#so i think this is moreso a general status quo for then

[consumed-by-fandom]

DIDude relationship dynamics. If you care. /lh

[For the peeps who are unfamiliar with my au, D=P1, Dude=P2, and Alt=P3]

D and Dude are dependant on each other full stop. D craves Dude’s ability to seem unfettered by the violence that surrounds them, but equally despises how Dude brings that chaos to them in the first place. He’s risky with seemingly no regard for the system and it pisses D off so much. But at the same time he constantly needs Dude to protect him from the shit they’re surrounded with and to slap some sense into him when his delusions get the better of him. And Dude just… doesn’t understand D At All. He’s stuck in his own perspective of the world and he wants D to see it through his eyes so badly but his way of doing that does nothing but hurt D (a trait that gets passed on to Other Dude when he gets split off). He’s just constantly confused as to why D keeps getting angry at him, and he treats him terribly but he doesn’t want to deep down. God knows he cares so much for D to the point its painful, but he sees showing even the slightest vulnerability to be a sign of weakness, a sign that he can be taken advantage of. Has this horrible connection between being emotionally honest and being hurt.

Rip all that away though and they both absolutely adore each other deep down. D has a softness that both disgusts and endears Dude and he can’t help but crave that attention and affection when its given to him. Being trusted or told he’s doing a good job breaks him to his core. And D really looks up to Dude and how he will always try to protect them, and D would do the same for him. They both need each other too much and hate how they handled things last time (Postal 1)

Alt tends to act as a middle ground to facilitate between their arguments and how they act towards one another, and if they just sat down and tried to talk things out they’d probably never let go of each other ever again. There’s the potential to get along really well, but they’re also severely traumatised and have terrible ways of coping with that.

Speaking of Alt, in general he acts like a bit of a caregiver to them both, being the most mature out of all of them despite being the youngest system-wise. Being split with shallow emotions and holding Dude’s memories he’s a little more favourable towards Dude to the point of kinda being more than a little into him. He thinks his recklessness is cute. He’s a little silly. He’s got a weird way of deciding when to be the rational thinker and when he just wants to complete a goal in the most violent way possible. It’s not that he’s aching to get into trouble, he’s just more focused on getting the task done that a few rolling heads are just “casualties”. Bearing all this in mind though he usually tries to be both the angel and devil on Dude’s shoulder to varying effects. Shows his affection by being the more irritable son of a bitch in the world. He’s confusing. But he’s understandable once you actually give him the space to be honest about why he does the things he does, and he usually has Dude’s best interests at heart.

Dude can’t decide whether or not he wants to choke him to death or make out with him. Alt confuses him too much and he doesn’t like it.

He’s far more gentle with D on the other hand, though he doesn’t speak to him as much since D rarely wants to front, he’s able to calm him down enough to not freak out and have a breakdown on the worser nights. Very much cares for him though as to why even he doesn’t really understand. D still doesn’t fully trust him because he’s still this intruder who showed up one day, and it took D basically 15+ years to stop calling Dude a demon. But sometimes Alt gives him the comfort he usually craves from Dude and its more than enough to develop a fond opinion of him. They’ve talked a lot when they got the chance. They’re… close to an extent, Rarely gets pissed off at Alt.

Ugh I love these dysfunctional weirdos lmao

[demilypyro]

Thank you for introducing me to clown corp, me and my friend read through it all in the span of an afternoon. It's so good..anyways they referred to it as my hero academia but with clowns and I'm curious on your thoughts on that?

I think that's underselling it a bit. I think it's moreso a response to My Hero Academia's failings. MHA presents a world that has superheroes-as-cops and routinely sends high schoolers into dangerous situations and just.... thinks that's fine, I guess? Most of the conflict is about maintaining that status quo, which would mean that's the "right" way for the world to be. Clown Corps on the other hand not only moves the plot from high school into college (so there's no teenagers involved) but also puts a lens on the superheroes-as-cops concept, shows why it's messed up, and is generally more self-aware. The heroes don't want to be cops: they want to be heroes.

But yes, it is ostensibly an action series about superheroes.

[ayeforscotland]

Since you've said you like talking about Scottish independence, I thought I'd ask you about a take I heard:

The only way for Scotland to become independent AND for it to go well is for Scotland to gain independence as a socialist country. Well, here, meaning to not end up being reduced to a tax haven/tourist destination in continuous economic decline (moreso than rule from Westminster is currently causing).

Whilst this isn't a quote, the general idea comes from a member of the podcast "Podcasting is Praxis," in one of their Scottish politics episodes. I forget which one and it's been a while, so I can only share this general gist of the point they were making.

What are your thoughts on this take?

What is your vision of Scotland as an independent country?

Lol yes, I have spoken about Scottish independence once or twice. I agree that there's not much point to independence if we don't actually make meaningful changes to how the country works. I think there could be a risk of certain groups post-independence thinking we can just put all our eggs into tourism and reap the rewards but that's not realistic in my opinion. I'd say my vision for an independent Scotland has always been a bit of a pragmatic one. I don't think we can snap our fingers and make lots of things happen, but I think we can start laying the groundwork now so when we do have the power to make positive changes we can implement them at a faster pace. People get bored with the technical detail so my general vision/hope for the future is a Scotland that rejects this neoliberal status quo we find ourselves locked in and instead looks at policies like a job guarantee program and universal basic income with the priority being the welfare of everyone who lives here.

[einsteinsugly]

Hi! I'm not sure if you're taking asks, so please feel free to ignore this if you're not. I've been rewatching That 70s Show for the first time in about six years and have so many thoughts, first and foremost that I still love this show to death despite its flaws.

What are your three favorite Jackie/Hyde scenes of the series? (In my delusional mind, they ended up together. They're one of the very greatest so-wrong-they're-right TV couples ever and broken but beautiful soulmates!)

I am probably alone in loving Kelso/Brooke but am so fixated with all they could have been. We know how Brooke could and, when the writers allowed her to, DID help bring out a more mature, deeper Kelso, but I'd love to hear how you think Kelso could have helped Brooke as well. I see him as letting her follow her heart and instincts more because she seems very rule-abiding, responsible and practical, and maybe Kelso could encourage her to color outside the lines?

Can you rank every season from your favorite to least favorite? I assume season 8 is at the bottom of almost everyone's list! I really love 5 and 6, largely because of my love for Jackie/Hyde and Kelso/Brooke, but the first three seasons are also outstanding.

Favorite homage/theme or generally "out there" episodes? The Hitchcock one is a true work of art!

What are your three favorite platonic That 70s relationships? Jackie/Hyde and Red/Eric (I know it's a mess but I adore it) both make my list.

It's fine if you ignore this but I'll look forward to reading your answers if you want to respond!

1. Oh, T9S isn't canon, imo. Nothing matches up logistically, and it's not even close. Post season 8, they'd hopefully find their way back to each other. Or you can toss season 8 out if you want. Director David Trainer sorta did.

2. The Christmas (6×07) scene, where Jackie left the cheerleading squad. Hyde's dojo of coolness, where he teaches Jackie zen. The one scene (season 5?) where Hyde tells Jackie that she can make her own money if she wants. Plus, the season 2 scene in the car, where Hyde said she can do better than Kelso. I love scenes where Hyde gets Jackie to challenge the status quo, if you will.

3. They're literally opposites attract, moreso than Jackie and Hyde. Well, by MBTI standards. Brooke seems fairly cerebral, and has massive INTJ vibes (but ISTJ isn't out of the question). Kelso is a dumbass, selfish ESFP. Kelso would get Brooke to take risks and have fun every once in awhile, simply.

4. Lemme try. 2, 5, 1, 3, 6, 4, 7, 8.

5. I love the James Bond scene in The Crunge (season 5), with Eric and Donna. I totally wish we had a fantasy scene with everyone on Family Feud, lol. Ooh, and I love Streaking (1×03), too. Gimme some political overtones, damn it.

6. Hmm, Eric and Hyde. Hyde and Donna. Jackie and Eric. Romantically, though, the first two are huge NOTPs.

7. Not an answer or anything, but Eric and Donna are personally my favorite couple, but I like writing about all of them. Minus Fez, eww. ED and JH being next-door neighbors and raising their kids together will always hold a special place in my heart.

[justanotherhh]

suuuuper curious to know where you're suspecting the story will take striker, blitz will definitely want him decimated once he comprehends the damage dealt to stolas, but there's also the matter of there definitely-almost-certainly-i-am-not-deluded being a goetia we still haven't met who striker wants decimated for whatever the fuck was done to him and his in the past ( unless he's already killed them and then just.... kept on plowing with his unquenchable quest for vengeance ) + obvs his backstory needs to be revealed and that thing will have to address both his classism and his identity as a hybrid + there's def more villains left he could team up with + twice now there's been the lingering threats towards octavia and oh no where could that possibly go now that he's off stella's chain + i am so curious where his beef with eminem will go now that they've had a rematch

hello hello!

THIS IS AAAAAAAAALL PULLED OUTTA MORE OR LESS NOTHIN' BE PREPARED:

Yes, absolutely there is some Backstory that's been somewhat hinted at that I think will explain some of his ire and further develop him as a foil to blitzø, who, after all, early in s1 could for a second there have believably joined him due to feeling objectified and used by stolas after a lifetime of his talents (which in the episode and generally all episodes are shown to be substantial) going to waste, due to, yes, his own Trauma, but also due to Class specifically. but of course, what striker doesn't get is that blitzø actually likes loves stolas and also stolas loves blitzø and wants to do better by him RIP

(sidenote, I think if striker found out that the reason blitzø acts Like That around stolas is to keep himself emotionally safe/at a distance, because he doesn't feel good enough for stolas, he'd flip a table, not because he cares about blitzø's mental health, but because This Is What He's Been Trying To Make Points About The Whole Time Dammit These Blue Bloods Take Our Best And Turn Them Into Whining Toys Desperate For Their Approval!!!!)

but yes, something that will potentially make blitzø see/understand where striker is coming from, and why he's unhappy with the way things are (in ways moreso than everyone else is unhappy about the way things are), and even maybe why striker was hoping to find some commonality with him? because they... do have a lot of common ground....?

sidenote here, I don't think this can be entirely divorced from stolas' and fizzarolli's arcs, the former I think could potentially eventually abandon the expectations forced upon him and become blitzø's employee/partner, and the latter... more unsure. still need some data, but it'll definitely pertain to his relationship with asmodeus being out in the open now. my dream is poly life, but hey, i'm never expecting it, even in queer shows. not everything can be sense8 after all --

but stolas and fizz represent two sides of the status quo that are going to dismantle it in their own way. stolas by not subjecting himself and therefore others to what he's been taught he Has to do and be, and fizz through his relationship with ozzie. they're already so much more effective than anything striker has managed to achieve, despite his beliefs

but also that striker is blitzø's shadow. blitzø feels hopeless and alone, but he's got a lot of people (especially as of halfway through s2) who would go out to bat for him, who want him in their lives, who really really care... the person blitzø doesn't want to be is... striker. striker is a match for blitzø in every way (share first place at the harvest moon festival), has many similar opinions (oh great, now the supremacist is agreeing with me), and is similarly jaded... and has nobody at all

the point is that striker's goal is to dismantle the status quo... sort of... it's to destroy something in any case, to get vengeance as some kind of vague Concept (which does make me think he got his vengeance and is just post-vengeance lashing out) but it doesn't seem like he's thought that far ahead, and now it's become personal, it's all centred around blitzø (and fizz, but blitzø moreso) "betraying" their kind, and stolas and potentially fizz, now after oops are symbolic of everything that's Wrong, but also... it would hurt blitzø specifically..... both western energy and oops showed blitzø reacting emotionally to someone getting hurt because of striker. differently, because his relationship with stolas and his relationship with fizz are two distinct kinds of fucked up, but in the end, because of blitzø's place in the story and the Thing that striker is trying to destroy (powerful demons and the class traitors that allow themselves to become their pets) it aaaall centers back around to him and striker becoming more and more unhinged about, specifically, him, and also maybe wanting to drag blitzø to his level and finally finally agree with his point of view...

at least... that's what i want it to

so I want it to get more personal from here on out. striker seemed to really lose it at the end of oops, there is no cool left AND THEN BLITZØ BLEW HIM UP. MY GUY! IT'S PERSONAL NOW IF IT WASN'T BEFORE! (and it was getting personal before, but I'm gonna break you like a horse really cinched it -- and that was before his manic attempts at murdering fizz in front of blitzø)

I don't necessarily think blitzø would want to "decimate" him, not because striker isn't really dangerous and hasn't actively tried to kill two people blitzø loves (and moxxie and millie by proximity), but because to blitzø this isn't as personal... yet. kill, maybe, but I don't think he's currently out looking for a fight, and I think once it does get that personal, the dynamic will be too complicated to measure in simple terms of destruction, i think it'll be a cauldron of things...

I need to go back and rewatch western energy to remind myself of how exactly he taunts stolas that blitzø isn't coming for him, just to convince myself that there's something in there that's more than just glee about stolas being hurt, but also that he's happy that blitzø hasn't been completely lost to this relationship (fizz is way more of a lost cause according to striker), and maybe he can cut that thread for him, who knows. put him back on the right path. it's a gift, really, killing stolas

and i want blitzø to pity striker. i think that would drive him right over whatever edge he hasn't toppled off already, if blitzø understood and saw him and still told him that he was wrong, but now he felt sorry for him

as for via, great potential for a stolas and blitzø co-dads team-up? i don't imagine she'd get seriously hurt in the way other characters have been, but then that's my own limitations, simply because she's been safe from harm so far... but yeah, co-dads team-up. feels like a later down the line thing (well, most of this does)

i do want striker to land some kind of truly painful hit on blitzø. something he can't walk away from without actually getting help. whether that's hurting people he loves, or hurting him in a way so that he needs to be saved (listen, i want the latter... big fan of emotional whump blitzø, but the show has us covered on that front, it's time for him to need saving after getting stabbed and beaten and what have you, stolas can't have all the fun!)

In Conclusion: do I have real Theories? not as such. I just have Feelings.

a. I want blitzø to understand striker because of striker's past, and for that understanding to make things worse between them b. I want striker to take whatever messed up emotions he has and fine-tune them in blitzø's direction and everything he cares about (hell, maybe barbie could get involved in this somehow, so far she's been very far off to the left) c. I want striker to really really hurt blitzø. I want blitzø to at one point be genuinely, deeply afraid and in pain for a prolonged amount of time (so not just the brief parts in oops, I'm talking full episode angst) because of striker -- I think especially because striker has lost a few bouts against I.M.P. it's time for him to get a real win. and for blitzø to get hurt. sorry, that's what you get for being the narrative's specialist little boy d. I want striker to accidentally bring stolas and blitzø closer together, perhaps by kidnapping/threatening via e. I want striker to function as blitzø's narrative/symbolic shadow for the rest of the show f. do I want striker to survive the show? idk. maybe. I like a villain whose motives you get, but who never gets redeemed, and whether that can happen and him surviving, who knows g. I want there to be more horse-based innuendos, I think that's their shared language h. (I also want him to start crying because he's so damned tired of everyone making his esteemed rivalries and attempts at decent threatening behaviours and murder into a sex thing. can't a guy be a mass-murdering hitman in peace these days?)

as for villains: striker and mammon? striker and paimon? the hypocrisy of striker working with people like stella being writ even larger, simply because his whole set of ideals have been upended by how much he wants to destroy/dominate/win over one fucking guy that lives in his head rent free (blitzø has that gift)

In Real Conclusion: in the journey to try and get at blitzø, striker destroys the last parts of himself that he could hold onto. something like that. that would be cool. also. want him to make blitzø cry at one point. just cos.

[rawliverandgoronspice]

Since u've already had the topic a few times abt the way the framing in totk is. Here's another one: It feels moreso than in botw, like everyone is acting AT Link, instead of INTERACTING with him. It's like Link is there, but he barely is ever really acknowledged. Even when others talk to him, they just talk AT him. It worked more in botw maybe bc the entire game was built around Link being "new" in the world. But in totk you're meeting Link's "friends" and it just feels sterile, and like Link doesn't matter.

I think one of the issues of TotK's storytelling in general is that it often gets really busy explaining contrived lore that never really deepens the world or the characters and their relationship, and that a lot of cutscenes (in the main quest, I think sidequests are infinitely better at this and makes the world feels more lived-in) are focused on re-explaining the status quo, restating things that just happened or making strange connections between unrelated events to tell the player it's time to go from point X to point Y (thinking of the Zora questline, which got a looot of those).

So I agree that it ends up being a looot of telling, without a whole lot of showing, and even less playing (= here I mean playing as in, doing gameplay actions that are meaningful to the story, character development or themes). And Link do end up taking the blunt of it.

(the widespread use of his little "explaining" animation was kind of a huge indicator to me that maybe this game is a little too focused on re-explaining things that just happened and aren't that complicated or interesting for its own good, while also not following up on the new developments re: Fake Zelda and Dragon Zelda in a organic and revelatory way, among other things)

[wolffallsintodanmeihell]

So I was talking to my bf the other night and made this rec eps list for fun. The idea pretty much was like to challenge myself to see if I had to recc someone who was hesitant to watch the entire show due to length and wanted to get a general gist, which eps would I recc for them to get a good feel, esp if they've maybe onIy had prior experience fics/art or want to delve on that but wanted to have an idea of canon first. I llimited myself to 15 eps with 5 extra "reccomended ", my focus being character dev eps and plot stuff like the lead up to reign storm, valerie's plotline, danielle, etc.

To be honest it was kinda hard at points lol, esp since DP is episodic moreso than plot heavy so it's not really like making a list for like a long running battle shonen or something, but hey this was fun to do fndnd.

Also again this is not a "you must follow this or else" type thing, I only did this for fun, I'll even link the tiermaker I used in case someone has their own version and opinions they wanna post as well which I'd honestly love to see.

To explain my reasonings

Req. Tier

Mystery Meat - First ep of the show, get introduced to main cast, set up yada yada

Parental Bonding - Introductuon to Paulina, first ep we get an idea for Sam and Danny's relationship.

What You Want - Tucker only really has two episodes during the show, so at the very least the first one focusing on him would be good to have to delve a bit into him.

Bitter Reunions - First Vlad ep, esp since he's Danny's arch-nemesis would be weird not to get introduced for later on.

My Brother's Keeper - Jazz finding out about Danny's secret, plus I really feel this is a great episode showing their dynanic and getting to learn more of how Jazz is.

Shades of Grey - best character Valerie gets introduced here, so felt it was pretty important to include esp for later on.

Public Enemies - This is the first episode where the status quo is changed and now Amity Park is just generally aware of Danny. Thinking he's an enemy yeah, buttttt still aware of Inviso-Bill i nearly typed in buffalo bill

Maternal Instincts - Danny and Maddie getting screentime together, Vlad's second appearance, and the start of Maddie straight up hating his ass lol.

Memory Blank - Mainly chose this one since it's where we learn how Danny first had the accident, so hey backstory stuff.

Reign Storm - The whole plotline with Vlad and Pariah Dark's ring and crown, more Valerie development, it's a fun episode imo. Too bad this didn't get followed in S3 but-

The Ultimate Enemy - Do I really gotta explain lol, Dan and Clockwork, Danny finding out Jazz knows his secret, etc etc like it's pretty much the episode every reccomends.

Flirting With Disaster - Big development for Valerie showing how she's developed imo, continues the Danny and Valerie stuff from Reign Storm, also again I'm biased towards Valerie lol

Reality Trip - Look I'll just be blunt I fucking love this episode, like it's genuinely my favorite of the three specials. It's a fun adventure, I love the Danny being revealed plot line, it's an exciting watch, could not leave it out.

Kindred Spirits - Danielle introduction plus more Vlad development as well, plus depending on your watch order I think this is counted as the S2 finale?

D-Stabilized - More on Danielle and Valerie's plotlines, and for a general bias honestly find it to be a pretty good episode and if any I'd say are "required" from S3 it would def be this one.

Recc. Tier

These were the most difficult cause there's still a bunch of episodes I'd rec.

Life Lessons - First ep where we see Danny and Valerie learn about each other outside of a negative context, plus pretty funny episode.

King Tuck - Again, Tucker barely gets any episodes so I do think his should be watched. Similar reasons to what I put for "What You Want".

Secret Weapons - First ep post-TUE where we see how Jazz and Danny are now that they're both aware she knows his secret. Get more development between them and more Vlad screentime too.

Eye for an Eye - This was such a hard one to choose between D-Stabilized and it, but I felt the former was more important in the end. Sets up the Vlad becoming mayor plotline that gies throughout S3 and also it's just funny like Vlad really rigged an election over a prank war with a 14 yr old.

Urban Jungle - I'm personally not the biggest fan of this episode, plus it's not really a special despite being advertised as such, but it does introduce the ice powers Danny gets that stays with him till the end so I felt it would be a good one to have listed as well.

Fun fact I actually had an earlier ver that incl. Million Dollar Ghost over Public Enemies, but when I thought about it I felt the latter had more bigger impact than the former simply setting up a plot line that Reign Storm goes more into anyway. Plus I really wanted to include Control Freaks cause it introduces Freak Show but again was limited 😭😭

Also it's very hilarious that for all the villains who's episodes I couldn't include, Desiree got BOTH her episodes in, like damn her impact 🤣

Anyways here's the Tiermaker I used in case someone wants to do their own!

[scarletooyoroi]

So the Archon Quest got me thinking of a particular thing, moreso with this perspective of a 'God's Gaze' they describe with ol' Heavenly Principles.

Details under the cut since I love screenies. Will have some spoils of later events for perspective.

I want to premise this with two particular screens from Focalors's and N's discussion.

From this perspective it really allowed me to see the side of Divinity's usual perspective. Normally it's in a form of absolute. The in betweens, the nuance, none of that doesn't hold a candle to the undisputed 'truth' of events taking place. This in fact would explain a lot as to how we seen particular issues from the divine, and time and time again they learned from humanity.

The perspective of godhood that never found a relationship with humanity can only see the action as truth. What goes on within the individual's thoughts and feelings is a matter they find themselves entirely blind to. (When it doesn't have to do with belief in the divine.) Which in turn, leads to an idea I'm gathering about Irminsul and it's 'retcon' ability in terms of memory. How the important factor is that Fate must take place regardless of the context it has to reorganization.

Long as the action is there, so is the divine truth.

Tbh I find that incredibly interesting as an exploit. Throughout Genshin the primary reason we see a lot of the archons influenced the way they are is by walking alongside of humanity, learning about the details within and really perceiving the rich nature of their wisdom. Why their heights and sorrows are so heavily appealing. Possibilities becomes the boon.

On the other hand we can see why humanity always look to the divine for guidance. As someone without a touch of their perspective, what is reveled is a share of their certainty and strength that makes anything seem possible. Absolute conviction to push through any trial becomes their inspiration. The advantage they hold alongside 'Visionaries' is how they can genuinely see the etched details of the future in a very specific way.

Hell! Furina and Focalor's managed to gain this understanding. How the 'act' played first to the power as it generates Faith. This is a status quo that the HP would find as 'normal' thus truth.

So in that case where would the elemental dragons hold their lot? As we've learned in depth with Apep, Nevuilette and the legends of Nibelung, there's a view of reality that's entirely disconnected from normal human biases. This can also be another brand of perspective we can take it from a powerful force. In all honesty I'd love to see it!

This lesson in itself shows where the gods have always been fallible, and why we've come to see so many disasters play out across history as a result. Teyvat in it's current age is coming the closest to that understanding of how it'll need all these views with it's current bunch to truly push through the worst trials. An era of co-existence that burns away pain instead of propagating it.

Ultimately these perspectives shared are going to be the lens that helps draw together the solution that stops the events like the cataclysm 5 centuries ago.

This may be the part of those 'hidden corners' they've always talked about. Entire worlds can be tucked into memory after all.

[heliianth]

here’s another ask for you: talk abt whatever you want!!!

WAUGH thank u for a new one!!!!! ilysm!!!!!

rambling abt sonic and character foils and the IDW comics below the cut this is aimless enough for me to want it be an opt-in experience LOL

i was gonna talk abt this last night but it was 11 AnyWay. i saw a criticism of the IDW comics on reddit a long time ago and its got me thinking recently. someone said they didn't quite enjoy the way the comic was tackling sonic as a character not because of the inconsistencies in his pre-established beliefs (which are present) per se but because IDW keeps challenging them in ways that don't feel, from what i remember the comment saying, "good-spirited"? i hadnt heard that critique before so it was unique enough to catch my interest but not actually think much until now. but theres a reason for that hold on ok

so. to preface this whole thing. some of the most beloved stories in the series are ones that Do challenge sonic's beliefs. thats the reason why, when the series wants to tackle more mature content, they make foil characters. sa2 which reddit largely considers as having the best story has foil characters everywhere but specifically it spends a lot of energy on it's themes of identity and growth by making sonic and shadow clash not just physically but ideologically. that talk they have after final rush/chase basically spells it out and its framed as shadow hearing sonic out and then dismissing him ("what are you/i'm me/i see, well, i'm gonna beat your ass" <- basically). and then later on sonic's viewpoint is reinforced when shadow (airquotes) dies, but not before sonic himself is visibly impacted in the credits sequence. that whole story right there was, at least thematically, one about sonic having his beliefs challenged. SatBK does this as well, a game which is applauded within the general community as having the most accurate sonic characterization. stories that do adjacent things, like the OVA, s3&k, sa1, where character foils are a prominent part of the theming (though maybe not presented in a way where sonic himself necessarily feels ideologically Challenged), are often very popular as well

the time i saw the criticism was about when the surge saga was coming to an end, but i was new at that point so i really dismissed the whole discussion. sonics allowed to be challenged, thats what happens when you have a static character as a protagonist. but now that ive reread IDW a few times and have identified some of my own issues with the run so far i've been thinking about that reddit comment more often. why is the way IDW challenges sonic so different from the way stories like SatBK or sa2 challenge him? why is one intriguing and the other not "good-spirited?" nowadays i think the issue is less with tone or intent like the wording of the original comment implies, but the conclusion of those stories. all of those previous examples i gave culimate in sonic succeeding, yes bc hes the title character, but moreso bc hes the vehicle through which the themes of the series are delivered. SatBK wasn't going to have merlina win because the story was trying to tell the audience that life is only worth living when its finite. sa2 killed off shadow because it was about how being unable to move on eats someone from the inside out. these are broad overarching themes that are present in the whole series and its generally agreed that sonic at his best is representative of those themes, which is why hes static

but IDW kind of has a messy history with conclusions. or, at least, conclusions that feel like they are trying to Say something in the way i've been talking about. after everything is done and the threat of the week is defeated, it all kind of returns back to a status quo, which im very sure is not the fault of the writers. long-running series are supposed to have a status quo that keeps stuff the same so that new audiences wont be alienated by huge character histories and lore timelines and things to catch up on (The Most Intimidating thing abt like archie for example). its partially why u see almost no fleshed out arcs that span multiple games after 06 (man the word partially is doing some legwork there but if i talked abt why sonic games changed so drastically after the mid 2000's i would be here all fucking day). and there are conversations to be held about that status quo and its place in the games and whether its beneficial or not but imo when talking about IDW, a comic which is supposed to have continuity, it kind of obliterates the potential of having meaningful conclusions and the themes that come along with them. because IDW always approaches "sonic feels ideoloically challenged" and it never goes beyond it. it nudges and hints at criticism of IDW sonic's beliefs, actions, and philosophy, but it doesn't do anything with it. the status quo says sonic can't change that much, which is good when the conclusion of stories have themes that prove he's already got it figured out, and bad when there's a big gaping question mark where a lesson should be. the surge saga i think is the glaring example of this precisely because its so conclusionless (theres also how sonic himself engages with her but thats a convo for another day).

so when that redditor said they thought the surge saga lacked a "good-spiritedness" that stories with a similar concept like SatBK or sa2 had i think they were picking up the vibes of the story being kind of... pointless at least in terms of themes and actual impact on the characters, rather than a lack of earnestness, a tone blunder, or strange intent on the part of the writers

im really curious how the urban warfare saga is resolved now precisely bc this lack of meaningful conclusion problem is so prevalent . depending on how passionate i am i may make a more formal analysis post abt it or something, but probably not considering i read IDW very very casually . which feels like a contradiction after writing all this but . yanno

[hopeymchope]

Engage Kiss totally *brings it*.

A-1 Pictures is on a ROLL lately. After finishing the third season of “Kaguya-Sama: Love is War,” I can hardly believe that they immediately put out both “Lycoris Recoil” AND “Engage Kiss” in the very next seasonal cycle! And IMO? All of these are well worth your time.

I went into "Engage Kiss" knowing shockingly little about it, and I come here today to promote how VERY emotionally invested I got in it. It’s one of those shows where at a certain point, EVERY episode ended on a cliffhanger moment that had me dying to watch what happened next. It worked me up to a point where I was tearing into each new episode as soon as I could squeeze them into my day, even if it meant playing parts of them on my phone while brushing my teeth or something. YEAH, I got addicted to it, and that's always the best feeling with any anime or any TV series in general, I think.

The core trio of Kisara, Shu, and Ayano. Also: The focal love triangle. The initial polycule, if you will.

I think the series’ biggest weakness is that it’s slow to roll out information on the initial status quo. They just sort of drop viewers in blind and let you gradually catch up on what’s going on as they drip-feed context across the first four episodes. So I’m going to try and bypass that problem by giving y’all a vague outline of the setup:

Decades ago, a new ore was discovered on the ocean floor that had the potential to be an amazing new source of energy. Today, an artificial island city has developed here to support the mining initiative. Unfortunately, this city has also developed a problem with monstrous demon attacks, and — cue the sarcasm — I’m sure that the deep mining and the unleashing of demonic forces are totally unrelated. The government tries to cover up evidence of these demons and their attacks while simultaneously keeping a number of PMCs on call to kill the invaders... or, to be more specific, the lowest bidder for each case is sent out to kill them. 

Twelve years ago, one such demon attack blindsided the city, and 28 people were lost. Only one survivor emerged from the site where it happened: A boy named Shu. 

We follow three lead characters: Shu, Ayano, and Kisara. Shu runs an extremely small PMC consisting of just two people. He looks like a real loser from the outside, but those who get to know him come to really respect his dedication to his personal goals and the people he cares about. The only other employee in Shu’s PMC is Kisara, and she’s actually a demon herself! And on top of that, Shu and Kisara are in a relationship! To date, Kisara has possessed enough power to handle almost any kind of OTHER demonic threat that comes into town... but the strength of those threats is rapidly increasing.  And Ayano? She’s the point man for a competing PMC, and she used to be in a relationship with Shu. Now she’s just trying her damnedest to maintain a friendly working relationship with him... despite both of them still clearly struggling with lingering feels.

Why are the demons even here? What really happened to the vanished people from 12 years ago? Why is Kisara willing to fight and kill her own kind? Why is Shu dating a friggin’ demon? All these things will be answered, brand-new questions will arise... and in the interim period, you���ll get some kick-ass action scenes, some frothy relationship/love-triangle humor, and increasingly high-stakes drama.

Kisara is also a one-winged demon, FYI. Eat your heart out, Sephiroth.

Although I found the universe kind of interesting, the humor cute enough, and the action pretty damn cool, none of those traits are enough for me to get seriously invested in a series. What really got me here is the CHARACTERS. There are a bunch of them, ranging from some fun/charismatic supporting players to the big three I just outlined. Two of them especially got under my skin and into my head... but one moreso than the other. 

The lesser of the two? A highly flawed yet weirdly fascinating person — someone that’s willing to make just about any compromise to pursue their own justice. And the other character, the one I really couldn’t shake from my mind? As the series went on, their motivations and actions became so complicated and conflicting that I felt compelled to sporadically sit and ponder what was driving them and what they might decide to do next.

....yeah, I’m clearly dodging revealing too much about them because I don’t want to call out my faves point-blank. I don’t want to raise anyone’s expectations or get them to particularly focus on any given character in the foreground OR background. Anyone who tries it is better coming in with minimal expectations, I think.

And yet... I still want to give you SOME expectations. That’s what my aforementioned summary tried to do. But on top of that, let me offer some additional warnings.

Noteworthy Warnings/Advisements:

Please understand that "Engage Kiss" is essentially a Word Salad Title. By the end of the series, I could kinda see how it could be justified... but the show sure as hell ain't going to give you that justification itself. Don't sit around awaiting for someone to explain to you how they're engaging in kissing or whatever. This is some popcorn eyeglasses shit.

The tone of the series can swing wildly from VERY light to VERY dark. What starts out as a pretty goofy show focused on relationship comedy and financial struggles eventually shifts into something much more dramatic as we escalate the various players' personal motives alongside the increasingly world-threatening stakes.

Content Warning: Along the way, you can expect to see sporadic blood and gore as well as a few episodes containing blatant sexual content (no nudity, however). .......... Oh, and those kissing scenes you only ever see in anime where the people get a string of drool linking their mouths while making out? Mmm-hmm — the saliva-phobic need not apply here. .......... Also? Kisara fronts at being a high-schooler — dressing up like one and even occasionally attending a school — which means our story includes a young adult man dating an (ostensible) high-school girl. And it also includes, via flashbacks, a young adult woman dating an (actual) high-school boy! These relationships would both be quite taboo in the U.S., but if you’ve watched enough Japanese media, you know by now that they don’t really flinch at this at all. Cultural differences and all that. You can either accept that they see the world differently or resume previous disgust; you’ll get no judgement from me either way.

Oh, you might want to know that this is part of a theoretical “mixed-media project.” Said project currently only includes this anime, an ongoing manga that is adapting the anime, and a Square Enix mobile RPG titled “Engage Kill” that is expected to hit devices later in 2023. At least in Japan. I’m not sure if there’s any confirmation of it coming anywhere else, but here’s hoping!

Ayano has MANY reasons why Shu sucks ready to fire off at a moment’s notice. Sadly, this doesn’t change that she’s still sorta hung up on him. As they say, “the heart wants what it wants” — even if it what it wants is dumb as fuck.

By the end of it, I felt like they didn’t quiiiiiiite stick the landing in the finale. It wasn’t the ideal wrapup for my tastes, and that’s partly because it felt like they were setting up one thing until the last couple of eps convinced them to do the OPPOSITE of that. Even so, I definitely wouldn’t say it was a failure of a finale OR a series!  

And when the last scene ended, I found myself STILL very emotionally attached to these characters. Frankly, I'm just a couple steps away from writing shippy fics about some of them. It be like that.

[coolfire333]

Thoughs on the Barbie movie:

Once again I am not a film critic and also I don't really have a strong connection to Barbie in general so take this with a grain of salt or whatever, this is just my opinion.

Alright. This movie did get a few laughs from me, and visually speaking it was very pretty. It was refreshing to see a movie as visually fun and well-designed as Barbie was, and the acting was surprisingly good too. The doll-logic gags at the start of the movie where Barbie is getting ready for her day and exploring the town are really clever, and I seriously wish the movie focused more on those because they're very cartoony and clever.

It was also cool to see different dolls being featured in the movie. I wasn't a Barbie kid by any means, but I remember commercials from my childhood and it was nice to see some of the dolls I remember seeing when I was younger. It was pretty nostalgic.

However, that's pretty much all I have to say on why I liked the movie. I think that going for a more self-referential commentary on Barbie was an interesting choice, but I don't think it was handled well at all for several reasons.

Firstly, it leans way too far into the whole "men stupid" bit for my tastes at least. It's funny to have the Ken dolls be airheaded, but why are the human men equally as useless and silly? I think it takes away a lot of the seriousness of the message the movie was trying to send about the structure of the real world being patriarchal when all the men are just bumbling idiots instead of having some of them be genuinely cunning and intelligent and using that intelligence to work against women.

It makes it seem like oppressing women is just something that men stumbled upon instead of it being something that some men choose to participate in on purpose because they know how to work the system in their favor. Also, I think punching up at men is only fun when the men in question are really dislikable, and the main men in the film (Ken and the human corporate men) are moreso bumbling rather than malicious, so it's hard to hate them, and making fun of them near-constantly sometimes comes off as unnecessarily mean.

Also, the fact that the status quo both in Barbieland and in the real world never really changed in the end really left a bad taste in my mouth. The film constantly presents Barbieland as a reverse parallel to the real world, a matriarchy where men are less influential than women, as opposed to the real world where men are in charge of everything.

In this sense, the Ken dolls have the status in Barbieland that women do in real life, so by having them attempt a revolution, fail, and get relegated back to second-class status is concerning if it's supposed to be a reverse mirror of the real world because it implies that the same thing will happen to women in the real world, and there's nothing much women can do about it.

I also disliked the ending they gave Barbie. Barbie has human emotions now and therefore doesn't want to be a doll anymore? Interesting idea, but I think it actually sends the message that Barbie is supposed to be perfect and to be imperfect is to be human. Which sounds good on paper but I'm not sure the filmmakers intended to sell the idea that Barbie is perfect and if she isn't then she must be human. I think it would have been much more poignant if she stayed in Barbieland as a more human-like, flawed doll, but hey, that's just me.

The plotline with the little girl being against Barbie at first was really interesting, but they just sorta swept it under the rug? I mean, I used to hold the same viewpoints on Barbie when I was around the girl's age and I don't think that meeting Barbie and going to Barbieland would immediately cause me to drop that attitude like "oh I guess she's fine now."

I think the thing that made me become more at peace with Barbie and other "girly" things as a grown woman was realizing that not all women have the same values, so something that's uplifting for one woman might also feel derogatory for another, and that's ok. It's ok to say "I think Barbie is sexist" because there's also another girl who probably is inspired by her.

The film was more about the girl's mother, which, ok, sure, but they never had a one-on-one between Barbie and the girl where the girl honestly explained why she disliked Barbie outside of schoolyard insults. Like she could have been like "your image/what you represent hurt me personally for xyz reasons" and Barbie then could have argued against that with the whole "Barbie can represent any little girl" schtick and I think that having a genuine serious conversation between just the girl and Barbie would have been very moving.

I don't think that the girl in the film would have completely changed her views on Barbie, I think it would have been more realistic and moving to show her being like "I still dislike you but I've come to terms with you because I see how you help uplift other children, but at the same time I'm not one of those kids." But if they wanted to go the "forgiveness and acceptance" route, maybe the girl could have been like "I thought you were sexist but I understand now that that is a corruption of your image and in reality you were always supposed to just be something that girls could express themselves with" which also looks good on the brand.

Speaking of the brand, it was weird how the movie took jabs at mattel because it also was so blatantly a promotion of mattel's ideas and products. I really don't think that critiquing consumerism in the very surface-level ways Barbie did and making meta jokes about it being a Barbie movie absolved the movie of the blatant advertising. I dunno how to describe it but its commentary on advertising as well as on society seemed really ham-fisted to me.

Like ok they were making reasonable points about society and sexism but man they were also just hammering you over the head with their ideas instead of trying to go a more subtle route. I'm not saying it had to be so subtle you couldn't see it, but maybe try to get the audience to think about it more instead of just saying "here it is!!!" and explaining it all the time.

They could have used Barbie as a naive figure representing childlike wonder and have her interactions with the real world clash with how real women are expected to act, but they didn't really play up that part as much as I felt they should have, and instead they had Barbie react very humanly to situations in the real world.

I dunno, I'm having a hard time articulating what I mean but I don't think the movie handled the more serious themes well at all. They glossed over a lot of details and when they did show serious elements it felt so obviously played out and stereotypical it was uncomfortable to watch.

Overall it wasn't unpleasant to watch Barbie for the most part, but I probably wouldn't watch it again if I had a choice. I'd give it like a c- on a good day, but once again that's just my opinion.

[lazyliars]

The Quackity Meta: a Tale of Two Absolutes

More than anything else, Quackity wants control, and to never, ever lose his own autonomy. And that is why he despises Technoblade.

But wait, how is Technoblade a threat to Quackity's autonomy? Techno is all for individual freedom! He wants to eradicate the government so that no one can be controlled!

There's the question though... How do people exercise control within the framework of a video game like m/inec/raft?

“a person exercising power or control in a cruel, unreasonable, or arbitrary way.”

Power on the Dream SMP cannot be translated one-to-one with real  life power. In real life, yes, a government had infinitely more power than an individual, for numerous reasons. But on the Dream SMP, the government's power is always directly tied to the power of the individuals who are willing to defend that power.

Technoblade is powerful. This is not debatable. How he uses this power, historically, has been a mix of generosity and self-interest*, although primarily the latter.

Generously, He gains resources and then distributes them to his allies during the Pogtopia Rebellion, gearing everyone up and giving them a fighting chance against Dream. However, in the aftermath of Tubbo's being appointed president, Techno turns on them, swiftly and mercilessly. The moment that it becomes clear** that Pogtopia's interests don't align with his own, he crushes them with the aim to prevent them from ever recovering.

( *I use self-interest as a neutral term here. Everyone on the SMP is selfish to some extent – it doesn't make them evil, and in fact has been treated as a positive at times, as well as a negative.

**I want to note that whether or not Technoblade knew of Pogtopia's goal of reinstating the government is unclear. It would seem that from Techno's POV that he didn't know, or assumed that it was a minority who wanted another government. But on the other hand, no one was actively lying to him about their intent, and people like Tommy and Quackity made their goals very clear.  Further doubt is cast on the idea that Techno had no idea when you take into account that he enchanted the Netherite armor in the vault with worthless enchants like Fire Res.

Ultimately, there's no way to know until it is confirmed by cc!Techno himself, and it doesn't pertain that much to this analysis, but I'm aware that it's a hotly debated topic so I wanted to address it.)

It can be argued that Techno's destruction of L'manberg, both the first and especially the second time, was necessary. It can also be argued that it was cruel and a disproportionate retribution against both culpable and innocent parties. Extant of these arguments however, how does it feature into control?

Well, we can’t talk about control without mentioning the most controlling force on the server and the other person on Quackity's hitlist, Dream.

Dream is a tyrant. I don't think anyone can really make an argument against that in good faith at this point. He ticks off every box, no matter how vague or esoteric. This makes the interactions that Quackity and Techno have with him very interesting.

Quackity despises Dream. He's one of the earliest adopters of the hating-Dream-train, to the point that some people have compared him to Cassandra, a priestess who was cursed with the vision of prophecies that would always be true, but never believed. And indeed, Quackity's apprehension of Dream comes in as early as Pogtopia, and grows at a steady pace after the fact.

But despite his rightfully calling out Dream's hypocrisies and his controlling tendencies, Quackity was largely ignored on this front, especially when the time came to exile Tommy and Quackity basically predicted the next arc – If they gave Dream this concession, they would never be able to get out from under his thumb. Flash forwards to the Green Festival, and the moment Tubbo hands over the discs, any illusion of nicety drops and Dream proceeds to destroy them, side by side with...

Technoblade has always had an amiable relationship with Dream. From their first proper interaction on the server being Dream giving Techno some hefty resources, to their snap team-up on Doomsday, they've had a smooth time, with some notable bumps.

Techno fought against Dream during the Pogtopia rebellion, but when it became clear that Dream was more invested in chaos than his other allies, Techno temporarily allied with him to summon the Withers and drive the nail deeper into Manberg’s coffin.

The only time Techno has really bothered to challenge Dream directly is when he came for Tommy in exile. Techno went to great lengths to protect Tommy, hiding him and distracting Dream.

He did give Dream the option to call in his favor and take Tommy, but there are arguments to be made that he did this more as a challenge – that Tommy is worth the favor. Again, we probably wont ever know.

The difference in their relationships with Dream is polarizing. It also reflects the difference in personality – Quackity is an aggressive, ambitious person, whereas Techno leans more towards passivity and caution. Quackity is looking for enemies to challenge, where Techno is avoiding them, people who actually stand a chance against him most of all.

Technoblade is an individual with extraordinary amounts of power. Others have pointed out that he is rarely challenged by other characters or the narrative, and regardless of the merits or flaws in that, it paints him as nearly untouchable. His being in the good graces of Dream only adds to this.

And like with Dream, the only way that people have been able to threaten Techno is when they work together. The Butcher Army, for all it's flaws, managed to capture Techno through numbers – with Tubbo and Fundy (barely) holding off Techno's blood rage while Quackity snuck off to take Carl hostage. And they would have gotten away with it too, if the other most powerful person on the server hadn't stepped in – both by pointing Techno to a totem of undying in the days before the attack, and by getting Punz to cause a distraction and directing Techno to the final control room, where he could escape with Carl.

So, if the most powerful person in the world can only be threatened by people working together, and the most common form of organization is by government, then what does it say about Technoblade, who wants the government destroyed?

People like Tubbo, Fundy and yes, Quackity, all benefit from organizing and working together. They all tend to be less armed, less ready to defend themselves, and completely unable to stand up to titans like Techno and Dream on their own. It's safety in numbers, but it's also control, and control is power.

Ranboo's insistence that Snowchester is a Government is interesting when viewed through this lens. Ranboo is another person who is insanely rich, and able to defend himself and his belongings consistently. Ranboo doesn't need other people to defend him – he's living with Techno and Phil not out of necessity for his survival, but out of need for connection with others.

This seems to be the main difference he finds with Snowchester, which has a more structured environment, geared to defend itself and it's people, if harm should come their way.

Which makes sense, considering it's founder, Tubbo, holds no earthly belongings, and Jack, another prominent member, has made a character trait out of losing his things every other day. The two of them have no conceivable way to defend themselves against people who are stronger than they are. But together, holding the keys to nuclear armaments, they can suddenly play on the field of gods.

The anarchist commune, despite having all members working together and being on good terms, aren't really an organization, they're individuals with common goals and interests. They don't need to live together to be strong, they're all already strong, they choose to be near each other because they want to.

Snowchester is not a government and has no ruler, but together, it's members hold power. They have sway in the world when they work as a collective, and most members have a vested interest in keeping themselves and each other defended because of this. Consequently, the “identity” of Snowchester becomes more prominent, resulting in the flag, the uniforms and the, well, identity.

(Now, the more perceptive among you might have noticed that I basically just compared Techno Phil and Ranboo to the ultra rich 1%, which. Um. Is a pretty serious comparison to make about in a block game rp?

And I wanna say that I don’t think this was necessarily intentional on the parts of either the CCs or the characters, and beyond that, it’s just one way of examining the text. This analysis is by no means the “Right” way to view the story, just a different one.

Regardless...)

Techno uses his considerable power to further his own goals, first and foremost. This is not inherently good or evil, it just is.

Contrast with New L'manberg's cabinet; Four people, pooling their limited power to further their shared goals. Not good or evil, just a way of exercising power.

But power is not static. Power is fluid and changing, moreso now on the SMP than ever before, and Quackity and Technoblade are fighting to define what Power means going forwards.

Techno is fighting for the status quo, knowingly or not. Individuals with power should lead the world, and those without should strive to emulate their betters. He destroys all forms of government, which strip away the rights of the individual in exchange for hierarchy and consolidated power within that hierarchy.

At it's best, this is a very freeing ideology, where nothing and no one can hold back the individual. The world is your oyster if you are willing to work for it.

But at it's worst? “Violence is the only universal language,” is the key phrase. Where does this ideology leave people who aren't strong? Where does it leave those who cannot fend for themselves? If Violence is the only universal language, then the weak have no means to speak.

Quackity is fighting to get a foothold for a contrary ideology – One that prioritizes words over violence and offers alternative methods of gaining and exercising control, such as through currency and conversation. Quackity has tried to varying degrees of success to implement this on the level of his own individual power, such as during the elections, but his attempts at employing this on a grand scale have all been short-lived.

At it's best, this ideology can uplift anyone, regardless of their strength. It encourages more communication, more commerce, and thrives under, you guessed it, strong government.

At it's worst however, it creates a brutally controlling environment. Where a few people gain absurd amounts of power through the complex machinations of a fiat currency, and are then able to use their sway and influence with governing forces to exercise power that they would never be able to hold on their own.

Again, neither of these ideologies are inherently good or evil. They both have flaws and benefits, and benefit no one more than perhaps Techno and Quackity respectively, while hindering the other.

Techno is benefited by anarchy because he holds incredible amounts of individual power. He is the strongest person on the server, he is rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams, and on a meta level, he's straight up good at the game. The current status quo puts him firmly at the top of the food chain, and this is most obvious on Doomsday, when he and the other two most powerful individuals (Dream and Philza) come together and crush the combined forces of New L'manberg. They are not meaningfully challenged in any way, whatsoever.

Meanwhile, Quackity is deeply hindered by the current status quo. He's not strong, he's poor, and he's vulnerable to anyone who wants to bully him with brute force. On a meta level, cc!Quackity just straight up does not play m/inecraf/t as much as some of the other people that on the server. (To be clear, I do not mention that as a criticism, just to contrast Techno. Neither of their levels of play are better or worse for content, they just add to the experience differently.)

On the other hand, in a government? Quackity “Law Student” HQ is suddenly on top. He's charismatic enough to debate with Wilbur “Can Talk His Way out of Anything” Soot during the elections, and come out of that arena smelling like roses. Back during the days of El Rapids, Quackity held his men back from conflict with Dream, and talked him into a corner of technical truths where Dream had to concede that he viewed El Rapids as an independent nation if he wanted to get involved with their conflicts.

And Techno, while he is brilliant and an English Major, suddenly loses a lot of his intimidation factor if he has to respect laws preventing brutal murder. Techno can certainly debate, but his go to conflict resolution is usually violence, and if you take that away, you take away the threat of challenging him. Because make no mistake, challenging Technoblade right now? Is suicide.

And this duality, this grey morality and clash of ideals, is why Quackity is my favorite character on the SMP. He isn't strong. The power he holds is tenuous and balanced on a knife's edge. It would make more sense for him to stay quiet, keep his head down, and if anything, try to change things from the shadows, where he'll be in the least danger.

But he isn't quiet. He doesn't just challenge authority, he challenges the authority; Dream, Wilbur, and of course, Technoblade.

And in all but one of those matches, he's come out with a concession from his enemy gripped between his teeth. He schooled Wilbur in the debates. He forced Dream to grant El Rapids Independence at a time when he hadn't done so for New L'manberg.

But he failed miserably when he challenged Technoblade. Quackity lost that fight in the final control room before it began. He lost the moment he formed the Butcher Army. He would have lost if he managed to kill Technoblade, and he lost still when he died.

He lost because he conceded that the only way to achieve his goal was through violence. He decided that the only way to establish himself and New L'manberg as powerful? Was to kill Technoblade. And he lost that fight and he always will. There was never a way that he walked out of that fight with the victory; Quackity lost the ideological battle long ago.

But not the war.

As of writing this, Quackity is in the process of introducing an economy to the Dream SMP, on Sam's initiative. There is no action I can think of that is wiser for him to take right now. Now, when Dream has been deposed and there's a vacuum in power; Now, when people are getting tired of endless violence and the loss it brings; Now, when people are looking for something new.

An economy is a direct challenge to Might Makes Right. Trading, supply and demand, politics. It offers a new way for people to obtain resources and a direct alternative to brute force; other methods to pay for slights and breaches of honor and etiquette. No more will pet wars be fought with iron swords and shields, but with money! A healthy sum of cash for the murder of Fungi!

If Quackity can get this system off the ground (and with Sam's help, he definitely can,) the stage would suddenly be tilted in the favor of not just Quackity, but the people who he has associated himself with most closely – Tommy, Fundy, even Schlatt. They're all business men, all scammers. This could be Quackity's world, and he's damn well intending for everyone to live in it.

We’ll have to see what Techno thinks of this - Quackity hasn’t made any moves to start another government, and an economy doesn’t inherently contradict anarchy. But it does hold a potential threat to Techno’s current power.

And as for Quackity? What will he do once he’s at the top? Will he finally become a true tyrant? Will he usher in a new age of equality and justice? Or will he eschew all of that in favor of personal riches. For once, the cards are in Quackity's favor, and we might get the chance to see what he does when he holds real power.

[threewaysdivided]

How do you feel about Pink Astronaut. Personally I feel like Paulina deserved a little better than the writers gave her.

I'm 99% sure that's the ship name for Danny x Paulina, right?

(Which probably says a lot about my engagement with the shipping side of the Phandom 😅.)

TBH I don't have any strong thoughts or feelings about it either way.

In all cases I'm a very gen-focussed fan - my interests tend run more in the direction of character psychology, non-romantic platonic/ familial relationships, lore, mystery and theme. It's a personal thing but I just don't read romantic/sexual intent/attraction into character interactions unless they're explicitly framed/intended as such and the way much of the shipping community seems to do so goes completely over my head.

Which isn't to say that I avoid all ship-fics, or that there aren't a number of noncanon ships that I enjoy across different fandoms, but for the most part I favour genfic and when I do read shipfic they tend to be the stories that focus on personality, emotional chemistry and personal/emotional compatibility. And when it comes to thinking about "ships" myself I tend to lean more towards times when characters have canonically expressed that kind of interest, the reasons why they would be compatible/ find each other attractive, how they feel about it and what it says about them.

But back to Paulina:

I think you're right - as a character she (along with basically every human character outside of the main trio, the Fenton family and sometimes Valerie) suffers massively from underdevelopment because of the show's nature as for the most part an episodic kid's superhero-comedy with an ooky-spooky gimmick. Danny Phantom the show is a place where The Status Quo is God and the Rule of Funny/Cool/Drama supersedes everything, up to and including the characters and their consistency.

(You can even see this and the obviously conflicting visions of different parts of the creative team effect the main characters too. Danny suddenly carrying the Jerk Ball in service of a generic "don't be superficial/ materialism is bad" story in Livin' Large, how Tucker is basically learning the same lesson twice across What You Want and King Tuck, the multiple times where Sam's more abrasive negative traits are used as a source of plot/conflict but are never meaningfully addressed or developed because the writers want to keep using those traits for drama and eventually to use her character as the Morally Righteous Generic Love Interest Behind Danny's Heroism... et cetera et certera et cetera.)

Literally every character in DP is done a disservice by the show's writing and Paulina runs into the same problem. She's chained to the post of a very specific narrative function/ character archetype and never intentionally developed beyond what's needed to serve the Plot/ the Joke.

She's clearly written to be the Rich Plastic Mean Girl à la Regina George, and while there is a potentially very interesting character beneath that surface appearance - which we can see in places like Parental Bonding where she shows emotional intelligence by immediately clocking that Sam is actually jealous of Danny's attraction to her, and in her "if my skin is perfect, I'll be perfect" line from My Sister's Keeper which hints at some potentially significant appearance-based self-worth issues - the show itself basically only ever uses her "Pretty Girl" and "Popular A-Lister" status as a source of surface-level character drama for the trio and as a rare plot-convenient situational ally in dire circumstances. Her actions show a consistent characterisation but it's so rudimentary that it barely clears that archetype to become its own thing.

I think if Danny Phantom had taken more structural and tonal influence from Spiderman (or even something like Disney's Kim Possible) rather than Fairly Odd Parents - still keeping things mostly light-hearted but with some extra focus on character consistency and layering some ongoing character arcs over each season - there could have been a lot of potential to develop and flesh out Paulina as a narrative foil/ ongoing rival to Sam and her own character arc. It also could have added some more meaningful non-stereotypical female character dynamics, which are disappointingly but perhaps not surprisingly lacking from a "for boys" Nicktoon headed by a man who named himself "Butch". But as it is she unfortunately falls into that No Man's Land for me, where she isn't developed enough to have much deeper canon worth investigating and isn't really thematically/narratively significant enough that I'd want to develop her myself for story purposes.

As for the Pink Astronaut ship itself, all I can say is that, at least for me, canonically it... isn't really one. At least in terms of what I personally characterise as a 'relationship'. It's stuck at a very shallow level; Danny has a superficial surface-level infatuation with Paulina because she's pretty and popular, and Paulina looks down on "geeky dork loser" Danny Fenton while having a superficial surface-level infatuation with Danny Phantom as "the cute ghost-boy who rescued her". There's no real sense of actual personal chemistry based on them knowing, appreciating or even seemingly caring to know who the other is as a character. None of their "romantic" hijinks really involve them learning anything meaningful about each other or even having a proper conversation. Paulina "dates" Fenton purely to piss off Sam, then "Paulina" shows personal interest in Danny but it turns out to actually be Kitten trying to piss off Johnny, and when she does show interest in him after the reveal in Reality Trip it's kind of obvious that it's because she's interested in dating Phantom and his secret identity wouldn't have mattered either way. And meanwhile Danny spends most of his time either too busy with ghost stuff to properly pay attention to her as a person, or he never really shows any interest or understanding beyond his fantasies about how she's very conventionally pretty (which he finds attractive/desirable) and popular (which he wants to be).

So while there's a lot of potential for people to write that ship in terms of them being two very different characters from different backgrounds who come to learn about each other as people, come to appreciate each other on a personality level and develop an actual romantic/emotional connection based on that... within the show itself that surface level is sort of where it starts and ends.

And like I said, I'm not a shipper. Even with the bigger, more canonically-substantiated ships I look for the personalities moreso than the romance.

So I don't really have any strong thoughts or feelings about it either way.

Sorry if that's not a satisfying answer.

But I do agree: like most DP characters, Paulina Sanchez has a lot more character potential than the writing allowed her.

[flightfoot]

what are some of your favorite episodes of miraculous?

Oooh I've got a few favorites!

Oblivio

Anyone who's been around my blog for awhile knows how much I ADORE this episode! It got me into the show. I love a good amnesia plot, seeing the characters putting together clues based on their surroundings to tell them what's going on and what sort of dynamic they have with each other, seeing how their personalities interact without any of their previous baggage.

When I first watched this without having seen any previous episodes, I appreciated their interactions, how these two characters I didn't know discovered who they were at the same time I was discovering THEM, how clever they both were and determined to protect each other, even after knowing each other for such a short period of time.

After having seen the rest of the series I gained a new layer of appreciation for it, seeing how they interact without any of their pre-conceived notions about each other, or even about themselves, informing the way they acted. How Chat was a little more serious and yet open than usual, not playing up the role as much, since he didn't have any concept of "playing a role" without his memories. And with Marinette, how she wasn't just slotting herself into the commander role, but instead was thinking of fighting the akuma as being just an immediate thing she needed to do, to fend off the bad guy, how she and Chat were partners. She wasn't playing up being a symbol for justice or anything, she was just a girl who was teaming up with this boy she liked to take down the threat, and having fun doing it.

Chat Blanc

This is another fan favorite, and for good reason. Chat Blanc’s design is AMAZING, we got to find out how Gabriel would react to Adrien being Chat Noir (not well), what Adrien would think of Marinette being Ladybug (he melts into an overjoyed love puddle), and just... it’s so, SO good. The emotions in this episode are some of the most raw and extreme in the series.

Gang of Secrets

Loved how we got to see Marinette breaking under the pressure, moreso than we’ve ever seen from her before. Even during Chameleon, Ladybug, and Gamer 2.0, she didn’t feel this stressed and helpless. But she just kept pretending she was fine, even when it was clear to everyone that she wasn’t, and kept refusing help. 

And then the single biggest status quo upheaval of the series: Alya finding out Marinette’s identity, something that plays a major role in several of the following episodes, and helps to calm Marinette down, give her the support she needs to get out of her spiral. 

Plus just Alya awesomeness and appreciation in general, which we could always use more of. She’s an amazing character and I’m so glad she’s getting so much love by the show this season!

-----

So yeah, I generally love episodes that stress and strain the heroes, that show them in unusual situations and help build on our conceptions of them. Yet also show characters at their best, and what they can be. 

[animatedminds]

Star Wars: Visions - Episode 5: The Ninth Jedi

Here we go. The one everyone’s talking about. The one reviewer tend to agree is one of the series’ best, if not the best.

This one is another one that’s almost impossible to talk about without SPOILERS. I’ll try to keep it to a minimum, but SPOILERS just in case. We are, of course, talking about...

Episode 5: The Ninth Jedi Developed By: Production IG Directed By: Kenji Kamiyana

The first short to have intro narration, in a style clearly meant to audibly call to mind the narrative text that opens most Star Wars films. And this drop of classical Star Wars reminiscence sets the stage for the whole

Set in an indeterminate period where the Jedi are all but extinct and have been for “generations,” no one has seen a lightsaber in many people’s living memory, and the Sith run rampant hunting down any resistance to their rule, an elusive recluse sends a message out to the galaxy for any Jedi still able to hear: come to his star system, and he will provide you with that weapon from a more civilized time, in an effort to rebuild the Jedi Order.

The status quo for the Jedi here are interesting. They exist, but are scattered, and the initial focus character assumes that any Jedi he meets would be master-less and self taught. They desperately need the skills of a smith who can make lightsabers, desperately need the unity that this recluse - known as The Margrave - offers, and so assemble at his doorstep even though they know it could easily be a trap. The last arrival, Ethan, is an bright eyed youth who is eager to find solidarity, but the wait will be long.

Meanwhile, the saber smith and his daughter just about finish the last touches on the order of lightsabers for the Margrave. His chipper daughter, whose connection to the force is starting to develop, is happy to take the order to their employer when suddenly a group of dark, mysterious strangers arrive asking questions...

This is a great set up for a great narrative. It’s a strong story that is going to be a point of reference for me as a writer in the future, on how to write misdirections and fakeouts without taking away from the narrative experience: twists run the real risk of taking the audience out of the experience, especially when they’re twists just for the sake of having them, which can make people give the concept a bum wrap it doesn’t inherently deserve. This story is proof positive that twists are not a bad thing, as the story is all about misdirection but executes this in a way where every shocking serve feels like a turn you have already been prepared for, just didn’t know about yet, another thread that needs to weave into the story for it to feel complete: You think the meat of the story is going to be with those Jedi waiting for the Margrave, but then the plot instead centers around the sabers and the daughter’s desperate attempt to deliver them as the Jedi Hunters attack - because of course, these are the very things they are waiting for, not the Margrave itself. You start to realize that some of the assembled Jedi are not who they seem (there’s one in particular, who is so obviously going to be a twist villain that you can imagine Kamiyama’s tongue well in cheek when designing him), while our host - the Margrave - features a lot of traditionally “evil” design traits (not the least being glowing red eyes), but he starts to clearly be shown to be what we initially expect him to be, and the enormity of the answer to “where are the Sith” manages to be shocking even if you were genre savvy enough to be catching on. The character you think might be the protagonists aren’t, and the ones you think might be the antagonists are really your last hope.

And that’s not even getting into the visuals. Lightsabers are portrayed even more as an extension of the characters’ wielding it, in a way I liked a lot better than the “Anakin’s saber is Excalibur” idea from the ST. Not just the color, but the glow and visual presence of a lightsaber directly ties to the characters’ sense of purpose, there’s a point where the color of a character’s saber changes mid-fight as they finally find their resolve: it’s a beautiful visual representation. The fight at the end is a delight as well. Probably the most violent scrap since The Duel (though not as hardcore as that), while there’s no blood characters do get visibly chopped up and burned in this one, and the battle feels all the more ruthless for it. The Sith are interesting here - they outnumber our heroes, yet by the end of it they almost feel like the underdogs, only able to watch as their fully pissed off opponent executes their allies one by one. But the fact that others in the fight are much less experienced, and the fact that we know the Sith have done one particularly nasty thing over the course of the plot, keeps the sympathy away from them for much of it.

This, like The Twins, is another that intentionally and wholly adopts a classic Star Wars trope - though unlike that it is not a short built on being entirely referential and tributary, but rather it’s own crafted narrative. Still, the Jedi must always be underdogs. They must always be hunted, always be seeking out ways to bring peace back to a lost galaxy. But the implication here that they are building something where there was one nothing gives this take on the idea a strength and permanence that I very much enjoyed: rather than another story about a ragtag band of Jedi, this felt like I was watching the beginning of something. As I said, the time frame is indeterminate, but I could almost see this as the beginning of the old Jedi Order as we know it.

This was definitely a wonderful episode, and among my favorites. It had I think the best ensemble of protagonists thus far: not that the protagonists previously were poor, but as I noted in my Tatooine Rhapsody review, once you get off of the main protag in some of the shorts the supporting characters drop off some (though the previous episode, The Village Bride, was also great with minor character characterization). Here, everyone - even the Sith - get at least a little characterization to endear them, and all the main characters are well defined and endearing. I could easily see more of any of these characters. Heck, I’d even watch a series just about the pilot droid that’s only in there for a very rare spot of humor. Great episode, is what I’m saying. And lastly, as I always do, I’m going to look at this one additionally in terms of canon potential. All of the Visions short films are noncanon, but like with many studio or franchise if there is enough support (and if they actually fit into the setting) for any of these characters there is always a chance that the studio could choose to revisit them and officially incorporate them. But with that in mind, I’m going to look whether this does actually fit into the setting.

Reminding the reader that this is a wholly separate question from “how amazing is this episode” (for which the answer is “very.”), I’d only give this one maybe Okay Chances, but more likely Not So Good Chances. The premise of this one necessarily requires a very major status quo: that of a period where the Sith take over the galaxy and the Jedi are nigh wiped out. This means that this would either have to set in stone a big part of the backstory of the series, or hard-set the far future of the series, both things that LucasFilm very likely doesn’t want rigidly defined. You might have heard of the KOTOR remake by now: that’s not confirmed canon and probably won’t be, and I’ve been presuming that its for the same reason: they don’t want to definitively say “this is how it all started” right now, and even moreso they definitely won’t want to say “this is what eventually happens” either. The concept would have to wait in the wings for when a time comes that they have an idea in mind that they can incorporate it into. But that doesn’t diminish the experience of watching this for the first time. Heck, the final shot of the short - a visual assurance that the will and power of the Jedi is never going anywhere - that’s still giving me goosebumps. And it makes me wish I had a lightsaber of my own...

[sepublic]

Bessie & MicroAngelo!

           THEY KILLED THE KING OF DEMONS AAAGGGGHHHH-

           In all seriousness, that King cameo is GREAT, and especially in reference to magic as well! Too bad magic just isn’t Anne’s thing, alas… And honestly, I think King would lowkey be flattered to be paid tribute like this; Or high-key, he’s not one for subtlety! But let me tell you, Bernardo was serving LOOKS here; Even if they didn’t fit her, that last suit of golden beetle armor was just… SSSOOOO GOOOD! I know I keep saying it, but Amphibia really manages to land its armor design, it rubs just about everything I love, it’s sleek and ornate… First the Newt guards, and now Anne’s armor! Satisfyingly, it’s from THAT armor that Anne chooses her simple cuirass… But again, that armor is a LOOK, it gives me pure serotonin just looking at, it’s just so COOL and hits all the right spots, the perfect balance between what I like- It’s just GOOD! It just hits right, there’s a certain Je ne sais quoi to it, a distinct style and fashionable, yet sleek and slender and functional, design to it!

           Whoever designs armor and in general outfits for Amphibia, I want to shake your hand…! And I guess Bernardo’s, in-universe and all. He might seem a bit snobby, but he respects and appreciates Anne’s minimalist approach, so I must respect HIM for that as well!

           Oh yeah, we’ve also got Bessie and MicroAngelo… Admittedly, this thread kind of took a backseat for Anne’s fashion show and character development, but I still enjoyed it! I love how droopy Bessie’s design is, and I like that MicroAngelo isn’t just some one-off character for a gag, who inexplicably disappears; Things DO change, the status quo is upended, and the family is growing even bigger! Seeing Anne’s photo tacked onto Bessie’s family photo made my heart melt, and then the MicroAngelo drawing too…!

           Anne wanting to stick to her normal design says a lot about her character, applies to it in very meta ways, etc. She’s the simple, humble one- The one with ties back home, while Marcy and Sasha seem the ones most likely to stay in Amphibia for their own reasons… Marcy for escapism, Sasha for power; And both don’t really show anything else to go back home to! Obviously we don’t get the chance because there’s not as much focus to suggest family… But everything about Sasha screams a toxic family, and Marcy admits to being more or less alone back on earth.

           Anne is the one who remembers her past and cultural ties, she’s got that ‘human’ connection, moreso than her other human friends. And, I love the commentary on her learning to appreciate herself, now that she’s accepted her own faults and mistakes, taking accountability for them as a part of who she is; But still finding hope in herself, that kind of beauty… But also, that makeover montage and the IMPLICATIONS of it was great, and hilarious! However, I do have to wonder if like, the makeovers by Sasha and Marcy are also lowkey symbolic of them having some control over Anne, putting her into a role for their sake… Anne as Marcy’s protector, and as Sasha’s best friend…

           It’s neat to see her acknowledge her lack of clothing change compared to the rest, but how Anne still owns up to it! And yeah, she can wear armor, not just for practicality, but I think because she no longer has to worry about who she is, Anne recognizes that part of herself, so she can freely experiment and play around with it a bit more, while still clearly staying true to herself. I like Anne, it seems she’s always had self-image issues, felt like there was something wrong with herself, that she needed to change and be a chameleon for the sake of others…

           But, she’s begun to learn to be herself more; She learned to acknowledge the good… And with Valeriana’s help, Anne ALSO acknowledged the bad and ugly parts of her as well! She’s fully seen and recognized the entirety of herself, her true self… And this of course means self-acceptance! And small detail, but I love Anne being able to engage in self-reflection through Frobo, it’s adorable and neat how he’s more part of the family and helping Anne with this kind of soul-searching, I like it!

           I like Anne learning to come to terms with herself and accept that, so she can change and improve; And I have to wonder if that contrasts to Marcy and Sasha, who both play roles, perhaps in the wish that they could be someone they’re not… Marcy wanting to be cool and charming, Sasha wanting to be powerful and in control? Anne doesn’t play pretend, she knows who she is, she has the Courage to recognize that. She faced her greatest and most terrifying opponent, herself- Something the others haven’t done so yet, and fitting, for the bravest of the trio! Anne knows who she is and so even if she does add to herself and change, she still clearly retains that connection and memory to her old self, as guidance and consideration for where she came from…

           All in all, a fascinating episode! On the surface just cute hjinx for side-characters, but dig a bit deeper to the TRUE appearance, like Anne, and you get to see the culmination of Anne’s development across two-thirds of the entire show, more or less! I like this talk of self-image and acceptance, and I think it’s neat, especially with how Matt Braly mentioned taking inspiration from his own grandmother’s hair, and how this kind of big, poofy hair in Asians is not something you see a lot! You go, Anne, you go; You’re your OWN F-Anne now, your biggest one, and not even a toxic fan, either! You see and accept and engage healthily with yourself, recognize the flaws, and work with them… Good for you!