#they should have ended the franchise after 3 tbh

[horrorlesbians]

my hottest horror take is that they really should have killed sidney in scream 4

[yaspup9000]

By Popular demand, here’s some of my LPS Hot takes

Some of the later pets weren’t That bad. Like yea I do agree that the tv show based toys from like 2013-2016 weren’t that great and kinda fugly looking, but with some of the 2020 pets, why yes not as iconic as the 2000s lps that we know and love, I still believe some people were really harsh on some of these pets cuz like they did look really cute tho! My only problem with the pets was the fact they had names tbh 2. Not every g2 lps molds were perfect. Some really good examples of older lps molds being kinda ugly were the first Jack Russel and poodle molds. I’ve also mentioned about the skunk/Squrriel molds were pretty lazy since it’s just the same mold . They didn’t even try to make them different from each other. Like say what you will but at least with some of the newer pets between 2013-2020 they were at least trying to make the skunk and squirrel molds different from each other. also the opossum molds was not all that great tbh..

3. The worse thing that ever happened to lps was the Blythe loves lps toy line. No joke idk why they thought this was good. I mean if you guys loved the Blythe dolls that’s fine, to me I always found them off putting since well, they just didn’t fit personally. Like you’re the one who’s caring the pets or this is a world where it’s run by pets. There was never any mention about humans tbh. Again this is prob coming from bitter younger me lol. But in all seriousness though, never really liked Blythe dolls tbh

4. People need to Chill out about the some of the rerelease of lps. Yes I understand, I’m just as nervous and excited as the rest of you guys however I genuinely feel as if people are really making a mountain out of a hill over some prototypes and a blind bag. Like I understand that everyone’s burned out by bad decisions after bad decisions within the lps Franchise. And yes blind bags are overused and annoying however, Guys.. they’re not just gonna make only just blind bags, they’re gonna do other stuff for lps soon just be patient. Not to mention at the end of the day, they’re still just silly little pets for kids. Can you critique the toys? Of course! But just remember that it ain’t that deep. 5. They should bring back that one brown poodle mold

yes this one! its cute as hecc! and i wish they would bring this back 6. This cat isn't a "Wolf-Cat" Its a maine coon. This isn't even an opinion or anything, i just wanna let people know that its suppose to be a maine coon. also the actual "wolf-cat" is called Lykoi and idk how that breed of cat would look as an lps.

7. the main reason back in 2013 Lps was having a reboot was due to MLP having a reboot. that's just my theory tho.

8. I feel like a lot of people keep forgetting that 90s LPS exist. Like whenever people say "g1" they don't think about the kenner Lps toys, they were thinking about the 2000's lps that was popularized by hasbro. and tbh that kinda sucks.. cuz why yes the kenner toys were more into realism, i still geninually, like the kenner lps figures they were rad.

9. The sticker eyes lps were cute, I actually liked them 10. One pet peeve I had with LPS popular, is that technically, Brook should of been arrested or at least suspended since she did attack Savannah first. Not to mention, doesn't this school have like cameras or something!? i know this has been years since I've watched LPS popular but like, bruh, Why don't her parents believe her!

Umm.. I dont really have any other opinions nor thoughts at the moment. idk feel free to ask me anything lps related and I'll give my honest opinions.

[that-left-turn]

But they did pull the ratings with towl l+3 ratings matching those of the series finale (3m) while having the biggest streaming numbers thus far. Considering how AMC is back to their Sunday's main show having 300k live viewers and how instead of directly having repeats of ep4 of towl like they're usually doing they put an episode of DD to surf on towl's success, that says a lot. I love both pair of characters so i don't understand this need of bashing or undermining towl (smelly boots really?), just sounds bitter tbh. Danai/Andy and Richonne have been all over sm during the whole run making people who never watched the show subscribe to see them so I'm pretty sure AMC is figuring out a way to keep them around. At the end of the day one show's success benefit the whole twdu, cause more people decided to watch the other spinoffs after towl

This ask is in response to a parenthetical on my post, but I suppose I could explain my logic. First, though, I want to point out that the driving force of my argument was that all the characters are important and there's room for everybody. I wasn't bashing anyone and I have utmost respect for Danai. I said that Rick's fans who turned up for what they expected to be a rollicking action adventure were disappointed.

Now, to the points in the ask. TOWL had relative success. AMC is doing poorly over all and TOWL performing the strongest out of a bad slate doesn't make for objectively good numbers. The spinoffs are part of the same franchise, on the same network and these are not cheap shows to produce, so the studio needs to see a ROI on all of them. AMC doesn't make money unless curious and casual viewers keep watching the shows and they're positioned differently, so the expected viewership doesn't overlap beyond hardcore TWD fans who watch all the shows. That's a very small group.

It's very common ahead of releasing an important show (to the studio/network's bottom line) to buy engagement. The buzz you see about a show is often staged to create the appearance of success. More people will tune in if they think others are watching it. This is industry standard and not specific to TOWL. If a studio is worried that the numbers won't be strong enough to recoup costs, they will spend quite a bit of money to make it look like something is doing well.

A normal studio—AMC doesn't have the best track record for fiscally responsible decision making��doesn't try to find ways to keep expensive and reluctant actors on board a project that doesn't make money. Reluctant actors mean more money to make them sign. FX is always expensive, but genre shows in the scifi/fantasy space are more so. You have the whole spectrum from physical fabrication to digital effects on a TWDU show. It's a large crew, multiple units and it's a mobile production, i.e. one that shoots on location. Big cost. If live numbers can't get above 1M, the studio is definitely not seeing ROI.

That said, I'm happy Rick and Michonne's story arc got its long awaited closure and that Richonne fans enjoyed the show. (I'm not very romantic so the act of smelling someone's well-used footwear might be lost on me as an expression of love, but I do apologize if anyone with a shoe fetish felt disrespected by my turn of phrase. It was not my intention to offend anybody.) I don't feel bitter at all that fans got to watch a show they had anticipated or that they loved it. All TV shows should be satisfying to their audiences and I hope DC and TBOC provide the same level of joy to their fans.

Studios just have to make sure that the target audience is large enough for a healthy profit margin—that was the point I was getting at in my original post. AMC needs to capitalize on all their talent to grow their market share (which is ridiculously small). They can't afford to alienate potential customers by ignoring half their leads: casual viewers won't know who's in the shows and fans, who buy merchandise and are more inclined to open their wallets, will get offended by the snub of their personal favorite(s). That's bad for business and why there shouldn't be any "big 3" (or 4 or 5) posts made by official social media accounts.

All six lead characters are important for TWDU longevity and AMC's financial health. It's the one IP the studio actually owns, (everything else is under license or spaghetti thrown at the wall). The different characters appeal to their own segments of TWDU's potential audiences, so in any post that promotes the whole franchise, AMC and any relevant production companies can't create tiers or rankings if they want to optimize ROI. It looks unprofessional and it's discourteous to the talent, which shouldn't be the basis of any business relationship. After all, these people are the face of the operation, those who make the studio their money.

Thanks for the ask, anon 💝

[sskk-manifesto]

yeahh atsushi's internal monologue and plea always felt like a eye of the storm moment to me, absolute silence, except for the plea for "somebody anybody... please fight with me". it could have stood well enough on its own, just atsushi calling out in the darkness, the music was not needed

EXACTLY exactly!! It's a moment of complete solitude, and that can only translate with low and slow music / complete silence tbh.

(Following a line of thought I ended up rambling a bit about some things I haven't had the chance to bring up so far, it's quite negative on occasions so leaving it under the cut / feel freee to ignore)

I don't knowwwww like why are they compressing the episodes so badly to the point in three (3) episodes they never had time to roll the ending credits. I don't get it. In my very humble opinion: chapters 84-87 should have taken one episode and half (again. The sskk / Fitzgerald fight has the same length and that's the anime screentime it got). And it actually works perfectly, because chapter 87 *needs* to be a cliffhanger at the end of the episode, so they could have easily arrenged the episodes like: all the previous episodes events (chapters 78-83) should have taken two episodes and half, then the remaining half together with the entirety of episode four would have adapted chapters 84-87. As in season 4, the amount of events adapted isn't really the issue (they're almost adapting on panel by panel basis) as much as it is the restless pace that leaves you trying to catch your breath. By making the events adapted so far take 4 episodes they could have easily spaced everything better, include some things that were overlooked (I feel like leaving out Fukuchi's motives was a big loss... Like as an anime only, why is he even doing what he's doing? I know some people have speculated it's for political reasons and I understand the argument, but then again even if they wanted to include it, how could they possibly make it fit)- not to mention, well, maybe have enough time to show the ending and not make it overlap with scenes that have a completely different atmosphere.

I don't know why they're cutting things so short. The pace was a problem with season 4 too, but now in addition to that there was also a massive and evident quality drop to the animation which... Eh. Episode 3 had whole scenes of just static frames which are extremely awkward to see, and a thousand times more so in a supposedly action centered episode. From the very beginning: if one was bitter enough to bring together all the time they spent on the same Akutagawa / Dazai on opposite sides frame in the first flashback sequence they'd get 36 seconds, which is just unacceptable.

I don't get it. Wouldn't it make more sense to make as many episodes / seasons as possible as to have more dvds to sell AND to keep the fans engaged with the franchise for as long as possible? It's not like the manga updates super quickly so they were in a rush to catch up or something. But that can only lead me to one consideration: what was the reason of having two seasons come out in the same year? From my very limited perspective, applying a little common sense, here's a very simplified way to describe how I'd guess things should work: anime company releases a season. The anime season gets the fans invested, so anime company can sell them merch for a while- and that's why you can attest an abundance of merch release simultaneus and following the anime airing. After some time passes, the audience will start losing interest: that's when anime company releases a new season, and the cycle starts over. If anime company releases the seasons with such a small time frame between them, aren't them losing profit? This way anime company basically ends up losing all the potential profit of the first wave of interest that comes after the season that released first. And it's reasonable to guess that, given the unusual amount of it, bsd profits /a lot/ from selling merch, so I don't get it. (And that is neglecting, in a way that is reprehensible on its own, mentioning the negative ethical consequences that releasing one season right after the other has, especially in relation of overworking animators. I was hoping the execution of season 5 was assigned to a new animators team who worked on it in parallel to season 4 but, given the evident drop in quality and overall how unpolished the new season is, I'm afraid one can't afford the luxury to believe that anymore).

Tl;dr: Capitalism ruined the Atsushi “I’m all alone someone come rescue me” scene, which should have had either silence or a gloomy background music, but instead got the ending song because they just don't have space to fit things. I really can't seem to understand why they'd rush the anime release because it doesn't make sense to me from any point you see it. Also justice for chapters 84-87

[no1ryomafan]

now it’s time for no reason at 2 fucking am for me to give my opinions about every mega man series ✨ (again this is my opinion and also my time to expose how much of a fake fucking fan I am in some regards) imma go in chronological release order to my memory.

Classic: I don’t hate it but I’m the only person who doesn’t feel strongly about it. I just can’t get invested into not only the gameplay but any of the robot masters besides a select few-I’m sorry I just don’t see the appeal-I do like the significant characters like rock, roll, blues and bass obviously, and learning about what influenced mega man as a whole made me appreciate it a little more but I don’t advise it as the series people should get into or like they don’t need to play every single game cause it suffers the most from being samey. (Really just play 11, but I also say this as the only classic game I actually finished 💀) Liked the Archie comics though and wish it continued… Tempo was neat.

X: Mixed feelings galore oh booooy. X and Zero shaped me to be the person who I was for ALL the wrong reasons- I still ship XZero I’ll just never admit to it cause if it’s a overrated pair and the fans can be bad, I just love the most basic fucking yaoi pairs. I like a lot of the other characters like Vile, Axl, Iris-for little she gets-etc. Besides that the X series has been tainted for me cause MAN it has the worst fandom out of the series. I’m sorry X fans are so fucking vicious and I don’t know why, I sometimes wonder if you guys like your own series even if I get it’s super flawed. X discussion can get so annoyed at points especially with the crowd of “oh the games after X5 suck so I don’t count them as canon” (yes people like that fucking exist. Ignoring how X6 CHANGE THE SCOPE OF HOW MMZ1 CAME TO BE) X is definitely that series of “interesting ideas but bad execution” wish MHX got to continue cause the first game had potential to fix the story. Also I never beat a single game but I keep telling myself I’ll beat X1 or X4…

Legends: The only series I haven’t played whatsoever BUT I did watch the cutscenes so I’m up to speed on the lore. Really find the lore cool and the characters are charming, it’s just a series that’s hard to talk about cause it’s all “WHERES MEGA MAN LEGENDS 3” and man I get being salty about that sequel being canned and I wish it happened too but can we talk about the actual series… Also Roll Caskett best Roll don’t @ me.

Battle Network: Okay controversial time this is the Mega Man series I give the least fucks about and it’s gonna shock you when you guys see how I feel about Star Force. Idk why but this series just- doesn’t appeal to me. I want to give it a chance, before the LC even came out I got BN5DS but I didn’t like liberation missions so never got passed the first one, and I still never got the LC and heck is the only LC I didn’t get because I’m sorry no matter HOW much you tell me BN good the pricing is not worth it. I couldn’t be bothered to get into the anime or manga too. Idk just mega man but ai seems like a cool idea and I don’t mind it being a rpg it’s cool mega man changed what it was yet still retained its appeal but BN doesn’t do it for me. It might just be because of the designs and characterization honestly.

Zero: Another mixed bag but NOWHERE near as bad as MMX, and this one I did finish! I like a lot aspects of Zero the story telling and the refinements to the gameplay but the reason I can’t be super invested is when people consider it the best part of the franchise when all of the games have a glaring flaw. I love Z1, it’s unironically my favorite but it’s also the most flawed entry, Z2 is overhated but you can also tell this game was rushed, which it was, Z3 is considered the best and it’s good but I think it’s overhyped to shit-X4 has the same issue tbh-it makes good changes but it’s level design threw me off even if it’s more fixed than Z2 and *sigh* Z4 was a necessary ending narratively but I FUCKING HATE EVERYTHING ELSE ABOUT IT. (Don’t make me talk about Z4, very few things make me mad like that game- it only gets some points for making me cry at the ending even when I knew what was going to happen though) Also the fandom opinions about the story aspect of this game makes me not trust anyone LOL. Zero is better written here then mmx and Ciel doesn’t deserve hate don’t @ me! Anyways my favorite asshole here is Harpiua. Basic pick but I just wanna put him in a jar and shake him.

ZX: YIPPPPPIE- Sorry that was the sound of me getting excited about my favorite entry of the series. I love this game- so much it’s unreal. Everything about it I fucking adore. Art style, characters, music, gameplay, THE LORE even if it’s something they didn’t expand on enough I still love the setting of ZX. Biometals are such a cool concept that I can’t be mad at the idea of X and Zero being rocks unlike other people, there’s so much potential with them. I will always be sad ZXC never happened but the games we got are so replayable to me and I go on a monthly replay- yes I have a problem LOL. I don’t really have a favorite between them- I def get why people prefer the first game but advent isn’t that bad you guys just suck. Favorite character is hard I love everyone. (I’m kidding, it’s Prometheus. But I do like everyone)

Star Force: So remember how I said my opinions on this would confuse you about why I don’t care for BN? Yeah it’s because I’m the one mega man fan who isn’t a coward and also fucking ADORES this series LOL. I understand it’s a huge diversion from mega man and BN at least still uses some characters but I think star force not having AU characters is why I like it more- and also I’m biased for aliens LOL. Omega-Xis one of the best characters in this series and you guys fucking sleep on him, love the general cast too though. Star Force 1 is also a game that means a lot to me, the story touch me and made me cry like Z4. Honestly I’d like it more then ZX if it weren’t for the fact I don’t fuck with the gameplay too hard cause I never replayed it and story wise it really peaked at 1. I don’t think star force 2 is as bad as everyone saids but I get why people don’t like it, star force 3 has the X4/Z3 problem: good but still has plenty of flaws. There’s a lot of changes 3 made I didn’t like and while the story was decent there was some missed potential. The ending was really nice though but after how some aspects of 3 turned out I couldn’t give a shit if star force 4 happens, if I’m being honest it’s the one canceled game I’m glad didn’t happen cause I think it could’ve actually ruined the series. (Sorry I don’t fuck with the geo being bad plot, it sounded like ass) Also yes if you ask I DO own all the games physically cause I’m fucking insane lol.

So given like- 3 of series I really finished I can’t really rank them but I just wanted to yap and give my opinion. Maybe one day I’ll try battle network or beat a x game…

[45cementry-gates]

My thoughts on the current ipl points table that absolutely no one asked for :

(part-1)

1. They're the og champions...very chill, very fun vibes.

soo happy to see them on top. They really be feeling like royalty rn lol.

Also in the end, I'm just a girl 🎀💖 some I absolutely adore their jersey.

2. Yaar.... I know Hyderabad is a great team and everything but.... Do you guys have to go this hard?

Other teams come to play a match, this team comes to crack open your morale and bring you to your knees.

Baki teams khel rahi hai, Yeh log toh seedha gunda gardi kar rahe hai Yaar.

Watching Abhishek, our Indian player, a youngster, bat like that feels amazing tho.

3. Kolkata.... Man.

Gautam bhai aaye, and suddenly Sabka Chris Gayle bahar aagya.

I feel like sunil will take both purple and orange caps this year and gambhir bhai has already planned on picking the trophy this year so... Yea.

PS : once gautam bhai is done someone pls convince him to come as ICT's coach.

4. Chennai = 7 letters = thala for a reason.

They're doing great, but their recent performances makes me worried about what will happen to this team when Mahi Bhai retires.

If they don't start taking more responsibility now there's a good chance csk will crash land in the bottom next year. Hope thT doesn't happen tho.

5. LSG, you beauty....

They look like they are a weak team but they've defeated rcb, gt, pbks and...sabse importantly.... CSK.

But their next matches are quite tough too... So we'll see where they end up after 2 - 3 more matches.

The way kl Rahul hits sixes is just beautiful.

6. Mumbai.

I...... Have no idea what mysterious substance this management was on tbh.

If you want to remove someone from the captaincy, there's gotta be a better way to do that so the fans aren't offended and the player also isn't disrespected. Look how kohli left rcb's captaincy for example.

Then, if you wanted to look towards the future, Bumrah and Surya, both who have captained team India and have stayed with the franchise despite having so many opportunities to earn more if they leave should have been considered.

Or they could have just choosen Ishan. Just like csk and gt choose youngsters, Ishan could have been a good option too. Plus He's captained his team during u-19 in 2016.

But no. They choose Hardik.

Tbh, I feel so sorry for him cause in his mind, when MI offered him captaincy and called him back, he would have been happy to go back to his old team...like going back home.

But the sad truth is, MI management saw how successful he was in gt, winning in the first year and then reaching the finals in 2nd year....and it pissed them off that their player is doing well in some other team. So they brought him back.

Despite so much backlash from fans, so much hatred and trolling against Hardik, this shitty management never held one press conference to clear up misunderstandings and give answers to their fans honestly. Because they knew, if the truth comes out, they'll be on the receiving end of this hate.

Fuck them.

The only mistake Hardik did was leaving gt. But... Oh well.

(I ended up ranting lol.)

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s5 ep5: Once Upon a Time

Alternate title: Neelix, Naomi & the Importance of Trigger Warnings. Okay, not really, but that's my biggest takeaway from this ep, tbh.

While I like giving characters with kids scenes with their kids, I'm not a fan of having whole episodes that revolve around kids in Star Trek. Especially with Voyager having so many regular characters, it feels like wasting time we could have spent developing them instead.

Naomi Wildman is certainly cute, and Scarlett Pomers is a good actress, but it is a bit odd to have Naomi aged so much when she's technically only 3 years old at this point, and Scarlett is obviously like, 8-ish. Since Naomi's half Ktarian, it's possible they mature faster than humans, which would explain why she's so grown up when she was born only 3 years ago. But it would have been nice to have a line of dialogue with some character talking about how fast Ktarians mature or something to give it a canon explanation, rather than just seeming like poor continuity.

I think maybe if they gave Naomi a better holodeck program to play in, I might have liked this episode more- Treevis and Flotter both have very creepy makeups that are more uncanny and terrifying than cute and likeable. Whatever happened to like, Winnie the Pooh?? I know, Star Trek couldn't afford the rights to a real beloved children's series, but I can't suspend my disbelief enough to accept that those characters would ever become a beloved children's franchise. And that Flotter doll that Neelix has Harry replicate for Naomi is even creepier! Giving her that thing would give her anxiety rather than comforting her. But tbh I'm surprised she can sleep at all with that creepy red Anubis jackal rocking horse thing in her bedroom- what the heck is that?? The only thing this episode convinced me of is that no one working on Star Trek had any idea what children actually like at all.

Mostly the episode was about Neelix projecting his trauma onto Naomi when they lose contact with the Delta Flyer on an away mission that Ensign Wildman is part of. He doesn't want to tell her her mom might be dead, even though she starts figuring out something is wrong, because he lost his entire family and he's freaking out at the prospect of Naomi going through the same thing. Captain Janeway is sympathetic to him when she realizes that's why he won't tell Naomi what's going on, and has a rather sweet scene where she comforts and reassures him, like the awesome space mom she is. Of course Naomi sneaks onto the bridge and finds out in the worst way, and Neelix has to apologize for not telling her himself and trusting her to handle it. At least Neelix has learned to apologize to people since he dated Kes. Naomi finds a way to revive the fantasy forest in her holostory after a scene where the forest is burned to the ground, which gives Neelix flashbacks to his home planet being destroyed, (and illustrates why stories should always have trigger warnings, which everyone would know in the future, but such are the limitations of a show made in the 90s) and they eventually find and recover the Delta Flyer, with everyone still alive. (I think the scene where Ensign Wildman reunites with Naomi in sickbay at the end of this ep is the only time they were ever in a scene together. I think Naomi ended up being in more episodes than her mom, and it feels like they just don't think mothers are an important part of a small child's life, which is weird and stupid.)

The scenes of the Delta Flyer trapped under the moon surface were frankly more interesting than the Neelix babysitting Naomi stuff- Tuvok has an absolutely wonderful speech where he reassures the injured Ensign Wildman that Naomi will be okay no matter what happens. It's a touching moment from one parent to another, when he tells her he has faith in the people around his children to care for and support them, and that he knows he taught them well enough to be okay in his absence, and that he knows Sam is a good mom who raised Naomi well, and that the Voyager crew will always take care of her if anything happens to Sam. Good space dad Tuvok moments just get to me!! You can say Vulcans aren't emotional, but that man loves his family and his Voyager crewmates so, so much!!!

Scenes where they think they're going to die are always wrenching, and watching them run out of oxygen in the Flyer before they're rescued was certainly tense, but I feel like it didn't really build to a point where they actually seemed like they were going to die before they were rescued, and it lost what could have been a more dramatic moment.

I was also annoyed by the lack of thought put into Tom's farewell letter to B'Elanna during the scene where they literally think they're recording they're final goodbyes to their loved ones. It should have been emotionally devastating, but they just have him be like, 'well, this kinda sucks, but at least I won't be around to annoy you, huh? lol!' I mean, what was that?! He should at least be like, sad! But they gave him nothing in that dialogue for Robbie to even work with to make it more heartfelt. (Saying goodbye to your one true love should be heartbreaking, fyi!) What he thinks are his last words to her are just 'so long'?! Aside from the nonchalance of it, who even talks like that anymore?? Even in the 90s, nobody talked like that, it sounds like a line from a 1950s movie. Sure, Tom loves old timey stuff, but life and death situations aren't the place for that. And he should also have said 'I love you'!!! I never noticed it when I originally watched the show, but now that I'm binge watching them all in succession, I'm truly baffled and pissed off that Tom's not being allowed to say 'I love you' on screen. Why??? He obviously does, and she got to say it. One of my hugest pet in writing in general, but in sci-fi shows especially, is when they won't let male characters say 'I love you' to anyone. It's this weird toxic masculinity thing that so many (usually male) writers have, where they think that it somehow takes away from the heroicness of men to say it, or something. And it's insane because the stories themselves show clearly that they do love people, but there's just some taboo about actuallly saying it. Modern Doctor Who is especially guilty of this, and it drives me up the wall there, and now the same thing is happening here, and it makes me just as crazy. And it's completely nonsensical, given that both Doctor Who and Star Trek are shows specifically about how love is the answer and antidote to all the bad things in the universe, but men still aren't allowed to express that in words??? Writers who do this, you are on my shit list!!!

Tl;dr: An okay episode that had some nice elements, but the B plot was more compelling than the A plot, which kind of suffered for trying to posit what beloved children's literature would look like in the future, while not managing to make it seem like something that would appeal to children at all.

[miss-bluerose]

TDI23 Season 2 ep 13 thoughts and my thoughts on a possible Season 3. Spoilers ahead.

Ep 13: All of the eliminated contestants come back and have chosen which finalists team they want to be on.

Team Caleb: Priya, Millie, Damien, Emma and Nichelle.

Team Wayne: Zee, Raj, Bowie, Axel, Ripper and Chase.

Team Julia: MK.

*Lauren/SG was not allowed to pick a team.*

First, they have use a wagon to pull their team up a mountain while they try to ignore some distractions along the way. Next, they have to cross a tightrope over a deep gorge with water and predators at the bottom while their team arms themselves with t-shirt cannons to attack the other finalists. Lastly, they must run further up the mountain and put on a flying squirrel suit and glide their way to the finish line at the docks to win the grand prize. I liked these challenges but was surprised that all three of them stayed in the fight the whole way through, that's a first for the franchise.

Chris:

Please stop abusing your interns. He says that Julia's new haircut has given her a power up and it feels like that's a reference to something but I have no idea what. Believes that Wayne is out of the challenge and doesn't approve of the hot air balloon that Chef got. Can't believe that Wayne won but seems happy for him I think.

Chef:

"Never skip leg day Caleb" and "Wayne is digging himself a grave" killed me omg. 😂 Got a hot air balloon for Chris and him that has hearts on it lol. Shoves a bag of marshmallows in Ripper's mouth when he complains about there not being any.

Elimination order:

3rd: Julia - Her podcast idea sounds dumb tbh. She only has one team member, LOL. Technically that did help her get to the gorge first but whatever. I laughed when she was knocked off the tightrope by Lauren. Gets knocked off again by Priya and then gets her hair BITTEN OFF by the raptor she insulted in season one. Ends up with a mullet even though the reactions from the others makes it sound like she had lost her whole scalp. Punches the raptor in the face in retaliation. Attacks Caleb while he's trying to cross the gorge and jumps to the other side to finish the tightrope first. Puts on a flying squirrel suit but is scared to jump off the mountain lol. Is physically incapable of playing fair and fights Caleb in the air. His weight and falling through the trees probably should have hurt her somehow but she's perfectly fine of course. 🙄 Continues to fight him while running to the finish line. Is salty about losing and wonders why she didn't win after how she played this time around. What can I say? Karma got you, bitch. 😉😁🖕

16th: Lauren/Scary Girl - Didn't get to choose a team but made up for it by being an absolute 👑Queen👑 by getting a hold of MK's t-shirt cannon and shooting Julia off the tightrope lmfao. 🤣 MK manages to take it back from her and she falls into the water. Lands between the predators and Caleb, then scares them away just by hissing at them, what a beast. 💪 Sings a little bit about Caleb and Julia crashing through the trees lol.

15th: Chase - Was water skiing behind the boat when it hit land causing him to smack into the back of it. 😂 Technically didn't have any of his own dialogue lol.

14th: Millie - Gets hit by a t-shirt she fired that ricocheted off the opposite gorge wall, which is so sad. 😔 She kinda makes up for it by telling MK to not even think about firing her cannon at Caleb when Damien is pointing his at her head.

13th: Emma - Has oneish lines of dialogue, rip. 💀 Still bites her finger nails.

12th: Nichelle - Wants Julia to lose and doesn't offer helpful advice about how to cross a tightrope when Caleb asks.

11th: Bowie - Managed to get Wayne and Raj to forget about the ice cream by shouting a bunch of sports/hockey cliches. It kinda sounds like he's getting a bit tired of Raj's lack of intelligence and honestly, I don't blame him. He did more to help Wayne than Raj did.

10th/9th: Axel/Ripper - They're still together and I laughed when he fell off the boat. She thinks that having friends is a disadvantage and loses faith in Wayne when he gets distracted. She has a pair of binoculars and updates the others on the air battle and when Wayne shows up. He is disappointed that there's no marshmallows this time despite just Priya getting one when she won previously.

8th: Zee - Gets distracted by the pizza which is a little unexpected tbh but still funny. 😆 Should have thrown MK into the water after she fired her cannon at him. Gives a sassy response to Bowie when he said that Wayne needs to spread out his arm flaps to avoid getting hurt. 😂

7th: MK - Is terrible at encouraging her teammate lol, I guess old habits die hard. Let Lauren hold her cannon and it immediately backfired lol. Actually managed to take it back from her later though. Fires at the other helpers and then gets pelted herself. 😂 Tries to comfort Julia about her ugly new haircut and isn't very good at it. Fired a t-shirt at Zee for no reason. Replies sarcastically when Julia is confused about why she didn't win.

6th: Damien - Still salty about his immunity idol being stolen which is great to see. Points his cannon at the back of MK's head with an angry look on his face. 😈

5th: Raj - Tried to get Wayne to forget about the ice cream but he falls victim to it too lol. Seems to have lost some more IQ points since his elimination. Isn't much help to Wayne throughout the finale.

4th: Priya - It bugs me how she's not supporting Caleb in the right way. She reminds me of a certain horrendous contestant from RR who constantly put down her partner when he wasn't doing well in a challenge, though not quite as bad as her. Stays with Caleb despite him not winning.

2nd: Caleb - $1 to 1,000,000 charities, bro wtf. 😆 It's sad how his team is just supporting him because they think he has the better chance of beating Julia and don't care if he actually wins. 😔 Is very top heavy and struggles with the tightrope, falling off on his own instead of being knocked off. Gets knocked off again by Wayne's helpers. Makes it across the tightrope and catches up to Julia who finally jumps after he arrives. Instead of letting her fall to her death, he gives her advice on how to glide properly and she repays him by attacking him. They continue to fight in the air until he tackles her and they fall through the trees. Falls for her fake pain routine once but is still able to keep up with her. Feels bad that he lost but recovers quickly after Priya kisses him.

Winner 🏆

1st: Wayne - Likes the canoe the money is in and forgot about the grand prize somehow lol. It's sweet how his team's support for him is genuine. 👍 Is struggling with pulling his team, then gets distracted by the pizza bar and then the ice cream bar. Finally makes it to the gorge but instead of being knocked off by Caleb's team, he's knocked off by Raj, who thought that he would want a free t-shirt. 🤦 On his seventh try he decides to pole vault across the gorge but falls short and lands crotch-first on the tightrope that launches him high into the air and out of sight. Somehow, he landed where the flying squirrel suits are and is back in the race. "Desperate times call for bad ideas", so he decides to put his arms at his sides and gain incredible speed at the risk of getting hurt. His dangerous plan paid off and he won the final challenge! 🥳🎉👏 "Can I keep the canoe?!" 😂 Apparently he's going to buy a new bus for the Snow Owls and put some money away for college or buy a second bus so the team can get to places twice as fast which is not how it works lol.

What a season! It's not perfect but it's not the worst one either in my opinion. I'm not sure if I like it more than the first reboot season or not. The challenges were mostly great and there were many funny moments. I'm happy about the winner and kinda glad that no one can be a finalist twice. Btw, I put Caleb 2nd and Julia 3rd because he looked closer to the target to me and he could have held his arm out to block her from getting to the finish line I think. If there is more Total Drama down the line, I won't use this format to talk about the episodes anymore, it's way too much work. Anyways, on with my thoughts about a possible season three of the reboot!

Reboot Season 3 Thoughts/Hopes

- JULIA HAS TO BE THE FIRST BOOT! After everything she's done there's no way anyone other than MK would trust her and I think her reaction would be priceless.

- Nichelle and Lauren are the only ones from this gen to never make the merge so they could go far and Lauren should be the main villain for sure.

- I'd love to see Zee and Damien go far and for Zee to not get a BS elimination for once.

- Priya, Caleb and Wayne should probably go early.

- It's not something I want to see but in the finale, it kinda looked like there's some angst brewing between Raj and Bowie, so that could be a plot point in the next season.

- Emma and Bowie should rekindle their friendship, it was weird that they never interacted in season 2.

- Axel and Ripper should be on separate teams, I liked that she was a bit nicer at the start of the season but it seemed like she went back to being harsh after she got together with Ripper. Some space apart should allow her to keep improving, I'm not sure about him though.

- Millie needs to train between seasons if she wants to stay in the game longer without Priya guiding her.

- I have no idea what MK could do in another season, she's not well liked by the others and seems too lazy to train tbh.

- Chase has nothing else to offer except a short-lived villain arc I think.

- Chris still being the family friendly version of Jigsaw and Chef still caring about the contestants wellbeing while they both keep dropping some truly hilarious and savage burns.

- I like the island and genuinely believe that there could be more of it to discover that we haven't seen yet. Possible examples include: a field of flowers, a pond that no dangerous animals live in, a portion of forest where the treetops are so thick that it's mostly dark even in the daytime with only a little bit of sunlight shining through, etc.

- The cookie challenge from Squid Game would be great to see and a corn maze.

That's all for now! If I think of more ideas then I might edit this post. Thanks for reading and don't forget to watch season 2 when it comes to your country. Viewership might decide if more Total Drama gets made or not. Until next time! 😄

[etherealspacejelly]

sorry if you've already answered these questions but I've decided to start watching Star Trek and/or Doctor Who and I was wondering if you had any suggestions or anything. Like with Star Trek I know to start with the TOS cuz that's what you always recommend, but considering it's the original series and there are other series I'm guessing it isn't making new episodes any more, so do you have any advise for what to do if I end up loving TOS and finish it? And how important is it to watch TOS in order? And is there anything I should be warned about first(whether it's content/trigger warnings, specific episodes I should avoid, or anything else)? And for Doctor Who, considering it's had 15(or 16, can't remember if the newest doctor is the 15th or replaced the 15th) main characters I'm guessing it's a pretty long show, so should I start with a later doctor or is it important for me to start from the beginning? And returning to Star Trek cuz fuck normal orders, do you have any suggestions for Star Trek stuff to watch if I like specific aspects of TOS but not all of it?

ok so uh. with star trek i have only seen TOS. im really not the best person to ask about watch order. TOS only has 3 seasons, and they're all about 20 episodes. i would recommend starting at the beginning and watching all of it!! there wasnt really any episode that i didnt enjoy tbh. you dont have to watch it in order ig? the episodes dont really connect in any meaningful way except for the menagerie part one and two. but idk why you would want to watch it out of order?

in terms of content warnings. it is a show from the 60s so there can be some questionable stuff in there (mainly casual misogyny), but for the most part they actually do pretty ok!! the main one that sticks out to me is the episode Miri, in which Kirk (man in his 30s) kinda flirts with this girl Miri and encourages her crush on him (she's chronologically 100s of years old but mentally and physically like. 12.). theres also The Enemy Within where kirks evil clone assaults a woman, but she does fight him off before he actually does anything.

with doctor who, yes there are 15 versions of the doctor. however, there are technically 3 different 'season one's. theres the og season one that aired back in 1963, i would not recommend starting there on a first watch lmao. theres also the current 'season one' that is airing right now! but i dont think it actually makes for a good place to join as a new viewer. they dont do a very good job of introducing the character of the doctor to someone unfamiliar with the franchise, and the lore is just kinda. dumped on you.

i would recommend starting with the middle 'season one', the one that aired in 2005 when the show rebooted after being off the air for about a decade. it was made to be a place for new fans to join, and did a much better job of it than the current season, in my opinion. up until very recently, i had only seen seasons that aired after the reboot in 2005, and so have many other fans my age, so you wont be confused at all if you start there. (also, 9 is a great doctor, and absolutely worth watching!)

if you watch TOS and enjoy it, i think most people recommend watching The Next Generation next, but i have also heard that Deep Space 9 is good? idk, like i said ive only seen TOS so far, but i love it and am obsessed with it lmao.

hope that helps?

[papirouge]

sorry for the Tekken sperging

if you want to have an idea of how much japanese game developer hate women, just look into Tekken tbh

there is no female character beyond 25 years old

since there's been a 15 years old gap between Tekken 2 and Tekken 3, and while ALL the male characters who were in Tekken were allowed to get old (Heihachi, Lei, the Laws (father & son), Kazuya, etc.) AND still got included in the next games, the female ones didn't 🙃

Michelle Chang? she got a replaced by her "daughter" Julia in Tekken 3. The William sisters got cryogenized for all this time so they biologically didn't age. And now they're basically doing the same for the next opus by bringing back Kunimitsu....through her lookalike daughter (same mask and all) ??? wtf is this?? that daughter doesn't even have the same swag as Kuni. That Kunimitsu #2 looks like a cute anime girl, when Kunimitsu was that mysterious morally ambiguous ninja thief, like- HELLO??

glo down of the millenium tbh. rEAL KUNI WHOULD NEVER SHOW HER FACE!!!! Tekken hasnt got a decent/original character since Tekken 6 anyway.

Oh and they killed Jun after Tekken 2 (that may or may not be back from the dead somehow, but ofc won't be old cause she DIED AT A YOUNG AGE WHEN JIN WAS STILL A CHILD !!!! so probably her reincarnation, ghost or some random nonsensical shit like that)

And let's not talk about Julia tragic makeover between Tekken 6 and 7 and became a whole different person : she went from a caring, environment defender Native American to....a hyperconnected bimbo'ish geek?? ...all of this was to cater to scrotes ofc bc OG Julia wasn't really sexy to begin with (kinda horse girl'ish - she was the -less sexy- equivalent of Hitomi in the DOA franchise imo). Her character was more serious and had so much substance than she does now...

I also HATE how there's a gag overkill in the serie (esp the Mishima e.g their endings in Tekken Tag 2 aaaaaand IDC if the TTT games are not canon, stop trying to make this dysfunctional family where everyone wants to kill each other look like a comedy skit EVERYTIME, it's getting old)

CANT WE HAVE SOME SERIOUS RELEVANT CHARACTERS WHO ACTUALLY MAKE THE PLOT MOVE FORWARD??

Tekken story plot went down the toilet after Tekken 5 anyway, and the overall chara design tanked big time after Tekken 4 (exception for Dragunov who was truly a novelty I'm always a sucker for mute characters and Lars who's my haafu husbando). My biggest Tekken crush has always been Hwoarang and they made him unrecognizable lately (he was perfect in Tekken 5)

But yeah, Tekken hates women, has become shit, and it bums me out so bad bc that's basically my first video game, and the storyline/lore used to be so good (Tekken 3 had the best plot!!! Heihachi shooting Jin -his own grandson- with a bullet in the head in his ending got 9 years old me SHOOK. Ogre was sooo creepy, his Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ending is legit nightmare fuel)

I mean, even Dead or Alive that is infamous for catering to scrotes has a more attractive male roaster at this point (Hayate <3). They also did a brilliant chara design overhaul for DOA6 that made the characters so much prettier and is actually consistent and done tastefully.

Because yeah, what shocks me the most is how SHITTY Tekken chara design has become. It peaked with Tekken 4 (Jin Kazama tracksuit will forever be iconic dont @ me) but it's now such a convoluted tacky mess. Characters don't even have their own style anymore. Lars has the same tacky outfits as King (who's a luchador!!!). Also : WHY HAS HE BECOME SO BUFF??? Did he take the same steroids as Chris Redfield?? He was so hot in Tekken 6... WASTE!

They should take a few pages from Team Ninja who knows how to make shit done when it comes to rework characters aesthetic. Look at this work of art

[lowkeyclueless5137]

ooooh, What about a sonic the hedgehog AU for twst :D. Can Idia and Ortho be the main stars again?

Hmmm... Let's see...

Sonic is a very wide franchise. I do enjoy Sonic, I like to mindlessly watch gameplay of the games, but I really didn't see every single sonic piece of lore. I am very lacking in the og lore, reboot lore and any kind of sonic deep lore tbh.

What I do know a bit better than others(like I just have a general idea at best) tho... Are 3 Sonic games: the black knight, secret rings and unleashed. Along with the 2 live action movies... I guess I have a pretty solid material to work with! Look at it!

*slaps roof of material*

*material crumbles apart*

:'3 yep... Pretty solid

We are starting with a distant planet, one full of lush green forests and aincent temples.

In here we meet Mrs Shroud, who is living in a modest tree house alongside her 2 sons. Idia, a 9-10 years old and Ortho, a newborn, who is yet to comprehend anything about this new world.

Idia was a quite curious child. He always asked his mama all kinds of questions, such as: where's papa? Why can't I go outside without covering my hair? Why do my teeth look wierd? Those were very VERY common questions. Unfortunately, all 3 would be always answered with 'when you get older, you'll find out'.

Their house was isolated from any other villages and other people that inhabited the land. Doesn't mean that Idia didn't see them. He would go after his mom to help her sometimes, so he saw the vibrant hair colors, the sparkly eyes and all the marks on one's skin, marks that would glow when those people would perform supranatural feats. He saw people flying, running fast, punching holes in stones and many more. The catch was that only 1 superpower was per person. And they seem to be awakened after a special ritual, which Idia always saw be made by the end of summer.

Idia once asked his mama why he doesn't have marks like the rest. Even his mother had some marks, although they seemed faint and weak. He never saw his mom ever use them. He didn't know what his mama's special power even was.

One day, Idia was watching over his little brother at home, mostly checking on the cradle and making sure Ortho is sleeping nicely and doesn't stirr around. Their mother was supposed to come back from the village with the usual errands.

Except that the 2's mother returns in a hurry, with an arrow plunged in her left arm. Idia, of course was absolutely horrified, but his mother tells him that he has to take his brother and leave. She hastily gives him a map and a pouch with golden rings, telling him that whatever he does, he must not be discovered, she tells him to look over Ortho and prevent anyone from finding out the truth about the Shrouds and their fire hair.

Idia begs for his mother to come with him and Ortho, but Mrs Shroud says that she can't, that she would only weight Idia down, just how she weighted her husband down to the point people discovered why they should fear the Shrouds. All she wished was for her 2 sons to find a peaceful life on earth.

It was a very first time that Idia heard about his father, but he had not much time to even sink in the info that he had to run with Ortho in his arms, finding themselves on earth. Only with a flimsy piece of paper that was useless, a pouch of interplanetary portals in the form of small golden rings and nothing else but their clothes and each other.

Idia and Ortho found, thankfully, their way to a small city. More on point: at a house of an old lady that was blind. She had a service dog and as such she couldn't see the flaming blue hair of Idia, taking him and his baby brother. She told the 2 about stories of her children that were living out of the country and didn't visit in a while.

Those children never once came to visit from what Idia realised over the years he came to stay in there. The old woman knew how to braid and would usually braid Idia's hair in a tight bun or something that could make the flaming hair be easier to cover up.

But when Ortho was around 7-8, the old woman died. Her time did come in the end, but the 2 brothers still cried at the funeral. Surprisingly, that's also when the said children of the woman showed up. Idia thought all that time that they were dead too or something, but no... They were all healthy and well off.

Even more surprising was when the testament was read, in which the old woman leaved all of her valuables, belongings and house to none other than Idia, the one who for the past 7-8 years was trying his best to both raise his little brother and also take care of the old woman. Idia was 18, therefore he was deemed the legal guardian of Ortho and had all the rights to inherit everything in the testament, much to the surprise of the other relatives, since they knew that the old woman had some valuables that make up for a fortune alone.

As such, past that, Ortho is 15 when Idia realises that his little brother couldn't be home schooled anymore. Idia himself worked a lot to get into an university, a lot of paperwork, a lot of exams and situations until he was allowed to study from home. This is also how he started his job in Graphic design and assets programming. He was working from home, for the sole reason that he had to both work his job and also play teacher for the sake of his brother.

Of course, Ortho grew up to be just like how Idia used to when he was 8: curious, energetic and always happy for the little things he discovers. Unlike Idia, who still had his hair long, Ortho had his in an undercut even, mostly since it was easier to hide with a beanie. Idia was very skeptical of leaving his brother to go to the high-school, but it had to be done. Many in the town never knew Idia's actual upbringing before he was basically adopted by the old lady, so he enrolled in college without much suspicion, but the town knew that Ortho is of age. Middle school, sure... He could be homeschooled, but not high-school. That would raise questions.

Idia tho, still kept the old woman's car. That probably belonged to her husband, but still with some repairs and upgrades, it was just like new, maybe even better. As such, Idia decided to drive Ortho to school.

The rules are the same as ever: don't show your hair, hide anything that may seem wierd, if anyone asks about parents, dodge the question and move on. Also don't get into trouble.

Ortho also asked why he has to wear long sleeves, even at PE, to which Idia reassures that it's just in case of anything, which puzzles his younger brother even more.

Idia also wore a lot of long sleeves, which Ortho found it curious, since he was aware that his brother had a bunch of tattoos. He never knew when Idia got them, but he always thought those were really cool.

First day in and already Idia is called to the school. :'3

Apparently Ortho got in an argument with Epel, his deskmate, which immediately escalated in a fight. Thankfully, no one got hurt as a teach broke them in time. Still, Ortho had a bruise on his cheek and Epel had his eye swollen. Additionally, Deuce, Ace, Sebek and Jack were there because they intervented and made it worse. Weather it was on accident or not, it wasn't important.

Idia of course arrives first. Mrs Spade called, saying she couldn't come in time, Mrs and Mr Trappola couldn't come, but Alex will go. For Jack his mom showed up, for Sebek his dad and for Epel his grandma.

Ortho also noted how Alex and Idia seem to be the same age and something is going on in between the 2. Sum kind of rivalry that Ortho never saw up until now. Ace did mention how his big brother was a passionate conspiracy theorist so Ortho concluded that it had to do something as to why both had a glaring war in between them.

Idia also was particularly giving sum business vibes by how he dressed, to the point the other kids thought he was either sum young business mogul or a mafia man. He was also much colder than Ortho knew him.

Of course, the 5 in question did have to address their unresolved tension, while their guardians were also arguing in the office, but ya know... Like adults. :'3

Of course, Idia and Alex are the first ones who get out, both clearly more than ready to take a jab at each other. Especially how the 'Holesti Ghost' is still kicking. Idia instead replies with 'how's the salary kicking at the donut shop?', which it's a pretty hard hit.

Ortho is confused, but apparently everyone in the town knew that Idia and Alex went to the same college. It was a pretty small town after all and everyone knew pretty much everyone.

Well except Ortho.

Idia, of course, is trying to keep sum sense of actual calm, as to not look like an absolute hypocrite after telling the kids to not fight in between them.

That ride home was one silent one for Ortho. Once home, he does inquire why Idia is so secretive. It's his first time when he gets outside fully, interacts with other people and all he's meet with is secrets that all dial back to Idia. Just how much did Idia truly hide from him?

That's also when Idia snaps, since Ortho keeps pressing on it. His hair flares up in bright orange hair and electricity around the house starts malfunctioning and a serious blackout occurs. Ortho is absolutely horrified, while Idia realises what he just did, so he firstly tries to calm down his brother before he finally puts down Ortho to have the ✨talk✨.

Idia tells his little brother that their real name was Shroud, that both descended from another planet. They had to run away in order to survive. Their mother sacrificed herself for their sake. Idia tells Ortho that at one point, marks would appear on his body, sign that his powers are finally ready to be used. Idia had his in the spur of the moment and since then they grow. Of course, everything has to be a secret, otherwise who knows what would happen to them. They might have to flee to another planet altogether.

Ortho wants to ask why, but Idia tells him that he also has no idea. His only lead was the flimsy map he hid in the attic, but even with that, Idia had no idea what they would be searching for? Answers? A tool? A weapon? Who knows?

With the new knowledge, it daunts onto Ortho literally everything. How every aspect of his life was absolutely unnatural because of that need to hide and survive.

This made high-school even harder to go through with the new anxiety over literally everything. :'3

PE does have to play an important role, because that's also when Ortho discovers that he can go super fast. And not just faster than a normal kid. Faster than a car even. The teens did not give it much thought and even the sports teach wasn't thinking too much into it, but Ortho realised something was up, so he excused himself to the bathroom.

Low and behold! The marks started to appear. And Ortho was more than horrified since they appeared, just like Idia warned him. And it wasn't something that easy, it was goddamn super speed. He could make a run of the sports field in a second, maybe even less!

Ortho wanted to call his brother, to take him early, but after PE he only had history and it would be less suspicious if he simply stood that class and then go home. What the worse that could happen?

The worse indeed happens when it gets announced that sum military investigation is going on. Something about the blackouts that seemed to not happen only in their city, but in the whole region. At one point it happened spontaneously in the whole continent, although for a few secs, that was something to raise suspicions.

So it took a while until they got on board a 'genius' scientist to lead the investigation. Rumors did go around that towns or villages in the vicinity were scouted as well, so now it was their turn.

And Ortho was downright horrified of this. It doesn't help that for today, his math class was cancelled for the sole reason that the kids could also be examinated in case of anything. Oh he was so scared, he was basically shaking off his feet.

A note on this whole mess wast that several weeks passed and during those weeks, Ortho actually got along with Epel, Adeuce, Jack and Sebek. They had their own lil group and it was great overall.

As such, the 5 in question noticed Ortho's state and asked if he was alright. Yeah, sure, everything is alright if you count off that his hair is literally blue fire, he is currently having tattoos spreading on his body and that apparently he can run faster than an F1 car. Sure those are minor details... Right?

Of course, his turn comes to the lil examination, which Ortho absolutely dreaded. His friends all went before him, in fact, everyone went before him, and he was the last. Jack tried to reassure that it's a simple thing and won't hurt at all, while Ace and Epel in the bg are dramatically crying about how they were cut open and stitched back up via super hi-tech lasers and what not.

Surprisingly, he passed. These bitches did not realise he was an odd one, but he was absolutely glad about it.

Although Ortho notices that the head of the investigation, that 'genius' scientist has sum holograms that depict runes and photos of ruins. Ortho thought those were familiar, that he saw them somewhere.

When he comes back home, Idia is obviously waiting for him. Apparently the adults went first before the kids, so Idia also passed by quick.

And that's when Ortho noticed that the marks on his big brother's arm were similar to the signs he thought were runes on the reports he saw around. And he did bring it up to Idia, on how his marks are actually engraved on sum temples and shit and that's what the special forces are looking for.

Idia, rightfully, is taken aback by this, but his worry is more when Ortho also tells him about his special power and the marks that did spread over his own body. They were faith and already were fading away quickly, but the more it's used, the more the marks become permanent and spread.

Idia also reveals his special power: electricity manipulation. This is why he caused that blackout when he got mad. His powers got out of control at that moment.

But Ortho insists that maybe those temples and aincent engravings could be the answer Idia's looking for. The answer to why they are like this. Idia tho, says that for now, they shouldn't pursue anything. He searches in the attic and finds his old pouch with rings and the map in question. Idia gives half of the rings to Ortho, teaching him how to use those and telling him that only in emergency cases he should use them. He had to picture clearly where he wants to go first of all. Idia would forge a PE pass for his brother, so they won't have a worry over it.

That night, Ortho also couldn't sleep and Idia was more than welcoming for a bedtime story and sum cuddling under the blankets.

But, next day at school, there is again an inspection, which apparently it's because of the fact that the wierd energy was repered to be around this small city, as such, another more through investigation had to commence.

And this time, everyone is put in an line at the end and told to hold something. From what it was whispered around, it was a small piece of rock, a brick with engravings if one was to say. It was a bit heavy, but not as heavy as a couple of grapes. Ortho had 0 idea what this meant and he was scared for life. He was absolutely glad he had foundation on him to quickly cover the marks for the through investigation, but now his anxiety got the best of him, not knowing why he has to hold a goddamn brick of all things.

Until it reaches in his hands and the brick starts shaking. Scared, Ortho passes it off to the next one, Jack, but that doesn't stop the brick from shaking, it goes even worse. So it gets passed to Sebek, it starts glowing, Epel got scared when it started cracking, Deuce already had it starting to crumble apart and Ace found himself with a bunch of crumbles of the brick and a pretty lil purple gem in his hands.

Oh they were screwed. So fucking screwed. :'3

Cue running away from the military and Ortho using in the spur of the moment one of the rings in order for all 6 to escape through it.

They ended up in Siberia. In fucking Siberia! It was cold, they were buried in snow and Ace had his pants caught in a pine tree.

They are all 6 scared and try to make their way through, until they find a quite cozy looking house. It was apparently an inn, so it wasn't wierd to have 6 guys completely decked out in snow to come in.

Thankfully Sebek knows sum Russian so he could ask for them to just be let to stay for a bit. And now, all 6 at a smol table in the corner, they are eyeing Ortho. Ace still had that purple gem and none of them knew what the hell that was. It was pretty? Yes. But what is its purpose? Why was it in a magic brick? And why tf did the brick shake so much? What does the military even want with them???

Ortho does start to explain what Idia told him. They are aliens and it seems that they go under hiding because there is something inside of them, some sort of power that people are afraid of and would kill them to ensure that it never comes to light. Ortho was downright terrified and all he wanted was to call his big brother and at least make sure he is alright too. Now Ortho's friends were dragged in because of him being stupid and passing the brick around. He couldn't blame anyone but himself.

Deuce is the voice of reason this time, reassuring that Ortho shouldn't apologise for what already was done and over. They need to just get out of this situation. They have a wierd gem and that would be it. They are absolutely not ready to die or be dissected by the government since apparently they put targets on all of their backs.

Jack is the ACTUAL voice of reason and says that maybe they should go somewhere warmer, because they cannot stay in this snow paradise without freezing to death. Ace suggests Hawaii, just because why not? Free trip to Hawaii I guess. :3

So with an excuse that they will go to the bathroom, they use one of the rings in there and find themselves in Hawaii. Epel took the gem from Ace and wrapped it in a handkerchief, putting it in his pocket in case of anything. They just need to find a goddamn public phone and call Idia, in case the government tracks their phones as well.

Idia, of course responds and immediately nags Ortho because 'WHY THE FUCK DID YOU GO TO SIBERIA OF ALL PLACES?!'. He panicked, alright? Idia tho, was also in hiding so he didn't have much time to talk. Neither did the Bois have coins to keep the discussion longer.

In frustration, Epel punches the bottom of the telephone, which immediately makes a hole from which coins pour out. Absolutely terrified at this, everyone realises that the gem is glowing slightly. That because of the gem, Epel had some sort of super strength.

But they got free money at least. :'D

Idia gave to them a location to meet up, in Hawaii so that they won't have to use the rings willy-nilly and end up in the middle of the ocean or something.

Idia himself looked a bit dishevelled, but he had a similar gem, but green. Apparently these 2 were taken from 2 different temples, but even so, they were 7 in total, as per sum aincent manuscripts that retell how 'celestial beings' came from nowhere and built 7 temples in order to hide those gems.

Idia made sum proper research onto this. Ya know, hack into the top secret files, violate some laws of digital security, the usual. :3

But Idia tells them that there is a catch, that the gems, or as they were named, chaos emeralds, can be used to obtain power beyond imagination. To birth gods at that. Idia also did some digging since yesterday to the lead of this investigation and knows that Crowley, the said genius's record, isn't that clean. The government got him in lead because it was their easiest choice: erase some things of his record and they are all gud.

The first years group concludes 1 thing: they have to go after the rest of the emeralds and find them before Crowley does. Currently Crowley uses the discovery of the Shrouds's true nature as a plausible excuse to hunt them down. If the gems reacted to them, it meant that they could find the others.

Of course, Idia also clears it out that Adeuce, Epel, Jack and Sebek cannot go back, for they would be hunted down by the special forces. So they will have to stick together.

At least they have a pouch of stolen coins. :3

Using the map, Idia manages to activate it via his powers, revealing 6 locations all in different colors. Idia says that the green and purple sparks have to be the temples where the green and purple chaos emeralds were initially hidden. The closest to them was the red one.

Idia also insists that the emeralds should be kept separated, so the green one gets handed to Sebek. If he happens to unlock sum new cool power, good for him I guess. Epel is pretty hyped up about his super strength. :3

Cue a lot of shenanigans and chasing around. Crowley keeps getting on their trail and with all the machinery and everything, we are talking about 6 teens and a 25 years old all trying to survive and race to find all the emeralds before Crowley does. Well... It's easy to say race when Ortho has that super speed. And on the way, the other emeralds allowed the rest of the first years to also gave cool new powers, but only when they had them on their person.

Sebek had electricity manipulation

Deuce had water manipulation due to the blue gem, while Ace fire due to the red one.

And Jack had the yellow emerald, which granted him the ability to make plants grow. Ace laughed at that so much until Jack threw him in the air with a tree.

So far, they were missing 2: the torquoise and white one. And Crowley, much to their dismay, has the torquoise one. The white one was the last and as such either way they had to keep the other emeralds safe, not risk it for one.

Cue heading towards the white emerald, but crow man manages to get in their way, catching Idia. Of course, Ortho wanted to save his brother, but Idia denies him of that, his last words being to find that goddamn emerald and hide it from Crowley.

So while our group goes on to the biggest and most booby-trapped temple of all, Idia is held hostage by Crowley, who realises that the emerald does react to Idia. It's a very wierd reaction, volatile at that, but it's one that Idia himself feared and actively tried to avoid it. When he got too close to it, his marks would glow and skin would start to crack up, which was an unseen reaction.

Crowley realises that Idia knew something else about the emeralds. Not only that they can grant immense power to someone. And with that, Crowley gets himself a nice lil experiment to conduct with a brand new subject.

Cue a bigger race for the last emerald. Our group had 5 while crow man had 1 and also Idia.

The Very epic fight is up to the imagination of everyone, just imagine a lot of boom and pows and cool af poses. :v

In the end, Ortho is given an ultimatum: the emeralds or his brother gets it. Idia himself begged the group not to do it, but the rest were on Ortho's side and even encouraged to save Idia over the emeralds.

Of course, that's also when the big betrayal occurs. Ya know, the military holds hostages the first years, while Crowley double backstabs and uses the emeralds on Idia, who seemed now to bring him immense pain. The ground stated to shake and the whole temple was becoming rumbles, so everyone had to flee, leaving Idia alone, there to be killed by the crumbling of the temple. Our first years were devastated, while Ortho was the most affected out of all, crying his eyes out and accusing Crowley of killing his brother. The grief was turned into rage, but already Ortho was holded up with special cuffs, which were made by Crowley when he had Idia as a hostage. Of course, the other first years were huddling closer, trying to comfort each other and hope that they won't be killed.

Except that the earth shaking didn't stop, as something rose up from under all that rubble. Something big and very angry. It was a being that seemed to be made out of pure magma and stone, with long fire hair as it stretched out. In the middle of it's supposed to be chest was a soft colorful glow, clearly the emeralds.

That was Idia. And unfortunately, Idia was very angry at Crowley. But crow man warns him that if he tries anything, he can immediately give the order to shoot all the kids up. The soldiers in question put hesitantly guns to the kids's heads and that seemed to make Idia hesitate, deciding to demand to leave the kids alone. Crowley tho, insists that Idia has to give out the chaos emeralds if he wants the kids to at least be alive by the end of this.

While this exchange occurs, Ortho the solider from behind Ortho undoes his shackles. It's revealed to be Alex, Ace's big brother, who apparently is working as a secret agent. This reached a new level of messed up and while Alex had strict orders to listen to Crowley, he couldn't put a gun to his brother or his friends's heads.

With this, the first years manage to free themselves and cause a commotion enough to distract everyone, including Idia.

Well, everyone except crow man, who used Idia's distraction moment to aim at him a device, which forcefully took the emeralds out. This did not revert Idia to his original form, it weakened him, yes, but he still was a gigantic creature that currently tried to get back his footing. He fails tho, falling unconscious.

Meanwhile, Crowley, now empowered with the emeralds, is reeking havoc and again double crosses, but this time the government, by starting to attack the military and abusing of his absolute power. In his delight, he wants to start first with the first years, who were the menaces that kept annoying him.

Cue epic 1-1 in between Ortho, who only had his super speed, and Crowley with God powers. The gimmick in here is that Ortho is aiming for the emeralds. And when he gets one, he gives it to one of the rest of the first years, thus putting in game more players.

In the end, the last 2 emeralds are kept by Ortho. And using 1 ring to the mushroom planet, the 6 of them throw Crow man in there.

After that, Ortho goes to his big brother. Idia gained back a sense of consciousness, but he was still weak and the only thing he could do is leave out huge tears that became steam immediately, as he saw his little brother, giving to him to of the emeralds. By now, Ortho's body marks were fully developed and proeminent and Idia ws proud of his little brother. With 2 out of the 7 emeralds, Idia does gain enough power to raise on his knees at least, holding Ortho in his palms. Ortho himself was bearly half of his big brother's thumb now and Idia carefully holded him, telling him how happy he is that Ortho was alright.

We also get Ortho hugging his big brother's cheek and saying that he only wants everything to be back like usual. He wants back to the normal school days, to coming home and being just happy in general, with the only care being his homework and the upcoming tests.

And that's also when the other first years manage to also climb on Idia's hands, all wanting to give up their emeralds to Idia, but the latter refuses, saying that in a bit of time, he won't need any of the emeralds to sustain this form, for he takes his power from the core of the earth itself. That was why the Shrouds were so feared. When they awakened to their full power, they take out from the core of the planet they are on, thus able to control it to greater lengths than anyone could. The chaos emeralds were simply a method of defeating a Shroud and keeping them grounded from going mad with power.

Alas, there was still the fucking government to take matters with. Idia does manage to return voluntary to his human form and as such, he offers an agreement: Act like nothing happened, leave him and the first years to live peacefully back in their home city and in turn, they won't cause any trouble, unless some other planet threats occur. It was either that or Idia just smashing through the soldiers like warm butter so you guess that it wasn't merely an agreement.

And things went back to normal! :3

Except that now Ortho is allowed to not hide his hair and marks anymore. The first years are pretty known now through the high-school as 'the guys who fought an evil science man and the fucking government with cool-ass superpowers'.

At least they get a good PE grade :3

[butididnottried]

So, Linda Hamilton is going to be in fifth “Stranger Things” season. As awesome as it is, Duffers said they’re noy going to introduce any new character in the last season.

Firstly, maybe they fuckin lied. They don’t know what they’re doing. They didn’t have a plot. They have a plot but changed it because they got a chance to get an icon in their show. They’re weak, they’re gonna use some supreme nostalgia baiting with her, thus worsening the writing of the show because hey, who cares, look, Linda Hamilton is here doing amazing things. Isn’t she badass? I’m pretty sure that they’re fully able to write a good, strong warrior woman, yes, absolutely.

Seconldy, maybe they told truth and shes gonna play someone who we already know. But whooo? They absolutely are not going to replace someone else with her.

So, thirdly, Suffers are having a hard on on referencing popculture, they’re having a weird relationship with doing that - it’s not that good and rather shallow, it’s just to show that they know things and that they’re nerds, one of those - now - cool ones. It’s kinda like dangling keys in front on an infant. Linda Hamilton is most famous for “The Terminator” franchise, one of the most know stories about time travel. They absolutely are not gonna stop themselves before referencing it in most obvious ways (which, referencing something is not a bad thing just in itself). And after “Back to the Future” being in season 3 there were many theories about how theres gonna be time travel in the next one. But now, that Duffers have miss Linda Hamilton herself, star of one of The Time Travel franchises, they’re gonna be SMART and META about it, because ofcourse.

So fucking fourthly, she’s gonna play adult El (Max?*) from the future. She’s gonna go back in time and help those dumb kids. Or maybe from alternate timeline, but still from the future. Or fuck that, even maybe Els and Mikes daughter, also with powers. New character, but oh, they’re gonna have a badass kid, people are gonna be so emotionally moved because mileven is amazing blah blah. Or maybe there’s gonna be just time jump in the last episode and she’s gonna play grown up El for like five minutes. OR MAYBE even Nancy or Holly, just to be unexpected.

Fifthly? Nah, they just lied about no new characters because money. Like, i know that during writing a story many things can change, maybe they really felt like adding someone new because of how they advanced the plot. But, tbh, it’s the last season, they should restrain themselves, keep the plot thight and focus on character that they have and writing them good, and not wasting time at introducing someone fully new.

Like, i have no faith in this. I’m expecting an trainwreck and gonna enjoy this dumpsterfire. Unless it’s gonna be really bad, in a way that’s not enjoyable.

P.S. Or maybe miss Hamilton is going to have a really minor role, but they started cashing on her and make noise around the show and keep expectations and insinuations high, only to absolutely not deliver, lol.

* i’m not so sure if they’re gonna really kill Max. People we’re pretty upset because of how cruel her character was treated at the end of season 4, so Duffers can change their minds becuase oh no, people can’t be upset, viewership can drop because of this, imagine all the bad opinions online, the controversy, just horrible. On the other hand, it’s the last season, who cares. Also shock value, woo hoo!

[arolesbianism]

Epic dst age hcs and thoughts under the cut (skipping ppl with canon or basically canon ages (and also other ppl I don't feel like talking abt))

Maxwell: I'm starting with him since he's kind of my age compass so to speak, but of course he's on the older end of the cast. I imagine he's somewhere in his 60s, but he could also be in his mid to late fifties in my minds eye. I personally tend to lean towards early 60s though, like 62 probably?

Wolfgang: having been a full adult (hopefully anyways gmdjdnsh) during our pre Maxwell being Maxwell era, we can assume he's also on the older end of the cast, but perhaps not quite as old, or maybe even older if you believe in yourself. I tend to view him as like 58, but he could rly range anywhere from 40s-60s to me, but technically speaking he rly could be younger, especially taking into account that we don't know when he entered the constant, as that evidently can functionally pause a characters aging with the outside world as seen with Wendy. I definitely wouldn't go below 30 though, he ain't that young

Wx-78: this fucker. This fucker. It all felt so clean after their rework animation, but noooo we had to have a notably young Wagstaff at an event that fucks with the timeline of everything, so now I. Don't fucking know. I'm so scared klei please don't take early 60s Wx hc away from me Im begging y'all-

Wickerbottom: very clearly intended to be the eldest of the cast, I think it's safe to say she's like mid 60s at the absolute youngest. To me she's probably somewhere in her late 70s, but she could easily be much older. Tbh rn klei could pull anything out of their ass in regards to Wickerbottom they could say she's somehow 200 years old and we'd kind of just have to accept it as another unexplained fucked up Wickerbottom thing, they probably won't but itd be funny if they did. Just sequence of historical events with Wickerbottom standing in the background. She's like 79 idk.

Woodie: dude he could be like any age and I'd probably believe it. I personally tend to see him as late 30s, but I rly could see him ranging from late 20s to late 50s, and there's Nothing pointing in any specific age so idk. He can be 38 ig.

Wes: sigh. I don't fucking know. Somewhere in his 20s most likely. I don't like trying to pin down his age in my hcs nothing ever feels quite right to me </3

Wigfrid: this might be a bit older than most probably imagine her, but I've always seen her as a bit on the older end. Not like, Old old, but like somewhere in her late 30s to mid 40s probably? Mayyyybe early to mid 30s. Idk, I know she's an actress so having a successful career is more associated with younger age as opposed to older, but she's always given me big like. Star of a movie franchise that defines the first decade or so of her career in a way that sets her up for failure for the rest of it. Either way, I just cannot see her as being any younger than 30 personally.

Winona: now she's a bit of a tricky one. On the one hand, it should be easy to have a hc age for her since I have one for Charlie. On the other hand, I feel the need to think real hard abt what the age gap between the two is in my minds eye. It's hard because I can't in good faith go over 4 years, but I don't know how to narrow it from there. But with the 4 year limit, I think thatd put her in her late 30s early 40s ish in my hcs? I've been saying that a lot huh djdbrjdv

Warly: look me in my eyes. He's 50 at the youngest. He's like 65. Just trust me bro.

Wanda: nope

Wheeler: we have like no real info on her but she gives me early to mid 30s vibes? So like relatively young but still an established adult.

Walani: despite looking quite young, based on her dialogue it rly does sound like she's been around for longer than like freshly 20. I'm leaning towards early 30s, but I could also see her as late 20s or maybeeee mid 20s if we wanna stretch a lil bit.

Wagstaff: again, I genuinely don't fucking know how old hes supposed to be at this point and Im scared. But he's like 60 smth in my minds eye, around the same age as Wx

And it's 2 am so just imagine I said smth really insightful at the end here and now I shall pass the fuck out ✌

[caatws]

I wanted to say I think you have some of the most detailed and well thought out opinions of vol 3 that I have seen. You do a good job of not ignoring the good while also not pretending the movie was flawless. It's very refreshing.

I'm still working on all of my opinions of the movie and one thing I'm becoming more settled on is that the movie suffered from wanting to have its cake and eat it too. Gamora's death and the ways her past self can't easily fall back on what was got a lot of attention during some scenes. Then in other scenes her death was side stepped to point out that technically she's still here and not all is lost. This was used the most when it came to characters who weren't Peter. I certainly am no expert but I think there were better ways to connect those two points. There is a loss worth grieving and feelings that need to be worked through as a team even as they gradually embrace a new situation. That would have required more time be spent and story dedicated to that plot and easy or not I think that should have been done.

The same issue existed for the non existent exploration of how 5 years after the snap things would be really different. Not sure if you watched The Falcon and The Winter Soldier or Hawkeye but both those shows did a better job than vol 3 at not pretending nothing happened. The new Ant-man movie with all it's mess didn't pretend the snap was easy either. I love the guardians and I love the family theme but the family had been through the most difficult struggle ever and was disrupted in pretty hard hitting ways that there was no way to easily bounce back from. Most of them missed 5 years, Gamora was dead, others experienced the reality of what was essentially a post apocalyptic world. At the end Nebula got her sister back in a way where her sister basically lost some of their most crucial bonding years and she couldn't share with anyone she was keeping up with her. There was so much about all of this that needed exploration. I did appreciate Peter's mental state was terrible and the film didn't joke around about it. But that was the only sign IW or EG had taken place for these characters. It made no sense. In fact the movie played vague about Gamora experiencing Endgame and that was the whole plot around which she returned.

AHHH THANK YOU ANON 🫶🏼😭 i do still love this franchise and all these characters with all my heart, so i want to still give credit where credit is due when i can! (i also am thinking of rewatching vol 3 for the first time this weekend since my initial watch like 2 weeks ago, and i'm eager to better see the forest for the trees and pay less attention to the gamora situation and more attention to everything else in the film, bc there were some things that i did rly like!!!)

re: the ways gamora's death was handled differently scene to scene, i agree!!! i also think a way that these differing reactions between the characters could've been better connected is by having that be a more prominent conflict between the characters from start to finish. like it's already kinda established at the beginning that peter grieving is disrupting the team, but i feel like we could've done more with that throughout the film. and rather than have it be peter vs everyone else, it would've been interesting to see how each character individually may have been at different points in their grief journey. but i understand that a rocket backstory-centric film is not gonna allow much room for That much exploration between the characters

also yeah the way post-endgame content has been handling the snap has been one of my biggest criticisms of phases 4 and 5 so far. i did watch tfatws and hawkeye and you're right that those are the only shows that have rly addressed things (and of course quantumania touched on it a fair amount) - and tbh, hawkeye is the only phase 4 project that i felt like i came away from it with a genuinely better understanding of the snap with it showing yelena's pov of getting snapped and then coming back. we definitely needed something to that emotional extent for gotg at some point, whether it be here or the holiday special - something that rly showed how much the snap disrupted their lives and fucked up both those who were snapped and those who were just stuck living in the apocalypse for 5 years. (i also would've loved to see more of how it affected rocket especially, considering his arc in vol 2)

at this point, now that we have phases 4 and some of 5, to me it almost feels like the snap was done all wrong lol. like what was the point of making it 5 years long if it we weren't gonna get to see the actual full impact of it on the characters, especially the ones who lived through the 5 years? the only characters' experiences we rly got to see in depth were the core 6 avengers in endgame...meanwhile, rocket was left as the SOLE member of his team (bc nebula wasn't even technically a guardian yet in 2018) and nebula lost her sister in a super traumatic way. LIKE ARE ROCKET AND NEBULA OKAY LMAO???

similarly, if the mcu wasn't ready to actually handle the implications and the fallout of the circumstances of gamora's death, it shouldn't have done it lmao. like don't dish what you can't take. don't make huge universe-altering and character-devastating story moves if you're not even going to give them the depth they deserve

[vermilionvector]

Pokemon Horizons EP. 1 - 3

My last Pokemon game was Emerald on an EMU (with my favorite being Kyogre) and I stopped watching Pokemon ages ago. Not because I didn't like it, but because I stopped watching the morning anime program in the morning and was never bothered to check it out ever since. I've heard that XYZ was cool, Sun and Moon was dumbed down and Journey was the end of Satoshi's (Ash for you Americans) journey. Even with Journey's milestone I still haven't watched it yet cuz I heard the ending was still somewhat open-ended and left a lot of rooms to wiggle, so I don't think there was any important closure to his story at all. With all this in mind, I'll be talking about this new series as if I'm a newcomer to the franchise.

They promised us a new beginning with a new set of protagonists, and they delivered. EP. 1 introduced us to Liko in the most effective way. Her monologue stressed her awkwardness towards the society and her anxiety about finding her perfect partner. If done wrong, she could be seen as whiny, but it was mixed with some positive attitude towards improving herself like trying to understand Nyaoha/Sprigatito so that they could bond better. Every time she complained about something, it's justified right after. That made her quite a quirky girl, and this helped establish the heroine we are going to stay with very well.

Moving on to the main plot, she possessed a mcguffin necklace given by her grandmother that contained a mysterious Pokemon inside who came to her aid when she's in danger of being pursued by the Explorers, led by the stoic Amethio and his edgelord buddy Pokemon Soublades. She was rescued by the Rising Volteccers' leader Friede whom I really disliked how his eyes were designed. He took her to the gang's airship but the Explorers still pursued them. They finally managed to break through the barrier and almost got Liko until she decided to trust in Nyaoha's resolution and fight for herself. Nyaoha's ability was somewhat too powerful for a starter Pokemon, but since we have had Satoshi's Pikachu for like 25 years it didn't really matter. Although the Explorers were expelled from the airship, Nyoha was captured.

TBH with how well EP. 1 handled the pacing, the dialogue, the world, and the art, EP. 2 was such a big letdown. It's supposed to be a high-tension chase scene between the Volteccers and the Explorers but we got so many still images and the camera movement was so static. It would've been better if the camera shook a little to simulate the storm's effect on the airship. The pacing was also too slow for my taste. If they extended the first episode to like an hour and then EP. 3 became EP. 2, it might've been better.

EP. 3 was better than EP. 2. The humor and the worldbuilding were back and we also had some juicy action between the Explorers and the Volteccers, and also the first time we saw Liko successfully fended for herself, and she finally came to truly bond with Nyoha.

And despite all this, the other protagonist, Roy, only appeared in the OP, ED and a short minute after all of Liko's ordeals ended. But this was probably better. Liko is the main protagonist so she should be given enough focus and screentime to flesh out her character as much as possible, and these first three episodes, although with some flaws, accomplished it.

The Pokemons were cute, but once they evolve they're not gonna be as cute. Unlike Digimons, they can't revert back to their previous forms. And we already knew how they're gonna look, so it's definitely a big loss in the cuteness department. (At least in Journey we had Cinderace and Lucario (sob)).

[digitalgate02]

Yeah, I do not agree that ▽ got a full retcon when a few details of it and even characters like Meiko and Meicoomon are in Kizuna. I'd not go and be either angry or happy if this were the case and i think a soft-retcon is better than that.

(i've been dealing with a certain other series of a magical girl and boy getting their whole plot suffering constant full retcons every time they discover each other's identity that it had become a meme between the fans and every time the new material mentions about it featuring an identity reveal the fans just don't expect it to be for real this time and just shrug and start memeing it)

I've seen soft retcons before, and while some people get angry at them, most of the fans just roll with it and some even enjoy the new approach/lore -- like how recently SEGA built a whole Sonic lore department to take care of the franchise's lore and keep it more consistent, which resulted in a few soft-retcons in the personalities of the characters. Some people disliked it, but some (if not a good portion?) preferred the new ones (like me, at least Amy is now Daisuke's equivalent when it comes to her crush on Sonic, lol)

So i'd rather accept a BS answer like this than anything kicking the ENTIRE good things of ▽ into the trashcan. Plus, Maki & Daigo's ages are such a mystery and it makes me a bit frustrated when i try to guess how old they are (not even character sheets with those kid and teen design have an approximated age, or school/college grade!!) My current effort is just retconning their ages, maybe make their group be just 3 or 4 years older than Taichi and having their adventure in 1998 and that they wouldn't... die in the end.

I know a ton of Maki-Daigo fans don't want to acknowledge the soft-retcon, or that Rui is the first. Tbh i'm aware not everyone in the fanbase was aware of the math lore, so lots of people (me included, around 2015 and so) always misinterpreted Adv'99 mention to those five kids and i do remember they... never implied or said those five were the first at all. And it would make no absolutely sense if in 1995 there were already FIVE kids with a digimon, if the lore starts with just ONE kid and then next year the number of partnership doubles. I'm not saying this to claim that everyone should be fully aware of the lore, because this is quite impossible, but stating that the interviewer and the western fans may also not be aware of this rule, therefore when they say "Maki and Daigo" they associate them and their other 3 friends (?) as the same five kids mentioned in Adv'99.

Also, especially that my favorite scene in ▽ goes full on contradiction with the OG lore because... they had digivices already and you could consider they were not chosen by the same entity, but... Homeostasis is also present in the scene. And the digivice model is also like... Taichi's model.

The other movie omitted in the timeline is Hurricane Touchdown, which was also constantly denied by fans from being part of the timeline, and it's quite weird because HT is Taguchi's favorite digimon movie after all. And even 02TB had a lot of visual parallels or even story parallels, such as the OP in this movie being played quite suspiciously similar to HT's, and some parallels between Rui-Ukkomon and Wallace-Chocomon (+ Gummymon). Funny enough, a Taguchi interview made a comment about the parallels between Menoa and Rui, and Menoa also had a few Wallace-ish traits imo (besides the parallels with 02 main human villains, as pointed by you before) -- but i find more easier to make Wallace's lore work at is is with the math (and Rui's) than Mak-Daigo's orz

On a writer/artist perspective, ignoring canon contradictions and finding gaps i can use to make it be used with the canon timeline/lore is fun and important, the problem is when you have no gaps to make it work... 🙃

There's something bugging me since I saw a statement from Producer Shimomura in a Spanish interview being linked to Rui's page (and consequently, the Chosen Child's page) on a wiki about a question which was "Rui is way younger than Maki and Daigo who're the first Chosen. How so?" My assumption of that question was like "the interviewer was assuming things (thanks to the fact now everyone who sees the mentioned Five Previous Chosen from Adv'99 as Maki and Daigo's team thanks to ▽) and is not well aware of the math lore",

But then... Shimomura's answer was like "Oh this is new for me too. Anyway Rui is not exactly a Chosen Child and is more likely a special and unique case" which is basically contradicted by everything 02TB-related as well -- interviews, promotional stuff, etc.

(also the interviewer misquote Rui's statements in-movie, since Rui was not even aware of that term and the ones to claim he was indeed the first there were the 02 kids.)

I've been talking with a friend about this quite recently and i'm confused now... What does that whole question even MEAN what's up with that answer!?

(I hope this is not ▽ negative tho, because i do love Maki-Daigo and i want them to coexist with Rui, i'm trying to make them WORK with the lore... Even by soft-retconning a few details of them orz)

Yeah, so about that...I apologize for the language, but this is one of those rare occasions where you just have to flat-out discard an official statement as bullshit. Shimomura's answer doesn't make sense by any kind of logic whatsoever:

In Adventure continuity, being a "Chosen Child" has an extremely loose definition (which is even acknowledged in Two-and-a-Half Year Break). The only consistent definition of a Chosen, and the one thing that distinguishes cases like Oikawa, Hiroki, and Hikari and Taichi in 1995 from kids who can actually be called Chosen, is that Chosen Children have Digivices (i.e. them being "chosen" is not for anything specific, but being formalized with a Digivice means they now have a responsibility). So by definition, as a kid who was sent a Digimon and a Digivice by some entity, Rui is a Chosen. There's no good argument for him to not be a Chosen.

And of course, even if in the movie they didn't claim that Rui was the first Chosen with that exact wording, basically every bit of promotional and advertising material and member of staff has referred to him as the first Chosen. Like this isn't a "Menoa says that Digimon disappear because they became adults" situation where the advertising would have this "they learn from Menoa that..." indirect tone about it; everyone else has been completely unambiguous about the fact Rui is meant to be taken as the first Chosen. Otherwise, why would they make such a big deal about picking that specific year for Rui to meet Ukkomon, or, hell, what's the point of naming the movie "The Beginning"? That would arguably make advertising the movie as being about the first Chosen into advertising fraud or something.

This is a response to a question asking how Himekawa and Nishijima would be Chosen if Rui was the first Chosen Child, because the contradiction makes this not make sense. But even if you take Shimomura's idea of Rui being the "first one to form a partner relationship with a Digimon", that still doesn't explain anything nor does it resolve the contradiction because Himekawa and Nishijima also clearly had partner relationships with their Digimon in their childhoods too. Like again, it's practically advertising fraud if Rui isn't the first something.

As for why Shimomura would say something like this, the whole "this is new to me too" already hints at the idea she wasn't very well-informed about this issue or series Deepest Lore (in particular, it's pretty likely she didn't know much about tri., given she was two producers ahead of it, and her article series on Digimon Partners suggests she's pretty new to Digimon production as a whole). So I doubt this answer was very well-thought through, especially since everyone else involved in the movie has been pretty clear about being timeline-precise.

The other likely reason is that, when you think about it, this question is inherently an unsolvable trap for a producer like her. If you know the actual Digimon Adventure series production timeline, tri. was unilaterally the one that went off-kilter here; Adventure lore alone dictates that you can't have Chosen before 1995, so there is a correct answer here, and it's simply that tri. messed up and that going back to original Adventure canon for Kizuna and 02TB required throwing a lot of it out. This has generally been the implicit stance that's been taken since even back during Kizuna; most glaringly, tri. was just flat-out omitted in an official timeline, which has to carry some meaning because one does not just accidentally omit a series that was advertised as an Adventure sequel and was basically the core of the franchise for five real-life years.

I don't get the impression it's "tri. isn't canon anymore" as much as it's "we have to ignore so many substantial details of tri. that it may not be correct to call it the same thing anymore," which is consistent with the way "canon" has been loosely treated in the franchise in general. But the thing is, the reason why they're being implicit about it instead of saying it all-out is that, yeah, if they say it in explicit words, that's going to piss off everyone who's going to see that as five years being tossed down the drain, let alone tri. fans who will basically see their favorite being spit on in public. (If you ask me, I don't see "messing up lore points" as having inherent ties to writing quality, and I don't think the creators do either, but lore can be Serious Business to Japanese fans, so officially saying that something violates lore can easily be taken as public shaming; even the few times they've brought up lore contradictions have gotten people mad in some way.)

So while I definitely wish she'd have given an answer that was less obviously bullshit, Shimomura did kind of have to give a bullshit answer in order to not piss someone off, since her job as a producer is less about the creative writing and more about juggling the interests of the movie as a whole. This also wouldn't be our first instance of this kind of situation; it's generally been hinted by staff members that Seki's claim of every version of Akiyama Ryou being the same character was also something she was forced to say in order to not have to say something like "yeah the WonderSwan games aren't canon actually" (which would piss off their fans and Bandai).