#this s2 sure is testing everyone's patience

[pixieswashere]

OMG HOW COULD I FORGET THAT THIS TWINK STOLE HER WORK AND KILLED HER TWICE, AFTER SHE THANKED HIM FOR INSPIRING HER AND THEN SAVING HIS ASS??? OMG.....PFFT

Everyone's gotta do their part, right?

⸻ SKY YOUNG, Arcane

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S3 Ep 12: Seto Discovers Hostile Takeover Tactics

For April Fools, I’m actually going to update this blog. I know, right? It’s been a little while.

I’ll have you know that, if I had more time, you were *this close* to getting a recap of this hot mess movie.

Buuuut it turns out that movie is a lot longer than I thought. Soooo many bad wigs. Maybe another April Fools.

Anyway, back to Yugioh, are you ready for MORE BUSINESS?

Cuz if you wanted to watch a kid’s show with stocks in it well, I had no idea it would be the one about the playing cards. Really didn’t see that one coming. Stocks are going to be traded in a little bit, but currently, all we have to worry about is that Tristan is a monkey and Kaiba’s about to die.

He seems cool with it, both with being “dead” (still unsure if Tristan can be human ever again) and watching Kaiba become dead.

This is some high level freaky sci fi thing just stuffed into a side plot? Like...what purpose is the weird monkey robot?

(read more under the cut)

Joey has completely run out of his thimble full of patience, and he’s taken over the part of Den Mother in lieu of Tristan being too horny/monkey to manage it himself. Watching Joey slowly become more and more too frustrated to Even Deal With This Right Now has been his character growth this entire arc.

And the team’s somewhat amusement and concern that one of their best friends--who they saw...pretty much die--and is now a very horny monkey is like how you would notice that your engine light is on. Like they just have so many other problems right now. They’ve decided they will get around to deciding what to do about this...later.

They’re definitely going to deal with the monkey later. Eventually. So they just tied him to the truck and continue driving.

Like that’s what they actually did, they actually just tied him to the truck and kept driving.

Eventually, they do make it to the scene of the Kaiba card crime in their 3 wheel pickup truck, but unfortunately, so does the weird satellite laser, so once again our team does not make it in time to really make any difference. The Yugi team is consistently like...3 minutes too late. Should be their team motto.

So Noah’s big plan is to make Mokuba watch Leichter--the hard to spell Big 5 with the very Dixie accent--explain in great detail all the ways Seto screwed Mokuba. And it was...something that I don’t think most kids would get. Last week it was a .com analogy, this week we’re straight up jumping into hostile takeovers. Seto decided to use the Big 5 to buy up a majority of the stock and fire his Father, but realized that Gozaburo would absolutely not let that happen.

So, Seto set up a whole plan to make it appear like he was losing the stock race, by leaking the whole plan that they were secretly buying allll the stock straight to Gozaburo but while pretending to be Mokuba (I assume by pinching his nose while shouting through a telephone) and then driving Mokuba to Gozaburo by attacking him point blank.

Did any children watching this show understand this? Did any of you?

Anyway, for some reason Mokuba is shocked that this happened.

And then we get a flashback to remind us that yes, Mokuba was here when this happened. Maybe didn’t understand it at the time, but overall, should know by now that like...this happened. Noah revealing this to him really shouldn’t have been such a shocker, right?

Mokuba describes it as “the worst day in his life” which is kind of a lot since two seasons ago Mokuba was chained in a castle cell for several days (possibly weeks), turned into a playing card while his body was a zombie that did dishes for Pegasus, died in a VR game because his brother couldn’t play nice, then last season, got abducted and then was suspended from the bottom of a flying helicopter by one single rope tied around his waist, was imprisoned in a box warehouse where he barely escaped, found out one of his good friends is pretty sure he’s an Egyptian Pharaoh dont-think-about-it, only to find all of his other friends were now attached to torture devices and about to be drowned in the bottom of the sea or squashed by a couple tons of cargo container. And then the next day, 3 people got sent to the hospital during the tourney he’s the manager of and only one of those people isn’t still in a coma, and now there’s at least one serial murderer on board his blimp and there’s nothing he can do about it.

But sure Moki, this is your worst day.

Convinced that Gozaburo (I will never spell his name right, PS, my apologies) thinks Moki is on his side, Kaiba decides to do the deed. In his school clothes. Not entirely positive that baby Kaiba has any other outfit than his school clothes and that purple coat.

Like did Seto get off school early to go and do this, or did he honestly clock in at 8 AM, harass Joey and Yugi for a bit, maybe take a test, turn in his diorama of mitochondria that he made out of twizzlers or whatever, eat lunch while making fun of the skater kids who botch it on the stairs, scribble some art in art class until 3 PM, and then take the bus back home to do THIS?

And so although the Big 5 were still majority shareholders, they couldn’t really control Seto Kaiba--which leads me to think that at some point he managed to get their stocks away from them...somehlow...probably more insider trading, he seems really into that.

Anyways, long story short the Big 5 really screwed it on this one. I mean the company has to be run by a Kaiba per the Kaiba rule that we learned in S1 (kind of a weird rule this family enforces, when all of the Kaibas are SO BAD at romantic relationships that they can only date trading cards, or can’t stop getting abducted long enough to even go on a date with a real human ((Reminder that Mokuba and Serenity are the same age, but he’s 1/millionth as horny as any of these High School Juniors that are into Serenity)))

Leichter (who is the light purple font here, I uh...forgot to cap Leichter’s face so it’s somewhat confusing) decided to just continue explaining, mostly for Mokuba, I assume, because...everyone here already knows what’s happening.

And at this point he reveals that he does have a Blue Eyes.

Again, very surprised Noah gave him that card but youknow...the power of...whatever the hell is going on there between Kaiba and that paper card.

Anyways, the Blue Eyes gives him a win, so I guess he’s figured out somewhat how to use this card? Like it’s significantly less bad than it was in the previous seasons. Maybe that separation between him and the paper card in S2 was good for him. Got his relationship back on track.

So like, something that is kind of vogue right now in more adult TV is this tendency to try and make all your characters relatable by making them realize and obsess over how they messed up to the point that they can no longer make any moral choices.

And that was the thing I was worried about in this arc, I was worried that the one guy on the writing staff who SUPER stans Seto Kaiba would make Seto into some sort of Bojack Horseman, who becomes so obsessed with his guilt that he kind of becomes a victim of what society did to him rather than a guy who ever made a choice. And Bojack’s not a bad show or anything, I did watch all of it, and it’s supposed to be more about society than the characters. But, as his problems from his youth compounded, he loses all of his agency as a character. If you are forced to be an ass then...well you can’t be one, by nature of what it means to be an ass.

Does that make sense? I see that more and more in shows these days, just a constantly apology fest whenever writers do a villain background episode.

But yes, Seto was trained to be a shark, but he was already a shark from day 1. He was always like this from the moment he was put in that orphanage. No apologies on behalf of the writing staff are needed and I’m glad they didn’t make any. It was somewhat refreshing that Seto never once apologized during this entire episode. He is awful, and he is completely fine with that.

And like, Bro hates it when you do this type of parallel comparisons between characters, but I freakin love it because he might be an English major but he majored in technical writing, and I was minoring in film for a hot minute so I love analyzing stuff and he can just deal. So lets dive in. We just came off of a whole arc talking about Marik’s tragic backstory and it’s really interesting that Seto’s tragic backstory mirrors Marik’s a great deal (especially since Kaiba was the one who was supposed to inherit the magic rod) but the two of them have a very different response to it.

Marik’s background gave him absolutely no agency. Even when he did lash out against his father--that was the rod rather than Marik himself. He lost his nut because he got tortured by his Father and lived a very shelted life underground, there was no choice there. He even has a brother that he threw into the coals (well, stroke of lightning) for his own ambitions.

Seto, on the other hand, was also tortured by his Father, but lived a shelted life so far above everyone else, that he never really left that lifestyle. But, unlike Marik, when he got the chance to make a choice, instead of getting out of the Kaiba house to save his Brother, he decided to freakin destroy it, even if it involved torturing Mokuba (momentarily) in the process.

Both are destroying their Father’s legacy while also trying to rule the world at the same time, two different villains, two different ways, one isn’t necessarily better written than the other, but it does feel like Seto has a lot more control of his own life than Marik, who is currently bumming around in Tea’s brain.

But I dunno, maybe Seto will have a big moment where he will feel an ounce of guilt and we’ll find out that everything he did was secretly a good thing or The Only Way something. I might eat my words later and be somewhat disappointed. We’ll see.

If you just got here, this is a link to read these recaps from S1 Ep1, in case you felt like reading a novel’s worth of Yugioh, since we are on S3.

[x22wg]

Shore Leave (part 1)

Michael Burnham (from that there Star Trek Disco) ends up on leave from Starfleet. She isn’t entirely happy with the arrangement, but maybe having the chance to relax isn’t all bad. Besides the food is great...

(achtung: potential spoilers for both season 1 and 2! This takes place around the middle of S2)

When she stepped through the door of the quaint little house, it was as if a weight was lifted off her shoulders. There was still that nagging doubt in the back of her mind, but there was logic to her sense of relief – however faint.

A year ago Michael Burnham would not have let go of responsibility like this, logic be damned. But despite betrayal at the hands of a commanding officer – impostor though he might have been – time spent aboard the Discovery had taught her to trust again. And if there were anyone she trusted, it was the crew aboard that ship. Even when it came to the fate of her brother.

Burnham sighed and dumped her small bag of personal effects in the hall. As much as she trusted Captain Pike to do the right thing in her absence, this was not a decision she made lightly. And yet, the comfortable familiarity she felt as she explored the house helped put her at ease. Somehow it felt like coming home – as much as she ever had one.

"It's best this way," she told herself. She had sorely tested Command's patience in her quest to save her brother. As everyone advised her, being a hero of the Klingon War could only protect her for so long. Much more important than her own safety, her presence invited the scrutiny of Starfleet Command and the ever-distrustful Section 31. Whatever plans Philippa Georgiou had for her, Burnham knew the enigmatic ex-Emperor did not care about her friends and family.

Taking these facts into consideration it made sense to accept a short voluntary leave – while it was still technically voluntary. With her out of the way Discovery would be under less scrutiny. She tried not to think about how it meant that she had once again abandoned her brother for his own safety. At least this time he would understand.

Thinking back to their childhood, Burnham could not help but smile when she saw a Vulcan robe laid out for her on the bed. She would take any small comfort she could find in this awful situation she had put herself in.

Changed out of her uniform, Burnham finished the tour of the house. It was small and quite far from the nearest settlement. No doubt a fitting place of exile for her impertinence in the eyes of Starfleet Command. The first floor was dominated by a large living room, comfortably furnished and with a dazzling panorama view of the nearby lake – especially now that the sun was setting. Two small bedrooms completed the upstairs living quarters. The ground floor was relegated to an empty garage and storage rooms.

An idyllic vacation spot to be sure, but Burnham was under no illusions that this was anything but a glorified house arrest. What have I done... she second-guessed herself, but banished the thought from her mind. She was here now.

In the spirit of making the best of it, she grabbed a cup of chai from the replicator and settled in the expansive sofa to gather her thoughts. It was a lot sweeter than she expected, but she had more important things on her mind.

"Computer, prepare news query." The mysterious signals everyone was chasing were too high-profile for even Section 31 to cover up. Burnham smirked as she considered her next words carefully: She might be grounded but she did not intend to remain idle.

* * *

Exasperated, Burnham tossed her paper notepad across the coffee table and sighed. After a couple of days of initial optimism she now felt she was getting nowhere. Even the archaic writing tools were starting to annoy her – but it would be too risky to commit anything to digital media Section 31 could be monitoring.

The arrival of the facility's housekeeping robot with another cup of hot cocoa provided a well-timed relief for her frustrations. Slipping down in the sofa, Burnham took a grateful sip and let herself wash away with the rich, dark liquid – if but for a moment.

She stifled a yawn as she forced herself to bring her eyes back on her work: Scattered paper and hastily scribbled notes strewn about the table. Surrounding them: Several empty cups and bowls that the robot was now cleaning up, but these did not register.

"I can't focus like this..." she admitted and took another big sip. Once again it helped take the edge off. Burnham closed her eyes and opened herself to the meditation she learned as a child. She was in the swirling ocean of the universe, an ocean that turned dark brown as she continued to drink her cocoa. Her turbulent thoughts were subsumed into the cosmos. Thus diluted she gradually brought them under control until she was ready to open her eyes.

Burnham exhaled and returned to reality, where the sun was setting and the cup in her hand had been emptied. With her mind under control she felt ready to get back to work, but quickly realized she was hungry.

"Computer: Prepare a cheeseburger," she ordered without thinking. More impulsive still, she found herself adding: "Extra fries."

Delivery was prompt and to her credit Burnham tried to continue to work while she ate. Cravings came a bit too frequently, servings came a bit too quickly and her appetite gave food priority. Part of her felt like she was losing herself in the parade of temptations, but there was also the overwhelming sense of peace and satisfaction. It stood to reason that she must calm her frustrations if she were to get any work done. Thus logic dictated that she ought to have a milkshake.

Flat on the sofa, Burnham sipped indolently at the straw in her mouth. She realized she was stuffed to the gills – quite a novel sensation to her. Still she kept idly drinking the milkshake while analyzing the situation. She felt bloated, but the voluminous robes she wore hid it well.

A yawn escaped Michael's lips. She had to admit she was too sluggish to get back to work, but there was a certain sense of relief as well. For the first time in ages, Michael Burnham felt able to relax. She took another sip of her milkshake and glanced up at the high ceiling with a look of contentment. Relax – and stop to enjoy the little pleasures in life.

[echoes-of-realities]

Hi! I read your rant on why glee was so poorly done (I agree completely). I was wondering if you could explain your connection with the characters (specifically Brittany and Santana)? Why do you care so much about characters from a show you don’t really like or agree with? Or why do you continue to write using them? Just curious!

So first, I debated for a long time about this, but eventually decided to just give the really personal and really long answer partially because this is a situation that has popped up again and partially because being a fic writer is very personal, so my answer is going to be really personal anyways. You can’t spend most of your time writing inside the mind of someone else without leaving a bit of yourself behind.

Second, I’m not explaining this situation to get sympathy or anything. It’s just what I’ve been through and what I’m going through again, but the difference is that this time around I’m in a much better place than I was last time. I’m more comfortable with myself and more settled, I’m not letting myself go into a depressive spiral like last year, and I have much healthier coping methods this time around.

And third, this is kinda a contemplation on my mental health now, so I’m mostly going ahead and posting to remind myself of how far I’ve come and since this is my personal blog and I Can lol

So! More below the cut. If the cut doesn’t work on mobile, as it is wont to do, I’m so sorry, Tumblr is barely functional at the best of times so just scroll really fast lmao.

So I got into Glee right in the middle of a really rough time in my life. Late last November we found out that my little sister—who’s still in high school—had an aggressive tumour in her knee, and none of the doctor’s could figure out exactly what it was. She had a biopsy in December though we didn’t get the results until February since they didn’t know what it was, but it showed it there was like a 0.01% of it being cancerous. When it had been MRI’d in October it was the size of a loonie and aggressively growing, but when they removed it the following March it had shrunk to like the size of a pea. They sent that off for testing but there wasn’t enough of a sample to figure it out but they think it might have been a burned out cancerous tumour. And so they removed it and scraped the bone around it, threw some cement in my sister’s knee, and called it a day. Flash forward to two weeks ago, my sister had a cheek up because it’d been a year since the found out about it, and instead of getting the news that everything was fine we instead found out that whatever the fuck it is—because they still don’t know—is back and is now growing above the cement and in an entirely different spot than the first tumour. So now we’re back to the waiting game to figure out what the fuck is going on in my sister’s knee, since the radiologists are still puzzling over her new MRI from this December.

So long story short, my sister is still a certified medical weirdo and I spent the last bit of November 2017 until about February thinking my 16 year-old sister had bone cancer. Needless to say, I was in a really bad place last year and my concentration was shot all to hell. (If you’ve been following me for a while you might remember me explaining why I don’t read or write Hard Angst? This was the depressive spiral I was talking about. This was what I was dealing with and how I discovered that Angsty fic makes my mental health so much worse.)

So that’s what I was dealing with when I got into Glee read: only Brittana lol and flash back a little bit more and I’ll spare you the details of my Epiphany Moment, but I came out as gay to myself, and then came out to my mom in the end of October, so that was still New and Fresh for me. I wanna say I probably started watching Glee again, read: only Brittana scenes lol probably a week after I found out about my sister’s tumour? It was after that but before my finals that semester started, and I literally couldn’t focus or concentrate on anything—because aside from dealing with that, I also lived 1.5 hours away from my family, so my auntie stayed with my sister and my mom so they could all be there for each other, and just because of circumstance I was alone with my thoughts most of the time.

Then I was looking for something to listen to while studying or working on end of term assignments or whatever and I stumbled upon s5’s Valerie. And okay so I’ve Known about Glee since it came out. I watched the pilot but never really got into it, my friend lent me her box set of s1 and I got as far as Terri admitting to her fake pregnancy and went “yep too far for me”, I remember when Cory died because I’m Canadian and he was our Canadian sweetheart, I even remember when Brittana got married because it was all over tumblr and I was at that stage where “I’m invested in gay successes and characters because my cousin is gay and I support gay people and for No Other Reason” lmao. So like, I Knew about Glee, and I Knew about how, uh, let’s say Particular the fandom was over the years. So I watched s5′s Valerie and thought “hey these characters are really cute together and from my Vague Memories I’m pretty sure they’re the show’s lesbian couple?” And I looked it up, saw they were Childhood Friends (that one (1) canon line be damned) to Lovers, which is probably the trope I’m Weakest for lol, and basically just fell down the rabbit hole.

At the beginning of me getting into Glee, it was basically because I had just come out about a month and a bit prior, and I was going through probably the darkest time in my life, and these two characters were about the only thing that was distracting me from my sister’s tumour so I clung to them. I had stopped writing (omg sorry to anyone who followed me from the b99 childhood neighbours au, I think about it being unfinished Constantly and it Haunts me to this day) from about the time we found out about it in November to when the biopsy results came back in the first week of February and we found out that the chances of it being cancerous were like 0.01%. In that time I had been watching Glee again, read: Brittana scenes only lmao and fell in love with the characters themselves beyond “they were distracting me from hard shit,” and so the day we found out the tumour wasn’t cancerous was the day I sat down and found I could finally write again, and I realized I actually had a story in my head, which resulted in you were the choice I made before I knew what the other choices were. So I wrote that and posted it in February this year and got an overwhelmingly positive response to it, past anything I had ever imagined considering the show had ended like 3 years ago lol. 

So I guess what I’m trying to say with all of this rambling is that the characters came into my life at the exact right time in the exact right way. Santana’s coming out storyline was not the exact same as mine, but I was also pretending to be somebody I wasn’t in high school, I understand how terrifying it is to live in a Small Town and worry about someone finding out, my grandma died earlier in 2017 and responded poorly to my cousin coming out years before, so the s6 scenes were so bittersweet to watch. And I don’t know exactly why I fell in love with Brittany, but her own storyline in s2 when she was learning to stand up for herself is something I Know, her incredible patience and understanding and snark is what I aspire to, and the fact that people are Constantly underestimating her and she’s struggled with being seen as good enough is so familiar. And their relationship is so strong and tender despite the continued thrashings it took and I admire that so much—even if most of my admiration comes from fic depictions and not canon (s6 aside) lmao.

So yeah, as cheesy as it sounds, even though I think Glee did some good but overall handled their responsibility to their narrative and their audience Horribly, Brittana as characters and as a relationship were the only thing distracting me from obsessing and panicking and spiralling over my sister’s tumour, their storylines helped me understand my own coming out process a little better, and, probably the biggest thing for me, was that they were what got me back into writing again. So I’m always going to love them so much because they’re complex and real (even if most of that comes from fanon interpretations), but the reason they mean so much to me is because I fell in love with them when everyone else in my life was shitty and completely out of my control.

[jaebird88]

Anime I Watched in 2021 in Order of Monthly Release

So this won’t be an actual ranking of anime I have seen this year. Going by the months they came out in, I give some brief thoughts on each one. Spoiler alert: I have not watched Odd Taxi, which I’m sure is heresy. I’ll get around to it eventually, I swear 😅

Btw, it’s a long list of shows, hence the Keep Reading break.

January:

Laid-Back Camp S2

When I discovered the first season, it was such a pleasant and relaxing surprise. And this is coming from someone who does not like camping. While the first season was watching everyone learning the ways of camping from Rin, S2 treated us to watching everyone go out on their own, gaining more experience from each day. Overall, this show left me feeling as warm and toasty as sitting by a campfire would. I just wished I could have seen the OVA because I cannot get enough of this little show.

The Quintessential Quintuplets ∬

This series ended up being the first rom-com in a long while that I absolutely adored. Just plain funny with an engaging cast. Bibury Animation Studios did some great work, and I hope there is more to come aside from the movie that is slated for next year.

So I'm a Spider, So What?

As far as isekai is concerned, this anime surprised me with its more brutal world and the main character, which led to me falling in love with her seiyū, Aoi Yūki. That aside, the anachronic storytelling did test my patience for a while. Which is not to say that it didn’t keep me on my toes with certain reveals. But I do hope if and when another season is made, they tell a more straight-forward story.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime S2

In spite of falling victim to pandemic delays, this ridiculous isekai continued to escalate the tension while simultaneously poking fun at the tropes it incorporates, and even pulling a fast one on those like myself who have not experienced the source material.

March:

Pacific Rim: the Black

I nearly forgot about this show until I saw the email from Netflix reminding me of it. On paper, an animated series based on Pacific Rim would seem like a no-brainer. Sadly, I cannot recall much from it, only that it left me with a sense of indifference. Which is better than how I felt toward Pacific Rim: Uprising, where I found that to be a soulless sequel to a film with more heart put into it.

My Hero Academia S5

This was one big mixed bag of a season for MHA. While I was initially underwhelmed with yet another tournament arc, the little bit of development from Deku and Shinso sort of makes up for it. The episodes revolving around Shoto, Endeavor and their family drama was the real meat of the season, in my opinion. The last portion with the villains was neat, if only to see what Shigaraki and company were up to while everything with the heroes was occurring.

April:

Godzilla Singular Point

After the dreadfully boring Godzilla Earth trilogy, Singular Point comes off like a refreshing new take on the classic kaiju mythos with some mind-bending quantum shenanigans. I’m a fan of most of the monster designs and also how most of them start off smaller than their live-action counterparts. The CGI also worked well as it blended in with the 2D animation. The cast had a good variety of personalities among them.

Higehiro

Actually forgot to include this in the list, which is not a fault on the anime but my bad memory. In spite of the surface-level gross premise, and at times cringe writing that can be showcased as Men Writing Women, there is something to be said about this drama in the guise of a romantic comedy that I cannot help but appreciate. I will not go out of my way to herald it as something everyone should watch, but it goes places that caught me off guard. Also, features the second-worst mother in anime I have been exposed to all thanks to contrivance.

The Slime Diaries

Just as with the main series, this spin-off also had to contend with the pandemic. Despite that, it offered a great slice of life view of the main cast, further developing a few of the supporting characters while featuring a few new faces that have yet to be named. And I will stan Geld and his adopted goblin daughter.

Zombie Land Saga Revenge

Never would I imagine an idol anime would keep me wanting more, and on occasion listen to the music while I do other things. More often I would laugh out loud from all the gags, and feel invested in every character’s story. Especially when they finally explored Yugiri’s past and cleverly tied it into actual history.

I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level

Another isekai that is also a slice of life, and one that is just quaint. More Aoi Yūki is never a bad thing.

Eighty-Six

Quite possibly my favorite anime of the year. Speaking as someone who has not read the source material, nearly every episode kept me at the edge of my seat. It definitely has that Game of Thrones sense of “this character you like may die when you least expect it”, which I think is partly why I became so invested in the cast. I would also go as far as to express the opinion that this is a spiritual successor to Mobile Suit Gundam in terms of its portrayal of war and the inter-personal drama among the soldiers. April cannot come soon enough to see where it goes from how episode 21 ended.

Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro

I nearly gave up on this show by the time I watched the third episode as it leaned too much into the weird teasing fetish it displayed. But I am glad I did not as what followed slowly evolved into a cute yet ridiculous rom-com.

To Your Eternity

While it has an interesting premise and started off strong with the first five episodes, the series overall is somewhat of a mixed bag, in my mind. The dips in quality during the prison arc did not help, but it was never enough to give me reason to drop the show. With that said, I look forward to seeing what comes next in 2022.

July:

Drugstore in Another World

Yet another slice of life isekai, and one I dropped after a handful of episodes. Much like Killing Slimes for 300 Years, it is just quaint, but also lacking in anything to keep me wanting to watch more.

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S

I always feel the mere mention of this series never fails in invoking opinions made about the manga’s creator and the general character designs. I stopped fretting over such things and simply enjoyed the work that KyoAni put into the anime, and the second series featured some of the best animation in the industry. And sure, the character models can only be described as booba, but how each is written makes me look past all of that and appreciate the personalities and flaws that come through in each episode. What began as a guilty pleasure has become a full-blown wholesome favorite.

The Aquatope on White Sand

Having read or heard nothing about this, I watched the first episode on a whim and I am glad I did so. From the drop-dead gorgeous backgrounds to the wonderfully relatable characters, Aquatope was a pleasant yet emotional coming of age show that I’m happy to have seen.

August:

The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!

Another anime I started but did not feel the desire to stick with. It is amusing enough, but for whatever reason it could not keep my attention.

Fena: Pirate Princess

Another great-looking anime and one that grabbed me from the start. However, as it progressed toward the end, I felt it was telling a different story than how it began. Which is not to say it left me feeling whiplash, just that I was not prepared for the meta-narrative it was building toward. That being said, the ending was certainly an emotionally gripping one, and left off with a greater sense of open-endedness. Also features Aoi Yūki. Nuff said.

Tonikawa ~SNS~

More Tonikawa is never not a bad thing, even if it was just an OVA. I very much look forward to the next season.

September:

Ganbare Dōki-chan

A series of shorts I knew little about going in, and was surprised by the adorable nature of office romance shenanigans. Not to mention the completely random cleverly concealed adult content that it flashes in the first episode as some odd enticement with no follow-up. But I am not complaining as I still enjoyed it on the whole.

October:

Restaurant to Another World S2

Not only is this yet another isekai, but one with a unique spin that I feel separates it from its contemporaries. I often commented (ignorantly, I might add) on how this series has little to offer in terms of a plot, but that should not matter. As I have been informed elsewhere, this particular kind of anime is the type that is figuratively comfort food, and I find myself in agreement with that assessment. It is also wrong of me to view it as telling one story when the true appeal comes from the minor tales that center on each of Nekoya’s patrons.

Digimon Ghost Game

While my viewing of the Digimon Adventure reboot fell by the wayside, I have no qualms with keeping up with Ghost Game with its spooky hooks and entertaining characters. What is more is that it is a different approach in the sense of conflicts not always ending with the good Digimon obliterating the bad ones. That said, there seem to be some seeds planted for later on, which I look forward to seeing how the overarching narrative plays out. Also, Gammamon is the goodest Digimon and deserves all the chocolate.

Takt Op. Destiny

For being something made to accompany a mobile game, this was pretty damn good on the whole. However, the build up toward the finale is lacking, in my opinion, as the twelve episodes they produced start off slow and ramp up quickly without much warning. Maybe if they went for a two-part series, they could have paced things evenly and work toward the cliché villain reveal. It looked amazing, though, so there is that.

Komi Can't Communicate

This one is a bit shameful to mention as I have not continued watching it. I did like what I have seen and will likely get around to watching the rest eventually.

The Faraway Paladin

Stop me if you have heard this already: Yet another isekai. But, one that also has a unique spin that is shared with another (Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation). I would be curious to know if the author of the source material has any experience with Dungeons & Dragons, because the Faraway Paladin truly comes off like something born from a player’s perspective. At the very least it goes about western fantasy and world-building that is reminiscent of the table-top role-playing game and the stories which it is derived from. It would even be conceivable to imagine them having played console video games that sparked such inventiveness. I only hope Children’s Playground Entertainment is able to smooth out their production as this is one of the rougher anime I have seen this year. Not at the expense of their workers, mind you. I will gladly accept the current quality as long as they can avoid the crunch and remain safe with the on-going pandemic.

[theattainer]

22 Rules for Creating Work That Stands the Test of Time

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http://theattainer.com/22-rules-for-creating-work-that-stands-the-test-of-time/

22 Rules for Creating Work That Stands the Test of Time

Very few of us sit down to create art or work they hope will disappear. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a writer, a designer, a journalist, a producer, a filmmaker, a comedian, a blogger, an actor, a whatever, the whole point is to make something meaningful, something that lasts. To make something “imperishable,” to achieve, as a translator once said of Aleksander Solzhenitsyn’s work, a certain “changeless freshness.”

Yet so often this fails to happen. It is not a stretch to say that the lives of most creative works are greedy, faddish and short.

Does it really need to be that way? Or are there rules and principles to follow that increase our chances of enduring and surviving—to become an elusive perennial seller? I think there is, and I’ve written extensively on the topic (including a book with the same title, which I suggest you check out). Here, as best as I understand it, are some rules for standing the test of time.

[*] It Starts By Wanting to Create a Classic — Where do we properly begin our pursuit of a perennial seller? As my mentor Robert Greene put it, “It starts by wanting to create a classic.” You don’t do this by accident. The intention must be clear from the beginning.

[*] Remember, Ideas Are Cheap — An aspiring creator once wrote to the filmmaker Casey Neistat about whether he could pitch him about an idea he had. Casey’s response was swift and brutally honest: “I don’t want to hear your idea,” he said. “The idea is the easy part.” The difference between a great work and an idea for a great work is all the sweat, time, effort, and agony that go into engaging that idea and turning it into something real.

[*] Don’t Talk About The Work, Do The Work —  “Lots of people,” as the poet and designer Austin Kleon puts it, “want to be the noun without doing the verb.” To make something great, what’s required is need. As in, I need to do this. I have to. I can’t not.

[*] Endure The Marathon — Take the construction on La Sagrada Família in Barcelona, which broke ground in 1882 yet whose completion is slated for 2026—the hundred-year anniversary of the architect’s death. The months and years and decades fall away. Matthew Weiner worked on the script for Mad Men on the side for years, referring to it as his mistress, yet finishing it was not the end—or even the halfway point—because no one wanted the show. So he literally carried it with him in a bag for years, watching it get critiqued and rejected time and again. Making a classic is a marathon, not a sprint.

[*] It Can’t Be Hurried  — “Literature is a wonderful profession,” a wiser and older friend once explained patiently to the aspiring novelist, Stefan Zweig, “because haste is no part of it. Whether a really good book is finished a year earlier or a year later makes no difference.” Art can’t be hurried. It must be allowed to take its course. It must be given its space—and can’t be rushed or checked off a to-do list on the way to something else.

[*] Push Through “The Dip” — There is inevitably a crisis and a low point in every creative work. We all run smack into what author and marketer Seth Godin calls “the Dip.” The existential crisis where we’ll have to ask ourselves: Is this even worth it anymore? And it won’t be the desire to get rich or famous that drives us out of that valley of despair—it will need to be something deeper and more meaningful.

[*] The Journey Will Not Be Fun —  Elon Musk has compared starting a company to “eating glass and staring into the abyss of death.” There’s no shame in walking away if fun is all you’re after. Zappos and Amazon offer to pay employees to quit their job at the end of a ninety-day trial period. Why? Because not everyone is right for this life—and it’s better to realize that sooner than later.

[*] Seek Inspiration In the Greats — Rick Rubin, the record producer who has worked with everyone from Jay-Z to Adele, urges his artists not to think about what’s currently on the airwaves. “If you listen to the greatest music ever made, that would be a better way,” he says, “to find your own voice to matter today than listening to what’s on the radio and thinking: ‘I want to compete with this.’ It’s stepping back and looking at a bigger picture than what’s going on at the moment.” He also urges them not to constrain themselves simply to their medium for inspiration—you might be better off drawing inspiration from the world’s greatest museums than, say, finding it in the current Billboard charts.

[*] Become a Supreme Craftsman —  Young aspiring writers like to point to Jack Kerouac, who supposedly wrote On the Road in a three-week drug-fueled blitz. What they leave out is the six years he spent editing and refining it until it was finally ready. As one Kerouac scholar told NPR on the book’s fiftieth anniversary, “Kerouac cultivated this myth that he was this spontaneous prose man, and that everything that he ever put down was never changed, and that’s not true. He was really a supreme craftsman, and devoted to writing and the writing process.”

[*] Patience, Patience, Patience —  The old idea that “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right” is at the core of great businesses. It certainly makes things a bit more intimidating, but necessarily so if lasting greatness is your intention. As Larry Page, one of the founders of Google, explained, “Even if you fail at your ambitious thing, it’s very hard to fail completely. That’s the thing people don’t get.”

[*] Test Your Work — The songwriter Max Martin, who has written for everyone from Céline Dion to Adele, subjects his nearly finished songs to something he calls the “L.A. Car Test,” where he blares the song through the stereo of a car racing up and down a beautiful stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles. How does it sound? What does it add to the experience? These are the questions he asks himself during the scenic drive. Why? Because he understands that that’s what his music is for: to brighten people’s days, to invigorate their drives, and to heighten their ordinary life experiences. All work has a purpose—and it either achieves it or it doesn’t for the the audience. Don’t launch what hasn’t been tested.

[*] Go Where No One Has Gone Before — It’s hard to stand out in a space filled with giants. Listen to what the authors of Blue Ocean Strategy tell us: seek out new clear waters. Or remember Peter Thiel’s line: Competition is for losers. It’s the work that was bold and brash and new when it came out that tends to still feel fresh decades later.

[*] Obsess With Details —  A master is painstakingly obsessed with the details. If you ever peer inside an Apple computer, you’ll find they’re beautiful on the inside too. The people who design them see the entire product as a work of art—as their masterpiece. They don’t cut corners, even on the parts most people will never see.

[*] Find Your ‘Editor’ —  What is the important thing that writers do when they finish a draft? They hand it to an editor. An editor. Nobody creates flawless first drafts or anything. And nobody creates better second drafts without the intervention of someone else. Nobody.

[*] Every Part of the Process Matters—  That saying “You can’t judge a book by its cover”? It’s total nonsense. Of course you can judge a book by its cover—that’s why books have covers. They’re designed to catch people’s attention and draw them toward the work—and away from all the other works that stand equal on the shelf.  When Steve Jobs launched NeXT—his first company after Apple fired him—he spent something like $100,000 on a logo from one of the best designers in the world. Every single part and element of the process matters.

[*] Know Your ‘Why’ —  Elon Musk knows that his mission is to get a human being on Mars and he believes that the future of humanity rests on it. Do you have that kind of clarity? Honestly, most of us would be well served by just one percent of that level of clarity.  Your “why” doesn’t need to be public—but if you can’t define your goal for yourself, how will you know if you’ve achieved it? How will you know how to make decisions in situations where that goal is threatened or jeopardized?

[*] Take the Long View —  Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, reminds his employees: “Focus on the things that don’t change.” Don’t base your work on the fad of the moment, base it on something that won’t change.

[*] Be Uniquely Yourself  —  An essential part of making perennial, lasting work is making sure that you’re pursuing the best of your ideas and that they are ideas that only you can have (otherwise, you’re dealing with a commodity and not a classic). Don’t try to be like other people. Try to be like you. Not only will this process be more creatively satisfying, it will be better for business. Remember what Seneca said, that what’s required is “confidence in yourself and the belief that you are on the right path, and not led astray by the many tracks which cross yours of people who are hopelessly lost, though some are wandering not far from the true path.” Ignore the competition. Focus on your path.

[*] Make More Than One Thing — Good work compounds and it is the best way to increase your chances of success. Making is also marketing. Woody Allen: “If you make a lot of films occasionally a great one comes out.” You increase your chances of enduring with each shot you take.

[*] Who Is This For? — The best way to keep your ideal audience in mind is by identifying a proxy from the outset, someone who represents your ideal audience, who you then think about constantly throughout the creative process. Stephen King believes that “every novelist has a single ideal reader” so that at various points in the process he can ask, “What will ______ think about this?” (For him, it’s his wife, Tabitha.) Ask yourself: Who is buying the first one thousand copies of this thing? Who is coming in on the first day? Who is going to claim our first block of available dates? Who is buying our first production run?

[*] Build a Platform — Ideally, you have an audience to launch to. As Kevin Kelly’s 1,000 True Fans theory goes: “A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author—in other words, anyone producing works of art—needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.” A platform is the combination of the tools, relationships, access, and audience that you have to bear on spreading your creative work. So start building your platform now—at the very least, build your email list!

[*] Get Lucky — It would be dishonest to talk about creating a classic, perennial seller, and pretend that luck has nothing to do with it. Because luck matters a lot. No matter what we have heard from our parents, hard work does not trump all. At the very, very top, the world is not a simple meritocracy, and it never has been. As Nassim Taleb puts it, “Hard work will get you a professorship or a BMW. You need both work and luck for a Booker, a Nobel or a private jet.”

Like to Read? I’ve created a list of 15 books you’ve never heard of that will alter your worldview and help you excel at your career. Get the secret book list here!

What do you think?

[agentmarymargaretskitz]

Imagine an AU where Shado didn't die and Slade is just the grumpy mercenary uncle to everyone's kids, including Len and Sara's.

Oh my gosh, yes! Just think about it…(and prepare for an overly-long post)

Slade wakes up after getting the Mirakuru treatment a little earlier than he did in canon. He arrives at the site where Oliver’s being forced to choose between Sara and Shado and hears everything. As Ivo’s counting down, Slade strikes and fights Ivo’s lackies, while the man himself escapes with the Mirakuru. The quartet regroup to plan their next move, and that’s when they decide to stage their attack on the Amazo.

So they attack, but Ivo’s dosed up the men, and himself (just roll with me here, folks) with the drug so they’re ready to fight. They get Anatoli and Michael (I think his name was Michael, it’s been a while since I watched that) and the other prisoners off the boat, but the Amazo sinks in the process. Sara gets swept away, and so does Oliver. Slade watches the latter get sucked away from him, and puts an arrow through Ivo’s eye to honor his lost friend, thinking he’s ended it once and for all.

Shado, Slade, and the survivors make it back to the Island, find the Russian sub, and Michael sacrifices himself with the torpedo so they can get out and back to the real world. They get some provisions beforehand, and Shado does what she can for those who had been experimented on by Ivo. When they get to civilization, they all go their separate ways. However, Slade experiences the mental effects of the Mirakuru, and Shado takes notice of them. They find a person who helps create a cure for Slade. Once that happens, Shado decides to go to visit her sister and try to get back to finishing med school, and Slade returns to Australia. Both agree to keep in touch, and they do.

Flash forward three years later- Slade gets a call from Shado telling him to turn on the news. He does, and finds out that Oliver Queen has been rescued from the island of Lian Yu. There’s some guilt that he goes through, knowing that he left Oliver behind, and he decides he might take a visit to the States soon. Of course, as he’s planning this, he heard about this hooded vigilante that’s been running the streets of Starling City and he KNOWS that it’s definitely Oliver because he only knows two archers and one is currently one of the finest doctors in China while the other is in Starling. Kid’s an idiot, and Slade doesn’t get why he’s doing this until the Undertaking.

After the Undertaking happens, Slade steps up his surveillance of Starling, and starts hearing whispers of a woman in black who beats up men who beat women. He ends up arriving in Starling around Christmas, and Oliver’s thrilled to see him since there’s no bad blood between the men since Shado never died. Oliver introduces him to everyone- Diggle’s impressed and Felicity remarks that it’ll be great to get help out in the field since Sara’s a bit iffy at the moment. That’s how Slade finds out that Sara’s alive too and he’s relieved. Once all the touchy feely mushy crap’s out of the way, he helps out in the field and tells Diggle and Felicity a lot of stories about him, Shado, and Oliver on the island (some are definitely to embarrass Oliver). When he finds out that there’s Mirakuru in Starling City, he decides to extend his stay. 

Sara comes back, cue another happy reunion (he approves of Sara and Nyssa), but it’s jarred by the return of Anthony Ivo. They call Shado up about it, and she decides to fly over (after making sure her sister is safe) because all hands on deck might be needed to deal with him, and safety in numbers is a good idea. Ivo does end up killing Moira, and the events of S2 proceed with Slade and Oliver taking out Ivo and sending him into a hole on Lian Yu. Sara goes back to the League, and Slade and Shado head back to their own respective homes. Slade does leave Oliver with a parting remark to get his head out his ass and tell Felicity that he likes her.

Slade stays in touch with Team Arrow. He hears about Sara Lance’s death, the birth of baby Sara, the return of Thea, and Oliver going to face Ra’s. (Shado goes over to the US again somewhere during all of that and trains Laurel because she heard that Oliver refused to, and she also helps Laurel deal with her grief over Sara) Slade also hears about this red streak in Central City and the rise of powered people, along with the sighted team-up between the Arrow and the Flash. After he finds out who Barry is (which happens eventually. Sorry, Barry, but you’re the worst at keeping who you are a secret) and they meet, Barry asks Slade if he ever shot Oliver in the back with arrows. Slade just throws his head back and laughs at that while Oliver mutters that Barry’s making a big deal out of it.

He also does meet Ray, and is stoic throughout Ray being a big ol’ puppy while thinking that Oliver probably needs surgery at this point to get his head out his ass about Felicity, and she might be needing some too. But when Diggle lets him know they finally got their act together, he’s incredibly relieved.

Slade meeting Team Flash also happens. Cisco coins the name Deathstroke for him (shhh he would) after seeing him in action. Caitlin doesn’t get to know him very well, but she is curious about his experiences with the Mirakuru. To Slade, Team Flash is a group of puppies that he knows are going to be hurt by the darkness of the world. He never liked Harrison Wells from the press he heard about him (so finding out he was an evil speedster made sense once he got over him being from the future), and he and John complain about things getting complicated with other Earths. Harry does tell Slade about his doppleganger, and when he meets HR, Slade finds his patience is being tested to the extremes in dealing with this man.

Originally, when Sara comes back from the dead, he’s not pleased with Laurel. In fact, he comes back to Star City when he hears about it. Animal!Sara attacks him at one point too before going after Thea. He’s there when she gets her soul back, and he helps in the dealings with Darhk.

When Slade meets Team Legends, that’s a fun experience. He can just tell it’s a group of walking misfits, yet somehow they’re sticking together and getting stuff done. Slade’s happy to see Sara again, and that she’s doing fine and kicking ass. He’s fine with Ray now, and Nate since they’re both from the same strain of puppy-dog human hybrid. Amaya, he gets on well with, although her being from the past is a little strange. Stein and Jax, he doesn’t know them well but they get along too. Rip is impressed to meet Slade Wilson (but Rip never tells Slade that he almost recruited him), and they’re civil. The reincarnation thing with Kendra throws him a little, as do the wings, but she’s not bad in his book. But when he meets Leonard and Mick, ho boy, that’s memorable. Leonard (who may or may not have lifted Slade’s wallet the first time they meet) isn’t a fan of Slade, and vice versa. As for Mick, those two don’t say anything aside from glowering at each other. It takes an alien invasion before Slade finally gets along with Mick and Len, but it happens and he decides they’re not so bad (because Leonard is definitely alive and Slade is brought along to help out against the Dominators- he freaks a little when Cisco and Barry arrive).

Slade meeting Kara is, well, you can only imagine.

But he’s definitely the grumpy merc uncle to all the kiddos. Whenever he visits, Sara or John (depending on the timeline- f*ck you, Barry Allen, for erasing Sara Diggle) is always excited to see him because his accent is cool. The lil Olicity kiddos love him because he tells all the funny stories about their father, who facepalms while Felicity smirks. With Len and Sara’s kids (speaking of which, he can’t believe that they’re a thing until he sees it for himself and realizes they makes sense), Slade is fully aware that these kids are going to grow up to be dangerous. He offers to teach their daughter how to throw a knife when she turns eight, but she shakes her head and goes “Mom already taught me”. Hell, he even meets Barry and Iris’s twins a couple times and they think he’s a little scary but cool.

Basically, in this AU, Slade is a helpful, grumpy, merc-turned-hero who is like the superhero grandfather since he helped train Oliver, the one who started all the madness. Shado is alive who also lends her services when needed and is loved by everyone.

(Feel free to add to this if any of you want)

[warzonic]

alright here it is. thoughts on s2. one big collective post mainly focused on shiro.

1. shiro and black’s loyalty. i have a few questions as to why zarkon still possessed a lot of control and connection over black. maybe because he still possessed the bayard and therefore granted himself a small amount of control. maybe because a connection never truly ends. there’s also the added benefit of haggar’s magic amplifying the connection to the point where zarkon could plausibly find the paladins, but it still sits wrong with me. the lions choose their new paladins for good reasons. why would black still follow under zarkon? questions, questions. apart from that, i think they’re bonding exercise was fucking phenomenal. as in, brilliant. shiro seeing what black can do, shiro witnessing the destruction of black’s home planet ( as well as zarkon’s ) as well as black’s creation itself. shiro fighting zarkon on an astral level. which, brings me to number two. 2. shiro’s ability to astral project. i’m not quite sure why he’s able to do this, but it fits heavily into my previous headcanon that shiro suffers from depersonalisation disorder, otherwise known as dpd. this ability also speaks very loudly of the connection he and zarkon share. yeah, wouldn’t have guessed it either. all the paladins are connected in one way or another, and if the paladins of old were still alive, i’m quite certain the others would have this ability as well. 3. shiro’s mental health development. obviously shiro still suffers from many of the illnesses i wrote about in my mental illness meta. however, there is a lot of instances that point towards a lot of progression towards recovery. one being the time he had remembered his escape, though it had caused him pain to relive it, he had accepted it as easily as if it were something happening to him in that moment -- a clear sign that his dpd and other mental illnesses are not as severe as before. there’s also the point where, during episode 7 where shiro fought zarkon in their astral forms ( as mentioned above ) shiro condemns zarkon ( ‘’ you will never lead voltron again ! you are no paladin !n’’ ) just as sendak had condemned shiro in s1 ( '’ how could a monster like you ever be a voltron paladin? ’’ ) this shows a lot of improvement in the self worth / self confidence / overall stability in his mindset. which means, you guessed it, progress and recovery ! 4. shiro’s care towards others. shiro is obviously very caring and altruistic. however, in some scenes in s2, it almost seems too caring. not forced per say, as his feelings are nearly always 100% genuine, but almost as if he knew his time was short, that he would be leaving. it’s mentioned in s2 about how, if they do in fact defeat zarkon, they’d all go their seperate ways. shiro also mentions it during the big fight in episode 13, saying how ‘’ one way or another, this’ll be our last battle ‘’ or something along those lines. he knows they were either going to die or split up. pidge to find their family, keith his. lance to go back to his and hunk to live his life. allura would have peace and coran would be able to explore again. earth would be safe. so shiro knew he was leaving. either that or he was going to die. there wasn’t any sugar coating. he knew. 5. that brings me to the fact that shiro left on purpose. his absence isn’t just some fluke or mistake or a flaw in their plan, as if something had gone wrong. shiro purposefully left. in the midst of all the chaos he decided to leave. his duty was done. he saved the others. he guided keith to help him be ready to lead voltron. he made sure earth, allura, and everyone else figthing alongside them were safe and okay. that’s his job as a leader. he needs time to figure himself out, to find his flaws and his weaknesses and build up his strength. he’s been doing good, obviously, but he needs to do better. with the weight of the universe off his shoulders, it seems like he has all the time in the world to finally, finally, find the peace he was looking for. ( and he can’t go back to earth. remember, dead ! ) 6. shiro being shown as human. he has his patience and temper tested, has his limits pushed. but he also gentles down, does that goo-fight with the others, laughs and smiles, looks at keith and finds that small bit of peace he’s been trying to find and hold onto. he has his moments, but in this season it was heavily emphasised that shiro is NOT the leader everyone makes him out to be. he’s more flawed than the others think. but he’s human. he’s reachable. 7. just because he’s made progress eliminating some trauma / cooling down his mental illnesses doesn’t mean it’s all magically gone. shiro still has a large guilt complex. he still struggles with depression, dpd, etc, etc. partly why he left. partly why, as we see with the whole black lion loyalty issue and the skepticism on shiro’s face as he thinks of a tracking device ( no doubt wondering if he had been tampered with to have one, as i myself had previously imagined from the s2 trailer. ) he’s not magically cured just because he didn’t have a breakdown guys. 8. shiro is hopelessly in love with keith but honestly what else did you guys expect. 9. shiro’s goodbye to coran. ‘’ take care of her. ‘’ that’s a goodbye, folks. again, emphasising that he knew he was going to die or leave at the end of all this. now, as someone who has been very very suicidal, i know what this implies. i know what it means to show someone you care about, romantically or platonically, that you’re leaving without explicitly stating it. 10. which now brings me to the fact that shiro went into this EXPECTING TO DIE. this was his suicide. but it lessened his conscious due to the fact that he would be saving people. no, he didn’t kill himself after. i’m certain he was 100% sure he would wind up dead after this battle. not to say he didn’t have faith in voltron. on the contrary. he knew they wouldn’t flee this battle. knew this wouldn’t be something they could just run away from. death or victory. or, in his mind, both. HE IS A SACRIFICIAL MAN. his life is nothing compared to others. ( which is where he differs from keith !!! keith’s ideology is every single life matters ! see: his interaction w/ allura ! )