#nine could of been the main antagonists

[bibibbon]

Seeing your analysis of Nine, I really think he could have been the main antagonist of the manga, since you can see that he really is more interesting than Tomura.

Same! Nine is exactly what people think shigaraki is.

Honestly it's bewildering that nine got less then 10% of shigarakis screentime and managed to be better then him in every way possible.

I think it's also interesting that nine and izuku also easily share parallels with one another whether that be:

The similar belief that not everyone is born equal

Their names both meaning nine

The way they both would do anything for the ones they care for

The imagery they both share when it comes to not giving up even if it takes a physical toll on them

They also contrast with their beliefs with how izuku wants to produce a fairer society while nine wants a society where the strong rule

Both of them having a sky type quirk with izuku it's float and with nine it's his original quirk

There's more but nine already has the foundations of a great antagonists and is basically what the fandom thinks shigaraki is.

[nightfurylover31]

Thorn's and Nine's arcs are identical.

I realized this even before we got season 3. But after it, WOW, the similarities increased big time! What happens with Nine in that final season mirrors what happened when we first met Thorn.

Both started off antagonistic towards Sonic when he met them, thinking he meant harm. Yeah, that was pretty common in the show, but they were the ones Sonic fought one-on-one right away. Even if the fights were brief.

They had moments of peace, but things were tense at times. Of course we have Nine for the main plot, but Thorn was the warm up.

Both go completely mad with Prism power. As soon as Thorn saw the Shard, she took it from Sonic and went to attack the Scavengers. When Nine misunderstood Sonic's intentions, he took the Shards to complete the Grim. To the point they both would endanger others to get what they want and do what they thought needed to be done.

And you want to talk about cinematic parallels?

Of all of Sonic's friends, it's hardest to see him getting into actual battle with Amy and Tails. But here he is. Fighting variants of two of his best friends. It really hurts. 🥺

But neither are evil. Thorn and Nine have deep problems. Nine has been bullied and hurt his whole life. He became cold and bitter towards the world. Even a slight betray of trust sets him off. Thorn tried to get the Scavengers to not take so much from the jungle, worried about hurting their home, but no one listened. She felt that forcing them out was the only option, even if it broke her heart.

Even so, there are some moments of waverings. Sonic kept trying to reach out to them, to talk to them.

And it seems to work. Sonic tried convince Thorn she could express how she really feels and talk things through with the others, and that Nine, despite everything that happened between them, Sonic still saw him as a friend. He starts getting through to them... UNFORTUNATELY, this is when the others attack. And that once again breaks their trust in Sonic.

Even when Thorn and Nine are on full force assault, there are brief glimpses of them with some remorse. Thorn completely closed off all the entrances into the jungle and Nine witnessed Mangey and Sails' "sacrifice."

They were briefly shaken, but went back to there resolves. They continued fighting for their worlds. No matter what the cost. That whole mindset the world was against them still going strong.

But then the final revelation comes. They were hurting the very thing they were trying to protect.

Thorn just wanted to protect the forest she loved, and Nine just wanted a better life to not be hurt. But in that madness of power, they lost themselves. Blocking out the sun caused the plants to wither, and constant use of the Prism decayed almost the entire Shatterverse. The guilt, the regret, it all hits them hard.

But even after all they did, Sonic still stands by them. He believed in Thorn and Nine when no one else did. Everyone said they couldn't be trusted, he didn't listen. It came back to bite him, but the pay off was still there. He believed there was enough of Amy and Tails in them, even if they aren't the same friends he knew. It took while, but he was able to get through to them, by talking it out. At the end of it all, it feels like Nine and Thorn are the counterparts Sonic became closest to through this adventure. They had some of the hardest trials, but Sonic gave them the help they needed.

[mellori]

Jod wants to die (and will, happily in Alecto the Ninth).

He's either:

Spent the last 10,000 years enacting turbo space colonialism on the trillionaires' descendants as purely symbolic revenge for their forefathers "getting away".

OR

(I personally subscribe to the theory that when Jod says all but one of the trillionaires' ships escaped into FTL and were "lost to me in time" that stopping one ship ruined the mathematics of the jump and stranded them in transit until, presumably, some time soon in Alecto the Ninth. See also: "I still don't understand the maths. It'll take me ten thousand years to understand it."

Which would mean:)

He's been doing all of the imperialism and murder to a bunch of innocent bystanders so that his real enemies will have nowhere to hide when they finally, ten thousand years later, complete their jump. Which is worse. (Which is why I subscribe to this theory.)

Either way, everybody he loves is dead and he's turned himself into literally everything he professes to hate. The cognitive dissonance alone must be exhausting. It doesn't redeem them in any way, but at least the trillionaires only slowly murdered their own planet extracting all the resources they could from it.

Also one of the Nine Houses is basically themed around front line suicide mission first assault child soldiers, and he's apparently alright with that? Millennia spent sending literal children into active combat zones, most of them armed with nothing but a sword?? Could've stopped it at any time with nothing more than a single sarcastic question???

Anyway I could go on...

But Mellori, you say, Jod just happily submitting to everybody that wants him dead just so he can skip the finding out that's otherwise sure to follow his 10,000 years of fucking around is so unsatisfying. Every good story needs an antagonist.

Well you're right, I say. If only this story had somebody who could replace him?

Somebody with the knowledge and experience necessary to kill a planet and perform the eightfold word? But more than that, somebody dedicated to understanding precisely how he became God? Somebody we've already established is happy to carry on his legacy of theocratic space fascism? Somebody with their own nebulous and/or nefarious plans we're not yet privvy to?

Maybe to make it even more juicy, somebody with an already established narrative and emotional connection to our heroes? Maybe even somebody who at least one of the main characters is indebted to in some way, making their defeat more difficult and complicated? But maybe with some convenient restrictions on the limits of that debt, so that ultimately our team can surprise and overcome her when she "forgets just one thing"?

Now if only we had somebody like that, ay?

[hessdalen-globe]

I’ve always been a Star Wars fan over Star Trek, but let me just say that Gul Dukat is one of my favorite villains ever.

A couple years ago I watched the Star Trek movies and shows up until Enterprise, just to give the franchise a shot and see what it was really about compared to Star Wars. And out of the TV shows Deep Space Nine was my favorite.

DS9 had some political themes that I was attracted to, like the occupation of Bajor (the system that the series takes place in just after the occupation ends) by the Cardassians (Dukat’s species) and the Dominion War.

Being a high ranking official in the Cardassian army Dukat was a major part of both of these events. He was essentially in charge of the occupation, and is the one responsible for selling out his people to the Dominion. So his connection to these events is probably partly why I enjoyed his character.

But Dukat is a perfect example of being the hero of his own story. The most believable antagonists aren’t villains in their own mind. Dukat truly believes, outwardly at least, that everything he has done is good. He was on Bajor to help the Bajorans, so he says. Ignoring the suffering, the labor camps, and cultural genocide, he reiterates this belief time and time again right in the face of Bajorans that he oppressed.

Marc Alaimo portrayed the character perfectly and really brought Dukat to life. He was entertaining to watch and my little writing here doesn’t do him justice. I don’t think his ending in the show was fitting however, as he became obsessed with Bajoran legends for the entire final seasons and I think got possessed at the end? I think he should have seen the dominion war to the end and so we could see his spiral downward as his forces slowly lost. But that’s just my opinion.

Also one of my antagonists in Cozar, the main one actually, has some pretty strong inspirations from Dukat. I couldn’t help myself.

[muddyorbsblr]

relinquish the crown: outfits & portraits

Series Masterlist See my full list of works here!

Placement: before the main story; decades before 'at first sight'

Summary: While on a vacation in Midgard with your friends, you encounter a beautiful stranger.

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: themes of incest (he's adopted but still); a few cuss words; Astrid (pre-antagonist era); implied smut [let me know if i missed anything!]

Things to be aware of: the last part takes place in Season 3 when the spell's lifted and they're happy & married

"Princess, what in the Nine even possessed you with the idea to purchase this…apartment? And when?"

You turned to face Halley, a lady in waiting for your grandmother, Queen Frigga, who had been sitting comfortably in an arm chair inside the living area of your apartment on Midgard. On a whim, you and your friends decided that perhaps you could all take a trip to the realm simply to have a break from the duties that swamped your daily schedules.

"Well a few decades ago I'd presented the idea to the Allfather that perhaps I could find a way to make my own wealth separate from the House of Odin, and naturally he had quite the colorful opinion about his only grandchild toiling away at the mercy of inferior laborers." She, along with your other two friends from the Queen's ladies in waiting, Narda and Astrid, laughed at your impression of your Grandfather.

"Could you truly blame him, Your Highness?" Astrid countered with a giggle. "Imagine the gossips that would spread about in Asgard if its citizens saw their darling crown princess…a merchant in one of the shops that they frequented?"

"Funny enough, that's almost exactly what Odin said." You gave them all a shrug, continuing with your story. "So he told me that perhaps I could explore a way to earn this wealth…in a way that he deemed fitting of a royal. I did my research and found that there truly wasn't an opportunity in Asgard that he found suitable enough, so I explored earning it here in Midgard. With a currency conversion system in place between the two realms, I figured perhaps I could explore my options here."

"And so you've acquired a job that allowed you to purchase this place for us to lounge when we vacation?" Narda asked you, a toothy smile gracing her features as she continued to take in your surroundings. "I must say, Y/N, this is magnificent! It's nearly as opulent as your own chambers!"

"Not quite…" you trailed off, taking a walk around the apartment and waving your arm in a dramatic flourish. "I do not simply own this apartment as a reward for the wealth I'd already amassed. I own…this structure. The whole thing is one of many that I own around Midgard." You found yourself unable to fight the satisfied grin pulling at the sides of your mouth at the sight of their dropped jaws. "This is the source of my wealth, not the reward of it. I am almost certain that this reveal was the only time I'd heard Odin tell me that he was impressed with my mind. Even told me it nearly rivaled his son's."

"Your father's?"

You laughed at Halley's innocent enough query. Truth was you loved your father Thor dearly but it was common knowledge to anyone who'd seen you growing up that your intellect surpassed his early on in your youth. "No no, the other one. The one that's been gone for centuries on a realms-wide mission."

"Ohh him! Norns, what was his name again?"

"Don't know," you answered the fire-haired lady with a shrug. "I suppose I'll meet him eventually. His mission has to conclude sometime, right?" Your friends nodded their heads at your logic, finally giving you enough  opportunity to segue into a new topic of conversation, making a motion with your hand as if to wave the current subject of the ever mysterious dark prince of Asgard away. "I did not bring us here to speculate about elusive members of my family. Truthfully, I'd arranged for this trip so that we may bring to reality a certain topic we'd discussed a fortnight ago? Something that Astrid mentioned about…wedding outfits?"

"Ooh, do tell, Princess." Halley sat up straighter from the edge of the bed, visibly bouncing with excitement.

"Well, we'd discussed all about what we would wear at the ceremony. Giving our vows of fidelity or what ever other tradition we would choose in its place, considering that some of us are rather averse to the sight of blood in general, let alone drawing their own." You threw a playfully pointed glance at Narda who simply giggled and shrugged her shoulders at you in agreement. "But that had me thinking…what if we had a wardrobe that was only for the eyes of the one we would spend the rest of our lives with?"

"Your Highness, how deliciously salacious," Astrid cooed. "Perhaps it could even be for the one we're destined for!" she squealed, clapping her hands together with a childlike mirth about her.

"Oh Norns, Astrid, this again? Fateds?" She nodded excitedly at you. "'Tis nothing but a pretty tale weaved by our parents and their parents before them to give us something to yearn for when we were but children. Heart's mates and red strings--oh, apologies, crimson threads…They're all nothing but an illusion, my friends."

"But Y/N, a seer in Vanaheim told me that my thread was already crimson!" Narda exclaimed. "Perhaps it is true?"

"My friend if your thread is truly crimson then I wish you all the happiness in the Nine." You walked over to the reddish-blonde to pull her into a warm embrace. "How about this, when we return home I will consult with my grandmother about these threads of ours and I will know the name of your Fated. Then, I will keep that information to myself and give you only confirmation on whether you've already met them or if they already play a role in your life."

The lady in waiting hugged you back with fervor. "Oh thank you, Y/N! Oh I do hope that it's Fandral. That would just be a dream. A wonderful, beautiful dream."

"Well then perhaps you should acquire a special wardrobe in his colors," you offered with a smirk. "A touch of optimism never hurt anyone." You turned to address your other friends once more. "And perhaps we should all see each other's choices? So that in the future if we were to ever cross paths with one another while donning these specific robes, we would know the significance of the event? And know better than to disturb each other?"

The three ladies nodded their agreement as you all raced out of your apartment to scour the more tantalizing clothing that Midgard had to offer, your conversation before parting ways purely consisting of the color and how much lace or satin you all pictured in the attire.

"No," you grumbled at the reflection looking back at you, the color of the satin negligee somehow disagreeable with the image you had in mind when you were thinking 'only for the eyes of the one you would love forever'. It was in your colors, but somehow it felt as if it was the wrong choice…

"Maybe you could try another color, sweetie?"  the sales clerk offered. "You have such a lovely skin tone for dark jewel tones, so maybe a nice sapphire blue, or maybe even a lovely burgundy--"

"Not the burgundy," you cut her off, your voice taking on a distinctly Midgardian accent from this region of the realm, pinched but with a slight lilt and flattening your vowels to rid yourself of your Asgardian tone. There will be nothing even remotely alluring about the occasion if I choose an attire set in my father's colors, Norns help me, you thought to yourself. But as you envisioned the color wheel in your mind's eye, an idea suddenly struck you. "How about emerald?"

You exited the lingerie merchant satisfied with your purchase, albeit a touch perplexed that the set you ended up purchasing was not set in your own colors but rather a color that hadn't been present within Asgard since at least before you were born. In truth, it seemed as if it had been a taboo to don a color that was the opposite of the House of Thor.

And yet somehow when the color was placed against your skin, the resulting image felt almost…

"Oh fuck, I'm so sorry!" you exclaimed, your Midgardian accent still on full display as you turned to face the towering man you'd surely bowled over. "I wasn't looking where I was going it was completely--"

"I was at fault, I wholeheartedly apologize."

Your breath caught in your throat at the sight of the man before you. Norns, what a beautiful specimen. The angled features of his face that resembled not only the sculptures set in marble by the great creators in Midgard's history, but also the statues set in bronze and gold throughout Asgard. The slicked back raven hair that cascaded down to his shoulders in loose curls. All of it culminated in a man that had effectively stolen the air from your lungs.

"You must be made of quite the strong stock," he commented at you with a chuckle, walking towards  you with a brilliant smile gracing his features. "Most individuals I cross paths with like that usually don't stay on their feet."

Norns help me, his voice…I could drown in a pool of just his voice. "I was…about to say the same thing," you returned with a giggle that had you inwardly slapping yourself. You are the crown princess of Asgard, Y/N, you best act the fucking part. "I usually knock people over if I bump into them like that. Oh gosh I hope I didn't--cause you to spill anything on yourself." You began to motion toward his suit, set in black with gold cufflinks at the ends of the coat sleeves. "It'd be a shame to ruin such an impeccable suit."

"No worries, milady, there was nothing spilt." You had to fight with everything you had to stop yourself from swooning as an effect of his accent and vernacular that suggested he was walking among the people of the wrong century. He began to motion toward his suit as well. "In truth I do not usually gravitate towards these colors but today somehow it felt--"

"Right," you finished for him, your smile stretching even wider across your lips as he nodded at you, his own smile becoming more brilliant as the sun's light caught it. "I kind of…had a similar experience just a while ago." Before you could make a further fool of yourself for staring so blatantly at the stranger's face, undoubtedly complete with your eyes glistening with lascivious thoughts as it was known to do, you broke your gaze away from the man and stammered, "I--I should get going. Friends waiting for me and all." As you were stepping away backwards from him, you called out, "Sorry again!"

Hours later and you still couldn't rid your mind of the face of the handsome stranger you'd bumped into, blankly oohing and aahing at Halley's and Narda's chosen wardrobes and committing the images to memory for the moment you were to ever come across them wearing such garments.

All the while you found yourself sketching the man's face in your journal, deciding that if you couldn't banish his visage from your mind, then perhaps you should immortalize it somewhere instead.

"Norns be good, Y/N! Who is that absolutely delectable gentleman on the page?" Halley rested her chin on your shoulder, trying to get a better look at your illustration. "Please don't be cruel and tell us he's simply someone you envisioned in your mind's eye."

"No no, my friend, do not worry. He is quite real," you said softly, a smile finding its way to your face as you stared at the man's visage on the pages. "I crossed paths with him earlier on my way back here. Didn't even stumble one bit when I did."

"Hmm…perhaps he's not Midgardian," Narda offered, wiggling her eyebrows at you as she spied the smile that hadn't let your face quite yet.

"Perhaps he's a frost giant," Astrid jested from inside the bathroom, earning chuckles from the rest of you outside waiting for her to emerge with her chosen wardrobe. "Then again you'd know straight away, Your Highness. Blue skin and storeys high and all." A few moments later, she spoke again. "Alright my friends, I hope you're ready…"

The garments she'd chosen took you aback, with it being a black satin negligee with detailing in gold lace. "Considering our friendship and Asgard's customs about wearing colors I'm going to have to ask--"

"Norns, no!" she cut you off with a cackle. "Beautiful as you are, Highness, my devotion does not run that deep--"

"Astrid, relax. I'm simply poking a bit of fun." She let out a sigh of relief, the panic subsiding from her face. "But once again considering our friendship, I'll allow it." You gave her a cheeky wink before she closed the door on you all again to change back to her regular clothing.

"Did you get his name, Y/N?" You turned to Narda, furrowing your brows at her question. "The handsome stranger you've been sketching. Did you get his name?"

You placed the heels of your palms to your temples in a show of self-directed abasement. "I am a complete fool! Never even crossed my mind to give him my name, or get his." You groaned as you buried your face in your hands, grumbling, "Chances are I'd never cross paths with him again regardless. Besides, if he's Midgardian then any chance we even remotely had to last are doomed. I'd outlive the poor mortal."

Several decades later…

The numbers were starting to blur together in your vision as you grew tired from computing for the budget for new training equipment for the fledgling soldiers of the realm when you heard the doors to your chambers opening, a familiar audible pattern of footsteps causing an elated smile to stretch across your face.

"Hello, husband," you called out, not looking up from your work desk, your grin growing wider as you heard his footsteps fast approaching where you were seated. A faint giggle escaped you as you felt him rest his chin on your shoulder before pressing a soft kiss to your cheek. "How fortunate of me that you've concluded your duties early today."

A satisfied sigh slipped from your lips as he proceeded to press kisses down to your neck, lightly sucking on the juncture to your shoulder and smirking against your skin as you relaxed against him. "I've missed you, my darling."

"Missed me?" you chuckled, his fingers lightly grasping your chin to turn your head to face him so that he could press his lips to yours in a tender kiss. "You saw me last this morning, Loki, it's been mere hours."

"Hmmm yes…and already it has been too long," he murmured against your lips. "Did you truly think I was exaggerating when I once said I wished to spend every moment with you for the rest of your lives?" You could only let out a whimpered moan as he kissed you once more, slipping his tongue past your lips to glide against your own, his arm moving to wrap around your waist and pull you tighter against him.

His words caused your heart to swell that you feared it would burst from sheer bliss. The thought that once before you would have squirmed away from his touch because of the spell that you begged the Queen to place on you had the strong sting of regret niggling away at your mind. Especially now that you even shared his sentiments of missing each other if you spent even mere moments apart, that there were moments throughout the day when you would instinctively reach for his hand and have to hide your visible dismay when your mind reconciled that he wasn't there.

You found yourself smiling against his lips as you could hear the reluctance in him as he pulled away. "You're quite a distraction, my love," he cooed in between kisses. "I distinctly remember coming here to ask you something."

"If I recall, I was simply sitting by my desk, staring at numbers when you walked in and you distracted me," you retorted, smirking at him as you pulled away, appreciating the amused grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth as he looked upon you. "What did you need to ask me?"

"I was perusing the list you'd given me on your journal and I came across…an illustration." Your journal suddenly materialized in his hand and he flipped through the pages with his magic, the pages glowing with the telltale green hue of his enchantments. "When did you draw this portrait of me?"

You looked upon the page as he placed the journal atop the scrolls and parchments that you were analyzing, your breath hitching as tears welled in your eyes. "It was you," you uttered with choked back cries.

"I don't quite follow, little Princess." You felt your body relaxing against him once again as he pulled you close, pressing tender kisses to your hair as his free hand lightly stroked up and down your arm.

"Decades before we'd met, I visited Midgard with my friends. I had to attend to some of my investments there and turned it into a…bit of a vacation. While I was there I'd crossed paths with this beautiful stranger whose face refused to leave my mind. So I drew him." You turned your gaze back to him, the air leaving your lungs as you saw the wonder shining in his own eyes. "And now here you are."

As the moments ticked by that he remained staring at you, fingertips lightly tracing the features upon your face, you could feel the crease between your brows beginning to form as confusion washed over you. "It couldn't possibly…" he trailed off before promptly stepping away from you and walking toward his side of the study, to the shelves that housed his tomes upon tomes of journals.

"Loki?" You rose from your desk and made your way toward your husband, the astonishment unwavering from his features as he seemed to have found the page that he was searching for. "What is it?"

"Y/N…my darling wife…" He reached for your hand and raised it to his lips to kiss once you stepped close enough. "Decades before we'd met, I visited Midgard as a brief intermission between my surveillance assignments. I crossed paths with a beguiling woman I'd assumed was an astoundingly strong Midgardian because I hadn't bowled her over. I wore a suit in colors not my own purely because it felt…it felt as if I should. As if the Norns had been guiding me." He let go of your hand to wrap his arm around your waist, holding you close against him. "Your colors."

"Husband--"

"Her face refused to leave my mind. So I drew her." He showed you the page his journal had been opened to, containing an illustration that held a near perfect likeness to you. "It was you." Your vision blurred once again as the tears welled in your eyes, rolling down your cheeks as you tried to blink them away; all you could see was the silhouette of a wide grin stretched across his face before he pulled you into a kiss that stole the air from your lungs, weakening you so that you would have been on your knees if he hadn't been holding you up. "Even before we met it was always you. My little Princess. My dear heart."

Your journal materialized in your hands with a flash of green and you raised it next to his, putting your illustrations of one another side by side. "Now they're together," you said softly, letting out a soft giggle as both journals disappeared with another flash of green, his fingers intertwining with yours as he turned you to face him.

"Now they're together," he echoed your words, his tone taking on a darker tone that sent a shudder throughout your body as he effortlessly lifted you off your feet. The only sound that left your lips was a whimpered moan as you hooked your legs around his waist, a smirk tugging at the corner of your husband's mouth as he began to walk you both toward your bedchamber. "Just like us," he husked as he laid you down on your bed, proceeding to press kisses down the column of your neck, stopping his descent at the neckline of your dress to suck a bruise over your heart. "I was made to be yours."

"And I yours," you breathed out, repletion washing over you as you felt his hands running down your sides, fingers tracing teasingly slow circles once skin met skin.

"I wish to make love to you, my darling wife." You found yourself becoming crazed for his touch the moment your gazes met, his eyes darkened with lustful intent and yet a tenderness still peeking through as he wordlessly asked for your assent.

A low humming sound of appreciation reverberated through him as you ran your hand through his raven locks. "Yes." You felt a smile pull at the sides of your mouth as you sighed the word, feeling the layers of clothing separating you two from one another melting away in a tauntingly slow wash of green. "My darling husband, as long as I am breathing the answer will always be yes."

A/N: I want you all to remember Astrid's chosen outfit that's gonna come into play again sometime in Season 2. That thing that YN mentions about crimson threads will also come into play in another companion piece that I'll be writing soon-ish…from Queen Frigga's POV. 👀✌️

This one took me embarrassingly long to write because of how slow I was moving this entire last week due to being hit with a big sick for days. 🥲 But my breathing's back to about 98%, I don't feel like I have a marble helmet weighing down on my head anymore, so I'm jumping straight into the next thing I'm writing, which is summoned part 2! After that it's gonna be a juggling act between requests, Season 1B, and a whole bunch of other things because I already know that I just can't help myself 🫠

'everything' taglist @sailorholly @loopsisloops @unlucky-number-13 @imalovernotahater @coldnique @loz-3 @huntress-artemiss @salempoe @vickie5446 @athalialaufeyson @lokiprompts @sarahscribbles @kats72 @kikster606 @evelyn-kingsley @lokixryss @thomase1 @mischief2sarawr @peaches1958 @lovingchoices14 @goblingirlsarah @iamlokisgloriouspurpose @creationsbyme @maple-seed @mjsthrillernp @ladyofthestayingpower @mygfloki @sititran @glitterylokislut @ozymdias @fictive-sl0th @lovelysizzlingbluebird @lokidbadguy @mochie85 @silverfire475 @joyful-enchantress @dangertoozmanykids101 @elizabethmidnight2017

Loki taglist @calumance @severuslovebot @moonlightreader649 @ozymdias @i-stand-with-loki @nixymarvelkins @cheekyscamp @lokisgoodgirl @purplegrrl27 @thedistractedagglomeration

[arandomphrase]

Rings of Power continues to be incredibly mediocre (Part 3)

Besides the overwhelming number of characters, there is one person in particular that continues to be problematic: Sauron.

Sauron doesn't seem to actually do anything bad

I understand that Sauron is the embodiment of pure evil within Middle Earth; literally evil incarnate. But I only know this because I've seen the movies and read the books. I'm talking about within the confines of the show, the main antagonist doesn't seem to actually be doing anything bad.

Let me construct a scarecrow-like figure and argue with them about this:

So, Sauron is bad, right?

Oh yeah. He's like the worst person imaginable.

What's he done so far that's so bad?

He killed that lady in order to take a physical form

Okay, that was bad. What else?

He's working with Celebrimbor to forge a bunch of rings.

How is that bad?

They're, like, infused with evil. Or something. They seem evil somehow.

You mean the rings that helped the Elves restore their power? And the Dwarves get their mine livable again? So far they seem pretty fine.

But they do kind of seem evil, no? He's also lying to Celebrimbor about who he really is.

Yeah, I suppose

Also he tricked Celebrimbor into making nine more rings by making the siege of Eregion invisible to him.

Okay, these are definitely bad things, but they're not world-endingly evil. Galadriel has been laser-focused on destroying him for hundreds of years and now that he's back he's not done anything terribly evil.

See what I mean? If he's supposed to be, just, the most evil person imaginable so far he's not been very evil. in fact, it took up until the 6th episode of the second season for him to finally do some kind of bad things.... or at least things that are deceptive.

The Uruks led by Adar are doing more evil things than Sauron. Remember when they invaded the Southlands and killed a bunch of peasants? Now, suddenly Galadriel looks to them and says "No, in actuality Sauron is the more evil threat here. I should clearly side with the Uruks".

The show has yet to demonstrate how evil Sauron actually is

As outlined above, so far Sauron seems to have done mostly nothing apart from killing that one lady and deceiving Celebrimbor. Beyond that, I'm not seeing the literal embodiment of evil. He's a shifty dude, yes, but that's about it. There's no demonstration of how bad things would be if he somehow came back to power. I need to be shown or told how bad things could become if he came back.

Going back to the original trilogy, Sauron is stated to be mostly gone apart from the power within the ring. And yet, he deceives Saruman into crafting an army in his name, he has control over birds, and he has Ringwraiths out killing in his name. These show us how bad a ruler of Sauron would be: look at how bad things are right now but then imagine it could be even worse!

Now back to Rings of Power: what happens if Sauron regains power? I don't know? Bad things? It's never clearly explained or stated what will happen beyond hints or feelings of bad juju. As a result it makes it difficult to care about our heroes and their quest to defeat an evil that's nebulous and vague. It makes the story seem.... pointless.

[catparent94]

For Reference Purposes for who is in which episode of ROTTMNT

Hello. I have been looking to see which characters are in which episode of ROTTMNT in a short-list. And I could not find it. So I decided to make this list to maybe help someone else who might benefit from it. And also I tried to put who the main focus is of an episode if it applies. So hopefully this can help someone. And if I missed anyone or the placement is incorrect, please leave a comment so it can be more accurate.

Episode List of Characters in them

A little Chart for how I named the main 6 so it is easier to know what it means

Donnie or D

Leo or L

Mikey or M

Raph or R

April or A

Splinter or S

Season 1

1. Mystic Mayhem

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, S, Mayhem

Antagonist:

Draxum, Muninn, Huginn

Guardsmen: Freki and Garm

Random person: Stewart

2a. Origami Tsunami

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, S

Minor Character of Main Cast: A, S

Neutral: Salami Ninja

Things mentioned: Spine Breaking Bandits, Island Mangler

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Origami Ninja, Large Origami Ninja

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Mobster #1, Mobster #2

2b. Donnie's Gifts

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R

Antagonist: Meat Sweats

Neutral: Mutant Silverfish, Oozesquito

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Kondescending Kitchen Cameraman, Kondescending Kitchen Contestant

3a. War and Pizza

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A

Antagonist: Albearto

President Pepperoni, Robotic Vole, Cheery Tomato

Neutral: April’s Manager

Neutral Characters that are minor characters: Birthday Boy, Claw Machine Kid, Helmet Kid, Nine Year-Old Girl, Party Kid

3b. Newsworthy

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R

Antagonist:

Introduction: Warren Stone, Hypno-Potamus or (Mezmer-ron)

Animal character mentioned and only in flashback: Doug the Hippo

Neutral: Carly Balmaceda, Clem

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Flashback only Villains: Bowling Pin Creatures, Robot

New York Police Department (debut)

Oozesquitoes

4a. Repo Mantis- Mainly Donni and Mikey Episode

Main Protagonists: D, M

Allie and Introduction: Todd Capybara

Antagonist and Introduction: Repo Mantis

Animal: Nubbins- Repo’s cat turned Mantis

Todd Puppies: Melvin, Miho, Willis

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Man Shopper (debut)

4b. Down with the Sickness

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Narrator

5a. The Fast and the Furriest- Donnie and Splinter episode but more everyone

Main Protagonists: D,  L, M, R, A, S, Mayhem

Antagonist: Meat Sweats

Mutant animals in Meat Sweats' possession

Mutant spitting cobra

Introduction and Nuetral: Señor Hueso

5b. Mascot Melee

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist of Cockroach Mutants in Costumes: Atomic Lass, Joey the Junkyard Dog, Sergeant Woodpecker, Robot Vampire

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Timmy (cameo), Tourist

6a. Shell in a Cell

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Neutral: Jessica Jaclyn, Annihilation

Neutral but group: The Liberty League

Antagonist: Ghostbear

6b. Minotaur Maze- Mainly Leo centric Episode

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Antagonist: Brick Oven Creature, Cheese Grater Creature, Minotaur, Rolling Pin Creature, Pizza Cutter Creature

Neutral:  Señor Hueso

7. Bug Busters

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Antagonist: Draxum, Big Mama, Muninn, Huginn

Background Character: Stanley (Bullhop)

Big Mama things

Battle Nexus arena clown

Battle Nexus competitors

Kelb tal-Fenek Yōkai gladiator, Lizard Yōkai gladiator, Boar Yōkai gladiator

Big Mama's hotel staff

Laundry Yōkai

Yōkai bellhops:

Bird bellhop, Fox bellhop, Frog bellhop, Indian rhinoceros bellhop, Lion bellhop, Lizard bellhop, Otter bellhop, Owl bellhop, Water buffalo bellhop

Yōkai custodians:

Ape custodian, Badger custodian, Cat custodian, Lobster custodian

Octopus elevator operator

Gus

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Oozesquitoes

Atomic Lass (image only), Clem (cameo; image only), Hypno-Potamus (image only), Meat Sweats (image only), Mutant silverfish (image only), Repo Mantis (image only), Stewart (cameo), Todd Capybara (image only)

8a. The Longest Fight

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Foot Antagonist: Foot Clan, Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Origami Ninja

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Announcer, Carly Balmaceda, Ice Cube Tray Advertiser (debut), Sydney Allen (debut)

8b. Hypno! Part Deux- April, Raph, and Leo Centric Episode

Main Protagonists: D, L, R, A, Mayhem

Antagonist: Hypno

Neutral: Taylor Martin, Dale, Noah Sheck, Siegel

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

 Boy #1, Carly Balmaceda, Girl #1 (debut)

9a. The Gumbus- Involves Mikey, Leo, and April Centric

Main Protagonists: L, M, A

Antagonist: Baxter Stockboy

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Mr. Stockboy (debut), Mrs. Stockboy

President Pepperoni (cameo; image only)

9b. Mrs. Cuddles- Raph Centric Episode with the brothers

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, S

Antagonist: Mrs. Cuddles

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Astronaut (debut)

10a. Stuck on You- Raph Centric Episode and brothers

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute

Other Antagonists: Hypno, Warren Stone, Silverfish

Mentioned Doug the Hippo

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

First Witch (debut)

10b. Al Be Back

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Albearto

Al-Beardo the Pirate, Bayou 'Bearto, Chef Albéar, Otto von Bearto, Albearto Land Robots

Neutral for Episode: Baxter Stockboy

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Cheery Tomato (cameo), Manager, President Pepperoni, Tanya Melendez (debut)

11a. The Purple Jacket- Mainly Donnie Centric with April there

Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A

Antagonist: Purple Dragons

Jason, Jeremy, Kendra

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Carly Balmaceda, New York Police Department

11b. Pizza Pit

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Band: DIGG

Groundhog, Honey Badger, Prairie Dog

Pizza Owners: Pizza Lou, Pizza Mike, Pizza Toney, Pizza Tony

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Bigfoot (debut) (image only), Loch Ness Monster (debut) (image only), Pizzasaurus (debut)

12a. Smart Lair- Shelldon Introduction

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Introduction: Shelldon

12b. Hot Soup: The Game- Mikey and Raph Centric

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute

Introduction: Cassandra

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Boss Level Guy

Tang Shen (image only), Video Game Commercial Thugs, Voiceover Guy

13. The Evil League of Mutants

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Ally: Todd

Antagonist: Evil League of Mutants

Draxum, Meat Sweats, Hypno, Repo Mantis, Warren Stone, Carl and Ben (Sandro brothers), Muninn, Huginn

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Origami Ninja

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Big Mama's assistant (debut) (mutates in flashback)

Radisson Hotel Bellhop (debut)

JJG -Reporter

14a. Late Fee

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Mutant Silverfish, Ghostbear

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Conductor, Director, Ferry Captain, Trash Wizard

14b. Bullhop

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Big Mama

Big Mama Yōkai bellhops

Fox bellhop, Otter bellhop, Owl bellhop

Yōkai waiter

Minor Character Protagonist: Stanley (Bullhop)

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

DIGG (cameo)

Groundhog, Honey Badger, Prairie Dog

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Oozesquitoes (flashback only)

Partygoer (Dave Foley) (debut)

15a. Mind Meld- Donnie centric with brothers there

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Protagonist: Shelldon

Neutral: Silverfish

Antagonist even though does not show up: Kendra, Purple Dragons

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

April O'Neil (image only), Mayhem (image only), Warren Stone (image only) (flashback only)

15b. Nothing But Truffle- Meat Sweats, Mikey, and Todd Episode

Main Protagonists: M, Todd, Mind Raph

Antagonist: Meat Sweats, Were-Tree

Neutral: Silverfish

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

Mrs. Cuddles (image only), Todd's puppies (cameo)

16. Shadow of Evil

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, S

Foot Antagonist:

Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Foot Soldiers, Origami Ninja

More a little separated from Foot but with Foot at moment

Draxum, Huginn, Muninn

Antagonist Animals: Mutant magpie (Bird), Oozesquito

Possible future antagonist: The Shredder (flashback only)

Hamato Ancestors

Hamato Karai (Flashback only)

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

Krystal Yistal (debut) (flashback only)

Teen Customer

17a. Portal Jacked!- Leo Centric with Hueso- Leo Centric with Hueso

Protagonists in Episode: L

Protagonists in episode but not main focus for episode: D, M, R

Neutral: Señor Hueso,

Antagonist: Capitán Piel, Kraken Pirate, Mermaid Pirate, Sea Serpent Pirate, Singing Pirates, Yōkai Pirate

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Hidden City Police (debut)

Hidden City Police #1, Hidden City Police #2

Hueso, Jr. (image only), Todd Capybara (image only), Yōkai Granny

17b. Warren & Hypno, Sitting in a Tree- April and Draxum centric Episode

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A

Antagonist: Draxum, Hypno, Warren Stone, Muninn, Huginn

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Carly Balamceda (cameo; image only)

JJG (cameo; image only), Tendril creature (debut)

18a. Operation: Normal- Donnie and Leo Centric and April is there 

Main Protagonists: D, L, M only mentioned, A, Mayhem

New Ally character: Sunita

Antagonist: Cassandra, Foot Brute

Meat Sweats only mentioned

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

Biology Teacher

Cindy, Cindy's Father, Cindy’s Mother (debut)

Exploding Frankie (Eric Bauza) (debut)

Flashback: Huginn, Mayhem, Muninn

Pizza Creatures, Trash Wizard, Waiter

18b. Sparring Partner- Franken-Foot and Raph Centric

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R

New Ally: Franken-Foot 

Antagonist: Cassandra, Foot Lieutenant, Cassandra, Origami Ninja

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

Lou Jitsu (cameo)

19a. You Got Served- Leo and Mikey Centric

Main Protagonists: L, M

Neutral: Señor Hueso

Antagonist:

Makers of Brutality

Boss Beverly, Ogre 1, Ogre 2

Masters of Barbarianism Boss

Bruce, Snake 1, Snake 2

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Tentacle-Eyeball Yōkai, Unicorns (debut)

19b. How to Make Enemies and Bend People to Your Will- Draxum Centric Episode

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Cassandra, Foot Initiate, Foot Initiator, Foot Soldiers

Antagonist that work with Foot but not necessarily Loyal to it: Draxum, Muninn, Huginn

Golem- Created by Draxum

Separate Villain: Stinkbomb (Harold)

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Customer 1, Customer 2

Female barista, Male barista

20a. Mystic Library

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, Mayhem

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Tiny Origami Ninja

Antagonist but not necessarily bad Person: Bat Librarian, Hush-Bats

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Yōkai Kids

20b. The Purple Game- Donnie Centric

Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, Mayhem

Main Protagonist: Shelldon

Antagonist:

Purple Dragons: Jason, Jeremy, Kendra

Giant Mech- Created by Purple Dragons

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Mrs. O'Neil (debut) (cameo)

Game voice of game (Eugene Byrd) (debut), New York Police Department, Plush dolls (Greg Cipes) (debut), Timmy (image only), YPS deliveryman (debut)

21a. Man VS. Sewer- Raph Centric Episode

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Sandro Brothers – Ben and Carl

21b. The Mutant Menace

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Antagonist:

Baxter Stockboy

Micro-Bots- Created by Baxter Stockboy

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Angry New Yorkers, Man Shopper, New York Police Department, Cop, Sunny Chipperton, Trash Wizard

22a. Turtle-Dega Nights: The Ballad of Rat Man- Splinter, Donnie and Mikey Centric

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Big Mama, Meat Sweats, Repo Mantis, Warren Stone, Hypno

Yōkai Bellhops

Fox bellhop, Otter bellhop, Owl Bellhop, Penguin bellhop,

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

Cute Yōkai- Cat mutant

22b. The Ancient Art of Ninja Hide and Seek

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Big Mama, Gus

Yōkai hellphops

Fox bellhop, Otter bellhop, Owl bellhop

Battle Nexus Announcer (debut)

Big Mama (cameo)

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Kid Cthulhu (debut)

Lizard Yōkai, Server Yōkai, Tentacle Yōkai

23a. One Man's Junk- Raph Centric Episode but all brothers are involved

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute,

Regular Antagonist: Repo Mantis

Animals: Mrs. Nubbins (mutates in flashback)

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Green Yōkai

Image Only: Hypno, Warren Stone

Oozesquito (flashback only)

Short Yōkai

23b. Snow Day

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, Mayhem

Antagonist: Ghostbear, Oozesquito

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

Splinter (cameo)

Background: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute

24a. Cloak and Swaggart- Sunita and April Episode

Main Protagonists for the Episode: Sunita and A

Main characters in episode but not central focus: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Meat Sweats

Neutral but contribute-ish to the plot: Loose Lips Malinowski

Shelldon

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

BBQ Host 1, BBQ Host 2

Cooking Show Host

DIGG

Groundhog, Honey Badger, Prairie Dog

Director at Channel 6

Guy Flambé (debut)

Late Night Show Guest, Late Night Show Host, Painting Show Host, Security Guard, TV Station Employee

Mrs. Cuddles (cameo)

24b. Jupiter Jim Ahoy! 

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Main Antagonist-ish: Marcus Moncrief who thought he was Jupiter Jim

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Images only: Ghostbear, Annihilation, Jessica Jaclyn

Goon 1, Red Fox Cosplayer

25. Insane in the Mama Train

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, S

Hamato Ancestors: Hamato Clan Ancestors, Mystic Aura

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Cassandra, Foot Soldiers

Just working with the Foot but not necessarily completely loyal: Draxum, Muninn, Huginn

Antagonist: Big Mama

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Bandaged Yōkai, Screaming Yōkai, Tax Yōkai, Train announcer

Guardsmen

Freki, Garm

26. End Game

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, S, Mayhem

Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, The Shredder (resurrection), Origami Ninja

Just working with the Foot but not necessarily completely loyal: Draxum, Muninn, Huginn

Ally: Stanley (Bullhop), Shelldon, Franken-Foot, Todd

Hamato Ancestors: Hamato Clan Ancestors, Mystic Aura

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Baseball stadium announcer (debut)

Flashback only but Debut: Council of Heads

Councilor 1, Councilor 2, Councilor 3

Country singer (debut)

Season 2

1. Many Unhappy Returns

Main Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A, S

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, The Shredder, Cassandra

Not necessarily Loyal to the Foot but working with them: Draxum

Antagonist: Big Mama

Big Mama Staff

Big Mama's assistant, Big Mama's soldiers, Fox Bellhop

Big Mama Contestants

Evil Six, Kraken Tom (debut)

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

Cameo: Albearto, Cheery Tomato, President Pepperoni

New York Police Department

Serge (debut)

2a. Todd Scouts

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, S

Ally: Todd

Antagonists: Tooth Fairies

Dr. Alex Noe, Hunters

2b. Goyles, Goyles, Goyles

Center for this episode: Huginn, Muninn

Meat Sweats- Kind of background character even though he captured Huginn and Muninn

Flashback

Draxum hiring them

Big Mama in episode- Though I think she is only mentioned and there is a cameo

Splinter/Lou Jitsu in flashback

Pictures of Baby Turtles

D, L, M, R

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Gargoyles (debut) (flashback only)

Bro-goyle 1, Bro-goyle 2, Gargoyle, Sarge Goyle

3a. Flushed, but Never Forgotten

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, S

New Character and family?: Piebald

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Minor Character: Franken-Foot, Game Voice

Flashback Only: Trash Wizard

3b. Lair Games- Donnie and Leo Centric

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A, S

Minor Character: Shelldon

4a. Breaking Purple- Donnie Centric with Shelldon

Protagonist: D, M, but Splinter just mentioned

Also Shelldon

Characters that Donnie overhears people talking that is important to the plot

Loose Lips Malinowski, Repo Mantis

Antagonist:

Purple Dragons: Jason, Jeremy, Kendra

Neutral Character at Dome place for robots:

Billionaire Guy Eccentric

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Neutral Character for the Episode:  Bat Librarian, Mrs. Cuddles, Baxter Stockboy, Timmy

4b. Repairin' the Baron- Draxum, Raph, and Mikey Centric

Protagonists that are the main focus: M, R,

Protagonist in the episode but not main Focus: D, L, A, S

Antagonist turned Reform: Draxum

Antagonist for Episode:

Guardsmen: Freki, Garm

Councilor of Heads: Councilor 1, Councilor 2, Councilor 3

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

The Shredder (flashback only)

5a. Air Turtle- Leo Centric

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A

Antagonist:  Arch of Aquinnah, Tim Dunkman

Reformed?: Draxum

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Dave

The Daves (debut)- Basketball Team

Daves Player #1, Daves Player #2, Daves Player #3, Daves Player #4, Daves Player #5

Announcer (debut)

The Knights (debut)- Basketball Team

Knights Player #1, Knights Player #2, Knights Player #3, Knights Player #4, Knights Player #5

Player #1, Referee

5b. Pizza Puffs

Protagonist: D, L, M, R,

Antagonist: Big Mama- captured Meat Sweats, Meat Sweats

Tummytello is a thing

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Guy Flambé, Swedish Baker

6a. Sidekick Ahoy!

Protagonist: D, L, M, R,

Neutral: Jupiter Jim/ Marcus Moncrief, Red Fox

Antagonist: Scor-Pion

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Stagehand (debut)

6b. The Hidden City Job- Leo episode with Hueso and kind of Donnie at the very end

Protagonist: D, L,

Antagonist: Big Mama

Auctioneer (debut), Big Mama's soldiers, Shadow Fiend (cameo)

Ally and former villain now ally: Señor Hueso, Capitán Piel

Combine to make Don Suave

Animal Important: Wild simurgh

7a. Always Be Brownies- April and Casey/Foot Recruit Girl episode

Protagonist: A, S

Antagonist for Episode:

Cassandra

Brownie Clan: Julia, Brownie Girls, CJ Girl

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Timmy (cameo)

7b. Mystery Meat- Mikey, April, and Draxum episode

Protagonist: M, A

Protagonist briefly in episode, but not for that long: R

Reformed?: Draxum

Antagonist but I think Draxum sees it as his child: Sloppy Joseph

Neutral: Vivian Slopworth, Dale

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Lunch Ladies: Lunch Lady Edna, Lunch Lady Gladys, Lunchman Stan

Neutral animals: Mutant silverfish, Oozesquito

Student #1, Student #2

8a. Raph's Ride-Along- Raph Centric

Protagonist: R

Antagonist:

Big Mama

Big Mama's assistant

Mud Dogs

Dastardly Danny, Loathsome Leonard, Malicious Mickey

Separated from Mud Dogs: Heinous Green

Hidden City Police

Guardsman 1, Guardsman 2

Minor Characters that are made of the main cast: D, A, L, M,S

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Cameo’s: Cudley the Cowlick, The great Morgan

Villain that only shows up in Picture: Evil Emerald (debut) (image only)

 (cameo)

Yōkai Granny

8b. Donnie vs. Witch Town- April and Donnie Centric

Protagonist: D, A

Witch Town Characters: Gentry, The great Morgan, Mayor Mira, Black Cat Choir, Salem Witch

Minor Characters of Main Cast: L, M, R, S

9a. Hidden City’s Most Wanted- Draxum, Mikey, and Draxum Centric

Protagonist: M, S

Reformed?: Draxum

Minor Characters of the Main Cast: M, D, A, L

Antagonist: Police Officer, Heather, Officer 2

9b. Bad Hair Day- Leo Centric

Protagonist: L

Minor Characters of the Main cast: D, M, R, A, S, Baron Draxum

Antagonist: Yōkai Masseur, Mystic Hair Creature

Neutral: Resort Guard

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Neutral cameo that are there: Mermaid Pirate, Bat Librarian

Greeter (Oliver Vaquer) (debut)

Yōkai Pedicurist

Hidden City Police

Guardsman 1, Guardsman 2

Yōkai Resorter #1, Yōkai Resorter #2, Yōkai Resorter #3, Yōkai Resorter #4

10b. The Clothes Don't Make the Turtle

Protagonist: D, L, M, R,

Antagonist: Hypno

Magician: John (debut)- In it briefly

11. Battle Nexus: New York

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A, S

Antagonist: Big Mama

Big Mama Contestants only:

Amphisbaena, Cortex, Sprite, Troll

Foot Villains: Cassandra, The Shredder

Very Confused about how to classify these villains: Meat Sweats, Hypno, Carl Sando, Ghostbear

Reformed?: Draxum

Ally: Todd

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Sloppy Joseph (cameo)

12a. Finale Part 1: E- Turtle Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A, S

Antagonist: Big Mama

Foot Villains

Cassandra, Foot Brute, Foot Lieutenant, The Shredder

Reformed?: Draxum

Hamato Ancestors:

Flashback only: Hamato Atsuko, Hamato Sho

Hamato Karai (debut)

12b. Finale Part 2: Shreddy or Not

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A, S

Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Cassandra, The Shredder

Reformed?: Draxum

Shelldon- Death

Hamato Ancestors: Hamato Karai, Hamato Clan Ancestors (cameo)

Ally: Todd

13a. Finale Part 3: Anatawa Hitorijanai

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A, S

Antagonist: Big Mama, Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, The Shredder, Cassandra

Reformed?: Draxum

Hamato Ancestors

Hamato Karai, Hamato Clan Ancestors

Cameo: Hamato Atsuko and Hamato Sho ghost, Mystic Aura

Ally: Todd, Golem

13b. Finale Part 4: Rise

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A, S

Antagonist: Big Mama-but only helps for Lou Jitsu, Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, The Shredder

Reformed?: Draxum, Cassandra

Hamato Ancestors

Hamato Karai (ghost), Hamato Clan Ancestors, Hamato Atsuko (ghost)

[ruegarding]

Hi! How are you doing? Honestly, I had a bit of an obsession with Will after The Blood of Olympus mostly because he was a blank slate which meant that he could be anyone and anything especially since Apollo is the god of so many things, so I'd look for Will Centric content. And they were so infuriating because Will would constantly hate Percy for "being better than everyone else," "Killing Michael Yew," "Not trusting Nico." Like Percy did trust Nico, and he trusted him with his plan to defeat Kronos (which worked!) Sure there was some miscommunication but Nico came through for Percy. And Michael's death was not Percy's fault. Percy had to destroy the bridge to stop the monsters. Like to me, it feels like Will centric fics use the justification of Will to hate on Percy without anything being resolved, particularly towards Michael's death without addressing the fact that it was war and no matter how tragic it was, Percy couldn't save everyone. Anyways, HOO is fascinating. I've read somewhere on Tumblr that due to the fact that RR overpowered the five new heroes, that he had to leave the smarts to Annabeth. Which is very true and has detriments to literally every other character but especially Jason and Percy, who were essentially military leaders at 15 and 16! And like would it killed for Piper, Leo and Frank to not have superpowers? And did Hazel really need the Mist? I think it would have been fascinating if Annabeth was the one to learn it, because maybe it would have balanced out the whole power spectrum at the very least because RR insisted on giving everyone superpowers. And it's sad how neither Percy nor Annabeth have a perspective in the final book because they had just returned from Tartarus and because they're the characters we've known for years. RR just shunted them after Tartarus and Percy during the Final Battle. He is the son of the Stormbringer, he can literally summon hurricanes, plus if he really puts his mind to it, he can cause earthquakes. Like the Final Battle is where he couls have shined and yet, he did not. HOO was interesting but so much of it was a disappointment.

hi! yeah, i agree. w the way hoo (hoh and boo especially) are written there's a lot of percy bashing for things he didn't even do or things that are completely removed of nuance (thank u rick for that). like i've said before, percy has plenty of flaws, but instead of using any of them well rick made him completely ooc, and there is a definite bandwagon of hate from ppl for it. unfortunately it makes will's character a bit unapproachable in fandom.

annabeth w mist powers is interesting. i don't think i've seen that before. it could extend past being just another power and be a window into how annabeth imagines her perfect world. but yeah, there's a definite power-scaling issue w hoo, not just w the demigods, but w the antagonists, as well.

i think one of the biggest failures of hoo is that it sets up that there needs to be seven main characters—the seven of prophecy, even—and then fails to deliver these seven consistent main characters. like, the whole reason nico, reyna, and hedge end up delivering the statue is bc the seven (as in, all seven of them) have to finish the quest, but then we don't have perspectives from these characters rick just established as necessary, and rick keeps writing them out of the narrative, and characters who weren't even part of the seven come across as more important. it's a mess.

honestly, it would've been better if the seven did split up to bring the statue to chb, bc then, at least, they would all feel narratively important. instead, it's difficult to tell if we have seven main characters, nine main characters, or three main characters w some side povs. this makes it near impossible to have consistent, well-done arcs and leaves us w. whatever boo is.

[miwhotep]

I think a lot about the James Bond universe in Moriarty the Patriot and eagerly waiting for when Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the main antagonist of the Bondverse, will arrive to the scene. As a Milverton fan, I want him to come back as Blofeld, but of course, there are other possibilities for the role. Here, I will write down the reasons why I think Milverton can return as him - because there are more to it that just wishful thinking from my part - but I also list and explain two other candidates.

But first, let's learn a bit about Ernst Stavro Blofeld himself. He is the leader of a criminal organization called the Spectre, first appearing in the book called Thunderball. He barely appeared in the earlier James Bond movies, but he got re-imagined and became the archenemy of Bond, lurking in the shadows during the Daniel Craig era. James Bond defeats him in the movie called Spectre. There, we learn more about Blofeld's past and relations to James Bond what are different from the book canon: the Daniel Craig-era's Blofeld was the stepbrother of James Bond, who seemingly died in a mountain incident in his early 20s, but he actually just disappeared and took up a new name. He later started running the Spectre (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) and kept crossing James Bond's missions. He also tried to legalize the surveillance system called the Nine Eyes - which collects every data of all different secret agencies and governments, becoming a powerhouse of information exist in the whole world - through committing terroristic acts. In the end, James Bond stopped Blofeld and he ends up in prison, later getting killed.

Why is it possible for Milverton becoming Blofeld? While he is not from James Bond's past, but from William James Moriarty's (and Sherlock), but the Moriarties are running the MI6 in the end, so Milverton having relations to them instead of Bond is still close to the idea of the Spectre movie's Blofeld.

There's also the tendency in Moriarty the Patriot to cast Sherlock canon characters into the James Bond universe roles: James Bond's past self is Irene Adler, Von Herder is Q, Sebastian Moran is 006 Alec Trevelyan or Albert and later Louis (yes, Professor Moriarty had two brothers in the canon) is M. Milverton becoming Blofeld would fit into this tendency.

While they are not fully similar when it comes to their looks, Blofeld is also a younger man (in his 40s) with grey-white hair. Blofeld has a cat which is shown a lot of times with him, too - and while Milverton didn't have cat in YuuMori, the Conan Doyle canon's Milverton was a cat lover.

Blofeld in the movie Spectre is obsessed with information and wants to start operating his surveillance system he can get every data with - and Milverton was a media mogul who knew about most things what was going on in London and was also a control freak.

From the antagonists YuuMori gave us, the only one most likely to be smart enough to start an international criminal organization would be Milverton - he already built up several successful companies and have experience in organizing crime, so it is possible that it's him who creates the Spectre. And like Blofeld, Milverton was also a mastermind pulling the strings from the shadows - just remember both the Whitechapel and the White Knight arc. Milverton was also knowledged and skilled in the activities of the Spectre: Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion.

It's also interesting to note that beside what the name Spectre stands for, the word also refers to vengeful ghosts - and Milverton surely want revenge if he survived.

Blofeld seemingly died and came back - and Milverton's body was never found. It could've been just a way for Sherlock getting away from the punishment for killing him, but also, maybe Milverton truly didn't die that night - from what I could gather from my cousin's doctor wife and a doctor friend in the fandom (to both of them, I am really thankful to take the time to analyze Milverton's injuries for me) he can survive if Ruskin gets him help in time (and in Ruskin, I believe). Also, Moriarty the Patriot has a tendency for characters coming back from situations where they should have just died - so I'm not taking Milverton's death as a fact.

And let me remind you a non-Blofeld related fact about Milverton: his company has a branch firm in New York. Is it just a coincidence that Liam and Sherlock ended up in New York as well? If Milverton survived, he most likely retreated to New York: there, he could've learn about Sherlock and William being alive and now working together - that would fuel his anger even more.

The other candidate to be Blofeld is Albert's younger brother, OG William - and OG William is Liam's actual stepbrother. If someone saved him and treat his injuries in time on the night when the young Moriarty group set the house on fire, he could survive, too, and in that case, he also surely wants to have revenge.

The third person with great revenge in his heart, possible knowledge to build up a criminal organization thanks to his employer's teachings and the highest chance of survival from the three - is Ruskin, Milverton's secretary. If Milverton truly died that night, Ruskin surely wants to take his revenge on the people who killed the person he loved to the point of running back for him into a burning house, despite that it puts his life into danger. Yes, if Ruskin is out there - he is surely furious. I wouldn't be surprised if we get to see him again.

But maybe Blofeld will be someone who truly didn't appear yet, a totally new character in the series. I don't know where Part 2 will lead us, there will be more focus on MI6 missions at all and if we would even get Blofeld as the next big villain - but it's still fun to theorize on his identity. I'm really in love with the thought of Milverton being him so if this won't be the case, I will just keep it as an AU because it's too good for an idea to just pass by.

And if you see this sign appearing in future manga chapters, beware: the Spectre is near.

[frasier-crane-style]

Picard season 3 was at least good enough for me to have a guarded interest in the proposed Star Trek: Legacy, but there's still enough there to give me douche chills. Let's rap about it, shall we?

Seven of Nine should not be out of Starfleet Academy yet. Seven of Nine should not be the first officer of a starship yet. Seven of Nine should definitely not be the captain of the flagship. It was ridiculous enough when Pine!Kirk got command of the Enterprise straight out of the Academy; Star Trek did not need to double down and give Seven the same treatment essentially the moment she filled out the paperwork.

I'm not so enthused with Seven and Raffi's relationship that I want to watch Seven Loves Chachi, sorry, Raffi. Folks, it's just as underdeveloped as Seven and Chakotay, people just like it more because it's two hot chicks.

The whole "our main characters are a thief, a spy, and a pirate!" thing is just too ragtag bunch of misfits. This is Star Trek. Not Guardians of the Galaxy. It should be nerdy NASA astronauts, not guy who plays Metallica while driving a Firebird. Just... no. C'mon.

I realize it's an American ensemble and there's always going to be an element of ragtag bunch of misfits, but usually it comes up naturalistically. Geordi is blind and sees with cybernetic implants, but that's just how he was born--he's still a gifted engineer who went through the Academy and worked his ass off to get the best engineering gig in the fleet. Worf and Data are obviously eclectic additions to the crew, but they're still skilled and highly trained Starfleet officers. In fact, part of the show getting better was removing oddball elements like Wesley Crusher (not trained enough and too immature) and Pulaski (too antagonistic and unprofessional) from the cast.

DS9: Kira and Odo were longstanding members of the Bajoran power structure. It was unconventional for them to be part of a 'Starfleet' crew, but it's not like they were picked up off the street. They were good at their jobs and had been doing them for a long time.

VOY: This is the closest thing to the classic ragtag bunch of misfits, but it's justified in that Voyager was heavily damaged and they had to make do with what crew they could field. And even then, people don't like Neelix because he's... unprofessional and useless.

ENT: Similar straits to VOY where Archer has to make do by recruiting T'Pol and Phlox to round out his crew, but T'Pol is a high-ranking officer in the Vulcan navy and Phlox is a respected physician (I know, but let's not get into that now).

SNW: ...actually, I think pretty much the entire crew is just veteran Starfleet officers who've made it to working on the flagship simply by being very good at their jobs and being unspeakably talented. Hunh. No wonder people like this series.

So, Legacy, the whole "what was Starfleet thinking, putting us in charge of a spaceship! This has to be the kookiest ship in the fleet!" Ugh. No. If Matalas wanted to include Seven, Raffi, and Jack in the cast, fine, but I don't like them being the new Picard/Riker/Data. They really should've kept Shaw around to be a kind of Picard figure who stays on the bridge while Seven beams down and gets into misadventures. Someone who you can buy Starfleet putting in charge. Like General Hammond in SG-1, supporting his guys when they're in the right but reining them in when they're overstepping their bounds.

But I really don't like this Chris Pine, main character syndrome crap where the hero is both the authority who demands that their underlings obey orders AND the renegade who bucks authority on days that end in Y. (Sorry, Chris Pine, you're great, but you know--his take on Kirk.)

[butchstrife]

okay quick question: what the fuck is ff7 actually like, about. what’s the goal? also why does everyone i see just look like a person who could potentially have something magic abt them and then there’s just an unironic talking cat. what are the rules in this universe? (i don’t need to know about all the other ff games unless it’s necessary setup, i’m mostly just curious abt the story of 7)

Starts vibrating. This is gonna get so long.

First things first I feel it necessary to clarify that no game in the mainline Final Fantasy series takes place in the same world. FFVII is a completely different world from say FFXIV and so on. Some games have sequels and spin offs, like FFVII having Crisis Core and (groan) Dirge of Cerberus, or FFX and FFX-2. But other than that, no relation between games.

Final Fantasy VII is a more sci-fi fantasy take on the FF series, keeping the themes of magic and adventure, but adding a dieselpunk/cyberpunk twist to it. Overall the main themes of FFVII is environmentalism and identity.

The characters are pretty consistent with the themes and designs of the entire FF franchise, it’s meant to be a little silly. So stuff like Moogles, Chocobo, talking cat, all falls under that silliness of FF.

Now the fucking story, there’s so much going on in this game. For simplicity (and personal preference) I will be ignoring the FFVII Compilation in favor of ONLY explaining the original 1997 game. There’s already so much going on, no need to complicate things.

The story of FFVII follows nine heroes who all have their own beef with the Shinra Electric Power Company, the company who rules over many cities and villages throughout the world by use of their private military. Over the roughly 40 years (iirc) the company has been around, they’ve committed several atrocities against humanity and the planet itself, which is a living thing in FFVII!! It’s very very important to note the planet it ALIVE!!

Shinra has several parts of the company that are important to the story, I won’t go over the company’s entire hierarchy, but there’s important parts of the company that I absolutely have to explain.

The R&D department is arguably the most antagonistic, led currently by Professor Hojo. The bitch is this prick who is over enthusiastic about human experimentation, eugenics being a motivator behind that (not as obviously as say Albert Wesker, but you cannot ignore Hojo is largely a eugenicist)

Then we have SOLDIER, Shinra’s super-soldiers created by Hojo. These guys are experimented on and enhanced with Mako, which is well put by Barret the “Lifeblood of the planet.” Among their ranks are Sephiroth, the most famous and powerful of the SOLDIERs, and (allegedly) Cloud Strife. Plus another guy, we’ll get to him.

Then there’s the Power Company part of this power company. Shinra built reactors that pump Mako out of the planet and convert it into energy. This process depletes the planet of Mako, a resource that IS finite and that the planet needs to survive. The company markets Mako as a clean and safe energy source, in a world that previously largely depended on coal mining. However Mako energy is anything but, where the reactors are built, the native flora and fauna eventually die out, and allows monsters to thrive. Plus, exposure to refined Mako is notably very dangerous to humans, as overexposure leads to “Mako poisoning” which meddles the mind and weakens the body. (So how do SOLDIERs work then? Great question! I’ll get to that!)

The story kicks off with a group in Shinra’s crowning accomplishment, the city of Midgar, called Avalanche. Avalanche is a group of “Ecoterrorists” who are set out to take Shinra down to save the planet. The group is led by our beloved Barret Wallace alongside a colorful cast of lovable characters, Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, and Tifa Lockhart! Plus, the newly hired ex-SOLDIER mercenary (and Tifa’s childhood friend), Cloud Strife.

The group conducts several missions to bomb the Mako reactors in Midgar, the first bombing going off without a hitch, the second mission… not so much. After one (really easy) boss fight, Cloud ends up falling off the upper city plate down into the under city, directly through the roof of a church where he meets our mysterious Aeris Gainsborough!! Aeris hires Cloud as a bodyguard (with the payment of one date with her), as she escapes Shinra’s Turks. I’d explain what the Turks do, but just know they’re all kinda John Wick types.

Now I’m gonna speed through the rest of the game since we’ve met all four of the most important protagonists.

The rest of the game kicks off after Aeris decides to help Cloud and Tifa after they learn Shinra plans on destroying part of the city just to take out Avalanche. During their mission to save the city, Aeris is kidnapped by Shinra. Reason being, Aeris is an Ancient (later clarified to actually be called Cetra), a people who were able to speak directly to the planet, and she’s the very last one at that. The mission fails and many innocent people are killed in the fallout, as well as the other members of Avalanche. After all Aeris did to help, including saving Barret’s daughter Marlene, our heroes are determined to save her. During their mission to save Aeris, it’s revealed that the long thought dead General Sephiroth is somehow still alive, a fact Cloud insists should be impossible.

After that, Cloud is determined to track down Sephiroth and take him down for good, as revenge for Sephiroth destroying Cloud and Tifa’s hometown, Nibelheim. All of our heroes agree to help Cloud pursue Sephiroth after learning what he did to Nibelheim. Along the way we meet lots of other characters.

Nanaki aka Red XIII, a funny little talking animal who was being held prisoner alongside Aeris, rescued at the same time she was. He agrees to follow the group until he can return to his home, as thanks for them rescuing him from Professor Hojo.

Yuffie Kisarsgi (my beloved daughter), a teenage ninja and thief from Wutai, who is on the hunt for Materia (magical gems that allow people to cast magic). She joins the group after she steals their materia and promptly is defeated, deciding she might have more opportunities to get materia if she doesn’t go it alone.

The journey continues as the group heads out to find Sephiroth. Their first encounter with him being on a boat to Costa del Sol. Where Sephiroth leaves behind a limb (I think an arm? I never remember which limb is which) of his “mother” Jenova, and flees by doing a backflip and flying away. This limb transforms into a large monster that then attacks the group. After she’s defeated, the quest to find Sephiroth continues.

They travel across the world, landing in all sorts of unique locations, all in search of Sephiroth and how to truly defeat him. We meet more guys.

Cait Sith (look up how to pronounce this in Scottish Gaelic, NOT English) is a little toy cat the group meets at the theme park the Gold Saucer. He receives a fortune that the group is in trouble and cue my favorite “joined the party” moment in any video game:

Vincent Valentine, an ex-Turk who reveals Jenova is not truly Sephiroth’s mother, but instead a woman named Lucrecia, whom he was in love with. Vincent was experimented on by Hojo and gained the ability to turn into monsters. He chose to sleep in a coffin for the rest of his life as atonement for not being able to stop Lucrecia from experimenting on herself and her son. After he learns Sephiroth is a threat to the planet, he joins the group to stop him.

Cid Highwind is a skilled pilot and SHOULD have been one of the first men to go to space, unfortunately one of his crew members put herself at risk during the spaceship’s launch and he chose to cancel the launch to save her. After that, Shinra defunded his space program which he resented them for. The group attempts to steal his plane before Shinra can and he joins them mainly because he wants to stick it to Shinra, plus they broke his plane and he needs to fix it.

That’s the whole gang! Finally, crazy how many playable characters there are in this game.

Eventually the group learns of the Black Materia, an extremely powerful weapon that was created by the Cetra (shhhh don’t listen to Rebirth they lied to you) as a result of them creating Holy, an equally powerful materia that was created to rid the world of Jenova, the Cetra’s greatest enemy. They continue on a quest to find the Black Materia before Sephiroth can use it to destroy the world. (It’s kinda a Fullmetal Alchemist equivalent exchange thing, to create the ultimate protective materia, the ultimate destructive materia had to be created in return)

All the while, Shinra pursues the group hoping Aeris will lead them to the “Promised Land” a land foretold by the Cetra to be a paradise (it’s the Cetra’s afterlife lmfao, Shinra’s stupid).

Upon finding the Black Materia, Sephiroth finally busts out his ability to control Cloud, forcing Cloud to hand over the materia to him. Aaaand now I can explain how SOLDIERs work. All SOLDIERs have Jenova’s cells in them, which is what allows them to survive Mako exposure AND is also how Cloud was able to keep finding Sephiroth! Jenova, and Sephiroth, can exert control over anyone with her cells and is currently trying to create a “Reunion”, drawing in everyone who contains Jenova’s cells so she can be whole again. Which is why Cloud is inexplicably drawn to following Sephiroth (hahahaha bitch fell for the classic thinking it’s about revenge but actually just being alien mind control).

Right after losing the Black Materia to Sephiroth, Aeris heads out on her own. The group manages to follow her to the lost city of the Cetra, where she attempts to summon Holy to defeat Jenova and Sephiroth.

The group arrives too late to rescue Aeris before Sephiroth arrives and kills her. Jenova appears once again and the group defeats her. They all mourn the loss of their beloved friend, then become reinvigorated to stop Sephiroth.

They go snowboarding literally immediately after this, funniest tonal shift of all time, as they head to the northern crater. They gets their hands back on the Black Materia before they make it to a cavern in which the REAL Sephiroth has been sealed this ENTIRE TIME!!!!

Cloud leaves the Black Materia with [enter ally of the player’s choice] so Sephiroth can’t take control of him to steal it back again.

Shinra also makes their way to this cavern, Professor Hojo then reveals that Cloud was never in SOLDIER, but instead is an experiment created by him, a “Sephiroth Clone”. Cloud is led to believe that he isn’t the real Cloud Strife, and only took on that appearance from Jenova’s ability to read minds (she can do so many things) and take the appearance of others based off memory, in this case, Tifa’s memory of her childhood friend. Cloud reacts super normally to this information (he has a meltdown). Sephiroth manages to trick [whoever the player left the Black Materia with] into bringing the Black Materia to Cloud. Who ONCE AGAIN is compelled to give it to Sephiroth.

Sephiroth is back for real now, and summons Meteor with the Black Materia. It’s a meteor, exactly what it sounds like.

Then literally so much happens. I can speedrun the disc three explanation sooo well. Cloud falls into the soup (the Lifestream, think of it like the veins of the planet) and goes missing. The group decides Cid’s in charge in his place since he’s a ship captain. Giant monsters emerge out of the plant, called Weapons (creative naming all around in this game, probably sounded cooler in Japanese). The Weapons were created as a defense mechanism of the planet against Jenova. But now they’re just kinda freaking out and blowing shit up.

Cloud is found completely unresponsive in a town called Mideel, Tifa elects to stay with him in hopes he’ll get better. The rest of the group heads forward on a mission to find the Huge Materia (literally just materia but big) before Shinra. Hoping maybe they’ll be able to use it to stop Meteor somehow.

Wacky adventures ensue. A weapon shows up in Mideel and causes an earthquake that opens up to the Lifestream, Cloud and Tifa both fall into the soup.

In the Lifestream, Tifa explores Cloud’s memories. She slowly tries to piece together the real story of what happened to Cloud, and to prove that he IS the real Cloud Strife.

We learn about Zack, an actual SOLDIER, who came to Nibelheim with Sephiroth before he destroyed the village. And how in Cloud’s memories, he placed himself in Zack’s shoes. (This is who Zack is and this is one of two parts of the entire game he shows up in)

As they go on and explore Cloud’s memories, they learn that he might never have been in SOLDIER, but he WAS in Nibelheim when it was destroyed, but as an infantryman, not a SOLDIER. He wore a helmet the entire time literally only because he was embarrassed about potentially running into Tifa (he was 16 back then, typical teenager behavior).

Cloud and Tifa wash up back in Mideel, found by their friends. This happens:

(Kidding, this is just the joke I made about this scene)

They go kill Sephiroth. Free Holy, which gets rid of Jenova once and for all and with the helpful of the Lifestream (again the planet is very alive) Meteor is stopped and the day is saved!! The only question that remains is, did Holy decide humanity was part of the threat to the planet? Do they remain after Meteor is stopped? It’s up to interpretation!!! We know Nanaki lived tho! He lived on for another 500 years!!!

Anyways that’s the gist of it, there’s like, way more. You would not believe how much story is packed into this game. And I loveeee it, it’s really good :) the characters are my everythings <3

[v-e-l-v-e-t-g-o-l-d-m-i-n-e]

You know, the thing that pisses me off the most about the Enterprise finale is not Trip's terrible death, or that the crew doesn't even have a proper POV during their finale episode. Sure, these things makes me very angry, but the one thing that makes me see red, you know what it is?

It's the presumption that if the franchise were to be given a goodbye to a not known lenght of time, the ones who had to send it off had to be the TNG crew and none of the other series deserved this honor, as if the other ones - even the Enterprise crew, the one show doing the goodbye - were not worth it.

I'm having a similar feeling watching the third season of Star Trek: Picard, considering they wrote off the entire cast of the series, with the exception of Raffi and Seven. It does feel like once again the TNG crew is kicking out the cast of the original show to insert themselves in there at the end.

But it's not the same because it's a Picard series and Picard was the main TNG character!

Yes, I see this point, somewhat agree with it but. It's not the same. Because this is Picard twenty years after his captain years, and it's about who he is now. We saw him make new friends, a new family in the two previous seasons, and this is now all cast out, as if it was all worthless.

And you see, I'm not actually against the inclusion of the TNG crew in Picard's last season. I think it makes sense to include them; they are Picard's family, after all, and Nemesis left several loose ends. What I'm against is the exclusion of the original cast, when they should have been kept IN ADDITION to the TNG crew being brought back.

But it's too many characters to write about!

Deep Space Nine had NINE main characters (Sisko, Dax, Kira, Bashir, Odo, O'Brien, Quark, Jake, Worf), three main antagonists (Dukat, Winn, Female Founder) and a TON of supporting cast (Garak, Damar, Leeta, Rom, Nog, Morn, Keiko, Kasidy, Ziyal, Martok, Weyoun, Vic Fontaine...) and they managed to juggle it all just fine. More than fine.

But they have to work with much less episodes!

I see this point. It's true; only ten episodes it's not a lot of time when there used to be 26 episodes per season, but you know what? It's still a body of work with almost ten hours of duration. This is just a little less than the hours of the LOTR trilogy, and see the size of the universe and the storylines you're capable of creating with roughly the same timeframe.

If they focused on what matters and if they were to write it well, it is more than possible to juggle many characters and do a good work while you are at it.

Elnor should have been in this season; he could be a foil to Jack, since he sees Picard as a father figure. So should have been Soji, especially now that Data is back; I think he deserves to know he has a daughter. They never should have gotten ridden of Rios. Borg Queen Agnes is very plot relevant, but she's nowhere to be seen.

I'm glad that Raffi has been in this season and its a joy to see her with Worf, but it leaves such a bitter taste in my mouth that her romance with Seven seems dead to me. Trek has a terrible record with queer characters, and Seven and Raffi are the first lesbian couple in the whole franchise (and the only main ones apart of Jennifer and Mariner in Lower Decks), and even if they had highs and lows, at least season two bothered to give them time together and interactions. They barely were in the same room together during this season.

The constantly barbs to the early seasons like the way Troi and Riker talked about their home life, the way they ignore Borg Queen Agnes whole existence... this season seems do disdainful of its predecessors, and even if they were full of flaws, this seems so unfair to me. Especially when this season have such a a weak plot being held together only by the talent and the charisma of the TNG crew, it's really not a good look. The story is weak, it's repetitive, it doesn't make sense when you think about it for too long.

And you know what it's sad? Man, I LOVE the TNG crew. In fact I love TNG; apart from Deep Space Nine, it's my favorite Star Trek series. I prefer it even over TOS. It makes me sad to see them being brought together again so messily, and in detriment of everything the Star Trek: Picard series had previously established, especially when you can see the ways it could have been good.

[prowerprojects]

I certainly wouldn't be shocked if the VS. Nine episode happens earlier than expected in the last batch. (But if so, that will almost 100% guarantee what ending they go with; despite leaning on one outcome more than other. The fact that the Council attack the other verses practically right away, I knew Nine was likely taking over as main antagonist. The seeds were planted already, but it honestly could have happened the next batch or halfway in THIS one.) I just hope everything lands well enough.

Yeah, there were a few moments; despite the projecting, Sonic teased the idea of Nine meeting Tails. Too bad it wasn't done very formally nor in the best light. But I can believe he still might be somewhat curious. (I have been thinking; should the shatterverses survive, would they actually try to merge them into one world that's separated from Green Hill? {Or they just move to fill up the Grim; if it's still going to be called that by the end} Like a loophole that allows both to coexist akin to two planets.)

True, though he did seem to be warming up the affection by the halfway point even despite that: Still doesn't like being hugged but didn't push Sonic away this time, willingly gave a high-five after discovering he kinda liked it, sticking up for Sonic and more outwardly concern for his wellbeing. (Yeah, though it's completely possible they could have met under different circumstances. A two-tailed fox might not be normal, but a fox with multi mechanical tails isn't normal either and probably would have caught Sonic attention regardless. Maybe not to stop and chat, but definitely to observe. Who knows.)

Hmm, now that he does have the shards, I wonder if they'll have Nine be curious enough to give his counterparts another look. (Specifically, their friendships with their groups. Now that he's fully aware, should the thought of having a similar past go through his head. Should he have second thoughts about having companions, or would it double down on his heartbreak? 8 episodes left and I'm more confident in a Tails x 3 episode than one where Nine gives friendship a second chance under different people. Heck, he might build his own friend instead, but I digress.)

Nine as an antagonist would be interesting to see, though I'm expecting halfway through the next third of the season the real "Big Bad" would be tge bottomless pit, so we'll probably get the real Nine confrontation in ep4-5.

Yeah, I do wonder. I'm still thinking of the Shatterverse counterparts as the "shards" of the original characters, and think they would all need to be combined to restore everything, so it's a bit confusing for me how they could exist with the ogs also coming back. Though maybe they'll work something out or I'm just misunderstanding the situation.

Oh, I don't doubt he liked the affection. It's just there was so much and so suddenly, it was overwhelming and stopped him from actually thinking and realizing what's going on.

This is the face Nine makes when Sonic talks about him meeting Tails. His ass is not processing. He kept being in denial until he straight up heard from Sonic that their plans were different, even though he already started to pick up on the signs.

(Well, Nine was trying to be stealthy and Sonic only saw him because he was deliberately looking, and then they were only able to talk because Sonic was able to break in into his lab (because he had the same password as Tails). Well, who knows how that would have gone. Prime Sonic isn't the most observant)

Hey, you know, Nine did say that "the only person he could trust is himself", and he already realized that Sails and Mangey are different versions of him (since he was also able to realize that Shadow is not a different version of Sonic), so maybe he would trust them? Mangey already learned a lesson about how you need to communicate and talk about your feelings, maybe he'll be able to explain it to Nine (I don't think Sails had learned any kind of lesson, the pirates keep being manipulated by Dread with no consequences. I don't know how to connect it to Sonic & Nine's conflict without making it seem like he's obligated to forgive Sonic, which he isn't)

[singing-swan]

Aaaaand Dawntrail done!!

Overall I had a really good time with it! It isn't my favourite expansion but I went in with very little expectations beyond hoping for a lighter expac to have fun with, and that's what I got so I'm satisfied. I think they've also left a lot of interesting threads hanging that could be picked up later (like what's up with that key!!) so I'm excited to see what they do with them. It definitely felt like this expac was a new beginning setting the stage for more.

My favourite thing was definitely how strong the themes were and how perfectly they evolved with the flow of the story. From learning about cultures to learning about their people, to learning about people as individuals and that to know someone, you also have to accept to be known. And only through knowing and being known can you remember and be remembered in turn. How those we remember are an important part of ourselves and we are an important part of others, too.

I really enjoyed the new characters and new places too, the new zones were gorgeous! Though I have to say I enjoyed the first part a bit more as I liked the fun, low stakes adventures and I think that's the part that let the new characters shine best, Wuk Lamat in particular. It was really nice to see her grow through the rite, and I thought she was very loveable with a strong, if a bit cliché, character arc. They set the wol as her mentor, and I definitely felt proud seeing her use what she learned from her experiences during the second part. We basically helped train the new main character of Tural and that was just really fun hahaha

I do have two main gripes with the writing unfortunately, but I'll put them under a cut so people don't have to see negativity if they don't want to.

The main problem I had was the whole Heritage Found + Solution Nine section, or rather the Sphene parts of it. Those parts felt incredibly repetitive and slowed down the pacing enormously. I started feeling frustrated as it felt like I was seeing the same conversation over and over, when it served no other purpose than to tell us how much Sphene loves her subjects and how much they love her, again and again and again.... It was starting to feel tedious after a while. The pacing picked up again once you defeat Zoraal Ja and discover the Living Memory and she became more engaging once she was fully revealed as a villain, but that part definitely hurt how much I enjoyed her as an antagonist. I think she's full of interesting ideas but to me the execution relied a bit too much on telling rather than showing.

The second gripe is one I also had with 6.x, and it's the feeling that the writers weren't always sure what to do with the returning characters. It wasn't as bad as 6.x (especially as they were meant to take a backseat in this one) and we had some nice moments with them, but I definitely got the impression at times the writers are new to writing with such a big cast, with a tendency to overfocus on their own characters to make up for it, namely Zero in 6.x and Wuk Lamat in DT. And while they're both well written, I don't know if any character is well written enough to handle this amount of spotlight put on them if that makes sense? I have friends who thought she was too present and I understand where they're coming from. In the first part the focus on her was normal but in the second part I feel it'd have been nice to have the screentime shared a bit more, especially for Krile who didn't get enough of it imo. The last zone was a better on that front but it's a bit sad we had to wait until then.

Okay, complaining over now. Despite everything it didn't affect too much my enjoyment of the expac as a whole and I came out of it feeling mainly satisfied. Like I said, all I wanted from it was to have a fun time and I absolutely got that. I can't wait to see more of Tural and I'm excited to see where they take the story next, especially since it seems like shard travel will be a big focus and I'm very intrigued 👀

[midnighters-guild]

Soooo, new story from GreyFox? Based on our Everlasting Tales universe! You can read it on Wattpad by the link below.

Art by @undead-lk

The Tale of the Golden Little Lion

Are fairy tales that have been passed down for centuries really that simple? Where was their beginning? What is a lie in them and what is the truth? After all, a fairy tale is truly good only when it reflects reality.

This story shows the moment of one of the bloodiest events in the history of the planet Poena. This is the end of the old order of things and the beginning of a new one. The decline of some creatures and the birth of new ones. The lines are filled with hints and images that will be revealed in many subsequent books.

And a little about the characters.

The Brave Little Lion

“Once upon a time, when our planet was still young and crowds worshiped the gods, there lived a brave little lion. His fur shimmered like molten gold, his eyes shone alike stars, and his claws cut sharper than a sword.”

The brave little lion is the main character of the story. His fur is like fiery gold, a warm glow emanates from him, as if infusing life, but at the same time taking it away. He has a kind and open heart, which both helps him and leads to problems. After all, even in the fight for what you think is right, you can remain blind to the other side of the coin.

The Ice Fox with nine tails

"There were also those who loathed the brave little lion for his bold and wild spirit – the evil overlord in the black crown and the ice fox with nine tails, who wanted to forever deprive the creatures of their freedom and continue to rule over everyone. They weaved insidious plans, thinking about how to punish the little lion and his friends."

Each story has its own antagonist, if you look at it from the hero's side. The ice fox with nine tails pursues its goals, spreading threads everywhere, entangling more and more creatures with them. Sometimes it seems that the shadow of her tails flashes around every corner of important events.

The Cunning Jackal

"...a cunning jackal who mentored the young hero..."

A multi-faceted cunning one who always followed his beliefs. A sharp tongue has always been his main weapon, though far from the only one. Being the mentor of all four friends of the Recreated Generation, he looked after them until their paths parted. But no matter where he ends up, you can't be sure that he's not anywhere else.

The Snow-White Little Tiger

"...a snow-white little tiger without a single black stripe..."

She has always caused conflicting impressions from others. No one could know what to expect, and everyone's eyes were crossed on her. There was always something destructive lurking in the depths of the white eyes. And many would like her tiger stripes to never appear...

The Curious Chameleon

"...a curious chameleon with an emerald crown..."

One of the main character's friends, who has always been distinguished by a brash and wayward character. One of the four from the Recreated Generation. Little is known about him, except for his heavy gaze, as if he saw the very essence of any being and object.

The Wise Owl

"...a wise owl in a gray robe..."

The most calm and detached of the four friends, she always watched them and their surroundings, systematized information. Her calm eyes took in the smallest details while she herself remained uninvolved. But few people can know for sure what is hidden under the cold ice - peaceful waters or the abyss.

[gemwing1988]

Warning: This will contain spoilers for the movie for those who have yet to see it. Please enjoy.

The Swan Princess Christmas, in my opinion, is a very enchanting Christmas movie. While it doesn’t have as much love as much as the original trilogy from most fans, so I have read, personally as a die hard Swan Princess fan, I enjoyed regardless of some flaws.

While I would have liked it to keep the traditional hand 2D animation style like in the original trilogy and some of the character models in CG could have been done better, it’s still not too bad for it being the first SP movie to be done in CG animation if not perfect.

And you gotta admit, some of the songs are amazing! In fact, I even have the full soundtrack on CD for Christmas about 3 years ago. I personally enjoyed the movie’s own take on Hark! The Herald Angels Sing as well Away in a Manger. My personal favourites are Season of Love, Movie Version and the other version sang by Anna Graceman from American Idol in the end credits. The reprise of Season of Love sang by Odette is quite good, too but we’ll get to that later. I also recommend try listening to Christmas is the Reason as well.

And although she’s no Michelle Nicasto, Odette’s original voice actress all the way through the original Swan Princess Trilogy (may she rest in peace 😔), the voice actress who had lent her voice for Odette did alright first try as the Swan Princess. Her singing voice is decent enough. Of course, that’s just me.

The movie takes in place in Derek and Odette’s very first Christmas since they had officially married (whether it takes place before the events of The Secret of the Castle and The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom is left up to the fans. I think it definitely happened before the sequels to the original movie given the Prince and Princess’s wedding anniversary took place in The Secret of the Castle).

Anyway, back on topic, while Derek and Odette were staying over at Derek’s mother, Queen Uberta’s kingdom to spend the holiday with her, Lord Rogers and their friends, Speed the Turtle, the frog with the delusions of actually being a prince under a spell, Jean-Bob and the loyal puffin named… Puffin who goes by the motto, “No fear”.

Unfortunately, the most wonderful time of the year would be threatened to be ruined in the form of an old fool from Derek and Odette’s past who is out for some… haunting revenge.

You guessed it, the ghost of the wicked Rothbart, the main antagonist from the movie that started it all is planning to rise up from the grave to get some ice cold revenge on the Prince and Princess, all the while trying destroy the Christmas spirit. And he’s not alone as he has a minion in the form of a hapless and down on his luck cat named… Number Nine in the promise of giving him extra lives in assisting Rothbart in ruining Christmas for everyone.

Meanwhile, everyone is getting into the spirit of the season as they all decorate the Royal Christmas Trees with Christmas crafted in memory of the kingdom’s acts of kindness and helping one another in times of need, support, comfort and love. According to Rogers in the prologue, each ornament hung on the tree holds within it the very spirit of Christmas. Such a charming and sentimental tradition if you ask me. 🥰

Also, Jean-Bob is still up to his wacky nonsense to convince his friends that he’s really a prince by trying to use the old Christmas tradition of being kissed underneath the mistletoe by a pretty girl with zero luck. His first attempt was to get one of the castle maids to kiss him during an ice skating was a total bust.

After Nine had tricked Derek into opening a strange wooden chest that was actually containing Rothbart’s spirit (really don’t really know how that got trapped in there in the first place but I’m not one to often question somethings until the end of the movie) and Rothbart immediately sets his wicked schemes to action.

The ghostly enchanter’s first act of spite was casting a spell on Rogers and Uberta, turning into bitter and overly immature competitors trying to outdo one another during rehearsals for the Kingdom’s Christmas showcase.

Unfortunately for Rothbart, he can’t cast the same curse on Derek and Odette since they are both full of Christmas spirit. And he hits another roadblock in the form of the cute little swan themed wind chimes Rogers had made for the holidays. According to her son, Uberta always likes to make a special theme for every Christmas. Lucky for our protagonists, “Christmas Uberta” had decided to make it a Swan Princess Christmas.

Title drop! 😁

Sadly, that didn’t stop Rothbart as he leaves the castle to cause more chaos by casting a spell on some of the people in the kingdom to lose their Christmas spirit.

The cursed Rogers and Uberta’s efforts to outdo each other’s showcases comes off ridiculously absurd where they try to one up each other by adding in cute animals ranging from ponies to baby pandas. Admittedly, it does have some funny moments when their feud makes a Star Wars reference when their scrolled up parchments various adorable animals briefly turned int lightsabers and they duelled with them.

Feuding spell gets a lot worse when we hit a Hope Spot when Odette rallied the children from the orphanage to have a part in her showcase by rehearsing Christmas is the Reason before Rogers and the Queen. At first, it seemed the spell is broken but, unfortunately, it was a lot tougher than poor Odette had anticipated as they now started to fight over the children to perform in their own showcases while rejecting Puffin, Speed and Jean-Bob after the latter and the former had previously used them in previous rehearsals. To say the least, being the little “drama king” that he is, poor Jean-Bob didn’t take that very well.

But Odette isn’t one to give up as she still had another ace up her sleeve. She had taken Roger’s and Uberta out into the outskirts of the kingdom to show them an old tradition she and her father, the late King William, used to do every Christmas. Each year, Odette and William would deliver some food and other essentials at the doorsteps of the less fortunate. Now that’s a pure case of Royals Who Something tropes at its fullest there.

As they and Odette took cover and watched the tender and heartwarming exchange between the mother and daughter believing that angels had blessed them the bountiful feast and granting them their family a happy Christmas after, both Rogers and Uberta were moved by this and reconciled, thus restoring their Christmas spirit and breaking Rothbart’s spell. It also triggered all of the people to break out of the spell as well, which renders Rothbart’s magic to greatly weaken.

Sadly as most Christmas-hating villains go, being the Grinch that he is, Rothbart is one guy who isn’t quick to call it quits so easily.

During the antics with Rogers and Uberta, Rothbart had an unexpected reunion with his former minion, Bridget A.K.A. The Hag back. At first it would seem that he had swayed her back to his side for the sake of “old times”, convincing her to remove the wind chimes so he’ll be free to roam the castle some more to spread more havoc on everyone inside. But it was a ploy staged by Derek, who had Bridget be his mole and lower Rothbart into a trap over at the royal stables, caging the ghastly spirit in a giant wind chime forged by Derek himself… with the help of his best friend, Bromley.

Unfortunately, another Hope Spot where it turns out Rothbart had Nine steal one of Rogers’s inventions, a lightbulb which he had begged Uberta to use to the Royal Christmas Tree instead of candles. Rothbart had casted a spell on the lightbulb, when once all of the lights on the tree is lit, his magic destroys the tree and all the ornaments — everyone’s life work on every year — reducing them all into a pile of ash.

And much worse, it also restored Rothbart into a living form and his first act was to kidnap Odette, drag her back to his old lair (which had been converted into Derek and Odette’s new home), Swan Lake and turned her into a swan — again!

It gets a lot worse from there. After trapping Odette in a cage forged from roots grown out from the bottom of the lake, Rothbart plans to turn her into a swan-themed Christmas ornament by using the light of the moon once it shines upon her and touches her wings. Quite a cruel take on all the times she needed the moon to transform back into a human way back in the first movie. 😥

Once again, it’s up to Prince Derek to come to the rescue… with some struggles. As Rothbart has taken on his monstrous “Great Animal” form to duke it out withe the Prince, we face a lot of suspense when it seemed that Rothbart had actually gotten the upper hand and is preparing to make the killing blow.

Just then, Odette starts to sing a solemn and epic reprise of Season of Love, which seemed to suddenly weaken Rothbart. Keep it in mind that due to the Christmas is themed on the Swan Princess, Odette currently represents the Christmas spirit and practically embodies it, thus utterly destroying Rothbart for good.

And to say the least, Rothbart also fails to get the last laugh when he didn’t live long enough to witness Derek supposedly dying after barely stabbing him with the claw on his wing as a last ditch effort to take the Prince with him. And to further the enchanter’s meaningless victory, both Odette’s love for her husband and the spirit of Christmas healed Derek, bringing him back to life and restoring the Royal Christmas Tree and its ornaments, much to the joy of the kingdom.

Hey, Derek’s love for his true love brought her back to life — TWICE in fact! Don’t judge the power of love!

So, Rothbart had lost the rematch.

My only gripe about the movie is that I was disappointed that Nine didn’t get a Heel-Face Turn and tries to under his part in Rothbart’s schemes. A part of him had hoped that Nine would turn on Rothbart once the restored enchanter gloats to the cat he had lied about his promise and twist the knife further.

The only thing close to karma Nine got is that he was shocked that Rothbart is defeated after witnessing the tree and ornaments are magically restored and he won’t be seen again until one of the following sequels after this.

During a triumphant reprise of Christmas is the Reason as everyone celebrates, the kingdom happily made a very special Christmas dedicated to Derek and Odette saving Christmas and proudly hung on the Christmas tree; a very unique act of kindness and courage to be remembered for many years to come.

As fans, we have our thoughts and honest opinions and we can agree to disagree about what makes a great movie or not. While The Swan Princess Christmas may not be the sort of film to potentially win any Emmy awards, I still enjoyed it as well as the music.

It does its best to teach us the true value of peace on Earth and good will towards men and it does have some heartwarming moments, most especially between our favourite royal couple.

Happy holidays to all of my lovely followers and many other people who like and reblog some of my posts and may your dreams shine as bright and festive this Christmas. 😉

❄️🎄✨