#show me ther character growth.

[isforever]

do u ever get conflicted on how accurate ot canon u wanna be bc... me rn.

[woodchipp]

"her actions have shown [how much she cares]" not being backed up by any of her actions throughout the game aside, this summary gets even funnier if you take a closer look at what kicks off the plot of One Day Left - Sunny, Kel and Hero confronting Aubrey at her house.

I have Things to say about that scene, both in terms of how it relates to Aubrey and to the game's writing in general.

Right off the bat, the game uses a milder version of "hell" right before inexplicably making Aubrey use the word itself. Something like

AUBREY: ...! AUBREY: Wh-What are you guys doing here?! AUBREY: GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!!

would've worked just as fine, in my opinion.

This game had three editors, by the way.

When pressed, the first thing Aubrey says about the incident at the lake is a straight-up lie in an attempt to diminish the severity of her wrongdoing. No, her watery eyes aren't going to convince me she's genuinely sorry.

1) Here it is again. Instead of owning up to her behavior at the very least, she continues trying to make the incident seem less severe than it actually was.

2) You "didn't mean to" push Basil into the lake even though he was obviously standing right at the edge of the pier? And you knew he was incapable of swimming? You're a fuckwad.

Accident or no accident, he was in active danger of dying. You chose to argue with Kel on the pier since that was more of a priority to you than trying to save your close friend.

And then she tries to reduce the severity of what she did for the third time! Sure, she does seem to apologize afterwards

but then immediately falls back on deflecting blame, which makes the apology come off as insincere.

Really, I would've preferred Aubrey being upfront about being a prick. Her incessant attempts to blame everyone and everything but herself for her choices don't make her complex because the game speedruns her redemption and we don't get to see her growth, which is also why said attempts become very grating after a certain point.

Aubrey isn't the only character I take issue with here, though.

1) Hero. My dude. Your own brother accused Aubrey of nearly killing another friend of yours. Aubrey confirmed said accusation. And you still dismiss it as a harmless squabble like the ones they had in their childhood days??

Either he's also stuck in his childhood mentally or he's just - and I'm not going to mince words here - a moron.

2) I love that Hero's reaction implies he still doesn't seem to take Kel seriously. You'd think he'd try to be more mindful of his little brother following that furious outburst, but nope. He still seems to view Kel as a rash little child he has to rein in.

One could argue this is meant to show that the charscters are flawed, and in a better story, I'd actually be inclined to agree. I like the idea of Hero struggling to move on from his role as the group's "dad", and I'd have liked if the story forced him to understand he can't keep playing their dad with a situation much more complicated than a "typical Kel and Aubrey fight". Likewise, Hero's perception of Kel as an impulsive, bratty kid persisting to the present day and causing friction with Kel himself would've made for an interesting conflict.

Of course, this isn't a better story, so after Kel and Aubrey's reactions, Hero's shallow peacemaking is promptly (and conveniently) forgotten when he notices the last bunch of missing photos.

Peak writing, everyone!

This game took six years and $200,000, by the way. No, I won't stop mentioning that.

My sister in Christ you are literally wearing her fucking headband. You were also given some of her other clothes, it seems.

If Aubrey's problem was about having nothing to remember Mari by, it's null and void to me because she clearly does have more than just the photos. Not only that, but this also comes off as the game trying to use Aubrey's grief as an excuse for her treatment of Basil, which is disgusting for reasons I shouldn't need to explain.

(oh, and Sunny's just Standing There. he doesn't contribute anything to the conversation at all. he could've been removed from this scene altogether and nothing of value would be lost. the main character of all time, truly)

[ayupimqueen]

My sleepy rant about my fallout ocs i did instead of studying

Warning this is long af but I’m an idiot who likes uploading random stuff nobody reads

Time for a small rant about my ocs their stories and my love for the fallout universe everyone, I cant keep the thoughts on my head so yeah sorry

I think the reason I’ve started to grow so fond of fallout lately is because I find a lot more hope in it than in my life now.

I mean Fallout 3 is a really personal game to me because of some family issues that happened (and are still going on) when I first played the game (we’ll come back to this in a bit).

And now watching the world fcking rot before my eyes and not being able to do anything because despite what people think the reality is that a single person can’t change the world unless the people with money say so

And now when I play this games I just like to feel that maybe I still have a future despite what happens, because now I feel that it’s too late to save the world.

And I see the stories of the characters I created for this world, and how I’ve given each one of them a part of my life.

And then i noticed a pattern of you say.

All of my character (except for one), despite of what happens, have a happy ending related to something I want or that has happened to me:

Lets start with the odd one out: hope who just dies at the end.

Hope is probably my saddest character EVER (she’s suffered even more than my Minecraft oc and I used to think that was impossible) her dad leaves her, she is exiled from the vault, gets hated on by everyone, has the worst luck ever and feels alone always, then thers a bit of a break when she gets a friend but then she finds his dad and everything goes downhill to the point that even tho she has people with her she just feels alone.

I wont go deep on her story because i want to write it.

I’ll just say that from a certain point she knows she is going to d ie somehow, her friends try to stop it but she still dies, and for worse she dies because she wasn’t important to the brotherhood. She gave everything to everyone and people took advantage of her.

Her name is close to my deadname, and I based bits of her story and personality from how I felt at the time when I first played the game and even her looks are based off of me irl but in a “preattier” way that I used to want. So I guess she is a way of showing the shittier part of my life and how it’s kind of the part of me that I want to get rid off.

Then we have the other side of the coin: Reina

They started as an self insert oc that escalated into a bigger character that made me actually develop the other ocs

They are the contrary to Hope, mostly because they are based of my personality, issues and objectives that I have now. Also their looks are closer to both the persona I use online and what I wished I looked irl now. Their name is also just my chosen name but in Spanish and I chose a cool last name lmao. And she is from center Mexico because fuck yeah it’s my country lmao

Reina also has many issues, as their backstory is the exaggerated version of my mommy issues, but instead of a regular mom- genderless offspring thing i go trough Its a Evil selfish ahole rich mom vs rebel “daughter” who is neglected and abused. But the thing I like to focus on while thinking of their story, and the thing that is closer to my actual life, is her search for love.

They were raised by neglecting parents that litterary saw them as a “economic opportunity”, marring them to a narcissistic guy and shattering al their dreams.

Then they forget all of that thanks to the power of the script and amnesia trope and they get to meet Hancock, who ends up loving them and have character growth and all that jazz. (I’m writing the fic I swear I just don’t get to concentrate)

In the end Reina gets to be happy, as they represent the me I am today, while Hope dies as she is one of my most horrible moments. Both being an exaggerated version of what I lived because I’m a sucker for angst and hurt/confort stories.

Then is the sexy af middle ground i call Rose Garza.

She is a bit of a miscellaneous character, i made her from the north of Mexico because I lived there as a child and her design was just me creating a character based on some of the things I consider attractive and her personality is like the silly part of me.

The sad part of her strory isn’t based of something that happened to me or similar but something that works more for her character.

The one issue I gave her based on me is that she wants to have friends but she is either abandoned forgotten or legged out.

She also has the thing of finding a loved one but in a different people only like her for her looks way, but that doesn’t happen to me so yeah.

She is the silly one of the group I guess.

I can’t rant on Venus and Mars yet because I haven’t finished the first two games and I don’t even have the final name for my fallout 74 oc( they are totally hailing mothman tho lmao)

So yeah that my rant, im sleep deprived so sorry you all have to deal withe the parasites in my head lmao

[storm-driver]

ep 18 : it took them so long to do another valerie episode, considering public enemies happens before this one? and you'd think they would show valerie somewhere in the episode at least trying to fight back against the ghosts, or defame phantom when he makes his public appearance?

i went to go check and these two episodes do have different writers credited for them, so maybe they were written without addressing the other writing teams? public enemies seems like such a huge deal in the story-beat department though, and im starting to think it was just the writers forgetting valerie was a character when they were putting it together.

skulker showing up again to hunt both valerie AND danny puts on a fun twist. it's interesting to see valerie TRY to understand ghosts after she watches the ghost boy do something at her request. even funnier is when she INSTANTLY starts freaking out in the ghost zone and disolocated danny's shoulder bc they're cuffed to each other, and she's physically strong enough to just throw his scrawny ass all over the place.

she looks like a sad puppy, omf this poor girl.

though valerie took a while to come back, she does seem to be doing her own thing in the background. there's tons of ectoplasm samples in her apartment, she's physically training to keep herself ready to hunt. she even claims that her role as a hunter is a job in itself, much how danny thinks of himself as amity park's protector.

danny had every reason to assume this was the reason she was shafting their school project, considering just how little valerie gives in understanding ghosts (he literally calls her an ectophobe, which is a hilarious term to just THROW IN). it's nice to see she has some more depth than her hatred for ghosts though. she's trying to make ends meet while balancing her self-imposed role to keep the town safe from ghosts. it's a shame we're only seeing this now, after several episodes since her debut as the huntress. but i chalk that up to the writers coming up with episodes conceptually before trying to make an overarching plot.

okay the B plot with the flour sack project didnt really concern me that much, but i have to mention it because the scene with tucker and sam fighting over who's gonna be the parent for their "kid" had me FLOORED. HE FUCKING KISSES SAM AND THEN REALIZES WHAT HE DID. THWE LOOK ON SAM'S FACE, I WAS BLOWING A FUCKING GASKET DUDE.

it isnt even like, either of them got flustered. they were both SHOCKED. these two are a ship waiting to happen.

valerie admitting that she never really thought of ghosts as sympathetic just further cements her as one of the better characters of this show. she's still hesitant to trust ghosts, but agrees that she didn't really put in the effort to know them before hunting them all down. and in her defense, the only two we've seen her interact with before now was danny and cujo. the latter of which was sorta destroying everything, while danny was unfortunately there and unable to control the situation. i know her growth here continually gets turned back to distrust, but she doesn't have super solid reasons to believe every ghost is like phantom.

i know they're enemies for the drama, but i do have to wonder if there was a different route the writers were originally gonna go with regards to phantom and the red huntress. like maybe phantom was gonna be the only ghost she trusted, and danny would have to show her not every single ghost is bad, just a handful of them. which has me thinking about stuff for the second visual novel coming out next year, maybe the author will broach that idea? i dunno, just spitballing again

there's stuff with valerie that i KNOW im forgetting and ill remember as i go. but it's surprising me to see this kinda recognition for friendly ghosts this early on, especially cause i know how violent she gets towards danny in other episodes. particularly d-stabilized, when she literally kidnaps him and tortures him while pleading for valerie's help. there's shit that happens between then and now, but it's wild to think that's where we're gonna end up. not that it's bad! im not a fan of back and forth conflicts like these normally, but valerie is such an interesting character that all on her own, she makes up for the inconsistency.

fine episode, valerie was in it, and thus it was good. i laugh watching her throw danny around like a pool noodle.

yknow what I'm cataloging my feelings as i rewatch every danny phantom episode, here we go

[brw]

Could I get a Hank Pym reading list? Please and thank you.

Hello & of course! I've written a few different reading lists in my time but I'll make an updated one for ease of access & such!

Avenger Origins: Ant-Man & the Wasp – a really good origin interpretation with Stephanie Hans on art.

Age of Ultron #10 – you can read the whole event if you want but to be honest Hank isn't actually in it that much except Wolverine stabs him or whatever. It goes through his childhood & background & marks the beginning of what I imagine was a very ambitious plan by Waid but then Remender happened. Still, a formative comic for Hank & one of my all time single issues of anything ever.

Ant-Man: Season One - another origin of Hank, going towards his growth to being Ant-Man. This isn't technically canon I don't think, but it's super interesting as it very clearly & explicitly intends to depict Hank as a mentally ill man & does so fairly well? Plus Bill Foster is there & I love Bill Foster.

Tales to Astonish #27, #35 - #52 – these are Hank's Tales to Astonish issues, you obviously don't have to read every single one but I really enjoy them, they're super serialised so you can read every issue as a stand-alone which makes it incredibly rereadable for me. Hank does keep appearing in those issues up until #70 so you can keep reading but at that point he's having a lot of team ups and ends up only being in like half the issue.

Fantastic Four #16 - #17 – this is more FF based obviously, but I enjoy it and find it cute as a two-parter. Establishes his relationship with the FF & begins my headcanon that he joined ReedSue once as a third.

Thor: the Mighty Avenger #3 – this is set in the Tales to Astonish days & is quite fun! Hank & Janet & Thor get into some shenanigans & it's good going. Samnee who draws really likes Hank & Jan & it shows a lot in this issue. Hank explicably uses his helmet to control a police officer which he has never done before or since, which I think is a cool application & he should do it again.

Marvel Feature #4 - #11 (I think) – this was an attempt at recreating the Tales to Astonish success but kinda failed, but it's cute & I really like it as a weird obscure story. Hank has a hyperintelligent super dog that Janet got him which was fun. It's chaotic and at one point Janet is a mutant wasp who tries to eat Hank don't worry about it. But it is good.

Now, obviously he has a lot of appearances in Avengers V1 & WCA V2. To be honest I think a lot of stuff evolves over time? So if you want to see the development of his character in Avengers up until he properly departs in #230, just read that continuously. I honestly can't name a lot of issues there where I'd rec for him specifically, because he's sharing space with SO many other characters. He has a little more to do in WCA so here's are some issues, to be honest I can't even remember when he joins but it's fairly soon into the series, his stuff with Ultron starts in #4 - #7 & stuff kinda just happens to Hank including flirting with Tigra until his life falls apart (again) and he attempts suicide in #17. It's an interesting study of him & I think Englehart does it justice. He shows up in that series pretty continuously & starts superheroing again with them & is in almost all of Avengers: West Coast too, so feel free to check that out although don't take what you see of Wanda, Simon & Vision to heart imo.

Marvel Double Feature: Giant-Man or Avengers #379 - #383 – I have never been able to find a scan of this comic online, you might have more luck on the official marvel unlimited app but there is an Ant-Man/Giant-Man: Growing Pains collection comic that brings together a lot of his vital stuff where this series is printed along others. It's honestly insane & I won't lie I got confused at the plot reveal but it's incredibly fun. Hank fucked up a science thing and has to fight big massive bugs and keeps going on these long monologues about how much his life sucks and how much he needs therapy while fighting massive bugs it's so funny. The Kree are there for some reason & Bill Foster is there! A confusing but fun time.

Ant-Man's Big Christmas – a festive comic about Hank & Janet terrorising a young boy's family on Christmas because he sent them a letter. Their dyanmic is so cute here & I like how playful Hank is in it :>

Avengers Academy – Hank is a teacher here looking after a bunch of young up n coming superheroes & I actually really like him in this role. Like he's clearly flawed & doesn't know what he's doing but he also does really resonate with some of those kids. Reptil mentioned him as one of the big heroes in his life so he clearly had an impact. There's a lot of stuff with the kids which is tedious at times if you're not into them but the Hank & Tigra stuff is so sweet.

Avengers: A.I. – this is probably my most formative depiction of Hank in comics. This is the one that establishes his bipolar disorder & is pretty sensitive about how it's depicted? Sam Humphries clearly has a strong vision for this Hank & it's a super refreshing direction IMO. plus he hangs out of Vision & Victor Mancha which is great.

Ant-Man V3 – Al Ewing's 4 issue 60 year anniversary has Hank from Tales to Astonish team up with all subsequent Ant-Men to fight Pymtron, which was fun & cool for the most part!

Don't read anything with Dan Slott or Bendis' names attached IMO, certainly not until you have a super firm understanding of the guy bc these comics he appears in under them are genuinely just so fucking bad.

I'll cap it off here, he appears in other stuff too like Beyond! & Avengers Forever & has a weird arc in Kurt Busiek's Avengers where past Yellowjacket kidnaps Hank but I think Busiek forgot & I can't remember if that ever got resolved? Don't worry about it bascially. But this is some issues I consider formative or otherwise important & major to Hank so I'll keep it here. If you're interested in reading every issue of his ever or something, you can check out the travis-starnes cmro site where he has collected every issue of every character, including Hank's 👍

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Emily’s Second Appearance on TTD This Season

Okay, I've been saying that I would talk about Emily's appearance on TTD last Sunday. Not really any massive TD smoking guns that we can point to, but I am side, eyeing a few things.

Of course, we hoped we might actually see Beth in ep 16 and perhaps that's why Emily was on TTD, but that was not the case. It doesn't change the fact, though, that this is the second time in a single season she's appeared there. I'm going to show you that a lot of the questions she was asked seemed to be trying to remind us of Beth in some way. So, I still think that she was purposely put on to remind us of Beth and Beth’s arcs.

I'll just go over the questions that she was asked directly, and the suspicious things she said.

The first question they asked her was which sibling pair in the show reminded her of Beth and Maggie. She said it was Max and Mercer because they have very different mentalities and very different approaches to things. Yet, they always have each other's backs.

I was thinking that Eugene and Max are parallels to Beth and Daryl. But really, because of symbols I’ve pointed out, so are Mercer and Princess. So, it’s interesting that she chose them as her answer.

The next question was more suspicious. Chris asked her what she thought of the different romances that are blooming and show right now. By that, he meant Max/Eugene and Princess/Mercer. Again, perhaps it seems to be an innocuous question, but it’s very interesting to me. They asked her and only her about the relationships. Emily basically just said she thought it was great and, "I always love a good romance." Hmmm. A hint for the future, perhaps?

Then they also asked her if Beth would be surprised at Daryl being a parent. Again, I have to laugh at this and just sort of side-eye it. I suppose it makes sense to ask her, since neither of the other two actor’s characters were around when Beth was on. But it's not like everybody doesn’t know who Daryl is. I mean, he basically became a parent back in S9/10 to Lydia. So why haven't they asked this before, or of any other guest?

Emily replied that she thought yes, Beth would be surprised, because when Beth knew him, he was such a loner. He's had a lot of growth and now has a family and is actually responsible for other people, including children. So again, I feel like this is a foreshadow of the future. They not only wanted to remind us of Beth and Daryl's relationship and where Daryl was with his character back in S4, but I'm kind of thinking we’ll actually get to see Beth be surprised at Daryl's current role in Rick's family.

They also asked her what she would want to see in the Maggie/Negan spinoff. She didn't have a particular answer for this, but just said that she wasn't sure, and she wanted to know how Maggie and Negan would end up going off together. I think that's a question most of the fandom has. If we’re abiding by the same theme of them foreshadowing things or suggesting things, this is them very much entangling her with the Maggie/Negan spinoff.

They asked her why she thought Lance offered Leah a job. Emily said there was really known better than Leah in Lance’s mind because she is so hell bent on revenge and she thought Lance would recruit Leah into his army.

Then Chris asked for her reaction to Zeke starting a secret hospital. Emily basically just said that it was great and fun and really noble. The reason this one jumped out at me is because of the hospital setting. Even though there's not a lot that’s TD about this question, and Emily's answer wasn't terribly suspicious, I felt like the purposely asked her question with the word ‘hospital’ in it.

Like, “Emily…hospital?”

They’ve been doing throwbacks to earlier TTD episodes, which means they just show clips from past years on the show. For last night’s, they used an episode that Josh McDermitt (Eugene) and Stephen Yeun (Glenn) were on from S4/2014. If I really wanted to go deep, I might say both of those (Glenn and Eugene) are both proxies Beth, but we will go there. Mostly I was just suspicious that they did a throwback to S4.

Low key head canon: Norman is on TTD next week. Here's hoping they do a throwback to the TTD after Still that he and Emily were on.

The other reason the throwback is kind of suspicious is that in it, the guest from the crowd asked what each character’s apocalypse catchphrase would be. It was funny it to watch the actors try to come up with things. But then once they had shown the throwback scene, Chris asked Emily, Paolo Lazzaro, and Ian Anthony Dale what their catchphrases would be.

So, this is what seems very contrived to me. Not in a bad way; just in a planned way. It's obvious they knew this question was coming because they all had catchphrases ready to go. They were very character specific and very fun. But you can see that if this question was specifically asked, then that throwback scene was purposely used so they could ask it.

Emily said that she used Finding Nemo as an inspiration (ocean theme; fish theme; someone who's lost and must be found again and reunite with their family) and instead of, "keep on swimming,” which is in Finding Nemo, she said, "keep on singing."

Yes, it's a classic Beth line. So, once again, it's probably not suspicious to most of the fandom. But…doesn't saying that as her catchphrase suggested Beth did keep on singing?  👀

In the next question she was asked as if she would be willing to steal information for Eugene, as he asked Max to do. Emily said, "Yes. For the greater good." She then went on to say she wished that they could all just find some peace and not have trouble for a while. But now we have her being associated with stealing secret information from a bigger organization to help TF. (Something we kind of already think Beth will do with the CRM in order to help TF.) And then she said, "for the greater good." Which is a Grady theme.

Finally, they asked her for her reaction to Leah going after Maggie (what they showed in the sneak peek for ep 16). Emily said that's exactly what she thought Lance was going to do, but that Maggie is tough and will put up a major fight. And when asked who would win between Maggie and Leah, she said, “Maggie, hands down.”

So again, I think that she was put in this episode to remind us of Beth in many ways and perhaps foreshadow what will happen with Beth when she returns to the show.

Anyone notice anything I missed?

[applejackofalltrades]

Why Do I Like AppleDash So Much?

Literally nobody has ever asked me this but I'm going to answer this question anyway.

Intro: How I Got Into My Little Pony

Imma be real. The reason I started watching the show is because some of my old Twitter mutuals were interacting with posts about the Friendship Is Magic 10th anniversary. Some of them were talking about Rarijack and how it was a good ship, and others were discussing the implied canonicity of Appledash.

I had, at the time, just finished catching up on The Owl House that had recently been in the process of finishing up season one or had just gone into hiatus (can't remember which) and I was losing interest in my old hyperfixations fast.

See, I do this thing where I get really REALLY invested in a show and then as soon as it ends or as soon as I absorb every bit of media in it, I lose some of the interest or it fades. I don't usually lose full interest. For example, I still love She-Ra (my last big fandom) and I'm obviously still invested in The Owl House, but ever since both of those shows ended/stalled, I was desperately needing something to distract me from the trials and tribulations of my will to live that my daily life often forced upon me.

As you can guess, ponies was my solution.

I went into the show with a Rarijack mindset, but knowing that Appledash existed. I guess my mutuals just really liked Rarijack. I decided to give season one a chance. Actually, I felt quite silly for even deciding to watch the show. You see, back in 2018, I was still quite... trivial about watching anything that was seen as "girly". I didn't really have any problems with watching cartoons (ie. V*ltron, Steven Universe, Avatar, Pokemon etc.) but it was the fact that a show was "girly" that made me iffy. I had a very fragile masculinity, okay?

Anyway, so I actually was really afraid to watch She-Ra, even though the teaser images and trailer looked good. But I did and I decided that even "girly" shows could be good and that I was silly.

But, oh boy, cringe culture really messed with me. In mid/late 2020, I was ashamed to watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I said I'd watch one season just so I could laugh at it. I wanted to watch it as a joke, and who knows, maybe I found a guilty pleasure to watch while I waited for The Owl House to come back?

I loaded up Netflix and I hit play. Instantly, I was cringing at myself. Can you blame me? Early season MLP was obviously meant for kids. Not that it was immature or bad, but it was definitely a kid's show, especially considering the iconic storybook opening of episode one.

I watched the episodes, but they mostly were just background noise as I did other things. I remember watching them, but I was indifferent, although frustrated that I found myself chuckling at a few of the jokes and quips. I wasn't that invested, though. I thought Twilight was boring, Rarity obnoxious, Pinkie annoying, Fluttershy frustrating, and Rainbow Dash infuriating. I didn't really mind Applejack, I mostly kinda just thought she was the best one. (Nothing's changed, eh?)

And then....

Fall Weather Friends

Season One Episode Thirteen rolled around.

It starts (as y'all know) with Rainbow Dash and Applejack throwing horseshoes.

I don't know why, but this caught my attention. Of course, being only a few episodes after Look Before You Sleep, I had Rarijack on the mind. But I did think that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were probably good friends and would make for an interesting pairing, and a more interesting episode given their similarities, but also their differences.

I found myself fully watching this episode, and I dare say, it's the episode that dragged me fully into the show.

Maybe it's because I see myself in both of them in a way. Maybe that's why I connect so much with the pair, but them having an episode together? That was really good for me. I wasn't in the best state of mind, and something about seeing two characters that were in some ways reminiscent of myself interact and argue and have an endearing episode together made me smile.

It was then that I discovered the simple amazingness of AppleDash.

I mean, who doesn't love obnoxious, competitive girlfriends that are both prideful and headstrong?

I know I love it.

Anyway, so at that point, my mind kinda just clicked and I decided that my OTP was AppleDash. However, poly rights and Applejack has two front hooves *cough* Rarijackdash *cough*

But yeah so that's how I got into AppleDash. Fall Weather Friends, which was kinda the episode that made me love MLP.

How That Progressed

Well, obviously, I still love that ship I mean I live for it. If I could have any one single ship it'd be them. It just kept getting better and better as the show progressed, I mean their dynamic is great whether you want to see it platonically or romantically. They have a lot in common right off the bat (example, they are both incredibly stubborn, though AJ would take the cake for that) and seem to be close (I mean right from episode one they appear to already have a pre-established friendship), but they're also different. Applejack is a hard worker all of the time with anything she does, while Dash tends to be lazy but can be extremely driven when she is motivated (for example, when she wants to achieve her Wonderbolts dream). Applejack is immensely caring and family-oriented and does things for the good of everypony, while Rainbow Dash can be kind of a jerk and not mindful of her actions when she's wrapped up in the stuff she's doing for herself (not to say she isn't caring, but she tends to be kind of an ass, even to Fluttershy sometimes).

Their growth was immensely fun to watch and as time went on, they shared more and more screentime together. Even if it's not an episode that revolves around them, whenever one of them is in frame, most of the time the other is close by, and they often stand next to each other.

Now, in terms of why they work in the show's canon (in my opinion, either romantically or platonically, they do make a great pairing):

They are both competitive and enjoy competing with each other, though they know (especially after FWF when they've taken it too far)

They watch out for each other (AJ often holds Rainbow Dash back when she's about to rush into danger, especially in early seasons, and Dash always lifts AJ out of danger first [the two examples I can think of off the top of my head are in Best Gift Ever and My Little Pony: The Movie])

Their personalities even each other out. (AJ is a lot more calm than RD, and while they can both get worked up, Applejack is usually the calm one)

Their colour schemes are literally complementary. (AJ's coat is orange while Rainbow's is blue. AJ's eyes are green while RD's are pink/red).

They share a lot of cute moments. (You can just look these up)

THEY'RE HECCING CUTE.

AND FINALLY

I mean fuck, the finale. They're literally canon, you cannot tell me otherwise. It was absolutely intended and you cannot prove otherwise. (read the script notes l o l "we actually could do sort of a subtle wink to the idea that they are now a couple???" < RE Appledash). They live together, they have domestic arguments about chores, they are always giving each other fond looks throughout the episode, always standing next to or near each other, and well we all know Rainbow's iconic hoof on AJ's head in the last shot of the show.

Ashleigh Ball really was the OG shipper and fuck it, she was right. We all know they are in love, she knows they are in love. The only reason they couldn't explicitly state it in the show is probably bc Hasbro would have been against that at the time (I mean, Lyrabon had to be very subtle but hey we gottem).

Oh and, I know this isn't exactly canon canon, but it is an official game: The My Little Pony Magic Princess app. Future AJ and RD's descriptions allude to them being together.

You could negate this and say that this is just them being friends but I mean... come on. Come on. Sweet Apple Acres is Apple family land, and the only people who live there as of The Last Problem are Apples. (AJ, Sugar Belle and Big Mac and their foal, and you guessed it... Rainbow Dash).

You cannot tell me that they aren't canon. You'd really have to be grasping at straws because all the signs are there. They had build up, development, and it just makes sense.

If you don't think it makes sense... did we watch the same show??? It absolutely makes sense.

Anyway, AppleDash is canon. :)

[vegeta-tails]

Sai being a married man & dad surprised me. I wish we would see more of Sai in his 20s post Inojin like we did with Sakura post Sarada. We nearly went straight to Sai in his 30s completely. Naruto’s hokage ceremony takes place in July. Based on Inojin & Himawari’s height, there’s evidence Inojin is like 7 & Sai is about 29 in Naruto’s hokage ceremony. We get to read fewer stuff about Sai when he’s in his 20s post Inojin in the novels(His marriage prejudices from villagers & small Boruto etc..)

Hello anon! Glad to see your Sai asks again! I am deeply sorry for the time it took for me to reply, I am a little busy those days I feel very honored for your asks, Sai is a great man a great ninja an absolutely perfect husband and a 100/10 dad! I agree with you 100% it would be awesome if they showed more of Sai, I would like to see many novels saiino scenes being animated as well I can't even start how much I love his character development and relationship with Ino they are sooo meant for each o ther I could go on forever! I guess we can assume his personality fairly well on Boruto anime (I agree we did need to see him more tho!) for what I can see he is a considerate, supportive, caring, HANDSOME (hehe sorry) husband, a supportive caring father as well while still being a super competent shinobi, it impress me how far he gone how much he grow seeing his growth completely would indeed be amazing 💖

[epicspheal]

Leon’s Outfits

Since there have been some lovely discussions about Leon’s battle tower outfit going around, I thought I’d add my two cents on this by talking about both of his outfit

Alright so let’s start off with his champion outfit which according to the anime is pretty much unchanged since he won at the age of 10. So part of the ridiculousness many people picked up on about how it all comes together makes a lot of sense, it was something he picked out as a kid and as @youareshauni beautifully laid out became part of his brand as a child champion

But still there’s a lot of symbolism in it. Obviously the cape and the crown are symbols of monarch and Leon could easily be described as the Battle King Of Galar. But there’s more, the crown symbol on Leon’s hat is also in the shape of Charizard’s footprint. He wasn’t lying when he said he was a massive Charizard fan! And his cape is burgundy which is a shade of red that has a lot of symbolism that I’ll talk about more with his battle tower outfit. Now the sponsors places on the back are I think are deliberately meant to be tacky, to kind of show the commercialization of the League and how it kind of takes over everything.

But most importantly there’s an NPC who talks about how heavy the replicas of his cape are and how no one else but Leon can wear it. At first it seems like just a simple nod to the fact that Leon is physically strong himself. But when you consider the immense pressure of the spoltight he’s under, and the fact that he is protector of the region until the player and Hop get chosen by the wolves, you realize that the heaviness also represents the literal weight of his title bearing down on his shoulders, and how most people wouldn’t be able to handle it

Finally there’s the actual uniform itself. Like how Nessa’s uniform gives off swimmer vibes, Kabu’s being a runner, and Raihan’s a basketball player, Leon’s also has a distinctly sporty vibe- a baseball player. Specificially a pitcher based on how insanely hard and fast he can throw his Pokemon while out on the pitch. This is significant because the pitcher is the one who controls the pace of the game. One thing people forget is that Leon IS the goal of the game. 

Now onto his battle tower outfit. It’s definitely a more mature and very regal look even though it still has the costumey feel which is perfectly fine since other heads of battle facilities also sport similar regal costumes. One thing that was excellently pointed out by @leonchampionheart​ is the fact that he still keeps his snapback, which shows that even though he’s shedding his child champion image and going for an adult look. 

But I said I was going to talk about the color burgundy because it’s even more prominent in this outfit than it was in his champion get up. So every champion in the series pretty much is associated with a specific color. For example Cynthia is associated with the color black in contrast to Diantha’s white. For Leon’s it burgundy (which sidenotes makes me so happy because burgundy is one of my favorite colors) 

Burgundy is shade of red that is associated with sophistication which explains why it becomes a more prominent fixture of his battle tower outfit. It’s a symbolism of the upper class and if Leon wasn’t already loaded from his winnings as champion, he definitely is now as chairman of the league, battle tower head and potentially CEO of Macros Cosmos (I know the chairman of the league part has been confirmed but not sure if he’s canonically Macros Cosmos CEO now although I love the idea of it, major boss moves). 

Burgundy is also known for being intense color that embodies power which just exemplifies Leon as a character through and through. He is a canonically powerful trainer that always brings his full intensity to every match. Burgundy is also symbolic of being individualistic. Leon definitely marches to the beat of his own drum and bucks the status quo for champions being one of the only ones to be active in defending the region, one of the few to have some character growth, and one of the few who has taken up a different position post title-loss.

Interestingly enough burgundy is also the color of introversion and seriousness. Leon’s definitely a more serious person than many in the fandom give him credit for, particularly post title loss. And I can definitely see Leon being introvert or an ambivert leaning on the introversion side (just because he’s an entertainer and is friendly and outgoing doesn’t mean he can’t get drained from social interactions). I think the extra prominence of burgundy in his battle tower outfit plus the demeanor changes we see in him is a reflection of him finally being able to show his true personality, one that was likely surpressed during his years in the spotlight. 

Finally the burgundy in his outfit symbolizes sympathy. According to the website I’m getting all of this symbolism from, “ Burgundy understands the trials and tribulations of life”. When you consider the fact that Leon’s namesake, the dandelion also has the symbolism of overcoming trials and tribulations, you get to see the fact that Leon has been through a lot (and needs a hug big time). So too long; don’t read: there is a lot of symbolism behind Leon’s outfits that show the depth of his character

[fand0m-trashh]

LISTEN:

You guys are just USED to Ground Zero, and I understand that completely because I myself has grown fairly fond of the name!

However,Dynamight just fits so beautiful to me! Not only is it a name that Izuku has thrown out ther for Katsuki when they were younger, but it also shows his admiration and respect for the man they had BOTH looked up to.

It also shows even more character development and growth for our favorite firecracker! He’s not just thinking about himself and hasn’t been for quite some time now. This act where he chooses a name that Izuku has suggested when they were still close as friends shows how much cares for Izuku.

My heart is all warm just thinking about it!

Dynamight being his hero name I just as amazing as Deku being Izuku’s.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Since @theoppositeofprofound has been writing about Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver, and I loved the book, I wanted to do a post on it. Fair warning, it’s been a while since I read it, so I may get some things wrong.

I’ve read a lot of fairy-tales-retold, and this is easily the best one. It isn’t a takeoff on one fairy tale (Rumplestiltskin), despite the name being derived from that, but on three: Rumplestiltskin, Hansel & Gretel, and Cinderella, all combined and mixed up with each other, but corresponding primarily to the stories of Miryem, Wanda, and Irina. And it’s far more complex than just about giving ther heroine standard “badassery”, resistance to arranged marriages, or satirical commentary on standard fairy-tale tropes. (Still love Patricia C. Reed’s Cimorene and Mendanbar, though! Delightful and hilarious.)

One element that stood out to me as distinct from many other feminist fairy-tales-retold is that - in a manner that is in no way inconsistent with its feminism - it feels deeply conservative in ethos, to the extent that its core theme could practically be summed up as “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Miryem, of course, is a Jewish moneylender - a refreshingly unusual heroine for a medieval-style fairy tale - whose father is trapped in poverty because their clients borrow money to finance (often unnecessary) consumption and then refuse to pay them back, and her father is too gentle-hearted to press them on it. So Miryem goes out to do the collection, taking goods or work in payment when she can’t get money. She’s quite ruthless about it - Wanda enters her story when Miryem demands Wanda’s work as a servant in repayment for Wanda’s peasant father’s unpaid debts. Miryem’s mother is horrified by this harshness.

But Wanda experiences the relationship, paradoxically, as liberation. Her father’s debts are, in part, because he’s a drunk and wastes the family’s money. Wanda’s used to hard work, and her time with Miryem’s family gives her security, companionship, and upward mobility, as she learns to read and write, starts helping Wanda with the collecting, and is able to earn money for herself and not just towards her family’s debts. This contrasts with both her previous family life and her prospective life (before meeting Miryem) of being married off for her father’s profit - in either of which Wanda would recieve no compensation for all her labour. The economic relationship as servant gives her more in the way of both home and economic autonomy than her domestic life as daughter or wife would.

The ideas around the need to pay for what you get and the value of hard work also come out in the Hansel & Gretel element of the plot. Wanda finds an abandoned cottage with things she neds, and when she uses them, she doesn’t treat them as free - she makes a point or repaying them by doing things like caring for the cottage or chopping wood for its woodpile.

Miryem’s attitude, meanwhile, becomes ironic when a careless boast attracts the attention of the king of the Staryk, a kind of Ice Fae who are even more inflexible on repayment of debts than Miryem does. And Miryem’s “spinning silver into gold” is performed through the medium of capitalist investment - she gives the silver to an artisan friend who makes exquisite crafts from them which sell for large amounts of money, and Miryem gets a sizeable percentage of the earnings. (I’m doubtful of the fairness of the percentage she gets - Miryem’s friend is doing all the work; she’s just handing over raw materials that someone else gave her. But her friend is still doing very well off the silver, so he seems happy.)

This is where Irina’s story joins up with the other two, as the crafts become part of her jewellery for her wedding to Tsar Minartius. Both this and Miryem’s relationship with the Staryk king are a twist on most fairy-tales-retold in that neither partner wants the marriage. The Staryk king is revolted by the thought of physical intimacy with a human woman, but regards it as a debt he owes Miryem. (This allows Miryem to strike a very smart bargain where she gets answers to her questions from him in return for giving up the “marital rights” that she emphatically does not want.) Tsar Minartius finds Irina completely unappealing, and she has no desire to marry him either. The relationship-building between Miryem and the Staryk king over time is done very well in fairy-tale beauty-and-the-beast style, culminating in the delightful ending with the Ice Fae King converting to Judaism. The one between Minartius and Irina is harder to tell - he’s a pretty awful person, but he may get better after being freed from bondage to a demon.

And that pulls in another element of contrast with traditional fairy tales, where parents are usually good and stepparents usually bad. Wanda’s father is abusive; Minartius’ mother bound him to a demon for her own power. In contrast, Irina, the “Cinderella-figure”, has a respectful though chilly relationship with her stepmother.

Ultimately, it’s really strong working together of multiple fairytales with complex female characters who are allowed to sometimes be unsympathetic, and allowed to all have their own independent, though intersecting, plots, and complicated relationships to each other; it pulls together themes and plotlines from the different stories very effectively and in a very efficient style. I’ve read other books of Novik’s (I enjoyed her alternate-history-with-dragons Temeraire series), but the complexity of the characterization and plotting in Spinning Silver is definitely a step up from that and shows growth as a writer.

I’m not sure how much this was an analysis rather than just a description, but I wanted to get some thoughts written down.

[heretherebedork]

Hiya there! This premise is complicated but just bear with me!

Premise: Another university setting but it’s located next to a forest. The ML gets lost in the forest as a joke before actually getting lost in it like the idiot he is. He ends up finding a gorgeous lake and decides to collect some of the water in case he can’t come back. When he gets home, he accidentally spills the water on a drawing of a character he made (cause he’s an aspiring artist) before it magically becomes human. This is cool and all but the transformation is only temporary before the fictional character becomes.. well.. fictional again.

Oooo, okay, I like this. And I have ther other premise still saved but there are so many damn shows in Frigay and my Thursday was wild at work so... I'm just gonna hit this one up because I feel like I definitely can.

So, MC who goes into the forest is... well, he's the kind of creative type that everyone dreads. He's stuck in the clouds and rarely comes back down. A college drop-out who's trying to gain fame with his online comic that... isn't doing so hot. He works at a coffee shop as well at the local university where a bunch of his friends go.

The character that comes to life is the self-insert he made that's supposedly the better/perfect version of himself, the successful artist character from his comic.

And he's instantly overshadowed. MC is suddenly barely a shadow in his own life because the drawing is, well... him. But him without any flaws, without any of the anxieties or failings he really has. And it's horrifying to see people latch onto him. All except a few of his closest friends... and one dear, dear friend. Who, obvious to the viewing audience, has a HUGE crush on MC. He's absolutely lost on him... but also terrified of hurting their friendship.

As the end time period that the character can last approaches, MC realizes that life is probably better if the character stays and he turns into a drawing... and starts to try to figure out how to do that.

And friend with a crush pretends to help him. All while slowly starting to flirt and comfort him. VERY much slow burn and slow growth of affection and a slow reveal of how long the friend has been pining.

They get to the point of the choice. MC or character?

And pining friend makes sure there is no choice. Character turns back into a drawing. MC stays. He's upset, he's broken, everyone is going to be so MAD.

But friend is in love and this is the final declaration. This is his proof that he will always choose MC.

... Okay, if you want me to write a version that's MC/Drawing just tell me, lol.

[colorisbyshe]

Im SO sorry if i asked this already but what are your faves in genshin? Also are you excited for kazuha?

Xiao is my fave both to play with and just character wise. Other than gameplay, Kaeya, Lisa, Zhongli, Baizhu, and Razor are my faves. I want to see more of Beidou but sexy pirate go arrrr.

Kazuha isn’t of too much interest to me rn. I already have my anemo needs meet (I have Xiao AND Venti) and he kinda just looks like... if Razor hadn’t been raised by wolves?

I feel like genshin is maybe stalling out on character design a bit, since they’ve been going HARD on just making the girlies sexy (Eula and her transparent suit, Rosaria with her everything, Yanfei being the lawyer... in a bra?) and the boy characters are now being a bit more generic. Because 99% of their characters are locked onto those generic height frames (so like the baby character models for Klee/Qiqi/Diona, then the teen boy/teen girl, then the adult girl/adult boy ones), it’s rly limited their growth. They’re shying away from showing different skin tones because so far they’ve been.... weird about it and ther’s no fat/muscular characters so like... what else are they gonna do besides act like female characters having different sized tits is diversity

ANYWAYS the most promising thing about Kazuha is his ties to Inazuma like lets gooooo give me more MAP because i have over 1200 chests found andi do not have the strength in me to find anything else hidden like if I haven’t found ityet it’s GONE give me some easy shit to find.

Also start giving me dendro characters!!! Let me main Baizhu

[oceanivoxjoquainx]

Let's talk about Eric Effiong

Let's be honest Eric's storyline and characterization is one of the most appealing out of all the characters in Sex Education periodt. A true gay, fierce, Drag QUEEN and I feel like ranting about this amazing force of nature. (Spoilers. Duh.)

When I saw the trailer for Sex Education it didnt even hit me that Eric was gay until I read the synopsis. Was just like "Oh I wonder which one of these three mains are the gay one people keep talking about" even after I saw him in drag like a dumbass 😣😂. Personally im glad we've reached a point where gay guys aren't overly feminine and even the brightest colours won't differ a character from the rest (unless I'm just a blind bish and he was obviously gay from the trailer) ei 👏🏾 ther 👏🏾 way; his character was refreshing when I started watching the show. I immediately clicked with him and knew what every look he gave or hand gesture he did meant. Felt nice. When Adam pushed him into the locker for the first time and started with the heterohomoerotic bs I knew that Adam had a raging boner for Eric and was another internalized homophobic bully™ and wasn't really excited for what was to come but I knew it was coming and tbh I liked it in the end.

Eric and Otis' friendship is so pure. Like?!? Get me a straight supportive bestie lilke Otis? Ik they fought but even then Otis was respectful and kept his boundaries and let Eric go through the motions before immediately belting into an apology at the first chance he got. Their dancing scene?!? Iconic. The fact that Eric sees Otis' house as safe and another home?!? Iconic. Otis going drag with Eric to watch an LGBT+ movie as a TRADITION (meaning they've done it numerous times)?!?! Iconic. The fact that Otis was straight up ditching Eric and Eric STILL tolerated him and let him do his thing without too much pressure!?! The most iconic of them all. Just pure love and respect all around.

I am so proud of Erics growth over the course of the season starting from a naive and scared gay doormat to facing homophia and getting beat up by those assholes on his birthday no less to losing his best friend and becoming depressed to channeling that anger into defending himself when people tried him to getting his sparkle back and coming back more fierce that ever before.

Speaking of him getting his sparkle back lets talk about that and why that scene is so important. A random guy asked Eric for directions and Eric noticed his nails were polished and the guy was wearing earrings and he was a big ole black dude. He was like Eric. When Eric noticed that the guy was out, loud, glamorous and proud he immediately switched back into the bright colourful and wonderfully gay Eric we all know and love.

THIS IS WHY REPRESENTATION MATTERS!!!!

It shows people that its okay to be who they actually are and inspires those who are lost to find or return to their true selves. Representation isn't just some offhand thing to throw on a character last minute. And even if you can relate to other characters who arent like you, it is always an amazing feeling to have a character that IS like you. It turned Eric from a popularity seeking doormat into a hurricane with 6 inch heels who was ready to straight up beat down a bully he's had for 4 years. It even inspired him to go back to church and rejoin a community that he closed off. That's exactly how it feels to have someone successful in the media and your life to look up to. Eric only interacted with that man for a few minutes but those few minutes changed his life for the better. So that's a lovely reminder for all who love to bash representation.

Back tracking to Eric's dull colourless period after the attack and his fight with Otis. It was saddening to see one of the brightest characters go dull and even the school felt it. He turned from a guy who rarely stood up for himself and what he wanted into the sass master he reserved only for his friends. All of his built up anger was released causing him to explode on Mr Hendricks (who is adorable tbh and just trying to do his best) and Anwar (I was proud of that punch you go glenn co co) and he even sounded off on his dad who he's usually passive aggressive to at worst. Just goes to show that the happiest faces can harbor the biggest pains and can snap. Moral of the story? Protect the happy few.

Eric also has a great family. Like that obviously know Erics gay and wears dresses because its all right there in his room which his parents enter at their leisure and while it seems that they're a bit homophobic its revealed that they (Erics dad at least) just wants Eric to be safe as he's already a target for being black and apart of an immigant family. He accepts Eric for who he is and what he does he just doesnt want anyone else to give him shit for it and if that's not one of the sweetest things in this world idek what is. Eric and his dad was probably one of my favorite dynamics in the show and watching his dad slowly fully accept that his son was strong and able to stand for himself he was able to become stronger too. This dynamic is important because I never see any gay black characters have a close relationship with their fathers and it was very heartwarming to watch.

Now onto Erics love life. He has a crush on the highschools other only gay guy Anwar who's the typical mean sassy gay we've all come to expect in highschool dramas. Otis saying that Eric doesnt have to have a crush on the only other openly gay guy at school was such a mood as its commonly shown that any gays in close proximity should get together. When Eric punched him I internally went "Finally!" Because all those jeers were becoming annoying. I'm glad Anwar got to come out to his mum over it though. And straight up told the audience that Eric didn't like feminine guys (alluding to him and Adams eventual clean up scene as of we didn't see it coming already).

Moving on to Adam tho, like I said we all been knew that this

was indeed coming and even though I hate the bully x bullied trope I still ended up liking it and hoping that Adam would change. The building up to that kiss was long awaited from episode 1 straight through to 8 with all the longing looks that Adam kept side glancing Eric with and the face cupping and the growls and the lingering touches. I just kept going sthdjksksbslaldbd when one of those moments happened followed shortly after with disgust because gays falling for their abuser is washed up but then immediately going back to jajaklamabsldkd because im shipping trash so 🤷🏿. Eric stepping to Adam in at the ball was one of the most iconic scenes of the show (along with the "Its My Vagina" scene) and the exchange between him and Adam gave be actual chills. The tension was THICCCC. Erics OUTFIT to the ball gave me chills 😭😭 dude came to slay and had everyone at that school proper shook and I honestly could NOT be more proud. I was hoping Adam would become a better person over the course of the season but nope so hopefully they cover all the issues that Adam has in season 2 and properly give him a redeption arc cuz he's still a trashy pos he's just a disaster bi on top of it. (Adam immediately going to suck Eric off is confidence I can only dream of achieving 💀💀) The lab scene was also cute but made me mad because how could Adam look scared, confident and still be a douchebag all in the span of a few seconds was beyond me. A+ acting on Connor Swindells part. I can see why Adam would have to stay in the closet and keep their... relationship?? a secret because it seems like Headmaster Groff would be a homophobic piece of shit and would add to the ever growing list of things Adam did wrong. Even so it doesn't excuse the fact that Adam is in fact a bully and Eric deserves much better. Was sad seeing Adam being driven off from Eric in the end tho. Eric thought that Adam didn't want to see him at all and was probably heartbroken and probably thinks Adam left because of him (my poor baby 😭😭). I feel bad for Adam too because he was just starting to express himself and was at the beginning of a redemption arc when he was just wisked away from the boy he's loved for what seems to be a very long time. I just want my boys to be happy and non toxic and I wish their relationship and them all the best in Season 2.

Eric Effiong is my favorite character in the show and I really want to thank Ncuti Gatwa for portraying him so well and for the shows writers who gave him a very fleshed out character with an amazing storyline and conclusion. His growth was incredible and his strength is immeasurable. I'm 100% certain that he will be a character the community remembers for years to come. Patiently now waiting on what's to come in Season 2 💙🙌🏾.

[folie-lex]

The Problems of a James-less QotS

This is a show about Teresa Mendoza. Nobody, not one person in this fandom will argue against that point. This is simply a fact.

More importantly: Teresa Mendoza is not a character that needs to have a man by her side. AGAIN it is largely undisputed within the fandom, that she is genuinely strong and independent, and is better off for it.

But a Queen Of The South without James Valdez is... I don’t want to say problematic because that’s not the right word (though there are problems that come with it) but it certainly is lacking.

And for the record, no. This is not a shipper induced rant. In fact the “The show needs James” is a conclusion I came to last season when suddenly after two years if thirsting after Camila scenes and storylines, I found myself seeing this amazing character be completely underserved. And it didn’t take much for me to figure out that the only REAL difference between Camila storylines in S3 in contrast to storylines in S1 and S2 was mainly the lack of James.

A good show/story even if it has a amazing protagonist needs equally amazing supporting players for them to bounce off of. And while I won’t disagree that the show has had a great array of those, and most of them are still here and some great ones have been added so far this year as well, there’s just somerthing about James... And that has a lot to do with who James is a character and what function he has in these people’s lives... especially Teresa’s.

And I’m talking well beyond the romantic function here. Because in the grand scheme of the story and the show’s premise, who he is for Teresa fullfills the same function he had in when he was in Camila’s court, and it’s exactly why her storylines suffered for it when he left.

The thing about James is that while he acknowledges he is a supporting player and is more than happy to stay in background he is also someone who is never not taken seriously. Who even though is, for all intents and purposes, “a lackey” is also viewed by “the boss” as almost an equal. For a subordinate to be in a position within the story to call out the boss and call a spade a spade, especially the way James does this, is such a strong balancing factor in the power dynamic.

James basically constantly kept Camila in check, and when she lost him she went off the rails.

Teresa, is not nearly as unhinged as Camila was, and yes she still has her crew who love and respect and would lay their lives for her. However she doesn’t have the rapport with any of them that she had with James. Not even Pote.

Much like he was for Camila, James was Teresa’s counter balance as well. And now she’s off on her own and she has nobody to truly use as a sounding board. As I said: Not even Pote.

Because, while we are talking about Pote, that relationship is not about counterbalance, it’s about cozy reliance. She can rely on Pote to do exaclty as he’s told. And he doesn’t aspire to challenge her the same way James did. In the end of the day he’s only there to serve. And as a result that can be stunting for her growth.

And that’s what’s great about James as a character. He contributes to the other characters growth. Let me be clear: he’s not ther reason they grow. He’s there to help them figure out how to grow on their own. And that’s invaluable both for character arcs and overall narrative.

Maybe that’s the point here.... Maybe not having James be there to keep a level head when things are going to hell, clean up people’s messes, see twelve steps ahead from a seven different angles, offer solutions, have a backup plan at the drop of a hat and give Teresa a more clear headed perspective when a problem arises, and have her learrn how to do all that on her own is the goal.

But we’re 3 episodes in now, and the Lack Of James is being felt more and more... and not in a good way...

I know Daylin asked for “trust and patience” (though after the timeline debacle in 4.02 and their lame ass excuses for it she’s lost a lot of good faith with this here I’ve-Been-With-The-Show-Since-Day-One fan) and maybe the long term reward will be worth it. But the short term so far is rough... And for a show that’s so reliant on its relatively small but loyal and passionate fanbase this is a big gamble and three weeks in they don’t have that much to show for it and it doesn’t seem to be paying off... I think the traction on trumblr alone proves that.

Anyway.... wait and see I suppose.

[myrtenraphster]

RWBY Volume 6 Episode 1

LOOK AT THAT BACKGROUND HOLY SHIT

MANTICORE GRIMM

Ah yes the classic “start in the middle, then explain how they got here” thing

“Thank me later!” I MISSED THEM BEING LIL SHITS AT EACH OTHER

SKATING WEISS

“Good to see you’re not rusty” Yang pls

“Why is it always something!?” It’s called protag power

DID WEISS JUST GET HER BUTT BURNED??

“Thank me later!” I MISSED THIS

The colgate move wasn’t a battle move at all

Also confirmed Ruby can fly

Hey look Adam being an edgelord

Dat goat scream

Hey it’s the teaser

“Lost his life while trying to defend the school” U SERIOUS? HE WAS TO BLAME

The sisters being sisters, I love them

And Nora being well... Nora

Ren wanting to go to the beach is a mood

Weiss bby don’t u worry

IT’S DINGUS AND WINGUS

That lil smirk on Weiss as qrow tears these guys appart tho

Is Oscar becoming wiser a side effect of the ozpin brain tumor?

“AS USUAL” WEISS PLS

ILIA IN HER NEW OUTFIT SHE CUTEEEEE

HER LIL BOOTIES

oh dis gay

OH DIS GAY

Awww

Monkey boi is baaack

BLUE BOI IS BACK

Neptune... Neptune no

“WRONG TREE” IM GONNA

Monkey boi excited to go back home

Aaaaand he made things sad

That song tho

Sun is a good friend, I wanna be that kinda friend.

That’s the kiss everyone was making such noise about? That’s... Y’all extra dramatic af, and need to chill. Das a goodbye kiss.

NEPTUNE STOP SAYING STUFF LIKE THAT, THIS IS WHY THE FANDOM HATES YOU

LISTEN TO SUNNY BOI, IT WAS NEVER ABOUT THAT

IT’S THE SONG FROM VOL3

Neptune isn’t impressed by sun’s bravado after he ditched them

CYBERPUNK KATARA

BUNKBEEEEDS

DUDE THEY TOOK THE SAME SPOTS AS THEIR ROOM IN BEACON

THAT’S... SAD

Blake being broody... as usual

Blake no

Blake nO 

THAT’S THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO TO SOMEONE WHO HAS A PROTHESIS

yEAH WHAT YANG SAID

Lookit Ruby and Weiss being anime and cute

Qrow being a cool uncle

Aaaaand there it is

It’s Dingus and Wingus againnnn

SPHINX GRTIMM WHAT

Dude that mace is cool

DED

YEUP DED

Team JNPR joins the battle

dUDE THE TRAIN HAS ARMOR?? THAT’S COOL

Oh no the thing noticed the turrets

Woah, check out the moves on compost boi, he’s really learning.

Dingus is being... a dingus

gOD THE SOUND OF THE BONE BREAKING.... a+ on the sound but it was gross

TEAR HIM APPART QROW

Ruby using the Talk No Jutsu

JAUNEY BOI KNOWS HOW TO USE HIS SEMBLANCE NOW? NOICE

LET REN SAVE THE PEOPLE YES

OZPIN WHY DO I FEEL LIKE IT’S BAD NEWS WHY YOU WANT TO TAKE OVER OSCAR

I KNEW IT

OZ THAT’S LIKE... THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD’VE SAID ABOUT THE THING

TEAR HIM APPART GIRLS

Ruby still using Talk No Jutsu

Oh no... OH NO THEY’RE GETTING SEPARATED ALREADY??

CYBERPUNK KATARA HAS DEM SHADY EYES

fUCK IT’S ADAM

Oh...Blake bby you need help

.Ooooh that song

HEY THEY HAVE THE OLD PICTURES ON THEIR SCROLLS

Compost boi knows how to fight grimm already?

dUDE THE ANIMATION

THE FIGHTING STYLES

THEY WENT BACK TO VOLS 1-3

WEISS SKATING IS LOVE

TEAM ATTACKSSSSSS

SHE GONNA SUMMON?

SHE CAN DO THAT????

Dude you can see EXACTLY how Ruby’s style is influenced by Qrow’s

This reminds me of the train fight from Vol2

CYBERPUNK KATARA I KNEW U WERE BEING SHADY

The OPENING

Crescent Rose Mechanism close up? Love it

A very Weiss centered first scene of the OP? LOVING IT MORE

Something tells me this is going to be a very Weiss centered volume aw yeah

THE MOON BEFORE BREAKING?

Oh

Jaune being a goof

THE WRs BEING CUTE. LOOK AT WEISS’ SMILE

Uh oh, that tension between the bees

THAT CLOSE UP ON GRANNY KATARA’S “EYE” AND THEN RUBY’S EYE. I FUCKING CALLED IT SHE’S GONNA BE A SILVER EYED WARRIOR

Oh no... I hope this doesn’t mean Qrow dies... pls... I love trashy drunkle

Hooded figure~

WAS THAT TORCHWICK’S HAT WHAT.... NEO IS THAT U???

Adam and the villains being meh

Salem being rawr

wAIT IS THAT.... GLYNDA??

OZPIN’S PAST LIVES MAYBE??

Ozpin looks noice in the new style tho

wOAH THER JAUNE

I think Ozpin’s shady business is catching up to him and Oscar has to pay for it... that’s... sad

HOODED FIGURE HAS A SWORD?? AND ROBO ARM?? IF IT IS NEO THEN... Damn she must’ve had a rough time landing in a grimm infested vale

THE TRANSITION BETWEEN EACH MEMBER OF TEAM RWBY, LOVE IT

A very WR centric OP... I love it but my lil monochrome heart cries

Monty... you’d be proud of this one man, they’re getting closer to reaching your own Montyness

THERE’S A CO-DIRECTOR NOW?

GRANNY KATARA’S NAME IS MARIA CALAVERA

FIRST MEXICAN THEMED RWBY CHARACTER Y’ALL

My final thoughts on the episode? God I haven’t been so excited about a volume in a while.

The animation is so much better, they went back to the kind of animation they had during volume 2 and 3 but it looks... a bit more fluid. I love it

They managed to make Jaune goofy again, and not hog screentime, which I really dig. The overall pacing is better. 

Also they managed to show growth on certain characters. Like Weiss realizing she shouldn’t depend on her summons and going back to her usual fight style, and also compost boi being able to fight off grimm without ozpin taking over.

Speaking of fighting styles THEY’RE USING THE STYLES FROM VOLUMES 1-3, Ruby cutting off everything and then double tapping the grimm, Weiss with her speedy movements and constant atacking mixed in with her glyphs, I hope we get to see the Haste glyph again. Blake with the hit and run she’s known for and Yang with her brute strenght being able to casually GRAB AND THROW A GIANT GRIMM LIKE TORCHWICK’S MECHSUIT?? I love

Also in the train scene seeing Qrow and Ruby fighting side by side you can see Ruby’s style based off his, he did teach her and I love that you can see it.

The return of the anime tropes Monty would use like Nora snapping from one place to another or Ruby and Weiss sliding from the side.

ALSO THAT NEO HINT IN THE OP, IM EXCITED TO SEE IF IT REALLY IS NEO.

I can say that im excited for this volume and I think I can expect it to be as good as it deserves to be... You’d be proud of this one Monty.