#i feel like in the past years more people started finding unhealthy dynamics more appealing

[bkgbstard]

i don't know if it's true but i read somewhere that said that vivinos didn't want it to be an ivantill kiss because it would overshadow mizisua (which happened) and this person said it's because they're men (which is mostly true) but i also think that mizisua love is tragic but more tender? and ivantill is more of a despairing kind of love. i love mizisua and i find them really interesting and maybe it's just me but the whole ivantill dynamic feels so tragic in a different way. mizisua is tragic sure but their love feels more pure and when i think about ivantill it's just makes me feel kind of heartbroken, like no matter what could have changed they were bound to end up like that. like truly doomed by the narrative. i fr think if mizisua and ivantill changed stories the interest people have on ivantill would not be this massive. or maybe not, since they're still. men (and that still plays a part) but i sure as hell would be more invested in mizisua (but i also feel like applies to me because im kind of a pessimistic type of person)

[mangodestroyer]

To add to my other post too (I'm having my cycle rn and it always leaves me feeling exhausted/ravenous, so idk if I'm fully coherent rn)... I just mention being pursued in a real, genuine way because it just makes me more comfortable with the idea of pursuing in return. Idk how to explain it. I always fall back to using AziCrow as the prime example of what I want. But I also think in reality that a lot of us have just not had a good time of it when it comes to romance and dating. Lots of unhealthy dynamics and ideas seem to be normalized.

I've also become super interested in what potential friends and partners want out of life. I feel like it says a lot about a person. There are some wants that just aren't that appealing to me. Ig it depends on HOW the person wants that thing. I encounter lots of people who seem to just want to fill that bf/gf hole. Seriously... it's like some people are just looking to wife someone up and have kids with them. Ig that's one reason I'm put off by, "I'm insecure because I don't make a fuck ton of money." comments. Experience tells me that people looking to REALLY build themselves up and impress with "resources" are just looking for a wife to have kids with. And I don't want kids! Another pet peeve is when people make assumptions about what kind of partner I might be. It's either "wife" or "mommy." I've had both men and women put me in weird heteronormative roles of the "submissive" one and the "dominant" one. Or they'll try to make me whatever they want! But not think about what I ACTUALLY want.

I've just been reading up on other people's experiences in the past year or so. I've come to find that this is very common. Specifically for AFAB individuals/other minorities. I used to think I was demi/somewhere grey on the asexual spectrum. Now I'm starting to wonder if that's the case. Because it's starting to feel to me that a lot of people who have shown interest in me... just aren't attractive (by that I mean that their game sucks and their personalities seem lousy). Meanwhile, lots of people who don't exactly pursue me but act like normal ass people... ARE attractive to me! I actually find myself coming back to them more and more. I used to feel too insecure to even bother being around people I actually found cool. Turns out... they at least don't seem to mind having me around... talking to them. The idea of one day dating some of these "cool" individuals doesn't give me those same... off-putting feelings. No nervous butterflies, no weird destructive or clingy thoughts, and no questioning "Is this actually right?" Idk... something about some of the other people I've talked about gives me these weird depressive thoughts when I'm around them. But then when I, say, hang around people during extracurriculars... who again are just there because they're doing things they like... I don't get those same feelings. Instead, it's more of a passive, "Well, if we ever become more than acquaintances, I wonder what that would be like?"

It's another relatable thing about Nina and Maggie tbh. I suppose all along, I just didn't know what attraction ACTUALLY was. Or what I might want from a partner. It took so much internal work just to get to THIS point! And I'm starting to get the feeling that a lot of people could probably relate to me.

the scene with Nina and Maggie sitting Crowley down and telling him he needs to communicate better with Aziraphale is so funny to me for absolutely no reason.

Like imagine being as old as time itself and two mortals sit you down and tell you to get your shit together with your relationship. I don’t think I’d ever be able to live that down

[shihalyfie]

Some things to know about the upcoming 02-related movie

As someone who seems to be known for being a 02 metablogger now (and 02 lover in general), and who’s been closely following Kizuna’s development and is generally fond of the movie itself, I figured I’d probably need to address the elephant in the room that is the announcement of the upcoming (unnamed, as of this writing) 02-related movie. This is also especially because I’ve personally been on the record saying that I absolutely did not want a Kizuna sequel. And, well, on top of that, to be a bit blunt about it, a lot of us, especially 02 fans, have a lot of reason to be skeptical of Toei right now given some of the things they’ve done with this series in the past, and 02-related things in particular (trust me, the wound is still extremely fresh), so it says a lot about what it took for me to get even remotely positive about this prospect.

Well, here’s the good news: while I of course still think there’s good reason to be apprehensive, and while I wouldn’t say everyone should be getting their expectations up for it to be guaranteed fantastic (which is something I would say about anything, regardless of whether it even has to do with Digimon or not), I don’t think there’s too much to be panicked about with this movie. Again, it took a lot for the staff to gain my trust in this respect, so it’s not something I say lightly. But if you’re a 02 fan and you’re extremely apprehensive, here are my reasons for feeling this way, and, hopefully, they might make you feel a little better too.

The reason this movie exists to begin with

One of the most striking things about this movie’s reveal was that they’ve literally only just started production on this movie. This was to the point that, at DigiFes, where this was revealed, even the voice actors stated outright that they knew absolutely nothing more than what the audience knew from the trailer. Katayama (Daisuke) only knew anything in the sense that they had him record those few lines for it. So even though it’s been a whole year and a half since Kizuna released to the public, it had only just been decided to make a new movie like this. All of the statements between Kizuna and now stating that there was nothing particularly in the works at the time were completely accurate. Of course, there are obvious hints that they were setting up for this possibility (many, many people noticed the suspiciously favorable position the 02 group was in during Kizuna, and the press releases were carefully worded so that having a movie about “Daisuke and his friends” would allow any statement about Kizuna being “the last adventure of Taichi and his friends” to still be technically truthful), but for all intents and purposes it seems like there had been no actual commitment to making this 02 movie until now, and that they’d at least wanted to gauge the surrounding climate and fanbase reactions for what people were looking for before they decided to go ahead with this.

The obvious reasons as to why this movie exist involve the fact that Daisuke and co. are pretty much the only “out” you can have to continue the Adventure universe without constantly defaulting to Taichi’s group yet again, because at the very least it’d be something that you can’t deny hasn’t exactly had the best representation in recent years. Of course they’re trying to capitalize on this! I’m not going to pretend they aren’t! But producer Kinoshita left a very interesting comment about a particular goal they have with this movie:

This time, the core behind the movie is everyone from 02! Daisuke’s group has their own different kind of charm from Taichi’s, and we want to express that precisely because we’re in the times we’re in right now.

That comment alone has a lot to unpack. (For a frame of reference, Kizuna released in Japan in February 2020; development had already long finished by the time the pandemic first hit, and it was unfortunately one of the first victims of the initial lockdowns because of how bad the timing was.) Acknowledging directly that there’s something different about Daisuke’s group and their dynamic, which makes them especially suited for what we need in “the current times”...hmm, what could that be?

The implied answer is one that many 02 lovers will know very intimately: the 02 group’s particular specialty is in uplifting others and giving each other emotional support. While Adventure had traces of these themes, 02 was the one that went really hard on the themes of dealing with grief and loss, the existential crisis of what to do with oneself in a world placing heavy pressures on you, and how to move on from hardships with the help of others. The fact that the 02 group specializes in this more than anything else is probably one of the most distinguishing factors between them and their seniors, so there’s a very heavy implication here that they understand what distinguishes 02 from Adventure, and what it uniquely would bring to the table in this kind of movie. So this isn’t just “we’re relying on the 02 kids because they’re part of the same universe”; there’s some degree of substantial understanding of what makes 02 as a series unique, and a desire to use this to its fullest extent.

Still don’t believe me? Well, how about this...

This staff really likes 02 a lot

Seki Hiromi, the original producer of Adventure and 02, was involved as a supervisor on Kizuna’s development. Seki was personally involved in the creation of these kids and 02 itself -- she’s the one who noticed the story of the nine-year-old boy skipping grades into Columbia University, the one that formed the basis of 02 itself and eventually came back for Kizuna -- and even personally vetted Kizuna’s script to make sure everyone was in character, gave her thoughts on what the kids would be like in 2010, and was (repeatedly) commented as seeming to love the kids like her own children. As of this writing, it hasn’t been confirmed whether she’s involved on the new movie, but even if she’s not, this means that the staff on Kizuna that is returning all listened closely to those discussions about what the characters are like, straight from the mouth of one of their own creators. The new character song releases had a brief mention in Lounsbery Arthur’s interview that there were apparently extensive discussions with the staff on what the characters should be like at this time, so while Seki’s involvement with that is unknown, at the very least, a lot of conscientious thought seems to be put in at all times into maintaining these characters’ integrity.

Of course, just having an original creator alone on it doesn’t necessarily do it by itself, so here’s another interesting thing: Taguchi Tomohisa, director of both Kizuna and this movie, is also very fond of 02.

I suspect we’ll be hearing more from him as this new movie goes further into development, but Taguchi himself implied that 02 was actually the one he happened to connect with in particular, and when you really think about it, given the circumstances surrounding Kizuna, it’s not actually surprising that a movie trying to be conscientiously aware of 02′s position in the narrative would have someone with a particular fondness for it on its staff. (Reason being: a lot of Adventure fans don’t care much for 02, but you’ll almost never meet a 02 fan who doesn’t also adore Adventure.) The really fun part about this, however, is that Taguchi has repeatedly stated that 02′s first movie, Hurricane Touchdown, is his favorite Digimon movie -- in a climate where everyone else was talking about Adventure. The expected answer for the majority of Adventure fans in terms of “favorite Digimon movie” is almost always Our War Game! by knockout, but no, for Taguchi, it’s Hurricane Touchdown, and not only has he said this, he won’t shut up about it. He’s been saying this since 2019. Even Seki noticed. A whole article got made about this. He brings it up whenever he has a chance to. To top it all off, when a Kizuna event asked everyone present about their favorite characters, and everyone gave Adventure-related answers, Taguchi’s response was instead Terriermon and Daisuke. And I mean, look at Kizuna itself -- its entire plot revolves around having to move on from unhealthy nostalgia, represented by kidnapping people and turning them younger and an antagonist swallowed by their own negative emotions, which, well, is literally the plot of Hurricane Touchdown. (Yeah, that Wallace cameo is very, very likely to be sheer self-indulgence.) And considering that Taguchi said his favorite human character was Daisuke, not Wallace, it means that he understands what Hurricane Touchdown brought out of Daisuke, what his interactions with Wallace meant for both characters, and how Daisuke’s best strengths lie in his ability to support and uplift others.

And, finally, we have Yamatoya, who was responsible for penning both Kizuna’s script (and, thus, being privy to Seki’s corrections) and the bonus drama CD that came with it, on the script, and he personally said that he enjoyed writing for the 02 group because he felt they were important to lightening up the mood of the heavy story Kizuna was becoming. In fact, every comment from this staff about what the 02 group brings to the table in particular has showed a good understanding of what their appeal is -- that they have to be “fun”, that they were “healing in a heavy story”, and Taguchi himself said that he got the impression that the 02 group had more straightforward paths to their epilogue careers (which is interesting, considering that I’ve also personally pointed out that the 02 group seemed to have careers with significantly lower bars than their seniors’ due to their difference in priorities). All of these things are observations you make when you know this group and the importance of the story they came from.

Extend it even further to the rest of the staff members and you’ll find there are a lot of 02 fans on there, including the animation staff, who made some very neat observations about 02 and its finale. Miyahara Takuya is a particularly amusing case, because he seems to love Imperialdramon so much that in the thanks booklet for the deluxe edition for the Blu-ray, he drew a picture of Daisuke and Ken with Imperialdramon Dragon Mode because he didn’t get to be in the movie. (As in, he actually said, point-blank in the caption, that he loves Imperialdramon and wanted to draw him because he wasn’t in the movie.)

Of course, even if you’re trying your best, things may not always work out, so I’m not saying having love for the characters will necessarily guarantee that the product turns out for the best. However, considering that historically a lot of our fears come from the idea of them milking the name value of the characters without really caring about their integrity or understanding what the series was about (especially since a lot of people in the fanbase itself don’t tend to read 02′s nuances very well), I think, at the very least, we don’t need to worry about the staff for this movie not being conscientious, nor the idea that they’re making this movie without understanding or caring about 02.

Furthermore, one thing I appreciate is that they’re actually leading the advertisement with a premise that is distinct from Kizuna’s. Of course, it covers a similar topic of “partnerships”, and it’s very possible it’ll cover the issue of the solution to Kizuna’s problem (especially since the answer was already hinted to have a heavy relationship with 02), but nevertheless, it’s an actual premise that’s not just “Kizuna’s story, but more of it”. It’s an understanding that something 02-related should be allowed to stand on its own rather than just tacking it onto an Adventure-related thing. Beyond that, while I think it’s generally expected that a side story like this should have an original character, I think it’s actually very good this time in particular that there’s a new element/character for the 02 group to interact with; again, as with Hurricane Touchdown and Daisuke, these kids often have the best brought out of them when they’re supporting others, and honestly, because the kids suffered so much in their own narrative, I’m not particularly fond of the idea of seeing them having to go through too much more trauma themselves (it’s a big reason I don’t like the idea of a 02 reboot). So while I’m sure a lot of 02 fans feel a bit antsy that the actual group itself wasn’t advertised first, I actually consider it a positive sign that they have an understanding of what context this group performs best in, and, moreover, well...the last time they unveiled something that was so focused on advertising the return of old characters that it forgot to actually be straightforward about the premise, I don’t think that ended well. So to speak.

In general, the track record is good

It’s easy to just smile and nod at the portrayal of the 02 quartet in Kizuna, because in general everything from them is in-character, but I just want to point out how significant it is that they were portrayed so conscientiously when it is really easy to mess them up. (As I like pointing out very often: even official has not historically been very careful with Daisuke’s character.) There are so many easy pitfalls you could have fallen into and pigeonholed the kids into, but Kizuna absolutely demonstrated the quartet at their best, showing off all the nuances of their character and bringing up all the parts that were most important, especially Daisuke’s best quality being “positivity and cheerfulness” and not all of the other things about him running in circles or having a crush on Hikari-chan. This even goes down to the casting; Katayama Fukujuurou sounds terrifyingly like Kiuchi Reiko in terms of all the little nuances and pitch shifts she had in her performance, and the cast themselves spoke of all the nuances present in their characters as they were studying for their roles. These are things that even fans of the series tend to miss, but the voice actors for the quartet nailed their roles so well that it’s very easy to tell that the direction understood exactly what they were looking for and needed, and casted accordingly. Even those who didn’t care for the movie much had a very hard time disputing the voice casting for the quartet (and this is saying a lot given how much voice actor changes are often a really sore point among Japanese fans).

But while the 02 group had a limited amount of screentime in Kizuna, the staff also had a lot of opportunities to prove themselves with the drama CD and the new character song CDs, and every single aspect of these reflects something that was represented in 02 itself -- again, things that often go over the heads of people who aren’t paying as close attention. The drama CD captures a lot of the essence of the dynamics between the group in only short lines, and all of the statements about the characters in the character song interviews are accurate (and remember: Arthur said directly that there were discussions with the staff about keeping them true to character). On top of that, not only do the lyrics in said songs directly mirror each character’s development from the time of the original Best Partner series, there are also a lot of things in said songs that demonstrate a nuanced understanding of each person’s character and what they got out of the events of 02. Someone with only a surface-level understanding of Ken or Iori’s character might think that Ken should only have a soft song, or that Iori shouldn’t want to do anything ridiculous, but the series goes ahead and gives Ken one of the most passionately emotional rock songs in the batch and Iori outright rap with Armadimon, which are both fitting decisions in light of Ken actually being one of the more emotionally assertive people in this group, and Iori only being stoic because he’s strict with himself and being willing to let loose in certain circumstances (especially after the events of 02).

As of this writing, I don’t know if the new movie is going to be featuring the entire group in a major role, and I’m not sure if I even want it to; as much as I do strongly feel like the group should always work together at all times, one minor personal complaint I had about Kizuna was that it tries to do too much in too little time, and I’m personally fine with this new movie being more Daisuke-centric or something if it means it can just get a nice story on the table (after all, if I wanted something that more evenly represents the entire 02 group, I’d just go back and rewatch a very nice anime series called Digimon Adventure 02). There’s also the very thorny question of what to do about Tokumitsu Yuka, since I don’t personally really like the idea of still dragging her out of retirement like this (but I also wouldn’t want them to awkwardly write around her just for this, and I’m wondering if Sonozaki voicing Tailmon in the reboot would let people accept her as a replacement without much fighting).

Nevertheless, I think Kizuna’s staff has proven more than well enough that they understand the essence of 02 and its characters, so, again, regardless of how it turns out, I at least expect that this can be made with some degree of conscientiousness, and at this point, that’s all I can ask for. I don’t think it’s fair to expect or want this movie to be the second coming of 02, because, again, if we wanted that, I think it’d be better for us to all go back and watch that lovely little 50-episode anime called Digimon Adventure 02. But in terms of being something that can add a little nice thing to the mix, I think, so far, this movie at least has positive signs of turning out that way -- and, remember, think about what I just said about initially being very against this idea; as a diehard 02 fan who has a lot of very picky feelings about how to best represent it, it took a lot for the staff to earn my trust in this sense.

[autisticcassandracain]

🔥 kori

dickkory sucks but not for any of the reasons dickkory haters say it sucks. most dickkory hate is literally just ppl hating on kori disguised as a 'personal opinion' on ships and usually those opinions make it extremely obvious that they never bothered to like, actually read The New Teen Titans lmao. 'dickkory was mostly sexual' is especially a terrible take because not only is it blatantly untrue, it's also based in the slut-shaming Kori has received over the years for being sexually open, and the mischaracterization she's received bc people saw an opportunity to reduce a female character to a sex object with a thin veil of plausible deniability in the form of 'characterization' and took it.

Most arguments against dickkory I've seen focus on the idea that Kori didn't offer Dick much, which is HILARIOUS because you have a MUCH better argument for the reverse, which is exactly what I will now proceed to argue.

got long, is under the cut, you know the drill. TL;DR Kori and Dick's relationship was badly built up, Kori provides more emotional support for Dick than Dick provides for Kori, Kori was more important to Dick's development than Dick was to Kori, and I don't think it's ever even been stated why Kori likes Dick.

Also donnakory was built up way better than dickkory and I'd argue Donna has had more of an influence on Kori than Dick ever did. That last one isn't explained in-depth it's just important to me that you know this.

Dick and Kori barely interacted prior to getting together, and yet we were supposed to believe this narrative that Dick was definitely in love with Kori and just couldn't admit it. I literally did a double take the first time Kori mused to herself about being confused Dick 'wouldn't admit to being in love with her' like I'm sorry WHEN did that get established??? I'm too aro for 'love at first sight' bullshit you have to actually make them interact or I won't buy it. This lack of build-up was my first problem with dickkory, but I was willing to ignore it if the actual relationship appealed to me.

It didn't. Dick and Kori's relationship is marked by a pattern of what, to me, is incompatibility. Dick is the type of person who, when stresses, lashes out at others and pushes them away. He's seen doing this multiple times to Kori in The New Teen Titans, most notably shortly after they got together when he was stressed due to having too much on his plate, and in the Return to Tamaran/Karras/Marriage arc. Kori consistently reacts to this behavior by blaming herself for it. The first time, she comes to Donna to ask her if she's done anything wrong, after which Donna reassures her that Dick's just Like That, and Kori resolves to be as supportive as she can.

The second time bothers me much more; on Tamaran, Dick is so mean to her she ends up having a full-on breakdown, which she first seeks support for from Joey, but later, she just stays depressed until she can return to Earth. While Dick's behaviour was influenced by his brainwashing, we never get confirmation of how much of it was influenced, and on top of that, the comic repeatedly and consistently frames Kori as having 'hurt Dick' during this arc afterwards, making her say this repeatedly, while never refuting it or addressing the ways Dick has harmed Kori during this arc.

While Dick did man up and apologize in both circumstances (I think the second apology was lacking, but the first was quite good), it still established a pattern that I find uncomfortable. Dick is rude to Kori, Kori takes it personally and wonders what she's done wrong, Kori tries to talk it out with Dick, Dick snaps at her and pushes her away, but eventually realizes he's been mean and apologizes. What bothers me the most in this pattern is the part where Kori consistently blames herself for Dick's behaviour, and assumes she's done something wrong to make him behave this way. Every time this came up in the comics, it made me deeply uncomfortable, because I've seen enough real-life relationships with a very similar dynamic to this that were deeply unhealthy to make this set off all my alarm bells.

I want to stress that I don't think dickkory is actually unhealthy in canon, but it reminds me of enough unhealthy relationships I've known for me to be personally uncomfortable with it.

That's not the only part that reminds me of those relationships: I feel like Dick is getting way more out of this relationship than Kori. Kori is consistently shown to support Dick when he goes through tough situations, even when Dick responds by trying to push her away or being rude to her. Similarly, Dick has stated that Kori was the one who helped him open up about his emotions, and has had a tremendous positive effect on his character development as a result; he even goes so far as to name her one of the elements of his Nightwing identity. Kori pushes Dick to explore new areas of himself, and supports him when he has problems.

Dick, by contrast.... doesn't really do this with Kori. When Kori needed support, Dick was consistently either absent or actually rude to her. Again, this is most prominent during the Karras arc; during a time when Kori desperately needed someone to support her, Dick was only concerned with his own hurt feelings. And again, yes, he was brainwashed during this, but again, we never actually got confirmation on how much of this behaviour was due to brainwashing, and much of the writing afterwards framed Kori was the one in the wrong here, so my point stands. This was the singular most important moment Kori needed support, and Dick blew it, and the narrative basically let him off the hook for it.

The only time I can think of when Dick supported Kori in non-battle related situations was right after the Wildebeest arc in New Titans, but that was also the start of Kori's character massacre for the break up arc, so I don't exactly have fond memories of that. I'm sure there's been more minor moments where he's supported her that I'm forgetting, but I shouldn't have to have this much trouble coming up with times Dick has emotionally supported Kori.

Furthermore, Dick hasn't had a similar effect on Kori's character development to Kori's effect on Dick. While Kori did develop while she was with Dick, this wasn't really due to Dick. Her short-lived change of heart about the morality of murder was due to her personal experiences, and while Dick probably aided in this decision, so did Donna and even the rest of the Titans. It was not something that was uniquely Dick, the way Dick opening up about his emotions was uniquely Kori. Her distancing herself from Tamaran and embracing Earth was also not uniquely Dick, and was in fact a realization that mostly took place in his absence. Other parts of her character development follow this pattern.

I'm not saying Dick has had no effect on Kori's character progression, but he wasn't instrumental in it the way Kori was instrumental in his. Kori's character would've likely progressed in an extremely similar fashion even without him, and I can't say the same for Dick. If anyone influenced Kori's development in a similar way Dick influenced Kori's, it was Donna, who was the one to introduce her to Earth culture, supported her through various tough times and insecurities, helped her find a job (albeit it on accident) and frequently worked with her later, etc. etc. And even then, I don't think Donna's effect on Kori was quite as dramatic as Kori's effect on Dick.

The final nail in the coffin for any interest I may have had in dickkory is the fact that I, honest to god, have no idea why Kori likes Dick. I don't. Dick has several internal monologues about how much he loves Kori for her passion, her drive, her openness, and the way she pushes him to explore new parts of himself and open up, but Kori... doesn't really do the same for Dick. I can make guesses as to why I think Kori likes Dick, even fairly educated ones (I think Kori likes Dick at least in part because his intellectual approach to life is new and interesting to her, for example), but they've never stated it explicitly the way they've stated what Kori likes about Dick. And for a series that'll state practically everything explicitly if it can, up to and including what's happening on the panel right now, this is very weird to me.

Any of these problems, isolated, I could've gotten past; even a two of these problems I could've probably ignored. Three would've been pushing it, but all of them? No chance. Any good will I had towards the relationship was buried with the Karras arc, and then shot in the head for good measure when they continuously talked about it as if Kori was the one at fault there.

All of these problems combined make it very clear to me that Kori was not the primary concern in this relationship. Kori was invented as a love interest for Dick, and it shows. This entire relationship is about what it does for Dick, how it helps Dick. The only thing Kori gets out of it, at least to me, is the happiness she gets from being in love, and frankly, she could get that with literally any other character.

The fact that people keep reducing her character to this relationship also infuriates me and makes me even less inclined to like it, especially when they can't even bother to remember Kori was the one who broke up with Dick and instead treat Kori as the one who was left heartbroken and has never gotten over it, while Dick gets to move on with his life and other love interests.

I think this relationship had potential; I think their contrasting personalities could've made for an interesting relationship, and I've enjoyed some isolated moments and fandom portrayals of them before. But after reading The New Teen Titans, I just do not understand why so many Kori fans like this relationship so much. I went into the series neutral on the relationship but hopeful about being won over, to straight-up hating it.

Also that one time they used a relationship between a man who was about to shoot his wife for cheating on him as a direct and obvious parallel to dickkory was SO GODDAMN AWFUL. why the hell did they think that was a good idea. why.

[calliecat93]

Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 2

(Top 5 Dislikes)

I’m gonna be honest, I think that V2 is a pretty good volume. Sure, it doesn’t have much in terms of story and that’s its biggest weakness as well as having no true accomplishments. But what it makes up for is it’s character writing and development. V1 was our intro, and V2 begins to flesh out many of them. If someone like say… Weiss didn’t appeal to you in V1 cause of her being mean, this one puts her in a much more positive light, for example. I was worried that I would dislike the volume more upon rewatch… but my opinion is pretty much the same as when I watched it in 2014: I really enjoy it.

I had to stretch hard for the Dislikes post. I did not, however, have to stretch at all for this post. So let’s waste no time and go over the Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 2~

#5. Improved Pacing/Runtime

One of the biggest problems with V1 was it’s pacing. It could feel all over the place, and the reason why was due to chapter runtimes. With a few exceptions, the majority were under ten minutes. This could cause storylines that in the current standard could have been done in one or two episodes, like Jaune’s Arc. But since it got stretched out for four weeks with short runtimes… yeah, it annoyed people, to say the least. CRWBY got the hint since I remember before the volume began, they mentioned how the extended the runtimes. It came at the cost of fewer episodes, but honestly? That was for the best?

Volume 2’s runtimes range from 12-15 minutes on average, with the longest being 17 minutes. This has essentially been the standard ever since for the most part, and it was a very good change. It also helps that instead of going for a more episodic approach as they did in V1, they told one continuous story. It can be divided into three sections with the first four episodes, the Dance Arc covering 5-7, and Mountain Glenn covering 8-12. But they all connect with each other and flow together much more naturally. As such since unlike V1 I watched V2 episode by episode, I never felt like it dragged or anything overstayed it’s welcome. It’s one of the best-paced volumes, to be honest. 

I’m pleasantly surprised that it flowed so well. Pacing in recent volumes have been an issue, mainly with 4 and 5, but that’s due to the split storylines. Something that I think that Miles and Kerry have learned was maybe a little too ambitious afterward and have gone back to this kind of formula. They pretty much use this three-act structure in V6, and it worked amazingly there. T seems to be what works best for RWBY, and this volume is what kicked it off. So yeah, good work CRWBY~

#4. Jaune and Pyrrha Relationship

I love these two. They have always been my favorite ship in RWBY, and still is despite… certain events. While I was kinda harsh on Jaune in the last post due to how cringey he was regarding Weiss, his relationship with Pyrrha is what saved him. He’s gotten a lot of flack in the past for not noticing Pyrrha’s feelings, but… I don’t really blame him. Pyrrha never tried to tell him herself or really let on that she had romantic feelings for him. Jaune isn’t a mind-reader, he can’t just magically know if Pyrrha won’t say anything. Nora practically points it out when Pyrrha advises Jaune to just go and ask Weiss out without any stupid gimmicks and just speak from the heart. “Practice what you preach.” indeed. That’s not to be harsh on Pyrrha because it’s clear why she doesn’t. She knows that Jaune likes Weiss and wants him to be happy, so she tries to be content with just supporting him with his pursuits and his training. She’s just that nice of a person.

It’s not like Jaune is careless regarding Pyrrha either. We see in Chapter 5 that he appreciates Pyrrha helping him train and in Chapter 7, he is shocked that no one asked her out. I mean, is everyone blind? Pyrrha is an amazing person? How could no one ask her out? Well… it’s because she’s Pyrrha. She’s a world-class fighter. Too many, she’s out of their league. Remember in Chapter 5 when Mercury calls off the fight, saying that Pyrrha’s out of his league? We all know that was a lie, it was because he got the info that he wanted about her Semblance, but you can see how much that hurt her. It reminded her how she can’t really be normal or form real relationships because of her fame and status. The only person to treat her like a real person? Jaune. He didn’t even know her name when they first met. And it’s after that when Jaune pretty much throws his own needs out the window, puts on that dress with no shame, and dances the night away with Pyrrha.

These two have such a beautiful relationship. Pyrrha helped Jaune find value in himself and grow not just as a fighter, but as this volume shows as a person. Pyrrha got to find happiness and a sense of normalcy through Jaune, which let her form friendships and find love. Even if she still can’t say it out loud, she got to be with Jaune, and that was enough for her even right to the end. Jaune still doesn’t know that Pyrrha has feelings for him and IDT he fully realized his own feelings, but he was still willing to be humiliated just to give that girl a good time at the dance. Because she earned it more than anyone else in that moment. It makes their relationship that much greater, and their ultimate end that much more tragic. But this volume really demonstrates them at their best. It shows Jaune mature and recognizes his friend’s feelings, hence why I can forgive his cringe. It’s painful to see, but he got over it. I just love it so much, and it’s still a bright spot of this volume.

#3. Blake Development

I love Blake. She’s gotten so much hate in recent years because of utterly stupid reasons. While I had issues with her in V4, I’ve always loved her and her story. V1 got me interested in her story after the final two episodes, and this one made me love her even more. You can tell that the White Fang is getting to her, and it makes sense why. We don’t know the whole story, but we do know that the WF was a peaceful group when she was younger, and when it became a terrorist group she broke away. So seeing them act with a human, something that she knows that they would never due, would understandably catch her attention and make her obsess over it as well as reawaken any negative feelings.

In V1 while she was reserved, she clearly was capable of opening up and clearly did want to be friends with these three girls. Some say that she was OOC in The Badge and the Burden, but I disagree. She was trying to form a new life and tried to adjust to her new teammates, so yeah her being a little light-hearted and silly makes sense to me. But with the WF back in her life, it puts her back in a bad place. It makes her obsess over what they’re panning because it can’t be anything good. She tries to close herself off until Weiss reminds her that she promised to open up to them. She does, and her friends are on board with her pursuits.

Then we get the Dance Arc, where the WF obsession is actually affecting her health and performance. Her grades are slipping. Her attitude is at it’s lowest. She doesn’t care about the dance because she’s worried about the WF doing who knows what with them all utterly unprepared. Her harsh dismissal of Sun and her rejecting her team’s help despite them assuring her that they’re going to make sure that everything is fine demonstrates this. Blake feels guilty for her involvement int he WF and doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. To her, she feels like she has to stop them and like it’s her weight to bear. And this is before we know anything about Adam, which she starts to open up about him as well as why she left the WF to her team in Mountian Glenn. But we’ll get to that later.

It’s why Yang’s interference is so important. Yang understands that Blake is getting obsessed to an unhealthy point because she went down the same road. She and RUby almost got killed because she made a dumb decision and went out on her own when she found out about Raven. When talking to her one-on-one doesn’t work, she makes Blake realize that her unhealthy state means that she can’t fight before finally hugging her and essnetially asking her to stop and to trust her and the others. It’s a really beautiful scene that really does make Blake see reason. While I myself don’t see anything romantic in this scene, at least no more than Blake and Sun’s scenes in this arc, there’s a reason why so many care about the Bumblebee ship. Yang genuinely tried to reach out to Blake because she understood where she was coming from, and wanted to help her when no one else could. She didn’t have to, but she did because he wanted to. They’re teammates. Partners. That’s what they’re supposed to do.

This was when Blake truly began to trust Yang. To trust her team. She goes to the dance and has a fun time. It makes you wonder how long it had been since Blak ever relaxed. How long it had been since she laughed. She got to have one night where she could just have fun,  makes  By the end of the volume, she’s in a better place and is clearly happy with her friends. Even though they don’t stop the WF or uncover their overall plans, she’s okay with what they did manage to do and isn’t obsessing or driving herself to exhaustion anymore. Without that progress, then who knows if she’d have been able to bounce back after what happened in V3. Blake here is great, and I loved seeing it again… despite how much it hurt due to what happened next. But that’s a tale for another day.

#2. Mountain Glenn Arc

This arc was fantastic. By far, the best part of Volume 2. First, it has Doctor Oobleck. We saw him once in V1, but all we learned is that he talks and moves fast. This volume gives him much more character. She’s certainly quirky and not the image of a badass Huntsman, but he’s freakin’ great. One, he’s funny and really adds to the RWBY dynamic to the arc. He’s intelligent and knowledgable on history and tracking. But most of all, he’s insightful. He’s clearly a good teacher as he subtly gives guidance to these girls and gets them to question their motivation and dedication to the paths that they’re on. He may not be teaching them cool fighting skills, but he is teaching them about life essentially and prepping them for the harsh life of being Huntresses. With what happens later down the road, that was a good thing. He’s just great. Also his coffee urn weapon? Best.

But speaking of motivations and dedication, that is what makes this arc so great. It answers an important question and was one that I was surprised by when this arc started, why did the RWBY girls decide to be Huntresses? And we find out here. Yang did it for the thrill, Weiss did it as she felt it was her duty, Blake did it to do good in the world, and Ruby… well… she actually doesn’t get questioned. Why? I’ll go into that in a bit. But having their motivations questioned really shakes up WBY quite a bit, making them reflect on their reasonings on choosing the paths that they took. Which is good, because it allows us to learn more about them and their characters.

We see WBY talk about their motivations deeper. Weiss chose to be a Huntress because she recognizes how much her father has ruined her family name and the company and she wanted to change things, but not in Atlas. She decided to do it as a Huntress. Blake opens up about Adam and how she felt that the WF fell, so she became a Huntress to do good. But she hadn’t thought past that and is afraid of not being able to make up for her mistakes and end up running away again. Yang doesn’t really have anything driving her, she just wanted to have the adventurous lifestyle that being a Huntress would give her and didn’t really think anything else of it. Safe to say, none of them I think really expected Huntress life to be the way that they experienced it here.

But where does Ruby factor into this? Well as I said, Oobleck never questions her motives. We do hear about his though. He became a Huntsman because when he looked at history, he saw lives that could have been saved. He wants to pass that history and knowledge onto his students so that more lives can be saved and not end the way that Mountian Glenn did. As for Ruby herself, she’s always wanted to be a Huntress, Even as a child, this was what she wanted. She didn’t do it for thrills. She didn’t do it to redeem her family name. She didn’t do it to make up for any past sins. She did it for one simple reason: to make the world a better place. Her dedication has always been clear and later volumes have shown this. Even after V3, she got up and pushed on anyway. During V6, even after all the secrets and The Apathy messing with her mind, she remained dedicated to the cause. Why? Because her dedication has never wavered. He chose that life, the other three needed to understand what they had chosen as well.

The arc offers really good character insights and makes the girls more three-dimensional. It is what made me love all four of them. It showed that they were just more than their anime stereotype. They felt like real people who were trying to figure their lives out and what it is that they truly wanted. Ruby may have known what she wanted, but the other three weren’t 100% sure. This is when they began to understand. V6 would more solidly solidify it when it became even more than anyone bargained for, but this was still a very good step. It was such a joy to rewatch, and it is still a highlight for me.

There were me other great things too. First, Zwei! Zwei is best~! We got some good info on the Grimm and how they aren’t just brainless monsters. The Goliaths especially are fascinating with how Oobleck describes them, but also terrifying because the waiting just for the right moment to strike. We get word building in how Mountain Glenn was a disaster but shows how people tried to make lives within the world of Remnant and deal with Grimm. There were fantastic fight scenes and the train battle was especially super fun. Especially with how we got our first taste fo Raven in it. The finale is... well, not the best-received thing in the world, but was still fun to watch. Just an overall super enjoyable arc with plenty of comedy, badassery, and most of all heart.

But speaking of Team RWBY!

#1. Team RWBY Becoming a Team

V1 is when Team RWBY formed, but it’s V2 is when they actually felt like a team. It might be because while half the volume was on the forming the team and the other half on school hijinks, this one keeps the four center stage. There’s a real sense of friendship and sisterhood that comes off them in this volume, and I love it. There’s the food fight, the card game in CHapter 2, them all devoting themselves to investigating the White Fang, them trying to get Blake help, the Mountain Glennmision, a lot of things. Even just their interactions show off their comradery so well. They all play off each other very well and are honestly at their best when together.

It was just so much fun to see the girls working together, laughing together, supporting each other, etc. From the team attack names to just silly banter, you get the feeling that these girls are friends. That they’re a team. After how long they were separated in recent volumes until V6, it was so much fun to focus on just them. As I said, this volume is what got me to love these four as their own characters. It’s also true int hat it got me to love them as a team. After how much RUby and Weiss bickered in V1, they feel like genuine friends here. Weiss kept her word about improving herself as a teammate and not caring about Blake’s Faunus status. Blake started to open up more and trust int hem. Yang acted motherly and comforting to everyone. Ruby pretty much acted like the little sister of the group, but also acted as the leader when it was necessary like coordinating the previously mentioned team attacks.

It just works so well. The chemistry between the four is fantastic. I think it really was something that we missed in V4 and 5, and I’m so glad that we got it back in V. I expect that V7 won’t be lacking in that area either. Seeing Team RWBY again during the simpler times was really nostalgic and got me to appreciate them so much. For that, this will always be my favorite thing about V2~!

Okay, so… I’m supposed to do Likes/Dislikes for V3 next. But… well… check back tomorrow cause lets just say that it’s gonna be slightly different with that one.

[eternal-love-song]

ELS Greatest Hits of 2018

This is a top 10 list of the My Hero Academia stories that I wrote last year that ended up being my favorites, in no particular order, with commentary~ I don’t why, I just thought this would be fun.

Maybe This Time I’ll Stay (Bakumomo) This is the first Bakumomo story that I wrote and I never stopped loving it or thinking of it as one of the best Bakumomo stories I’ve written. This story is what caused me to fall in love with this pairing. I actually wrote this with no idea where I would take it based on a post of Morning after sentence starters. The one I based this on was “This has to stop happening.”

We Built This Machine For Us (Shinso/Midoriya/Hatsume) Another story that made me fall in love with a pairing. I didn’t write this story on purpose. This entire idea started because I was trying to think of a Hatsume/Tooru idea (for fun) and then I had the brilliant idea that is he first scene of this story and the rest spread from there. I loved this ship once I wrote it. It was like everything clicked into place so perfectly. I want to write so much of these three, but for now, maybe it’s poetic that I’ve written them three times.

Heist (Izuku/Ochako/Bakugo) This was probably when I realized that I, apparently, love writing heist fics. (Why have I written so many heist fics?!?) This was kind of perfect. Short, fun, in character; I really enjoyed it. Also, this was the first OT3 I wrote. (And it only got worse from here) This story was really a collection of trends for me. This story is my villain origin story~

Melt Your Icy Hot Heart (Mina/Todoroki) This is one of my understated, but nonetheless favorite, rare pairs. I love Mina/Todoroki a lot. I also love villain au’s. So here we go. I really want to write these two more and it’s a shame that I don’t. This has become my favorite pairing for Mina, too.

The Complexity of Chocolates and Confessions (Kaminari/Momo/Jirou) By far, this is my favorite OT3. I wanted to write this story for ages before I did and I think it turned out super well. I’m really proud of this one. I wanted it to be grounded and reasonable, and I think I succeeded. 

In The Morning She’s Gone (Bakumomo) A prequel to Maybe This Time I’ll Stay. This is another one I’m really proud of. It turned out really good when I wasn’t sure that I could do my own headcanon justice. Also, the smut in this is superb. Plus, I love writing Bakumomo, so this was just really fun. (Did I mention that they are my OTP? They are.) This story has a lot of lines that I like, too.

In Her Hand Is Your Heart (Kaminari/Momo/Jirou) This is my favorite KamiMomoJirou. It’s also not for everyone. This was written as pure indulgence. It’s a villain au, it’s smut, there are some interesting and unhealthy dynamics. I love this a lot. This is kinda dark and kinda magnificent and I absolutely want to write more under this premise. Definitely a contender for favorite fic ever.

Miss You In the Morning (Mina/Izuku) This story is sad. It’s about mourning and loss and the process of pulling yourself after someone you love is gone. This story means a lot to me and it’s kinda sad that more people don’t like it. (But it’s depression, so I get it.) This story is soft and beautiful to me. I often find myself wanting to write more of it. This kind of sorrow appeals to me deeply. It’s cathartic.

My Hero Studios (no pairings yet!) This story is incomplete and I really need to get back to it, but it is a blast! Writing all the characters as if they’re actors is a ton of fun, especially with the slight personality changes for some of them. It’s a really fun thought experiment and I have every intention of writing it at least to the end of the first season. I want to write it further, but I’m not sure I trust myself to finish it if I keep going. I always go back and forth on what pairing I might to eventually add and whenever I finally commit, I’ll probably tank the stories popularity. Ha!

Runaway With Us (Todoroki/Bakugo/Momo) This is another collection of everything I love. Heist fic, villain au, Bakumomo, Todoroki, and an OT3! All of the things that I love in one place! I really enjoyed writing this story. I like the way Todoroki is so easily drawn into their world, the hints we get of his past and what happened with his scar, the hints of Bakumomo’s history of taking in strays (that constantly makes me want to write a prequel story) it’s all pretty fun to me. And TodoBakuMomo is one of my yes pairings. (I actually just love Todoroki. The Best.)

And that’s it. That’s my top 10. Any questions or comments (on this or any of my other stories~ i.e motivations, thoughts, whatever~) feel free to ask!

I hope you enjoyed this information that nobody anywhere asked for!

[irondevilpunisher]

My Jessica Jones S1&S2 Review

*Some Spoilers*

Well here it is, the post you might’ve been waiting for. Sorry it took so long to do this as I had so many other priorities in my life that needed my attention. But I’m here now and I’m ready to discuss my personal thoughts and opinions on Jessica Jones. To start off I wanna say honestly that I had originally no intention to watch this show. Its not that I thought it would be bad but that it didn’t really appeal to me. I have to like the idea and the characters to get behind something. However when the Defenders dropped in August of last year I had to admit my curiosity on the Jessica Jones peeked a little. I could tell there was a whole lot more to the character than hard-drinking and a give em’ hell attitude. Plus being a huge fan of the Daredevil Netflix show I felt I had to check it out.

For the most part my assumptions proved to be correct. I dove right into Jessica Jones’s freshman series right after finishing The Punisher and surprisingly quite enjoyed it. Now let me say first so there’s no mistaking my differentiated feelings on the two separate seasons how f**king brilliant Krysten Ritter is in this role. She brings such a delightful spunk, relatable complexity and strength yet vulnerability to the character that is so rarely seen these days. Jones is more than just another super-being, actually that was probably what made the show so unique. And she kicks a lot of ass. Opposite to what was done on Daredevil, the writers actually treated Jessica’s abilities secondary to her as a person while remaining more focused on her position as this edgy, tough-as-nails private eye. Off topic I’m a sucker for a good old fashioned detective story; Sherlock Holmes, Nancy Drew, Bogart in Casablanca. Can’t go wrong there.

So the basic premise of Jessica Jones is the story of a 30-something woman running from a dark past; living in New York as a self-employed sleuth. By she day nurses her demons with alcohol [which this show doesn’t glorify unlike Defenders] and random companionship, by night Jessica boldly prowls the city streets searching for the latest cheating husband or wife. Her closest friends/allies are her adopted sister Trish Walker, Geri Hogarth [the female lawyer seen in Daredevil and Iron First who currently works with Foggy Nelson], Luke Cage [a man also with abilities who works at a bar and is a Defender] and Malcolm Ducasse [a former addict/neighbor who lives her in building]. But I have to say though my favorite relationship of all those would have to be Jessica and her trusty camera. Anyway what starts as a typical day at the office for Miss Jones in the first episode quickly shifts into a relentless nightmare involving a specific demon she just can’t seem to escape.  

Going back to Jones’s character what I love most about her is she’s not one-note; there are dimensions and layers to her personality and background. Jessica is so much more than just her jaded quirks, attractive looks and impeccable super strength; she’s got a softer side if you can believe it. She can be feisty and sh*t-talking one minute then kind, funny and compassionate the next. There are moments where she thinks of others before herself; case in point sticking up for Ruben [one of her abused neighbors], saving a little girl from a coming car while dressed as a sandwich [one of my favorite Jessica moments] and helping Malcolm detox from his drug habit. Her supposed care-less attitude ironically is her way of caring in a different way. I adore her saucy sarcastic sense of humor which would easily come across as just plain bitchy or cold if it not for how Krysten delivers it onscreen. Its not mean but not entirely nice either yet is actually part of what makes her so endearing. I won’t go into full detail of her development but lets just say that cliffhanger in S1 really left you wanting more of this character. 

The supporting characters are fine and do well to compliment the hero however I wouldn’t say they’re as compelling to the ones on Daredevil, Iron Fist or Punisher. I did like Trish, she has a nice dynamic with Jessica and the writers do give their relationship an even focus in both seasons of the show. Malcolm is also great when he’s helping Jones in the office during season 1. And some of the other S1 building tenants are humorous and quirky. I did like Geri’s character in Daredevil, Defenders and Iron Fist; was stunned when I found out she was a main player in JJ and couldn’t wait to see what they do with her because Carrie-Anne Moss is so excellent. But when it came to actually seeing her story I found myself disappointed. I just couldn’t connect with her. Idk I guess I found found Hogarth even colder and unlikable on Jessica Jones compared to when I saw her assorted appearances on the other MCU shows. I know they tried to do a darker in-depth storyline with her in S2 but it just wasn’t executed proficiently. If there had been a proper build up towards it in S1 I might’ve gotten behind what the writers were doing but that’s just one of many mistakes in S2. 

Unpopular opinion: I wasn’t the biggest fan of Luke Cage in this series. I just didn’t find him that appealing as a character or cared about his relationship with Jessica. He fairs much better on his solo series and in Defenders. But I didn’t feel the chemistry between him and Jones nor did I care about their comic canon status. In fact I found their scenes dragging and boring. While Jessica clearly had an unhealthy thing going on with Kilgrave its no more toxic than what she has with Cage. Its completely based on sex for the sole fact that the two characters have psychological issues and both have supernatural abilities. There is also deception between them. Not to mention the fact that these two are connected by a certain tragedy which is a whole other reason why they would never work or function properly as a couple. Jones and Cage are far better off remaining friends/allies in my opinion. 

Moving on..

The major highlight of this series would have to be the show’s unstoppable villain and personally my favorite character in the series Kilgrave aka The Purple Man; magnificently hemmed by the ever so charismatic, acting powerhouse Doctor Who’s David Tennant. I never imagined another MCU Netflix villain coming close to what Wilson Fisk did on Daredevil but that’s exactly what Kilgrave manages to do so effortlessly on Jessica Jones. Tennant doesn’t play this character just strictly as a typical ‘bad guy’ or homicidal mind-controlling fiend; he has motivations, complexities and layers that mirror Ritter’s conflicted protagonist. As the episodes go on you actually start to feel for Kilgrave’s injustices and understand his extreme methods even when harming the innocent. His scenes with Jones are some of the most superb acting I’ve seen from both David and Krysten. They have exceptional chemistry together and play off one another so seamlessly. Their back and forth cat and mouse themed dynamic is actually the most entertaining part of this show. Seriously I could gush on for days about why I love Kilgrave.

Tennant commands the screen so powerfully; he’s just a total scene stealer as this character that in a way overshadows most of the supporting cast. He’s that larger than life. I gravitated to him so easily. What he does with Kilgrave is nothing short of fantastic to say the least. He could be scary, funny, classy, charming, emotional and deep without it ever muddling the character which is not an easy feat. I mean there’s just so much ground to cover with Kilgrave, endless story potential. While watching S1 I couldn’t wait for the writers to dabble further into his twisted childhood/dark past and tortured psyche. I mean if you get past the whole killing and rape aspect of him, Kilgrave isn’t all that horrible of a person. And while his infatuation with Jessica maybe borderline obsessive and abusive, he really does love her and demonstrates it. Sick as that sounds this guy just wants to be loved. He would go to ends of the earth for Jones it’s almost tragically poetic. Not more so than what the writers decide to actually do with him in the S1 finale unfortunately. But I won’t spoil that.

My second favorite character and probably the most underrated on Jessica Jones would have to be the young police sergeant Will Simpson aka future Nuke. Not many people remember or probably care too much about him since his appearance into the show doesn’t happen until 1x04. And if you don’t pay enough attention to this character he could become forgettable. But its not the fault of the actor per-say but rather the writing as well as the directing. Wil Traval is insanely adorable and a hot as hell blond babe but don’t let that distract from the fact that he’s got some major acting chops under his belt. And luckily for Traval I did notice his character right away. When Simpson enters the scene its not exactly puppies and kittens; he’s a ruthless Kilgrave drone sent to assassinate Trish which is fortunately prevented by Jessica. And after he’s freed from Kilgrave’s mind-control he reluctantly joins forces with Jones to take him down indefinitely. Thing I love most about Simpson is his integrity in the beginning; he tries to do the right thing and be a good person even if it means crossing the line to achieve that goal. 

He doesn’t always make the smartest or safest decisions but he does his best. Simpson has mystery, another quality I highly praise in a character. I spent most of my time wondering about the guy and wanting more of his background; especially when it was revealed he had ties to IGH. Simpson is so unpredictable with his shift in moods it was hard to read him but that’s what made him interesting. Another thing I love most about Simpson is his complicated alliance with Jessica Jones. For me its the second most entertaining part about watching the series. Ritter and Traval have sensational onscreen chemistry together its ridiculous how underused it is. I know most people probably preferred his relationship with Trish as well as probably shipped Jessica/Luke at this time but for me I just didn’t see enough story built there to care about either of those couples. I get weak in the knees when it comes to hilarious witty banter which Simpson and Jessica have in spades. Through IGH they had a connection with one another. There were times watching the episodes where I felt the writers were building a specific story between Jones and Simpson; whether it was a potential romance or future hero/nemesis arc I couldn’t wait to find out. Too bad that potential gets flushed down the toilet in S2.

Before I get into what I hated about season 2 because I did [all of it]; I need to address the show’s most intriguing elements of season 1. I loved its stylish Noir atmosphere; even the opening theme song is terrific [have it on my Spoitfy list]. The costumes, the settings and locations. From the lighting to the way the show is shot is so creative. Even the entire score is amazing. The pacing is nice. The action and special effects are pretty decent. I get the sense that I’m watching a cross between a Murder She Wrote and Sherlock Holmes hybrid. It just has this seductive pull of mystery and excitement. This show is not like Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage or Punisher but it does feel very much in the same universe. As I said the superhero aspect of it is more or less a secondary plot point but its refreshing and different. Not to say Jessica Jones doesn’t have its flaws as a series it does. I really wish some of the relationships had more time to blossom in S1 as well as S2. There was so much opportunity for the JJ writers to explore certain characters during its sophomore year unfortunately that wasn’t to be the case. Which brings me to the dud that is Jessica Jones season 2.

I won’t go into a whole thorough rant about what was awful about the second helping of Jones’s adventures but let me just say what they did in S1 they completely obliterated and ignored in S2 [including the characters]. I’m not kidding and I won’t lie about it either. I couldn’t wait to watch S2 because I thought S1 was just so fantastic. I wanted to see more of Jessica’s backstory, IGH, Will Simpson’s character growth and early stages of his Nuke persona, if Kilgrave was really coming back, Trish’s possible Hellcat transformation. I was excited for all this and more. But that’s not what happened. Apart from each of the characters being horribly butchered by the writers, especially Jessica Jones herself, the writing was crap; the Noir feel is just gone, its full of stupid PSA plots and the pacing is just a dragging snooze fest. And those sad super-running special effects would make the Flash sob waterfalls. Did they get rid of all the talent behind season 1 like what is going on? I could hardly keep my eyes open for some of the things that were happening. Actually what did happen because nothing made sense or I just didn’t care enough to make sense of it.

The impression I got from the JJ writers was like “to hell with it we’re doing whatever we want.” Everything about S2 was abysmal and disappointing. Zero structure and cohesiveness in storytelling. I can’t recall a single moment I enjoyed most about this season [maybe Kilgrave’s minor cameo].Trish became so unlikable to the point where I was nearly pulling my hair out and wanted her written off. Seriously I couldn’t stand her and I still don’t know how I feel about her after that finale. She wasn’t my favorite person to begin with but S2 solidified my distaste for her. Jessica my sweet Jessica where did you go because I didn’t see you any where in this season at all. The only thing I saw was your evil clone running around. Seriously though the development they did for Jones was just plain bad. Her character flip-flops more more times than the actual footwear my brain is still in knots. Too many lines were crossed with her she’s giving the Punisher a run for his money and not in a good way. I just don’t see any redemption for Jessica after this...none whatsoever. Its disheartening to say this because these writers took what I loved about Jones in the first year and threw it in a blender. 

The new characters were boring and uninteresting; ugh I’d rather watch paint drying than another scene between Jessica and that random dude the writers threw at her as a love interest. The main villain was just atrocious, predicable and made no freaking sense. WTF did they do to Malcolm?? And don’t even get me started on what was done to Simpson. I’ve been angry about it for weeks and honestly after watching S2 the wounds have not healed. Still not over it. Maybe they’ll surprise me with Simpson but I don’t have hope for that. I’m still shaking with anger as I write this thinking how much potential he had on this series and it was for nothing. Like most shows these days another character is thrown into the scrap heap before their time. What was the point of him being introduced if they weren’t going to dabble further into his Nuke comic history? I just refuse to stop b**ching about it because its so infuriating.    

Overall the Jessica Jones series for me is only partially solid. Is it my favorite MCU Netflix original series? Not by a long shot but I do think it’ll have a loyal following. I loved the first season it was edgy and smart but I hated the second season. I don’t know if season 3 will be any better after that waste of 13 hours I’ll never get back but who knows. There wasn’t much of a cliffhanger in S2 for me to even care about the next installment. Sounds harsh I know because I do love Krysten Ritter in this role. I think she carries herself masterfully. I just don’t feel S2 did her or her character any justice; if anything it hurt the future of Jessica Jones as a series for me. But that’s just my opinion.

Anyway don’t take my word for it watch the show and make your own conclusions. This has been my quick review of Jessica Jones ;)

[victuuri-victory]

Top 10 Yuri Manga Without A School Setting

edit: removed the “keep reading” line, because it cuts off the post when people reblog it, at least when on mobile

There’s a certain formula for producing bad yuri manga- default highschool setting (+1 if it’s all-girls and all-girls somehow equals all-gay), a unhealthy relationship dynamic, unrealistic-but-stock characters (the shy protagonist and the perfect student council president), strict gender roles of butch x femme, males are never present, you get the idea. There’s lots of great yuri out there that takes place in highschool, but I’ll admit that the saturation of bad stuff has tainted my view of the setting. 

That said, regardless of your views on yuri’s default setting, here’s the Top 10 Yuri Manga with a fresh change of scenery!

10. Gouhou Yuri Fuufu Hon

On some days, we just don’t have it in us for serious, literary stuff. I want this list to include cute and relaxing sugary stuff too, and Gouhou Yuuri Fuufu Hon fits right in. 

I might have a soft spot for moe art, but Hachishiro makes the sickest covers, I’m not even kidding. 

Set in a sort-of-fantasy world where same-sex marriage is accepted and animals ears are a thing, Haru is a shy, younger girl who is married off to Sensei, a novelist oblivious to Haru’s uncertainties on how to be Sensei’s wife. Yes the dynamic is a little stock. You might realize the part on arranged marriage is kinda problematic, but this is a not-serious moe manga that doesn’t go there. It’s nothing mindblowing, and it’s not got much of a plot, but it’s a fluffy and enjoyable slice-of-life piece on marriage and domestic stuff.

The art is cute af, and works very well to convey changes in their emotions.

9. Sweet Guilty Love Bites

Sweet Guilty Love Bites is about four cabaret hostesses who work at Club Rose. It’s separated into “Sweet Guilty” and ��Guilty Love”.  In “Sweet Guilty”, Kirie returns from a bad night of hostessing, to discover Myata, a young woman sleeping in the streets near her house. In “Guilty Love”, Niina, a hostess and a single mother, has a one-night stand with Mayu, only to discover the next day that Mayu is the preschool teacher of her daughter. 

Despite the seriousness of what I just summarized, this is a light and fluffy manga with funny moments, and everything ends happily for our dear characters.Though sometimes, the manga struggles to shift from this lighthearted tone when addressing serious life issues that its characters face. 

The art is nothing stunning, but it’s decent and carries the plot just fine. 

8. Rock it, GiRL!!

Rock it, GiRL!! is about a street guitarist and vocalist, Kaname, who is approached by a talent agency to be part of a band. But Kaname is not an ambitous person and thinks little of her talents. Nevertheless, she decides to give a band a shot. She discovers, however, that a) the talent agency love her as a guitarist, but thinks lowly of her vocal ability, and b) the girl who will sing the songs in her place, is an arrogant tsundere, much in contrast to Kaname’s mopey, sappy self. Animosity develops between them, but they must rise above this personal drama as the show must go on. 

I have to say, the characters aren’t exactly sympathetic, but they’ve got real issues, they are offbeat, and are basically a fresh breath of air, away from the standard “sweet, nice, moe girls in a girl band” cliche. Plus the plot is wild, given the seemingly predictable premise. 

The art itself is simple, but in a weirdly cute and silly way. 

7. Murcielago

I would like to defend Murcielago’s presence on this list by saying that yes it is trash, HOWEVER, it is the kind of trash that nobody expects from the yuri genre.

Specifically, Murcielago is guilty-pleasure gore trash. It’s what we’ve seen played out again and again with a certain Western genre, but always with a male character depicted: violent movies centered on a loose-cannon anti-villain protagonist, who is tasked with being a criminal detective but who really does kill more people than the police are comfortable with. In the backdrop, some sort of vast conspiracy is brewing, where all the crimes that the detective solves, are actually linked together, and this whole conspiracy is somehow, quite self-aggrandizingly, all about this detective protagonist (we just don’t know how yet). 

Yes, that was weirdly specific, but we all know that’s an entire genre. 

In that sense, Murcielago is predictable, but it’s also very fun action-packed reading. Plus the gender and lesbian of its protagonist, is something quite unexpected, considering the “cute nice fluffiness” that characterizes most manga lesbians, and the male protags who dominate violent action comics for both manga and Western comics. 

You know she’s gonna be able to solve the crime, you know the Villain of the Week is gonna die, but there’s still a perverse excitement in finding out how she does it, and what ridiculous over-the-top crime features in the latest issue. 

Read beneath that surface, and Murcielago can be a little deeper than that. Our dear psycho-lesbian detective does spare people, and she justifies it by outwardly saying she spares “cute girls”, but that shallow explanation doesn’t hold water. She’s perfectly ok with mutilating and killing incompetent and immoral “cute girls”, which she has made no comment about. She’s specifically sparing a) completely moral “cute girls”, and hiring  b) dangerously competent, morally shadier “cute girls” as her proteges. In fact, when she meets a bomb prodigy, she has no qualms morally corrupting her from a) to b), because she really needs a demolitions expert. She’s secretly building a ruthless army, and we don’t yet know why.  

6. Lonely Wolf, Lonely Sheep

Lonely Wolf, Lonely Sheep involves the coincidential meeting of two girls who are coincidentially both named Imari, when their names are called in the hospital waiting room. Even more coincidentially, they are both there for left hand injuries. They declare their meeting one of Fate and the stars.

The dynamic is a little stock- we have the tall tomboyish landscaper “Big Imari”, contrasted with the petite girly artist “Little Imari”. But this short comic serves up more than just a plotless dose of sugary cute, the arc does turn serious. “Little Imari”’s injuries hide a dark secret, and the past is coming to claim her. 

5. Octave

Miyashita Yukino is a burnt-out pop idol- the industry is not what she thought it was, and she has no idea where to go with life from thereon. The people of her hometown do not welcome her, and believe she must have had to be a slut to get ahead as an idol. What really cuts deep in this manga, is the portrayal and young age of Yukino- the reality of the pop industry and the sacrifices she had make for her dream, such as dropping out of school, has aged her beyond her years. 

She then tries to make a living as a talent manager in Tokyo, but her life still seems devoid of purpose, she is drifting and still yearns for fame. During a regular trip to the nearby laundromat, she meets Setsuko, who is the sister of the laundromat’s owner. She finds some comfort in Setsuko’s company, but her problems do not disappear, and in fact the landromat is facing financial difficulties.

My main problems with Octave is that the characterization can be unsympathetic. Yukino is jaded, and certainly mature in some ways, but she is also emotionally childish- she can be exceedingly mopey, sometimes blames her problems on others, seeks external validation to an unhealthy extent, and generally creates unnecessary drama and conflict with Setsuko, who is emotionally flawed as well. Don’t get me wrong, characters should have flaws, but too much of it, and it rubs me up the wrong way and I kinda want to slap them. The plot also starts to slow rather than speed up as the manga progresses, which is just not to my taste. 

However, I would simply chalk those flaws up to the inconsistent quality of Octave, where the quality is high, the manga is amazing, the emotions, the issues and ennui from the characters and the atmosphere, can be quite intensely felt.

4. Gunjo

If you asked me what the manga embodiment of misery is, I might just point you to Gunjo. Gunjo tears your heart out, and then puts it back in for a split second, just so it can tear it out again. 

“It begins in the moments after a horrible crime has been committed. A woman has asked someone to kill her husband for her. She has asked someone she knows she can use – another woman, a lesbian, who has been in love with her since high school. The woman who requested the death is abusive, derisive. The woman who committed the crime is passive, almost apathetic. She flinches in the face of the other’s harsh words, but doesn’t fight back.” -(Okazu)

They then go on the run, but how far can they go before they’re caught? Does it make a difference that the cunning, abusive woman who has plotted the murder of her husband, was she herself horrifically abused by this man? Can something resembling love ever develop between two people so violent and broken?

Gunjo is amazing in its fan disservice. The murder succeeds because the killer seduces the man, and kills him while naked. But even in this scene, the violence and her disgust completely detracts from any sexual appeal of her nudity. Even in a kiss between the two main characters, their pain permeates.

My problem with Gunjo however, is specifically that the darkness never lets up. Perhaps it is my own sensitivity, but I found it very hard to complete it.

3. Pulse

It’s a full-color! I love full colors. Anyway, moving on, 

Pulse tells the story of Mei, a renowned heart surgeon who is also a cold-hearted playgirl. Lynn is a college student who needs a heart transplant, but she refuses to get one (the risks are high). When they meet, Mei feels a strange kind of pull towards Lynn, almost like she’s truly attracted for once in her life. As they grow closer, Lynn strikes a deal- if she can make Mei fall in love with her, she will get the surgery, but Mei has to be the one to do the surgery. Lynn trusts her.

The premise can create all sorts of problems, but that is surprisingly averted. Mei doesn’t pressure Lynn into sex, nor does she fake romantic attraction. Lynn doesn’t sacrifice for Mei. Basically, Mei is no asshole, she’s just uninterested in people, and Lynn is no pushover. Also, the art is mighty fine. 

2. Philosophia

Philosophia is about a college romance wherein the two anti-social, apathetic main characters, Ai and Tomo, bond over smokes and coffee. But these little things are not enough to exorcise their inner demons. As Ai starts to feel for Tomo, she becomes torn up over these emotions- her existing familial relationships are far from ideal, and that has fostered her inability to really understand love. Tomo is strange and disinterested, and it doesn’t seem likely that she will return Ai’s feelings. Furthermore, Tomo wants to leave the country, and the means by which she gets the money she needs, is best kept a secret. 

Philosophia has both realistic yet unique characters (they do not fall too far into “always mopey” or “always sweet and excitable”, a common problem even in this list), and also incorporates a series of sobering twists and turns.

1. Collectors

Nito Shinobu and Kanzaki Takako both love shopping. Shinobu collects books and Takako collects clothes. But as they move together, let’s just say there are spaaaaaace constraints. 

Collector is nothing grand or wild- this is the Happily Ever After, but Collector is important specifically for showing how life goes on, that it is comedic and fun and relatable. 

Yuri tends to face the opposite problem to Western LGBT material of the past. Older Western material is melodramatic and tragic, the gay identity of the couple is frequently mentioned and becomes a source of tragedy as they face persecution, which ultimately results in their suicide or murder. In yuri, the world is often isolated down to the couple- they have feelings for each other, but other characters rarely exist and if they do, these characters do not acknowledge the romance. “Lesbian” is never said, and talks of marriage are only meant as comedy. 

There has been a lot of praise for Yuri On Ice (which actually involves a male homosexual couple despite the title) for how the other characters are fleshed out too, for how they recognize and acknowledge the relationship between Viktor and Yuuri. There is a similar kind of realism going on in Collectors. There is a feeling of the world actually existing. 

Collectors gives attention to the tender moments, the little things, that make a relationship, instead of it all being grand kisses in front of everyone or a emotionally charged graduation speech. There is no feeling of such performance. Even the fights in Collectors are realistic, not the kind formed from wacky misunderstandings, and in fact the kind with a proper resolution and not where they leave, and then kiss and make up but the problem still exists.