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grapejuicefilledpools · 3 years ago

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My ramblings on finishing Magi and Magi: The Adventures of Sinbad and **SPOILERS for the whole series**

So to be fair, I finished reading Magi like a month ago. I just finished The Adventures of Sinbad like 5 minutes ago. For a short summary: I’m not a big manga reader but this makes me want to read every manga that has been adapted into anime. I’m planning on purchasing the whole series so I can reread it whenever I want to. For an out of 10 rating? All together it’s a 9/10 for me. It’s in my top 10 for anime/manga I’ve finished but idk where.

About the anime after reading the manga. I get why the anime started out like how it did but MAN when you read the manga the setup there is better. If my memory is correct, the manga starts with Aladdin and the anime starts with Alibaba. I’m guessing why they decided to adapt that was either because the mangaka wanted that or to make Alibaba fit as the protagonist more. It’s understandable but we’re with Aladdin more? Idk my mind was blown that they switched that much early on. That and some people will start a manga from where the anime left off, not from the beginning. And tbh? Now that I’ve rewatched Magi, anime kinda isn’t all that. The last time I watched was when I was 14-15 but it still left an impression on me. Not as good as I remember but the manga just fuckin destroyed the anime so whatever lol.

About manga past the anime. Tbh I’m still surprised at how good the manga got after where the anime left off. I still remember the shit leading up to chapter 260(I read like 130 chapters a day I was hooked). Like I finished 260 and just put my phone down and sat there until I went to sleep. I didn’t think I cared for Judal/Judar that much I was fuckin heartbroken. And Aladdin saying he didn’t have a choice and the look on his face ughhhhh shit fuckin SUCKED. Yeah I was going through it especially because before that you see Hakuryuu and Judal/Judar got along(was it that idk I was being feed a dynamic I didn’t know I needed let it be) and they’re not doing the good thing but whatever I’ve always liked Hakuryuu what do u want me to do?? The lead up was perfect and I want to reread Magi again just to get that led up to that fight again.

Now, the whole last arc? Kinda think I’m stupid lol. Sinbad just not stopping and I’m reading what he’s saying and I can’t completely disagree with what he was saying was frustrating for me. That and David being there(and finding out how he got there thx to the Sinbad spin-off) was a lot to take in which means I’m literally talking to myself abt this shit like a madman when I changed pages. I didn’t think it would go as far as it did with its subject matter so imagine my reaction when they start just fucking going at it the end between Sinbad and David. I had to put my phone down a lot during the end because I couldn’t understand what I was reading for a sec. Im not gonna reread the series for a minute because the stuff they were talking about is a bit too real for in my life and I don’t want to argue with my mom about fated paths and shit.

Overall I’m very satisfied. I got that hollow feeling in my chest after finishing both series and I’ll always be sentimental towards the series as a whole. I did some very cringe shit when I first watched Magi when I was young(listen I thought Morgiana was the coolest so let your imagination run wild) but I cherish those moments now. Not sure about recommendations but I very much enjoyed my time with this and I’ll remember it fondly years from now. But now my eyes are starting to unfocus so I have to stop typing lmao l8r.

#magi labyrinth of magic #magi the adventures of sinbad #literally just read the manga it good I like #don’t do what I did reading wise I finished it in like 4 days #then I couldn’t focus my eyes for like 2-3 days after don’t do that pls #masrur is the fuckin dude I love him my fav by far

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autumnslance · 3 years ago

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About Plagiarism

I left a long, planned essay on Twitter tonight. I will copy the meat of it here for y’all, as recently a friend was copied (a rarer ship in the fandom, so very noticeable by the writer and their regular beta reader) and it seems we need a Talk, kids. Links and screenshots and my rambling underway.

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Apparently we need to discuss what is and isn’t plagiarism. Especially in FanFic where we're interacting with the same characters, settings, ideas. Let’s start with the dictionary and continue the thread from there (I like the word origin/history personally):

Definition of plagiarize

transitive verb : to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source

intransitive verb : to commit literary theft : present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source

The Kidnapping Roots of Plagiarize

If schools wish to impress upon their students how serious an offense plagiarism is, they might start with an explanation of the word’s history. Plagiarize (and plagiarism) comes from the Latin plagiarius “kidnapper.” This word, derived from the Latin plaga (“a net used by hunters to catch game”), extended its meaning in Latin to include a person who stole the words, rather than the children, of another. When plagiarius first entered English in the form plagiary, it kept its original reference to kidnapping, a sense that is now quite obsolete.

“Ideas” is fuzzy in the Merriam-Webster definition. There are story archetypes that exist in many forms. Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth/Hero's Journey outlines many famous stories. And it's popular to say that “Avatar” is “Dances with Wolves” is “Pocahontas” is “The Last Samurai” etc.

But note how while those films have similar plotlines--”Military Guy falls for Native woman, learns to appreciate her Culture, stands up to Evil Bosses”--none of them execute those ideas in the same way. Sully’s story is different from Dunbar’s not just cuz one’s a Science Fiction epic and the other a Western. Disney's “Pocahontas” Very Loosely takes history and uses the same story beats. The Last Samurai uses the Meiji era Westernization. Same ideas, different executions, even beyond settings.

None of these are plagiarizing each other though the ideas are similar. They’re told in their own ways, own language; both in the genres they belong to (Western, Pseudo-History, SciFi, Animated) and how characters interact with each other and settings. Original dialogues (variable quality).

We also see this in books as similar novel plots get published in waves so we end up with bunches of post-apocalypse teen revolutionaries or various vampires or lots of young wizard stories all at once. Sometimes ideas just happen like this; multiple discovery, simultaneous invention, concurrent inspiration, cognitive emergence are all phrases I’ve seen for it. So it happens in original content as well, and legality gets fuzzy (Also why you don't send authors your fanfic ideas).

In existing properties, this gets trickier but even “Elementary”’s Holmes and Watson are nothing like the BBC’s “Sherlock” characters. Who are nothing like other versions of the Detective and his Doctor pal over the decades in various media properties.

FanFic's in a similar position where like Sherlock Holmes we play with the same characters, setting, and storyarcs but give our own spin to them. People can and will have similar ideas about plots. Trick is to use your own words. Take the characters and make the story your own.

I have a good example courtesy of @raelly-writing. We both ship Wolcred. We both wrote soft post-Paglth’an scenes with Thancred and our WoLs. Both features the couples helping each other undress, examining injuries, bathing, bantering. My fic was written soon after 5.5 part 1 came out. Dara’s is much more recent. Yet at no point reading hers did I feel she was copying my words. The PoVs differ. Our characters focus on different things. Mine has a mini-arc concerning the Nutkin.

The links for comparison’s sake (and maybe leave kudos/comments if so inclined please and thanks). Note while the scenes are very similar no phrases are written in the same way. Mine: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25417882/chapters/76059467 Dara’s: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26067565/chapters/81832915

Dara and I both hang out in certain Discords and I know conversations about Thancred and WoL caring for each other post-battle has come up in those channels and we've both participated. It’s a stock FanFic scene to boot. Cuz it's soft and feels warm and snuggly.

I HAVE been copied before, back in WoW. My case is pretty clear cut so here are the images of my old RP Haven profile (1st, old RP website) and the plagiarist’s RSP (2nd, an in game mod to share descriptions and basic info).

This was a decade ago on Shadow Council and I think the character deleted so any Availa’s in WoW now aren’t the same person. I left the names to point out what changed. Just the names and a word or 2 to make sense for the class changes as well. Otherwise lifted directly from my RP profile.

The funny part is how the person got caught. Literally walked into our weekly RP Guild meeting that I was running and asked to join. Folks noticed right away the similar backstory; after all there may have been more Outland-born Azerothians. My initial excitement at a character I could weave into our story turned to gut-twisting rage and grief as I recognized my own exact words though. Words I’d carefully crafted and constantly iterated on to improve over time (before and after this incident, until the site died).

When caught they tried to claim their significant other had leveled the character for them and made up the backstory based on Skyrim. If you know WoW’s Outland story and Skyrim’s plot you know how ridiculous that is. Also tried to lie about other drama I knew about thanks to roommate's characters but hey. I had to be blunt that I’d shared the info with Haven mods and other guild officers Alliance and Horde. That we would not “laugh about this” one day though lucky this was “just” RP not original or academic work. Cuz if it'd been monetized or academic I would've raked them through the coals.

I felt violated. Hurt. Had anxiety attacks. They took MY WORDS and tried to claim them as theirs. Have another character born in Outland trained by Draenei; Awesome! Our characters have an instant connect in similarities and differences of that experience. Don’t steal my characters wholesale!

Then the audacity of trying to come into my guild as if no one would notice. ShC wasn’t a large server by then, still active but not nearly Wyrmrest Accord or Moon Guard big. My character was well known due to my writing and RP. Speaking of how easy it is to get caught in specific spaces...A case of a self-published novelist getting noticed for plagiarizing fanfic was discovered recently (explicit erotica examples through the thread).

One way they got noticed was how much content they put out in only a year, lifted from fandom. The examples in Kokom’s threads show how the material was altered but still recognizable. In some cases, just the names are changed as in my experience. In other passages more has changed but you can still see the bones of the original fic poking through in the descriptions and character interactions, even with adjustments made.

Similar ideas happen. Similar plots exist. Same 'ships with friends are fun! In FanFic we’re working with the same material. It’s possible to write a similar scene differently. To make that scene and characters your own. All we’re asking is not to copy others' words. Others' characters. Others' specific phrases and descriptions used to bring those words, those characters, to life. Use your own. In the end you’ll be happier.

I get wanting to have what the perceived “popular people” have. I get seeing concepts others succeed with and wanting some of that too. We all get a bit jealous now and then for various reasons. Sometimes we don't even realize it, consciously. But do it in your own way. Maybe check to see if you’re getting a bit too close to the “inspiration” you admired, maybe reread often. Don’t hurt your fellow creatives. If you do and get caught don’t try to double down. Have the grace to be abashed at least and work to do better. Eventually you WILL get caught. All it takes is once to throw all else you've done into question. Ao3 doesn’t take kindly to plagiarists. Nor do a lot of fan communities focused on writing and RP. Getting back that trust is hard. The internet doesn’t forget easily, for good or ill.

#writing #blogging #about me #social media #plagiarism #fanfiction #Ao3

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countrymusiclover · 3 years ago

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8 - The Avengers

Part 9

Iron Stone masterlist

Tony's POV

I'm such an idiot.

Y/n hates me now.

I lean against the railing twiddling my thumbs before Rogers came in. "He seemed like a good man." Referring to Phil. Scoffing out I noticed something familiar on the floor next to some dried blood. "He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should've - no, no. Not this - not her!"

Dropping to my knees I pick up Y/n's necklace. She would never take this off. "Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?" I growled back feeling tears forming. "We are not soliders....Y/n's missing...I'm not matching into Fury's fife."

I spin her orange gem in my hands trying to think of where she could be. "Neither am I. He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now, we got to put that behind us and get this done. Loki needs a power source. If we can put together a list..." I cut Steve off seeing a orange beamed message that reads. L. H. M. - Loki - Has - Me.

"He made it personal...by kidnapping my girlfriend!" Gripping her necklace I snapped in anger. "That's not the point-" Steve said but I'm not having it. "That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart." Captain says. "Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right. That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience." I start walking up the ramp rereading Y/n's coded message. Why did we fight. Why did he take her?

Steve nods watching me play with her necklace like it's easily to shatter in my hands. "Right, I caught his act in Stuttgart."

Lifting my head up I throw my arms out, acting like the platform is a huge stage. "Yeah, that's just previews. This is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tilt diva, right. He wants flowers, he wants parades. He wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered. . . Son of a bitch." I'm coming home baby.

Y/n pov

My entire body ached as I started to see bright sunlight from squinting my eyes open. My hands brush across some stone cold floor. Moaning I force myself to lay on my side, dried blood sticking to my forehead from the impact. With blurry vision I started to recognize the arrangement of furniture, bar, landing pad and beautiful view from the large glass window. Stark Tower.

"Finally you were boring just laying there." A ringing started going off in my head. Like I'm hungover from too much alchohol. Turning my head slowly I see Loki standing above me with his blue staff.

"I'll - never - be - your - queen." He glared yanking me up from the floor and I feel some blood from my leg, seeing my jeans starting to stain red. Oh crude. Once outside I see he's using the arc reactor Tony just installed before we left as a power source for the Blue Cube.

"You see honey. The world I plan on building will have everyone of these miserable fools kneeling at my feet. Oh and look he gets to be the first witness." I glanced up to see Tony, Loki wraps his arm around my throat dragging me inside as I hear Jarvis in my broken earpiece. "Sir, Y/n. The Mark 7 is not ready for deployment. Neither is your Iron suit."

"Then skip the spinning trims. We're on the clock." Tony tells the AI as he walks with the suit removing. "Y/n, are you okay?"

Loki released the pressure off my throat dropping my weak body to the floor. "Ton - Tony." I hold myself up my the palms of hands, as Tony strides forward hoisting me up in his muscular arms.

"You - got - the - message." I weakly grabbed at his tea shirt, but he sits me down on the cough, cooing in a whisper. "I did and I'm sorry for lieing."

"Please tell me your going to appeal to my humanity....she's a pathetic woman I don't know what you see in her." Loki scoffs as I bawled my hands into fists. "You wanna see what I can really do!"

"Actually, I'm planning to threaten you." Tony states, slipping my necklace beside me without him seeing. "You should have left your armor on for that." Tony heads for the bar, pouring a glass of wine. I also knew he keeps his suit-locator bracelet hidden there, so it's most likely now on his right wrist. "It's seen a bit of mileage, and you've got the glow stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?"

"Staling me won't change anything." Loki steps closer to the bar passing me, giving me the chance to slip on my necklace. "No, no. Threatening. No drink, you sure. I'm having one."

"The chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?" Loki faces the window overlooking New York city as I slowly get to my feet and pressing my right hand against the scanner, unlocking the first door for my suit. "Suit powering on miss Y/n." Jarvis whispered in my ear.

Tony opens the alchohol bottle pouring himself a drink. "The Avengers. That's what we call ourselves. We're sort of like a team. 'Earth's mightiest heroes' type thing." Loki steps closer as I backed up closer to Tony. "Yes, I've met them."

"It takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count, here. Your brother, the demigod, a super solider, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend. A man with breathtaking anger-management issues, a couple of master assassins, and finally there's me and my girlfriend with healing energy, and you, big fella, you've managed to push off every single one of them."

Tony points a finger at Loki who voiced. "That was the plan."

I cross my arms over my chest quipping. "Not a great plan, dummy." Tony walks next to me with his drink in hand. "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army." Loki states like that will make us scared.

Tony and I glanced to one another smirking he announced. "We have a Hulk."

"I - I thought the beast had wondered off.." Loki trails off in confusion as I pinched the bridge of my nose, shacking my head slightly. "You're missing the point, Loki."

Tony walks down the stairs sitting his drink on the table, talking with his hands. "There is no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe be your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you." He paused glancing over his left shoulder at me as I smirked proudly. "Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it."

"How will your friends have time for me when they are so busy fighting the two of you?" Loki aims his staff at Tony's chest but nothing happens. I conjure up orange energy from my hands about to hit him as Tony rambles off. "Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon. One out of five-"

He grabs him by his throat cutting him off and throwing him across the ground. I blasted Loki with my energy but he blocked it with the blue jewel of the staff. Running to me he chokes me harshly causing me claw at his arm, trying to get free. "Jar - Jarvis - ah!" He threw me aggressively against Tony's side as he grunts getting to his feet, whispering. "Jarvis, anytime now."

"You will all fall before me!" Loki grabs Tony and me by our throats as my vision starts to go black. I can barely breathe as I'm about to pass out hearing Tony holler. "Deploy. Deploy!"

Loki throws him out of the window as I sobbed with a raw throat. "Tony!" Loki's grip on my throat closed tightly, he blasted me out the window with his staff. I screamed falling quickly to the ground. I'm so dead! Tony's suit wrapped around him so he fires his thrusters nearly hitting a family huddling on the ground. The wind blows through my hair as I'm inches from the sidewalk myself but I feel my arm blasters and my leg thrusters attach to my body. My necklace glows bright orange as I shoot all thrusters off towards the ground. Shooting up into the sky beside Tony, dropping my orange Iron mask.

"All systems go, miss Y/n." Jarvis stated as we hovered above Loki, who gasped at us still alive.

"And there's one other person you pissed off. His name was Phil." Tony says through his mask, raising a hand blaster at Loki, causing him to grunt falling to the floor. I smirked into my mask replying. "That's what you get for trying to kill me - Oh shit Tony!" The arc reactor blasts through the sky sending down space creatures.

I blast three to four creatures as some fire weapons at new. My thrusters are tricky to control through flying this height and fast at once. Tony flies past me with a pack flying after him. I blast half the army off his tail but get blasted by one racing to me. My left foot thrusters dropped control as Jarvis says, seeing more heading for me. "Thruster power at 50%."

I forced my power to follow Tony chasing after a metal alien shark creature destroying the city. "Stark, you and Y/n seeing this?" Steve questions as I spun around a large building blasting four creatures off another building they were climbing. "Seeing. Still working on believing." Tony responds flying beside the shark thing. Clint and Black Widow handle the ones on the ground as Captain America helps the civilians get away from danger.

Tony blasts through the side of the flying thing, seeing it starting to follow him. "Well we got its attention. What the hell was step two?" I try injuring it with a rocket blast but it does nothing as its tail tries to swing at me. I fly through its tail dodging the attack. "I'd say dodge and destroy." Tony sees Banner on the ground as I blasted the creature getting it to round through multiple buildings following the both of us. "Guys, we got him." Steve says but I confirmed. "Banner?"

"Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you." Tony flies looped e loops through the city the beast behind him. The four of them stand stunned as Widow says. "I don't see how that's a party." The creature's mouth nearly eats me but I shoot up higher when it smashes cars on the streets.

"Guys we could really use the Hulk right about now!" I shouted to the group.

"Dr. Banner. Now might be a really good time for you to get angry." Steve tells the man as he slowly steps towards the creature.

"That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry." Dr. Banner ripped his shirt going green and fully becoming the Hulk. He roars running and punching the creature in the nose that causes it to roll over onto its back nearly ontop of the rest of our team. I blasted back and forth dodging the creature's weight. "Hold up, baby." Tony holds up his right arm shooting off a tiny missel at the creature that damaged its core and the smaller creatures screeched loudly, Hulk roars louder than them as all of us get in a circle readying our weapons.

More of the shark creatures exited the portal heading straight for us. "Guys." Natasha pointed a gun to the sky. "Captain call it." Tony orders Steve.

"All right, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you and L/n have the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or turn it to ash." I flick my helmet back down as Tony and I activate our thrusters.

"Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You got the lightning. Light the bastered up." Thor spins his hammer shooting up into the sky. "You and me, we stay here on the ground. We keep the fighting here. And Hulk. . ." The green beast snarls at Steve and Widow. "Smash."

Hulk shot up in the air ripping the things apart. Thor draws the lightning and blasts the aliens up. "Stark. L/n, you got two string of strays sniffing your tails." Clint states drawing his bow and arrow as I turned back rounding up the top of a building, having some of the aliens blow up after hitting it. "I'm just trying to keep them off the streets." Tony said being chased by a fleet of them. "Find a tight corner then." Clint says as Tony blasts three of them. "I will Roger that."

Clint shoots arrows destroying flying creatures as I fly through a parking garage destroying some of the creatures that smash into poles. Tony zooms past my area and I bolt after him, shooting four of the things on his ends. He goes through a tight garage tunnel looking around worried. "Oh boy." The two creatures on his tail slammed into the walls exploding "Nice call."

"Jarvis?.." I zoomed in front of him firing a missile at one that tried jumping on my back. "Yes, Y/n." He asks.

My eyes see a group of creatures all heading straight for me. "Let's send all my power to my necklace and do a spin tornado."

He responds with. "Of course. Target located."

I closed my eyes flying in a rapid spinning motion at the group, feeling a orange energy consuming around me in a tornado like fation. The blast knocked out the group as I land on my feet, seeing Tony laying on the ground after being shot at by two of the creatures.

Flipping my mask up I force my hand to his suits outside, repairing the iron. "What do you call that move?" Three creatures surrounded us as I flipped my mask down blasting one with my hands.

"Spinjitzu. Tornado spin type fighting. Discovered it while you were in the lab before I got captured." He looks sad for a moment before the creatures start getting closer knocking us down.

"Stark. L/n, do you hear me. You have a missile headed straight for the city." Fury's voice comes through my suit as I spun into the tornado again knocking out two guys. "Seriously we're busting our butts here!"

"Jarvis, put everything we got into the thrusters." Tony orders before I blasted into the sky, him following shortly after. "I just did." Tony flew over the water grabbing the missile and redirecting it.

"I've got a missile coming in less than a minute...and I know just where to put it."

I halt in my tracks cursing as I hovered above the rest of our team. "Tony you don't get to die on me!" He orders to Steve. "Roger's, keep Y/n there. I can't risk her getting hurt." Steve jumped up removing my necklace having my suit lose power, I fall to the ground growling at him. "Stark, you know that's a one-way trip. She furious with both of us."

Furiously removing my helmet all the way the wind blows around my messy hair. I've got more cuts on my face now from the battle as I press my earpiece, ordering to our AI. "Jarvis, patch me through to his suit now!"

He said as I limped forward my eyes locked onto the portal in the sky. "Sir, Y/n is on the line."

"Tony, listen to me. You don't get to die - not again - because I love you. . . I forgive you for lieing - because you were trying to protect us in a way. What you're doing right now - is selfless - and you've never truly done it before - so I love you more now, knowing you'll change more than you already have." Tears start falling from my eyes as I see his red suit disappear into the portal, so I heavily start sobbing in case he doesn't make it out alive. "I love you - I want to spend my life with you - I want to marry you, have my first time sex with you, have kids with you. . .and no one else will be enough for me. Because no one else is as childish as you or as adventurous, that is something I never knew I wanted until I met you. . . Tony if you can hear me, I - I - I love you 3000." The portal closes as I see a red figure falling to the ground.

"Son of a gun." Steve said in shock. Thor started spinning his hammer. "He's not slowing down." Tony's body nearly hit the ground but Hulk grabs him and rolls them to the concrete. I race over with the boys dropping to my knees when Thor broke his Iron Man mask so he could breathe. Come on Ton.

Hulk roars loudly seconds later Tony gasped heavily, causing happy tears to fall down my red cheeks from crying earlier, a huge smile plastered on my face.

"What the hell. What just happened. Please tell me nobody kissed me?" He rambles out, lifting his head up lightly eyes flickering around rapidly.

Steve breaths out as I rest my hand against Tony's cheek, still smiling. "We won."

"All right, yay! Hurray. Goog job, guys." He leans into my palm, trying to steady his breathing. He grunted deeply as I help him sit up. "Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day."

He rests his head against my torn tea shirt mumbling only loud enough for me to hear. "I love you 3000, too Y/n." I run my fingers through his hair smiling still. "You scared the hell out of me, Tony." His breathing slows down as he planted a kiss to my cheek.

"Have you ever tried shawarma? His shoots his head up clearly starting to feel better. "There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it."

"We're not finished yet." Thor states making me throw my head back in a groan. "Loki!" Tony moans getting to his feet. "And then Shawarma after." Finally all the Avengers stand above Loki, weapons draw. "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."

1 month after

First off yes we did try the Shawrama place and I thought it was weird but the others liked it. After we all took leave going out separate ways. Pepper managed the reconstruction of Stark Tower - correction Avengers Tower. It's become a base for our team when we have battles and for the chill time after we win. Tonight I'm sitting outside stargazing wearing a light orange dress and wedge sandles, my hair loose and wavy.

"O Y/n O Y/n, wherefore art though Y/n?" A giggle escaped my lips hearing Tony's voice impersonating Shakespeare. His arms wrapped around my waist pulling me to my feet. "What you doing - cause I've got a suprise."

I turned in his arms raising a eyebrow seeing him in a dress shirt instead of his lab tea shirt. "Suprise huh. Could it be what I'm thinking?" He smiled directing me inside to see his bedroom lit up like a romantic dancefloor. A song started that I really like. 'Make Me Want To.'

"Your eyes locked on me I knew I better had to have you. Right here in the middle of the floor. With this hole in the walk on a backstreet. I knew I had to get close to you." I softly started singing the lyrics outloud as Tony wraps his hands on me, slowly dancing to a song that becomes fast paced.

Tony smiles and blushes when I see him start singing the lyrics as well as twirling me in and out of his chest. "Girl what's your name, what you drinkin. Yeah what's your favorite song. If you're thinkin what I'm thinkin. We ain't gonna be in this bar too long."

Shortly after we sing together spinning the other around with smiles on our faces. "We'll be sneakin on out to your car. Stealin kisses out there in the dark. Yeah it might be too soon to say I love you. But you're gonna make me want to."

I raise up on my tippy toes pulling his lips down to mine by grabbing his shirt. He responded quickly kissing me back deeper running his hands around my waist and carrying me to the bed. We break for air as I'm laying on my back with him hovering over me. "Are you sure...if at anytime you want to stop, just tell me."

"Tony yes I'm sure. Like I said the day we saved New York, I want everything with you. I love you 3000." He nodded gently kissing me, his hands running down my body. He broke away to remove his shirt so I see his blue arc reactor and his toned chest.

I blushed lightly with a smirk that he replied the same with. "Like what you see, darling Y/n?" I nod my head as he leans down once more our lips inches from touching to whisper.

"I love you 3000."

Comments really appreciated ❤️

#iron stone #tony stark x reader fanfiction #tony stark x reader #tony stark #robert downey jr #iron man #wattpad fanfiction #comments really appreciated

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opbackgrounds · 4 years ago

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I'm not sure under which catagory this will fit but can you give your opinion on the relationship between Doffy and Roci? More specifically whether or not Doffy really loved Roci; and if he did, did Roci wrong Doffy as a brother? In my mind Cora-san did nothing wrong and it's mainly Doffy's fault that they ended up where they were; but i'm curious Thank you ❤

First things first, no I don’t think Cora did anything wrong, and, no, I don’t believe Cora was right saying that Doffy was inherently evil.

Secondly, this ask made me reread Law’s flashback for the first time since it was initially released, so while things are fresh in my mind I’m hardly an expert. My friends tell me that frees me to make an unbiased analysis, but I fully admit my stance on this isn’t 100% settled. I might change my mind on somethings later on, and that’s okay.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about feelings, and how they betray us.

I find Doflamingo difficult to write about because there’s so much about him that remains ambiguous even after the conclusion of his arc. One Piece villains don’t tend to be super complicated by themselves as much as how they interact in a complicated world.

Take Crocodile. What drives his actions during the Alabasta saga are simple: He wants military might after a failed attempt at the New World. The details of his backstory and the nature of his failure are fuzzy, but the basic motivation is pretty cut and dry.

Not so for Doflamingo. There are some hints that he wants to become the Pirate King, but for a decade he’s carved for himself a comfortable role in the underworld maintaining the status quo among the Four Emperors, gaining wealth and prestige on the slave market dealing black market weapons. Maybe all he wants is to laugh while watching the world burn. Who knows, not me.

What makes analyzing Doffy and Cora difficult specifically is that Cora is a liar. Seriously, I don’t think there’s a major character in that entire flashback that he’s not dishonest with. So you get moments like this

Mixed with moments like this

Making it difficult at times to know where exactly Cora stands. I mean, if he truly believed Doflamingo was born a monster, that there wasn’t a scrap of decency in his body, would he really have hesitated to shoot, even knowing he was about to be killed?

There is a lot of ambiguity in the characters of Cora and Doffy. To paraphrase Shrek, they’re like onions, with lots of layers to dig through. At the end of the day I think there are multiple valid interpretations that stay true to the text, and unless Oda decides to go Word of God in an SBS or something it’s going to stay that way.

For what my two cents are worth, I don’t think even Cora knows how he feels about Doffy. On the one hand, he’s made it his life’s work to limit the destruction Doflamingo can wreck on the rest of the world, but on the other, he’s fighting against his blood brother. Cora I think was right when he said that he and the other executives understood Doflamingo better than anyone else in the world

Because remember, Cora was there. He saw Doffy kill their father in cold blood. He heard his brother vow revenge even as the rest of the family begged for mercy from the enraged mob who nailed them to a wall. He’s seen the rage Doflamingo is capable of and the lengths he’ll go to in order to get back at those he thinks have wronged him.

Oda has always struck an interesting balance been Nature and Nurture within the series. I’ll touch on it more when I write on the Celestial Dragons as a whole, but you can’t really look at the environment Doffy grew up in and say that he had any chance and becoming anyone else that he did.

Cora and his parents were, at best, outliers within the culture of Mariejois. You know that the family had slaves before they decided to live like normal people because as a child Doffy asks if they can buy more. You get the implication that Homing never had the strength of will to correct his son’s misbehavior, nor did he have any idea of what he was getting his family into (his idea of a “comfortable life” is a giant freaking mansion) and after his death Trebol and the rest fed Doffy’s worst traits, molding Doflamingo just as much as an adult Doflamingo molded the children left in his care

So while Doflamingo always had a strong will and a mean streak, neither did he ever have a character like Sengoku to set him on the straight and narrow. You can’t tell me that if during the Void Century the Donquiote family decided to stay and rule Dressrosa and the Nefertiti family abandoned Alabasta for Mariejois that eight hundred years later that’s not at least a chance that Vivi ends up as a super villain with a god complex while Doffy is ruling as a good, wise king.

So in wrapping this up, I think the relationship between the brothers is messy and complicated. For as much as Doflamingo spouts how much he values his blood brother during the first half of the flashback, he was pretty damn quick to assume that Cora had betrayed them after he ran off with Law (and to be fair, he was right). I think there was always a part of Doflamingo that doubted his brother, because he disappeared for eight years, and because of the supposed “weakness” Cora showed when they were children. I think there’s some truth to the statement that Doffy values the four other executives more than Cora

Putting a very twisted spin on the found family trope that One Piece puts so much emphasis on. I think Doflamingo expected Cora to betray him because he’d been betrayed by his “own kind” so many times before: By his father, and then by the Celestial Dragons as a whole, who I think people tend to forget tried to kill him when they found out he had learned their big secret

(As an aside, I love Oda’s attention to detail—the silhouette of the armor is exactly the same as what we see at Mariejois itself)

At the same time, I think Doffy was genuinely disappointed when his suspicions about Cora were correct. Doflamingo gave his brother everything, including a seat at his right hand, only for Cora to throw it back in his face. Doflamingo had planned for Cora to eat the Op-Op Fruit and give up his life to give him immortality, but Cora refused to be controlled.

And if there’s anything Doffy hates, it’s not being in control.

For his part, I think Cora told himself often enough that his brother was a monster that he mostly believed it. Whether or not it’s true or not doesn’t really matter, because Cora believed his brother was beyond saving. The fallen god had become a devil that needed to be put down for the sake of the world.

And yet he couldn’t pull the trigger.

It’s unfortunate for him that Doffy didn’t have those second thoughts.

#opbackgrounds #one piece #long post #Doflamingo #corazon #character analysis #sarc talks

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beneaththemasks · 4 years ago

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Beast, Fifteen, Dead Apple and Fyodor´s ability put togheter

The first time I watched Bungou I didn't pay much attention to be honest and that lead me to committing a big mistake and that big mistake is what brings me here today.

This is a theory I´ve been working on for a long time now.

Before anything else I have to tell you that this is something I came up with entirely by myself, I don´t know if anyone has already written something similar to this, so any similitude is pure coincidence.

DISCLAIMER: this contains spoilers from the manga and light novels and is quite long, so read at your own risk.

Any hateful comment will be simply ignored, this is just something I'm sharing with you because it makes sense to me and I want to know what you think.

Please excuse my english if it gets bad at times since it isn't my first language.

Let´s begin:

I´ll start talking to you about some guy named “Randou” who was presented in the light novel ''Fifteen” as the responsible for the mafia´s predecessor return and the Arahabaki incident.

For those of you who don´t remember him, here´s a picture.

Ok so, you might wonder why I'm bringing him up.

If he was supposed to be a forgettable face from the beginning, another extra character in the story, then why didn´t I forget him? Why do I mention him before anything?

The answer is simple: I can forget a face I´ve seen once or twice but not one I´ve seen thrice.

“What do you mean? we only saw the man one time”

You´re totally right, however that wasn´t the case for me.

Confusing his face was the big mistake I made and the one that lead me to building this net of theories and clues that I'm putting together right here right now:

Even though the first time we see Fyodor´s face is at the ending of the second season and then again in Dead Apple, I remind you that I wasn't paying attention at all (like literally guys I already told you about how I would call tachihara “bad tanizaki” just because they looked the same to me). Due to my lack of attention, after finishing the “cannibalism” arc. and becoming more familiar with Fyodor´s face it occurred to me that he was the same guy involved in the arahabaki incident.

Why? because I can so I did.

My brain automatically assumed these guys were the same person just because they were dressed as if they were going to sleep on the top of the Everest for a whole month and because their faces were equally sad...

Of course, when I finished the anime and started reading the manga I was totally confused when Dazai asked Fyodor what his ability was, since I thought him and Randou were the same person, therefore I thought they shared ability.

After that I had to rewatch the whole anime and then realized how high I was when I watched it the first time.

But even when I managed to get the whole story right I still couldn't stop thinking about Randou, he was still a mystery, but more than the man himself, his story and the order in which they were presented by Kafka were somehow strange.

So after reading “Beast'' I came up with a few theories about the book being canonically in that alternate universe, because for me, even if Beast was supposed to be just a spin off written to promote the release of Dead Apple, it couldn´t be that and only that.

I just can´t accept that “Kafka wrote a 200-page novel to promote a movie that had nothing to do with it when he was asked to just write a 50-page short story” because he just felt like doing it. I knew from the deep bottom of my heart that he was not the kind to write just for fanservice.

So I came up with this idea: “What if the release of Beast and fifteen are more important than we think?”

Despite the first time we see fyodor´s face being at the end of the second season, the first time we see him meeting Dazai, is during dead apple. However, he seems to be just an extra character, someone who doesn't seem to add much to the story at first sight (except for when he turns Shibusawa into a big dragon).

But if we think about it, the same happens with the mentioning of the book in “Beast” and with Randou´s appearance in “Fifteen”.

In these three stories, the book, Randou and Fyodor are like an app running in the background of your cell phone, they are responsible for some kind of event and or incident that we cannot see now but that eventually will go out to light.

These are all very small hints, but that's why it is important, the smaller the better.

We can´t forget that Kafka has always been a mastermind of hiding evidence in plain sight.

He wrote and published 3 stories at the same time that have nothing in common and then used them to promote each other. He decided not to wait any longer nor release them earlier because they´re relevant to each other even when they don't seem to be. They are like a building in the middle of the city, we see it but we never get the chance to observe it because of all that's happening around it.

But as far as we know Randou dies at the end of fifteen. How could he possibly be related to Fyodor if they never met?

The importance here is not his death or them meeting, maybe not even Randou himself but what happened before his entrance to the PM and after his death.

As far as we know, Randou used to be an european spy tasked to investigate a powerful entity of power in japan and sent to steal it. However, during that mission he was betrayed by his friend who tried to kill him but is Randou who ended up killing him instead.

Nevertheless, in the story we never get to know why his friend betrayed him nor what is that so called “source of energy” that the japanese government has been secretly guarding.

never

know

until now (?)

Towards the end:

What if that “source'' is actually the book itself and his friend tried to kill him to keep it for himself and escape with it?

Even more important:

What if Randou, after killing his friend, decides to steal the book but forgets about it and it´s power after losing his memory in the Arahabaki incident?

These explanations can perfectly fill a void we never even noticed was there: Randou dies without remembering that he has a very important item with him, which is the reason for which he was once chased by the GSS (an agrupation that is connected to the Guild who we already know was searching for the book as well) and the same Dazai could have stolen after the Port Mafia kept his belongings when he died.

Please please pleaaaaaaseeee finish the idea.

After writing for 2 days, tying knots and untying them, reading and rereading, remembering details and searching for others i couldn't remember, this is my final conclusion:

Fyodor´s ability could be nothing more and nothing less than the book itself.

The proof of that being:

-All we know is his ability “Crime and Punishment” is presented as a perfect complement to one another. When he explains why Sibusawa´s mist didn't affect him he says “it´s because crime and punishment are good friends” which can mean that for one to appear, the other has to do something, that is to say, he has to commit a crime to receive punishment.

-We can assume that as someone whose objective is to free everyone from the sense of morality (as Gogol explains) he's the one to decide whether he commits a crime that deserves punishment or better said, his ability “the book” that can only function following the rules of karma.

-He probably doesn't need to communicate with the outside at all and is trying to deceive Dazai since the plot is going according to his plans and to how he planned to write the story on that single page.

-We know he has a page since the beginning and he also knows everything that´s written on it (for example that sigma´s existence was written on it 3 years before) but it's never mentioned how he got it.

-He literally joined the Guild to search for that book (´cause it belongs to him).

-Despite everything, Dazai is not worried about his plans either (he says all he has to do is observe him) because he's confident that everything is gonna turn out in his favour (you can see the little bitch didn't mind sending Akutagawa to his own death) since he stole the book from Randou long ago.

-What Dazai could've done with the book is nothing more and nothing less than creating the “Beast” universe after leaving the PM just to give Oda a proper farewell and because since he discovered the real power of that book he decided the best was to hide it.

However none of them can reveal any of this for obvious reasons.

Well I´ve nothing more to say, this is all I have for the moment.

I know some of these ideas sound very complicated and even excessive, however in the end everything fitted perfectly to me (and I swear I came up with 3 different theories before putting this one together).

If you managed to read this far, thank you very much :,)

If you feel like commenting something feel free to do so :)

#bungou stray dogs #bsd #bsd manga #bsd light novel #bsd dead apple #bsd beast #bsd fifteen #dazai osamu #fyodor dostoevsky #asagiri kafka #harukawa 35 #long post #as you can see I have no life and a lot of free time #bsd spoilers

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mlmanakin · 4 years ago

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Okay okay king because your taste is impeccable, I need your sw book recs

to preface all of this: i recommend reading what you’re interested in. in my experience, there isn’t really any star wars book that is so exceptional that i would recommend it even if you don’t care about the main character(s) or subject(s). (i say this... but there are a few recs that i mention you should try reading even if you’re not interested in the character[s] or subject[s].)

and my book rec list ended up being (almost) every book i’ve read in recent memory, so that should be an indication of how uncritical i am when it comes to books. these books range from “must-read that i've reread too many times to count” to “i read it once and enjoyed it well enough,” so i starred (⭐) a few standouts from the list.

here’s a link to a masterpost of legends book downloads.

books

canon

⭐ the ahsoka novel. some of ahsoka’s adventures between the clone wars and rebels. bonus: audiobook is voiced by ashley eckstein. ahsoka’s story in the “present” is fine, but the real standout moments in this book are the flashbacks and ahsoka reflecting on her past.

a new dawn. some of kanan and hera’s adventures before rebels.

master & apprentice. some of qui-gon and obi-wan’s adventures before the phantom menace.

from a certain point of view. an anthology of short stories focused around a new hope, told from unique perspectives. by its nature as an anthology featuring dozens of authors, it’s a mixed bag, but worth a read - and you can always skip a story that isn’t holding your interest.

legends

⭐ all of the prequel novelizations (both junior and adult), especially matthew stover’s revenge of the sith. if you love the prequels, you’ll love them even more after reading these. if you don’t love the prequels, you’ll learn to love them after reading these.

⭐ the legends clone wars books (the clone wars by karen traviss, wild space by karen miller, no prisoners by karen traviss, stealth by karen miller, and siege by karen miller). released after the 2008 tv show began but before the disney takeover (i.e. feature ahsoka). i haven’t actually read these myself, but they are highly and widely recommended by others, so i’m putting them here. (and i have read a few bits and pieces that were... WHEW!!!!!!!)

i would recommend some more myself but my memory of the other legends books i have read is very weak, so just check out padawanlost’s book rec tag here - it’s what i’ll be using when i finally get back into legends books.

comics

canon

i’m dividing this into two tiers bc i’ve read so many. upper tier is more highly recommended than lower tier, but lower tier is definitely still worth a read.

upper tier:

⭐ the age of republic comics. some adventures of various republic era characters (qui-gon, obi-wan, anakin, padme, maul, jango [and boba], dooku, grievous, rex, asajj, mace). even if you’re not interested in the main character of an issue, i’d recommend reading it anyway. they’re very short and very good. + i haven’t read them, but there are age of rebellion and age of resistance comics as well if you’re interested in that.

the kanan comics. some of kanan’s adventures both before and during rebels.

the thrawn comics. some of thrawn’s adventures before his appearance in rebels, featuring pryce as well. an adaption of the first book in the new thrawn trilogy, which i haven’t read yet - although i plan to and it’s pretty widely praised.

the obi-wan & anakin comics. some of obi-wan and anakin’s adventures after the phantom menace.

the darth maul comics (marvel 2017). some of maul’s adventures before the phantom menace.

the star wars adventures: clone wars - battle tales comics. some of the clones’ adventures during the very beginning of the clone wars, featuring some jedi as well. currently releasing. the first issue was some superb lighthearted clone wars content.

lower tier:

the main star wars adventures comics (i.e. the battle tales comics are essentially a spin-off of this). some of (almost) everyone’s adventures all over the star wars timeline. i haven’t read all of them, but if you like the battle tales comics, they’re very similar and worked on by some of the same people.

the son of dathomir comics. some of maul’s adventures between the lawless and the siege of mandalore.

the dark lord of the sith comics. some of vader’s adventures between revenge of the sith and a new hope.

the main star wars comic series (marvel 2015). some of the original trio’s adventures between a new hope and the empire strikes back.

the main darth vader comic series (marvel 2015). some of vader’s adventures between a new hope and the empire strikes back.

legends

⭐ the legends clone wars comics, listed here so you know what i’m talking about. released before the 2008 tv show began (i.e. do not feature ahsoka). feature a variety of characters throughout the clone wars.

the other legends clone wars comics, listed here so you know what i’m talking about. released after the 2008 tv show began but before the disney takeover (i.e. feature ahsoka). each comic arc is like an arc from the tv show. includes the comic that the slaves of the republic arc was adapted from.

the other other legends clone wars comics, listed here so you know what i’m talking about. companions to episodes of the 2008 tv show, usually a more detailed prologue for the episode.

the star wars visionaries comics. the content of the visionaries comics is difficult to describe, but the comics are a mixed bag with some beautiful art by the revenge of the sith concept artists. a few very interesting stories, including maul with cybernetic legs returning to tatooine to fight obi-wan... and this was released in 2005 🤔 (although i don’t think that story specifically was ever considered canon.)

the comic adaptations of the prequels.

bonus: not books or comics

these aren’t books or comics but they’re not movies or tv shows, so i’m including them here.

⭐ knights of the old republic i & ii. excellent star wars video games. gameplay is dated, but knights of the old republic ii specifically is top-tier star wars content, especially if you’re into the force, the jedi, the sith, etc. if you’re a fan of other bioware or obsidian games (fallout, mass effect, dragon age, etc.), you should definitely try these.

⭐ forces of destiny. excellent ~2-minute animated shorts on youtube focused on female characters. superb lighthearted content. “unexpected company” is the best.

#ask #anonymous #i really don't read many books anymore #and what i do read i forget so fast #i swear this summer is gonna be my sw book renaissance #i did not go back a proofread this so...#sorry if i'm incoherent

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hapuriainen · 4 years ago

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Hapuriainen's Animation & Comics & Games of 2020

It is again time for the annual compilation!

Manga:

Attack on Titan

I'm so sad this is so close to end... It's been my main thing for a few years now. Eren definitely didn't take the route I expected but I still find this consistent with his character and a bold and interesting move from the author.

(My notes say I also finished the jr high spin-off manga but it's not worth talking about)

Awards given: Best Side Girl (I still like Gabi, haters gonna hate), Best Boy (ditto Eren)

One Piece, My Hero Academia My interest in OP is still at an all-time low and I'm just waiting for the arc to end. There are so many characters and I have little idea what their deal is, Carrot hasn't been interesting in ages and currently Yamato is the only character I care for. Same for HeroAca; at least the excruciatingly long action scene is finally over.

Undead Unluck New Jump series! I think the main duo have a really good dynamic, but they're pretty much the only thing I care about and I'm very lost with what the plot is actually supposed to be about.

Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro

I like detective stories so here's one from the Assassination Classroom creator! The detective stuff itself could get rather nonsensical and as the story progressed more and more fantasy elements were added, but the titular character was entertaining enough to keep me interested. The viewpoint character was refreshingly (for a Jump series) a girl and her dynamic with Neuro (an ordinary schoolgirl and an arrogant amoral troll demon) was great.

Awards given: Best non-romantic relationship (Neuro & Yako)

Spy x Family

Super fun and the characters are cute! The main couple has such great chemistry and in general I enjoy following characters who are really competent at their job. Not surprised that this has become hugely popular.

Awards given: Best romance (it is rare to get me to ship anything but the main couple here is just so cute)

Delicious in Dungeon

This manga has amazing character design and the author clearly loves to play around with it, like by drawing each character as each other's races, or making clones of everyone but each clone is a little different so you can guess which is the real one with the characters, and there's so much thought put to the outfits too. And then there's of course all the worldbuilding around how an RPG dungeon and the creatures in it could work, but it's presented simply enough that the story is still easy to follow. I also like the upbeat atmosphere; maybe I could get a bit more emotionally involved if there was more drama, but I still really like this as it is.

Awards given: Best character designs

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

Reread one of my favourite manga ever and it's still just as good. I love how the manga still has a positive vibe to it, under it there is the quiet melancholy of a world that is close to ending. And it's wonderful how uninterested the story is answering any of the worldbuilding questions it sets up.

Beastars

This was incredibly interesting in how it presented an animal society where the carnivore-herbivore differences couldn't be just explained away with "the differences don't really exist", and the story looks at this from so many different angles. Pairs really well with Zootopia for a completely different approach. Louis was a really interesting character with how he publicly managed to appear as if he was a good candidate to be the next ambassador for the peace between the animals but was actually very cold and broken inside, and I really liked his breakdown moment. The ending was pretty meh though.

Awards given: Best Side Boy (Louis)

Kannagi

This one has really cute character designs but apart from that it's a pretty generic harem story. Except for the twist that the main girl already had been involved with a boy which caused otaku to shred their manga or whatever. I believe I would have enjoyed this more if it finished back when it went to hiatus since at this point it didn't do much for me.

Witch Hat Atelier

The main girl is the kind of heroic, friendly, plucky goody-two-shoes protagonist I really don't like but apart from that this is a great manga. I love the art, and the way the magic works is really well set up but also easy to understand. Great outfits too!

Anime:

This year I learned that in order to clear stuff from your anime watch list you need to actually watch anime. So unexpectedly I think I watched a lot more different series than usual.

Attack on Titan

It was my plan to watch seasons 1-3 before jumping on board with the last one, and of course I dragged my feet for the entire year and had to marathon the whole thing in autumn. I still prefer the manga, but the anime does have great colours, soundtrack and voice acting and some of the action scenes were amazing. But I really hate what they did to Historia in season 3... The final season has been excellent so far and I can't wait for the big scene in the next episode.

Awards given: Best OP (all the Linked Horizon ones)

Ouran High School Host Club

Haruhi continues to be one of the best girls in the anime and manga industry ever with her confident and no-nonsense attitude, and Tamaki's oblivious and overflowing friendliness makes for a great counterpart to her. And the opening theme is so darn catchy.

Awards given: Best Girl (Haruhi)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Finally managed to watch this. I love the iconic character designs and all the chaotic energy. Kamina for best bro. I've never cared for mecha, the girls were nice but the writing around them sucked and the second half wasn't as strong as the first one, but still a good package overall.

Awards given: Best ED (don't care for the song that much but Simon looks somehow really cool in the second ending)

Haibane Renmei

Another one that had been on the watch list for years. A lovely quiet and contemplative show. Visuals were rather dull though but maybe it's better for a show like this that the characters didn't have bubblegum pink hair.

Digimon Adventure 2020

This started promising but has since lost steam. I really like how different the story is from the original Digimon Adventure, and compared to Precure it's super nice how not every episode has the exact same structure, and the cast has different roles and regularly gets split up instead of shoehorning everyone into every conflict. But on the other hand the characters feel way more samey and flat, and the original "kids want to return to their home from the Digital World" plot was a lot more personal than the current one about global crises and prophecy jargon. And some of the action scenes last way too long.

Awards given: Worst side boy (Agumon and his evolutions, it is of course expected that he'd get a lot of screen time but I'm so over how much he's constantly pushed in your face in the franchise)

Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii Desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii Desu ka?

This wasn't afwul but still left me kind of cold. I think the character designs were a problem here, in general I'm used to brightly coloured anime characters but this was trying to be a very serious story about child soldiers who know they're going to die young. But when they were colour-coded and always wore the same clothes (and mostly had pretty generic animu girl personalities) they felt so artificial which made it harder to get into the drama. Nice OP song.

Yashahime

Inuyasha was my first show after really getting into anime so I was super hyped for any kind of new content. So far this has unfortunately been rather dull since I'm not particularly interested in either of Sesshoumaru's daughters, and the way the show treats the absence of the old cast is annoying. Just either show them or make it clear we're not supposed to care about them, now it's just annoying how their disappearance is treated as a mystery but the three heroines know barely anything about their heritage and don't even seem interested in learning either. But I'll watch this to the end for Moroha.

Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angels, Twin Angel Break, Pretear, Happy Seven, Healin' Good Precure

Watched a lot of magical girl stuff this year too, these being shows that play the tropes straight. The Twin Angel seasons had different flaws but were otherwise watchable aside from the awful Twin Angel Break heroine. Pretear had surprisingly nice character writing and I feel I would really have liked this if I saw it at an earlier part of my anime hobby experience but now it doesn't feel so special any more. Healin' Good Precure has been rather dull.

I also watched a bunch of Precure movies, out of which only the Star Twinkle Precure one was actually good, and the Spring Carnival crossover movie was also good in an absurd way, while the rest ranged from awful to somewhat decent.

Awards given: Worst girl (Meguru - Twin Angel Break), Biggest WTF (Happy Seven suddenly going from monster of the week shenaningans to alien mass destruction weapons)

Concrete Revolutio, Myriad Colors Phantom World, Re:Creators

Also some anime where the magical girl was a side character. Concrete Revolutio was an unpleasant mess with nice visuals, Myriad Colors was a pretty boring otaku high school harem thing and the magical girl episode was also rather bland, and Re:Creators had a lot of potential with the "anime characters come to our world" setting but the result was somewhat uneven. Re:Creators had the best magical girl out of these three.

Awards given: Worst non-romantic relationship, Worst side girl (Setsuna from Re:creators, with the main boy) not really an awful character on her own, but the writing around her was pretty bad, let's also give Worst Boy for the said main boy

Nausicaa

I watched the first half of the movie over a decade ago and didn't manage to finish until now. After seeing so many other Ghibli movies this didn't do much for me, but the animation and nature were still beautiful.

Western:

Most Popular Girls in School

The newer seasons didn't reach the heights of the earlier ones but there's still something entertaining about a very raunchy Barbie doll stop motion show. Also pairs well with the Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse for a fun but more child friendly Barbie experience.

Frozen 2

I'm wondering if these really are the only Western piece of media I consumed this year? I certainly didn't go to movies after March. Anyway, like the previous film I had major problems with the plot and characters (I don't think Elsa's story was set up properly, Kristoff's sub-plot feels like an afterthought when he doesn't factor to Anna's sub-plot at all, Olaf is annoying, too much Lore) but ultimately I still had a good time. I like the costume design, the idea for Elsa's arc is fine, the songs are great and there were plenty of good scenes too, and the lullaby was beautiful. I'd say that like the original Frozen this was patched together from perfectly serviceable pieces that didn't quite work combined.

Awards given: Worst romance (not the pairing itself but the way Kristoff x Anna was written)

Games:

Animal Crossing Pocket Camp

Early this year I just decided not to open this app for the daily money-grubbing grind and haven't touched it since. I'm free!

Animal Crossing New Horizons

However the daily grind continues here! It's been way more enjoyable, primarily due to lacking the microtransactions/limited time item angle and also for being so much more customisable. And the nature is so pretty... But I've reached a point where even this has started to feel kind of stale.

Super Mario Odyssey

My first Mario game since Super Mario World so of course I'm blown away by everything. I like how colourful and welcoming the worlds were, Cappy was a surprisingly enjoyable sidekick/mascot and also the game was easy enough and had a simple linear plot so it was far easier to approach than Zelda BotW which is still on hold.

Plans for 2021

Actually play Zelda BotW

Maybe finally Evangelion?

Finally finish the mostly disappointing Digimon Adventure tri

Various magical girl sequels and remakes

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nerdgatehobbit · 4 years ago

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Okay, I have plans for the blog so I’m going to list them (in other words, a ramble is ahead). As always, they can change but I’m being hopeful on its sixth anniversary.

Arrow-verse

Arrow: I’ll probably review season two next year at this point. Also it’d be a bit funny if the first I see of it is a season four episode while I’m watching the second season of the first spin-off. But I will get around to it eventually!

The Flash: I should resume season two before heading elsewhere in the franchise. Still planning to skip three & five as well as only watching a select group of season four episodes. I did recently get season six for $10... which is worrying, I won’t lie. Usually new seasons are way more expensive. Unless anybody has some very convincing arguments, I’ll only watch “Pay the Piper” (Hartley shows up and Amanda Tapping directed!).

Legends of Tomorrow: I have the first two seasons. If I enjoy them, I’ll get the others. I hope I enjoy the show.

Avatar: The Legend of Korra is something I really need to stop putting off. I’m looking forward to it, even with the issues I’ve heard about occurring on & off screen.

I am still planning a reread & rewatch of The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings. Especially with The Fellowship of the Ring film turning 20 in December. Also: so many special features. :D

After I finish the second season of Jackie Chan Adventures, the reviews will go on hiatus so I can focus on TCW and ALOK. I do plan to watch the other three seasons in time because this show is such fun.

I might do a Jane Austen reread, this time using my reviewer goggles. It’s been a while since I’ve read the novels, period, so I’m about due for this.

I’ll probably watch Legend this summer; it sounds up my alley even before noting it stars Richard Dean Anderson and John de Lancie. Though I have to be glad it didn’t last, as it freed up RDA for SG-1.

BBC Merlin has been inducing conflicting emotions now that I’m in the third season. Gwen continues to be the best, though. I increasingly suspect I like Morgana either to or in spite of the writers. Not sure which.

Speaking of shows with uneven quality, Once Upon a Time is turning ten this October! So I got the first two seasons to rewatch & review, plus the seventh season to see for the first time. Even Adelaide Kane’s presence wasn’t enough at the time to draw me in after the Dark Swan arc debacle. I do have a soft spot for the fourth season’s arcs, but it’s not readily available and I don’t need to see it again. This is going to be a fun project. At the very least: all the pretty costumes!

Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure Reign wouldn’t be for me, given what I’ve heard of its storylines. Which is a shame, because I like Adelaide Kane; have since RPM was airing. Also, as this post proves, I have a lot of media that I already have which should be consumed first. Because there are a few films I want to see & review too.

Pokémon Sun & Moon has been my comfort show over the past several months. Yet I’m excited to move onto Ultra Adventures for several reasons: more female characters, wormholes, Super Sentai references, and what appears to be a continued balance of plot-centric and slice-of-life episodes. My major issue right now is whether to keep counting like it’s one big arc or to restart the episode numbers in the review titles. Hmm.

I’m glad I fell back into Pokémon in time to truly celebrate the franchise’s 25th anniversary last month. At this point, I’m unsure if I’ll hold out for a complete season of Ultra Legends or if I’ll cave in and buy the three segments. Either way, it’s likely I’ll see Adventures in the Orange Iskands between the Ultra seasons.

Power Rangers Lost Galaxy has been fun so far. I’m close to seeking out Dino Fury in order to support the current incarnation, even if that’ll make for sporadic reviews. After I’m done with PRLG, I’ll look into getting the 2010s seasons.

I’m a bit nervous about watching the first season of Star Trek The Original Series, given how it’s become such a pop culture icon. Still, I can’t really call myself I nerd if I never attempt watching it, right? ... I’m mostly joking.

I need to finish watching Star Wars The Clone Wars. There’s a very good chance the reviews will be sporadic as I watch when I’m emotionally capable of doing so. Look, I need comfort shows in these times. Thus the Pokémon.

I’ve decided to rewatch 10 Stargate SG-1 episodes, one per season, once a month. So far it’s been fun. I still need to finish Blood Ties & Do No Harm; hopefully I’ll read one of them this weekend. Eventually Stargate Universe will make a return, but that will stay on the back burner for as long as I can. I ought to look into rewatching SGA episodes as well, but I want to actually do some theorizing posts for this year and/or get more SGA novels.

I really need to reread Thalia’s Musings before the fourth novel is released. ... And this time I will leave comments instead of lurking. I need to get better at that in general, actually.

The first six episodes of Traders have been interesting but I’m mostly okay with the fact I’m only watching the first season. Grant is very adorkable, so not seeing more of him is the biggest regret of not continuing the show.

Xena Warrior Princess reviews will resume in the fall. I am about ready to start the second season in order to develop a buffer of posts.

As for Young Wizards, I did finish the second story in On Ordeal. It was somewhat bleak but well written. I just need to read Ronan’s story before I can finish & post my review. I think I’ll schedule the chapter-by-chapter compare & contrast reviews to start in 2023, since that year will mark the 30th anniversary of the first novel. I just need to start the project by this summer to get a headstart.

I’m probably overdoing it, but I can always drop a project if it stops being fun or if it’s clear I’m overextending myself.

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skekheck · 4 years ago

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30 Days of the Dark Crystal Challenge

Decided to do poultry-blocks Dark Crystal challenge because it looks like a lot of fun to do. However I’m cheating and I wrote all of this within a couple of days. Warning: fairly large post with pictures and fan ramblings.

EDIT: I FORGOT TO INCLUDE DAY 16 WHOOP. It’s in there now.

Day 1. Your favorite skeksis

Idiot, feral, wildman who stole my heart. How? Why? Who knows. *chef kisses* Beautiful stinky bastard.

Day 2: Your favorite gelfling

Bless her and her skeksis cosplay. What a queen.

Day 3: A character that you love that everyone seems to hate.

The tides are changing for her it seems. I think people are appreciating her more, but she still faces her fair share of controversies. Not that I don’t think it warrants discussion nor am I excusing her actions. But she’s way more complex than what a lot of people are making her out to be.

Day 4: A character that you hate that everyone seems to love.

Hate is a strong word as I don’t hate him, but I don’t really care for Amri. He feels like a bootleg Deet mixed with a little bit of Kylan and Gurjin. Wasted potential and honestly shouldn’t have been the POV for Tides of the Dark Crystal. Seems I’m alone in this opinion, though. Maybe the book warrants rereading?

Day 5: Movie or TV Show? Why?

TV Show by miles! I think the series accomplishes way more than the movie does, like establishing lore, better written characters, and a more engaging story. I actually cared about the gelfling and it really fleshed out the skeksis in an interesting way outside of “oh they do evil things because they’re evil!”. Doesn’t mean it does everything right, but I’ll get into that later.

Day 6: Something you wish that happened in the series but didn’t.

Just a few things. I miss the gelfling intermingling with the mystics, particularly urVa. I love everything that happens with urGoh and skekGra, but some of the bonding moments Naia had with urVa are precious and I wish we had more of that. I also wished the gelfling got the message out to the other clans like they did in the book where Kylan dreametched their message onto the Santuary Tree’s blossoms and scattered them all throughout Thra. I also wished Tavra and Onica were an established couple, but maybe it’s not too late for that.

Day 7: Favorite gelfling clan

The Sifa! It was the Dousan at first, but the more I learned about the Sifa the more I grew to love the clan. If I were a gelfling I would probably be a sifa myself LOL.

Day 8: You opinion on Aughra

She’s a fun and fascinating character! Aughra puts a unique spin on the whole beautiful, wise earth goddess trope by making her ugly, old, and cranky. She’s also a character with her own flaws, even having a mini arc about neglecting to take care of her planet and doing whatever she can to make amends. Not to mention she’s wildly entertaining. Much love for Aughra!

Day 9: Skeksis or Gelfling?

Both!

Day 10: Your opinion on podlings?

They’re just funky little potato people who just want to have fun, dance, and drink all day and I respect them for that. They’re great. Also Hup exists and he’s just an amazing character so there’s that.

Day 11: Your The Dark Crystal unpopular opinion

I think it’s okay to sympathize with the skeksis as long as one is not excusing their actions. I see a lot of people say you shouldn’t because they’re evil and they commit atrocities. Which, yes, it’s true, but I think both can co-exist. I mean, skekTek’s whole cycle of abuse is written very sympathetically yet the show doesn’t coddle him. It shows the ugliness of his character and what happens when someone isn’t capable of cutting off from said cycle. Also the writers consider the skeksis as tragic characters due to their broken nature so I don’t think it’s wrong to be a little sympathetic. But once again with great emphasis, sympathy is fine as long as their actions are judged. They are awful bastards and no amount of sympathy will change that.

Day 12: Something you dislike about the series

I think the stuff I don’t like about the show is a result of its pacing and cluttered cast. There are so many stories going on and while I liked how they handled it for the most part, you can also see how the show rushes to get through all of them. A lot of important moments where a character should reflect or something that should simmer more is pushed aside for the next thing. Maybe if the show was given more episodes and time to breath it would have been better off.

Day 13: Most disappointing thing about the series

SkekMal and urVa didn’t have enough screen time and we were honestly ROBBED.

Day 14: Your OTP

Speaking of which... . Its a crack ship, but I’m all about that allegory for self love (and I just want these two to be alive). Day 15: Favorite quote

Listed plenty of my favorite quotes before, but I’ll pick this one:

“ Life is my paint. Death is my canvas”

Day 16: Rate the skeksis from least favorite to favorite OR rate the gelfling from lest favorite to favorite [or both!]

And if you want my gelfling hot takes, here’s this list (just backwards in context to this post)

Day 17: Opinion on Raunip?

Raunip is a fantastic character. I loved him in Creation Myths and I can’t wait to see what role he’d play in the resistance. And I absolutely love the parallels between him and the urskeks it’s great.

Day 18: A character that is most similar to you.

I too am a dark-dwelling gremlin who constantly forgets where I put things and crack a few dark jokes at my expense.

Day 19: Which character do you strongly dislike, why?

This is entirely based on the books, but I find Mera to be awful. I think it’s because she’s so fake and condescending? When Naia arrived in Sami Thicket, she was acting nice and polite but when the Drenchen asked her why the skeksis never visited Sog Mera responded “It’s only worth counting what’s valuable”. She continuously disrespects her by calling her pet names even when Naia became maudra. It doesn’t come off as cute, it’s gross. I don’t recall Mera ever apologizing for any of the shit she did to Naia... or Kylan for that matter. She was a pretty neglectful step-mother to him. She doesn’t have an excuse being busy with Maudra stuff because Laesid was a kickass mom to her kids. So in conclusion, fuck this bitch.

Day 20: What do you like so much about the Dark Crystal?

The better question what’s not to love about the Dark Crystal? It has amazing creature design, an expansive world that feels real and alien from our own, having complex and interesting characters as well as villains, the fact that it relies heavily on practical effects a.k.a puppetry... . There’s nothing like it and that’s what makes it so wonderful and unique. It needs to be appreciated more.

Day 21: Favorite music piece from the soundtrack?

Can’t beat that opening theme.

Day 22: Your opinion on the sequel comics [Power/Beneath the Dark Crystal]

They have cool concepts and ideas, but they’re not written well. Power is just the movie if it was put into a blender and shredded and ignoring a large portion of established lore for the sake of plot. And Beneath is just a generic fantasy story with the Dark Crystal logo slapped on it.

Day 23: Which character from the YA novels/comics do you wish we would see more of?

There are plenty of characters that are a given to appear in the series at some point (skekSa, skekLi, urSan, etc). And of course I want to see them, but I really hope Periss shows up (and his brother too). He is one of my favorite characters from the book series and we could use some more Dousan rep!

Day 24: Your opinion on the Age of Resistance comic?

I have yet to read the comics. I’m waiting on them to be part of a collection so I don’t have to buy all of the volumes at once (I prefer owning physical copies). I’ve heard good things about them, especially the story with Hup and the current Mayrin arc. I’m excited to get my hands on them.

Day 25: The best moment/scene in the series?

There are a lot of great moments, but Rian and Ordon’s fight with skekMal is still my favorite in the entire series. The "Speak For the Dead” scene is a close second.

Day 26: The death of a character that hurt you the most?

He did not deserve this. Fuck you, skekMal.

Day 27: Your favorite episode from the series?

It’s got to be 4. Not just because a number of my favorite characters debut in this episode, but it’s an important one for the plot. Stakes are being raised, we’re seeing set ups to major story elements and character arcs, and events that impact the rest of the series. It also has a handful of my favorite character moments and interactions.

Day 28: Your favorite non-skeksis and non-gelfling character? Why?

I’ve come to realize the reasons why I love urVa are the same as why I love skekMal (incredibly appropriate I might say). There’s enough information about him that we get a good understanding on who he is as a character, but still mysterious enough that there’s interest in wanting to know more. Much like his skeksis, he’s unique from the other mystics and thus giving him unique experiences that are fun to speculate. However, the YA novels are responsible for my current fondness of him.

Day 29: Do you like the urru and skeksis apart or like them as urSkeks together?

A main theme of the Dark Crystal is unity and balance. The main conflict of the franchise are the skeksis, the broken fragments of their urskek self who, according to the writers, “...[have] a dire need for the qualities they lack”. Their only salvation is to become urskeks again and unfortunately many of the pairs never achieve this. They’re basically a giant allegory for the self and self-love. While we don’t really know what they were like when they were an urskek (aside from SilSol perhaps), we can get some understanding when we look at their pairs and see what traits they share. Speculation is also fun! So as much as I love the skeksis and mystics as individuals, I prefer them to be whole again.

Day 30: What are your wishes for a possible season 2?

A whole bunch of things. I want to see them explore more about the mystics and their lifestyle, having Raunip play a big part in the plot, seeing more of skekSa’s fall from grace from her perspective, the beginning of the Garthim Wars, and more.

#the dark crystal #my posts #long post

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official-michael-afton · 5 years ago

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Made a tier list of FNaF media!!! Not counting the activity book or the security survival log because those don’t really add anything, they’re just neat activities or summaries of game info

I explained the choices under the cut, equal parts personal bias and objective opinion, so if you think differently then hey, good on ya!

Going down to up XD

The Silver Eyes Graphic Novel: Do I even need to explain this one? Rushed art with countless mistakes, horrid coloring, samey designs, the important scenes come off as bland and even goofy instead of impactful. It’s clear Pinky wasn’t used to drawing humans, the colorist had no idea what they were doing, and no one on the team made a graphic novel before. It’s laughable how bad this was XD

The Fourth Closet: Does anyone really know what happened at the end? I... really don’t like what they did with Charlie in this one. I don’t like how William was able to get out of his Springtrap- it was SUPPOSED to trap him, and yet he just... is out of it... I think the whole thing with Baby being like this hot clown girl instead of what she is in Sister Location is very... ... it exists... Tbh I respect the bold direction it took, but I honestly felt it was too much of a stretch and just didn’t work.

FNaF AR, Special Delivery: Not bad! The character models and voice acting is where the game shines most. Other than that, there isn’t really much substantial to the game other than some lore with Vanny/Ness and Luis. The gameplay can get frustrating sometimes(I cant collect remnant, read my mail, or even work on my own animatronics without DING DONG SOMEONES HERE every 5 seconds), and all you do is spin in a circle until you get glitchy, look away if they get glitchy, or zap them when they run at you. Some people probably love this game and good on them for that, but I find myself not touching it for weeks at a time.

Freddy In Space 2: GREAT game for charity, great art, great music! ... That’s all it has going for it, though. It was clear that this was a quickly made game designed to be beaten in one sitting, and it did exactly what it needed to do! Other than being amazing how it was for charity, the game doesn’t have that much going for it(except introducing Lolzhax aka BEST ROBO), so overall not bad but also did almost nothing outside of being for the Charity Livestream XD

Fazbear Frights, Into The Pit: Again, not bad! A nice collection of short stories, almost like goofy campfire horror you’d tell to kids... like goosebumps! I felt each story was REALLY lacking in some areas, but I liked the general idea they were going for. That being said, they’re moreso neat scary stories with the name FNaF attached than anything else(except maybe the first of the three). It hints that they have an overarching plot that will be covered in future books, but as of right now, I feel no one’s missing out by not reading them.

FNaF 3: A satisfying end to the original trilogy story! Purple Guy gets justice, everything gets tied together with a neat bow, and the first arc in the series comes to an end. Also Springtrap, aka my favorite. This game is riddled with neat 8-bit minigames and bits of lore, but the gameplay itself is where I find it not as good as the S A and B tiers. The new setup with the system reboots are def really interesting, but other than that, each night is just... the same thing but harder. Most other games introduce different characters on different difficulties per night, but since Springtrap is the only deadly one, it’s just... him more aggressive each night and systems failing more often. Makes the gameplay pretty repetitive and frustrating after Night 3 or so.

FNaF 4: The beginning of what I like to call the Afton saga(4, SL, FFPS, UCN)! This is when the lore began to get REALLY good... and also really confusing. Props for it taking such a bold direction by taking place in a child’s bedroom instead of in an office with cameras, its a neat change of pace! That being said, the gameplay can get frustrating and there’s a high learning curve for needing to listen to each sound the anmatronics make. Also lore wise... there really isn’t much! Just mainly focuses on what happened to this poor kid. Also the box still being a loose end... yeah.

The Twisted Ones: I enjoyed this one! It had a very interesting direction that kinda kept me guessing on what was going on, and this is when Scott really started nailing in the foreshadowing for the reveal in TFC. The Twisted animatronics are SO cool, and the introduction of those little alteration chips provided new context to games like 4 and SL! That being said, I don’t remember it being... that memorable? I also didn’t like how Charlie’s and John’s relationship was... so awkward... It was neat, but honestly nothing to really go crazy over, in my opinion.

The Silver Eyes: Honestly, I adored this book when I read it back in 2016, before Sister Location happened. At the time I wasn’t trying to connect it to any lore, so it was really great just to see a sort of retelling of the FNaF story. A lot of people complained about how long it was... I might agree if I reread it but tbh it never bothered me before. It was delightfully creepy, yet had a simple plot and wasn’t NEARLY as out there as TTO and TFC. Especially TFC. I felt this book didnt need 2 sequels and would’ve been just fine on its own, but whatcha gonna do. Carlton is forever my fav, and it’s the first time we really learn about Henry AND it was the first time we got a name for our Purple Guy: William Afton!

Sister Location: I like this one for just how bold of a game it was. I’m also including SL’s Custom Night wrapped into this package. Jam packed with lore, our first (main) game with VOICE ACTING, and honestly the humor has no right being as good as it is. I love how this not only expanded on the crying child from 4′s story, but also gives us so much Elizabeth and Michael content. The gameplay has a lot of unbalanced features and feels a little too over the place at times, but I appreciate where it was going with it!

FNaF World: ... This one is pure personal bias. A lot of people don’t like it. I adore it. Honestly I love the cute overworld, I love beating up enemies as my favorite animatronics, I love the horror, nihilism, and lore shoved into this game alongside SO MUCH humor. Update 2 was nothing short of an absolute delight and... wait, no!!! FNaF World had our first voice acting!!! So many endings and nods to other games Scott’s made, a cool scene with Desk Man/Henry and Baby, just... muah. Good content. Also Scott 57 <3

Ultimate Custom Night: Name a better way to end the Afton Saga, I’ll wait. It’s so obvious how much time, thought, and care went into this one. I love how the game rewards you with funny cutscenes the higher scores you get, and I just! So much voice acting! I love how each preset- no, each character has their own moves so every time you do a certain mode, you need to learn to manage them all and get a good strategy. I like how it’s way more strategy and skill than the RNG that many previous games had. Also, Scott!!! You managed to put this into the LORE by making it William’s hell, MUAH, couldnt have done it better!!!

FNaF 2: This one might have bias for being the peak of the fandom, but it was one of the greatest times to be in that fandom. Freaking out over the trailers, theories galore, prequel vs sequel, and just... so good. 1 didn’t have much plot, 2 DID. 2 had more mechanics and strategy to it than 1, and gave us over twice as many characters! We finally got a “face” to our killer, Mr. Purple Man, and how could I ever complain about more Phone Guy~? This one also introduced the 8-bit minigames, which became a HUGE staple for the series! Perfect expansion of the first!

Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator: The PERFECT blend of old and new gameplay. The salvage scenes are intense, the nights had a great balancing mechanic of juggling doing tasks while also avoiding animatronics, multiple endings, and a neat tycoon segment to give the player a breather... but with LORE!!! Midnight Motorist is easily one of the best tracks in the series. Also has a GREAT canonical ending, when(with paired with UCN), ties the plots of 1-6 SO nicely with a neat bow.

FNaF 1: Okay. From a personal and gameplay standpoint, I was going to put this much lower. Like B or C. That being said... this has to go in S. Yes, it has the least lore and arguably the worst gameplay(too much RNG for 4/20 mode), but this was the game. I can’t even exaggerate when I say just how much FNaF changed not only the gaming community, but especially the horror and indie communities. So many names got big from this: Markiplier, Dawko, Game Theory, The Living Tombstone, DA Games, SCOTT HIMSELF, just to name a few!!! And to think, this was originally going to be Scott’s last game! FNaF changed gaming HISTORY, and I think that alone makes this title deserving of S.

FNaF VR, Help Wanted: Okay, personal bias time, but I truly think VR deserves this S. Seeing Glitchtrap for the first time incited a panic in me that I hadn’t felt since FNaF 1 and 2. You get FNaF 1-4 in one, all in VR, WONDERFUL character models that you can WATCH MOVE!!! SO many minigames and fun challenges to play, so many neat knickknacks to collect, the Halloween update is FANTASTIC. The introduction of some great characters, such as: Glitchtrap, Vanny, Tape Girl, Dreadbear, Grim Foxy, etc!!! There’s also just- something so nice about being able to see every office and the pizzeria in 3D spaces where you can look around! Just from a gameplay and environment standpoint, this was an AMAZING addition and deserves the S.

... Thanks for listening to me ramble XD If you disagree... then good for you! I won’t fight anyone on this, I’m aware that this is a lot of personal bias. But if you made it this far... thanks for hearing me ramble!!!!

#fnaf #infodump #fnaf tier list #five nights at freddy's

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advernia · 5 years ago

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around june of last year, i decided to revive my writing blog as one of the many potential stress-relief methods i could think of.... i didn’t think i’d be able to keep it active for long since work + family duties keep me preoccupied most of the time, but eyyy!!! so far i haven’t lost the motivation to keep going back to this blog, and i even managed to keep it afloat for half a year!!! amazing!!! (•̀o•́)ง

and now here we are halfway through 2020!!! it’s waaaay overdue but here’s a big T H A N K Y O U V E R Y M U C H ! ! ! to everyone and anyone who dropped by this blog last year + all them likes, comments, reblogs...... please know that i’m still i n c r e d i b l y grateful for the support & interest in the content i’ve posted up!!!! tbh my activity’s still hella sporadic so it’s really amazing for me that i even gained new followers.... i’m very honored to have all of you stick around my blog despite my irregularity!!!!!!!! (༎ຶ ෴ ༎ຶ)

it’s also overdue, but i slowly managed and finally cleaned up the blog like i’ve been meaning to do + changed the blog name to match my ao3 handle for consistency!!! i make no promises to be super active... but i’m sure that i still want to continue writing & keep this blog alive!!!!

again, thank you all for your time + reading my works!!!!!! ∩( ´∀` )∩ work commentary on the rest of my works last year follows under the cut!

oct 1 // hero’s journey

a drabble on blanc + oliver about the alices... now that i think of it, calling the first alice first alice is kinda funny considering that alice is really her name... or is it?

i do hope blanc’s route talks about her a bit, haha! i mean, i wish cybird remembers that they’ve been dropping the occasional background tidbits about her... like for example, her pocketwatch (that she gave to blanc eventually) having a magic crystal engraved into it.... her potentially leaving a fucking globe in the black army’s possession (like... wow... u fell with that thing????????)....

plus, i just find it interesting that she was remembered by cradle as a heck of a troublemaker lol! it also makes you wonder who among the main cast met her, blanc aside... though it’s not stated when exactly she fell into cradle, so maybe only blanc had the opportunity of meeting her...

so does blanc speak of her fondly bc she’s a woman, or is there something else??? has he been frequently visiting the land of reason pre-game??? has he found the first alice’s antique shop / met her again??? does he still try to figure out the reason why there’s a magic crystal engraved into the first alice’s pocketwatch????? hmmmmm......

on another note, it would be hilarious if cybird pulls a peter pan 2......... since we can’t pull off a mother-daughter relationship like wendy & jane’s, what if alice the second is somehow actually related to the first alice?? and while she’s completely different from her predecessor, blanc finds himself falling for alice the second........ just like he fell for the first alice? drama!

that’s just a random thought but kidding aside, i do hope blanc’s route is hella interesting bc i think he’s our mr. exposition for knowing more about cradle itself lol

oct 1 // fair (?) ladies & phony (?) enchanters

a result of going manic a few days after seeing harr’s trailer + route release.... ahaHAHA I’M STILL WILLING TO PLAY UR ROUTE IN JP HARR (if i actually had time to sit down and translate gET REKT)

i liked writing these drabbles and i think they’re cute but tbh they did nothing to ease my curiosity about harr’s route.... if anything else, it became even w o r s e haha........................

if i think of blanc to have a cradle-centric route, i do hope harr’s route is magic tower-centric! naturally it will be since he’s got history there, but i hope a lot of my questions about the magic tower will be answered.....

will harr’s perspective of the magic tower be in the eyes of a test subject or a disciple???? he was scouted by the magic tower, but it wasn’t stated what he was doing exactly..... going by hints + loki’s & zero’s routes, it’s more of him being a disciple, so there’s bound to be guilt.......

hopefully alice’s characterization in his route is good + we get a fun group dynamic with loki!!! their potential.... the most(?) notorious criminal of cradle, a sought after test subject, and that one girl who nullifies all magic; a renegade trio lurking around the forbidden forest.... what an odd bunch!

oct 4 // god is a five minute hymn

a religious themed fic with lancelot & alice - tbh i don’t even know why religion was the first thing that came into mind when liz and i were talking about cultural differences, lol.

on that note though! i personally like thinking that if ever cradle had a semblance of a religion, it would be polytheistic & nature-centric, and not strictly practiced - the stratocracy of both territories i’d like to think makes it harder for religion to have a voice, much less have one that is practiced by the general population. the only thing general about it is that the religion centers or has magic crystals as an important factor... or something. yeah.

that aside, i think i specifically chose lancelot in this piece for the sole reason that his canonically stated lack of common sense, in my opinion, gives him the curiosity of a child sometimes - there’s no sense of malice or doubt, just the pure innocence of wanting to know something....... religion does that to kids, especially when introduced to it at first.

rereading the fic makes me think of the instances where when faced with dire or unsettling situations, people turn to faith as a life line.... well, i’m not sure if i had that subconsciously in mind when writing alice, but that does give a spin to it....

oct 6 // flow like the river nile

a spontaneous red army-centric fic! it certainly turned out better than i expected... i liked the formatting i used for this one!

if cybird can give us more about the pre-game suitors it would be great, tbh! and while the stuff about them in school is interesting, i’d like to see more about when they assumed their positions + combat scenes! the neutrals are special cases, but knowing more about their living conditions + daily lives is also a treat...

i was thinking of adding one last snippet about lancelot in the eyes of the reds, but i scrapped it out and switched it to alice & lancelot’s conversation about duty - it could’ve worked better if i stuck to using the what is your duty? question, but i scrapped it eventually too. ah well. it does look good enough as it is.

oct 7 // seeking out phantoms

a mandatory(???) odd one out aka content that’s not ikerev, haha! i missed fe:a all of a sudden...

i never got around to writing properly for this fandom tho, what a shame - i’ve got some bits of pieces in my drafts that looked interesting and easy enough to pick up, and this was one of them.

robin investigating more of their plegian heritage could’ve been a good subplot tbh... i still wish there was something like a paralogue or dlc about it, bc honestly the valm arc goes a bit slow until you get to the future past revelations. ah well.

and gaius bc first husband for the win.... not like i actually had the guts to marry anyone else in my other save files lololol

nov 7 // push me off a bridge (to catch me as i fall)

my longest project of 2019, holy shit! i didn’t know i still had it in me to write something past 10k... i need more of that motivation + energy....

there’s nothing much to say about this since i blabbed about everything in the post-reading notes, but as much as i fought myself to get this done, i really enjoyed writing a long fic again! hopefully i can get myself to write another one this year...

nov 18 // beloved, beloved, let me be clear

18 sentences on zero & alice + macross frontier references! man, when i really got to the point about the earrings i was thinking of sheryl a lot....

kept it in sentences cause i didn’t have enough time to put up a decent ficlet! but i really wanted to get my screaming out of my system....... i used to do sentences + three word sentences challenges before, and doing one again was pretty fun!

but really.... zero’s route kept me happy for days???? their buildup + dynamic was something i was totally w e a k for, no joke..... thank gods the collection event was going on, bc i really made good use of my stocked chapter tickets lolol!

i was especially excited come the ball scene, and that cg..... a h a h a.... i need more of those pretty cgs where i can see alice’s face + costume change.......

nov 20 // coloring inside the lines

jonah + alice + makeup!!!! tbh this was really fun, i enjoyed writing this one - if i remember, this was a fic that i managed to continuously work on the day i thought it up!

jonah may not be my best boy but tbh i find writing him very easy - i guess it’s because i’m very fond of characters like him!!! those uptight nobles who are as prideful as hell but can definitely live up to their name + are more capable than their bragging suggests... idk if there’s a general trope name for these doods, but i especially like analyzing their motivations + convictions!!!

i liked how i ended it, but i apparently i made an actual ending that’s now a snippet in my drafts - jonah & alice head to the ball, and somewhere along some bystanders’ flow of conversation someone drops a comment about jonah’s lips looking... quite more luscious than usual, lolol. so t h i r s t y. upon hearing this, alice can’t seem to stop smiling for some reason.....

nov 27 // blue fields, verdant skies

a practice drabble set centric on a ray/alice development that i liked so much i made it into a series - plus, it’s black army content and honestly i need to write more of them! my red army bias is showing whoooooops

it’s a feudal + arranged marriage au, with the latter... being quite spontaneous. it’s those types of marriages where neither have even met - not even once - only to face each other come the wedding... so it’s a given that audiences from both parties are rather curious how this will turn out.

since i had the theme of fate in mind, ray was the automatic pick for the male lead. the rest of the black army is a given and for kicks, i added dean and dalim! i actually want to write about them + mousse, but since i’m still unsure on their characterizations i’ve been holding them off.... but i gave in anyway.....

alice is again named for word count convenience purposes since it’s in actual 100 words aka drabble form! i have planned scenes + an ending already in mind, but going there is pretty hard bc.... i still have to write the scenes in between + resist temptation to expand further on other scenes, haha....

initially i was planning to keep it updated here as well, but any more updates of this are on ao3 instead! the formatting looks better there instead of my blog tbh, and it also gives it a sort of muted tone to the story that works with me!

this is also the 31st fic in this blog, marking an end of the challenge liz bestowed to me lolol - since i brought this blog back to life around june, i was dared that by the end of the year, i should’ve posted more than 15 fics to add up to the initial 15 i had already posted before, thus the numbers on my fics back then.... now that i actually succeeded, i can stop counting lololol!!!! tho hopefully i can still be pretty active this year....

dec 22 // duck, duck, bullet

oliver & fenrir on guns... this probably wins as the most spontaneous idea i had on my head - tbh, i wasn’t even sure where i was going with it at first! but i’m sure i was suddenly thinking about that one detective conan movie.... then it became kid!oliver with a gun.....

i wonder if he tests the bullets at night, when he’s in adult form.... then again, kid!oliver with a gun still works.... say that because he’s a genius inventor, he made some models to serve as his shooting targets.... but another thought that amuses me more is.... blanc does the bullet testing for him!?

lololol i already thought about blanc being oliver’s live target, but i also find blanc with a gun very interesting.......... i mean, blanc certainly doesn’t look like he can fight, but who knows??? i mean, mousse is the former ace of hearts, but i still can’t imagine him fighting..... appearances can be deceiving....

the two aside, i wonder how fenrir even met oliver and got him working on his bullets........ was it through blanc or other connections???? how long have they been seller and buyer???? does anyone else commission anything from oliver?????? hmmmm.....

dec 23 // terms of surrender

i’ve been told by liz + luci + other friends that i needed to practice writing more.... cheesy fluff. i’m not sure if this sirius/alice piece counts, lol. in fact, i think it’s my definition of fluff i see here - and it translates to not exactly fluffy at all!

tho if you want me to be honest about it - when i write suitor/alice stuff, how alice was characterized in the suitor’s route is still my basis for how i’ll write her, and sirius’ alice................ haha......... i think she’s the alice that’s honestly easy to write but i choose to avoid..........

i don’t dislike the sirius/alice dynamic per se, tho. i do find it cute, especially if cybird stops emphasizing the issue of maturity in the relationship on alice’s side. i understand - i really do - that it’s a potential issue in the relationship, but...... that’s not the only problem you can possibly have as time passes, right?????

on another note, it’s funny that only sirius gets to be harped about the maturity due to age difference issue - setting aside blanc, who heavens know how old he is, lancelot’s 29 and since alice is presumed to be around ray + fenrir’s age, you could say that she’s 24 or even 23 to be safe.... so that makes a 5 / 6 years difference but it’s never brought up, lol. but i guess it’s because unlike lancelot, the black army’s been making sirius’ age a running gag....

anyway, this piece is pretty decent! i was thinking of something along the lines of mornings between a “married couple”.... there were two scenarios i had in mind, and i opted to write this one out first.... maybe i’ll have the second one posted up here another day.

dec 28 // a chain of black thrones

pre-game!sirius & ray and bc i was thinking a lot about the previous chosen, the former jack of spades!!! i wonder if the armies have a set age for retirement lolol... it would be awesome if there was still a chosen who’s already past his 50s or something, haha!

since sirius was constantly badgered to take on the role of king, i was also wondering about how long the black army was ‘king-less’... i mean, if the tension between both armies was really as great as they say, having no king puts the black army at a precarious position... i also thought that ‘nah, maybe there was a king or something but maybe the black army didn’t like him or something so they insisted that sirius take it instead’ but sirius’ 1st anniv. epilogue says otherwise - there really was a period that the black army had no king, wow. how the heck did they deal with that???? surely the red army saw this as a display of vulnerability....

can the black army’s chosen choose to leave their posts when they feel like it??? when they’re defeated by a challenger, what happens to them - a demotion, or do they serve under the ‘new’ chosen??? does the black army’s chosen change constantly because of their meritocracy + challenger system??? like, how do they deal with that, and do they announce their changes in chosen each council meeting??? each new question just snowballed my curiosity, whoops...

there were so many angles i thought of but i decided to settle for addressing the king-less state of the black army... through the eyes of a veteran who’s probably served many kings throughout his time of service as part of the black army’s chosen.

i gave this jack of spades character a name, actually - garret folner. maybe someday i’ll write him again, bc i actually enjoyed thinking about the present + past chosen interactions - maybe i’d think about that for the red army, but this time i find the black army’s side more interesting for this situation.

dec 29 // steadfast tin soldier

a zero/alice piece for zeroweek - i was about to post pt. 1 as a standalone, but then i just thought about how.... zero bought alice a gown.... but never got to dance with her at the day of the ball..... so i rushed to add pt. 2 haha!

with the addition of pt. 2 it looks cut short tho - i did think of putting a scene in between, but no good ideas came into mind bc i was too fascinated with the dancing scene... i swear at some point i will find myself writing a fic or a part of a fic that’s a dance scene for the rest of the ikerev suitors + alice....

this is the kind of fluff i live for, actually... i’m totally fine with the steamy content cybird throws during events + bonus stories, but if i were to be honest i say.... where’s my non-sexual intimacy????? the simple, wholesome stuff?????????????????

man, i feel hilarious for typing that out..... but well, i guess it’s a matter of different strokes for different folks, lol!

#rundown.txt #can i spam thank yous???? seriously idk what else to say ahhhh #this! blog! shall! live!!! if i do well enough updating will become a habit!!!#i need better habits than sleeping + working + spring cleaning lololol #aHA i was thinking of changing themes again bc aesTHETIC #there wasn't one that caught my eye tho... plus coding during work... get rekt #but i fooled around with pages instead and colors!!! blue's the color of the year

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quintessence-sentimentalist · 5 years ago

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quintessence-sentimentalist Takes on 30 Days of W.i.t.c.h.versary!: Week Three

Week Three already! Days 15 through 21 below the cut!

Day 15 Something that needs a quick fix

Ahaha, well, some 99.9% of things that need fixing with this series can’t be completed quickly, so let me just go with the simplest thing that comes to mind:

The uniform color errors.

In both the comic and cartoon, there are color swaps between the top and bottom, with Irma being the most frequent offender (frankly, I only remember Cornelia’s top being purple on the cover of one of the final Ludmoore arc issues, and maaaaaaaybe Hay Lin got a color swap once too, so basically it was all with Irma). I don’t know if it’s because she and Will might look a little similar in black-and-white or something and that’s why there was confusion over whose top is which color (although if that’s the case then why didn’t it happen to Will too?), but it just kept happening throughout the series. It’s even wrong on the official promo art/opening sequence end card for the animated series.

So yeah. Easiest fix I can think of is to please check which color goes where before inking them in.

Day 16 Something that needs an overhaul

I’m just going to spin the wheel here...

Better executed romantic break-ups/avoidance of shitty break-ups altogether. Consistent lore. All the arcs New Power and beyond. New Power Matt. That one self-indulgent what-if I had about leaving Medina, McTiennan, and Sylla’s memories intact and they basically become the girls’ non-magical mentors and trusted adult figures who help them balance their lives between Guardianship and just being normal girls.

Uh... I can’t choose.

I’ve talked at length about and reimagined a lot of these before (and will do so again, for sure), and those I haven’t people have discussed much more eloquently than I can. And I’m sure I’m still missing some, so I’m not going to get too deep into this and save that all for inevitable rambles later on.

Day 17 Something that needs to be revisited

The Astral Drops, hands down. Why bother sending them off to live new lives of their own, while pointedly leaving them with magical tattoos that will light up when Kandrakar must call on them, if you’re not going to loop back around to that? Honestly, this is something that should have slid back into the narrative in at least some way before things wrapped up.

Day 18 Something that needs more love from the fandom

It’s going to be too predictable if I start chanting “animated series Matt and Will/Matt” (but really, they do deserve all the love), so let’s go for a different angle this time.

Oh... well, I guess since I was already at it, maybe the animated series itself?

Alright, look: I was a comics purist for a solid eight years. I watched the show in full and enjoyed particular (largely season 2) parts, but I still had the frequent complaint that it wasn’t a faithful adaptation and didn’t watch it again for years even when I regularly reread the comics.

But then the English translations of the comic ended, and I was left without any real new material. A couple years later, I was about to go off to college and came across something that reminded me of the cartoon (more on that later on), and I figured what the hell.

It’s still not a perfect or even great adaptation of the comics, and sometimes I still struggle with getting through the first season, but going back to the animated series as a young adult - after years of distance from it and easing up on my rigid stance on comics-only - helped me gain a newfound appreciation for it. The animated series did some things I liked better than in the comics. It had a badass theme song. From a fan creator perspective, I found the cartoon universe a little bit more malleable and full of possibilities than with the comics, partially because it unexpectedly got cut short.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t necessarily have impeccable taste when it comes to media (I have a guilty pleasure for short-lived and long-forgotten early 00s sci-fi action shows. I unabashedly enjoyed the live-action Birds of Prey series, and that’s even more wildly inaccurate a comic adaptation than the W.i.t.c.h. cartoon). Still, I think about some other animated series that are based on beloved comics/manga but not direct adaptations, and some of those are considered just as good or even better than the originals (and potentially subsequent accurate adaptations). I feel like at the very least, the W.i.t.c.h. animated series could be a guilty pleasure, or even enjoyable AU adventures of the girls as they are in the comics.

Day 19 Something small but unforgettable

Nothing was immediately coming to mind, but then it hit me. I love that the animated series changed the name of Will’s power to quintessence in the second season.

In the comics, her powers were a bit of a nebulous space, while the others’ were clearly defined elements. I remember it being called “energy” or “absolute energy,” which... while not wrong, it’s just such a broad term, and frankly is missing some pizzazz to it. It wasn’t even a consistent name, since oftentimes Will just called out for the Heart, and then with New Power it became “the power to unite them” or something (uh... what?). I just think it’s weird to have one of your main characters without a clearly defined - or simply named - ability, unless it’s intentionally vague to allow for various deus ex machinas from the Heart, with Will serving solely as the conduit.

And that’s kind of what happened with the first season too, where Will was honestly only able to activate the Guardians and close portals and had no inherent offensive ability. So season 2 was great in the respect that they actually gave her a power, but then there was that name!

Seriously, quintessence. Even before you really know what it is, it’s a pretty kickass name, right?? It definitely has the mystical quality to it, and the fact that it literally translates as fifth essence/element makes it just too good. Guys, there’s a reason why it’s in my username.

(Well, that and the fact that seeing the word and its definition again after many years reminded me that I should rewatch the animated series, and that was what kicked off my spiral back into W.i.t.c.h. fandom. It did tie into the “sentimentalist” aspect in the end.)

Day 20 Something you’d always come back to

Hmm, I’m a little unclear on the prompt for this one, whether it means something I’ll reread/rewatch, or some idea from the series that just sticks with me. I’m going go with the first interpretation, which I guess also ties in with the second.

Hardly a surprise at this point, but I regularly rewatch the most pivotal episodes of the Shagon arc - those being L is for Loser, M is for Mercy, and S is for Self. I just love seeing Shagon in the forefront as a villain, and how Will knows how to deal with Nerissa in some respect at this point (staying suspicious - maybe a little bit too much - and learning to out-strategize the ex-Keeper), but goes absolutely ballistic and loses her calculating edge whenever she’s facing Shagon on his own. He knows exactly how to needle into her vulnerabilities, and the two of them engaging in emotional warfare is just so good. Watching these always gets me wondering how the fallout from this arc would have gone had we had more time and the series had a different tone (maybe more along the lines of Young Justice, to borrow a different Weisman show), because I’m firmly of the mind that Matt would have some lingering trauma from the experience (which he’s had to put aside to take on a new role and deal with everything else that came after he was freed) and I would have loved to see that play out.

As for the comics, though, I like to loop back around to the girls’ potential futures from issue 50. Their careers just fit them all so well, and the way their designs and friendship evolved into adulthood just felt right to me. They’re all grown up and more sophisticated now, but they don’t simply look like a slightly older version of their Guardian forms, and manage to maintain a semblance of their styles from their young teen days. And even though they’re no longer active Guardians and are busy with their own lives (sometimes in various other places), thus not being in each others’ back pockets anymore, you can tell their bond is holding just as firmly as it was forged back in the day. I vastly prefer this glimpse into the future over the one we’re shown in the post-New Power era, so I like to use it at least as a basis for when I imagine the girls post-Guardianship.

Day 21 A memorable architectural design

I do love the design of Sheffield Institute. It’s just so elaborate and wildly different than what you’d normally see for a high school, at least from my view and experience. It certainly looks like a place with a rich history, and honestly I think it’s a great parallel to Kandrakar and the castles of Meridian and Arkhanta - not quite as regal or mystical, but still a structure with some elegance.

#30daysofwitchversary #30 days of witchversary #w.i.t.c.h.#quintessence-sentimentalist rambles

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