#her character growth came in not killing him. she did not grow out of the hubris lol

[witchkillr]

i am retracting my divergence re: agatha's death. if you've been following along, this should be of little surprise to you, as shocked as i personally am LMFAO.

[lets-try-some-writing]

okay but what about robots in disguise?? its not a favorite of mine but it’s still pretty good. russel and his dad are decent lol

Frag that show.

It disrespected TFP on every level and for that it has my eternal hatred and contempt. The humans were annoying, and I HATED how many interesting plot threads there were that were either done poorly or with so little tact that the writing team should have just scrapped it. The designs are tolerable, but I hate how canon TFP characters lost so much of their individuality in their designs (coughtheopticscough). Smokescreen is fricking GONE, which bothers me more than I care to admit. We see the rest of the team enough to be reasonable, but they all appear in ways that don't really make me happy.

Ratchet was done well enough in my opinion. I like his RID design. It suites him. Optimus's design can go die in a hole, they brutalized that mech. Same with Jazz. Frag those stupid shoulder pads.

Grimlock is fun, I appreciate Sideswipe, although his helm hair thingies I think need a redesign to make sense in relation to his alt mode. Strongarm was HORRIBLY underutilized and I hardly saw any character growth in her. Drift and his crew were interesting, but similarly not given much room to grow. I really liked Windblade for the most part, especially the episode where she tries to baby Optimus and comes out having relearned that Op is still a PRIME with MILLIONS OF YEARS OF WAR EXPERIENCE.

The Primes who've done nothing but sit on their rears had NO RIGHT to belittle Optimus at every turn. Nor did the show have the right to make him an idiot for the sake of making Bee look smarter. As @nova--spark has pointed out, the personality Bee got in the show matches Smokescreen better. Bumblebee wouldn't have SUCKED so much at the whole leadership shtick. What happened to all that skill shown in the movie huh? HUH WRITING TEAM????!??!?!

While I am on this train. OPTIMUS DIED SO GOSH DARN LEAVE HIM ALONE!!! He should have stayed deceased, or if they REALLY needed him back, he should have either returned as an Civi or came back with actual issues. Like dang hear me out mate.

Optimus is forcefully returned to life, beats the Fallen with his borrowed power, but then has to actually deal with the consequences of essentially being a walking bomb for a while. Make him start losing plating, make his frame HURT, make him slim down again into the TFP base design. Just, give him a reason to have to sit back and RECOVER. Not this whole half hearted limping around garbage. To add to that, don't baby the mech. Let him stay at base and fulfill the role Ratchet did in TFP. Let him use his knowledge to teach and offer wisdom, plan battles and locate enemies. For Primus's sake he could have gone undercover on Cybertron or something if they really needed him to go be useless elsewhere.

THEY COULD HAVE EVEN HAD AN ARC WITH HIM GIVING THE TEAM A WAKEUP CALL!!! SIdeswipe has no respect for the mission, Grimlock is a fool, Strongarm is too snarky, and Bee in this seems to have largely forgotten about the seriousness except for during key moments. They could have made Optimus a minor antagonist, forcing the team to follow wartime standards since they laid down this plot thread regarding issues between leadership styles and Optimus trying to take control of the operation more than once.

I would have paid money to see Optimus's wartime mentality show itself in the best and worst ways through how he worked with this group of non war vets on a Decepticon capture mission. Maybe even have him use lethal force once or twice, or at least hint at it so that people can be reminded that he is a mech who went to war, killed countless bots, and both drove their people to and saved their people from extinction.

Bee could have had to teach Optimus to calm down. He could have helped eased his leader out of his wartime mindset. Or following that whole council running Cybertron route, Optimus could have had his moment of being very much right when he points out WHY he fought at all and gestures towards the new council. There was SO MUCH potential in this show, so many good threads and interesting Decepticon character that could have given so much depth to the war and the aligned continuity as a whole, but they were almost ALL ignored.

*deep breath*

Alright, sorry about that. I have big feelings in regards to how dirty Optimus was done. Moving on, the Predacons were killed off supposedly and that pisses me off ESPECIALLY because it was done in a fricking offscreen setting. What the hell happened to Predaking??? WHERE DID HE GO????

Starscream's design was rad though, not going to lie.

Where is Shockwave? No seriously where is that fragger? After several years of the map he MUST have an army growing in a tank somewhere.

Soundwave. Why. ARe. YOU. HERE??!?!?!? I love you man but dang you are so out of place. He made sense in the context of trying to get to Megatron, but idk he felt like he deserved better. He should have been the big brain behind the Cons on Earth if you asked me. It would have made everything far more intense, especially if the Cons dont follow Decepticon creed as seen by Soundwave.

The humans were annoying. Sorry they just were.

Fixit is Primus's gift to RID and he's one of the few individuals who makes it less annoying. Idk, I just like him in reasonable doses.

WHERE ARE THE TFP KIDS?! WHY HAS BEE NOT CALLED THEM?? GOOD HEAVENS THERE IS A WHOLE SUBPLOT RIGHT THERE!!!

*yet another deep breath*

Apologies.

To put things simply, I would rather a group of fanfic writers put RID together than whoever the writing team was. They could have made a coherent story with deep characters that actually address the ramifications of millions of years of war and lingering functionalist mindsets. They would have done the lore and the world justice even if there were no main characters popping up.

I think RID has so much potential, but that almost all of it went right down the toilet due to either the higher ups sticking their noses where they don't belong or because the writing team couldn't go two minutes without retconning or otherwise destroying established everything.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[shaineybainey]

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 initial thoughts

[ NOT spoiler-free ]

For me, this is one of the few franchises that got better and better as it went along. This third movie was just absolutely phenomenal. As someone had said, it is a great send-off to the movie and the Guardians we've known.

They did a great job exploring Rocket's origin. It really explains why he's never wanted to talk about his past. It was violent and heartbreaking. Nebula's line of "They did worse things to him than Thanos did to me" (or something along that line) summarized it best. You also understand why Rocket can be so violent: it wasn't much because he learned it from the people who engineered him, but because the last time he tried to get away safely, quietly, his friends - essentially his family - all got killed. And the person who caused it was so cold about it. So while he could be extreme, he does it so that no one can hurt him or any of his friends ever again.

Which leads to this other point: Rocket is a grump and a cynic, but deep down he actually really loved the other Guardians.

Adam Warlock! I didn't know what to expect from him, but after seeing the movie, I want to see more of him.

Also: it's great that the movie managed to give Adam his own origin story, his own motivation for why he eventually ended up being a guardian.

Drax was hilarious in this movie, as he always is, but Mantis kinda came for the crown a bit! The fact that she made him fall in love with a sock for fun and made one of the guards they had to get through fall in love with him were some of the funniest moments in the movie.

On a more serious Drax note: "Drax. You weren't meant to be a destroyer. You were meant to be a dad." One of the best lines in the movie. I never would have thought that this is how Drax would "grow up" as a character, but it all made sense. It does.

Kraglin had a fantastic growth too. He'd been trying to train with the arrow Yondu gave him over and over and over, trying to concentrate and plan and think. And he kept failing over and over and over. But when Knowhere was in danger, he finally remembered what Yondu told him: "Fly it with your heart." When he realized that he needed to get out of his head, man did he do some damage. It was amazing.

The bad dog/good dog argument 😂

Gamora. I like how they approached that. They didn't make her fall in love with Peter, even after all the fighting that they did as a team. They were barely even good friends in the end. Also, it's nice that she has a different family to belong to now (the Ravagers) but who still loved her just the same. It's good that they didn't try to change her. They made her realistic.

Lol "You guys are just making up what he's saying" when Groot would talk

Nebula. Oh, man, where do I begin. I've started really liking her as a character since GotG 2, and even more so during Endgame, but wow. She's really grown. She looks after the people of Knowhere, the Guardians look to her for big decisions and even resolution for internal problems of the team. The team respects her, even more than Peter most times. She still has rage inside, and she has trouble expressing other feelings without it, but I think she's made tremendous progress. And it's so obvious that she cares deeply about the team and even the lives of others, even if she doesn't outright say it.

Okay. There's a lot to unearth with the not-so-subtle hints at Peter/Nebula. First off, it's obvious in this movie and even in the Christmas special that Nebula's been looking after Peter. But the fact that she would take him home whenever he was totally wasted and put him to bed, making sure he was comfortable? And when Gamora was going to hurt Peter out of frustration and Nebula jumped in to stop her, practically telling her to back off? And that when Gamora suggested that the woman Peter's describing, the one that he's fallen in love with because she's grown from being ruthless to being caring, is Nebula, and Peter started looking at her differently? Bruh. I don't know what they're playing at here, but alright. I'm onboard.

Speaking of Peter, I like that he decided to come back home to Earth to reach out to his grandfather. I'd like to think he got a little help from the Avengers to get to that doorstep (info, means of transpo, things like that). It was great to see him in a normal life setting in the post-credit, too, where he's just eating cereal, talking smack about someone behind their back lol

Okay, that's it for now. Will come back when I remember the other things I liked (spoiler alert: there's a TON)

[uriekukistan]

what are your thoughts on tsumiki pretaining megumi's character? i see alot of people say she's hindering megumi and his growth but i disagree. Because of her kindness, he wanted to save more good people like her. hell, it's the reason he saved yuuji, a good person who he thought deserved to live. and him fighting to save her (the bridge and the culling games arc) are the two times we actually see him at peak performance and giving it his all. so im sort of confused on where this myth that he needs to 'let go' of tsumiki to become a better sorcerer when he IS a better sorcerer because of her. i do know he never really wanted to be a sorcerer and the only reason he agreed to be one was to guarantee tsumiki's happiness, but i don't think that fact necessarily stunted his growth? Maybe i'm getting it wrong so i'd love to hear your thoughts

man who is saying ts i cant stand it here sometimes....i 100000% agree with you that tsumiki is decidedly Not hindering megumi's growth as a sorcerer. in fact for the first part of jjk (like up to the death painting arc), the only one hindering megumi's growth was...megumi. and like you pointed out, a lot of the times we have seen him grow the most and give his all have been because of tsumiki.

i really think this take only came up bc ppl expect megumi to just stand up and fight back against being controlled sukuna, and they blame his grief for like....everything that has happened post 212. it's part of the bumification of his character within the fandom, which i take issue with for a few reasons (as im sure everyone would expect):

megumi did fight back. sukuna notes that even after the cursed energy bath, megumi was still limiting his cursed energy output in his attempt to fight back. sick of mfs acting like megumi just gave up right away.

sukuna was purposefully trying to break megumi down because he was limiting his ce output. this includes the cursed energy bath, specifically using megumi's body and technique to kill tsumiki rather than his own, and who knows what else. they were together, essentially alone (ig uraume and kenjaku were there but like yk...megumi was alone, buried in his own subconscious). sukuna could have done a variety of other things with his body to ensure that he stayed submerged. so it goes beyond just grief. megumi was purposefully tortured.

he's fifteen. he's literally fifteen, he is a child. he is a child who lost the one person who was consistently there for him throughout his life, who took care of him even though she had no obligation to do so. not only did he lose her, but he watched helplessly as his own hands killed her, despite his best efforts to stop it.

it makes sense that tsumiki's death broke megumi, because it was specifically designed to. i wish some readers would take the time to understand this instead of just ganging up on megumi and calling him a bum. but yk what they say...

[fantasyinvader]

You know, it makes sense that people don't trust Rhea or the Church… at first. The game does make them seem shady as hell at the beginning, and we're even told to be wary of Rhea. But when you take into consideration Verdant Wind, how Claude says that it's important to get to know people rather than cling to faulty first impressions, it really should be telling the player something there. That despite those initial impressions, you're the one leading the Church right now trying to save Rhea from a tyrant. Claude is realizing the Church and Rhea don't have to be his enemies, and when you look at Seteth's solo ending (minus the translation making him sound intolerant before) he works towards Claude's ideal regardless of route. Meanwhile, Claude is also figuring out how the Agarthans tried to feed him information to turn him against Rhea.

His power of friendship speech, him being willing to reach out to the Church in friendship, is the climax of his character growth. Rather than trying to use people like pieces on a chess board, he's willing to work legitimately with others. He finds out the truth about Rhea, and in his S support reveals that he views people relying on her (as they will with Byleth) as a good thing whereas before he believed that people could only rely on themselves. He learns that Rhea was one of the few survivors of her people being wiped out, having to hide the truth and even glorify the allies of the one who did it. He saw her as an outsider herself. Claude is also the one to point out that Rhea had people from not just from the countries at Fodlan but people from other countries, including having a woman from Dagda as one of her knights, at Garreg Mach as well as how the Church doesn't actually preach isolationism.

Claude's arc realizes he was wrong. That as an outsider, he came in and started making assumptions based on a lack of knowledge or being fed misleading information by the bad guys. Just like the player can be if they pick the Black Eagles class. It's why Byleth's flag, a symbol linking the route to Buddhism, is also present in Verdant Wind as it's the only route where Claude ultimately realized people were trying to manipulate him, so he didn't allow their narrative to guide his actions. It's CLAUDE'S enlightenment, as he wasn't tempted from the proper course of action. If he believes so strongly that people of other faiths should be accepted, he should be trying to help the Church against those attempting to wipe them out. And this path results in Claude not just fighting the person that the Agarthans used to commit genocide. Can't be any more "fuck racism" than that.

But instead of accepting all that, we have people who want Claude to kill Rhea, still believing that she's the cause of racism in Fodlan despite how Claude realizes that isn't the case. They want Claude to side with the person who flat out told him she can't leave Fodlan in his hands because he's not from Fodlan despite the translation making it sound like they hold the same beliefs (at least, until Claude grows out of them as part of his character arc). They like the version of Claude that says he could never be friends with Dimitri, despite Dimitri working to help the people of Duscur, and pisses off Sylvain when Sylvain would otherwise have worked to fix the issues with Streng. Instead of the Claude who knew the Empire wouldn't accept taking an L against the Alliance and returned with Almyran forces to stop another attempt by the Agarthans to take over, they want the Claude who seems confused people would be upset at him invading their countries and killing their families.

Verdant Wind, really, puts the Church into it's proper context. It looks suspect, it acts shady, but if you actually take the time and pay attention to the world… they're not the bad guys you were expecting them to be. No, they're the group the actual bad guys, the ones behind Fodlan's problems, wants to take out.

But instead, people don't want that story and insist Claude's delusional idiot self from Hopes is who he really is. Really, it's kinda telling how people reject his story because they don't want to change their mind in the face of the game's reveals. They can't accept the message of a game written for middle-schoolers.

[themostineptthateverstepped]

Obviously, I am very tense about the Loki finale tonight, so this post may not age well, but I just have to say this.

The kiss in the season 1 finale was super weird. Not just because it was some strange version of selfcest, but because there was no real chemistry there. It genuinely felt like Sylvie's last-ditch effort to distract/confuse Loki enough to achieve her goal of killing He Who Remains. And that is exactly what that was. She kissed him, he looked completely defeated during said kiss, and then she kicked him through a time door, killed Kang, and then went about her life.

She did not look at all pleased to see Loki again, and there has been no spark of anything between them the entire season. Even when they join hands to use their magic, it looks like siblings. THEY READ LIKE SIBLINGS. There really hasn't been any effort put into developing their chemistry or connection romantically. Even in their most recent interaction at the bar, Sylvie is playing the detached therapist, trying to guide Loki into admitting what he already knows, the true "why" behind his mission, and it isn't her. She even explicitly defines that she has her own story and path and advises him to write his own. Separately.

Now all of this is a long way of saying that, if they move forward and push Sylkie on us at the eleventh hour, I won't be angry because it's not my ship, I will be angry because they did absolutely nothing to grow it, to nurture it, to have it make any real narrative sense.

Yes, this is Tumblr, and we all love a good gay ship (because we are sad and gay and starved for representation), but Loki and Mobius actually make narrative sense. Not only do they each represent the other's turning point and catalyst for growth and change, but they are also two characters that have developed into something together. Their evolution is incredible, and we have been given scenes all season that parallel their growth, in the way Mobius doesn't hesitate to trust Loki, how he embraces Loki's mischief, how Loki comes back to Mobius again and again, defends him, comforts him. They have actively built the framework for Lokius, even heavily implying that Mobius is the "who" that guides Loki's time slipping.

However they choose to manifest Loki and Mobius' relationship, if they leave it ambiguous, if it's queer-platonic, if it's whatever, they at the very least need to make it abundantly clear that THIS is the fundamental relationship. Their bond is the heart of the show.

Loki needs to love Sylvie because he needs to be able to love and embrace himself as he is, all of his strengths, and all of his weaknesses. Sylvie, who is still so impulsive and bent on revenge, is an excellent opportunity for him to see where he came from and love her anyway. But we've seen him face her impulsive violence, and instead of him meeting her there and joining in, we saw him become calm and compassionate - we saw how Mobius had helped him to grow. We need Loki and Sylvie to love each other, because that is how they are going to heal, it's how they aren't going to lose. But it's self-acceptance, it's the love you have to have before you can truly love someone else, and I think given Loki's long arc as a character, we need to see him beak out of his narcissism, move beyond just loving himself, and truly love someone else.

They more than paved the way for Mobius and Loki, and if they through that away for Sylkie, it won't just be sinking a perfectly good ship, it would be horrifically ignorant, wasteful storytelling. And this is the God of Stories, so if you fuck this up... I mean. Just don't okay?

[andreal831]

If Elijah had to choose between saving Hayley and Klaus, with absolutely no way of him being able to sacrifice himself for the both of them, who do you think he’d save and why? Let’s pretend in this scenario the one he didn’t save would die no matter what.

No matter what he did, he would regret his decision for the rest of his life.

But his decision would all depend on when it was happening and why it was happening.

For instance, if Hayley was still pregnant, he would save her over Klaus without hesitating. Elijah shifts a lot of his focus after Hope is born from Klaus to keeping Hope safe, even at times betraying Klaus for it. This gives Hayley added protection. Even if Elijah hadn't been in love with her, he still would have protected her first because of Hope.

After she had the baby, it would depend. If the threat was something that Klaus had directly caused, he would prioritize Hayley's safety and attempt to rationalize it as 'Klaus brought it on himself.' But he would always hate himself for not saving his brother.

Now, more likely, because the show loved to torment Elijah, it would be a consequence of Elijah's own actions that came back to haunt him. This would destroy him no matter what he chose. He would have to choose between the woman he loved and wanted to plan a life with and the brother he had been closes with for a thousand years.

I honestly don't know what he would choose, but I think he would save Hayley. She was young and hardly got to live whereas Klaus had lived for a thousand years and had very little to show for it. He would also think of it in terms of Hope. While Hope would be sad to grow up without Klaus, she needed her mother. Hayley was always the one making the hard decisions and parenting Hope.

I'm more confident that this would be his decision in season 3 and later because Klaus would also support this decision. This is the growth I loved to see in Klaus. In Season 3, he began to put Hope and her needs first. They would both understand how important it was for Hope to have Hayley growing up. The Mikaelsons forgot what it was like to be human and Klaus never truly understood what it meant to be a wolf. Hayley would be able to teach Hope all of that.

Also, Klaus dying would have the added bonus of taking out a lot of his enemies, if the sire line was still in tact. This would give Hope more safety, something Elijah would prioritize.

I know I am mostly analyzing it from what Hope needs, but that's what Elijah would need to do because choosing between Hayley and Klaus would be impossible to him. He would rather die himself. So he would need to try and logic his way through it.

I could see Elijah choosing Klaus if it was something happening very quickly and he out of habit saves his brother. But again, it would devastate him. It broke him that he didn't save Hayley when he didn't even remember who she was. So if he had to actually make that decision, he would be searching for that white oak stake so fast. The only thing that would keep him alive would be if Hope needed him.

Most of my logic comes from the fact that Elijah was willing to kill Klaus in TVD for throwing their siblings into the ocean. I truly think he would have gone through with it if Klaus hadn't said their siblings were safe. I know TO/fandom makes it seem like Elijah prioritizes Klaus over everyone, and at times he does. But the fandom also loves to hate on Elijah for "betraying" Klaus and prioritizing others. Yes, Elijah is very codependent with Klaus, but he has also made a lot of decisions throughout the show that put others over Klaus. While he wanted Klaus' redemption and wanted Klaus to be able to raise Hope, he understood that his family had lived longer than they should.

It may just be my biases because I hate the idea of Hayley dying, but I think it fits his character.

Thanks for the ask! This was really hard to think through, but I enjoyed trying!

[dreamchasernina]

do you lile the comics or do you think the characters or are they OOC

Aang in the promise reminded me of zuko in season 1.

Hotheaded, even kinda nationalistic with no social awareness. How comes he completely forgets katara

Oooh I love that question.

First of all, starting with the Promise. Yeah, they are mostly out of character in that comic. Aang agreeing to kill Zuko after we spent the whole finale establishing he refuses to kill? Like, that’s baffling. Plus, Zuko acting like a child, going to his father for advice and marching his army to Yu Dao, instead of sitting down with Aang and talking it out? We spent 3 seasons watching Zuko grow into a mature young man and he just goes back to his old ways in the first comic? That wasn’t great. Although I did like the overall conflict of the series, the characters were not done right.

But, I wouldn’t call Aang a nationalist. You have to remember, Aang lost his entire culture and he’s the only one who’s left to preserve it and to pass it on. Seeing people blatantly disrespecting his culture and using it as a costume made him see things differently. He was just afraid that his way of life would be lost if he let the nations clash. Yes, his way of thinking was wrong but it was also justified in the context of the comic. Of course he came to a realization that he cannot gatekeep his culture and people from different nations should be able to live together. I think it was a good character growth for him. Which is a lot more than I can say for Zuko, at least.

Now, I’m not sure I understand what you mean by saying he forgot Katara? Are you referring to the first comic? Cause they were together the whole time and I feel like her opinion and counsel were what mattered the most to him. In terms of Kataang, I think they were written really well in the comics. They have cute little romantic moments and also moments where they realize they’re pretty much the ones responsible for the fate of the world and really sit down and think things through and reach a decision together. I love that.

I could say Aang kinda forgot about Katara in the Rift for a while there, but it’s kinda minor. Other than that, in every other comic, they’re always together and written well so I like Kataang in the comics a lot.

Overall, the comics are not for everyone but I do enjoy them, I think they’re cute additions for the universe if you don’t think too hard about them. They’re pretty entertaining, for the most part.

My favorite one is definitely Imbalance, it just balances the characters perfectly, everyone gets a moment to shine and the main conflict is actually really ineteresting and sets up the main conflict in Korra really well.

My ranking of the comics if you’re interested

1. Imbalance - like I said the main conflict is awesome and the characters feel like themselves, Toph is a freaking badass in this one.

2. The Rift - I love Toph in this, she really gets to shine and again, Aang’s inner conflict is what makes this comic for me. The way he wants to preserve his people’s memory and culture in middle of all the inevitable progress.

3. The Search - it’s cute. Just the Gaang on an adventure, that’s always fun.

4. The Promise - it has its problems but I like the conflict after the war, I think it’s very nuanced and interesting.

5. Smoke and Shadow - Kinda boring

6. North and south - it was a bit repetitive and the main conflict seemed a little bit silly in my opinion. Katara is also a little out of character.

[ntaras]

Khaos Reigns? More like Kill Yourself

i honestly went into khaos reigns with no care because i had already lost a deep interest and respect for the mess that mk1 became, but i came out caring a little. it took a lot of restraint to not post every single thought i had on the story and have a second meltdown similar to when mk1 was released. but i gathered my thoughts (kind of. this is just me rambling) and decided to put it all down in one post. 

btw when i say it's me rambling i mean it. like half review and half saying whatever the hell i want. if you need clarification or don't understand what i'm saying please ask. i'd also like to figure out what i'm talking about

i think this story mode was overall bad because it provided no actual expansion to the story. it kind of just was? like, liu kang’s timeline is safe at the end of the story and i don’t think there’s any repercussions to the timeline itself from havik’s invasions. the only thing that “changed” was bi-han turning into noob saibot- but that also has no bearing to the story. one of the things the dlc is centered around is bi-han’s transformation, but there is zero growth from him. him being forced into corruption via chaos did not change bi-han at all because he’s still the same power-hungry, stubborn, desperate man. the lin kuei is now under sektor’s command but she’s proven to be so loyal to bi-han that she’ll lead exactly him (in fact, she won’t even lead it because the tower endings show she breaks bi-han out of the temple of elements and continue his desires of lin kuei dominance.)

i understand they “rescued” bi-han so early from being noob saibot because in past games bi-han been noob saibot without growing- but it was still done so poorly that there was no need for noob saibot. like i just said: noob saibot is still just bi-han. nothing changed. nothing affected him. he had no purpose to be reintroduced as noob saibot. he was just kinda mad about it. it feels like a very cheap shot at bi-han’s character- somehow worse from how he was written in the base story. at least the base story allowed you to think on bi-han’s redemption or even his prolonged villainary. noob saibot proves he’s nothing but a brat who wants to be a brat for the sake of being a brat. (like sure his anger is understandable as it’s directed at havik for what happened to him but did it change anything about bi-han? he was prevented from killing havik because he let his anger and ego get in the way but what is new about that? that’s just bi-han. that could also be kuai liang. that could also be raiden. that could also be sonya blade. there is nothing special about his specific reaction.)

there just has never been any commitment to bi-han’s character nor has there been an attempt at understanding him besides “hey. he’s kind of an ass and sometimes his soul gets corrupted. wdym corrupted means he wasn’t always the evilest man alive?” i just don’t think they take him seriously as a character and he was quite honestly a nothing character in khaos reigns. i’ve said before but for a man who had a whole game dedicated to him it is shocking what they do to him. 

another thing they really fucked up on was making bi-han a frost/sektor wannabe and as a result the actual sektor we see is just. written horribly. 

both cyrax and sektor were not treated well by the story but i think sektor got the short end of the stick. cyrax’s biggest downfall was her lack of involvement in the story because you can get rid of her (and sektor) and nothing would change. however she still felt like cyrax. i liked her a lot. i liked her naivety to the lin kuei. her want to prove herself. her establishing that she refused to cross certain lines. i like her and i want kuai liang to stop harassing her and every other woman. 

but back to sektor because wowwwwwww. wow. i’ve said before bi-han’s bad characterization is also a result of kuai liang’s bad characterization and vice versa but add sektor to that list also. i’m going to speak as objectively as i can regarding her and bi-han because i have never enjoyed them as a ship the second they announced she was a woman. but i assumed there would be implications about their relationship but nothing set in stone like they did with cyrax and kuai liang being exes because making them canon would be stupid. it would make no sense because sektor is not a character who values the romantical life. there has never been such a connection between sektor and bi-han. sektor as a character- not a man or a woman- has always been involved with a storyline of a lack of humanity and the embrace of “perfcetion” in the form of lifeless cyborgs. sektor’s character would not make sense if they were romantically involved with anyone. yes that also includes cyrax because their relationship is too complicated to be boxed in as “love”. 

the moment i saw sektor and bi-han embrace each other i could only feel emptiness. 

it’s because she’s a woman. that’s it. that’s the only reason. this isn’t indicative that sektor and bi-han were banding in previous timelines because i’m so sorry to smash your fantasies of bi-han getting fucked because you’re incaplabe of viewing characters as anything BUT fuck dolls even if sooo much of their character contradicts that BUT. they would never. well actually maybe they would but only on my terms. but honestly it’s just a disregard of who sektor was because he’s a she now. (this isn’t only sektor. it’s cyrax becoming exes with kuai liang and it’s tanya needing to be paired with rain (her needing to be paired with anyone for her character to matter! i have more thoughts on tanya though that i will get into later)). it is not an incapability because writers are capable of writing women like normal people without the need for romance but it is a refusal to write women with the same regard as male characters because well. they don’t think women can exist as characters without being in some kind of relationship. they don’t want to examine sektor’s anger as frustration at being ignored and dismissed and her need to lead and her anger being an emotion that frustrates her and that leads her down a path of removal of humanity but instead she’s mad because of bi-han. she’s loyal to bi-han. why? because they’re dating. why? because it’s a new era. ok. but why are they dating? because she loves him. why? like there is no reason for this to happen to sektor. must a character who’s expressed no desire for humanity suddenly be open to love because they’re a woman? this romance is useless and goes against sektor. it’s not sektor it’s nrs hating women. 

it is mk11 sindel and shao but like. between people who do not give a fuck about each other.

also i know you can argue that bi-han and sektor were seen working together in sub-zero’s ending in mk11 but i did not like that either it does not make sense for bi-han to give a fuck about those robots.

before i forget i should touch on sareena because not even a snippet of her in a character ending? i don’t care if you ship them or not i don’t care if they canonically bang or not they’re still sooo intertwined with each others story that this entire thing was baffling. i read the leaks so i was aware sareena would not be involved in the story but still it feels so malicious and gross. she is evidence of bi-han’s humanity and bi-han is evidence of her sareena’s humanity. she’s so important in all the “is bi-han evil” arguments. besides havik she’s one of the most demanded characters that this just feels juvenile. i want sareena to have a story outside of sub-zero (and she does i think!! it’s barely there though) but their interaction is still so important. 

onto other things. 

ww2 johnny was BORINGGGGGGG. like this is your comic relief and for some reason he suckssss?? i do think he just existed to be a skin. how shocking. but genuinely the story would’ve done well without him and gave his slot to someone else. dare i say khamelon? it was very nice to hear her speak after years of not really mattering that much. i like that she’s a little sassy. i wanted to see more of her. fan of her dynamic with sektor. 

i am very tired with mk1 mileena because she is so very passive and listens to everything that liu kang demands of her. she’s a little cranky and wants to kill people because everyone is responsible for her mother’s death. i think empress mileena is just kitana on steroids. 

btw i just rememebred the wedding and i forgot about because who cares lol. kuai liang looked ugly what else can i say? ok fine i’ll talk about harumi ummmm it’s nice that she’s alive so that johnny cage can flirt with her. 

but seriously while it is nice to see her in game with an actual model it is gross how she is kuai liang’s voice of reason. he is a grown man he should come to the conclusion that killing cyrax is not a good thing on his own. also real kuai liang would not kill cyrax like the writers want hanzo the writers want hanzo the writers want hanzo the writers want hanzo 

speaking of kuai liang. and bi-han. i am sick of those two. i still don’t understand what brotherhood they ever had. like the one thing i really liked about those two is when bi-han and kuai liang started bickering while fighting khaos cyrax/sektor and the khaos version of themselves. like that shove bi-han gave kuai liang felt soooo brotherly. and it made me happy to see them like that for a couple seconds. also because kuai liang just took it like lollll you are such a little bro, bro. youngest siblings unite for being beaten up by their older siblings <33

speaking of younger siblings. tomas looked REALLY ugly. in general. :// also back to the wedding why was no one dressed up considering how good soooo many alt skins looked. cause if a white man came to my wedding in his ugly uniform. 

and now speaking of the good things… well the mediocre things also i guess. 

i already discussed cyrax maintaining some of her old self which i am happy about. her and ermac i loveeeee because they are their old selves while also suffering from minimal screen time (cyrax worse imo because she didn’t do much plot wise).

do you have any idea how good it was to see frost thrive in that arena? how she succeeded in killing everyone? how she killed mavado cause GOOD RIDDANCE. i truly thought she’d get a one second scene but no she got a 10 second scene. it isn’t anything but i am so happy for frost. 

one thing i thought i would be pissed about was wife tanya and her wife rain. i don’t care about tanya and rain as a ship. i think it’s a very boring ship. and i’m still not ecstatic about them but… there’s something charming about those two. and i think what i find charming is tanya’s character. like i think she pulled all the weight for not despising her and wife rain as a couple. 

i’m not really into mk1 tanya. and i don’t like that the second tanya we see is also a good version of tanya- but something about her works. it might just be that she’s in the main action? and it is because of whole “tanya can speak to dragons thing” cause that scene was SO GOOD. first the nervousness in her face and then the determination as she prepares to speak to orin. the calmness as she elevates to orin. i’m so happy we also got to hear the language being spoken. just the way tanya spoke to orin feels like we got a good serving of lore- of dragon lore. 

if i ever want a good tanya i want empress tanya. 

i ended up liking havik A LOT more than i thought i would. i think the only thing holding him back is his goals because they do not suit him. i’ve said before it’s tricky to write havik into a villain because his chaos is his neutrality. he is both kind and mean. helps both bad and good. titan havik is fighting for a dictatorship which is not what havik is about!!! but he is SOOOOOOO funny. he is hilarious. ww2 johnny sucked as a comedic relief and titan havik stepped in. he is sooo charismatic and sooo lovely just ignore how the story glosses over what happens to him in the end 

but the thing i truly loved the most was chaosrealm. oh my god i love chaosrealm so much. like move over deception chaosrealm we have mk1 chaosrealm and it is superior in soooo many ways. there is so much happening when you first see chaosrealm. giant rainbow slug i love you. guys beating up people on the street i love. preacher shokan i love you. THE TVS. THE INTERCOM IN THE MAZE. they should've given havik a mic and it would've been perfect. like i wish the game was free roam because it would so fun to explore that place. i want more places like this. i want to look at the details and keep finding more random useless details. i want to wonder what the fuck is going on in a fun way. 

however. none of that makes up for how painfully bad the story was. like how bi-han developed in no way as a character- the story was moved in no way. the story just boils down to noob saibot = popular character. cyrax and sektor = people have been begging to play as. and cool skins. everyone gasp in shock upon realizing this was just a way for wb and nrs to get money. 

but really like what do i say when nothing happened? the only character development i can argue for is kuai liang accepted cyrax into the shirai ryu. but is it such a small thing that it doesn’t matter. the lin kuei will still operate without her as they usually do. portions of it were fun. we got orin back. rain got a chapter. i don’t know what else to say. it’s just… not good. it’s that shrug emoticon 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯/10

[maisha133]

ACFTL was disappointing

Okay so it is currently 1:41 AM and I have finished reading A Curse for True Love and I have been let down and just wanted to get my thoughts out

Jacks characterization was the biggest down fall; The book is basically about Evangeline pinning for Jack but I wished it was the other way around; Jacks finds out Evangeline lost her memories and avoids him because she believes he is dangerous and he gets pissed off and desperately tries to get her back. I think this change in story telling would have allowed so much character growth for Jacks considering the fact he is so cold and calculating and having him grow desperate to have Evangeline by his side shows how much she had affected him and also showcase his humanity/vulnerability in his desperation to have her by his side as opposed to being cold and indifferent which leads me to the next point

JACKS BEING AN ASSHOLE-Literally every Evakjacks scene starts like this Jacks says a sassy/asshole dialogue>save Evangeline>Evangeline swoons>Jacks goes back to being an asshole again. Now I get Jacks often puts out a cold front because he doesn't want to be too close to Evangeline and hurt her. But we are three books in and it is established that Jacks loves her. So I don't understand the unnecessary rudeness like ie coming in the middle of the night tossing clothes at her face as she is waking up and almost knocking her off the bridge (yes I am well aware he was never going to let Evangeline fall) but dang does he have to be rude all the time???? I wanted Evangeline to tell him off, all she needed to say was something like "Jacks stop being such a jerk and wasting my time " and he would have stopped. But no. Evangeline is constantly talking about how angelic his face is and how blonde his hair is. Jacks treat your girl better pls????

Evangeline and damsel in distress x 1000000 -damn my girl cannot catch a break literally everyone is trying to kill her. Now I am a firm believer that strong female characters don't have to be physical fighters and I am ok with Eva not being a fighter. However, I wish she would have gotten herself out of danger at times maybe just by using her wits or having a strategy? I got tired of seeing Jacks saving her. Yes he did teach her self defense but not much came out of that?

SO MANY MISSING PLOT POINTS- The bite of on Evangeline's wrist-does she owe Jacks a debt anymore? Luc? What about Evangeline's parents, what about her family's shop-does she not want to go back to Valenda?? Probably more I cannot think of right now.

Evangeline is not the first fox? Major disappointment in that. The first two books heavily implied that Evangeline was the first fox and there were so many hints regarding that ie Chaos telling Evangeline she looked like the first fox in TBONA and Jacks having volumes of the archer and the fox in his office (clearly he is not over the fox girl either) Also the fact he is over Donatella just like that?? Didn't she cause him so much heartbreak? Atleast having them talk it out would have helped to bring closure. Also are we never going to figure out who the first fox girl was? If not Evangeline? IDK it takes away the true love/soul mates aspect that drawn me to Evajacks in the first place imo

TOO MUCH APOLLO. I don't know why we got so many chapters of him, I rather had more chapters of Jacks and EvaJacks moments. Especially when it was established that he is the antagonist so I do not know why he was a main character when it really showed have been more about Evangeline and Jacks

No evajacks wedding-I am super bitter that we don't get to see Jacks and Evangeline having their wedding like in her dream

Overall, I think TBONA was 100/10, definitely the best book in the series. I still love this series to death and I am grateful for Stephanie for sharing her story with us. I just feel so underwhelmed from the ending, it sooo could have been better. I think the biggest problem is that the story was too complicated. Stephanie should have kept it straightforward>Evangeline is the reincarnation of Jack's true love and the first fox, Apollo is the bad guy, Jacks fights to be with Evangeline, they win and get married. Not everything has to be sophisticated. It’s okay if stories are predicatable, they just need to be good.

3.5/5

[bethanythebogwitch]

Giving Owl House characters Digimon partners

Because I'm a huge nerd, I'm combining to franchises I like and giving Owl House characters Digimon partners. For TOH fans who don't know how Digimon works, typically a human character will have a partner Digimon that somehow reflects parts of their personality and character development. Digimon also evolve up and down through different levels, but I'm not going that deep with this. Side note, I could not figure out a Digimon I liked to partner with Gus, so sorry, but he's not here. There will be spoilers.

Luz is the easiest, she's partnered with Witchmon. Witchmon is a witch, she's a bit creepy (which Luz would love), and she's very dedicated to learning magic like Luz is. Witchmon also goes through a parallel but reversed journey to Luz. While Luz goes from Earth to the magical world of the Boiling Isles, Witchmon comes from the magical world of Witchely (the setting of another virtual pet series by the same company) to the (allegedly) scientific Digital World.

I gave Amity Ranamon, which seems weird but I think works. Ranamon's personality in Digimon Frontier (the English dub anyway, haven't seen the original) is very much based on the same mean girl archetype that Amity fit before her character development. Amity's early persona was mostly the result of her mother's influence and Ranamon in Frontier is the corrupted version of the originally benevolent spirit of water. Abomination slime is kind of like water I guess. I also like that Amity's hair goes from green like Ranamon to purple like Ranamon's rival Fairymon/Kazemon.

Willow will be partnered with Togemon, a cactus with boxing gloves. The plant connection is obvious but I went with Togemon specifically to match how Willow is physically tough and and athlete. While I said that I won't be discussing evolutions, but I do want to mention that Togemon's usual evolution Lilymon is very cute plant fairy. I think the combination of the rough and tough Togemon and cute, feminine Lilymon really fits Willow.

I'm going to give Hunter Leomon. Leomon is pretty much the archetypical noble and heroic Digimon, but just like Hunter started out as a villain, it can go bad. I'm specifically referencing its dark alternate MadLeomon and the Leomon in Digimon Adventure (original) that was mind controlled into evil twice. On a darker note, the series has a running gag of a Leomon or variant showing up in different series only to die and Hunter is the latest in a long line of clones that Belos keeps killing.

King is getting partnered with Impmon. I'm specifically going with the characterization of the Impmon in Digimon Tamers. Both start out their series as very weak and childish critters with delusions of grandeur but do eventually gain great power. Hopefully King's growth into an adult titan will go a lot more peacefully than Impmon's evolution did. You could also draw a comparison between King being an orphan looking for his father and Impmon abandoning his human partners due to their mistreatment of him.

I'm not super satisfied with what I came up with for Eda, but I'm giving her Babamon. I wanted to try to draw some parallel to Eda and the owl beast but there really aren't many Digimon who switch back and fourth between a sapient and non-sapient forms. The closest I could think of was Belephemon Sleep Mode and Rage mode or ChaosDukemon/ChaosGallantmon and Megidramon and those are both way too evil for Eda. So Babamon it is. Babamon is based on a grandmother and Eda has been prematurely aged by her curse. Babamon is also a sorceress and is even sometimes used as a mega/ultimate level evolution for Witchmon, drawing a connection with Luz. Babamon being a grandmotherly figure but also (in the Digimon Tamers English dub) pretty sassy fits Eda's personality and her growing to become Luz's second mother.

Two quick ones I don't have too much to say about are Lilith and Raine. I'm giving Lilith Wisemon. She is the most scholarly and book smart of the core cast and is a historian and Wisemon is a scholar who preserves a record of the Digital World's history. Wisemon is also a time traveller and Lilith was very prominent in the time travel episode. If you want Lilith to have a mega/ultimate level to match Eda she can have AncientWisemon instead, it's essentially a more powerful Wisemon. I was tempted to give her Lilithmon, but aside from the name they have no connection and Lillithmon is too evil even for season 1 Lilith. Raine is getting Sirenmon and I fully admit its because Sirenmon is the only musical Digimon I could think of. Except the Geckomons, but they're too gross for Raine.

The Collector is going to have a Monzaemon. I think someone who loves play as much as the Collector would love to have a giant teddy bear partner that loves children and just wants people to be happy. However, just like the Collector's childlike innocence drives them to horrible acts in pursuit of fun, Monzaemon is hinted to have a dark side and that there is something very dark and scary hiding inside the big plushie.

Finally we come to Belos and I have given him Titamon as a partner. Titamon isn't exactly known for being the long-term schemer that Belos is, I think there are a lot of parallels that still make it work. Belos is driven by his hatred of anything magic and Titamon is born from the hatred of evil Digimon who were defeated by the heroic group known as the Olympos XII. Titamon also wears the skulls of his defeated enemies and draws power from them like how Belos sustains himself by eating palismens. Furthermore, Titamon can use the skulls to summon an army and Belos has his own personal army in the form of the Emperor's Coven. And of course, Titamon's name comes from titan and the titan is central to Belos's plan. Furthermore, Titamon is now used as the main mega level evolution of Ogremon. Ogremon is the natural enemy of Leomon, further emphasizing the enmity between Belos and Hunter. If Caleb also had a Leomon partner then the conflict between their partners could definitely parallel how Celeb and Phillip/Belos became enemies. Hell, Hunter's Leomon could even be the same Leomon that Caleb partnered with, reconnecting with his old partner's clone to avenge Caleb and stop Belos and Titamon's evil. I love this parallel and can see a fanfic in this.

[chevelleneech]

Thoughts for 7x08-8x01

(This is basically just a rambling of thoughts. Read if you want, message me if you want to expand or discuss any part of it, but leave me alone if you’re just going to bitch.)

I have no idea what to expect tomorrow!

Tbh, I hope there’s serious scenes between Amir and Bobby, and I hope Amir isn’t like the kid from s2. I’d actually really enjoy it being a hostage situation, but with Bobby eventually talking him down while at the same time unfortunately walking himself back into a darker mindset.

Because I can’t imagine meeting someone whom you physically altered in a horrible accident, wherein you also killed people, wouldn’t trigger something. And knowing how su*c*dal Bobby was in the first two seasons, Amir being one of Bobby’s victims would be seriously hard on his growth. So it would be interesting to me to see Bobby forgive Amir for whatever he may do, because he is back to feeling like he got more time and happiness than he deserved anyway.

I don’t want Bobby to die, mind you, but ending the season with him seriously injured would be the first one I think we’ve had where we have to wait a seasonal hiatus to find out if the character survives. Tim said he doesn’t want to kill anyone off, but that doesn’t mean the actors can’t choose to leave. If not an injury though, I think ending the season with both Bobby and Amir trapped in a fire would also work.

(This just made me think of how I would have restructured a lot of this season. Maybe I’ll make a post about not?)

Anyway, yeah I’m really intrigued to see how Bobby’s storyline will wrap up the season, because I was feeling like he and Athena got away a little too easy from the cruise ship arc. A lot of this season has felt one and done, with no lasting emotional turmoil. Eddie is gearing up to take some damage, but Bobby already said he essentially overstayed his welcome when he was willing to hold Athena up so she wouldn’t drown. Having that feeling circle back around after being confronted with someone he almost killed? Yes, good.

Circling back to Eddie, I would like to see him fall apart, but I also think I’m in the minority here who isn’t sure it needs to be horrible. I think for as uncertain of himself as Eddie clearly is, he is also self-aware because he has to be for Chris. So what would be most interesting to me, is seeing him lose Chris. Not custody wise, but trust wise.

I think Chris is at an age (12-14) where kids start to see their parents as people, and him finding out Eddie is cheating on his already relatively new girlfriend whom Chris likes, with a woman who either looks like his dead mother or who his dad is convinced looks like her, would be such a great way to integrate Chris into the back portion of the season while also allowing him to grow up as well.

Gavin is the only kid on the show who doesn’t get mature storylines, and while I understand his contract might be different or his health may prevent him from being on set as often, I do think they can give him bigger pieces to play with now. So for me, seeing Chris tell Eddie he doesn’t like who he has become, would be fantastic. It would also tie perfectly into Eddie feeling isolated from his friends and family. Not to mention, if Chris is the one who calls his grandparents to ask for help for Eddie, Eddie is 100% going to think they came to take him away, and lash out more.

So I don’t want Eddie to completely break the way he did before, but having to realize his mistakes and excuses don’t affect just him, would be a good story. And it still leaves room for him potentially discovering feelings or a lack thereof for women in a way he never allowed himself to confront.

With Buck… my mind is blank. I’ve said before I think they wrapped up his coming out arc way too fast, so now he is one of the only lead characters not doing anything. I want more for Athena, but I feel like she could end up part of Bobby’s storyline. Hen and Karen are settling in with Mara, and I honestly think that’s the most consistent plots this season. I am tired of that being like their entire journey, however. They’ve been wanting a second child for like six seasons. Tim needs to let them keep Mara and move on to something that brings Karen further into the fold as a series main.

Back to Buck! Idk. I think we should have seen him single this season or at least be friends with Tommy as they built up to their relationship. Even if it’s meant to be fleeting, some form of a foundation would’ve been nice. I already said I think the jealousy arc was pointless and didn’t do the job it was meant to, if we’re speaking specifically on BuckTommy. As the ship itself is sailing solely on the fact that two men kissed. Because again, Buck has done nothing this season except realize he’s bisexual and tell people, which took two episodes out of ten. Now he’s just around, and kisses Tommy when they need a reason for Tommy to be on screen.

Thus far, nothing about this character development took its time. Nothing about his budding relationship unfolded as we got to know Tommy or what Buck is actually feeling about being queer and being out. Maybe that’ll come within the next two episodes, but I doubt it. And if BuckTommy are still together at season end, s8 will start with them having more development than what they ended with. Unless the season itself picks up at the same spot due to a cliffhanger.

So I guess what I want for Buck is for him to talk to Tommy. For them to end up in an emergency together or for Tommy to be there to pick up the pieces if something happens to Bobby or Eddie, and Buck breaks down about it. I want a reason for why Tommy was kept around, basically. Because he and Buck being acquaintances who kissed did not require this much screen time for Tommy.

Idk. I feel like Tim and company were so afraid of doing the coming out wrong, they ended up doing it poorly. An immediate potential boyfriend for a character they’re tired of writing revolving relationships for, doesn’t make sense. As shown by the lack of development since episode 4.

We didn’t see them realize they were attracted to each other in 7x04. They didn’t even try to become friends in 7x05 as they worked out a date. Tommy didn’t stick around for 7x06 (because that episode was about Madney), and Tommy wasn’t in 7x07 at all. Not even mentioned, I don’t think. So there is factually nothing happening between Buck and Tommy, which I would like to see fixed this season. Unless the plan is for them to not become official, and he’s only here for a short while.

Bringing me to Buddie, which… I have many thoughts, and most of them are pessimistic, lol. Not because I don’t think they’d work in canon, but in the real world I don’t think ABC and Tim are willing to commit for real. Buddie is great for PR sake, but one queer white boy (even a white Latino one!) is enough for them. Which could also explain why Tommy is around for lip service but has no plot, tbh.

So yeah, I don’t know what to anticipate here. If I go with what I hope to see going on with Eddie, then an intervention sort of scenario would probably work best. Maybe Buck is there as a buffer between Eddie and his family or Eddie and whoever potentially confronts him, but when Eddie calls on him to defend him, he can’t because he’s also concerned. Then maybe they go off separately and argue about that which leads to unsaid feelings coming out in the wash? I truly don’t know, but that’s as far as I can see it going if they choose to address it.

If there is no feelings revelations by 7x10 though, then I don’t see it ever happening. I think Tim and the writers are backed into a corner here, and have said over and over the only way I think it can be fixed is by addressing it or calling it quits off screen. And me personally, I’ll take not bringing it up at all in canon this season as them calling it quits, because where else is there for Buddie to go?

Both characters have reached what I would consider pivotal points in their journeys. It’s s7 and whether or not ABC knows they want to take it to 10, s8 has to be something new. I don’t want to go into it wondering: Have Henren finally rounded out their family? Will Eddie find The One? Will Buck find The One? What does this or that Buddie scene mean? Is Athena truly a good or bad cop?

I want to see Athena either forced to retire, put on the stand, or choosing to move up in rank. I want Karen to get a job offer she can’t refuse and the Wilson’s spend at least half the season contemplating moving out of LA. I want Eddie to be single. I want Buck to either be single or develop his current situationship into something lasting. And IF Buck and/or Eddie do have an “Oh” moment in the s7 finale, I want s8 to put in the work to prove it’s been them this whole time but neither realized it.

No more back and forth. No more repetitive storylines. Break the 118 up. Say goodbye to a beloved characters in someway other than death. Move somebody up a rank. Demote or fire somebody. Introduce a new class of probies. Something! Just, be as great as the show has been in the past.

Okay, post over.

[myimaginarywonderland]

Thoughts on the latest episode of station 19:

Travis character has literally gone downhill since season 5 and they just continue to not develop him fully which is why I hate this episode because Travis was outraged by the fact that Emmett cheated. Travis would never do it himself. Not to mention the fact that Travis has literally been shown to still care for Emmett so I don't understand why they are trying to make it seem like Travis is hurting him again.

The lack of Jack just shows how they basically wrote him off now, so I don't really have hopes. I would have loved to see him at pride or maybe even just walk in the station and I don't know, show him along with Beckett, maybe have them both there? Jack has been a crucial character for making other people realise their worth so I was actually secretly hoping we would see him with either Travis or Beckett.

Why do we need focus on everyone else but the 3 main canonical queer characters? Going off on that why do we see more of Eli and Travis dad, two characters who came on very late as gay, then let's say Emmett a character that was there since season 3 and has literally been brought up again eventhough they could have just left him? What is the point in killing his father and having him sleep with Travis multiple times if we don't even see him?

Why bring in someone like Beckett who obviously would be a perfect character to show having a genuine journey but only half ass it? Besides can we literally have Beckett progress in any other episode? Hell, we could have even talked about how Conservative he is and then have that journey showed throughout this entire season to fully show a character growth?

What is the point of having Theo be a dick, break up, cheat and then still talk about him and Vic like they will end up together?

On that note, I love Vic standing up to Travis but do we really have to make her the listener of Travis whining cheating story when she herself basically just had that happen to her? Can we maybe acknowledge her first and have anyone else be the burden buddy for a second?

The whole riot storyline would have already been enough. I wish we had a full episode that focused on that. On showing the growing danger and unease that queer people all over the world are feeling right now because the acceptance for us isn't rising and the Conservative parties are getting louder and more powerful globally.

Eli is absolutely right in going off on Travis but he shouldn't be!!! We have literally seen this before with Grant and Emmett. They have never tried to progress Travis journey so can we stop trying now and maybe could we have just shown his growth especially since his breakup with Emmett? The one guy I believe Travis genuinely could/did love after the one person he thought he would spend forever with died? We had Emmett call him out and that should have been a wake up call but alas, they refuse to actually progress Travis and now Eli, who already felt like such a weirdly placed character most people didn't have a real connection with, is once again taking up the role of someone having to call Travis out when it has happened multiple times by different people.

This just felt like such a lack luster episodes that was trying to recycle old things while still trying to pick up the new storylines and it just didn't fit all that well?

[linkspooky]

TITANS #1: OUT OF THE SHADOWS, THOUGHTS. 

I’m evolving from a manga blogger to my final form a comic book blogger. If you know anything about me, you know Teen Titans is my favorite thing ever, so after neglecting the Teen Titans and pushing them to the side for years DC’s push to finally put the Teen Titans in the spotlight has me really excited. So I’ll be trying to write up my monthly thoughts for each new issue as long as the comic is running!

Happy comic book Tuesday everyone! My thoughts on the first issue below!

First and foremost, after two successive reboots the newest run of Titans has returned to the original New Teen Titans lineup, Nightwing, Donna, Starfire,  Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy, with Wally as a member at least on rotation. 

How much of the old continuity is back has yet to be seen, but considering Roy and Lian are back in the Green Arrow comics, they mention that Garth, Donna and Dick are founding members of the original Titans Team I am going to assume they’re bringing back old continuity. 

From what I can tell, Infinite Frontier did a sort of soft reset of both of the New 52, and Rebirth Teen Titans series, and our current team is continuing on from what was probably a few years after the events in (2003). 

I base this off the fact that the newest Young Justice comics also mention the fact that Tim, Connor, Bart and Cassie all were on the Teen Titans at one point before they went back and reformed Young Justice, so graduation day still happened. 

The fact that Beast Boy and Raven are dating too is something that indicates we’re continuing from the events of (2003), because them officially getting back together is the last thing they did on panel before the reboot hit. 

The New Cyborg comic that came out today as well also mentions that the first team he was ever on was the Teen Titans, with a flashback that looked like the 80s lineup.

Anyway, I went out of my way to establish what continuity I think we are working with, because since we’re back at the New Teen Titans lineup, there’s a lot of interesting parallels in this first issue. 

1. Garfield Logan / Beast Boy

A pretty commonly overlooked fact about Beast Boy is that he suffers from  C-PTSD, and depression. He’s basically been orphaned twice. This was especially prevalent in the start of New Teen Titans, because when the Doom Patrol had just recently died when Garfield joined the team. 

Garfield’s mental illness is more disguised because unlike other comic book characters that tend to lash out a lot more (like say, no one is ever going to argue about the fact that Jason Todd has c-ptsd it’s pretty hard to miss there), Garfield instead spends most of his time playing off his trauma like it’s nothing to him. 

That’s not to say Garfield doesn’t lash out, he has multiple times. He’s tried to kill Slade Wilson, he nearly killed Madame Rogue (and then she died anyway). However, Garfield tends to spend a lot of time trying to hide his symptoms, so he can come off as a friendly, safe, reliable person to be around. 

Which is what makes Garfield so unique of a character to me, his unaddressed trauma manifests in subtle ways. Beast Boy’s immature, and kind of an eternal child because he doesn’t want to grow past his trauma since that would require facing it. He’s also like, compared to Dick Grayson who is a well-oiled machine who is THE LEADER, the HERO, a lot more incompetent and whiny. Which is because they have similiar traumas that manifest in different ways, Dick’s trauma makes him overwork himself to death trying to be good at his job as a hero because that’s the one thing he does well, and Beast Boy’s trauma makes him self sabotage. 

Beast Boy’s writing is unique because his trauma stunts his growth in a way that’s really down to earth and realistic. A lot of people complain about how fifteen year old Beast Boy is constantly making women uncomfortable by hitting on them, or how his relationship with Terra is about HIS FEELINGS and not hers and therefore selfish, and yeah, both of those things are true but it’s because Beast Boy is a child who doesn’t know how to behave that’s looking for validation and in this case he’s looking for it from women in his life. 

New Teen Titans isn’t the most progressive comic in the world, but the writers were aware of the fact Beast Boy’s behavior was not alright, he gets called a chauvinist multiple times. So Garfield is capable of being immature, selfish, and he can even have some toxic attitudes and deeply repressed anger and these things are all deeply hidden under the surface, because he’s also Beast Boy and he’s Baby. 

The new Titans run has said that Beast Boy’s trauma from being shot by Slade Wilson in Dark Crisis is going to be one of the themes explored starting out in Titans, and as I’ve established above Beast Boy’s always been a sufferer of CPTSD. 

The fact that it was Slade specifically who shot him too is interesting, because Beast Boy had a pretty long running relationship with Slade in new Teen Titans (more of a relationship than he ever did with Dick, TBH). Starting with the fact that Slade nearly murdered him, Beast Boy’s relationship with Terra, all led to a point where Beast Boy tried to murder Slade out of vengeance.

Which is where I once again bring up the point that, Beast Boy’s just repressed all of his trauma he has not processed literally any of it. However, when Beast Boy tries to kill him, of all things what happens is they end up sitting down at a diner and talking things out. I have mixed opinions on this scene I definitely do not like the victim blaming of Terra that goes on, but there is something about Slade having just enough humanity to talk Beast Boy down off of a ledge. The gist of the conversation is more or less “Don’t become like me Beast Boy, I’m not a good person.” I credit Slade “I hate children, I’m glad I was never one of them” Wilson with having at least that much self-awareness. 

It’s actually a pretty nuanced take to point out that Beast Boy only wanted to murder Slade, because he wanted to vent all of the hatred and anger he was holding inside of himself because he didn’t have any way to express it, and killing Slade for those reasons would not have made him feel better. 

After that conversation, Slade and Beast Boy have a weird relationship where Beast Boy starts seeing him as more human, to the point where when Slade becomes Deathstroke again post Titans Hunt he’s really disappointed in him because he wanted to see the good in him. Which makes sense because Beast Boy has like no healthy role models for masculinity in his life, of course he’d cling to one guy who was kind of nice to him once when he was at a low point. 

So Beast Boy being shot by Slade of all people, and then rocking an eyepatch covering the same eye that Slade has missing is a neat visual parallel to Slade considering all their history. Which is interesting because Slade is an interesting foil to Beast Boy. Beast Boy has some hidden toxicity inside of him as a result of his trauma he has trouble processing, and which often causes him to act out, and Slade Wilson is toxic masculinity personified. 

Slade is also a sufferer from PTSD, he’s a vietnam vet, and evil captain america, he’s said multiple times in his series that coming back from war he basically felt nothing which is what made him adopt the Deathstroke persona. Slade’s like the worst, most toxic possible future for Beast Boy, the bad ending fromt he darkest timeline. It’s why he was the one who talked Beast Boy down from that ledge originally because Slade knew, that violence never fixed anything about him. 

In action comics 1051 they dive inside Beast Boy’s mind because post-dark crisis he’s been losing control of his transformation, and his inner world is represented by several angry animals lashing out to defend their territory, and then a little baby boy. Because Beast Boy is Baby, but like once again Beast Boy will act incredibly aggressive and violent to defend the child within himself. 

Because Beast Boy’s reaction to his trauma has always been about hiding it. Which is more or less why the child within hasn’t grown up. So considering all of his past trauma, if they’re still in continuity then you could even look at being shot by Slade as him being re-traumatized. Especially since he’s almost been killed by Slade in the past before, and it was a pretty major trauma for him at the time too. 

It seems like in this issue, Beast Boy’s way of dealing it so far has been his usual one too, which is just to you know, avoidance and passing himself off as fine. He transforms into a mouse in his sleep because Beast Boy wants to pass himself as harmless and someone its okay to be around. 

The sentiment in this first panel though, sort of reminds me of what Beast Boy said to Raven in the last issue of the 2003 Teen Titans run, about taking the good with the bad. 

Which you know if we’re really just continuing Beast Boy and Raven’s relationship from where they were in 2003, growth for Beast Boy because he’s not just seeking validation in a relationship as a way to fix himself, he’s just looking for comfort and support from his partner. 

Okay, that was the longest section of the post, but I like Beast Boy so I’m biased. Moving on!

2. Raven / Rachel Roth 

Raven’s New Teen Titans characterization, and her post revival in 2003 characterization are wildly different. This might just be me wanting her old characterization back, but I caught a couple of signs of old Raven in this first issue? The first is the way she talks, she’s not being snippy or sarcastic she’s talking in a kind of reserved, stiff and formal way. 

The second thing is she’s not throwing things around with telekinesis or participating in the fight, while everyone else was fighting we saw her doing crowd control and teleporting which is what New Teen Titans Raven did. She had two moves which was teleporting in and out of places, and calming people down. 

3. Dick Grayson / Nightwing

There’s not much character work for Dick per-se in this first issue, but the push DC is doing to have the Titans finally step up and act in the place of the new Justice League has a lot of implication for Dick’s character. 

Number one, the move to Bludhaven means that for the first time in decades being the leader of the Titans is a big priority for Dick’s character again. Basically post Dick quitting the team, and the Chuck Dixon era, Dick operated solo in Bludhaven for a long time, and even when the team reformed with Dick as a leader he was still operating solo out of the Bludhaven which I always thought didn’t make a lot of sense to split his focus like that. 

Moving the Titans Tower to Bludhaven pretty much solves that problem, it allows Dick to still have solo Nightwing things in Bludhaven, but also make being team leader a priority of his character as it ought to be. Not only does most of Dick’s character development come from separating himself from Batman and being with the Teen Titans, it’s also just Dick’s greatest strength as a character is his leadership skills so when he’s separated from the TItans he loses that aspect of his character. 

Number two, the Titans replacing the Justice League as the mai defender of worldwide threats. Which is again, another good move for Dick’s character. Dick was never going to join the justice league, he can’t be Batman because honestly he’s already better than him. If DC actually sticks to their guns here and lets the Titans actually step up it’s a pretty interesting premise. 

The Titans have handled worldwide threats before, so it’s not really a problem of whether or not they’re strong enough. The Titans in their prime weren’t really a one-city team, they flew all over the place and got into all sorts of adventures. The lack of members isn’t really a problem either, unless you’re watching Justice League unlimited, it’s usually just one core team of members with the Titans, and the Titans have a bunch of auxiliary members they can call on. However, there is one pretty big difference between the League and the Titans which would make them function differently. 

The League are Earth’s Greatest Heroes, they’re like the All-Star Team that gets handpicked from the best of the major leaguers. They don’t really have the kind of complex in-group relationships that the Titans do. The Titans on the other hand are just kind of a bunch of traumatized kids who were thrown together at one point. As a whole too, the Titans are more likely to work without the system than within it. 

So, there is an interesting conflict you could set up for Dick which is to have the Titans take on the level responsibility that the Justice League had, but with a team that functions in almost an entirely different way than the Justice League did, because they’re living together and they all grew up together. The Titans solving the Justice League level problems, but learning to do it in the Titans way. 

4. Aqualad / Garth

So, Garth’s totally been brainwashed by Brother Blood, right? 

On a more serious note, the scene with Garth is interesting because both Garth and Roy have been despite being founding members, more like sixth stringers of the Teen Titans as a whole throughout most of the Titans runs. Basically the only run where they are regular members of the team is the Titans run in the 90s. 

One of the events that caused the breakup of the original Teen Titans from the silver age is the fact that Garth was so insecure about his place on the team that he literally faked an illness so he wouldn’t have to go out on missions. 

If he’s not being brainwashed though, Tom Taylor has explored ideas of the atlanteans being a little more extreme about environmentalism before in the Injustice 2 comic. It’s a potentially interesting plot-thread considering DC recently has been taking a more sympathetic view of environmental extremists like Poison Ivy making them lean more into being anti-villains / anti-heroes. 

It could be an interesting turn for Garth, because he is a distant member of the team, and he’s also got other priorities besides being a hero on the surface. I for one, think it would be great if Garth turned into Namor, but that’s just my huge crush on Namor speaking. 

That’s pretty much all of my thoughts for now. If you enjoyed me rambling about Beast Boy, and some other nerds whatever their names were, please feel free to send me asks!

[cinamun]

Hey Cin, So... I kept debating as an introvert whether or not to come onto the Big T. But I am a long time enthusiast of your work (since your S2 contest and S2 story days.) and wanted to join Triple R. (The Raven Simone pic is a good look for the club Avatar LOL.) I, as many of the rest of us were not expecting you to do a Stephen King and "Kill your little Darlings" well... not specifically El who I felt was a more complex character (literally) at least so far than Jayce (IMHO) because he like several of your characters had potential for redemption even when he took that dark turn. Yes, I know not every character has to be dark and twisty with continued problems. But case in point: I noted how quick the anger blazed up toward Elliot but Darren is lauded for his turn around and growth even after he *also* put hands to Indya in the early days of their relationship... now granted he didn't put her lights out like Hope, but came close. Elliot was that ride or die friend (like Darren.) that Hope didn't even have with her girls (that I could tell.) and even helped to find her when she ran away. But with the good doctors help, breakthroughs regarding Sean, an absent mother and love could have possibly changed El like Darren to a grizzled happy middle aged healed OG with a family. But, it's unfortunately not to be. I do also wonder with the way these events went down if Darren and Indya remember this side of himself? Even though that was past Darren and not Daddy of 3 and Uncle of 1 Darren? Ok, I am going to fade into the bushes like Homer Simpson now.

NO! Bestie! Come BACK! You can't just drop a think piece like this and fade away boo. Nope, we don't do that here. But you know what we DO do?

We get into it...

First of all, those sims 2 model contests where the best thing to ever happen to me in the early 2gs okay? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? That's when I learned how to use hair brushes in photoshop AND "frankensim". But I digress....

Elliot's death was not something I took lightly. I was VERY attached to him. I made him from scratch in CAS as a child *specifically* for Hope. That was her bestie, first crush, first love, first kiss. He was *MADE* for her and I really do mean that literally. It took at least 2 weeks to even come to terms with the idea and up until the last screenshot of that fateful day on the pier was taken, I was still not convinced I would do it. It was a test as a writer: to do something so drastic to an OC that it torments you. It hurt.

The reason everyone jumped on Elliot was because of *how* he chose to do it (I was angry with my DAMN self, but it couldn't happen another way in my head). LIke you said, he "put her lights out". He squeezed her neck so hard, with the most powerful part of his arm, and caused so much internal damage, it kept her in the hospital for two weeks (there is symbolism to this that I won't disclose just yet).

He absolutely had the potential to grow and be redeemed just like Darren did and Darren had far more demons than simply a lost love (he had that too, though, with Sherrita). Darren lost whole family members. Elliot was without a mother. Darren was without a mother. This is where, I believe, the parallels end.

I truly believe that Darren and Indya remember the days when abuse was a regular occurence. Indya had the same bruises from being lifted up by the neck by Darren that Hope now has after being.... (wait for it...)

...lifted up by the neck by Elliot:

Lest we forget....

Key difference here: Darren was abusive. Elliot was not physically abusive (that we know of) until the argument with Hani that led him down a spiral that would ultimately take his life.

I'll end with this (because the Ratchet Readers™ may have some nuances I'm not seeing) While Darren and Indya might remember those days, they choose to live in the present where blessings are abundant, the soil is fertile and the growth is perrenial. I believe that *everyone* has that capacity which is why I always say that this story is ultimately about growth. The plot is growth. The arcs are growth. All of it. So I absolutely believe Elliot could have grown to the OG status that Darren now is. The reality is that, some just don't get there, even with the capacity to grow inherently a part of them.

[fantasyinvader]

I keep thinking about how people want the Agarthans to be victims. Not so much that people are saying they did nothing wrong, but a lesser evil compared to Rhea and the Nabateans. I'd ask myself why people would want such a thing, as even in the route where you side with them they're made out to be evil that will be exterminated, but I wouldn't have to think about why that as. The answer is simple, they validate Edelgard's killing of Rhea.

And, really, it fits with stuff I've seen since the game came out. The people claiming that despite Silver Snow and Verdant Wind being routes where big reveals to the lore are given to the player they, alongside Azure Moon, lie to the player and that Edelgard is the only one to tell them “the truth.” Or that said lore pops out of canon once the player decides to side with Edelgard. They want to ignore that the same route not only paints Edelgard as a liar often enough that a chapter titled “Lady of Deceit” begins and ends with her lying to her army, but also reveals that Edelgard herself knows that her source was an Agarthan puppet yet she is still clinging to that narrative. They'll claim it's all a matter of what the player believes to be true and tell people to disregard the game's creators saying that they built Fodlan to support the story of Silver Snow, and that while Flower is about believing something else, how that leads to not only mowing down everyone who stands in your way because of those beliefs but also ends up with tyranny and oppression under the path of supremacy.

Or we'll get people who ignore that Claude's route talks about how we need to let go of misconceptions we may have about others by getting to know them, and how Claude's misconceptions about the Church may have been caused by the Agarthans feeding him info to turn him against Rhea. No, instead Claude is a manipulative schemer who should have killed Rhea as his final boss after learning about her past and how his ancestors profited off the slaughter of her people, and that Golden Wildfire is who Claude really is and his good route.

Because people want to believe that Houses is this morally grey game, where everyone is a hero from their POV. But let's look at that. As mentioned, Claude's POV blaming the Church is ultimately framed as him having misconceptions, and once he got to know them he realized that Rhea didn't have to be his enemy in achieving his goals. Not only that, he realizes the Agarthans tried to manipulate him like he says they did to Edelgard, and ends up taking them out before finishing off Nemesis. Dimitri's POV is based on his survivor guilt and belief that he needs to live for the sake of avenging those who died. He grows out of this thanks to Byleth teaching him he needs to live for the sake of the living and for himself, all while taking the Agarthans out by complete accident while Edelgard's ideals are presented as demonic while Dimitri's beliefs make him a savior. Meanwhile, Edelgard's POV is based on what her father told her despite her knowing he was an Agarthan puppet. She can't be swayed her path as she tries to lie and manipulate those around her, and the world supports the route where Byleth leads the Black Eagles away from her influence (making it so that the Black Eagles are the only class who can get their story-related character development joining any other class). It's either that, or you ignore the world building to walk a path that is based around hadou, which has negative connotations especially when contrasted with oudou, which is what Dimitri's route is supposed to lead to.

You can ignore this growth if you play Hopes, but Hopes is supposed to show how much of an influence Byleth has on their class and is not supposed to replace that experience. Shez can't give Dimitri or Claude the character growth they would have gotten to see the problems with their POV, nor can they stop the Eagles from supporting Edelgard. Shez just seems to go with whatever the lord says, adapting to the route being played, and as such enables each lord's behavior. Not to mention that Shez is hinted to be from Agartha himself, and even then the Agarthan POV doesn't paint them in a positive light.

So, really, what are people saying when they want the Agarthans to be the sympathetic villains rather than the game wanting us to feel sorry for the Nabateans? That they feel the game not doing so is a flaw despite the Agarthans being so racist that they view everyone else as non-human animals and therefore it's okay to experiment on them? That we should support their genocide of the Nabateans because Edelgard said things used to be better despite the reveal that they're the ones who gave mankind Crests while making themselves out to be gods? We should still think that the Church are the bad guys when the Agarthans are the ones behind the experiments, Duscur, the death of Claude's uncle, and so much more? Or that Nemesis was a good king who was demonized by history rather than the power-hungry asshole he's depicted as, the only real misconceptiont here was that he ever was a hero in the first place rather than the tyrannical bandit he actually was.

In the end, it's just people not wanting to let go of their own misconceptions about Fodlan. They don't want to see Fodlan for how it really is. If anything, Houses can serve as a deconstruction of the idea of Death of the Author. It's a game with some very direct messages, but the routes where the player diverges away from those messages (Flower and the entirety of Three Hopes) it leads to bad endings because, at the end of the day, Fodlan was built around those messages. It was built about the need to see people for who they really are rather than who we think they are, as Edelgard being revealed not to be the heroine but rather the villain is the twist of the game who needs to be removed from power. Also that people supporting each other is a far better outcome than everyone being left to fend for themselves, especially when the people at the top use their power to benefit others. But it's up to people to do that themselves, to figure things out for themselves rather than fall into the trap.

Otherwise, we're left with people defending the likes of the Agarthans.