#this post summed up in a tl:dr:

[misslisamiray]

Today was exhausting (unsuccessful blood center trip, Too Many People Everywhere, plus I hate every second I have to be outside when it's cold). But check out the Five Below & Aldi hauls!

I went to Five Below specifically looking for the Rick and Morty calendar, and yay, they had it! Many thanks to @thesoftboiledegg , who made me aware this existed. January (my birthday month), has one of the "Interdimensional Showdown" images, so for that alone, you *know* I needed this calendar.

The Pickle Rick ornament was an unexpected bonus find. 😁 I looked in so many stores for RaM ornaments last year, 'cause I know there's a few of them out there, but I never thought of checking Five Below. And yes, he cost $2 more than the big ornament box, but that's fine.

Speaking of which, that's for an idea I've had for a while - dressing up the Christmas tree for other holidays. I've said for like 3 years I could do a Valentine's Day tree if I just bought some pink ornaments, since I have a LOT of red ones & fair amount of white & silver. Ta-da!

I also don't think I've ever gone in the art supply aisle at Five Below before today - there were a lot of tempting things there. But I'm not sure about the quality, soooo I figured the glitter markers would be a good test. 🙂

Then it was onto Aldi for cheese. So much cheese. I swear I bought a few things that aren't cheese. But this was the main reason for the Aldi portion of today's outing, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

[noreatriplea]

Quick sum up of what i figured out about the fucking bot wave of posting links with nude ladies with 100 tags.

1. The tags seem to be chosen at random. Ive seen some use tags about nsfw subjects, but its not consistent. They also seem to have a tendency to use trending tags, but the data might be biased on that by virtue of trending tags being pushed.

2. All the notes seem to be mainly likes from other bots. They all have the same name, bio and a profile photo of a girl.

3. The links they are linking to are different for each post, but it seems theres a pattern. All the links ive seen are random letters, followed by a dot, followed by more random letters, and as far as i can remember, ending in .online

4. If i find any way of silencing their content, ill add it. For now the best idea i have is using the .online part, but it would affect unrelated posts.

TL:DR, the bots are very annoying, spamming tags, spamming sfw tags with nsfw content, using very similar profiles and using random links. It appears theres no way to silence them without doing the same to people accidentaly.

[my-pjo-stuff]

Opinions on lukercy? *asks deviously*

I mean...idc? Like, Lukercy ain't really my cup of tea- but it's not like I hate it or something. I don't rly do PJO ships besides Thaluke- and even there I'm just as good with them being platonic. So Lukercy, like any PJO ship, is just sort of ...there, at least for me. But I genuinely love the shippers! Like even if I personally don't ship it the guys that do are some of the chillest, most respectful non-toxic fans in this fandom. Which...okay tbf the bar is in literal hell- but I do genuinely mean it! To share a little anecdote here- So when I first read the PJO books I had this series up on my main where I posted my thoughts and reactions to the chapters. This obviously attracted some older fans who talked with me and commented, all really nice and innocent stuff. Thing was, I was always very pro-Luke ever since TLT. I genuinely loved the guy- to the point where he unironically was the main draw to the books for me. In comparison, I didn't really care for Percy and CHB people, as I found them rather bland compared to the TA demigods all things considered.

Which- out of context that is nothing bad! Absolutely not- it turned into one though when someone at some point asked my thoughts on Percy/Percabeth. I replied to them with the things I said above, that I find them rather bland compared to Luke and that I don't rly care too much for them. And MAN when I tell you that reaction was WIIILLDDD. They went on like an 8 messages rant in the notify section of that post about how I "just don't get it" and "Am so unfair" and just "judge characters on the amount of trauma they have" 💀 Genuinly that is a forever PJO fandom core memory now. They even demanded me to talk about and dig into Percy like I did with Luke because they "knew that I could do it since I did it with Luke". That shit was crazy- they sounded like my teacher wanting me to write more in a poem analysis or sum T-T Fr the only reason I didn't block them then and there was bc previously they were pretty active with my posts and nice to me- had that user been a stranger they would have been blocked SO fast. After that they just interacted less and less with my stuff and I haven't spotted them in my notes since lmao. So yeah, that's my fun story of how a Percabeth Shipper/Percy fan basically demanded that I go and analyze their favs just bc I could do it, and they wanted me to. And, well- say what you want but that certainly never happened with any Lukercy shippers XD Some of my oldest PJO mutuals and friends are Lukercy shippers actually, genuinely great ppl! I think all the hate you guys get is just genuinely weird af like??? It's a fictional ship between two fictional characters, calm down man. Yes I can see how some ppl might be uncomfortable with it and would prefer to just block the tag and users who like it entirely- but it ain't that deep. Go outside. Hug your family. Get some hobbies. IDK just stop treating a fictional yaoi ship like the plague itself. At this point it just straight up borders on weird how worked up some ppl get XD I do read some fics and like some art, mostly bc, again, a good amount of nice mutuals of mine ship it and I'm just supporting their work. TL:DR : Not my cup of tea, but I love the guys who ship it and never had one single bad experience with them. As opposed to everyone else. Also ppl should stop hating on it so much and just move on if they don't like it.

[drconstellation]

More Half-and-Half-A-Miracle Thoughts

Part 1: Miracle Power Ranking

Part 2: The Dark side of Aziraphale is here. Part 3: The Third Archangel

I was originally going to add some comments as a reblog to @nofomogirl's post on why the 25 Lazurii miracle was so powerful, but the initial thought I had on the matter slipped away from me during that day, and I was left looking at a glimpse at the viridian green back panel of Aziraphale's waistcoat and wondering what had sparked my original thought, and any attempt to try and grasp it again was a futile as Muriel trying to open Gabriel's file in Heaven.

So I wandered off on other tangents, explored other topics I was curious about, and enjoyed reading the new posts that went up, but the ghost of that viridian green panel kept lurking about with a sharp stick to remind me it was there. So I'm here to post some more thoughts in addition to the op's post that I feel might add to the discussion about the little miracle that worked too well.

I also want to say before I get stuck in (and warning - this is going to be a long one!) that I think no matter how much we discuss this or dig at it, ultimately we just don't have enough information to have a definitive answer as to the why at the moment, and, we may never know. But I'm going to speak because I think I there is at least one thing I haven't seen discussed yet in context with this scene, and should be (at least, I haven't seen it yet - if you have, please let me know.)

So if you're in a TL:DR mode and don't want to open links, here is the list of current theories of why two little "half miracles" made one mighty one:

Theory#1: It's love

Theory #2: It's them

Theory#3: It's a fusion

Theory #4: It's Gabriel

Theory #5: It's the portal (that they did it on top of)

To preface my answering ramble the TL:DR again is - its a fusion of "them" i.e. both #2 and #3 together. As in Aziraphale x Gabriel x Crowley. 3x3x3

Hang on, that's 27! Not 25! yeah, yeah, I'm not that bad at math. And I'll admit it doesn't fit - it doesn't "snap" into place. But its either that or 5x5 and I wanted to consider all three elements in this miracle working together for the discussion at the start. And there seems to an emphasis on 3's as well as 7's (Maybe you can cut the middle out at the end, once you can see the bigger picture I'm trying to present, but lets leave it this way for now. Maybe it will give you another idea...)

Firstly, consider the three elements, working in synergy. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. As Crowley describes it in S2E6: " Apparently, if we do a miracle together, it all works a bit too well." (I was originally thinking of the word "gestalt" but on reflection its probably not the right one.)

"...if we..."

Let's ask who is "we" at this point, and how much miracle power they are contributing to the miracle. Are they contributing equally? Yes? Or no? I want to take a closer look at miracle power: the knowns, the unknowns and the possibilities to explore that.

We've already been told that most day-to-day miracles are down in the mili-Lazurii level, a mere few thousandth of the power of the hiding miracle. And this makes sense - we don't see our protagonists bringing the dead back to life willy-nilly. Aziraphale mentions getting into trouble for doing "too many frivolous miracles." But if its one thing Good Omens stands out for its the conspicuous lack of displays of stupendous power. And this actually doesn't help our understanding of the problem.

Indulge me in a "ranking of power" exercise, if you will.

At the top we have the big three - no, four - er, lets make that five actually! Five ineffably, unarguably, omnipotent entities that every one respects and no one will mess with. They can essentially do what ever they will.

God, and Her (ex-) bestie, Satan.

Azrael, the angel of Death.

Adam Young, the Antichrist, who has retained his powers and is still protecting Tadfield.

And lastly the yet-to be revealed second coming of Jesus Christ.

Lets put them all aside and out of the equation.

Next, we have the Metatron, whom we haven't seen lift a finger, only his voice, yet the mere sight of his face evokes fear. How much miracle power can he wield? That's a big unknown, unfortunately. But being the current right-hand being of the Almighty must give him some serious grunt.

The top brass of the respective bureaucracies starts to raise questions. We have our senior Archangels (the seraphim) and the Dukes of Hell. I have no doubt that Gabriel, as Supreme Archangel of all Heaven, should be capable of performing at least a 1 Lazurii miracle on his own if required, and he could even have the potential to stretch to 25 Lazurii...if he could be bothered.

We know that they can be promoted in an out of those positions, and that raises questions about what happens to their powers when they get promoted or demoted. To gain power when promoted? Or lose it when demoted? Or is it a simply a matter of belief? In which case it might rely on the individual's personality.

When looking for examples of expressed power, in both the book and tv series, it is easier to come up with examples of demonic miracles than angelic miracles, and it makes things look a bit biased, imo. I mean, Crowley aside for the moment (I'll get back to him shortly) you have to be impressed with Hastur's escape from the ansaphone into the call center and manifesting into the mass of maggots, for all he was a bit old fashioned and smelled like poo. Shax playing games with Crowley just outside the shop in S2, manifesting as different characters in rapid succession has to be up there with another good demo of demon power (which it certainly worked to needle Crowley into losing his temper with them.)

What do we see the Archangels do in comparison? Hmm. Bitch and snitch. Gossip with Hell on the back stairs. Pretend to be buying pornography from Aziraphale. Then physically punch our angel in guts for fraternizing with a demon before disappearing back to Heaven . Not much.

OK, so Gabriel arrives on a lightning bolt at Tadfield airbase

and there is that intriguing discussion with Sandalphon regarding Sodom and Gomorrah (just read above the cut, that's the important bit for this meta later on) where he was doing quite a bit of smiting, but its all off screen and in the distant past, we don't actually see them in action.

Which brings us back to Crowley and Aziraphale. And then more Aziraphale manipulating Crowley into performing miracles for him so he doesn't have to (the little minx.) The list of miracles I can think of that we have seen Crowley do is far longer and seems more impressive than what Aziraphale has done. Oh, but there is the Eldritch Ball, you say? Controlling multiple people at once? (Hold that thought.) He also sent the soldier at the entry gate of the Tadfield airbase all the way back to his home in the USA in an instant (according to the book) and he flew the moped with both Madame Tracey and Shadwell over the top of the Odegra ring of demon fire to get to Tadfield (again, as mentioned in the book.) And as the op back here says, why didn't they just manifest themselves out? Idiots...

On to Part 2: The Dark Side of Aziraphale.

[onisiondrama]

Didn’t attend the hearing. Didn’t wanna skip work for some “motion to dismiss” blah blah. Usually those are summed up in a sentence or two afterword. We’ve seen this type of thing before. I think people are getting antsy for some update on the lawsuit and/or they want to see what Lucas looks like now. (Posted the info about it previously because I saw it spreading around and wanted to reiterate that recordings and photos were not allowed. Got a little worried someone would break the rules and get the public barred from the actual case.)

A couple of Reddit users that attended took notes:

Repzion requested the official recording and made a video about it:

Haven’t watched the video, but I’ve read the notes.

Tl:dr - Google wants to be dismissed from the case, Judge denied. Judge is upset with everyone because no one notified them the Regina and Sarah lawsuits are related. Sarah’s lawyer says they were unable to because of the Jackson’s bankruptcy filings. James claimed his lawyer won’t contact him. Judge wants cases consolidated, possibly under the other Judge assigned to the other case.

[glitchtrees]

//The following is very long so there’s a TL:DR at the end :)

Hello good people of tumblr! Welcome to my account, glad to have you here. This is a roleplay account for the omens au by the lovely bunfloras and quizb. Any and all posts will be related to that, unless I specify otherwise! Ooc posts will be dignified by two slashes, like seen in the beginning of this post.

If you were part of omens before, you may or may not recognize me from the week of chaos that I shall now be dubbing the unfortunate happenings that once occurred (with various variations). I will not go into any detail of the events that occurred. In fact, I will be so cryptic about it that people who don’t know what happened will think that someone was kidnapped and replaced by a clone that then tried to kill the original and his closest friends. Oh wait, wrong au.

ANYWAYS! I was indeed quite active in the week of omens over on Twitter. Same character and everything, @glitch_trees if you want to check it out and learn more about my character. Some of my personal favorite moments of mine are the following:

-Getting the oh-so-elusive Bikeman follow. He was a true homie, he will be missed

-Almost getting burnt alive when a hero set the warehouse I was in on fire

-Making raccoon robots after the racclone fiasco

-Falling into a dumpster during parkour

-Writing in villains with sharpie and putting stickers on them with Phosphor/Lightning Bug

-This sick photo taken when running from the police:

-Hiding eggs all over the city for Easter with other vigilantes:

And that’s basically all the notable/entertaining things I’ve done during the last go around. I should note that I don’t consider any of what happened last time canon unless the creators themselves mention it and make it clear that it’s canon. So events like vote Bikeman for god, the racclone fiasco, etc. won’t be brought up by me a lot. I may mention them once or twice to make a funny haha joke, but it’ll be more like a vague reference and I’ll treat it like it was a weird collective dream everyone had.

ENOUGH OF THE PAST! It’s time to talk about what will be happening now!

I will continue to roleplay as Glitch going forward. Don’t know who Glitch is? They’re my vigilante omens oc who loves inventing, coffee, explosives, and being a pain in the ass for heroes.

They do in fact have a power, but it’s not revealed to the public. It’s a pretty discreet one, so unless you knew what to look for you wouldn’t know what it was. To sum it up, they can control any machine that’s within a certain distance from them, with a passive effect of knowing where nearby machines and their parts are (like wires and such). How it works is they split their consciousness, some of it going to the machine they control. This lets them do things like hear and see through mics and cameras. They can change how much of their consciousness they put into a machine, so they can either have a very loose control or go fully into it. Their skill in controlling the machine also changes with how well they understand it. If they made the machine themself, or are familiar with its structure and how it functions, they can get a pretty tight control. But if they don’t know a lot, they’ll get a lot of fight back. It’s still possible to control a machine they don’t know, but it’s a lot more taxing and time consuming, so they don’t do it often. Side effects include migraines, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, and disassociation, depending how much of them goes into the machine.

They have quite a few tools in their kit, all of which were made by themself. Their main weapon is their staff, which is actually a pair of escrima sticks that combine together. They can be electrified as well. They have a laser knife, which is just a regular knife with a button that activates an electromagnetic radiation field around it. It can be used to cut and burn stuff that way. Then they have an eye mask, which is styled to look like one of those LED eye changing ones. But it has an earpiece connected that automatically hacks into police/hero radios so they can listen in. They have some animal robots, mostly smaller things like birds or bugs. Yes I’m keeping the raccoon robots, it was a cool idea okay. They use these to gather information before going into a fight or to distract their opponents. Some smaller things they have include hover boots, wrist braces that have various tools like a grapple gun, and generic tools like flashbangs, bear spray, lock picks, and smoke bombs.

But they’re not Glitch all the time! By day, they’re Emery Hart, a software developer trying to make ends meet.

They actually wanted to be a hero when they were younger. But when they applied for the academy, they were rejected, the only reason being that their power wasn’t “heroic” enough. So, they took matters into their own hands, taking on the Glitch persona and saving people their own way. This might not be set in stone, if anything the creators say contradicts this backstory I will change it.

That’s about all you need to know about Glitch! Let’s talk a bit about me now.

I go by a few names. You can just call me Glitch ooc if you want. I also go by Apple, which is my regular username. Honestly I don’t care what you call me as long as it isn’t intentionally rude. I use she/her pronouns ooc, but I get it if you just want to use they/them so you just use the same pronouns for the same account, I get it.

I do use tone tags a decent amount myself. You don’t need to use them when talking to me, but if it can come across a few ways then I would appreciate them just to clarify. If you don’t use them for whatever reason, then I’ll probably ask what the tone was meant to be if I’m confused. If I don’t ask and get the tone of your message wrong, just let me know no biggie.

I’m not actually that into the dsmp anymore, mostly I’m just into fan content like this. I do love Minecraft though, and a lot of video games in general. I mostly play Nintendo games, with Splatoon, Pokémon, and The Legend of Zelda being my favorite series. My favorite games are Kid Icarus: Uprising and Undertale though.

I write fanfics! I’m planning on uploading a ROTTMNT oc fic on my main Tumblr. It’ll mostly be crack with no real plot in the beginning then I’ll decide where I want it to go lol. I also have BNHA and Harry Potter fanfics that revolve around other ocs of mine. The BNHA one follows a quirkless vigilante and the Harry Potter one follows a Slytherin girl in Fred and George’s year. They’re both on Ao3, Quotev, and Wattpad, so if they sound interesting or you just like how I write on this page, then check them out! I assure you, you’re not missing out on much if you don’t know the plots of the source material. Each fic follows its own plotline, and while they might follow canon loosely, there are many differences that make it easy to follow without prior knowledge.

I also do art! I post ROTTMNT art and videos on TikTok along with some other content mixed in, and I post more finished pieces and WIPS on Twitter. If you like any art I post here and want to see more, check them out!

That’s about all I have to say. It was a big text dump so if you made it through all of it then congrats to you. You have my applause. I’ll link the socials I mentioned previously below if you wanted to look into any, so peruse at your leisure.

Let’s make this au amazing, and remember to PLEASE respect bun and quiz and all the work they’ve put into this!

TL:DR: Hi I’m gonna be role playing for the omens au by bunfloras and quizb. I’ll be playing a vigilante character named Glitch who can control machines and is just an all around chaos incarnate. They have a bunch of cool gear that they made themself. They use they/them, and their civilian name is Emery Hart. When ooc, you can call me Glitch or Apple, and I use she/her but they/them is fine if you just want to use the same for op and oc. I use tone tags and would appreciate it if you use them as needed. I do a bunch of cool writing and art stuff on other sites which you can find the links to below. Let’s have fun and not be weird okay? Woo!

Socials:

Original Glitch Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/glitch_trees

Main Tumblr:

Ao3:

Quotev:

Wattpad:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@appple_treee?lang=en

Main Twitter: https://twitter.com/appple_tree

[rebellum]

Last night one of my dreams featured a slang phrase?? I think it was "posting cam"? Something cam. In reference to pictures I think.

I, uh, flirted with the giant evil spider god that had been summoned, cause it turned out he had a human torso, head, and arms, and he was hot, and he was like "seriously?" And put me down and instead of eating me (whew!) or flirting back (sad) he scuttled away

And this other person was like "hey if you want to flirt I know some girls that are looking, you wanna post cam?"

But I didn't get to ask what that really meant because my alarm went off

Tl:Dr don't summing spider gods to level up your party if you don't have a plan in place for what to do if he's too powerful for you

[swirling-skies]

OKAY THEORY TIME

I spent a while talking to a couple of people on a livestream about this, so I may as well dump it here in a quick post!

So in the new trailer, we see Link exploring some sort of kingdom in the sky.

(excuse the poor quality screenshots lol)

This is in addition to some gameplay on the ground, with Link in a completely different outfit:

Although at first these two appear to be the same person, there are some key differences:

• Both seem to have associations with different colours. Ground Link wears the blue tunic which BOTW1 constantly associates him with; Sky Link wears a green garment which appears to be stylistically similar to the champion outfits (same patterns, with one larger pattern indicating his role as a champion, although this isn’t clearly visible).

• Sky Link’s right arm is visibly different, whether this be through corruption or machinery; Ground Link’s right arm seems fine.

• This may be a reach, but Sky Link‘s hair looks slightly longer to me.

Though it’s possible that these are simply the same character at different points in the game, I think that the clear divisions the trailer draws between the two, as well as these two versions of Link seeming exclusive to their own regions, points to a different theory: in BOTW2, the player will have the ability to travel between two different regions by controlling two different Links. And if the player can control two Links, who are both seemingly associated with very different styles and colours, then there’s really only one possibility I can think of.

In BOTW2, the player will have the ability to travel back in time, and will be able to control an earlier reincarnation of the hero.

And given what we know as the game starts - that at least one Divine Beast has stopped working (information given in the final cutscene of BOTW1), that Zelda and Ground Link go on a journey underground, that they find the body of Ganondorf held up by a hand surrounded by some sort of ancient magic - I’m willing to bet that this hero is none other than the hero of 10,000 years ago mentioned in Impa’s tale.

Who, very interestingly, appears to have a familiar green garment draped over his shoulder.

So if this is the case, how does this connection occur?

Well, when Link and Zelda go on their underground journey in the first trailer and encounter Ganondorf…

THIS happens.

Ganondorf is apparently restrained by a green-tinted, ancient form of magic. When Zelda and Link encounter him, he appears to awaken, and the hand holding him grasps Link’s hand instead.

My theory is that at this moment, the hand forges a connection with Link through his arm. This ancient form of magic is linked to the hero of 10,000 years ago - we know that the Sheikah at this point are at the peak of their technological advancement, which may provide a reason and a source for the power. Interestingly enough, the physical body of Ganondorf is likely his last physical reincarnation - it makes sense for the person restraining him to be this past reincarnation of Link, as this would be the most recent reincarnations of both of them (aside from the ones in BOTW1). And this appears to take place below Hyrule Castle, which we see collapse before rising up. Perhaps this is why Ganondorf reincarnates as he does in BOTW1, as a creature of pure malice instead of a man - his physical form, or else his ability to fully reincarnate, is being restrained by the hero from 10,000 years ago even then.

So, to sum up/TL:DR:

• Zelda and Link go on an underground journey after the events of BOTW1. This may or may not be connected to the problems with the divine beasts.

• They encounter Ganondorf’s corpse, held up by a hand. This hand, though it belongs to the past reincarnation of Link - the hero from 10,000 years ago.

• Zelda and Link’s wacky hijacks accidentally unleash the power of Ganondorf, perhaps setting in motion his full reincarnation. The hand instead grasps onto Link’s hand, forming a connection with him.

• This connection will allow Link to travel back in time - or, rather, the player to control the Link from 10,000 years ago. • There are therefore two Links in this trailer: present-day Ground Link, and the hero from 10,000 years ago, Sky Link.

• As this is the key difference between them and links to the hand grab in the trailer 1, the warped arm of Sky Link is likely the point of connection, perhaps showing how Sky Link is being controlled by Ground Link in some way (aka is being controlled by the player).

There’s a TON more in both trailers to analyse that I’m still not sure how to fit in with this theory, in particular the possible Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess references (does Sky Link inhabit the ruins of Skyloft? Is the reversed whispering in both trailers intentionally reminiscent of Midna’s language, and how does this link (haha) to this connection between the Links?), but I’m happy with it so far!! Please do let me know your thoughts on it/add on to what I’ve said so far!!

[relaxxattack]

Tak I am thoroughly invested in ur C!Beeduo ramblings and if you are willing, would love to hear them perhaps? 👀 - 🔥

hm hm hm.

(obviously everything below is PERSONAL OPINION im not policing anyones hcs) (ALSO this is based off of cc!beeduos CURRENT boundaries; if their boundaries change in the future then obviously ill have different thoughts because your first priority should ALWAYS be to respect boundaries)

to sum it up i find it really weird that people feel the need to shove character!beeduo into the platonic box 

ccs don’t want to be shipped with their friends, but c!beeduo are married and do not care if you call them romantic when they themselves have called themselves romantic. they also aren’t real people so like

of course i 100% take the ccs boundaries into consideration when talking about their characters because in the end their roleplay character is a little bit tied to their internet persona, BUT actually, as i once wrote an essay on, cc! bee duo seem to make it abundantly clear that their characters are not in the platonic zone (through how they portray them, basically) ?

i also think being romantic doesn’t equal being sexual, and saying that the characters being canonically romantic is sexualization is really like. weirdchamp to me because that’s the same thing you hear about gay minors a lot irl

anyway as a gay guy i think c!bee duo should be allowed to be gay married without every single artist and writer having to use the word “platonic” every five seconds for fear of offending the ccs, who never do that in the first place

like if they were uncomfortable being called husbands they wouldn’t call themselves husbands?

also as a gay guy having actually good rep in media makes me happy so. if i have it, i get excited! im not gonna be upset if ranboo and tubbo change it to platonic because im not an entitled ass but like, right now it’s romantic and im not gonna pretend i don’t enjoy having the rep.

it’s disabled queer married rep and it’s just really cool to see that in media.

this is way more rambly and unhinged then my post where i actually went into detail about this whole thing with a lot of clips for proof, but just trust me when i say ive been here the whole time and i HATED c!beeduos marriage at first. but i came to accept it because i saw how much the characters really obviously had an (intentionally written) love for each other. and now they’re as important to me as CLINGYDUO which is really impressive

tl:dr it’s weird to say they’re not gay when they are gay; and they’re not real people they’re characters and the real people chose to make the characters that way

unless you’re aro and like projecting a lot because obviously that’s valid. im probably projecting too as a gay guy who would love to have a relationship like that.

but people like… “enforcing” the platonic interpretation, or really laying it on thick, is so annoying to me personally. like on twitter you can get cancelled for drawing beeduo in the same bed when theyve shared a bed in canon lmao

THIS IS RLLY INCOHERENT BECAUSE ITS THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT PLESSE DONT CANCEL ME

also adding this because its fucking fire and i agree wholeheartedly 

its important to make the characters different from the ccs because they ARENT the ccs. trying to make them match the ccs is so much weirder then accepting them as separate 

ALSO ADDING SOME TAGS I AGREE WITH

sorry for making this long i just wanna try to make it understandable so if i get cancelled at least theyre cancelling me for what i actually think ToT 

[comingyourlugubriousness]

I saw your recent ask post and wanted to ask

🦐What relationship does your character have with Floyd?

🍄 What relationship does your character have with Jade <3

Under readmore bc it got longer than I thought:

🦐What relationship does your character have with Floyd?

(This meme really sums it up.)

At first Yume was really intimidated by Floyd, they already are anxious about meeting new people, but his unpredictable attitude/moods added an extra layer for Yume to be nervous about and second guess.

But as time goes on….well they're still pretty intimidated by him!

(Plus after the events of chapter 3, which Yume took very personally they had a negative opinion of him being one of Azul’s goons.) But now there's kind of an understanding that its just the way he is and there's not always ill intentions behind his actions.

I think they went through a phase of having a similar relationship to Riddle in Floyd. Where Floyd would intentionally mess with Yume knowing it would get a funny reaction out of them and Yume would try to avoid him. Though after the events of chapter 4 where Ocatvinelle helps out Yume and his brothers. Yume sees him in a better light. And they have caught glimpses of his more tender, kind natured side. 

I don’t know if Yume would actually call them friends but they have kind of settled into seeing Floyd as someone they can rely on…if he is in the right mood of course! 

If they're both in the right mood I think they have the potential to get along great! They both know what it's like to have a sibling so they can keep up with that energy, joking and horsing around. 

 And once Yume learns that Floyd is just trying to get a reaction out of them with his teasing they just don’t react as much, which in turn gets a reaction out of Floyd and it kind of becomes another type of game lol. I can imagine Floyd lifting Yume up a lot and trying to get a reaction out of them but they just go limp in his arms and don’t react lol.

 As for when he has his bad moods I think Yume mostly tries to avoid him. But when they can't, well… they're pretty good at reading people and would try to just be quiet and let him work it out. They do understand that sometimes your mood just tanks…(no fish pun intended).

Overall I think their relationship is more in the positive then the negative, but its a day to day matter with Yume, at least for now!

TL:DR: Floyd sees Yume as a friend so Starfishie really doesn't have a choice in the matter!

🍄 What relationship does your character have with Jade

Yume finds Jade less intimidating than Floyd, due to his more polite way of speaking and more even temperament. Not that they don’t know that he can't be just as unhinged but just that he’s more civil about it? (If that makes sense.) Even before Jade told them about the trick to telling the two of them apart Yume could figure it from facial expression and vibe alone.

Like with Floyd I don’t know if Yume would exactly call them "friends" after everything, but they get along fine. When Yume and his brothers go to the monstro lounge he would prefer to sit in his section over Floyd of Azul’s.

I think Jade makes chatting easier so even if Yume doesn’t know what to say in a conversation he will help them find a topic of discussion.

Yume likes discussing a variety of topics with him ( His club, new things at the Monstro Lounge, plants, old stories about Floyd or Azul, ect). I think they're also interested in his hobby of making terrariums and could bond over the creative and crafting nature of such a project.

During Bean day the two of them really bonded over their joint desire to take out Azul, and Yume was surprised with how well they planned together! And Jade learned just how determined, driven, and ruthless Yume could be when they set their mind to a goal and had proper motivation. Despite not winning, they both decided that they wouldn’t mind having others on their side if something happened!

TL:DR: Easier for them to deal with then Floyd!

[instantbee]

Ilia Amitola and Winter Schnee, the Summer and Winter Maidens

a.k.a. Instantbee's pet crack theory

Ilia art from: Petracore101 www.tumblr.com/blog/view/petracore101/639791009801306112

TL:DR:

Differences: Atlas Elite/Mantle Nobody, Human/Faunus, Oppressor /Freedom Fighter, Creation/Destruction, Winter/Summer

Similarities: Authoritarian Strongman that they betray, Sense of profound guilt over their role in their former organization, desire to make up for that, deep need for a path in life and a way to help people, connection to team RWBY

Winter/Summer, opposites but so, so, similar. Long version is under the cut

Okay to start off with, a foundational reason behind this theory actually doesn't have anything to do with Ilia or Winter directly, but rather who they relate to

Maidens and Team RWBY

All the maidens so far have personal connections to members of team RWBY.

Spring/Raven-Yang (Mother/Daughter)

Fall/Cinder-Ruby (Chosen Expys for leaders in a millennia long war)

Winter/Winter-Weiss (Sister/Sister)

It seems odd to leave Blake out. It seems really odd to leave Blake out actually. But who's a young woman who could assume the powers that has a connection to Blake Belladonna? A deep, personal connection that would make their interactions in some way resonant thematically or interpersonally?

Oh hey there

Ilia and Blake have the interpersonal connection required to make Blake's exclusion from the connections to Maidens that the rest of her team has go away. Ilia is also the only character that Blake has that level of connection to that also meets the requirements to be a Maiden. Sure they could introduce that and build it in Vacuo but, Ilia is already a character. Why make a new one?

Crack Theory Puzzle Piece #1 Complete

Maidens have a connection/relationship to one another that has nothing to do with team RWBY

Raven-Cinder (fought, used each other in plans)

Cinder-Winter (I "Killed" your sister, also Atlas Elite hang ups)

Winter needs to have a relationship with the Summer maiden in order to make them interesting as a dynamic on their own. Someone that would be interesting to pair with Winter. Someone that may have thematic similarities to Winter. While being different enough to create tension and explore some new ideas.

Oh hey there

Crack Theory Puzzle Piece #2 Complete

Shockingly similar lives

They both grew up in Atlas. Winter was the Schnee Heiress, Ilia's parents worked for the Schnees.

Both of those situations end in disaster and a girl without a family looks for somewhere to go.

Both flee their initial place in Atlas and take up with a strong, authoritarian leader. A charismatic man that told them he understood their hardships, that he got it and that he could help them find a new path.

Both of them put their faith in this man. Both of them believed this man's goals were for the greater good. Both of them stayed by this man's side long after it became obvious that the reasons they had initially joined him had been a lie, or at least had turned into one.

Both of them broke with a member of Team RWBY over this allegiance. Both of them eventually saw the error of their ways. Both of them eventually fought this man in the Finale of a season of RWBY. Both of them joined the other side after this conflict. Both of them were left with guilt in their role and a desire to make amends. Both could use the Maiden powers to do so.

Crack Theory Puzzle Piece #3 Complete

Opposites are cool actually

This isn't so much theory building on stuff in canon as it is wishful thinking and it's where we really start verging into crack theory land.

Obviously this is all highly dependent on who the Summer Maiden is, if Ilia is even in Vacuo at any point, and has like, zero, canon validation behind it at all. But nonetheless I continue on because I love the theory and I love Ilia and I wanna see the lil Lizard again, preferably with a role to play in the story

I think that a really cool way for CRWBY to take the Maidens is for the Summer and Winter Maidens to be like mirror images of one another. Opposites but also so incredibly similar.

The idea of playing with opposites is super interesting to me. Summer/Winter, Destruction/Creation, and possibly...

Faunus/Human?

The idea that the Summer Maiden should be a Faunus is hardly unique to this post. There hasn't been a Faunus Maiden yet and there really should be. Illa would fit that role and also provide a stark contrast to Winter Schnee as the Winter Maiden. Not just Human/Faunus but Schnee/Faunus

Creation/Destruction

Possibly more obvious but Winter and Summer's respective relics are opposites. Creation and destruction are opposite ideas but as RWBY has shown before not so opposite as one would think. One can create to destroy and destroy to create. If one were to build up the Winter and Summer maidens as opposites of one another that are really rather similar then Ilia and Winter fit that role.

Summer/Winter

I mean, come on, they're literally opposite seasons

Crack Theory Puzzle Piece #4 Complete

To sum up

I got nothing to sum up. This is a crack theory based around way too much speculation and a burning desire to have Ilia be super important to the show.

I want this

Even if it doesn't really make sense. But I think it kinda does

@shallitickleyournerdbutton I did the thing

[sakurastallion]

Wait what has The Mane Quest done? /gen

Oh BOY I could go on forever! Let me send some fun screenshots since I have an entire folder and am too focused on other things to sit down and write a long essay here. Almost all of my hatred goes out towards the mods of the discord server run by Alice, and THEN Alice herself, for backing them up, even if a mod had been called out multiple times for actions. (primarily Sophie, fuck you Sophie)

but let's sum it up that I got banned from the discord, after being in it sine there were 30 people and before any mods had been asked for or decided, all the way back in 2019 because I defended someone who was told to "stop generalizing cis men" by Sophie when the person in question made a joke about how "white, cisgender men should be taken out of power", when the person themselves is nonbinary. If that shows you how far the "neutral ground" went.

By the time this happened, almost all of my friends I made through the server had left on their own terms after mod incidents (mostly with Sophie) or were banned.

Ive already ranted too much but let's just TL:DR: this as "You cant call Jor, the creator of the Horse Isle games, known for VERY VERY homophobic takes, a piece of shit, because you are not allowed to critique people, just their work <3″

EDIT: Requested Screenshot from banned friend. When they and I were both banned, Alice took it upon herself to explain to the ENTIRE SERVER why were banned, instead of moving on. In the case of my banning, the mod message was posted DAYS after I was banned, and the server had moved on by a mod that wasn’t Alice.

[karajaynetoday]

how to support your favourite creators on tumblr dot com

hello friends and welcome to unsolicited advice from karajaynetoday

here are 5 simple ways you can support your favourite creators on tumblr/the internet in general, whether they be writers, artists, incredible GIF makers and edit-creators, and everything else in between. I get so much joy out of tumblr content, so I’d thought I’d share some tips that I’ve gathered throughout ten years on this hellsite/safe haven lol

1. REBLOG THEIR CONTENT

go on, tell us how you really feel in the tags. no really, by sharing their original content (always reblog rather than re-post. NEVER re-post without permission or credit - you’ll see on the GIF I’ve used above Tumblr has added the credit to @ghostofmashton as the OG creator), you’re helping give their work more exposure, feedback and love, which is a lovely thing to do.

2. INTERACT AND GIVE FEEDBACK 

Did you lose your mind over that blurb? have a meltdown (in a good way) over that GIFset?? Head on over to their ask box or the replies and let them know!! Giving feedback helps your fave creators figure out what kinds of things you like to read or see on their blog, so they can plan future content! With writing feedback in particular, I like to be specific - if there was a particular phrase or section that made me feel an emotion, I mention it; if there was a particular writing element that struck me (the character dynamics, the scene descriptions, the narrative structure, the fictional universe etc etc) I call that out. A lot of people have an anon option on their ask box if you feel more comfortable giving feedback that way! If creators post things and all it gets is likes but no feedback, it can feel a little bit like you’re screaming into the void! 

3. RECOMMENDATIONS/REQUESTS/FINDING LOST CONTENT

Most creators will say in their bios or on their ask page if requests are open or closed - be sure to be respectful of this! But, did you read a fic or see an edit a while ago that you can’t remember the name or creator of? ASK SOMEONE! Are you in the mood to read a particular kind of vibe? ASK SOMEONE! The 5SOS community on tumblr is incredibly supportive and helpful when it comes to sharing recommendations, whether it’s through having a recommendations sideblog or fic recs tag (for example, I regularly check Lau @sexgodashton‘s rec tag for new pieces to read), responding to specific ask messages that request recommendations, or helping people find things they’re looking for (check out Crystal @kindahoping4forever​ for all your 5sos historian needs) so don’t be afraid to ask.

4. BE RESPECTFUL

yeah look this one is just a good general rule for life and everywhere you are on the internet but basically remember that there is a human on the other side of the screen. this is a safe space, and we can all engage in discourse and headcanons and whatnot, but don’t be a c*nt about it. if you don’t want to see a particular type of content, you can block tags. at the end of the day, the creator of the blog is in control of their own content, and if you don’t like it, unfollow them. if you think their content puts someone in danger or violates the tumblr community guidelines, you can report it. Jex @sadistmichael​ has some of the best NSFW writing on this site, and also some of the most reasonable opinions and responses to divisive discourse and I think this post of theirs sums it up:

a reminder that it’s okay to exist in the same fandom as someone that doesn’t have the same preferences or opinions that you do when it comes to a celebrity you don’t know <3 everyone does not have to think like you to be valid <3 as long as they are not encroaching on someone’s human rights and are in their lane you can unfollow them <3 having different opinions on things is a central part of being an adult in the real world <3 

5. GIVE WHERE YOU CAN 

okay now this is potentially the most controversial one?? maybe?? Idk, that’s why it’s last. obviously right now the world is on FIRE and a lot of people are struggling, so don’t feel pressure at all to do this if you can’t. it’s important to look after yourself first, especially during crazy times like 2020. however, personally I’ve been in a position recently where I’ve had a little spare money (that I would usually spend on my morning coffee in the office, or whatever, that I’m now not spending thanks to rona) and I’ve chosen to support a few of my favourite creators that have ko-fi pages with a small donation as a thank you for their work (@ everyone I follow who doesn’t have a ko-fi page pls make one so I can keep doing this!!! lol). The way I see it, I’d usually buy a book to read, pay for a netflix subscription to watch content, or things like that - so this is my way of repaying creators for delivering excellent content essentially for free in terms of $$$, but not really free if you think about the time and effort that they put into their creations. I know a lot of people pursue creative work for the love and passion they have for it, but everyone also has bills to pay - just because it’s fandom-based work, doesn’t mean it’s any less valuable than mainstream creative work you engage with. If the creators you want to support don’t have a ko-fi or similar, maybe see if you could commission them to do some work for an upcoming birthday or something like that! that being said, donating to support their work doesn't give you ownership or rights - just like buying a 5sos album doesn't. They're not at your beck and call to create and engage 24/7 - see point 4 about BEING RESPECTFUL 🙃🙃🙃

tl:dr: reblog, interact & give feedback, ask for recommendations and make requests, BE RESPECTFUL, give where you can.

thank you for coming to my TED talk <3 

[tsuki-sennin]

Mina-san, bonne lecture~! (Tsuki recaps his feelings about Kamen Rider Saber, a personal essay.)

So, Saber... what a wild ride it's been, huh? Just a quick heads up, this is very long and rambling, and also contains spoilers for everything in Saber. It's fine if you don't wanna read all this, but I just wanted to get my thoughts out there.

TL:DR, Kamen Rider Saber's an undercooked hot mess I absolutely adore, warts and all.

Speaking as objectively as possible, it's a 6/10. Probably closer to a 5 than a 7... it's not great: All the different plot elements are cluttered and weirdly paced; character focus is disjointed and clearly biased toward certain characters, leaving great ones like Kento and Ogami, interesting ones like Kamijo and Hayato, and underdeveloped ones like Sophia and especially the Shindais in the dust; not to mention its balance of comedy and drama is off, and while both are very effective, there's a lot of mood whiplash that can take you out of the story. I also feel like a lot of the easily avoidable character conflict could've been easily resolved, even in universe, by simple conversations. Be careful Fukuda, I think Inoue might sue you if he finds out you've been biting his style and doing it worse.

Rider shows have a very frustrating tendency to drop cool form ideas and not do anything with them, and I don't think it's ever been more the case than with Saber. There's a similar argument to be made with the majority of Heisei Phase 2 after Gaim, but wow. The suits are expensive to make without just straight up recycling everything, I get that, but man, I really wanted to see more Wonder Rider forms. How come Touma got all the fun, eh? Of note are the Blades King of Arthur forms (which look amazing by the way), Espada's Jaaku Dragon forms (one of which I even drew last night), even the non-elemental random Wonder Ride Books all have awesome design elements that go tragically unused. Even if the other Swordsmen just kinda have the ones they do get to use slapped onto them, that's at least something. Touma also just straight up only uses Diago Speedy twice and never again. You have cool props guys, don't waste them like that!

Speaking of waste, Espada, goddamn. Since most of the Wonder Ride Books are Story Type and he needs one very specific Story Book to transform, he doesn't get much of... anything, really! No Wonder Rider forms like Blades, Lamp Do Cerberus being exclusive to Ganbarizing, only getting to use the Ride Gatriker like once, he even spends the second and third arcs as a completely different Rider, then once he comes back he doesn't get a King of Arthur-granted upgrade or even a Necrom Espada form. ...at least, not yet anyway. I'm holding out hope for Espada x Necrom and the eventual Saber V-Cinemas. Extra Rider stans, we will be well respected someday.

The Unreal Engine CGI used for fights in early Chapters was pretty good but wow it feels disconnected and they really drop it quick. I feel like if the animators had more freedom to use as many forms as they want, we'd have gotten a lot more mileage out of the books beyond... decoration basically. I actually really liked the CGI sequences, they felt creative and were fun to follow along with.

The soundtrack is pretty great on its own and conveys what it needs to, but they seriously overplay the orchestral themes. It honestly feels kind of... stock at times. I think my favorite parts of the score are when it winds down, since it feels a lot more natural and lets the cinematographers and actors speak for themselves.

As awesome as I think Falchion's design and the Mumeiken Kyomu are, The Phoenix Swordsman and the Book of Ruin comes up short as its own standalone thing. You'd think 30 or so minutes of non-stop action would be awesome, and it almost is? It's as good as a typical episode of the series with a higher action budget, but it kinda drags on a bit too long; and although I think Emotional Dragon looks cool, it feels a bit tacked on. Coming off of the incredible Zero-One REAL×TIME, it doesn't give you much room to breathe, which Rider films are typically great at handling. I also thought the resolution for the kid's subplot was kinda forced. He does an okay job at acting considering his age and doesn't overstay his welcome, but I really don't see how 20 minutes of violence and action is enough to convince him to be brave enough to go play with the other kids. 5/10, it's closer to a 4 than a 6 and I think that maybe Zero-One should've stood on its own if they really had to push back Kiramager Bee-Bop Dream because of the pandemic.

Alright, with all that said... As imperfect and undercooked Saber was, like Ghost I can consider it a personal favorite, 10/10. Call it a guilty pleasure if you want, but holy hell it's just the show I needed. Takuro Fukuda has a talent for creating fun, wonderful characters and utterly fascinating worldbuilding and concepts. It's a shame he doesn't utilize them fully, but hey!

The action and fight choreography are pretty top notch as usual. Lots of beautiful shot composition and set pieces, and plenty of great angles to help keep up with the extra busy action. I love watching the suit actors perform and they deserve all the respect in the world for their hard work in those hot, sweaty, and heavy costumes. Their visual design is also top notch, with lots of unique and fascinating forms and cool weapons I desperately want to play with despite being broke, all with spectacular finishers and hype jingles with the voice of Akio motherfucking Ohtsuka calling them out. A real feast for the eyes. Not a single bad suit among them, yeah I said it, fight me.

The crossover specials are soooo good too.

-I went over my feelings on the Zenkaiger crossover episodes in a separate post (good luck finding that btw), but to sum it up, they were great character moments for Zox and the Shindai siblings with lots of great screwball comedy and some good old fashioned meta humor.

-The Ghost crossovers are great little side stories all about how Daitenku Temple somehow had the Ghost Ijunroku Wonder Ride Book? I genuinely have no idea why it was there, or how Makoto had the Specter Gekikou Senki, and as far as I remember neither of their origins are explained. Did Luna or Tassel hand them off to them and told them to wait for a sword guy? And why do these generic French Revolution Gamma villains working for Danton get their asses handed to them so easily by Kanon, who literally just became a Rider? I thought that Makoto deciding to adopt all the Kanon clones into his family was both hilarious and adorable though; considering all the crap they went through, I think it was a good ending to this plot. Gimme Espada x Necrom already Toei/Bandai/Fukuda/whoever I need to yell at, give Kento things to do, I beg you.

-I haven't actually seen Super Hero Senki since it's not available for subbing yet, but apparently there's a Journey to the West plot starring the Taros and Ohma Zi-O and I want to see that so badly.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra? Yoohei Kawakami? A match made in heaven, that's what they are. All of their themes are absolute bangers. All of them. Almighty, Kamen Rider Saber, Sparks, Taju Rokou, all excellent and empowering pieces. Rewrite the Story, Will Save Us, and The Story Never Ends are all amazing inserts done by the cast, and it makes me wish we had even more of them to help break up the monotony of the score.

The characters are what easily make this show such a great watch though. For the most part, they have great personalities and chemistry, consistently fun and interesting scenes, well acted and... sometimes well-written development, and deeply investing personal stakes.

Narrating it all is the delightfully eccentric Tassel/Viktor, portrayed by Romanesque Ishitobi "TOBI" of the Paris-based Les Romanesques. I was utterly confused by his presence at first, wondering why there needed to be a narrator when the story would've been perfectly fine without it. He even got a special spot in the opening despite having no stake in the plot despite seeming to live in Wonderworld, who the hell is this guy? But then I thought "OH MY GOD, HE'S THE MAIN VILLAIN USING TOUMA AS THE HERO IN HIS OWN TWISTED STORY, THE BASTARD". I thought it'd be some subversion of expectations, true form, "That Was His Mistake!" shit. Trust me, it made a lot more sense in my head. I'm very happy that they didn't do that, as I grew to love having male Yuuka Kazami as my narrator, and when he was shown to be actually important by being friends with Yuri my mind was blown. And doubly so when I realized just how deeply necessary to the plot he really is.

Rintaro/Blades is up there as one of my all time favorite secondary Riders, since his curiosity is always consistently funny and adorable, his forms are all gorgeous and impressively designed, his relationships with Mei and Touma are absolutely sweet and compelling to see unfold, and his arcs about becoming willing to call out those he views as family and coming to terms with his feelings of inadequacy and both moving past and using them to strengthen himself are always great lessons to pass on to kids. ...even if they took like 10 goddamn episodes to be conveyed in what could've been 5, but hey, Takaya Yamaguchi does a stand-up job all throughout. Rider veteran Eitoku's refined, almost logical movements with the Suiseiken Nagare absolutely beautiful to see in action, and his final form having the same white and blue color scheme as Zooous's base form is an amazing touch I don't see appreciated enough.

Mei Sudo's also absolutely wonderful, serving as the perfect emotional core of the story, responsible for most of the funniest lines, sweetest character moments, and some of the most deceptively compelling drama. Asuka Kawazu brings the perfect energy for such a dynamic and well rounded character, and absolutely nails her scenes of quiet turmoil. As much as I would've loved her to become a Rider, I don't think she really needed to. She's already done so much to help, and as cool as it would've been to see her pick up a sword and fight alongside them as Espada, Calibur, or Falchion she's already endeared herself to me as one of my favorite supporting characters in the whole franchise.

I can't get enough of my homeboy Kento Fukamiya/Espada. Like Rintaro and everyone else for that matter, he also suffers from Saber's pacing issues; and like his predecessor Valkyrie from Zero-One, he doesn't get a proper upgrade aside from his Wonder Combo, instead becoming an anti-villain using a completely different powerset and shifting the Raimeiken Ikazuchi out of focus for the Ankokuken Kurayami, and I feel there's a serious missed opportunity to see him use Jaaku Dragon with Alangina. However, Ryo Aoki's performance is probably among the most easily praiseworthy in the whole cast, managing to convey both Kento's kind and knightly stoicism as Espada and his emotionally unstable despair as Calibur perfectly, in conjunction with Yuji Nakata's experienced and expressive stuntwork.

Ren Akamichi/Kenzan's a dark horse favorite for sure. I remember back when Saber was first picking up, people hated this breezy mad lad for being such a simple character at first. Overly concerned with strength? Black and white world view? Annoyingly energetic? Agh, real-feeling character flaws, I hate them, get him away from me! But then y'all came crawling back. Eiji Togashi's apparently a bit of a rookie actor, and it really shows with some stilted delivery and the way he sometimes bobs his head when giving his lines, but man he improves dramatically as the series goes on. His inexperience ironically ends up really selling his character development, and his unexpectedly beautiful relationship with Desast is special evidence of that. The Fuusouken Hayate's three modes and Satoshi Fujita putting them to excellent use through his stellar acrobatic movements are also really cool.

Why did Luna have to be a child for so long? Does Wonderworld not age whoever inherits its power? Well since Luna randomly becomes an adult in Super Hero Senki and some of the final episodes, I guess so? Miku Okamoto does a fine job for a kid actor, but she's basically done all the heavy lifting for the whole series and doesn't give Mayuu Yokota enough time to get a feel for her character as an adult. How did she choose Touma to inherit the power anyway? Does she just subconsciously decide to trust him with it upon seeing how kind and passionate about storytelling he is? Well if that's the case, why didn't Kento get at least some of that power too? He's just as important to the merchan- I mean Luna-chan, isn't he? Why did Tassel pick her over someone who isn't a literal child who'd be understandably terrified about basically becoming an embodiment of storytelling?

Sophia also kinda suffers from the same problems. Rina Chinen's voice is very pleasant to listen to, but she doesn't really do much beyond serving as a source of exposition and support. I think her dynamic with Mei's adorable, and given her kindness I can certainly understand the respect Northern Base has for her, but she doesn't really contribute a whole lot. If she could use the Kurayami and become Calibur all this time, then why didn't she take it from Kento and Yuri and do so earlier when Kento decided to go back to being Espada? I know she's not much of a fighter and as the closet thing the Sword of Logos has to a leader after Isaac's death I'd understand not wanting to put her at risk, but considering Storious is destroying the world, and she's very evidently kicking a lot of ass in the first part of the final battle even in the basic Jaaku Dragon form, I think it would've helped a lot, just sayin'. Tassel at least has the excuse of being unable to interact with the real world, but Sophia obviously didn't just be put in charge of Northern Base just because she's a pawn in Isaac's plans right?

Ryou Ogami/Buster is also a victim of the disjointed character focus. I have no problem believing he's an excellent father and fighter thanks to Yuki Ikushima and Jiro Okamoto, respectively, but he feels a bit flat and simple in comparison. His rivalry with Desast is randomly dropped, his wife doesn't even show up until the final episodes, he's kinda sidelined in terms of action a whole lot. I imagine that must've sucked for the Rider Dads out there. He does get to star in his own manga, and that was pretty good, so I guess I can't be too mad.

Tetsuo Daishinji/Slash fares better though. Hiroaki Oka, being a Kamen Rider fanboy himself, manages to make him among the most relatable characters in the series. Not only are his hyperfixation on swordsmithing and anxiety played surprisingly believably, Hirotsugu Mori letting him cut loose is extremely cathartic and hilarious, and you really feel for him when the Onjuuken Suzune becomes the first victim of Calibur!Kento's sword sealing.

Yuri/Saikou's another dark horse favorite, for me at least. "Oh great, Avalon guy's got even more merchandise to sell, I wonder what his Sword of Light is- it's himself. Well... that's different." I admit, I didn't like him at first. He felt like he was there to fill out character dynamics in the absence of both Rintaro and Kento, I thought his gimmick was too silly even if his design and jingles were bangers, I didn't particularly care for his power set. But then XSwordman came around I totally got it. He's an endearing, hard-working man trying his best to catch up on all the cool shit he missed, unafraid of experimentation, ready to throw down at a moment's notice, serving as a wonderful bit of consistent support for our heroes, a truly knightly individual, an absolute Chad. and goddamn does he make me worry. Tomohiro Ichikawa, I salute you good sir.

Even if they fall short compared to the rest of the cast, the Shindai siblings are at least cool enough to not wanna write out entirely. They kinda devolve into comic relief after they become allies, something that villainous Riders from Chase onwards are very prone to doing, and it's especially awkward in their case because I think that they kinda get off scot-free for obeying the obviously sinister and crazy Isaac for so long, as well as driving a wedge between a lot of people and threatening children in Reika's case. I think their sibling dynamic is nice though, even if Fukuda recycled it from Makoto and Kanon and has some... questionable possessive undertones as a result. It's cool how they're basically foils to Touma and Rintaro though. The dispassionate and methodical Reika/Sabela is beautifully played by Angela Mei and her moments of emotional depth are fascinating to watch. Her Rider form is a thing of beauty, and its use of literal the Eneiken Noroshi's smokescreens and Yuki Miyazawa's precise and deadly stinging strikes are a joy to watch. And while Ken Shonozaki's not given the best direction as the undercooked plate of 7-Eleven fried fish that is Ryoga/Durendal, he manages to sell him as an experienced and hardened warrior with an awkward side that's especially evident in the Zenkaiger specials. His goddamn RWBY weapon that is the Jikokuken Kaiji is absolutely sick, I'm a sucker for transforming weapons and its combination of time and water powers is really cool, especially with Yasuhiko Amai's deliberate and forceful acting in the suit.

Daichi Kamijo/the Second Calibur, for as brief as his story was, was a pretty cool starter villain. Hiroyuki Hirayama brings this poor bastard to life in a genuinely touching way. I love how as Calibur he goes full force on his creative use of Wonder Ride Books for attacks, and his debut as Jaou Dragon got my blood pumping. His end is also deeply tragic, and I really felt for him when he realized just how badly he fucked up. Hayato Fukamiya also does wonders for the backstory, and while he also doesn't get much to work with, Mitsuru Karahashi makes his regrets and love for Kento feel genuine.

Legeiel and Zooous are both very intimidating and entertaining villains. On top of being just the right balance of goofy and threatening, Kairu Takano and Koji Saikawa's stage presences are both very strong, and their mixture of camaraderie and in-fighting is extremely believable. Zooous's rivalry with Rintaro feels incredible to see through to the end, and although Legeiel doesn't get quite the same treatment, Elemental Dragon had such a cool debut that it more than makes up for it. Their final fights are also absolute spectacles. I don't think their sympathetic angle works even close to as well as it does with MetsubouJinrai or even the Gamma, but I get it, power corrupts, and you probably feel a lot of sadness and regret for things you've done when you die unless you're a right bastard.

Isaac/Master Logos/Solomon is kinda generic. As wonderful as Keisuke Soma is, he doesn't get much dimension to work with. The result of that is while he nails being as smug and punchable as possible, he feels almost... comically generic. Genta Umemori from Shinkenger was full of personality! He was also basically some guy, but he was fun, he felt connected to the rest of the cast! Meanwhile the only real time we get to see Isaac's depth is when we see him crying over his failures. I almost appreciate him being unapologetically evil though, since I've seen way too many shows where redeemed villains get off scot free for way worse things, and some where they outright demand you to sympathize with them despite them doing nothing to warrant it.

Bahato/Falchion surprises me by not just being a movie villain whose actions affect the main plot, but also being a movie villain who actually gets to appear in series as a recurring threat! ...and it's not a particularly great showing on his part, sadly. Masashi Taniguchi does a wonderful job with what he's given, but his character feels like a retread of Eternal without any of what made Katsumi Daido a compelling and frightening villain. I'd like to believe Yuri when he says that he used to be a good person and a hero to the people, but I can only hear so many anime villain monologues about the pointlessness of life and the beauty of destruction before I can never take them seriously again. ...I think that's his biggest problem, actually. I thought he was an overall uninteresting and generic villain in the movie, and the cartoon nihilist he's shown to be in series is only a small step up. He still feels like filler. If only there were a far better written and much cooler villain who takes on the Mumeiken Kyomu after his de--

Desast is probably one of the finest anti-villains I've ever seen in recent years. On top of an absolutely badass character design and the excellent combination of Kazuya Okada/Danki Sakae's suit work and Koki Uchiyama's stellar voice acting, his story being so thoroughly intertwined with Ren's makes their shared journey and bromance a borderline Shakespearean tragedy. His struggle for identity despite Storious treating him as nothing more than a failed experiment and the Sword of Logos treating him as a mere monster really gripped me, and the way he uses what little time he has left to encourage Ren into blossoming on his own is absolutely beautiful. I think his enmity with Ogami is criminally underexplored in series, considering he killed several of the previous Riders and how Ogami's in desperate need of screentime.

Then there's our main villain, Kamen Rider Storious. Robin Furuya brings an incredible amount of charisma to this character, expertly portrayed as both a sinister, manipulative bastard , and as a lonely, tragic figure that arguably makes him feel even more villainous. Speaking as a struggling writer myself, it's easy to feel stuck in the idea of "fuck it, who cares, maybe everything is predestined", but I can't imagine what it's like to know that as the truth and carry it with you for all that time. All of your grand ideas have roots from your experiences, and you're not the only one who even could have those experiences. It's easy to just fall into despair and give up trying, but would that make you happy? Sure, Storious is sadistic, he may be fulfilling his goals, he may be ungodly powerful... but it's not enough for him, is it? All of his friends are gone, one of them even at his own hand, he probably doesn't have any idea what to do after he destroys all the world's stories, Touma even reached his full power before he did, and his downfall is so predictable that even a blind person could see it. He even seems to welcome it, what's up with that? But then I realized... OH MY GOD, HE'S THE MAIN VILLAIN USING TOUMA AS THE HERO IN HIS OWN TWISTED STORY, THE BASTARD. He's so far gone, he's so desperate to stick it to the Almighty Book, he's willing to twist the archetype of the Hero's Journey so hard, it snaps in two. What I think is interesting is that he's ironically trying to chase the trend of "edgy superhero story" that became super popular in the 21st century. The Boys, Brightburn, Kamen Rider Amazons, The Sentry, No More Heroes, Magical Girl Site, even mainstream comics from DC and Marvel... Surely Storious must've seen the cruelty and tragedy these stories are filled with, but he chooses to go through with trying to force the world into this direction anyway. Did they, along with seeing the ever-popular tragedies of legendary playwrights and bleak satire of the twentieth century fuel his despair?

And yet... there's one who stands in determination against his ideals.

Our hero, Touma Kamiyama, the titular Kamen Rider portrayed by Syuichiro Naito and Kousuke Asai, he speaks to me on a personal level. There're plenty of jokes to be made about his procrastination in early chapters, his godless fashion sense, and him doing the funny run up the slope, that's all fine and dandy, but I rarely feel so connected to a character the way I did Touma. The struggle to create, find companionship, live your life, reach out to others... these're things a lot of people struggle with, and of course you see them depicted a lot in media about creators, but Saber gets to the root of what the greatest thing about storytelling really is. Giving people hope, while using the pain of the past as fuel for the future. Sure, Storious may be right about how every story has been done as far back as human civilization gets, he may even be right about how any spin or creativity humanity has is outright predestined. It should be pointless to even try, right? That's where Touma Kamiyama disagrees. He didn't spend all that time fighting and creating just to give up at the idea of predestination. His novel writing-fueled creativity in his early training, his devotion to his friends that let him surpass Kamijo as Dragonic Knight, his compassion for the Primitive Dragon that let him combine their powers to destroy Legeiel as Elemental Dragon, his resolve that let Xross Saber dethrone Solomon, and his passion for the craft of storytelling that let our heroes channel their wishes into Wonder Almighty... all stemming from the belief imparted onto him by his predecessor that "Hope lies beyond your resolution." And that you decide how your story ends. He may not be the greatest Rider to some, he may be as lame as others think he is, he may not even be my favorite, but I have no issue calling Touma Kamiyama... Kamen Rider Saber, one of the all time greatest carriers of the Kamen Rider name.

The final chapter's definitely not as great as some other Rider finales, but goddamn. Primitive Dragon consciously choosing to save Touma is so sweet and such a great emotional payoff, I loved jamming out to the opening theme while our boys lay the smackdown on Storious. Wonder Almighty's a fitting final bit to close the main series out with, if not exactly a great one. I think the cover is great, and the book's body is a lovely shade of candy apple red, but I really don't like how its pages are just the covers of the other books copy-pasted onto onto the pages, that feels lazy. Maybe if it were a panorama of all the books' characters, I'd like it a lot more as a symbol of how unified the Swordsmen are, but eh, what can you do? On a related note, does this mean all the "last episode extra final forms" of the Reiwa Era are gonna be named after their series's opening? That's a neat idea.

I felt a lot of feelings seeing all those video messages of Rider fans all across Japan talking about their favorite stories, and how their passion and fond memories help reshape the world. Mei's monologue at the ceremony about is also really touching and- IS THAT A HUMAGEAR!? :O

Y-yeah dude, it is! Wow, where have you guys been for the past 48 episodes?! Are you guys doing okay? How come you're like... the only one here? Is the technology of Hiden Intelligence only really that prevalent in that very specific metropolitan part of Japan and they're just not coming around much over here? Is it like Dragon Ball where anthropomorphic animals are just vibin' with humans while the heroes are off kicking ass? Apparently he's played by Hasegawa Keiichi, who wrote this episode and had the award ceremony named after him. ...is Hasegawa Keiichi a HumaGear in this universe then? Did he set up this award ceremony in Touma's honor? If so, why is it named after him? Did reading one of Touma's books lead to his Singularity? I know this is just a cameo, but... god, I have so many questions that probably will never be satisfactorily answered.

Overall, if I had to compare Saber to anything, it'd probably be Sam Reimi's Spider-Man trilogy. It's awkward, stupid, overwrought, undercooked, illogically written, scattershot, cheesy as fuck, and has a tendency to squander its otherwise fine execution; but the sheer passion for storytelling, sense of spectacle, deeply fascinating characters, and belief in the ideals set forth by the cast, crew, and fans are absolutely admirable. Improvements would certainly make it an overall better experience, to be sure, but there's something deeply captivating about how wonky this series is. Seeing everybody get their happy ending after all they've been through felt extremely gratifying though, and I may have to wait another for the epilogue to and then wait for Revice, but... man. I'm hella proud of our awkwardly-emoting, fashion disaster novelist and all of his heavily flawed friends for carrying the Kamen Rider name on to the future. Here's hoping Revice will keep it going.

Alright, that's everything I wanted to talk about. Sorry this was so long and ramble-y, I had a lot to say. I'll probably be liveblogging Revice as episodes of that come out, so... look forward to that, I guess. See ya.

[zhoboh]

OHH! I have a story to share

So, at our highschool we have on campus police officers because... well that’s a different story involving hand sanitizer, but we only had one called Greg but we got a new guy recently.

So, the new duder is walking down the bitumen near our handball court and We wave at him and are like ‘ay officer, can you kick the ball back?’ And he steps forward toward it.

And,,, any teacher would have tapped it with their foot or... picked it up and passed it,,, but nope, he just frickin goes for it.

Like, a footy player, just,,, punts it.

So the ball goes flying back toward us but

P r o b l e m

There’s a chick walking through blissfully unaware at the handball flying toward her face at max velocity.

It connects like a ‘mother trucker dude,’ and her face snaps to the side and shit.

Police dude instantly covers his mouth in shock and walks over to apologise, but please, these are hand ball courts,,, walk through and chances are your face isn’t going to be unscathed.

Girl fucks off somewhere before police can apologise and he’s just kinda standing there horrified about punting a handball into a girls face while I’m shitting myself laughing and

Oh?

What’s this?

The handball rolled back toward him.

So, deciding not to punt it again, he picked it up, extremely embarrassed and threw it back to us who were still cackling like morticians finding a new cadaver.

It Landed slam dunk into the gutter on the roof.

At this point we all go ‘nooo!!’ Cus, while yes we can climb up there, if a teacher sees us doing it we get in shit. So policier is just drained of colour going oh shit and trying not to be gobsmacked by a perfect shite aim to one dunk the gutter.

We get it down, and continued playing handball, and he hovers for a bit to watch us, almost nervously, before disappearing.

Honestly think that was that guys first day at our school, and I think that sums the the experience entirely.

TL:DR accidental police brutality is quite funny, read the post you lazy cowards

[tangledgal]

Rapunzel and The Great Tree

okay, I made a previous post how the ending of the episode is super depressing and why I don’t always like watching it BUT ANYWAY

I truly do love this episode so much! These tentpole episodes (well, all two of them) are really the best content the series has to offer (even better than the finales imho) and I was just so impressed with how much was added to the lore and characters in this episode. To sum up:

(yep, this list is insanely long.)

I LOVE the action scene with the caravan as they are chased by Hector. I literally screamed when they split the caravan in two. It was so awesome and fluid! The animation, in general, was fantastic with the new environments, colors and character expressions! (Eugene’s butterfly eyeballs are a little unnerving, but still)

The episode featuring a duet by James and Zach AND a solo by Eden . . . are we for real here?! It was literally freakin’ Christmas when it came to the songs in this episode. The Buddy song puts a smile on my face every time I listen to it and Eden . . . omg . . . goosebumps EVERYWHERE with her singing. SO AMAZING! Also, the reverse incantation is so creepy and mystical I love it.

Okay, I already mentioned the Buddy song, but CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT SCENE? The absolute creativity and unrestricted weirdness as the two sing about how good of friends they are as they go from surreal environment to surreal environment: it’s actually amazing. This song goes all out with the animation and Zach and James just sound like they’re having the time of their life . . . I just love it. I love all of it!

I said I love the caravan scene, but the action in general here is so good! Adira and Hector’s fight scene was animated BEAUTIFULLY and I actually believed they were skilled fighters. Really impressed with that.

The drama . . . oh man. This episode really portrayed Cass as very sympathetic so when she was put down by Rapunzel for going too far, I felt legit bad for her. She just wants so badly to prove herself, but her role doesn’t really let her. It’s a great internal conflict for her character. (oh and her deep-fried hand . . . that was rough)

RAPUNZEL. MAKING. HARD. DECISIONS. YES! One thing I’ve always loved about this show is that despite having clear good guys and bad guys, there is still a good amount of moral ambiguity. In Queen For a Day, she made the decision she thought was right, and was it right? Well, yes AND no. And that’s what makes Rapunzel grow as a character. Yeah, she hurt Cass, but her choosing the spell over the spear was a moment of growth. It didn’t matter what the right decision was: it was what the BEST decision was. If season 3 would explore this concept more, I’d be stoked ‘cause they do it so well.

Also, Raps asserting her authority over Cass and making the call for herself was sad for Cass, but also very empowering. Rapunzel ain’t taking no bs anymore.

Lance carrying Eugene out of the tree. Man, the brotherly love they have for each other is so heartwarming.

Hector was such a great villain! He was clearly bad but still had good intentions that were taken too far. He’ll kill anyone who wants to get to the moonstone, but that’s mainly from respecting Edmund and keeping others safe. (It’s a weird contradiction)

The whole scene at the end where Rapunzel, after everything, decides to just keep moving forward because that’s what she’s out there to do. It’s not only a great moment of Rapunzel accepting her role to make it to the Dark Kingdom, but it also sends a great message of enduring hardships and to keep moving forward no matter what.

TL:DR good episode. Loved it, one of the best episodes of the whole show, and it ends on a sad, but hopeful note.