#there's actually some hints at future plot in this art ;3

[wyvernquill]

"Serpent of the Opera, at your service."* *The Serpent actually preferred to go by Crowley, but felt like that was more second-date information. "Charmed," Aziraphale said, dipping his head. "It's a very... interesting choice of occupation, I must say." The Serpent - Crowley, we should say - shrugged in a well-what-can-you-do way.

An illustration for my Phantom of the Opera AU!

[aluria-sevhex]

so now i'm in Act 3 i guess

notes:

-methinks Siffrin is panicking

-plot twist: you can't escape the time loop until you deal with your... ???

-no you little bitch don't pretend everything's fine that's not good for your mental health

-YOU *KNEW* THIS WOULD HAPPEN??? FUCK YOU LOOP

-i'm not giving up you little shit

-ok Loop what IS your deal. you *asked* to be here???

-ok i need to help Mira with her mysterious papers

-:O A HINT AT ODILE'S FIELD OF STUDY

-the music is more unnerving than it was in Act 2. also it sounds glitchy now

-oh it's normal now. was i just suffering from an actual audio glitch and just. didn't question it? like "oh yeah ofc it's glitching things are fucked now"

-...that enemy didn't spawn down here in Act 2.

-eh ima get off for the night

-late in the evening on July 4th and i am back yippee this is probably a bad idea considering how long my play sessions get

-YEAH THE TITLE MUSIC MY BELOVED

-ok i can't help Bonnie on this loop- HOLD UP. DID SIF'S ART CHANGE IN THE MENUS? YEAH HE'S NOT SMUG ANYMORE ToT also i think their profile used to say "It's you!" with an exclamation point but now it says "It's you." with a period :(

-rip my darling blorbo Paper α V

-side note: idk if i've mentionwd this before but i like how the levels, stats, and skills all show the fact that you're near the end of the journey (ex. Odile having Rock, Paper, and Scissors III at the start)

-I FOUND THE BOOK BONNIE WAS LOOKING AT.

hmmm... death rituals...

-hehe i found the stostorage roomoom

-NONE OF THESE BARRELS WILL LEMME TAKE THE NUTS >:(

-another book in the headache-inducing language i can't read.

-weird shit going on: Siffrin, Loop, the King, the disappearing island, the headache-inducing shit

-hehehe yeah Isa i'm sure you'd *love* to pet your taciturn hopeful-future-partner

-it's not just the menu art i think Siffrin's battle art is also less happy. :(

-HOLD UP. also! Siffrin's profile used to call them the Traveler but now he's called the Wanderer. :(

-hehe. Sif hit the counter and said nya again. cat Sif

-this enemy ALSO did not spawn on this floor before. fucking giant hand thing

-ok thinking: can't help Isa until i've helped everybody else in one loop, can't help Bonnie on this loop and i need to prove i know them via their favorite foods, need to help Mira and Odile...

-thank you Loop for being available- OH I CAN BRING UP THE SADNESSES BEING DIFFERENT :O

-ok need to help Mira with the papers. some are in her dorm. Odile wants to read a familytale. i'll have to find one in the library or secret library. need to find out Bonnie's favorite foods by trying different ones. maybe i should loop forward a bunch to different areas, find out their favorite foods, and THEN do the big loop where i help everybody!

-i need to talk to the King eventually

-looping forward to Floor 1's end

-fun fact i'm keeping track of all my causes of death in another note. i'll share it when i finish the game

-man i also need to figure out how to help Mira's fan and remember where the last book issue is...

-the looping screen art is nice :]

-yeah yeah i need to beat this asshole to get to the snacks

-hold up. the coin fell on heads this time. strange...

-last time i picked plantain chips. this time i'm picking cookies. would probably be good to check what Bonnie eats each time

-ok they like rice. time to loop forward!

-while i'm on Floor 2 i might as well find a familytale for Odile...

-LOOP 24? THE MATH DOES NOT CHECK OUT.

-WAIT THE GAME ACKNOWLEDGES IT. HUH. YEAH I SHOULD BE ON 23. SIFFRIN IS SUS 𐐘

-fuck. i accidentally moved forwards when i meant to go to the library. it's fine i'l help her when i help everybody

-oh great i have to fight these assholes again.

-fuck. i think i fucked up and didn't make sure Mira had Pretty Moving Cure. i might get a game over.

-this is by far my dumbest death

-LOOP 27??? I WENT FROM 24-27

-gonna try to be less liberal with loop usage because the skipping is kinda scaring me

-aw... Siffrin's friends try not to touch him as they squeeze through that's nice... wait. he seems to not be remembering why. did he forget that they don't like being touched... maybe. maybe i should call Loop.

-well that was unhelpful

-time to adjust the memories i have equipped. welcome back my lovely scrimbly blorbos Lovely Moving Cure and Paper α V

-hm. ok so the boulanger in Dormont has a familytale...

-oh my god we're discussing colors. what happened to them.

-THEY STILL EXIST. BUT WE FORGOT HOW TO SEE THEM. ???

-*SIFFRIN*. HOW IS THIS FAMILIAR. JFC YOU ARE SUS

-plot twist! Siffrin is from our world and forgor that he got isekai'd! :P (i love making random bullshit predictions it's very entertaining)

-oh yeah so RE: Siffrin's altered art: Sif's time-frozen portrait used to look panicked but now it looks calm

-hehe openphrase123 worked

-love Sif's habit of picking up random shiny shit. magpie or crow behavior.

-oh? Siffrin didn't always hate croissants?

...bruh.

-also damn shout-out to Mira's crisis over not knowing some of the people

-the combination of Siffrin's silly attack names and serious battle portraits feels so *wrong*

-:o Sif learned a new skill

-ok i'm gonna log off for the night

hey if you wanna read all of my posts as i play through ISAT, they are all tagged as #Aluria plays ISAT for the first time (please don't spoil)

bruh when i was making this post i accidentslly pasted the notes again there instead of pasting the tag name. that truly was. delightful. to go through and delete it all

also shout-out to those of you who i keep seeing popping up in my notifs liking these posts ;) and also anybody who takes the time to read all this stuff :D i know that *i* like seeing other people's reactions when they experience stuff i like for the first time so i'm very happy to provide that for others! also it's nice to see some of the responses ^-^ :D

[edalynn]

I've recently seen someone defend the bad writing of Huntl0w with "it's just because the show got cut, it would've been better if it had time!", but I disagree.

Firstly, I'm generally annoyed with people defending every flaw of the show by "but it got cut!!". Yes, some issues are because of the cut. However, the writers weren't forced to write the show the exact way it turned out, they could still make decisions about it, and they should've carefully considered what to include and devote screen time to, since they knew they had less of it.

If Huntl0w was always the plan even before the cut, but they knew they didn't have time to develop it properly, they should've just cut it. Plain and simple. It contributed nothing to the characterization or the plot, cutting it would change nothing aside from surface level blushing (highlighting how pointless its inclusion was). Fans could still ship it, crew members could still ship it in personal art, but it didn't need to be in the show.

And the "but it's bi4pan rep!!" defense for keeping it in doesn't hold up, since there's zero confirmation of Willow's identity in the show, and Hunter's entire. confirmation is a small blink and you'll miss it flag that's on screen for like 3 seconds. If a more casual viewer didn't notice that one detail, they wouldn't know this isn't just a straight ship. For an m/f ship to be good rep the characters need to be SHOWN as queer, not just confirmed via tiny split second flags and the creator confirming it on a livestream. And making them a couple despite them barely talking also reinforces some heteronormative and amatonormative messages.

(And there's the "love heals all" trope problem with WHEN the writers chose to have them hint at becoming a couple/the feelings being mutual, and just generally a problem with the pairing being the conclusion to their arcs when that's not what either of their stories were about)

Secondly, I just don't think their personalities work well together. They don't have romantic chemistry, there's no spark, they don't mesh like Luz and Amity or Eda and Raine. The only way they could be "developed" to fit together is if you retcon their personalities and tailor them into a dynamic after they've already been established, which is not good writing.

Huntl0w is just a fundamentally weak pairing. I don't think it could've been fixed, I think it would've always had a "pair the spares" feeling to it. Neither have even shown interest in romance before, and we've been given no compelling reason why they would be interested in each other specifically. The "half a witch" thing isn't it, 1) them being called the same slur isn't romantic, and 2) their experiences aren't actually that similar, Hunter has much stronger parallels with Amity (they even had the same deepest wish - to figure out their own future). Interestingly, they also barely interacted, but what we did get actually offered a strong foundation for further development of their friendship had the show not been cut.

Okay, this is one of the best, concise explanations as to everything in the show that's wrong with hunt/low. It literally never in a million years could've even been hodge-podged together to make a compelling, intriguing romance.

It contributed nothing to the characterization or the plot, cutting it would change nothing aside from surface level blushing

(And there's the "love heals all" trope problem with WHEN the writers chose to have them hint at becoming a couple/the feelings being mutual, and just generally a problem with the pairing being the conclusion to their arcs when that's not what either of their stories were about)

I feel like these both go hand in hand. Not only would not adding it have not changed a single thing about the story, but even hinting at it actually damaged their entire arcs all together. Willow's whole arc was about being strong enough on her own, while Hunter's was about discovering and becoming himself and who he wanted to be. Making both of their arcs end in them being forced to rely on each other (almost seeming co-dependent-ish) when they've barely been shown to have interacted on screen really negates every single bit of character growth we've seen up to that point.

And the "but it's bi4pan rep!!" defense for keeping it in doesn't hold up, since there's zero confirmation of Willow's identity in the show, and Hunter's entire. confirmation is a small blink and you'll miss it flag

Also, Dana literally said that her saying it outside of the show airing & unless it is actively shown on the show, makes it headcanon only. She is the creator, yes, but she made the point to say that even what she says should be considered headcanon and that everyone should be encouraged to have and share their own. So technically, it's bi4??? rep at best.

Secondly, I just don't think their personalities work well together. They don't have romantic chemistry, there's no spark, they don't mesh like Luz and Amity or Eda and Raine. The only way they could be "developed" to fit together is if you retcon their personalities and tailor them into a dynamic after they've already been established,

100 million percent. They barely even work as friends honestly, especially from the very few times we see them interact on screen. Willow is brash, confident, and holds a grudge. None of those things would be good for Hunter, an abuse victim, in a relationship. Hell, the way she pulls him underground in asias is SO reminiscent of the way Belos does the same thing in HM, it makes me uncomfortable to rewatch. And she was totally ready for the school to turn him back over to Belos despite his begging until she was convinced he actually had been with Gus, and even then it was just so they could save Gus. And on the other hand, Hunter is impulsive and fiercely overprotective of the people he cares about, which goes directly against Willow's drive to prove she can take care of and protect herself. None of those traits scream romantic compatibility lmao. In all honesty, it's more likely to create a toxic relationship, especially coupled with Hunter's trauma and PTSD.

The "half a witch" thing isn't it, 1) them being called the same slur isn't romantic, and 2) their experiences aren't actually that similar, Hunter has much stronger parallels with Amity

Yeah... I've never understood the romanticism of being called the same slur lmao... And you're totally right about Amity and Hunter having far more in common than Willow and Hunter. Amity and Hunter parallel each other amazingly and the way their friendship was set up really would've made for a far more interesting arc, especially throwing Luz into the mix as Amity's girlfriend and Hunter's "rival" sister.

They definitely should've been dropped when the show was shortened, if they were ever intended to be canon in the first place. The way it was hinted at and their interactions and arc in the show is just lazy at best and damaging to their characters at worst.

[eccentric-nucleus]

actually if i'm gonna make a games rec post.

here are some games i have enjoyed recent-ish.

kenshi. an open-world squad-based rpg with base-building elements. get stronger by getting beaten up. lose a fight and get knocked out, have your weapons and food taken by the bandits that mugged you and left you bleeding to death. get rescued by some slavers that capture you and sell you into slavery. free yourself from slavery and limp away until you roll in hours later with a whole squad of overpowered fighters. then head a little bit too far south and get murdered by skin bandits. they take your skin. this is a completely self-directed game; there's no "main plot", although arguably "figure out the history of the world" is kind of the main 'story' mystery. there's also a bunch of unique recruitable characters with custom-written interactions. i usually recruit exclusively from freeing slaves but you can do w/e.

wildmender. a survival gardening game. this one came out recently and the devs are still releasing bugfixes; it's unclear if they'll make large content patches in the future. apparently multiplayer can still be pretty glitchy, and there's a water flow bug that i've been finding very frustrating. the way biomes work is kind of unsatisfying. kind of slim content-wise, but still, i really enjoyed what's there. out of all of the climate change terraforming anxiety games i've seen, this has been the one i've most enjoyed.

hellpoint. a scifi soulslike made by a team of like 12 people. previously i had thought things like "it would be neat if dark souls was less linear". hellpoint is a great example of why that might be a nightmare. the areas are connected in such a complex way, with one-way routes and branching unlock keys and secret paths and hidden doors behind hidden doors that it gets profoundly disorienting. a hint: almost every single hidden door in the game (there are a lot) is the middle panel of the same exact three-paneled-wall geometry. once you notice what it is you will see it everywhere. also, the enemy designs are hot.

crystal project. remember playing fan translations of final fantasy v? remember wandering around in old mmos? crystal project is kind of a... turn-based rpg mmo-influenced platformer. with a job system. you can sequence break the game from the tutorial level and also at basically every other point in the game too, although until you know what to look for it might seem like there's a linear critical path. but there's a lot out there. hint: play on easy mode. the combat gets tough later on and the game absolutely expects you to be finding and exploiting some class combinations.

astlibra: revision. a sidescrolling rpg. it must have been released episodically originally or some of the chapter pacing makes no sense. also it was originally released with a mess of art sourced from all sorts of places; 'revision' is a re-release with a more unified art style. it gets extremely anime all the time. there's a whole obligatory section where you have to ask all the women in a town about what kind of panties they're wearing. it's rough. i enjoyed how chaotic the systems are and how much Stuff there is to pick up and upgrade and unlock. the plot goes some unexpected places though it doesn't quite stick the landing, i still enjoyed what it did. also karon should be the love interest instead.

silicon zeroes. a cpu-building puzzle game. this straddles the line between the tech/code games that are literally just "learn a new language and code in it" and ones that are more structure-themed like, idk, spacechem. connect modules to assemble solutions to problems. it takes too long to get to chapter 3, which is where they start asking you to make entire cpus.

ashen. another souls-like. i just really like the environments in this one. the initial area looks gorgeous and the way it changes through the game is really neat to see happen. the seat of the matriarch is wonderfully awful to traverse and i wish there had been two or three more dungeons like it in the game. you can't level up; you gain stats mostly by progressing sidequests and the name quest. i eventually ran out of things to spend money on AND inventory space to store items. the late-game tuning is a little rough but until then it's great. a hint: there are three weapon types and within that type nearly all the weapons are identical. you get thrown so many weapons that don't matter; don't worry about collecting all of them. see above re: running out of space and things to use money for.

i guess it would be cheating to recommend minecraft regrowth or morrowind but i have also been playing those.

[kaihuntrr]

Sea Prince: 2024 Plans!

Hello hello! No new art for now (currently I’d like to focus on my personal OCs before I settle back in to drawing things for the AU) but I got some lovely updates for the future- likely the rest of the year, actually!

I will say- thank you all so much for your support and love for the fic, even if it’s barely begun! There’s so, so much in store for this AU you won’t even believe it!

It’ll be a long post, so here’s the TLDR; Act One is complete, it only needs to be edited and beta read! + Act Two is currently in production

Thank you all so much <3 now, unto the nitty-gritty below!

First things first, how is the AU faring?

I wrapped up the entirety of Act One in November (you could say the second half of TSP was my Nanowrimo, as I wrote about 48-51k words that month- and Act One sits pretty at 112k!) and currently my good partner in crime @mewhoismyself is editing Chapter 20! We’re starting back up after the new year celebrations, and I’m happy to say we’re pretty rested and hyped to present Act One’s entirety! The schedule is the same as always (chapter every other week) just to keep a good distance between where you guys are at and where we’re at, so no sudden hiatuses!

As a treat, here are the chapter titles for the posts after the upcoming one! I feel I’d be spoiling the surprise if I announce the title now.

OH! And Act Two has officially started production!

I am currently in the process of writing the prologue (I’ve mapped out the timeline of Act Two during my December break), and it’s exciting to say the least.

Of course I can’t share any details (wouldn’t want to spoil anything ;) ) but I’m excited for you to get here!

My goals for this year is to complete Act Two and Three!

Mostly just working on Act Two and bullet out Act Three (at this point, I am aware of roughly everything that will happen from Act One to Five) so that’s fun!

Another question- will the other Life Series be canon (ie. Secret Life)?

I mean, prooobably? This is a pretty lengthy fic so I can imagine some hints/ easter eggs could be fine but I’m focusing more on the first four series (and personally I wasn’t super into Secret Life, but that’s just a me thing, not a plot thing)

I’m considering doing that Flower Husbands AU for Secret Life, but for now I want to focus on this AU and the four series it’s based on.

Here’s a random fun fact that I’m a bit miffed about but I’m sure will be worth the payoff- I love, love Scott and Pearl’s dynamic in this fic a LOT (god forbid the four playlists I made for this AU and one of them is JUST those two.) but you don’t see their dynamic until a certain point. grrr.

Not sure if I’ll ever have these playlists go public, but if you’d want to hear em let me know and I’ll switch em on!

So yeah, that’s all for now! I hope everyone is just as excited as I am, and I cannot wait to show you what’s behind these curtains. See you in the next chapter!

[alex-multiverse]

Dumb concept for a magical girl

So, yesterday i decided to watch "The magical revolution of the reincarnated princess and the genius girl" and after realizing that anis is "a little messed up actually" i wondered, has there been any darkness themed magical girl that wasnt a villain? (Only one i kinda know is sailor saturn but i really dont know any other so please feel free to tell me if theres any non-edgy MG show with darkness as a main power going on)

SO, i decided to try to come up with something: A sailor moon-ish ripoff magical girl concept except the main girl's main powers are darkness and demon themed and shes the hero. Also totally not heavily inspired in persona 5 because i cant help myself

Note: this is all made for fun and kinda sorta goncharoved a whole ass franchise while i was at work today, enjoy

SUMMARY :D

Our protagonist is a 16 year old girl named yosuru yoruhime (because pun names are fun) who one day can turn into a magical girl by quite literally making a deal with a devil to protect her best friend from an angel-like monster. Armed with a trident, and using shadows to bind the creature, she killed the monster and saw it morph back into a girl (she was a bully shown earlier in act 1 of the episode), something something using darkness to purge corrupting light from her heart.

(shittyly made concept art of mc yosuru, drawn in paint)

were this made into a show, it would be a 24 episode season that slowly introduces the side characters, which include the other 4 members of her entourage of magical girls themed around other monsters (ie, a fire girl that is a red oni while theres also an ice girl that is a blue oni) and her bestie who ends up being manipulated into turning an angelic magical girl and ends in a gay magical girl fight a la symphogear. most of the show would be a monster of the week scenario with slow hints of the big bad group themed after the inner circles of angels, the monsters are "angelized" people who get so deluded in their self righteousness they turn into people who think are allowed to smite anyone who disagrees and can turn people into a mob that adore them. Most of the non fight part of the show would feature yosuru doing stuff like, being lazy at school, getting sent to detention, going to her friends important events and being gay with her best friend/future rival Gabrielle

(even more hastily concept art)

around episode 15 there gabrielle should be introduced as a "rival" for our group, and on the course to the end of the series it should have a "best friend girl/crush is betrothed to some anime man who is obviously evil and she has no real choice about it but she doesnt want to be there" plot. which most of the climax before their fight revolves around them in an aquarium school trip that ends with yosuru revealing her identity on accident to her and leads to the fight

something something 3 episodes before finale they fight except not really because yosuru cant harm her bestie, and ends the fight crying over her in a hug, and in the finale they join forces along with the other side girls to kill the giant monster version of the fiancee who was the true mastermind of the whole operation with a light/darkness magic combo. final scene of episode ends with a kiss during tanabata in summer, and a season 2 stinger in the post credits....

THEMING

The overall theming of the whole series is about the repression of the individual for the sake of societal order and the conflict that lies within, with yosuru being a vigilante that constantly fights monsters who want to make the world bend to their wills and how everything should work, and how we should never bow down to anyone else's desires but ours, and live our best lives with the ones we love.

also, like, magical girl yuri guys. its not that complicated

OTHER DETAILS

The gang are the typical 5 men gang, with a fiery bancho girl with a heart of gold, a sarcastic icey bookworm that is tsundere for the bancho, A straightforward thinking gun user (a la mami from madoka) and a hikikomori lightning girl who is both fascinated by the gun girl, and also dumbfounded (basically the dynamic that yusuke and futaba have in p5, but with lesbians) And of course all their names are pun names:

Yosuru yoruhime

Gabrielle hikariyama

Himeko atsui

Honsuki kanrei

Yumi ite

Kairo denki

AND for autenticity's sake, i also made them 4kidz names for funsies:

nancy nightley

gaby highgraces

Hestia Heatmore

Libra colden

Carol electra

(Yumi doesnt get one because im not smart enough to make "bow shoot" into a pun name in america)

I could come up with more stuff but i would have to come up with it first.

Anyway please enjoy the mad ramblings of a man who liked symphogear and has a fondness for the tropes of magical girl stuff

(Special thanks to @lolapinta for also enabling my brainrot a bit)

Thanks for reading

[yrptraumacentermanga]

Ahh, it's a little sad the Z Cell stuff won't be happening, but I can't say I blame you lol. TC:SO was my first TC game and I thought it was AMAZING... ...so imagine my surprise when I played the other games and realized just how wonky that end stuff actually was XD

That said, my absolute favorite moment in the series will always be getting to play as Naomi & operate on Derek. What a shame it's all wrapped up in some odd plot holes! It's an incredible character moment for Derek, Angie, AND Naomi. Just an awesome setup with satisfying character development that the game writers def made the most of imo. And I looove seeing my fav gal Naomi get to be a BAMF

Anyway, I'm just ramblin'. Your comic has been such a fun ride, and I can't wait to see what you guys decide to cook up! :D

XD Heheh well I'm glad you're still enjoying it despite the differences. I will agree though if there is anything I liked about Z-Cell it was Naomi's part in it all. She's amazing and I love her. Honestly her scene with Derek we still partially kept, just came in the form of them talking over operating on Cybil rather than them talking about working on him. It was one of my favorite scenes to write.

I have a lot I wish I could talk about right now buuuuut I'm going to let the current chapter speak for itself. >:3 It's gonna be a heck of a ride I can tell you that. (Cause fun fact about Chapter 24. It's the longest chapter of the whole series.)

Honestly a lot of stuff in the future is going to be a heck of a ride. Just wait... Though if you want things to look at that give hints, I recommend checking out the concept art I post on one of my other blogs here on tumblr. (yellowroseanddreamstorm) Nothing spoilery I can assure but fun teasers. :) Just so you know.

[night-market-if]

Dear sweet author, poet-est of words, curator of comfort and IF deity of angst...I am not ok. WE are not ok. I'm going preface this "ask" that actually isn't one at all (my very first ever, mind you) with an apology for how rambly and unhinged and it may end up being. I've been wrestling back and forth with my Anxiety about sending this (people-ing makes me nervous) but after finishing Book 1 I cannot get your story out of my head, and you deserve all the love and gushing.

The plot, the characters, the prose are all just so amazing! You're so very talented and deserve all the recognition for this work of art. I've been with your story since before the first Chapter was released and it has gone from something I have enjoyed immensely to one of my favorite IF's ever and oh boy have I read a lot! The lore and environment are rich, and each character has a distinct voice that is their own. There are so many wonderful things I could say but I don't think I'm eloquent enough with words to do it justice.

*SPOLIERS AHEAD*

Reading through the last few chapters, specifically 11 and 12, for obvious reasons I believe I can confidently say I have gone through the 5 stages of grief and more. lol I knew what was coming and it still completely subverted all of my expectations. Played through first as my Milomancer and the literal gut punch I felt in some of that ending dialogue, specifically on whether he cares or not wrecked me. I haven't had a visceral response to a story like this in so long it completely took me by surprise. Oh, and can we just praise you for that buildup of suspense leading to the talk with Milo. I was legitimately holding my breath so convinced we were going to find him at Mals and it was just the invitation. *Screeches*

Anyway, reading this has made me an absolutely feral, sobbing, punching the air howling into the abyss of a mess and I just can't stop thinking of all the possibilities of things to come. When I finished, I immediately went back, read through all the routes with all the variations because I just couldn't get enough. It's crazy to see all the hints, correlation within everything and put it all together. Just genius. There are so many other things I want to touch upon, but this has gotten so out of hand, I apologize. (I hope this doesn't come off as too overly familiar) But now that I've finally sent my first ask I think I'll be comfortable sending more in the future.

So, congrats on technically finishing book 1!! I'm looking forward to reading the beefed-up version and in the future the next book (which ofcourse is a long way off). I'm sure you're chomping at the bit to get everything completed but I do hope you take time for yourself to just relax and be proud of all you have accomplished. Remember to stay hydrated and take care of yourself!

Much love from an old broad who is just a big fan <3

Unhinged asks are my favorite!!!!!

Thank you so much for being here from the get go. I look back on almost a year ago now and kind of feel like I was looking at someone who had no idea what she was doing but was going to barrel through it all anyway. Which, to be fair, is how I treat most things in life.

I'm so glad that you went back and read it again after chapter twelve! I have been peppering in little hints from the get go. So much so that I thought nearly every chapter, someone was going to call me out. LOL! And some people did but most did not which leaves me just in awe.

I've taken next to no time for me, if we're going to be honest. LOL! But I'm hoping to son. Mainly, personal life has been hectic so I am looking forward to sitting and diving into my work again.

I really hope you send more asks in the future! I'm not scary and would love to hear from you. Thank you again so much for reading!

🪷✨🪷✨ If you want to support me 🪷 ✨🪷✨ 

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[theprogrockbstheorist]

BS Analysis no. 3: "Karn Evil 9", "2112', and Their Relevance to AI Technology

This is gonna be a long one. Why? It's two essay ideas rolled into one: I'm making a comparison of the plots of these two prog epics, and also analyzing how their messages are both relevant to the modern world, especially with the advent of AI. So, I’ve covered Emerson, Lake, and Palmer’s (ELP) other famous epic, “Tarkus”, on my blog before (link here), and I’ve covered “2112” before by sharing my fan theory (link here). So, this should be somewhat familiar territory for anyone reading this, but I’ll be doing a recap of both bands and the plots of both works. “Karn Evil 9” was released on ELP’s fourth studio album, Brain Salad Surgery, in November 1973. The song is a Level Two Epic (as is “2112”) (explanation link here), as it overviews a world in the future, ruined by technology, in three impressions. These impressions offer some insight into this world, each from a different perspective. Due to the limitations of vinyl records, the first impression is divided into two parts. Part One of the 1st Impression gives an overview of the state of humanity in this world: suffering and lacking compassion. It also starts the overview of the actual “karn evil” (carnival, get it?), which goes over several odd exhibits: bishops’ heads in jars, a stripper, and Jesus in a hat. In the second part of the 1st impression, the show continues with a “real blade of grass”, a “performance on guillotine”, “seven virgins and a mule” (not touching that one!), and a rag-time band. This “show” helps to highlight the things that are considered wonders in this future: pain as entertainment, and things like nature and religion are considered so odd that they are included in this carnival sideshow. The story shifts in the 3rd Impression, which details the struggles of a rebellion against some sort of artificial intelligence. This rebellion was hinted at in the opening lyrics of Part One of the 1st Impression. The rebellion scene includes a direct confrontation with a computer, ending with the computer ominously saying: “I’m perfect, not you.” The critique of technology is paramount in the story and helps to drive the main conflict between humanity and the technology it created.  “2112”, on the other hand, is a little less directly about technology. Rush’s 1976 Level Two Epic (link) describes a person finding a guitar in a cave in a world where the average citizen is forbidden from making their own art. All art and media are regulated by the autocratic Priests of Syrinx, and when this person presents their guitar to these Priests, it is destroyed. The anonymous hero then wanders home, dreaming of a world in which people can create freely. They wake up from this dream, deeply depressed and now unable to find satisfaction in their existence, and then the ending is left ambiguous. On the surface, this has little to do with technology, other than taking place in the future. However, a few lines in the music and the liner notes hint at a greater role for technology: in the section “The Temples of Syrinx”, these lines are sung, “Our great computers/Fill our hallowed halls.” These “great computers” are located in the Temples of Syrinx, and it is implied that the Priests utilize them to run the world of “2112”, by saying: “All the gifts of life/are held within our walls”. This is also confirmed by the liner notes: “…to think that every single facet of life is regulated and direct from within! Our books, our music, our work and play are all looked after by the benevolent wisdom of the Priests…”. The fact that these “great computers” lie within the “hallowed halls” of a Temple, and are looked after by Priests suggests that the world of “2112” worships technology, and relies on it for its continued survival.

Both of these works suggest the concept of technology replacing the role of governing bodies and the consequences of such action. In “2112”, not only do these “great computers” regulate the lives of the citizens of that world; they also provide state-sanctioned entertainment: art is monopolized by these computers and the “Priests” that oversee them. In “Karn Evil 9”, it is implied by the 3rd Impression that the computers in that world were taking over governmental roles as well, and the 1st Impression implies that the attachment to technology in that world had rendered religion and spirituality obsolete, as well desensitizing people to the suffering of others. 

Both of these works also directly deal with the commodification and regulation of art through technology. In “2112”, this is more blatant with both the lyrics and the liner notes explicitly stating that art is regulated through the Priests of Syrinx, and cannot be made by the average citizen, leading them only to consume what the Priests put out. “Karn Evil 9” is a little less direct with its approach, instead taking the lens of a carnival showcasing human misery as its main attractions, and through the confrontation with the computer at the end. By being included in the same piece, one may infer that it was, in fact, the computer running this “carnival”, and its attractions consist of the entertainment of the world of “Karn Evil 9”. 

Through this, one can immediately draw parallels to today’s controversy of the use of AI technology in art: many artists have protested against the use of AI technology (source 1),  corporations have already begun to use AI art in their campaigns (source 2), the Grammy’s have allowed music created with AI elements the opportunity to win a Grammy* (source 3), and Forbes predicts that AI can be used in the music industry to help identify common elements of hit songs (source 4).  Technology appears to be advancing towards a point in which artists may be overlooked in favor of using AI technology or using algorithms to help write music. However, it is important to note that the majority of AI present today are language-learning models, and therefore scan their databases based on input, and spit out an answer. There is no real “intelligence” to these models, therefore they cannot become the malevolent computer of “Karn Evil 9”. However, who is to say that the Priests of Syrinx of “2112” weren’t using advanced algorithms to help run their society and create propaganda (sounds like a cool avenue for a bs theory…)?

This is not to suggest that we are on a path to a world like “Karn Evil 9” or “2112”; we do not currently have the technology to be developing in such a direction that AI will be able to govern, or assist in governing significant amounts of people, as well as producing art and media for this governing power. Neither suggested is that all modern technology is harmful: advancements in the medical field specifically have led to people living longer, healthier lives. In short, this is not meant to be a fear-mongering essay. However, the overwhelming connection to modern technology, especially the Internet and the emerging field of AI, has been disconnecting people from their local communities, and perhaps making people a little more jaded and callous towards each other. Many people terminally online, especially those caught in echo chambers seem to lack compassion for each other, much like the people in the world of “Karn Evil 9”. There are also some glaring parallels between the “Priests of Syrinx” of the world of “2112”, and the worship of modern-day Silicon Valley tech billionaire moguls, with their cult-like followings (cough cough ELON MUSK cough cough). And between both of them, AI technology using algorithms could be potentially used to take power away from the artists.

One last thing that is important to note is the historical circumstances of the 1970s, and specifically what motivated these two bands to create their respective works. What made them write work that could be interpreted in this sense, and how has it maintained relevancy over the past 50 years?

“2112”, specifically, was created at a point in Rush’s career during which they were delivered an ultimatum after their last album, Caress of Steel, was a commercial failure. This song in particular was written as a giant middle finger to the music industry, doubling down on their morals: the record company wanted an album with shorter, more commercial songs, and instead they got a 20-minute, side-long, science fiction epic about music censorship. Certainly, the main theme in “2112” is not necessarily about technology, Rush were quite fond of using synthesizers later in their career, but more about the censorship and regulation of art. Surely, the modern AI debate is also not about the technology itself, but rather how it is used: censoring the humanity from art. It is about the suppression of creativity, a trait that can only be possessed by intelligent creatures. It is this theme that makes it applicable to society nearly 50 years later. In “2112”, the suppression of art made by humans was to spread propaganda and to control the population, in modern society, it could be more about making a marginal profit for businesses. 

“Karn Evil 9”, however, was more inspired by the rapidly changing technology of the 1970s, much of which Emerson, Lake, and Palmer helped to popularize in music, like monophonic and later polyphonic synthesizers and electric percussion. It is therefore more change that lies at the heart of “Karn Evil 9”: it is a rebellion against technology that drives the plot forward, and brings it to its ambiguous conclusion, with the computer stating that it is the perfect being, not the human. Does the computer ultimately win? Does anything at all change in “Karn Evil 9”? Both of these questions remain applicable to modern society as well, as society is still rapidly undergoing changes in technology. It ironically change that has given “Karn Evil 9” its staying power. 

Both of these works have remained relevant because the issues expressed in them have remained so: censorship and regulation of art has been an issue for centuries and has entered a new debate with the advent of AI technology. And, of course, what has been more stable in life than constant change, especially the relationship between humanity and technology? These are broad themes that can be applied to the debate of AI in art, landing squarely on the side of “art is for people to make”, however can be applied to many aspects of life.

*Although it is important to note that the AI is incapable of winning a Grammy, and a song made only with AI is not eligible

[narcoticwriter]

Me: (looks at leaks) Okay, new characters! Can't wait for their storylines . . .

Genshin Twitter: WHY ARE THEY WHITE-PASSING AND PALE AND STEREOTYPICAL AAAAAAAAAAAAA-

Me: (looks at my roots and being a historical nut) (cracks knuckles)

In what may be one of my most controversial posts yet, I attempt to explain and process what the hell is up with the Sumeru leaks.

I do not expect to not be clowned for this.

Folks, you kinda jumped the gun on this one. Seriously. I have a few points to make on this and it may not be liked, but as a history enthusiast and someone who loves to learn, I have to clarify some things.

If I do get some things wrong, feel free to correct me on them! That's kind of the point here. I'm always ready to learn some more.

1.) Sumeru is somewhat based on the Abbasid Empire.

If people bothered to look at the content we've received about Sumeru so far and actually pay attention, you will be able to tell that there are Indian, Persian, and South Asian elements to the region as well as Middle Eastern. This is shown in the little bits of information that you can find here.

And if one looks at the reaches of Islamic empires throughout history, it will show that at some point, these elements have mixed, matched, or have come into contact with each other during the Islamic Age.

The picture below represents the reach of the Islamic Empire during its initial run from 622-750 CE under the Umayyads along with the Islamic Golden Age under the Abbasids.

The regions that are shown here include Egypt, Persia, the Arabian Peninsula, Northern Africa, Central Asia, India, Turkey, Iberia, and Central Asia, but they do not do justice to the spread of their culture and Islam at the same time periods.

(Please note that while the empires did not reach these areas the places shown were heavily influenced by Islamic culture and religion, thus forth making them majority Muslim at the time.)

And as you can see, South Asia is right there.

Now look at these maps compared to a modern map of the same areas and tell me with a straight face that this region wasn't diverse enough to hold multiple cultures besides Egyptian and Arabic.

This would not only explain the different regions featured in Sumeru concerning the characters but also why they may or may not look different and dress as such. I'll go into the really gritty bits about the dress later.

2.) The Baghdad House of Wisdom definitively inspired the Dendro Archon's basis as the Archon of Wisdom and Sumeru Academia

This point speaks for itself, but just to be sure people get it, the Baghdad House of Wisdom was considered the height of knowledge and intellect for centuries during the Islamic Golden age.

As the crown jewel of the capital of the Abbasid Empire, every nation in the known world and their rivals wanted a piece of what was in that place! We got math, language, science, stories, art, music, and all sorts of stuff from them. In fact, we have them to thank for preserving a good chunk of human knowledge, even with its destruction in 1258 by the Mongols.

Now, wisdom is typically defined as the application of knowledge and intellect combined with practical experience, which Sumeru may or may not have a lack of at the moment if Lisa brings this point up once or twice with the state of Sumeru's intellectual elite. This may or may not be the hinting of inspiration from the Abbasid Empire's decline due to bureaucratic corruption, heavy taxes, social strife, civil war, and the impending Mongol invasion.

With this, it's no mistake that Sumeru Academia and the area surrounding it sounds a hell of a lot like that intellectual haven and that it may or may not serve as a tragic future plot point.

3.) Dori's design does take some checkmarks for orientalism, but for less reasons than you think.

Yeah, you guys need to look at this first. You need fresh eyes.

First of all, I'm going to tell you to completely banish Disney's Aladdin from your mind. It holds no bearing on what I'm about to say. None. It's a cheap copy. Don't even process it, because I'm going to bring up the real inspiration of One Thousand and One Nights.

Contrary to popular belief, the stories contained in One Thousand and One Nights is not based in just the Middle East. There's actually a lot of it based in Persia and Mesopotamia as well as in India, South Asia, and some of China.

If the time period of this is to be believed (the book itself was published around the same Islamic Golden Age I keep bringing up), the style of dress was vastly different from what people think, and speaking of their style of dress, I'd like to introduce you all to something called the shalwar kameez.

The shalwar kameez is popular in Central and South Asia (Pakistan, India, Afghanistan) and As you can see, the bagginess of the bottom is very accurate, and given the established fact of Sumeru's basis, this dress has some historical basis and concrete reasons for it to exist.

Now, let's talk about the lamp. There is real basis for this to be a thing, but I need to clarify some things first. This lamp is based on an oil lamp and to be fair, the basic design for it being made of metal and its look stay true to its purpose and sticks to the regions discussed here. Bronze oil lamps of this look were definitely around.

Now I will briefly touch on the djinn. Djinn are classified as beings of elemental energy and naturally inclined to pranks, harmful or playful as well as possessing an unholy amount of power and knowledge. Djinn in Islamic canon have been known possess people, produce offspring with them, and be described as a force of good or evil.

In the tales within the One Nights, however, they are typically trapped in small objects, typically a ring or a lamp. The rubbing of either of those things can summon them out. In the tale "The Fishermen and the Jinni", the jinni (djinn) is the one to grant the fishermen three wishes, while in the tale "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp", Aladdin acquires a djinn in a ring and a more powerful one in an oil lamp.

So the djinn in the lamp at its basis is not stereotypical at all as the idea of having an all-powerful being trapped by something relatively insignificant to its existence is common enough.

However, the overarching cry of what I believe the rest of the design is based on is something that I can see wholeheartedly. The 'dancer girl' top does not mesh at all with the time period described in detail and does indeed give to the stereotypical orientalism. This video goes more into length on that here.

So yes, there is issue with the dress and inspiration behind it, but it was not the egregious crime it was made out to be.

4.) I am personally terrified that appearances have such large precedence over personality with people in this fanbase.

We haven't met them. We don't know them. We have no idea what they're really like at all. And yet, despite this fact, everyone loses their shit once they aren't what they envisioned them to be based on what they look like. Even if they are pale as hell, why does it matter so much? Do I wish that they could consider that? Sure! Will it cripple my enjoyment? No!

As someone quite dark-skinned myself who has suffered constant mischaracterization and bullying at the hands of literally everyone around me for acting certain ways while looking the way I do, I find it puzzling and concerning that people are so quick to write people off because of the color of their skin as the very same thing has happened to me.

As a result, this point has to be made as controversial as it has become:

Culture does not equal looks and there is no difference between discriminating against skin colors because the basis of it is the same.

Let that sink in for a second.

People really call themselves 'not racist' and 'educated' and then they pull this kind of heinous shit in public discourse and pretend that it's completely okay because they looked white.

And I guarantee you that if they were dark-skinned, people would still call it racist for being 'the stereotype'. I've seen it happen and it will likely happen again. You can't please anyone anymore.

----

So those are my thoughts on the leaks and everyone's reactions to them. Feel free to agree, disagree, or do something in between because I don't care anymore. I'm tired of skin color determining everything here. It exhausts me.

Take the L and go.

[coalitiongirl]

Fic Recs (under 300 edition)

So I wanted to get back to reading Swan Queen fic regularly, and I asked people to rec longfic that they'd read (not written) and loved that had fewer than 300 kudos! I haven’t read most of these, but I’ve collected them here so y’all can go through the list and discover some new fics with me! Please try to kudos and review every fic that you read! It means the world to the writers and will keep em writing, and then we all win. 😁

Atonement by SgtMac (M): With Regina's magical heart failing thanks to years of previous evil, Emma and Regina and Henry (and Granny!) set out to save her life by traveling to the Enchanted Forest and requesting help from ancient magical beings known as the Guardians. Given a mission as simple as it is impossible - to achieve atonement by creating peace - the ladies find themselves joining a rebellion and fighting for the very soul of the Enchanted Forest all while trying to help Regina to understand that the self-loathing and guilt which have driven most of her actions don't have to doom her chance for a new beginning or even, a chance to live and love again. A S4(ish) SQ love story set against the turmoil of war and the chaotic savagery of the old world.

Blood and Sand by cheshire6845 (E): A/U The Savior is a slave forced into the role of fighting as a gladiator for the House of Hearts. The odds are against her survival as she will have to win in the arena, navigate Cora's schemes, outlast a general's vengeance, and not be killed out of spite by the current House of Hearts Champion - Regina the Undefeated. This story follows the major plot points of Starz Spartacus with some twists along the way.

But what if there was no time by KizuRai (M): When she wakes up, it's dark. She can't move, she can't see, she can't feel and she can't hear. Where am I? She feels a forceful oppression, pressing her down, draining her of her energy and she's powerless to stop it. How did I get here? The question of here is relative, she's not even sure where here is. What happened? There must be some reason for being stuck here but her memory is fuzzy, like all her thoughts are being sifted through a filter. Who am I? She's not sure if she actually exists or she suddenly became sentient in the darkness.She hears a voice reverberating in the distance, it's distorted and quiet but she hears it all the same. It breaks the monotony of the silence. Someone's coming for her, they will get her out. She's just not sure she wants them to as the price might be too great.

Finding Home by evl_rgl (T): “I wanted to remember you so badly that I pulled back your cursed town just so that the memories would make sense. I needed you so badly that even when I had no memory of you, I still tried to find you.” Regina gave Emma and Henry memories of a happy life together before they fled Pan’s curse, leaving them with no memories of their lives in Storybrooke. However, when the memory spell shows signs of failing, threatening to rip apart the minds of both Emma and Henry, Regina makes a drastic choice to go back and fix it, understanding that it will mean living alone in a world where her son doesn’t know her. Was the spell really faulty, though? (swanqueen)

Five Flames by MariaComet (U): In the past, Emma Nolan disconnected from her peers in high school, preferring to keep to herself. In her sophomore year of high school, she decided to try and join the boy’s wrestling team because she was bored. She didn’t expect herself to become the champion of the most bullied kid in school or the secret best friend of the school queen. She also didn’t expect to join a club that would change her life. In the present, Emma is trying to cope with a humiliating loss in her martial arts career. She claims to be “training” but is stuck in limbo between wanting to retire and try again. She is isolated from her former best friend, Regina Mills, a local celebrity chef and the rest of her old friends. When one of them calls her with an idea to honor their deceased teacher, she is confronted with unresolved feelings and questions about how powerful love truly is.

A Glamour of Truth by PrincessCharming (T): After 2x10, Regina uses magic to show Emma the obvious truth. A tentative trust forms between them amid hilarious bickering. With Emma's help, Regina struggles to regain a place in her son's life... until Cora arrives, wanting her daughter back. Pieces of Regina's past emerge showing that the board was set long before the game started. The final battle begins soon.

His Dark Materials 'verse by MoonlitMidnight (M): A modern Alternate Universe in which Dæmons (the external physical manifestation of a person's 'inner self' that takes the form of an animal) are present. In which Emma and Regina have led slightly different lives and they make slightly different choices.

How Many Miles to Avalon? (WIP) by RavenOutlander (E): Regina would do anything to save Emma from the darkness and bring her back home safe and sound. Even put up with the two idiots, Captain Guyliner and a bunch of dwarves she decidedly wanted to drop off at the nearest exit. But in their search for Emma, they find that she might not need that much saving after all. Caught up in a search for the infamous Philosopher Stone, an all out war between DunBroch and Camelot, and ghosts from the past to haunt her every waking moment, Regina finds herself scrambling to keep her and her family's happy endings from falling apart.

The Hyperion by FrankenSpine (M): After wishing upon what she believes is a shooting star, Emma Swan finds herself aboard the Hyperion, the royal starship of an alien Queen from a faraway galaxy. She quickly learns of the tensions between the Queen's people and her own, but the Queen takes an interest in her and agrees to take her away from Earth forever. Adventure awaits. *(Loosely based on Guardians of the Galaxy with just a hint of Farscape)*

If Wishes Came True (It Would've Been You) by Angeii_K (M): After Regina films a guest appearance on her friend Neal’s popular show, he invites her to spend the weekend with him and his girlfriend. What she never expected was to actually like the woman. Sparks fly between the two, which results in them questioning everything and making choices they will later regret. 4 years later, they meet again in the most unexpected of ways. Now co-stars on the same show, they are forced to work through the emotions from their last encounter. What will happen next? Only time will tell.

The King Doesn’t Have To Know (WIP) by highheelsandchocolate (M): The White Knight had never seen anyone like her before: the Queen was nothing short of mesmerizing. Her possessive yet neglectful husband, however, was another thing entirely.

The Lich by Dangereaux (M): Gay disaster Emma, exasperated Regina, and a monster. A Halloween special.

Maybe if We Close Our Eyes we Can Reach the Stars by wellthizizdeprezzing (T): Emma is a lonely astronaut. Regina is an adventuring alien. Their paths cross leading them onto a journey of new discovery. Between galaxies and many miles of cold black space, despite not speaking the same language, they manage to fall for each other. An out of this world love story.

A prisoner long forgotten by sugarsweet_19 (M): ‘I wish I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood and as black as the wood of the window-frame. Soon after she had a little girl, who was as white as snow, with lips as red as blood and with her hair as black as the ebony of the window-frame. She was therefore called Snow-white.” This is how our story starts but how will it end?The evil queen as been locked up in a tower and forgotten that is until princess Emma looks for a place to hid from her parents after they tell her she has to marry Neal the son of the dark one.

Revenge of the Three Little Pigs by mskyo (M): Regina and Emma find themselves alone and looking for the rest of their party. The Evil Queen must face the consequences of her past actions. Will Emma come to her aid, or understand that justice must be served... *Some chapters have fairly graphic sex, and violence*

Things I Almost Remember by cheshire6845 (T): A/U Despite an oncoming war between the Dark and the Light, Emma and Regina are best friends growing up in the Enchanted Forest. When war does come, they find themselves on opposite sides. Regina will have to defy her mother to save Emma. Will Emma be able to save Regina when Cora curses her daughter to live in the Land without Magic?

What We Make (WIP) by DiazTuna (M): “My mother.” He says calmly. He’d known all along, she’s aware. But he’d known that today would be the day that would get this going. She wants to ask what it was like, to have woken up this morning, laced up his boots and walked into hell just knowing. “It’s programmed the cyborg to kill her. Before I have a chance to be born.” -In which the leader of the future sends his best soldier back to the past to save his mother from a killer cyborg. Terminator AU.

The Wrong Way by pcworth (M): Takes place right after Zelena steals Regina's heart. Zelena offers Regina a chance to go back in time with her and change both of their lives for the better. But what will be the price of that decision. Slow-burn to SwanQueen

zombie trash by 13pens (T): Zelena could have her brain and eat it, too. Fic operates on three premises 1. this takes place in any universe where zelena is a reformed asshole 2. zombies are a thing and exist iZombie style 3. i have NO chill

[hopeymchope]

Random Danganronpa S musings after having 24 hours to digest the announcement

— Get a load of that cover art. I’m sort of surprised that they spoil the existence of Toko’s other personality right there on the front, but I guess that’s a pretty early reveal in the very first game and it’s also heavily telegraphed in advance, so no biggie. The real question here is: WHY is Komaru so prominently shown when her starring role is the only game not included in the collection? I would fucking LOVE to later find out that we’re also getting Ultra Despair Girls in this set somehow, but I don’t think there’s any chance of that. And I seriously doubt she’s going to be integral to the events of Danganronpa S: USC. So what gives? Perhaps it’s just another way to mislead newcomers, like the prominence of Kaede and Hifumi. The entire selection of characters here is sort of curious and makes me wonder if this art already existed before now. I don’t believe I’ve previously seen it, though.

 — I wonder how they’re fusing the turn-based combat into the board game this time? Obviously there shouldn’t be some random “exams” that occur at the end of a board, because the story is no longer centered around completing years of school. So what’ll be the driver behind encountering enemies? Maybe they’ll be on random board spaces? 

— They showed us the screen where you can choose higher-level cards that represent more powerful versions of the game characters just like in Ultimate Talent Development Plan. But the main reason to use those rare-unlock options in UTDP was to get tougher characters for use in the Despair Dungeon. I’m not expecting a dungeon crawler to be included with this one, so what’s the purpose of the S-level cards and such? ........ Unless I really should expect dungeon crawling to be integrated into this somehow! I’m just spitballing now, but maybe we will progress through various boards, and some boards will represent dungeons/combat areas? 

— Of course I assume Junko is behind the invasion of Monokuma and his army of Mono-bots. I’m quite confident that this is going to be another AU where she has a whole new plot for driving despair just like she did in UTDP/Despair Dungeon. Perhaps the entire resort trip is part of her overarching plan. We’ve already seen Junko (on the title screen) and “Junkuro” (seen above) in the screenshots so far, too, so Mukuro is presumably acting as support for Junko’s plot once more. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Tsumugi is in on the plot again as well... even though I’ve long wanted to see a version of Tsumugi who isn’t just evil. I was actually disappointed when I unlocked the scene in UTDP that revealed she was still putting on a front to hide her true nature. 

— The prescence of “Junkuro” strongly implies that we won’t once AGAIN won’t get to see Mukuro as herself. :( That was one of the big disappointments of UTDP for me, although I realized at the time that UTDP was mostly made out of existing assets. However, now that they’re making a bunch of new sprites and CGs for Danganronpa S, it makes the idea of trapping Mukuro in her disguise just much harder to swallow... I hope I’m wrong and we can unlock some way to play as Mukuro as herself. UTDP at least gave us a retro sprite for her, but it doesn’t seem like it’d be that difficult to give her a proper sprite set.

— What can we glean about the gameplay from the above screenshot? What drove the player to wander into a dead end of the board? Will such dead ends potentially hide some special items, rare events, or secret pathways? Is the player’s choice to venture down there somehow connected to the “Mission” stated at the bottom? Are these “missions” going to be side objectives or the main requirements to progress? It’s also noteworthy that every image/video of the board we’ve been given shows the same section of the same board. Is there only going to be one massive board for each runthrough, or will we still see different board options/”courses”? I hope for the latter, but I could do without the Despair Course...

— Dude, I was shocked to see that Togami is ripped on the title screen. Still, I guess it’s believable enough that he’d take the time to sculpt his body as much as possible. I was much MORE shocked to see Kazuichi looking fucking CUT in the swimsuit scene. What the hell?! How many abs can you develop from mechanic work? Because I am assuming none. I guess he must work a lot of crunches into his days. 

— Remember the “Future Course” in UTDP? It took a ton of time to unlock it, but I loved that there was a way to bring in the Danganronpa 3 anime-only characters, even if it was just for simplistic retro-style sprite interactions. I wonder if we’ll see anything similar with those characters in this release? They already have the retro sprites, after all! So here’s hoping for more time with the Future Foundation crew. 

— Really digging the fact that you now unlock story/interaction scenes on a menu where you can rewatch them. That’s going to make the scenes I’ve experienced so much easier to track! I’d really like to see them provide some hints for any spaces on the menu that are unfilled, but I won’t hold my breath.

— The selection of characters featured in the Collector’s Edition art print is sort of random, isn’t it? When you take all three together, is there any commonality they share? This feels like the result of some Japanese fan poll that determined these to be the most beloved/marketable options or somesuch.

[mk-wizard]

Big Hero 6 The Series: It could have been better

Hello, friends. Today, I will be analyzing a TV series based on a movie that I fell in love with for its colourful themes, deep plot, compelling characters, great CGI and memorable messages. Before I get into it, I want to take a moment to say that I have quit doing videos. They are too big of a pain in the petunia to make and I write better than I speak, so I will stick to writing essays, reviews and more. Anyway, onto the analysis.

All I can say about Big Hero 6 the series is that it had a great concept, it presented some great ideas and tried hard to be a cartoon of the times, but it could have and should have been a lot better. The show’s downfall all centers around trying too hard to be kid friendly which makes the shame sting all the more because Big Hero 6 was already kid friendly even with its dark themes, sharp edges and intelligent writing. If anything, even the brightest kid friendly cartoons (Steven Universe, She-Ra, etc.) had those things and actually benefitted from them. By needlessly trying too hard, character development got scrapped, the edges were all smoothed out, storytelling was subpar, the humour was too silly and the executive meddling in the end produced a dismal final season. However, I don’t want this analysis to be one lengthy negative rant about how awful the series was because in its defense, awful is an unfair word. It did have potential and ideas which are worth carrying over to a reboot that I hope will be done someday in the future. Also, we should root for a reboot because Big Hero 6 would not be the first story that needs it before striking gold. Just look at how many times Spider-Man was rebooted in film before MCU found the version that worked. Anyway, I will list all the things in Big Hero 6 that could have been better in my opinion;

1- Go easy on the laughs and be more generous with the action. - I love adding comedy to my own writing because I think a good sense of humour makes everything better, but Big Hero 6 is not a stand up comedy routine. It is a superhero story where we expect action, suspense and life or death situations that are to be taken seriously first. The comedy should be for relief and with the right timing. Also, the chibi cutscenes and having characters act like fools aren’t funny. Ren and Stimpy are the exception not the standard and their way of making you laugh doesn’t fit an action series. In a show as big as Big Hero 6, real life physics and danger matters.

2- Make the villains menacing and gritty. - I admit that after having a movie villain like Yokai who was the stuff of nightmares, it is going to be a challenging act to follow, but it was obvious that the writers were trying especially with some villains who could have easily gone into some dark relatable territory. For example, Mr. Sparkles (the gentleman in the photo above) embodies social media and Internet personalities. Right off the bat, you have a long list of things which embody the dark side of that like scams, fraud, using social media to dox or harass, driving people to suicide, online predators, the Internet personalities being very depressed people in real life, and much more horrifying things. When you stop and look at it, Mr. Sparkles even looks like the Joker which hints how dark and scary he could have been if the stops were removed. The same goes for enemies like Hardlight who embodies online gaming, Liv with cloning, Obake an amoral and insane scientist, and Trina and Noodle Burger Boy (more on him later) being evil robots. Globby especially should have been painted and written in much darker colours rather being played off for laughs because he has many parallels with Clay Face. The only two villains who I can say were supposed to be campy, charming and comical were Baron Von Steamer and Supersonic Sue because they were a satire of the Adam West style villains.

The rest of them needed to be dark and threatening including Mr. Sparkles. In fact, I would love a rebooted version of Mr. Sparkles who gives me the heebie-jeebies. Going back to Noodle Burger Boy, I must confess that I was actually excited when I heard that he was going to be the main villain of the final season because I thought he was going to fulfill his master’s final wish and as a reminder, Noodle Burger Boy was based on a super robot for military purposes.

It would have been fantastic if Noodle Burger Boy was upgraded into a full military war machine with a new threatening look. For that, I think all of the villains deserve to be rebooted and have their full potential unlocked for better or for worse.

3- A show about geniuses merits genius level art quality. - I am usually forgiving towards art styles, but in the case of Big Hero 6, the oversimplified style with minimal details and lack of textures did not suit the show. The characters blend in with the background which makes them look flat and the special effects were extremely dulled down. I also know for a fact that Disney can do a lot better than this because I saw how superbly Tangled the Series was drawn.

You can see and almost feel the difference in quality, the number of layers and level of detail between the two styles. I think there was no excuse Big Hero 6 was not done in the same style and at the same level if not better as Tangled.

3- Don’t dumb down or flanderize amazing characters. - I absolutely detest it when characters are flanderized because it makes them one dimensional and grating. For example, Go Go is tough as nails and extremely calm, but she is not cold or hesitant towards helping her friends. She doesn’t require very special episodes for us to know that. If anything, the movie version of Go Go reminded me a lot of Garnet in how she deconstructed the broody character. She isn’t cold or emotionless. Just calm and mature. Another good example was how Honey Lemon was rewritten to be overly positive to the point of toxicity, naïve and oblivious with a juvenile obsession with stickers. Then you have poor Fred who was rewritten to be an incompetent fool. The spark that makes Big Hero 6 shine is that they are a team of geniuses meaning they are all intelligent. Even Fred is genius in his own way just not a scientific one. He has a vivid imagination, he is resourceful and can get himself out of tight spots. Please, don’t turn characters into dummies especially if their intelligence is a part of them. It doesn’t make them better or funnier. It ruins them.

4- Tadashi needs closure and honour. - I am all for Hiro making peace with the loss of his brother, but Tadashi is to the Big Hero 6 team what Uncle Ben was to Spider-Man. His loss was the catalyst if not the reason. He should never be forgotten. Moreover, there was never any true closure to him especially with the possibility that he may still be alive up in the air. After all, like Callaghan, his body was never found and it turned out that Callaghan was still alive.

With that said, who is to say that Tadashi was not secretly still alive and just hiding or being hidden? This is something that Disney really needed to clear up if not for the fans, then at least as a service to such an important character. Never just forget about them.

5- The format can only be episodic with a deep plots, continuity and character development. - Random episodes with a mere monster of the day is an outdated format which doesn’t fit Big Hero 6′s modern and bright setting. In seasons 1 and 2, when the episodes were plot heavy with character development, the series shined brightest. It also helped move the story along, but with the final season, plot was removed, closure was abandoned or poorly written if any was given, and characters were disallowed from growing. A good example at how plot and character development could have made this series and its characters better was the relationship between Hiro and Megan. Would it have truly survived or would they have broken up?

Would Richardson Mole have eventually lost interest in his obsession with besting and bullying Fred or would his obsession consume him compelling him to become a super villain? I do see quite a few similarities between Mole and Reverse Flash.

Then you have Karmi who is in my opinion, the biggest wild card of the bunch. She was intentionally introduced as an arrogant, prickly and unlikable yet complex character who rivaled Hiro bitterly.

Yet had a huge crush on his alter ego and as time went on, started to grow up and even form a friendship with Hiro. What would have happened further down the road with her? Would she have become a super hero herself? Or maybe even another love interest for Hiro kind of like how Black Cat is for Spider-Man?

Is Obake really gone?

What does the future hold Diana (Liv’s clone), Liv herself or the Sycorax the genetics company?

Is Alistair Krei going to become an ally to Big Hero 6 or an antagonist? There is also the issue at how little we know about the other Big Hero 6 characters other than Fred, Hiro and Baymax. What are Honey Lemon, Wasabi and Go Go’s backstories? These questions matter and while not every mystery can be solved, leaving none of them solved is lazy writing.

6- Executives, kindly stay out of the writing and any other part of the creative process. - I’m sorry, execs, but there is no nice way to say it. History itself proves that every time executives got involved in the creative process of any media, it got worse not better. Leave the writing to the creative team and the execs should only handle the legal stuff. Please. We understand that TV is a business, but writing itself is not. It is an art which you just don’t have a talent for. Let the creative people do their thing with the freedom necessary and you do your thing, deal? Deal.

7- Focus on Hiro and Baymax. - The are the main characters so keep them at the heart of the series no matter what happens around them. That is all I can say.

And that sums up all the things that could have made Big Hero 6 the series better, but this is all just my opinion. What is yours?

PS: I am well aware that the Big Hero 6 series is being retconned because a new series called Baymax is in the works as well as the long awaited sequel to the first movie. I am looking forward to both with an open mind. PPS: I also am aware that some people liked this show the way it was including the art style and I am cool with that. An analysis for art that includes cartoons is never right or wrong. It is solely based on opinion. I may have thought this series could have been better, but there are people who make arguments that it could have been worse.

[transthaumaturge]

Squirrel Girl is Super Gay for her Roommate and I Want Everyone to Know

A gay infodump of sensible length by Rachel Tikvah

ALRIGHT, SO The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl was the very first comic that I ever read regularly, back when I was looking for more stories with strong female protagonists but didn't really know why. Back then I just thought I really liked strong female characters and not that I was being gay on main, but now I know the truth. The comic had a 5-year run, and it was the first time that Squirrel Girl, AKA Doreen Green, had had her own series. She had a brief run in the mid-2000's where she was established as someone who could beat up Thanos with her bare hands well, more like squirrel hands but was mostly a joke character that happened to be incredibly buff and had indestructible plot armor. USG decided that Doreen's next major life goal would be to enroll in college to become a computer scientist, because her writer, Ryan North, is really into computer science and they basically gave him free rein over Squirrel Girl canon for five whole years. Like, a solid third of the plots are solved with some kind of computer science smarts. It’s really cool. Anyway this is Doreen in one of the gayest solo pictures I could find of her on short notice, which is also one of the variant covers from the actual series:

And this is her college roommate, Nancy Whitehead:

I'm like, 99% certain that Ryan North intended for them to end up as a couple and Disney!Marvel told him no. So he decided to make them AS GAY FOR EACH OTHER AS POSSIBLE without explicitly saying that they were a couple, and it ended up going under the radar. What follows is evidence for that claim. I’m going to put a "read more” after this so it doesn’t clutter everyone’s dashboards, but please read on if you’re interested. There’s a lot of cute gayness after this point. I’m also going to put all of the image descriptions at the end, since they take up a lot of space and I don’t want to break up the flow of the post. Finally, a quick spoiler alert for one arc in the middle of the series and a couple major plot points from the final few issues.

AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES

So for a while it was just kind of hinted at that they’re in a relationship, mostly because they were basically domestic life partners for like, two whole years in-universe before the comic run ended. But it really came to a head with an arc that was ran about 2/3 of the way through the series. Some pictures of them being, like, so cute together in general and/or talking about how much they care about each other before I get to that arc, though: 

Also Doreen describes her and Nancy's cat as "co-parented" in one of the last issues:

ANYWAY, THE ARC. THE HYPERTIME ARC. So one of the villains created for the Squirrel Girl run (I think they liked making weird shit canon just because they could) was a dude who went by the name "EpicCrimez". He’s a crime streamer. He livestreams his crimes to an online audience. I don't know. *Throws up hands*

He had some kind of laser gun that he built out of scavenged alien tech but didn't really know what it did, so he shot it at Doreen and Nancy for kicks. It shot them into hypertime, so suddenly the rest of the world was moving at a fraction of the pace that they were. They were moving so quickly that they were slated to live out their entire lives over the span of a single weekend if they didn't figure out how to reverse the effects. And...they did. Live out their entire lives together. For the two of them, they were the only two people in the world. There were other people, but they looked like statues unless you spent a very long time observing them. Doreen and Nancy grew old together in a world where they only had each other. This is an incredibly cute domestic scene from a little while after they found themselves in hypertime:

Gosh, I wish I could find more official art from that arc of them just living together, it was so good. But the point is, they were both old by the time that Nancy figured out how to get them out of hypertime. And it wasn't ideal. Their bio signatures were stored in the gun that EpicCrimez shot, and they could essentially "reboot" their bodies from when they were first shot and send themselves back into the regular timestream. But they wouldn't remember anything about the life that they had shared together. Nancy almost didn't want to do it. She raised the possibility of them just living out the rest of their lives together, because she didn't want to forget their life together. This is the conversation they had:

"I don't regret any of it. I don't want to lose it, and I don't want to lose us." "You're not getting rid of me that easily." Every time I look at that last picture, which took up an entire page of the comic, I start to cry. We’re seeing the final moments of two people who love each other more than anything, who were each other's entire lives, savoring their last moments together and wondering what the future holds. Sacrificing the life that they built together so that their younger selves could live a better, fuller one. Dying in each other’s arms, scared but comforted by the fact that they had each other. And then the arc ends, and they can't remember anything, so the status quo is restored. They have some paintings they made of each other while they were living together in hypertime, but they move on pretty quickly without ever knowing the significance of those lived decades. Still, it's clear in the arcs that follow and the adventures they embarked on afterward that they would die for each other. All of that continues until the end of the last arc. Their shared apartment's been blown up at this point by a supervillain who wanted to ruin Doreen’s life before eventually killing her. And in the aftermath of the fight, they're sifting through the wreckage for anything that survived (don't worry, the cat got out in time) when they find the picture that they painted of themselves during the hypertime arc:

They have a really cute conversation about how this chapter of their life is over, but they're going to be okay and they're going to build a new life together. And then Nancy basically tells Doreen that she can't live without her:

And then Doreen says something super queer-coded about how she likes the idea of the world knowing her secret identity now:

On the very last page of the comic, after all of the action is over and the series is about to end, they're talking to each other in what's supposed to be a twitter thread and Doreen asks Nancy a very thinly veiled question about whether she still wants to spend time with her now that her identity's out. She pretends it's about a class project, but it's really not about the class project. Here's how that conversation goes:

With no knowledge of what happened during the weekend when they shared their entire lives together, without ever having heard Doreen say it to her before, Nancy’s heart still knows which words to choose. "...you're not getting rid of me that easily. <3" I believe that the author of the series, Ryan North, did as much as he possibly could to portray them as a couple without saying it outright. And as the last piece of evidence to support that claim, I want to share a response he wrote in one of the series' last-ever letter columns:

"as for more Doreen and Nancy, I hope so too. A Squirrel Girl book without Nancy would feel like--like--like some sort of hypothetical "Super" "Man" book without an equally hypothetical "Lois" "Lane"!" It's easy to write off this analysis as wishful thinking, or as a misreading of the subtext. But when the author of the series says that these two characters are meant to always be together and compares them to one of the most famous couples in any comic series ever, it's clear that there's more to it than that. 

Some Additional Thoughts: 1) Doreen and Nancy are both probably bisexual or pansexual, since they both expressed romantic interest in men throughout the series but they’re both clearly interested in each other too. There might be an element of demiromanticism there as well if part of the reason that they’re into each other romantically is because of how emotionally close they’ve become over the years. I want to make sure that that facet of their romantic orientations doesn’t get erased, because bi and pan folks get erased enough as it is. Neither Doreen nor Nancy are lesbians, just super-cool WLWs.

2) HERE’S WHAT THE ISSUE 50 VARIANT COVER LOOKED LIKE

That’s NOT a fun, totally straight way to pose with your platonic gal pal. They’re so incredibly cute together! I have no words! In Closing If you got this far, thank you so much for letting me talk to you about a comic that’s very important to me, and a couple in that comic that I care about very much. I spent way too long making this (six hours and counting), mostly in writing the image descriptions, and I’m very proud of my work but very tired now. Hyperfixation is a hell of a drug. If this resonated with you, please consider reblogging it so that more folks can see it. If not, even a like is nice. I’d also love to engage with people who have their own thoughts, so feel free to leave some comments in the notes if you’ve got an idea/a reaction/any additional cute Doreen/Nancy scenes that you’d like to share with me. At any rate, this post has gone on long enough and I don’t want to ask y’all to read any more than you have to. So have a great day, good morning / afternoon / night, and stay safe. Thanks again for reading! ~Rachel Tikvah, AKA @transthaumaturge Image Descriptions: Image 1: [ID: Squirrel Girl, a young woman with light skin, is posing in front of a brick wall that she seems to have crashed through, leaving a perfect outline of her body. She’s facing away but looking backwards over her shoulder at us and smiling. She’s flexing upward with her right arm and has her left fist resting on her left hip. Her sidekick, a squirrel named Tippy-Toe, is standing in the cutout she left in the wall and is making the same exact pose while wearing a light pink bow around her neck. Squirrel Girl is wearing brown lace-up boots, fur-lined hot pants over grey tights, and a brown fur-lined jacket with sleeves that come up to her forearms and a symbol of an acorn embroidered into the back. She’s also wearing a hairband with fake squirrel ears on it over short reddish-brown hair. She has a large squirrel tail coming out of her hot pants that sweeps down in a curve behind her lower legs. The illustration is drawn so that everything is bathed in the light of a sunset, and Doreen is casting shadows on the wall in front of her.] Image 2: [ID: Two frames depicting a scene between Doreen and Nancy in their college dorm room, with many cardboard boxes still not unpacked and sitting on a bare bed mattress. Nancy Whitehead is a young woman with dark brown skin and short, curly black hair. She's wearing black tights, a white dress-top, and a yellow cardigan over that. Her arms are crossed as she holds her white cat, Mew, against her chest. Doreen is wearing grey tights and a black long-sleeve shirt with a wide collar and white stripes across the chest. She's holding Tippy-Toe up to Nancy with both hands so she can see her better. The following dialogue ensues: Nancy: "A squirrel? But weren't you the one who was all about pets not being allowed in--" Doreen: "Yeah, I know. But this really interesting person I met today told me that obeying an unjust law is itself unjust." Nancy: "...You know, I was worried I'd get a weird roommate, but you're all right, Doreen Green."] Image 3: [ID: Doreen and Nancy are both sitting on a lavender-pink couch in nightclothes. Doreen has short, orange hair. She is wearing a loose-fitting grey long-sleeve shirt and steel-blue cutoff shorts; Nancy has cropped black hair. She is wearing a dark purple top with sleeves that come down to her upper arms, and loose-fitting navy-blue shorts that come down to her lower thighs. Doreen is side-hugging Nancy as she says, with an ecstatically happy smile, “Nancy, you’re the greatest. You know that, right?” Nancy gives Doreen a full smile as she responds, “I’d always suspected it, but it is nice to have it confirmed.”] Image 4: [ID: Nancy is shown from the shoulders up. She has short, curly black hair. She’s wearing large, disc-shaped gold dangle earrings, and a red jacket with prominent shoulders and a yellow collar. She’s fixing the observer with an angry, determined stare as she says, “She knows this man wouldn’t dream about betraying her, or he’d have to answer to me.”] Image 5: [ID: Doreen and Nancy are eating breakfast at the brown, circular kitchen table in their apartment. Doreen’s wearing a skin-tight athletic crop top that’s striped in black, red, white, and blue. Her arm muscles are well-defined and clearly visible as she puts a spoon in her mouth, closing her eyes as she does so. She has a bowl of cereal in front of her, and half a banana in front of that. Nancy is sitting to her left in a pink camisole top that’s also exposing her muscles, scrolling through something on her smartphone. Her hair is in a yellow fabric wrap that’s knotted on one side of her head. A cup of coffee sits in front of her. The clear blue sky is visible through the window centered on the wall behind them.] Image 6: [ID: Nancy and Doreen are facing away from the vantage point, walking towards an Empire State University campus building and holding hands with their fingers intertwined. Nancy is wearing a long knee-length grey coat and black knee-high boots, with a baby-blue side bag hanging from her left shoulder. Doreen is wearing a magenta sweatshirt with the periwinkle-lined hood down, light brown form-fitting denim pants, and black ankle-high boots, with a dark brown side bag hanging from her right shoulder. Trees and bushes hem the walkway in on either side. The building in front of them is dark red, with glass doors and a row of floor-to-ceiling windows on the second floor. Doreen is saying “...we’re just going to have to take the long way around.”] Image 7: [ID: Doreen is facing towards the vantage point and is visible from the legs up, standing in front of a pile of rubble in the background. She’s wearing high-waisted light blue shorts over black tights, and a red windbreaker with sleeves ending at her upper arms that’s opened to reveal a white t-shirt underneath. Tippy-Toe is sitting on her shoulder. There are two people facing Doreen, each slightly in frame and silhouetted in black against the light of the setting sun. Doreen is fixing them with an angry, determined expression, resting her right fist at her hip while she gesticulates with her left hand and says, “So! I don’t know about you all, but Melissa kidnapping my friend and blowing up my life and my house and almost blowing up my co-parented cat makes me feel like giving her a piece of my mind. Friends...”] Image 8: [ID: A full comic page. EpicCrimez is looking like a dork in a green and black skin-tight jumpsuit, bright red ski goggles, and a green wig cap with his brown hair sticking out the back in a mullet. He’s standing inside a jewelry store and holding up a fist of expensive gems and pearls-on-strings as holds up his smartphone and speaks into it. He’s facing off against Squirrel Girl, with her allies Koi Boi and Chipmunk Hunk on her right, and Nancy and Brain Drain on the left. The following scene ensues: EpicCrimez: “And for those of you just tuning in, welcome to another successful heist by your boy EpicCrimez, streaming live! Now with 10% more live crime action than any other streamer! Don’t forget to like and subscribe!! I know some of you in EpicCrimez Nation have been forgetting to do that lately. Not acceptable.” Squirrel Girl: “You picked the wrong small business to rob, crime-initiator! Because this mall is protected by super heroes.” Brain Drain: “HELLO” SG: “And also an unrelated civilian friend I brought along too!” Nancy: (Not looking up from her phone) “ ‘Sup.” EC: “Check it out--Squirrel Girl and her miscellaneous friends are here! It’s action you won’t find on any other channel!” SG: “Are you...streaming your robberies?” (Nancy pockets her phone) EC: “Yeah I am! For money reasons! And with you “heroes” in it, I’ll make even more!” SG: (Whispering to Nancy:) “Question: a fight scene just gets him more traffic, which lets him profit from this crime even more--so does this mean we don’t fight him?” N: (Whispering back:) “I feel like letting him go causes more harm, but I look forward to us teasing apart the moral implications of this later.” SG: “Nice.” SG: (No longer whispering:) “I’ll like and subscribe, EpicCrimez! I’ll like fighting crime, and subscribe... to a worldview wherein the strong protect the weak!” EC: “Oh my gosh, are you like wholesome Spider-Man or something??” At the bottom of the page, small text says: “Wholesome Spider-Man, Wholesome Spider-Man/Does whatever a wholesome spider can/Is he tough?/Listen bud/He’s here to hear you talk about your day and tell you it’ll all be fine while taking you out for your favorite meal for dinner because he knows you deserve it.”] Image 9: [ID: Another full comic page. Doreen and Nancy are in their apartment together, and their friends Tomas and Brian (AKA Chipmunk Hunk and Brain Drain respectively) are frozen as they look down at the machine that Nancy is on her knees in front of, working on. Nancy, barefoot, is wearing cerulean-blue athletic pants, a black long-sleeve spandex shirt without shoulders, and narrow-framed glasses. Her hair is partially covered by a yellow cloth head wrap tied on the left side, with black dreadlocks spilling out the side and back. The machine in front of her is made of dull grey metal, about a meter tall and roughly circular. Wires dangle out of a hatch that Nancy is fiddling with. Doreen is wearing a flowing, dark-purple pantsuit with wide, ankle-length legs and a halter top with the sleeves tied off at her shoulders. Her shoes are light-brown ankle boots with a horizontal gap on the bridge of each foot. Her wavy orange hair is parted in the middle and down past her shoulders. She looks incredibly cute. The following scene ensues: Doreen: “What do you think?” Nancy: “I think--come on you stupid screw--I think we’re still years away from this thing working, if it ever does. Who knew time machine construction is really hard, except of course for everyone who has attempted it?” (She wipes her forehead with the back of her hand) D: “Hah! No, I mean my new outfit.” N: (Looking up and checking her gf out:) “Doreen! You look amazing!!” D: “Liberated it from a very expensive department store uptown!” N: (Now standing) “Tony paid for it?” D: Tony will eventually discover he was kind enough to leave some expensive jewelry in trade, yes. I pinned a note to him so he knows.” N: “There really are advantages to being friends with billionaire playboy genius philanthropists.” D: “Right?!” N: (Taking Doreen’s hands in hers:) “It’s a shame we can’t take a picture of you all dolled up.” D: “Not without standing still for a few months, yeah. But I was thinking about that. I picked up something else at another store downtown. Thought maybe it could help us with that.” (Holding up a shopping bag with one hand while still holding onto Nancy’s hand with the other:) “Nancy Whitehead, I thought you and I might take up painting sometime.” At the bottom of the page, small text says: “Tony Stark moves from meeting to meeting, his body accumulating dozens of notes every second. He sighs. Stuff like this didn’t happen before he knew Doreen. But then he smiles, because after all...stuff like this didn’t happen before he knew Doreen.”] Images 10-16: [ID: Several pages worth of comic frames, posted together to depict one scene. Doreen and Nancy are now old women, likely in their seventies or eighties. Doreen has short, grey hair. She’s wearing a tan button-up waistcoat and an orange ascot, brown flats with an olive-green skirt, knee-length and softly pleated. Her tail is sticking out the back of her skirt over the top, bushy and brown but with stiffer, less-dense hair. Nancy has her grey-black hair done up in a ponytail, a mass of tight curls behind her head. She’s wearing thin oval glasses, black dress pants, black flats, and a lavender cardigan with a flower motif along the edges, open to show the yellow-orange top underneath. They’re standing in front of a completed time machine. On either side are tall pieces of machinery, and in the middle is a round, flat metal dais hooked up to everything else with snaking cables. The following scene ensues: Nancy: “So...this is it, babe. The new machine.” Doreen: “Your secret project! Nancy, it looks like you started from scratch!” N: That’s because I did. I finally realized our old machine was never going to work. Maybe if we had a few more decades, but...there’s no time. And given that our backs are to the wall, I took a risk. I disassembled the gun right down to the metal, and examined all the parts. And I did find something: a data chip. Doreen, the gun stored our bio signatures when it us.” D: “What are you saying?” N: “I’m saying my new machine won’t send us back in time, and we’ll still have lost a weekend of real time. But it will restore our bodies to normal time.” D: (Hugging Nancy tight:) “Nancy! You saved us!!” N: (Resting her hands on Doreen’s shoulders:) “Not--quite. There’s a catch, Doreen. Our bodies will make it...but we won’t. Look, Doreen...I’m an old woman. I’ve spent most of my life in hypertime. This wasn’t how I saw my life going, but...I don’t regret any of it. I don’t want to lose it, and I don’t want to lose us.” D: “I don’t understand.” N: “It’s like restoring from backup. Our bodies will be restored to how they were the moment we were first hit. But--that necessarily includes our brains, too. Everything we’ve done since we entered hypertime--our entire lives spent together...we’ll forget.” (She looks at Doreen in distress) D: “I don’t either, Nancy. You’ve been the most important person in my life. But if we do go back--we can do it again. All of it. It might not happen again quite the same way, but--well, like you say...we’ll have all the time in the world.” N: (Their faces inches apart, they both tilt their heads down and smile sadly:) “Twist my arm, why don’t you.” (They both step onto the dais holding hands, and blue energy starts to ripple around them:) “You filled up Spidey’s web-shooters before we go?” D: “Yep. Again.” N: “You and me, saving the world.” D: “Well,” (holding Nancy’s hand in both of her own) "No reason we can’t do it twice.” N: “You know, there’s a chance things could turn out differently, now that we’ll have video games to distract us. In 40 years we might decide we don’t like hanging out after all.” D: (Hugging Nancy even tighter than before as the energy from the time machine starts to envelop them, resting her face in the nape of Nancy’s neck:) “Nah. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”] Image 17: [ID: Doreen and Nancy are sifting through the charred rubble of their apartment as night starts to fall around them. Doreen is wearing faded blue jeans and a navy blue t-shirt with a Captain America star in the middle. Over top of the shirt, she’s wearing a dark reddish-brown leather vest with four metal studs at the four points of the folded-out collar. Nancy is wearing black tights and a light green long-sleeve shirt with olive-green sleeves. The front of the shirt has a picture of Cat-Thor, Cat God of Cat Thunder’s head on it. The following scene ensues: Doreen: “So I know we’re only a few hours into it, Nancy, but I think my identity being public isn’t gonna be as bad as I thought.” Nancy: “Oh?” D: “Yeah, Tony’s given me lots of tips, and it does honestly help to know that my parents are protected by a robot tree with laser eyes and my friends live in a city with the most super heroes per square mile.” N: “Most super villains too, but--Hold on. I think I found it.” (Nancy lifts a picture frame out of the wreckage, charred around the edges but otherwise no worse for wear. It has a painting inside of it of Doreen and Nancy, arm-in-arm, from hypertime. Doreen is wearing the lavender pantsuit from before, and Nancy is wearing a tight-fitting lilac dress.) “...And it looks like you and I made it through just fine.”] Images 18-19: [ID: Two later comic panels from the same scene. They’re wearing the same outfits, but Nancy’s now cradling her white cat, Mew, in the crook of her left arm while she holds onto the picture frame with her right hand. The following scene ensues: Doreen: “Come on, let’s talk about it! If we’re starting a new chapter in our lives, and we can decide what’s in it, what do you want it to contain?” Nancy: “Doreen...” D: “What are the three things you can’t live without, Nancy Whitehead?” N: (Holding up the picture so that Doreen can see it:) “Fine. If you must know, all this girl needs to be happy are cats and squirrels and knitting and computers and friends and secret tattoos and super heroes and lots and lots of love. Also food and shelter. And water. And internet.” D: “That’s more than three things.”] Image 20: [ID: Same scene as before, a single frame with a close-up on Doreen from her chest upwards. Doreen cups her chin with one of her hands and says, “Honestly--I thought about it. I really did. But I realized that where I am now, I’m safe and I’m loved and I kinda like the idea of not having to lie to people anymore, you know? Even if it is just a lie of omission. I want to share my whole self with the world. I don’t want to have to hide who I am anymore.”] Image 21: [ID: Something resembling a twitter thread, with dialogue between Nancy and Doreen stacked chronologically as horizontal boxes. Their respective names and handles are at the top of each of their comments. Nancy is Nancy W. and @sewwiththeflo, Doreen is Squirrel Girl and @unbeatablesg. The following conversation ensues: Nancy: “You think I’d leave you high and dry??” Doreen: “I think I don’t want our lateness harming your grades and therefore harming your post-secondary education or career choices and therefore harming your ENTIRE LIFE?!” “So yeah I think you should switch to someone else, real talk. I honestly don’t mind, I promise.” Nancy: “Please. If there’s one thing I know about you, about me, and about how we spend our future together, it’s this. Doreen Green...” “...you’re not getting rid of me that easily. <3″] Image 22: [ID: A paragraph of text, black text on a yellow background. “As for more Doreen and Nancy, I hope so too. A Squirrel Girl book without Nancy would feel like--like--like some sort of hypothetical “Super” “Man” book without an equally hypothetical “Lois” “Lane”!”] Image 23: [ID: A group picture of Squirrel Girl and friends sitting down on a grassy hill and watching the sunset together. Kraven the Hunter is in the foreground for some reason, looking almost directly at the camera. In the background we see Koi Boi, Mary Mahajan, Chipmunk Hunk, Brain Drain, and Mew the Cat. In the middle of the shot, Doreen and Nancy sit together. Doreen is in her superhero outfit with Tippy-Toe on her right shoulder, and Nancy is in a yellow cardigan and jeans on Doreen’s left. They’re holding hands, fingers intertwined, as Nancy leans against Doreen with her whole body. Their heads are tilted inward towards each other, the side of Doreen’s head touching the side of Nancy’s, as they look off into the distance together.]

[moviemunchies]

Imagine something like Iron Fist except a big budget movie and much higher quality--wait bump that, imagine what Iron Fist SHOULD have been, and you’ve got something very much like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe does not have a great track record with Asian representation. There was the whole controversy with the Ancient One in Doctor Strange and the depiction of the Hand in the Netflix shows, it’s not been anything to brag about. So when Marvel announced they were making a big budget movie about Shang-Chi, and finally tying up that loose end about the Mandarin that Jon Favreau was building up to until Iron Man 3 killed that Plot with a sledgehammer.

And you know that’s kind of fair because I don’t know how someone would adapt the Mandarin to a live-action Iron Man film in a way that wouldn’t be offensive. I say that as someone who is not that into Iron Man comics so maybe I’m wrong, but it sounds like a pretty difficult thing to pull off. So how does one deal with it?

Why by putting him in a movie about an Asian superhero, of course!

In the comics Shang-Chi’s father is Fu Manchu and that presented a lot of problems in adapting to a wide audience: first, that Fu Manchu is an offensive Yellow Peril villain, and second (and probably more important to Disney, let’s be real) there are some issues with film rights with that character. The Mandarin is heavily based off of Fu Manchu anyway, so the MCU decided to conflate the characters. And actually make him not a Yellow Peril stereotype. And also make him a fantastic character.

Xu Wenwu was an ancient Chinese warlord who discovered the Ten Rings, armbands of unknown origins that grant their wearer eternal life and amazing powers. He built up an empire, and later a criminal empire, also called the Ten Rings, but was always after more. He learns about a hidden mystical village called Ta Lo and wants to find it to gain their cool martial arts and magic. He doesn’t even get to the door though, because the guardian Ying Li is able to beat him despite his Ten Rings. Wenwu keeps going back and ends up falling in love--he gives up the Ten Rings (the artifacts AND the organization) and marries her, and they have two children: Shang-Chi and Xialing. Except then Ying Li dies and so Xu Wenwu goes back to crime. He trains Shang-Chi to become an unbeatable killing machine when he’s a child, and when he’s a teenager sends him on a mission to assassinate an enemy of the Ten Rings.

Except Shang-Chi doesn't want that, and he runs away and years later he lives in San Francisco and works as a valet driver with his best friend Katy. It’s a basic life, but it has nothing to do with crime or killing people so he likes it. Except then the Ten Rings are after Shang-Chi, so he’s got to find his sister Xu Xialing and figure out what it is his evil father wants with them.

This, like the other MCU movies, is an action movie, but this is also a wuxia film. As a result it has some of, if not the best fight scenes out of any Marvel film. Definitely better fight choreography. 

Shang-Chi is a lovable protagonist--I think had the film come out like a decade ago they would have gone out of their way to try to make him a Cool Guy type of character who is nonchalant about everything and made his entire motivation a designated love interest. Not so here! He’s a bit of a dork that would really rather be chilling out with his best friend. But he’s willing to risk everything to save the people he cares about. He’s likable, he’s relatable, and he’s fun, but not in a way that feels as if he’s some kind of sarcastic quip factory always cracking jokes. He’s a guy trying to figure out who he really is who just happens to be a badass martial artist.

Xu Wenwu is actually kind of a fantastic villain? I remember seeing articles and headlines claiming that he was a really well-developed and complex villain, and I wasn’t sure what to expect going in. People said that about Hela, for instance, and while she’s fun to watch she’s not all that complex. Xu Wenwu actually is interesting though. I will admit that it’s a bit frustrating that there’s another fridging of a female character in his backstory, but I think his character arc still mostly works and elevates him to being more than just a Fu Manchu villain that he might have been had the original angle for the Mandarin been kept. Yeah, he’s terrible, but not so much that you don’t kind of sympathize with him. I have a weakness for stories about twisted familial relationships, so I really liked his character and his arc.

I found Shang-Chi’s best friend Katy is a fun character, but that doesn’t change that her role is almost entirely comic relief. That might bother some in the audience. However unlike some comic relief characters, she isn’t useless dead weight--she contributes to the action in several scenes. Notably she’s established fairly early on as a skilled driver, and this comes up more than once as something necessary for the Plot. And she goes through her own character arc like Shang does, albeit with less development (which makes sense because one of them is the title character and the other isn’t). What I am afraid of is that a future sequel might refuse to develop her further and just fall back on her comic relief role. Which is funny, but there’s more to her than that.

There’s also Xu Xialing, Shang-Chi’s sister, and this is where the movie’s going to have some problems for some viewers. She’s not a bad character at all; she’s a great character. But her backstory--being the daughter of Xu Wenwu but not being trained as a warrior because sexism, so she taught herself martial arts, started her own little business, and can easily keep up with Shang-Chi--probably makes her a more interesting character to a lot of people, and that’s something I can’t really argue with. Which means that once again there’s a badass capable and interesting female character playing second fiddle to the male lead. That’s more than a little frustrating. I didn’t mind so much because it’s not as if she’s sidelined--she’s still an important character to the narrative and has plenty of really cool on-screen moments. But I understand that many viewers will take issue with this, and this is a recurring problem Marvel has had. There is a promise that she will feature even more in a sequel, but it’s not like Marvel always keeps its promises in that regard, and no one should have to wait on another movie to get full enjoyment of the one they’re watching right now.

And yes, this is a martial arts movie, but it is also a Marvel movie and that means that it’s very special effects heavy. You probably knew that going in, but I recall while watching the movie thinking about how there were several scenes that were probably entirely green screen. And some of them had to be, those that showed fantastical creatures and environments. I imagine that if it wasn’t a big budget feature heavy on special effects it wouldn’t have been made as a movie instead of as a television show on a streaming service. If you were hoping that the martial arts trappings would make it feel less like a Marvel movie (which I kind of was), I can’t say that this film does that. If you do like Marvel movies there’s a few little hints about what’s to come by the time the movie’s done. 

Still, that doesn’t change that it’s a pretty good movie, with fantastic fight scenes, and a solid, likable cast of interesting characters who are fun to watch on screen. It’s still a Marvel movie, with all that entails, but it’s a solid entry in their cinematic universe that does something a little different--albeit not different enough to feel too foreign. I liked it. I had fun. I don't think it's a must-see unless you’re a Marvel fanatic or want to see their take on a wuxia film, but it’s a good time at the movies.

[secretive3amramenmaker]

More Fire Force Opinions That Literally Nobody Asked For (pt.2)

Guess who finished the manga~ Guess who finished the manga~ This gal~ I’m surprised that my Fire Force rant/essay meta was so well received by the fandom, thank you guys so much!!! Anyways, today I’ll be discussing some a lot of my ideas, opinions, thoughts, future predictions, and commentary on moments from the Fire Force manga.

Warnings: Spoilers for future Fire Force Season Two arcs, and for the Fire Force manga. Read at your own discretion! Now that the warnings are over, onwards! ヽ(ヅ)ノ

(I’m actually trying to order my opinions via arcs, but I feel that this is really important, so I’m putting it first.) 

1. There are no iPhones in the Fire Force. 

This is so sad? My favourite characters don’t know the joy that is staying up late, scrolling through social media, watching YOUTUBE, having MEMES, KNOWING👏THE👏GREATNESS👏THAT👏IS👏VINES!!!

I’m slightly disappointed that Vulcan, who is literally named after the god of forging himself, who can make frickin’ HOLOGRAMS, didn’t bring back any of the pre-Catalysm technology to recreate, improve, or experiment with. As an expert engineer (I say this 0.2% seriously, with the two years of high school engineering course experience under my belt), I would’ve been interested to see what kind of gadgets Vulcan could whip up. *insert ‘Inspector Gadget theme song*

Please have this very sad Jigglypuff to show how sad this is.

2. Sister Iris and Religion in the Fire Force Storyline

In the beginning of the Fire Force series, I’ve accepted the fact that Iris' role as noncombatant, meant to act as the religious and public face of the Eighth Company. I think it is a fascinating role, because it allows the story to explore the idea of religion and belief in depth, which I was really looking forward to. I was excited how the author would handle Iris’ character, but I’m somewhat disappointed that it took so long for us to see Iris and other side characters like Maki and Tamaki become more fleshed out (I’m not counting Iris’ and Hibana’s backstory in Season 1. I felt that was more backstory to flesh out Hibana’s character rather than Iris’).

Throughout Fire Force’s story, some of the things I looked forward to the most were the religious elements, motifs, themes, and questions that are sprinkled throughout the story, one of my favourites being the portrayal of the dichotomy of religion. In Joker’s backstory, we see the darkness of the Holy Sol faith, and what happens when any religious belief is taken TOO far, without any regard for human life or rights. This idea of viewing humans as a collective, no regard for the individuality and feelings of a single person in the pursuit of faith is embodied by the captain of the Shadow of the Holy Sun, Joker’s former captain and abuser. However, we also get to see the goodness religion and belief can achieve in Iris’ mini arc, which focuses on Iris’ internal struggle as she struggles with her faith after being informed of the Evangelist’s part in the founding of the Holy Sol’s religion. Shinra and Huo Yan Li, the bucket hat 1st Brigade lieutenant (Seriously, which is the correct way to pronounce this guy’s name? Huo Yan Li?? Foien Li???) interaction in the Iris arc really summed up the arc and Iris’ character beautifully. Religion and belief gives people closure, hope, and strength to keep on moving forward. Seeing the anime adaption was an amazing experience. Fire Force’s animation was the reason I decided to watch it in the first place (before staying for the intriguing plot and religious side plot), but this particular episode?? Pure art. The colouring, ambience, storytelling? So good＼\ ٩( ᐛ )و /／

Like, the little detail of the burning nun in Iris’ eyes? (lmao sorry for the extra trauma, sweet child) *chef’s kiss*

The importance of belief is also hinted in the Asakusa arc, where all the district’s inhabitants believe in Benimaru, and expanded upon in later manga chapters, when we learn that Adolla is linked to humanity’s perception and beliefs about the world around them.

I would’ve liked Iris a lot more if we got to further explore her character and the affects of religion on others more deeply, perhaps see Iris visiting the Infernals’ families and loved ones, trying to help give closure through the nation’s (mostly) shared faith in Sol. They mentioned offhandedly in both anime and manga that Iris visits the deceased’s families, and I felt it would’ve given the deaths more significance and depth if we get screentime of how families are affected by the death of their loved ones. It would have also given the Holy Sol’s religion more depth and meaning if we saw believers of Sol’s actions due to their religion, (also giving more impact when we learn surprise surprise! The Holy Sol temple is founded by the Evangelist!) since belief without actions is just lip-service.

I would have also liked to see how Iris’ prayers affect others in the Eighth company. We do get to see this, 140+ CHAPTERS LATER in the mini Iris arc does Shinra (finally) mentions how Iris’ prayers helps him not lose sight of why he serves as a firefighter and kills Infernal. I’m glad that we got this scene, because better later than never, especially since Iris’ and Shinra’s discussion and overall the entire Iris mini arcs shows the power of prayer, but I would’ve like to have this topic discussed sooner.

2. Obi’s Sole Flaw

I think that Obi was an okay character, but they kind of pushed the boundary of his “normalcy” when we saw him topple pillars and rip railways out of the ground with “brute strength”. There are limits to the human body, it is fragile, and it doesn’t matter how much conditioning or “going beyond your limits” you do. People do experience boost of adrenaline, which is probably what the very anime-like titled “Pressure of Death” is based on, since life or death situations can heighten your performance and strength. However, I do understand that this IS shonen, and it isn’t meant to be realistic.

What made Obi’s sole flaw (and a physical flaw, at that!) was his “normalcy” while surrounded by more powerful individuals then he, and having to make up for something he can’t help by working twice as hard as everybody else. Now, although I was disappointed that Obi didn’t have any character/moral flaws, what made Obi’s character mediocre to me wasn’t the choice of Obi’s sole flaw. In fact, I could see how this could be an interesting character narrative IF WE LEARN MORE ABOUT OBI’S BACKSTORY, THEREFORE EXPLORING HIS CHARACTER MORE!!! (We only know Obi was a regular firefighter, being decorated twice, and then having his titles revoked for prioritizing the lives of citizens before becoming the captain of the Eighth.) No, what I didn’t like about Obi’s character is that we never see him STRUGGLE with his flaw, how others were born “superior” to him thanks to there invulnerability to flames, how he lives knowing one day he could just burst into flames. There’s SO many interesting things about Obi’s character, that could explained further, making him so much more interesting!!!

On the other hand, Obi’s character is a great role model for what a “normal” person can do (while jacked up on adrenaline, and when they manage to overcome flight reaction in fight or flight). He works hard, training to the best of his ability, doing what he CAN do, pushing his limits so that he can go above and beyond, overcoming the “Pressure of Death”, and staying true to his ideals, something very hard to do in a world where you might burst into flames at any given moment. I know that if I were to wake in a world where I could die any second (I mean, I could die tomorrow in Real Life™, but what are the chances of that?), I would definitely find myself struggling with my faith, and staying true to the morals I admire and was taught by my parents, especially if I was putting myself in danger despite of this weakness.

3. Asakusa Showdown Arc and Shinmon Hibachi

The Asakusa Showdown arc. Yes. Just yes. I-

It was amazing, periodt. The art, the overall aesthetic, the storytelling. *Cue violent fangirling* I took SOOOO many screenshots of the fight between Benimaru and Hibachi, I’m pretty sure my camera roll is 95% manga caps now. I love how the author actually gave a (fairly) valid reason for the cool Japanese aesthetic of this arc, in that Adolla is slowly gradually colliding with the Fire Force universe, causing people’s perception of the fight to seep into the universe. Overall? It. Was. Amazing. Albeit not my favourite arc, (that honour goes to the mini-Iris arc) I think that the Asakusa Showdown arc is easily in my Top 5 Fire Force arcs.

The Asakusa Showdown Arc mirroring and showing the ideals taught in the Mini Iris Arc was quite clever, though I’m not sure if this was purposefully done Okubo, or if I’m just scrabbling at crumbs.

In the Mini Iris arc, we see how religion and belief gives closure; a stark contrast to Asakusa with its proto-nationalist/atheist values. In THIS arc, centering around Asakusa and it’s proto-nationalist inhabitants, we see what happens when there isn’t enough effort to emphasize or give closure in what happened to Hibachi, and his subsequent death. 

Shinmon Hibachi, as the leader of the neighbourhood fire watch, understood the significance of killing Infernals; of taking somebody’s life. But because of the unwillingness to let others (i.e. the inhabitants of Asakusa, that one kid who stabs him) understand the weight of killing Infernals and gain closure through understanding the reasons behind his harsh actions, Hibachi shoulders the consequences of both his and the actions of his predecessors’ ALONE, therefore leading to his demise. 

The kid who stabbed Hibachi was still a CHILD, and children don’t always have a comprehensive understanding of death and the consequences of responsibility (no matter how much that kid believes he was ready to be an adult and support his mother).

3.5 Extra Worldbuilding Questions About Asakusa

I also have so many questions about Asakusa in general! How is Asakusa powered without being supported by Amaterasu, which is the country’s (and isn’t that mind boggling, that a whole country is supported by one power source with no backup source or other forms of energy/electricity, because of patriotic pride in a machine that might one day shut down, cough manga readers where u at?) I’m assuming that Asakusa mainly use coal, candles, and lamps for energy and lighting, since we did see one example of lighting in Asakusa (an ancient oil lamp), but I’m not sure if that would be sufficient to support a whole district of people. People were able to do that in the olden days, but back then there was a smaller concentration of people, and power necessary to support them.

Is Asakusa a district that is mostly atheist or polytheist? Do the inhabitants believe in no gods, not just the Sun god brought by the White Clads and Raffles I, including the Shinto or Buddhist gods from before the Catalysm, or do they believe in multiple gods/ancestor worship and they just don’t want to worship the Sun God like the rest of the Tokyo Empire because they’re unwilling to accept the new culture, immigrants and religion caused by Amaterasu, wanting to keep up the old Japanese traditions?

4. Arthur Deserves Better Parents 2k20 (Hint of Arthur’s Secret Ability?)

When Team Vulcan + Arthur found Arthur’s parents in the sewers Nether... Honestly, I don’t want to touch on them much, since I want to be (fairly) logical in my opinions on them, not letting my personal feelings twist my hypotheses for what may happen in the future of the Fire Force storyline.

Putting aside Arthur’s parents obvious neglect and bad parenting, I’m curious if Arthur's dad is actually a prophet or did he just get lucky with his delusions. Is this related to how Arthur can notice the difference between dopplegangers and real people? Perhaps because Arthur’s delusions of knighthood are so different from how he truly is (an abandoned child who deluded himself as a knight), therefore allowing him to notice the difference between dopplegangers and Adolla, as they are created by people’s perception of a subject.

5. Let Sho Be a Normal Kid at the End of the Show 2k20

Please let the small child be happy at the end of the manga. I mean, being raised by a cult underground isn’t exactly a Hallmarks childhood. For example, in the beginning of chapter 231, look at how Sho looks longingly at those kids on scooters and was so happy when he got a balloon from the firefighter mascots! (bruh, same balloons bring me so much joy)

I hope that in the end of the manga Okubo lets Sho, Shinra, and Eighth have some quality time. In one of the early arcs (with the first speaking demon, Minamoto?) Shinra saw some kids going to school wearing school uniforms, mentioning that if Sho was still alive, he’d be old enough to go to school. I’d be so sweet if at the end of the manga, Sho would have the chance to go to school, maybe the Fire Force academy (if it’s still running if by the end of the manga they’ve discovered the reason behind Human Combustion), makes friends and beat up anybody who badmouths the Eighth.

6. Cool Combat Medics!

I’d love to see more of the cool combat medics from the Sixth! We only saw the captain, Kayoko Huang, in action with her Asclepius staff pyrokinesis, which, might I add is a fascinating and terrifying ability. Think about it, she’s controlling CELLULAR DIVISION!!! She could start creating tumors in the bodies of her enemies! Could disintegrate people cellularly and no one would know, because fire snake, so no fingerprints!

Anyways, that is all I have right now. Thank you for reading my opinions about “Fire Force”, and for the nice response I got when I published my first opinion piece! Bruh, it took so long for me to edit this... 😔 I’m thinking of doing another meta going more in depth with my theory on Arthur and how he’s able to distinguish the difference between people and their dopplegangers, but that’s for another day. Feel free to discuss about your own ideas or thoughts in the chat, or tell me what you think! I promise I don’t bite. Have a wonderful day!