#the villians song probably is my least favorite

[dysfunctionaldogdude]

My mom has been playing songs from Wish, now one of them is stuck in my head lol

Just woke up btw

[kennys-parka-jacket]

Kenny for that ask game! And all of the questions, or how ever many you feel like answering.

This took me, like, an hour and a hslf to type.

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

On surface level he's really cute and silly. Then you realize he's perverse and swears like a sailor. Then you learn he's a loyal friend, good at emotional support, and will do anything for the people he loves.

He's also pretty versatile. He can be a beautiful princess, a batman-esque vigilante, an eccentric mad scientist, a whitetrash redneck, a talented opera singer, a skilled musician, etc. He can do anything!! (Except sew and cook apparently XD)

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

How he broke the cycle of abuse that's been going on for generations in his family. Also, despite arguably having the worst home life, he never let himself become villian-like like some other characters in this series.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

His tendency to be ignored by the writers. From being 'permanently' killed off to being reduced to a background character for a few seasons to just kinda being forgotten about halfway through some episodes.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Sanrio, any animated run. I just think it'd be funny if this little orange nugget was running around the hello kitty universe being his usual R-rated self and every line of dialogue slipping past the censors.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Promotion Man by Merzbow. Same reason as All Star, despite the pain of existence he stays silly!! But in a much more noisy and industrial kinda way. Also I think Kenny would listen to harsh noise. (Tumblr wont let me link it :( )

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

Already answered.

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

In fan art he's often smiling when no one else is. Not in a way that feels like his happiness comes at the expense of others, but moreso he just has a different mindset. Or perhaps he's just high among his sober friends; which, given how he acts in canon sometimes, might be possible.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

When fans portray him as a casual sexual predator and it gets played off as just him being a flirt. The second half of that is the important part.

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

That's a big fat NOPE lol. He's messy as hell, cant cook, and, with his luck, he'd probably die every other week. Sorry, but there's no way no how it would ever happen.

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

Probably, yeah. Kenny gets along with pretty much everyone and I get along with most people too. I see no reason why we couldn't be friends.

11. Would you date this character?

He's 10 XD. But if you mean when he's around my age, still likely no. Reasons I'd rather not get into.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Some items he never leaves home without: a loaded handgun, drugs of some kind, 20+ dollars in loose change, the same phone that he's been using for the past five years.

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

🧡😸🍊 reminds me of him

🌮😏🤘 IIRC canonically those are his most used emojis

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

You know those shirts they sell at Spencers? Yeah.

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

In no particular order:

- Kenrietta. lady who's goth throughout x guy who's secretly goth but looks like the sunniest guy alive. They compliment each other nicely but also lend some funny contrast.

-Kammy/Kentam. The two poorest people in town, match each other's energy and craving for physical affection, are fiercely loyal to each other.

-Stenny. Sooo much angst and hurt/comfort.

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

Tbh never been extremely fond of that trope where his partner acts like they dislike him. But whatever, it just isnt my cup of tea.

17. What's a ship for this character you don't hate but it's not your favorite that you're fine with?

This is such an oddly specific question lol. Anyway, i enjoy him and craig, but a lot of content for them feels rather one sided. With that said, they absolutely deserve their reputation as one of the most popular ships in this fandom's history.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

Basically the plot of season 24 is that everybody loves him even when no one likes each other. I strive to have that kind of relationship one day XD.

19. How about a relationship they have in canon that you don't like?

I dont know WHAT is going on between him and his grandpa, but something aint right.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

Everybody because everyone loves him.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

Already answered.

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

Love how people write about his demise; everyone does it differently and it's epic each time.

Ngl it's pretty funny when fans write about him doing sex work sometimes. It's often comical how much he's willing to do for so little in return. Homeboy's seriously risking jailtime for a buck fifty.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

His muffled speech kinda reminds me of Coco from FHFIF. Also Rada from Chowder.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

First impression: the cutest little tangerine in the whole wide world.

Now: I would protect you with my life. I'm gonna go buy another pair of socks with your face on it.

[dr-lizortecho]

Isobel Evans or Penelope Featherington, I love them both 💚💚

Isobel answered here! Oh- Bridgerton asks <3

First Impression: That she was sweet and clever and funny. Which all held up to be true.

My Impression Now: That she is a very complex character, her sweetness can have thorns (from caring too much and valuing her values over her friends wishes), her cleverness is a curse as much as a blessing, that she is in so much pain from feeling rejection her whole life and pretends it away by distancing herself from her family and trying to hate them- lording her wit above them because if she is better then them their low opinions of her can’t hurt her.

Favorite Thing About That Character: Her struggle with knowing too much about societal expectations and not really being allowed in the inside of society because she doesn’t meet conventional standards.

Least Favorite Thing: How fandom is either erasing her flaws (which make her interesting) or making her the villian.

Favorite Line/Scene: Probably her and Elouise in the flowers.

Favorite Interaction That Character Has With Another: Probably when she tries to get Marina to tell her how she got pregnant, lol

A Character I Wish That Character Would Interact With More: Lady Danbury- I think Penelope could learn a lot from her

Another Character from Another Fandom That Reminds Me of That Character: Michael Guerin (Roswell New Mexico) I could explain but also my impression of her character now I think explains it rather well

A Headcanon About That Character: I can’t think of one currently

A Song That Reminds Me of That Character: none that I can think of, lol

An Unpopular Opinion About That Character: That she was definitely in the wrong with the Elouise situation and has to wait for forgiveness- and maybe even ask for it a few more times.

Favorite Picture:

send me a character <3

[heaven-helpus]

2 Do you still buy CDs (or other physical media)? 6 Who's an artist you really like but it's embarrassed to admit it? 7Would you wear a t-shirt of a band you're not into? 9Do you have a favorite band? 12 Who’s the most obscure artist you listen to? 13. Who’s the most popular/mainstream artist you listen to 19 A song or album from the 2000s: 20. A song or album from the 2010s: 23 Do you and your partner/best friend share a special song? One you’d call “our song”? 36 A song you like with lyrics in two or more languages: 38 Which was the first concert you went to? 40 Which was the best concert you’ve ever been to? 56 A song/album/artist you wish you could forget so you could have the experience of hearing it for the first time again: 57 [Send me a color and I'll tell you the first song it reminded me of.](purple) 58 [Send me a song and I'll tell you the colors it made me think of, without looking at cover arts or music videos.] (Fern, Aleksiah) 62 Artists/bands you think have an impeccable discography, with no bad albums:

Hah sorry for the amount of questions-

no problem i love questions!!! (answers under cut bc its a lot)

2. yes!! i love buying cds and i have records too (but no record player yet)

6. massive boy band fan over here 😔 nsync and backstreet boys are amazing change my mind

7. no :3 im not an elitist where im gonna ask to name 5 songs but i think you should know the band on your shirt AT LEAST

9. a fewww probably mcr then fob or ghost would be next

12. true villians!! 14,839 monthly listeners and i love them

13. the beatles ig?? not sure

19. three cheers for sweet revenge!!

20. mania!!

23. disloyal order of water buffaloes

36. per aspera ad inferi by ghost

38. journey :) with toto as the opening act

40. ghost!!!

56. the show must go on by queen. that was a spiritual experience to listen to for the first time

57. church by fob

58. green, blue, brown

62. mcr :3

[lumastoybox]

Was just randomly thinking about it, how would you rank all the Disney Princess movies? Like from favorite to least favorite, numbered list, or like letter (A, B, C) tiers?

I hope it’s okay to talk about some of the placement reasons, we feel pretty passionate about this. Especially ones that are absolute favorites or might surprise others.

There is too much that has already been said about Beauty and the Beast. All I am going to say is that it’s one of my favorite movies, that I could watch over and over again. It’s also my favorite romance story in the franchise 👉👈

Little Mermaid also has been praised a lot too, so we will keep it brief. Ariel is my favorite Disney princess, because I love how flawed she is, and as a queer person I can relate to her relationship with her father with my own parents. This movie and Beauty and the Beast feel so queer to me, and we are glad that Howard Ashman’s influence and involvement were strong in them both.

Yes I put Cinderella 3 at Godtier I love this movie sm, and we know it didn’t need to exist, but we are glad someone made their Cinderella fanfic a reality. It breathes more characters into the prince (he’s the best Disney prince I will die on that hill), her step sister Anastasia, and even the king. Her step mom is even more of a threat in this movie too. Also this movie looks really good for just being direct to DVD. This movie also pokes fun of its classic fairytale ways, but in a more charming way like Enchanted does.

Sleeping Beauty is very high because this movie is fucking gorgeous, *eats all the bg art up* I also love how petty and bitchy Maleficent is. Also love that the movies real heroines are the three fairies, and you don’t get much movies were three older women get to be the protagonists.

In our opinion we like Frozen 2 better than one. We just like the settings and atmosphere more. We like some songs more too, like Into the Unknown and Show Yourself. I’m a simple queer person with the mental illness, so we really relate to Elsa, so we like that she has more focus in this film. Still this movie is kinda of double edged sword because some side characters like Kristoff and Olaf are actually so annoying in this movie, I never thought much of these characters before, but now I despise them. Also they took out some things that would have made this movie so much better, like a romantic song between Kristoff and Anna that honestly makes their relationship more endearing. Also the fucking castle would have been destroyed in the end, making this tale of colonialism much more symbolic. They weren’t brave enough to do that tho, or who knows higher ups probably didn’t like the idea.

Speaking of what might have been, I wish men didn’t meddle and take over a woman’s vision when it comes to Brave. It’s another movie were we feel in our opinion it could have been better than what we got.

I’m not gonna say much about Pocahontas, because it’s not really our place. We will just say as a child it never was a favorite of ours. I don’t like how the human characters look, a lot of the characters are weak too, the villian is so lame. The only positives I can say some of the music can be amazing, some of the visuals are gorgeous, and I like the animal companions. However both films especially the 2nd make me like 😬

Oh I almost forget Aladdin is not here, because I feel like I need to rewatch it again to see where we would place it. To be fair it doesn’t feel like a Disney Princess movie anyways, since Aladdin gets more focus than Jasmine. There are also some Disney sequels we have not seen that are not here.

[venomgender]

i was tagged by @mirainikki yippee!!

last song: the live version of endless possibility from the sonic symphony

favorite color: this question is so nuaced for me but i think if we're talking just like favorite single color w no color combos or anything probably #ff0000 (default red. lol)

last book: UHHHH i dont remember what the last one i read was... probably the yaoi "the main villian is stuck to me like chewing gum" LMFAO. its good... it was either that one or be my baby. but i dont think i ever actually started reading the novel for be my baby...

last movie: lord of the rings: fellowship of the rings (staring off into the distance) the movie is fun and not boring at all.

last tv show: i dont know 🖤 i dont watch tv like at all... probably idolish 7

last thing i searched: "peta stuffed like a thanksgiving turkey post"

current obsession: erm... yaoi xD

looking forward to: the semester ending and finally having free time to finish kh1...

favorite drink: ive become really tea pilled lately i just drank this like. im pretty sure it was just called 'winter blend' LOL from heb it was good as fuuuuck. my fave tea of all time will always been spearmint tho

song playing on loop in your head 24/7: right now it is machine love by jamie page its been stuck in my head for like 2 days now

current favorite character: this one also has too much nuance bc i am always currently reading at least 50 different stories at a time... we will say han sooyoung though. i have a plushy of her that literally makes me feel normal when i start going insane in public

fun activity you would like to get into: i want to get into sewing / making my own clothes...

last video game: yuuuup. cookie clickerWait no it would have been kh1. yeah it wouldve been kh1

last comic/graphic novel: WELL THIS ALSO HAS. NUANCE. LOL. i am halfway through the latest update for cherry doll scandal but im also rereading the new recruit buuuuut ive also been slowly reading 'no home' (not a yaoi). which is so good butt makes me horrible depressed so i have to. take breaks. heart. im also halfway through reading the update for god of war regressed to level 2 (i got distracted and forgot i was reading it. lol.) (also not a yaoi)

im not tagging anyone because im shy but if u see this and wantt to do it you can say i tagged you heart im so nosey i would love to have people say they tagged me

[turtle-trash]

Yknow what. Here’s two things I think everyone should watch (they’re both musicals but they’re both really good I promise)

The first is easier to access because it’s literally on YouTube for free, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Im not sure how to describe dr horrible other than it has a somewhat similar premise to megamind (smart villian falls in love with a girl) but it has a much more different ending. The songs are really great, Brand New Day, My Eyes, and [spoilers :)] are probably my favorites

I think part of its charm is that it doesn’t really look like a high budget production (because it isn’t. It was make with just over 200,000 dollars, funded by the creator himself). Here’s a part of the wiki page for it that I found interesting "The team wrote the musical during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The idea was to create something small and inexpensive, yet professionally done, in a way that would circumvent the issues that were being protested during the strike." So yea. I recommend watching it, especially since it’s a lot more niche than the other thing i want you guys to watch

If you saw my posts during the eclipse (or even saw the trending tags during it) you know what I’m going to say. You should watch Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Little Shop of Horrors is so many things I love it. It’s a horror comedy musical that also has a romance plot AND it’s a tragedy depending on which ending you watch. It also has the greatest villain ever in the form of Audrey 2, a man eating plant from outer space who has so much gender it’s unreal

Also Audrey 2 was entirely practical. Which is the most impressive thing ever I think. The only "digital" part was that they had to speed up the footage to make Twoy move the way it did. Watch the Feed Me scene to understand (I would’ve put my favorite songs scene but that’s spoilers)

I also recommend at least listening to the broadway soundtrack since the movie cut some songs (like It’s Just the Gas. Which was criminal I think). Also the music in Little Shop is really good I love it so much, my favorite song is actually exclusive to the movie (alas, I can’t say which one for the reason above)

If possible, watch it without knowing which ending you’ll see. There’s two endings, a good ending and a bad one. You should be able to find the other ending you didn’t see on YouTube

Anyways that’s been my occasional endorsement to look at a thing I like. Watch both of them I promise it’ll be a fun time

[lab-trash]

Lab Rats Ask Game

by @texanmarcusdavenport

⛵️ Favorite ship? Least favorite ship? (Doesn't have to be romantic.)   - Favourite ship is obviously Kase. Least favourite (aside from incest) is probably Chase x Oliver or Chaziver

👀 Characters whose relationship you wish was more explored?   - Probably Kaz and Chase again. Like, we only get about 17 episodes of them, and I really love them. But probably also Kaz and Leo, and Kaz and Bree. I’d also love to see more of Jordan and Skylar. 

💥 Favorite crack ship / characters that never met in canon but would've been best friends if they had?   - Marcus and Oliver is definitely up there, but there are some others.   - Jordan and Chase would probably be interesting as hell, as well as Jordan and Bree or Leo. Jordan is just an interesting character, so she’s interesting to see.   - I think Marcus and Owen would also be interesting, I’m not sure why though.    - I want to meet Billy Fowler. I know that’s like the opposite of this question but I didn’t know where else to stuff this in; I want to meet Billy Fowler or at least know about him.  

🐀 Favorite season of Lab Rats? Least favorite?   - I quite like season two, and I like season three quite a bit too.    - I have mixed feelings about seasons one and four, but I think I have to say four, just because it’s kinda all over the place.

🏥 Lab Rats or Mighty Med?   - Mighty Med, all the way; I love Mighty Med

🏳️‍🌈 Favorite LGBT+/neurodivergent headcanon?   - I think it’d have to be Oliver being greyace and demi-romantic, probably because it’s more complex and character analysis-y.     - I also like trans Marcus; xtm. 

📖 An AU/fanfic idea you'd love to see but don't have the motivation to write?   - Essentially a Chase fanboy tumblr Kaz   - Most Owam fics that I want to write   - FWB Kase, which I am working on, but it’s slow   - A full Marliver villian-to-redemption arc. 

💭 Favorite headcanon overall?   - Chase and Kaz started dating back in like episode two of LREF

🔥 Hot take/unpopular opinion?   - I don’t like Adam. Like, I think he has potential, but I... he makes me feel icky.   - I don’t like Mr Davenport. I don’t think he even has potential, but he’s neutral evil at best and I can’t do much with that.

❤️ Favorite character? Least favorite character?   - My favourite character is Kaz. What a surprise that is.    - Owen or Chase for lab rats though.   - Least favourite character is probably Eddie. 

⏱️ When did you start watching Lab Rats?   - Oh, lord, I can’t even remember. I think I saw it in passing when it first came out, but my hyperfixation started like... over a year ago, and before that I had a different one like a couple years before this one.    - That probably made very little sense. 

🟢 Any crossover ideas? Are there any shows you think would've made a better crossover than Lab Rats/Mighty Med?   - Crossover ideas, obviously Villains of Valley View, and then Kickin It   - No, I really like the idea of Lab Rats and Mighty Med crossover. 

🎼 What songs do you relate to the characters/ show?   - Parents by Yungblood with Kaz   - Art is Dead by Bo Burnham with Kaz   - W.I.T.C.H by Devan Cole with Skylar   - Villains Aren’t Born (They’re Made) by PEGGY with Oliver (villain arc)   - Am I supposed to Apologise by Maria Mena with Marcus   - That’s all I can think of right now...

🟠 Which character is the most like you? Which character is the least like you?   - I’m like a mix of Jordan and Oliver, which I kind of hate saying because whenever I think of Oliver, I think of LREF Oliver, but for the record, I am talking about MM Oliver.    - I mean, like, I’m aggressive, I’m a nerd, I’m a mild germaphobe and hypocrondriac, I have a petrifying fear of needles, I have family issues. Seriously, I’m just them put together.

[angelic-marzzz]

3, 13, 15, 19 (end-of-year fanfic ask)

3.favorite line/scene you wrote this year?

My favorite scene is probably from Chapter 1 of Bird In A Cage where Ducktor reveals his plans to Gyro. I think it was a really good start to that fic and I was really proud of myself when I wrote that. Especially cuz that was my first time writing Mads as a Villian lol

13.favorite writing song/artist/album of this year

Pretty much anything by Taylor Swift is my favorite writing song of the year 😂

15.something you learned this year

Well, apparently I learned not to start writing a multichapter fic until you plan every last detail out first lol. And also that my spelling and grammar is absolutely atrocious :)

19.any new fics to start next year

Well, I haven’t really announced this yet but I’m taking a breaking from writing for a little bit but so you probably shouldn’t expect a new fic to come out in January and maybe not even in February lol. I do have a multichapter fic I’m going to start working on but I haven’t even finished the whole outline yet, and I don’t plan on posting the fic until every single chapter is done. So nothing new for the start of the year, at least not the first two months, until I get this one done

[spyrkle4]

Top Ten Reasons why I like Season 3 of Big Hero 6 the Series

yeah Ik that most of us wish it was more developed n’ stuff. But I see it as like some fun epilogue stories as Season 2 was a really good way to end the show, and Season 3 is just some wacky summer adventures! 

And with the manga out at this point, well who knows if it’ll get to future seasons like 2 or 3! But thought I’d look back at the series bc it’s amazingness is what kept me still going as a bh6 fan And watching a funny Season 3 ep always brightens your day

And it’s best to look at the bright side of things so this is why I’m typing this n.n (this is isn’t in order from best to least best its just me ranting about 10 things)

List will be under the cut, hope you enjoy n.n

---

1. The chibi clips. I mean I wish they did more of them as they’re one of my favorite comedy segments of this comedy-heavy season of the series, and it’s really cute seeing the gang in chibi style. Not to mention the chibi ep of the series was just SO funny and the fact that they used the word “chibi” and even made a chibi-themed song that’s so catchy it’ll get stuck in your head XD 

2. The singing and 4 2 Sing. They’re both musical related so *shrug*  And I LOVE it! The goofiness most of the songs have is just hilarious, and even the Kara--*cough* I mean Krei-Oke episode had some callbacks to bh6-exclusive songs! And also 4 2 Sing are just so funny, I was a little worried that in their preview we saw, they would be malicious in their ways (and no one likes an evil boy band) but I’m glad they’re just genuinely dense and silly to boot! Although now I have the idea for an evil boy band that would be their dastardtly rivals...

3. The robot family. NBB as a main villian would be odd in a normal season, but it’s fitting for a funny season! And his 3 sisters each are amazing. I’ve actually written a one-shot about the potential family dynamic of the bots, and I just love their little quirkiness and relationship with eachother! I’m glad that they’re still together at the end!

4.  Mini-Max character development! I know some people aren’t the biggest fans of Mini-Max, as he’s kind of more of a token marketable character ig... he does have funny lines. But I’m rly glad they gave him character!

5. Villain redemption arcs! Not just Sparkles, that was interesting (and led me to my theory that Sycorax was so... Sycorax that it made everyone involve quit villainy or lesson their villain stuff in Momakase’s case) but in the ep “Gogo the Woweroo” it was nice seeing how some of the other villains are doing. LIKE HV! OMG I WAS SO HAPPY THAT ITS CANON THEY’RE REFORMED! (It was a little tiring seeing fics of them as villains after COM, no offense or anything n.n;)

6. Karmi! This one is obvious bc OMG it was SO good seeing her again! And she and Hiro have a goofy friendship. I like how its up to interpretation if their feelings are platonic or romantic (I’ve become more of a platonic shipper) and the fact she helped save the day against Hardlight! If the series continues, maybe there will be a character arc of Karmi becoming Lab Lady and being a superhero!

7. Cheers you up! Whenever I’m sad or a day has been really bad for me... a season 3 and it will guarantee putting a smile back on my face, say what you will about the excessive comedy in S3, but it always makes me happy after a rly long day or a bad moment

8. The new characters. Sure they didn’t show up long, but they made a good impression! Cobra was a another long-time villain who’s got some charm and conniving schemes. Olivia’s a comic dork who enjoys the non-mainstream stuff and that’s a mood. Rishi: gremlin and also precious dork who probably has consumed too many memes and is just a gremlin kid and I love him XD. 

9. Seeing what other characters are up to. Like seeing how Globby is, (and him and Felony Carl still being roomies aaaaa), the ep with Wendy,,, even seeing Granville again twice (including her fur babies so cute!) It was nice getting closure for those characters before the series ended, sure not everyone we know and love showed up in Season 3, but it was nice seeing how the others in San Fransokyo were doing this summer

10. The found family. Obviously my favorite. I just cried at the part where Baymax told NBB that Hiro was his family and asked him to help save his family, NBB might’ve hated Big Hero 6 at that time, but he understood the important of family. And basically Baymax and Mini-Max have a brotherly bond!! and also the nerd gang friendship omg ;-; and Aunt Cass says it herself, you don’t have to be related to be a family! I still love and cherish my bio family, but I really see a lot of my close fandom friends and other ppl I know as family too, and it’s nice to see that with Hiro and Aunt Cass, they still have each other as fam, but they also love and cherish the new members they have, like the nerd gang and even the robot fam (wonder what kind of shenanigans Hiro would get into w/ his new robotic cousins) 

Hope you guys enjoyed my little list, and it helped you think on the good stuff season 3 had. Sure it could’ve been better, and it deserved to have a proper season and it was unfair the show got cancelled, but there’s always a silver lining n.n 

[jess-the-vampire]

Sooooo whatya think of the new episodeee?

Oh it’s definitely my favorite episode of the series so far, i was having such a good time at every turn. I’m glad i went out of my way to avoid spoilers, cause i was glad to actually be surprised by some elements on first watch.

I think this had by far the best opening for an episode so far, we finally get back to the villians, we meet the coven heads, we get insight on belos’s plans-

and then belos gets constipated, which starts getting into the more character driven lore, which is the best part. You instantly can tell GG and Kiki have some bit of tension between them to be Belo’s favorite, though granted i wonder if hunter is the only one to know belos is cursed and actually just always insists to help belos with his fits to prevent others from seeing them.

Including kiki.

It’s honestly unclear how aware anyone is that belos is cursed, like him eating pailsmans is apparently not something he hides, but like....i feel him being cursed is something that people would know universally if it got out...so i’m left wondering if anyone knows besides hunter.

Regardless, belos turns into a goop monster with an angry side, and i guess his mask doesn’t transform with him compared to the rest of his body so he breaks it again because i guess he goes though masks like crazy.

Hunter turns away in this scene from his outburst and even though he’s masked here i can already tell he’s most likely pained in these scenes. Like he’s probably seen this happen so many times, and i can’t imagine it gets any easier for him, it’s probably awful to watch belos suffer like this for him (Regardless of the abuse)

And to be honest, it seems pretty painful for him, i think this ep seems to at least confirm whatever this thing is that takes over belos’s body.....belos never actually wanted it in the first place. 

Yeah so after Hunter tells belos there’s not enough trees to medicate him anymore, we’re hit with the “UNCLE”. Which, when i first watched it i needed a second to even process the fact they confirmed their relation.

and i was like “CLOSE ENOUGH”, not his kid but uncle still works just fine for me, i’m just happy my assumption they were related actually came to ahead.

And i rewatched this episode a few times, and on second watch i realized more what happened in this scene. Hunter was talking about his interest in wild magic, and making more pailsman to help belos, and some method that could heal him and as soon as belos looked at him he instantly shut down.

He was clearly rambling about wild magic cures for belos because of his interest in it, and then suddenly remembered his uncle hates wild magic and felt super awkward.

It seems highly likely his interest in wild magic came from trying to cure belos and spending a lot of time reading up on the stuff. 

And then we get hit with the whole “Our family is dead because of wild magic” line, which.....i’m curious to know what happened there. But it does at least explain why belos feels how he does, if wild magic both killed his family beside hunter AND cursed him in the first place. We’re just gonna need more info on what exactly happened.

Also while Belos is def abusive and does not treat hunter how he should, this scene actually does read off to me like belos does care about hunter to some degree. If belos is cursed and his curse works in similar ways to how Eda’s curse works, then it’s worth reminding ppl that eda mentions early this season how stress can amplify the curse even more.

And sure enough, belos goes goopy on hunter’s shoulder all of a sudden when he grasps him. Which could be considered a sign of stress and that the idea of hunter dying or being in danger actually does stress him.

You could very much also assume this is just due to his curse not being fully handled and just getting worse, or that belos only cares about hunter for selfish reasons....but i’m not taking anything off the table here.

Belos can still be a shitty uncle, and still care about hunter, these aren’t mutually exclusive traits. But we need more episodes for now on this.

But anyways he asks hunter if he can rely on him, kiki is pissed......and we move on.

So i’m glad luz’s impulsiveness is addressed a ton in this episode, they actually bring up a lot of good points. That luz has no plan, that the time she’s spending here might render moot if she goes back to earth, ect ect.

Hunter even calls her out a lot later for not thinking things through, it’s a whole deal in this episode. I’m glad it was brought up cause it’s actually worth asking a lot of these things.

the set up here works, they actually made a good reason for why a pailsman didn’t bond with her. Speaking of which the adoption thing is cute and i love it, it’s a great idea. The designs are all very cute and fun.

Bump face reveal was a lot for me to process, but i find the idea of his pailsman being a pet that can help with his disabilities a good idea.

Also like, i did find it odd that they got staffs so early because we’ve never seen kids their ages with them before, but i guess it’s a new tradition? Does everyone at hexside now have one?

Honesty not sure why batqueen left the nest there overnight, i meant i guess she assumed they were safe with that shield but in context i dunno why she didn’t take them home after the school day was over.

but whatever, luz stays there overnight hoping  a pailsman will bond with her and GG just kidnapps them cause of pure luck on his part a bunch of pailsman were in a vulnerable spot tonight.

So GG continues to be charming, by whistling the theme song and then being blasted off his ship hilariously, before cockily teleporting himself right back on it seconds later. Like he and luz have great banter, he’s so extra like this it’s so funny, and god he’s so FAST with that staff it’s scary but so awesome.

Yeah so then hand dragon crashes them and i was so excited cause it meant face reveal. Poor dude looked so in pain and then we find out kiki tried to effing murder him because of course she did. But like, i think killing your boss’s nephew is the WORST way to get a promotion tbh.

(Also i got confused for a bit cause his mask has always been drawn as a mask, but now it’s a helmet in this scene for whatever reason but-)

Anyways, face reveal, Like honestly ppl weren’t too far off with their guesses, really the only thing people didn’t get was the tooth gap (That was fair tho, we couldn’t have guessed that). But it did make him even cuter.

like the banter is funny, he licks her hand, she slaps him, he looks SO pissed at her for this mess.

and i guess that outfit is his under armor apparently.

He’s lucky she didn’t run away immediately and followed him, but maybe he assumed she would since she had no where else to go.

Also his expressions in this ep are glorious, these had to be fun to draw.

Also we find out that the coven team members have never seen his face i guess? They just assume he’s a silly kid and are awful to him, so i guess he’s not only the youngest member of the coven but he never really shows his face much.

(”Call your parents”, ha ha.....whose gonna tell them who his uncle is?)

He is however, REALLY good at parkour and he’s fast even without his staff, so he’s well trained alright.

And then they reveal he’s not magical and i was SO happy cause i was so sure something was up when he wasn’t doing magic like the other witches despite his pointy ears. So they outright confirmed what i thought.

Hunter is pretty smart tho, like he can tell luz wouldn’t hurt him and wouldn’t flee so he knows he has the high ground here. Like he might be being a bit of a dick, but to be fair luz has been nothing but a dick to him throughout the whole episode (Everyone in this episode has been a dick to him tbh)

They team up and i get excited cause i love this kinda stuff and it gets more wholesome because hunter is super interested in her magic, he thinks it’s cool and you can tell how much he actually loves wild magic but then again...shuts himself down because of belos making him fear the stuff.

An then because luz asks, he tells her his backstory.

honestly with how this world treats people who aren’t magically powerful, living and growing up in a world that would find you useless sounds....awful. Hunter must be an anomaly around here, human blood or not.

Luz coming here to learn is different then growing up in a world and being the only one with no abilities and no future without them. Belos provides him with magic and a future, it’s no wonder he stays with him despite everything.

the whole “Found me” thing is weird, cause belos implies they’re blood related and hunter makes it sound like belos semi-adopted him. Which....if he did i dunno why “Uncle” and not “Adopted dad”, but ok....guess that’s for later.

Apparently hunter is important for something tho with the “Titan has big plans for me” thing, not sure what, but-

But yeah as soon as Hunter talked about wanting to make his own future and Rascal tried to land on him i knew EXACTLY where this was going, it was so cuteeeeee. The lil birb wanted to be with hunter, that’s so wholesome.

And he’s so terrified because of belos and what wild magic did to him, the poor bab.

But yeah, luz then trusts him with his staff back, because again....impulsive. But hunter does actually ask if she’s sure, so he might as well be asking if she trusts him.

The plan goes ahead, and hunter nearly betrays her.

though granted, hunter never promised her he’d stop and let her take them away, the truce was supposed to last till kiki was stopped and they were gonna fight out who got the pailsman. But it does bother luz cause she was hopeful he was better then this.

But just like he did before, she calls him out and he doesn’t betray her, because he’s ALSO too nice to do it, just like he said she was. He says his name (Which also took a moment to process), and then beats the crap out of kiki while letting luz get away and protecting her like a badass.

He might not have magic, but he’s good at fighting

like he can easily teleport to luz and take the pailsman, but he doesn’t, he lets them get away and luz knows this. Even though she also knows hunter has to go back to the emperor too and they have to separate.

It’s only slightly bitter terms, because in the end he came through for her and she knows it.

honestly, the worst part is i can’t even be mad at hunter for it, i’m sure he was terrified to fail belos. Both because he loves him and doesn’t want him to suffer....but also because of well...being punished. Really says something when his near betrayal doesn’t even make me mad at him, and i can understand why he nearly did it.

He let her go, knowing he’d be in SERIOUS trouble and that it would hurt someone he actually loves, so....ouch.

so yeah at this point i knew rascal wanted him so it was only of matter of what happened next.

Which was, luz getting the wood, which i like more anyway. Eda and King doing this offscreen and coming home like this is actually very funny, and honestly i appreciate the message of it being ok to wait.....means a lot to me.

yeah so belos is like...being an ass, like the kid tried his hardest, you don’t need to hit him with the “Is this the thanks i get?”. He’s a kid and he’s trying to cure you you dick, give him a break he doesn’t remotely have to help you like this.

Also apparently belos has not even told hunter HOW this happened, like...dude. Hunter is trying to be entirely reasonable here and belos spikes at him, which does imply some physical abuse though the only reason hunter doesn’t get a new scar is because he moves.

but how he reacts implies this has happened before, he is bracing for impact and he flinches. It’s pretty sad tbh, especially since hunter loves him and belos’s respect means something to him.

Belos is such an idiot, like c’mon dude, hunter is trying to help you and you don’t listen to him you dick. Kid shouldn’t have to say sorry for anything he did nothing wrong, he was just trying to help.

Anyways, he gloats at kiki (So at the very least she knows what he looks like under the mask), which he deserves a chance to do anyway. So i guess he didn’t rat her out for trying to kill him, personally my guess why is blackmail.....he was gonna hold it over her head to keep her from doing it again and threaten to tell belos.

But kiki quickly tells he LET the pailsman get away since he was the one to fight her (Curse his cute loose hair strand). So i guess now they have dirt on each other, so that’s fun.

His room is adorable, though the med kit by the bed is concerning.

Rascal comes for him and it;s so cute....though you can tell hunter nearly hurts him on instinct because of force of habit, but it’s so cute how he cares and how the birb loves him and is his new staff.

it was well hinted to as well, it’s so subtle, but the bird being cheery, curious, and his constant habit of escaping boundaries was perfect for hunter. He represents what hunter wants to be and why they got matched is done so well, all without explaining anything.

Hunter indirectly stated his deepest wish, to make his own choices, and rascal resonated with that. 

can’t wait to see where this goes.

great ending shot, love me some conflicted shots looking out of windows like trapped birds.

also this title was a pun the whole time i can’t-

[originalwinnercheesecake]

First Impressions and predictions based on the coven Leaders

After a full first season their fame adorning the banners and walls, who they are being hailed, yet they themselves being kept in the shadows we now get first looks (and throughout 2a will meet) the emperors top dogs: The coven leaders. I will not lie as a group... these guys dissappoint me. Making the majority of them very human in appearance for me is a big no. Compare this group to the many colorful and fantastical creatures that are shown teaching at hexside and the hexside teachers are far more creative, unique, and fun. Maybe the artists decided to make the coven leaders look more like normal people so the audience would have an easier time understanding their expressions and body language. Maybe the more humanoid whitches are a higher class and have a easier time climbing higher than the more beast and demon like residence.? We will have to wait and see. 

Seperate this group into individuals (like how we will hopefully meet them) and most of them become far more interesting, So below lets take a look at each coven leader individually, where the artists may have taken inspriation, and what  What kind of characters they could maybe turn out to be.

The Beast keeping coven Leader: One of the only two that are not humanoids. What type of animal is he? At first I was sure he was a hedgehog, but maybe he could also be like a chipmunk or a squirrel. I get the feeling he might be partially inspired by Sonic from Sega. I was really into Sonic back in middle school. I liked the cartoons and read through the archie’s old comic series. But I kinda out grew him since then. I know from helping to take care of kids though that he is still popular with the younger generation. That’s kinda how I thin the Beast Keeping Coven leader will be: less interesting for older viewers, but a real fun charcter for kids.

The Healing coven leader: Now this guy looks like fun villain all around. Is some kind of witch docotor? a Dark Priest? The size the purple Grin, he looks like the phantom boss from those horror films where you get trapped in nightmares. Tell me he has scary theme song music and talks in a very high pitched voice. I’ve heard some people wonder if he could be Selena (oracle girl from hexside)’s dad. I don’t thinks so, the macaroni crescent shape n his head looks more like a fancy cowl than part of his actual head. Also him having a daughter in Luz’s class could be used as a reason for him to change sides, I want this guy to stay as a villian/antagonist. We all know that with this size group some will stay with the emperor and some will defect to Luz’s side (possibility a couple will die, we haven’t seen yet just how dark Dana is willing to go). Personally my view with redemption arcs and if a character “deserves them” is it depends on what it will do for the story/character afterwards? IF redeeming them opens more doors for the characters and directions the story can take, do it. IF it closes doors leave them as they are. I absolutely hate when clever and well written bad guys get “redeemed” in to boring, plot useless, weebs. The only reason I could see having this guy change sides is for him to “cure” Eda and Lilith’s curse, and I would much rather see the two of them gain control over their forms than be “cured” of them.

The Illusion coven leader: Another fun looking antagonist. My third favorite of these nine. If the healer guy is horror movie based. This guy is Disney based all around. Looks like one of those Vegas suave showmen styled character. Love it. I guarantee you he does not actually look that young or slicked back, but is using illusion magic to make himself more pretty. Not sure if he will stay with the emperor or not. Illusion is Gus’s track and I could see Dana having the leaders of Luz’s friends tracks be the ones to stand by them. If so I am fine with that (in the case of the abomination leader I will beg for it). Gaining the respect of someone as high up as a coven leader could be really great for Gus’s character. Just as long as I get plenty of laughs from Gus and this guy both along the way.

The Potion coven leader: My second favorite and in my opinion the most creative idea of the whole bunch. A mosquito that works in potions! Does he suck them up with his nose and carry them in.. whatever it is mosquitos store blood in. Also he looks angry. Like everyone else is either amused or board. This guy is fed up and ready to do something about it. Not sure if it is the Emperor, the other leaders, or the owl gang he is mad at, but it should be a worthwhile show down.

The Abomination coven leader: Yes this is my favorite design. Yes it is because he is such a beautiful man. Would never have expected someone who creates mucks (the pokemon) with legs would be so fine. Its more than that though. He looks the most kind. Their is no malice or guise in his smile and his green eyes are bright and relaxed. I wondered what the purpose of the Abomination track was and why it had “more opportunity” all last season. Well slight spoilers if you haven’t seen episode 2x02 it is the industrialist field. When you learn about Industrialization usually the idea is that it is done to help the human race reach its full potential, and it is up to each individual to decide what to do with that potential. Whether you call that the passion of a creative mind or the carelessness of a fool would also be up to you. But I really don’t want this guy to be all bad. If for no other reason that more spoilers for episode 2 * with the interest/caution the emperor is showing the blights I expect this guy to show up to their house, probably meet Amity, and we really do not need another not so nice adult in her life. She has had enough.

The Oracle coven leader: What is this? He’s got nails/caws at the ends of dread thingys like Kikimore, so is this her father? Does he have anything to do with her being in the Emporor’s coven? But this is my least favorite. Like what was the inspiration behind this guy? With so many legendary oracles in mythology and we get this guy who mostly looks saggy, washed out, tierd, and just Blah. Hope thier is more to him, but here is one who I am not holding my breath for an episode on.

The Plant coven leader: based on her banner I was expecting something like the Swamp Giant from ALTA. Instead they went in the direction of a very traditional witch desgine: An old women with a wrinkled face and really messy hair, who probably lives alone in the woods, with maybe the exception of a cat, and dances around a fire at night. Okay. She is definitely going to become an ally of the owl gang. This is the only female of the group,and it is neither in Dana’s message nor would it be popular with her target audience to make a villain or even an antagonist out of a women who managed to climb the later into a male dominated success level. I am actually looking forward to seeing her, because it will probably be in a Willow based episode, and after 2x02 (which I personally feel should not have been a luminaty episode but rather a Willow and Amity one finishing up their reconciliation arc), Willow deserves an episode with potential centered around her. An episode where she goes against the Plant track Leader would be that. This witches Grin isn’t exactly friendly, but its more mischievous than wicked. She gives off vibes as one of those people who like to test the mains, and if you pass her tests than you earn her respect. I have no doubt Willow could win at her little games, and doing so would be a huge boost the confidence she has spent the show building.

The Construction coven leader: Oh joy here’s the other one I am unimpressed with. Unlike with the Oracle guy I know where they got his design. To everyone saying that we first saw him at the convention, your not backing far enough up. If you have ever seen any cartoon ever where the main character wanders past or onto a construction sight you have seen this man. Every trio of workers sitting on a iron frame eating from a lunchbox. Every pig that makes a catcall at a disgusted women. Every exhausted worker who watches as your slapstick mains chase each other past at quitting time... they all looked EXACTLY like this guy. This is really the character leading the track Dana herself has said she would pick to join? They could have done a Golem made of brick an stone that resembles a palace. They could have done some kind of humanoid ant with super strength. They could have done a wizard with shapes and mathematics on his robe who carried a scroll everywhere that he compulsively scribbled blueprints onto. But instead we get Mr. Generic here.

The Bard coven Leader: This is R, Eda’s old friend from her hexside days. Did I save R for last because of this connection? Partially. I am also unsure what R’s pronouns are. To me R looks physically male. I have seen other posters use “she” when posting about R. One person posted that Dana had confirmed R uses “they” and if so awesome, I would really like to see that tweet. What ever R’s pronouns though their appearance in the show will be tied with Eda, er past, and what she had to give up in order to live free. I look forward to this new insight onto her character

[fatfemmearoorc]

this shit is what people mean by "cottagecore is used by terfs to advertise their ideology to vulnerable queers looking to escape while also neo-colonizing real life modern places that people just Live in" and "terfs/radfem your aesthetics with their dog whistles to shimmy their way into your spaces and no amount of no true scotsmanning will magic them away" (with a healthy dollop of cult bullshit).

most everything here Looks fairly innocuous, or at least could pass as neutral if you're not good at seeing terf and radfem dog whistle ("womyn" aside lol).

what's Especially notable, however, and for various reasons, are "pagan homestead", "seperatism", "priestess of avalon", and perhaps most sinister the psuedo-comforting calls to message the op if youre in need of "healing and wisdom."

lets get into the fairly simple things first. the cottagecore-esque "pagan homestead," especially some sort of alaskan isolated terf/radfem compound who knows where and attained who knows how. probably with no mind towards whos land its on, re: the actual native people who still actually fucking Live there to this day. many of us have Heard the issues with and discussions about cottagecore in general, and im not even native, so im just going to link a few articles and sources at the bottom of this post from people with more experience on the subject than me, and put my faith in your ability to make your opinions and critical thoughts.

next, the paganism thing. heres the thing. some of these people will fake your aesthetic to advertise their ideology, using convenient paint to find vulnerable queers and women.

but more dangerously some of them just genuine believe. something we forget is that terfs and radfems arent cartoon villians, theyre very real people. and i dont say this to, like, give them Room or some sort of appeal to emotion, but because when we stop thinking of them as people, then we stop understanding their actions as the actions a person makes. we stop understanding their motives, we stop recognizing that their actions are decisions, human error, human malice. we start thinking of them as Those Things Over There that occasionally say Really Weird Shit thats Super Funny in its absurdity. UNTIL you take more than a five second look and you realize they often arent saying a word salad, but a vile cocktail of transmisogyny and self isolating group specific slang designed to make Her feel like shes in the In Group and you feel like the Out Group (which is a red flag for cult bullshit)

its important to recognize that people with Your passions, Your favorite songs, Your opinions on your favorite show, are terfs. they are people. they eat the same food you do, they like the same sodas. we arent not a different species. the difference between a terf and you is simply a Whole lot of respectibility politics aimed at the most vulnerable population they can muster sustainable hate for. they Are in your communities and they Will leverage your shared passions hide their hate behind you. they'll feel perfectly justified about it, too.

finally, what i find most personally alarming perhaps, is that homestead tag and "intentional community" and "seperationist community" in conjunction witht those very first tags. "if you feel called to hold space for healing and wisdom, reach out to us and lets talk."

listen. ladies. any radfems or terfs out there reading this just because its reached yall's circles or because some of you happen to have incognito blogs or just anyone who the post in the screenshot even Slightly appeals to. i cannot stress how MONUMENTALLY horrible a bad idea it would be to take this person up on their offer. this is primo classic cmpound cult bullshit red Flags. no matter how unlikely it seems the op will actually get the money or whatever to actually do what shes talking about, i really cannot stress how Bad and Awful an idea it is to connect with people like this, emotionally or physically. i know that people like this (ideology aside) seem nice and compassionate, and maybe they even are, on certain levels. but people who want to isolate you spiritually, socially, and physically. this person wants to take you and your money to some isolated compound in the wilderness of alaska, and in the meantime just has an Open call to spiritual counseling on their blog based on that goal. these are huge red flags.

these people are Not mean when you meet them. they are not Rude, they will Not abuse you in their Cult Bullshit Pitch. theyre not going to have the Cult robes on and they probably wont ask you to fuck the devil or anything. they will use your passions, your fears, your needs. they will seem accepting, they will seem like theyve known you your whole life, and they will seem like the only ones who understand you.

anyway long story short, this person is an embryonic cult member/leader, this is how people use your interests to get to You, and this is specifically how terfs and radfems use cottagecore and modern colonialist farm fantasies.

links:

- https://www.hercampus.com/school/vcu/cottagecore-aesthetic-racist

- https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/black-women-cottagecore-whiteness

- https://witchwithme.com/2020/08/28/cottagecore-a-gateway-to-romanticizing-settler-colonialism/

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales Review: The First Adventure! or Baby Donald Says Eat the Rich

Welcome back. I’d been looking forward to this one for some time in the hopes of getting one thing i’ve been waiting for.. sadly that thing didn’t come, we’ll get to that, but this was still a fun episode so let’s hop right in. Spoilers in a second but my tag is spoiler tagged soooo.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We open in the 1960′s. Austin Powers just went into Cryo Freeze to prepare for Dr. Evil’s eventual return, The Marvel Universe was in full swing, a teenager in baltimore was battling racisim via a dance show, and Black Heron had just been caught by Agent 22, aka Beakly when she was young and just as gorgeous then as she is now. Heron once again engaged in her usual cartoonish supervillian, and now SHUSH has her.  Meanwhile in a nearbye room a young accountant by the name of Bradford Buzzard is outlining his plan for Director Von Drake: The way he sees it every time a villian costs chaos Shush “Wastes” billions causing MORE chaos to stop it without controlling things. He proposes taking over the world, weeding out the chaos and ruling from the shadows. Naturally, Ludvig isn’t on board with any of this and points out they aren’t super villains. It’s here this episode fully defines something about Bradford’s character. Back in “Let’s Get Dangerous!” when Huey called him a villain, he said he’s not one... at least from his point of view. It’s here, in his youth we get a clear understanding why he dosen’t think so: So far most people we’ve seen in the world of Ducktales take the chaos and insanity of the world in stride: Either just numb to it like most of the citizens, Rolling with it like Daisy and Violet, or diving straight into it like.. pretty much the majority of the cast, either for the love of adventure and treasure like the McDuck/Duck family, or for their own ludcrious ends like Glomgold, Mark Beaks or Magica. To them the world’s fine the way it is and there’s to explore, take or whatever.  To Bradford.. this is madness... he feels all these people are just a bunch of overgrown children, and in some cases actual children, are just making the world worse and worse until one day their going to break it. One day skill, intuition, wit, and knowledge just wont’ be enough. Someday Scrooge, SHUSH or whoever’s standing in the way of evil will fail and the world will fall. This simply can’t go on, and SOMEONE has to control this, someone has to take this world, shake the chaos out of it and MAKE it sane. Make it work the way it’s SUPPOSED to. And to Bradford that’s him. Someone has to, no one else will, so he will. To him SHUSH doing this is just the logical thing: They want peace right? Their fighting for good right? Then what’s better than making the world a utopia? Ending these conflicts and remaking it.  The thing is.. that’s not what Heroes do. As we’ve seen in various stories where the superheroes, the Good Guys take over they do improve things.. but at the cost of free will. At the cost of free thought. At the cost of their morals. They become what they were fighting all those years and have to bloody their hands and keep them bloody just to make THEIR world right. And that’s not Utopia, that’s a dictatorship. The example I always come to, even though there were ones before and after this including Marvel’s incredible Squadron Supreme maxi-series, is Justice League the animated series’ two parter, like most of their episodes really but that’s not the point, a Better World, about an alternate reality where Superman kills Lex Luthor after Luthor kills the flash and hte League take over the world. The thing is.. the world isn’t BETTER. It’s just crime free. You can sweep the chaos and the crime under the rug.. but your not making a better world, your just making YOUR version of it. No one person is a god even if they have a power of one and no one person can or SHOULD be able to decide what’s best for everyone. It’s up to each of us to MAKE the world better, to fight for a better world. That’s what Ludvig knows full well and what Bradford just can’t see. You can’t control the world, you just have to accept the things you can’t change like it being chaotic and change the things you can like injustice. 

Bradford however, who was hired as a favor to his grandmother, can’t though Von Drake lets him off with a warning.. and a laugh about an accountant being able to be a super villian. Bradford however realizes ther’es some truth to that.. he needs someone to teach him out to operate outside the law, and if SHUSH won’t take the world and remake it.. maybe it’s time someone else did.  So in the prison cells of SHUSH, which are conveniently empty outsdide of Heron, Bradford outlines his plan to her. To create a massive orgnization to steal the world and give it the order it needs. To combine their skills: Heron’s for grandeur and crime, and Bradfords for strategy and focus, to take the world. The Orginzation for World Larceny, or OWL, fitting bradford’s hatred for theatrics. Heron objects, adding an F for fiendish, and Bradford relucntantly agrees to get her on board, lets her loose and fakes like he just saw her escape. FOWL is born. And the world would never be the same. Cue credits and cue the rest of the review under the cut. 

After the opening we cut to 1994-5.. sometime around then as it’s hard to get an exact year, and that’s how the crew likes it. Point is it’s the 90′s, and Scrooge is.. busy running his company. We’ll get into the weeds of that in a bit, but this is a different Scrooge, one who while no less capable, has no thirst for adventure or drive. He’s not nearly as miserable as the Scrooge we saw back in Woo-Ooo but he’s still a much less complete man. Anyways alongside him for his planning is Duckworth, whose very much alive at this time, and who tells his boss his sister Hortense left something in his office for him.  To no one suprise, that thing is the twins, at the tender age of i’m guessing 10. Since your probably curious, Della is still voiced by Paget Brewster, just using a slightly different voice like the Triplets and Webby’s voice actors do. It’s just a bit more jarring here since unlike those characters, we’ve seen adult della and thus are used to this voice coming out of a grown woman. It’s not bad and I got used to it eventually but it was jarring at first especially since once again Donald has a completely diffrent voice ACTRESS doing his voice.  This time around it’s cristina valenzuela, of Miraculous Ladybug fame, who I know more for her song work and twitter than her actual work ,but am delighted to see her here and she does a terrific job. I genuneily did not realize it was her, and while not exactly like the late great russi taylor, it is just similar enough to work. 

So we get to see what the Twins were like when they were the Triplets age: Della is about the same, but with more of Dewey’s impulsiveness, and Donald, much like he’d be a few years and some dead parents later, is a bitter, grungey musician whose constantly on his guitar and railing against the man.. which is Scrooge in this case which is fair. Hortense left a note.. which bothered me as I genuinely expected her to show up and was majorly disappointed she did not. We are in year 4 of this series, season 3 and STILL no appearance of Hortense or mention how she died, as she and Quackmore are still alive by the end of this. Given she’s easily my faviorite part of Life and Times, this bothered me, and the only reason i’m not more upset.. is the clever way they wrote around actually using her. The letter she leaves for Scrooge explaining things is the same one Della herself used in the comic strip, and using a bit of the postcard she left in the cartoons, when leaving Huey, Dewey and Louie with Donald, down to the Twins having left a firecracker in their fathers seat, thus leaving him in the hosptial. As disappointed as I am my favorite Ginger is completely absent once again, this is a brilliant reference, and I have to give them credit for it, so it’s a fair enough trade off.  As for his “Angel Nephew and Niece”, Della wants to dive into adventure while Donald struggles to write a song, singing throughout the episode. It varies in tolerablity, though mostly due to the writing, Cristina is doing fine. Della however is disappointed to find her legendary uncle views his past exploits as merley a means to an end to get his fortune and now he has it he can just focus on building it in the boardroom. This is an intresting take.. and one I could easily have seen happening to the Don Rosa version seen in Life and Times. The Scrooge there himself saw building his wealth as the most important thing until his encounter with Teddy Rosevelt, who taught him experince was what mattered and the having isn’t as fun as the getting. It works for me: This is a scrooge who never got that lesson so once he got to be richest duck in the world, having achieved his life’s goal nothing was left. He’s not miserable like the Scrooge we saw at the start of the series, having lost his love for adventure after loosing his niece/daughter, and having lost his fight. This one has retired.. but because he likely just sees no point in going on. He’s the richest duck in the world, has a vast empire.. no amount of treasure is really going to add to that like it used to, and as he points out in a second Shush has tons of agents at this point to clean up what’s left of FOWL. He’s the man who has everything, so why keep going. It’s weird to see a scrooge without the hunger to keep going, but it makes sense when his belly is full. Without someone to get him to see there’s always another rainbow, he just stopped chasing them. Also a fun nod to the comics I almost forgot to mention is when hearing about the “Gift”, i.e. the twins, Scrooge dreads it’s another surprise party, a nod to life and times where Hortense threw Scrooge one that went.. badly and lead to their entire relationship collapsing. Though Donald did get back at Scrooge for screaming at his parents and Auntie Matilda

However his busy day is disrupted with a call from Beakly. They’ve found the last known cordinates of Captain Yellowbeak, but FOWL is on them and Scrooge is the only one Beakly trusts for this since they have a leak. Beakly is also director of SHUSH at this point, with Von Drake having retired or died or both at this point. Scrooge reluctantly accepts, while Della is excited at the prospect of a real adventure and Donald ends up sharing her enthusasim as it’d make a good song. Scrooge, naturally, has no intention of bringing them with him to their disapointment and leads Donald to sing another “Suck it the man song” which totally isn’t about Scrooge.... spoilers: It entirely is, he’s just a little dumbass grunge baby and I love him.  We then get a cute sequence of Della popping up in Scrooge’s Luggage and Trunk to try and convince him to let them tag along, before we cut to the Limo, driven by Duckworth at this point, which solves that mystery. Scrooge is firm in having his butler take them back and have them work with him and Duckworth’s fine with that.. but wants overtime, which is fair. Scrooge, being Scrooge, grumbles about not being made of money, proven wrong by gold spilling out of him. Though I do like the update of Scrooge’s classic cheapness when it comes to pay: INstead of barely paying his employees like a monster, he’s simply reluctant to pay extra if he dosen’t have to, and would rather drag two 10 year olds with him on a dangerous adventure than pay overtime, which tracks. It’s also clear if he had to he WOULD actually pay it, either due to legal reasons or his moral standards, he just isn’t happy about it. So he agrees, though he wants Donald to leave the guitar behind which.. given the most Donald’s been able to come up with is “Suck it THE MAN” and “This guy’s a greedy asshole”.. he’s extremely correct and when Donald tries to pull a “YOU CAN’T CENSOR ME MANNNN”, Scrooge just chucks it out of the car.  At the airfield while Della is excited like an rabid chipmunk, and genuinely thinks she can fly a plane because she’s played Outrunner 2.. which I have only vaguely heard of before now. And is apparently just a pc game where you run a lot so I genuinely do not get where Della gets piloting from that.. but she IS Dewey’s mother. So with that in mind the family take off and Scrooge explains what their after: The Papyrus of Binding. It’s a dangerously powerful magical artifact from Ancient Egypt that will make whatever’s written on it happen. The dangerous part is that it’s incredibly literal: As Bradford puts later in the episode, ask for unlimited power, it might zap you dead with a million volts, ask for infinite wealth, prepare to be crushed underneath it. It’s a nice twist on a Monkey’s Paw or Jackass Genie situation. Instead of either the source of the wish granting magic just being inherently evil, or some dickhead screwing with the hero.. it’s just an object that has no ability to interpret nuance, just like your phone with the goddamn autocorrect. It can’t judge intent or tone or meaning, it just gives exactly what it’s asked. It’s a thoroughly interesting concept. 

Something I really like about this episode is the fact it answers some little questions. While none were Hortense related, and I am still grumpy about that even with this coming out a good 17 hours after I watched it due to getting caught up with other stuff, it does have little touches that explain small parts of the lore: Who drove Scrooge? As just mentioned, Duckworth. Who flew scrooge? Paid pilots. Did he have a plane before the sunchaser? Yup. It fills in some small gaps in the world. Stuff we weren’t dying to know but’s stil lintresting. Said pilots in this case however are Heron and Bradford. This episode also fills in Heron’s character, as while we’ve already seen bits and pieces this season she LOVES being a classic, take over the world james bond type villian, like she stepped out of a duck version of kim possible.. and i’m just now realizing there probably IS a duck kim possible somewhere in this world as while far after disney afternoon, it fits too neatly to not be wedged in there with your tailspins and goof troops. I wouldn’t be suprised if there were brid versions of every human based disney afternoon and one saturday morning show. My.. my head’s swimming from this. I could be, and probably am wrong but the sheer idea of this... it’s amazing.  Back to Heron, she just LOVES being evil and destructive, letting the world know she exists and operating on a grand scale. Now we’ve seen more of her while she’s Beakly’s nemisis.. she’s really an evil scrooge.. yes another one. Like Scrooge, at least how he normally is,  she simply gets how the world of Ducktales operates and can take advantage of that to the best of her ablility. Just like adventuering, cartoonish supervilliany is about risk and reward.. sometimes you faceplamnt hard, that’s the risk, but the rewards and rush is worth it. She’s as addicted to grandoise villiany as Scrooge is to adventure by this point. And like Scrooge, and unlike her partner Bradford, she sees the world as it is: Chaotic and one big sandbox to play in. She contrasts Scrooge by the fact that while Scrooge is willing to bust down doors, he still has morals, as well as the wisdom to not go overboard Heron often lacks. It also makes her a good contrast ot the equally skilled Beakly: While Beakly is taciturn, controlled in all things especially her emotions, Heron is bombastic, gloating and borderline insane, and while deadly in a fight, dosen’t exercise any control in her plans, preferring it big and loud despite her partner usually being right about reiging it in.  So Heron evacuates dramatically, taking a grumpy Bradford with them, and sending the plane into a tailspin. 

I can’t wait for Next Year’s Tailspin episode. I swear to god. I’m hoping for Shere Kahn but this episode has taught me to be okay with disapointment, if a grumpus. Della however shows her natural talent and despite having no real experince with planes, lands it gracefully. While that’s going on, Bradford berates Heron for her plan, pointing out that they COULD have simply landed the plane, then captured the McDuck family and executed them quitely, versus leaving a chance they’ll survive which they do. They AREN’T supervillains.. or at least he thinks he isn’t. Heron does show off her competence though, pointing out that this way they can simply stay low, and FOLLOW the Ducks to the treasure. Bradford is impressed for a second.. till Heron’s evil shows as she plans to use the Papyrus. Bradford loudly objects to this, listing the possible risks shown before. If not used CAREFULLY, it could kill them, and she balks and wants him to just embrace being the Villian already. It’s what I love about their dynamic set up here: While they are equals, Bradford is a better strategist, able to think and plan way in advance, and prefers subterfuge, and if present day is any indicatoin probably used Heron’s flash to distract from the real mission or goal often or to do something on the down low while she kept SHUSH busy. His last two plans, while again requiring some pizzaz, relied on misdrection: having the ducks take care of an immidate threat like their used to.. while he gets exactly what he wants while their busy and whatever they get out of it is either nothing (Impossibin) or something he couldn’t use just yet and thus if he didn’t get it, no loss, but if he did it just moves up the timetable. Not only that but he’s outlasted all three other big bads, lying in the shadows till it was too risky to leave scrooge and play and even THEN, only coming out into the open when forced out. IT’s why he’s Scrooge’s most dangerous opponent: He knows how Scrooge’s other enmities operates as well as Scrooge himself. And since he knows everything he can maneuver Scrooge exactly where he needs him to do exactly what he wants. It’s unknown how the family will beat him, but he’s easily the biggest challenge they’ve had. 

But back to the show and the past, Scrooge bonds with his niece and nephew, retelling stories of his past as they get closer, with Donald ending up high at one point and thus seeing the ship stranded on a mountain. As he recounts a fight with El Capitan, the villian from the ducktales 87 pilot, he counts the story as as a loss: He didn’t get anything from it, no treasure no new contracts. But Della shows him the point he’s been missing; He got a story. Sure he lost.. but he got experince, a tale to tell and a legend grown.Just because you don’t get everything dosen’t mean it wasn’t worth the experince and you can’t hold it in your heart. And this episode shows why this scrooge needed his family: Without Teddy to mentor him, he simply never got that adventure wasn’t about gains or what you get.. it’s about the thrill of it, the enjoyment of discovery and the memories you make.. it’s about the Journey not the destination. 

As Scrooge starts to warm up to that, he finds a gap, with Della volunteering Donald to jump but Scrooge just having the kids hop on his back and pogo caneing across. The family find the Papyrus, and find out why the ship is all the way up here: Captain Yellowbeak, who’s a character from one of barks stories and the one who had the scroll last, wished to escape.. but that just stranded them. He asked for water.. and it drowned his crew.. and finally with the document hteir reading he asked for release... and thus is now a skelington. The kid are happy to have reached the goal.. while Scrooge is back on his Zack Morris phone trying to reschedule things and schedule a SHUSH evac, to the kids annoyance. However Scrooge raining on their parade gets interupted by Heron and Bradford, as Heron can’t resist popping out dramatically and Bradford is UTTERLY furious since she blew his cover, and Scrooge recognizes him from his christmas party, a nice callback. Scroog being scrooge figures out he’s the mole and Bradford runs , furious at Heron. Their conflict is an intresting one: Both have a point but both will not back down. Bradford is right this showboating nonsense has only hindered Heron’s plans.. and Heron is right that Bradford needs to accept he’s the bad guy. Even if he has well meaning motives, he’s the villian, he works with them, he leads them.. he is one.  He just can’t accept he’s wrong or dosen’t have the answers... huh.. I wonder who that reminds you of. And that’s 100% intentional as Frank has outright compared Huey and Bradford and like last season it’s neat to have the main vilian contrast our chosen Duck for the season. 

Heron outfoxes the kids and gets the papyrus and being just an enitrely black hearted bitch, plans to kill them just to spite scrooge.. writing that “his sidekicks will perish on this mission.”.... but Scrooge’s character development, and her choice of words, means nothing happens. As Scrooge outlines, “Their not my sidekicks their my FAMILY, and this isn’t a mission, it’s an ADVENTURE”. Scrooge has finally accepted his life for what it really is.. and the thrill of the chase over what lies at the end. There’s always anothe rainbow.. and he’s finally become the man who will chase every last one. 

OF course this is interupted, and Heron escapes with the papyrus, when a skeletal pirate attacks.. why is Yellow Beak alive, why’d the scroll do this?

But we get a neat fight as Scrooge fights the skeleton while he sends the kids after Heron. Scrooge gets a cool looking swordfight, while Bradford gets the papyrus, and Yellowbeak even terrifies me what with his bestial roll and fucking centepede crawling out of him.. jesus those things freak me out.  Meanwhile the kids battle Heron, who throws della overboard... and thus for the first time, Donald taps into his beserker rage, snikty snoink, and easily incapaciates the more experinced and fully grown adul, though Della since we’eve been following her kids for the past three seasons, is fine, if suprised by her brother being the goddamn wolverine. 

While heron is out for a second, Scrooge heads after Bradford, and vows to tell Beakly and chase him all across the world. However Bradford gets an utterly awesome moment.. he admits scrooge may be right and probably would.. but since he has the papayrus and is careful in everything he writes his request carefully and perfectly “As far as the ducks are concerned, I was never here.” Grante dit COULD have left scrooge out.. but since he didn’t sday duck family or specificy, and likely knew it’d do that, it instead just means the three bilogical ducks. Bradford dissappears, turning invisble and leaving the papyrus for scrooge, who foils heron by simply writing that this scroll will be lost until one day found by his heirs.

So Heron takes a fall and looses an arm, again.. or for the first time.. the family is triumphant and despite loosing his goal, Scrooge is convinced he and the kids will find it again. See above. Scrooge then pulls out his phone and tells Duckworth to rework his schedule.. but it’s so he can find someone to run his comapny so he can spend more time with the kids. As for why Hortense would allow this before her still mysterious passing.. i’m guessing A) she notices her brother is happier and more alive than he’s been for a while and B) they just blew up their dad’s ass with a firecracker, and she won’t be able to use it for a while, so she’s double mad, so if it means she gets a moment’s peace and is with someone she trusts.. why not?

So we end on Scrooge packing up, preparing for further adventures.. i’d love a spinoff of this one day. I mean Disney plus needs it, and since Frank is probably going over to Darkwing.. maybe matt could take a crack at this. Just saying. You have the cast ready, a giant world to explore, and 15 years worth adventures. Run that baby damn you! But yeah the inevitble happens and Bradford further proves his magificent bastardry.. by appling for the position of running the company as head of Scrooge’s board, and setting up said board. So now FOWL has unlimited resources, he has a direct eye on what he now realizes is his greatest threat, and the complete trust and faith of both Scrooge and Beakly. It also puts Beakly’s breakdown in context: We now see WHY she went as far as she did: While the revelation was bad for Scrooge, finding out one of his most trusted allies was a traitor the whole time and knew everything about him, for Beakly.. it had to be worse. Finding out one of your best employees, one of the FEW people you ever trusted, and someone you DIRECTLY RECOMMENDED TO SCROOGE, was not only the man who set up your greatest enemies, but had compromised your organization for most of your career. IT’s no wonder she broke down so hard.. while I already gave several reason adding “This level of betrayal and self doubt to the list” only makes it that much harder on her. But for now a partnership is started.. one that very well may end scrooge. 

Final Thoughts: A pretty good episode overall. It’s well paced, to the point I probably forgot a LOT, has some good jokes, and fills in a lot of the gaps in the lore, while giving us a nice insight into bradford and heron. Even without hortense this was a pretty good episode. 

Upcoming Reviews: LIfe and Times; Master of the Mississippi Ride of the Three Cabbleros: The Three Cablleros (House of Mouse) Tomtrospective: Lava Lake Beach

[spnopineapples]

ALRIGHT PEOPLE. I'm READY.

LAST OF US 2 SPOILERS!!!!

......

.......

Are ya gone yet? Have you scrolled past if you don't want to see?

....

Alright. *CRACKS KNUCKLES AND NECK* Let's jump on into this!

First off I'm done with the game.

Second off..... THIS GAME WAS FUCKING PHENOMENAL!!! 10/10

The ending litterally killed me. Finished 2 hours ago,talked the ear off of my best friend for about 1 and a half hours and gushed and lamented the whole time. Cried for about 20 minutes by myself. Had an existential crisis. So on so on. And now I'm here, in the middle of an online meeting cause, ya know, Corona, muted with no camera on, because I'd much rather be typing out this dissertation.

Y'ALL. Go play this. It is AWESOME.

Now for the third and probably longest bit of this. My rebuttal to the bad reviewers:

I still contend that the bad reviews are 1 of 2 reasons with a little of a 3rd mixed in to both. #1. Being that people are pissed they killed off Joel and think the story did a disservice to the characters. #2. People are pissed because they think Naughty Dog was pushing a liberal agenda with a heavily muscled female antagonist/protagonist, a gay Ellie, and a transgender side character, Lev. The mixed in #3 is the extensive violence which I do contend was a lot. Yeah LoU1 was definitely violent, but damned this one got dark. And that's something coming from me because I am a fan of gratuitous violence.

Let me tackle these real quick. I'll be brief about #2 here though.

IN REBUTTAL TO REASON #2 - If you honestly didn't like LoU2 because of this reason (which I explained in my previous post about how IT IS logical that Abby be built the way she is and how Naughty Dog was definitely NOT shoving this or ANY of the others i mentioned in anyone's face in my opinion) you're in need of some corrective thinking and you should re-evaluate your ideas and realize that your opinion on these social issues doesn't matter and is wrong. None of these things make the game story illogical or bad. Bottom line: there are people like this in the world and their stories in this game drive the plot. It doesn't belittle the previous games or detract from the current game at all. You're just bigoted. Calm your tits and don't play the game if it upsets you so much. Pull a Seth and bury the hatchet. Make some steak sandwiches.

But I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and imagine that the majority of the bad reviewers were more pissed at reason #1, Joel's Death. But real quick.

IN REBUTTAL OF REASON #3 -If you hated the game because of the amount of violence, do realize that the violence was the point of the story this time AND IT WAS SUPPOSE TO BE A DRAG ON YOUR SOUL. LoU1 was about finding love again in a violent world. Love being in the foreground and the violence a backdrop, which is why the violence didn't feel so in your face even though it was PLENTY violent. LoU2 was about succumbing to the violent world because of losing love. Violence being the foreground and tainted love (insert song here ya bastards) being the backdrop that drives it. AND HERE IS MY FAVORITE PART PLEASE READ THIS PART AT LEAST IF YOU DECIDE NOT TO READ THE WHOLE THING.

Think of the two endings. LoU1 WAS a story ABOUT finding love in a violent world BUT ENDED with Joel committing a violent act to protect his love (killing all the Fireflies, 1 of which was Abby's father and the driving reason for LoU2's main plot, and DOOMING THE WORLD TO INFECTION AND DAMNING HUMANITY). LoU2 WAS a story ABOUT losing love and reacting with violence BUT ENDED with Ellie doing a peaceful act (allowing Abby to leave alive with Lev) because of the love she had for Joel (that flashback scene of Joel playing guitar when Ellie decided to forgive him for the violence and lie at the end of LoU1).

DO Y'ALL SEE HOW IMPORTANT THAT IS?

There NEEDED to be a LoU2 because LoU1 ended with violence and a lie. LoU2 fulfilled this with an ending of forgiveness driven by a memory of love from the first game.

I've read a lot of the bad reviews where they mention the violence became too much and ruined the game. And that Ellie wouldn't act like that. First off Ellie totally would, fuck off with that noise. Second off THAT'S THE POINT. This was a story about how revenge is cyclic violence and it doesn't end until someone makes the decision to end it!

BOTTOM LINE: I felt ragged 2/3's of the way thru this game because of the violence, but that's the point of the story. Revenge is not worth it. Especially when it's with people like Abby and Ellie. Because neither are villians. AND BOY HOWDY DID IT TAKE ME A LONG TIME TO COME TO TERMS WITH THIS. Because I HATED ABBY FOR KILLING JOEL. When I first started playing her I DID NOT WANT TO BECAUSE I WAS ANGRY WITH HER. I litterraly felt dirty playing her. But this game did something amazing to get me around to appreciating her character. NOT LIKING HER CHARACTER, but appreciating. And I will tackle this in my next rebuttal.

IN REBUTTAL OF REASON # 1 - Let's talk about Joel's death.

I WILL NOT LIE TO YALL.

I was mightily upset about his death. At first I thought it to be a disservice to a beloved character. But then I realized something. See above about Joel's actions. He killed all those Fireflies and DAMNED THE WORLD. Not only that it is specifically mentioned in both LoU1 and in this game that Joel and Tommy did horrible things before they met Ellie and before Jackson. JOEL WAS NOT A GOOD GUY.

I think what people are upset about is the REALNESS of this game. A lot of other game developers don't do what Naughty Dog has done. Naughty Dog did not shy away from Joel's character flaws and his past wrongs! In fact, all the user's that use the reason for hating the game as "too many plotholes" Y'ALL FUCKING PLAYIN. More on that later.

Back to what I was saying about realness. In the real world, Joel's death and the brutality of it and suddenness of it is actually a very logical event that would occur. Abby doesn't KNOW Joel like we do. All she knows is this guy killed her father and a lot of her friends and damned humanity in the process. LoU1 is not a happy game. Might I remind yall about Sam and Henry? But his death was not "sudden". And it didn't steal Joel from us. I actually really enjoyed all the flashbacks to him. We got more than enough time and I actually feel as if the time we got with Joel was better because of his death so early in the game. DO NOT TELL ME THAT THAT NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM FLASHBACK DIDN'T FULFILL EVERY FEELING NEED.

And now for the wrap up - the big hangup that I see of those who hated Joel's Death is that the story didn't redeem it. They couldn't "buy" Ellie forgiving Abby at the end.

As I stated I will not lie. I was worried for about 2/3s of the way through this game that the bad user reviews were accurate and that the story sucked because I couldn't see where the writers were going. All I saw was senseless death of characters that I had loved and that I was coming to love. I straight up love Jesse by the way. It wasn't until Abby met Lev and Yara that I started seeing the majesty of this revenge story.

BECAUSE THE TRUTH IS I HATE FUCKING REVENGE STORIES WHERE THE MAIN CHARACTER IS LIKE, NO, THEY WOULDN'T WANT ME TO DO THIS. Before this game I'd be like "miss me with that bullshit" but after today I would say "give it to me like this." This actually felt real. And boy was it raw. Guys, the reason I started forgiving Abby is because of her decision to help Yara and Lev. Because it was her attempt to right the wrong of killing Joel which was eating her alive. Her and Owen and Mel. Guys. She is Joel. Why the hell do you think Joel did what he did for Ellie in the first game? Because he liked her at first site? BULLSHIT. He did it because Tess told him to do something good for once. IF YOU ARE UPSET WITH ABBY THEN YOU SHOULD BE UPSET WITH JOEL. I get it. Abby had to earn that with her story because at the beginning I'd have said leave her to the clickers. BUT CONTRARY TO THE USERS OF THIS REASONING SHE DID DESERVE HER REDEMPTION. The game shows over and over and over again that Abby isn't some mustache twirling villian who deserves instant death. She is complicated. She cares and she hates and she loves. She knows what's right and wrong and tries to do right as much as possible but she's human and she gets angry. Anger means you care.. and she cared about her father. She's a good human too because good humans feel shitty about doing shitty things and if you are observant at all you can tell immediately with Abby, as we play her in her Seattle Day 1, that she has doubts and isn't comfortable with her role in how Joel died. SHE DESERVED BEING FORGIVING BY ELLIE AT THE END. AND IN THE SAME TOKEN ELLIE DESERVED FORGIVING HER AND BEING FORGIVEN BY ABBY. It is very clearly obvious by the end of the game that Ellie could not reconcile her revenge killings with her best memories of Joel or with the actions she had to take to get there. Also it is of very important note here that Ellie stopped drowning Abby because of a flash image of Joel playing guitar. And then later on actually seeing the memory associated with that image that stopped her you can understand why Ellie did stop outside of just being as tired of violence as Abby was. The memory shows Joel and Ellie agreeing to try to forgive Joel for lying to her about the Fireflies and denying her her purpose. All this the night before he is killed. Note what Joel says. "If God gave me the chance to do it all over again. I would have done the same thing." Just that fucking devotion he has for Ellie shines through and she really understands his reasons for what he did. Still doesn't feel as if she can forgive him. THAT IS IMPORTANT. She DOES NOT agree with his decision. She understands it, but doesn't agree. But still decides to try and forgive. GUYS. That's exactly what she understands about Abby. Joel was sorry but he still would have done it. Same with Abby. There's a reason that image popped up as she was killing Abby and not the image of his beaten up face.

Remember that line from LoU2? Tess said it. As she is confessing to Joel that she was bit. "We're shitty people, Joel. It's been that way for a long time!" And Joel says "No, we are survivors!"

Y'all don't think for one second that Joel wouldn't have gone after that Soldier who shot Sarah if Tommy hadn't shot him? Y'all kidding yourselves.

Abby realizes this truth in the end. She realizes the part she played in enhancing and playing into the fucking violence and shittiness. Staining and tainting herself in the process. She just wanted to be clean. And Ellie just wanted to be clean.

Bombing this game is doing a fucking disservice to the emotional complexity of this story. It's been a long time since I've been that emotionally twisted.

This game isn't preachy. This game makes something clear that alot of other revenge stories get wrong. Revenge makes otherwise good people do shitty things and the shitty things taint us for the rest of our lives. At least Ellie and Abby stopped themselves before they tainted all their being.

Yeah we're shitty people. But we don't have to be.

[mrbatbird]

@sleepnoises tagged me in a 5 songs you’re listening to right now meme! Admittedly, I haven’t listen to much music lately since I usually do so when I’m out of the house and well......you know. A lot of this is going to be anime stuff. Feel free to judge me on this.

1. 催眠術 by Ziyoou-Vachi (Queen Bee).  I’ve been listening to a lot of Queen Bee in general lately. Most people have probably heard about them bc of Avu-chan doing an absolutely killer cover of Devilman no Uta for Devilman Crybaby, but I actually started listening to their stuff because I heard Harada did art for their last album. (Harada’s work is generally not my thing, but I do like their art.) Also, here’s the live version mostly bc I like Avu-chan’s outfit.

2. Yousei Aika by 5 to Heaven. This the ending theme for Fairy Ranmaru, a beautiful, campy mess of an anime I enjoyed immensely. If you like the formulaic nature of magic girl shows but also like to see men in skimpy outfits, perhaps this is the show for you. Could’ve benefited from being longer, but I’d be surprised if there’s a second season. (Also, Uruu and Homura are my favorites, which maybe says something about me.)

3. NEXUS by Hiroyuki Sawano. I adore Promare and NEXUS, 覚醒, and BangBangBUR!...? are my favorites from the soundtrack. Promare was the last movie I saw in theatres, and I’ve enjoyed it immensely every time I’ve seen it since. There’s a lot to love about it, from the art direction, to the characters themselves, to how absolutely blatant it is about what it wants to say (the names of the villian’s weapons always make me laugh a little). It wasn’t my top theatre experience (that award goes to The Night is Short, Walk on Girl), but an excellent time none the less.

4. ゾッコン by MONO NO AWARE. This is the theme song for the film, The Stranger by the Shore, otherwise known as Umibe no Étranger. If you have access to this movie, I highly recommend it! It’s sweet, a little angsty, and there’s lots of cats. If you can’t watch it, check out the manga, confusingly titled Seaside Stranger. The next volume (technically the first volume of the sequel series, Harukaze no Étranger) is out in February, and I’m personally very much looking forward to it. I love Kii Kanna’s work and I’ve very grateful to finally have this in print.

5. Sovay by Pentangle. I was having a hard time picking a fifth song, and eventually settled on just picking one of my favorite folk songs. Perhaps not so much something I listen to a lot than something I sing a lot, but we’ll say it counts. The version I sing is closer to this one, but I listen to Pentangle’s more often. I picked this one mostly because it’s at the top of my folk song playlist, but it also happens to be one of the least murdery ones I know.

I don’t really feel like tagging anyone, but I thought this was fun, so feel free to do your own if you want!