helipackjack

[helipackjack]

[helipackjack]

Time for a new VIDEO! I had to do a deep dive on the Chase Young Saga - aswell as a breakdown of all the manipulation that led to my favorite episodes: Judging, Saving and Finding Omi! Curious who also has a place in their heart for this one :)

[helipackjack]

Until I read your Jermaine analysis I never noticed that the scene where he baits the bullies and the scene where he baits Jack are parallels! Good catch!

Yep, Jermaine's pretty unique in that he's the only character who's go-to strategy is to draw aggro.

He's not the only character who resorts to it as a tactical maneuver, but he's the only character whose immediate first thought is to use to it. He's surprisingly good at getting on people's nerves and knowing how to tick them off. Like riling a bull, or prodding a bear.

You against us three? I like them odds!

How you like 'em now?

Jermaine? You just bought a butt-whupping for both you and shortie!

Don't bark if you can't bite!

-

But... I do not know how to play this game of baskets and balls.

I do. Put me in the game.

No! No way! I challenged you, Omi! Not this kid!

Aw, you afraid of getting whupped, lil' boy?

(Those adorable smirks on Omi and Jermaine's faces! I love them so much!)

Taunt the foes to rile them up and make them so angry they're reckless enough to practically forget their original target.

Having them seeing red so they make easily exploitable tactical mistakes. (Like switching a Basketball challenge against one kid who doesn't know the game at all, two a two-on-two challenge featuring another kid who has good synergy with the first and clearly knows the game better than you both. Or having all three members of your little gang grab Jermaine and hold him still, theoretically leaving the kid you were originally threatening plenty of space to run away unimpeded.)

As a side note, it makes Jermaine a really good battle partner for characters like Omi or Chase. His strategy of getting opponents to funnel vision and attack him syncs up best with a partner who's quick and agile enough to intercept those and whose tactics are counter-based or combo-oriented.

Especially since Jermaine isn't actually tanky, despite being willing to take the hits for others. So an aggressive counter-based fighter who will readily jump in to protect him is pretty necessary. Jermaine's clever with stall tactics, and he's agile and good at controlling the flow of a fight so he can dodge for quite a while.

But back when Jermaine was sort of fighting on his own, it only managed to stall it out until he eventually gets wailed on at the end.

Mixing the two into a bait-control-counter strategy is great for dictating the pace and distance of a fight by utilizing defensive maneuvers to avoid attacks, then capitalizing on their opponent's openings with precise counter strikes, essentially controlling the fight by responding effectively to their aggression rather than initiating heavy offense.

The fact that Jermaine is also one of the few characters who wouldn't care in the slightest if the spotlight or glory is "stolen" from him also helps this strategy work, since he syncs up tactically with characters who really want to look good in battle. Jermaine's cockiness is entirely for show. He's genuinely confident, just not actually as smug as he plays up for his opponents.

He and Chase probably went on some "fake" missions or field training that demonstrated the synergy of those strategies to Jermaine. (And one day I will write it. One day.)

I got your back!

And all the more reason Jermaine was so excited to readily take a support role. He's a team player, and he's happy to play support or draw aggro for someone as long as he fully trusts them to be powerful enough and reliable enough to have his back when it gets too hot for him to handle, but he'll also readily switch that up if that's what the moment-to-moment situation needs.

[helipackjack]

A plea for help: RAISING FUNDS FOR MY SICK GRANDMA 🙏 🙏.

My family is still staying in half of the church that wasn’t affected by the bombing because there is nowhere else to stay other than tents. They are limited to one small meal a day and one shower a week. They are sleeping on the floors, but no one can sleep since there is bombing everywhere around them. Even when there is no bombing, they can still hear the loud buzzing sound of the military planes above them, which would keep anyone who hears it awake. Along with everything, My grandma has diabetes and osteoporosis, so she can’t walk. She has to take her insulin medication along with many others; however, she has run out of many of her medications.” Am on my knees requesting for donation. Target $450

DONATE HERE

I ONLY NEED $60 TO GET THE REQUIRED MEDICATION, KINDLY GIVE ANY SUPPORT 🙏🙏🙏🙏

RECEIVED:$390/$450

[helipackjack]

"Spiders don’t eat people. Positive."

"They desiccate ‘em. Suck out the fluids till nothing is left."

"Nothin' I dislike more than a smart-alec Tursiops truncatus."

"...Bottlenose dolphin."

Clay is genuinely so smart and well-studied. He's extremely well-versed with biology and ecology, is knowledgeable on animal behavior and feeding habits, and even knows scientific names for animals off the top of his head.

[helipackjack]

I missed doing screenshot edits, so here's a Xiaolin Chronicles redraw but with a little twist from my very own story :)

[helipackjack]

I missed doing screenshot edits, so here's a Xiaolin Chronicles redraw but with a little twist from my very own story :)

[helipackjack]

I think they’re underreporting the sheer amount of damage Helene has caused. Entire towns are gone. 50 confirmed deaths already. Down power lines everywhere. Emergency responders are swamped. Stoplights are out. There’s a down live power line at the bottom of my mom’s mountain and the sheriff is like “yeah, I know. we called the power company and they’re not going shit.”

[helipackjack]

When I've seen El shab hussein and others do so much work to compile and make it easier for people to donate to verified gofundmes and others create raffles for them and using all their earnings for their art on gofundmes it makes me feel like it should encourage us all to do more and to keep doing more and not slow down

[helipackjack]

i dont see why i cant start a trend, so here goes. lets try to build back our attention spans. lets try to focus on just one thing for as long as possible. lets not watch those "asmr for people with adhd" videos where they fuck up adhd folks even worse. lets resist the urge to reach for our phones when watching a movie. lets read the articles we reblog, even when theyre boring. i know its hard, i have adhd too, but its worth it. i also know that this hard work doesnt always seem super impressive to other people, so id love for yall to tell me in the tags or replies if youve done something, no matter how small, for your attention span. you deserve to feel like youve taken back some of what social media has ripped from you

[helipackjack]

Hello! Do you think Rais betrayal helped Omi see Chase young as redeemable at all?💭❤️

Rai's betrayal directly helped Omi see Jack Spicer as redeemable.

It directly led to the first time Jack ever played the wildcard and saved the monks. And Raimundo switching up on them for Wuya but coming back showed Omi that some people can and will change sides, which isn't an idea he was very used to, growing up with people who had firmly devoted their lives to the temple.

After all, Omi's initial fascination with Jack comes from a somewhat similar place as Omi's initial fascination with Raimundo, somehow.

Omi rarely dissents with Master Fung on anything, but he pressed Master Fung to try to convince him both that Raimundo should be allowed to return to the temple and continue training as a monk because this is where he belongs and he still came back to the Xiaolin side. And that Jack Spicer should be allowed to join the temple and begin training as a monk, because this is where Jack belongs, and he has his moments of helping the Xiaolin side.

Both the way Jack rose to the occasion after Jack's betrayal, and some strong similarities Omi sees in Jack between both Raimundo and Omi himself, lead to Omi's very insistent view that Jack is practically going to be joining the monks any day now.

He'll give Jack Omi's own bed and clothes, even personally mentor him. Ever since Raimundo's betrayal, Omi's been very genuine in his belief that Jack will redeem himself.

But Omi's main view of Chase is not that he's "redeemable".

He's definitely far from irredeemable in Omi's eyes, Omi sees a lot of good in Chase. But Omi doesn't operate on the idea that Chase is going to switch up for good any day now, the way Omi seems to with Jack.

And Chase makes sure Omi doesn't base their relationship on the idea that Chase is a good guy. When Omi thinks after Chase helped him beat Sibini that that was a sign Chase was changing, Chase taught Omi that it was more complicated. Chase personally reminds Omi to be careful of how much he trusts him. Chase doesn't want their relationship built on the idea that Chase is going to become Xiaolin, because Chase has no plans to, and that foundation would crumble fast. Chase builds their relationship on something more stable: the fact that Chase and Omi understand and respect each other in a wary way.

What Omi primarily sees Chase as is "Someone I would really, really like to be with", and that would be made so much easier if Chase would return to the Xiaolin side. But Omi does know that's wishful thinking. He's not under that many illusions about Chase. He's an honorable villain, a villain Omi deeply loves, but a villain none-the-less.

Omi thinks that Raimundo and Jack belong at the temple. Omi admittedly isn't sure if Chase (or Omi himself, at times) belongs at the temple, but he knows Chase belongs at Omi's side, and Omi is at the temple right now, soo...

Sure, Omi tried the hardest to get Chase to remember his Xiaolin roots when Chase had Omi's dots. But Omi's plan from there on was to somehow convince Chase to be good again primarily because Omi was powerless to effect change in the state of the world in any other way while maintaining his sworn loyalty.

But when tasked with the idea of getting Chase on the good side, Omi thinks he would have to rewrite time itself for that.

Meeting good Chase may have made Omi see his Chase as possible to redeem after all. And good Chase had Omi promise never to give up on Chase regardless of alignment with his final words, so that may have shifted something.

[helipackjack]

Hello! Do you think Rais betrayal helped Omi see Chase young as redeemable at all?💭❤️

Rai's betrayal directly helped Omi see Jack Spicer as redeemable.

It directly led to the first time Jack ever played the wildcard and saved the monks. And Raimundo switching up on them for Wuya but coming back showed Omi that some people can and will change sides, which isn't an idea he was very used to, growing up with people who had firmly devoted their lives to the temple.

After all, Omi's initial fascination with Jack comes from a somewhat similar place as Omi's initial fascination with Raimundo, somehow.

Omi rarely dissents with Master Fung on anything, but he pressed Master Fung to try to convince him both that Raimundo should be allowed to return to the temple and continue training as a monk because this is where he belongs and he still came back to the Xiaolin side. And that Jack Spicer should be allowed to join the temple and begin training as a monk, because this is where Jack belongs, and he has his moments of helping the Xiaolin side.

Both the way Jack rose to the occasion after Jack's betrayal, and some strong similarities Omi sees in Jack between both Raimundo and Omi himself, lead to Omi's very insistent view that Jack is practically going to be joining the monks any day now.

He'll give Jack Omi's own bed and clothes, even personally mentor him. Ever since Raimundo's betrayal, Omi's been very genuine in his belief that Jack will redeem himself.

But Omi's main view of Chase is not that he's "redeemable".

He's definitely far from irredeemable in Omi's eyes, Omi sees a lot of good in Chase. But Omi doesn't operate on the idea that Chase is going to switch up for good any day now, the way Omi seems to with Jack.

And Chase makes sure Omi doesn't base their relationship on the idea that Chase is a good guy. When Omi thinks after Chase helped him beat Sibini that that was a sign Chase was changing, Chase taught Omi that it was more complicated. Chase personally reminds Omi to be careful of how much he trusts him. Chase doesn't want their relationship built on the idea that Chase is going to become Xiaolin, because Chase has no plans to, and that foundation would crumble fast. Chase builds their relationship on something more stable: the fact that Chase and Omi understand and respect each other in a wary way.

What Omi primarily sees Chase as is "Someone I would really, really like to be with", and that would be made so much easier if Chase would return to the Xiaolin side. But Omi does know that's wishful thinking. He's not under that many illusions about Chase. He's an honorable villain, a villain Omi deeply loves, but a villain none-the-less.

Omi thinks that Raimundo and Jack belong at the temple. Omi admittedly isn't sure if Chase (or Omi himself, at times) belongs at the temple, but he knows Chase belongs at Omi's side, and Omi is at the temple right now, soo...

Sure, Omi tried the hardest to get Chase to remember his Xiaolin roots when Chase had Omi's dots. But Omi's plan from there on was to somehow convince Chase to be good again primarily because Omi was powerless to effect change in the state of the world in any other way while maintaining his sworn loyalty.

But when tasked with the idea of getting Chase on the good side, Omi thinks he would have to rewrite time itself for that.

Meeting good Chase may have made Omi see his Chase as possible to redeem after all. And good Chase had Omi promise never to give up on Chase regardless of alignment with his final words, so that may have shifted something.

[helipackjack]

[helipackjack]

Xiaolin Showdown and Journey to the West

not sure if this was intentional but I noticed something upon a rewatch. It’s very clear to me that the main four male leads (Jack, Omi, Clay and Raimundo) are expy’s of the characters in Journey to the West (Sun Wukong, Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing).

Jack Spicer as Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, Great Sage Equal To Heaven

-Jack’s preferred Shen Gong Wu is the Monkey Staff, which parallels Sun Wukong’s own Staff. At one point Jack becomes the leader of a group of Green Monkeys, paralleling the Monkey Kings own title for an episode

-Jack’s secondary most used Shen Gong Wu is the Changing Chopsticks to change his shape, which is another feat the Monkey king is known for

-Mirroring the Transformations in the form of the Chameleon Bot and making Duplicates of himself i the form of Robo-Jack.

-“childlike playfulness and often goofy impulsiveness is in contrast to his cunning mind.” Jack is often dismissed by others, including the Heylin, despite being incredibly disruptive to their plans when they cast him aside. Case in Point; if it wasn’t for Jack’s actions at end of Season 1, they wouldn’t have stopped Wuya. He even had a way to go back in time before the Sands of Time were revealed

-First Episode with Chameleon Bot; he uses it to replace Kimiko, knowing the others will dismiss her on the basis of her being a girl and takes nearly all their Shen Gong Wu while he’s at it

-Episode 12, we already see Jack compiling a spreadsheet to track the Shen Gong Wu that have awakened, and if Wuya hadn’t been so hellbent on the Heart of Jong, this could have had benefit to her. Also Wuya wouldn’t have been able to build Mala Mala Jong WITHOUT Jack having all the necessary Shen Gong Wu in the first place.

-Even when he becomes Good Jack, Jack’s solution in the Ying-Yang World is to split himself in two and use a double to distract the chi beast, which again, if he wasn’t good and hadn’t gone in there in the first place, wouldn’t have restored the Dragons’ Chi

-While he is goofy and clearly cares about his Robots, you’d think Wuya and Chase would realize Jack is an actual threat, but that ties back into the Monkey King story. The ‘Gods’ give him the lowliest position in heaven to ‘keep an eye on him’ and he resents this.

-While a less competent fighter in the show, it does take Omi having to create a time paradox to stop Jack from taking over the world.

Omi as Tang Sanzang

-Omi’s Element is Water, and Tang was found in a River

-While more competent in the show, Omi is also an orphan and shown to be the most devoted of the monks/dragons in training. He is also the one that most believes in redemption, especially for Jack Spicer

-He is also supposed to be the one spreading wisdom and helping his disciples, which he does with a majority of them

Clay as Sha Wujing AKA Sandy

-Clay’s element is earth, tying in with Sha Wujing’s element. -Clay is primarily a more peaceful character who is large, logical and polite, so this can make him a bit less interesting than the other three.

Raimundo as Zhu Bajie AKA Pigsy

-Ladies’ Man/Skirt Chaser; Raimundo is shown several times to be susceptible to attractive women.

-Lazy and often doesn’t want to do work; Raimundo’s main complaint has been the amount of work needed at the temple.

-While helpful, can be selfish—as shown near the end of the first season. He is ultimately good, but often gives in to his own personal desires until he grows as a person.

While I think Metal Dragon AU is fitting for Jack, I'm also accepting the headcanon that he might be a descendant of Sun Wukong lol.

Just a fun little thing I noticed

[helipackjack]

5 random kimiko headcanons, go!

oh god oh god ok

she cannot sing to save her life, but she will never hesitate to crush everyone and anyone at karaoke.

the first game she ever develops at 19 is an app sort of similar to pokemon go, but based around her and her friends adventures as a xiaolin dragons hunting for mystical objects around the world.

she’s kind of awkward around babies and very young children, stemming from being an only child.

she matches her phone cases to her outfits, colour-wise.

she can speak, read and write japanese and english, has grasped reading and writing mandarin, and has a rudimentary understanding of brazilian portuguese

[helipackjack]

There is no actual, tangible reason why we allow people to starve, to be homeless, to suffer and die needlessly. Food is plentiful. Empty homes are plentiful. Medicine is plentiful. It’s hidden away behind constructs and we pretend those constructs mean something. There is an empty home and a homeless family, give them it. There is a sick child and common medicine to treat it, give it to them. There is a starving person and so much food wasted by corporations or hidden behind a dollar sign, feed them.

[helipackjack]

the types of plants Gigi turned each person into

A cactus. Looking at the sharp-petalled yellow flowers, I'd say a Jack is a Mammillaria baumii cactus.

This one looks more generic, so take this with a grain salt, but looking at those five-petal pink flowers and the shape and size of the leaves, I think Vlad's a Jatropha integerrima.

When Omi bites into the fruits, they have a white inside and seem crunchy. Red, round fruit with white insides and edible skins, and a little white/pink flower up top. Think it's safe to call Clay an apple tree, Malus domestica. I wonder what variety...

Master Fung looks like a Sweet Mock Orange Shrub --Philadelphus coronarius. He won't produce edible fruit like Clay is, but he must smell very pleasant.

Dojo is definitely a red rose.

Unlike the others, I can't actually make out the shape of Kimiko's leaves. Going by what I can here, I'm going out on a limb and saying that Kimiko is a Stylophorum diphyllum (Celandine Poppy) ...Or possible a Chelidonium majus. I'm unsure on this one.

Omi's flowers feel like they're meant to be distinctly butterfly shaped, so I went with that instead of searching by the four-petal count. I think he's a Blue Butterfly Plant, Clerodendrum ugandense.