#seriously though I’m really hoping they do some damage repair on her plot/character

[wizards101official]

I’m awake again JADE HARLEY SPOTTED IN A SINGLE PANEL DEAD, IM WINNING

[nyx-the-dragon]

A Miraculous Rant

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Chat Noir is a show about two teenagers who can transform into superheroes, fall in love with each other, save the city of Paris, and all without knowing who their partner is behind the mask. Sounds great right? It is, but there's a giant problem with it.  The problem, to me, is simple. It’s the writing. Before you get your pitchforks and torches, hear me out. In this essay I will explain and point out where I believe the flaws are.

Season 1: Oh boy, where to start? Well, how about there is no driving plotline in practically all of season 1. Sure, we need to hash out the world and concepts first, but that shouldn’t take 24 or so episodes! The first three episodes aired are “The Bubbler”, “Mr. Pigeon”, and “Stormy Weather”, in that order here in the U.S. and they tell us plenty of information.

The plot of all three episodes, and almost all of the rest of them are the same. There are two plots in each episode, Plot A, a problem arises or it’s the story of how someone becomes an Akuma. Plot B is the Akuma fight with our Superheroes. After Plot B ends, Plot A is usually resolved, and whatever happens is never spoken of again. Rinse and repeat. The only episodes that stray from this formula are “Evillustrator” and “Origins”. In “Evillustrator” we get practically nothing about Nathaniel and the focus of Plot A is Chloe and Sabrina.

And for “Origins”, while we never really spoke about what happened, we didn’t forget everything.

Ladybug tells us in “Antibug” that Chat and her are partners, even though they don’t really show it. Ladybug claims she needs Chat, but fighting wise, Ladybug always manages to take down the villain when Chat gets controlled by the villian/taken out of the fight. Plus, Ladybug is the only one who can purify the akuma and repair the damage. Chat just seems to be there for moral support and to use Cataclysm when Ladybug needs it.

Season 1 Plot Points: I remember three, count them, THREE plot points that moved the story along. Nothing important happens until “Princess Fragrance”, where the audience sees Master Fu for the first time, and then the old man disappears from the spotlight until “Volpina”, where Marinette meets him again, and we all find out he is the Guardian. Then “Origins” is finally released and we see that he gave out the Miraculous to our protagonists, and gave them no training. Seriously who thought that was a good idea?

Season 2: We finally inch along in the story more, as new characters, potiens, kwamis and miraculous, and new holders are introduced. Hawkmoth’s identity is revealed/confirmed, and both heroes and villain are thrown off the identity trial.

Power shifts to Ladybug as she knows who the guardian is first, gets to pick new holders, and gets to learn about the zodiac miraculous. Chat Noir gets left in the dark, and slowly starts turning into the sidekick some people view him as. He finally meets the guardian, but Marinette seems to spend the most time with him, so the scale is still tipped in her favor.

    Season 2 Character Developments:

It turns out that season 2 is our character development season, with a bit of worldbuilding involved. We learn more about their classmates, including Alya, who we should’ve learned more about sooner, and get introduced to new characters, one of which keeps making cameos. It’s good to focus on other things aside from just Ladybug, Chat Noir, Marinette, and Adrien. It helps make the world three-dimensional and broadens the edge of the Miraculous world.

    Season 2 Plot Points: 

I’ll be honest, I don’t remember there being any important to the overarching story plot points in season 2, other than the 2 parter season finale, Lila, and maybe the temporary holders.

The finale 2 parter is the closest they get to catching Hawkmoth, but he escapes with the aid of the Peacock miraculous holder. They practically go back to square 1 except the fights will get harder. Also, we finally see what happened to Lila Rossi.

    Season 3:

Oh boy, the most recent season. And the cringe and second hand embarrassment I experienced here, oh the writing staff in some of those episodes had it out for Marinette.

“Animaestro”: She crawls around on the floor, wastes food, and teams up with Chloe of all people to ruin Kagami’s outfit! Marinette should have been doing the job she signed up for, not embarrassing her parents’ business by doing those ridiculous things. And then she gets rewarded by being given Astuc’s ticket and gets to sit next to Adrien.

“Weredad”: I get she panicked, but did she have to say she was in love with Chat Noir? What happened to not wanting to lie to a friend? You live there for Pete's sakes, it’s not unusual for you to be on your balcony!

“Party Crasher”: Marinette abandons her friends to try and party with the boys, eventually using a disguise to get in. Marinette you’re no better then the boys!

“Stormy Weather 2”: Was just lazy, enough said.

“Feast”: It’s sweet that Fu wanted to protect them, but he ran like a coward and was willing to abandon Paris to Hawkmoth’s cruelty.

“Reflekdoll”: Alya! Marinette clearly doesn’t want Adrien there, but you just ignore her and pull him along anyway! What if he wanted to spend that extra hour with Nino and you made him feel like he had to help Marinette out? And I‘m not forgetting the fact you ignored Juleka’s panic attack and wish to be a model, and didn’t apologize! Also, they should’ve let Mister Bug figure out how to use the lucky charm. That would’ve been a great way to show that the two are equal, not that Marinette is great at wielding the Ladybug and Cat miraculous.

“Ikari Gozen”: Marinette, you tried to leave Kagami when you saw she was your partner in the friendship game, badmouthed her Alya, and tried to make you lose on purpose, all because you were jealous of Kagami being close to Adrien, who also doesn’t have many close friends. And Kagami, Longg literally said he was going to tell you the plan, but you just decide to transform without listening to him.

“Desperada”: Marinette picking Adrien to be Jagged’s guitarist was dumb, did you even know if the boy could play? Marinette, you can’t focus around Adrien, why did you give him a miraculous!? And Adrien, why did you accept it, you’re Chat Noir!?

“Ladybug”: Are you kidding me Chat!? Ladybug has never shown interest in you before, why on earth would you think that’s normal!? Also, Marinette getting expelled like that? Did anyone on staff do their research about expelling someone?! I’m pretty sure that’s not how you do that!

“Battle of the Miraculous”: Chloe, how stupid are you?

I also have some complaints about “Chameleon”, like, what were Marinette’s friends and classmates thinking?! A napkin can’t gorge out an eye Max! And for goodness’s sake, wouldn’t Jagged Stone’s pet being rescued off a runway be on international news?! Their brain cells were gone that episode.

    Season 3 Plot Points:

Master Fu’s memory is erased, leaving the two kids on their own. This will drive them closer together or farther apart as Ladybug will have more responsibility and need to keep more secrets as Guardian. Hawkmoth and Mayura have the translated Grimoire and they have fixed the broach.

    Season 3 Character Developments: 

The characters we really focus on the most beside Adrien and Marinette are the love rivals. That’s right, Luka and Kagami. Adrien appears to have started dating Kagami and Marinette is hanging out with Luka more, so more knowledge about them is needed. Other characters star in some episodes too, such as Max and Markov in Startrain. Turns out his mother drives trains and wants to be an astronaut. Also Markov is baby.

It turns out Juleka wants to be a model, did this happen because she can be in pictures now, and she enjoys it a lot? Where did this even come from? Regardless, it’s nice to see Juleka coming out of her shell a bit. Also the cheek kiss from Rose was cute and I don’t care that Relfekta called Rose her bestie, that Hawkmoth talking. Also Juleka is the second person, Lila’s the first, to be akumatized three times as the same Akuma.

Speaking of Lila, she shows up in the first episode, and it turns out everyone is still wrapped around her finger over her ridiculous lies. Sure, their class is accomplished, but really? Fans of Jagged Stone know he has a crocodile, right? Or that paper napkins can’t gorge someone’s eye out, especially glasses-wearing Max? She threatens Marinette in the bathroom, declares them to be at war, then does nothing to turn people against Marinette until “Ladybug”. Sure, she violated Adrien’s space and privacy, and got Nathalie and Gorilla in trouble, but that was never specifically against Marinette. We learn she doesn’t want to take the easy way out, instead she lays out this giant trap that would’ve come crashing down if Damocles had actually done his job by listening to both sides, calling Lila’s mother, watching the security footage, basic stuff right? It shows that Lila can be kinda clever, but her kingdom is a stack of cards waiting to crash down at the right push.

We get Master Fu's backstory, like how he lost the Peacock and Butterfly miraculous, plus the Grimoire. Also, he gets a lady friend, who we never really bring up again except at the end of the season.

And Choe. Chloe, Chloe, Chloe. We in the fandom had high hopes for her. From her not believing what Lila’s ‘selling’ to her becoming a better person. That all crashed and burned in the episodes “Miraculer”, “and “Battle of the Miraculous”. Turns out Chloe doesn’t even remember Lila, despite being upset that ‘Jagged wrote a song about Lila and not her’ in “Volpina”. Having Audrey around does not help Chloe’s case, as she tries imitating her in order for her mother to love her, which is really messed up.

The fandom:

Pitchforks down people! This is not, I repeat, not an insult to the fandom. I enjoy reading fanfics, including salt and fix-it fics. I just find it sad that the fandom has better writing than the actual show. It's kinda depressing that people who write for fun are writing better than the people doing it for a job. For example, when Chloe gets the redemption arc the show was building towards. Astruc said in a tweet that Chloe turned out to be not redeemable, which some people have translated as they couldn’t figure out how to redeem her so they didn’t.

    Plot:

Astruc and staff need to actually make strides towards the end goal. The way they write the show now, there seems to be no goal that they are actually working towards. The episodes that will move the story along are few and far between, and as of now, they aren’t any closer to their goal as compared to the beginning.

    Contradictions:

There are contradictions in the episodes, for example in “Queen Wasp”, it’s stated that only cataclysm can break a miraculous. But then Alix’s watch turns out to be a  miraculous, and suddenly a contradiction is revealed. The Ladybug and Cat miraculous are supposed to be the most powerful of all, right? Well, some of the other miraculous have stronger powers then those of the Cat and Ladybug. The Rabbit can travel through time and the Monkey disrupts others’ power, rendering them useless. Why have the Ladybug and Cat miraculous, the ones the bad guy is desperately trying to steal, out in the open when you could use the other miraculous just as well? You could just use Venom on the Akuma and easily get their akumatized item. Boom, battle over in seconds. Sure, you would still need the Ladybug to purify the akuma and erase any possible damage, but at least the Cat miraculous could be safe in the Miracle Box. It’s like they have no idea what was going to happen in future episodes, and when they make a contradiction, Astruc will just brush it off as a mistake, and the show will just carry on as if nothing happened.

Conclusion: 

Miraculous Ladybug is a great show, but the writing is subpar. There are episodes that are really great, and there are episodes that are bad, and make me want to stop watching from second-hand embarrassment. In all honesty, I’m still here for the fanfiction.

[littlemisssquiggles]

Pinehead Headcanons: Oscar's Longest Memory

I’ve been meaning to share this headcanon ever since I discussed it with @miki-13​ a couple weeks back. So in light of the highly anticipated Schnee Dinner Party episode tomorrow, I figured now is a good time as any to share this new theory of mine for my favourite freckled farm boy turned little barn prince.

One thing I've been curious about for this season (or the Atlas Arc in general) is how exactly the PLOT is going to reintroduce Ozpin returning from his isolation. Speaking for myself, I don’t wish for Oz’s return to be just be him randomly coming to Oscar’s aid again when he’s in danger. Nor do I wish for Oz to just magically pop back into the story and instead of having everyone taking responsibility for the negative consequences their past and recent actions have done while using that to make amends with each other and start anew---it’s just Oz alone apologizing for what he’s done while the heroes get away with not even a slap on the wrist.

I don’t think it would be fair if Oz is the only one to apologize. While I understand that Oz made mistakes in his past, our heroes aren’t exactly innocent themselves. On the contrary, this season alone proves that the heroes are no different than Oz in their current predicament with Ironwood. Thus I’m still banking on this leading into the heroes realizing that they too were in the wrong for how they chose to treat Oz following the revelation of the whole truth. I’m still hoping that this experience with Ironwood is enough to finally help everyone understand why Oz chose to handle things the way he did after spending some time in his shoes. That way, once everyone reunites, they’ll be on the same page with one another and as I said, be able to start fresh and rebuild their previous trust in one another based on what they all learnt from this experience.

That being said, in regards to Oscar---one thing that I’ve been saying is that I believe Oscar is the key to repairing the severed bonds between Ozpin and his team. Right now, Oscar is caught in the middle of all this conflict. He seems to be the lone mutual party who isn’t biased towards one side. Meaning that in spite of his growing good rapport with the rest of his team, that doesn’t mean he isn’t willing to trust Oz again. His remark of “Oz looking out for everyone in his isolation”  back in V6 sparked my certainty in this regard.

My theory has always been for Oscar to reconcile with Ozpin first within his mind. From there, Oscar would bring Ozpin out of his isolation and be prepared to speak on his behalf to help convince the others towards all of them making peace.

I still believe in this hunch. However for most of V7, there hasn’t really been much indication of Oscar attempting to reach out to Oz within his mind. So again I’m left pondering on what could be an interesting way to do this given the current plot development we have so far for season.

This brings me to my discussion with Miki. We both shared the same idea of perhaps…Oscar will have an unfortunate run-in with Tyrian Callows. Tyrian will sting Oscar and fall into a comatose state which will then lead to Oscar going on a journey to find Oz within his mind.

Since I’ve been quoting plot threads from the Little Prince tale in reference to Oscar’s story for RWBY, there is a part in the story where the Prince was stung by a snake before he could reunite with his beloved rose on his home planet. The presumption is that the Prince was killed by the snake; though according to my research, the story more alludes to the Prince’s death rather than directly saying it.

So all that in mind, here’s my idea for the next episode and the episode afterwards:

I think something detrimental needs to happen to Oscar again in order for to heroes to realize how wrong they've been about Ozpin.  

The last time we had a CH8 episode as the last episode of the year, it concluded on Oscar disappearing as a result of Jaune’s outburst after he had learnt the truth.

So imagine if …there is a major attack at the Schnee Dinner Party during which Oscar ends up mortally injured from an attack meant to kill Ironwood. Let’s say…Jacques planned to have Tyrian murder all the members of the Atlesian Council who had been invited to the party. That way, in the end, Jacques will be the only surviving Council member and will no longer have anyone standing in his way of getting what he wants. All of Atlas will be under Jacques’ reign.

Let’s say…Tyrian successfully manages to slaughter all the Council members except Ironwood. All because at the last minute, Oscar had saved James by pushing him out the way allowing himself to be Tyrians’ target instead.

Speaking of the General, I’m also curious as to what it will take to set Ironwood off and go into his own downward spiral. Despite implying that he wasn't going to end up like Lionheart, I think we can all come to same conclusion that this part of the General’s story is definitely in the cards at this point.

Leonardo gave into his fears and betrayed his allies to join Salem. And while Ironwood won't sink so low as to join Salem, I think he's more in danger of becoming more like her and losing his own humanity if he honestly considered a 'lack of humanity' as an asset to Salem's conquests.

 The last time Salem struck, Ironwood lost Ozpin. CH7 is the second time Ironwood has hinted at wishing Oz was still around. It's very evident that James misses his old friend and I'm wondering if there is a part of him that low-key blames himself for Ozpin's death too.

Just as how if anything were to happen to Oscar on the General’s watch with the poor boy being placed at death's doorstep in an attack that was meant for James, I think that would devastate James just as much as Oz's death did since he has been spending more time with Oscar; getting to know him personally.

Not to mention, Ironwood did promise Oscar back in the second episode that, quote, “He will be safe in Atlas”. So imagine how distraught Ironwood would feel if that promise were to be broken yet again.

I have a feeling that Oscar may be used once again as a catalyst to advance the third act of the plot. I could be wrong about that but I can't help but feel like one of our main heroes will be a victim to whatever Jacques had planned with Watts.

Last time for V6, I was right on the money with Oscar running away. So…will I be right again about something big happening at the party and Oscar being an unfortunate victim caught in the crossfire?

Only time will tell. However I actually wouldn’t mind if something that were to happen for the episode. Mainly because I feel like should Oscar were to get seriously hurt, it could lead to the following things:

Ruby realizing the error of her actions: The idea I had with this was that, while at the party, Oscar will once again confront Ruby on the matter of revealing the whole truth to Ironwood. However Ruby once again shows reluctance with this and she and Oscar end up arguing over the right call. During their heated quarrel, Ruby says something to Oscar that she will ultimately regret. Let’s say…Ruby reveals that her distrust in Ozpin, blaming him for everything which then leads to her confessing that she may never trust him again.

This revelation greatly upsets Oscar since, Oz is a part of him and there is a chance that he may even become him someday. So by extension, Ruby saying that she distrusts Oz and will never trust him again meant that she doesn’t trust Oscar either. Although Ruby tries to take back what she says, the damage had already been done.

The Little Prince had officially had enough his little red rose’s behaviour and just like in the original fairy-tale, Oscar leaves Ruby with her last words to him being that she doesn’t trust him…right before Oscar gets seriously hurt and on the verge of death. As far as I know, the Prince’s true rose never got the chance to see him again since he died before he could return to his home by the fangs of the Snake character.

And  similar to how the Rose didn’t realize her true feelings for her Prince until he departed from their planet, what if…Ruby didn’t realize how much faith she did have in Oscar until he was mortally wounded by Tyrian and on the verge of death?

 Oscar’s Journey to Oz in the form of him going to find Oz in his mind. Now we can get into the real meat of my post. Let’s discuss Oscar’s Longest Memory:

Okay, so as I mentioned before, my concept is that Oscar is mortally wounded by Tyrian Callows in a killing blow that was meant for Ironwood. After that, Oscar falls into a coma with all of his allies worrying whether or not he will ever wake up again.

While in his comatose state, Oscar finds himself trapped in a continuous loop where he keeps reliving the very last days he spent back home on the farm with his family---all leading up to the day he was supposed to leave with Ozpin to begin his journey to Mistral.

Let’s say…in the memory, Oscar never met Oz. As we all know, Oscar wouldn’t gotten the encouragement to leave the farm if Oz hadn’t spoken to him that first time. And with Oz presumably still in isolation and his presence no longer there to guide Oscar towards his true destiny, Oscar just goes about his days like normal. But the entire time, while Oscar is reliving his final days at home, the way its depicted is that, despite being home behaving like he’s never left, Oscar couldn’t help but feel the entire time like he was forgetting something. Forgetting something important that he was supposed to do. Or rather, meet someone he was supposed to?

I even have this idea of Oscar having a similar experience to Ozma in the Lost Fable during his lifetime with Salem as Diggs.

Remember that scene from the episode where Ozma is looking at a reflection of himself in the window of his and Salem’s home castle when his other half---I believe it was Diggs speaking to Ozma here---asked him “What are we doing?” which in turn snaps Ozma out of his confliction.

I’m imagining a moment similar to that Oscar is looking at himself in the mirror---the very same mirror down in his barn where he had first heard Ozpin speak to him. I’m picturing Oscar looking at his reflection, back in his old farm boy threads, wracking his brain to figure out what’s happening to him and why he felt so strange---like he was forgetting something very, very important. At first, all Oscar saw was his own reflection only for his mirror copy to suddenly ask him “What are we doing?”  

Since Oscar’s current qualm seems to be his conflicting feelings regarding the Merge, I’m imagining a moment where Oscar is standing almost at a crossroads within himself. Like picture Oscar coming face to face with his past self---his old farmhand self.

Let’s say…in his longest memory, the one sure-fire way for Oscar to wake up from his comatose state is for him to leave the farm and start his journey.

Perhaps even in the real world, there is this conflict going on where if Oscar doesn’t wake up from his unconsciousness soon, he could potentially die or something along those lines, just to amp up the stakes. So the others---his teammates, his friends are desperately trying to do whatever they can to wake Oscar up. To make him open his eyes.

Meanwhile in Oscar’s mind, he’s fighting his own internal battles on whether or not he should leave. In his mind, Oscar trapped home on the farm wondering if leaving was the right choice. Because that’s how this all started. With Oscar leaving the farm.

So it’s a scenario where Oscar has to leave but this time, rather than it being Ozpin telling Oscar he has to leave (and not really giving him much of a choice), it’s Oscar telling himself that he has to leave. Like maybe at first, Oscar believes that the person telling him to leave all the time---this boy in the mirror who looks exactly like him---is probably Oz trying to communicate with Oscar and help him escape this memory. But to Oscar’s surprise. It isn’t Oz. It’s Oscar himself---the part of him that made up his mind that he was going to see through on his promise to help his team no matter what---that was telling him to leave. This time, it’s Oscar’s own choice that he made on his own. Not just because it felt like the right thing to do. But because it was a choice he now believed in.

With this idea, I’m envisioning a scene where Oscar is standing face to face with his past ---Farm Boy Oscar back in his old farm boy threads who is actively chastising Oscar for even wanting to leave home since there was no good for him outside.

Basically imagine …Oscar’s past self being the embodiment of all of his concerns for the future; his doubts about himself, his doubts in his place on the team, his worries whether or not anyone actually trusts or even cares about him, his worries about just being ‘another one of Ozma’s lives’ to live and die in vain.

Here is this version of Oscar---with his own face and in his own voice, practically screaming every negative thought he’s been silently holding back from admitting to himself for so long.

“…We were a fool for leaving home. You think they actually care about you. You heard them. They never saw you for who you are. Of course they never trusted you! 

They don’t know you! They never knew you! You didn’t really think they’d accepted you into their group. You never had your own place. To them, you’re just another one of his lives and pretty soon, they’ll forget all about you.

Stay home Oscar! Don’t leave! This is where you belong. At least this way, you get to stay and be yourself again. This is what you truly want. Trust me. Because who knows you better than you…”

And somehow by doing that, by facing himself and hearing himself admit his own fears, it what makes Oscar’s choice all the more significant. He needed to leave. So basically, in a nutshell, Oscar yells back at his old self that this wasn’t who he was. I mean, it used to be and that part of him will always be there because it is a part of him. However Oscar has also accepted the other side of him---the side that he shares with Oz.

So in the end, Oscar makes up his mind to leave home. But not without Oz. So after dealing with past, Oscar goes and finds Oz. The two souls reunite deep within Oscar’s mind. They even have a chat and ultimately, Oscar convinces Oz to return to the others with him. Even extends his hand to Oz---as neat little call-back to what Oz had told him back in V4.

Because while the farm with his family and his old memories of his past was Oscar’s home back then (and not even the Merge was going to take that away from him) he eventually also comes to terms with the fact that his new home was with his team and he needed to reunite with them to fulfil his duties to humanity by working to stop Salem and her forces. So basically the memory ends with both Oscar and Ozpin walking through the gates of Oscar’s old home, returning to the real world.

And when next Oscar finally regains consciousness---as he opens his eyes, he awakens to find himself surrounded by everyone who had all eagerly been awaiting his return. And it is from this moment, folks where the reconciliation begins.

That’s my idea.

I know the likelihood of something like this happening in the canon is not really there. Nonetheless, I’d still like to think that something like this could’ve been cool to see done in the show. Especially for Oscar and Ozpin.  

Most of all, I was hoping for a future moment where the audience could’ve seen Oscar meet Oz for the first time within his mind. We never exactly got an interpretation of what the inside of Oscar’s mind looks like.

Somehow, this squiggle meister is envisioning Oscar’s mental dreamscape being an endless plane of grassy fields overlooking a beautiful sunrise since that time of the day seems to be most associated with Oscar.

It was a sunrise during the first scene we were introduced to Oscar’s character back in V4 and it was also sunrise when he left home and began his journey.

Now I’m imagining Oscar and Oz just sitting in a field watching the sunrise since this was Oscar’s lingering memory of his home. It’s a memory that Oscar shares with Oz, all before the little barn prince takes the old wizard’s hand and leads him back to reality where their friends were all waiting for them.

I think something like would’ve been real sweet for Oscar and Ozpin’s story. Like I said, I don’t think we’ll really get something like this for show. But nonetheless, it would’ve nice and for what it’s worth, I hope you all at least like it as a headcanon.

More Squiggles’ Pinehead Headcanons

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[unordinary-analysis]

Episode 144

Honorable mentions:

Elaine bowing to Remi is a whole mood.

I like that Isen’s trying to help the high-tiers take down Joker, but I sure as hell hope he doesn’t help them figure out who it is.

Why does the art just continue to get more and more amazing does uru-chan have no limits?

Poor Holden was just wanted friendship from Arlo since the beginning.

That picture of Arlo cracking his knuckles was big d energy, like guys, that’s alpha behavior right there. (sorry for this one)

Seeing arlo laying down on that roof looked so off to me. Like no that’s not arlo what is happening?

That picture with Cecile, Seraphina, Remi, and John was so hyyypppe.

Arlo sounds like Claire in this episode and, as a lot of you know, I love parallels.

When Arlo apologized, not gonna lie, some part of me died.

I’m genuinely going to be upset if Arlo and John don’t find some common ground after this. I hate wastes of scenes and the potential.

Loved the theory potential with this episode omg i’m geeking out

John’s ability:

    An important discovery was made by the superhero posse ft. Juni this episode. A game-changing discovery.

    John can’t copy abilities he can’t see!

    I am speechless, I am so impressed that uru-chan managed to add on even more detail to his power. Like yes. Now we know he’s got some sort of handicap (?) or at least a minor setback. It’s a chance for the high-tiers and gives them, gives us, the readers, hope. For them, a fair fight, for us the most epic climax we’ve ever seen (maybe, depends on how John reacts to Arlo [that’s later]).

    But as cool as that is and as impressive that it was that Isen was able to figure this out, it leaves some holes. Actually… not holes… questions.

    Question 1: He copied Isen’s ability before?

Does this mean that Hunter is a visual ability?

John was able to copy not only Isen’s fighting skills like the target thing and whatnot (episode 126), but in episode 128, he’s shown using Isen’s ability to find people by like x-ray vision walls. So that either means:

Plot hole, mistake, or it was written before uru-chan decided to add on more details of John’s power (unlikely because of how it explains much about Claire.

Or: That ability was technically physical and had visual feedback. (likely)

It’s pretty similar to the healing abilities John used (Tanner and Elaine’s), but those are more visual than Isen’s so they’re not as critical.

Question 2: Where does the line between physical and abstract lie?

This is pretty similar to the last one. I’m just asking what exactly makes something “non-physical and have visual feedback?”

Like above, it’s pretty confusing to differ between the two.

I don’t really have any details for this just where does one become the other? I need more details to this.

Question 3: John’s dormant ability?

John’s dormant ability is ability-detection. He can sense when someone is using their ability

He used this against the invisible guy in episode 10 and was confused when he couldn’t detect Arlo’s in episode 72, where John said, “Arlo’s barrier is activated. But why can’t I sense it at all.” (I’m using this as confirmation that John’s dormant ability is canon)

I just want to know how this corresponds to the whole “can only copy what he can see”

What are the boundaries between ‘I know this person is using an ability’ and ‘i can tell what ability it is’?

    This development on John’s power is pretty confusing. At first I was thinking that maybe Isen was a bit off. Maybe he could only use ability that he knew how they worked, but that is questioned by the limits of John’s dormant ability and is completely debunked by the whole Claire situation a while ago, though John’s ability could have totally grown between now and then (or not, he was dormant for a long time, I’m not really sure how that works).

    I’m just hoping (it’s really likely) that Isen’s new theory about John’s power will get explored more in the future and we’ll get more details regarding it and any past events in the comic that somehow contradict or confuse the picture being painted for us now by uru-chan.

    Something real nice that Isen’s theory aided us with was clearing Claire’s ability and the potential plot holes her and John’s story held, which is actually the main reason why I don’t think Isen is wrong. John can’t use abstract abilities like the ‘flash forward’ Juni has, which is very similar (and probably a reflection of) Claire’s ability (likely the most important reason for uru-chan giving her such an ability). Isen’s theory gives a logical solution to why John never did or was never able to use Claire’s ability.

    We’ll see where this inference leads us in the future, but I know I’m excited to see where it takes us.

MOVING ON

Arlo’s character development:

    Everyone’s absolutely raving over this.

    First off, I’d like to point out that it’s possible we’re back on track for the students to think Arlo is Joker. Yeah… not really… :( (I have hope that’s all i’m gonna say).

    But like… this episode.

    Arlo just retook the spot for my favorite character again, stealing it from Cecile, who’s reign was short, but mighty. What can I say, the King’s gotta take his throne (Arlo will always be king in my mind).

    But like goddamn Arlo really was so interesting and captivating to read. Idk. slkefkuhfj.

    I’m going to try to go in order.

    As much as it pains me to say this for Arlo’s sake, I would really love to see the students completely lose faith in Arlo like Holden predicted. I wanna see Arlo get broken. I want to see his core, I want to see him watch as everything he worked for after Rei left burns to the ground around him. I want to see the defeat on his face when after all his efforts and years of fighting to put everything in order, all of it is undone because he wasn’t careful enough with the one person who has the capability to do it. I want to watch Arlo suffer as his one mistake destroys everything he’s ever worked for and everyone he’s tried to keep safe and under control abandons him.

    Too far? Too far.

    But seriously though, do you know how powerful it would be to have the only mistake he ever made be one that completely ruins his life and damages his efforts beyond repair?

    Oilhrkjkjsbhjhsb

…. Moving on

    In this episode, Arlo just seems so lonely to me. When he walked away from Holden, when he was lying on the roof alone. I feel that those moments were deliberately put in to really sell the idea that Arlo really only has himself to rely on. He’s always been the most powerful, has always been distanced from everyone else because of what that power expected in return, because of his duty to lead. Now that’s he’s not on top, nothing has changed. He’s still the most powerful against Joker. He’s still is the king. He’s still the person that everyone looks up too, but who can Arlo look up too. The one person that Arlo was shown to truly respect and admire was Rei, and Rei let Arlo down. It never would have been important before because Arlo was always in complete control of every situation, he didn’t need anyone to look up too. But now, against a force that he’s already lost too, suddenly the fact that Arlo is alone is so significant. Arlo’s been distancing himself from others because it helped him when he was on top, but now he’s defeated, reversing the effect of reclusement. I don’t know. My boy just seemed real lonely. Iukghjksjhfujshgrn.

    Throughout all of this, though, Arlo’s logical mind is still in top shape. That cold and analytical breakdown of a Remi and John fight defines everything about Arlo’s character. And he uses his discernment that Remi can’t be allowed to fight John and turns it into a plan to prevent it. Love it. This is what made Arlo a king. Not his ability to make barriers, but his ability to know what to do and what must be done. It’s what got him to the top after Rei left everyone in chaos and hopefully, it will now.

    By the way, I’m loving the fact that Arlo’s logical mind overpowers his pride. Not many can say that, I can’t say that. But Arlo can and I respect him so much for it, especially because a large part of his character is reliant upon his pride and dignity. Arlo realized that it was his fault that everything was happening, realized that he made the initial mistake that led to John’s brutal takeover.

    And what does this badass, genius, cold, king do? He goes to apologize.

    Still. not . over. This.

    Arlo is going to apologize to John.

    Now, I have no idea where this is going to go. I don’t know to what extent Arlo is going to admit his wrong, or how much John will be willing to hear, so we can only wait

    Don’t mind me lowkey praying in the corner that now because Arlo really understands what John wants and has wanted from the beginning, they will someone become friends and respect each other.  

Oh, who am i kidding

See ya next week. :)

[lunamanar]

What are some of your headcanons on Squall and Rinoa's relationship and how it progresses post-game?

I’m glad you said “some” because the full answer is the biggest reason I write fiction for FFVIII in the first place (I’m just not good at finishing it, eheh). I can do “some,” though.

I suppose the first is simply, “they stay together.” I know, I know, then we can all pack up and go home, right? Nothing more to see, here. 

In seriousness, though, I’ve written plenty of doomed romances. I do not see Squall and Rinoa as one of those. I’m not saying there not huge obstacles for them to overcome, or that there are no possible situations where they would break up or be forced apart, or that there aren’t valid interpretations of them who are simply incompatible. That would be unreasonable, and…I mean, just look at fanfiction.net. Of course they could, and of course there are. But If you’re looking for that sort of drama, you won’t find it in anything I write, and I don’t think it spoils anything to say so. But that’s forced me to tackle all of the “well how do they deal with ____?” questions (and really, that in mind, if you want interpersonal tension and drama, sometimes holding on is the hard option). Those questions in turn have led to a lot of worldbuilding and plot points, which then led to a lot of the other answers I’ve given over the last several days. So to say that the entirety of my headcanon revolves around them wouldn’t be too far off-base. 

I’m a lot more focused on how they grow over time, as individuals and as a unit, how they overcome obstacles both inevitable and inserted in their path by Yours Truly, and how it all affects how they see the world, how they see other people, each other, and themselves. I really like getting into the gritty details of character development for my faves, and they’re some of my favorites of all time, so I love everything I can get from them, whether it feels amazing or hurts like hell. They give me a hearty helping of both, haha. 

With that said, while the game presents a lot of options with Rinoa and Squall as an either/or experience, in most cases I re-envision the scenes so that most of the possible outcomes are true. For instance, my Rinoa initially has a very nice talk with Squall at the FH concert. She says her heartfelt piece, and feels good about it…and then Squall clams up. And Eyes on Me starts playing after the playful jig. That reminds her of her mother, who was quite an example of “we can’t predict the future…” Which saddens her, makes her feel very vulnerable all of a sudden, and when she realizes Squall hasn’t moved toward her or said a damn word for minutes…well, that’s when the other dialogue happens, she gets upset, and leaves. 

I even, surprisingly enough, found a way to make most of the dialogue with everyone reuniting at FH work (whether you sent her to D-district or not, with my end result being that she does not go), so…keep in mind the precise version of the game I’m keeping in my head. It’s already a tiny bit edited, although I really don’t think it’s edited enough to be called AU. Just, my headcanons start inside canon, so it’s probably worth my pointing that out. (Self-plug: you can find a number of these on my DA, AO3 and FFN pages.)

Moving on…immediately post-game, my Squall is a damned mess. He barely survived Time Compression and it takes weeks for him to recover physically. Dealing with the mental trauma will take a great deal longer. He’s having flashbacks, waking nightmares, various sleep disturbances, freezing/staring episodes…the whole experience messed with his head but good. He wants to get back to work, but Dr. Kadowaki refuses to clear him. So, even though Rinoa has stayed with him for the whole thing, he’s pinned in the worst place he can think of being: tearing himself apart on the inside and unable to do anything about anything. 

And Rinoa has her own…situation. Word is spreading that Garden is housing the successor to Adel’s powers (the whole…thing with Ultimecia is not actually that widely known outside of Esthar), and that successor is the daughter of General Caraway, once “involved” with terrorists from Timber. Galbadia doesn’t like this very much and is demanding answers. Although mostly harmless, Odine is being creepy wanting to “observe” her to see how she “handles” what seems must be an oroborousine feedback loop of Hyne’s powers. Meanwhile Dollet is heralding her as some kind of heroine due the version of the story that reached them: that she stopped Adel and broke the back of Galbadia’s army, causing it to cease its assault on their borders indefinitely. Even the people of Esthar, more knowledgeable than most, seem determined to refer to her as “their” sorceress, and are intensely intrigued by the fact she seems to benevolent. So she is at once a villain, a hero, a science project, and a somewhat holy figurehead she never asked to be. She’s barely had any time to learn how to use her powers, so she’s in a dangerously tenuous position with trauma of her own, even without a boyfriend suffering acute PTSD and maybe some other things, too. 

The solution: turn it all off, pack it up, and take a vacation from everything. 

Well, ‘vacation’ might be too idyllic a word, but essentially. Edea has decided she is going to rebuild her house, and repurpose it as both a place for her and Cid to retire, and as a sort of Bed & Breakfast, haha, as the only outpost in Centra, in the hopes that adventurous people will have a starting point to return, explore, and repopulate the fractured continent. The repairs on the main building are already complete, so it’s in livable condition, if only barely.

And, sympathetic to Rinoa’s situation, as well as the only person available to her who has the experience and desire to teach her, Edea agrees to take Rinoa with her, quietly, while Galbadia’s attention is still focused on Garden and Esthar. In turn, Rinoa asks Squall to come with her. He’s doing nothing but spinning his wheels at Garden, not even allowed to arm himself for the Training Center. There are only so many laps and pushups you can do in a day, he needs something to do, a plan of action to focus on. Squall is function-oriented, and denied the freedom to perform that function, he’ll run himself in circles until he starts losing screws and bolts. 

And his new function, alone with Rinoa and Edea at the abandoned house of his childhood: help Rinoa become the best damn sorceress she can be. Be her “Knight,” her partner in coming to understand her magic skills, even perhaps her target, when it comes to it. Use all that strength he’s gained to make sure that by the time they rejoin Garden in six months, she’s ready for anything. 

After some resistance, he agrees. It’s just six months, right? Xu and Quistis can take care of things for that long. 

Turns out to be a long six months. This is where a lot of the domestic problems crop up–among the worst of which is that for some reason, Rinoa always takes the soap out of the shower with her and leaves it in weird places and seriously, what the hell, Rinoa?!–but it’s also where a lot of ground is covered between Squall and Rinoa, because there are no distractions, no one else for thousands of miles in any direction. Just the two of them, to hold each other up or crash and burn together. 

Oh yeah, and there’s a ghost in the woods across the field. It doesn’t seem all that friendly, either. So there’s that. 

But yeah, basically the thing that I think is most important for Rinoa and Squall’s relationship to work is for the both of them to–temporarily–disconnect, focus on themselves and each other. And I think it makes a lot of sense that they both do exactly that. So much has changed for them, so much damage has been done to them and their former lives, even if they weren’t involved with each other, it would be nearly impossible for them to just keep on doing what they’d been doing and recover in any meaningful way at the same time. I’ve seen a lot of fics where Rinoa goes insane because she doesn’t have the support she needs as a very new, very powerful sorceress, and others where Squall regresses and withdraws even worse than he had been while trying to fulfill the demands of being SeeD’s leader immediately after the events of the game. And I think that’s perfectly reasonable. I also think it’s reasonable to just put it all in a box and come back after they’ve done some figuring things out…and maybe having a little adventure on the side. 

I’ve talked in other asks about how my sorceresses have the ability to tap into the life force of other people and even bind themselves permanently to a person for the purpose of augmenting their powers. Edea’s house is where Squall finds out that this is possible…not because Edea tells him, but because he finds it in a very old book that had survived the weathering of the house. It’s the sort of absolute purpose Squall romanticizes, and although Rinoa is afraid of the idea and Edea is flat-out against it, it’s something that holds his attention, an idea that allows him to concentrate and a perspective that helps him work through a lot of the lingering problems even Rinoa can’t seem to touch. 

Even by the time they finally go back to Garden, they’re a ways off from anything like that, but the idea’s been put forth…

A lot of people have already seen the very end of that particular story, because as an Epilogue, it kind of stands on its own: Miles to Go, a comic I did with @skribleskrable a couple years back, caps things off and marks where they are by the time they come back to Garden: uncertain, still a little confused, but hopeful, and ready to face whatever happens next together.

There’s a lot that does happen, a ton of headcanons I could share, but I should probably stop rambling, as this has gone on for quite a bit. I’ve only glanced over so much of it…I hope some point soon here I’m going to have the time and the space I need to stop thinking about this stuff so much and actually get to writing it. 

[briangroth27]

Passengers Review

In Passengers, Jim (Chris Pratt) and Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) wake up 30 years into a 120-year trip to a colony planet and can’t reactivate their cryogenic sleeper pods. As the two fall in love, it becomes increasingly apparent there’s something wrong with the ship and they have to save it, or they and the 5,200-something other passengers and crew will die. This is a good hook, but the film has taken a critical beating since its release just before Christmas. I enjoyed it, though there's definitely a moral question to the film that could either spin things into creepy territory or inspire your compassion (or at least understanding) for the choices made by one of the characters. Your enjoyment of the movie may rest entirely on how you feel about that particular plot point, but I think you’ll definitely leave the theater thinking about what you’d do in these characters’ shoes, and that’s great.

Pratt and Lawrence had good chemistry and were both very good (as are Lawrence Fishbourne and Michael Sheen in smaller supporting roles). Aurora could’ve used a bit more introspection from the writing to balance out the internal monologues (and screentime) we get from Jim, but I felt like we knew both of them well enough to empathize with and understand them. Aurora could’ve also been given a little more to do in the climax, but I get that her skill set as a journalist didn’t lend itself to repairing a failing spaceship (so maybe write her a different one…more on that below). I do think her character was underserved, but not enough to make her one-dimensional or to seriously hurt the movie (and again, Lawrence is good with what she’s got). Michael Sheen makes a great character out of a role that could be very limiting—the ship’s robot bartender—and Lawrence Fishbourne gets a brief but challenging role as one of the ship’s crew who may not have much time left. I haven’t seen desperation from Fishbourne often, and I liked how he played it here.

The ship—the Avalon—looked realistic, appropriately ultra-high-tech, and very cool. Likewise, the special effects were definitely convincing. The humor in the first parts of the film gave it a nice sense of levity, while the third act has solidly increasing danger. The story's pretty simple, and that's fine. Not everything needs to be a complex conspiracy or epic tale told over a trilogy. This is a one-and-done “people vs. the elements” movie and it's all the better for it. I think they should’ve pushed the release date back a month or two, because opening a space movie the week after Rogue One was not the shrewdest box office choice. Fellow sci-fi genre film The Space Between Us gave Star Wars a wide berth by moving closer to Valentine’s Day and this should’ve followed suit.

Passengers is a solid sci-fi movie with an interesting moral question at its center. I definitely think it’s worth a watch, and I’d be interested to hear how you respond to the central moral dilemma.

3.75/5

  MAJOR SPOILERS...

The trailers are very misleading, and that may have put off anyone looking for a straightforward romance in space. There’s not a larger “reason they woke up” and I’m not sure why that line was in the trailer. The concept has enough of a hook without it, and it lends the movie an air of expectation for some grand conspiracy or meaning, when really it’s just about what two people will do to survive.

The twist—that Jim wakes up due to the ship’s damage and then, a year later, wakes Aurora on purpose—seems to be the big sticking point of the film for many. I don’t agree with his choice, but it’s an interesting ethical question: waking her up sentences her to death of old age after a life alone with him since they're 90 years from their destination, but if he stays by himself, he will kill himself due to the isolation. Ignoring the fact that it takes both of them to save the ship by the end, if you could radically change the course of someone’s life to save your own, would you do it? It’s true Jim robs Aurora of her choice in waking her up and I understand the revulsion that comes with his decision: what he does is not OK. However, I don’t agree with the reviews that claim the movie doesn’t treat this like the awful mistake it is: there’s plenty of time spent with Jim alone as the seclusion slowly drives him to the point of attempting suicide and the film never lets him forget what he’s done. It’s always treated as a big problem and it does have real ramifications: he knows the implications of what he did and doesn't like that he did it, while she's justifiably pissed and horrified. When she tries to murder Jim for what he’s done, he accepts it and the movie never allows him to self-righteously admonish her for that. Aurora doesn’t forgive him until he’s forced to sacrifice himself to save everyone—she had truly fallen for him in their year together—and again, I think the movie played that very well. Even after he’s saved the ship and she’s saved him, the movie throws another curve ball to deny Jim some twisted “reward” of Aurora’s love: they discover that with higher clearance, they can convert the medical bay pod into an emergency cryo-tube, and Aurora is given the decision to leave him or stay.

I wish they’d shifted to her point of view almost completely once she found out (and even before then, it would’ve been fun if Aurora wasn’t what Jim expected at all, to comment on the validity of “love at first sight”). There are bits of what she feels—while she jogs, she literally can’t escape his apologies over the PA system in the ship, for example—but I wanted more, especially right before she tried to murder Jim and once they’d established themselves living apart. We knew Jim so well that the movie makes its biggest mistake in not letting us get to know Aurora too. How does she think she’d handle such extreme isolation had she woken up first? She suggests waking the crew up at one point to help, but that moment of desperation leading her to make the same move Jim did is glossed over. They also could’ve had her come to a place where she could forgive Jim before he got to play hero and save the whole ship (perhaps she’d have done the same thing he did), diving into humanity’s more forgiving side as well as its desperate one as part of the need for companionship the movie explores. I would’ve understood and been satisfied whether Aurora got into the medbay pod or stayed with Jim, but I think we should’ve seen her making a diary entry or something to see her thought process on choosing to stay rather than playing it like a surprise to Jim (again, too much from Jim’s point of view). I almost wonder if we were kept so much in Jim’s frame of reference to keep him from becoming the truly despicable bad guy he could’ve been had we gotten inside Aurora’s head after she found out. If that was the case, they should’ve trusted Pratt to do his job and remain sympathetic (and to his credit, he does) while allowing the audience to fully assess the situation. Regardless, I think we should’ve seen things from both their perspectives to retain Jim’s self-loathing acceptance that what he did was wrong as well as gaining insight into Aurora.

The Bitter Script Reader worked out a way Jim and Aurora could share the medbay pod and make it to Homestead 2 alive, and I think that could’ve been a nice coda to the movie. It—and the way the movie actually ends, with Jim and Aurora living out their years onboard together and dying before the ship gets to Homestead 2—are far better options than the apparent original ending, which sounds awful. Let’s not accidentally slaughter everyone on board and then populate a planet via incest.

Despite their chemistry and the believability with which Aurora falls for Jim—and I did believe he truly fell for her too once he got to know her—the romance was spoiled for me by knowing what he’d done. I understood their love, but I wasn’t rooting for it; the facts that he’d fallen for her writing rather than her and woke her up on purpose kept me from fully investing in their love story. That said, I think it would’ve been much worse had the audience not been in on the secret until a third act reveal: showing his time alone on the ship in a flashback montage wouldn’t have been nearly as effective or as emotionally resonant as experiencing it with him in “real time.” I’d have come away hating Jim had they gone that way.

There are ways they could’ve softened the morally sticky aspects of this. If Jim had known her before—if they were married, for instance—then you could play much the same moral quandary of waking her up or not and you’d dodge the “fell in love with her writing and her pretty face” issue altogether. If, again, Aurora had been something totally different than Jim expected, they’d have undercut the Snow White/Sleeping Beauty syndrome and I don’t think the romance wouldn’t have been as off-putting to some because you could comment on that sort of presumptuousness. At the very least, they could’ve swapped their professions. If Jim is the reporter and Aurora the engineer—and Jim has access to the instruction manuals for the pods, as he does in the movie—it’s conceivable he could follow instructions to initiate an emergency wake-up call in her pod with the hopes that she can restore both their pods once she’s awake. His first thought upon realizing what’s happened is to wake up the crew to do just this, but he can’t access the crew sleep pods. In this scenario he’s not a drowning man grabbing the nearest person and dragging her down with him, he’s a drowning man grabbing the nearest lifeguard. When she can’t put them back to sleep, you still have the implications of him losing his bet that she could help…but maybe softening the moral quandary isn't the point.

Maybe the writers don’t need us to keep liking Jim the entire movie and didn’t want to go for the easy answer, or even a softer question. They certainly didn’t choose the method of sharing the medbay pod and just getting older on the ship rather than dying there, opting for an all-or-nothing life together or apart. I don’t think you have to agree with—or even like—the central characters of a movie to make it a good or interesting film, and waking up a total stranger who can’t help you to survive beyond basic human interaction is definitely the hardest and most morally gray choice. I think it's a great question that challenges the audience by asking us what we'd do. So, ignoring the fact that if he doesn't wake her up, he kills himself and then later everyone dies due to the ship’s damage (and no matter what, he can't save the ship alone), what would you do in his shoes? Do you keep to yourself and very likely eventually commit suicide? Do you transport someone to the deserted island with you? What would you do in Aurora’s shoes, suddenly woken up and then lied to while you fall in love?

I think if I were in his shoes, I’d try my hardest to not wake anyone up. There’s a lot of reading to do (at least the life stories of thousands of people on board, if not a full library), so that’ll burn a few years. Does the Avalon have a tv/movie library? I’d teach myself new skills. I’d write. A lot. There could be an alternate take on this story where the settlers reach Homestead 2 and discover the tales whoever woke up early wrote; maybe letters to them, maybe adventures he or she had saving their lives while they slept, maybe fiction that could only be inspired by the things they saw on the trip, which no other human will see. Anyway, I tend towards being a loner most of the time as it is, but I can’t imagine a lifetime without seeing or talking to anyone ever again. According to isolation experiments, humans can’t handle being alone for very long. Would these activities be enough to keep me from committing suicide? Would a robot bartender be enough to avoid that fate? No matter what, I couldn’t forgive myself for stranding someone else. In Aurora’s place, I’d be furious. I don’t think I could kill the person who woke me up either, but I’m absolutely certain I’d be angrier than I can ever imagine being. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t get into the medbay pod fast enough, but I’d also wonder if leaving the person I’d fallen in love with alone for the rest of their life is a hellish thing to do, even if I only met them because they woke me up. Would that be like killing them, since they’ll probably go insane from the isolation? What if their solitude causes them to wreck the ship somehow, endangering everyone’s lives again? Should you be responsible for keeping someone sane and alive when they put you in that position to begin with? I don’t think so, and I’d probably get in the pod.

 What would you do?