#As like a symbolic moment in her character growth I guess?

[floydsteeth]

To celebrate finishing Gils route Saturday!!!

>:3

[uptoolateart]

Having now seen the finale three times, details have popped out. I still hate hate hate that Adrien was not there in the final battle...but I think I see what the writers were trying to do.

As we know, there is so much fairytale imagery / allusion in the show, like Rapunzel, Bluebeard, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Pinocchio in a way, Cinderella, etc.

At the start of Conformation, Adrien has been removed from Paris and the mansion - effectively, his kingdom.

He's locked in that room, plagued with his own worst thoughts. He only has his painful unconscious to keep him company. This mirrors Snow White being cast into the woods, running in terror from shadows, the woods and shadows being a classic symbol for parts of our unconscious we are afraid to acknowledge.

He is then tempted with the Alliance and eventually gives in, in mimicry of Snow White accepting the poisoned apple offered by the witch. The apple puts her to sleep. The ring seems to hypnotise Adrien, dulling his senses like sleep.

The action then happens without him, just as in Snow White and Sleeping Beauty the action is all done by the prince.

I said in a previous post (non-ml, just looking at fairytales) that there have been psychoanalytical studies of fairytales to show that they work like dreams - every character is an aspect of one person, so the prince is another part of the princess taking over, to help her break free and mature beyond the child stage. The witch is also the princess, but the part tentative about growing up - and also represents all the adults in her life, afraid to let go of their child.

In Miraculous, though, it really is just Marinette being the prince saving the unconscious princess, and this is what irks me. We will come back to this.

After the Wish, we see Adrien asleep. Marinette leans over to kiss him and he wakes up. It's an odd little moment at a noisy pool party, which is what made it stand out to me. It's the kiss of true love waking him from the spell after the witch / dragon has been defeated. And really, this is where it becomes more like Sleeping Beauty, because that involved a real battle.

And if that's Emilie by the pool, she too is a Sleeping Beauty figure who's just been brought back.

The implication is supposed to be that Adrien has grown up a lot through this, and the demons in his life and mind have been vanquished..although I guess time will tell if this is true.

There was also a lot in the finale about nightmares, like think of this as a nightmare and the Alliance will free you from it, etc etc. When Adrien wakes, it's like everything before it was a bad dream.

But, as my husband commented, all that bad dream stuff is what MADE Ladybug and Cat Noir's relationship. It's what led to them being chosen. It's what changed their lives and helped them grow, so arguably it's what brought them together as Adrien and Marinette.

These bad experiences shape us. We can use them to become better people. Without them, we change.

Adrien cannot be the same person, if his mother is alive...especially if they all believe she's been there the whole time. I guess we will see about that, too. His mother's absence was the initial catalyst for all his growth as a person. He actually needed the dragons. He needs to KNOW about those dragons.

I said ages back that we had a classic Bluebeard scenario, where we were waiting for the princess to open the forbidden door and find all the skeletons in the evil husband's closet. By keeping Adrien out of the basement, he never opened that door.

In some way, he needs to be the prince who vanquishes the monster. Otherwise, he hasn't truly woken up. I don't care how good Marinette's kisses are. He is stuck in an infantile state and unable to grow.

Okay, I...managed to talk myself back round to finding his absence in the battle seriously irritating. But listen - maybe it's frustrating on purpose because they are using this as a plot point for the next stage of the story. I have no idea. But this is why it is so frustrating and doesn't hit the emotional mark. This is what needs to be addressed.

Because right now...Marinette has taken over the Bluebeard story. She is the one with the locked secret room containing all the skeletons of HIS past. We NEED him to open this door and have a genuine awakening. She is taking the Guardian thing too far, watching over rather than simply supporting. She is doing to Adrien what he accuses her of as Ladybug - forgetting he's her partner and leaving him out of vital information.

[kohakhearts]

Ask game- Goh or Gary, 8 and 20? 👀👀👀

thanks!!!! i say…why not both :D and sorry for the resultingly long response lmao

8: what’s something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

you chose violence with this one fjskfjskd ok side note: i actually dont care about how people want to talk about their faves, like even a little bit. and honestly i support all interpretations even when im like ew why because its fiction who cares have fun etc.

that being said…………..i cannot stand woobification and goh is a huge victim of it in this fandom. like on one side you have the people being like “he RUINED anipoke!!!” so i get where the “he did nothing wrong uwu” thing came from. i do. but he was SUCH a little bitch in early jn and honestly he had his moments later on too! like yeah jokes about jn135 being like a break-up scene are funny because it’s true but also wasnt that SUCH A BITCHY THING TO SAY????? like he wasnt having a cute little insecurity moment he was being a maladaptive JERK. and yes i agree hes insecure but like his insecurity makes him so mean sometimes. and i love that!!! let him lash out and be hurtful and then need to have some sense slapped into him when it causes problems lmao

for gary, idk i guess it’d be like…erasing the fact that he was actually REALLY mean to ash for the sake of the childhood friends narrative lol. like he was a straight-up bully and as someone who was very much bullied by a childhood best friend i find it a shame to erase that part of their dynamic because i think it’s a really important aspect of it imo. like it seems juvenile from an adult perspective ofc but being called a loser and being constantly reminded of your fuck ups by someone who you were best friends with sucks! a lot! and idk that just adds a fun flavour to their dynamic for me because regardless of gary’s reason it still affected ash and i actually really like fics where the author explores the ways it affected him without making gary out to be someone who doesn’t actually care for him. idk if i’m explaining this well i just think that gary being a schoolyard bully and ash’s childhood best friend can coexist djskfjsk

20: which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

for goh i’m gonna say iris. i think they’re both very single-minded and tend to lash out at (or ice out) people who they view as being in their way and/or who challenge their views of the world. and that being said…i think they would challenge each other a lot LOL. i liked iris’s jn debut and i liked the dynamic they established between them, i just think they could get under each other’s skin in a way that would be very productive to them both. friends who hate each other sometimes for pointing out a flaw in the other’s thinking but are ride or die nonetheless

for gary definitely chloe, i would’ve loved to see them interact and i still hate that they didn’t let her meet his umbreon, especially when its evolution is imo really symbolic of his development from someone who sees other trainers as like, people to prove his worth over to someone who sees battles as opportunities for growth alongside his pokemon and a way to establish and maintain relationships even when paths diverge, like with ash. like he was right there!!! the perfect person for her to talk about the uncertainty of the future with!!! also i just think they could have a fun dynamic, especially if they knew each other as children through professors oak and cerise. i think they’d share a kind of understanding that other characters like ash and goh, who are SO ambition-driven and single-minded, wouldn’t be able to get. i wrote a whole fic about this already so i’ve said my piece jdskjdk but just…the potential. what were the writers THINKING :sob:

character ask game

[thechanglingchronicles]

MLB nature wives au???

And a background?

I’m really thinking about writing a whole au for it but I’ve got a lot going on at the moment, so incase i never do it or it’s made months from now, here’s all my ideas for it:

-full love square Shelby likes Katherine and reversed for their superhero identities

-LadyWitch and Kittynoir

-I’m thinking jimmy as nino, Scott as alya (im a fwhimmy shipper first but flower husbands works the best for this au)

-their friends will get miraculouses but it will be closer to the movie plot wise

-I’ll probably switch around the animals for everyone besides cat and bug because the luck symbolism works well for their characters and I would’ve made Katherine a cat either way (I guess a sheep would work too but that’s way over complicating things)

-their gonna have equally angsty home lives

-theirs no cloe but Joey might fit whatever I need from her plot wise

-brautworst as lila, sausage will do something?

-desert duo as marthaniel because I can’t not include them

I’ve been thinking about this for so long omg im so happy im actually posting something for it.

Also it’s been forever since I posted art, I’ve hated everything I drew. Which is just a step in the growth process but still makes me hate myself.

Send me asks if you want to see more of this au!

^inspo/reference photo

[sukehiroselei]

BLACK CLOVER SPOILERS

Been a while since I've fully written out my thoughts on the recent BC chapters. (I think May was the last time I did?) Anywho, these are my opinions—and I stress, MY OPINIONS!—on the recent chapters. I have to admit that my feelings about them are mixed, and I'll get into why. (Probably gonna get cancelled over this but yolo I guess loool)

First, I'd like to address the difference between Tumblr & Twitter discourse regarding Black Clover. From my personal experience, I find that Twitter discourse is more focused on the fights & power-ranking system—which, of course, is absolutely essential to the genre. Power-ups are a tangible way of measuring character growth, after all.

On the other hand, Tumblr discourse is more focused on the relationships between the characters & the overarching narrative of the work. Now, I'm not saying that one is better than the other, because all of these elements are important. I had to talk about the distinction because my criticisms of the recent chapters might be better explained with this context in mind.

As someone who enjoys BC specifically because of the relationships between the characters and the world-building, I've found that the story post-Elf arc has been really... flat. I know Twitter folks will say that BC's pacing has always been quick, but I've been missing some moments where the characters just have room to breathe, you know? Like when Spade Raid ended, we had half a chapter of fun before immediately jumping into the next arc, and I feel like it would have been nice to get a little more exposition on how Spade changed character dynamics. Like, they could have given us a little Greyche moment so their current state in the manga would hit that much harder. Or more bonding time between Nacht and the Bulls, so we appreciate their determination to find Asta together a little more? Does this make any sense? Lmao

Adding to that, I think the quick pacing is detrimental to BC's strengths. A lot of people like the story because there are so many characters with very interesting backstories and motivations, but the nature of the storytelling doesn't leave a lot of room to explore the depths of these characters. Tbh, the Black Bulls' stories are just as important to tell as Asta's journey to becoming WK. Side characters enrich the world, so I'm not a huge fan of glossing over what could have been really impactful moments for characters other than Asta/Yuno/Yami to shine.

For example, someone brought up a great point that the BB fight against Damnatio was symbolic of the uprooting of Clover's caste system. You have this group of outcasts, some who were personally victimized by the corruption of the kingdom as represented by Damnatio, fighting to save the people who shunned them. It would have been nice to get flashbacks of the way that the kingdom has affronted them: Zora grappling with his dad's death and what it meant to be a Magic Knight, Gauche's history of being a convict and being separated from his only family, etc.

I'm glad that we at least had that moment with Nero, and we got to see how Asta specifically changed the trajectory of her life; how she sees Lumiere's vision of the world in Asta's ideal vision when he becomes WK. But I wish they had done the same for the other Bulls or even non-Bulls too, especially since Lucius mentioned that this whole timeline was affected by Asta. That's why I'm sort of disappointed that Asta came back right away to end things. I feel like it would have been more significant if Damnatio had been heavily injured and Asta were to deal the last blow than an unharmed Damnatio and Asta landing a fatal blow only once.

I'm still holding out hope that we'll get more of the Bulls in this arc, though there are currently a lot of loose ends and Asta's already back in the picture. I hope we get followups on Noelle/Acier, YamiChar/Morgen, and Mereo/Morris before Asta ends the battle, but idk what I'm talking about as usual 🤷🏻‍♀️

[papabearbobbynash]

Okay, I appreciate you suggesting that the couch is going to be a letdown - and you were brave to do so where the couch theory reigns supreme here, LOL - because I think it will, too. And can I just emphasize why I find the couch discussion so frustrating???

Here's what OS said after 6x11:

"STARK: I love that the fans have picked up on the symbolism of the couch. Buck is attached to this symbolism of couches being related to relationships, and that's not something that's actually going away anytime soon. Up until Buck's very last scene of the season, we'll see that symbolism at play."

So we can guess that Buck's very last scene is him on a new couch that he picked out, at peace and ease with himself, showing that he's content with NOT being in a relationship, right? (Because I really don't think that he's going to end up with Natalia).

Then what exactly was the point of him in the armchair after 6x1? Because OS said this to Variety in a post-episode interview:

"I think that whole couch/armchair thing becomes such a symbol for him in this episode. And by the end of it, choosing to not go buy a new couch, but being happiest and accepting of just having an armchair, shows that it’s a one-person seat; that he’s making peace with the fact that he’s going to be by himself for a little bit, and that he needs to be by himself for a little bit. Speaking with Kristen, a big thing for her has always been the fact that Buck chose to end his prior relationship, something that we’ve never seen before. He’s always been the one to be broken up with. So I think the two things kind of feed into each other, that he’s made this decision for himself and now he has to continue down that path and find out, without somebody else’s input, who he is in the world."

He also said this to EW:

"The season 6 premiere ends with Buck deciding not to get a new couch to replace the one Taylor took with her, but rather move his chair in its place. "There's some symbolism in the sense of it is a one-person seating situation," acknowledges Stark, who explains that they filmed that moment a few different ways: "We discussed whether or not he was dragging that chair over, or if it was going to be picked up and put down, and the differences that implied. In the end, they went with the picking up because it's a much stronger, 'This is my life now.' And then same thing once I sat down, we played it where it's just like, 'doom and gloom is ahead of me' or a little smile creeping across his face and 'I'm ready to do this.' And I'm glad that's the option they went with. I think it's much more hopeful and that he is he's ready to take on this challenge of becoming his own man."

I think he said something similar after 6x1 in another interview, but I can't find it.

Anyway, ending with him on a new couch that he bought for himself...being happy...that is quite literally, according to these interviews, essentially a repeat of where he was after 6x1, isn't it??? The same type of scene and the same message, that he's a-okay being on his own. WHAT.WAS.THE.POINT? If they had shown Natalia on the couch (from his mom) or made a bigger deal of her...okay, maybe, but they didn't!!!

Sorry, I'm not screaming at you 🤣 and I know you share my frustrations. It just makes me wonder if there was some type of rewrite of Buck's story?? Or is OS just...saying random things? Because it just doesn't make sense! I'm not even talking about the Buddie of it all - though I think it would be great if it's about them - but more that I do NOT understand what they are doing with Buck's character. Go around in circles with no real growth or purpose. It has made him very frustrating to watch at times. BLAH!

Thanks for letting me vent ❤️

Hello anon, first of all, thank you for sharing this with me.

I do also sometimes need to vent about this show, so I'm glad you could do it with me.

So, going straight to the point. By Oliver's interviews, what I see is that there is a biggest indication the whole point of the couch theory was Buck realizing he is okay in not being on a relationship (since the couch is supposed to be a metaphor to his romantic life).

The couch theory, by my interpretation, was always about how Buck has to come in terms in feeling enough by himself.

If I'm not wrong, this metaphor had it's introduction when Buck was talking with the Diaz boys about the whole Interim Captain road. Sure, Chris was the one to first point out Buck didn't have a couch, but this was straight up after Buck says he struggled to understand what the other candidates for the Interim Captain position had that he didn't. The scene follows as Buck is the one to make the lack of couch about his romantic life when mentioning his girlfriends and how he didn't want to chose the wrong one, however Eddie does link this behavior as something relevant on why Bobby wouldn't consider him in the position for Interim Captain. The scene ended there, and then the lack of couch is brought again on a conversation with Bobby and it's when the whole journey to "be a ease" starts.

My point is the one who made this into a metaphor for his romantic life was Buck, but it's roots seems to be deeper. The roots were on how he was feeling he wasn't worthy, he wasn't enough, on how he was trying to prove something to someone.

I don't think It was ever about chose the right person Eddie to be on a relationship, but him realizing he is worthy, that he enough, that it's okay to be alone for a bit, that he doesn't need someone else to be complete.

And this notion makes sense with how his character did walk in this season. The first consequent arc after this was the sperm donation, where Buck is trying to make something meaningful to someone. The second is his realization in his coma, where he doesn't need to be seen by his parents (because he already has a family). There is where we see the couch bought by his mom, one that he accpeted, but he isn't quite sure comfortable with it, which is the perfect definition of how his relationships with his parents are now. He accepted, but it's not like it solved the problem.

Then the third point comes with him trying to pursue a relationship with Natalia as he does feel "she sees him", then we have the cemetery talk. Buck says he is different, that he is changed I kinda don't see it, which is an issue I have with the writing, but that is not the point here and he is trying to act and be the same old Buck for the sake of everyone else, meanwhile Eddie says "he doesn't have to be anyone, to anybody". This does ties with Buck's needs of trying to be worthy, this does ties with Buck trying "to be seen".

My issue with this season has been mostly about Buck tbh, because in certain ways I can see where this is going, but I don't think it needed him walking in circles for it.I think by the beginning of the season I said something around "I hope it's not the same cycle of people putting their expectations on the Buddie of it all, to not be about Buddie at all and then there is an entire hate train on the show because these expectations weren't met"

My original post was mostly about how the discussions I'm seeing made this theory way too convoluted for the quality of the writing we're receiving in this season. Like how can I expect such a brilliant work with a metaphor leading to Buddie if the writing for both of them this season is underwhelming? Buck? Overexposed and walking in circles. Eddie? Underexposed and barely existed in the season. By the way they were written this season I don't believe that it would honor a pay off leading to Buddie.

The couch theory surely does fit with the Buddie of it all, however I am not putting my expectations on it being about the ship, but being about Buck, and only Buck, to be him finally realizing he is worthy and enough by his own, making the way he walked in circles this season means something at least.

[strawberryqueen00]

Do you think that Viren is dead?

I hope this meme accuracy describes my words. If not…oh boy

But legit…there’s a chance. So Aaravos very clearly words it “the blood of your child” not the “life of your child” the blood. That is some SUPER specific wording I’ve been thinking of. Because well…Claudia is currently missing a leg and is letting a lot of blood. But Aaravos also uses the words “sacrifice” later. This implies a death(or that there just needs to be ENOUGH blood that the only one to get it is death which Claudia bleed out could provide).

But then there’s the question of

1. Can they find Viren in time. He’s in the woods(i assume this isn’t that big of a deal)

2. Would Claudia even have the strength to do this?(would be interesting if Terry used dark magic here 👀 but also unlikely)

3. How does she figure out how to do the spell. The homunculus saying “Blood of Child” seems like a detail that the writers very likely put in to let Claudia know about the blood but who tells her the symbol in the spell? I guess the homunculus could draw the symbol in the ground?

But we’ve seen this happen before where Claudia has done something the person didn’t want/had accepted reality in Soren. Soren was fine with what happened after the dragon fight. And having the extra drama of Claudia using dark magic to bring him back if he didn’t want to. THE ANGST YOU GUYS!

But I’m not just conflicted from a logistical perspective but from a character perspective.

If the story better if Viren comes back?

Is it more narratively fufilling for Viren to choose to die a meaningless death without dark magic when he was so prideful of positions of power. Of being remembered for something greater than this. To die on his own terms humbly on the ground, forsaking that thing that his pride focused on so much?

To some him dying without seeing the rest of the gang or them knowing he gave up dark magic is a waste. But, I don’t think so. Because it is a legitimately an interesting take to have a villain come to a moral change and become a better person without the heroes ever knowing. That you can grow as a person even in your last moments and that you don’t always have to reconcile with the people you hurt for your growth to be valid.

They can still hate you and you can grow as a better person and that’s okay.

So. Do you understand why I made the meme I did st the top of my post? There are so many unique possibilities for Viren’s development from this point forward if they let him live or not.

I don’t think it’s as obvious in one side of another if his death will be permanent.

Now time for a crack theory if you were there just for that answer you can leave. I don’t fully believe this but as a not normal.tm person. My brain is…interested in this potential connection. Follow my lead for a second.

So. Terry is an Earthblood Elf and we have seen in the show and the spellbook that they can control plants and stone. And the image we’ve seen at the beginning of every episode? Viren turning to stone. What if Terry had a way to seal Viren in stone in a state where he’s on the edge of death until they can help him?

This is also an additional theory that works here.

Just to be clear, I even LESS believe this but the threads are there for it.

We know that humans can have revelations about the Arcanums after their dark magic dream. What if, in this moment of death. Of accepting life and staying true to his beliefs, grounding himself for the first in his life. We know from the Tale of Xadia books(sorry using wiki screenshots my phone is cringe) the associations the show has with Earth. We know we can trust what the book has to say about Arcanums and the show because what they say about the Ocean is what Callum uses to learn it.

A lot of these currently don’t currently fit Viren but they could in a symbolic sense. In the future(harmony to represent the growth he’s made in his relationship with through Terry along with harmony in himself AND harmony between dark magic and Arcanum magic! Patience he showed in how long he waited for the throne and his plan but also a symbolic patience of how it’s taken for him to get here,

Before this he’s also been shown to be stubborn, resilient, he literally is a representation of the deep history humans have with dark magic. HOW MANY HAS HE TRIED TO HEAL PEOPLE WITH DARK MAGIC GUYS COME ON! BALANCE! BALAANCE Light and Dark come on!

This is all just a crack theory but the more I connected then points made and more sense. The narrative potential of the greatest user of Dark Magic in the series. The Magic that hurts creatures to use, becomes a magic user of EARTH AND NATURE. To heal what he has done. To take what he used to use and help it heal and grow. Like talk about a full circle opportunity!

But it’s pretty unlikely with what we know and it anyone wants to write a fanfic or make art off Earth arcanum Viren AU PLZ @ me I love this.

[zibus]

Ranking all the Straw Hat Pirates by timeskip redesign.

Luffy - Captain

Probably the simplest redesign, which makes sense considering his the main character and face of the franchise. Gotta make sure he's instantly recognizable. The yellow scarf adds some nice color balance with the iconic straw hat. The longer, flared sleeves brings some more attention to his arms - the focus of his fighting style, and having it unbuttoned by default highlights his only real physical change -broader and more ripped.

The most drastic change is, of course, the scar. X-mark, skull and crossbones comparisons for sure, but more importantly it highlights the trouble and danger he endured in the 1st part of the show. This protagonist normally defined by his unfapability has been marked. Ace is dead -and he's never going to let that happen again.

8/10 - simple, effective, but not a show stopper

Zero - Swordsman

Again, biggest physical change is the scarring, highlighting the increadible pain and hardship Zoro has endured following Luffy and pursuing his dream. Really leaning hard into the green, but the purple belt is a nice touch. I imagine there's some cultural symbolism with this particular cloak that I'm missing. My guess is that it's supposed to invoke historic samurai dress, but I'm not sure. Either way, it's a decent look on him.

5/10 - good, but pretty similar to before and too much green for me. I prefer the old look slightly

Usopp - Sniper

By far the biggest glow up, Usopp goes from being a scrawny teen to a young man. The big bushy hair behind and little goatee are fantastic. The suspenders and new paints keep him looking silly, but add more color than before and the bell of the pant legs match his toned, broader chest. The new hat mimics Luffy's, and Usopp's continued insistence that he's the captain.

10/10 - no notes

Sanji - Cook

The hair is a bit messier, more emo/punk with the covered eye switching sides. The little chinstrap is a nice way of aging him up a bit, but what really sells it is the angularity of the face now. Clothing wise not much has changed, keeping the double-breasted suit. A subtler change to how his drawn is he slouched back less, making him feel a bit more imposing.

6/10 - not too much change, but I like it better than Zoro's

Nami - Navigator

Nami's outfits change the most of any character, so I'll focus on physical changes. There are two - hair and boobs. I like boobs as much as the next guy, tho I think the show uses them for jokes too often with the new design. Still, the hair is excellent and combined they do help make her look older, more confident and assured in her skill.

7/10 - again, not a lot of change, but the simple ones here do change how the character feels

Chopper -Doctor

Biggest change for Chopper is the hat. I liked the way the top hat provided a different shape/silhouette, so the big round one doesn't do it for me. I do really like the colors on it, tho I wished they matched more with his shirt and pants. Still, it looks good, and his ears sticking out is a really cute touch.

I like how he's shown to have aged more in some of his other forms. I especially like this moment from their reintroduction when he meets Nami and Usopp in reindeer mode.

The much larger antlers, the more pronounced chest and fir look great. I kinda wish they'd made his regular form a little more aged as well.

6.5/10 - neutral on most of the changes, but I don't dislike any of them outright

Robin - Archeologist

As with Nami, Robin changes outfits frequently. Unlike Nami, Robin is already an adult when pre-timeskip, so there's very little physical growth left for her. The biggest change is her haircut, which is a really subtle, but nice difference. She's finally started to heal from her childhood trauma and a lifetime of being constantly alone and on the run now that she's joined the crew. Her hair reflects that, leaving her childhood bangs and diy-looking crop behind.

7/10 -subtle, but good (also she's my fave so I'm biased)

Franky - Shipwright

How the might have fallen. It's too busy. The original design is so good in its simplicity. Here things like the leg bits distract from the rest of the design. I do like how the seems make it look like he literally added stuff onto his torso section, rather than grow naturally. The shoulder balls and square arms are too much, especially together. I think I could have gotten behind more square arms as an interesting silhouette change, but combined with the silly shoulder balls its too much - tho the mechanical joints at the shoulders are a good touch. Last, they removed his hair! That doo is almost the most iconic part of his original look! You can't just shave him! Make it bigger and weirder if you want to change it that badly, but you can't shave my man! Now he looks like a marine. At least he got to keep the sunglasses.

3/10 - I do like how this new design highlights his cyborg nature more, but I wish he'd had an aesthetics advisor while performing his upgrades.

Brook - Musician

As an animated skeleton, can't really change anything physically so they went all out with a change of clothes. While I think the crown is a little much and lo9ks pretty silly, I do like the rest of his outfit. It's loud and ostentatious as befitting a skeleton musician. The frilly boa helps to extend the fluffy afro a bit more into his design, but he keeps the old timey suit and cravat. He is, indeed, a man out of time.

7/10 - good, but not as much going on thematically as Luffy's

Overall: 6.5/10 - All but one of the cast looks better, but most of them are only marginal improvements. Still, some really standout ones as well.

[blackpearlblast]

[ID: tumblr reblog reading: "The Jogress pairings are all "person with a Crest" & "person without a Crest", along with "they will grow as people by this partnership". Also, "purity" is more properly defined as "being true to oneself", which is exactly what Miyako is.

in the tags it also says: "the digimentals could have been distributed differently but their canon setup isn't wrong either" end ID]

i blocked this person because their pinned creeped me out but i am gonna reply to what they said here lol. first of all this is just kind of my observations while watching the show but since i tagged it for blog sorting purposes (and also sorta being curious if other people would agree) i don't blame them for not knowing that. the person with a crest + without a crest is cool and im not actually entirely against hikari and miyako jogress pairing because i thought that episode was handled well and i did like the character growth, it was more just like. Another example of how the girl characters are restricted to only really getting to be symbolically grouped together. like it's odd to me in how the digi anime generally seems to do a good job with writing its female characters in how they get to people with motivations hopes dreams etc and i genuinely really like all of them (i mean i hate sora's main character "growth" arc but that's more a "children being treated like their parents' things" issue than a misogyny issue) but they don't like. i don't know how to put it better but they're just held sort of separate. the best we get is hikari and takeru but even then she often gets left behind while the guys fly ahead for some reason. it's like they wanted to make strong and interesting female characters but at the same time they're scared of alienating their intended audience of young boys if they're just? i don't know like it's very puzzling to me. it just feels like the girls being shoved off in the girl corner a lot but they're allowed to be COOL in the girl corner but they're not allowed to leave it. i guess.

as for purity sorry if me finding miyako having an outburst where she's like "sorry i judge people by how they look and i think this guy is cool so of course i want to be close to him it's just how i am!" is not like, a cool digimental moment to me lmao. how is iori not being true to himself and his values by putting his literal life on the line trying to make a connection with another living being with a soul? honestly i agree the digimentals are pretty nebulous and you could probably make any of them fit anyone, i did say purity didn't fit miyako at all but i more just hated the Justifications. they used for it. it felt like a stretch that they were doing because they had to give her both the digimentals that belonged to the 01 girls. I just think the parallels and symbolism behind iori with purity would be much cooler.

[kazumahashimoto]

omgggg ok category 5 autism moment incoming i just feel CRAZED like omg. voice direction is something i feel i care perhaps an above average amount about so of course i'm like paying super attention to all that but also i'm just so confused like the way in which caleb performs as zack is so. not zack. like i'll disregard the pitch thing for right now even if they were trying to get someone that hit closer to zack's japanese voice actor's range why wouldn't they get. a Voice actor? like caleb pierce has had a number of on camera rolls but this was his first voice acting roll. and sure like aerith's new va hadn't done voice acting either but she's like. good at it? i don't know how to say this lightly but he's bad. or at least for the character he's bad. there are plenty PLENTY of voice actors in that mid high range with all the levels of nasal and scratch you could ever dream of that can give you the emotional range and growth zack goes through. caleb just doesn't perform that. we see this in scenes where he's meant to be yelling yet he puts no strain in his voice or in scenes where he's meant to be calm and understanding where he still has a snarky bite.

another thing that comes to mind for me to show just how different they play the character is the scene where zack meets aerith for the first time. once he collects himself, rick has zack deepen his voice a bit to put up a sort of bravado, he's just met this cute girl you see, zack is something of a flirt, he's just made a fool of himself falling through her roof and he's compensating. what a nice moment of ACTING!!!!! that is TONE that is ALL rick and/or the director. that wasn't the script. caleb reads those lines the same way he reads everything else. there isn't the same nuance and intrigue in performance, to me anyway. i find watching caleb perform boring to listen to honestly. like he's too afraid to get a little silly or a little ugly. no mess. all snark. and sure up to a point you can get away with that i Guess but it's not a terribly long time. once angeal starts pulling away zack gets more serious. he's still goofy and silly but he's also angry and loud and confused and he doesn't know how to deal with any of it. caleb not getting more rough with his voice takes the emotion out of these scenes. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO ANGEAL?" stops sounding like an angry and horrified boy who thinks his mentor just killed his mom, and starts sounding like someone scolding their dog or something. like this was a failing of the director if nothing else.

but let's get back to the pitch because i am so serious it makes a difference!!!!!! even if caleb had STARTED at the same place he should have ENDED putting on at least a Little bit of a deeper voice? like am i supposed to assume this man has No range? i don't wanna assume that i don't fucking know this guy!!!! but like man. angeal is Such an important person to zack. zack sees angeal in EVERYTHING. one of the first scenes is angeal saving zack and grabbing his hand to pull him up. zack is the one who ends up killing angeal. angeal chose him because he knew he was going to die anyway and he didn't want it to be at the hands of shinra by any means. zack is not shinra to him. zack is his cherished friend and mentee. zack kills angeal and is gifted his sword. zack mourns angeal. cissnei tells him wings don't signify a monster, they symbolize freedom. zack looks up to the sky as white feathers fall around him. he catches one in his hand and says, "those wings, i want them too." when zack dies it's angeal we hear his final message to, and we see him reach his hand out to be pulled up by angeal. he smiles as he goes. the main theme of crisis core is dreams and honor. dreams and honor is angeal's theme, angeal's leitmotif. we hear dreams and honor in nearly every song in the soundtrack, even including cloud's. most importantly zack's theme, the actual main character of this video game, is dreams and honor with an electric guitar. zack sees angeal in EVERYTHING. zack thinks the entire world of angeal. in nibelheim he tries to fulfill a similar role in that moment that he had with cloud. he tries to be the rock. when cloud shifts the conversation to be about zack, zack breaks. he lets out a bit of that frustration and confusion at what shinra is forcing him to do. when cloud brings up his sword he suddenly remembers angeal again. not just that he was his mentor and he was grounding, but his strong sense of morals and ideals. his dreams and honor. it is in this moment i believe zack stops seeing "SOLDIER" as SHINRA and starts seeing it as angeal. angeal stopped seeing zack as shinra long ago. before zack kills all those infantrymen he repeats angeal's mantra. embrace your dreams and whatever you do, protect your honor, as SOLDIER. zack is not still attached to the military he's currently slaughtering the lowest members of. he's not desperately clinging to a title of power he once held. he's reclaimed it and given it to angeal.

ALL THIS TO SAY I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT HE CHANGES HIS VOICE TO SOUND MORE LIKE ANGEAL'S AS HE GETS OLDER. like from a character perspective it makes no sense he wouldn't have a vocal change At All after so much has happened like that's a super easy thing you can give to a character to show growth. AND ZACK HAD THAT. BEFORE. i'm running out of steam. it's just kind of crazy to me like even separating rick gomez from the equation caleb pierce plays zack in such a boring unnuanced way. but anyway. heart<3

[lampmanliveblogs]

Amity’s hair is abomination colored. W-which I knew too, I realized it the moment I saw it! I just never commented on it because, uh… Look! Character growth!

So Amity finally got around to telling her dad she doesn’t want to join the Emperor’s Coven. It’s unclear, but I don’t think she told him that she doesn’t want to join ANY coven… which is probably a good idea. We gotta ease into things, it’s a little early to say ”Hey dad, when grow up, I want to become a criminal and overthrow the government.”

It’s a start.

Which is the thing to take away from this scene. We don’t get a conclusion, we get a start. A beginning of things getting better…hopefully.

Like I said before, Alador has not been the most involved with his family, far too busy focusing on his work. Which leaves Odalia, who tries to exert an unhealthy level of control over her kids (well, Ed & Em seem like they do what they want, so maybe it’s mostly Amity). She even tires to control the color of her daughter’s hair.

(side note about Amity’s hair: her natural hair color is brown, like her dad. and now she’s colored her hair purplish-pink like abomination goop. signifying that despite him being very absent, she is still closer to her dad in some ways?)

Amity’s words about Alador not talking to them anymore indicates that things weren’t always like this. That it was at some point over the years that he became busier and more obsessed with his work. Odalia might’ve had something to do with it; we know she is very ambitious and obsessed with status. But of course… the price we pay to be classed as elite is that we become like the others.

Still, Alador is an adult and a parent, he has responsibilities toward his family. Not just to provide for his children, but also to nurture them. He seems to realize some of the errors of his ways and promises to do better. Or at least try to make things better. It’s late and maybe too little… but it’s a start.

I talked about this place before and what it might mean to revisit it in this episode. And most of it didn’t go anywhere I think. But I want to bring up something

I mentioned the changing seasons before, that it was fall. I wrote something that I then erased and rewrote because it felt a little too grim. I don’t remember the exact thing I wrote, but it was something like ”Fall brings to mind death or dying.”

Which… yeah. Considering the reveal thirty seconds later… I kinda wish I went with that.

This is beautiful.

It’s not the same thing and Luz is right in that it won’t ever reach the Human Realm. But it eases her mind.

(i guess there’s also the imagery of sending something into the sky and the idea of heaven and all that)

I’m pretty sure that this is the first time Amity has ever drawn a glyph. We saw her use one of Luz’ invisibility spells earlier (correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that was the first time she ever used a glyph?), but this is the first time she’s drawn one. And… it looked about as good as any of the glyphs I could draw (again, just wait until you see my new conspiracy corner).

My snake daughter!

Vee is hanging out in her regular form I see. Now, I do know she gets another human form at some point, I’ve been spoiled on that much. Which makes sense, I figure it might be a little awkward for her and Camila both if she went back to looking like Luz.

More importantly though, Camila places a flower in a vase. It looks like the same kind of flower that Luz made, but white instead of pink. And that vase looks a lot like the abomination balloon Amity made. Cool detail, showing the connection between them.

There might be some symbolism with that flower, but I don’t know anything about flowers. I know I’m from Sweden, but we can’t all be Carl von Linné.

And so comes to and end episode fourteen, with Luz & Camila both looking up at the night sky, thinking of what they have lost.

Except the sky in the Demon Realm looks prettier because there is less light pollution.

As per usual, I did my rewatch of the episode and here are some things I either missed or didn’t talk about my first time through:

•Luz actually names the new glyph combo she learned in this episode The Safety Hover… and I somehow didn’t hear it and has been calling it Fall Break instead. Whoops. •Luz asks Hunter if he’s good now. I initially misinterpreted it as meaning ”are you okay/unharmed now?” But no, she was asking if he was a good person now, which is one hundred times funnier. •The book on abomination creation Alador is holding in the first scene between him and Amity is written by Darius, and if you look on the back, it looks like it might be a signed copy. I’m going to headcanon that it’s like an introductory-level book Darius wrote for students that he sent signed to Alador. I mean, why else would Alador have it? •I pointed out that the announcer at the Bonesbororugh Brawl was the leader of the demon hunters who first appeared in Hooty’s Moving Hassle and I pointed out that one of the security guards at the event was the wild witch being arrested in Eda’s Requiem. But the demon standing next to her also made an appearance in Hooty’s Moving Hassle. He was the one tasked with pushing the kids off the cliff. Something he apparently always dreamed of doing. So not really the guy who should be doing security at big events. •Actually, I went back and checked, and the purple-haired wild witch is part of the demon hunters in that episode. •Eda has much better control over her harpy transformation, implying she has either been training or eating a lot more voles since Eclipse Lake. •I really like the music during the tournament/ingredient collection montage. •I obviously didn’t bring it up in the moment, because I was trying to keep things somber, but I am ever so slightly amused by the text in Luz’ event reminder. At: Gravesfield Graveyard. Gravesfield Graveyard. Those words mean basically the same thing. •We also got to see half of Luz’ dad’s face. •I also love the acting in that scene, I don’t give the VA:s the credit they deserve, Sarah-Nicole Robles who plays Luz did an excellent job in that scene. She always does a great job, but this was extra great. The animation was great too, for that matter. •I don’t think I pointed out Alador’s proud smile when he and Amity do their combo attack to restrain War Wrath. •I don’t think I’ve noticed before that Eda grows quite a bit in height when she’s transformed into her harpy form, I only noticed when she transformed back while standing next to Alador. •We got a look at a calendar in the Human Realm. Based on the markings, the anniversary of Camila’s husband’s death is on the 22nd of August. And according to that thing I bought years ago and literally never used until today, the 22nd of August 2020 is a Saturday. Except the day marked is clearly a Tuesday. This means the series can’t take place in 2020, which is what I’ve been thinking. This means that the series actually takes place in 2017, 2023, 2034, 2045, 2048, or 2051. This revelation means some of the dates on my conspiracy corner are wrong.

There is another brief moment I want to acknowledge, mostly because someone pointed it out in the comments. When threatening Wrath, she referred to Luz as her student/child. The reason I didn’t bring it up was because it was pretty much stated in Eda’s Requiem that Eda thinks of Lus* as her child. So hearing Eda say it wasn’t so surprising. The one thing that is kinda notable is that she said it not just in front of Wrath, but also in front of King. And King is not exactly known for keeping his mouth shut. This makes me wonder… if it might be brought up to Luz some time soon that Eda feels that way about her, cause I don’t think she quite realize it yet.

(*did I seriously misspell Luz as Lus? Who am I, the swedish dub?)

(yeah, the swedish dub pronounces Luz as Lus. Which means louse)

Anyways, this was a great episode. The big stand-out moment was of course… that scene. Where Luz told Amity about her dad. Just everything about it was perfect. I loved it and also hated it because it made me feel sad.

We got to see Amity’s dad get involved, and not just in the plot of an episode, but in his daughter’s life. In a positive way too, at least in the end.

As for Luz… while she did eventually open up about the stuff with her dad and why she was so distracted… the underlying issue of her avoiding and not talking about the things that trouble her with the people that love her and want to help wasn’t really addressed. I think this is something that we’ll see a return to in a future episode.

That’s about what I have to say for now. Stay tuned for a little while longer though, because I have some more things I want to show you. As for when I’ll get to the next episode… I’m not sure. I’m going to be working for a few days in a row and I have other stuff to do as well (can you guys believe it’s almost Christmas?? I’m not ready!).

With that said… I’m The Lampman, and until next time, take care of the planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space!

<--Previous Episode: Any Sport in a Storm

Masterlist

Next Episode: Them's the Breaks, Kid

[ocd-kenobi]

I liked what you wrote in the update! The thing about Obi-wan's anxiety on whether he is meant to be a jedi is quite in character. It makes sense that he needs eyes and minds other than his own that can give him a better authority on whether he is doing the right thing. Also yes 6 pages of anxiety is A Lot, maybe they just boosted his insecurities for the sake of like teen angst??? (As it is catered to a ya audience??)

What do you think about the other 2 times he says he might or might have left the order and his reasoning behind those?

The one with Satine is a bit difficult for me to understand I think, because idk he says it to her after she makes a dying confession. So it's hard for me to analyze that because I don't know if it's the sentiment of a man who's about to lose someone he loved or if he had genuinely thought about leaving the order for her. In which case he has had other love interests that he's turned away so. Idk I want to hear your thoughts on the whole thing.

I've seen it argued that Padawan "boosted his insecurities" as you put it for the teen audience, but that's not exactly what I think. I think it's a believable amount of anxiety for Obi-Wan as he ends up (and his growth over the course of the book creates a believable amount of unhealthy letting-go obsessions for him as well); it's just surprising to me that so many pages of the 400 book exist just in his head. It's the only Star Wars book I've read that's exclusively from one person's point of view without another person's way of thinking or doing to offset the imbalance of the main character's mind. There are just pages and pages of Obi-Wan cycling through the same old thoughts. It's incredibly repetitive--which is how those kinds of thought patterns are, so it's realistic! I'm just surprised it sold, I guess. Is this what YA readers want?

ANYWAYS--your real question! To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure which two times you're referring to! Someone (possibly @merrysithmas?) wrote a post a few months ago about how Obi-Wan's claim that he would have left the order for Satine isn't actually that unique, because there are several times he has or claims he would have. That being said, I've decided I don't even really like the clone wars and Filoni's character decisions about Obi-Wan, so I just haven't memorized any of that stuff lol. I always forget Satine exists--even though she does seem very much like the kind of girl an anxious gay teenager would decide he'd fallen in star-crossed impossible love with lol. In short, I don't believe he really meant it, and if he had left the order for her as a teenager, I think it probably would have gone about as well as his other attempts to leave the order for teenage social reasons.

My favorite times that Obi-Wan considers leaving the order are:

At the end of The Phantom Menace (as depicted in the TPM novel and Master & Apprentice's epilogue, and as implied in the film). Before the Council has approved him to take Anakin as a formal Padawan, his vow to Qui-Gon that he would train the boy has replaced his vow to the order. Which is so fascinating! The levels of guilt and loyalty to Qui-Gon he must have, that he would see his wishes through even if it meant leaving behind his entire life and planned future! I love this moment as the start of his FAITH in Anakin, because at this point Anakin has incredible symbolic value to him that he is willing to REBUILD HIS LIFE and form a new religion around Anakin, a child he has known for approximately 48 hours. I love imagining Obi-Wan raising and training Anakin somewhere completely separate from the Jedi Order, all because he made a guilty promise to his dying master that he would live his life in service to a boy from Tatooine. The possibilities are endless!

In Charles Soule's Obi-Wan and Anakin comic. Similar to the prior example, but when Anakin is a teenager and struggling to fit his connection to the force into the constraints of the Jedi order. Obi-Wan sees this, listens calmly to Anakin's thoughts about leaving the order, knowing all the while that he would leave with Anakin, that he would HAVE to. I think he talks to other Jedi about it and thinks about it on his own, but I can't remember if he assures Anakin that he would leave with him. His "promise to Qui-Gon" is still so important to him, though it's easy to see that Anakin himself is what's so important to him, that he has such FAITH in Anakin that he would leave to train him with or without his vow. (Having the concrete vow to guide himself by helps him trust his feelings, of course.) The great part about this whole mess is that he presents a supportive front to Anakin, while unconsciously manipulating him into feeling like he can't leave the order. Obi-Wan loves the order and wants to stay, and I think that motivates him to keep Anakin there more than actually believing it's what's independently best for Anakin.

[randommusingsstuff]

Why Ben and Devi are Endgame (Meta)

At the heart of every rom-com, it always comes down to this: what does the protagonist truly want? 

Why Devi and Paxton Don’t Work

In the season 2 finale, Devi triumphantly says “So, I guess I'm Paxton Hall-Yoshida’s girlfriend now”. She got what she thought she wanted at the start of her journey, only it’s not what she wants anymore. 

Although Devi cares for Paxton, she views him as a status symbol. Paxton, for all his growth, still sees himself as cooler than her. And no, he was not just embarrassed because she cheated on him. Before he knew she was cheating, he invited his friends on their first date and refused to call her his girlfriend. In the finale, it once again takes someone else to point out that he shouldn’t blow her off. As Devi and Paxton walk into the dance, he gives his friends a sheepish look while they judge him. Not only does he still have lingering feelings of embarrassment, his friends’ reactions suggest turbulence ahead for their relationship. 

There is also a lack of communication between Paxton and Devi. They have a magical kiss by the window, and makeout sessions afterwards, but they don't actually talk about their relationship in that elapsed time. Devi makes the assumption that they are together and Paxton doesn’t articulate what he wants until it is forced out of him. 

What can we conclude from this? Paxton is a great character, but he is not the one for Devi. They have differing interests and goals, a lack of communication and they do not see each other for their true worth. 

Can the writers surmount all of these issues to give them an endgame? Yes, but it would require fundamentally changing who Devi and Paxton are. 

Why Devi and Ben Work

In episode 1 of season 2, Devi wants to pick Ben but her friends talk her out of it. This is crucial to understanding why they belong together: her gut instinct has already revealed the truth. She had both guys vying for her and she wanted Ben. Just by this one fact alone, we can infer that Devi’s relationship with Ben was more meaningful to her than her pursuit of Paxton in season 1.

When it’s revealed that Devi is two-timing the boys, Paxton is hurt but Ben is devastated. Paxton likes her, but Ben connected with her on a deeper emotional level. Devi follows Paxton out of the party, which is understandable because he is the one walking away. Again, this is cleverly hinting at their communication styles. Paxton wants to avoid the situation and Ben wants to talk about it. From Ben’s perspective, Paxton is the guy she has wanted for so long and he is the second choice. 

Throughout the season, Ben never considers the fact that Devi could want him over Paxton, which is equal parts sad and infuriating. Her therapist asks what she wants more than anything and she says Ben. In context, it’s a comical line, but it’s also Devi revealing her truth. Like she does at the beginning of the season, she makes a choice and it’s Ben. She pursues Ben romantically before Paxton even though Paxton is the one more willing to forgive her. 

It takes Ben longer to forgive her, and yet he is still there for her when she needs help. The little things he does like give her advice about Aneesa and make her feel better about Paxton’s rejection all show Devi’s ability to be vulnerable with Ben. 

As an aside, they had the opportunity to show Devi being vulnerable with Paxon but didn’t take it. In episode 8 of season 2, Paxton sees Devi crying and she reveals that she got into a really bad fight with Eleanor. I was thinking: here it is, here is the moment that Paxton finally helps Devi with her problems... but no. His response is “seems like you’re in a fight with lots of people” and the conversation quickly shifts to her apologizing and helping him yet again. Devi is able to open up to Ben and be supported by him in a way that she can’t with Paxton.

Before I talk about the finale, which is arguably the biggest point in Ben and Devi’s favour, I want to look at the season overall. The entire story arc is Ben and Devi wanting to be together but constantly running into roadblocks in the form of Eleanor/Fabiola, Paxton and Aneesa. It was so alarmingly obvious they belonged together after season 1, that the writers had to find ways to forcibly separate them for the time being. It’s important for Ben and Devi’s relationship that she dates Paxton first. If she had been allowed to go for Ben, they would have had to explore Devi wondering what she missed out on. When Devi and Ben do get their happy ending, it will be because Devi has realized that Paxton is not the person for her. 

In the finale of season 2, we get 3 crucial scenes from Devi and Ben. The first is the bathroom scene which reaffirms Devi’s ability to be vulnerable with Ben and his ability to support her (something she doesn’t have with Paxton). The second is their tension-filled scene at the dance where they longingly stare at each other. This directly contrasts the scene in episode 8, where Devi tries to reframe her mindset and stop seeing Ben as someone she is attracted to. Here, it becomes apparent that she is unable to stop thinking about him in a romantic way despite actively trying. 

The third scene is basically Eleanor saying “you dummy, she wanted to choose you!”. The writers intentionally reference the pros-cons scene from episode 1, re-affirming that Devi wants Ben. The only reason they are not together is because he is not an option. 

Then we get the line “it wasn’t always him”. Many Devi and Paxton fans believe her choice was Ben, but he took too long and now it’s too late. But when has it ever been too late for a main love interest in a rom-com? Mindy Kaling is a rom-com savant, and she knows as well as I do that it’s only ever “too late” for douchey guys who do not acknowledge the self-worth of the heroine. That’s not Ben though, he has always seen Devi for who she is. 

The heartbreak on Ben’s face is infinitely worse than Paxton’s voicemail at the end of season 1, although these scenes are meant to parallel each other. Devi and Paxton are two people who like each other but do not work as a long-term relationship. Ben and Devi are two people who work as a long-term relationship but never acknowledge their feelings for each other at the right time. It’s a tragedy just waiting to be rectified in season 3.

Season 3 Predictions

Now that I've given my analysis on why Devi and Ben are meant to be, here are some predictions I have on the Devi-Ben-Paxton love triangle for season 3.

Fabiola/Eleanor will be the ones to help Devi act on her true feelings for Ben. This one is a no-brainer for me. After sabotaging their chance to be happy in the first place, Fabiola and Eleanor will decide that they want their friend to be happy and set things right. It will also parallel Ben mending their friendship in season 1.

Paxton and Devi will have some sweet moments in the first half of the season, but not without their issues. The lack of communication and their respective status (the way they view each other) will cause them to fight. They will break-up mid-season, but the ending will leave hope for reconciliation.

On that note, I do not think they will kill the love triangle. Even though we will likely see Devi confessing her feelings for Ben and saying that she wanted to choose him all along, this is still a TV show. Contentious love triangles = buzz and money.

Ben and Aneesa will break up by mid-season, but probably earlier. Ben will find it hard to be in a relationship with Aneesa as he grapples with his feelings for Devi.

Ben will be a pillar of support to Devi as she navigates how to be a girlfriend. It’s the classic trope of the guy helping the girl win over the man of her dreams, only to realize that the person she wants is right in front of her.

 Devi and Ben’s friendship and lingering feelings will culminate in an epic finale confession and kiss. Everything that they were unable to say to each other last season will be spoken aloud in season 3.

Ben and Devi are soulmates, drawn to each other and unable to avoid their feelings. I can’t wait for them to take over my life again next year.

[inhonoredglory]

another character based question - how do you feel about mikasa? a lot of fans dont like her, im curious about how you feel! - armin anon

Hellooooo Armin Anon. OMG it’s been forever since I had the time to sit down and do a proper meta, and I apologize.

First off, I finished the manga!!! (So, spoilers ahead for anyone else reading this.) I had to lie down after reading 139. It’s a tremendous story and I’m still taking it all in. The set pieces and personal/emotional stakes of everything that happens is just astounding. If it’s one thing Isayama does good, it’s the gut-wrenching personal anguish that underlies the action. I’m absolutely floored. My favorite bit was probably the timey-wimey stuff in Paths and Eren. That blew my freaking mind. But onto Mikasa!!

A Cruel Yet Beautiful World

I remember way back when I started the anime that I started liking Mikasa first out of the group. I liked how sullenly silent and no-nonsense she was, and I liked her loyalty to Eren. Her emotion, especially when Eren died in Trost, was palpable and terrifyingly beautiful. Her grief was incredibly realistic––rushing off with a death wish that even she couldn’t succumb to in the end, because of the drive to fight that she got from Eren. In a world like SNK, her relentlessness breaking through her grief was incredibly moving. And her philosophy is basically the driving theme of SNK: “This is a cruel world, and yet so beautiful.”

This is the same moral message she gives Eren when he can’t find the strength in him to fight Annie––and gives him that warm, understanding, inscrutable smile that allows him to finally accept his own monsters, fight Annie, and save her and Armin. (One of my favorite panels of her from the manga, actually.) Mikasa is basically the first character we meet who embodies this contradictory morality, which grows to engulf SNK and other characters as well (Levi, Reiner, and Armin especially come to mind). Which could be why I was drawn to her at the start, since the complex moral outlook of SNK was the primary reason I fell hard for this story.

(And gosh, it’s tragic to realize that it’s teaching moments like the scene above that made Eren into the person who could influence his own child self to murder, the person who could wipe out so much of humanity, the person who could take Ymir’s challenge to free her by destroying the love of the person who cared the most about him. I’m still processing yo.)

Acker-parallels

I started really analyzing Mikasa when I had to defend her from a friend of mine who accused her of resenting Levi (for beating up Eren) and that’s why she attacked him so violently in the RTS serumbowl. Because of my research into rebutting that, a lot of my affection for Mikasa now comes in seeing the little ways in which she cares and trusts other people, including Armin, Levi, Gabi, and Jean. And her quiet sensibility that goes beyond her love and protectiveness of Eren.

With Levi in particular, I find a lot I like about her. Because you can definitely see her annoyance at him, but she also trusts him more than anyone else in the Corps outside of Armin. After Levi’s violent encounter with Historia, she was the only one who implicitly trusted Levi’s judgement, backing up Armin’s more reasoned logic. She sees beyond her own emotions and even moral feelings and realizes the world is cruel enough that sometimes people have to do dark things to help others and survive.

This is very much the same statement Levi made to the 104th when he had asked them to follow Erwin’s orders when the commander’s plans were questionable on the surface: “Do you trust him? Those dumb enough to say yes… come with me.” These two understand each other on a moral level, and they ask for their comrades’ loyalty without demanding it, because they each know that everyone’s conscience is their own.

There’s a clear parallel between Mikasa and Levi, not only because of their Ackerman heritage and sensibilities (loyal to a fault to their chosen person, impossibly strong, quiet and grim), but their frustration when they cannot protect the people they are responsible for. They both know they are the strongest around, and if they cannot fulfill on that power, a lot of people will die.

There are many moments in which Mikasa puts aside her personal feelings to do her soldierly duty, from leaving Eren to help with the evacuation of Trost to leaving Eren and Armin to fight the Colossal Titan alone in Shigonshina.

And then there’s the fact that Levi’s the one who could break past Mikasa’s headspace and distraction so that she can do the right thing. He understands her strong emotion, he respects it, but he also knows when that has to be put aside for the greater good. But he doesn’t put her down for having those emotions, either.

Strength from Eren, Humanity from Armin

Mikasa’s love and loyalty to Eren challenges her tremendously after the timeskip and her sorrow at Eren’s change is what really stands out to me about her character in the Marley arc. The absolute grief in her eyes when she tells Eren what he’s done is devastating, and it shows just how much goodness and compassion she does have.

And yet she longs to understand Eren, to trust him, to believe there can be something redeeming, and not merely jaded and tired, in what he taught her so many years ago––to fight, to win, to live.

There’s such a difference between these same words said here by Mikasa, so many years later, after so much heartbreak, to the anger and flame that were in them when she first heard them, back when she realized that this was the way of the world. That death and killing happens in the natural world everyday and that’s how you survive. That the world is both cruel and beautiful.

And yet as the years wore on, as Mikasa grew closer to others, found purpose in protecting others, sought a life with Eren… as she wandered further into the forest of life and society and relationships, she lost some of that simple injunction... to live is to fight, to fight is to win. She, like so many of the 104th and the others on this journey, found that it’s not enough to just fight and live and be satisfied. We really want it all to mean something, to have our actions be redemptive. To allow ourselves to believe that we do what we’re doing because we’re not just saving ourselves, but saving others, “saving the world” like Yelena points out (in the forest therapy session pfff). And it’s that drive for something bigger in our actions that grieves her so much with Eren, because as she wants her own actions to be fundamentally good and selfless, she wants his actions to be moral as well.

So while Eren is the person that frustrates Mikasa and motivates her to become stronger and braver than she ever was, Armin is the person who humanizes Mikasa and allows her the space to be gentle and vulnerable. She comforts Armin, confides in him, puts her faith in him, and puts her life in his hands.

She trusts Armin with Eren, and she values Armin’s intellect and compassion, qualities she doesn’t have in nearly as much quantities as he does: “There are only so many lives I can value. And… I decided who those people were six years ago. So... you shouldn’t try to ask for my pity. Because right now, I don’t have time to spare or room in my heart.”

This bit from her confrontation with Ymir and Historia was a defining moment for me with Mikasa. It’s honest and realistic in a way that few of us care to admit about ourselves, and it’s just super chilling and badass coming from her, too. It also shows how much she fights for Armin and Eren both. They are the two people she loves the most in the world, and she never gave up on saving either of them––from death or from themselves.

I’m looking back on Trost now and finding so much irony with the ending to SNK. In Trost, she was the one to give up on Eren, telling Armin that it was hopeless to try to extract Eren’s personality from his Titan form. And yet, like in the end, it’s always been between Armin and Mikasa to try to salvage Eren’s humanity. In Trost, Armin tells Mikasa to leave––to go do what she’s good at (saving lives)––and to entrust Eren to him.

It’s a huge expression of both Mikasa’s trust in Armin, and her belief in Armin’s abilities and friendship for Eren. And in the end, it’s the two of them again debating on if there’s any humanity left in Eren. The bond they share is intimate and deep. With all the military doubting Eren and scheming to take away his Titan (with even Jean and Connie unavailable to them emotionally), it’s only Armin and Mikasa against the world––the only two people who can truly consider Eren’s actions and hold off on judging him. And you can feel their love for him even as they doubt him.

And like back then, it has always been Armin who understands Eren most, the one who recognizes his own evil and Eren’s and finds a redemption in having others stop you, because you cannot stop yourself.

And that’s the thing I really take away from SNK and from Mikasa’s journey, that we all have devils inside us, and yet there is still beauty to be found, within us and in the world––from the natural wonders that Armin dreams of, to the comfort of purpose and companionship that Mikasa has in Eren. Love and wonder is what redeems us of our devils. And yet love itself is complicated, and can turn ugly in its obsession. That giving up that love is what makes the love selfless and beautiful, what absolves us of the selfishness within us. That’s what Mikasa learned. And in the end, she was able to release that love for the good of the world.

So I guess to sum up, I really love Mikasa. I can see why her dogged loyalty to Eren might annoy some fans, but I think there’s a lot more to her than simply that, and in fact, her journey and growth is heart-rending and one of the most symbolic arcs of SNK and fundamental to its entire theme. She’s a badass with a lot of emotion and depth behind her cold mask.

[firespirited]

The past few days I watched Ergo Proxy and I'm not sure how to feel about it. There were some interesting concepts, some interesting episodes and characters with growth but after about episode 18 they start cramming an awful lot of story into a lot of disjointed episodes with the final two being a jumble of tying up loose ends.

All the foreshadowing or easter eggs in symbolism, names and quotes makes it feel more layered than it is. The fact is that even after all this time we have little anchoring to Vincent, who he is and what his strengths and flaws are. He makes very few choices for himself instead being propelled forward by stuff that happens to him so we don't get to see much of the guy. He gives Re-L the gun that can kill him, he chooses to engage with Pino once he accepts that human sentience isn't the only sentience, beyond that we're told he's a generally good guy but doesn't seem that fazed by the death of a city and how he'll treat the returning creators and other proxies is unclear, guess they're trying to say that he'll decide when he meets them and always be fighting dualing instincts (even though he supposedly killed off that part of his identity) but I felt disconnected from his journey and the stakes in general by the end.

I would have enjoyed the various excursions into his psyche if we'd been given some kind of insight into who Vincent truly wants to be as a person beyond the fantasy of being someone else.

I didn't mind changes in pacing and tone, the surrealism and the slow doling out of lore but as we got towards the end, it started to feel like the time was being mismanaged between the surreal, the riddles and 'piece the unexplained situation together' type episodes. I'd lost patience with the format by the end.

How to explain : I don't mind having to figure out how the world works, I do mind having to try to understand character motivations working backwards.

The final episode has three different Monads, two Re-ls, Vincent is not just himself but two or three personas, Raul and Dedalus have goals of destruction, creation or just madness idek it's messy. It would have been interesting for the city to be around and in conflict with the new arrivals.

There were themes of fate and making your own destiny somewhere in there.

Now, that's not to say it's bad, it's actually a very decent story for teens and adults. It just didn't find the right balance in the final act.

I'd recommend it if you like thoughtful moody anime. The visuals are very nice (so much better than cgi anime or pan n scan anime) but Re-l's nose seems to be a different lengths on her face in different moments.

She's an engaging character, I really liked that she was sheltered, selfish and disconnected from her heart while being very capable in other areas. Her finding her balance and faith was a great payoff in the mess of the final episodes.

[deadendtracks]

I love reading your analysis of the show. I was so invested in the growth of Tommy and Lizzie especially in S6. I was so disappointed in the lack of scenes or elaboration in the final episode, they seem to end abruptly for them. Do you think Tommy and Lizzie will get back together? I see his wedding ring being burnt in the caravan along with her pic/Charlie. Does it mean, it's the end of their story. What does it mean you reckon?

Thank you!

I feel like it made sense for where the characters were in that moment.

I don't necessarily think the burning of his things in the caravan has to mean the end of their story. While I really don't know what will happen in the film -- there's definitely a chance they won't get back together or that the nature of a film (much shorter and more compact than a 6 episode series) will mean their relationship doesn't get much time. i do feel like that would be a waste; Natasha O'Keeffe was a revelation this season and her acting chemistry with Cillian Murphy was explosive to watch and left me wanting more, even if the two characters remain alienated and she hates him.

If we are talking about what might be believable for their relationship outside of the confines of whatever will be in the film, I do think there is potential. The burning of the caravan could represent an end to how Tommy was doing things before, when he thought he was dying and was deeply suicidal. It could mark a turning of a corner in his relationships with everyone; just because the picture of Charlie burnt I don't guess that Tommy will cut off that relationship, for example. It was a symbolic fire. The other point to remember is he didn't choose for that fire to be set, and it has other darker meanings, as @whatagrump pointed out.

The reason I theoretically have hope for Tommy and Lizzie is twofold: it was obvious that prior to Ruby's death the two of them had reached a level of understanding and Tommy had managed to open up more to her than I ever expected to see. There was a real sense of trust between them. Incomplete maybe, budding maybe, but the potential was there. Secondly: Lizzie seemed most upset by the fact that Tommy was just accepting her leaving him and not fighting her on it. Yes, she was upset about him sleeping with the enemy right after their child's death, but the fact that he just apathetically let her go when she found out seemed to hurt her more. I think she realized on some level that something else was going on with him around it, and wanted him to try to explain. I also think she knew something was going on with his health and wanted him to explain that too, but by then she was too upset over the other thing to push him on it.

What Lizzie had wanted most from him this season was his presence and his emotional honesty, for him to confide in her about what was going on with him. I think for reasons I've talked about, he wasn't capable of giving her more than he did; but it's possible that now that he has reached some kind of feeling of peace about the war, maybe a feeling that he has actually finally come back from it, he may be able to open up a bit more with her, or at least make the attempt.

I could see their relationship going either way. A good fic, for example, could convince me of just about anything with them at this point. Under the right circumstances I think Lizzie and Tommy could be really good for each other so when I'm optimistic that's how I think of them, some time down the road.