has been brought back to life, or at least can contact the living world in order to continue Yusuke's training and prepare him for what's coming.

S2E2 would be Yusuke and the gang looking for Sensui and his goons and we'd get the battle with Doctor in the A plot and Kuwabara's battle with Seaman in the B plot.

S2E3 would be Seaman's backstory and revelations about who Sensui is and what he's trying to accomplish. Kuroko could maybe be introduced here to fill in some of the exposition gaps. The episode would end with Sensui finally appearing and kidnapping Kuwabara, with Sniper foiling Yusuke's attempt to rescue him.

S2E4 would be Seaman taking the gang into the tunnel, Game Master would be skipped over and we'd get straight into Yusuke vs Sensui, ending with Yusuke's death.

S2E5 would be Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei breaking out of containment to avenge Yusuke and Yusuke awakening to defeat Sensui, only for Spirit World to suddenly turn on him once they realize he's related to Raizen. The season would end on a cliffhanger with Yusuke being forced to go on the run into demon world.

S3E1 would then open with Yusuke already in Demon World, wandering around until he eventually finds Raizen. Meanwhile back in the human and Spirit Worlds everyone is dealing with the fallout and the episode ends with Hiei and Kurama being summoned/deported to Demon World.

S3E2 would be Hiei and Mukuro's stories.

S3E2 would be Kurama and Yomi's stories, with Kuronue from the movie thrown in there as well.

S3E3 since we skipped the Dark Tournament we can't have Kurama recruiting old opponents under the guise that they'd be serving Yomi only to turn the tables and reveal that they're all loyal to Yusuke. And besides, it was kind of a waste in the original series to set Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke up on opposing sides and then just instantly resolve the conflict by having Yusuke propose a free-for-all that everyone gets on board with. This could be a great opportunity to have some actual conflict between the three with Yusuke fearing what the other two Kings would do with total control of Demon World, Kurama not wanting to work for Yomi but having to pretend like he does, and Hiei not knowing what he wants.

S3E4 would see the three kingdoms go to war, until Yusuke and his friends learn about Spirit World's plot to pit them all against each other to further their own control of Demon World and convince the kings to set aside their differences and unite to battle Spirit World.

S3E5 would see Spirit World defeated and King Enma overthrown and replaced with Koenma. New policies would be put in place respecting the Demon World's right to self-govern and allow its citizens to travel between worlds. Yusuke and Kurama would finally be able to return home to their loved ones while Hiei would stay in Demon World to be with Mukuro.

[hatereadings]

Chapter 2, part two

(previous)

“I couldn’t be happier,” she crooned as her jagged nails cut into her palms

Okay I actually REALLY like this line. The defiance, while we’re shown, not told, how pissed she is about his douchebaggery; and the reminder about her broken nails even though she normally likes primping and pampering herself and probably gets regular manicures when she isn’t in a pit.

It’s fitting that this all takes place in a mine, because I feel like I’m really digging through dirt to find these tiny pockets of useful ore. Why can’t the author just be consistent and write like this all the time?

We’re told the average life expectancy is a month but she lasted a year, which, again, I don’t have a problem with; I know it’s unrealistic for her to survive a salt mine longer just because she’s a special protagonist or whatnot (it’d be one thing if she survived in the wild or in a gladiator arena because she was so badass; that might actually be realistic), but like I said, I don’t actually take issue with the wish fulfillment side of the fantasy. Sure, she can be special and survive ridiculously long.

“Quite a mystery, I’m sure.” She batted her eyelashes and readjusted her shackles as if they were silk gloves.

Again, I do actually like her here. Is it realistic for her to have so much spirit after a year in the mines? Idgaf, she’s giving a good account of herself against the shitty Prince.

Chaol and Prince Dorian do the thing where they talk about her again as if she isn’t there, and then Kale gets mad when she doesn’t use the proper title when talking to the Prince. He just gets amused, and then he comes out with this line:

“You do know that you’re now a slave, don’t you? Has your sentence taught you nothing?”

Hooooooly shit.

Does he genuinely think being sentenced to the mines is some kind of character growth opportunity? Like… if it doesn’t kill you, you learn humility/your proper place in society? What is this even implying???

I’m as into redemption arcs as the next person, but his had better be intense to justify how much of a wet turd he seems to be right now.

To her credit, Celaena points out that all you learn in a mine is how to use a pickaxe, which, yeah, one would think that’d be self-explanatory. We then get a story about Celaena’s escape attempt 8 months ago. She killed her overseer and 23 other people (nice), and came less than an inch away from the exit. Then we learn something unbelievably stupid.

“…how far do slaves make it from the mines when they try to escape?” “Three feet,” he muttered. “Endovier sentries usually shoot down a man before he’s moved three feet.”

It turns out, the king of Adarlan ordered Celaena kept alive as long as possible, so that she could suffer longer.

THAT ORDER KILLED 24 PEOPLE!!!!!

Six guards every day, AND this?!?! Literally wtf. If you want to torture someone for a year, just do that! You’re a faux-medieval fantasy king; there’s no way you don’t have dungeons and a guy with a case full of shiny tools.

Im sure the king is a huge dickbag, and his son’s issues are all going to be his fault somehow; but this isn’t just being cruel; it’s being *stupid*. This is some Joffrey-level shit with the “I want to torment this teenage girl so I’ll make the dumbest possible decision over it.” I find it hard to believe his reign lasted as long as it did. Does everyone else in this universe just seriously suck at politics?

At the very least, this does actually explain why she survived so long. Unfortunately, while I'm glad she got an offscreen moment of badassery with the nice body count, we didn't actually see it happen; we were just told that it did. It doesn't count as seeing her do cool things on the page.

Anyway, Celaena tells them that her escape attempt was actually a suicide attempt, which, oof, but understandable. Prince Halberd gets this pitying look and this pisses her off, which, fair! Then we get this gem:

“Do you bear many scars?”…he smiled, forcing the mood to lift as he stepped from the dais. “Turn around, and let me view your back.”

WHAT THE HELL.

Bro WHAT.

Also, Celaena, what? "forcing the mood to lift" NO HE DIDN'T. You told him about your suicide attempt and he thinks he can just be like "ah, that's dark. Let's move on to lighter topics. Let me inspect your body like you're a racehorse. Can I see your teeth?"

And for some bizarre reason, Celaena actually does it, and he goes

"I can't make them out clearly through all this dirt," the prince said, inspecting what skin showed through the scraps of her shirt. She scowled, and scowled even more when he said, "And what a terrible stench, too!"

Look, darling. Paaaahhhhhverty!

Because I'm desperate to find some things to like about this book, I will say that it's nice that the hot female protagonist gets to be all gross and stinky in her intro. Normally that's reserved for men and women have to be pretty and smell like flowers at all times, even when it makes zero sense.

That said, Prince Doorknob has some serious groveling to do after his redemption.

"When one doesn't have access to a bath and perfume, I suppose one cannot smell as finely as you, Your Highness." The Crown Prince clicked his tongue and circled her slowly.

I feel like she's contributing a lot to his worldly education, but it doesn't seem like he's actually taking any of it in. And, honestly, what a wasted opportunity. He could have actually been a really sympathetic character from the getgo if we'd seen this as a moment when his shitty privileged opinions collided with the reality of what his father - and his entire country - was making people suffer. We could have seen him struggling to put on his composed mask but looking around uneasily, maybe feigning callousness with Celaena but refusing to meet her eyes, something like that. Wanting to look away but being forced to confront it, and then leaving all troubled, deep in thought, and maybe taking the opportunity to go out of his way to be kind to Celaena, giving her a proper bath and whatnot. Which could also move their love story forward, since he was spending extra time with her trying to redeem himself more, and she probably had all sorts of thoughts on what he could do with his position and power to make things better for everyone she'd seen suffering.

But, nah, he sees all this and his reaction isn't "Holy hell, what are we doing to people?!" it's "Ew, stinky."

It's realistic, sadly. But it isn't very likeable.

In less than a second, she could get her arms over the prince's head and have her shackles crushing his windpipe.

DO IT.

It might be worth it just to see the expression on Chaol's face.

No, it might be worth it SO YOU CAN ESCAPE, you dingus!!!! A prince is one of the most valuable hostages you can get, and one just walked right up to you! Get your shackles around his throat, threaten to kill him if they don't all lower their weapons and escort you out of the mines, maybe demand a fast horse and some provisions and winter clothes, and tell them maybe you'll drop him off once you get to some border or convenient forest if you're feeling generous. Seriously.

I feel like I need to save this as a reaction image for how much I'm going to be using it throughout this book.

But the prince went on, oblivious to how dangerously close he stood to her. Perhaps she should be insulted.

No, you should just recognize that he's an idiot. Like you and Chaol salad and everyone else in here.

"From what I can see," he said, "there are three large scars--and perhaps some smaller ones. Not as awful as I expected, but... well, the dresses can cover it, I suppose."

Oh, dread! Is this former slave not pretty enough for you?

"Dresses?" He was standing so near that she could see the fine thread detail on his jacket, and smelled not perfume, but horses and iron.

The dialogue tag makes it sound like he's the one wondering what he himself meant when he mentioned dresses. Pro tip - if you're going to write something like that, just put a line break between the quote and the description. Less confusion that way.

Also, someone who smells like horses when he has full access to baths has absolutely zero right to judge others for being stinky.

I get that this is supposed to be some kind of comment on how he isn't a pampered prince but actually does, idk, work or whatever; but given he wears a ceremonial sword and probably had to ride to get here, I don't think this is actually any evidence of that.

Dorian grinned. "What remarkable eyes you have! And how angry you are!" Coming within strangling distance of the Crown Prince of Adarlan, son of the man who sentenced her to a slow, miserable death, her self-control balanced on a fragile edge--dancing along a cliff.

WHY?!

Literally just kill him. What do you even have to lose?

Her on-page behavior contrasts so STUPIDLY much with everything we hear about her that allegedly happened off-page. She's a famous assassin, the best of the best, she killed 24 people in a day, but, nah, THIS is what she balks at, killing a guy who's done nothing but insult her and offered her zero reason to keep him alive. Because she knows his name and he's kind of pretty, I guess.

Honestly even if she'd given her curiosity about the dresses/what the prince wants from her as a reason she's holding off on killing him, that would have made sense. It would have been fine. But, no, we don’t get any of that yet. No sensible thoughts, just an empty lil pumpkin stuck on her neck.

"Watch your mouth before I throw you back in the mines," the brown-eyed captain said. "Oh, I don't think you'd do that."

Okay, so now we get the conversation where she's like "Yeah, y'all clearly want something from me, and it's pooooossible it somehow leads to an escape, which is why I'm not going to take my revenge on the king by killing his son." Which (a) should have happened sooner when she first thought about killing him, instead of waiting for paragraphs and paragraphs; and (b) is STILL STUPID, because maybe the prince just wanted to come see the famous assassin in person. And now he's going to leave and you're not going to escape. Whereas you could have escaped FOR SURE if you'd just TAKEN HIM HOSTAGE like pretty much ANY OTHER PRISONER would have done!!!!

Anyway, the prince says he has a proposition for her.

But perhaps his proposition could lead to escape.

You're throwing away a certainty of escape on 'perhaps'?

If she got beyond the wall, she could make it. Run and run and disappear into the mountains and live in solitude in the dark green of the wild, with a pine-needle carpet and a blanket of stars overhead.

It's an interesting dream, and sounds pretty enough; it would be nice to hear more about it and why she wants that, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

She could do it. She just needed to clear the wall. She had come so close before... "I'm listening," was all she said.

Not a terrible chapter hook, but kind of a terrible chapter.

[wavytam]

The Weather Queen and the Cook King: Power Ups Foreshadowed in Colorspreads

After writing these two theories, I wanted to write a separate post talking about the parts I mentioned Nami and Sanji.

To summarize, I think that these two will be extremely important in Future Island Arc because of two colorspeads that Oda drew during the arc:

First, I love how Oda chose Sanji as the main focus in the Boys Colorspread and Nami in the Girls Colorspread - but I don't think it was coincidental.

He said we should keep an eye on Sanji in an SBS after the Wano arc, and ever since then, we have seen around two colorspreads that have him as the main focus. So maybe, as unsuspicious as the only girls' colorspread might seem, it might also give us some type of foreshadowing about Nami's next power up as well, since she is in more evidence.

Not only that: Oda also chose to put the words King and Queen for both of them.

(Alright, before anyone comes at me saying that, I'm trying to push them as King and Queen in a shipping way... no. I do want them to be together, but I don't think those spreads are any indicative of that. Nami and Sanji are both one of my favorite characters in One Piece, and I love to talk about them together and separately, and I just really want both of them to have development and growth - Nami specially, because we can already see how Sanji WILL already have a lot of screentime)

The King and Queen titles, I think, mean different things for Sanji and for Nami.

For Sanji, I think he is going to unlock his Conqueror's Haki (which is also known as King's Haki), and Oda played with the similarities between the words "Cooking" and "CoC King" to make it more... questionable and not in-your-face. We all know he loves to do that.

For Nami, I think it has to do with how she will be known as in the world of One Piece.

When Luffy, Jimbei, Chopper and Bonney were exploring Future Island, Vegapunk talks about one of his inventions, which is...

Yes, a technology that controls climate (Island Aircon) - something that seemingly only controls the temperature of islands (not too threatening).

However, we know how creative and resourceful Nami is with what is given to her and I don't doubt that, if she is given the chance, she could operate Island Aircon in such a way that it could be used as a weapon.

So my theory is that Nami could use Vegapunk's technology to turn Future Island into a huge hell hole for the Straw Hats' enemies.

With her knowledge, she might be able to create cyclones, storms, and even thunderstorms to jeopardize the Marines' invasion into Future Island or to stop them from following the Straw Hats as they run away. With that, she will gain the worldwide reputation of Weather Witch or even Weather Queen, or another title close to that.

It's kind of like how Zoro became the King of Hell, how Raileigh is the Dark King, Usopp is the King of Snipers, and so on and so forth.

In addiction, I think that this is going to be a huge moment for Nami, not only because of her power up but also because of her backstory. I have been coming up with a theory that Nami's past is actually connected to the Void Century and, most importantly, to the Sky Islands and Uranus, which is why her past is still a mystery - since Uranus is going to be the last weapon they will "visit" (they already met Shirahoshi and visited Wano, where Pluton is burried).

So my prediction is that, as Future Island ends, Nami will realise that there is something different within her and that doubt will continue throughout the next arc.

I also have this theory that everyone from the Straw Hat crew has potential to have Conqueror's Haki, but, to me, only the first five Strawhats could have it. This is more of a far fetched theory, I know, but a lot of people have already discussed the possibility of both Nami and Usopp having Conqueror's (maybe Usopp will have CoC in a diferent way than the others) and I think that if they go to Elbaf, Usopp cpuld unlock his CoC there and Nami will unlock hers in the very last Arc of One Piece.

Back to Sanji now! I think his color spread also indicates things that he will use during Future Island and of things that will happen to the Straw Hats there. Basicaly, I think that Sanji will unlock his Conqueror's Haki when his friends are in danger and incapacitated, and he will do everything he can to stop any harm done to them.

The bubbles are also interesting to me, because (although in the colorspread they are coming from the boys' noses) I find it curious that in this arc there is a VERY useful weapon that can incapacitate devilfruit users through bubbles.

Maybe the weapons will be used against the Straw Hats, OR Sanji will use them against their opponents.

In conclusion, I have a feeling those colorspreads might indicate Sanji's and Nami's next power ups, and I think their roles will be extremely important in this Arc.

And because of this coverpage, I think Franky will be important too:

But this is a theory for another time...

I'd also like to remind you how two other colorspreads from the same Arc also seem to have Nami and Sanji in evidence (along with Luffy, obviously, and weirdly Chopper?? Hmmm). So we might have to pay attention to them.

To end this post:

Obviously, there's more of a big possibility that this is all just a coincidence, and Oda wanted to say something entirely different. But I don't mind being wrong since the fun part is to speculate and talk about our favorite characters.

Hope you liked reading it anyway! I'd love to know what you guys think!

[accio-victuuri]

tomorrow, may 3rd is the last day of the “may day” holiday and i hope that btf remains on the #1 spot and will be the may day holiday champion. this holiday ( april 29 - may 3 ) is truly more of a golden week for tourism and not everyone will have the time to watch. may it pick up once they come back and more of em see the good reviews. having said that, i noticed today how people’s daily weibo account posted about btf. then CCTV 1 in the evening, reported about the may day films and only showed clips/mentioned btf. also the front page of beijing daily? btf.

part of the article that talks about btf :

Jing Runcheng said, "In terms of quality, "The King of the Sky" is best, it not only expresses the main theme, but also balances the needs of the audience. The rhythm of the film is good, not procrastinating, suitable for young audiences’ watching habits. There are laughs in the first half and tears in the middle. There is a burning point at the end, and various elements that mobilize the audience's emotions. The protagonist's growth arc is well done, the lead actor Wang Yibo brought traffic dividends to the film, and the performance also received approval. The special effects of the aircraft in the film is a breakthrough. It can be seen that director Liu Xiaoshi has a deep understanding of aircrafts.

One thing i was so nervous about when BTF was ( finally ) released was how it will be taken by the government and the air force community. So far, it all seems positive. Notice how their roadshows were private screening for military personnel too. As much as this is a movie for entertainment purposes, it also wants to send a message to the people & to the world. This was further explained in LX’s interview released today where he said,

Liu Xiaoshi believes that only by being close to the current group of test pilots, feeling, seeing, and observing can their stories be written well. "We must write the stories of the Chinese themselves. We cannot blindly imitate western movies. They ride motorcycles, and we ride motorcycles in the movies. Chinese soldiers don't do that; They go to bars, and we go too, and our troops don't like that. .” ( source )

Even in earlier interviews, LX was saying yibo was afraid to make a mistake in a “movie like this”. Yibo understood what as at stake in taking the lead role for a movie like BTF. One reason why there was virtually no training/filming leaks was they were at a secure base. and of course, he wants to give justice to the story of these men & women who protect their country.

My point is — Yibo does not shy away from projects that may be sensitive/ high stakes. or stories that no one has ever done before ( one & only for example is the first break dance themed movie in mainland china ). This is why I adore him. He does the exact opposite of what people think he should do. He could have easily chosen to do a straight up comedy movie or even a romance and call it a day. That could easily rake up some money, cause historically, movies in this may day season are of that genre and gets the top spot. But no. Even off season, he can pick traffic-star friendly themes and be done with it. Less strain for him. ( no shade to other actors but you all get the point ) No. He wants a challenge. I’m honestly in awe of what he’s been doing with his acting career and it’s a joy to be an audience for all of it. I’m excited where he takes us next 💕

[bright-red-sunsets]

Does your MC character change during Main Quest? Especially during Book 2?

I'm assuming you're talking about Housamo so here I go with my MC ramble hehehehe (P.S. oh god this ramble got a bit out of hand lol)

Before I get into it, two things.

1) I'm close to finishing chapter 10 so I'm not caught up to date. This also means I can't say much about Part 2 unfortunately.

2) my MC's name is Mango and I'll be using they/them, but they don't care much about pronouns.

I think they do change a lot.

The writing tries to show MC having a nearly unshakeable will and clear goal in mind in any situation, but Mango is like, a lot less sure at the start.

Initially, Mango is just going with the flow and going along with the expectations people have of them. Mango doesn't have memories, so they end up feeling like they Are all these people others claim them to be.

Ryota is one of the more important characters when it comes to Mango's growth as a person. In the Aoyama guild arc, Ryota confesses to Mango that he wants to have a special bond with someone, the way Shiro & Kengo have and Maria & Gabriel have. That makes Mango realize that their experiences with Ryota are something more tangible to care about.

From that point on, Mango develops a stronger sense of Self. While they want to honor the feelings others have, they also recognize that they aren't all their past lives – they're the person here and now. Mango allows themself to be more selfish and stop trying to be the person others want. (On a lighter note, this also means they act increasingly more sarcastic when someone starts calling them a different name, "Another one for my list...")

Throughout and after the Roponggi arc is when Mango gains some proper maturity. Toji, even though Mango extensively thinks he has a stick up his ass, does challenge them and whether they're taking this seriously enough. And hell, Mango has to admit maybe Toji does know what he's talking about.

The finale is another point that greatly affects Mango. The more they learn about the loops, the stronger their resolve is to end the Game and live their life. But when they learn about the loop(s) where they were Babalon's family... that really hits them...

PART 2: MANGO HAS DEPRESSION AND PTSD

The start of Part 2 is maybe my favorite part of the story so far, especially in terms of how MC is characterized. HELL, Mango's collapse forces them to confront all their flaws. Mango has let people die! Mango has people who put faith in them! They are confronting their own capacity to harm others and desperately grasping for ways to protect the people they're close to.

This is the peak to everything Mango has been becoming so far. They are selfish and recognize they can harm others. Mango doesn't just jump into action blindly, they plan extensively with the Summoners (and when they don't, they put their whole faith in that Shiro does). In many ways they are similar to how they started, but with the added depth of doing it all intentionally and compensating where they failed.

[letterstoear]

My favorite letters~ Top five! Part 1

As this is the month of love, I wanted to focus on self-love today and talk about my favorite letters I’ve written. This is all my personal opinion, and I would love to know what your favorite letters are! 

Again, these letters are my personal favorites. In part 2 I’ll be doing letters where I think I did the best in terms of writing and character.

#5 Kageyama’s confession: Letters to Ear : THAT MALLEUS LETTER GOT ME FED UP WHAT DID I JUST... (tumblr.com)

I never would have thought Kageyama would be here. I wrote this letter as a fun response to the ask. It started out as a drabble then blossomed into what it is today. This letter is fun and feels very fluffy which is the intended purpose. There’s not much else I can say, it just really is a Kageyama like confession.  

#4 Kenma’s confession: Letters to Ear : A confession from Kenma (tumblr.com)

This letter in particular is what started my whole business, so without this one I never would have gotten this far. It really nails Kenma’s character in a way I don’t see done often. Or maybe it’s just me being biased. 

In the letter we see how Kenma’s whole love started to bloom towards the reader. It’s such a sweet letter. The character growth is what sells this letter in a way I don’t normally do. I should do more of it though, it seems to work well. 

#3 Chuuya’s letter: Letters to Ear : Wow, a letter from Chuuya~ (tumblr.com)

I love my man Chuuya and this letter was a spur of the moment letter out of frustration. I actually wrote this letter when I was doing research on Dazai, but I took a break and wrote for Chuuya instead. I tend to come back to letter as a casual pick me up because of how smooth everything flows. 

I don’t know how I did it, but the transitions between each letter come out so smoothly. Like it really flows well, which is a highlight of the letter. I think to write Chuuya well you need to get his timing done. Also, the casually sprinkles of little remarks about love makes me kick my feet in the air and scream into my pillow. 

Read this letter if you want some casual pick me up. 

#2 Lilia Vanrouge’s Letter of Acceptance: Letters to Ear : A letter of acceptance from Lilia Vanrouge (tumblr.com) 

We have our first and only Twisted Wonderland character letter here! Which is a little strange now that I think about it. I’ve written a ton of Twst letters, but this is the first one to be seen on my list. I should improve on that. 

This letter is so special to me because of how it tells the story of Lilia’s view on love. I wanted to enchant the reader with Lilia’s pure feelings and insight. It’s not an overly fluffy or romantic letter, but it’s bittersweet. I think it easily shows how even though Lilia is in love, he’s not going to force his feelings onto the reader. In fact, a small part of him has already given up. 

What can I say I love a pinch of angst. 

Towards the end of the letter, we get Lilia’s promises for his lover. I think it’s a very sweet action he does, and I can really see him making these vows. Each time I read this letter it squeezes my heart. 

If you like Lilia, I’m pretty certain you’ll love the letter. 

#1 Ikuya Kirishima’s After the Race letter: Letters to Ear : After the race (tumblr.com)

Let me just say, I wrote this letter for myself, so of course I’m going to love it the most. This letter is the definition of fanfiction. It’s not written to impress nor is it made out of self-loathing or hate. All this letter is to have something fluffy to read from one of my all-time favorite characters. 

When I read this letter time and time again, I actually forget I was the one who wrote it because it’s that special. The letter captures the spirit of how Ikuya feels after winning the relay race with Haru, Rin, and Sousuke. It’s meant to feel like a warm hug, one you would feel after someone did a big accomplishment. 

More than that it goes over Ikuya’s character arc, which I love to add into my letters. Plus, Ikuya reminisces about the relations he has with the reader in their established relationship. 

If you’re like me and you’re a fan of Ikuya from Free! I highly recommend you check out this letter. Read it!