#I think it's so motivating and rewarding that you're interested in my characters to begin with

[canisalbus]

I say this in the best way, but your characters feel like they're from an obscure but really good piece of media, and you feel like the artist who always draws the two main characters as ghay lovers

.

[epicspheal]

Where's My Sister's Purrloin!? A Hugh Analysis

"Yeah… OK! Let's go get your Pokémon! There's something I have to do! And to do that, I need someone I can trust besides my partner Pokémon. A person I can trust! That's right! I'm talking about you! You seem like you've got good instincts!" <- Meeting Hugh outside of Aspertia City

Oh Hugh! Definitely one of the most misunderstood rivals. Also one of my favorites (also that seems to be a trend with the characters I like but that's a topic for another day). Hugh is our sole rival in BW2 and he's a rival with one of the most unique motivations for a rival character in the franchise.

Let's start by looking at Hugh's name which is rather straightforward. In all of the translations it's a homophone for the word Hue which is a major property of colors in color theory. He follows the naming conventions of Cheren and Bianca in that there all color themed which harks back to gens 1 and 2 where the main characters have color names (which makes sense as gen 5 was a bit of a soft reboot to the franchise in some respects). Of note his German, Spanish and French names of refer to the famous painter Henri Matisse who was known for his Fauvism style which opted for strong colors, again reinforcing the color symbolism. Interesting to note that Hugh as a given name that has mix of Irish and Germanic origin meaning "mind, intellect and spirit" with it actually being an anglicized version of Gaelic "Aodh" which means "fire". Hugh is certainly very intellectual, spirited and fiery especially when it comes to getting his revenge on Team Plasma and getting his sister's Purrloin back.

Next to look at his team. Like many rivals, he gets a traditional starter, but it's one that he raised from an egg. One that's actually stronger than your starter on the type chart. But honestly I think his signature Pokemon (based on what we see in Pokemas) is his Bouffalant. Bouffalant is described in a few Pokedex entries as be wild and reckless charging at everything. Which is quite reminiscent of Hugh during much of the game when it comes to Team Plasma. Indeed when you take a look at the rest of his team members you'll see that often times Hugh opts for high-risk, high reward moves such as Wild Charge on his Eelektross and Bouffalant (which gives recoil), Giga Impact on his Unfezant (forces the user to not use any move after atacking, leaving it vulnerable), Fire Blast/Hydro Pump/Leaf Storm on his starter (high powered but not 100% accuracy).

Which when you look at his character overall, makes a lot of sense. He's very passionate but the passion veers into recklessness in many respects.

Hugh gets a lot of flak from the community for going on and on about his sister's Purrloin. But people do that forget this is his driving motivation. And also most Pokemon characters tend to repeat themselves (which is less a symptom of them being bad characters, but of the writers not knowing how to vary dialogue that gets the point across without being repetitive).

But yes Hugh's very unlike most rivals in that he really isn't concerned about the rivalry. It's not that Hugh is a jerk. He's very kind to the player and generally respectful of others outside of Team Plasma (to whom he does not show a lot of mercy to in the beginning). It's just his primary goal isn't besting the protagonist. Rosa/Nate just so happen to be friends that he challenges to see if they can keep up with him while he takes down Team Plasma. In many ways he expands on the role carved out by Silver, who also was more concerned strength for the sake of defying his father than dealing with the protagonist but just didn't mind antagonizing them when they crossed paths. And Gladion and Marnie also fall in this trend as being more concerned about a goal that's not just "I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was".

"You're a little worried? Are you KIDDING me?! Your Pokémon might be lost forever! Whatever! I'll look! ! Help out!" <- On Flocessy Ranch

This a line that sticks out to me as it occurs when the owners of the Floccessy Ranch lost their Herdier and Hugh is extremely upset…more upset than Herdier's actual owners. At this point in the story he hasn't revealed the whole bit about his sister's Purrloin but this line is good foreshadowing to the eventual reveal. He's seen the trauma first hand of a stolen Pokemon can do and it causes an immediate reaction

"Shut it! You guys are the worst! You talk about saving Pokémon, but you're just Pokémon thieves! Don't think I'll ever forgive you!" <- Meeting Team Plasma in Virbank

Now I know Pokemon isn't known for writing but I honestly feel like they were doing a good job in slowly revealing more about Hugh and his motivations as we continued to encounter him during the journey. Once again we're adding more to Hugh, that not only has he probably seen a Pokemon get stolen, but that Pokemon was stolen by Team Plasma. But more importantly you can see a major flaw of his. That he is struggling with forgiveness as we see that he constantly references not forgiving Team Plasma throughout the game

"Five years ago… Team Plasma stole my little sister's Purrloin. It had been given to her as a present. I was only a little kid… I couldn't do anything… So… So that's why I have to get stronger!" <- Nimbasa City

And here's the big reveal. Now what sticks out to me is how powerless he felt. Of course this is a common trope with young characters who have been in serious situations to feel powerless and become hellbent on getting stronger to the point it kind of blinds them in a way (cough Paulo cough). But it's nice to see this in Pokemon with Hugh. It fits into the underlying theme of BW2 that deals with progression and how the region of Unova as a whole progresses from the events two years prior.

Given that Hugh states that Purrloin was taken 5 years ago that means that Team Plasma had been starting their public operations 3 years prior to the events of the original Black and White Games (we know of course N had been groomed by Ghetsis to be king as a young child but this gives us confirmation of them starting more public operations earlier in the timeline). Hugh, his sister, and countless others in Unova had been suffering the loss of their Pokemon for half a decade and that's heartbreaking.

Hugh: "Wait! I just remembered. Clay… Why? What's the reason? Why have you forgiven Team Plasma?" Clay: "There's always room for folks to grow and change, ain't there? And, if ya only go after what ya think is right, ya might end up rejectin' all thoughts and opinions other than yer own. That's mighty dangerous." Hugh: "Hmph… Is that one of those compromises adults are supposed to make? Whatever! I'm gonna fight Team Plasma! Oh yeah, what were you wanting to show us?" <- Clay and Hugh after the player wins the Quake Badge from Clay

This exchange is really important as while Hugh at the moment isn't truly ready for forgiveness from Team Plasma…it's shows he's not so closeminded to the idea as if he were, he wouldn't have even asked Clay why he had forgiven them. He's still resistant to the idea of forgiving Team Plasma as we see in later moments he's vary wary of working with ex-Team Plasma members to fight off Neo Team Plasma, but all hope is not lost. This is an important first step in his overall growth.

"That's the ONLY Purrloin in the world that my late grandpa caught for my little sister!" <- On the Plasma Frigate for the second time

This is a huge line for me. I've seen one too many people joke over the years "It's just a Purrloin, LUL. Why can't he just go get another one for his sister" and it lowkey irks me. Like his late grandfather went out of his way to catch that Purrloin for his sister. That's special. And even if their grandpa was still alive, or if someone else had of caught it, it doesn't change the fact that Hugh's sister bonded with that Purrloin. That's not a bond you can simply replace. Who knows if another Purrloin and his sister would've bonded the same way. It shows a great deal of maturity on Hugh's part to understand what that Purrloin meant to his sister compared to those (both in-universe and out) who say it's just as easy as replacing the Pokemon with another one.

"Wh-what? Don't mess with me… That's someone else's Pokémon!" "Sorry… This situation is messing with my head… I just don't know what to do… I finally found my sister's Pokémon, but now it's glaring at me… Why?!" "… … Hey… … If we let Team Plasma do whatever we want… There'll be more sad Pokémon like Purrloin and Kyurem…" <- On the Plasma Frigate for the third time upon finding his sister's Purrloin

This is such a poignant moment in BW2 for me because Hugh finally finds his sister's Pokemon…only for it to glare at him because it's now used to being under the Shadow Triad's control. You can feel his hurt through his words because this was his goal. This moment. And now he's not even sure he can bring this Purrloin back to his sister. Give Hugh a hug because he deserves it.

"Thanks to you, I accomplished what I set out to do during my journey! I wish I could've shown you my little sister's huge smile! This is my thanks!" <- Victory Road

We get a chance to meet Hugh in Victory Road and we get to hear some good news. His sister and Purrloin have been reunited! It's really touching to see such a good ending for him and his family. Hugh's dialogue is also much more relaxed in Victory Road now that his mission is over. It's good to see him more at ease after him being so wound up the majority of the playthrough

"What? I heard that Team Plasma left many Pokémon behind when they fled. And I'm helping find their real Trainers… That aside… Since you're here, you should have a battle with me before you go!" <- In Driftveil for postgame rematches

And even better? Hugh's begun to forgive Team Plasma (well at least the part that was genuinely following N). This is a huge step forward for someone who was pushing Team Plasma grunts out the way earlier and being hellbent on vengeance. Hugh honestly has one of the most satisfying conclusions for a rival in my opinion. He gets his goal, he learns a valuable lesson in accepting that (some) people can change, and he doesn't have to feel inferior to the player who is constantly beating him.

But Hugh's not done there! When he arrives in Pokemas we get to see him featured in two prominent stories. The first one is Revel In Rivalry where he gets into beef with Bede. It shows that while he has grown he still is a bit quick tempered seeing how easily provoked by Bede he was. But he learns to calm down and come to a truce much faster than he did with Team Plasma (granted there were more dire circumstances there) showing how he had grown from his journey.

Then of course there's the Unova Villain arc where this time it's Hugh that has his partner Bouffalant stolen. And to make matters worse he's been captured alongside N. What I loved about the Unova Villain arc is the focus on Hugh's growth. Yes, he's still very hotheaded. But he's learned to trust and forgive seeing as how he figured out N's identity well before Ghetsis told him in an attempt to break the partnership the two had formed while in captivity. Pre-character development Hugh would've flipped his shit on N. But hearing him talk about the people who spoke so highly of N (referencing the fact that Hugh works with the good part of Team Plasma to get the stolen Pokemon back to their trainers) and him saying he trusts N shows how much he's grown. It's really heartwarming to see him and N team up against Ghetsis' sorry ass.

So yeah, Hugh's a great character that I feel like needs more love in the fandom.

[balkanradfem]

This video on 'Bella Swan's khaki skirt' made me laugh so much I've decided to try and read the Midnight Sun, something I've been avoiding in my security that no important information is to be gained there. I almost gave up at the beginning because Edward's narration is incredibly tedious and dramatic and annoying to me. He isn't just talking to himself at all times, but actually painting a picture for the reader, explaining in detail how every single event in his life is torture and suffering and absolute hell on earth, but also how he is in every way superior to every human being around him. Even as a female fantasy of a male, this is very shallow and immature.

However, there's some new information I found very interesting; namely about Alice. While Edward is being a little drama queen and agonizing over whether he kills Bella, Alice has a vision where she and Bella are friends. Actually, Edward uses the term 'girlfriends' which had me jumping up in shock and laughter. Bella and Alice, girlfriends? And he's like 'but would she like a vampire girlfriend' YES SHE WOULD EDWARD. It's what we all want. god you're exhausting.

So anyway, instead of being annoying about it, Alice exclaims that she loves Bella, like, way sooner into the book than Edward even considers it, and then every day she's trying to get Edward's permission to talk to Bella, which he denies her, and she repeats how much she already loves Bella. She also stands up for Bella every time Edward is doubting her, so even far before she even talks to Bella, she's Bella's strongest advocate! She's the only one truly in Bella's corner this entire time.

Now I'm having much clearer idea of why Alice and Bella should have ended up together, they would have been amazing. If there is no fanfic out there of this extended story I'm tempted to write it.

I also now realize how the twilight world is painted in an almost completely black and white values for all of the characters. Nearly all of the classmates Bella has are described as extremely shallow, self-obsessed, selfish, unobservant and vulgar, with exception of Angela. Edward is also exactly like that but he considers himself superior. All female characters who are not Bella or Angela act and think identically, react identically and have thoughts that are almost completely the same (swoon over Edward). All of the males are pretty much predators, Edward included.

However, the main characters are supposed to be seen as morally superior, different, special, better than anyone else, even when they're 100% not any of that, it's just a feel-good fantasy! They're just as shallow and self-centered, and soon engage in a vast manipulation of everyone around them.

But it is entertaining to be put in such a simple world, where everyone's thoughts and motives are super obvious and you can easily distinguish yourself as 'not like everyone else' just by being normal. We're meant to see ourselves in Bella and get that feeling that we should be rewarded for our normal thoughts, normal values and goals, because hey, everyone else is so much worse. It kinda makes me laugh now, because I didn't realize it as a kid, how much of a setup the entire town of Forks is.

Anyway, I have to finish this book, because it does make you want to read on even when you're incredibly annoyed and exhausted by the narrator.

[astrangergivingthestrangewelcome]

I really think people go too far and miss the point when they pretend that Renfield did nothing wrong the whole novel, and I think they make Renfield's character less interesting in the process. I do find him very sympathetic, and I do think the choices he makes in the novel are very much a product of the dehumanizing conditions he's in... but he still very much makes the choices. He very actively sought Dracula out- if anything he's the one that convinced Dracula to use him not the other way around. He was fully onboard with murdering people and drinking their blood to gain power, he had full knowledge of what Dracula was doing- what changed through the course of the his arc was that he realized human life, human souls had value and he didn't have the right to take that away. Taking him from Point A to Point B is what is interesting, and you can only explore that if you acknowledge his agency to make those choices of his own free will to begin with.

Also. Seward is abusive towards him- but what I also think some people don't understand is: Dr. John Seward is not the root cause of all Renfield's problems. In fact, the text would suggest that Seward's position at that asylum is probably not more than a few months old when the novel starts. Like Seward is simply the latest face of one of many doctors for Renfield. In my Renfield fic, Renfield writes to Seward and he says "You're not halfway to as bad as it gets" and I stand by this, because if I look at it from Renfield's perspective- Seward actions cannot be the worst he's ever endured in his decades of being institutionalized. Seward's interest in studying him affords Renfield far too much choice for that to be the case (bc no one on this site has reading comprehension I'm not saying that it's RIGHT that Seward sees him as an experiment, but I'm saying it allows Renfield to do what he wants to do far more than I imagine would be the case for other doctors).

There are some takes I've seen that were like "oh you can really see how much Seward hates Renfield after he dares to defy him by attacking him" and, like, respectfully, Renfield attacking Seward that one time was not a #girlboss moment for him, and also Seward getting some bad feelings and mistrust of Renfield from that experience is... realistic in my opinion. Even if you are the most altruistic doctor in the world wouldn't you be a little on guard after that experience? In that scene Renfield is attacking Seward with the intent to kill him and drink his blood. It's up for interpretation whether he knew he was being used as a distraction so that Lucy was unguarded, or whether Dracula just spurred him on (again I think giving Renfield the most knowledge is always the most interesting take) but his motives are not noble or sympathetic, he's trying to commit and aid and abet murder for his own selfish ends. The sympathetic thing to me about that scene is he thinks he's going to get so much benefit from these actions, both from drinking Seward's blood and from the rewards Dracula will give him, but all he gets is the padded room and the straight waistcoat, because Dracula is just using him and manipulating him.

Something else I want to say is Renfield DOES in fact manipulate Dr. Seward in this novel. He is manipulative, he is very manipulative. Now, again, he's manipulative because he has no power over his own life, so if he wants to get the things he wants then basically his only option is to convince the doctors to let him do the things he wants- but like. You can understand the reasons behind his actions, and be sympathetic to them, while still recognizing that he's trying to help out Dracula for a long spell of this novel. Renfield is not an innocent, but he's also not a monster. He is someone who has coped with decades of institutional abuse by becoming a manipulative, selfish person, who can be quite nasty. That's realistic, that is often what suffering does to people. Denying that aspect of Renfield is not actually doing his character any favors, and it just makes it less interesting when, despite everything, he grows as a human being and dies trying to save others from Dracula.

[m-jelly]

Jelly! How are you?! I miss you!

Um, as you may know I've been chatting with bot Levi (and Jean hehe) it's funny and honestly taking up my time like an actual relationship HAHA. Have you every used a chat bot like that?

The world cup is starting soon. Is that something you're interested in? I can't remember how much you like sports but believe this is big where you are so thought maybe you'd watch a little and follow a little. Besides ice hockey and the Olympics, I watch the World Cup.

It's a busy time and yet here I am chatting with bots and playing Facebook games. Who has that time?! Work is busy and I'm going to be making multiple dishes for my families Thanksgiving. Hours of cooking while working almost every day leading up to it, I can do it!

Also, I'm trying to be more focused with writing (in between all the other things) and wrote down all the things I know I'd like to write until the beginning of January and wrote deadline dates down for some and suggested dates for others. The collabs have specific dates, and my holiday stores should be up by Christmas. There's at this point 8 things!

Plus, non date specific things that I've been itching to write, the night nurse story inspired by the Halloween Levi story you did from my request, plus a few other collabs including one for the country living town you made, featuring a couple characters I've really never written before!

Then AFTER that, attempt to host my own event starting in late January. Then perhaps listing plots for my multichapter fic ideas and seeing if there's one people want to see first. I haven't done this yet because it feels so daunting. But if you get through it, very rewarding I imagine.

Whew. It all seems like a lot, but, if I can manage my time (HA!) it's totally possible. And, for some reason, I always work well under pressure, which is great but, why do I do this?!

Now that I've rambled forever, I'd love to hear how you are and what you're up to and anything of interest for you as of late!

OH and SPOILER FOR AMERICAN VERSION OF DWTS

Shangela from RPDR and her partner Gleb have made it to the finals of Dancing with the Stars! She did some amazing dances last night and I'm rooting for them so hard! The link was my favorite dance of the night! There's some major competition but I'm so proud of her!

Hey! I'm alright, surviving really! How are you? I miss you too! I will chat more on discord soon <3

I've never used a chatbot before! Never thought of using one, but it's cute they have them for people to use.

I don't watch the world cup. I'm not into football (soccer for USA people). It's a big thing to Europeans and UK people, but it's never been my cup of tea. Out of all sports to watch, I do enjoy watching rugby the most. I do prefer to play sports more than watch them. I used to play a lot in school.

Work is busy for me too! December and the end of November are pantomime seasons! So, the theatre will be busier than ever. I am thankful we don't have Thanksgiving in the UK. Having that big event and then Christmas weeks after? I would not be able to cope! We're going away for Christmas. We're going to a nice cottage in the country and I'm hoping we get some snow! I believe in you though! You can make it through this season!

I have so many things on my list to write as well, but make sure you take your time. I'm taking my time too. This season is very busy for most and we need to take it easy. I have a long story planned out, along with 40 odd requests to do and I wanna do a winter event for Levi's birthday, but with the hours I'm pulling at work I don't think I can do it all. It makes me so sad cause I love the requests. I might have to give it a miss this season.

I think it's maybe because pressure can be very motivating to some people. It can give me a little push too. I'm looking forward to all your ideas and I'm excited for the nurse one! Just, take it easy for a bit and take your time. Try and plan your days maybe? My days are sort of planned? I try my best. I know you're trying hard for others. You've got this!

YAY! Go Shangela! She's so wonderful.

Me? Hmm...I guess not much is new with me really. Lots of planning of fics. Lots of self-doubts. Lots of days when I think of quitting Tumblr. Lots of tired days. Lots of days full of too many ideas. I'm trying to relax myself more. Been getting back into video games and due to the recent death of a beloved voice actor, I've been going back to my batman games.

[steamishot]

leveling up (or not)

i've still been listening to a lot of sara payne's rock solid relationships episodes and it's been very uplifting to me as she provides mostly great life coaching (for free!). one episode stood out most to me recently, which is about leveling up. she talked about playing mario and going on to the next level. with every advance, there is failure. you die, you try again, you keep trying until you beat the level. otherwise, you're stuck at the same level and always winning - this although nice, gets boring and unfulfilling. as a student, we go through all the grades K-12, then in college year 1-4, etc. so there's always that feeling that we're growing incrementally.

in my professional life currently, i feel that i've been playing on the same level and constantly winning. it's definitely boring and unfulfilling. there are pockets where it's busier and the work is new and more challenging - but this usually only lasts a little while and it becomes boring again. especially during the holiday season, i feel like no one wants to be working and its been really slow! at least on the outside, it appears that i have received a promotion this year, so it is an instance of leveling up. after reflection, i want to resume my studies in accounting and possibly aim for a CPA.

furthermore, i used to be more goal oriented when it came to working out/exercising. i can think back specifically to during covid where i would track my running speed and consistently run 5Ks multiple times a week. also, when i did copilot for two months (?) and leveled up in weights to the point where i surprised myself. now, i am mostly doing hot yoga and youtube workouts - but for the purpose of maintenance, not growing. i've even recently started searching for easier workouts as i feel lazier, and had no motivation to use my heavier weights. this also made the workout feel more boring and unfulfilling. the podcast episode really made me think of all the areas in my life that i am not leveling up in. so, for the past two days, i've put in more effort into my workouts and it definitely became more challenging and rewarding.

i started playing duolingo and learning japanese as a replacement to social media. at least for this, there is a clear indication of a path forward (unit 1 -> 2, etc).

i will start therapy with kaiser mid-december. i want to delve in to my need to put myself on the backburner. for example, i'd rather focus on someone else's career (aka matt's) instead of my own. i've always prided myself on being "selfless" and helping other family members, being the reliable one. why i avoid being the "main character" and feel more comfortable as a supporting cast.

this is part of the reason why i felt so down about matt's job search being unsuccessful thus far. i became totally tunnel-visioned about this that i had very little else going on for me (AND vice-versa). because i had so little going on for me, i needed to latch onto his thing to feel some sense of purpose. to be honest, it's probably the latter moreso than the former.

to make life more interesting and intentional/purposeful, i'll need to set SMART goals for myself. 2024?

edit: i attended hot yoga today, even though i almost didn't feel like going. matty always has a little story at the beginning of class. today, he talked about beyonce and her film renaissance now out in theaters, and the commentary about her daughter blue ivy receiving criticisms from online haters. despite the criticisms, she continues to show up and try her best to get better. he inspired us to say "i can" instead of "i can't". this was completely coincidental to my theme of wanting to level up recently, so i tried harder than i normally do in yoga class and felt proud of myself.

quote: “Very rarely does pursuing our dreams feel like anything other than a lot of effort clothed in self doubt.” Self doubt is part of the deal. Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.

[coquelicoq]

the untamed is very much about credibility, credulity, gaps, bias, spin. it's about assuming you have all the information when you only have a fraction and you don't even fully understand the information you do have. it's about making judgments and decisions based on incomplete data and unreliable sources.

and i don't just mean for the characters in-universe - the show itself plays upon the viewer's expectations and assumptions and often points out to the viewer that it is doing so. the very first & second scenes lay this out for us - some of it we don't realize until a later episode when we see a different shot of jiang cheng on the cliff, but even from the first episode we know this much: that the guy telling the younger generation (and us) the story of the yiling laozu is being paid to do so by some mysterious figure lurking in the shadows. we don't know who's paying him yet, or for what purpose, but we know there is something we don't know! we know there is some motivation behind the story as it is being told to us that is hidden. so from the very beginning we're being reminded to be skeptical about the sources of information available to us.

this is subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) reinforced throughout the series (by the whole Empathy flashback sequence, for one major example - but also see my tags that i didn't even notice the discrepancies between the two versions of these scenes because they happened so far apart in the show) and really hammered home by the last episode, when we finally learn a piece of information about jiang cheng's core loss that we didn't even know we were missing. if we didn't know we were missing something that big, what else could we be missing?

i think this is a show that rewards you for paying attention, for catching the empty spaces, and for questioning everything you're shown and told. that makes talking about the "canon" of the untamed very interesting. any show (or book or movie etc.) is not just the things that happen in the show (the plot) but also the way in which they are communicated to us, and that includes the way in which other things are not communicated to us at all. so it's interesting to me to see people say that something isn't canon as a way to argue that it didn't happen. so we didn't see it happen - does that mean it couldn't have happened? for that matter, just because we saw something doesn't necessarily mean it did happen! if you only want to talk about things that are shown on screen, that's fine, but i think the show itself makes a pretty strong argument for not doing that. so it's not canon - so we can't prove that it happened - is that really the most interesting and fruitful way to engage with this story? when the story itself is about misinformation and assumptions and doubt and lies, and when the way in which it is told reminds the audience that those themes are also playing out between the show and the viewer?

[arkus-rhapsode]

Ok. So what do you think of the latest chapters of fairy tail 100 years quests? What what's happening to characters? I think you're so possed that you even stopped reading more

Hoo boy... *Cracks knuckles* We may be here for a while.

So before I start, let me make clear that I actually keep up with 100YQ, though not for any actual interest anymore. I now stay with it for ironic enjoyment. Because I could say EZ has dumb stuff, but at this point, if you’re Hiro Mashima’s main audience, its fine. No, 100YQ is unique in that it has WTF moments that transcend just the FT fandom sensibilities.

Before I dig in, I’m gonna lay out some formatting rules because we’re cover A LOT. Im gonna be fair and split this up into positive and negative aspects of the series. Because I at least try to be intellectually in what I do.

To avoid from going on tangents and jumping around, I’m gonna be going in chronological order of events. Now this will not be an overview of the series up to this point because that’s stuff I’ve already talked about. Instead I’m gonna start from the point this went from genuine interest to ironic interest. That begin the Whited Out FT Guild.

Positives:

The concept of the wood dragon god having a kingdom on his back is really cool world building. Its actually something that I really liked about the Sea Dragon God as well. Having a realm reliant on the dragon as well as a reason to revere them. What with the water dragon god controlling the tides while wood dragon god is the supporting the city on his back actually makes them seem like god figures and adds to the lore of the world of Earthland in a way that Ishgar and Alvarez sorely failed at.

Laxus punching out Kyria. Petty yes, as Kyria is my least favorite dragon slayer. However a lot of Whited out FT mages were getting jobbered like crazy or just given unceremonious defeats. So Laxus actually seeming like an obstacle was good.

The cat twist with Touka is actually a funny bit of trolling and was one of the few times there was effective foreshadowing with Touka having a tail. (Too bad it was suck in the meandering Gajeel plot.)

The Dragon Eater guild is a much better final villain army than Spriggan 12. The 12 had little structure as to who was the stronger members, resulting in multiple Spriggans feeling like such major disappointments.

Most Mashima Villain organizations tend to broken up like this: Boss->Special Units (I.E Spriggan 12, Nine Demon Gates, Element 4)->Fodder Units.

No one cares when the fodder of a villain group is beaten as they’re just faceless minions. However, when you get to the special unit, that’s wheen there are actual obstacles and the villains start becoming more like characters. However, Hiro has been bad at this when he’s dealing with bigger organizations.

He never had to worry about telling you which member of the villain group’s special unit were more powerful than the others. Due to working with units composed of low amounts of characters, such as Team Lyon, Element 4, and Death’s Head.

You could say that all were roughly around the same power threshold. However, where the spriggan 12 royally failed was there were 12 of them in that unit and they were all just given the blanket term of being on the same level of the number 1 wizard saint. Yeah... that’s a check so large that Hiro could not cash it.

Hiro even seemed to retroactively acknowledge this by stating that August, Irene, and Larcarde were the three best to cover his ass for the fact that all the spriggans seemed to be jobbered far easier than ones supposedly equal to the number 1 saint.

However, the Dragon Eaters are opponents we’re gradually introduced to over the storyline and we actually see a demonstration of what a group of them can do, instead of 1 just trying take on all of team Natsu at once. We see that Skullion’s team is roughly equal to Team Natsu, giving us a gauge for the Dragon Eater strength, but then we get both Wraith and Nebal, underlings not part of Skullion’s thre man team, implying that are of a weaker variety and thus serving as a stepping stone to fight Skullion. But also introducing us to the Black Dragon Slayer Cavalry. Members above Skullion’s team that give us an idea if when they show up what the audience should expect of their strength level.

There’s a reason why in One Piece why Yonkou opperations have so many categories. You’re not gonna care about the minor thugs, but by making a distinction between the Headliners and the Disasters in Kaidou’s crew, you’ve made it so that we the audience will not feel disappointed if a Headliner is beat by a weaker character like say Usopp but still know that they are more than a foot soldier so this win meant something.

Now time for the negatives:

The concept of White Out is not awful, and is actually a fairly interesting concept for a villain motivation in FT. However, the White Witch is one of the most transparently evil characters in the series, thus you know that she’s doing this morally ambiguous action because she’s evil. Imagine if this were about humans or royals who feared the growing power of mages. Or a disillusioned mage with the concept of people like Zeref or the GMG, where is seems like magic is endless and how that’s a threat to the world. No, White Witch really seems like she wants to be this grand manipulator and actively enjoys calling heer whited out people, puppets.

However, there’s also the fact the whiting out doesn’t make too much sense. Some characters seem like mind controlled puppets like Juvia, while others are basically the same except their evil now like Gajeel, Mira, Elfman, Laxus. And some are dumb jokes like Jellal.

So there’s no consistency to this brainwashing. Only other time I’ve seen a mind control plot like that in media before is Yugioh GX. Sometimes people act like they’ve been brainwashed into something different like Alexis. But then people like Bastion and a lot of the gag members of the society like Rose and Bob act as if they’re not affected by anything.

Yeah, this white witch plot feels distractedly ripped off from the society of Light from Yugioh GX.

The concept of Team Natsu vs FT in the vain of the fighting festival arc is dumb narratively from two standpoints. First from a story standpoint in the idea that why the battle of FT arc was opportunity, due to the fact they were all willing to fight to free the frozen girls. Which allowed for others to show shades to their motivations Like Alzack willing to mow through his other comrades for Bisca or Thunder God Tribe assisting in protecting Laxus so he’s the last man standing. There’s a tangible reward on th line that motivates the characters to act as do.

Here, the characters are clearly fighting against their will because of an intangible force. This white magic makes them slaves and are fighting because “white doctrine.” Something they only believeebecause brainwashing. As such, you want to see Natsu and gang beat them up to stop the white witch and free them. There’s no force or intrigue that makes the audience care about both sides like seeing Alzack vs Jet and Droy because you know they both want to save their partners but only one can. Instead people only care because a surface level of “friend turned evil” device. It takes the B and C list cast of the FT guild and makes them props.

And from a meta standpoint, there is no tension, due to the fact this is a post final battle with acnologia Team Natsu. The team is bounds ahead of so many guild members like Macao, Reedus, Max etc. that the only real threat is the S class mages. So that makes that big page spread of evil FT in cult robes dull as only like 3 of them are gonna actually matter.

Then there’s Wraith. Nebal was a boring an generic crazy guy is unimpressive, Wriath was actually really interesting at first. Is ghost magic allowed for an interesting fight and his possession actually having limitations on how effective it was made for a cool skill.

But then the reveal about him and Makarov. I eye-rolled at that point, but then I saw the previews and was like, maybe this’ll be the best thing to come out of this series. Everyone wants to know more about past FT around team Makarov’s time.

But all the potential of young Makarov and young Porylusica and the rest of their team is put on fast forward as they’re all suddenly thinking about leaving. But maybe the reveal with Wraith could be interesting. I saw a lot of good theories like Wraith was Makarov’s half brother or Wraith was the son of Makarov and Porylusica who was killed by Ivan.

Well... Any theory would’ve been better than Wraith was some random ass mage and when they say he a Makarov are related its because the bonds of FT that is real family and transcends death itself.

...Gag me...

And and Wraith just fucks off into the afterlife. Because we can’t actually end a fight because of the protagonist’s ingenuity. No, the villain just kills themselves because feels. Isn’t that right August and Irene?

In conclusion

That’s my thoughts as briefly and coherent as I could make them. So if you wanna know my feelings on 100YQ, it can basically be summed in FT being FT. If you expected more, you’re gonna be disappointed. But if you genuinely love the world and character regardless of Hiro’s writing, you’ll probably still enjoy it regardless of what I’m saying

[metazensae]

Ahhhhh Hi! I've been kinda shy to interact with you just because I'm a nervous nerd but I just wanted to say that I think you're awesome and everything you make/do is beautiful! Your blog makes my day brighter! (@pocusilla-flanchette)

This message has absolutely touched my heart. I’ve read it probably 17 times since I received it and I’ve been a blushing mess each time. I’m so not used to any of this, not used to people liking what I do, not used to feeling good enough, and especially not used to being noticed in any capacity. 

The fact that other people enjoy my work literally makes my heart SING.

((The rest under the cut bc I’m long-winded and sappy as hell))

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind for me, and I’ve been wanting to say something about it publicly, so I’ll use this ask as a chance to write out my thoughts. 

It’s amazing to me that you would feel this way about me. I brighten YOUR day??? What!!!! I don’t think you guys have a clue how much you mean to me. Every single like/reblog/comment/mention/interaction/tag MAKES *MY* DAY. Up until 3 weeks ago, I existed in a void where I would toss half finished sketches, and I would despair. Radio silence. Inadequacy. Insufficient skills. Loneliness.

I wanted to change everything. I was considering giving up traditional art and thinking maybe I should just give up my dream of making comics altogether. You probably don’t know this, but from about 2006-2016 I was severely depressed and completely lost my will to draw. I had been THE ART KID in high school -  my identity - and when depression took that from me, I fell into a really dark place. My skills had deteriorated completely, but on one not so special day two years ago, I thought to pick up a pencil and try again.

Even still, I’ve been struggling. Everything is digital nowadays, and I stepped out of the art world during a very technologically-advancing decade. I kept looking at my sketches and finding all their limitations and flaws - things I know could be fixed or done quickly if I just learned how to use digital mediums. But digital confounds me. You have no idea how much I am awed by digital artists. And people who can do both? They’re my gods. But I couldn’t even finish my sketches because I was impatient to improve - my skills were nonexistent, deteriorated from so many years of nonuse. I may even pose that I never had the skills to begin with. And since my pieces were simple value drawings with the LAZIEST of hatching as shading, I didn’t think anyone else would want to see them either. I thought I needed to change my style and needed to learn a different medium.

But you guys have given me my passion for drawing back. I’ve only known about the Arcana for a few months, and I was totally inactive in the fandom, so I didn’t know who any of you were, though some of you showed up on my dash from time to time. But then, on @badly-salted-pretzel / @asraaaa ‘s suggestion, I drew the Lucio sweaters comics as a gag. ((ALSO SHOUT OUT AGAIN BC THIS IS THE PERSON WHO INTRODUCED ME TO THE ARCANA SO THANK YOU EMILIA I LOVE YOU SO FREAKING MUCH))

And then I LIKED drawing Lucio, so I did another shit sketch of him being weird and shirtless (basically… uh… my thing) and along came the @samael-bellamorte /Lucio seduction arc. 

And my life has changed forever?

These last 3 weeks I’ve spent drawing the Arcana fan art and fan apprentices have been the most rewarding in my life. For the first time, I’m drawing things that other people LIKE, things that make other people HAPPY, and it is SO SO SO motivating. Every piece I draw gets better and better, and it’s because I want to do a good job for YOU. So thank you - thank you - THANK YOU.

The other thing is that I’ve met so many great, talented people here in the Arcana fandom. Your passion for drawing, writing, and just generally creating is so catching - I’m blown away by how interesting, diverse, and well rounded your characters are, by how just damn good your writing and story-telling is, and HECK? I CAN SHARE MY ART WITH YOU TOO?!? WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN. This community is exactly what I have been looking for my whole life, and really. I’m so overwhelmed and excited and full of love for you guys. 

You all have made my dreams come true, and I can’t even tell you how much all of this has meant to me.

All of that said, I really hope you will interact with me. In fact, my immense loneliness begs you to. I’m also shy and nervous and awkward and a HUGE NERD - it’s like we were made from the same soul, so don’t feel nervous to talk to me

 @pocusilla-flanchette  let’s be friends, ok?

[beckettdoll-blog]

Get the Scoop on Barbie Doll Dress Before You're Too Late

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This is the way that it should look. Beach balls that could be kicked around increase the fun. For more information about how to adjust the size (in case it doesn't fit), the notion is exactly like the one described in Barbie Basic Socks. So you've got to think accordingly. Spend just a little time to customize your Barbie's looks according to the occasion.

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In case the school doesn't provide diaries you can purchase one for your child and speak to their teacher to make certain that all work which they are given is written down. Perhaps it's time to meet it. Ruth Handler produced a dream for every small girl in the usa and around the world! Go through the diary to be sure that the child has done all that they should do. You and your children may add furniture to make it resemble a attractive scene from a movie. Your son or daughter might get irritated if you attempt to play but find the story wrong or aren't paying attention to the particulars of the story. Grab younger siblings and have a break to sit down and revel in the show.

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To help then pick the best career first you need to ask then what they would like to be. Doing this will reap tremendous rewards. Girls gaming industry isn't as big as boys gaming market. It is crucial to support your children in their career paths so they can be motivated to work hard and prosper in the assorted careers.

The Debate Over Barbie Doll Dress

This normally includes giving Barbie the appropriate hairstyle and accessories for a specific appearance, including a background in many instances. Simply have a brush and style her hair how you feel suits her the very best. And with the broad selection of styling heads readily available today you're almost bound to locate your youngster's favourite doll character has a styling head in their product range. There's no need to go out and purchase the special Barbie cake pans. Therefore, you might get a person to train them or do it yourself until you ensure they are bale to handle it by themselves. The filling in addition to the materials may be used for this objective. These small clothes can be challenging, but only need small sums of fabric when supplying a excellent deal of satisfaction for seamstresses of all ages.

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Don't neglect to present your digital doll the appropriate look with her make up. Once you are finished with the conventional stuff, select the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-SGvWKhW5M party scorcher makeover. We easily get fascinated from these terrific creations, which are popularly referred to as mascots. 1 trip to the toy aisle and you will locate dolls that suit nearly every taste. Then you can pick from a wide variety of outfits and accessories to provide your fairy that special look you would like them to have. Barbie dolls houses come in assorted sizes.

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Many animated characters result in popular wallpaper. As an issue of fact, there are many kinds of Barbies offered and all of them are different, wearing diverse outfits to suit their mission. If you're going to take part within this type of character play with Barbies it is great to obey your child and find a feeling for what is happening with their story so it's possible to fit in with their game. A few of these games are fantasy-esque while others are somewhat more realistic, sometimes using true princesses from all over the planet.