#to everyone that said this is the backstory that would make him a great villian

[cavennmalore]

it’s like. your dad is emotionally abusive. he is angry and judgmental and sees you as an extension of himself. he does not care if you’re bored or upset or unhappy so long as you do what he wants. your mom is emotionally neglectful. she is never there but when she is she’s just out of reach, and if you could just be a little bit better, maybe she would finally be interested. all you want is for someone to care about you, to be proud of you, to see you. they tell you that they’re doing this to make you better, to give you a gift. and when your mother finally gives you that gift, it’s the ability to finally get the emotional fulfillment that you’ve always craved. the only catch is you have to hurt the people you care about to do it.

[irontragedyreview]

I remember that last year when the war and the first clashes began there were a lot of analyzes that said and justified why bk should be there with Izuku saving Tomura. The point was that even throughout the previous year and recent episodes of bk against AFO, this situation would have been stupid (I won’t deny that even Horikoshi can throw some shit to give more spotlight to bk, it would not be the first time), but there is no a real reason for bk to want to save Tomura, because in the manga it was never shown that he thought about villians or even heroes society. I say this as someone who is not entirely satisfied with how the situations between the heroes and villains were raised because even if characters like Izuku, Ochako and Shoto demonstrated to have a broader vision on the subject, their situations are also made as exceptional cases that don’t encompass the rest, I would have liked Horikoshi to have been more about Izuku's thoughts and society in his solo arc that was abruptly cut off by the power of friendship, I think it would have been more interesting.

But returning to the topic of bk, Horikoshi proposed to the character how to grow from the shit that he was and be a hero more similar to Izuku, about the fact of making a sacrifice more importing than the victory, he supposedly achieved that when he "sacrificed" himself in his first fight with Shigaraki and even with ShigaAfo, I also don't think it was innocent that his fight and moment had been with AFO, who is for most readers the villain who isn’t proposed for redemption, bk doesn't have to make a self-criticism of the society of heroes or their corruption if he fights against AFO because society and readers in general do not see him as someone redeemable or a victim of it (debatable considering AFO's backstory). However, the fight was the easiest to resolve without too much moral fight, an AFO already in its last moments and irredeemable, a moment of easy spotlight that leaves no gray spots, that doesn’t happen to Izuku, who until these last moments has repeated that Tomura is still human and that his story matters, Midoriya in this last chapter is the second person to approach Tenko at the risk of disintegrating, the only other person who did so was Tenko's mother, and he also told him that he wasn’t going to let him go and he was there. There is a great comparison for me Horikoshi never developed with bk, bk had to learn that everyone deserves respect, Izuku despite everything always understood compassion, we could see this with Gentle, we could see his thoughts in the war saying If perhaps everything had been different and he would have tried to understand the villains, it’s something he had to learn but he never left aside compassion.

Went on twitter to look at people takes on the newest chapter. Instead getting lots of BkDk people screaming it should have been Deku and 'Kacchan'...

Why did I go on there again?

[jess-the-vampire]

Sooooo whatya think of the new episodeee?

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

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

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

Including kiki.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

and i guess that outfit is his under armor apparently.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The plan goes ahead, and hunter nearly betrays her.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

can’t wait to see where this goes.

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

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

[katnip225]

So remember that au where the dream smp is a comic book in the manhunt universe. Well more of that. This is what manhunt!Dream thinks of each character. Now I will just be using the real names but in the comic the names are different. Not doing the tales of the smp characters. Might also get some backstory for Manhunt!Dream

Techno - As stated in my prev post, this is Dream's fav character. He has regularly copied ideas from him. He loves all the pets that Techno has. And how no matter what Techno always follows his beliefs. Might also remind him of his childhood rival.

Phil - finds the character very funny. The 3 months thing. Through does have some very good serious moments like Nov 16th and Doomsday. The guy is clearly not perfect but he really has a hard time hating the guy. Only time he did hate Phil was during Doomsday for letting Friend die and hurting Ghostbur.

Wilbur - easily his 2nd fav. The way his fall was done. It was so heartbreaking. Then his revival. To find out about being alone for 13 years was rough. Dream feels for the guy since being on the run is very lonely. The only people he talks to is when the hunters get close enough for banter. He really hopes that Wilbur gets the help that he needs.

Ghostbur (yes counting this as a different character) - loves the guy. so sweet and just wants to help. Through feels very sad because of the memory thing and the blue. Plus the speech that he gave on Doomsday.

Tommy - this kid can't catch a break. He feels so bad for the kid. Tommy is a good kid that overall does not mean harm. The only thing that Dream hates Tommy for is killing the cat. Dream likes animals and while can understand why Tommy did it, still found himself crying over the cat's death. Dream always wanted pets but his life before on the run was rough and now there is no way he will get one

Tubbo - another kid he feels sorry for. Dream feels bad for Tommy but for some reason Tubbo hits harder. Maybe it is because Tubbo reminds him of one of his neighbor's kid. They are pretty similar in personality from what he remembers. He was sad when the neighbors moved. The scene of Tubbo crying hurt so much. He really wanted to jump into the comic and comfort him.

Ranboo - Easily his 3rd fav. The memory book. The ender walking. The weird connection to main bad guy. The begging to be locked up in the prison. Plus love the marriage to Tubbo. Really hopes they can talk to each other. This comic needs one healthy relationship that lasts. Reminds him of this enderman hybrid that helped. Found the kid lost in the woods and badly hurt. So helped get the kid back to help then took it to the village with the nice baker lady. It was a nice village so hopefully the kid is okay.

Michael - yes doing their son. Super cute. The in comic reason for keeping Michael inside is for safety. I like to imagine there is a small mini series of Michael playing pretend or sneaking out to meet the other kids.

Fundy - neutral. Does not like him but does not hate him. Through is curious about the seeing the future thing. Wonders if this is his god's blood in work. (in the comic, Wilbur is confirmed to be a demigod. Only Phil and Techno know about it but it was confirmed)

Yogurt - cute kid. Hangs out with Michael when he sneaks out.

Puffy - a cool pirate and therapist. Kinda wish that she was his mom. He does not have any parents but he feels like Puffy would be a cool mom. She went feral when Foolish was killed.

Niki - reminds him of a baker he meet once while on the run. This was before he was well known so he could risk being seen. She gave him some free cookies and gave him a discount on the bread when she saw that he did not have much money. Super sweet and nice but also not one to be messed with. He saw how that baker handled an attempted robbery. Sad to see her wanting to hurt Tommy but was so happy that she is healing.

Jack: Feels bad for the character since he is put through so much. Even had to crawl out of hell.

Karl - love the guy. The time travel spin off series is super cool. feels bad for the losing memories things.

Quackity - flip flops between feeling bad and hating the guy. Quackity has been through a lot and Las Nevadas is cool. But he is just doing what the main villian did. Please just heal so you can be at peace. Hopefully him and fiancés will get back together

Jschlatt - great villian. hated the guy. Also reminds him of his neighbors. The father. Through was a much better person. Actually wanted to give a better life for his son (Yes in this au, DadSchlatt is a thing and he is a good father)

Purple - felt bad for the ufo being blowen up but does not feel anything towards him.

Punz - He respect the guy. Reminds him of a mercenary person that once was after him. Through stopped after realizing that the pay was not worth all the chase. Needed to be payed more

Ponk - felt bad for losing his arm but otherwise neutral for the character

Skeppy - over all neutral. Nice guy and feels bad for the possession thing.

Eret - liked the guy then hated the guy then went back to liking him. Glad the character was making up for the whole betrayal thing.

XD - does know what to make of this character. Through does not trust the god with George

Drista - a fun character that can cause a lot of chaos. Would want as a sister. Yes he might get attacked by a fork but hey he already has a younger brother.

Kristen - not much is known about her. Only that she is Wilbur's mom (in the comic, Wilbur does say his mom is a fridge but I am going on what Phil said. Which is that Wilbur got confused when Phil pointed to the fridge which had a pic of his mom)

MD - fun guy. So sad to see him die. Was really helping Tommy

Mamacita - another fun character through has not been seen since MD's death.

Sally - in the comic Sally is a shapeshifter through the writer wanted them to be a fish. Their editor refused to allow that. Not really shown much outside flash backs. I go back and forth on how good of a mom she was. So if she was good then Dream liked her. If not then he hates her.

Slimecicle - very confused. not like conflicted. Just confused.

Sam Nook - like him. Only one he trusts Tommy with. If he could becomes friends with Hunter!Sam would totally ask if he can build something like Sam Nook

Sam - really hates the dude. Does not care that the main bad guy asked Sam to build it. Sam has control so everything is Sam's doing. Plus the whole thing with Ponk. Part of him does remind dream of Hunter!Sam but that was earlier in the comic. Hunter!Sam would never hurt his partner (Yes Hunter!Sam is dating Ponk)

Ant - again the character remind him of Hunter!Ant. Through overall neutral. Does feel bad for the whole possession by the egg thing

Sapnap - hopefully gets back with Quackity. The dude really gets the short end of the stick. Also reminds him of Hunter!Sapnap. Through hopefully his relationship goes better then dsmp!Sapnap (yes Quaickity and Karl are his boyfriends)

George - reminds him of Hunter!Geroge. The weird dream comics were funny. feels bad that the character can't tell what is a dream and what is real.

Bad - again remind him of Hunter!Bad. Only reason why Dream does not hate dsmp!Bad is because he is being possessed by the egg. He did not like Foolish being killed. Also finds it sweet that the character was willing to do something for Skeppy. (yes. Bad and Skeppy have the same relationship as canon)

Dream - is a great villian. very evil. Through as stated before. Does not like the prison treatment. Does see himself in the guy but it is like all his more negative traits were turned up to 1000. Through Dream is lonely and does not make attachments, there is one he can't get rid of. Since that attachment is why he is doing all of this

Foolish - can probably tell he really likes Foolish. reminds him of his younger brother. Foolish being killed was the one time he needed to put the comic down and take a break.

that is everyone. There are a few more that I really don't watch so have no idea what Manhunt!Dream's opinion would be.

[analyzingadventure]

Psi: What we’ve learned so far (1-8)

Before we get into the actual thing, I wanna explain what this post is going to be about and why I’m writing it; if you’re not really interested in that you can skip ahead

On my first watch of Psi’s first 19 episodes, I’ve had this struggle with the series. To me it has often felt like the world of Psi feels empty and hollow, the characters shallow, and the pacing of the first arc has felt off, like the pace of the overall story going at a snail’s pace and little to nothing actually happening in each episode.

Now there’s three main elements that I think could be causing this impression on me. First, it’s the unavoidable comparison to Adventure, a series I am far too familiar with for my own good if we’re being honest, and a series where I could probably list off every imporant detail from each episode from sheer memory. Second, I often enjoy a series better on a rewatch, my first impressions tend to be incredibly luke-warm and because I’ve only experienced the story once, I don’t remember it quite as well as something I’ve seen at least a dozen times. So between these two factors, it is very possible that my first impression of Psi’s first 19 episodes has felt as negative as it did due to nostalgic overfamiliarity vs unfamiliar first impressions.

But there is that third factor too. It is entirely possible that Psi just isn’t written like Adventure (not nececarily better, more like “in a way that panders to me”), and my observations of it so far have been accurate

And really, I just want to get to the bottom of it. I want to try and figure out why Psi has felt the way it has to me so far, and that is why I’m going to make these posts (because this post is way too long already and I had to split it into two parts)

So what this is going to be is quite simple to be honest; like I mentioned above, I could probably list every major story element in Adventure for each episode from memory, where as with Psi I can’t do that. So in this post I am just going to rewatch each episode of Psi and write down what we learn about the series in each episode; what we learn about the world, the characters, the mechanics, the lore, the beings that live in it. This is mainly so that I can form a better, slightly more objective view of Psi in my mind instead of depending on the vague memory I have of it so far.

And yes, this is going to be just, mostly, me writing bullet point notes of obvious things we learn in each episode; not plot summaries or a timeline of key-events, just things we can “learn” from the episode. For example, while a Digimon evolving is a key-event, if we don’t learn anything new about the Digimon that relates to their backstory or personality, then it’s not worth mentioning, and will try to do my best to not repeat information that gets re-inforced through out different episodes. Also, this isn’t a critique of Psi’s writing

Also, I am going to do my best to write these from the perspective of “not knowing anything”, in the sense that I’m trying to parse out info and write it out like someone who knows nothing about Digimon would be able to get out of it. Also, I won’t nececarily write these in the order they happen in the episode, rather I might write what we learn from specific subjects in bulk (character establishment, world building, etc)

One last thing, I could possibly do this for Adventure later on, just for comparison’s sake, if I have the time, but first let’s just start with this.

Episode 1: Tokyo Digital Crisis

Opening Monologue doesn’t get too many points for what we learn from it as it is an opening monologue, stating kind of obvious stuff we’ll learn very fast, but none the less; it’s the year 2020, our world is connected by the Network, and in there live Digimon

Tachikawa Computer; minor foreshadowing for later

We're introduced to the main character Taichi, supporting cast Koushirou, getting a decent idea of their main personality traits (Taichi is friendly and very open, while Koushirou is polite, a little bit more withdrawn/closed) and briefly get to see Hikari (as well as Mama Yagami and Miiko)

Taichi is putting great effort into preparing for the summer camp; he’s the type of person who likes to plan ahead it seems. That said he can also rush into action without thinking if he’s worried enough/the situation is dire enough; this is elaborated when Taichi learns his family could be in danger, when he leaps in to catch the falling Koromon, or when he leaps into battle with Agumon

Taichi is surprisingly calm when realizing he’s been spirited away and sees a weird little disembodied pink head floating in space, only really appearing shock after a small dinosaur speaks to him; he sometimes needs a moment for everything to settle in before he even knows how to react

Taichi is more than willing to get physical beat up weird monsters

Koromon knows Taichi’s name, and Taichi somehow heard Koromon calling him; there’s a mysterious connection between these two

Agumon is more than happy to see Taichi, immidiately willing to both protect him and help him achieve his goals; Agumon seems to love Taichi unconditionally, despite only meeting him for the first time

We learn that one of the primary features of Digimon is their ability to evolve, Koromon evolving all the way to Greymon and the unnamed enemy’s (Algomon’s) evolutions being examples of this

There is a mysterious, unknown force in this universe, one that tends to manifest in the form of mysterious, glowing symbols (the Crests), that will appear in certain moments to certain people (our main characters), almost like it’s reacting to said people’s actions and/or feelings

Taichi and Koushirou are both granted mysterious devices, which we soon learn can be used for communication purposes as well as evolution, the devices coming from seemingly the same mysterious light/force as the symbols

Digimon causing issues within the Network have an immidiate effect in the electronics of the Human World, and the Digimon rampaging in the Network are willing to hurt and kill other Digimon too (not that many seem to be present there); they are an active threat to everyone but themselves and need to be dealt with

We see glimpses of other children who seem to have a 6th sense, reacting to Taichi’s actions (establishing the connection between the kids); foreshadowing

Taichi and Koushirou aren’t the only ones who have been sucked into this mess with Digimon, there’s another child within the Network as well, with his own Digimon along side hime

Episode 2: War Game

The villian of this Opening Arc, the Algomon, seems to act like a hivemind

Yamato is established as being distant and somewhat cold, seemingly uninterested in others as he’s more focused on other (more imporant?) things. He also seems to be more experienced in dealing with the Digital World/Digimon (in Taichi’s mind who wonders how experienced Yamato really is with Digimon). Despite how cold he seems from the outsite however, Yamato will quietly make plans and put them into motion, expecting others to catch on and follow up. His general unwillingless to intentionally and clearly team up is a character flaw for him though, it causes issues during battle and it’s something he struggles with. But he also worries about causing harm to Garurumon (and Greymon), so he does care for the well-being of others; all of this could suggest that Yamato is a tsundere

Greymon and Garurumon are established as knowing each other, implying they have a history

Greymon and Garurumon both tell the kids they can handle the rough plan; they’re comforting

The episode fleshes out the severity of the danger Digimon rampaging within the Network can cause; it can reach nuclear disaster leveks

We learn that Digimon can fuse

Feathers appear to Hikari and Takeru; foreshadowing for later. When the feathers touch their hands, mysterious symbols appear once more, implying a connection between them coming in contact with the feathers (and what they symbolize) and the fusion of Digimon

Episode 3: And to the Digital World

Taichi clearly loves his sister and takes good care of her

Hikari seems to know more than she lets on

A connection between Yamato and Takeru is established, as well as the fact that Yamato isn’t in Tokyo (at the moment at least)

Sora is established, us learning that she is a character much respected and liked by her classmate and that she and Taichi know each other really well (also we see an unnamed character fumbling comedically; foreshadowing for later)

When the danger was cleared, Taichi and Yamato were returned were they came from; whatever summoned them will also return them when their duty has been completed

A new mysterious threat is introduced to have been born, its birth causing massive power outtages and electrical issues

We see three lights fly through the gates of the Network, followed by three other lights;we learn that six children have been spirited away

We see the Digital World for the first time. Unlike the Network’s surreal, Tron-like landscapes with no sentient life in sight, nor water, clouds, plants or anything, the Digital World is alive and beautiful, though clearly fantastical based on the strange, arching mountains in the distance, and it’s fantastic, digital inhabitants

The fused Digimon is super duper strong and has some special powers that Greymon and Garurumon didn’t have; there’s a distinct difference in the level of power

Episode 4: Birdramon Soars

We get to know Sora a lot better in this episode, she could be described as being Just Really Cool; she seems to be super chill (not like “laid back”, more “cool”), taking in being thrown into a different world really well and calmly, not even surprised by the existence of Digimon aside from them being able to talk. Sora was also in the middle of buying supplies to get through the power outtages before getting summoned to the DW, so she’s come in well-prepared. Whether she went out to buy the supplies because she was requested to, or she did out of her own inniative, it does indicate she’s very responsible and trusthworthy. Much like Taichi too, Sora isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty, being more than willing to come rescue Piyomon from the mouth of a giant mantis monster

Piyomon, scared out of her mind, doesn’t really do or say much for a long time, only clinging onto Sora for her dear life, until a calm washes over her as she seems to remember or recognise something; when Piyomon wakes up, she knows Sora’s name without ever being told it, much like how Agumon knew Taichi’s name, and Piyomon tells Sora she’s been waiting for her. Sora being present also brought confidence to Piyomon, inspiring her to be active instead of fleeing from danger, as she now has someone to protect.

We’re introduced to the kind Tentomon and his odd Osaka-accent; Tentomon, being more familiar with his home world, explained all sorts of things to Koushirou. Tentomon, much like a parent would, thanked Taichi “for looking after Koushirou”, indicating that while the two have only known each other for a short time, Tentomon is very fond of Koushirou, much like Agumon is of Taichi

We are introduced to an ominous silhouette, most likely a future villian

The DW lies within the deepest part of the Network, so the DW isn’t a separate world from the Network, just a specific section of it. Also, athough we had previously not seen Digimon the Net beyond the relevant characters Whamon being there do imply that some Digimon do indeed just like to hang out within the Network

Within the Digital World there are tablets and stone ruins of an ancient civilization, with text written on them; the Digivice react to the ancient texts, guiding the children to them and using the children as vessels, translate the message to them. The texts are instructions to guide the children, meaning whoever wrote them centuries ago, for-saw the coming of the children. At the mountain we see more ruins mysterious writings and ancient statues of winged figures. If it is a temple as Sora thinks, then that implies the existence of a religion that is or was worshipped in this world

Moving away from the lake, what we next see of the DW looks like a tropical paradise, with lots of lush jungles and forests with plants both familiar and strange. But through out the world there are these tiny visual “glitches” all around, small colorful lines and dots scattered through out, which give the world a subtle, artificial feel. There’s also a glittery rainbow mountain in the distance, further driving in the point that we aren’t in Japan anymore

We do learn that despite the world looking like a paradise, the Digimon do seem to hunt and eat each other for food; the aren’t many food sources then (like Meat Trees), or if there are, some Digimon ignore those for the Fresh Meat instead

The episode starts out kind of suggesting that maybe Sora ended up in the Digital World by accident, but as the episode progresses it gives out suggestions and hints that maybe Sora didn’t come by accident after all until she finally gets her Digivice. This is foreshadowing for the idea that none of the Children came by accident, they were brought there on purpose and for a reason.

We learn that while the kids can make the Digimon evolve, the Digimon will revert back once a danger is cleared

Episode 5: The Holy Digimon

Koushirou can remain calm even when swallowed by a Digimon, as long as he has his comfort item (tablet); foreshadowing for later

Koushirou can be a little bit shy, embarassed to repeat himself saying that maybe they were meant to meet

Tentomon really loves Koushirou

We learn that Orgemon (whose name we learn in this episode) can’t speak very clearly, which probably implies he’s not very smart; not all Digimon have the capacity to full-speech it seems

We see the super ominous silhouette of a yet unnamed villian sending orders to Orgemon; we have a hierachy, and this guy is at the top of it

We learn for sure that the kids are being specifically targetted and being tracked by the dark Digimon, the troops being lead by Orgemon and some small surveilance Digimon (SoundBirdmon) that can control other Digimon with the power of sound, as well as send messages between Digimon

The Holy Digimon tells us that the warriors that fought in the war long ago were reborn, Agumon, Piyomon and Tentomon being the reincarnations; the three take notice of specific Digimon in the Holy Digimon’s vision (themselves no doubt) and the sight brings them to tears; although they can’t remember anything, their souls/hearts can, and what they experienced must’ve been sad

Agumon doesn’t remember evolving into Omegamon, despite remembering meeting Taichi; this must imply that evolving to Omegamon was a blur even for him

There once was a large city in the location of the temple, with beautiful, artistic architecture; the former civilization here was truly prosperous

The rainbow glitter wasn’t as much of a mountain as it was a desert (or a mountain range, hard to tell which)

We learn that this land mass of unknown size (is it an island or is it a continent? Never stated) isn’t the only ones, there’s oceans at least one continent beyond it, its name being Cloud Continent

We see a small village in the middle of the forest, the houses looking sort of like hollowed out pumpkins with palm leaves coming from the top; while major civilization has crumbled in this post-apocalyptic Digital World, with most Digimon seeming to live on their own like, minding their own business, some Digimon do form communities

We learn the name of the Digivice

We learn that the statues at the temple are depictions of certain Holy Digimon, and that with the last of their powers they had left a message for the children from beyond the grave as they’ve passed a long time ago

The Holy Digimon had had a premonition that human children equipped with Digivices, also known as the Chosen Children, were “a power” that could surprass the natural law of evolution

It’s not quite explicit, but we are vaguely introduced to the evolution stages and their names (the natural law of evolution)

We gain confirmation that the feathers we have seen through out the series so far are indeed connected to the Holy Digimon

We learn that the Holy Digimon were ones that “governed the good of the Digital World”, most of them and the city that once stood in the place of the temple perishing in a great war between light and dark when dark Digimon disturbed the balance between the two.

The major parties on the side of light in that war were a great army of holy Digimon, eight special holy Digimon, six warriors and even Omegamon, who managed to vanquish the darkness at the cost of their own lives

We do learn that the six warriors turned into eggs, and are told that the Chosen Children would appear to guide the ressurected souls once the enemy would make a move once more

We learn that Taichi and co must go find the Holy Digimon of Light and Hope at the Cloud Continent as they will fight along side them against the dark Digimon

Although the Network is tightly connected to the Human World, the Digital World isn’t; disaster taking place there won’t affect the Human World. We also learn that monitoring the spread of dark in the Network is impossible to do from the Digital World

Episode 6: The Targeted Kingdom

We’re introduced to Mimi, the queen of Mimi Kingdom, the village we saw in the previous episode that she took over between being spirited away and Taichi’s group arriving.

Mimi, much like Sora is pretty cool with the situation she’s in. Ehile we do learn she was lonely after being stranded in the DW alone, after Palmon joined her side she’s been seemingly a-okay, not afraid at all of being (as far as she knows) the only human in a different world. In fact she is super into ensuring her kingdom remains peaceful and her underlings well-fed, as she has put great efforts into making sure Tuskmon don’t come and steal all the fruit the Tanemon live on. Mimi has a kind heart, and that she hates seeing others suffer.

We also learn the Tachikawa Industries we had heard about was her family’s, her grandpa being the chairman. Mimi’s grandpa must be important to her as hearing his words on video touched her, reminding Mimi she has to do what she can, which to her translated to taking care of her adorable underlings. Those same words later inspire her to leave her beloved kingdom behind to help the other kids

Palmon adores Mimi a lot, acting in a kind of enabling way, playing into and encouraging the whole Queen-thing just to make sure Mimi’s confortable and happy, feeling loved.

The Tanemon have a signaling system to pass messages on; whether this system was set up and taught to the Tanemon by Mimi or if they have invented it before Mimi took the kingdom over is unclear

Although Orgemon seems to lack intelligence based on his very basic speech, we do learn that he is a Digimon of honor, and losing his horn has gravely hurt his honor

This landmass does seem to be mostly forest as far as the eye can see (aside from the rainbow mountain range/dunes and the lake-area)

We learn time passes at a different rate between the Human World and Digital World, the DW being much faster, the time becoming more distorted the deeper into the Network you go (the Digivices somehow bypass the distortion to ensure communication happens at the same rate)

We see what a near-death Digimon looks like; colors washed out, glitching in and out a little, but evolution will instantly heal the Digimon from that near-death state back to full health  

Episode 7: That Boy is Kido Jyou

We learn Mimi likes tea and has been teaching Palmon how to make tea; she also seems to enjoy things that make her come off like she’s a KIND, LOVING pampered rich kid, as indicated by her cup and chair etc

We learn that Palmon was familiar with the area and was able to guide the kids to the ocean (something Agumon and Piyomon couldn’t do)

Jyou is so serious about passing his exams it’s kind of becoming an unhealthy obsession for him, to the point he might somewhat lash out and take his anger out by beating up trees and even self-harming. This kid, is super stressed out, the weight of his family’s achievements (everyone being doctors) really pushing him down. Due to this, he is super unwilling to go save the world, all that matters to him is making sure he can study and pass his exams so he can have a prosperous future. Jyou also doesn’t seem to like himself much, as he asks if Gomamon was disappointed by what his partner human was like

Jyou is studying for his exams, as he has priorities set straight and nothing will stop him from passing his tests, not even being spirited away into a different world all alone. While seeing other kids did make him somewhat glad, it was only because he assumed it meant there was a way out of this world so he could get back to his life.

Although Jyou said he wouldn’t participate in the world saving business, he did keep an eye Gomamon, and seeing him get hurt did send Jyou running; while Jyou tried to seem like he didn’t care, he did, a lot

Unlike Jyou, Gomamon is super willing to go save the world; if Jyou’s duty is to study, Gomamon’s duty is to save the world, and Gomamon would like it if Jyou realized they share their duties. Even without Jyou, Gomamon is willing to help as much as he can, even if he’s alone

Gomamon is super observant, seeing how and why Jyou is struggling, and he just wants to help Jyou too, Gomamon even “nursed Jyou” back to health after finding him passed out in the DW

We learn that Taichi, Sora and Jyou (as well as Koushirou) do go to the same school, its name being Musako Elementary

The hut we’ve seen was either built by Gomamon (which implies that Gomamon is super crafty), an unknown party or was always there; Jyou didn’t build it as he woke up inside it after Gomamon brought him there

In the Human World we see it is now evening, the kids having been spirited away sometime around noon-afternoon.

We do see that Jyou has spent at least one night in the DW, which could mean the other kids have as well, if not even more

Episode 8: The Children’s Attack

Ikkakumon is strong enough to swim across the ocean while carrying 4 kids and 3 Child Digimon

We learn Jyou gets motion sickness and that he can’t swim

Jyou is somewhat irritated and/or imidated by a kid 3 years younger than him having so much info and being more aware of the current situation, which ties into his need of trying to be in-control of the situation and lead the group; this leads to Jyou trying to be responsible and ensure everyone survives unharmed by surrendering to the enemy (his heart is in the right place)

We learn that Yamato has been on his own this whole time; considdering the other kids were brought to this world, scattered around a little, it is possible Yamato was brought directly onto the Cloud Continent

Yamato is charmed and touched by the other kids and the Digimon cheering him on and believing in him, despite him being so cold to them; he is super tsundere

The first thing we see of the Cloud Continent is a beach with high cliffs and a lone fortress guarding it. On the outside the enemy fortress looks like old and realistic (in the sense that you could probably find a fortress like this in our very real world), but is straight from a sci-fi movie; the enemies have access to some advanced technology

With this episode taking place over night, we are moving onto at least Day 3 (if not further)

We see the Black Miasma for the first time

[parachutingkitten]

Messing Up

A.k.a. Morro guides Harumi through the afterlife.

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2

Happy Ninjago Writers’ Day!

Yeah... I’m finally updating this one. Never thought I would. My last update was over 2 year ago. But hey, I guess that’s the point of Ninjago Writers’ Day. Of all of my fics, this one, by far, I have gotten the most direct requests to continue, even though I don’t like Harumi, or Morro, or Lloyd, or writing for villians, or things without the nindroids. But... here we are. Hope you like it! I think it turned out pretty well. Maybe if y’all are lucky I might get around to updating it in less than 2 years next time.

Happy Reading!

“I see something!” My heart leaped in my chest as I strained my eyes at the looming shadows in the distance. “I can finally see something! Where are we?” 

“We’re almost there,” Morro smiled. 

“It’s so good to see something other than just white!” I ran through the grass, towards the building as it came into shape. Finally. Something real. Something to latch on to. “Look at those big beautiful walls! Isn’t it great!” I turned around, looking back at him and regaining my breath while I waited for him to catch up. 

“I can’t see it,” he shrugged. “But that makes sense. I mean, I’m not super familiar with Ninjago City, nevermind the outskirts of it.”

“We’re at the outskirts? We’re that close?” I turned back around, facing towards what I could figure was the direction of the city.

“Yeah, just a few more minutes, and we’ll probably be able to see city center.”

As we got closer to the building I noticed it wasn’t getting any clearer. Like it was covered by some thick fog that I simply couldn’t get through. I guess I didn’t remember whatever building this was particularly well. As we continued more and more blurred shapes cropped up on the horizon. I could feel my heart sink as I remembered what it was we were walking into.

“You sure it’s a good idea to take me back here?” I asked. 

“Just trust me,” he shook his head. “I had to do it too. This is what needs to happen.” 

We walked in silence a while longer as I stewed on our inevitable arrival. What we see is based on what we most remember. What would that mean for Ninjago City? I could only hope it would look different than how I had last left it. I had done so much damage to so many people… 

So many families.

I couldn’t walk back into that level of destruction. Not with the amount of guilt still weighing on my chest. I didn’t know if I could take it. The buildings slowly filled in around us as we continued walking, more vague walls and windows that hung in different levels of fog, all obscured from my vision in slightly different ways, all reconstructed from various bits of my memory. For once though, it felt like I might have been walking in a real place again. And that I might actually be somewhere that wasn’t just the rubble left from my own arrogance. 

“Do you really think he can fix all the mess I’ve left behind?” I sighed. 

“Knowing him, he’s already taken care of it,” Morro shrugged.

“You think? That quickly?” 

“I’m counting on it,” he mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Morro stopped, looking up at something. My gaze followed his to see our destination staring back at us. There it was. Ninjago city. We stood at the center of everything and yet I hadn’t realized that we had arrived. It was different from what I had imagined to say the least. So much of it seemed incomplete. So much of it was partially destroyed, cracked, damaged, but some of it was just… gone. 

“Where’s Borg Tower?” I glanced around, trying to fix my eyes to it, but it’s glow was nowhere to be found. “And the Zane statue, and-”

“If it’s not here, then you must be remembering from before they were built,” He explained. 

I took a few steps further into the main courtyard. It felt so empty compared to the one I had left behind. This was the most prominent version of Ninjago City in my mind? That can’t be right… can it? 

“This is the day they died… isn’t it?” I turned back around to face him, tears filling my eyes. “This is the day my parents died, that’s why my mind’s latching onto it, that’s why I’m seeing this.”

His eyes turned back to the city, understanding what it was I must be seeing. “I’m so sorry Harumi, I-”

“You dragged me all the way out to Ninjago City,” I stopped him. “just to have me see this?!”

Morro stepped towards me, a bit cautiously. “Harumi, I didn’t know what you would see-”

“You keep on telling me that Lloyd can fix these things I did,” I could feel my voice raising out of my control as tears began to spill down my cheeks. “But I get here, and all I can see is the one day he wasn’t able to fix things!”

“You think I like this?!” He yelled back. “You think I like carting you around, talking about the one person who took everything away for me?”

“Well, you certainly have been sticking up for him.”

“I hate him!” He screamed. “I hate everything about him! I hate his stupid self righteous attitude, and his hero complex, and his chosen one backstory, and how he thinks he can go into anything on his own expect to win. I hate it!” 

His eyes narrowed as he moved closer to me, tears continuing to fall from my eyes.

“But you know what I hate most about him? It’s that he’s right. He can do all of these things, he can save the day. And as much as I hate it, we’re the ones he had to clean up after, so we don’t get to complain when he does it.” He passed me up, continuing across the courtyard a few steps before turning back around.

“You want closure? Because that’s what we’re doing this for! I thought maybe you might want to see him again! Goodness knows I don’t!”

I cleared the water from my eyes, processing what he had just said. 

“...see him again?”

“You ever wonder why we’re the only ones in this endless void?” He threw his arms out, gesturing to the empty streets around us. My eyes stayed locked on his, struggling to resist his question.

“Where is everyone else?”

He sighed, turning around again, continuing through the grass. 

“Come on. We’re almost there.”

“Where?” I called after him.

“...To the place where you died.”

[ruffiorocks]

She Ra! This show was amazing! (Long post)

Omg! I stayed up until 4.00am to binge watch the last season of She Ra. I'm gutted that before I put it on I opened Twitter for a second and the Catradora kiss was ruined for me! 😞

But what a bloody season! What a show! I grew up watching the original She Ra and the original He Man. Mine and brothers favourite movie was "The Secret of the Sword" (the He Man and She Ra film where she is first introduced). That show was brilliant for its day, it depicted strong women who didn't need men to save them. Plus She Ra was so much better than He Man, she could heal people, talk to animals and turn her sword into anything she liked! She also had a flying unicorn that could talk! What else could a girl want in a show?

When I heard this was going to be revived I was a bit apprehensive, especially after the failed He Man reboot and the failed Thunder Cats one. (Dont even get me started on that monstrosity they call a reboot! At least the anime version was cool).

I decided to give the show a watch, convincing myself that is was for nostalgic purposes only, and wow! I could not stop watching it!

This version is great, because it wasn't trying to be the same as the original. The basic premise was the same but the story and the characters were fleshed out so much more. The relationships between the characters was just something else. I loved how they de-aged them, so it was teenagers and not adults this time.

Making Adora and Catra best friends? I loved it! The fact that this friendship/enemies story between the two became the heart of this show was something else. The original series had Catra being jealous of Adora and becoming a force Captain after Adora left but that was the extent of their relationship.

I love how Hordak wasn't even all the fussed about conquering Etheria. He had so much more depth to him than the original one did. OG Hordak was a bumbling idiot who laughed evilly and could turn himself into rockets and canons. The most interesting thing about him was he used to be Skeletors mentor. The very idea or Hordak caring for anything or anyone other than imp was unthinkable. This Hordak has a tragic back story, he's had it rough, he has a specific goal and conquering Etheria seems to become less and less important to him. He's even able to form a close friendship with Entrapta.

Shadow Weaver being a maternal figure for Adora was something the original had but wasn't mentioned much at all. The fact that she was the foster mother of both Catra and Adora and favoured Adora to the point of obsession in getting her back gave the back story so much more. The fact that Shadow weaver is more connected to the other characters and has her own back story and then a redemption, I love it.

I also love how the relationship between Shadow Weaver and Catra was really explored. It made Catra so much more than just a boring villain of the week when you see the neglect and abuse she went through. How her only solice was Adora, you can totally understand why she feels broken when Adora leaves everything they both know. But I also love how even though she was villian she kept her sense of humour and she just couldnt get over Adora no matter how hard she tried to.

Glimmer? So much more character than the original. Her relationship with her mother was brilliant. Angela was so funny and I was gutted when she died. In the original it was Angela that had been gone a long time and had to be rescued by He Man and She Ra to be reunited with Glimmer. Her father didn't show up, but it was rumoured that a mysterious red knight who Angela thought she knew could have been him.

Bow? This bow was amazing with all of his tech and his sass and his sensitivity. The original bow was OK but he wasn't the character you watched the show for. I'm also glad they didnt have him pining for She Ra like the OG did. The fact he has two gay dads was amazing! I do wish they had kept Kowl though.

Swift Wind is hands down by favourite side character! That horse is so sassy he just make me crack up no matter what he does. I'm glad they did him justice, because when I was younger I always wanted a white horse and to call it Spirit like the Original She Ra and so that meant a lot that they just improved on him.

I love how everyone knows who Adora is, there is no secret identity.

The fact that the princesses have so much more personality and backstory than their OG counter parts did is brilliant. My absolute favourite is Mermista!

Scorpia? I love how she wasn't just a bad guy like her OG counter part was. This character is so much more interesting. She goes on her own journey, she doesn't even seem to grasp what she's doing half the time because she is just desperate to have friends. She never gave up on her friendship with Catra, even when Catra didn't want her she was still there. I love that.

Sea Hawk? Omg! One of my favourites! A far cry from his OG character. I'm so glad they didnt have him and Adora as a couple like the OG did! "ADVENTURE!!"

This show had everything! So much more humour than the OG one. It allowed violence as well which is something the OG one didn't allow. If you ever watch it you'll notice She Ra doesn't hit any one who is alive (Robots don't count) she would beat them in ways they couldn't be harmed, like she ra throwing into mud or water. But this? This show has some ass kicking going on!

The shape of the characters is also brilliant. I love how Glimmer is slightly bigger than than the other characters. How we have them in all shapes and sizes. The OG characters were always drawn using the same template. The footage was also constantly reused in every episode.

Now for the change I love the most! The LGBTQ rep! This would have been unthinkable when the OG show was on! No one would have dared suggest it. (Although He Man always had gay under tones, especially after the live action movie happened). But when I was watching this show being gay wasn't something people discussed and certainly not with children. The most we saw was the occasional gay couple on a soap. For me it was Tony and Simon in Eastenders and Zoe Tate on Emmerdale. But a children's show? NEVER!

I wish I had had this show when I was a kid. It took me until i became an adult to admit that I liked women. If I had had this show and these characters in my life perhaps things would have been easier. It would have helped me understand myself better. Unfortunately for the time it still would have been frowned upon and even though my family are much more accepting after a lot of education I don't think I would have been allowed to watch this show this way when I was a kid.

But kids now are so lucky! They are exposed to the LGBT every day. It's everywhere! It isn't hiding anymore, it's so much more accepted. Even when I was a teen at school a lot of gay people were still in the "we know you exist but we don't want to know about it" phase.

This show handled it so well!! There was no coming out story line, no trying to figure out why they had these feelings. It was treated the exact same way any hetro storyline would be. The fact that there was a canon lesbian couple from the get go said it all. As the seasons went in they progressed and gave us Bows gay dad's. They had Adora crushing on women. They didn't even try to hide what they were doing with Catra and Adora. I love how this last season gave more screen time and story to Spinereella and Netalia rather than them just "being there". It was just handled so well. None of the characters battered an eye lid at the thought of Adora and Catra as a couple. I'm just gutted its over. They even gave us an epilogue!!

Last point, maybe it's an unpopular opinion but I feel like they didn't need to put Glimmer and Bow together. I always adored how they had this wonderful best friend relationship between a boy and girl that didn't need to end in them falling in love. I never saw them as a couple, just best friends. Plus I always saw Bow as asexual.

Catradora reminds me so much of Supercorp from Supergirl. It gives me hope that maybe the show will be brave and give us a canon Lena and Kara. But I won't hold my breath 😅

All the kudos to She Ra!

[goatpaste]

i love your art and all and maybe this sound silly but,,, what is exactly warriorcats? i want know more of the fandom

ty!

and its a book series! its called warriors but yknow for easier searching and it sounds better everyone just says ‘warrior cats’ lol

but its a book series that got super popular! and its being going on, and it still on going for nearly 20 years

and its just about 4 groups of cats living out in the woods and they got cat laws and stuff. and fun names where their name usually start off as like (blank)kit. Usually their prefix name is colors, flowers, nature, animals and ect. then they become apprentices and are renamed (blank)paw and they train to be warriors to fight for their clan and whatever and get the suffix in their name from paw to something else and whatever. like theres bluefur, jayfeather, flipclaw and swiftbreeze and stuff like that. and their leaders get nine lives and their suffix changes to star.

and the first six set of books is about this one pet named rusty renamed firepaw is prophecies to help the clans and whatever. and he becomes a super swaggy warrior and kicks ass or whatever. 

and after the first series where firepaw becomes fireheart and ofc firestar, (because you shouldn’t be surprised that the main character prophecies to be super swaggy in a young teen novel becomes the leader) its about his daughter squirrelflight and her friends but mostly her and brambleclaw (son of the least series main villian) and their stupid not that interesting or good relationship despite what you would hope would come from it.

then the next series is about squirrelflights kids jayfeather, lionblaze and hollyleaf and they have super powers maybe. tbh i dont remember a lot about that series, it had iconic scenes and stuff and cringe idiots. some of those cats sure had super powers and was a lot of build up to the next series.

and then the next series is aLSO about squirrelflights babies but now their not her babies because “surprise” they were her sister leafpool’s kids and for some reason even tho leafpool has been nothing but kind to the said kids and squirrelflight raised them with love, the kids treat them both like their dirty and terrible liars and not their moms. also dovewing is there and shes like the great niece of firestar and she’s hanging out with the cats from the last series

then the fifth series i didnt read but i think its about squirrelflight actual kid alderheart but i dont really know if thats true, again i didn’t read the books after some point in the fourth series

and if its not about alderheart then i think its about his adopted daughter uuuuh twigbranch or something and her sister violetshine, but more about violetshine i think. she seems important. and i think both of them change clans once or twice maybe, violetshine hangs out with an anime villian and i think her and twigbranch have THE most convoluted backstory from what i understood from their wiki.

then violetshine marries a stoner named tree and the next series about their kid stoner baby jr AKA rootpaw who is full of rage. also supporting main characters are dovewings son shadowsight and dovewings sister’s boring incest baby bristlefrost.

and i say incest baby because at this point in the series if you cant tell everyone is related to firestar or firestars nephew and the gene pool is entirely them, i think at least 80% of the group their apart of is their family. and remember how i said their was stupid forest cat rules? one of those rules was no having babies from outside the clan idiot! which is a dumb rule and has lead to stupid forbidden romances and so many incest babies. hardly anyone can have babies without being related anymore. the writers of the books series have accidentally made siblings mate, made uncles and nieces mates without realizing it.

look at this 

its a mess! and bristlefrost parents had parents/siblings who were apart of a prophecy about being related to firestar

also i havent even mentioned ghost cats because theres a variety to chose from! theres starclan which is cat heaven and the cats seek guidance from starclan through dreams, omens and prophecies despite all of starclan being made of dead cats they once knew. like their drinking pool water and holding a sayonce to ask their friend ted who died last year how much sugar goes in the recipe but fuck dude, ted is just a dead he doesn’t know. he shrugs and him and your other dead buddies get together and make a rough estimation of maybe a cup or two 

and then theres the dark forest where cats that starclan deemed bad and wrong go. its hell! its hell for cats! but starclan and the clans in general are kinda dick heads and I believe has sent some cats there unfairly while letting other shit heads into cat heaven. but thats me

and then theres just straight up ghost cats, i think its purgatory for cats? i havent read the part were ghost showed up. by the way didn’t mention this earlier, but the cat named Tree i mentioned earlier can see ghost and summon them i think. its just a thing that the group he was from can do, and his son rootpaw can also do it. its a big part of the series as a ghost is pillowing around a deadmans rotting corpse.

also tree was from a group that wasn’t apart of the clans named the sisters, they were an all female group who could see ghost or something. they seem neat. again, showed up in book i didnt read

and the starclan thing is only for clan cats, if you dont believe and dedicate yourself to starclans magic ways and rules you dont go here. where do you go? iuhknow somewhere dummy, you dont need to know.

theres two cats who dont believe in starclan which is funny to two extents which, one is a healer who are meant to talk to starclan and receive prophecies and stuff. Two, both were in a big war were starclan manifested in the real world with the dark forest and they killed each other. yes! the ghost manifested and made each other double super forever dead. and these cats still dont believe in starclan. but yknow what their fair, starclan is dumbass

this isn’t important but im on a roll now, and i just need to mention there was a group of cats who did yoga.

also! theres four clans!

the main one we only see for three-four series is thunderclan. their known for being the main character! their just very good and perfect and heroic and again, have main character syndrome. you will only see what thunderclan is up to for 4 series AT LEAST without reading the side books.

theres shadowclan, which when introduce at the series start is introduced as villians, their said to be evil and very very bad. they eat rats and stalk around at night like weirdos. however through reading the side books and the progression of the series you realize shadowclan had two evil rulers and MANY idiots. i love them, their very good at hiring clearly evil cats with bad ideology as their leaders and just blindly following them.

riverclan, they can swim! thats their gimmick! their lazy, pretty and arrogant. i love them their dumbasses and this one line of their wiki pages is enough said on them and is the funniest thing

then theres windclan, they sleep on the moor and run really fast. the first book series their fucking missing because shadowclan bullied them into leaving. we really dont see a lot of windclan until the second series, despite how often the cats have to walk through their lands to get places. tallstar is the first leader you meet in the series and i love him, he fucked firestars dad shitlips. 

all in all i think you probably wanted a short simple explanation but i got into it

the book series is bad, but very fun and very stupid. its so funny and bad.

its got its issues! i have a lot of complaints about it and its writing. but if you want an easy read to get into! i recommend it! if you have better things to do however, do that. theres better things out there than warriors I promise

[willow-salix]

Isolation Island update.

Day 64 of Isolation on Tracy Island and John and I made a terrible mistake today. What mistake could you possibly have made, I hear you ask? Well, we made a serious error in judgement...OK , I’ll admit it, I made the error in judgement, if I don't correct that John will do it for me. I thought that it might be a fun idea to record Live from Five on the island for once and get the other boys involved. Yes, I know, I had a case of the dumb. I've been told it frequently over the last four hours.

“OK, we’re out, we’re done,” I sighed, never having been so relieved to have cut a feed. Usually we’re on our own up there and take the chance to have a few hours of quiet. Not this time. 

“That was fun,” Alan grinned.

“Not how I would have described it,” John muttered, getting up and heading to the kitchen for a drink.

“It was fun to answer questions,” Gordon added, ignoring the grump that was his brother.

“That wasn't all of them,” I replied. “There were some more, but I picked out some of the best ones.”

“What were the others?” Scott asked.

“Oh you know, boring things like favorite food, favorite subjects at school, that sort of thing.”

“Yep, boring,” Gordon yawned. “Nothing else?”

I handed him my tablet to have a look at. He scrolled through the questions that had been submitted.

“Boring...rubbish...not answering that...hey, why didn't you ask this one?”

“Which one?”

“This one,” he pointed.

“If you could be any superhero, who would you be?” I read over his shoulder. "Huh, I must have missed that one."

"Yeah, that's a great question. Who would I be?" 

“Well that’s easy, Gordo, you would be Aquaman,” Virgil answered promptly. “Powerful in the water.”

"Hell yeah, King of Atlantis, can talk to sea creatures. I'd love that."

“Virgil would be the Hulk,” Alan joined in. “Big and green and likes to smash things.”

“I would not!” He looked genuinely insulted by that. 

“No, you would be Superman,” Gordon told him. “Strong, dependable, always on the side of good.”

“That’s better. Ruggedly handsome too."

“Who would you be?” I asked Scott.

“I don’t know.”

“You’d be Captain America,” Alan told him. 

I thought about it for a second then nodded. “Yeah, you’re right, he’d make a great Captain America.”

“I would?”

“Sure you would!” Alan assured him.

“Yeah, think about it. Military guy, stands up for injustice, born leader, smart as anything, always got a plan, always gets the job done,” I told him, ticking off items on my fingers.

"You would definitely be Captain America," Kayo agreed. 

“Jeff would be Nick Fury, just done with everyones crap and needs a vacation.”

“I can very much agree with that,” Jeff muttered from his desk where he was trying to work, emphasis on the trying.

“Or Tony Stark, inventing things to save the world,” I pondered out loud. “You wanna be Iron Man, Jeff?”

“Do I get any cool gadgets?”

“You get a super suit!”

“That’ll do. Yes, I’ll be him then.”

“Who would I be?” Alan wanted to know, bouncing in his seat, excited to hear people's suggestions.

“Spiderman,” I answered without any hesitation. “Definitely Spidey. Cute, brave, funny, yep, that's you."

“Yeah,” he grinned. “I can dig that. I’d make a great spiderman.”

“Who would you be?” Scott asked me.

“Is there a superhero called Couch Potato girl? Because that's me.”

“I don’t think there is,” Scott laughed.

“I don't know then! There isn't that many to choose from that don’t have really depressing backstories. Maybe Catwoman? Or Scarlet Witch? No, she’s had a miserable time of it too. Batgirl? She’s not too bad, she just wants to help out and do some good.” I was stumped.

“Batgirl could work. Catwoman isn't really a hero, more of a villian,” Virgil mused.

“I’ve always had a soft spot for the villainous type though, I’ve always thought that most of them just had a bad day.”

They all cracked up laughing. 

“A bad day?” Scott howled. “That’s your reason? They had a bad day?”

“Well, yeah,” I shrugged. “Think about it, they get hit by radiation, they get sucked into their invention, someone throws them in acid. It’s just bad luck really.”

“Oh, no,” Gordon was actually crying, wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes. “You cannot excuse them like that.”

“Sure I can, I make excuses for you all the time.”

That set them off again, everyone laughing for a good minute before they pulled themselves together.

“Kayo would be Black Widow,” Gordon continued once he could breathe again. 

“Definitely,” I agreed. “She’s kickass, she's sassy and she takes no crap. Totally her."

"I can live with that," she nodded. "She's not a wuss and doesn't just wait around to be saved. She's deadly and a super spy too."

"So, what you're telling us is that you are actually Black Widow and you've been undercover this entire time?" Gordon joked. 

"Yes, I'm a deadly assassin, sleep with one eye open." 

"That's not creepy at all." 

“Would Grandma be Aunt May?” Alan asked. 

“Probably, she’s pretty cool.”

“Here’s the real question though, would you be Team Cap or Team Iron Man?” I asked.

“Obviously Team Cap,” Scott answered. “I can’t abandon myself.”

“Team Cap too,” Alan added.

“What’s all this about teams?” Jeff asked, apparently taking more notice of us than we had thought.

“Team Captain America or Team Iron Man,” Alan answered. “There was a time when the government tried to get all superheros to register with them and work for them rather than on their own. Captain America didn't believe in it, Iron Man did. It split the group.”

“Well, considering we’re currently sitting on a private island and part of a privately funded group that doesn't work for anyone but saves people on a daily basis, I'd have to be on Captain America's side."

"You'd leave your own team?" Virgil laughed. 

"If they were being idiots, sure."

That got us giggling again, Jeff was in one of his very best moods, slightly exasperated with a side of smartass. He was always good for a laugh then. 

"I'd be Team Cap too," Virgil added. 

"So would I," Gordon agreed. 

"Me too," I said. 

"So no one is Team Iron Man?" Kayo asked. 

"Are you? And bear in mind, we will all judge you on your answer," I warned her. 

"Team Cap all the way."

"What did I miss?" John asked, coming back with his iced coffee and handing me a can of cherry coke. Boy is so well trained. I blew him a kiss in thanks. 

"Where's mine?" Gordon asked. 

"Fridge, go get it yourself," John stepped over my legs and shoved Alan out of his seat. "Why are you on the floor?" 

"Because it's comfy." 

"The fridge is so far away," Gordon whined, lifting an arm and then letting it drop pathetically. "How comes she doesn't have to get her own?" 

"Because I actually like her, that and she made lunch."

I stuck my tongue out at Gordon and popped the tab, taking a satisfying sip. 

"So mean," he pouted. "I make food too."

"No, you just make a mess," I argued. 

"So, what were you all talking about," John asked. 

"Superheros," I answered leaning against his legs, using them as a back rest. "One of the questions we got sent was if you could be a superhero, who would you be."

"I'm Captain America."

"I'm Superman."

"Spiderman!"

"Iron guy."

"Iron man," Alan corrected.

"I'm thirsty," Gordon moaned, sneaking out a hand to steal my can. "And also Aqua Man."

"I'd be Black Widow."

"And who are you?" John asked me.

"I couldn't decide. I liked the villains too much," I swatted at Gordon's hand before it reached my drink.

"You're always awkward."

"It's both a blessing and a curse," I admitted, unable to deny it.

"John, who would you be?" Alan asked.

John thought about it for a moment or two then answered confidently.

"Batman."

"Seriously? Batman? Why would you want to be Batman?" Gordon asked, distracted from his attempted thievery.

"Probably because he's dark and brooding and likes to hide in his cave," Scott laughed.

John shook his head.

"Because you get the Batmobile?" Virgil guessed.

"Nope."

"Cool gadgets on your utility belt?" I offered.

"Nope."

"Then why?" Alan demanded to know.

"Because he's an only child."

[nyx-the-dragon]

A Miraculous Rant

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Chat Noir is a show about two teenagers who can transform into superheroes, fall in love with each other, save the city of Paris, and all without knowing who their partner is behind the mask. Sounds great right? It is, but there's a giant problem with it.  The problem, to me, is simple. It’s the writing. Before you get your pitchforks and torches, hear me out. In this essay I will explain and point out where I believe the flaws are.

Season 1: Oh boy, where to start? Well, how about there is no driving plotline in practically all of season 1. Sure, we need to hash out the world and concepts first, but that shouldn’t take 24 or so episodes! The first three episodes aired are “The Bubbler”, “Mr. Pigeon”, and “Stormy Weather”, in that order here in the U.S. and they tell us plenty of information.

The plot of all three episodes, and almost all of the rest of them are the same. There are two plots in each episode, Plot A, a problem arises or it’s the story of how someone becomes an Akuma. Plot B is the Akuma fight with our Superheroes. After Plot B ends, Plot A is usually resolved, and whatever happens is never spoken of again. Rinse and repeat. The only episodes that stray from this formula are “Evillustrator” and “Origins”. In “Evillustrator” we get practically nothing about Nathaniel and the focus of Plot A is Chloe and Sabrina.

And for “Origins”, while we never really spoke about what happened, we didn’t forget everything.

Ladybug tells us in “Antibug” that Chat and her are partners, even though they don’t really show it. Ladybug claims she needs Chat, but fighting wise, Ladybug always manages to take down the villain when Chat gets controlled by the villian/taken out of the fight. Plus, Ladybug is the only one who can purify the akuma and repair the damage. Chat just seems to be there for moral support and to use Cataclysm when Ladybug needs it.

Season 1 Plot Points: I remember three, count them, THREE plot points that moved the story along. Nothing important happens until “Princess Fragrance”, where the audience sees Master Fu for the first time, and then the old man disappears from the spotlight until “Volpina”, where Marinette meets him again, and we all find out he is the Guardian. Then “Origins” is finally released and we see that he gave out the Miraculous to our protagonists, and gave them no training. Seriously who thought that was a good idea?

Season 2: We finally inch along in the story more, as new characters, potiens, kwamis and miraculous, and new holders are introduced. Hawkmoth’s identity is revealed/confirmed, and both heroes and villain are thrown off the identity trial.

Power shifts to Ladybug as she knows who the guardian is first, gets to pick new holders, and gets to learn about the zodiac miraculous. Chat Noir gets left in the dark, and slowly starts turning into the sidekick some people view him as. He finally meets the guardian, but Marinette seems to spend the most time with him, so the scale is still tipped in her favor.

    Season 2 Character Developments:

It turns out that season 2 is our character development season, with a bit of worldbuilding involved. We learn more about their classmates, including Alya, who we should’ve learned more about sooner, and get introduced to new characters, one of which keeps making cameos. It’s good to focus on other things aside from just Ladybug, Chat Noir, Marinette, and Adrien. It helps make the world three-dimensional and broadens the edge of the Miraculous world.

    Season 2 Plot Points: 

I’ll be honest, I don’t remember there being any important to the overarching story plot points in season 2, other than the 2 parter season finale, Lila, and maybe the temporary holders.

The finale 2 parter is the closest they get to catching Hawkmoth, but he escapes with the aid of the Peacock miraculous holder. They practically go back to square 1 except the fights will get harder. Also, we finally see what happened to Lila Rossi.

    Season 3:

Oh boy, the most recent season. And the cringe and second hand embarrassment I experienced here, oh the writing staff in some of those episodes had it out for Marinette.

“Animaestro”: She crawls around on the floor, wastes food, and teams up with Chloe of all people to ruin Kagami’s outfit! Marinette should have been doing the job she signed up for, not embarrassing her parents’ business by doing those ridiculous things. And then she gets rewarded by being given Astuc’s ticket and gets to sit next to Adrien.

“Weredad”: I get she panicked, but did she have to say she was in love with Chat Noir? What happened to not wanting to lie to a friend? You live there for Pete's sakes, it’s not unusual for you to be on your balcony!

“Party Crasher”: Marinette abandons her friends to try and party with the boys, eventually using a disguise to get in. Marinette you’re no better then the boys!

“Stormy Weather 2”: Was just lazy, enough said.

“Feast”: It’s sweet that Fu wanted to protect them, but he ran like a coward and was willing to abandon Paris to Hawkmoth’s cruelty.

“Reflekdoll”: Alya! Marinette clearly doesn’t want Adrien there, but you just ignore her and pull him along anyway! What if he wanted to spend that extra hour with Nino and you made him feel like he had to help Marinette out? And I‘m not forgetting the fact you ignored Juleka’s panic attack and wish to be a model, and didn’t apologize! Also, they should’ve let Mister Bug figure out how to use the lucky charm. That would’ve been a great way to show that the two are equal, not that Marinette is great at wielding the Ladybug and Cat miraculous.

“Ikari Gozen”: Marinette, you tried to leave Kagami when you saw she was your partner in the friendship game, badmouthed her Alya, and tried to make you lose on purpose, all because you were jealous of Kagami being close to Adrien, who also doesn’t have many close friends. And Kagami, Longg literally said he was going to tell you the plan, but you just decide to transform without listening to him.

“Desperada”: Marinette picking Adrien to be Jagged’s guitarist was dumb, did you even know if the boy could play? Marinette, you can’t focus around Adrien, why did you give him a miraculous!? And Adrien, why did you accept it, you’re Chat Noir!?

“Ladybug”: Are you kidding me Chat!? Ladybug has never shown interest in you before, why on earth would you think that’s normal!? Also, Marinette getting expelled like that? Did anyone on staff do their research about expelling someone?! I’m pretty sure that’s not how you do that!

“Battle of the Miraculous”: Chloe, how stupid are you?

I also have some complaints about “Chameleon”, like, what were Marinette’s friends and classmates thinking?! A napkin can’t gorge out an eye Max! And for goodness’s sake, wouldn’t Jagged Stone’s pet being rescued off a runway be on international news?! Their brain cells were gone that episode.

    Season 3 Plot Points:

Master Fu’s memory is erased, leaving the two kids on their own. This will drive them closer together or farther apart as Ladybug will have more responsibility and need to keep more secrets as Guardian. Hawkmoth and Mayura have the translated Grimoire and they have fixed the broach.

    Season 3 Character Developments: 

The characters we really focus on the most beside Adrien and Marinette are the love rivals. That’s right, Luka and Kagami. Adrien appears to have started dating Kagami and Marinette is hanging out with Luka more, so more knowledge about them is needed. Other characters star in some episodes too, such as Max and Markov in Startrain. Turns out his mother drives trains and wants to be an astronaut. Also Markov is baby.

It turns out Juleka wants to be a model, did this happen because she can be in pictures now, and she enjoys it a lot? Where did this even come from? Regardless, it’s nice to see Juleka coming out of her shell a bit. Also the cheek kiss from Rose was cute and I don’t care that Relfekta called Rose her bestie, that Hawkmoth talking. Also Juleka is the second person, Lila’s the first, to be akumatized three times as the same Akuma.

Speaking of Lila, she shows up in the first episode, and it turns out everyone is still wrapped around her finger over her ridiculous lies. Sure, their class is accomplished, but really? Fans of Jagged Stone know he has a crocodile, right? Or that paper napkins can’t gorge someone’s eye out, especially glasses-wearing Max? She threatens Marinette in the bathroom, declares them to be at war, then does nothing to turn people against Marinette until “Ladybug”. Sure, she violated Adrien’s space and privacy, and got Nathalie and Gorilla in trouble, but that was never specifically against Marinette. We learn she doesn’t want to take the easy way out, instead she lays out this giant trap that would’ve come crashing down if Damocles had actually done his job by listening to both sides, calling Lila’s mother, watching the security footage, basic stuff right? It shows that Lila can be kinda clever, but her kingdom is a stack of cards waiting to crash down at the right push.

We get Master Fu's backstory, like how he lost the Peacock and Butterfly miraculous, plus the Grimoire. Also, he gets a lady friend, who we never really bring up again except at the end of the season.

And Choe. Chloe, Chloe, Chloe. We in the fandom had high hopes for her. From her not believing what Lila’s ‘selling’ to her becoming a better person. That all crashed and burned in the episodes “Miraculer”, “and “Battle of the Miraculous”. Turns out Chloe doesn’t even remember Lila, despite being upset that ‘Jagged wrote a song about Lila and not her’ in “Volpina”. Having Audrey around does not help Chloe’s case, as she tries imitating her in order for her mother to love her, which is really messed up.

The fandom:

Pitchforks down people! This is not, I repeat, not an insult to the fandom. I enjoy reading fanfics, including salt and fix-it fics. I just find it sad that the fandom has better writing than the actual show. It's kinda depressing that people who write for fun are writing better than the people doing it for a job. For example, when Chloe gets the redemption arc the show was building towards. Astruc said in a tweet that Chloe turned out to be not redeemable, which some people have translated as they couldn’t figure out how to redeem her so they didn’t.

    Plot:

Astruc and staff need to actually make strides towards the end goal. The way they write the show now, there seems to be no goal that they are actually working towards. The episodes that will move the story along are few and far between, and as of now, they aren’t any closer to their goal as compared to the beginning.

    Contradictions:

There are contradictions in the episodes, for example in “Queen Wasp”, it’s stated that only cataclysm can break a miraculous. But then Alix’s watch turns out to be a  miraculous, and suddenly a contradiction is revealed. The Ladybug and Cat miraculous are supposed to be the most powerful of all, right? Well, some of the other miraculous have stronger powers then those of the Cat and Ladybug. The Rabbit can travel through time and the Monkey disrupts others’ power, rendering them useless. Why have the Ladybug and Cat miraculous, the ones the bad guy is desperately trying to steal, out in the open when you could use the other miraculous just as well? You could just use Venom on the Akuma and easily get their akumatized item. Boom, battle over in seconds. Sure, you would still need the Ladybug to purify the akuma and erase any possible damage, but at least the Cat miraculous could be safe in the Miracle Box. It’s like they have no idea what was going to happen in future episodes, and when they make a contradiction, Astruc will just brush it off as a mistake, and the show will just carry on as if nothing happened.

Conclusion: 

Miraculous Ladybug is a great show, but the writing is subpar. There are episodes that are really great, and there are episodes that are bad, and make me want to stop watching from second-hand embarrassment. In all honesty, I’m still here for the fanfiction.

[cookieundertherock]

COOOKIE I don't know anyone else who watches 3Below so I will ask 001 for awesome alien show and 003 for PRETTY AWESOME VILLIAN LOTOR. If you wanna do more than one. :)

THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME TALK ABOUT MY ALIEN BABES!! I LOVE 3 BELOW TO DEATH!!

Favorite character- hmmm that's a hard one. Honestly I enjoy and love all th characters except for one. My favorite though?? Hmm..I can't decide between Krel, Varvatos, and Steve. Krel is just a good boy and I love him. Varvatos is a good nanny and he had so much character development. Steve also had a lot of character development and I was proud of him for becoming such good friends with Eli.

Least favorite character- General what's her face. Even from her first introduction I was severely enraged by her because I thought she was too harsh on aliens who never posed a threat to her. And then after betraying everyone she worked with she goes and makes a deal with the big bad who will obviously betray her. This is also my problem with that one general lady in Voltron at the end. That type of character just annoys me because I know they could be written better.

5 favorite ships- hehhhh I don't ship much but, Staja (Steve and Aja, I thought they were a cute dynamic and they had some good chemistry), Toby and Darcy (once more a cute dynamic anf good chemistry. I like the popular girl loving and happily going out with the fat boy of the school because she likes him as much as he likes her), Stevi (Steve and Eli is kinda a cute concept so I'm a low-key shipper for them), Nana and Varvatos (this is just cute okay. I like that Varvatos found a lover who likes all of him for who he is. They're cute.), Lucy and Ricky Blank (I just love how the androids get human emotions and actually love each other and act like a couple. I think that's just the cutest thing ever. And they care for the kids so y'all just tugging at my heart strings more) (I also love Jalir and StrickLake, but they're not main in this show so ssshhhh)

Character I find most attractive- Troll Jim even though he was in there for like 2.5 seconds. He's my boy. But probably Krel in his alien form. He's just a cutie.

Character I would marry- (Jim) Krel. Good boy. Cute alien. Musiccccc.

Character I would be best friends with- Honestly I think I would probably get along with Darcy pretty well. She's fun and sassy and I like that.

A random thought- Record store girl with pink hair is adorable and I hope to see more of her in Wisards.

An unpopular opinion- uhhh I think General Morrando could've been a better villian. He was menacing and stuff, but he had no backstory or motive other than 'ooh I was exiled! I hate the royals! Rawr! I'm evil!'

My canon OTP- Jlair. Even though they're not technically in 3 Below, they still canonically exist. Um but in 3 Below I still think Staja is OTP

My non-canon OTP- uhhh non-canon...Cute electric alien bounty hunter x living longer

Most badass character- Either Alpha or Zadra. Both.

Most epic villian- Hrrrrruuuuuuuhhhhhhh wasn't super pleased with the villians actually. Uh I like Alpha and his brotherhood. They were cool.

Pairing I'm not a fan of- Hmmm, gotta think. I'm pretty okay with most pairings in this universe actually. I think Steve x Jim I'm not really a fan of. I just can't see that ever working.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another)- Like I said I'm not a super big fan of the villians in this show. I don't think they're bad I just think they could've been done better. I really think they screwed Gwendolyn over though. I wish they had done more with her, she had so much potential.

Favorite friendship- Oh easy, Steve and Eli. Creepslayerzzzzzz!!!! For lifeeeeee!!!!

Character I most identify with- Probably Varvatos. He wants to protect those he cares about more than anything, but he's haunted by wishes of vengeance. He makes a big mistake and truely believes that he should die for it, thinking he couldn't dare hurt his royals again. He has a strong sense of justice and a horrible case of self-doubt. I can relate to that. Plus he's dramatic and I get that. Oh and the bad back.

Character I wish I could be- Stewart honestly. The guy has a great life. Selling tacos and burritos and making kids happy, while on the side he helps out his adopted niece and nephew. I like that.

And how can I pass up talking about the fabulous man Lotor himself?

How I feel about this character- I like Lotor. I think he's set up as a good nemesis and then anti-hero. Love his design, 10/10 there would touch hair again. I think he had good motives and a sad but compelling backstory. And I was sad when he died, but it wasn't completely unexpected. I do wish he had lived on to serve as a tension and foil to Allura though. I wanted my boy to grow into the good garla leader he could've been.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character- Allura. They had good chemistry and I wish it had worked out. I would've liked to have seen them doing alchemy together. Also Axca. I like to ship that one as an unrequited love situation where possibly Lotor had a (or several) romantic encounters with her, but didn't really have feelings for her.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character- Ooh. I really like the tension of the relationship between Haggar and Lotor. A mother slowly discovering who she is and what actually happened and a son in denial about the true identify of his mother. I just like it. Good tension.

My unpopular opinion about this character- Hmm... despite how much I miss him and wish for him to have come back, I think it's actually for the better he stayed dead. His death upset the Altean colonies as well as Haggar. Both of these things caused major trouble for our heroes. And it gave Haggar a good motive for what she did.

One thing I wish would happen/ had happened with this character in canon- I wish Lotura had stayed a thing. It was cute and the relationship had good chemistry and a good set up. I also think it would have made both Lotor and Allura better people.

Favorite friendship for this character- I think a seriously underrated and untapped beautiful friendship would've been with Keith. Two horomonal adult Galra males walking around together could've led for some beautiful rivalries.

My crossover ship- uhhhhhhhhh I don't really have one. I'm not big on character x character shipping in general unless I see good set up and chemistry.

[pokimoko]

STEVEN UNIVERSE: THE MOVIE - Personal Commentary

I wrote this to send to a friend, but I decided I might as well post it on here. I did a large portion of this while I was watching the movie, but I did go back and improve on some parts after I was finished, so forgive the inconsistent tenses. I apologise for the length as well, which is a result of me getting completely carried away and analysing a lot of the movie (I bet my English teachers are cheering). Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy my personal thoughts on the Steven Universe movie. (Also, spoilers if you haven’t already watched it.)

- The opening....wow. Not only is it pretty but it's just so dramatic. It reminds me quite a bit of old fashioned Disney musicals (I’m guessing that was their intention). Even the layout of the credits are giving me that vibe. But especially the music. Very fairytale-esque.

- 16 year old Steven, yeah booiii! Now he’s only a few years younger than me. I do like his older voice and design. Bet Zach Callison is relieved that he doesn't have to pitch his voice up high anymore. And I personally really love the pan flag colour scheme of his new outfit. I wonder if they’ll keep it for the season(s) following the movie.

- Aww, the Diamonds are learning. Sort of. They’re maybe just a tad clingy, but that's still improvement. I really love how Steven Universe never makes the 'villians' completely evil, only misguided, and that everyone is capable of changing their ways. Such a great message. (Edit: Ooohh, I unintentionally called what I'd say is the moral of the movie. Noice.)

- Naaww, Steven and Connie are so cute. Steven's happy little grin after the kiss was just adorable.

- Oooh, I like the 'Here We Are in the Future' (Edit: 'Happily Ever After') song. It just shows how much they've all grown over the course of the series. And it’s a great way to recap the journeys of each of the original Crystal Gems to the audience.

- "PEW PEW" Yeesss. I love their handshake. And oh my god, he really is so tall compared to Amethyst now.

- Oh my god, they're reenacting the running sequence from the opening. Love me a parallel. Just shows how far they’ve all come.

-Okay, why do the 'bad' guys in musicals always get such cool songs? Spinel's song was so catchy. Now I'm super curious about her relation to Pink Diamond. Oh cool! A scythe. That's awesome.....AH! Okay, nevermind. Nooo.

- 'Losing your powers' angst. I love it (yes, I know, I'm terrible).

- Greg: "Holy shhhhhheee really got everybody" Me: 😏 I see what you did there.

- Steven: "I have no idea what's going on." Greg: "Well now you know how I feel most of the time." Greg is so relatable sometimes. Kindly stop being my spirit animal, sir.

- AHHH! They've all been reset. Craaappp! And I was just going on about growth and everything! But I'm excited to see what happens because I love angst, god damn it. It always helps to make the happy ending all the more satisfying. (And...admittedly, the amnesia narrative device has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. I’ve always enjoyed how it allows you to so clearly see how a character has evolved over time and how much their experiences have defined their identity.)

- "Something is clearly wrong," Pearl sings happily and bug-eyed. Excellent and relatable. That's how I react to most things in life, honestly.

- "I could have lost all of my character development." Ha! Never subtle, are you Peridot? But also nooooo, not Peridot. Don't you dare touch her. She's grown so much and I love her dearly (and also Lapis' top notch dark humour. Perfect.)

- Sad song reprise is sad. I totally understand what Steven is feeling too. Things you’ve gotten so used to (hell, maybe even become dependent on for your emotional welbeing) can disappear so quickly that it can be quite a whiplash to have it gone, so it's completely normal to struggle to accept it, and to yearn for what you had not so long ago.

- Bismuth saying “We are the Crystal Gems” has watered my crops and cleared my skin. And I love her singing voice; the roughness in some parts suits her character so well.

- Rupphire Rupphire RUPPHIRE GAAAARRRNNNEEETTT, yiissss! Wow the fusion animation is really awesome. It's like a behind-the-scenes on how it works from their perspective. But I love how the two of them fusing together doesn't fix Garnet's memories or make her exactly how she was before losing them. Garnet isn't just an experience; she's also a product of her experiences.

- Lil' trumpet salute! Naww, Pearl, that's adorable.

- ....is Onion....immortal? He still looks exactly the same. 😟 I'm unnerved by that child and whatever power he had.

- Oooh, tap dancing. I love tap dancing! Even if Steven is wearing sandals while doing it. Oh boy, I love the friendship between Amethyst and Steven. It's always been one of my favourite things in the show. It's kind of like the sibling interaction I've always wished to have myself: supportive and wholesome. And I also love how their fusion shows that platonic and familial love is just as powerful as romantic love. Oh, YAY Amethyst is back! Like I said, friendship is a powerful thing.

- Oh my god, Steven and Greg are going to fuse. Ahhhh! Oh wow, it's basically Elvis with a six pack! Hehehe, so weird. But not bad either. And, oh wow, what a great song! Individuality is my kink.

- The ANGST is making me feel emotions. Steven looks so ragged, and the high pitched whining in his ears definitely added to that. And having felt that terrible myself a few times, I know how much it frigging sucks. And just like him I brushed other people's concerns off, so I'd be a hypocrite to tell him to take care of himself. (But I am a hypocrite. Take care of yourself, Steven!)

- Yep, here's the tragic backstory to make me sad about Spinel. Hit me where it hurts why don't you. Gosh, Pink Diamond really did some messed up things when she was younger (but thankfully she evolved from that and changed to become Steven). Leaving someone behind without giving them closure or even a reason would mess someone up for sure. You'd feel completely worthless. And unfortunately, being noticed for any reason⁠—good or bad⁠—is generally a way to cope with that feeling. Spinel is doing what she can to deal with what Pink did to her, and that unfortunately involves lashing out and hurting others.

- The 'True Kinda Love' song! Knew it'd turn up at one point. Knowing the context makes it so much better too. And hell yeah, Garnet is back!

- Blood? On this Christian Server? It's more likely than you think.

- “This is the story of my life.” Ahh! Steven's just a kid, and he's gone through so much. But, I gotta say, he is absolute proof that having a rough childhood and being a flawed person in the past (*cough* Pink Diamond *cough*) doesn't condemn you to being a wicked person forever. Anyone, regardless of their circumstances and experiences, can be a good person. Your early years don't define your identity or what will become of your future.

- Spinel: “When you change, you change for the better. When I change, I change for the worse. I used to be just not good, just not good enough for Pink. Now I'm not good at all!” Damn. That's powerful. Trauma can be such a difficult thing to overcome, and some people lose their way in their attempt to leave it behind. Sometimes, though, growing doesn't mean changing yourself and erasing the past; sometimes it means accepting the parts of your past that made you who you are now. Showing the importance of past experiences through the Crystal Gem's recovery of their identities is such a smart way of showing this concept to the audience. Such a great analogy. Now, let's hope Spinel can accept that though she has been changed as a result of her trauma, that doesn't make her ‘bad’ or unworthy of love (because that’s just not true!)

- “There's no such thing as happily ever after”. Sad but true. And also turning the whole Disney vibe the movie began with in on its head. Very smart.

- Steven: “I'll always have more work to do”. Then, Spinel: “I've got work to do. Friendship isn't going to be easy for me. I'm gonna have to work at it”. Exactly. That's how it is. ‘Happily ever after’ is a stagnant concept, and staying the same person for the rest of your life isn't healthy. And deciding to work towards improving yourself can sometimes be the hardest step to take when it comes to overcoming trauma. But change can be good; you should always keep working on improving yourself, no matter how comfortable you are with who you are and where you're at. Evolution is a part of living.

- Ooooh, White Diamond got sassy. She even has the hand gestures down. She’s making up for all the years she spent T-posing.Good for her.

- Oh my gosh, the focus on the Diamond's hands! Instead of destroying, their holding a hand out in a gesture of friendship. Seriously, that's frigging growth. That's such a cool parallel too. Rebecca Sugar and her crew are just brilliant.

- I'm so glad the Diamonds got someone to love and help them through their grief, and Spinel got someone to love her unconditionally, regardless of the flaws she thinks she has. They all got someone to help them heal. That’s wonderful.

- “I can make a change.” 👏Yes👏you👏can! That's your superpower.

Damn, that was so wonderful! I've always loved the message of personal growth, and the movie did it so well. In my opinion, Steven Universe has always been great at analogies to explain real life things (ie. Malachite being a metaphor for toxic relationships) so I really like how they used to amnesia narrative device to show not only how much someone can change and grow over time, but also to show it's our experiences, good and bad, that shape us as a person. Lots of people have traumatic experiences in their life that can inadvertantly shape a lot of their personality, and it can be hard to leave that behind, especially if so much of your identity is dependent on those experiences. Sometimes they can lead us to becoming ‘bad’ people, but they can also help make us good people too. Just look at Steven! He was able to accept his past traumas and use them so as to help others heal their own. 

Trauma isn't something you can erase without erasing a large part of your identity. It can be tough to live with, nonetheless. Sometimes, like Spinel, you just need a helping hand in accepting the scars life has given you; to help you grow beyond it and maybe even eventually be able to help others who are going/have gone through similar experiences.

And there's no shame in trying to be better and failing over and over again. At least you are trying. Because trying to be good against all odds, against the whole world doing its best to destroy you, shows just how strong you really are.

-----------

Sorry for getting flowery (and maybe just a tad projective). As you can see I just really like the moral of the movie, as well as pretty much every other aspect. I'm sure there's a lot of little intricacies I missed, but this is what I took from my first viewing of it. And these are just my opinions; you might have got a whole different vibe from the movie. You are completely welcome to add you own thoughts and improve upon mine (because I am by no means an expert).

So, to summarise my own thoughts on the movie, I’m just going to say: Personal growth for the win!

[knightofbalance-13]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suFTBHoLGco

Unicorn of War, I’ve gone on record to say you’re probably the second best RWBY critic on YouTube.

Unforunately, videos like these show that’s more a reflection on how low the bar is in that community than any real indicator of quality. No offense to you but, I think you need to consider certain factors before making videos like these.

Okay so his number five pick is...Raven Branwen. The reason why he choose Raven is because the writing makes Raven out to be a petulant child whose a bad guy when she’s suppose to be a morally complex grey character.

... Issue here is that what she just said is only half right and even then, it’s intended. Raven is suppose to come across as a petulant child to contrast Yang’s maturity as a person as well as the reasoning behind why someone like Raven would do the things she does. As for being morally grey: the issue here is that Raven is morally grey in that she acts for her own selfish goals that contribute to either side. If you were expecting Raven to be this super complex character morals wise from Volume 4: She willingly left her family to join a tribe of bandits that is so horrible that Qrow (her twin) hates them. Not to mention the mass murder. It was clear she was never gonna be on the lighter side of the moral spectrum.

Also he says part of this is due to how Ozpin isn’t called out for being nefarious (I personally doubt that but moving on). Bit thing is: that should contribute to OZPIN’S character, not RAVEN’S. This just comes across as kind of narrow minded in how he views characters and that just leaves a bad feeling in my stomach.

His fourth pick is Leonard Lionheart. He says this is because...um...

Okay first he gives the opinion that Leo’s defection to Salem wasn’t explored enough and wasn’t given enough details. But ironically, he doesn’t really give any details here to really sell that as a reason.

Another is that he’s a headmaster of an Academy in a racist kingdom and says they could have explored his implications but that’s only speculation and if we judge things based on how many opportunities are missed, we’d never have a good character or show.

The third is that he’s a poor representation of the theme of choice in Volume 5...which doesn’t make sense since this is never directly commented on, it isn’t really prevelant and, considering how greenhorn Miles and Kerry are, I doubt they would have a theme of choice and NOT have the target relic be the relic of choice (Haven’s is the relic of knowledge). He also cites another reviewer as a source which...yeah, even if I like the reviewer, you use your OWN words.

So we have three reasons that don't really contribute to anything let alone each other so I have no idea what the central reason why Unicorn choose Leo for this part other than “I don’t like him.” There’s nothing to really judge or discuss here, not even any suggestions on a better way to do this or improvements. I feel even more numb than he does towards Leo.

Third is Blake Belladonna and he admits that Blake was great in Volume 5....which is it’s own bag of worms. Look, there can be different incarnations of the same character but this is from things like spin offs, reboots and non canon material: NOT between seasons of a show. If this ws Blake from a spin off then this statement was fine...but the fact that he uses original Blake despite complimenting her most recent incarnation is like hating Jaune for his actions in Volume 1 but praising him in Volume 5: it’s really conflicted and weird.

Not that his reasonings are the best. He says that Blake is switching between wanting to be left alone to participating in Team RWBY;s antics...while using footage from Volume 1. Not even really Black and White, like Emerald Forest and Badge And Burden. Issue here is that these are two very different situations. Before, Blake didn’t know people like Ruby and Yang and had no reason to try and get along. Now, she’s a member of their team for four years and has gotten to know them a bit better: it makes sense that she’d get along with them better here. The other reason why he puts her here is because since the Volume doesn’t focus on her self hatred, her leaving her team left a bad taste in people’s mouths. This only works if you don’t consider Blake’s martyr complex and her previous actions. This is like expecting to know why Goku fights every single person he does when the reasoning is obvious.

The only thing I liked here was him addressing her relationship with Adam and how it wasn’t explored. But I only liked it because I understood where he was coming from, not because I even agreed with him on an objective level. The relationship doesn’t look explored because you have to view Blake’s character through the lens of an abuse victim AFTER Volume 3 and RWBY...isn’t the most rewatchable show. Oh and he ends by saying she has gotten much better in Volume 5, which is just confusing me on this list even further since he could put someone else (like Ozpin since he has issues with the writing surrounding Ozpin) here and made it more relevant.

Second to last is Adam Taurus. He’s here because...Raven. He’s here for one of the same reasons as Raven: he was something in Volume 3 but now he’s a petulant child. And again, this fails because that’s the point of Adam: he’s a psychopathic manchild. He’s Raven ramped up to 25. He says that Adam is a joke now because he tries to be an edgelord but in one episode he has one of the cringest lines possible (”Hello my Darling) but in the next he singlehandedly cuts off Yang’s arm without so much as a blink. Unicorn tries to justify this by saying his forces were defeated, he tried blowing up everyone in a fit and was defeated by a backhand. But again, this is AFTER he was shown to be fully willing to destroy YET another Hunstmen academy and do god knows what to Blake. This doesn’t work as a good reasoning. 

His last reasoning is that his character keeps bouncing back and forth between wanting justice for his people (which is incorrect, he wants supremacy) and wanting to get back at Blake...ignoring how there is an underlying connection here of “I was wrong ergo I’m going to do terrible things to get back at people” AKA SPITE. The show literally handed this to the viewer on a silver platter, I can’t excuse this mistake. It’s isn’t being torn apart or attacked: they’re the same goal, just targeted at different people.

Dishonorable mentions:

Corsec And Fennec: makes some sense but the compliant of ‘their manipulative side isn’t shown’ doesn’t hold up, rather it should be ;their manipulative side isn’t shown enough.’ Also they should have replaced Blake since, you know, they are disliked throughout their ENTIRE incarnation.

Vernal: Is said to be on here because nothing is really done with her aside from being a red herring. Again, not really enough to justify being on this list over another choice like Ozpin.

Ruby Rose: “She’s the exact same character as she was in Volume 1 and the attempts at character development are just...so shallow.”

... I have discussed this so much that at this point, I’m not even gonna dignify this with a response.

And Number 1 is Cinder Fall. And it’s all the same arguments so I’ll just give the bullet points version:

1. She has no backstory: I’ve pointed to villians like the Joker as a counterpoint to this. You don’t need a backstory for a good villain.

2. She fought Jaune instead of Ruby: ironic considering the clip he used to illustrate his point is PRECISELY why this doesn’t work. Jaune attacked first.

3. She was stupid in her volume 5 plan: Look, I could explain why this makes sense since she’s a sadist and wants to kill people. But you can’t have this reason and Number 2 together. The second is all about how she didn’t kill Ruby when doing so would be stupid but then you decry her for NOT being stupid. Choose one, these reasons are knife fighting to the death here, that’s how badly they work together.

4. She doesn’t interact directly with the characters directly to have a real presence against them: ... Fire Lord Ozai. Same supposed issue, didn’t stop him.

He brings up the idea of ‘good idea, flawed execution’ at the end and while I would normally agree with this:

This is like someone calling a guy ‘flithy’ when they themselves look like they just swam through a river of sewage. AKA I can’t focus on the second party because the actions of the first has drawn attention to their own issues.

Unicorn of War: I have no idea what you were trying to accomplish here. Was this suppose to be a list about characters you personally don’t like? Then why did you keep bring up the public perception of characters? If this si suppose to be an attempt at an objective look at the characters: then why do you keep bring up personal issues and personal points? 

I have no idea what I’m suppose to take away from this. You make some good points here and there and unlike people like Muffin Man Dan or FMF: I didn’t have to wade through absolute bile to get to them. But your execution and your reasoning is so all over the place that I can’t take anything away from this. I’m just left a confused mess by the end of this because I don’t even know how I’m suppose to judge this. Like-Dude, sit down, take a breath and decide whether you want to look at things from your own personal experience and feelings like MurderOfBirds or try to look at things objectively, trying to distance yourself from personal bias like...okay, there’s no RWBY Youtuber equivalent there. But you get my point.

As I have said in the past: You can make good points. It’s just when you delve into the points is when things get confusing. If not for common mistakes (like saying that the Volumes of RWBY post 3 are rushed when they take about as much time to make as Volume 2 did), then for confused execution like what you did here.

[greyjackwatcher]

Me: okay i wanna reread chapter 353 so that i can make a post on it

Me: from where will i go and read this chapter

ME: FORGETS THE NEW SITE I FOUND AND GOES BACK TO THE PREVIOUS ONE THAT HAD AWFUL TAKES(bc i always forget it and i am an idiot)

Me: goes to look at the comments like a goddamn moron

The comments: okay how about we show you how many points pass over our heads huh(in read below there are several comments that i angered me quite a bit bc holy s*** you completely miss out a whole lot of points that have been shown by the manga)

‘’Going a bit further, I always love to see the evolution of the main cast's abilities like the Devil Fruit Awakenings or Quirk Evolutions, I just wish this second war invoked some actual tension and drama, Deku is flying to reach the roof.. ahem... I mean Shigaraki, when I always thought these two would be so overly powered and wise that their battle would decide the fate of the world, but instead AFO has managed to infect the entire series and it just feels pointless for Shigaraki's character to endure a few things (because he's a spoiled brat) only to have the big bad be All Might's Enemy. Instead imagine if we only had Shigarki whose warped goals led him to challenging Deku to a series of battles, through trial and error he has built this new empire with blood, sweat, and tears. Shigaraki should be the big bad right now. It also might of been cool to see a fight between him and AFO. Prince versus the King, Master versus Apprentice for a battle of supremacy, I think he would of won so much respect from the fandom if he was like an underdog-type character that never gave up and endured huge amount's of adversity. Speaking of battles, if the only casualties of war are canon fodder then it doesn't feel realistic. ‘’

 ‘‘ In response to youre statement that shigaraki has become pointless, i half agree... shigaraki manipulated one of the top criminal organizations pre assimilation,rivaled gigantomachia pre assimilation, awakened his quirk preassimilation, underwent torture for months, and fought deku and all the heros before being fully assimilated. i think those are impressive accomplishments. I think calling shigaraki is a spoiled brat is a bit of an oversimplification of a homeless orphan raised by a psychopath. these are not excuses. his past is sad and his conclusion to destroy it all makes sense. the story of shigaraki is meant to be a tragedy and i agree he's better off dead at this stage. Saving" him mostly likely will mean putting him out of his misery. Shig isnt good by any measure but i still cant say hes complete evil like AFO AFO hijacking the story makes me hate him more and im ok with that. I think its really difficult to right an Evil character thats not ridiculous. AFO's motivation is simple and his intelligence and ruthless cunning make him intimidating more than his powers. His presence now feels like he stole the story away from everyone and i think thats how it should be. ‘‘

‘’Let me provide some clarifications, I agree with you comment by the way. I always though Deku was the MC because he said something like this is the story about how I becomes a great hero.My Villian Academia was brilliant and a breath of fresh air to see Shigaraki's journey with a very good backstory.

The reason I think Shigaraki is a spoiled brat is referring to AFO being his mentor and handing things down to him, however your point about his accomplishments which are very true, but remember during the first war his body wasn't 100% and AFO was able to take control of his mind in order to break himself out of prison. At some point, I just wanted Shigaraki to go his own way because there were some other people in the fandom that felt he was a spoiled brat too. It's like how long are you going to keep teaming up with this guy who wants to become a "Demon King" before you exit and take the throne for yourself?’’

‘’Everything you said about shiggy is what I've been saying for the longest hes wasted potential . Now hear me out my biggest problem with shiggy was that he hasn't earned ANYTHING. This whole story I could see him as nothing but AFO little puppet. Being handed everything and riding the coattails of other peoples ideologies, weapons and hardwork, stain, overhaul, and redestro.  Like you said if we could've seen shiggy and deku have a few more skirmishes throughout the story with shiggy winning a couple of those and slowly building the league's infamy without AFO influence then I could respect him alot more. Every criticism overhaul hit with was spot on especially the part about not using his allies well. Toga and compress could've been used to sow confusion and misdirection, dabi clearly is offensive fire power, twice could replenish the league's forces or have the clones do the dirty work shiggy has no excuse to have been dirt broke at the beginning of the MVA arc. He had great allies whom never been used to their full potential.

I know people are pissed about AFO being the big bad but that was foreshadowed way back during toga and dabis introduction when the doctor was skeptical of shiggys leadership and AFO said he has what it takes hes the next ME after all. Him and the doctor were always planning for afo to takeover shiggys body as a suitable vessel since all might completely wrecked AFO during their first fight.

If shiggy overcame various hurdles on his own Not relying on heroes to take down overhaul, had various victorys against deku and company by outsmarting them and using his allies to their strengths, and not reduced to squatting before the doctor found him and gave him a goalhe would be much better. And then like you said after the events of the first war we see there a power struggle between shiggy and AFO. Shiggy had overcome AFO'S control thru sheer will devours him in that mental plane afo still survives and shiggy has access to his intelligence and the 2 fight in the real world with shiggy winning and killing. And shiggy takes command of all remaining villains and having access to AFO'S intelligence becomes even more deadly than before.’’

Look, better meta writters have debunked many of your awful takes plus you miss on a whole lot of points if this is your views on Shigaraki by now. I honestly don’t know if i should laugh or be angry and disappointed with you.(in what way was he handed everything????)

ALSO

‘’Honestly Dabi was a missed opportunity. Great build up but the payoff was truly.... meh. It's good that Hori ended the fight quickly. He's not even interesting enough to kill off. ‘‘

‘’It's crazy cuz dabi only great moment in this entire story was his revealing endevours dirty laundry... that's it. Nothing else. Not only was his fight short  but he was the first villain to lose. I would be so pissed if I was a betting man would you honestly believe it if someone told you dabi would go down before toga or spinner?! ‘‘

‘’The fight not only felt forced, but it was anti-climactic as hell. I'm a bit disappointed it wasn't Endeavor and Todoroki fighting Dabi. Of course, Shouto's win has boosted the morale of those on the battlefield who give him props because what would a manga/anime be without an audience watching and fanboying out about each character's badass moment. This second war is falling kind of flat, hopefully Horikoshi has more to offer when Deku reach's the roof.. ahem... Shigaraki. ‘’

Okay genuine question, is this a take that circulates around, like legitimately is this an actual thinking by fans? Because that is so bullshit, is all that matters who is stronger, like seriously does it matter at all? The fight was just beautiful all the way up to the end. F*** it, either this day at noon or the next day i am gonna make a post about this

[redroseredemption]

Uchu Sentai Kyuranger Review

So I’ve been sitting on this empty blog for months and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it. But, finally, I’ve decided to turn this blog into a Henshin Hero blog!  And my first entry will be a review of UCHU SENTAI KYURANGER! 

( credit: https://malecoc.deviantart.com/ ) Since I just finished watching it, and it’s still fresh in my mind, it’s perfect for my first entry! I’ll try and keep spoilers to a minium.  Just from my first reaction, I’d say this was an enjoyable sentai. There were flaws, of course, but I’ll get into that when I talk about the negatives.  The Universe has taken over by an evil alien force known as “Jark Matter” under its ruler, Don Armage. Chosen by the Kyutama's, nine heroes become the legendary Kyurangers!  I believe this the first time the villains have ever actually won in a sentai show. In every sentai show before Kyurangers, the plot revolves around the rangers trying to stop the villain's plans of world/universe/galactic domination/destruction you name it. In Kyurangers, however, the villains have already taken over the universe. For hundreds of years no less! I like this. It’s something different from the usual “The villains are coming! We need heroes!” plot sentai loves to use and for that, I give it credit.  On to the positives and negatives:  POSITIVES:  -It’s Sentai...IIIINNNN SPAAAACE!:  It’s a Space Opera themed sentai! I mean what more can you love?! The fact that they’re not just on Earth and that they travel to different planets is awesome and something I hope other Sentais do in the future!  -The Opening and Ending Themes:  This is in, my opinion, the first sentai where the OP and ED are amazing!  The Opening starts off telling the story of the legend of the Kyurangers “When the universe is in sorrow, 9 heroes chosen by the Kyu Globes will come together and form the Kyurangers!” And once that OP hits, I get shivers up my spine. Sorry if that sounds weird, but it’s honestly true. Not only is it one of the OP’s in Sentai, but I also love how hopeful it sounds. Like yeah, the Universe is in run by an evil overlord, but don’t worry! The Kyurangers are here! Even in the opening shot of them, you can see “hope.” The Orion opens its doors and the light of the sun shines on all 9 Kyurangers. I love it!  The ending theme is also great! It’s super silly but EXTREMELY catchy. You’ll find yourself humming it for days!  -The Suits:  These are some of these best suit designs in Sentai, no question. From the different helmet and visor designs to added details like fur on Ookami Blues suit, every Kyuranger is unique in their own way without sticking out like a sore thumb either.  Also, Shishi Red Orion is one of the best-upgraded sentai suits. It’s utterly gorgeous.  -The Henshin Sequence and Roll Call:  I like it!. A color-coded star appears underneath the Kyurangers (above in Houou Soldiers case), they’re individual constellation symbols come out and form the suits while the kyutama symbols form the helmets. It’s not an overly complex henshin but it is beautiful to watch.  I also enjoy the roll call with the each Kyuranger calling out which star system they’re from (excluding Koguma Skyblue who say’s “Big Star” and Houou Solider who say’s “Space Bu-star”) and ranger name over the backdrop of a planet. -The Gun Ryutsueder and Houou Blade & Houou Shield:  I love weapon Henshin devices. Not because they’re always convenient or practical, but because they look awesome and Ryu Commanders Gun Ryutsueder and Houou Soldiers Blade and Shield are no exception. Also, what’s better than a staff that turns into a sniper rifle? -Lucky: Lucky started off REALLY annoying and grating, as I’ll get when I get into the negatives, but as the show goes on he becomes much more competent, he becomes WAY less annoying and a great leader worthy of the red ranger title.  -Balance (Tenbin Gold) and Nāga (Hebitsukai Silver):  Next to Lucky and Stinger, Balance and Nāga are the most fleshed out characters in the show. They even have their own story arc which is rare, especially in modern sentai shows, for a ranger that isn’t red to have multiple episodes dedicated to them and their struggles. I don’t wanna spoil too much, but let’s just say it’s nice that a ranger other than the red gets a power up and a suit change. 

-The Stinger Arc:  While beat for beat, it’s similar to Sasuke and Itachi’s rivalry from Naruto, the writers still did a great job fleshing out Stinger's back story with him and his brother with a great conclusion too. Which goes into my next positive. -The show isn’t completely revolved around the Lucky:  Modern sentais have a bad habit of only fleshing out the red ranger properly and leaving everyone in the dust. Kyurangers, however, goes a good job at mostly fleshing out the other characters personalities and back stories.  -The Villians:  As mentioned above, Jark Matter is the first villain faction in sentai to actually win. Since this series takes place in a different universe from the main Sentai one, unlike when the Zangyack tried to invade Earth in Gokaiger, Jark Matter had no sentai team to oppose them until the Kyurangers came along. By then, Jark Matter had already taken over the universe. It’s a  nice switch up from the typical villain plots Sentai usually gives us.  NEGATIVES:  -Lucky:  At least in the beginning. At first, he’s annoying, rash, loud and an idiot. Thankfully he goes under some character development about a quarter of the way through, but before that, he was almost unbearable. Which brings me to... -His Catchphrase “YOSSHA LUCKY!”:  It’s by no means a bad catchphrase, but when your main character says it in nearly every other sentence, it becomes grating REAL quick. Thankfully as the show goes on, Lucky doesn’t say it as much as he does in the earlier episodes but even then there are times where he says it when he shouldn’t like in some very emotional scenes which I won't discuss since they’re very spoilery. It comes off as really cheesy at times and not in a good way.  -The Seiza Blaster and Kyutama’s:  When it comes to Henshin devices, I prefer convenient over flashy, except in the case of weapon henshin devices then it’s awesome...usually. The Seiza Blaster is an exception to that rule. The Seiza Blaster for the other 10 Kyurangers is just ugly in my opinion. It’s oversized gauntlet shaped like a gun, but you wouldn’t notice that it’s shaped like a gun unless you turn it sideways. It also has this giant black handle on the end of it that doesn’t need to be there.  The Kyutama’s are fine as toy collectibles, but as a henshin device, I feel they’re too small and could get easily lost. I know that sounds strange, but I’ve never been a fan of the two-piece henshin devices unless they’re like Dairanger’s or Ohranger’s devices where they’re strapped on to the user’s wrists or are something convenient like a cell phone or jewelry .  -The Limited Budget: As much as I enjoyed Kyurangers, It’s clear that maybe this show was a little too much for Toei to handle. Heck, at one point they poke fun at it and even explain why no more than five rangers are allowed on a mission at one time. They even use a device called the Kyulette that randomly picks who goes. As such, it’s obvious at times where the budget went to and where it didn’t.  Going to a new planet? Let’s use set locations that clearly look like Earth, but add a few alien looking plant things and maybe add a color filter to the sky!  Ok, maybe I’m being a little too harsh. I understand shows can’t always make the most outlandish settings for a sci/fi series, so sometimes they have to make do with what they can. I can suspend my disbelief when it comes to that, but there are somethings are just so glaringly obvious that it’s hard not to.  For example, The Mr.Pegasus Chestguard. There’s a reason it’s only shown in two episodes. It was already falling apart even though the show was barely into its 5th episode!  Then there’s the Consumerz, the giant fortress/spaceship drills. Their CGI models are fine, it’s what INSIDE of them is what bugs me. I won't say what happens exactly, but there’s one episode where the Kyurangers are inside a Consumer and the inside is just a huge room with giant cement pillars. I mean they could have at least painted over the pillars to LOOK like an alien spaceship but nope. It’s the exact area where Kamen Rider Faizes finale takes place!  Like I said, I understand with a limited budget, not everything is going to look fantastic and that I have to suspend my disbelief, but at least try to make it look like what you want to show! - Spada, Raptor, Garu, and Hammie.  Remember when I said that “most” of the characters are fleshed out? Yeah... Unfortunately, Spada, Raptor, Garu, and Hammie are the characters with the least amount of development. Starting from best to worst, Hammie is the most fleshed out of the four, but that’s not saying much. We do see her backstory in an early episode.  She was a young ninja in training in the Chameleon system who escaped Jark Matter after they invaded her village, but her past isn’t really brought up a lot, unlike Lucky’s or Stinger’s.  We do learn a bit more about her in later episodes, but it’s not much and isn’t really brought up again.  Garu is a furry-I mean, “Wolfman” alien whose whole clan died to a Jark Matter invasion. We find out his entire backstory in the first episode...and then it's never explored again. Like Hammie, he mentions it in a couple of episodes, but that’s it. He actually becomes a kind of joke character to the others. Always getting picked on and whatnot. You would think he’d have some pretty hardcore PTSD even after joining the Kyurangers but nope! Lucky punching him the face...or snout is all it takes. It’s sad because there’s a lot of potential there and storytelling. Like I’m sure he had a family. A mother, father, siblings. Even remembering a friend would have been better, but we get nothing! It’s like the writers at times forgot all about it! Raptor is an android built by the Resistance to serve the Orion and Commander Shou Ronpo. She writes fanfics, is really smart, and hits the commander a lot. She has one episode that’s fully dedicated to her and that’s when she get’s her Kyuranger powers, but nothing really in-depth after that. It’s funny, we know how Champ is built and who built him, but not with Raptor. We’re told who developed her but are never shown how. And now we get to the lest developed main character in the show. Spada.  He’s a chef and makes food puns. That’s his whole character. If you think the other three's development was bad, Hoooo boy... Raptor didn’t get much development, but at least her role is important what with piloting the Orion and keeping Shou Ronpo in line. Spada acts more like the Kyurangers personal servant. Heck, Tsurgi (Houhou Soldier) even makes him his servant at one point.  We get like a couple of lines of dialog about his past in one of the early episodes. He grew up on some planet or moon (never specified) in the Kajiki system and has cooked since he was little for his siblings. And then it’s never mentioned again! It sucks too because he had potential to grow into an interesting character. All four of them do, but they’re never given the proper development to do so.  I know I harped on a lot of the negatives, and while they are pretty glaring, they didn’t stop me too much from enjoying this series.  There’s a lot here to love here and if you love space opera’s and sentai, there’s no better show to watch then this! Hope you enjoyed my review! I’ve never done a long review like this before so if there are any suggestions you have for me, I’m totally open to them!  Next up is another Sentai!  This time, I’m going all the way back to the mid 90′s to watch “ Ninja Sentai Kakuranger!” 

[pinayillustrada]

Things I Love About Collar X Malice

The busy summer is over, and so are all my runs of Collar X Malice. I finished it yesterday. A few people have reviewed the game already and I don’t have that much time to write a full review (blame my dissertation and two RA jobs), so to keep this short, I’ll just list my favorite parts of this game, and the various ways this game could possible improve (or things that otome game writers can take note of if ever they are reading this).

Let’s start with the things I love:

1. Ichika

I did mention my preference for independent otome game heroines, with Code: Realize’s Cardia and Princess Arthur’s Alu, being some of my favorites despite some problems. Ichika too is not perfect.

She’s not exactly the most badass (but she’s an excellent shot though), or the most intelligent, but she is a girl who makes the most of the situation. While it is true that there are certain routes where she gets saved (a number of times in Okazaki’s route), she also does a fair amount of the saving.

She has a family and a life of her own. In the game, one does see her do normal stuff—cooking, her dayjob as a rookie cop, and has occasional spats with her tsundere brother.

Unlike many other otome game heroines, she is not too shy about being the first to admit her feelings to the guys she like. In most of the routes, she is the one who confesses first.

Above all, the story hinges on her unwavering conviction that she can uphold justice without causing malice or sorrow.

She’s a very unique otoge heroine and I wish there were more like her.

2. Datable characters are not easily reduceable to types

Sure, there is the recognizable tsundere in Sasazuka, but not everyone is can be summed up via a type. Mineo, for example, is also slightly tsundere and baka, but there is more to him than his love for history and theatrics. It’s the same with slightly yandere Shiraishi, but Shiraishi is not exactly the possessive yandere, as he actually does encourage Ichika to spend some time with her girlfriends. They all have interesting backstories that challenge one’s idea of “type” casting characters in the first place.

3. The ethics of the game are on the gray side

As one plays the game, one may find oneself sympathizing with the villains. That, I think, is the point of the game, because the villains themselves also suffer injustice. It makes one ask interesting questions: how does one deal with injustice?

4. Getting bad endings are not too bad

There are a lot of bad endings in this game, but one may find that getting a bad ending can clue one in to other plots of the game. In many ways, getting bad endings can also function as hints on future narrative choices. Getting bad endings too is can be a way of piecing together a larger narrative, that involves multiple characters with their own subplots.

5. It makes you question the nature of a “good” ending

*Spoilers in Shiraishi’s route*

A lot of people have noted how bittersweet the “good” ending of Shiraishi’s route is. But it can lead one to ask though: is a good ending about the heroine being happy with the guy she falls for, or is it about serving justice to its characters? This game definitely thinks it is the latter. And I agree.

True, Shiraishi and Ichika have to part in that ending, but it does prove that Shiraishi has truly moved beyond being just a pawn of Adonis, and has learned Ichika’s form of justice. Compare that to the tragic ending where they remain happy together, but Ichika is not aware of who Shiraishi really is because she loses her memory. So while the “good” ending does have a bitter aftertaste with not a lot of closure, it is the better ending of the two.

*End spoilers*

6. The yandere route leaves some room for the heroine to be badass

*Spoilers in Shiraishi’s route*

Yes, Shiraishi is the yandere. But unlike in other yandere routes, where the heroine has to comply to the other character’s yandere-ness (ie. MC with Jumin in Mystic Messenger or Toma in Amnesia), it is the opposite here. Ichika sees the signs of yandereness, and does what a reasonable heroine should do: GTFO. And other times when Shiraishi turns yandere, she snaps him right out it. The story makes it super clear that it is Ichika who really saves the day, even if she loses her memory at the end of it.

I usually hate yandere routes, but this is one is not bad.

*End spoilers*

7. It passes the Bechdel test

Okay, it barely passed it, but at least it did! Apart from Ichika, there are three other female police officers in the game Eriko and Kotoho. Sure, they are part of the Shiraishi Bashing Coalition, whose sole purpose it to shit talk about Shiraishi, but they sometimes talk about other things. After all, they do have cases to solve, and lunches to eat. Kotoho especially loves meat.

In addition to those, Ichika also discusses some other matters with other female suspects. Those contributed too.

8. Characters sleep together and are not too ashamed about it

Yes, Ichika does end up in bed with some characters, but the game does not cast her off as a slut. She is still very lovable as she is.

9. Getting the villain route does not involve the heroine getting into a creepy relationship

Yes, in a way, the villain has a route. And one gets to see the villian’s side of the story. But at least Ichika does not have to date said character in order to get that side of the story (ie. Sweet Fuse as much as I also love that game)

10. Your perfect husbando can do feminine things.

This game pretty much casts Yanagi as the almost-perfect husband type. While he used to be a delinquent and has his own dark backstory, you also see him do feminine things like cooking and cleaning. While everyone literally calls Yanagi the Dad of the group, in many ways, he is also their mom.

But of course, Collar x Malice is by no means perfect. Here are some ways the game can improve:

1. Ichika still does a fair bit of emotional labor

Emotional labor is the job of managing people’s feelings. It is highly gendered because women are often the ones expected to do this job. While Ichika is definitely a wonderful heroine, key parts of the game is still about her managing mens’ feelings. Sometimes, I think a heroine should not be made to deal with too much BS in order to be a wonderful.

Moreover, In many of the routes,there seems to be a lot of focus on Ichika’s domestic abilities in the form of her cooking and cleaning skills. While it is not wrong for a heroine to have these and be feminine, writers have to keep in mind that historically, women have been told again and again that they have to excel in these things too in addition to the other jobs that they do.

2. Trigger mode allows one to feel a bit badass for a few seconds, but they are super limited.

Trigger mode is a timed-mechanic, wherein Ichika has to shoot at the right time. They are found in key parts of the plot, but they are very limited. Usually once per route. While it is true that it drives the point that Ichika only uses her gun in times where it is really necessary, surely the game can think of other ways where Ichika can be proactive and a bit more badass than just that and narrative choices. Also, trigger mode preselects your target for the player. It would actually be interesting if one actually gets to decide who the target is.

3. Investigate mode does allow one to interact with some objects, but this is also limited.

One could get great deal of story via environments, case in point being Bloodbourne. I am not saying that an otome game has to be Bloodbourne, but more objects to interact with can allow for better world and character building

4. Map is also limited

There are moments where one can select areas in the police station to go to, but the problem here is that it only allows you to select where one is supposed to go to. Other places are locked. It would be nice to be able to explore other places other ones where one is supposed to go to. Being able to explore the station at least would have given the police station a sense of place.

5. All the characters are straight

There are many other genders and sexualities out there. There’s a problem if all the characters are all deemed to be cis-characters.

6. Stereotypical representation of gamers

One route features a gamer as a villain. Sure, otome games are not really that great with representations of gamers from Yoosung in Mystic Messenger to the MMO players of Period Cube. But it does not help if most gamers in otome games are addicts.

With that, I would say that this could easily be one of the best otome games of the year. That is, if Bad Apple Wars does not upstage it on October.