#i've been Working on a geo team

[witness-and-wind]

it would be much easier to come up with alternate teams if every new character i got & built's best team wasn't some variant of The Soup (bennet-xingqiu-xiangling and probably some electro guy. i think it's usually fischl but i use raiden bc i have her built already)

[ninjagobythenumbers]

Tournament of Sources Spreadsheet Updates

Bechdel Test

This was a perfect season (bechdel test wise), but the fragmentation of Wyldfire, Sora, and Nya into different groups made it difficult in those later episodes. I had to strain to find dialogue in a couple of episodes that succeeded (I actually didn't find dialogue in episode 19 but @genericplaceholdername did so thank you to them). In the one where Sora fought Kizzy, I counted non-verbal interaction because Kizzy bowed in response to Sora. Sora was my hero this season as while she did mostly talk to Lloyd, Arin, and Cole, she, thankfully was also trying to figure out what was up with Jordanna. Wyldfire was pining after Roby and beefing with Cinder so she'd rarely talk to other women. As I predicted, Nya was thinking about Jay so she mainly talked to the older ninja as they knew him. Zeatrix would mainly only talk to Lloyd and Ras and Rox would mainly talk to her brother and Ras, so the female antagonists failed to be as helpful as I would have hoped. For the women fans out there, season one of DR is going to be your best choice, but season two is of course, still great. They just need to hang out more.

Groupings

Even more than season one of DR, parts one and two of this season really just feel like seasons in their own right. I've labeled accordingly and I may go back and give DRS1P2 a label of its own for consistency's sake. Riyu felt a lot more like a character this season rather than an accessory to someone else's plot line so I gave him his own row because he deserves it. As you can see, there's only been 3 episodes before this where he deviated from Arin/Sora, which is why I didn't give him a row until now. Tournament of Sources really made me feel like I had to change how I do this chart, because I've been operating based on what the ninja are doing in the beginning of the episode as up until now, those groupings rarely changed mid-episode. However, in this season, it seemed the ninja would be in a different grouping each scene, likely due to the fact there was no barrier of travel as, aside from Kai and, for most of the season, Jay, they were all in one location. As you can see, the ninja tended to go on little sidequests of their own, with Arin and Riyu going on the most, but they all gravitated towards staying with the team. I don't think the non-incapcitated ninja spent a single episode without meeting as a team, aside from episode 11 in which Zane was training and Cole was in an unknown location, presumably the Land of the Lost Things, because Geo mentioned he got the invite right after Cole left. I've kept Jay on the business trip designation, because he's still just doing what he's doing because he doesn't know who he is so it's an odd state between incapacitation and a mission.

I did have to add a new designation which I did not expect to have to do, but Kai was voided, Nya was in a cave, and Lloyd's a glass cannon. A crazy thing about this season is that, normally when someone's incapacitated, that's the main focus, but Nya and Riyu's capture occurred completely off-screen and they were the only ones working on Kai's recovery. There's a record number of different states of incapacitation. With Jay's amenesia we have 4 and depending on what Pixal's up to we may even have 5.

Combinations

Thanks to Kai getting voided and the overall structure of a tournament season, part 2 ended up being great for "Three's a Crowd." Sure, 2 fulfillments may look small but there's only 8 combinations left to complete. Half of them involve Jay so it might take a while. I do need to note that a massive asterisk should be put on nearly all of the DR fulfillments as I ignore the presence of the kids. I may amend to include them in the future, but that would be hundreds more unique combinations, so I need to wait until they've had a lot more scenes.

Timeline

Jay was still in the administration at the end of part one and he needed at least a little time to assimilate into a wolf cult, so I put 2 months in between part one and two, which I title Blood Moon and Tournament of Sources respectively. The reason I didn't put more than 2 months, aside from my policy of always putting the least time possible, is because Sora mentioned that saving the world had prevented them from going to the Administration to find information on Arin's parents sooner, indicating it hasn't been too long since the Blood Moon.

Ages

I only updated this chart because I updated the timeline. One interesting note of dialogue for me was Cole saying "You know I ran away from that dancing school my dad put me in when I was a kid." It's sort of a similar piece of evidence to Kai referring to Arin and Sora as kids, and it's interesting to hear him refer to his pilot season self as a kid, but it's also possible he ran away from the school much earlier than the pilot season. Thanks for reading this far! I'm going to start working on some suggested charts. Please let me know if you have any ideas or feedback!

[longitudinalwaveme]

Best and Worst Comic Appearances of the Rogues

Note: Keep in mind that some of these choices are very subjective and based on personal taste. In particular, it's difficult for me to know if the storylines I list as the "best" for a given character are actually the best, or if they're just the ones that appeal the most to me personally. I feel like the "worst" choices are more objective (or at least more likely to be shared by a majority of the fanbase).

I'm also only judging stories that I've actually read for this list.

Captain Cold

Best Pre-Crisis Appearance: While I like his debut story from Showcase #8 a lot, I think my favorite Pre-Crisis Len story is Flash vol. 1 #150, "Captain Cold's Polar Perils". Ayesha, Len's stalkee-girlfriend du jour, is a fun character, and Len's powers are at peak Silver Age insanity, which is always fun. It's really the perfect encapsulation of what Pre-Crisis Captain Cold is like.

Best Post-Crisis Appearance: Flash vol. 2 #182. This is the famous Rogue Profile issue for Len, and it is legitimately really, really good (even if its treatment of Lisa is frustrating at times). It's a very solid examination of the character and the backstory provides a lot of depth that Len really needed. Basically, if you want to understand modern Captain Cold, this is one of the best issues you can read.

Worst Appearance: Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #10-13. Every character in F: TFMA is poorly written, and Len is no exception. From having a murder retconned into one of the periods where he was supposed to be reformed to letting a teenage speedster take over the Rogues for no good reason, this story just does not understand Cold.

I will also note here that I generally don't like Joshua Williamson's take on Len. I have trouble putting my finger on exactly why, but if I had to take a stab at explaining it, I think I would say that Williamson's Len is too ambitious and too hands-off. Having him take over first Central City's underworld, and then Central City, seems out-of-character for Len, who's usually smart enough to understand that escalating crimes to that level is a great way to attract a horde of superheroes, and having him sit back and organize crimes without going out into the field himself, which Williamson did more than once, likewise seems out-of-character for Cold. Johns' Len wasn't always the best leader in the world, but at least he was always in the field with the other Rogues. Williamson's Len seems a lot more willing to sit back and let other people do the work for him, and he comes across as a worse leader because of it. Effectively, then, I think my problem with Williamson's Len is that his Len seems younger, less experienced, less practical, and less likely to inspire loyalty than any previous version of the character (except the one that was being written around the time of F: TFMA.)

Captain Boomerang Sr.

Best Pre-Crisis Appearance: Flash vol. 1 #310-311, or Batman #322. The first story has Captain Boomerang getting double-crossed by Colonel Computron and sent back in time (on a giant time-traveling boomerang!), whereupon he has to team up with the Flash to fight pirates. It's delightful, and is made even more so by Digger's determination to save his ex-employer, W. W. Wiggins, from the vengeance of Colonel Computron. The second story features Captain Boomerang fighting---and nearly defeating!---Batman, who narrowly escapes death on Digger's "doomerang". Batman really needs to take Flash's villains more seriously....

Best Post-Crisis Appearance: Suicide Squad #44. This gives us Digger's modern backstory, establishes that he's actually W. W. Wiggins' biological son, and generally serves as an interesting character study of a generally unpleasant character. Flash vol. 3 #7 is a very similar retelling of the same basic backstory, this time by Geoff Johns, and would have been tied with Suicide Squad #44 if not for the gratuitous scene of Digger killing his assumed father (for my money, Geoff Johns is a bit too fond of gruesome deaths).

Worst Appearance: I don't read a lot of Suicide Squad, so I'm not familiar with the terrible Digger appearances that may have happened in the various Suicide Squad runs. Because of that, my nomination for the worst Digger story is Identity Crisis #2-5, the story that killed him (and poor Jack Drake and Sue Dibney) for the sake of earning grimdark edgelord points. What makes it even worse is that the story's scenes of him interacting with Owen are actually pretty good, so we got teased with a really interesting plot for him right before he was pointlessly axed.

Heat Wave

Best Pre-Crisis Story: Flash vol. 1 #266-267, or Flash vol. 1 #312. The first story gave us the first version of Heat Wave's backstory (specifically, it established his cryophobia due to having been locked in a meat freezer as a child), presented him as the main villain of a story basically for the first time (all his previous appearances had him teamed up with another villain), and was full of delightful Pre-Crisis pseudo-science, like heat-seeking fire. It also featured a panel of Mick totally freaking out at the sight of ice cubes. The second story was Mick's first reform, and it was a solid, if slightly goofy, tale of Mick proving that his parole officer was framing him for crimes. It also led to him and Barry becoming friends (and temporary roommates) a few issues later!

Best Post-Crisis Story: Flash vol. 2 #218. It's one of the few Post-Crisis issues that uses him as a lead character, and it establishes his now-iconic tragic backstory and pyromania. Even though it's a bit excessively grimdark (did he really need to burn down the circus where he worked as a fire-eater?), it's a solid story nevertheless.

Worst Story: The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #11-13, or the "Three of a Kind" crossover (Green Arrow #96, Green Lantern #130, and Flash #135). Everyone was terribly written in F: TFMA, and Mick was no exception, as he was portrayed as an idiot and then killed Bart Allen.

In the crossover, Mick teamed up with two random villains that he had no prior connection to, for some reason decided to try to revive Dr. Polaris with them via hijacking a cruise ship, and ended up killing a bunch of people. It really felt like he just got shoved into the story because they needed a Flash villain in it, and they didn't think about which one would actually make sense in the plot. It makes even less sense when you remember that Mick would go back to being reformed directly after this.

Also, the New 52 introduced us to the Hothead McAngryman version of Mick, and it unfortunately took over five years for him to finally get back to normal. Having the character with fire powers be hot-headed and aggressive is probably the most boring choice they could have made, and it hurt Mick's overall character for quite some time.

Mirror Master I (Sam Scudder)

Best Appearance: Flash vol. 1 #126, or Flash vol. 1 #146, or Flash vol. 1 #306, or Batman #388 and Detective Comics v1. #555.

The first two stories are delightful Silver Age nonsense. Flash #126 features Sam traveling to a mirror world where the inhabitants essentially make him their king, but he quickly gets fed up with the fact that he's given whatever he wants means that he has no opportunities for dramatic theft, and he summons the Flash to help him escape from his boring life as king. Flash #146 is the story where the Mirror Master switches his legs with the Flash's legs. It also features Barry and Sam attending the same self-help class without knowing it!

Flash #306 has disco-dancing Sam, and, more importantly, it's one of the very few stories to try to give Sam an interesting motivation: specifically, he's fallen in love with a woman who's trapped in a mirror and is desperately trying to free her. The ending of the story is a sad one for Sam, but it's also surprisingly touching.

Finally, the Batman two-parter features Sam at his overconfident, flashy, hilarious best as he tries to prove that he's a better criminal than Captain Boomerang (incidentally, this is also a great Captain Boomerang story). It features such highlights as Sam freaking out at the sight of Batman, Sam getting freaked out by Gotham muggers, and Sam deciding to rob a bank because it's across the street and he doesn't have any better ideas. The first part of the story also features some of the best facial expressions he's ever made.

Worst Appearance: For a single story, it's either Flash Rebirth #2 or that issue from Joshua Williamson's run where Sam wore his socks and underwear in the hot tub. Weirdly, Flash Rebirth #2 featured Sam only briefly, and in a flashback, but it retconned a murder into his early past in a way that would darken all of his fun Silver and Bronze Age adventures. It's one thing to have the Rogues become more dangerous in the present, and another to retroactively make all of their early, light-hearted stories grim like this. (Geoff Johns was responsible for this retcon, and far too many others like it. I really wish he didn't like grimdark retcons so much.)

The Williamson issue had Sam who was Evan-in-all-but-name-and-accent. At that point, he might as well have not been Sam at all! That being said, this was basically just the culmination of all the problems Sam has had since he was brought back to life in the New 52. I don't know how you make a character as fun and dynamic as Pre-Crisis Sam was boring and confusing, but somehow they managed!

Weather Wizard

Best Pre-Crisis Appearance: Either Detective Comics vol. 1 #353, or Adventure Comics #466.

Watching Mark fight---and actually briefly outsmart!---Batman in Detective Comics #353 is a lot of fun, and this story is full of delightful Silver Age zaniness, including, but not limited to, Mark saving Gotham City from a drought by filling all of its reservoirs just so that he can make a big announcement in the sky about how he did it in thanks for getting to steal three priceless valuables, and in turn use that message to determine what in town is worth stealing.

Adventure Comics #466 is an entirely different brand of delightful insanity, and features the Weather Wizard briefly turning good, stopping a horde of locusts from destroying crops, and saving Blue Valley from a flood because sun spots were messing with his wand, which he somehow managed to telepathically link to his brain. No, really. Sunspots briefly make the Weather Wizard turn good. Reading this is worth it just to see Barry's reaction to friendly happy Weather Wizard.

Best Post-Crisis Appearance: Rogues Revenge #1-3. By far the most in-depth look we've ever gotten at Mark's past, his relationship with his brother Clyde, and his boatload of issues. Despite being one of the more frequently-used Rogues in the Geoff Johns era, it was rare for Mark to get a lot of attention outside of his role as a big threat, and this miniseries was a nice change of pace for him. I just wish it hadn't ended with the pointless death of his baby son, Josh, because seeing Mark develop a relationship with Josh would have been far more interesting (and less grimdark).

Worst Appearance: The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #11-13. The story where the writers replaced the Rogues' brains with rocks, and hoped we wouldn't notice. We did.

Trickster I (James Jesse)

Best Pre-Crisis Appearance: Flash vol. 1 #142. In which the Trickster steals a little kid's toy detective set, and proceeds to screw around with the entire city, and the Flash, just because he can. It's a great display of the Trickster's inventiveness and creativity, and the story goes out of its way to state that Trickster is more interested in attention and having fun than in getting money.

Best Post-Crisis Appearance: Catwoman vol. 2 #69-71, or New Year's Evil : The Rogues.

The Catwoman story features some of the funniest James moments ever, and it's so much fun watching the two con artists try to outsmart and outplay one another. Catwoman and James have a great dynamic, and it's a shame they've never really teamed up again.

New Year's Evil: The Rogues features James at his most heroic, teaming up with the Pied Piper (and, thanks to some manipulation on his part, some of the other Rogues as well) to save his ex-girlfriend Mindy's son, Billy, from a group of mercenaries who are attempting to overthrow the government of Zhutan. The story also eventually reveals that Billy is James' son, which sadly never went anywhere since for some reason no one wanted to follow up on this awesome plot point.

Worst Appearance: Countdown! Not only does he forget all of his Post-Crisis character development, but he also acts really stupidly for no reason, is a humongous jerk to the Pied Piper (his close friend!) for no reason, and then is pointlessly killed for no reason.

It's also worth noting that his most recent big appearance, the one written by Joshua Williamson, was very frustrating to me. It's not as objectively bad as Countdown, or James' appearances in F: TFMA, but it takes James in an unpleasant, dark direction, and I didn't care for it at all.

Pied Piper

Best Pre-Crisis Appearance: Flash vol. 1 #307. This story is very important for the Pied Piper, because it not only gave him his full backstory but also gave him an actual name after over twenty years of him not having one! It's also just a fun read in general, full of delightful Pre-Crisis "science" and featuring some great character work for both Hartley and his parents, who are so desperate to preserve their family name that they have a reporter who uncovered the secret kidnapped so they can bribe her to keep quiet!

Best Post-Crisis Appearance: Flash vol. 2 #19, or Flash vol. 2 #32.

William Messner-Loebs' run on the Flash is underrated, and his work on Piper is a stand-out example of why more people should read it. Even though Hartley doesn't appear a lot in Flash #19 (his first ever Post-Crisis Flash appearance, by the way), but when he does show up, it pretty much single-handedly establishes what he's going to be like going forward; establishing him as an at least mostly reformed Rogue who cares about protecting the homeless and disadvantaged. It's just really sweet.

Flash vol. 2 #32 features Hartley teaming up with Wally to save his parents and his adorable little sister Geraldine from the henchmen of the Turtle and the Turtle Man. It's adorable seeing Hartley interact with his little sister, and it's also nice to see him finally make peace with his parents, even if they'll never be close. I really wish Geraldine had gotten to show up again, because I want to see more of Hartley's little sister. Also, this story features a line that I've always found hilarious for some inexplicable reason:

Thug (in response to Joan Garrick showing up at the Rathaways' mansion): An old woman? Seize her!

A close runner-up is Flash vol. 2 #190, which is a retelling of the origin story from Flash vol. 1 #307, but with more details and from Hartley's POV (the original tale had his parents telling the story).

Worst Appearance: F: TFMA and Countdown (since one led into the other, I kind of count them as one story). In which Hartley totally forgets that he reformed, is involved in the death of Bart Allen, loses about 100 IQ points, gets chased all around the DCU, gets insulted almost non-stop by the Trickster in spite of the fact that they're supposed to be friends, watches Trickster get shot in front of him, and almost goes crazy and dies.

The fact that he gets to blow up Apocalypse with Queen music is awesome, but not nearly enough to salvage this otherwise terrible storyline.

The Top

Best Pre-Crisis Appearance: Flash vol. 1 #297-303. Roscoe comes back from the dead, possesses Barry's father, spends what appears to be several months living with Barry and pretending to be Henry Allen (while slipping off to visit Lisa on the side), and then attempts to kill Barry Allen and steal his body for his own. It's weird and creepy and unique and perfect for Roscoe, and it features lots of top puns, as all good Roscoe stories should. Also, even though he's generally a huge jerk in this story, his relationship with Lisa is adorable, affectionate, and shockingly healthy.

The most hilarious thing about this story is the fact that at one point in it, Barry thinks to himself that his relationship with his father is the best it's ever been....in response to the interactions he's had with Roscoe posing as his dad. That's right, Barry apparently gets along better with Roscoe-pretending-to-be-his-dad than he does with his actual dad.

Best Post-Crisis Appearance: This is hard. Most of Roscoe's Post-Crisis appearances are pretty bad. The writers of Hawk and Dove didn't do an especially good job with him, Mark Waid's one story with him was a decent Pied Piper story but a terrible Roscoe story, and Geoff Johns seemed to hate the character, so that always affected his Roscoe stories. If I had to pick one, I guess I'd go with @gorogues' suggestion and pick Flash vol. 2 #215-216, since he's really intimidating and cool in those issues. Unfortunately, even those issues are not immune from the curse of bad post-crisis Roscoe stories, as they include the stupid Identity Crisis tie-in retcons that negated a whole bunch of the Rogues' character development.

I seriously don't know what the problem is with the Top's post-crisis stories. All of his Pre-Crisis stories were good, solid fun, and his best story shows that he can be really effective and creepy as a main villain. Why is it so hard for modern writers to write good Top stories? He isn't inherently any weirder or goofier than the Trickster.

Worst Story: Hawk and Dove vol. 3 annual #1, or Flash vol. 2 #120-121. The Hawk and Dove annual features some truly hideous art (I'm sure @gorogues has some scans to prove just how bad it is), and features a badly out-of-character Roscoe, who just seems out-of-place fighting Hawk and Dove.

Flash vol. 2 #120-121 takes the solid idea of Roscoe trying to become president by possessing the body of a senator, and then kind of ruins it by having 99% of the cast treat Roscoe as a total joke (the same Roscoe who once tried to blow up half the world with an atomic grenade!) and by having Roscoe act like an unparalleled jerkwad towards the Pied Piper for no real reason. Before his death, Roscoe generally got along pretty well with the other Rogues, so there was no reason for him to act so nastily here. Worse, I think this depiction went on to influence Geoff Johns' portrayal of Roscoe as the most unfriendly and cruel of the Rogues, which is kind of frustrating as he wasn't always like that.

Golden Glider

Best Pre-Crisis Appearance: Flash vol. 1 #257. Golden Glider is terrifying and awesome, and this story shows you exactly why. Within this issue alone, she discovers Barry's secret identity (making her the first Rogue to pull off this hat trick), almost kills both of Barry's parents and Iris (as revenge for Roscoe's death, which she blames on Barry), puts up a very solid fight against the Flash, doesn't even flinch when the Flash threatens to kill her as a bluff (saying that she has nothing left to live for now that Roscoe is dead), and, although Barry manages to save Iris and his parents, she escapes without being captured. Pre-Crisis Golden Glider is the best, and it's a shame she never gets written like this anymore.

Best Post-Crisis Appearance: Flash vol. 2 #19. Her interactions with Wally in this story are great fun, and I like seeing her be chummy with her older brother and her fellow Rogues at the party they're throwing. Her interactions with Connie Noleski (Wally's one-time girlfriend) are also pretty funny. This issue is also notable for being one of the last stories that doesn't portray Lisa as a total lunatic, as for some reason, her character got shifted into that direction not long after COIE.

Worst Appearance: As I thankfully haven't read Teen Titans vol. 6 #22, I'm nominating Flash vol. 2 Annual 5. It's a great story for Captain Boomerang, Weather Wizard, and Trickster, but it's a pretty bad story for Lisa, as it portrays her as being completely insane and serves as Exhibit A of how Mark Waid didn't know how to write the character. Golden Glider was scary because she was smart, calculating, and surprisingly composed (given how full of rage she was). Making her violently comic-book crazy undercuts how scary she was back in the Bronze Age.

You know, it really says something that Carey Bates, Lisa's creator, is probably still the best writer she's ever had. And he was writing in the late 70s and early 80s!

Mirror Master II (Evan McCulloch)

Best Story: Animal Man #8, 17, and 21, or Flash vol. 2 #133.

Nobody writes Evan McCulloch better than his creator, Grant Morrison, and these issues put that on full display.

The Animal Man stories introduce McCulloch, establish his weird personality, his freaky powerset, and his strict refusal to kill women or children, and are generally a delight to read. McCulloch has a very distinct voice throughout and is the funniest part of all three stories. Basically, everything you need to know about the character was established in these three issues.

Flash #133 is McCulloch's best appearance in an issue of Flash. He maintains his weirdness, his distinctive voice, and his insane powerset, and he takes the Flash and the reader on a trippy, colorful adventure around the world and through the looking glass. He maintains his generally cheerful and friendly attitude towards superheroes, and he is, once again, the funniest character in the story. Grant Morrison's Evan is a delight.

A close runner-up was Flash vol. 2 #212, the story that gave Evan his backstory (grimdark though it is, it somehow kind of works for him) and established what has become arguably his second-most famous characteristic (after his Scottish accent): his addiction to cocaine. It is a very good story, and I like that we get to learn more about Evan's history, but I will say that Geoff Johns' Evan isn't nearly as cheerful and weird as Morrison's, and I think that the story would have been even better with Morrison's cheerful nutty Evan than with Johns' creepy, sullen version.

Worst Appearance: Flash: TFMA. You know the drill by this point. Stupid Rogues. Pointless death of Bart. Bad writing all around.

Trickster II (Axel Walker)

Best Appearance: Flash vol. 2 #183. There are actually surprisingly few issues that focus on Axel as a lead character, but I've always enjoyed his introductory issue. It establishes some backstory for him and effectively tells you who he is (an annoying brat who might be in over his head) and what he can do (use a lot of crazy trick gadgets and work computers better than the older Rogues). I also like the bit towards the end of the issue where Mark is thoroughly unimpressed by Axel and asks if he's supposed to be their mascot. It always gets a giggle out of me.

I also thought the arc in Joshua Williamson's run where Axel briefly got super-strength was a pretty good story for Axel. It's one of the few times he's been played sympathetically and I thought that it worked really well.

Worst Appearance: Helmet of Fate: Detective Chimp. Okay, I haven't actually read this one, but I know enough about it to know that Axel murders 4 teenagers for no real reason, and that's enough for me to list it as his worst appearance.

Also, I can't really think of any Axel issue that I have read where Axel is portrayed really terribly. Writers usually seem to have a decent grasp on his character.

Captain Boomerang Jr.

Best Appearance: The best appearance of his that I've read is in Flash vol. 2 #220-225 (the Rogue War storyline). It's one of the few stories to feature him with the Rogues, and his grief over the death of his father and his relationship with Captain Cold are both very interesting. The story also finally tells us who his mother is (Meloni Thawne) and how she had a kid with Digger (well, sort of. We know time travel shenanigans were involved, at least). That being said, @gorogues says that his appearance in Manhunter v. 3 were really good, and I've heard that the story where he teamed up with Tim Drake was a good one as well.

Worst Appearance: Blackest Night: Flash #3. The story where he was turned into a idiotic child murderer and then was pointlessly killed off!

A close runner up was the Rebirth (I think) issue of Suicide Squad where he suddenly showed up and was inexplicably a snobby criminal mastermind who really hated Digger.

[silviakundera]

Lighter and Princess ep 36 - the finale!

What Gao Jianhong explains is honestly what I had assumed: Li Xun's sister's death and the ramifications ruined 2 lives, not 1. Geo Jianhong obviously never expected her to die at that hotel. (It was an accident, not even Fang's fault either as much as a POS he is.) But just like LX wasn't thinking clearly, neither was GJH- he was panicked and also consumed with guilt. Objectively, it was an unconnected accident. But she wouldn't have been at that location if not for Gao. So he just triples down on being the villian. Ok, I'm a monster. So be it. I'll play that role to the limit. Maybe this is how I finally win. After all these years, I think he's still been feeling guilt over Sister Li Lan's death. He can't stop being the villain because he doesn't believe in his own redemption. And this gets all mixed up with the resentment and hate that persists because of his inferiority complex.

This doesn't absolve him of anything, btw. He's a bastard who has stolen from & stepped on more amateur game designers; caused Li Xun mental anguish, betrayed his trust in a disgusting manner; abused his wife, blackmailed Zhu Yin with 'social death'... He tried to send Li Xun back to prision. Objectively a trash person.

But it's consistent, layered characterization. It's an explanation. I was glad to see the subtext I'd interpreted become explicit text.

gawwwwdd but I'M EVIL in that it's so satisfying for Gao Jianhong to hear that Li Xun has the inner strength & capacity to forgive him and let go. ("Impossible! It's me. It's me who wanted to step on him. It's me who stopped from from standing up.") BWAHAHAHAHA you fell short yet again, you pathetic man child. He bests u in everything. ❤ And now you're living for him, at his command.

They got the name back \o/

The biggest surprise in this drama is how I ended up loving class president Fang Shu Miao. Just a minor character but it's fun that she grew up into an awesome lady and good friend.

smh but up to the very end, this drama still trying so hard to convince me that ML is handsome lmao sorry I have eyes, no. Love u anyway rat boy 😍🐀���

The Flying team scenes in the finale really were too perfect and made me so emotional. Mr Dong is still the boss! They're all shareholders! Eating ice pops again, the sacred tradition 😂😭

Mr Dong: "Your daughter is my boss now. She works for herself."

asdfghjk (whispers) it's true tho

99% of the time I dislike the "this company is my found family" storyline tbh. I've seen a lot of toxic situations in rl, especially young lgbt who were rejected by their families and had nowhere else to go, only to be taken advantge of. But this drama has been a big exception to that. A group of odd balls who aren't loyal friends at the start (originally out for themselves) but go thru adventures together. My favorite flavor. And now Mr Dong is defending Li Xun as an elder, when he has no one else to bring to the table. This drama earned it! (And it helps that the protagonists are clearly the leaders of this gang now, no power imbalance.)

"Mom, this is our home. You have no right to interfere. You have no right to make the decisions." 👏👏👏 i love herrrrrrrrrr

After Zhu Yun's mother makes an absolutely disgusting declaration (to an orphan whose parents & sister are dead) that she must marry her daughter to someone "with a happy family" of an equal social status, and invites him to bring his parents to meet them... It's now Li Xun's turn to be an absolute badass and instead of centering his own pain and insult, simply points out that he knows Zhu Yun has the ability to change the world, but her parents just want ZY to obey them. It's her parents that are wronging HER most of all and he sees that. Maturity!

I love how they roll. She suggests they have a baby because 30 is the right age, but then they'd need to get married. He's like ok, let's have a baby. And then a couple days later buys them a house. She's basically quasi proposed to him and then they just decide to get it done. Very them.

The marriage certificate guys' FACE. "You have many family members." !!!!!! ��😭😭😭😭

The marriage was absolutely perfect. Loved the final group picture and that their friends gathered to support them in lieu of blood family.

I normally don't get attached or care too much for supporting characters. But Lighter & Princess and A Journey to Love broke that mold for me. Sorry Ren Di, though you are smoking hot I never could care about your angst. But the friend group really endeared themselves to me.

What a truly fantastic story from beginning to end. Never falters. I feel like modern cdramas have a bad rep compared to kdramas but there are some real gems. note to self: make a modern cdrama rec post this year

[rapifessor]

Have another post from this Chiori-obsessed blog:

I've been looking into some of the criticisms people have of this character, since I'd been hearing things and I wanted to know if those concerns were really valid. Long story short: they are.

People are understandably upset about the nerfs she's been receiving. It's pretty frustrating when we get characters like Neuvillette who are insane monsters, but then the devs turn around and relentlessly scrutinize and tweak others, like Chiori.

Chiori was nowhere near as strong as Neuvillette is currently and she's seemingly getting hit with nerf after nerf. It really makes you wonder if HoYo is even trying to balance the game, or if they're just playing favorites. Which, needless to say, would be incredibly unfair. Or maybe they really are just that stupid and have no idea what they're doing. Hard to say.

Anyway, this is not a doompost; rather, it's an attempt at a rational analysis of what Chiori's shortcomings are and what they mean for her success as a unit. As I said, I find most criticisms of her kit to be valid, but that doesn't mean Chiori is weak. Far from it.

The general consensus is that Chiori is a stronger version of Albedo. She has pretty much the exact same role, but she deals more damage than Albedo does, and doesn't have to deal with the cringe of her primary source of damage being killed by bosses all the time. In this sense, Chiori is a perfectly good unit who has a place in the meta.

The primary complaint isn't Chiori's power level, it's her lack of flexibility and the fact that she's essentially a rehash of an existing character. People dislike that Albedo is being powercrept, and that Chiori wasn't given a more unique design that doesn't limit her to mono Geo teams. That's all very understandable.

Now for the actual nerfs: removal of DEF snapshotting for Chiori's dolls, and of course the decrease in the burst multiplier. Plus the changes made to her Constellation in earlier beta versions. Personally I don't think these nerfs change much, although removing Chiori's ability to snapshot was cringe and the burst damage nerf seems unwarranted. 30% reduction in damage dealt is a bit much if all they wanted to do was reduce her Energy needs and make C2 better.

HoYo going out of their way to nerf the output of Chiori, when her only real strength is being able to deal a lot of damage, feels a bit like a slap in the face. Especially when they're doing that instead of addressing some of Chiori's key issues, like the lack of AoE on her dolls' attacks, or the fact that she can't reposition them because of her skill's relatively long cooldown. Not to mention, once again, her team restrictions.

What this all means is that Chiori is not a particularly good pull if you're looking to add value to your account or just trying to 36-star the Abyssal Spire for the first time. She can be pretty strong for new players, due to her raw damage that will help you breeze through early-game content, but for the average invested F2P, she's not great.

But also: if you're willing to do what it takes to make her good, Chiori will be good. It's a matter of playing her in the right team and giving her enough investment to put in work for you. If, like me, you're undeterred by Chiori's blandness and limitations, don't worry about all the doomposting. You'll be able to make her work, she's not a bad character by any means.

[emeraldthelynx]

Prompts Anyone?

So, I used to jot down random ideas I had in a notebook. I still try to do that, but now they exist moreso in my 'Writer's Junk' folder in the form of 'prompts.' Sometimes they are an actual prompt for an idea that I don't have a plot for, or sometimes it's just a reminder for me to remember what on Earth this idea was supposed to be. I've kept some of the prompts that have actually spiraled into full ideas, ones that are too confusing, and ones that I'm a little embarrased to share, but otherwise, here's a list of 'prompts' for anybody to use for any idea. (Mostly Megaman prompts, some Sonic, some FMA, and just a sprinkle of Zelda and Pokemon.) (They're also completely unedited, so there's some random typos here and there.)

-What if Link and Zelda had a kid and named him Zero?

-Lan is a Zorua

-Ad-liberation- In which Tomahawkman is the only one out of the loop concerning Dark Megaman and Liberation Missions

-In which Omega-Xis is turned into a human and has amnesia

-A world where Navis are the masters, and while humans are not mistreated, they have to do whatever the Navis tell them to

-Sonic story based off 'Be Somewhere'

-Lan and Chaud accidentally get the wrong Navis

-Reality altering device that looks like a butterfly and Lan (at first) is the only one who realizes the 'butterfly effect.'

-Hyrule Needs a Hero, and Sonic Just So Happens To Be One (amnesia included.)

-'Bad Ending' thing where Giro has 'died' but Model O saves him, but at the cost of Giro becoming completely dependant on the deranged Biometal

-Cross Fusion requires a bond, right? Chaud doesn't have the right kind with Protoman, so he's going to work on becoming the best friend he can be. Protoman is worried for his NetOp's health and safety.

-Copy X gets blasted to the BN with a disability, gets adopted by Tadashi, and Lan is unsure if Copy is his uncle or his brother.

-Copy X turns out sweet and innocent. Harpuia is yeeted to the throne, and the others have to deal with 'Mini X'

-Legend of Zelda/ Star Force crossover

-Geo and Lan are in the wrong time periods. Have the opposite partner

-X is holding Megaman's PET (I really don't know where this would go) (Let's try it anyways)

-Cyber Elf X except he's Hub

-Linked Universe but it's Mega Man

-Duo restores earth (animeverse) but at the cost of the CF members having to go with him throughout the galaxy, to 'find the light' on other planets. (So in other words, the captian has a crew that has to convince him not to blow up every planet he comes across.)

-Legends Arcues Zorua twins

-Pokemon except it's in the world of Mega Man Legends. Ash is a purifier unit, but of course has no clue and wants to go on a journey. Misty's got a boat, Brock's doing his Breeder thing, and it's basically Pokemon except in the year 80XX

-Sonic Prime but it's the characters' actual personalities

-Trill shows up in the anime dimension about 6 years too early, and it takes the entirety of EXE, Axess, and Stream before anybody really figures things out. (Trill is also human, sorta)

-If Sonic was a 'teen' anime that worked like an anime/manga and not a game or comic (bits of inspiration from those really cool 'sonic anime openings' plot wise)

-In a world where viruses materialize in reality, and humans with illnessness and disibility are given NetNavi powers to fight back, there is one duo is just a bit stranger than most. Hub Hikari is the youngest human to have ever been given Navi powers,

-Megaman suddenly got the feeling that Lt. Hawkeye was just as good a shot as Searchman was. And that was honestly terrifying. (Now that's a prompt.)

-FMA modern AU and Al's a cell phone. (And Team Mustang is a police precinct)

-BotW/FMA

-In which some humans ended up on the Net, but not all of them

[gerec]

Hi Ger, me again! I'm curious if you have any ideas/thoughts/wishes/fantasies about the continued X-Men movie/tv-verse. Storylines you'd like to see explored? Old cast members brought back? New cast members/characters? Do-overs of particular storylines? Personally, I've been so disappointed by a lot of the latest X-Men tv/film content that I've lost my capacity for dreaming - but i bet you'd have some awesome takes!

Oh man I have so many opinions about the state of X-Men bear with me!

First of all, shout-out to X-Men 97 because it was AMAZING and managed to give almost everyone on the team a great character arc and compelling motivation, and managed to deliver some pretty iconic stories in just 10 episodes (Ep. 5 is an absolute knock-out punch; the tension that builds throughout the 37 min to its explosive end is some of the best story-telling I've ever see for X-Men - really great stuff). Having said that, the pace was a bit too much, too fast - we basically got like 5 of the all time top 10 X-Men stories crammed into one very short season lol. Slow down! Let the storylines cook!

I didn't start reading X-Men comics until the start of the Hickman run with House of X, so I can't really compare how it stacks up to past eras but I was BLOWN AWAY by its premise and the promise of a new normal where mutants stopped fighting each other and got a chance to live together in peace (mostly without human interference). I wanted to see the inner workings of their ruling council, how they build and manage a brand new nation-state, and explore Krakoa's geo-political impact on other nations of the world. It started out with SO MUCH PROMISE, and there were a couple of years of mostly interesting stories but then they decided to end it all with mutant genocide (again) and reverting to status quo (again) without really answering those big questions they asked at the beginning of the era. 'Mutants will be persecuted' and 'Mutants always lose' is TIRED and TIRESOME and I'm so disappointed I've stopped reading the comics completely. Marvel let these poor people be safe and happy for longer than a minute and stop killing them with giant robots I'm begging you!

As I mentioned in my other post, I'm not really invested in the MCU's version of the X-Men - and I certainly don't want to think about a new cast lol - so I've not been giving future content a lot of thought. I'm more interested in how they're going to explain/fit X-Men in the current MCU; whether they'll bring them in from another verse like they're supposedly doing with the Fantastic Four, or somehow magic a convoluted reason why no one has ever heard of them in 616 (or why none of them showed up to help with Thanos). Whatever they do I'm sure it will be aggressively fine, because the MCU has long moved past the point of taking risks and making interesting choices (or bothering with good characterization and story-telling) for the sake of 'continuity' and 'building the verse' and 'making more and more money'.

AMA about X-Men!!!

[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

dr part 2 (and some part 1) questions how would fusion and what ever zeatrixes elements work in legacyverse where would they go in the compass? what about geo what would he be like when it comes to cole jesse and cam how would the source dragons fit into your element lore would wyldfyre immediately unlocked her potential the moment she got her powers since she could use them right after the merge happened (same question for euphrasia and geo) when riyu activates soras powers with his spark would it count as her having a controlled artificial outburst what would be sora's, wyldfyre's, euphrasia's and geo's nrg/elemental abilities be And if you don’t mind can you plz do and eye color reference chart for geo and zeatrix and maybe euphrasia if wind being associated with white in the show now had changed anything with the eye color Thank you

This is a lot of specifics for a lot of people who have only showed up like once so far or haven't fully tapped into their element yet T-T)9

how would fusion and what ever zeatrixes elements work in legacyverse where would they go in the compass? -> As mentioned, they'd probably be considered Outlier Elements given that the FSM never mastered them. If Technology is a Lightning Outlier and Heat is Fire Outlier, thennnnnnn I've been considering Fusion as another Ice Outlier (since it's ability to "change the shape/purpose of objects" aligns nicely with the likes of Water, Form, and Gravity if you squint), whiiiiiiich would then leave Element Z as another Earth Outlier. Pending, of course.

what about geo what would he be like when it comes to cole jesse and cam -> I'm not saying a WORD about Geo until he shows up in at least one more episode (I'm expecting some kind of Avengers team-up of these new oneshot EM's/allies against Ras' plans tbqh) but you can have this to chew on if you want

how would the source dragons fit into your element lore -> Currently they don't! Though I personally hope they somehow tie it back to the First Realm and its dragons cuz that'd be cool and thematically fitting

would wyldfyre immediately unlocked her potential the moment she got her powers since she could use them right after the merge happened (same question for euphrasia and geo) -> I'm chalking it up to ~residual merge phenomena~ giving these guys their powers from the get-go, since (presumably) all of them were older than 14 anyway (aka the age attunement starts to show). That being said, just because they have (mostly) full control of their powers doesn't mean they've achieved their "True Potential" (as we've seen with Sora...and even Jesse in the current time, if we wanna be truly pedantic)

when riyu activates soras powers with his spark would it count as her having a controlled artificial outburst -> yeah, that's about how I'd describe it. Although it still hasn't been really established what Riyu's whole deal is to begin with, so, pending!

what would be sora's, wyldfyre's, euphrasia's and geo's nrg/elemental abilities be -> Dunno, still wanna see more from them before making a call that big. Except for Euphrasia; she probably has the same NRG/Elemental Ability as Morro, but fine-tuned towards herself (and maybe instead of Stormcaller she has Stormender, or something)

And if you don’t mind can you plz do and eye color reference chart for geo and zeatrix and maybe euphrasia if wind being associated with white in the show now had changed anything with the eye color -> Maybe one day, but like I said I wanna see more from Geo first (cuz his element seems to have a lot of cool-toned power colors, even more than Wyldfyre, but then his eyes are already yellow-orange which is like the complete opposite fdjhgfdghfd), we still dunno what Element Z is so I don't have all that much to work off of (though that pending power color is definitely gonna be Wisteria), and I'm still associating Wind with Jade...so Euphrasia's got some brand new stuff to worry about

[judedeluca]

Jude's 33rd Birthday Wishlist Wishtravaganza

It's the most wonderful time of the year. My birthday.

I've been so busy this past year with my work and my writing, and with so much I have to do this month in regards to my career and the holidays I wasn't able to really think much about this so I stuck with mostly my usual faves and a couple of new ones.

So if anyone wants to write or draw something for me for the most important day of the year, by all means. I'll have a kink one later, but right now I also have to work on holiday fic prompts for people.

For those interested in doing anything WG or BBM related for me, I'm just reusing the list from last year. I realized I've been making practically the same list every year and that's a waste of energy on my end.

(https://judedeluca.tumblr.com/post/701977512921759744/judes-32nd-birthday-wishlist-the-bbm-version)

Arsenal Family: Roy Harper and his daughter Lian, alongside Lian's half-brother Tommy Blake Jr. adopted into the family. A concept that was never included in the comics proper because Roy and Lian never found out about Tommy.

Berzerker (X-Men Evolution): Ray Crisp, an updated version of one of the Morlocks added to the Xavier Institute as one of the New Mutants. He was said to be a hothead, but aside from a briefly seen rivalry with Sunspot, was admittedly rather mellow. He was implied to have a past with Evo's version of the Morlocks.

Black Orchid (Justice League): A human/plant hybrid created from the DNA of Susan Thorne. She was the last surviving Orchid after Carl Thorne slaughtered the rest. Taking the name "Suzy," she went off with her older sister Flora. After going on various misadventures of her own, Suzy grew and eventually took the Black Orchid name when Flora was killed for trying to wipe out humanity.

Bolt (Teen Titans Academy): An indigenous Australian speedster who lost her legs due to the actions of her criminal parents. Amanda Waller got her into the United States and a pair of prosthetic legs, but Alinta refused to comply when Waller demanded she act as her soldier. Was last seen as a member of the short-lived Teen Titans Academy, but hasn't appeared since.

Catholic Girl (Xombi): As her name indicates, Catholic Girl is a Catholic school girl who also happens to be a superhero. She generates light and energy, force fields, and can fly. She's a sidekick to the telepathic Nun of the Above and a friend to Xombi.

Coagula (Doom Patrol): Kate Godwin, a transgender woman with the ability to generate energy capable of coagulating and dissolving substances. Joined the Doom Patrol after defeating the Codpiece, becoming a sisterly figure to Dorothy Spinner and entering into an emotional relationship with Robotman.

Dark Angel (Wonder Woman): A demonic witch obsessed with making Donna Troy as utterly miserable as possible. She initially served as the Anti-Monitor's Harbinger, but overcame his control and fled into the Multiverse. Has fought Wonder Woman, the Justice Society, and the Titans on various occasions.

Erina Goldsmith (Variable Geo): A Japanese-American woman who spent years being bullied for her mixed heritage. She now owns and operates a restaurant called The Rival, where she and her staff dress as Playboy Bunnies. She uses a cigarette lighter to focus her energy, and keeps her tucked between her bust while fighting.

Forte Drums (Sleepless Domain): Debbie, the drummer of Team Forte. She's the cute one with the bowtie, thinks she can get away with anything. She's notoriously ranked lowest on popularity charts in the past, but she's the most popular in my heart.

Foxfire (Squadron Supreme): A criminal with the ability to create a bioluminescent energy capable of rotting anything, Olivia Underwood was brainwashed into becoming a superhero by the Squadron Supreme. The brainwashing was eventually undone, but Olivia couldn't bring herself to betray the Squadron because she'd fallen in love with Doc Spectrum and liked being a hero. She was stabbed in the back by the Mink after killing Nighthawk.

Harry and Alex Altman (Goosebumps #45: Ghost Camp): Brothers spending the summer at rustic Camp Spirit Moon. They're disturbed by the various "pranks" the veteran campers like to pull due to how violent they are. It takes a while before they discover the camp's dark secret...

Hourman III (Justice Society of America): Matthew Tyler, a robotic inheritor of the Hourman created in the 853rd Century. He travelled back in time and became a member of both the Justice League and the Justice Society. He lived with former JLA sidekick Snapper Carr to better learn about himself and humanity.

Hypnotia (Iron Man: The Animated Series): A villainess with hypnotic abilities who worked under the Mandarin. Among his entourage of lackeys, Hypnotia was the only one with any degree of competency and had the respect of her boss. Dreadknight and Blacklash often fought for her attention, while she was infatuated with Tony Stark.

Kim/Taurus (Zodiac Starforce): One of the most recent recruits of the new version of Zodiac Starforce. Kim's the sturdiest and most physical member of the team and actively enjoys fighting evil. She's in a committed relationship with her boyfriend Josh, which her teammates find either adorable (Savannah, Lily) or nauseating (Molly). Her dream's to be a pro wrestler.

Joker’s Daughter (Batman): Duela Dent's a confused young woman who flips between good and evil depending on how she feels. She introduced herself to Robin and Batgirl by pulling off a series of "crimes" under several different guises in order to demonstrate her skills to join the Teen Titans. Though she's claimed to be both Joker's daughter and Two-Face's daughter, the truth's more complicated thanks to extensive mental trauma she's suffered over the years.

La Pucelle (Magical Girl Raising Project): A magical girl whose real name is Souta Kishibe. Souta's always been a fan of magical girl stories but kept his hobby a secret from most. One day he was blessed with power by the mobile game Magical Girl Raising Project, gaining the ability to transfer into a female form and wielding a sword that can grow bigger or smaller at his command. As La Pucelle, he fights alongside his childhood best friend Koyuki, a.k.a. Snow White.

Oursonette (War Bears): A 1940s comic book heroine created by Alain "Al" Zurakowski, a werebear who aided the Canadian army during WWII.

Purple Tigress (Fox Comics): A minor Golden Age comic book heroine who only made two appearances in printed media before falling into the public domain. Heiress Anita "Ann" Morgan has eyes like a cat and dresses herself up as "her jungle namesake." Somehow no one recognizes her as the Purple Tigress despite her never wearing a mask.

Radietta Fanbelt/White Racer (Carranger): A young woman from another planet who fancies herself the biggest fan of the Carrangers, to the point she styles herself as their hypothetical sixth member, White Racer.

Rainbow Girl (Legion of Super-Heroes): A heroine rejected from the Legion of Super-Heroes, she later joined the Legion of Substitute-Heroes. She taps into the Emotional Spectrum, but her lack of control means she suffers from erratic moodswings.

Sailor Jupiter (Sailor Moon): Do I even have to say anything?

Serena del Mar (Wave Race: Blue Storm): My favorite, go-to racer from the Wave Race franchise.

Softkore (Local Man): A member of the extreme antihero team Third Gen. Softkore was a former R&B singer before her bod was coated in an experimental polymer.

Supergirl (Mae/Linda): Matrix was an artificial being from an alternate world. As she struggled to understand if she was human in any sense, she didn't hesitate to sacrifice her life to save a young woman named Linda Danvers. The two became merged, and due to Mae's sacrifice they gained new powers as an earth-born angel.

Talon (Spider-Man: The New Animated Series): An heiress named Cheyanne led a double life as the thrillseeking Talon, a thief who enjoyed stealing things which had sentimental value for their owners. In her civilian life she was slowly becoming a good friend to Harry Osborn and Mary Jane Watson, while as Talon her hatred of Spider-Man's patronizing attitude grew.

Tiara (Shamanic Princess): One of the earlier dark magical girls of the 1990s from the six episode OVA series Shamanic Princess. Tiara's a warrior from the Guardian World sent to retrieve its source of power, the Throne of Yord. With her new familiar Japolo, Tiara finds herself up against familiar faces as she realizes the struggle she's in is more complex than she assumed. She wants to do the right thing, but what IS the right thing?

Tormenta (Mahoney’s): A demonic sorceress connected to the Ebon Realms and a regular at Mahoney's bar for supervillains.

Fun fact, my interest in the character sparked Rich Carrington and Brian S. Dawson to use her more.

Tsumugi Wakana (Magia Record): A magical girl who loves enjoying good food and supporting good cooks. She made her wish for the sake of better supporting Manaka Kurumi, another magical girl who is also a talented chef. Tsumugi's wish gave her refined taste buds, allowing her to write deeper critiques by picking up on subtle distinctions in every meal she samples. Her weapons are a trident which splits apart to form a giant knife and fork.

Vickie Wheilson (Graveyard School): Vickie Wheilson, the neon-colored second top boardhead of Graveyard School alongside her more serious cousin Skate McGraw as THE skateboarder.

Wakaba Shinohara (Revolutionary Girl Utena): She is all that is good in the world.

[joltning]

sometime if you feel like it i'd be really interested to hear more about your georgia and utah's personalities and their dynamic together. I've picked up some from art context and some of your posts but im curious to see it written out :3

guess who’s back. Me

warning⚠️ warning this post is me blabbing ⚠️ you have been warned ⚠️

acckkk where do i start.

Georgia? Kind of a dick for no reason. he’s the bully of the moi and everyone kind of hates him a little bit. he has like an air of superiority to him despite not being like the highest rank n doesn’t have a lot of close friends, so he usually hangs around south (probably cause she doesn’t want to sit with the other lancers n the other lancers don’t want to sit with him Lmao.) he kind of parallels carolina n how he reaches far over his limits trying to be the best but unlike Carolina he isn’t actually the best n will pussy out prob. (for other reasons too but that’s not important.) Other notes in the other ramblepost blah

Utah is silly and yippeepilled Ok. He has a pretty calm demeanor and is pretty optimistic, even though that might just be cause he’s a little dim (not like, in a caboose way but more in like a donut way. like you could get him to eat dirt with enough convincing). Most people on the moi generally like him, he’s friendly to even the lower tiered lancers and to employees, but he only has a select few closer friends. I see him as the leader of the B team, so he can stand his ground and have a loud voice when he needs, but usually takes a more seated back approach to try to support his team instead. He usually keeps his helmet off.

okay now them as a dynamic. since they both have pretty small friend groups that includes eachother. they work well together as they have contrasting fighting styles and they generally enjoy eachothers company

Georgia has a Horrible crush on Utah. utah kinda knows but he’s really stupid a bit to advances and kind of just stares off into space confused sometimes. they’re generally very close friends tho like they steal eachothers clothes but it’s not gay its just being homies yk. geo will still be kind of mean to him but it’s more in a playful way than like actually trying to hurt his feelings

however, all that being said, one of the main reasons Utah’s friend group is so small is because of Georgia. no one really likes him so since they’re together so often, people tend to stray away from Utah too. even though utah can stand his ground in a battle situation, he’s kind of a pushover when it comes to Georgia’s bullying, telling him to stop and reacting negatively to it but not really going farther than that. they’re a bit toxic like that. georgua would be a horrible partner tbh.

in canon I feel like either geo gets his shit together in the endless void of space or he lands on a planet and continues to be an asshole. destined to be horrible or dead or something.

uhhhh. if you want to see more of my interpretation ov them I have 2 oneshots in this fic (yes, I know now you’re suppose to post separately) one with my au n one of them with them generally. thanks for letting me yap mikey

[primofate]

i'm trying to motivate myself to farm his bis set but it's honestly really hard (ar 59, burnt out as hell). That and I don't really have a team comp built around bloom reactions so it's not as efficient.

Also the information I give below is my personal suggestion, also gotten from several guides I've followed.

As of now, I'd recommend a mix of any of the 2-pieces between the ones that give +15% anemo damage bonus and +18% atk, or 4 piece shimenawa, if you don't mind not having his burst up as much. Obviously the newest one is the best for him but ya girl's tired™ with artifact farming so he'll take what he can get for now.

For weapons, aside from his signature, all of the 5-star catalysts with atk/crit substats can work for him (kagura's, lost prayer, skyward atlas). 4 stars include the dodoco tales, the widsith, solar pearl, and mappa mare—the blackcliff catalyst works too but it's not as viable.

The team comps... Imma be honest with you, mine is also clunky. It's recommended that you have a good shielder because he's super vulnerable to getting interrupted— i haven't tried him out for abyss because I don't have a good comp for him, and also because faruzan never came home (plus apparently she's only good at c6) so his damage isn't like floor 12 clear worthy just yet. One team comp I wanted to try is double pyro + anemo with venti, bennett and ideally thoma for the shield, but I don't have thoma built 💀 there are others like a taser team with a hydro character + two electro ones (ex. Fischl + beidou), but again, ideally he needs a shield and I don't have beidou built either. Another is freeze with layla, but I don't have her. I have diona built but her shield isn't as strong.

TL;DR I don't have a solid group recommendation, sorry ;-;

Anyway yeah, here's my take on his builds. You can probably find tons of these in the internet already, anyways. Sorry for rambling in your inbox!

I'm going to ramble as well! Haha!

Weapon wise I managed to get his signature so I'm alright with that.

I'm gunna put a keep reading on here so it's not too long

Artefacts...Well, just like you it'll take some time to farm the new domain so I've slapped a 4pc Viridescent on him for now. But also I don't really know if I want the new artefact on him, I know it's the ideal one but I think Viridescent is better for elemental reactions and I love playing with that (except that I don't even have much proper elemental reactions with his current team comp, lol. So I'm still going to farm for the new artefact)

I also wanted to do double pyro with benny and thoma but just like you my thoma isn't built and I don't think I really want to build him if he's not a very flexible team player (e.g. If I can't put him in other teams I'm not gunna bother) So my current team for Scara right now is Yunjin (for the Normal Attack and Attack Speed buff) + Zhongli (for the shield) so that gives me double Geo with 15% damage increase and the last character I usually switch it in and out depending on what elemental reaction I want plus the talent effect on Scaramouche. The problem with this team comp is that it doesn't really play a lot with elemental reactions hahaha it just seems very limited, but it works, since my Yunjin and Zhongli has been properly built since forever and they are very flexible characters. Much like you I've been constantly looking at other shielders though, to at least get a non-geo character to be a shield (I always feel like putting a Geo in an anemo forward team is a waste but I don't have a lot of choices at the moment haha)

True that there are a lot of online guides but most of them rely on Faruzan! That and they almost always assume that we have all the characters built and don't really mix and match a lot of diff characters so its nice to hear what others have!

I'm surprised you didn't get Faruzan tho! Haha.... I C6ed her before I even got Scaramouche...I guess he was being real stubborn, lost my 50-50 to Diluc before I got him but eh, I like Diluc.

Thanks for your time! :D

[yostresswritinggirl]

The archons have a chance to stake their claim on puppet reader. It does get funnier with the side quest potential because the Traveler would think it’s Scara, too, at some point. And gathering clues on Inazuma would be like collecting notes Fatui soldiers have written down and probably overhearing the shrine priestesses talking about a previous incident. Oh, and maybe a researcher from Sumeru who wrote down puppet reader’s legends? Even just small snippets would make Zhongli and Venti feel better. Or worse depending on what the Traveler picks up. Oh, and possibly having them on the Traveler’s team could unlock special interactions and dialogue post vision hunt.

Zhongli and Venti also referring to puppet reader as “child” so when Traveler meets Scara for the first time, they (and Paimon) have no idea why the archons are so fond of this brat.

Zhongli didn’t give his gnosis until after the archon quest so maybe he actively was making mora and still forgot to make some for himself. Ah, Venti is a special case given the winds. Perhaps he is compiling other clues as well. They really are looking out for puppet reader. SMH Ei, what would Makoto say.

Bloom anon

Stake their claim sjfbsokeks I love the idea of confusing Traveler like it's us theorycrafting these absurd info despite barely having any crumbs to work with. The shrine incident would only appear after Inazuma AQ so this might end up like a continuous side quest per version haha

Them being on the team tho hmmm well if it's a side quest, they could make appearances instead or additional dialogues, it would be "About ???" until the official introduction. But yes! The confusion of it all would be so damn funny like, heartfelt Traveler trying to coax him to being good (probs during the Pardis Dhyai talk "Venti and Zhongli wouldn't want this, they care about you too" and Scara's like "who tf?" "Anemo and Geo archon?" "I've never met them in my whole entire life, wtf are you talking about, anyways time to zap Tighnari"

Zhongli forgetting his own savings? More likely than you think! And Venti definitely has some tricks up his sleeves in play too, and he'd talk about his memories about this mystery person during the festivals. Speaking of, Albedo making an additional painting of Reader for Irodori as a test draft, and be like "oh i met this person during the meteor incident, i think they were traveling with that person too" *points at Kuronushi, puts painting next to the five kaisen portrait to make it look like Kuronushi is walking towards this mystery person*

Bonus points would be drunk Venti pointing at the painting and be like "oh hey, you've found them, thank you for your help Traveler" then promptly passing out to leave a very confused outlander and Paimon

Overall, the most likely occurrence during the archon meet up with Ei, Zhongli and Venti pre-3.0 would be the two info-dumping about how the Fatui might be using puppet reader, traces of where they've been, erosion, all that shit - and Ei is all like "wait, they left the house?" "..." Woman's got zero clue

[gffa]

prayercircle for itto banner luck (i think he hates me.)🫠

*joins hands with you* I know we're not the only ones that Itto seems to hate, he's been elusive for a few people I've talked to as well. I'm thankful that I'm at the point of the game where I'm pulling for characters because I want to run around the field as them, rather than because I desperately need another DPS character, but I really, really want Itto. ): He's my favorite type of character! He just smashes things! Plus, I am this close to getting C6 Gorou and I have Zhongli, so I could put that team with Albedo or Yun Jin and have a really fun mono-geo team! If I get Itto. ): (I'm 40 into pity with three weeks to scrounge up a bunch of primos from quests if I get in gear, but no guaranteed pity, so I'm kind of resigning myself that I probably won't get him this time, either. Because I think Itto hates me. ): ) I do kinda want Al-Haitham just because he's hot and I do kinda want Dehya just because she's hot too, but honestly I also want Venti so bad, too. ): I want to run a team with all four archons just because it'd be funny! ): Currently I will content myself with putting Nahida, Ei, and Twirly-Whirly on the same team together because that's going to be HILARIOUS. Anyway, let's join hands and anyone else who wants in on this for trying to get Itto (or any other character--who are you guys working towards right now?), come on over.

[watatsumiis]

Bark bark, General.

1, 7, 10, 11, 23 for the ask game if thats alright?

Wanted to ask more but im trying to not be too greedy.

Bark bark Melloww!! How are you doing?

It's always okay to overload me with ask meme things, I really love doing them !! :D

Ask meme found here

1. Who did you choose as your traveler?

Aether!! I just like his design more and also identify with him more. I feel like Lumine makes a more intimidating 'antagonist' too. A lot of people I play with chose Lumine so when they play as her i switch to Aether and joke that we beat the game aha

7. Who is your least favorite character?

IS THIS EVEN A QUESTION?? PAIMON. I know she has a lot of sympathisers but to me she just comes across so grating and abrupt and despite all the time the traveller has spent with her it's like she just hasn't. matured at all? she's still dense and downright rude at times and I just. cannot stand her. This is all personal opinion of course, yall are entitled to feel however you like about her but she just. Icks me.

Most of the other characters I'm not fond of can be chalked up to poor/repetitive writing from MHY and I generally still don't mind writing for them (it's not a difficult endeavour to spin characters I don't care for into something I can have fun writing) but I think Paimon might be the exception. Her English voice also just... doesn't sit well with me, it hurts my ears :<

10. Favorite element?

ANEMO i like how it works great with everything!! though pyro is also very fun to play with (esp in combination with electro) and Geo can be handy! Though I've been having fun with hydro and dendro recently too !

11. Least favorite element?

I don't have a 'least favourite' per se, though I think the only element I don't really have a good character for is Cryo (But I might build Kaeya some more, he's already level 90, it's just talents and stuff)

23. Bow, Sword, Polearm, Claymore or Catalyst?

POLEARM GO BRRRR i like how fast it goes!!!! most of my best characters are polearm!! as a bonus the one i dislike the most is bow - it just doesn't feel very well engineered (especially on mobile). I like having Venti on my team for his crowd-gathering skills (except for when his burst aims somewhere entirely wrong, i wish there were a way to pick where it goes) but i will not use him for any more time than necessary.

Swords are also good! But polearms my beloved <3

[hiraya-rawr]

My condolences, so sorry for your loss at the 50/50. stil,,,Tighnari tho <3

Anyway, I saw that you have both thoma and heizou on ur team, two characters I have at lvl.1 rn from childes banner lmao. I didn't build them because I wasn't sure if they would be any good 😭

Would you recommend I build them?? Are they good?? Do they help?? I was holding off on heizou becuz I wanted to save building a proper anemo character for whenever kazuha gets a rerun!!! And thoma, i need a good shield character but I thought I'd wait for zhongli, am i being dumb?? WHY won't YouTube give me any answers???

tighnari tho <33 ive been building him in my free time but those lotuses are so hard to collect (not to mention my lack of talent mats..)

I actually had thoma and heizou in the pic believing that it would bring ayato home 🥲 I mean, it's his house helper and someone he works with, right?? still he didn't come home anyway

BUT I HIGHLY RECOMMEND BUILDING HEIZOU, i gave him a bunch of scrap anemo artifacts and he's on a 4 star weapon but he absolutely exceeded my expectations 😭 I've already heard good things about him (like him being anemo-hutao, super easy to build) and he's very fun if you like elemental reactions!!! there's still a long way before kazuha gets a rerun, so enjoy a super strong 4 star while you're at it <3 (I actually didn't pull for the wanderer bc I wanted to focus on heizou 😅). i have thoma at lvl 71 with good artifacts but I can't exactly give him the same praise as my other pyro characters (he can be useful for a shield with pyro application tho! unlike a geo shield)

[oh-my-may]

Felt like sharing that I've been in the process of finishing up Genshin content I skipped over. Especially Chenyu Vale exploration. Felt like a chore doing it when it came out so I pushed it to a later point when I'd actually enjoy it. And what can I say, I'm almost through with it now after two longer sessions and I've been loving it :)

After playing a game like Rebirth, Genshins casualness (?) is so refreshing and welcoming, it felt like a warm hug. The last few weeks I only ever did dailies and farmed through resin and logged off because I was busy with other stuff. Now I have the time to enjoy it again, and I feel so happy about it. It makes me so excited for the new map areas in 4.6.

Chenyu Vale exploration probably felt kind of nostalgic and welcoming because there'a lots of small puzzles and mechanics that are similar or the same as Liyue pre-2.0 which now feels so nostalgic to me. The weird bubble flowers that you have to shoot? Placing geo monuments on pressure plates? Count me in.

Also love the "weird" hidden chests that are also so old Mondstadt and Liyue. Like wdym there's a weird digging point that you can click repeatedly and ore chunks come out until it explodes in your face BUT you get a chest at the end :) Following trails of pinecones to caged in Simulacrums (these Treasure Hoarders really just do anything). The ruins were also just such a callback to old Liyue :( I was so happy throughout idk.

I alsl finally figured out how the Chenyu Vale exclusive exploration mechanisms and puzzles work. You know, the teapot (?) things and the light lotus in the water (or so). What can I say, it's been a breeze. The Vale is just so beautiful...

But it did get me to think... it is a part of Liyue, yet it looks so different... it's so green/blue/turquoise and the rest of Liyue is gold/yellow. Like... all of it. And ofc that's still pretty! Been loving to see the silhouette of the Jade Chamber or the other adepti abodes in the distance. But you can definitely see that the dev team has come a long way. I can't wait for Mondstadt to get its Dorman Port expansion :( I've got a feeling we're only gonna get that before Snezhnaya comes out during the 5.x patches, since it's probably gonna be very close... but I'm so happy that Mond will get attention again. I've already loved the events this patch, the potions one and the one with the cats. They definitely haven't forgotten about it! They keep on teasing the place names in characters dialogues so casually...

ANYWAY (is it obvious that genshin is a huge hyperfixation lf mine I could talk on it for HOURS) I have like 10% exploration remaining in all areas of Chenyu and I'll probably finish it within the next few days. I also still have Lynette'a hangout to do and a bunch of smaller world quests in Chenyu. Then my vault of primogems will be ripped open for Arlecchino <33 Will talk about her so much after her quest and listening to her voicelines about other Fatui members when she comes out. So obsessed with her lore. I have over 250 pulls waiting and I really want her weapon too... i'm kinda scared.

A good friend of mine who was the reason I started genshin to begin with also came back to the game after not playing since before Sumeru. We've been talking a lot about the game, she's in the process of finishing up all things Sumeru and we're gonna play together some time this week to get her coop achievements... and she wants me to summarize and explain the archon quests so far before she digs into Fontaine... welp. Anyway, it's just so nice to talk about everything wirh someone again, especially because we're on the same page what concerns all things genshin, be it lore, gameplay, critique or anything else. It's just nice sharing interests :)

Maybe I'll give some few thoughts after I actually finish up the area and did Lynette's hangout. Also maybe give some predictions on Arle's story or so.

Have these screenshots I took! I rarely actually take screenshots while playing genshin... since I played on an old laptop for so long I'm not used to the game actually looking nice :) will hopefully change that in the future