#my dream of being referred to as a villain is coming true guys

[team-avia]

Thanks to y’all’s quiz results I was able to write 1k words for Phyto’s Guide! Which is more than I’ve written in the past two months!!! 💪🏻 💪🏻 💪🏻 Y’all are unwitting godsends!!!

Unsure how to feel about being called Satan (proud? offended? both? probably both), but we're glad to have helped! Even if it was just us withholding the Donna result from you 😌😔

Cinder

[eroguron0nsense]

Perhaps my brain isn't braining or I'm assigning undue significance to this but I kinda feel like One Piece seemed to shift more toward exploring what real familial love means or looks like after the timeskip? We get Ace's death, the postwar arc, and Luffy coming to the conclusion that despite having lost both of his brothers, he's still got the Straw Hats and he can move forward with his ragtag crew of siblings, Team Mom and Dad, and an eccentric skeleton Uncle, and then right after that, we get several arcs defined overwhelmingly by either the destruction or salvation of various families.

One of the main inciting incidents–if not the inciting incident–of all the political intrigue inherent to the Fishman Island arc is the assassination of Otohime and its ramifications for Shirahoshi and the entire Ryugu Kingdom (not to mention Luffy trying really fucking hard to imitate Ace and be a big brother to Shirahoshi and Surume as a means of processing his own loss).

Dressrossa's where we first see a true perversion of all the lovely found family tropes that have long been established in One Piece (villains have destroyed families but few if any are depicted as having one in the same way Luffy does; pre-time skip villains are more likely to be loners or self-interested tyrants and their followers aren't really referred to as "family"), giving us self fashioned patriarch in Doffy who completed the destruction of his bio family and spent the rest of his life building a grotesque, failed imitation of it through manipulating and indoctrinating a group of followers he doesn't truly care for, only to be brought down by a combination of his brother's final actions, the little boy Cora saved and loved, the bonds of the Riku family he brutalized, the brothers of the guy whose devil fruit he acquired and tried to entrap his enemies with, and an actual Found Family Crew who genuinely love each other and are willing to sacrifice for each other in a way Doffy cannot possibly understand.

The entirety of WCI involves almost every conceivable permutation of multiple families plotting against, exploiting, abusing, and defiantly loving each other, from Judge discarding any hope he ever had of having an actual family that could love him by literally stripping away their ability to do so in the name of facism/conquest, to Chiffon betraying her abusive mom for her loving husband and in-laws, to Linlin being failed by every parental figure in her life and constructing the most bizarre, fundamentally horrifying political/military structure out of her army of bio children.

Wano's main villain is also an abusive father and tyrannical crew leader, and that does, in fact, contribute to his eventual downfall, but more to the point, the arc opens and closes with the initial destruction and eventual restoration of the Kozuki family in Momo, Hiyori, and Sukiyaki, Luffy's kinship with Momo and Tama, circling back to reminders of Ace yet again (for the third arc so far) and Hiyori literally closing out the arc mirroring her father's catchphrase/dying words (and to a lesser extent, plot fuelled by the destruction of the Kurozumi clan). By the time we end what I personally consider to be Part 2 of One Piece, Luffy's family has picked up another uncle, he's been confronted repeatedly with the spectre of his brother and come out stronger for it (also filling the big brother role for multiple characters), he's reunited with Sabo, and has confronted and defeated multiple villains who act as the antithesis to everything One Piece has told us so far about the joy and love and unity that the Straw Hats and their friends and true families exemplify. And by the time he tells everyone his real dream and shares what he'd previously only told Ace, Sabo, and Shanks, it feels like we've finally gotten some closure for Marineford

[villainessxassassin]

I hope I'm not bothering you guys but I saw requests were open! Could you do some fluffy headcanons for Ruggie, Jamil, Azul, and Vil with a GN Reader who was a knight or warrior in their original world but doesn't remember it so it surprises people when reader is able to take down the bullies/overblots and kinda acts like their boyfriend is royalty? Maybe even giving some cute nicknames like "my queen/king" or "my liege"? These boys deserve to be spoiled by a knight of their own!

Seperate! Ruggie, Azul, Jamil, and Vil x former knight/warrior! reader

Him, a lowly peasant being (says him) treated like royalty by you? Surely he must be dreaming

He's suspicious of you at first, thinking your just saying stuff like that in order to get on his good side

but once he finally get's over that fact and see's your actions as trully genuine he'll be smug about it

Feels like he's living the high life 24/7 with you around

still get's caught off guard whenever you'd report to him out of nowhere about how you've 'vanquished a mighty beast' just outside the school on a Monday morning

or how you'd refer to him with such too good to be true names he would never expect anyone to call him ever

is actually really shy but wants to act all high and might in front of you

but call him just one of your sweet lik nicknames then he's back to being a flustered lil pup in need of your sweet praises and reassuring words of how he's your one and only

I just know for a fact this guy would be eternally screaming on the inside but is seemingly calm on the outside

Will question you of your weird behavior but quickly get used to it because he finds you interesting

The first time you called him "my liege" was the first time he felt his heart skip a beat

it's an easy way to boost his ego and fluster him both at the same time

Might use your knightly abilities to boost his sales but is really appreciative of you afterwards and treats you to anything you want after the day is over

tries to compete with you at times, feeling like he should also play the role of knight and shining armor in your life but remains defeated whenever you'd shower him in praises and call him cute nicknames

at this point he doesn't bother when people talk behind his back because he can already hear you sharpening your blade ready to strike them down for talking about your liege in such a negative way

AND NO HE DOESNT KNOW WHERE U GOT THAT WEAPON FROM

He's... lost

confused

slightly distraught

what even is his role here

A mere servant like him being referred by you as your "king"?

Jamil exe has stopped working

what cruel joke are you playing on his heart for it to leap out of his chest and into your hold like that

He'll tell you it's inappropriate for you to refer to him like that, of course it's not that he doesn’t like the nickname, but rather because of how his role as a servant to another is so he prefers for you to just call him by his name

Hug this dear boy, I DARESAY YOU HUG HIM

He's never experienced anything like this so he's confused with his emotions so it's best to give him time (and yes this is all coming from one single nickname)

Thought pots and pans will be flying everywhere if you were ever to refer to him with the same nickname again

his heart is just really confused ya'll

Vil was already held in very high regard by the people around him, but being seen as something equal to royalty by you just hits different yk

Will frown a bit because he thought you were just teasing him at first

but after some very lengthy speech about how great he is and he's back to being his regular self

Might ask you to practice with him as you play the role of a valiant knight, and my my is he impressed with the way you can so effortlessly say your lines and swing your prop blade as if you truly were a knight in your former life (do i say something here? nah I'm sure ya'll get it)

He's... really overjoyed that he's no longer being treated as a villain in some measly play, but someone who means so much to you to the point he doesn't mind you being his knight in shining armor

and no when he said try to practice pretending to slay some sort of monster for a scene he didn't expect you to come back with something (hopefully not dead) akin to a beast back

____

Apologies for making you wait a whole month for your ask to be answered

finished this at 3:11am so expect whats to be expected - kishira

[williamsockner]

Urban Fantasy Bingo

1. Main character dates a serial killer but the show thinks he’s just a complicated bad boy 2. Codependent siblings 3. Rampant unintended homosexual tension 4. Incest 5. Creepy dolls 6. Exploitative shots of dead teenage girl’s corpse 7. Narrative unsympathetic when bitchy teenage girls gets murdered 8. Parent or significant other in law enforcement 9. Shady big pharma 10. Ugly and/or disabled girl with no personality flaws 11. Amnesia 12. Black best friend (bonus points if gay) 13. Love interest with no personality besides fucking and sports 14. Love interest with no personality besides being embroiled in supernatural bullshit 15. Someone dies during sex 16. Main character commits rape but narrative refuses to acknowledge it as anything but angsty manpain behavior 17. Randomly excellent episode in an otherwise lackluster show 18. Writer’s room fetishist on display 19. Bodyswap/bodysnatch/shapeshift/possession 20. Everyone cares about the blood feud 21. Hundred-year-old urban legends or local history shockingly relevant to small town youths 22. Narrative clumsily attempts to make serial killer sympathetic 23. “the ugly one” played by a hollywood ten 24. Mortal threat to a character’s life during a sports game 25. Murder at prom 26. Super special chosen one and/or ancient prophecy 27. Writers convinced that remorse is the same as redemption 28. Love triangle 29. Snarky put-downs towards clear sources of inspiration 30. Love interests swap because the bad boy character was too interesting to the audience 31. Musical episode 32. Fictional classic monster actually existed in-universe 33. Character witnesses an alternate timeline where they didn’t exist and/or died 34. Character comes back as a ghost but gets no speaking lines so the show could save on the acting fee 35. Evil twin 36. Reincarnated true love 37. Super sexy high femme who’s actually 200 years old 38. Manic monster dream girl 39. Weird hybrids 40. Masquerade ball 41. Characters in class receive a lecture on a topic relevant to the episode 42. Flashback episode 43. Villain has a weird kink 44. Illegitimate lovechild 45. Abusive parent has a favorite child 46. Someone cuts their palm for a blood sacrifice 47. Someone sacrifices a pet for an evil ritual 48. Black witches have more power 49. Scene at the morgue 50. Teenage alcoholism 51. Regular alcoholism 52. Visible manifestations of someone’s guilt and/or plot exposition in the form of dead loved ones 53. Dead perfect significant other 54. Characters get caught doing something and give transparently fake names of celebrities or pop culture references 55. Musical sequence that exists only to show that an actor can dance, sing or play an instrument 56. CPR brings someone back to life and doesn’t break any ribs 57. Character discovers secret power at last second before they almost die 58. Secret society has a ritual to decide who is the head honcho monster 59. Incongruous musical choice 60. Someone has a dark side/evil blood/a prophecy that they’ll go evil 61. Someone turns into a violent sociopath because they lose their soul and/or humanity 62. Somebody bleeds out the eyes or mouth, or has a nosebleed that someone else has to call attention to 63. Significant other hunts what you are 64. Halloween episode 65. “You tried to kill me and that takes grit, I’m proud of you” 66. “There’s nothing on the other side when you die” especially if we know ghosts exist 67. Inconsistent ghost rules 68. The enemy of my bigger enemy 69. Head in a box 70. Cold opening of teenagers getting eaten because of a dare, bonus points for haunted house 71. Racist one-off criminal encounter 72. “Cool costume, bro” to an actual monster 73. Halloween costumes significant to role character plays in the story 74. Wise mentor figure with colorful past and parental affection towards protagonist 75. The one normal guy who keeps getting pulled into bullshit 76. Everybody in the cast dates each other as the writer’s room tries to figure out what the fans want 77. Immortal character put in a box 78. Non-human has to pass as human…badly 79. Ancient character has to adjust to modern day 80. Random regular human with an axe to grind 81. Bait and switch big bad at the end of the story, turns out to actually be a main cast member having a meltdown after taking out villain 82. Head of the secret council actually an evil puppet master 83. Police scanner 84. Debilititis 85. People randomly discovering superpowers around puberty 86. Character that main character hates for no good reason turns out to be evil all along 87. Plot-relevant celestial event 88. Someone telekinetically forces people to turn their guns on each other or themselves 89. Badly-pronounced French 90. The apocalypse originates in this small podunk-ass town 91. Unreasonable hometown pride 92. Latin as the mother tongue of magic 93. Local police covering up for high monster murder rate 94. Single parent is overworked medical practitioner 95. Guardian is not yet ready for this level of responsibility 96. Someone turned out to have a child they didn’t know about 97. Weird pregnancy (bonus if no sex actually happened) 98. Someone’s kid gets aged up to skip working with a child actor 99. Somebody sends their child “away” to keep them from getting embroiled in the bullshit and then they get embroiled in the bullshit anyway 100. Descendants of an immortal 101. Resurrection with no consequences 102. Resurrection or healing with consequences will haunt the protagonist 103. Protagonist has at least one dead parent 104. A friend of the main cast dies in the pilot 105. Candlelight vigil for a high school student 106. Fucked up mother-son dynamics 107. Daddy issues 108. “Fear makes the meat taste better” and/or “I like to watch them scream” 109. Souls get sold and/or girls get married to Satan 110. Deal with the devil turns you into a ticking time bomb 111. “you worded your wish wrong” 112. Alternate reality without magic 113. Real-world religions or spiritual practices treated as monsters of the week 114. All myths contain a grain of truth 115. Someone attacks a wedding 116. Mundane who really wants to be a monster 117. Redhead 118. Feral child raised by wolves 119. Bitchy cheerleader 120. Characters go undercover at a school 121. Mental institution episode 122. Protagonist framed for murder 123. Cold open of dog-walker getting eaten while dog runs away 124. Show starts off with missing or murdered girl 125. Animal motif or animal companion 126. Non-human but non-animal sidekick 127. “The council sent me to give you exposition” 128. Secret society of hunters 129. The Corporation 130. Death by bees 131. Jumpscare 132. Douchebro thinks he’s getting seduced but is actually about to get eaten 133. Siblings have pronounced disagreements over how to feel about their absentee parent 134. Deep South 135. Magic can solve everything except cancer 136. Beautiful sprawling mansion 137. Musical sequence intercutting one couple having sex and someone else dying or doing something else dramatic 138. Safehouse and/or bunker 139. “s/he was just trying to protect you” used as a justification for abjectly abusive parenting 140. Family with oodles of generational wealth 141. Groundhog Day Episode 142. Random skull in dark place 143. Someone punches a mirror 144. Black blood 145. Weird eye color signifies supernatural status 146. Wicker Man episode 147. Pagan gods 148. Faith healer 149. Couple going on a date gets eaten 150. Someone gets murdered in a church 151. Villain boasts that “maybe that works on wimpy monsters, but not me” 152. Chasing the murderer through a house of mirrors 153. Diner 154. Episode titles named after songs or famous books 155. Supernatural war 156. Getting out of a Faustian bargain 157. Someone wakes up tied to a chair at an insane dinner party full of corpses

[mariana-oconnor]

The Crooked Man pt 2

So far we have had no crooked men, miles, sixpences or stiles. I feel a little bereft.

We do however have a corpse, and like so many things, that's a lot more fun in fiction than it would be in real life.

We also have questions: Who else was in the room? Where is the key? Is David a character or a biblical reference? Was this all a swingers evening gone wrong? Why was the door locked? Why did Nancy ask for tea when she usually doesn't?

The paper was covered with the tracings of the foot-marks of some small animal. It had five well-marked foot-pads, an indication of long nails, and the whole print might be nearly as large as a dessert-spoon. “It's a dog,” said I.

Ah nuts, is Watson going to kill this one, too?

“Did you ever hear of a dog running up a curtain? I found distinct traces that this creature had done so.” “A monkey, then?” “But it is not the print of a monkey.”

Yeah, monkeys have tiny little hands. A cat? They sometimes climb curtains. I'm sure a dog could climb a curtain in the right circumstances.

“Neither dog nor cat nor monkey nor any creature that we are familiar with."

Ferret. I'm going with ferret, although I will accept an alternative mustelidae relative. Probably not a honey badger. Probably...

"You have an indication, you see, of a long body with very short legs attached to it."

Ferret!

Watson, please don't shoot the ferret. I will be very sad if you shoot the ferret.

"On the whole, it was probably some creature of the weasel and stoat tribe—and yet it is larger than any of these that I have seen.”

The honey badger can have a canary, as a treat.

(If it isn't a honey badger now, I'm gonna be so sad. It's a honey badger in my heart.)

"We know, also, that he ran across the lawn, entered the room, accompanied by a strange animal, and that he either struck the Colonel or, as is equally possible, that the Colonel fell down from sheer fright at the sight of him"

"Now, it was equally certain that, immediately on her return, she had gone to the room in which she was least likely to see her husband, had flown to tea as an agitated woman will..."

So the tea is because she was agitated? Okay, I guess I can allow that. It is the British way: crisis = tea. Fair.

"I saw a man coming towards us with is back very bent, and something like a box slung over one of his shoulders. He appeared to be deformed, for he carried his head low and walked with his knees bent."

One (1) 'Crooked' man, check.

Miss Morrison is a good friend, very supportive of her. She is being very rude about this man - Henry - though. 'dreadful looking creature'. He's just a man. Possibly a murderer, true, but there's no need to be quite so rude. Another to join the Watson Society of Judgemental Descriptions.

“‘“I thought you had been dead this thirty years, Henry,” said she, in a shaking voice.'"

So it is a past husband? Right? Right?

Also, I'd like to take a moment to appreciate the amount of nested inverted commas here. This is reported speech within reported speech within reported speech. Double in single in double. I don't think I've ever actually noticed someone doing that before. I know this has nothing really to do with the story, but it's kind of impressive, no?

"'He had a very dark, fearsome face, and a gleam in his eyes that comes back to me in my dreams. His hair and whiskers were shot with gray, and his face was all crinkled and puckered like a withered apple.'"

Clearly we are meant to think of this man as a villain, but I don't want to. Guy's got wrinkles and some sort of disability, so far all he's done is recognise a lady. We've had far creepier people in these stories who everyone's gushed about. I'm on team Henry - for now. Maybe for always.

"The man is by trade a conjurer and performer, going round the canteens after nightfall, and giving a little entertainment at each."

Oh yeah, team Henry absolutely. He's a travelling conjurer of cheap magic tricks?

Although... he does keep a honey badger locked up in a box and brings it out to perform for money. Gosh darn it! This is why we can't have nice things.

Fine, Henry is guilty of animal cruelty and I hope the honey badger eats him. Are you happy ACD? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?

"She showed it to me, Watson, and it was an Indian rupee."

I thought Indian when they said monkey earlier, because in part one they mentioned the Colonel being involved in the Mutiny - which I assume was one of the Indian Mutinies - but then we went onto mustelidae. And I'm pretty sure the honey badger is native to Africa... oh no, oh no, oh no, I am wrong. It is native to India. HONEY BADGER CONSPIRACY IS BACK IN BUSINESS.

Unless the guy is a were-honey badger. (I mean obviously not really, but that's going in the supernatural Holmes universe in my head as well).

Also it could be a type of marten, but while team Henry has been abandoned, team Honey Badger is going strong.

The man sat all twisted and huddled in his chair in a way which gave an indescribably impression of deformity; but the face which he turned towards us, though worn and swarthy, must at some time have been remarkable for its beauty.

So Watson thinks he's hot? Or he was hot? Coolcool. Not the description I was expecting here.

"There were two men that loved her, and one that she loved, and you'll smile when you look at this poor thing huddled before the fire, and hear me say that it was for my good looks that she loved me."

Well, Watson apparently won't. But it's definitely looking like it's an accidental bigamy situation. I hate it when that happens. Also... liking him for his looks is not the basis for a strong relationship. I hope she liked you for other things, too.

"But the real blow was to my heart and not to my head, for as I came to and listened to as much as I could understand of their talk, I heard enough to tell me that my comrade, the very man who had arranged the way that I was to take, had betrayed me by means of a native servant into the hands of the enemy."

Alas, Colonel Barclay, you were a dick. Congratulations on a truly terrible case of being a poor loser. She didn't want you, just fucking deal with it, my dude. Don't betray your own fucking men. Terrible plan. 0/10. Your death was utterly deserved.

So Henry was tortured and enslaved and permanently disabled, yeah. And also left with so much internalised ableism that he can't bear to go home and be seen like that. Henry, if you weren't super guilty of animal cruelty, I would be fully on your side. I mean I am on your side... just... why do you keep a honey badger in a box?

"But he was dead before he fell. I read death on his face as plain as I can read that text over the fire. The bare sight of me was like a bullet through his guilty heart.”

Good riddance.

I am amused by how things like this happen in victorian fiction, though. Just one look at the guy and he keels over dead.

“It's a mongoose,” I cried.

...

Fine... Honey badger conspiracy is out. But mongeese are pretty cool, too. I've always thought of them as being pretty small, though, but the internet tells me they can be anywhere from 9 inches to 23 inches long. So they are both small and larger, I guess. They're also not mustelids, so there's that.

Also, I should have guessed this, because it's one of my favourite Terry Pratchett quotations and this part is out on the Glorious 25th of May:

'...the trouble with small furry animals in a corner is that, just occasionally, one of them's a mongoose.'

Well it definitely was this time. GNU Terry Pratchett, I should always listen to you.

Honey badger was probably too big to climb up a curtain...

Still shouldn't keep a mongoose in a box and force it to perform, though.

“But if not, there is no object in raking up this scandal against a dead man, foully as he has acted."

I mean, on the one hand, sure, but on the other hand Drag his Ass.

“Yes; David strayed a little occasionally, you know, and on one occasion in the same direction as Sergeant James Barclay. You remember the small affair of Uriah and Bathsheba?"

I may have been wrong about the honey badger, but I was right about the biblical reference. Little wins, amirite?

Turns out Colonel Barclay was as big a dick as the 'violence and vindictiveness' indicated. Alas.

BUT, Watson didn't shoot any animals. Yay.

Although poor Teddy is still shut up in a box and Henry also has a cobra in there that he tortures for the amusement of people in bars.

The next one is another 4-parter, so plenty of time for me to make up harebrained theories about mustelidae.

[isobelleposts]

The Flawed Women of Gilmore Girls

by Isobelle Cruz [October 30, 2022]

After spending two months' worth of days and nights with the Gilmore Girls—Emily, Lorelai, and Rory—I could finally write my review and thoughts about the rollercoaster and hold these fictional characters had on me for quite some time. Other than motivating me to take my education more seriously and providing me with something to look forward to at the end of a long day, the show unexpectedly made me reflect on some of the life decisions I would inevitably have to take some time into the future.

The original plan was to write up a post discussing which Gilmore boyfriend was the best and deserved to stay until the end, until I reached the final episode and realized how much more the show is than just a mother and daughter featuring the men in their lives. I see myself a lot in Rory Gilmore—with not only her same bursting passion for writing but with her pride that leads to her flaws and mistakes.

RORY: See? I hate that. / Everyone thinking I’m doing an amazing job all the time, like it’s a given. It’s not a given. What if I’m a terrible reporter?

Gilmore Girls S7:E22 “Bon Voyage”

Rory Gilmore, painted as an intelligent girl ahead of her peers in the education and literary field, grows up with people constantly sharing their praise which leads the girl with high standards and pride for herself. Although I don’t necessarily live in a community as open and supportive as Rory’s world, I find myself deep with pride at times and struggle to shake it away for my own good.

Rory had a sort of victim mentality, refusing to associate herself with the luxury that her grandparent’s wealth gives her or refusing to embrace her privilege, which, no matter what she does, she will always have and benefit from.

LOGAN: Whether you like it or not, you’re one of us. You went to prep school. You go to Yale. Your grandparents are building a whole damn astronomy building in your name. 

Gilmore Girl S7:E8 “Introducing Lorelai Planetarium”

Although Logan wasn’t exactly the best guy out there, like all of Rory’s other beaus, I admired him at least for acknowledging his privilege and wealth and using it to uplift himself in terms of business and career. Despite not being on the best terms with his father, Logan didn’t deny the easy head start he got into the working industry due to his connections, unlike Rory who would constantly deny her privilege while continually benefiting from it.

Rory’s greatest villain was herself.

No matter how frustrating the situations may have been at times, especially in the later seasons, I was kin to the idea of throwing away some fantasy fairytale-ending in exchange for the truth of life’s hardships.

I hated Rory the same way I would have hated myself when stuck in a situation wherein the wrong would obviously be pointed at me, with a mix of bittersweet understanding and guilt. You’ve witnessed this person grow up from being a perfect daughter and student, experience their first kisses and days at school and college, and only makes it awfully harder to turn against them completely when they’ve become a flaw-filled wreck just like everyone else.

The Gilmore Girls are more than just two women with mouths that speak in nothing but references, but is an accurate representation of flawed female characters, with topics such as teenage pregnancy, family trauma, and privilege amongst others which bring depth to the story.

I was comforted, conflicted, and given a piece of mind for what the writing industry would more or less be, especially for someone so full of willpower to make her extremely high dreams come true.

[eggsnatcheskneecaps]

Okay so the entire AU is based on the dream I had, albeit only partial scenes were in the dream. I'll mention 'em.

So the basic thing is that there's two Dekus. They got split into two different guys after an encounter with an OC of mine who I have lost all the lore on, but her quirk lets her split people apart based on personality traits. For Deku, that was the "hero" aspect, that was attempted to be kidnapped captured and utterly failed, and the "villain" aspect, being whatever parts of Deku could have become a villain if the circumstances were different.

-In the original dream, this like? Had taken place in the alleyway where the Stain fight happened? With the same guys from the Stain fight showing up?? So I guess my brain replaced Stain with some gray-pink haired villain who tried to throw a villain! Deku out into the world by force. Plus, in the original dream The Guys had found two Dekus just passed the fuck out on the ground ,and just. Took them to hospital. Vs my thoughts about the AU since then have been focused on the idea of Villain Deku just fucking off from the area while Normal Deku stayed passed out.

Now, on top of the "the heroic part of Deku" and "the villainesk part of Deku", the split also unconsciously had partly split up One for All. Only partly since this was Not intentional. This was WAY before we found out the details of One for All's whole "passes down all quirks in a way not just itself" thing, and frankly I have zero idea now how I even knew about Black Whip because I wasn't looking at the manga. And I didn't see it in the anime until like, a year ago, 1-2 years after the dream. So?? Okay then. Either way, in the AU the only quirks I've thought about are the base super-strength One for All, plus the Black Whip part.

Now, both of them have access to OfA, it's just that it's more difficult to control if it's not the "natural" one. For the "natural" stuff, Normal Deku kept base OfA, while Villain Deku got Black Whip. So like, Villain Deku can use Black Whip about as much as Normal Deku can use OfA, but Villain Deku breaks his leg after trying to use 15% of OfA and Normal Deku still loses control if and when Black Whip comes out. (Ik that Black Whip is part of OfA in the current day but for simplicities sake I'm just gonna refer to them as seperate quirks) Thus the joke I made about Villain Deku holding his leg together with Black Whip.

I do also feel it's important to say that Villain Deku can act. He's Aware of what he was split off from, while Normal Deku is not.

Now, any story I've thought of for the AU came at least partly from the dream, but stuff is super blurry about it now outside of the last scene of it. Again, I'll specifically mention it later, but for now, the bullshit that my brain came up with for a story?? Kinda crack treated seriously at parts, maybe. Idk

> First things first, Villain Deku doing his bestest to act and not punch a guy in the face, is the one to go to school first. This act apparently works, because nobody thinks anything weird or Deku up until Normal Deku rushes in, apologizes for being late, before making eye contact with Villain Deku. The class freaked the fuck out in the dream, as in screamed. Idk if that's in character.

> All Might tried to figure out which was the real one via the normal "ask stuff only the true one would know". Except they're both the true one, just different parts of a whole. So like, they both knew OfA, All Might's trauma stuff with AfO and his teacher, ect ect. All Might said "Well Fuck" after the interview with Normal Deku, in front of Normal Deku, freaking out Normal Deku.

> Zero idea how, but one way or another they both just. Become part of the class. Don't ask me, my dream just announced it via the. ....I don't think his name is Serizawa the scarf teacher with quirk disabling quirk.

> Again, no idea how we got here, but one way or another Normal Deku and Villain Deku are fighting in the place where the student's first physical assessment took place in?? This is the thing with the clearest dream stuff, but that is not a high bar to clear. I cannot remember if this was during the day or night, it might've been both/time passed from day to night?? Either way, it's OfA vs Black Whip, basically, since outside of their quirks they both have the same set of skills. Neither win, the dream just ended with Normal Deku sobbing and yelling to stop doing this at Villain Deku, so uh! That's certainly something!!

Admittedly I have not thought of much actual story besides just brain mush about the idea, outside of whatever the fuck my dream threw at me. Sorry if this isn't what you wanted

It's interesting enough<3 I love dreams that make enough sense for a plot

Your Blackwhip. Prediction is something XD haven't you kinda dreamed of things in the past before they happened/you found out about them? I think you did something like that with Genshin.

Also. Would Villain Deku technically want to get rid or normal Deku/heroes?

And the scarf teacher's name is Shota Aizawa.

[tru-neutral03]

I was strong armed by a friend of mine to watch House of the Dragon. If you guys don't know I loathe the eighth season of Game of Thrones especially when it came to the storylines of some of my favorite characters (Dany, Jon, Arya, Missandei). So this was a very tough decisuon for me personally to make. Eventually I bit the bullet I started to keep up with the series when episode three (Second of his Name) came out. I waited until now to form an overall opinion since the season is almost over.

First off, the casting has been great so far. Eve Best as Rhaenys the Queen Who Never Was is by far my favorite (should've kept her black and silver streaked hair though). I've been a fan of Matt Smith since his performance as Prince Philip in the Crown and so far he's been the highlight of all of the scenes he's been in. The casting for the young and elder Rhaenyra and Alicent is out of the park, it's almost freaky how they look alike. Viserys and Otto were perfectly cast as well.

Secondly, the changes they made from Fire and Blood. The age gap between Rhaenyra and Alicent is non-existant now which I guess isn't a big deal but I wish we could've seen Alicent go from older sister type to evil stepmother. Laenor being alive will lead to a huge problem down the line when the dragonseeds come into the fold unless they kill him off later. Helaena having dragon dreams is a good touch, especially since it's implied that her dreams have traumatized her. Laena's death should've been unchanged in my opinion it seemed to me that it was graphic for the sake of being graphic. Lastly, the big one is Aegon the Conqueror's prophecy, "The Song of Ice and Fire", it felt like a stab to the heart when Viserys revealed it knowing how far off it would be from the actual thing. GRRM alluded to Aegon knowing about the Others united Westeros so that they would be better prepared for the Long Night so this may refer more to the books than season 8. The only upside of it was the little hint of Breaker of Chains playing in the middle of it. My biggest worry is that the various small changes they make will have a ripple affect like they did in GOT and screw it up in the end.

Lastly, I have to talk about the designs. The costumes are way better than they were in Game of Thrones (the only ones that could compare are Dany and Margaery's wardrobe.) Dragonstone looks way better, the mist, the Dragonmont FINALLY being seen, it feels like a dreary, mysterious volcanic island. The Iron Throne looks way more intimidating and looks like a good halfway point between the books and the show. The dragons look amazing, they look menacing, beautiful and vibrant. I love Dany's boys but the designers back then didn't capture the true beauty of the dragons like they do now. I love Caraxes' long and slender design as well as Vhagar's larger than life presence.

The writing is better than season 8 by far but that¹ isn't saying much, it's on par with early GOT in some aspects. I feel the constant time jumps have their ups and downs. We didn't get to see Rhaenyra's relationship with Harwin Strong or Daemon's with Laena. We never got to see Laena bond with Vhagar, or any of the green (aside from Aemond) claim their dragons either. I feel having two or three more episodes would've helped keep things more tightly knit between time skips. The Crabfeeder was a cool early villain to root against and for the dragons to show off their power. Above all I think the family drama is the most prominent and best aspect of the show.

A solid 8/10.

Too bad we know what happens to the last Targaryen (I'm talking about Daenerys not. . .the other one)

[oliveyeen]

it's been a long while since i really touched tumblr, mainly because I stopped being active on it, especially since the mobile app is unbearably slow for my phone. plus I just stopped really using social media other than deviantart. but i wanted to talk about spyro for a minute. feel free to read my rant lol.

i'm currently having the biggest brainrot for the legend of spyro at the moment and there have been talks about the fourth spyro game, and what it could potentially be. since i'm a tlos fan and have been for a pretty long while, i've always been vocal about a remake of the legend franchise. obviously, it was a far-off dream since Activision are meanies. but with xbox gaining control over them it leaves some wiggle room for the legends franchise to come back.

i mentioned this before in a post some years back, and I still stand by it to this day. if activision/xbox does bring back the legend of spyro, they should remove spyro's name and IP from the franchise as a whole.

what do I mean by this? i mean to remove the legends franchise out of spyro's IP and rebrand the franchise into its own, entirely new franchise.

the legend of spyro franchise is widely loved and adored by fans because of the characters, the story, and even the gameplay. but I think what helped create our niche community was the lore. the world of the legend series is vast, and mysterious, and fills you with questions you want answered. questions like who are spyro's parents? why did malefor turn evil? who were the dragon elders from malefor's time? was cynder really a wind dragon? what happened to spyro and cynder??? these questions are still left unanswered decades after the franchise finished, and the community has made headcanons to fill in the pieces. but while some of these questions can be answered through headcanons, others just don't seem to fit. like malefor for example is the big bad. the villain of the story and the darkness against spyro's light. he's the reason the world is nearly destroyed and almost causing dragonkind to go extinct. why don't we know anything about why he did the things he did? it's something that always bothers me to this day bc this guy is literally the evil god of this world and yet we know nothing about him.

but anyway as stated before the legend of spyro franchise should be its own thing; not attached to the spyro name and completely revitalized to modernize the legend as a whole. i feel like because spyro is involved in this franchise it not only causes little to no freedom but eventually left activision to leave it in the dust. and this franchise has potential, even without spyro attached to it.

replace spyro with a new character, or better yet, make it malefor and his rise to power and eventual banishment into convexity. why not make the purple dragon an essence of malefor that becomes sentient and has to stop his darker form. that could be interesting. you can even add in characters that weren't added in, like ignitus' squire, pyra! or even the lore that couldn't fit into it like the dragon knights and the elders. give more lore to the other races like the cheetahs and atlawas, maybe even remove the cheetahs too given hunter was added into the legend series too.

i remember someone referring to this franchise as "lord of the rings but with dragons" and it's... ngl it's true-

and it honestly works. and not only that but spyro isn't a character to be part of some darker and gritty universe. he's a goofy purple dragon who loves to run around and be silly. and with the reignited trilogy remastering the original classics it makes sense to revive that part of everyone's childhood. but being able to do what I explained above could allow so much more this franchise.

i know people will read this and won't like it or think i'm wrong. and that's fine! i understand that spyro is an important aspect in this franchise. it's named after him after all, and was a reboot to keep spyro alive. but i know that the community really wants a tlos game, a remake, or something. and it's kind of why i think this is the best route to go for if the legend of spyro does come back. that or we just have to do it ourselves.

TLDR: remove the legend of spyro franchise out of Spyro's IP and completely rebrand it into a new fresh franchise.

[monstermaster13]

An American Werewolf In London. Ah yes, THE iconic werewolf transformation scene, no movie or tv show has ever come close to replicating this particular type of transformation and this one is iconic for numerous reasons…for one thing the excellent practical fx by Rick Baker and also you really do feel the pain that David is going through when he transforms, and it's no wonder this was Michael Jackson's favorite horror movie.

DocChester/Justparodiezman.

Darkbulflrog.

The Fly (1986). I've always said 'lovey-dovey is fine and all but…' which is true since when it comes to my transformation things I don't like to spend too much time on the lovey dovey stuff, I don't like to rush my transformations, I like to be as detailed as possible and go through the physical process in a way that goes through all the important details needed and sometimes I like to be a little bit gross, I admit that I can be a pretty sick and twisted bastard when it comes to my transformation interests, and this movie is to blame for it..he starts out looking sexy at first but when he loses parts of his body, good lord…poor Brundlefly. I will never think of flies the same way again, but I will definitely think of this movie and Jeff Goldblum whenever I see a fly. Cronenberg makes body-horror thought-provoking and makes it a journey of discovery about the human condition. Oh Goldblum, never stop being you.

Numerous music videos. Let's see, there's the infamous Fatboy Slim music video Right Here Right Now, there's also the Black Or White video which pretty much made morphing effects mainstream, so mainly videos to choose for that feature people being transformed or morphing effects, i've always had a fascination for becoming other people especially in dreams where I become a number of fictional characters and celebrities I admire. And i've always wanted to try my own hand at it, which I have…but not as well as the people who made these videos have.

Doctor Jekyll and Ms Hyde (1995). I used to be against tg because to me all male to female tgs sounded the same, you know..guy loses private parts, grows breasts, gets addicted to the dirty s-word and becomes a bimbo and all that stuff? But that was until I discoverered this movie and TG fiction on here, I discovered that not all TG stories are the same and a lot of them are interesting/fascinating to read and see. This movie definitely helped influence that, and definitely gave me a sort of simp-like fascination with Ms Sean Young.

Animorphs..especially the way the transformations were written and also the morphs on the cover. I envy whoever got to design the covers for these books, I have tried to do similar morphs myself but mine aren't as good, I remember the one of Ax morphing into a cow as the first cow transformation I ever saw in media and the first animal transformation that is a tg as well, to put it in context Ax morphs into a female cow since he acquired the DNA of a female bovine instead of a bull/steer. You gotta be real careful with your morphs ya know. Also Rachel turning into a monster version of herself was badass.

Big Wolf On Campus. Ah yes, this show. This show along with Buffy is my main influence in general. First of all the werewolf is a hero and not a villain, second…the dialogue in this show is amazing and humorous as well…and it helped shape me into the horror fanatic I am now. I love half-creature transformations where the person remains humanoid but has features like pointed ears, fur/scales on their hands or face and fangs or claw-like fingernails, I seem to have a fascination with claws or claw-like fingernails since I remember at one point trying to grow claws of my own…sadly, my fingernails can't grow long enough for that, shame.

Dungeons and Dragons. I still use the D&D monster manual as reference material when monster-making…and when I depict how werecreatures turn in my work I sometimes go by the same rules as D&D's take on them but add a bit of my own flair to it (my werecreatures aren't fully good or evil, but evil ones can be turned good/corrupted ones can be turned to the side of good again with certain types of spells). I still have a Wererat OC which I created for a campaign.

The mirror scene from Casper.

Blackbluedawg.

Numerous sites about werecreatures and shapeshifters. I'm not going to say the name of this artist out of respect, but he made me the man I am today thanks to his website and I think of him as a personal hero and influence, let's just say there are numerous sites that serve as my inspiration and his was one of them, cartoons (both multiple-episodes AND one shot episodes/specials), live action tv show tfs, comics, games, you name it. Also learning about werecreature lore in general inspired me to get interested in it. And I can't believe I didn't discover sites like this from the get go. Also that one History Channel documentary about werecreatures/shapeshifters and the were-deer…oh yes.

Wallace and Gromit: Curse Of The Wererabbit. If you haven't seen this movie, you should…it's a loving tribute to classic horror with the signature Aardman charm and it's hilarious.

Goosebumps. A mask that turns you into a monster if you wear it more than once? Sign me up. A werewolf story based on the legend of Native American skinwalkers? Sign me up. What's that? A choose your own adventure scenario except in Goosebumps form and you could possibly end up as a bat-creature or a werewolf or a monster in general? Boy, this series has it all including monsters and transformations galore. Of course if I ended up turning into a Werecreature i'd be a Were-Aykroyd, hey…turning into Dan Aykroyd honestly would be awesome, it's meant to be after all.

Teen Wolf (1985). Definitely this and the cartoon.

Lance/Weremoose. I love his morphs into Disney and other animated characters and in particular his Star Wars morphs. They inspired me and got me into photomanipulations.

Swatcher. As a fellow Grinch fan, I approve of his use of the Jim Carrey Grinch.

Jmmates. A whole channel dedicated to transformations/morphs…sign me up. Heck a few of my ideas for morphs have even been adapted, including a Pennywise and insect morph.

Thriller. We all know this video by heart, MJ is with his girlfriend and their car runs out of gas and so they decided to take a walk through the woods, MJ asks her to be his girlfriend and she says yes, he then warns her that he isn't 'like other boys', she doesn't know what he is talking about and he doubles over in pain, she asks him if he is okay…he jumps up and growls 'GO AWAY!' in a deep monster-like voice as he turns into a werecat. This transformation is no doubt as iconic as AWIL's transformation considering John Landis and Rick Baker BOTH worked on this one.

The Honey Monster. I used to be scared of this guy (same with Carrey's Grinch) but I can now see that this guy has a fanbase that definitely remembers the old commercials of people turning into this creatures's species fondly and some have done their own fanfiction for it, which I am so proud of.

Nibblahfrog. I have a fondness for turning heroes or actors who play heroes into things and that comes from Nibblah's Power Ranger monster transformation concepts and that helped me get into the idea of creating monsters of my own.

Numerous interactive stories.

[fill-me-with-your-memes-daddy]

Watching the Rise of the Titans movie and I'll be documenting all of my thoughts/reactions here. [Spoiler Warning]

So instead of reblogging every new update, I'm just going to have this post up on my phone as I watch and type my reactions in a bullet list format.

Nari's human disguise is so cute. As someone who does have a cottagecore aesthetic, I want to cosplay her so bad

Are Skrael and/or Belroc non-binary coded? Regardless, I'm also obsessed and I want to fuck Skrael and be Belroc.

STEVE CARING ABOUT JIM BEING HURT YESSSS!!! My god his redemption has probably been one of the greatest there is because he doesn't just suddenly go from being a bully to a completely good person. You can see the gradual shift in learning better throughout the shows which is awesome.

IN NEW YOOOOOOORRRRRRRK!!!!!! CONCRETE JUNGLE WHERE DREAMS ARE MADE OFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!

The mugshot montage reminded me of season 1 of trollhunters when toby and Jim were arrested at the museum.

STRICKLER PUT A RING ON IT??? HE'S THE ONLY DILF IVE EVER ACTUALLY AGREED WAS HOT WYM I CAN'T HAVE HIM??? well I'm still really happy about his arc over the series probably one of my favorite character growths.

Eli my guy got his growth spurt!!! As an 18 year old who is still 5'0", I'm happy but envious for him

So I went into this movie without watching any trailers or promo, but I doubt anything could have prepared me for the existence of mpreg. In fact, I wasn't going to document my reactions until I saw that.

NAMURA!!!!!!!!! MY BELOVED!!!!!! I CAN STILL THIRST FOR YOU WITHOUT GUILT

The coach teacher just called the kids zoomers so I have to dock one point from my final rating just because of that. Unforgivable

Those husky animation models suck lmao

Oh fuck the titans got power ranger zords!!

God why did they include the mpreg??? This movie would have been perfect without it.... After that plot point being revisited only one time I'm already beyond done with it

Like it's bringing me back to the v*ltron days where they're was a suspiciously high amount of klance omegaverse and mpreg fics and art created and it physically hurts because Steve and Keith's voice actor is the same person meaning this is especially cursed to me since I was unfortunately in the v*ltron fandom and remember all of that

But like on another note, how old are these characters again??? I haven't checked any wikis because of spoilers but is Steve an adult??? I know aja might be technically a lot older than 18 because alien but is whatever age she is equivalent to an adult as far as emotionally and physically in Akaridion development??? IS THIS A TEEN (M)PREGNANCY IN A KIDS SHOW????

Like bruh I saw a singular post on here before going into the movie that was like "rott spoilers without context" and there was a pregnant belly but I was absolutely not expecting the actual context of it. I'll find the post after I finish and edit this post to tag the creator right here: @makoden

This entire post is just gonna be me ranting about mpreg huh

Anyway I love the whole roundtable allusion to the legends of king arthur (not the toa version but the one he's based off)

THERE'S 3 TO 5 BABIES????? I need to take a break bruh this is just too much

Alright I've taken a 30 minute break got some food and did some things i love (decompressed by tactile stimming with some owl plushies and watched some videos on my favorite owl, Garu. He lives in Japan with his owner and is a domesticated eagle owl who basically just acts like a sky cat. If anyone else needs some eye bleach, here is their YouTube channel)

Blinky and ARRRGHHH!!! saying their "if one of us doesn't make it" talk my god one of them is going to die I can see it and I will be utterly crushed. Jim can't lose another father figure and Toby can't lose his wingman again I will riot if this happens

On a similar but unrelated to the movie note, can we just talk about how toa started with Jim having 0 dads and (if strickler and blinky live to the end) will end with 2 dads? Like I just really feel happy for him that he has two dads who actually figured out how to put the past behind them to not have any infighting between them so that both of them are healthy father figures. Jim has already been through literal hell and back losing his actual humanity in the process so if he loses one of them, I'm going to be really pissed because at this point, this is just Jim torture porn. Y'all know how as SpongeBob SquarePants went on, the show just became Squidward torture porn? It's starting to feel that way for toa and I really hope they cut the shit by the ending

Jlaire is such a good ship but like I feel like it's too perfect they never disagree with each other

YESSSSSSS Someone finally doesn't treat toby like a fat waste of space who messes stuff up!!! I think out of all the characters that would have been most deserving of a rewrite, it's Toby. Sometimes I just feel he's only comic relief and any heartfelt moments he's had in the series was also born of stupidity (ie his flour baby project being unharmed was seen by him as divine intervention from his parents but was actually just Eli and Steve behind the scenes).

Ohhhhh yesssssss Archie's father!!! I was hoping I'd see him again because we got so little of him last

Ooooooooooh Asian trollmarket!!!!!

Oh never mind slavery trollmarket

Bruh titanic camelot

I feel like we're not seeing enough of the villains because I completely forgot about the power ranger zord things

NAMORA NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MY LAST CRUSHHHH

STRICKLER NO NOT YOU TOO PLEASE

WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE ONLY TWO CHARACTERS I SIMP FOR ON THIS SHOW DIED WITHIN FIVE MINUTES OF EACH OTHER

THAT WHOLE ASS RANT I WROTE IS COMING TRUE FUCK THIS MOVIE THIS SERIES IS JUST JIM TORTURE PORN

WAIT JIM'S SPERM DONOR INFO?

Oh thank God I don't want to know anything about that person

For the record, I call that man Jim's sperm donor because he has no business being called a father to him. All he did was donate some swimmers to the creation of him and give him abandonment issues

Oh another blind troll elder???? This fucker is just if vendel was a bad guy

Bruh I was grieving

PACIFIC RIM WITH GUN ROBOT VEX AND THE BELROCZORD? I've never seen that movie but I know the reference

Bruh Blinky doesn't read horoscopes? Does he realize conspiracy theories are just the manly version of horoscopes?

NO DON'T KILL VEX STOP KO-ING FOUND FAMILY MEMBERS

Oh thank God he's okay

NO NOT ARCHIE AND CHARLEMAGNE OH MY GOD

oh never mind they're just gonna coup de tat I believe in them :))

But I want to see him again

But I'm glad to see vex

Yay they're in arcadia!

But yeah I wondered why the trolls and Merlin didn't keep the whole "daylight doesn't hurt trolls" feature from the eternal night but now Guillermo del Toro I see you were playing the long con in that just to kill my girl Namora :(((

Oooooh I love the animation of the Narizord over Chihuahua!! It looks very good and realistic (if only they could have put some of that into those huskies from before smh)

Bruh the character designs of the arcane order are so good I want to be them

Nari making sure the Skraelzord doesn't crush the bus

DAMN DOUBLE HOMICIDE

Bruh I'm just glad we finally have an answer on why arcadia had everything going on as opposed to literally anywhere else!! I always found that as a weird coincidence for plot convince.

BRUH WERE BACK TO THE MPREG IM SO JEALOUS I FORGOT ABOUT THAT EVEN THOUGH IT WAS BECAUSE I WAS GRIEVING THE LOSS OF MY LOVELIES.

Oh that's real convenient that the ninth configuration meant all of them. Way to not decide which character gets more attention. Though it probably was a smart way to not have any infighting in the fandom between each character's stan group.

Bruh I just realized where is Barbera did they just ditch her on the Camelot ship???

And where are the other trolls that migrated at the end of trollhunters s3? They said something about new jersey but obviously Jim and the other main characters got on Camelot instead.... This feels like a plot hole

And we never learned the process of how changelings are made and bonded to humans and stuff. We just know it's super painful but I'm curious ffs!!!!

THE DONT THINK BECOME HERO SPEECH ALL SAID TOGETHER!!!

BRUH THEY REALLY HAD TO SHOW HIM GIVING BIRTH??????? WAS THAT AN ABSOLUTE MUST??????

Plus the main audience for this series is little children (the rating for the movie is literally TV-Y7) so even though my adult ass is not in the target audience, I STILL DONT UNDERSTAND WHY WOULD MPREG AND ANAL BIRTH WOULD BE AN IMPORTANT THING TO 7 YEAR OLDS???? THIS IS A LITERAL FETISH HIDDEN IN KIDS CONTENT ITS ELSAGATE ALL OVER AGAIN Y'ALL 😭😭😭😭😭

Though it's probably hypocritical of me to think fetishes don't belong in kids tv when I've openly admitted to thirsting for strickler and namora

HUZZAH

NEW AMULET WAZ GOOD????

STAB THAT BITCH JIM

WAIT NO I SAID STAB NOT GET STABBED

Alright good job just missed the directions at first but you fixed it

SEVEN KIDS?????????

T O B Y ????????????

W A I T NO

N O

IS HE ACTUALLY

OH MY GOD THERE'S HOPE

NO THERE ISN'T

F U C K THIS SHIT THEY REALLY JUST HAD HIM TO BE BULLIED THEN KILLED

Y'ALL IM ACTUALLY CRYING THIS NEVER HAPPENS

I NEVER ACTUALLY GET SO EMOTIONAL OVER MEDIA THAT I CRY IT ONLY HAPPENED ONCE AT THE END OF VOLTRON BUT AHHHHHHHH

W A I T

HE'S GONNA BE BROUGHT BACK?????

HOLD UP THEY'RE JUST GONNA BRING ALL THOSE DEAD PEOPLE BACK??????

WAIT IS HE

BLINKY CALLED HIM A SON

HOLD ON IS THIS GOING TO BE A CLIFFHANGER???????????

BRUH THEY REALLY JUST CAN'T END THE SERIES WITHOUT CLIFFHANGERS like there's always an open ending

TROLLHUNTER TOBY????? You know what forget the whole rants I had on how toby was written they just redeemed it all

And that's all! I'd rate it a 6.5/10 because it's definitely the weakest of all the sequels but still had amazing animation and some good plot points. It's just really hard to look over the bad stuff enough to rate it any higher.

[butwhatifidothis]

But...Byleth wasn't unemotive because they were a mercenary, they were unemotive because of the fact Sothis hadn't woken up. Like I said, you're injecting a negative viewpoint where there isn't any.

As much as people would LIKE for it to be Crimson Flower is NOT a villain route, as villain routes usually have you as the bad guy. The villainous actions are addressed. Instead you're potrayed about as much (if slightly less with the whole conquest thing) of a hero as the other routes, complete with the Black Eagles becoming the underdog and being short on troops, and Edelgard fighting directly on the frontlines. Sure we can call it the villain route since Edelgards the villain in all the other routes, but it isn't played as if it were one. There's no "Look at the horrible thing you've done!" or "Edelgard's empire crumbled and she was killed in a coup after TWSITD were defeated". or even a "Edelgard's lies get exposed' moment. She's just potrayed as the hero the entire time.

Also, Edelgard doesn't think Byleth is completely without emotion, she thinks byleth is DETATCHED. As in, not showing emotion often. She also agreess if Byleth says that Edelgard is also detached. That entire part of the conversation is brought on because Byleth says they are jealous. The entire thing of "Edelgard thinks Byleth has no emotions" is from a conversation in which Edelgard is GLAD that Byleth os showing emotion.

"I'll admit, I think of you as rather detached, so to hear that you have emotions such as jealousy is... something of a relief."

Also I forgot to ask...where is it STATED or SAID that Byleth WANTS to be a guiding hand for Fodlann? Like I'm not sure where that came from since it's not as if Byleth actively pursues a position of power, it's usually something they just sort of get given at the end of the other routes since Rhea either gives them said position, or is dead and Byleth ends up filling that role

Imma ask this: if being a mercenary was completely fine, if that had absolutely no negative impact whatsoever on Byleth... why didn't Sothis wake up earlier? Why did she only do so right before the lords - who give Byleth the chance to grow - meet with them? If they don't want to be a guiding hand in Fodlan, why don't they reject the leadership position given to them - especially on AM, when Rhea and/or Seteth could take over as archbishop?

It's because being a regular mercenary isn't good for them. It's because there's a consistent theme with Byleth that leadership as well as the Church are good things for their character, as well as for Fodlan - it's in the routes the Church is standing and Byleth earns a leadership position that Fodlan is at its most peaceful in the endings. It's not me being negative when it's this consistent within the game itself that being a leader and having a purpose beyond being a sword hand is what is best for Byleth.

To give the short answer to the "CF isn't a villain route" idea, here's this post I made detailing many of the ways CF is by far the most morally bankrupt route of the four of them, regardless of surface level framing. CF isn't a villain route in that "oh ho look at you, being evil!" It's the villain route because you are actively helping the villain get what she wants. You are the reason Fodlan falls into tyranny. It's your fault, as the player, that Fodlan is engulfed in war again when that isn't necessary in the other routes (where TWS are just taken care of with no need for a "long, arduous, bloody war"). It's because of you that the people of Fodlan must live under Edelgard's cruel leadership, being spied on by the secret police and having any rebellion they try to muster be put down in secret by Edelgard's evil butler.

You say CF isn't the villain route because Edelgard's villainous actions aren't addressed, but I'm sorry, I have to disagree with you with what qualifies as a villain route. You help plunge the continent into war by backing an imperialistic warmonger. You help spread outright lies about the Church. You keep up these lies even to your friends and let them believe the Church just nuked Arianrhod, without ever setting it straight with them. You work with a murder cult hellbent on killing as many people as they can. You comply with someone who is keeping an independent country (Brigid) under her thumb by keeping Petra as a hostage, which she herself refers to herself as on CF. You use Demonic Beasts as "war assets." You invade a neutral nation that's kept out of the war entirely. You help try to finish a genocide against the Nabateans - or, at best, work with someone who wants to finish it. You are the villain.

CF has you as the underdog despite it always being the one with the advantage in the beginning of the war phase because it is deliberately breaking from the worldbuilding of 3H, as said by the developers. Byleth is supposed to stand against Edelgard, not walk with her, hence the warping of the story when they do. It doesn't have to directly, explicitly say it's the villain route for it to be clear that you are not the good guy here.

Like, "you're portrayed about as much (if slightly less with the whole conquest thing) as much as a hero as the other routes-" no! Not slightly less! That is in large part what makes it villainous! You aren't fighting to defend yourself and to take down the one who plunged Fodlan into war - you are the conqueror! You are the one doing the plunging! For completely selfish gains, at that! There's no explicit "wow bitch you fucked up here" because the sign of you fucking up is the state your actions leave Fodlan in. It's Byleth losing the Crest Stone and going back to the beginning of their character arc. Edelgard, the villain, won - she got to have her happy ending on the graves of countless innocents lives she deemed less worthy than her ambitions, and it's all because of you. Edelgard getting exposed and her empire crumbling down is a good thing, which CF is not. You don't get to have Edelgard face the consequences of her actions like you do on the other routes where she dies, because she won. The bad guy won. You helped the bad guy win, so no, you aren't going to get the satisfaction of watching Edelgard fall - you play the other non-villain routes for that to happen. Why should there be? This is what you as the player wanted! You chose to side with Edelgard, even after being shown her involvement with nearly every bad thing that happens in WC, because you wanted her to win! You’ve reapt what you’ve sown!

And imma just ask... why is Edelgard relieved to hear Byleth has emotions such as jealousy? And why does she insist that Byleth is detached if you try to deny it? Why does Byleth have to directly tell Edelgard about them feeling emotions for her to know it - why doesn't she just know already? You never hear this sort of doubt come from Seteth, Claude, or Dimitri on SS, VW, and AM - hell, Claude will even outright say that Byleth has gotten far more expressive lately during tea time conversation! Why is Byleth detached in CF - why aren't they closer to the lord? Why is the lord doubting the connection between Byleth and others in their A support? Why is it only on CF that Byleth is ever called detached during post ts? Why is Byleth not showing emotion often? Enough to make Edelgard question whether they have emotions? 

It’s because Byleth is regressing on the progress they’ve made in being able to emote - they act in ways that are similar to how they act in the beginning of the game because CF is a negative influence on their character. Edelgard calling herself detached like Byleth is not a good thing - Edelgard’s detachment from other people is what lets her sacrifice innocent civilians for her goals. It’s what let’s her believe that her imperialistic dreams are worth the bloody path needed to make them come true. She is not connected to those around her, hence her being able to justify killing anyone to get what she wants, up to and including her Black Eagle classmates (Bernadetta on Gronder). Byleth being compared to someone like that is far from a positive thing, especially when all other routes have them have that connection with others and all other routes having a more positive, peaceful ending for Fodlan than CF. 

I will say though, it seems as though Byleth never seems to explicitly say that they want to be a guiding hand - that's a fuck up on my end and I apologize for that! But it's almost undeniable that that is the intended good path for them, versus CF where they don't have that happen. In the ending cutscenes of AM, SS, and VW, Byleth and the lord of that route (+ Rhea for SS) are bathed in the light (with Rhea being able to live on SS if she is close enough with Byleth), and Edelgard dies in the light. In CF, Byleth and the lord of the route are shrouded in darkness, with only the flames of destruction lighting them, and it's this setting that Rhea dies in. Edelgard can't survive in the light, and Rhea can't survive in the dark - and then the endings that correspond with these two scenarios match as well. The endings where Edelgard dies in the light and Byleth rises to become a guiding hand for Fodlan are the ones where peace is achieved, and the one where Rhea dies in the darkness (the one time Rhea always dies, unlike SS) is the one where Fodlan is fucked.

[stellocchia]

I just wanted to analize the conversation between Foolish and Tommy for a bit because I’m still thinking about it

I did technically intend for this to be a short little thing with just a couple of my thoughts on it but... brevity is NOT my strong suit!

So I put everything under the cut and obviously it’s all about the characters.

You can find the conversation here at 02:52:55 and onwards

What is extremely interesting about this whole conversation is that Foolish is mostly unaware of what happened prior to him joining and about most things that happened afterwards, meaning he has as detached and objective of an opinion as you can get. For example Foolish doesn’t know almost anything about L’Manburg, as it was destroyed before he joined and he also didn’t know that Tommy went in the prison to kill Dream (which is why he asks how that went when Tommy mentions it). That paired together with the fact that Foolish has proven to be quite a good listener is probably the reason why Tommy felt so comfortable opening up with him.

“No what do you mean you fought Dream?” “Well you know... you’ve seen Wilbur haven’t you?” “No, no actually” (as I said, completely unaware, though he did seem a bit worried at the idea of Tommy fighting Dream)

“Ghostbur’s uhm... Ghostbur’s not here anymore” “Oh did he pack up? Move out? Got bored? He seems like a free spirit” “Yeah he moved out to this little train station far far away. There’s a little train station, you know? Right near the world border. There’s a little train station” “Oh that’s cool! I wanna see that sometimes" (...) “There’s a little train station out near the world border and Ghostbur went but he left Friend” “He left Friend?!” “But we’ll get Friend to him soon, ‘cause then they’ll all be happy”

Tommy’s way of explaining things to others is always so fascinating to me. It’s childish and charged with emotions, but I don’t mean this negatively, because it gets the point across better then any grand and eloquent speaches really could in my opinion. How attached he was to Ghostbur is also extremely sweet and this is simply his way of dealing with grief: trying to find a practical solution (he was suggested to Tubbo to wash up and now his solution is bringing Friend to Ghostbur), trying to find something he can do to make things better.

“How much can you take Foolish? Blood! Blood! Does that upset you?” (it’s nice seeing Tommy being mindful of other people’s triggers since not many people are mindful with his)

“All I know is I’m proving that bitch [Wilbur] wrong! Because he told me- he told me I’m weak” (another example that the manipulation did work to some extent)

“I don’t feel comfortable talking about that [his revival] with you Foolish if I’m honest” “No, fair enough!” (and Foolish repaying the favour right after)

“I don’t really se how this solves the problem” “Well it doesn’t ‘solve’ the problem, it’s preventing the problem Foolish, alright? Have you noticed that all the problems come they don’t get solved, do they? Ends up with some madman screaming ‘I solved it’ alright? And now- and then look at him, alright, now he’s taken away everyone’s favourite man: Ghostbur, alright? Problems don’t really get solved in this server”

So, for context Foolish was commenting on how gathering stone didn’t seem like a good solution for Tommy to prove to Wilbur that he wasn’t weak, but Tommy’s answer is about more then that. There isn’t much he can do at the moment, not knowing what Wilbur is planning, so the only thing he CAN do for now is what he was asked and, hopefully, prove himself to Wilbur so that he may be able to stop Wilbur from committing atrocities before he starts. Also the “madman” he’s talking about could be Dream (the one who thinks he is a God and actually killed Ghostbur) as well as Sam (the one who thought the prison was gonna be a solution to the Dream problem and who let Ghostbur die) or it could be Wilbur (who seems so self assured about being right on everything and is now the one who replaced Ghostbur), any of them fits. It is also true that, so far, every problem that seemed to have been “solved” turned out to be far from it every single time. That said, of course it should not be Tommy’s responsability to get Wilbur on the “right path” nor should he bear sole responsability for avoiding disaster once more, but, by now, he’s convinced that that’s not the truth, probably because he sees himself as far more sacrificable then those around him.

“Well, how do we go about changing that [problems not getting solved]?” “That’s what I’m doing” “By gathering stone?” “No what I’m doing my friend is preventing the problem before it gets out of hand like it did before, alright?” (again, it’s all about prevention now through getting Wilburs trust and maybe steering him in the correct path)

“L’manburg! This was mine and Wilbur’s na- it was Wilbur’s nation! It was Wilbur’s which makes it all the more heart wrenching, alright?” (referring to his talk with Wilbur about L’Manburg, which does make it more heart wrenching)

“Now we were okay- I was okay when we were banished and I knew that we’d get it back and we’d talk about it, right? As you said: ‘peace is the option’. But here’s the thing Foolish, Wilbur didn’t wanna do anymore talking, he’d given up with that, because some people aren’t strong enough, alright, some people stop talking. You know the phrase ‘treat others how you wanna be treated’ Foolish? That’s a very important phrase (...) Wilbur disregarded that rule. He decided that he wanted to be treated poorly so he’d treat everyone else poorly” “Why do you think that?” “Honestly sometimes I don’t really know myself”

So a very interesting thing that emerged from this conversation is that Tommy has a much better understanding of Wilbur then most people originally assumed and he is possibly the only person (in universe) who has picked up on the fact that all of Wilburs “villain speaches” and behaviours were nothing more then him treating others like he thought he himself deserved to be treated, like sh*t. It’s also interesting that Tommy relates the concept of strenght here once again both with the ability to stay peaceful and, this time, also the ability to communicate properly with those you care about (probably because this are both things he himself lacked when he considered himself to be at his worst, meaning in exile and later with Techno). It is also to be noted though that, while Tommy is undoubtedly the one person who understand Wilbur best, he is still not aware of how bad his spiral had gotten because Wilbur never communicated it.

“Now Wilbur, he was a good man- he IS a good man, deep inside him, alright?” “So you’re saying that there’s still redemption for him?” “Well he’s been a good man deep inside him, but he’s been a bad guy for a very very long time” (Short introduction to Tommy’s concept of “good” or “bad” in season 3. He has gotten a lot more nuanced over time realizing that the world isn’t simply black or white)

“You believe in second chances?” “No I don’t. I don’t really believe- I- that’s not a thing for me Foolish, is just that... *sigh* I believe that everyone has got a little bit of good in them. And I know that Wilbur had good in him” (A little bit more about his concept of morality, this time explaining that he doesn’t really believe in giving people a quantifiable number of “chances”, but more so in the fact that everyone has capacity for good, which also implies that everyone has capacity for bad, but he chooses to hang onto the first one for those he cares about)

“Now I just think Wilbur’s being a bad guy, and that’s okay! We’re all bad guys, everyone messes up. You learn the most from your mistakes” (he also moved on from the fear of becoming a “bad guy” now it seems by noticing that your mistakes don’t define you as a person and that they are opportunities to better yourself)

“He’s made sooo many mistakes, so many that have hurt so many people, but, what this is gonna be about isn’t giving him a second chance, isn’t giving him a third chance, is not about chances! Foolish, it’s about not giving up on the people you care about”

And this is the culmination of all the previous point. The idea of chances implies that you’re gonna give up at some point if the person doesn’t changes (which is a healthy thing to do, by the way, sometimes it’s better to cut people off when they aren’t good for you) and Tommy doesn’t believe in that. He believes that everyone has some good in them and perhaps, if you stick by them long enough, that good may shine threough. Now this is a nice concept in theory, but in reality if people wanna change it has to start from themselves (wether that be changing an opinion or needing to reach out for help) and it’s especially not a good idea to stick by someone if they are harmful to you. I’m sure no one likes Wilbur being in this example, so think what would happen if Tommy applied the same mentality to, say, Dream, someone who has hurt him more then anyone else and who considers him less then human (more like his propriety) and who’s most probably never gonna change since he never regretted anything he did: would you still think that the idea of “never give up on people if you care about them” would be a positive one? This sadly is an example of excessive selflessness on Tommy’s part that ends up being self-destructive.

“You consider yourself to be the ‘good guy’ or the ‘bad guy’?” “That really depends who you ask, doesn’t it? You know? You ask Dream he’s say I’m- he’d say I’m his little- I’m his little play- his little toy that he plays with, you know, it doesn’t- Foolish honestly I used to consider myself the ‘good guy’, the fucking second in command going around going ‘yeah let’s do this!’ but I- recently- this past- this past like six months or so Foolish everything got so much harder then it was before, but because before it was us fighting the bad guys and everything was so clear, it was all so clear! But it’s not been clear for so long”

A few things to unpack here: Tommy once again demonstrating quite a bit of awareness that he didn’t always have about Dream and how he now views him (this has been a gradual and difficult realization for him and it is still clearly hard for him to talk about it) and then explaining that things simply got more complicated then they once were (which is an important thing to keep in mind, because Wilbur missed all of that, he missed the world becoming shades of gray) and that he really doesn’t believe in ‘bad guys’ or ‘good guys’ any longer.

“It seems like you’ve been the hero, you’ve been the viallian, the conquerer, the saviour and, even now, I still have no idea of what you exactly are” “It’s up to you to decide, isn’t it?”

Now this can be interpreted in a few different ways. It could be that Tommy has simply given up in tring to define himself since others keep insisting in putting him into small little boxes that don’t fit him. It could be that he simply refuses the labels and leaves it up to others to decide what he is in relation to them. Or it could be something else entirely and I’m leaving it up to you to decide.

“Unlike you I don’t really have a choice. I have to try and be who I want to be, ‘cause if I don’t... very bad things are gonna happen on this server. Now Wilbur’s back Foolish I can’t- quite frankly no one can risk that, so I don’t really have a choice”

And this is how it ends on a quite hopeless note actually. By this point the responsability to solve problems has been put on his shoulders so many times that he doesn’t really think he has a choice any longer and he also recognizes Wilbur as a genuine threat to the server as a whole if left alone.

[lokiondisneyplus]

After spending over 30 years in the world of makeup design for film and television, Douglas Noe landed in the time-defying, creative playground of Marvel Studios' Loki. Serving as the Disney+ show's makeup department head, Noe not only designed the characters' individual looks, but continued to be Tom Hiddleston's makeup artist. Noe has worked on Hiddleston's Loki since 2012's The Avengers, carefully evolving the God of Mischief's look over time.

Loki isn't the first time Noe has spearheaded a makeup department for a Marvel Cinematic Universe production. Previously, Noe served as the makeup department head for Thor: The Dark World's additional photography -- making up approximately 20% of the film's final looks. He's also no stranger to the magic of prosthetic work and the intricate details needed for Marvel's epic adventures, having a creative hand in bringing both Captain Marvel's Skrulls and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Kree to life on-screen. In the industry, Noe is also known for specializing in palettes for actors of color and has worked on stars like Jackie Chan.

In an exclusive interview with CBR, Noe discussed what it was like bringing The Avengers-era God of Mischief into Loki and his approach to doing makeup on a production stuffed with special effects. He also shared which MCU stars have graced his chair and his advice for makeup departments looking for practical ways to de-center whiteness.

Loki's Makeup Evolution

CBR: One thing that I noticed -- which I'm excited to pick your brain about -- when we first see Loki, he has a really pale complexion. His hair is greasy. As he evolves, his skin gets a warmer look. Was that an intentional progression from when we first see him as a villain-ish and how he grows within the MCU?

Douglas Noe: Yes, that's a very astute observation. Of course, at the beginning of The Avengers, he's kind of a wreck, isn't he? And as he settles and normalizes, his pallor then indeed calms down. It was very nuanced. It was only a matter of maybe one or two shades difference, but you definitely caught something most people have not.

That was 10 years ago, but it was a very minor detail we decided would be important as the narrative and the dialogue and the intellect of that character evolved into the storyline. It became important to kind of mainstream and refine his appearance.

Since Loki kicks off from that earlier version of Loki, did you think about bringing any more of that paleness to his look? How did you decide on how you wanted to show him from Loki's time period/first episode?

Oh, that's a good question. The truth is, from the end of The Avengers also shot again in Avengers: Endgame, we change nothing.

We did exactly what we did on Endgame that we did for The Avengers. And in turn, that's how we started the Loki series. It was that that look from Endgame, which, of course, is the look from The Avengers. No alterations were made, other than -- and I can already tell we're not getting anything past you -- we did warm him up. We did bring some more flesh into him... The truth is, that was Tom's idea. I get it because it was an unspoken understanding between us that there's greater accessibility to Loki if he looks more like most people. Now, those are my words. Not his. But, he definitely wanted us to warm it up just a skosh.

How Loki's SFX Affected Its Makeup Design

With Loki, there's a ton of visual effects. With makeup, it's so dependent on lighting -- it can change everything. What was the biggest challenge about working on a show like this that has so many special effects being added in post?

What you just said, it's working on a show like this. Marvel gets it and they do it right. There's almost an aspect where we lean into these kinds of things. And we change nothing to take into account the constantly evolving and changing lighting effects. The approach was to keep everybody natural, or naturally beautiful. Whatever happened happened. [We] knew Marvel is going to give it the once over once it's all done. And if there was anything to address that did happen because of lighting, it would have happened in post.

But, to my knowledge, nothing was addressed. We just accepted that. At certain times, people would be pink because of the light. They would be blue because of the light or purple and we accepted that and didn't try to make any attempts to balance it or right it in any way. We leaned into it and accepted it made it part of the story. It was its own character, if you will.

Sylvie's Makeup Was Always Meant To Be "Natural"

Building off what you said about a natural look for Loki's actors, did you always know you wanted Sylvie's makeup to have a natural look?

Absolutely, absolutely. The approach there was less is more. We didn't want to bury her in beauty makeup. It would have been very easy to do, because Sophia Di Martino is gorgeous, of course. But, the idea was let's do just enough to keep her naturally beautiful.

Practical Ways To De-Center Whiteness In Makeup Rooms

You designed Hunter B-15's look, and you're well known in the industry for specializing in makeup palettes for people of color. Since you've been in the industry for so long, what are some practical things that people within the makeup department, or its heads, can do to make it less white-centered?

That's a great question. Get out of the way. You have room for everybody, especially with today's explosion of content. But I would say to those who are going to hold tightly that they may as well just squeeze it out of their hands, "Just understand color theory." And, have it in your head that if somebody wants someone to do their makeup that closer represents how they look, get out of the way. It really is that simple. As you said, I've made it a specialty, a rite of passage to learn the ins and outs of all color tones. For me, I bring that to the table, so I don't have to get out of the way; but I know enough to know when it is time.

I have an anecdote that relates. I just did the Netflix series [True Story] with Kevin Hart and Wesley Snipes for eight episodes. And Tawny Newsome [who portrays Billie in the upcoming series] was our leading lady, a beautiful African American woman. I could have done a bang-up job, but that wasn't the right decision to make. She needed a female makeup artist because it was a modern beauty glam look we were going to do on her. Now I do get modern beauty glam very well, but I wanted somebody that would do it great. So I got out of the way.

What's one, nitty-gritty thing that helped in expanding your understanding of color theory? Any books or makeup brands?

Oh, well, I could talk about makeup brands all day long. But, again, go back to the color theory. Get a color wheel from an art store. If you don't know how to mix colors, how to make primary and secondary colors to get tertiary colors, get a color wheel and be a sponge. I'm, what, 36 years in this career? 31 in film. I've never stopped learning. I'm never closed off to garnering new info. And when I don't, again, I get out of my way. I'm not up to snuff on this contemporary modern book with the square eyebrows, so I hired somebody that was.

But, getting back to your point, there are so many books. I have countless books on this very topic. I would say, "Be patient, learn color theory. And accept that, especially now, we're in an era where you may just have to get out of the way. And let it be what the person in the chair wants it to be." Because, ultimately, that's who we're there for, the actors.

You've been working in Marvel's world for a long time. What's one Marvel character that you would love to do their makeup or prosthetics?

I've never thought about it because, to be honest with you, I feel like I won the lottery. When we started with doing Loki on The Avengers, we didn't know what was gonna happen. I'm trying to think, hmm. On Captain Marvel, I was doing Skrulls -- that was fun. I did some work on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. when they had a couple of episodes with Kree.

They were so cool.

Right? I'm trying to think -- I did mention to somebody before that on The Avengers I was given the choice:  [Jeremy] Renner or [Mark] Ruffalo or this new guy called Tom Hiddleston. The makeup was described to me and I was told that Hulk was going to beat him up a little bit and we were going to do a little something-something and they asked, "What do you want to do?" And I said, "I want to do a little something-something." So, I landed with Tom.

I'd have to really think, "Who would I like?" I've done Lizzie Olsen's makeup for the Tom Hiddleston film I Saw the Light. I've done Idris Elba's makeup a couple of times for a couple of Marvel films, but also for a movie called Takers. And I worked with him on a movie called The Reaping. He's a gem, of course... I'm really happy with who sits in my chair at the beginning of every day on these things. I've never thought past that. I garner so much pleasure and we have so much joy together. I'm happy where I'm at... I'm happy with Loki. I love Loki.

Well, Loki is coming back for Season 2, so you never know who will pop in the chair.

I've heard we're coming back, but that's all I've heard. That's all I know. And that's truly wonderful for me because ignorance is bliss. Whatever they dream up, I'm always eager to jump in and be a part of it.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer's "Hush" Monsters Were Hand-Painted

Digging way back into your history, you were once a makeup designer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is one of my favorite shows! What's one thing about that era of monster-makeup that you don't think gets enough credit for doing?

I always refer to Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Buffy the Weekend Slayer because we would get off on Saturday morning as the sun was coming up and have to be back to work a couple of hours before the sun came up on Monday... What you see is what you get. You had to be on your game. We were real craftspeople back then and there was no margin for error. The words that go with CGI simply didn't exist in 1999. You really had to be on point with makeup.

I would say what's lost now is the notion that makeup always has to be perfect. We know now it doesn't have to be perfect because we can fix it in post. I think a lot of people would say that helps us, but I think it handicaps those of us that are able to deliver the product without a computer's touch.

I remember I did one of the gentlemen on Buffy's episode, "Hush." My boss, Todd McIntosh, was saying, "You got to do the back of the neck... You never know what's gonna happen. You have to make sure that the back of the neck has makeup on." And, sure enough, the camera goes by and they were supposed to leave the frame, but the camera follows them. We just had to be on point and I think now many artists who came into the business with CGI, don't understand what it's like to be grinding your teeth and clenching your fists on set, hoping it looks okay because there's nothing left to fix it for you.

[nanas-teatime]

Do the light trio know MC? Is MC the 4th member?

I bring to you the ultimate theory, the theory that might not be true but still is fun...Or maybe it's real and still pretty fun. I don't know guys, I did my research so here I go:

I'll start with the second question since I think it's pretty interesting but less plausible or who knows?

Is MC the 4th member of the light trio?

First things first, what the heck is the light trio? The light trio is the group comformed by Kalim, Rook and Silver, the characters that aren't based on villains and basically can use "light" or "white" magic.

Kalim is based on the sultan in Aladdin, Rook is based on the hunter in Snow White and Silver pretty baby of my heart is based on a sword? HAHAHAHAHA,yes but also Aurora, don't tell me that his sleeping problems, his eyes, his backgroud story and being surrounded by animals is for free, ok?

Now, our dear MC...I talked about it HERE I consider we are the heroes of the story, the charming prince/princess that saves the day and since were not based on any character (beause Yuu is you *wink, wink*) and our dorm is based on Mickey, the absolute hero of all Disney, we can be the 4th piece in this puzzle. "But Yuu isn't magical, duh." then read THIS, and even if Yuu is not magical...Yuu is certainly different, special.

Why the 4th element? why the 4th member? WHY NUMBER 4?

Well, this is basically because the number 4 is important and also beause of superstition. We can find 4 basic elements of magic in the game, we have 4 seasons and seasons in the game are important thanks to the different school events (that we know are always trouble, don't make me remember that winter in Scarabia)

In numerology 4 can mean:

"Destiny, the person is likely to have a good sense of what's right, probably is honest and conscientious, and certainly is sincere. The person tends to be loyal, intense, and dedicated to the job at hand."

But also can mean:

"Hard work, bad luck, difficult times and accoridng to Japanese superstition it means death."

And for me this is deeply related to Yuu. Since Yuu arrived to NRC everything went bad, lots of OB, bad things happening and spoiler now Yuu might die thanks to Grim, but at the same time Yuu is honest, loyal, works hard and have been helping this boys like a winner, like the therapist they need, Yuu is light not darkness, that's it.

Now, moving to the second question this turned out pretty long, sorry.

Do the light trio know MC?

I think something is going on there based on the dorm trailers. All the boys are normal telling MC not to be late or giving advice of how to survive in NRC but then Rook and Silver lines are confusing.

Rook: "I'm waiting for you here, and I always will be"

Fine, Rook is waiting for us but then he will always be? it gives me the sensation that he's been waiting for so long and still he'll wait for us even more time, why would you do that? were strangers, we aren't friends in chap 1, 2, 3 or 4. Maybe it's just me but I feel something behind that.

Silver: "It's strange, I feel like I've met you somewhere before"

Maybe once upon a dream, Silver? Of course it's a reference, but hey, why it must be THAT reference? It's just so weird, more if we consider the possibility of Silver being human, just like Yuu and coming from the same place.

Silver and Rook are smart, so so so observant and aware of their surroundings, specially Rook, he's scary sometimes.

And about Kalim, he's baby sunshine, he has not idea of anything.

Okay, long enough, uff. Opinions? Suggestions? This is ONLY for fun and that's all, so don't take this too seriously.

[kateis-cakeis]

Alivebur Saw Himself As A Villain... For A Reason

btw: suicide tw

SO, hi, hello, you are not ready for all I’m about to say.

The other night I was thinking about why, Alivebur, the character bound to literary devices in the way he was - always referring to Chekhov’s Gun - would see himself as a villain and not like, an anti-hero.

Because blowing up L’Manberg was a bad thing to do, but he saw it as right to avoid more bloodshed: 

“Okay, me and you, we both agree we’re right. We’re in the right here.” - (Wilbur’s video Am I the Villain?: 16:27)

and

“Look, do you know how much blood was shed to get L’Manberg to the point it was at? You know what would happen if we manage to get L’Manberg back again? More blood would be shed, and we would be the illegitimate rulers of a nation.” - (Wilbur’s video Am I the Villain?: 18:52)

So ultimately, in Alivebur’s own unreliable narration of the story, he would surely see himself as the anti-hero, since avoiding another war by blowing up L’Manberg would be a sorta... noble thing to do.

But then I realised, he had to get others to see him as a villain.

Why?

“Tommy, none of us know what we’re doing. We’re fucked, we were fucked the minute we were thrown out.” - (Wilbur’s video Am I the Villain?: 19:39)

Because Alivebur... Alivebur may have wanted to die the second he was exiled.

Just look at how he acted after running. He was speechless, quiet for a long time, he said:

“Tommyinnit, I am a slow burning fuse. I am a long slow burning fuse, but I’m telling you now, over the next couple weeks, I am gonna be a different man than the one JSchlatt crossed. I can feel it.” - (Wilbur’s The Election Results: 52:31, 22nd Sep)

He maintained that he was a bad guy, once he thought Schlatt was doing better for the nation than he had.

“It feels like we’re the bad guys, Tommy. This doesn’t feel correct.” - (Wilbur’s video Am I the Villain?: 15:49)

And the way he says it, suggests that he’s thinking from an outside perspective. 

“Then let’s be the bad guys. Tommy, why not? Why not? Look, our nation’s gone, our nation’s far behind us, Tommy. Let’s blow that motherfucker to smithereens.” - (Wilbur’s video Am I the Villain?: 16:33)

This too ^ it feels like he’s thinking from how others will see this.

And then, this quote got me thinking:

“This isn’t about me, this is about blowing up Manberg, this is about just finishing it. We’ve got this! Look, Tommy, what else do I need to convince you? The festival was a front.” - (Wilbur’s The Festival: 1:15:47, 16th Oct)

It ties all this into a neat bow, because of the ‘This is about just finishing it’. But we know now that finishing it did not just pertain to L’Manberg, it was referring to himself too. 

Finishing it meant himself, and that seems like a priority. Blowing it up. Finishing it.

Alivebur pushed towards being a villain, not only to end L'Manberg, but to end himself....

If everyone hates him for taking away their home, then someone would kill him....

Alivebur knew fine well he wasn't going to survive the 16th of November. It’s clear in the way he acts, constantly telling everyone he’s the traitor, wearing no armour in the battle (which is the opposite to the Independence War where he willingly wears armour for the fight), telling Tommy he was gonna hate him.

But it was blowing up L’Manberg that got him there. As if he couldn’t die until it was gone. And it’s a quote from the festival that really makes this clear: 

“I thought today was gonna be my last time here, honestly. I genuinely, I was considering, blowing up L’Manberg, having a big moment where I’m like looking over the rubble, and I’m like ‘I’ve changed as a person’. But like after this, I am just deeper. I wanna do different, more blowing up things.” (Wilbur’s The Festival: 1:29:34, 16th Oct)

This suggests that if he blew it up during the festival, then he would have died on the 16th of October. 

Because, consider this part of the line: “Having this big moment where I’m looking over the rubble, and I’m like ‘I’ve changed as a person’.”

And what does he do on the 16th of November?

He looks over the rubble, shouting about his unfinished symphony, and throws his sword over to Phil, begging to be killed. If that doesn’t encapsulate having a big moment and knowing he’s changed, I don’t know what does.

He used L’Manberg blowing up, him doing that, to justify his death. Maybe he just... couldn't pick up the sword himself and do it, he needed someone to do it for him.

Perhaps his long burning fuse was metaphorically connected to the TNT that blew up, his suicide.

This also ties in with how Alivebur had connected himself to L’Manberg so fully. It was his ideals, it was what he put himself up to fight for, what he started. Sure, Tommy was there too, but Alivebur lived there from the start, it was his entire life on the SMP, the second he lost that... the second it became as shadow of itself...

That was the second Alivebur decided to be seen as a villain so he could do whatever he wanted and blow it up, killing it so that he could die himself (props to @bryzy-mc for pointing that out to me).

Like he said, he had nothing to lose, and he really didn't, he'd lost everything, even his son! (Since he didn't know he was a spy.)

He knew pressing that button would change everything, would make him that villain he so desperately wanted to be seen as. And the second it happened, was the second he could beg for death, and get it. 

Alivebur is a character who connected his life to literary devices, he knows story telling, he knows the quickest way to get killed off is to do something bad and ask a hero character to kill him... (See Ghostbur calling Phil St George for slaying Alivebur.)

After all, it makes it easier for the other characters and the audience to accept it.

On the 16th of November, we all watched Alivebur carry out his own murder (props to @bryzy-mc again for that), one he had been planning for an entire month. No wonder he looked so happy when he blew up L’Manberg, he knew his idea of ‘peace’ was coming, after all... he says it himself on the 20th of January:

“Ohhhhhhh my god…! I was so free! I was liberated.” - (Tommy’s The Dream SMP Finale: 1:32:30, 20th Jan)

He saw his death as freedom, as being liberated. In the end, he only ever wanted peace, and he turned to dying to achieve that. It wasn’t a good end, nobody ever wants to die, and maybe... if the resurrection goes well, his story can show us that life matters.

Maybe he can find true peace in life, and wouldn't that be hopeful?