#like I get it the characters we care about need to all have distinct designs

[shitpostingkats]

We also have to talk about the uniform standards of the crownsguard. Yes black must be your PRIMARY color yes you MUST have a little skull and crossbones somewhere on your back yes you MUST wear black shoes with red soles yes you MUST have a little belt chain that you bought for 23 dollars at hot topic. Other than that? Go nuts.

[thenationofzaun]

Thoughts on Act 1 of Arcane Season 2

The positives:

- The animation is fucking incredible.

- Jinx and Sevika teaming up watered my crops and cleansed my skin.

- Underwater goodbye with Jinx and Silco. That scene was made specifically for me.

- Jinx's voice actress continues to be excellent.

- Loved the designs of all the Chembarons. The glimpse we got of the gang wars was also interesting. Unfortunately, too tiny a glimpse. Which brings me to...

The negatives:

- Too many plotlines. They stuffed the season with too much shit which is why each individual plot gets a much shorter screentime than it should. Smeech is introduced and killed in the same episode. Chembarons' gang wars, a huge issue which has repercussions on the entire Undercity, gets only one musical montage before moving on. And this is coming from someone who loved that montage, as well as the song. My favourite on the soundtrack so far. But musical montages shouldn't come at the expense of the story and definitely shouldn't replace the story. There are just way too many music video scenes in general that feel like a way to condense a storyline into the sparknotes version because they don't have the screentime to flesh it out. And they would have the screentime if they cut out all the extra stuffing. Look I'm happy for the League fans who are excited for the Black Rose and all that, but what the hell is it doing in a Piltover/Zaun show. And with zero foreshadowing in Season 1 too. It would definitely be easier to swallow if they had at least hinted at it in the first season. They could have kept Ambessa's beef with this magic cult for a Noxus show. The P/Z narrative has enough to deal with, enough characters to handle already.

- The new side characters are uninteresting and generic. Maddie and the two other enforcers (we don't even know their names after three episodes LMAO) are bland. We know nothing about their characters or personalities. Maddie looks like a rookie, and one of the dudes is an alcoholic, yet they get chosen for an elite strikeforce to capture Jinx? Isha is pretty generic too - the token cute kid that needs protecting. I get the role she will play in Jinx's arc. But that's the problem - she should be a character in her own right, not just a vehicle for someone else's character development. A good example is Mylo. He died for Jinx's arc, but when he was alive he was a distinct character with his own personality. We had a sense of his insecurities, his goals, who he was as a person. Name a single personality trait of Isha and Maddie other than "generically nice person". That's right. You can't.

- Whatever the hell is going on with Viktor. He wakes up from his coma and immediately rejects Jayce so quickly that it was funny. Apparently disapproves of Jayce using the Hexcore to save his life, but then immediately goes to use the Hexcore to save random Undercity people. Bruh. I also don't really like the way the fridged woman from last season seems to be his motivation so far. Nor the way he seems to have no agency in his Machine Herald arc. Instead of Viktor himself believing in transhumanism and mechanizing himself, Jayce does it for him. Instead of Viktor having an ideological drive and wanting a "Glorious Evolution", he is driven by guilt over Sky. Meh. Also he's not even mechanized, instead he's weirdly fleshy?? In a magical way?? More like The Magic Herald :(

- Vi. Her whole character is a mess. Insanely rushed arc which I find unacceptable for one of THE main characters and one of the faces of the show. She and Jinx are supposed to be the leads, their relationship the heart of the story, but so far only Jinx is a well-written fleshed out chaacter with a believable arc. I have too much to say about Vi so I'll expand more on this on another post.

- So much nuance and detail is missing. How does Heimerdinger feel about his ex-colleagues being killed? Does he care? Does he feel guilt? Relieved that he wasn't in the chamber when the bombing happened? No clue! Let's have comedy Mission Impossible instead! How does Ekko feel about the Council attack? Does he approve of it? Think Jinx went too far? How does he feel that she even survived their fight to begin with? No clue! Here, have him joking around with a Councilor for a bit (someone whom Ekko logically should despise), then he can talk Science with Jayce and all three get sent to another dimension together. Yay. What does Vi think happened to Ekko? The last time she saw him, he was fighting Jinx to the death to give Vi and Cait time to escape. He could be dead for all she knows and she doesn't give a fuck. Doesn't even think about him nor mention him once. It's like the writers forgot they're childhood friends. What does the entirety of Zaun make of Silco's death? I assume they heard about it from Piltover (who heard about it from Caitlyn), but how do they think it happened? His body is gone and to Zaun it seems he just mysteriously disappeared. Are there conspiracy theories? Conflicting accounts and rumours? So much nuance that would give the world and characters more depth, sacrificed so we can pack in more rushed subplots and music videos.

- Caitlyn "Wifebeater" Kiramman. And Caitvi in general. So far Caitlyn has guilt-tripped Vi, manipulated her into joining the enforcers, insulted her and then physically abused her. After Vi sacrificed everything for Cait, wore a badge she hates for Cait, even let Cait kill her own fucking sister (and only intervened when the random kid got involved). Why should I give a shit about such a one-sided relationship lmao. "B-but Cait's mom is dead so she's sad about it", every other fucking character in this show has dead parents. Half the cast has faced unfathomable amounts of trauma and pain that make Cait's pale in comparison. Nothing justifies her hitting Vi. "B-b-but it's a parallel to when Vi hit Powder", a shit parallel then. Because the circumstances are not even remotely comparable. "God forbid lesbians do anything🤪", give me a break with this corny bullshit. Be serious for a second. I'm not even a Vi fan and I think she deserves better than this mess of a relationship. The power dynamic between them makes it worse. The way Caitlyn is one of the richest people in the city and Vi is broke. The way Caitlyn is highly educated and Vi never went to school and spent her entire teen years locked in a box. Did the writers think about all this when writing their relationship? Keep in mind, Vi met Caitlyn like a week ago. She barely knows this chick. She's been out of prison FOR A WEEK. Where she was physically abused every fucking day. Putting her in a relationship with a cop who hits her would certainly be a choice! Do I have faith this show will handle it with care? Not really, no. They already ignore Vi's prison trauma. Most likely they will make Vi forgive Cait way too easily because "muh mummy muh grief".

[sexhaver]

ive been playing Cassette Beasts for a minute and it never stops being funny to me how flagrant they are about making this "Pokemon but with features you didn't know Pokemon has always needed". off the top of my head:

super effective/NVE hits have added benefits/debuffs beyond just doubling/halving the damage (hitting Electric types with Ground reduces their evasion and speed, hitting Steel types with Poison gives them poison-coated spikes that do contact damage, etc)

legally-distinct-Pokemon will learn new moves while in your party without having to battle, and you can then straight up steal these moves from them and put them on a not-Pokemon you actually care about using, which gives an actual incentive to hunt down and raise otherwise fringe not-mons beyond completing the not-Pokedex

we all played the Pokemon Infinite Fusion fangame right? we know how fusions work? okay so this game has them as temporary per-battle things instead of permanent ones, which is only marginally less cool while being infinitely easier to balance around

attempting to catch something shows you the percentage chance of success so you know whether you just got unlucky or if you should save your Pokeballs-i-mean-blank-cassette-tapes

leveling up is tied to your not-trainer instead of your not-pokemon, so you don't end up in the classic trap where your starter is way overleveled and everything else is underleveled and then you hit a fight your starter can't solo and have to spend an hour grinding to get the weaker not-mons up to par (funnily enough most Pokemon Nuzlocke romhacks have already figured this out and give you infinite rare candies with the only restriction being that you can't level past the next gym leader's ace pokemon, because Pokemon fans have realized that grinding is the worst part of the game way before Game Freak has)

moves, not-Pokeballs, not-PokeCenter visits, and healing items are all bought using entirely separate currencies which stops you from trivially breaking the economy in half

the soundtrack, fittingly, is pretty good! the vocals were a bit much for my taste but there's an option in the settings menu to straight up turn them off (letting the BGM play on its own), which i've never seen in any other game and really appreciate

downsides:

on a game design level, i understand why can i only carry a max of 5 not-Potions and 1 not-Revive at a time - it's to put a limit on how far away from fast travel points i can get by just running away from everything and healing off damage. on a gameplay level, however, this feels pretty bad

the pixel art style is trying to look as much like Pokemon as possible without actually being Pokemon so the overworld sprites look more like beta stuff from Pokemon that they cut for looking too weird. i have yet to find a haircut that doesn't look bad

this is super petty of me but something about the bloom and lighting of the 3d environments combined with pixelated 2d sprites that still cast shadows makes me painfully aware im playing a video game. it's like they were going for the same aesthetic as Octopath Traveler but fell just barely short. i can't think of a better way to articulate this feeling but if you know you know

it does that really obnoxious half-assed style of voice acting where plot-relevant characters will sometimes (maybe every third or fourth textbox) speak the first two or three words of dialogue before trailing off. mashing through textboxes (as one does) means constantly getting jumpscared by "hmm"s and "haha!"s "okay then!"s

i get that they wanted to make the player feel involved in the story, and it has a pretty decent hook so far, but oh my god. the amount of dialogue "choices" that just transparently do not matter. you know how people memed on Fallout 3 and 4's dialogue choices all leading to the same outcome, to the extent that you were basically choosing between "yes" and "yes (rude)"? and you know how Bethesda would at least attempt to justify how both options led to you accepting the quest anyways, even if it was really dumb? Cassette Beasts has streamlined this process even further by making the options in most of their binary decisions so identical that they don't even require different followup dailogue before rejoining into the main conversation thread. a solid 2/3rds of the dialogue options in this game so far feel like checks that you're still awake. i know this is a minor issue because people aren't playing Pokemon-likes for the engaging "choices matter" approach to storytelling, and i did ignore it at first, but it's so pervasive that you really can't ignore it

[pojofi96]

Finally 😈 a chance to talk about my mans

Short answer is yes obvi but like his character, my thoughts on this are a bit more complicated.

In the flashbacks we see showing his life “before”, he was shown to be an exemplary dad - but of course, this would inevitably change somewhat with being traumatized. Hanzo at his core is a flawed person and the very essence of his story lies in his humanity - most notably, his mistakes and circumstances - and how he copes with his own earned consequences + just straight up awful luck. This is inevitably going to reflect on how he tutors/raises children and MKX Blood Ties illustrates this well with his treatment of Takeda.

Throughout most of Takeda’s shown upbringing, Hanzo is shown to be in a tetchy mental state and it makes him prone to being overly harsh when scolding him for a minor mistake. You get the feeling Hanzo is purposely trying to keep him at a careful emotional distance as strictly “teacher and student”, even though it’s evident that their relationship is more through their own shared needs of familial bonds. It’s not abuse by any stretch of the imagination but the distinction between a “tutor” and a “father” is important to remember when examining their relationship. There’s a plentitude of potential reasons that Hanzo could have for acting like this given his past and what he lost, so you can’t truly blame this aspect of his character for being any fault of his own. Again, he is only a man making sense of the circumstances that were thrust upon him. But this inevitably would affect how he “raises” people.

The comic goes deeper into Hanzo’s mental state and how his hellfire works in the first place - and it’s here that we see something crucial. At it’s core, his utilization of it (i.e. how he has to relive the most traumatic event of his life every time he uses it to put himself in a bad headspace) is counterintuitive by design to his own growth and recovery. His strength, his most defining battle trait, is also what’s dragging him down. Objectively, Hanzo would have to let down his own personal guards (not use his hellfire) to keep from falling back into bad habits. But the current state of his life - strife with combat and the constant threat of sudden gorey death - doesn’t allow room for his emotional growth. On top of that he’s responsible for the well being of a kid, so he doesn’t have room to think about himself - he has to put Takeda first. But that also begs the question of if he had the chance to escape that life - would he? Does he have the capability to let down his hellfire when it’s because of his hellfire that he’s still even alive?

He’s not truly doomed but Hanzo believes to his core that he is and this is one of his biggest obstacles to his self recovery - this belief makes him lash out and self-sabotage - and it keeps him from really making any remarkable progress in getting better.

That being said, I was genuinely surprised to see the reactions for this tweet mostly being unconditionally positive on Hanzo’s side. What I’m trying to say is that Hanzo is far from perfect, he’s far from a perfect mentor and a perfect father. He’s still a good person at heart though - he does his best and Hanzo’s biggest flaw at the end of the day is the result of being human in hellish circumstances. It’s worth noting that Takeda in the end grew up to be an upstanding young man who feels very positively about his father-figure-mentor… so Hanzo did remarkably well overall, a lot better than most people could do in those same conditions. But all the replies being like “Anyone who says no deserves to be executed” feels like they’re missing something crucial about him. Him being attractive doesn’t absolve him of accountability!

In canon, he’s more accurate to the relative that we know has had a rough life that we all have complicated feelings about.

[justthemoonz]

In Stars and Time Character analysis - Loop until you've Changed

I haven't done a Character Analysis in a really long time, the last one that I did was for something relating Deltarune. But I really liked In Stars and Time and wanted to do a Character Analysis on one of my favorite characters from the game. Also known as "Loop" (I also made this analysis while in a DM with a friend, and I thought I'd share it here too).

This analysis will OBVIOUSLY have Spoilers for In Stars and Time so be warned of that... Anywho let's begin

First of all, this is mainly a few things I've gathered/noticed from my own playthrough, so it might not be FULLY correct (so feel free to correct me with anything about it, and I'll update it!!), I also will take into account the QnA for the game, but only a few specific things

Loop is a very interesting character, from start to end. But the thing that really made me wonder what Loop's deal was, was when they mentioned the "royal We" in my first conversation with them

After this, Siffrin will reply with "That doesn't make ANY sense."

To which Loop replies with something similar like "Ah, right, I guess it doesn't."

After that...

Loop tells you to call them by "they/them"

If you already know the deal with Loop, you don't need me to explain what makes this interesting, but if you still don't fully know, Loop is Siffrin from "Start Again: A Prologue", or at least it's heavily implied

So why does Loop specifically want you to refer to them with "they/them", as opposed to just having the same gender as Siffrin (he/they)?

We already know from the QnA that Loop doesn't actually mind he/him to be used on them, but they want to be called they/them for distinction

But I feel like there's a lot more than that to it, and that involves Siffrin not being happy with themself

At some point in the game, you can interact with a book about body craft, talking about how Siffrin wouldn't mind changing their body if they had the time, but they will still use the "meat prison" they are currently in for a little while

Which made me think, if Loop is meant to be Siffrin, isn't Loop just... a version of Siffrin who has gone through self reflection on their own journey?

Something like "I might have suffered a lot, but I've discovered myself better in the process"

Maybe the turning into a star person thing has more meaning than just being a cool design choice, maybe it's because during Loop's own journey as Siffrin, they've "ascended". We also know that Loop has no actual idea how they look like, up until Siffrin draws them (if you do that interaction), so there's that too

Which also makes me think that the Silver Coin situation might also have a bit more symbolism to it, especially when it involves Loop

Sure, they're both Siffrin on the surface, one side of the same coin, but we know that's not at all true when we get to...

The dagger scene

I think this was the point for me where I realized that the Siffrin we play as completely hates themself, and wouldn't mind just ending their own life, if it means it gets the job done faster

While Loop very clearly is against the idea

But why? If Loop was Siffrin, why would they care? Wouldn't they agree on it? Because they also hate themself, just like Siffrin does?

No, Loop doesn't hate themself, at least not anymore, and instead hates the idea of someone that is basically them, before this entire journey, seeing their own body as "nothing but something disposable and useless"

The Loop secret fight is also a different can worms, the only real explanation I have for that is Loop doesn't mind being Loop while Siffrin is stuck in an infinite Loop, but the moment they break it fully, Loop would rather throw away their own existance in order to be someone they used to be, just for the sake of being with the ones that used to care about them in their own adventure

Forcing themself to be someone they aren't anymore

That's about it for this analysis, again I apologize if I've basically gotten EVERYTHING wrong and this doesn't actually make any sense... as I said I haven't done a character analysis in a long time, so I should have probably looked deeper into the whole thing, but this was, again, more of what I've personally gathered from my own experience of the game

I do hope you still enjoyed it, though!!

[homestuckreplay]

turntechGnostic? gardenGodhead?

(page 381-387)

Dave is a cool guy, yknow? A cool dude whose default face is complete neutrality, who doesn't show emotions besides anger, the only acceptable feeling for men. If he's feeling something positive, he'll show it with a nod of the head or a twinkle of the sunglasses, not-

HEY. WHAT'S THAT SMILE ON YOUR FACE, COOL GUY????

What's fun about meeting Dave is that we get to see him talk to all three of his friends in pretty quick succession, while with John it was far more spaced out. Dave loves John so much but I think he kind of talks down to him, and with Rose, it's the witty banter of equals. With GG, Dave is the one who seems lost in the conversation. GG throws Dave for a loop multiple times, and also blatantly makes fun of him with 'bro! hehehe' and 'feeling cool today? mr cool guy?' I didn't expect Dave to like this, and it's not obvious in the conversation that he does, but that tiny smile kinda says it all. I can honestly see these two becoming my favorite dynamic of the four main characters.

We get more GG lore too! They have a 'goofy' fetch modus which I'm super curious about. It turns out they have a granddad who's a big presence in their life, not a sister. They also have a pet who TG refers to as a 'devilbeast', and who is hard to feed and can overpower GG. Could be an unruly, badly trained dog, or perhaps GG lives on a farm and this is some kind of farm animal? Or an exotic pet their grandad attempted to tame (since he's apparently a 'total badass') but who shouldn't really be kept as a pet.

Also GG might have some psychic powers, or at least believe that they do. Which definitely puts their earlier conversations with John in a new light - instead of urging him to get the package now because they're excited to see his reaction, which is what I originally assumed, they're just emphasizing how important the package is, so that he'll know opening it is a priority if and when he finds it later.

The TG lore we get is.... less delightful. He mends his window with gaffa tape, which makes it objectively less functional as a window, definitely can't help with the heat, and doesn't even cover up the full hole. Like, just put a poster over it. More effective for less effort. Also his 'takedown' of monster movie tropes on p.386 is identical to 'guy who hates musicals because people sing in them' and is just exhausting to read. Also he thinks a white puppet ventriloquist rapper is the coolest shit ever, which is inexcusable. Basically, he needs to hang out with GG more so that they can chill him out and make him more tolerable.

I missed John so much. I've been thinking for a couple days about how I miss John, and here he is! The oil in his room has gotten significantly worse compared to p.253, which is a shame, because John is a fairly neat and clean kid when his sylladex isn't totally ruining his life.

But I guess this little harlequin beastie doesn't care about that? I love this thing's design, it's so fun. It looks so angry but somehow so incapable of causing any real harm that isn't oil based. What a silly hat for something that wants to be intimidating so bad. This will probably confirm to John once and for all that clowns are bad.

We've seen a couple other jet black, #000000 creatures so far. The Wayward Vagabond, linked from p.271, has smaller and rounder eyes but the same clawed hands. And the members of the Midnight Crew, seen on p.328-331, are visibly shinier (including their clothes?) with no visible teeth, but the rightmost two have those same elongated horizontal white eyes. Notably, all of these characters wear distinctive headgear. They all have really different roles in the story, so this could just be a shorthand for characters outside of the main four and their families, but it would be cool if some or all of them were connected.

[aesterblaster]

Just saw a really clickbait-y youtube video that called Blue Lock fascist in its thumbnail and I will admit first and foremost that I didn't watch it and yes I've been informed that it isn't implying that Blue Lock is some fascistic propaganda but it still got me thinking so-

here's my rant/breakdown about the ways that Blue Lock is specifically anti-fascist

So first of all, popular animes and mangas having possibly fascist undertones is nothing new. I won't deny that there's a long history of Japan being a colonizer and commiting atrocities that are still brushed off or forgotten about to this day. And this does seep into some works that I personally choose to not engage with for exactly that reason. Miss me with trying to be an apologist for or glorifying real world war crimes- But Blue Lock specifically? I'd be extremely hard pressed to call it fascist.

Fascism is defined as an alt-right, ultra nationalistic political ideology usually characterized by a centralized autocracy, forced suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy and subordination of individual interests for the believed good of the nation or race according to Wikipedia. First let's go through the ways Blue Lock does match up with that.

Ego can be easily viewed as a dictator near the beginning of the manga

Most characters thrive on putting others down for their faults and strictly believe that there is some sort of natural order where people who lack "ego" are at the bottom

There is a sort of central autocracy with the top 6

Near the beginning especially, there is a violent snuffing out of any ideology that dares oppose egocentrism or the idea that you need to be a solid team to win a game

Now let's go through the ways Blue Lock denies and even goes against Fascism.

BLLK's main goal is to make a Japanese soccer team that can win a World Cup. In a more fascist manga, we would see racism ga-fucking-lore. We can see this in animes that have more right wing leaning undertones like Attack on Titan where when race is brought in it's for conflict. There's no possibility of harmony, only winners and losers. Those protected and those put down and punished.

And Blue Lock does have an extreme focus on who wins and who loses. It is not afraid to include racism against Japanese people like with Adam or portray black people in unsettling and kind of racist ways like Dada's original design. But these elements don't automatically spell fascism. Blue Lock is careful to portray characters of color as just that, characters. They don't exist to tell you about their lives of hardship and struggle and they don't exist to justify Ego's obessesion with creating a good Japanese team. As you read BLLK, you'll notice that the artist has taken care to get better at drawing different body types and facial structures. The character design isn't trying to sell some perfect ideal like fascism so famously does, it tells you a peak athlete doesn't have one distinct look. It tells you characters from other countries are just as if not more capable than the Blue Lock boys. Hell, even Sae's hatred of Japanese football is portrayed as less of a betrayal of country and pride and more of a cultural clash. The issue to be solved in Sae's character is the way he looks down on his brother, not how much he despises Japanese football teams' tactics. We know this because Ego himself rails against them too.

A fascist manga would paint Sae as a villain for even learning from and joining teams from other countries, lending them his talent instead of keeping it in his home country. But Blue Lock encourages diversification and collaberation with other nation's teams so heavily that it is literally an entire like 5 part arc right now. Ego isn't ultra nationalistic, he just wants to make a better soccer team for his country and he isn't afraid of praising and adopting from other countries in the process. The biggest win to come out of a Blue Lock team wouldn't be that they're all Japanese but that they all follow his ideology.

Speaking of his ideology, Ego is extremely harsh and controlling, yes, but he also believes in the boys. He lets them do what they believe is best. He pushes them to their limits, not because they disobey him, but because they dissapoint him. A true fascist dictator would rule with fear with no introductions of other ideologies, he would strike at any sign of weakness or opposition. At the beginning, he does do this. But as the manga goes on we see how much wiggle room he's willing to allow. He lets Isagi curse at him and question his leadership, he lets Shidou play even though he's clearly queer and extremely volatile, he doesn't punish any of the boys for injuring each other. In a fascist society, you are expected to fit an ideal or be othered, be perfect and work together with a sense of comradere because that's the only way to prove your claims that you are the best race/nation. There can be no imperfections or cracks in the facade...But Ego lets the boys be messy. He never forces them to change who they are, only forces them to believe that they can do great things all on their own. Even with Kunigami, Wild Card wasn't a correction of his disbelief in some nation or race, but instead a correction of how limited his mindset was. In fact, in a more fascist society, Kunigami's love of playing hero and protecting his teammates would be praised and celebrated. Ego putting individuality and aspiration over the good of the team as a whole is literally a middle finger to fascism.

The villain of the series is literally a greedy Japanese man that wants to commercialize the team and make them less individualized. I don't know how much more anti-fascist you could get-

Also, Blue Lock handles disability very carefully and very well. In more alt-right ideologies than not, something you'll see again and again is this idea that disabled people don't deserve the same rights because they can't contribute to society. Disabled people are a stain to be pushed away and hidden because they contradict the central idea of a "perfect" nation. In a fascist retelling of BLLK, Chigiri would be kicked from the program, not given power and influence. In a fascist retelling of BLLK, Kenyu would be attacked and beaten as soon as it was discovered that he made it into the top-six with failing eyesight. Any physical disadvantage could easily put an athlete at the bottom of the social hierarchy as well, Blue Lock could have very very easily made fun of its disabled characters for even trying. It could get away with mistreating these players and be defended for it so fucking quickly. But instead, it lets you root for them and gives them just as much care and weight as the others. It's trying to tell you that being a good player sometimes means knowing your limits and getting help, not punishing yourself because you have some biological disadvantage. It also takes care to demonstrate that no race is inherently worse at soccer than the other.

And, of course, the elephant in the room, Noa and Kaiser. Okay...if you see German characters and immediately think OMG NAZIS??OMG FASCISM?????OMGGGG HE HAS BLONDE HAIR???AND BLUE EYES?? That's a fucking you problem and you clearly aren't reading the manga. Even Noa Noel being an older man and still being allowed to play and looked up to as the best is an example of how Blue Lock goes against steriotypes about athletes. Kaiser does have blonde hair and blue eyes yes, but he also wears eyeliner and eyeshadow and has a tattoo and dyed hair... None of that would be allowed in an actually fascist Japanese manga unless it was as caricature to make fun of and dominate. But instead, Kaiser is an actual threat who has complex arcs and behaviors. Also, Kaiser isn't fascist himself, he clearly views Isagi as an equal even though they're different nationalities and he doesn't believe in any one authority or greater cause except for himself. Noa is very strict yes, and he does rank and rate the boys, but he specifically doesn't factor race into it. He also, just like Ego, allows other ideas and patterns to emerge even if they mess up his own plans for matches. He doesn't suppress anyone and is actually extremely lax. If you think he or BLLK is "fascist", look at actual real world sports teams and their strict practices or past statements about other nationalities.

Isagi as a protaganist is anti-fascist too!!!! He's a Japanese everyman who has good Japanese parents, no disabilities, an honest personality and believes in a future where Japan wins the World Cup. In a fascist story, he'd be fucking untouchable (ESPECIALLY against characters from other countries) and all of this would be paraded as proof that a Japanese soccer team is clearly superior and all-dominating. But no! He gets beat down, questioned, disrespected and constantly shown up by others. He's not special and he's extremely self-centered. He doesn't water his own beliefs down for the "good of the nation" or whatever the fuck and he grew up idolizing foreign players. Isagi never supresses other people's ideologies, he just makes fun of them if they fuck up. He's never xenophobic, even when other characters have moments that have xenophobic undertoens like Adam or Sae's comments. Isagi Yoichi's character could have a few traits flipped and be a poster boy for some alt-right manga about how superior Japanese people or hell, Ego's pupils are. But he doesn't. He's simply designed and he's rude and he looks down on people, but he also apologizes, humbly accepts when he can improve by questioning his own ideals and is open to talking with everyone he comes across.

Calling Blue Lock a "fascist soccer manga" is not only demonstrating that you have no idea what fascism is, but also disgustingly painting over all the beautiful themes and messages within the manga.

Again I'm aware that that original video wasn't aiming to negate any of these points but I have seen people make claims and jokes before that about Blue Lock's more *beat it into your head* tendencies with ideology. And I've seen jokes specifically about the German team/the way Sae seems to just hate Japanese culture. I just dislike the painting of Blue Lock as a jumping point for discussions about fascism and its effects because of the way it handles themes like cross cultural connection, family pressures, capitalism and disability so carefully.

[talaofthevalley]

if it hasn't been asked already. revolver for the ask game? your postings are fun to read

smacks my desk MY BOY, THANK YOU FOR GIVING HIM TO ME. also thank you that's so sweet of you to say

Why I like them/why I don’t Where do I even start-

He's one of the most honourable characters in the whole franchise. He's ridiculously composed, that the few times he's rattled you know it's significant. He's carrying the sins of his father like they're his own, even though he was eight when the incident happened. But it's like he understands he's the only one who can carry that burden and deliver closure to the ones affected because he wasn't one of the perpetrators, but was still involved and wrapped up in it all.

But he's also a dork who strikes poses during duels. His deck consists of gun and bullet dragons. He's so extra and camp in the best way and is never not taken as a very serious threat. He's one of the strongest duelists in the show. He doesn't consider himself a victim of anything. He was willing to die at the end of S1. He regularly finds the villain of the arc/his enemies first and almost murks them. He's connected to flower and ocean imagery. He gave one of the most beautiful description about loved ones who has passed away I've ever heard. He cares So Much but isn't the best at showing it, yet can help in just the way others need. He hates himself so damn much. But does not let that get in the way of what he believes needs to be done. But he's not completely close-minded either.

Ryoken's just such an amasing character. I love him so much.

What I like about their appearance Everything Since I did the same for Aoi I'll do both his real world and LV designs.

Ryoken: Gorg. Beautiful beautiful boy. I love the soft tones used for his eyes and the blue in his hair. The feathery side bangs are so pretty. And I'm so weak for white hair. I'm not above to admitting I'm not fond of his outfit, but that's just because it's very far from my taste in clothes. I don't think it's as bad as people claim it is though. Love his pink shirt, and that his colour scheme overall in the real world is very soft-toned and almost pastel in contrast to the bolder colours used in his avatar. And of course the eyes, and the eyelashes. My god he is so pretty.

Revolver S1: I like this design! I do think it's usurped by his second avatar, but they share a majority of the same elements and design points, so I'll cover those in the next part. I think his mask is pretty cool ngl, and it's Very yummy to chew on for analysis. The red hair with lighter shades running up the sides looks great as well.

Revolver S2-3: I do think this is just, an absolutely banging design. The way it's separated into parts through use of colours and lines. Love the long gloves, and the coat is so cool, it really adds to his presence. The second avatar did a good I think by adding these cut-ins at the hips to give it more definition and volume.

The new hair colour is really good too, adds another change besides the mask showing more of his face to show his growth from the last time we saw him. Like a visual sign he's mellowed out after the breakdown he had in the S1 finale. Especially love the grey-violet eye colour they gave him, it's really nice. And that visor.... I know it's a crime they hide half of his beautiful face, but it's also so exciting to catch glimpses of his fringe under it. And it does look cool, I can't lie.

And of course I have to point out the bullet earrings. Top tier design. Just immaculate. It's so distinct and memorable. It even got made into official merch. Just iconic.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names? His name only gets a letter hacked off in the dub, thankfully, but I cannot take Varis seriously. It's a bit silly, but also in my first language it's spelled and sounds very close to a word for something less than pleasant =_=

OTP Datastormshipping my beloved, datastorm my everything. I can say so much about them but it would make this post even longer.

NOTP Datastorm is such an otp to me that I don't romantically ship either Ryoken or Yusaku with any other character. I don't think anything comes close to NOTP status for me with Ryoken though.

OT3 But I can accept Ai into the mix, since I see him and Yusaku as very queerplatonic.

Favourite card they use Am I basic if I say Borreload Dragon. I love that giant gun boy so much. The colour scheme is very nice, especially with the contrasting teal wings.

But also. Mirror Force is so iconic. It is SO FUNNY they had Revolver use Mirror Force and built it up so much. And for Link monsters it technically is! They can't be put in defense position! How effective it is makes it even funnier. You know he was having a blast blindsiding people with all these old trap cards.

Favourite moment they were in I can't pick one oh god-

Okay but, seriously I can't pick just one. He has so many good moments over the course of the show. All the duels against Yusaku. The first irl conversation he has with Yusaku. First time using Storm Access. Crashing the Ignis reunion party and curbstomping Windy into putty. The due against Lightning. The AFTERMATH of the duel against Lightning. Both duels against Takeru. The final scene between Ryoken and Yusaku. Yeah no I can't pick one. And a lot of his best moments are built from past scenes and the development he's had across the show.

Least favourite moment None, my perfect boy has done nothing wrong in his whole life- /j

[bonnieisaway]

A really good detail in Scissor Seven that I think not only is really good for world building but also gives the viewer a bit of a hint as to when shit is going down is the way they introduce other assassins, targets, or people trying to kill Seven.

Honest to Christ, can anyone tell me the names of the underpants guy or the bdsm grandma woman. The answer is probably not. I don't think they even have official names but they've been reoccurring characters in the background since season 1. And I think it's really cool they don't have names that are really talked about! Chicken Island is not that small and I think it's a good detail that while Seven knows a lot of people, he doesn't know them all well but regardless they fill his daily life and he cares for them just as much for their mere presence alone. But also in the episodes where they were targets, it's a good detail that they're hardly really named, it's just like, "my son" or "that guy over there" because in the grander scheme of things they pose no threat and they're just some fucking guy.

But on the flip side of this: there is damn near a whole catalogue of characters who were introduced by a name or title and got like, ten seconds of screen time! The entire time Seven is getting chased:

I mean, none of these five say a fucking word and never are talked about again! But they all have such detailed and gorgeous designs and unique and powerful fighting styles that are distinctively theirs. Not a single other character wields the weapon Wusheng does, Single Blade is just fucking cool and I cannot believe they designed and made such a stellar fucking fighting style for a two minute long chase scene, Li Hua is just fucking gorgeous and I love the way she cooperates with the others, and we never see them again! But it's also such a good detail that we don't! We don't need to! Obviously, anyone with a weapon that Seven passes in this point of time is going to pose a danger to him. But for the viewer, there's a significant difference than going "Oh fuck, who's this guy?" and going "OH FUCK, BEHEADING WUSHENG??????" It takes it a step further to illustrate them as these powerful and terrifying threats, and it doesn't even list their rankings on the list, cause what does that fucking matter? Look at them! They're fucking terrifying! I am going to instantly assume a motherfucker named Nightcrawler is fairly high on the list!!

And it's such a good, stark contrast from the other characters I mentioned who were arguably about as powerful or outsmarted Seven at the time but they were justifiably just some fuckin guy that wasn't meant to be intimidating at first sight because it was meant to be a shock and a little funny they overpowered him. And even after they did overpower him they were still just some dude who's there and that's so cool and it's not only such good worldbuilding and detail but it blends the difference between what being powerful meant on Chicken Island and for the current Seven and what being powerful means in Xuanwu and for who Seven used to be. I mean, look at these fucking five! These are five out of every damn killer in the nation chasing him! Imagine what the fuck else is there!

And this dude is such a perfect balance between the two as well - I mean, he's still arguably a threat, but he's unnamed and his outfit isn't as flashy as the others, but he still holds this significance and weight the others didn't because he had a memory of Seven he described. He's still obviously terrified and not that powerful, yet a threat and important!! I just!! It is so cool the way they introduce characters and present them to us!! Aaaaaa!!!

[just-spectating]

The Objecthead Phenomenon: Another Brief Essay

One of the most thought provoking concepts in 17776 is the idea of a mind with all the emotions and complexities of a human being forced to inhabit a completely inhuman body. Juice, Nine, and Ten do not, and never will, have human bodies. They will never experience what it is like to have a human body - additionally, this means machines, unlike humans, have to consider their own mortality and come to terms with their weird, disjoined, person-object existence. 

The fact that space probes, who are completely physically different from an organic being, mange to be so human is something that makes 17776 so special. This also leads to me having what I can imagine are controversial tastes in fanart: I don’t particularly care for the “objecthead” designs and feel they undermine one of the most important things about Nine, Ten and Juice as characters.

 Like, Jon Bois created these remarkable and bizarre characters, who are intentionally physically inhuman, something that has significance in the story - and people immediately decided to go ahead and draw them in order to…undo that.  This is why the objecthead or humanized fanart saddens me a bit. 

I do, however, understand the desire to further anthropomorphize the probes. After all, it’s frustrating for characters with such distinct personalities to be completely physically inexpressive. Nine, Ten, and Juice don’t have facial expressions (other than emoticons, of course). They don’t pose, they don’t wear clothes, they can’t touch or physically interact or any way. That makes it pretty much impossible to easily make visually interesting art, as you could only ever draw them. Uh. Floating in space. Visually unchanging. Forever and ever. Not exactly appealing. 

In a way, the objecthead phenomenon in 17776 fanart provides some poetic insight: the idea that these beloved characters are objects is uncomfortable. We want to give them bodies that correspond with their personalities, we want them to be physically expressive. We want to give them these experiences that they will never be able to have. I can imagine that the probes feel these things too, this desire to have their consciousness match what their body looks and feels like. 

Practically the first thing Nine assumes when they wake up is that they are trapped aboard the probe and need to escape. They experience a moment of visceral panic and existentialism, which I found very distressing because they are trapped in a space probe. Their first instinct is to leave, to get out, and that will never happen. There is no hope of escape. 

Juice also demonstrates this kind of thinking in a much more lighthearted way during the spaghetti conversation in the first chapter of 20020. The nonexistent bowl of spaghetti shows that the probes, or at least Juice, do imagine themselves with bodies, doing human things. This makes you wonder how often they think about the things they will never be able to experience. Do Nine and Ten wish that they could hug? Does Juice lament not being able to enjoy a Lunchable or catch a football?

This was meant for my 17776 blog (@we-perpetually-hang-out) but is posted here instead due to tag issues.

[universal-casey]

Hello again. I want to apologise to have bothered you from my previous asks again, and I hope you’re doing well. The $wap AU and Sovime AU have been a joy to read about. I also have to say your design choices for each give them such a distinctive difference, that I would love to know your inspirations.

(Also I’m sorry saying the wrong height in one of my asks. I didn’t mean that Soviet was 2ft but 2 meters. Even though 3 meters would be more correct…? I don’t know much. But I’m sorry for making that small mistake.)

—

(Explanation with sources:)

As you may know. Norway is the country that gives the Nobel Peace Prize. (To Swedens dismay or happiness.) And it’s quite a big deal.

And well, at the end of the Cold War. Someone got it. Someone quite important.

You might know them as President Mikhaïl Gorbatchev. The last leader of the Soviet Union. Why did he get it? Well, it was because he ended the Cold War. Or as the Nobel Peace Prize committee themselves stated:

“Prize motivation: “for the leading role he played in the radical changes in East-West relations””

“In 1989 the Berlin Wall fell, and the Cold War between East and West was brought to a halt. In 1990, the Nobel Committee gave President Gorbachev the main credit for this by awarding him the Peace Prize.”

Here is a video of when he came to Norway lol.

—

I have read your AU, and while I obviously know you took liberties in certain aspects of history. And that this is Countryhumans. I can’t help but ask you. Even if Norway, if I am correct, got *invaded* because of the small but important river up on their border. (Seriously though, Pasvik river???? That’s what got the final straw??? Not the U-2 spy plane crash, (which caused Nikita Khrushchev to threaten Norway, with what you have probably guessed, A-Bombing all *airports* in the country.) Not the disagreements of WW2. Not even Leon Trotsky (which was threatened out of Norway) NOT even Svalbard was the cause… but the river????? The measly river…? It’s just too hilarious. And Soviet made Norway the nuclear power house??? That one??? The one that put Germans after WW2 in cages and threw rocks and tomatoes at them… (Depending on where you were at the time.) That’s the country he gives nuclear power plants too??? The one he actually liberated once (WW2 the Liberation of Finnmark.)????? No wonder then, that he would have gotten paranoid in 1995, when Norwegian scientists released a rocket to take samples up in the stratosphere… and everyone thought it was a missile. Sorry, it’s just too funny. I couldn’t help but ramble.)

I just want to say I respect what you’re doing. This is in no way to offend you. I couldn’t care less of what you make of Norway. After all, he is just an unimportant side character. (Idk.) And while I love my country, I know we are unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

However, I must know. (Since I assume Soviet is the one who would have gotten the Peace Prize in your AU. With them being the leaders or something.)

What did he do with it lol?? Please, I beg you. I must know what he did with it. (Unless Norway got *invaded* before that. Then poop.) It is a necessity for my being to know. Like, what happened to it lol. Go crazy with it. I just must know. Please 🙏 You don’t have to tell me what Norway thinks. I can probably guess. But I need to know that medals lore in your AU.

Well, neither Soviet, nor the human leaders in the Soviet Union, ever got a Nobel peace prize for ending the Cold War, since it is still ongoing into the 2020s thanks to the takeover of America!

Norway was taken over because of the nuclear power, not in spite of it. Not sure where the river idea came from lol.

I’m sorry for not answering your asks sooner!! It’s just they require a lot of research and I haven’t been in the mood to do extensive research as of late lol

[divorcedwife]

hello!! i really love your art and your characters, it always makes me so happy when i see them on my dash (thank you for sharing them with us!!!) i was wondering if you had any advice or tips or tricks for making them recognisable/look the same each time you draw them? I’ve just recently gotten into making my own characters but i can never seem to get them quite right each time

thank you so much!! 💕💕 that’s so funny, i was thinking of this right topic right before i went to bed. that actually was one reason why i didn’t really have OCs for the longest time - i don’t like using references so it felt simpler to just always draw new characters

and yeah, i get it! i've been at times very frustrated when drawing them, because what makes a character look and feel like themselves can depend on small details!

for example, oriane's hair. i finally figured out how to make it look like i want (i draw it in three little waves) because i really struggled capturing what i like in her hair style, how fun and carefree it looks. i chose this hairstyle because i wanted something practical enough for her lifestyle as a traveling musician, but cute enough that it's clear she cares about her appearance and washes it a lot

contrast that with em, who has spiky hair she cuts herself very randomly, and does not take care of it at all

so when i draw them, that's something i keep in mind. we don't have any control over our facial features (and character design advice that acts like there are "evil faces" and "kind faces" is, um, not good) but we do have control over our hair, makeup, facial expressions, and body language. these are all important things to think about for your character. i have a lot of fun with that for em and emelin, because they have the exact same face, but everything else is different

generally, when i design a character, i also have a couple things about them that i purposefully make anchor points : a strong nose shape, or eyes, or jawline, something that feels somewhat unique to them. so for oriane, i may draw her nose slightly different every time, but i always pay attention to her eye shape, because that's my favorite part of her design. having something like this really helps me make the character look recognizable without needing to make every line in their face the same every time. this allows for variations and exploring a character's design, while still keeping them recognizable

so yeah, that would be my advice !

giving them some features that are distinct (and making sure not to only give big noses and scars to villains lol)

looking at the art of your character and analyzing it. what's your favorite thing about them? what do you want to communicate about them?

i would also say : it's ok if your character looks different in the process of finding it. sometimes you just need to draw the same character over and over again and that will help you answer these questions along the way

i hope this helps!! good luckkkk and thank you again for your kind words 💕💕💕💕💕💕 means so much to me that people like my girls!! i've figured out so much about them through interactions on there. if they're cool characters, it's also because of people helping me :-)

[p5x-theories]

(Originally a reply on the Haru info post, responding separately since that's kind of a long post and I don't want to reblog it again, heh)

@lolipopman416 Ah, yes, I think I listed them out for an ask in the past, but I'll just give you an updated list here! (And maybe add it to my FAQ, so the info's a bit more convenient to find, heh.)

Resist: good at targeting single enemies (Wonder (Janosik), Fleuret, Mont, Bui, Sepia, Messa, Skull, Queen). This tends to manifest as followup attacks that hit one target, or status effects/damage buffs that apply against specific targets.

Control: good at dealing with groups of enemies (Closer, Summer Motoha, Joker, Panther, Fox, Noir). This tends to manifest as lots of multi-target attacks, and bonuses for using those attacks in certain ways.

Surrender: focused around applying debuffs to gain an advantage (Key, Rin, Vino). This tends to manifest as a focus on a particular status effect, and the ability to do extra damage/effects to enemies once they're inflicted with it.

Rescue: focuses on healing companions (Cattle, Summer Tomoko, Marian, Mona). This has so far always included at least one healing skill, but often other healing abilities can be triggered as well.

Superior: good at buffing teammates and improving their effectiveness (Moko, Leon, Riddle, Chord). This has so far always manifested as unique buffs/status effects, sometimes becoming fully triggered by additional conditions.

Defense: good at protecting teammates and keeping them alive (Soy, Yuki, Cherish). This tends to manifest as shield-focused abilities, but Soy instead draws fire to himself, and buffs the team's max health temporarily.

Elucidation: the designation used for navigators (Wind, Okyann, Puppet, Phoebe, Oracle). This obviously has a wide array of specific applications, but tends to revolve around unique buffs or debuffs that the navigator can grant/inflict, and obviously each navigator has their own fights/team compositions they're most suited for.

These categories also apply to all of Wonder's Sea of Souls Personas, but I doubt you care as much about that in particular, and it'd honestly be way too time-consuming to list them all out, haha. But I hope this was what you're looking for!

For the most part, these combat roles/designations don't really matter in the game- there's no inherent penalty for having a team of three Resist characters and an Elucidation, for instance- but there are two places where you need to pay attention to them: Marthym Tasks, which often require 1-2 characters of a specific role, and certain Door to Ominous Dreams fights, where the survival-type fights require you to have at least one Rescue or Defense teammate, making the enemies much stronger if you lack one.

That said, the roles are also a bit useful for speculating what a character will be like as soon as they're announced! I remember it was interesting to first hear that Summer Tomoko was a Rescue instead of a Superior, because that implied a distinct change in skill set for her. We also had an idea of what to expect for Cherish, since we knew he was Defense before we'd even confirmed which character he actually was, haha!

It may also be a useful avenue for future theorizing- right now our story team lacks any Surrender or Superior teammates, so that may be what we're getting next! In general, we're lowest on Superior and Defense teammates (though they did just add Cherish), so we may be seeing more of them in the near future.

[idkjustletmescroll]

Why do we love the red lotus so much?

It’s no secret that among the avatar/lok fandom that the red lotus in season 3 are some of the legend of korra’s most beloved villains. I started to wonder why that is, and I’m writing down all my thoughts because of course I am.

1: Cool character designs

Visually, the red lotus are super-interesting, especially when you put them altogether. Zaheer’s all-gray monochrome look and his little change from long hair and beard to baldness, and his eyebrow scar. Ghazan and his tattoos and that mustache he grew when he was ten. Ming-Hua is small but mighty, waterbends without arms and uses said waterbending AS ARMS, another shining example of the avatar franchise’s portrayal of disability. And P’li being a seven-feet-tall combustionbender with a cool braid. They look cool. What more do you need?

2: They’re human

Probably part of what makes the red lotus so popular is that they feel pretty human. Obviously Zaheer is the leader of the group, and I’d personally have loved some more moments reminiscent of the “seriously? right now?” scene, but they’re clearly all besties. Ghazan, as mentioned above, complaining about P’li and Zaheer making out in the truck; P’li getting a piggyback ride from Ming-Hua on her way out of prison and calling her a show-off; Ming-Hua calling the boys ugly mugs; Ghazan commenting, upon seeing Zaheer fly for the first time, that “i guess [Zaheer] doesn’t need a ride”; etc. They have distinct personalities from each other, with Zaheer being the planner and leader, P’li being quiet and menacing (unless she’s with her friends and her man), Ghazan being the chill, laid-back one, and Ming-Hua being snarky and hot-tempered. P’li and Zaheer obviously have their romance, which is sweet even if fans (*cough* me *cough*) would’ve loved to see more of it. They work incredibly well together as a team and in battle. Ghazan worries about P’li when she’s injured at Zaofu, P’li gets mad at Zaheer when he gets discovered on Air Temple Island and alerts the city to their presence, Ming-Hua and Ghazan are visibly surprised, sad, and confused all at once when Zaheer achieves flight and they learn that P’li is dead, Ming-Hua has the odd habit of sitting in trees and the backs of chairs instead of the actual chair...there are plenty of little moments that drive home the fact that they’re people who care deeply about each other.

3: They’re badass af

I mean, seriously. Zaheer was arguably more feared than the other three even as a non-bender, and is beaten with airbending only by his overconfidence and airbending inexperience against strong bending masters. P’li is a combustion bender who can a) talk, and b) curve her combustion beams. Ghazan is the franchise’s first canon lavabender, and Ming-Hua is its first bender who’s missing limbs. She supposedly uses her torso and legs to waterbend, despite the popular fan theory that she also uses at least some psychic bending. They have unique abilities that expand the possibilities of bending, make for unique and interesting fight scenes, and give our heroes a genuine challenge. Neither side is ridiculously powered-down; Bolin and Mako put up a good fight against Ming-Hua and Ghazan, for example, given their two seasons of battle experience and previous pro-bending careers, but still get their asses kicked and are captured, because they’ve never fought these kinds of benders before! How the hell do you stop a lady who can basically waterbend with her mind? How can Bolin stop Ghazan when all of Bolin’s ammunition is thrown right back at him in an even deadlier form? 

4: No canon backstories

Hear me out here: I do agree that we could’ve gotten more hints of their backstories and how they all met, etc., but they don’t have a canon backstory like Amon, giving them that air of mystery. I love speculating on their pasts, which I couldn’t do if they had them in canon. But idk, I feel like this just depends on what you like in your villains.

In short, a large reason the red lotus is beloved is because they’re so different from anything we’ve previously seen in the franchise. They’re fresh, new faces who give us what is widely considered Legend of Korra’s best season.

[littleeyesofpallas]

Got a fun ask from @macchiato-dreaming22.

I'll be honest I'm kind of weird in my relationship with headcanon and fanfic in that I'm kind of not all that engaged with characters as characters, if that makes sense? I'm not the type to get hung up on "he would not say that" sort of quibbles, or really dwell freefloating in the spaces inbetween canon characterization the way a lot of fanfic writers, or RPers, or stans or shippers or whatever else you'd call it do. I can appreciate the need or the preference to do so but it doesn't really call to me the way it seems to to them. So what I tend to do is try and round up all the otherwise loose bits of canon trivia and try and piece them together, only loosely speculating about things that havent happened based on their adjacency to things that have. I dunno if that makes any sense at all as a distinction...

Anyway point being is that the fact that I've never thought very hard about how old the Visored are individually/relatively sort stems from that M.O. but also I can definitely figure out what my own existing headcanon would imply is the answer to that question, and so that's what I'm going to do.

(And to be clear I'm not really going to fuss about the ages, relative or otherwise, within the strict canon of completed manga so much as I'm going to take my headcanon/AU for the character concepts and run with things from there. That might not make sense right now, but it should clear itself up as I get going.)

oh boy this got long...

So as a refresher on the AU I never wrote: Given their introduction between vol.21-26, my headcanon is that the Visored were never a bunch of gotei captains and lieutenants, they were a bunch of humans, each became something like a substitute shinigami in their own right, and then had those powers taken from them, at which point Urahara conveniently appeared and took advantage of each of their desperation to get their powers back to experiment on them, working out the system he'd eventually use on Ichigo. So it's not only the hollow aspect as an impurity, but the fact that they (re)obtained their shinigami skills in spite of being stripped of their substitute shinigami status that makes them criminals. But in the process, each of them would either be abandoned or otherwise escape Urahara's "care" and/or observation.

Given the implicit consequences of the Shattered Shaft method, and Bleach's general world building, the elephant in the room we never had addressed was that because Ichigo and in this interpretation of their premise, the Visored, all had their soul chains severed, thus separating their soul from their body, making them ghosts. That in mind, I consider them all to have stopped aging when the Visored process took place, and THAT is where I anchor most of them to certain time periods based on their basic design and sense of style. (technically I do sort of head canon them as all having been turned in the 1970s, thus ~30years prior to the start of Bleach, which is, ya know, the right age for the father of a 15yo to have been about 15 30 years ago... but if i just left it at that it'd be kind of boring, so I'm letting these age ranges drift a little, if only to make this whole thought experiment more interesting.)

So for starters, I associated Shinji with the British Jazz-Rock and Mod scenes of the 1960s: the hair, the teeth, the ugly ties, the scolor scheme, even the trenchcoat he wore the one time at random, the only thing he was missing was a moped. I also very specifically think of him as a Pete Townshend analog for some reason. So given that he passed as a 15yo highschooler in Karakura, I'm going to say I think he was 15 when he was turned in 1965, so it aligns with The Who's release of the song My Generation. So that puts Shinji's birth in 1950.

The easiest to nail down actually would just be Mashiro, since she clearly borrows from very Himitsu Sentai Go-ranger specifically, but also Kamen Rider more generally. That puts a cap on how old she could be at 1975 as the airdate of the original Super Sentai series. It's hard to judge her age considering she's so distinctly childish, but it's kind of implied that even supernatural aging aside, she's immature for her age. It's an arbitrary call to make, but I'm gonna say she was 10 in 1975 when the tokusatsu thing left an impact on her, but got turned when she was older and just never grew out of it. So born 1960.

Another somewhat straight forward one to pin down is Kensei, who I associate with the Vietnam War, and implicitly the 1969 lottery draft, and the US Military occupation of Okinawa as a launch pad into Vietnam. Although historically the actual draft applied only to those born between 1944-1950, making any draftee who deployed in 1970 at least 20yo, and I see the Visored as kind of explicitly teens, so I'll say he wasn't drafted but volunteered and was 18 in 1970 and when he was turned. That makes him born in 1952.

(I could have alternatively nailed him down to the 1980s bosozoku scene on account of his later theming, but the super distinctive cargo pants, combat boots, short hair, and a rubber grip combat knife all point to more of a military theme than a biker thing --also there's some military motif in one of his random attacks to boot. Although arguably that style of knife grip is even more modern, but I don't get the impression Kubo was thinking about it that hard, just about whether it gave off the right (para)military vibe.)

Funny enough Risa is one of the harder ones to really tie to a time period, as her classic sailor-fuku could be placed anywhere from the 1920s to the 1980-90s when they started falling out of style. Notably though they have a stronger association with middle school than high school, and Risa is also a pervert, so I want to say she's wearing it as a fetish thing, rather than as an actual student. That in mind, the school girl fetish really took off in the 80s and hit its peak in the 90s just before social awareness and political actions to try and curb the trend started being put into place. (Oh and I forgot, her Visored mask is a Gyan from Mobile Suit Gundam, so that already caps her at 1979.)

(I was also going to add something about Comiket and the birth of the doujin market, but that actually overlaps with this timeline already so it doesn't really narrow things down at all. It's pretty arbitrary but I'm gonna pin her to 1984 as the date the term "Cosplay" was first used. Assuming she was also 18 at the time, that makes her born in 1966)

(There's ALSO a weird thing in one of her attacks, and the general style of her shikai, and very very loosely a possible Chun-li reference that all seem to suggest she's got a bit of a chinese thing going on too? but I don't see how it gels with the rest of it, and it's just kind of a deadend to look further into. Technically there's a whole character type of the fujoshi/female otaku being very into chinese historical/fantasy, so like... maybe that because ti woud mesh with the general otaku vibe of the school girl uniform??? Theres a reason I didn't pursue this angle...)

Rose, I could try and triangulate the whole bishounen trend in 70s shoujo manga, but I'm gonna be lazy and just say he's the same age a Bjorn Andresen and born in 1955 as that more or less lands him right smack dab in the timeframe I would've ended up pinpointing anyway, give or take. For technicality's sake I'll say he was turned at 17, thus technically qualifying him as a proper bishounen and not just bidanshi, making him turned in 1972.

Hacchi is so hard to work with in this context... So long as this is all just headcanon anyway I'm gonna let go of even loose anchors to canon and just say his whole tux getup is a host club thing. (I know that doesn't quite feel right, even to me, but I gotta pick something instead of just juggling "maybes" and "sortas" for forever... I can't really match the look to much else eotherwise... Like a wedding caterer maybe? One half of a classic Japanese standup comedy act? Some kind of a stage magician?) Host clubs only really took off in the late 90s, peaking in the 2000s. Considering the range of dates on the other members this does kind of afford him the chance to be older, although it's sort of weird if he's the only physical adult in the whole group... If I call him 25 at the tail end of the slow decline post 80s bubble economy pop, around 2002, then that makes him born in 1979. (if i shift that back to the start of the pop in 1992, it slides him more in line with the others at 1957, but then he's kind of out of the range of the host club thing.... I dunno, man, Hacchi's an enigma... He really is maybe the absolutel single biggest wrench in this whole thing, which is a damn shame because he's maybe my favorite visored.)

(love that the little cartoon in the sweatpants was the exact thing that showed up when i googled guudara[ぐうたら]:"lazybones; good-for-nothing; idler; slacker; loafer")

It took me a second to remember who I'd missed. Love and his weird slacker, drop out, tracksuit thing scream 80s to me, and technically the whole adidas tracksuit look was in fact a 70s-80s thing. it's a much less specific kinda look than some of the others where it can be tied to specific characters, titles, and authors, or historical events... I'm gonna go out on a limb with this one and just tether it to 1984 and the release of the Run-DMC album, if only because they're the only specific names I can tie to the tracksuit look, rather than just a general casualwear trend. If Love was, say, 17 in 1984, he'd have been born in 1967.

And then that just leaves Hiyori.... Hers is such a general look that I have like zero idea where to place it. It falls into a similar time span as Love's with the track suit thing. but then she's got that mountain hick country bumpkin sorta thing going for her, which suggests she's kind of out of style, so then is her tracksuit look sort of out of date? She very specifically has some general parallels with Kumiko, in the manga Gokusen as a homely, spunky, firebrand kinda gal. If I consider that Gokusen came out in 2000, and had Kumiko be 23yo, then if I map that onto Hiyori, she'd have been born in 1977? But clearly turned very early as she's by far the youngest of the Visored physiologically.

BDAY - name (age apparent/real)

MAY 10, 1950 - Shinji (15/55)

JUL 30, 1952 - Kensei (18/53)

MAR 17, 1955 - Rose (17/50)

SEP 8, 1957 - Hacchi (25/48)

APR 1, 1960 - Mashiro (16/40)

FEB 3, 1966 - Risa (18/39)

OCT 10, 1967 - Love (17/38)

AUG 1, 1977 - Hiyori (13/28)

I guess the only thing I'd do to manually tweak these is nudge a few years around to more evenly space them out... Maybe make Mashiro a Visored before Kensei, because I feel like that's how their some of their conversations in the early arc pointed. I can't figure out if I feel like Hiyori gives off the vibes of being the first or the last recruited Visored... I like that she bosses others around like she has seniority, but also she seems like the most inexperienced and rough around the edges, as well as the overt comparison to Ichigo. Although actual age-vs-apparent age aside, the order in which they were actually recruited into the ramshackle gang they are is a timeline all its own.

Again though, I think of the Visored as that ramshackle band of undead kids squatting in an abandoned factory hoping the samurai death cops don't find them, or the mad scientist that threw them into a hole in the first place --half of them convinced that the whole process was a mistake and who just want to not have a monster inside them anymore, and that the hogyoku is the key to turning them back, but then at least Shinji secretly convinced that he's just a god in the making and wants to hougyoku to push the transformation even further.(ala the general thrust of the Fullbringer premise) The ones Ukitake betrayed for the sake or balance and order, ala his yinyang theming. The one he's secretly using ichigo to monitor via the substitute badge. Rather than just a bunch of weird coworkers who had one bad night and then just sat around doing nothing for like 100 years.

(Again, see all the odd little details of how they were introduced that later got steamrolled or just outright ignored: Urahara and Isshin talking as if they're not in touch with the Visored. Hiyori's between-two-worlds talk with Shinji emphasizing the line between humans and shinigami. Hiyori and Shinji having signs of a practiced recruitment process they're using with Ichigo. Kensei not being at all familiar with Mashiro's training process. Kensei thinking Orihime slipping thru the barrier could've been another visored, as if it's just assumed there are an indeterminate number of others out there unaffiliate with them. etc... yadda yadda.. I've made this post somewhere before, right? or has it only ever popped up in bits and pieces?)

Anyway all that just to reiterate that this whole exercise is less preoccupied with trying to make any particular "sense" out of the manga's canon backstory, and more just a pulling on loose threads of my own headcanon.

(Oh, and because there wasn't any better place to throw it in there: in this headcanon, Shinji was Isshin's substitute 30 years ago.)

[taki118]

How Bayonetta x Luka and Bayo3 Makes Sense to Me

SO I just finished the game and while I do agree it has issues I think I know what they were going for (whether or not they landed is debatable) but basically I think the series and the coupling of Bayo/Luka makes sense if you look at them as parallels of each other.

I wanna say two things first before getting into it.

1) I have no horse in this race. I never really shipped anything in series but could see how others shipped what they did and saw them all as pretty cute. My only real bias is I’ve always loved Luka and never got why others hate him (well 3 I can kinda get but thats more poor implementation than the character)

2) I very much believe this franchise is a “You get what you put in” kind of game when it comes to story and lore. This is typical of a lot of Japanese games, Square titles come the most to mind. But basically it relies a lot on intuiting via context clues and how I look at something may not be the way you look or even how the writers meant it, but its’ how i make sense of it. 

Now that thats out of the way. I think Bayo and Luka’s stories purposely mirror each other and shows the evolution of child to adult. HEAR ME OUT

Bayonetta 1: So in this game both Bayo and Luka are in a state of arrested development, neither of them are able to move on and therefor grow. 

With Bayonetta its due to her amnesia. She is unable to mature as she feels something is missing. She can’t know herself without knowing her past and therefor is stuck. The entire game has her thrusted into the role of an unwitting protector and thereby maturing as a result, while also recalling who she was. In reconciling who she was with who she is Bayo is able to move on and grows changing from who she was for the past 20 years. 

With Luka he is unable to move past the death of his father the trauma of the scene and how no one believes him makes him stuck in the past no matter how much he psychically ages. He is still very much that little boy at the lake, I mean the most prominent aspect of his design is the scarf he wore as a child. And like Bayo is being thrusted into the role of a protector to a child and that along with the discovery of the truth forces him to let go of past and grow. 

Like they are BOTH playing at being adults in this game. (this could explain why the sexual jokes lessen with each game though it’s likely more nintendo) They both are acting how they THINK adults should act this is most evident in Luka as he very clearly is emulating his father and there is a conceptual image where he presents a nun a flower as a child just like he does as an adult. Luka has clearly modeled himself after others the way a lot of children and teens do and it isn’t until towards the end of the game that his true self begins to shine. We can infer this in Bayo herself as she appears influenced by the people around her most notable being Jeanne, this being what Baldars plan was in a way. Molding a child to conform to the parents desire therefor the ending is Bayo showcasing her adulthood saying “this is who I am”.

Bayonetta 2: Now this game is about those early stages of adulthood where you are trying to be more adult like, if that makes sense. Of trying to appear more in control than you are, the I’m striking out on my own phase until you realize actually I do need some help. 

With Bayonetta you can kinda see this is her design its the most visibly distinct in the games and can be seen as her trying to push past the child she was. This can also be seen in how despite telling Loki he can call her Cereza he states throughout that she doesn’t look like a Cereza. This is tied into the main conflict of the game with Balder and what happens to many children with their parents. First they are a hero, then a villain, until they can finally see what they really are a person. Bayo at the beginning of the game could never imagine herself calling out to her father in genuine care but the one at the end can. In this game she is  now able to see people for who they really are and I think this includes Jeanne. Despite Bayo actually being a year older than her Jeanne has always been presented as more of a protector and mentor figure to Bayo. So the notion that her being the one to save and protect her this game serves to further show her growth, that she does not need to rely on Jeanne anymore, ending with the two truly becoming equals.

With Luka its more to be inferred as he’s in the game less but I think that is the point. In the 1st his LIFE is tied with Bayo because he needed closure with his fathers death. Since he has it his life no longer revolves around her, he doesn’t NEED to follow her, he’s becoming more of his own person. He’s made contact with Rodin on his own, has his own glasses to see the spiritual. In fact Bayo seems to need Luka’s skills in investigation more than he needs hers. Their interactions in this game are more happenstance than prior showcasing that Luka is becoming his own person. Is he still playing at adulthood? a little but he seems to actually believe his own hype now that he isn’t trying to prove he’s of value, an important step in becoming a true adult. You can also see his growth in his design as while the scarf from his childhood is still there but its far less prominent.

With the two we see a shift in how they interact with each other. Luka has proven himself to Bayo and she is adjusting to how she treats him because of it (but she seems to almost miss the old days as she secretly calls him Cheshire and remarks how much Loki reminds her of him) and Luka is still not use to her actually acknowledging him and being less of a try hard. They are essentially colleagues now, like it or not Luka is a part of Bayo’s world and we see this in how it ends with Luka working with Rodin. 

Bayonetta 3: Now this game is where they come full circle where they are both become sure about who they are and truly become adults and reach self actualization. (Now I play the game with the thought that you are playing the same character played in the last games. However even if you don’t think that this thematic reading still works as what is presented as the previous Bayonettas are said to have lived similar lives to the one in 3.)

With Bayonetta having come to better understand her parents in the previous game she now embraces her past more fully showcasing this in her design that is inspired by the child design in 1. She no longer needs to PRESENT as an adult she is confident in her identity as an adult. In this her main growth is in her self actualization and better understanding of what SHE wants.  This is showcased in how she is essentially training a new witch something only a true professional can do, showing us she has reached the peak of her powers. Once one gets there the only thing left is to pass on your knowledge to the next generation. (What I’m getting at is that the idea that this was Cerezas swan song as Bayonetta is pretty obvious) Her journey is also filled with lives she COULD have lived and deaths that COULD have been hers. This sort of thing leads one to introspection that comes when one reaches adulthood, the notion of the paths we could take and what options are left for us, it also imparts the things that are the most important. (I’ll expand on this is a bit)  Then there’s the ending where after connecting with the alternate Bayos of the game the pervious games Bayonettas arrive and the three fight alongside each other and combine. With this she has come face to face with who she was, with her past and embraced it fully. Whether or not you think you are playing the pervious character, the game makes it fairly evident that the three experienced very similiar lives and the bios indicating that the other two are still on the journeys Bayo 3 has finished. The journey of self actualization of becoming the truest version of yourself, of embracing the person you have matured into. 

Now I know a LOT of people hate the end and while I think it could have been done far better I think I get what the devs were going for. Bayonetta knows if she keeps going she will die but that doesn’t matter she can stop Singularity and thats what matters. She’s sort of following the idea of not caring if she loses she just doesn’t want him to win. And that is VERY in line with with the franchise, you don’t get to choose how I die I do. Like her mother before her she has given her life to protect her child (even if Viola isn’t technically hers) the cycle repeats as it were. And as I said she has no where to go she has reached the peak of her powers and personhood, she is passing on her knowledge, and she is confronted repeatedly with her death. “Bayonetta” dying is really the only way this could end. Do I think it coulda been better? Yes I think the game needed a few more levels, but I also think this was the natural end to the character. Also Cereza might not really be dead just her presence as Bayonetta she can retire that part of her and rest, as she if fulfilled. 

With Luka he is DIRECTLY going through the same thing as Bayonetta the difference is it’s not on his terms. Luka has thought he reached the level of self actualization Bayo has but he really hasn’t, there is an aspect of himself that was unknown to him that he needs to confront. The problem is that part is thrown on him. (I really wish we got more levels for Viola so we could see this more but it is what it is.) He is having a crisis of self, his world and perception of himself is being thrown on its head and he has to come to terms with that. I think it’s important that while Bayo tries to help him through it, it is ultimately another version of himself that saves him and helps makes sense of it all. Once Luka and Lukaon are joined and Luka accepts that there is more to him than he ever thought we are presented with a more refined version of the dork we love (well I love, I know he’s not for everyone). In understanding himself he understands what needs to come next. The world and Viola are more important than his own wants and desires. Luka has become a proper adult, just as Bayo has, this is why he snubs her when she looks for a kiss. It should also be noted that this is the first time his childhood scarf is not an aspect of his design showing that he has grown past it and into himself.

When looking at the two in this game this is the most blatant of their interest in each other. (but was always there like the amount of shit Bayo lets Luka get away with is very telling) Their relationship has gotten closer in the years to the point where he calls her Cerezita and while she claims not to like it its very obvious that she enjoys it. (this is paralleled with Viola and Kitty) This nickname also indicates that he sees her for who she truly is as the only other person to not call her by her birth name is Jeanne. Bayo herself isn’t even all that surprised by Luka’s presence as she just assumes he will always show up which leads into my thoughts on a main complaint I see in the fandom on the relationship. People often say how Bayo’s actions towards Luka in the first half is completely different from the second but it actually makes some sense. See Bayo has come to see Luka as a constant in her life but she likely hasn’t forgotten how long her life is. The idea of pursuing her feelings towards Luka has probably been something she has debated on, like fluctuating between theres plenty of time to do so and maybe even the thought of is it right to as his life is shorter, and if you think this way it makes sense that Bayo has kept a line between them. However seeing yourself die, seeing them die with wants left unfulfilled, would 100% effect her. By the time Bayo’s feelings seem to “Shift” towards Luka she has been confronted with her own mortality multiple times so the notion that she would follow feelings she has had but kept at a distance for sometime is not that hard a push. It is also why that kiss snub happens, seeing him nearly die is the last push to act on these feelings she has pushed back but Luka who has always acted on those feelings realizes he needs to hold back for the first time. Its actually kinda sweet in a way the two have been maturing together over the years but in opposite ways at times, that resemble the other.

I would say the cheesiness of their last scene was a little much but it is hard to tell if the game is literally saying Luka and Bayo are always meant to be together or if its just the two being cheesy which Luka has ALWAYS been. Also just like Bayo paralleling Rosa with Viola its very evident that the creators are trying to parallel Bayo and Luka with Rosa and Balder, the aspect of tragic love that can’t be “together” (again theres an implication that they aren’t dead but might be separated by plains of existence) Once more I think had the game been longer this idea could been shown more but I do think its purposeful. The series does seem to love the idea of the cycle repeating itself.

It should also be noted that the two interact with a companion in each game that shows their own growth. In 1 they take care of a child someone they need to protect and watch over and they need to be gentle with, mirroring their own struggles with healing their inner childs. In 2 they assist a teenager (I know Loki is technically older than both of them but he acts like a teenager) they have to guide and help him but they can’t protect him like a child, he can do this himself and asserts his personhood. Therefor they have to be better and do more to impress and help him than a child requires. Finally in 3 they have a young adult someone who resembles who they were before, someone who doesn’t need them, but someone who WANTS them around and wants to help them. And like most parents with a young adult the focus is on leaving them with the best tools to continue without them. Like the idea of them being parents together was planted in every game so I don’t know why it really surprised people. Parenthood has always been a theme in the franchise and it makes sense to end the series with Bayo’s own child.

I want to say I did not come up with this reading to make sense of 3, this is how I have ALWAYS read the games that it is a coming of age story for adults and I’ve only been more secure in this reading as the years go on and games are added  and my own maturity grows. So while I do think there were probably issues behind the scenes and that the game needed adjustments I don’t doubt this basic story was always part of the plan. To me the lore should be looked at more figurative than literal, its an avenue in which to explore internal ideas and concepts that’s why its always been rather loose. If you get bogged down by lore I think you kinda miss the forrest for the trees.But like I said this is just how I read the series maybe it helps you maybe it doesn’t.