#what I think would complete his arc in a satisfying way and build on the things that happened to him in canon

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

🔥unpopular charles opinion

The thing is, it’s not an opinion, really. The question isn’t meant to be a complaint or a rebuttal or anything. I just genuinely don’t get it! The question goes something like this.

So Charles/Klinger seems to be the one actively disliked ship in the fandom, discounting the h*nn*hawk vs p*erc*ntyre gang war and that one rabidly anti-hawnk person (lol). Most nobody has any love for the ship, because it’s stupid and OOC, of course, but mostly because it’s egregiously obviously racist and gross, which is the critique that seems most common, and to be of most importance to people.

And to be clear, for the purposes of this post I am wholly agreeing with all that! It’s distasteful and immoral and people who are into it are insane, including me. I’m not arguing against this line of thinking, I just wanted to look at its inner logic. Because when I first heard people saying this, I thought, “Yeah, makes sense, Charles is truthfully a terrible person with abhorrent opinions. Nobody watching this already unfortunately bigotry-riddled show is obligated to try and look past that! It is Always valid to hate Charles’ guts.”

But it turns out most of the fandom (I assume it must be most, given how shockingly few people here have blocked me) actually don’t hate Charles, in general. It’s the specific ship, not the character, that’s distasteful. (Not to say any Charles ship is anything resembling popular, but like with most ships, that’s just a result of the general population’s Hawkeye BJ Laser Focus Gaze. I’ve never seen anybody actively dislike these ships when they’re brought up.) And the more I think about it, the more I wonder why, because well. to put it bluntly. It’s not like someone stops being racist when they’re not actively interacting with a nonwhite person.

You know what I mean? I feel like Charles’ bigotry would be a turn off for all of our generally morally sound protagonists, not just one who happens to be personally affected by it. But it only becomes an issue when it involves Klinger. I’ve heard people say that any Charles/Klinger ship fic would obviously have to go out of its way to address Charles’ racism, but I’ve read a few Charles/Hawkeye and Charles/Donna (and Charles / other strange and varied choices too, because of course I have) fics–really, REALLY good fics, that captured the characters very nicely and are very beautifully written–and I’ve yet to find one that discusses The Bigotry In The Room with any degree of seriousness.

(Pssst this is everyone’s chance to absolutely dunk on me by sending me fics that do this if there actually are a bunch and I’ve just never read them because I would in fact LOVE to read some fics with that topic regardless of ship!)

And to be clear, that’s fine with me! I truly do not care. When I read Charles running away to Maine or romancing Ms. Parker and I don’t see his love interests stop to ask “Hey, um, so any updates on the fact that you and your whole family are eugenicists?”, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest, because I just assume that Charles has already gone through the cult deprogramming step of his character development at some point prior to this, and either the love interest in question has already confirmed this off-page, or they are making the same assumption I am. After all, at least in Hawkeye’s case, the mere act of admitting romantic interest in a Democrat from the back of beyond would necessarily imply a shift in values, right?

(Admittedly, for all we canonically know Donna could be a fashy scumlord herself, so this reasoning doesn’t wholly apply there, but it obviously does to her fanon background/personality.) (Which is adorable, by the way. Everyone go check out the collective oeuvre of AO3 user onekisstotakewithme.)

So that’s all cool! It’s just that the same thing applies for me when it comes to Charles/Klinger. If anything, it applies even more, because you can have a fic where Charles’ whole family attend his and Donna’s 2nd wedding (Everyone go check out the collective oeuvre of AO3 user onekisstotakewithme!!!) but if Charles gets with Maxwell in any capacity, his father is at the very LEAST never going to speak to him again, ever. And personally I think that is SO fun and sexy, because Charles’ father is a white supremacist and I want him to die painfully forever and ever amen. <3

I got sidetracked a few times here and I just realized I never actually asked the question, which is, TL;DR: If it’s immoral–or at least gross and nonsensical–to ship Charles/Klinger, because Charles is bigoted, shouldn’t the same also apply to shipping Charles with many other characters too, given that they should logically also have a problem with his bigotry?

For what it’s worth, I have a bit of a theory about the answer to this, all to do with the incompetent way Charles’ bigotry (and other characters’ reactions to it) are portrayed in canon and the deeper Doylist factors that I think forced the showrunners into writing it like that, but I wanted to stay strictly on the topic of fandom attitudes for now, because it may be niche and silly, but I find it interesting. And I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on it!

[hellofeanor]

I know some people are upset about this, but

Adar had a complete and narratively satisfactory character arc and here's why.

(I'm saying "narratively satisfactory" because it satisfies his purpose in the narrative even if we think he deserved better.)

The two main problems I had with Adar's arc throughout most of S2 were as follows: his decisions to release Halbrand and then rabidly charge into Eregion after Sauron make no sense, and his character was inconsistent with what was established in S1. I complained about both of these things at length with people who were willing to listen, and some people who just smiled and nodded. But certain things in ep 6 made me start to rethink, one line in episode 7 really stood out, and the events of ep 8 put everything into perspective. So let's explore.

In 6, we have the scene of Adar and Galadriel speaking about Sauron. The major theme here is that he worms his way inside people's minds, insidiously exerting his will over them. Both characters at this point acknowledge this as fact. And in light of this revelation, Adar's "decision" to free Halbrand starts to make a little more sense. All it took was that one interaction for Sauron to get back inside Adar's mind and start influencing him again. There's no reason for Adar to do any of what he does in S2 unless he's under Sauron's control. Galadriel even says it herself: this is what Sauron wants. But Adar's mind and judgment are too clouded to see.

In 7, there's one critical line. "You think it was only you who put yourself in my power?" It's Annatar speaking to Celebrimbor, but he might as well be speaking to anybody here. It's pretty telling that this line shows up in most of the character-specific teasers, including Adar's.

Which brings us to 8, where everything comes together. Adar has Nenya, which has been shown to have healing powers, and a lot of people theorized that this might lead to him reverting back to an elven form. Which is exactly what happened. But the ring didn't only heal him physically.

Previously, we've seen Galadriel gain clarity of mind through Nenya: she better understands Sauron's ploy, and her part in it, and how she fell right into his trap. The exact same thing happens with Adar. When we first see him, crouching next to a rock, hiding his face, he's not just hiding his elven transformation. He looks like he's genuinely crushed. Not by seeing himself as an elf, but from the sudden ring-given clarity and the realization that he's been used by Sauron all along. His motivation and personality do a complete 180 here, and this isn't a plot hole or a contrivance. It's meant to show that the ring healed his mind as well as his body, shaking off Sauron's influence, and he's suddenly, for the first time all season, back to where he was at the end of S1. He's himself again. The searing desire to kill Sauron is gone, and he just wants to return to Mordor and build a home for his children.

He may have taken the ring because he thought it would help him kill Sauron, but in the end, it just helps him come to his senses.

Unfortunately for him, his actions can't be undone, and by sending the uruk to war, he's put them, as Annatar says 'under my control'. The minute Annatar asks Glûg what his name is, and Glûg falters in killing him, it's over. Sauron has control of the uruk again. He's wormed his way in. How do we know this for sure?

Adar's children wouldn't have set up that elaborate ruse to assassinate him. If this were all their doing, they would have just stabbed him and been done with it. The foreshadowing all season hints that Glûg may disagree with Adar's orders, but probably would never have done anything about it without a strong push from Sauron. The scheme was all Sauron and Sauron's control. Sauron orchestrates Adar's death in the exact same way Adar killed Sauron in ep 1, specifically out of spite. Sauron even appears to watch Adar's final moments: he wants Adar to know.

Is it a shitty way to die? Yes.

Is it a shitty plot twist undeserved out of nowhere? No, because the entire season has been setting us up for this moment. Hell, even some pieces in S1 have been setting us up for this moment. Halbrand could have killed Adar way back when, but at some point must have decided that Adar was more useful alive for a while longer, and a more elaborate form of revenge was in order. Sauron gains control of Adar and uses him as a puppet warlord against the elves while at the same time setting Adar up for the ultimate betrayal at the hands of his own children once he's no longer useful.

I actually love this. It's a horrible way to go, and I'm sad to see the end of this character, but it's a complete arc for him and makes sense within the narrative. It doesn't feel cheap or undeserved or at all surprising to me. It's sad, but satisfying.

RIP Adar, you will be missed. But at least you died... uh... feeling betrayed by your own kind as a result of your own actions that you realized too late were orchestrated by the guy you hate most. And if that isn't top tier tragedy, I don't know what is.

[vanyzvat]

My... Kinda controversial takes on Alien Stage Round 7 (+ Some silly theories)

(I was disappointed ☹️ Don't get me wrong, the visual storytelling, and just visuals overall were gorgeous! The song was amazing as always, too. But it just... Didn't feel like a satisfying Round at all.)

(By the way if you are genuinely angered by my take, just block me, do not interact with me)

I'm not generally a fan of stories that build up an insanely intricate world, with insanely intricate character arcs, get your hopes up, get you attached to said characters and get you rooting for them, and then the story just... Never delivers??? There's no satisfying conclusion for the characters, they just?? Die?? Like... Really? 😐

Like... What's even gonna be next?

Hyuna is back on that stage, everything she has built was for nothing,

Mizi and her are probably going to be put against one another by force.

And what are they even supposed to do? Surrender and die? Of course not, they're going to fight, and I assume Hyuna is going to die (Which would be a completely pointless death, in my honest opinion), and then Mizi is gonna have to "carry on her legacy" or some bullcrap like that 💀

Or, Mizi dies (Which would also be another pointless death), and then Hyuna is put back on the show by force, and has to fight Luka. Which I honestly feel isn't that far fetched of a theory?

The fact that Till never gave a single flying fuck about Ivan, while he died trying to keep him alive, only to just become a bad memory to Till while he continues thinking of Mizi who he has idolized to hell and back, never once getting to realize just how much she has changed since the last time he saw her.

Till died delusional. He never got to meet the real Mizi, he never got to see how this place has truly affected her. And Mizi, on the other hand, saw Till die, never once learning just how deep his borderline obsession with her was.

Alien Stage is brilliant, but seeing the direction it has taken with the latest round, it no longer feels fit for me personally.

I would've preferred an alternative ending, in which Till is able to turn things around at the sight of Mizi, and instead, Luka gets to be the one who's afraid.

I feel that would've been more satisfying than just having Luka win because... Idk because Till just had to die I guess lmaooo??

This might just be me being pessimistic, but I can't really,,, think of a way for this series to wrap up in a way that's satisfying and not just sad for the sake of being sad? Unless they truly somehow bring Till (And maybe Ivan) back like some people have been theorizing, which... I honestly doubt will happen.

The idea that Till was heavily drugged during Round 6-7, and that he was actually just being used as a pawn to bring out the rebels during Round 7, with said alleged drugs being what will somehow keep him alive does sound cool in theory, but I feel that's just the Fandom being optimistic like with the "Ivan is alive" theories.

I feel Hyuna will be forced to have the long lost ROUND 4 with Luka, after having to battle Mizi.

I truly, truly hope that you are all by some miracle right about Till (And maybe Ivan, but I genuinely doubt it) being alive, and that somehow, Alien Stage will manage to subvert my expectations.

Hopefully, when the series concludes I'll be able to look back on this and laugh due to how wrong I was, and I'll say that Alien Stage is truly peak

[chevaliersnumberoneguy]

I just finished Ward and was inspired by a friend to make a review about it here so uh here is my semi-non formal review of Ward.

So to provide a bit of context I became a Parahumans fan back in 2019 and read alongside it with a veteran Worm fan and it easily became one of my favorite pieces of fiction. After a decent break I began reading Ward on and off again for a little bit (not because of the quality I’m just weird when I dedicate time for reading) and after about 3 years of reading it over work breaks and doing a last hail mary sprint for the final couple arcs I feel as though Ward is an amazing follow up to Worm. I know that may be a hot take since I have heard from a friend that general sentiment on Ward isn’t all that positive, but I found myself enjoying it quite a lot.

Wildbow in my eyes managed to expand upon a lot of things I like about Worm and answered a lot of questions I didn’t think would be answered.

Let’s start with a big thing first. I think overall Victoria was a fantastic pick for the protagonist to follow along for this adventure. Not just because she is overall very well written, but out of all the existing characters Wildbow could’ve picked, Vicky was probably the best one for orchestrating the main message of overcoming trauma and learning to love yourself in Ward. It was very fun and satisfying the overall arc she had in Ward.

Breakthrough as a whole was also full of extremely well written characters with all of them enamouring me with their backstories and character arcs in their own way. I didn’t come to think Chris of all people would become such an interesting “minor” antagonist until the Simurgh reveal.

Overall Wildbow has has gone forth and continued to have shown his great ability to present mysteries or seemingly random moments/information and manage to paint it in a completely different light with a massive reveal later on in the story. Chris is a pretty big example of this with all of his behaviors and relationship to his tinker power being weird at best to making a lot of it make sense in retrospect with the reveal that he was more or less created by the Simurgh to help her out in her grand plan. Another example of this is all of the hype and build up to the reveal of Shardspace and the Cracking as a whole.

Now I’m willing to admit it isn’t perfect with all of the Wildbow moments and pacing at certain parts of the story, but I can really appreciate it for what it is at the end.

The parts that got me loving it the most is the expansion of powers as a whole. I’ve always been a nut for eldritch content and Ward managed to satisfy me with that in dividends when it showed us Shardspace, the Titans, the Agents, the conclusion of Entity cycles and actually giving us a full description for the Entities appearance as well. 

All of the cluster stuff was thoroughly enjoyable as well. I loved every second of Rain and his story that was in the spotlight. Easily provided some of my favorite arcs in all of Ward. It was just so fun to watch him develop as a person as well as watch the dynamic he has with his cluster. Cradle in my opinion stole the show being the antagonist of the group. Everything he did was appalling and I loved it. Whether it was him chopping up people with whips or manipulating people in the dream room it was all great to watch play out.

Also god all of the Titan stuff was amazing as well. From the early preview of it from Dauntless becoming one, to all of the build up to this massive event in the Teacher arcs and finally the beginning of the end when Fume Hood second triggered and started the Cracking off as a whole it was all amazing. Then we get into all of the fun combat with the Titans just showing off how formidable of a threat they are, the reveal that if they win everything is over and that this event may never be over, to all of the exploration of Shardspace it was all so well done and great to watch play out.

Another thing I loved was the Teacher stuff as well. I always knew he was going to play a massive part in Ward ever since his epilouge arc in Worm and boy I wasn’t disappointed (mostly). From the disinformation campaign to the assault on his complex it was all fantastic. The arc as a whole did a great job at planting seeds for what would happen in the future. My only real disappointment about him is how he really didn’t play much of a part during all the Titan stuff, but eh it’s whatever.

I thought the ending as a whole was a satisfying conclusion to the story and tied up a good amount of loose ends while still clearly leaving the door at least ajar for Parahumans 3.

Overall, while not perfect I think Ward as a whole was an amazing follow up to Worm and I look forward to reading Wildbow’s other works.

Anyways thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

[helga-grinduil]

As a Deku fan who was looking forward to Deku vs Shigaraki, I completely relate to the absolute contempt and honest to god betrayal you hold towards the manga right now. I too have been doomtweeting, albeit on my private twitter account.

The most frustrating thing about how Deku vs Shigaraki ended was that horikoshi made it seem like chapter 418 was building up to something bigger, meatier, and ideologically compelling, with Shigaraki reiterating his resolve to be a hero for the villains and Deku’s heroic ideals being put to the test (and Horikoshi finally showing readers why he withheld Deku’s perspective for 100+ chapters) …….and then AFO showed up again and somehow we ended up with the shitshow that were chapters 419-423.

Deku’s aspiration of the kind of hero he wants to be after entering UA was made explicit in the Gentle Arc (“I want to be a person who can show a bright future to the people who have suffered!”) and I’m shocked and appalled that Horikoshi didn’t go down the route where Deku comes to the realisation that he and Shigaraki may actually want the same thing while fighting post-418. For Deku be the greatest hero on his own terms, I think victory has to come not when he physically defeats Shigaraki, or even when he saves Tenko in the shared AFOFA vestige world, but when he extends his hand and finds the common feelings that connects and unites them. It would have been a much more satisfying resolution to Horikoshi’s “battle of the egos”, to Deku and Shigaraki as foils, and what Kudou said about Deku in chapter 412, about his heroism being rooted in wanting to believe that deep down, everyone is human/has a heart.

Maybe it was never about saving to win, and winning to save, but about genuine understanding, connection, and bringing hope. Under that framework, saving and destroying might very well be two sides of the same coin. So much missed potential for an endgame and dynamic that could have been great.

You probably expect a long eloquent response, and you honestly deserve one, but I'm so mentally exhausted by all of this right now that I can't bring myself to answer properly. But I fully fucking agree. Subscribe to every word.

Them both wanting to be heroes was supposed to be a parallel that brings them closer to understanding each other and unites them, that helps Deku to talk Tomura down from his destructive path and consider that he *can* create and not just destroy, that there is a different way he can become a hero to his friends. Something that helps him recognise Tenko and his kind heroic heart in Tomura too.

Instead, it became an obstacle that cut off Tomura's path to being saved and that Deku doesn't fully understand, meaning he didn't understand Tomura at all either, which is utter bullshit.

[bonefall]

who is a character that you love in BB (for better or for worse lol) that you haven’t talked much about yet?

These kinds of questions can be difficult because my brain will just forget completely the minute I'm asked. Who am I. What's warriors cat

BUT it's probably some of the little random background guys who have interesting stories I haven't gotten into yet. I've actually been thinking about WindClan a lot.

Galerunner is one of them. Galerunner and Smokehaze are now the kittens of Brushblaze and Whitetail-- both exes of Onestar. They're born near the start of AVoS, and are pretty young when their dad dies collapsing a tunnel to save a ton of Kin escapees.

Smokehaze dies like she does in-canon, to the Impostor, but Galerunner is going to be present to the modern arc. He's Heathertail's little half-brother, in an odd way. Whitetail wasn't involved in raising Heathertail, but openly offered to Onestar that she would if he wanted.

So Heathertail's relationship to Galerunner is closer than her relationship with their mother, bringing them ALL together, and it's just really sweet. She tells him a lot of stories of Brushblaze (who was a really good friend of hers!) and eventually becomes his mentor.

Gale's a cheeky bastard, too. Very smug, self-assured. He thinks he's a cool guy but he just looks like a goober.

There's also Gorsetail, the mother of Thistleheart and Sedgewhisker. She has a lot going on but I haven't figured her out entirely yet.

First of all, she's Crowfeather's childhood best friend. They had a massive falling out over some dumb shit neither one of them even remembers, and drifted apart as young adults. If they ever remembered what it was, they would feel bitter that THIS is why they stopped talking-- but before a certain point, would just blame each other for not making the first move to reconnect.

She fell head over heels for Beechfur on the Great Journey, but he was waaay better at hiding his forbidden love than his sister Swallowtail. He saw it more as a fun fling. When she got pregnant in Po3, he ghosted her immediately. Gorsetail held out hope he was just busy for months-- even naming one kit "Marsh Thistle" as a secret reference to RiverClan.

In terms of personality, I know she was vaguely fun-loving as a kid and probably still has that goofy streak if you can get her to relax. There's probably a bit of a bitterness inside her, and she's not satisfied with her life. She never got to have a happy mateship, she lost one kid, not really powerful or significant. I think she gets more adventurous the older she gets, looking to make some sort of change in her life.

Her and Crowfeather reconnect, once they're older and a bit more self-aware. Passing each other a heatherhoney lozenge like it's a smoke break and commiserating in how wrinkly they are now.

WindClan's full of some interesting dudes now in my effort to distribute more personality outside of ThunderClan. Stoneclaw and her traumatic muteness, Willowclaw the ferocious and her love of kibble, Cranberrysplash the ex-street urchin whose old name was Spaghetti Bolognaise. Leaftail and his onesided rivalry with Hallowflight of RiverClan.

Shame they neglected WindClan so badly and there's so few warriors there with established personalities, but hey. Opportunity for me to build cool stuff.

[eternal-sacrifice]

Been thinking about winners.... Then I thought too hard... Here's my thoughts on.. all of them,,,,

• IF bdubs won next season: he has earned it. It would be great seeing as last season was a 3rd life throwback and sort of a redemption, if the next season was his most difficult we could go full heros journey with this bitch and the win would be incredibly satisfying.

9/10 didn't realize I wanted him to win but, I'm rooting for him now! Convinced me

• If bigB won next season: please let him win. I need him to win. He hasn't gotten a single ounce of attention from the fandom in any of his 4 amazing story arcs, and maybe just maybe they would care about him if he won. With new members joining he could have a fresh start (again), maybe with a win he could pull ahead all on his own, just like he started 2 years ago.

1000/10 I NEEED IT

• if Cleo won next season: hggfhhfjg. Hfhfhgfgg... Divorce quartet real... The animations... The fanart..... It would be so cool. I don't think Cleos character has much motivation to win atm, but if she was forced into a position where she needed to take the win it could be a very refreshing twist on the story.

7/10 we love to see a king winning

• if etho won next season: hey sorry ethogirls I don't know him well enough- all I know is that the fans would become crazy and I'd become an ethogirl. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk

• if gem won next season: okay, gem win would be awesome, yeah. Doesn't matter if everyone loves her, doesn't matter if everyone hates her, I just need her to be the main character, be confused, be crazy, die. It would hurt her character so deeply and would be genuinely amazing for her lore.

8/10 this would be sick

• if grian won next season: let's try that again baby! He might have won the first time with kindness, trust, loyalty and true friendship- but it can't be like that anymore can it. Everyone's left him, everyone's moved on, his life is falling apart, and for once he's barely stopping it. He's just trying to understand what's going on. He ends up in a similar situation to s1, and can't take it- he snaps, kills the other players, and wins once more, making everyone go crazy and the fandom die from shock immediately.

4/10 hmmmm

• if impulse won next season: HES BEEN SOOOOOO CLOSE FOR THE PAST 4 SEASONS. GIVE IT TO HIM PLEASE. only if he weasels his way in though, I love it when he's a lying little cheat and a freaky lil traitor. He needs everyone in his life to leave him or trust him completely and I will die on that hill.

7/10 hehehehe impman

• if Jimmy won next season: ughhhhhhh. Okay. So. Canary boy. He has never experienced pain before in his entire life. For those reasons 1. I'd love for him to win so he can finally understand the series he's in 2. I'd hate for him to win because nooo he broke the curse :((

Canary/10

• if Joel won next season: SBDBDJSKXBJDBXKSDBJDHSHAHDH THAT WOULD BE SO GOOOOOOOD WAIT WAIT WAIT I HADN'T EVEN CONSIDERED- so he's been alone the past 4 seasons, yeah. Even during double life with his loving husband, he knew he would end up alone again in the end, so it was all for nothing in his eyes. He gave his full trust and loyalty to his boys, something he's not used to, and if next season he's alone again- he can't take it. He goes about it smarter then last life, though- he keeps to himself, makes himself stronger the whole season, builds companionship with people (they're not used to him being so friendly), and wins with a last minute betrayal or simply being the last man standing. He would barely expect it, but it would heal his character so much, and also break him.

9/10 WOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!you better do this right asshole. Just kidding however he wins will be perfect

• if Lizzie won next season: similar to gem, but with more spite, and more guarenteed loneliness. It would be- really hard for her to take another season. All of her allyships would be strained, and I can totally see her joining or even commanding another big group, but she'd be alone in reality. A win for her would be cruel.

5/10 queen please

• if martyn won next season: illegal

• If mumbo won next season: I'd go crazy. Mumbos got so many satisfying ways to take his character, and the FANART and god lhbevfuebejrkje. Hes only been there once. He never learned how to play the game. If he won this time- hendndjdjbthekdndkelkebek 500/10 I need it

• if pearl won next season: as much as I would love for her to win again, 1. Too soon, she hasn't recovered from the first one please 2. The fandom would hate her for it 3. She already got what she needed from her first win. It'd be unnecessary for her character arc. It's very unlikely anyways, I'm sure if she got in that situation again, which might happen, she'd give it to whoever else is there.

3/10 I'm sorry goddess

• if Ren won next season: PLEASEEEEEE BE KIND TO HIMMMMMM honestly I think they would just give him the win. He's gonna get in a nice group, they're gonna have loyalty to him and he's gonna have loyalty to them, and wherever it goes he's gonna end up in the endgame again. Everyone there will understand that he deserves that win. If they don't martyn will kill em all into understanding lol. Maybe we could get a desert duo "you can kill me" moment but martyn refuses and kills himself. That would be so cool of him actually

7/10 my doggo deserves love but not like this

• if scar won next season: :3c

He need to okay. He needs to. I don't care how it happens I don't care when it happens I just need him to murder grian and get the win. I need him to understand that HE DESERVES TO WIN. he's gone through so much and he still doesn't understand his self worth, but if he kills that stupid bitch and calls upon old allies to help him get to the end- it could be so lovely oh my god

10/10 my brother in Christ

• if Scott won next season: this would kill him he would leave

0/0 I'm scared

• if skizz won next season: okay his story thus far wasn't amazing, oh wait it was. ACTUALLY HIS LIMITED LIFE WAS THE ONLY GOOD LIMITED STORY(completely untrue but listen IT WAS FULL, THERE WAS A WHOLE CHARACTER ARC even if it was good person to better person, HE IS SO TALENTED AND CHARISMATIC IF HE TEAMED UP WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE NEXT SEASON I COULD TOTALLY SEE IT BEING AMAZING. HE DESERVES IT. AND HIS WIN WOULD BE AWESOME.

9/10 he's pretty give me a break

• if tango wins next season: okay while all of his seasons other then last life have been boring it could be fun. I mean okay, double life wasn't boring. And I can't say anything about 3rd life. Sure, jeez, he can win. Just need him to get mad and kill some guys first ^_^

5/10 go for it guy

Sorry I advance to everyone I angered deeply with this post, I don't know all the characters perfectly. I can't wait to see this age like fine wine with the next season, honestly whoever wins I'll be crazy about no matter what. I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts on this!

[i-heart-hxh]

hai i was wondering if u have an analysis on what happened between greed island arc and chimera ant arc. so basically greed island arc was all abt killua and gon and them reaffirming their friendship and making their bond stronger. they were also (especially gon) being affectionate with eachother. we saw their friendship grow even more during that arc. so then why did togashi just junked that growth with chimera ant arc? like right after their beautiful friendship growth, chimera ant arc comes in and completely ruins it. killua started having doubts, uncertainties, and questions abt his friendship with gon and his worth next to him. and then gon being closed off and not being open with killua anymore, rejecting his help even tho he always accepted it especially during greed island arc, and lost his affectionate personality against killua. tho im not rlly smart on these so i decided to ask if u have an analysis on this (^^; also, im not hating on togashi, ik he has his reasons and his way of writing. im just confused if theres a hidden meaning behind that sudden clash between gon and killua.

Hello!

There are a few different aspects of this I'd like to discuss, I hope they'll help clarify for you why Gon and Killua's friendship took the turn it did!

So, first off, I strongly believe Togashi had Chimera Ant Arc (or something similar to it) in mind when he began the series and established the characters. If you go through the series again after having experienced CAA, there is a ton of build up and foreshadowing of what happened--from Gon's issues with guilt and self-esteem and feeling he has to prove himself by being strong, to different characters' reactions to his unusual ways of viewing the world/moral compass and even wondering if he's a "monster."

There are a few different points at which Gon and Killua's relationship is hinted to be heading in an unhealthy direction. When Gon tells Killua in Yorknew that it's okay if he (Gon) dies, but it's not okay if Killua dies, and that Killua needs to act as a brake for him. The dodgeball match shows Gon and Killua's trust in each other, but also reveals a darker side to their relationship wherein Killua self-sacrifices for Gon while Gon forges ahead, even knowing Killua is being hurt. (This scene is complex and certainly not entirely negative, but it definitely raises some red flags.)

Gon ignoring the plan they had and getting his arm blown off in Greed Island in order to be more personally satisfied with his fight against Genthru is another clear indication that something is not right with Gon. And in general with Killua, we see him struggling throughout the series with expressing to Gon how he actually feels, which ends up contributing to what happens between them.

Togashi was building up these fault lines between them throughout the series, knowing that eventually they'd be thrown into a situation where they'd be in above their heads and things would blow up between them. So, rather than thinking of it as, "Togashi built up this beautiful relationship and then ruined it," it's more like, "Togashi built up this beautiful relationship with full awareness that things were eventually going to get painful and complicated between them."

Hunter x Hunter exists in contrast with most other shounen series. If you watch much shounen you get to know the tropes and expectations--some of which include the power of friendship being able to overcome all obstacles, teens being participants in violent wars/battles without much long-lasting effect on their mental health, and sudden power ups to beat the odds in the middle of battles. Chimera Ant Arc takes all those expectations viewers have about a shounen series (and far more) and intentionally twists them--Gon majorly spirals when someone he admired dies and he's not emotionally prepared to cope with the grief and guilt surrounding this; when Gon has his huge power up to defeat an enemy he normally wouldn't be able to it's horrifying, brutal, and comes at a terrible cost; and Killua is unable to step in and save the day before major damage is done, no matter how strong their friendship is.

By twisting the readers' expectations, Togashi adds a lot of emotional weight and depth to the series that it wouldn't have otherwise. This includes the difficult turn that Gon and Killua's relationship goes in, which reminds us that the two of them are just kids in the midst of something terrible and traumatic, that both have come into their friendship with their own issues from their upbringings, and it makes the series far more emotionally realistic and hard-hitting than it would have been otherwise. It's also a logical growth for their relationship, based off some of the concerning hints we've seen earlier.

As for why exactly their relationship became complicated, the short version is that Gon struggles to cope with the grief of losing Kite, and pushes Killua away out of a feeling of needing to "take care of it himself," particularly because he feels incredibly guilty for what happened to Kite and thinks it happened because of his own weakness. He doesn't want to involve Killua out of a sense of it being his own problem and, in a way, to protect Killua, because Gon won't hesitate to throw his life away to assuage his own guilt.

Meanwhile, Killua also has his own guilt over what happened to Kite (remember, he was the one who decided to flee from Pitou and take Gon with him) and how that ends up affecting Gon. I think he understands that Kite is likely dead all along, but he can't bring himself to express this to Gon out of fear of how Gon would react and the ways this might affect their friendship. Killua ends up deeply impacted by Gon wanting to do this fight alone, and also by Gon's "relationship" with Palm, which both make him wonder if Gon sees him in the same way he sees Gon. Instead of talking with Gon about the possibility Kite is too far gone to save, and clarifying how Gon feels about him, Killua quietly decides he might die alongside Gon, worst case scenario, and that he needs to leave Gon ultimately in order to protect him.

I've said it before, but I do have a lot of hope that Gon and Killua will reunite, reconcile, and heal their friendship in time. I believe Togashi intends to give them a chance to reflect and heal over what happened while he goes back into Kurapika's story (plus the other billion characters in the current arc), and Gon and Killua will be brought back into the series when it's their time to shine again.

I hope this helps you understand a bit better why things ended up the way they did. Feel free to let me know if you're still uncertain about anything!

[oddnub-eye]

Throwing my hat into the Dawntrail review ring now that I've had the time to sit on it.

Pacing is definitely Dawntrail's weakest point, but I think an...underrated feels like a weird word to use here, but its all I got, so underrated "weak point" of the expansion is that a lot of it feels like a lot of the set pieces can fall victim to a bit of player dissonance.

Like, the biggest victim of this is Valigarmanda, who gets a ton of hype in the build up to his trial, but as you settle in for the fight, they start hyping it because its a big bird that controls the weather and -

Oh hey final boss of 3 expansion ago, what are you doing here?

Its not totally unexpected from an expansion meant to set up a new story arc, but it feels like a fair few of Dawntrail's set pieces suffer from the sequel problem of "Member of the old cast is way too strong to scale to a challenge that would reasonably be a satisfying challenge for the new cast"...except they can't write around that problem because the overpowered question in character is you, the player character.

Like, the scenes where Koana reminds Wuk Lamat that she hasn't surpassed her father yet because Valigarmanda hadn't fully recharged its aether or when Allisae talks about how dreadful fighting the shade of Gulool Ja Ja would have been if Koana's team hadn't helped just like

Don't land.

Not 5 levels ago in the Endwalker Patch Quests we had a scene dedicated to our allies hyping us up about how we've overcome every challenge possible, right before we smack around what amounts to a voidsent primal made from fusing a dragon and the remnants of fucking Zodiark's aether. In Endwalker proper, we outright kill Zodiark, fight the Endsinger into becoming Metion again, beat Zenos, etc etc. There's nothing in Dawntrail that makes me go "yeah, this is a reasonably high stakes situation for the Warrior of Light" until Sphene and Alexandria come in. And that wouldn't be a problem, but it also feels like the expansion wants us to feel the same level of triumph we get from actually overcoming the challenge like it did in previous expansions - and while its fun on a gameplay level, when it tries to give that same feeling on a story level, it all falls apart.

One of the best set pieces in the expansion is the duty where you play as Wuk Lamat to fight against Bakool Ja Ja. The Warrior of Light is removed from the situation, complete with dialouge options to be a bit cheeky about it:

(say hi to Klar everyone)

You can be encouraging or warning or just outright trollish. Its the same as back when Wuk Lamat was kidnapped and the Warrior of Light captured Bakool Ja Ja's attention so well they were able to set up Thancred and Koana up to do the actual important parts of the rescue.

These are both set pieces that write around the Warrior of Light extremely well while letting the new characters take the spotlight - Wuk Lamat's duty allowing her to affirm her growth and show off her resolve by defeating Bakool Ja Ja in a one on one, and Koana showing his care for his sister by being the one to actually catch her.

Ultimately - in spite of going on about it for 6ish paragraphs, this is a relatively minor nitpick. It's something I only really felt for a moment before getting swept into the excitement of the next story beat, and only really bugs me further on deeper reflection. But it does contribute to a feeling that I think is the root of a lot of people's issues with Dawntrail (that being that the Warrior of Light feels really awkwardly implemented).

Most of the set piece issues do utterly vanish once we hit solution nine, however. Zoraal Ja going full Vergil in particular absolutely fucking rules.

That being said, outside of the pacing (which has been talked about enough) and the hit-or-miss nature of the set pieces, Dawntrail is a very good expansion. In particular, I think Dawntrail really shines in its characters.

Wuk Lamat is a very fun character to follow (and she better be, given how central she is and how much circles back to her). Her character arc is less about needing to grow or evolve her ideals, and more about needing to refine them and understand what they actually mean. Its not a particularly dramatic transformation, but it is nevertheless fun character growth to watch.

Bakool Ja Ja is Bakool Ja Ja. What else is there more to say.

Koana went in a character direction I really wasn't expecting. While his ideals and vision is thoroughly proven false, the background with his abandonment provided a background to those ideals that I didn't expect going in, rather than him being set up as someone purely enamored with progress for progress' sake. Staking his anti-tradition viewpoint in his birth parent's abandoning of him also set up a fun contrast where he is able to make the decision his birth parents weren't: he's able to change his ideals to accommodate for the people who matter for him, his birth parents weren't.

Zoraal Ja is fucking goofy. And I love him for it. There's a lot to read into his character - and he probably would have benefited from like...an echo flashback or a few more levels to let him stretch his muscles, but ultimately his themes of expectation and how they crushed him do come through. It is also the case that he spends most of the expansion doing Metal Gear Villian monologs, gets really close to becoming a cyborg, and goes full Vergil complete with summoned swords. He may not have been the most cooked antagonist, but he had insane amounts of sauce about it.

Sphene. Sphene Sphene Sphene. Admittedly, I did not have the best first impression of Sphene. I streamed a lot of the back half of dawntrail to the homies and so a lot of Sphene's screentime was eaten up by us going "i don't trust her." and fossil fuel jokes. However...Sphene gets stronger the longer you have time to sit and think on her. Sphene's in-built purpose to preserve Alexandria at all costs was always going to clash with the base of "Queen Sphene" that she was built on - and one was always going to break. Its very reminiscent of the tragedy of Elidibus, who was so dedicated to his purpose that he, ironically, forgot what his initial motivation even was. Elidibus lost his reason, and Sphene ultimately resolved to cast aside "herself". Bringing the "meta" aspect of the inevitability of tragedy to the literal text of Sphene's story only makes the overall tragic nature of her story that much stronger, in my opinion. Ironically, that "criticism" of how untrustworthy Sphene seemed that I referenced earlier ends up being retroactively heartbreaking: you watch as Sphene builds up sympathetic scene after sympathetic scene with the knowledge that you'll probably confront her eventually, just like she does.

Her trial does, however, suck shit. Which is a little disappointing since most of the dungeons, duties, and trials absolutely knocked it out of the park in the gameplay department.

That's another thing that's really good about Dawntrail. The combat and design of most of the encounters felt really good. It was challenging without being frustrating (except for Sphene), and everything felt learnable without sacrificing challenge. It makes me really want to actually do the raids for this expansion right away instead of putting them off like I have the rest of them (although I probably should do Bahamut and Pandaemonium first for story reasons).

Solid story, extremely solid gameplay, with one moderate flaw I didn't even bother to talk about and one nitpick I blew up into 6ish paragraphs. All in all, I'd say that's a damn solid - no, damn good, expansion.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.212 thoughts

[Crowd Pleaser]

(Contents: criticism - pacing/cast utility, character analysis - Kururu, predictions - Kururu's character arc/Unchaste's development)

Just to get this out of the way, I completely understand why so many people are underwhelmed and even disappointed with this chapter. I definitely agree that it's not one of Tozuka's better chapters, but I don't think that this is an indication of Tozuka being disinterested in what he's writing or not knowing how to wrap up the arc

With how rushed it felt and UU's placement near the back of the magazine in the last few weeks, I think it's more likely that this was an editorial decision, that readers weren't really jiving with this plotline and were hoping for something more action-packed

Personally, I'm of the camp that feels what this arc was missing was a focus on Kururu, not a focus on action. I do personally greatly appreciate characterization for Kaede and Raita, but there was absolutely room to give Kururu more without sacrificing the two of them. In fact, this chapter, if it were split in two, could have had just enough time to do that in a way that I think most folks would have been satisfied

At it's core, two things happened in this chapter: Kaede vs. Kururu, and Raita's confession to Kaede. If this chapter had been focused entirely on the former, it would have given greater depth to the emotional stakes from their perspectives. We got a glimpse of this from page 1 with a flashback to when Kaede refused Kururu's offer to go pro with her (also I was right, the agency DIDN'T ask for Kaede, Kururu recommended her), so I think that instead of showing how the song was affecting Raita here, the bulk of this chapter could have been better served focusing on Kururu's mentality

If we got more flashbacks as to how Kururu got to this point, how she met Kaede, got scouted, felt abandoned, searched for what she was missing, culminating in how she met Soul, I think that would have gone a long way to fleshing out her character. The weight of Kururu's resolve to win her own way rather than relying on Soul or Unchaste would have been much greater if we knew the struggles that led to her holding such an ideal, and we'd be that much more invested in seeing her overcome Soul's influence and embody said ideal

From there, I think the chapter could either have ended with Kururu firing Unchaste at Raita, OR with Kaede's scattershot. Either of which would have created a solid cliffhanger, with the former building tension as to how the gang would react and resolve this crisis, and the latter raising the question of what significance this action holds. We'd know it means something, but we'd have a week to sit with it and ruminate on what it says about Kaede's character and how it would alter the outcome of the battle rather than having it explained immediately

Then of course the following chapter would be the aftermath, which would have more time to explain the events from Kaede and Raita's perspectives, followed by a few pages dedicated to their words resonating with Kururu and allowing her to reconcile what she's seeing with what she's been through. I have no doubt that Tozuka intends to do something like that next week (or at least I really hope he does...), but until I see the fruits of his plan, I definitely feel like I'm left wanting for one more scene of Kururu and Kaede talking out their differences and Kururu moving past the lie she believes

I am somewhat hesitant to lobby all of these criticisms at this chapter simply because of the possibility that it will get cleared up next week, but this is a weekly series, and the immediate response is just as important as the gestalt, at least for now, so I won't hold back just for that. My main point is that Tozuka has the chance to put all of this right, but if he just moves past it without hesitation, I will definitely be disappointed

The other major issue with this arc is how it highlights a lack of utility in its cast relative to previous arcs. The Under men getting dragged onto Kururu's team was not utilized during the performance at all, and the girls teaming up with Kaede was only tangentially touched upon when it could have been used as a way to get more insight into Kaede and Kururu's past. It isn't hard to see how Kaede giving some of her lines to Latla would mirror Kaede stepping aside to let Kururu go pro on her own, so that could have been a great opportunity to flashback to that moment or something else emblematic of their differences

Then there's Julia, who was silently given an Unchange barrier to keep Fuuko from triggering Unluck by bumping into Kaede, and she didn't even sing at all! I didn't even notice the thing about the barrier until I saw people talking about it on twitter! Splitting up the chapter would have given more opportunity to go over background details like that without needing to relegate it to an omake, and the extended cast could feel more involved rather than incidental. Aside from pointing out that Fuuko stopped fading, Julia didn't even get a line this entire chapter and exclusively made surprised faces. I know Tozuka is saving her for something bigger, but there has to be something more to do with her in the meantime!

Anyway, I really don't want to spend this entire review kvetching, I think that the fandom as a whole is kind of already doing that, so let me try to focus on some positives

As I said, the two most important things in this chapter are the competition between Kaede and Kururu and the love between Kaede and Raita, which are (understandably) portrayed simultaneously because Kururu's goal is to supplant Kaede in Raita's (and the audience's) eyes. While Kururu does in fact win the competition, Soul's plan ends up failing specifically because he has Kururu put her focus on Raita rather than the performance, something that Raita knows the woman he loves would never do

When Kaede rushes to Kururu after the show, she says "you're not acting like yourself." Kururu's behavior was not only incongruous to Raita, it was incongruous to Kaede. Just like Kururu could not trick Raita into seeing her as his lover, she can't trick Kaede into seeing her as her enemy. Ultimately, this means that the weakness of Unchaste, and by extension Kururu's weakness, is her inability to be genuine and show her true self to others. She cannot reap the rewards of being loved because she has yet to submit herself to the mortifying ordeal of being known, despite being a famous, public-facing idol

This furthers analysis from last week, that the thing Kururu is missing is the ability to make herself vulnerable and truly be seen for who she is. I would like to have gotten an understanding of what she thought she was missing before the battle ended, but I am glad that the results seem to be consistent with my interpretation thus far

Considering that Kururu is currently being kidnapped by the Union, I think it's fair to say that her character arc hasn't concluded yet and that she won't just accept that she's been recruited. Fuuko still needs to convince her that they're on the same side, and possibly free her from Soul's influence assuming that he has any left on her (and I bet he does), so we're definitely not too far past the point to be able to get that characterization, even if the Unchaste Arc has concluded (though I'm not quite sure it has just yet)

Fortunately, Fuuko is the perfect character to make a point about being genuine to Kururu. Not only is she Kaede's child, providing Kururu a way to project her insecurities and biases onto Fuuko, but Fuuko has made a deliberate point of presenting herself as she is to the rest of the Union in the past. When she went to recruit Void, she absolutely refused to present herself as anyone or anything other than herself as a way of taking responsibility for altering the natural course of their lives

Kururu, through the current Unchaste, is doing the exact opposite; where Fuuko refused to alter people's perceptions or memories, Kururu forces herself into their memories and makes them perceive her as someone precious to them. Fuuko has to earn people's attention, respect, and love by being herself, while Kururu steals those things by pretending to be someone else

The problem is that Kururu can't keep up the act. She relies on the victim's feelings to carry the load and keeps going as normal, not realizing that the inconsistencies between her presentation and the victim's expectations supersede her hypnotism. This is how someone like Andy would be able to overcome Unchaste, because unless Kururu can figure out how to perfectly replicate Fuuko's character, he'd notice the difference instantly

Lies have a way of piling up, and contradictions will eventually become too large to ignore, so honesty really is the best policy. I don't know for sure if that's the lesson that Fuuko will need to impart to Kururu next week, but I think there's a very good chance that it will play a part since they're so clearly diametrically opposed on that particular issue at the moment

This also provides two interesting avenues for how Kururu can level up Unchaste further:

She can become more irresistible by being herself and adding herself to her target's soul rather than replacing someone else within it

She can read her target's soul to understand what kind of person they love and use her talent for hiding her true self to replicate the target's love

Which way it goes will be dependent on what point Tozuka wants to make with Kururu's character, whether she's wrong to present herself as she does, or if she's wrong that she's missing something and that she should cultivate her talents rather than trying to fill a void that isn't even there to begin with

After this week's chapter, I really hope that I'm right and that Tozuka isn't done with Kururu yet, because I truly believe that this arc is still perfectly salvageable. Even if the arc is done and Kururu's character will need to be revisited during a different arc and not immediately next chapter, Tozuka has made it clear that he's capable of delaying character development and still making it compelling (i.e. the entire concept of L101, Feng's reappearance during the Language fight, etc.), so at worst, I would expect this arc to be saved retroactively

If anyone is worried that Tozuka is falling off or anything silly like that, I ask that you be patient and remember that he's rarely, if ever, let us down before. He's earned my trust several times over by now, so I at least will continue to have faith, even if things don't go the way I'd like them to

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[yellowbluemoonshine]

Bnha 391 and General Small Comment;

Ok so i didnt like a lot of things with bnha lately for most of the things, especially how story deal with its villains. Yeah, it is not over but until now, i dont think its good. Story focus on power more than it focus on actually adressing the flaws of society author build up at first place.

- Deku hasnt speak to Shigaraki yet but until this point, the way he dealt with villains, his interaction with them isnt good enough. like, you cant change things by keep saying everthing black and white or saying there is hope. I think story didnt give enough  character development for Izuku to come that point so at least, i hope, Shiggy will do something about it.

- Todoroki family plot bad. It was always bad because of how much story focus on Endeavour’s bad written redemption arc, he literally choose everyone over Touya since beginning until the end, i hate how he casually hugs him and speak over him when Touya was talking. Guy kinda feels guilty, yeah, but he express that ‘guilt’ in a very selfish way that it drives me nuts. Literally your typical abuser. I cant believe of all people, Endeavour has to be the one who close to him, not Rei, not his siblings but him...And with other family members too. I think some people already talked about this, that main problem with Todoroki family is that they keep blaming him for speaking up and once again, if this is the final arc for Todo family, Fuyumi and Natsuo’s speech sucks.

With Shouto, i think the problem is that bnha is a story about saving people’s hearth, not psychically defeating them and as readers, we should witness that change between Shouto and Dabi, that beginning point (like ‘your power’ scene for Shouto) didnt happen yet. And i wonder, do anyone remember um fake heroes plot? Endeavour’s bad hero career with how violently he attacks towards criminal from Twice’s speech chapter or how he almost killed Koichi in vigilantes? Dabi’s speech? What is the point of all of these things, if its not gonna be adressed properly, especially between Dabi and Shouto since they are villain and hero. I know its not over but until now, it was bad. To be honest, only thing i am satisfied with Todo family plot is Rei and Touya interaction. It looks like the only one its completed for final arc. Because she literally choose Touya over millions to save him, no justification, no victim blaming, no anger, just a worried mother, calling her son’s name and tells that she is sorry, and thats it. She doesnt make whole speech and self pity, unlike Bakugou and Endeavour. See the difference. And if author wasnt so obsessed with Endeavour’s nonexistent redemption arc, i am sure that we would get more of Rei. She did what she could do best for Touya as civillian, ordinary person. This part of story is fine but others? Bad.

- Allmight and others too. I dont want to talk about every detail because you know the summary, flaws of society isnt adressed properly/at all and story focus on power dynamic and etc.

But for at least this chapter, i would like to say, i kinda like this one. Uraraka and Toga development, interaction. At first, Uraraka would brush off everything Toga said and does, which makes sense since she was from other side. And Toga would talk your typical villain but after that Toga crying scene, Uraraka seems to be able empathize with her than many other heroes ever could for villains. The way she just accepted that she was wrong about her, that she changed her mind, she also knows that she is in pain and she says sorry, she is not angry, she is not rejecting her, she tells her that she found her. I mean, look at her face when she speaks to her. Like, great start, Uraraka. I think there are still many issues with story and how fast everything happens but i really like this one. It feels like an actually hero speech who geniuely wants to empathize with villain, completely stranger, just a girl who is like her. Unlike before, she doesnt talk like a robot with ‘you did commit crime so everything happens to you, you deserve it’ type of attitude. No. This time Uraraka is different.

At least for this chapter, for now, Uraraka Ochaco is rising.

Edit; I made it Clear that i write this based on my personal opinion. Literally, every second of this post is "i think". Certain people use this to insult and harass me. It just shows what kind of people they are. If you disagree, make your own post without mentioning/making me involve in any way. Of course, if you want to debate about series with respect, i dont mind. I dont think being kind is too hard.

[usgsnajs]

God I can’t wait until tomorrow’s episode of secret life… it’s obviously gonna be the finale, and unlike previous seasons I watched live, I have wishes for every server member except for the previous winners to win lol

I want Cleo to win because she deserves this story arc, surviving the zombie apocalypse and turning human as a result, being the last green name, and also getting back with her ex husband lolol (just so you know, I have essays of thoughts about Cleo and Ethos character arcs this season that I cannot put it into words. Just trust me that this and Ethos sections should be a lot longer)

I want Etho to win because oh my god??? What has he been on this season??? First off, he has somehow reached higher set cat status than he did in Limited life, which I thought was impossible, but he just struggles so. hard. in the earlier sessions especially. Secondly, he plays the secret aspect of the game really well, where he almost always comes up with a fake task for him to do in addition to his actual task, and sticks with it completely. He’s just really good at the secret part of it while also hiding what he’s doing really badly, which is the best thing to watch ever. But thirdly and most importantly, the fucking…zombie apocalypse session…He failed his task, and made the ENTIRE SERVER also fail their task just because he didn’t want to give up Cleo and Grian… He jumped in front of Bdub’s arrow to protect Cleo… ‘I’m a survivor’ this ‘I’d probably run’ that, you are a liar Mr Etho Slab!! Face it, you’ve had character development since Last Life!!! Stop thinking the worst of yourself!! Also, in addition to all that, he also fits the fact that all the previous winners played the game differently than how it was intended, with the previously mentioned failing of the task, so he also deserves to win because of that.

I want Scar to win because this entire season has been him fighting against what the secret keeper pushes onto him, with him not wanting to be the villain but repeatedly getting villain related tasks, so him winning in spite of that would be so satisfying. Also the idea of Scar, who has spent previous seasons constantly fighting to make friendships, winning the season where everyone on the server hates him does something to me the vibes are just immaculate. Also also! Please let him win he’s come so close so many times 😭

I want Gem to win because Geminislay next question. lol but actually I think it would be really funny if she joined the server for the first time, killed all her friends, won, and then left. Also something something her bringing the boogeyman curse to a season that was never supposed to be cursed in that way, and then fighting her way to victory is really cool. Also also Gem is just cool so I want to see that victory

I want Impulse to win because he’s gotten so close in like almost every season before this!!! He got second last time please just let him win and go apeshit, he deserves it I think. Also last yellow??? He deserves to pop off in the final session and take the win

I want Bdubs to win because this season has been peak Bdubs allying with half the people on the server, and he deserves to win at his worst /j But seriously his perspective so far has been one of my favorites this season because of how funny he is. He spent over an episode building the world when he didn’t even need to. He was murdered by Scar when both of them were green. He has a room in the Roomies base when he’s not even part of their group. He’s so silly he deserves to murder Scar in revenge for his first death and then gloat as he wins.

I want Joel to win because he deserves to go apeshit and then not die from recklessness. I think he should be insane and murder a bunch of people while still staying alive, like Last Life but without the ending part. His base is filled with joy but he is not, and that’s hilarious to me. Please let Joel win one of these he’s come so close

I want BigB to win because out of everyone in secret life he was the one to truly take the ‘secret’ part of the title to its very max. BigB gaslighting everyone he comes into contact with for literally no reason is my favorite part of secret life lol. He should win just for that as well as having the funniest life series base ever. Also his storylines tend to get ignored by a bunch of the fandom, and while it’s definitely improved a lot this season, it still could be better, so I’m hoping he wins just so more people will watch his perspective 😭

I want Skizz to win because like BigB, he is seriously underrated. He still doesn’t have 100k!! Subscribe to him right now!! But other than that, he also deserves to win just because it’d be funny if, now that he’s lived past the third death, he promptly switched his curse as far around as possible and just won lolol. Also also the Heart Foundation has been one of the silliest groups ever, and their base was really cute while it lasted, so any of the members of that group deserve to make it far if just for that. Plus him immediately going after Tango once he got infected with boogeyman was very funny. You go king! Drag your friends down with you! In conclusion Skizz is very funny and deserves to win purely because of that as well as the underdogness of it all.

I want Tango to win because of the Heart foundation stuff I mentioned with Skizz, but also he deserves to win just so he can break his curse of always having a kinda stupid final death 😔 I think it would be really funny if he broke that curse in the coolest way possible, and then in every season after this one he immediately goes right back to silly final deaths.

(Also if a previous winner won this season again I would not be upset as all of them have storylines this season that are really good for it, I just want them to win a little less than the others)

This season has been incredible so far, and it might even end up being my favorite season yet!

[cursedvibes]

Hi, I want to ask if you believe in megumi starting merger theory, actually after this yuta fiasco i was thinking that it is possible. If not then what do you expect megumi's role to be after yuta gets done.

And I have another question too, I was reading the hidden inventory arc and the star organisation name time vessel association made me wonder is there any special reason behind it, what do you think of it?

We might get the answer to if that theory is true or not in a few weeks. I wouldn't entirely discount Megumi starting the merger considering other recent developments, but I really don't want it to happen. It feels so...impersonal. What connection does Megumi have to the merger? Why would he even want to start it? He went catatonic because the people he cares about got hurt by his hands and now he'll for some reason make sure even more people die?

If it were to happen, sure it would be surprising, expectations subverted, but it wouldn't make much sense because it comes out of nowhere. This could be pulled off, but for it to work and feel satisfying we would need to know more about Megumi's mental state and how it changed throughout the fight(s). People like to say that he stopped caring and now wants to burn everything to the ground. This could be a valid development for him, but there is absolutely nothing supporting such a drastic change in mentality so far. All we really know is that he's sad, defeated and that's it. We simply know too little about him and what he went through since his body got taken over.

Does he even know what's going on and that he could theoretically start the merger? How have the many fights and Yuuji's Black Flashes affected him if they had any effect at all and he's not still beaten up from Tsumiki's death. Did he ever try to fight back in some other way after the Bath? How did Sukuna fully reincarnating affect his mentality and influence, the shape of his entire body was irreversibly changed after all? At the moment Megumi is merely a distant damsel in distress, a McGuffin for Yuuji to fight for. No matter what he does, we need to focus more on him for it to feel satisfying and emotionally fulfilling and honestly I think we should've done that already a while ago. You could say that would make for an even greater surprise if he does act, but I think you need to build up to that point more. Otherwise you merely have these snapshots of him: he tries to fight back, he's caged and sad, even more sad, sad and exhausted on his knees, suddenly decides to kill everyone. For such a dramatic climax I would like a more clear emotional through-line. Such important character development shouldn't happen off-screen.

It might be that Gege holds onto their recent strategy and just gives us 5 flashbacks after the merger started to explain how Megumi got here, but that would feel just as inorganic to me. You completely lack any anticipation. If we got more updates on Megumi, his thoughts, worries, pains, you could have developed a rising tension, make the reader anxious that he really might just snap, show that he's becoming unpredictable and gradually losing his sanity in isolation. But we don't have that. So far he is only used as motivation for Yuuji to fight. We aren't presented with more depth to his emotions than "sad". He could've been playing cards down there and it wouldn't make a difference. I just need more from him.

I want to believe that Megumi will have a greater role eventually and regains some autonomy, even just for a while, but I'm not so sure. It still seems most likely to me that either Yuuji will sacrifice himself in some way to safe Megumi or Megumi will sacrifice himself and thereby kill Sukuna and leave Yuuji behind. I think I prefer the latter option. It gives Megumi something to do and not just wait to be saved, he will be able to make a final decision to ensure Sukuna will never take control over his body again and it would mean that Yuuji succeeded in killing Sukuna, he even freed Megumi's consciousness, but he wasn't actually able to save Megumi, which was what he really cared about. He was so focused on saving others, putting them above himself and dying a proper death, but now he is forced to live to make the lives that have been lost worth it.

As for the Time Vessel Association (時の器の会), are you asking about the name itself? I assume the "time vessel" (時の器) in this case refers to their fixation on the Star Plasma Vessels, who are for Tengen vessels that allow her to cross time in human form. They have dedicated themselves to eradicating these vessel, so maybe that's where the name comes from. Or they see Tengen herself as a vessel for time itself through her immortality. She captures the ages she has lived through and passes them on into the future. By breaking her vessel, they release her true potential and with that the time she has stored, you could say.

There's also an interesting theory about the Time Vessel Association, their background and connection to Kenjaku that I could still see coming true.

[godzillabreath]

wwdits s5 spoilers below

I was so deeply invested in season 3 of wwdits that every subsequent episode that releases just kind of makes me feel… sad? Nothing has since hit the high of Wellness Center and I don’t think anything will.

For me, that was the pinnacle of their storytelling because it combined humor with the genuine ways in which this dysfunctional group of people have come to care about each other. Nandor feels divorced from his humanity and is looking to find ways to regain that aspect of himself. Guillermo can’t understand because he’s fixated on becoming a vampire to fill the void inside himself where he feels self-conscious, overlooked, unimportant. It’s funny to see these genuine, emotional character moments butt heads with a vaporwave 80s aerobics cult. They expertly balanced character development that had been building throughout season 3 with a bonkers premise and it ended up very touching and very satisfying. And then, well. Season 4. It was frustrating, first of all, to see the climax of Season 3 completely swept aside in the first minute of the premiere. This season prioritized episodic, unserious episodes that had no lasting character growth, only to emphasize in the finale that nothing changes and nothing matters. You can’t make that your artistic statement for season 4 when you’ve shown your audience three seasons of dynamic relationships being built and reforged and changed in unique ways! Season 4 and even Season 5 continue to wipe the slate clean again and again. Hypnosis, Djinn wishes, other forms of deus ex machina utilized to undo everything magically and inorganically. There were no stakes for Colin’s death or rebirth, no lasting impact on the relationship between Laszlo and Colin from a season showcasing a very different dynamic between them. Nandor is petulant and rude to Guillermo in irritating ways, as if they had never built a tenuous respect and trust and eventually affection for one another. Does Guillermo care about his family, does he crave their approval, only to have him vaguely continue to push them away after what was supposed to be an emotional coming out episode? Why is Nadja appointed as a leader on the London council only to immediately abandon this position for a wanton night club idea? (Which is then abandoned again in favor of… I’m not really sure what her goals are this season? Vague mentions of a hex with unclear affect on her life.) The audience just has to sit with this continuous lack of narrative resolution.

And it sucks, man. I think it’s a mess. It’s unsatisfying. I see Season 5 trying to incorporate and juggle more plot-dense episodes and they end up feeling too long and weirdly overworked and like all of these ideas are coming too late to feel impactful.

I’ll say I really don’t like Guillermo becoming a vampire, or half-vampire or whatever is happening. I think it absolutely ruins his character arc of finding strength and value in being a human being—with kickass cool Van Helsing abilities even. It would have been way cooler to parallel Guillermo’s realization that he cherishes his own innate humanity with Nandor wanting to regain that humanity he felt he lost over centuries. At this point, I don’t understand what either of them want or need or feel or anything. And the rest of the cast feel like b-plot set dressing.

Well, that’s enough for now I guess. Every episode I just feel like… why did they write this this way. Of course, I’m sure every element of conflict will be magically undone and ironed smooth at the end of Season 5 as it always is and we’ll start season 6 with zero carryover or growth. Again.

[lover-of-mine]

Re: the "Natalia and I, we broke up." + "all she wanted to talk about was death; it was kinda boring." That scene, and particularly reading the Tim M. interview where he talked about being "over all the death talk" and how those lines in the script might have been a little bit of him talking, actually have me concerned that they've abandoned what seems like was the lead up to an actual Buck Breakdown™ arc.

(Or possibly worse, they consider 6b to *be* the Buck Breakdown arc and work through of all his trauma, and now they consider it done.)

Oliver's interviews talking about Buck 'being a new man' 'just doing things that make him happy' 'finally getting off the hamster wheel" and overall being in a much better place suggest that he's in that like post-breakdown/healing journey already? Idk, I felt like there was a lot in the second half of 6B with Buck's storyline that got a little fumbled/sloppy with the fear of cancellation and them trying to put a final bow on things, but there was also a lot that suggested we were heading towards a really meaty, Breakdown™ story in S7. Now it's sounding kind of like, because of how it was handled last season, Tim has lost interest and is ready to just kind of mark that story as case closed and skip ahead to "happy, new man" Buck.

I see what you mean, but seriously, it would be a bad storytelling decision to have this major trauma in Buck's life be completely ignored/handled off screen again, say he's Buck 4.0 and call it a day would be annoying as hell. They handled that pretty badly with the fear of cancellation and with Natalia not coming back, they didn't even have a satisfying ending for that. I wrote this and this this weekend, and I don't know if this is a reaction to that or if I'm just a person you felt like you could send these thoughts to, but Buck thinking death is boring just to be heavily triggered by death is a possibility. Because we know Bobby is in mortal danger, and his biggest trigger in the coma was the fact that Bobby was dead, and Buck finally being able to face that is something that could work. And Buck working on himself without a major breakdown, maybe because he felt like he was getting there and decided not to let it get that bad could also be a conclusion there. I want a full breakdown for Buck, I want him on the floor crying, but depending on how they make the whole "he's a new man" thing, I could get behind it. They just have to acknowledge it happened, because you can't have Eddie's whole arc about burying his feelings and having that blow up in his face, effectively establishing that just "moving past it" doesn't work, to have Buck be all fine by just moving past it.

All the talk is actually making me think about my initial speculation about Buck/buddie and my whole Buck drowning thing, because the whole thing hinged on Buck being fine and getting triggered. Because I wrote a really long thing about Buck getting triggered over something happening to Bobby, Maddie, or Chris, that leading to him getting all sorts of unstable before deciding to work on himself, and while I did speculate on a full breakdown, Buck recognizing the trigger and asking for help before things get explosive are a way to handle him without the "exhausting death talk" because we are not dealing with Buck's death, we are dealing with someone else, and with a Buck that wants to be alive and could get conflicted about how to handle the situation. Because Buck and Eddie mirror each other and Eddie's breakdown buildup started when he was introduced, the well and the shooting are one of the stops yeah, but everything about Eddie led him to fear-o-phobia. Buck's breakdown has been building since Buck begins, and he's been slowly self destructing since then, but the lightning is Buck's well (volunteering into the situation, night and rain aspect of it, saving himself), so if they keep mirroring the 2, Buck needs another trigger, because what actually triggers Eddie isn't the possibility of his death, is the death of someone else, because he's the last one standing, forever the one left behind. But where Eddie is the widower, Buck is the savior, so the most effective way to trigger him would be failing to save someone he loves, and with the focus on Bobby in his coma world, and the way Bobby is about to die, the possibility is right there. But let's say they don't go with that, a Buck breakdown wouldn't be explosive, and Buck focusing on being a better man, acting like he's getting better just to have something happens to shake that belief by the end of the season (buddie car crash in the season finale you heard it here first on October 16 2023 lol), is a way to move past the death talk for a while just to have it all came crashing down later on, the same way Eddie seemed fine until he wasn't (I mean in s4, s5 Eddie is hanging by a thread the whole time). But this is mostly what I've been telling myself over how they're talking about Buck, because I need that man to break so he can actually move on with his life.

[ccl-c]

some things i wanted to draw a while ago but never had the time because work has been so intense. now that s2 ended this way …

long rambling below:

i had been having a very bad feeling about the “devastating loss” and fuck it really happened (it being foreshadowed from ep1 is kind of funny but fuck).

i did enjoy the episode, and if this is the end of the show i'm good with that. ep8 isn't just about izzy's death obviously, nor is the season or the show about izzy, and i know it's a bridge season where problems are not solved, but i need a way to get over this, so.

within the episode i think the death is beautiful, but within his whole arc, for me it's the timing and david's explanations that i found kind of awkward and disappointing. it might be because the budget got cut but i think also because izzy's arc was a bit too prioritised especially if david wanted to stick to the mentor-death-in-act-two trope (izzy is my favourite character but i have been feeling the unbalance since ep3).

izzy's last speech sounded almost too early for ed's arc. letting a repressed traumatised amputated (also talented and romantic and sometimes humourous) elder apologise for what he believed half of his lifetime and die voluntarily (to some extent; i think he said “i wanna go” mostly because he knew the wound was fatal, but then why must it be fatal it was on the left side?) when he was just physically and mentally getting better is tragic but it also could have been a more satisfying death. i am very biased and very bad at literature, but i think if izzy and ed got to earnestly communicate about their relationship and past issues, if ed had more interactions with the crew to (re)build the mutual love, and maybe if besides telling ed to “just be ed” izzy really got to see it (when he's not dying), his story would be more complete and he would really be leaving at his happiest.

of course death is inevitable in life and unpredictable in piracy, of course there are tropes in tv shows, and of course it's part of the journey for the audience to feel devastated. but i read multiple interviews and the central idea just seems to be “the mentor often dies in the second act” which is valid in itself, but then s2 becomes “how can we make the most out of his last moments” (after posting this i heard that “funerals strengthen families” dropped; i'm just so disappointed i don't know what to say). honestly i was confused about how david said “let's give con all the toys he could play with” (yes if i had con in my show for one last season i'd want to let him do everything possible as well and i am grateful david did, but after all con played a side character; also it's cruel to “give him everything” while hiding the ending from him until halfway through the shooting); it's supposed to be a story and not a talent show (um). if time is too short for his ideal arc then maybe he should do fewer things but each better paced, or maybe the mentor-death-in-act-two trope needed to be adjusted, or maybe it wasn't the right trope at all.

i might be dumb but i didn't see the mentor-hero relationship before stede said blackbeard said izzy made him the captain he was, and even then i honestly thought it was mostly stede talking for ed. when david put it like that i can see little traits of it in s1, but i find the jesus-judas (jcs) dynamic much more obvious. let alone the father figure thing; didn't see it at all.

there are many ways to mark an end and for a recurring character to leave (buttons turning into a seagull was beautiful; the swede temporarily leaving to become jackie's husband was also lovely; but ivan's death mentioned by fang just looked like they had to get rid of him); ultimately what frustrates me is that it's unclear what the concept of death itself brings to izzy's arc at this point. major character “deaths” in this show is often associated with change or rebirth, and i'd expect a realistic humanly death from severe wound to also open up something new in his story or in general, even if his life ends here. maybe that's for s3. but for now he died just because their power-thirsty enemy hated him and his gorgeous speech and piracy; ed did not seem to consider the crew his family, nor did the crew seem to bother. piracy did become more about belonging though but that's not his legacy.

on a side note, letting a disabled elder (who was previously seen seriously irritating ricky) escort ricky and no one noticing ricky hid a gun? izzy was playing with fire (ha) to talk to ricky like that but at least ed and zheng and jim and jackie could have been more alert. then roach was asked to look for bandages and nothing happened afterwards? that was the guy who replanted his own arm back and who was ready to chop off lucius's finger. if he just came up to izzy's side and tried to take care of him and then izzy said “no it's too late i want to go painlessly”, or if someone said “let izzy and ed have their moment”, then okay, but having roach try to save izzy with no follow up is kind of disrespectful to roach's character.

with how much david loves izzy and con there probably was a better version of this story that didn't fully make it into the show. that said, i do work in a creative industry with various constraints in many directions; it happens that creators have intentions and priorities that the audience does not understand and vice versa, it happens that budgets got cut and what you deliver is not what you would have made in better circumstances, but when a mainstream tv show got such polarised reactions about one specific part of the story, there might be a real problem and the budget or the creative direction won't be enough to justify it.

then if all this is for izzy to be brought back in s3 i'm curious to see how it will be played out. his death was shown in such an explicit way and he even got buried on land (honestly the burial was weird and a bit creepy for me but well) it doesn't seem likely he survives again; it might be fun if he reincarnates as a creature or appears in new flashbacks, or in the gravey basket.

(also, now that izzy's dead, i hope con can share his version of the backstory of izzy's ring.)

my point is, maybe, that i think izzy's arc in s2 was so saturated and glamorous and full of potential that it felt too important to end, while the main romance and the crew's arc could have used some more time to address more context or some issues underlying since s1 for example. also lots of things weren't consistent and many interesting points were never addressed again, but i hope it's left open for s3.

but it doesn't undo what has been great about this show. the death scene itself was beautiful too, and the whole cast and crew deserve an hour-long standing ovation.

i guess it's just a bit like you went on a really fun roadtrip with a beloved friend but had an unexpected misunderstanding leading to conflict with said friend at the end of the last day. eventually you probably stay friends because you always had a good time, but you will be thinking about the conflict.