#This is my villain origin story... just kidding but god damn

[patheticblorbloscholar]

I just broke a fucking tooth. The 2020s hate me and my pursuit of happiness.

[cdroloisms]

thinking about c!dream earlier on in the server just makes me sad man. like, c!dream has never been a perfect character. he's always been flawed, always been a bit of an asshole, always had control issues. but also he knew that. he tried to work on that. he and tommy were friends, despite being flawed people with their own issues that would bump into conflicts because of the ways that they differed. c!dream tried, god, he tried; he wasn't even on the server, when the drug van happened, and walked into a place with someone who was practically a stranger to him building a wall and calling for war and having turned half the people dream knew against him, apparently, for no reason that he could've known at the time, and he had looked straight at tommy and tubbo and asked if that was what they really wanted when wilbur told them that there was no such thing as dual citizenship. he tells tommy when he has to sell a disc for spirit's leather even though tommy had surrendered the discs to him at the end of the revolution because he knows it'll matter to him. he and tommy truce, multiple times, and c!dream gets tangled into conflicts that literally don't involve him repeatedly and gets targeted Because He's Dream repeatedly and he plays along with that trivia contest and he gives gifts to fundy and tommy after terrorizing them a little for fun and he plays along with the dreamon thing and he keeps getting pulled into fights that weren't his but tries to make them a little more fair when they get him involved. he fucks around with tommy and they have fun, they're friends, and when he and wilbur look like they're in danger dream is one of the first to find them and lend them real, practical, valuable aid. he calls himself "Big D" in that book and he tells the man that wrote him as a tyrant that he doesn't want to be a villain in the story anymore. he asks tommy if he's okay, and watches that kid's back when he walks alone and unarmed into manberg, and fights with him at the battle of the lake and all of that is thrown back in his face as being a lie. half the intial community structures that exist were built by him; the community house, the nether portal and hub, the prime path. during a time where every other piece of leverage got burned or killed (rip the casualties of the pet war), dream was kind of known for being one that could be fairly traded with, that would minimize permanent damage. the kills in the final control room were originally to strip lmanburg of their gear, which he had kept in a chest so it could be returned to them after the war.

like no c!dream isn't perfect at the beginning of the server. yes he's kind of a jerk sometimes, kind of an asshole sometimes, kind of neurotic most of the time. but god dammit like c!dream does try to mitigate the worst of his control issues, when they flare up early on; the initial disc war ends with tommy getting his discs back as well as a stack of diamonds, in exchange for a netherite chestplate. he's a flawed character and he's still someone pretty friendly on the whole to most of the server, he's also kind of just known for being a little weird. he gives gifts randomly. he fixed creeper holes, and houses, and went along with bits. like whatever im a c!drolo c!dream woobifier and i admit it lol but for as much evil as he ends up doing, pretty damn consistently early on, he's . friendly? kind? funny? helpful? their neighbor. their friend. c!dream isn't just some stranger that flew off the handle; he's someone they knew and lived with who had his actions taken in bad faith because the goddamn story said so and kept fucking trying anyway until he believed the lie too. like he was just a guy!! a guy they knew and lived with!!! like my god

[ultimateloserboy]

ok you know what im gonna say it with my full chest. literally nobody talks about bendy (the character) like who he actually is and ive been tired of it since the old game ended. i think hes genuinely one of the most incorrectly fanonized characters like ever at this point. and i genuinely believe it changed the actual canon and it bothers me a lot.

as for the physical version of him/ the ink demon— in the original batim game there was literally a whole plot point about bendy being non-human and how he came out of the machine physically and mentally sloppy compared to the other creations. hes not a fully fledged-out person and that’s LITERALLY an entire section of the original game. he has no human soul or mind, hes sentient but about as much as a gorilla. he attacks like a zombie or an animal with instinct and not like an angry human being. he cant speak because his mouth is fake and he cant walk properly because his limbs are liquid sludge— hes literally an abomination— a mockery of actual human life. its crazy to even call him the “villain” of the story because he doesnt have the thinking ability to genuinely be malicious. its like calling zombies the villains of zombie movies, they cant be because they dont have the brain function to be.

a lot of people ignored the obvious fact that he isnt human-like so they could sexualize him, which isnt as bad as sexualizing an actual animal— im not claiming that— but what bothers me is how the creators made him MORE HUMAN to lean towards these people and ill never think otherwise. yall can argue with me or call me chronically online, but bendy WASNT able to speak or was human-like at all until the dark revival, which was so obviously fan service its not even funny.

im not claiming that people who sexualize bendy are zoos or something— thats too far. what im claiming tho is that this genuinely interesting character was given consciousness and the ability to speak after previously not ever having those things JUST so booktok ass teenagers could swoon over him like they do venom, taking away the interest of his original character. he wasnt fully sentient until it made money for the creators and then suddenly hes speaking poetry in a deep sexy man voice with a fucking 8 pack. how does that not bother anyone? im not even trying to say its morally weird— im just saying its bad writing in general!!! like why do yall let these games ruin characters for fan service and not even give a fuck, and then have the balls to ask why newer ones are so poorly written?? no fucking shot EVERY one of yall was ok with them retconning his entire existence like HES THE MAIN CHARACTER???? DO YALL REALLY WANNA SEXUALIZE EVERYTHING //THAT// BAD TO THE POINT ITS OK TO REWRITE THE ENTIRE MAIN CHARACTER AS LONG AS IT MEANS YOU CAN FINALLY SEXUALIZE HIM CANONICALLY??????

and before people say anything— no i dont think its wrong for bendy to develop a voice or to become more human over time— BUT COME ON DUDE ARE YALL DENSE?? IVE SEEN LESS FAN-SERVICE STARING AT MY GOD DAMN AIR CONDITIONER!!!! they didnt “develop” bendy more— they retconned him to please freaks online!!! surely ONE of yall had to have noticed like… when tdr dropped the sexualization was so bad i genuinely didnt have fun with the series anymore. and I CANT because its justified now! the creators retconned him to be more sexyman so now you cant even argue against it!! literally why cant we have ONE thing online without people wanting to pound every single fucking character??

im sorry if this sounds mean but ive been upset about this for YEARS!! bendy was my favorite character as a kid and NOBODY gives him justice NOT EVEN HIS OWN CREATORS. it would be one thing if there was just a small portion that treated him like this but now its literally everyone and the games lean into it and i just want to explode and die at this point fr.

it genuinely makes me a little ill knowing he was once just a confused, soulless being fighting and killing out of the confusion, rage and fear that his cruel existence caused him to feel, but now hes just a deep voiced venom-ripoff villain whose just a big meanie and hunts you for sport or some stupid shit.

[your-ne1ghbor]

My problems with Magnifico and Amaya and how I would rewrite them (TKoRaT AU)

GOD DAMN IT NOW I WISH MAGNIFICO AND AMAYA IN MY VERSION WERE GOOD PEOPLE AHHHHHHHHH-

Ahem..sorry..what was I gonna say?

Oh yea! Feeling like a long rant again, so prepare your eyes!!!💀

Sooo, I kinda have been off putting stuff again since I had school work and a bunch of ideas like this one, so I decided to just share it so I don't loose the idea (ik I can write it down but idk I felt like sharing it). Plus the fact that I've been more chatty lately lol.

Idk how to transition to my problems with Amaya and Magnifico so here.

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Magnifico and Amaya's Character in Wish 2023

Magnifico

Magnifico in the film is...well is a pretty stand up guy! Sure, he is paranoid most of the time and is pretty stubborn, but he is very selfless and a really generous person!

You can say he is more in line with the kings of original films that deeply care for their children, such as King Sefan from Sleeping Beauty, or King Frederic from Tangled.

In this case, he deeply cares for the people of Rosas. I mean yeah, it is weird that you forget what your goal is in life, but if I had nowhere to go and no roof over my head, of course I would go to Rosas to live there safely. Heck, in perspective, you have a chance of your wish getting granted, and don't have to pay rent to live there. It is a pretty fair deal, especially for families who want their kids to grow up out of harms way. Sure, he can't grant all of the wishes, but his reasoning is pretty valid. The only line I could get from the film that would support this would be when he commented on Asha's Grandfather's Wish (which is to inspire the next generation):

"To create what? A rebellious mob perhaps? Inspire them to...to do what? Uh, destroy Rosas, maybe?"

And a lot of people can argue that Saba's wish is very simple or isn't dangerous, but here is the thing. Simple things can have dangerous concequences no matter how small or big they are. Sure, you can start out small, like inspiring people, but it will cause a domino effect that can lead to something greater. Either for the better or worse. And example would actually be Walt Disney himself! He started out small, but without him, animation would not have gotten to where it is today. With his love and passion to art and story telling and taking risks, we WOULD NOT have gotten Puss in Boots, SpiderVerse, OR EVEN ANYTHING ANIMATION WISE. Walt Disney really pioneered animation and without those baby steps, there would not be an Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, ect. It would just be...well...live action I guess. Hate the Disney company or not, Walt helped get animation to where it is today, and it sucks that his company, even after death, wont try anymore to push the limits of animation except for companies that isn't Disney.

Plus, I don't even blame Magnifico for thinking this way! Although it is sort of annoying that his backstory was told instead of shown (not that there is nothing wrong with telling, but showing for me is a more effective way of story telling for me. You can take the little mermaid for example), I personally understood where he was coming from. In his backstory, his home was destroyed from thieves and barbarians, with his family and possibly everyone he knew being dead. Its honestly tragic, so him making a kingdom for people to not suffer that pain again is very selfless of him and just...feels good in a good way you know?

But as everything in this movie is, it takes the good things and beats it over with a 30 foot pole and leaves it to rot.

He is turned into the villain. And no, it isn't because of Asha not getting what she wanted, and no, it isn't because Amaya, his wife died (she never did btw)! OH NO IT IS MUCH WORSE.

He opens up a mAgIc bOoK oF dArK mAgIc and becomes the bad guy...

...What the fuck. Actually no, applauds to you Disney! This is such a effective way of telling a story. 10/10 forever and ever. Great job! :D

(I am being sarcastic, this is legit the worst way for a good guy becoming the villain, its so fucking stupid-)

He is just simply stripped of his good qualities and only lets his bad qualities shine through. It kind of feels like he was being held at gun point here.

"OH PLEASE BELIEVE THAT I AM ACTUALLY THE BAD GUY. OH PLEASE GOOD CIVILLAIN THEY ARE GOING TO PULL THE TRIGGER-"

Seriously, there was no other way of making him the bad guy? Like legit? Simply remove his backstory and make him evil at the begining. I guess it would be weird if he took the wishes without reasoning, but even then, why give him good qualities when he is supposed to be the bad guy? He became more of a tragic hero than a tragic "bad guy".

I will go more into my problems with him after I talk about Amaya for a bit since talking about her character is more shorter than Magnificos.

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Amaya

The best I can say for her character is that she is like Jimmy Cricket but fell in love with Pinnocio (I know that sounds weird pls spare me).

She is like the voice of reason for Magnifico, and it is best shown when Magnifico FIRST concidered on using the book for "his evil deeds". This scene specifically:

Other than that, she wasn't really a character in the film AT ALL. It sort of sucks concidering what the original concept was (WE WILL GET TO THAT) and instead degraded her character to...well...nothing.

I can't really say anything about her since she just was "I am loyal to my husband" to "actually fuck you I will believe a 17 year old instead of the man I trusted for the amount of years it took to get the kingdom to it's feet." I want to, but I can't. SHE HAS NOTHING.

I wish I can say more about her character, but it would just be me ranting about how trash her is character and was handled. Speaking of that, lets get into why I dislike how they were handled.

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Why does their character bother me so much?

Well it is sort of hard to explain, but I'll do my best.

Magnifico was supposed to be the return of the classic villains. You know, on the levels of Jafar, Ursala, Evil Queen, Malificant, ECT, he just...wasn't. Although he had a bunch of Evil Queen inspirations thrown into his character, it felt like more of refrences to a better film than being apart of his character. Plus, I feel like I sympathized with him way to much. I personally felt more emotion when he was on screen instead of the main character because I understood where he was coming from. Its honestly baffaling to me, since if he didn't have his backstory told to us, I still would not rooted against him. Even without his backstory, it just sounds like he was doing this at the bottom of his heart and empathizing with people who are doing far worse than what he is going through. Its honestly heartwarming seeing a person trying to do good in the world and provide a safe place for everyone to be free from the burden of this world. And want to know something? None of the classic villains had tragic backstories. They are evil for the sake of being evil. There probably was some with sympathetic traits, but from what I recall, there is none. So going with the sympathetic rout is not on par with classic villains.

However, there is nothing wrong with giving your villains sympathetic traits. It makes them feel more rounded as a person/character, and you can get a lot of emotion from that alone. I just think that Magnifico being the villain doesn't make sense since as I said, they made him so generous and kind in the begnining and only destroyed it since "oh wait, we need a villain, so why not make the good guy the villain" and threw in the dark magic book and called it a day. Not even that, but he is not threatening in any way. What I mean by that, is that his powers don't really get an upgrade at all. His magic just sort of turns green and thats it! I even bet that he can crush wishes even without the powers of the magic book.

Going off topic, but making plushie..COUGH... star...(plusie = wish 2023 star) less "stronger" to make the female lead stronger just makes Magnifico's reason for going after plushie's powers even more useless. Even with plushie's powers, HE IS JUST THE SAME. I guess he can now create vines? BUT IT JUST DOESNT WORK. It makes more sense for Magnifico going after plushie when it is powerful because he could see that power as a THREAT to his own powers and his kingdom.

Now for Amaya, her turning against Magnifico is just stupid. Haven't you went through a lot with him? Why the hell did you give up after "oh he can't be saved"? I feel like she could have done a "true loves kiss" sennario which breaks the spell it has on him. Not only that, she barely contributes to the plot at all. The only thing she contributes to the plot is just "getting the teens into the castle so they can free the wishes" then disappears, then reappears at the finally when Magnifico got a little too silly with his drugs-I MEAN wishes haha... Then she becomes the ruler of Rosas. It feels weird and out of place, especially concidering her character MOST LIKELY went through so much with Magnifico only to turn on him when he gets a little mad. It is so stupid. Also, if you just remove her, nothing would really change except the first scene where Magnifico has the book, only this time, no one is there to stop him. And as I said, HER CHARACTER IS NOTHING. But here is the thing...

When concidering the concept version of Amaya, she would have been the villain along side Magnifico. Not as a selfish love relationship or they are together at ones expense (gaining something from one another for only themselves) no, THEY WERE MADLY IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER. Something to note here is that there is barely ANY villain couple or ANY VILLAINS who are like this, let alone love each other for the sake of it instead of a "selfish love relationship and then one gets redeemed " situation (im looking at the mayor of paris from miraculous ladybug). So that, THAT RIGHT THERE, would have been a brilliant idea and brings something new and fresh to the table. Not only that, it is so brilliant that it would have respected all of the male/female antagonists we had for the past 100 years with the company. It is also A RISK. Walt was all about taking risks, even when his company would have floundered at the expense of making art. Snow White for example had a lot of money put into it that if it failed, well Disney would not exist in this timeline so to speak. So taking that risk is also RESPECTING Walt's legacy in a really good way.

I personally just see this as a fun way to explore their characters, especially when you can reflect their characters off of our main characters, Asha and Star (boy), if you want to of course. I can imagine Magnifico kinda be like Gaston from beauty and the beast with some Frollo flare to it (not the lust thing tho but yk what I'm getting at) and Amaya can be like Ursala or Gothal. Plus, it works as a power balance. In the original concept, Amaya was the potion maker while Magnifico does all of the magic. Its honestly a fun way to play with power set ups. Magnifico can just be for show and Amaya can just be a drug dealer (or basically Ursala).

But NOPE. WE HAD TO SHIT ON WALTS LEGACY TO GET THOSE SHINY DOLLAR SIGNS $$$$$$$$$$$$$

Here is the thing: I can get over Star Boy not being in the film, like I get it. We gotta have that girl power in Disney movies now, and they have to be emotionless people. But a Disney power couple? WHAT THE HELL??? LEGIT THE BEST IDEA YOU HAVE EVER HAD IN 100 YEARS. AND YOU GOT RID OF IT BECAUSE WE CAN'T TAKE RISKS ANYMORE??? BUT WALT WOULD HAVE TAKEN IT. YOU WANT TO RESPECT HIS LEGACY? THEN TAKE THE RISK TO DO SO YOU SELFISH, INSUFFERABLE, PIECES OF SHI-

(This section was removed because I went a little crazy there. Sorry about that. I'm not sure how I can transition into the rewrite section, again, soooooo here:)

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How I would rewrite the characters

There is no wrong or right way of rewriting a character, especially when a lot of people interpret them in different ways, and that is completely fine!

This will also fall into somewhat Asha's character and she will be mentioned to fit what I am going for with the characters. I will also leave out what they both do to the wishes since I am making a whole reimagined scene and it is going to include what they do to the wishes there. It will leave out some stuff I had with it here, but I will do my best interpritation of the characters the best I can, even when I can't really say much about it :)

Magnifico:

🌟 For starters, right off the bat, he does not have any of that sort of backstory they gave him for the original. For what I am going for, his backstory will not fit his reasonings for what I am going for, especially for his character.

🌟 He is more on par with the original personality from the original storyboard, specifically this one:

(This also goes for Amaya too personality wise)

🌟 Something that is very different from a lot of villains is that he has sympathetic traits. Although he has more negative traits than positive, he has more of a caring side. Mainly to Amaya, but Asha as well. When Amaya found Asha at their door steps (they aren't holding me hostage as I write out this specific part guys, I swear) at first he saw her as an opportunity to boost his and his wife's popularity that would have other people come more to their kingdom (its more of like they are seeing their "generosity" side and dismiss the problems the kingdom has). But as she continued to live with her adoptive parents, Magnifico became pretty close to Asha. Its mainly because of her passion to what she strives to be, to be like him. Probably feeding into his ego, but you know, nice to know he cares.

🌟 Just because he treats Amaya and Asha well, doesn't mean that the kingdom gets that same treatment. He doesn't care about the people at all. He actually has enjoyment when he hurts or breaks people's dreams. He gets all excited about it and you guys can ask him why he finds enjoyment out of it cause idk it would be more fun that way and gives you guys the chance to interact with him :D

🌟 The wishes boost his powers temporarily. It fades away after either a few days or hours. When his powers are boosted, he has more control over the people. And, to who he consumes the wishes of, can see through their perspective for a little while. It also makes civilians more compliment with him and not question his authority. This does not work with people who have not given up their wishes though. Only to people who have already given up their wishes. He can also make people forget certain memories (that might be Amaya's thing though but I'm not too sure) and can put on much more longer "light shows" (think on the level of: Playing with the Big Boys, but more flashy and crazier). He can also manipulate his surroundings with images, but not at a physical level. (Like hallucinations so to speak)

🌟 His powers without the wishes are more of what he uses to do simple things or put on small light shows. Not as flashy than ones when he has his powers boosted, but he puts on the smaller ones to "gain more people to comply when they have to give up their wishes", one might say, inspire them to do so. He also uses it to help Asha practice with magic (She can't even do magic STFU I KNOW.) It also can be used to take desires that you have deep in your heart.

🌟 If hair jell were to exist in his time period, he would eat it with no regrets (Amaya would make it so he can eat it without getting hurt)🔥

🌟 When he consumes a stars powers, he legit goes insane and can shape shift like one, but more corrupt with no consistancy to what he turns into since he legit gone insane. With a star, a star can shapeshift to whatever it wants or to express it's emotions. With him, it is all over the place. He can't control it.

🌟 Like Frollo, he tortures anyone who is against him, and will not hesitate to take it to the extreme if needed too (or that he wants to, to please himself).

🌟 What his wife says or does, he will willingly go through with it. After all, he loves her with all his heart.

🌟 He can't let Asha out of the castle often to make sure that the people will not take advantage of her generosity (thats what he thinks though, in reality everyone is just scared of the royals.. most of them at least) or learn-

Magnifico then breaks the forth dimention and destroys my house.

Ah...right...

🌟 He is such a silly goober!!1!11!1!11!1 o(*￣▽￣*)o

(He told me to write that or else he will kill my dog and cat. HELP ME PLEASE-)

Amaya

🌟 For starters, she is much more involved in the story than she is in the original. She doesn't have a backstory like what Magnifico had in the original, nor does she need too. Not sure how they would meet at the moment, but I'd like to think that they met and then were like: love at first sight and became more silly as time went on...including their insanity <3

🌟 As I said for Magnifico, she is more on par with the concept version personality wise. But she is more of an Ursala and likes to put herself as the victim to get more people to feel bad for her (MANIPULATION AT ITS FINEST 😜)

🌟 Just like Magnifico, she has sympathetic traits. And she only has it, because of our main character Asha! She just found her one day at the castle doors. She didn't understand why, but like Magnifico, only let her stay for as long as she did to post her popularity with the commoners, and grew closer to her as she became more of a mother figure to Asha. (Ruh Ro, anyone sensing Mother Gothal vibes?) Unlike Magnifico though, she uses her sympathetic traits to get people to comply with their ways better. Her main trait she is good at looking at the person's situation and understand it well, or aka being empathetic. She uses that to her advantage when manipulating them to do whatever she pleases.

🌟 She is more of a witch than anything. I imagine her somewhat like Ursala (yes a heavy load of Ursala), Evil Queen, and Yzma (Emperor's New Groove) when in terms to what they make. She does make a lot of poisons to use if anyone is getting a little too close to the close and they gotta...TAKE THEM OUT without anyone knowing. She can also use it for like a form of medicine too.

🌟 Some potions, like turning people into animals or certain poisons, requires people's desire. More so with turning people into animals as a form of punishment. She can also use her craft at potion making to have her wield magic for a certain amount of time WHEN NEEDED. (Gee I wonder what she will use that for). It can also be used like a drug, or to get someone to comply with what they want a little better than Magnifico. She can put on pretty shows too, but more smoke themed and is better at manipulating her surroundings.

🌟 Although Amaya would teach Asha how to make potions, she worries that the people of Rosas would take advantage of her kindness and use the skills that she would teach Asha to their advantage and form a revolt to take them down. (Which really, with them ruling, who can blame them?)

🌟 I would say she is more of a planner than Magnifico. She plans ahead and makes sure everything is in line with what they want and makes plan Bs or Cs even Ds in case anything would go wrong. Asha actually gained that trait from her believe it or not!

🌟 Magnifico is more reckless than his wife. Amaya is more so less confronting and tries to keep up their image. She actually have certain gestures that Magnifico would take notice too. And since he trusts her a lot, he complies and lets Amaya take lead in certain situations.

🌟 Yes...she also finds enjoyment of seeing people getting tortured. They actually made up a game on how they would torture a certain civilian 💀

🌟 When it comes to how she treats the people of Rosas, she is as I said, less confronting and puts on more of a fake smile and gaslights everyone that their kingdom is fine or whatever (It is not gaslighting when it is telling the truth. I feel so offended right know! DUDE LADY CHILL I AM CREATING YOU RN AND YOU ARE ALREADY TRYING TO GASLIGHT ME WTF😭)

🌟 When she has a star's powers, I feel like it would let her create whatever the fuck she wants at an insanity level. Wishing stars create items that would help users on their journey, so with her, she can use it to her advantage. Also she becomes just as insane as her husband. It also gives a difference in terms to what they would do when they have a star's powers. Magnifico would be able to shapeshift at a corrupt level, and Amaya can manipulate her surroundings that would become reality so to speak at an insane level. I chose this one since it fits her not being more confrontant while Magnifico is more so on that. She be lurking in the shadows like a cat :3

🌟 How she knows so much about the people, is by her cat! I think the cat would be called Custos. Idk the name yet, might go with the concept version of the name.

🌟 I learn more about my prey before I strike at their weakest point. (Nah that's very catnap of you. Unless you want to fall asleep for 100 years, I suggest you choose your words carefully. Bruh alright lady💀) And yes she wrote that in...

🌟 She is such a silly lil guy...AMAYA STOP LET ME BE SILLY U SON OF A BI-😡

Erm anyways...(she tried to eat my dog and steal my cat. GRRRR)

I feel like it would be fun if it is just expanding their empire for their main goal or taking over the world. Kind of like this song as their modivation:

I want this to be their goal since it kind of feels like some of the old Disney Villains, for me at least :3 (And I am having WAYYYY to much fun with their characters already hehe)

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Final Thoughts

On a final note, I will mention that there is a possibility that all of this wont make it into the final version. And in all honesty, I'm actually shocked I was able to compose all of this together without mentioning what they do with the wishes, like what- 😭

I also am still debating if Amaya and Magnifico made the kingdom or it was passed down through generations. Don't know yet tbh :^

Also, Amaya was sort of difficult for me to jot down since I didn't know how to get her into the story, and I think I am slowly, but surely getting there :D

I also really tried to make it different and fresh from the other versions and I am very excited to show that "I DECIDE WHAT EVERYONE DESERVES" when it is done (it is now We decide what everyone Deserves).

You can also ask both Amaya and Magnifico questions regarding the info you know about them now and about how they feel with the other versions of them if you want to of course (and I can show off their designs HEHHEH)

And yes...I had too much fun with writing out how they would interact with the post. DW, they wont interact here in the Final Thoughts section hehe ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I might also do a post on Asha since I have been pretty quiet on her character design/rewrite and another post about Star Boy since I wanna get more in depth with the ideas of Wishing Stars in my AU.

Speaking of Au...

what to call this AU of mine hmmmmm

I'll go with The Kingdom of Roses and Thorns, or TKoRaT. Feels fitting to me, at least for what I am going for story wise and character wise. Might change it since I can't stick with one thing, but rn it rolls off the tongue nicely.

Until then, I hope you have a great day and I hope Magnifico and Amaya don't steal your dreams 💀

@oh-shtars @annymation @chillwildwave @signed-sapphire

(They are thinking of working with your versions of Magnifico and Amaya oh boy not good 💀)

[physalian]

Am I the only one who likes Heroes of Olympus less and less as I get older?

Sometimes I think about how much better Heroes of Olympus could have been if there was A Plan. I have reread my copy of TLO so many times I have to be careful with it because the spine is falling apart, meanwhile I don’t think I’ve opened my copy of MOA. Originally read it borrowed from a friend as the copy I have came with the box set.

I don’t know what went on behind the scenes or why choices were made and they weren’t written that far apart so it can’t be nostalgia interfering—I was in middle school when the first few HOO books came out, I distinctly remember being a little jealous seventh grader that an eighth grader in my criminology class had the hardback of Lost Hero. But I wish I did know what went through either Riordan’s mind or his editor’s or the people at Disney-Hyperion because this series… just pales in comparison in so many ways to the original.

Not to say it’s all bad! So before anyone starts screaming, here’s the shortlist of things I liked:

I think SON was probably the best written overall as a cohesive story between all POVs, never got bored waiting for Percy’s POV to come back around and Frank and Hazel are awesome characters

Still adore the Tartarus sections in HOH, I loved all the callbacks and how it felt like a hellish road trip through everything that brough these two legacy characters to this point, digging up even the oldest of old foes

The main seven are solid, more so now as I get older and can appreciate them all for what they brough to the table, however the changes in characterizations for the legacy characters is… something else

I liked a lot of the minor gods and villains, despite Cupid’s role in the story, he was fantastic. I liked the exploration into both wider known Greek myths, like Narcisus and Heracles, and myths you’d definitely have to google, and the exploration outside the US

But regardless of what the actual plan was, it doesn’t feel like there was a plan, and a lot of that comes down to the plot and the complete lack of a thematic throughline. There was so much plot, that there was just no time for theme.

What I mean by this is that a message really front and center in PJO was the neglect of the gods and how they became their own self-fulfilling prophecy, by treating their kids like tools and toys, they can’t be surprised when the actual human children wake up to their neglect and attempt to do something about it, and that whole story was anchored by the different paths of Luke and Percy—Luke is what could have happened to Percy, whether by not having a slightly-less-shitty god for a dad, or having a mom who wasn’t cursed by the Oracle.

Fully admit that my memory of HOO is less than stellar because I haven’t read it nearly as much, but there was no Luke of that series, there was just Gaea and a couple secondary villains like Octavian, who is not nearly present enough or significant enough to be more than an obstacle. Kronos did a whole lot of nothing for the entire series until the final book, just whispers and threats and moving pieces around his chessboard, but his proxy was Luke. Luke was a personal, meaningful villain to Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Thalia, the Camp as a whole. He wasn’t just some guy. Gaea didn’t have a proxy—she had the giants and little short-lived minions, but none of those gave personal stakes to the story. If, say, something catastrophic had happened and Jason became the New Luke for the same damn reason—didn’t have anywhere else to turn and thought a world without the gods would be better than this—after spending a whole book getting to like him, maybe?

Obviously a big difference is the pacing, but I won’t fault it for the attempt at telling one huge, months-spanning story. Making a bold choice like that and seeing what sticks was always going to be interesting, but doing so did sacrifice seeing these new characters grow over five years like we did with Percy, and then having to share page time with multiple POVS, and not showing up at all for an entire book, either in TLH or SON. Not only was it less time with the former protagonist, but on top of all this plot, we’re having to race through it with a majority of new faces.

Another thing is the very intentional meta rivalry between the Greeks and the Romans. When I was a kid people hated Jason. We got incredibly protective of Percy and didn’t like Jason creeping in on Percy’s spotlight, this dude who we’ve never met and are simply told “he’s the Roman version of Percy but slightly better” and yet the book reinforces that idea constantly. In SON, I can’t pull specific page examples, but the Roman condescension of CHB’s way of life—like the campers being split by godly parent—isn’t just a condemnation of their ancient enemy, it also mocks the older books themselves, like “oh, you thought this was cool? Well you’re supposed to hate it now”. In MOA, literally, on the front cover, is the repeated skirmishes between Percy and Jason, once again asking readers to pick sides instead of thinking of these two as a team. If Jason really is Percy But Better, contrived fistfights never would have happened because they’d respect the fuck out of each other—and they didn’t happen organically for that reason. They had to be possessed and brainwashed. For…tension?

But I think the treatment and the arcs of the legacy characters, Percy, Annabeth, and Nico [no footage found for Grover], is the most confusing decision. I really don’t know what was going through their heads when they decided not to give a single POV to Percy, the sole narrator of five years of books, to the (presumed at the time) last book we’d ever see him in. So many choices with his characterization, too from MOA on, like the lack of meaningful reaction to Calypso, or Nico randomly getting kidnapped, to just… just the whole climactic nosebleed in BOO. He just became a caricature of himself, popping up to throw out a Persassy one-liner or getting weirdly jealous of Frank for being able to shape-shift. One of the only lines I remember clear as day from him, probably because it was a quip and not anything with substance, is “I can’t drown and neither can my pancakes.” If this isn’t his first line in BOO, I do remember waiting like, 60 pages to hear this boy speak. He was at his best in a return to form in HOO, and man was that a fall from grace from the last chapter of HOO to the first chapter of BOO.

Annabeth… is Annabeth. Ironically it was because her character didn’t change that makes it worse. I only recently had the “she actually is hell abusive” revelation, but beyond that, I know there are fierce defenders of her not being useless, but she… kind of is? Not in the vein of her not having combat powers, and I know she has her role with the Parthenos, but so much of her skill overlaps with or is overshadowed by Percy (he's incredibly clever and saves them at least half the time, and is a perfectly servicable strategist and tactician who, when he doesn't know something, consults his friends), and always has been. She’s the only character whose fatal flaw bites them in the ass without them even realizing it, more than once. Percy’s loyalty sees him drop with her into Tartarus, but it’s Annabeth’s hubris that got them into that situation. I will always appreciate a character who has to be clever because they aren’t strong, but she is also abusive and arrogant and instead of trying to exercise her fatal flaw, she keeps it in her corner like it justifies her every decision.

Nico. I do have more to say about him than the “lone queer character forced out of the closet at gunpoint in a shocking twist reveal” trope but I still, to this day, am confused about what the heck he was doing for two books only to suddenly get kidnapped by giants because the plot demanded it. “Oh we have to rescue Nico he’s suffocating in a jar with pomegranate seeds as his only lifeline.” Why couldn’t we see that battle? It feels like he only showed up as the “Ambassador of Pluto” so audiences could do the DiCaprio pointing meme, sometimes. But of course, the Cupid scene, and how Nico’s entire character is now and forever more defined by his sexuality and the traumas associated with it. Loved the scene for the tension, hated it for what it did to his character.

A few other legacy characters did pop up, like Thalia, but I don’t remember her role well enough to properly comment on it in this post. All I remember is Phoebe getting killed rather suddenly and graphically.

And then the whole “at least one of you is going to die” bait and switch, which could be a whole post on its own. For a series that was supposed to be darker and more adult, more for teenagers than the YA audience, for a book that got as dark as HOO did with everything in Tartarus, to then completely wimp out on the promised major character death on a technicality was definitely. A choice. That was made.

Look I don’t hate these books, I just feel mostly apathetic toward them and I think that’s worse. I don’t need every story I read or watch to have a moral and a message, but when the moral and message was so strong in PJO, to have just nothing to say for a series with a 50% longer wordcount was a letdown. We have to stop Gaea because the world will end. Yeah, okay, we know you’ll do that.

When you have stakes like the end of the world in a fantasy setting, the tension rarely comes from “are they gonna let the world end,” but from what the cost of preventing catastrophe will be. We knew in the back of our minds in PJO that Kronos wasn’t going to win, but TLO opened with a kid blowing himself up in what amounted to a vain effort to end the war early, who’s death haunted his surviving girlfriend so much, she then also died trying to redeem herself for her role in getting him killed. The cost of stopping Kronos was the possibly-avoidable death of a teenager who, at the last second, woke up to his grooming and gaslighting and killed himself to kill the villain.

If I’m not mistaken, BOO opened with Jason in cosplay and he and Piper on yet another fetch quest. Leo technically did die, but he didn't stay that way for long, and the climax was so confusing that I don't recall even being upset about him dying.

I might not remember the story very well, but I do remember this confusing uncertainty while reading BOO for the first time just… waiting for it to get good. The only thing I was holding out on by the halfway mark was somebody important dying to stop this, to make any of this matter. And that did not happen. Considering how manipulative the cliff-hangers were, I wouldn’t be surprised if “oooo somebody gonna die” was just a carrot on a stick to keep readers’ attention to the end.

PJO, what did it all mean? The tragedy of child heroes and the consequences of neglectful parenting, the lives it ruins and the means hurt people turn to just to get the respect and attention they were robbed of by their parents and those who were supposed to care about them.

HOO, what did it all mean? I guess… when the world’s at stake even the oldest of foes can set their grudges aside for the greater good? Even though the main seven weren’t foes, or rivals, and the big climactic Greeks vs Romans battle was kind of background fodder for the grand plan of singing Gaea a lullaby.

Not awful books by any means, but books that were full of bizarre choices in everything from characterization to pacing to conflict both internal and external and a lacking throughline of meaningful tension without a decent, meaningful villain.

[twothpaste]

i'm interested to hear about Porky for that character meme

First impression: The first time I saw Porky was in Smash Bros Brawl when I was like 12, and I was probably about as bamboozled as every other kid back then. I remember being creeped out and a little captivated, wondering what the hell could possibly be up with this rampaging kid / old man / ??? In some kind of life support mech??? Like damn these Mother games must be crazy. (Proceeded to emulate Pokemon instead for the next 6 years 🤸)

Impression now: Oh, I see! He was The Best Villain In All Of Media. That's what was up with him. He carved out a corner in the back of my brain where he's been living rent free for a decade. If I think too hard about him I go off the rails and sometimes become cataclysmically sad. Awesome.

Favorite moment: The entire Empire Porky Building is a mesmerizingly monolithic character study unto itself. But his climactic speech when you finally reach him at the 100th floor is like. God. Fucking hell. Where does one even begin. The surprising eloquent conviction with which he speaks, after a whole dungeon of childish taunting. And then, it's actually such a thin veneer after all. He's deluded himself into thinking he's a godlike visionary, but everything he declares about "humanity" is so insecure and immature and downright wrong. The unnerving spite and tragedy of it all. The urge to pity him feels like a bellyache. How you know where he came from and what a hapless child he used to be (and maybe still is) - but to the people of Nowhere?? They've got no fuckin' clue. And he doesn't belong here, but at the same time, he embodies every individualistic capitalistic apocalyptic thing they tried to shove under the rug and forget about. Just. Agh. Turns my brain and bones to jelly.

Idea for a story:

Unpopular opinion: He's not "insane," or mind controlled by Giygas, or gone "crazy" in the aftermath of Giygas' influence. A thousand lifetimes are sure to do something to a guy's head, sure - and I'm sure his mental health ain't great - but like?? Everything about him hits so much harder if he is of relatively sound reasoning (like every other capitalist), and if he's acting on his own will. Stripping him of his psychological agency renders him so thematically & conceptually toothless to me, idk. If he was just acting zany & evil 'cause he was out of his mind or whatever, then none of the shit he does or says really means anything!! Giygas brought out the worst in him. Aloysius and Lardna conditioned him to make terrible choices. Porky chose to spend 3842389 years committing atrocities unto mother Earth and mankind.

Favorite relationship: His friendship with Ness is so bittersweet, and his use of Claus as an extension of himself is both harrowing and fascinating. I think my fav is his narrative dynamics with Lucas though. How they both faced cruelty at the hands of shortsighted adults and the world at large, but learned completely different lessons from it. How Lucas, presumably a boundlessly kind and forgiving person, gets pushed to his absolute limit with this guy. How he's gotta grapple with the ethics of Porky's fate, whether or not he deserves to spend eternity trapped by his lonesome. How Porky coerces this humble farm kid into the role of Ness, chasing the high of his friendship and rivalry. How he calls Claus his "double," right in front of Claus' actual double, just to drive the knife in deeper. How he thinks he represents the grim reality of human nature, while Lucas stands tall and faces him as a shining counterpoint. Everybody explode now.

Favorite headcanon: Uhh shit I dunno what my favorite is. The Masked Man is based on one of his original comic characters he used to draw when he shouldda been paying attention in math class. He had a crush on Ness and didn't know what to do about it and now it's the whole universe's problem. He has a laughably poorly-informed admiration for Ronald Reagan, 'cause his dad spoke highly of him. If he were just a guy in the 2020s, his goal in life would be to usurp Elon Musk by being exactly the same but "smarter" and "more competent" (he would fail because he's neither).

[minijenn]

Jen Tortures Herself With Every Dreamworks Animated Movie Ever: Turbo

Ya'll ever watch a movie that leaves such a little impression on you that you're almost certain it'll dump itself out of your brain within hours of watching it? Because good god, if Turbo ain't one of those movies.

It is... so fucking boring. So fucking forgettable, such a nothing movie on all accounts. The characters are one-note, the story is bland, even the animation isn't anything impressive to look at. But don't just take my word for it. Let's get into this... whatever the fuck it is I just watched.

Theo is a garden snail who's bored with his mundane life (wow, how many times have we seen that one in a Dreamworks movie before) and is constantly at ends with his brother Chet. One day. a freak accident involving nitrous oxide imbues Theo, who renames himself Turbo, with super speed. After being captured by and befriending Tito, a taco truck driver with brother issues of his own, Turbo is on his way to achieving his longtime dream of racing and winning the Indy 5,000 race.

So yeah, the plot is kinda dumb. I mean its obviously very silly and out there, its a kids movie, blatantly to its core. One that constantly feels like its ripping off both Cars and Ratatouille somehow??? Like seriously, there isn't really an original bone in this movie's body. I mentioned before the characters here are all very one note at best, stereotypes at worst (especially with some of the human characters). Turbo is just a bland protagonist with not a lot to him to really make us care about him or root for him. Chet is a wet blanket for most of the movie, and even the point where he comes around feels forced and rushed. The other snails are just as boring as the human characters are, meant to just spew out whitty lines and catch phrases to try and make them seem "hip with the kids" when they are so clearly not. There's also a villain? I guess? I don't remember enough about him to say anything significant so there's that.

The humor in this is just... trying too damn hard. Lots of physical humor yes, but also a good deal of bad puns and lame one-liners. Another thing that absolutely took me out of this movie so fucking fast were the product placements. Like yes, I understand that brands sponsor cars at a race like the Indy 5000 but jesus fucking christ the amount of times I had to look at the Verizon logo in this stupid ass movie made my skin literally crawl.

The animation is just... whatever. Nothing too impressive here, the character designs are typical Dreamworks doing the bare minimum to get by. Same with the music, boring pop songs set against a boring score. The least this movie could have done if it was gonna force me to sit through a shitty script and boring story was look decent, but it doesn't even manage to do that right.

So yeah, Turbo is just about as bad as I was expecting it to be. I mean, it barely passes above the likes of insultingly bad movies like Antz and Shark Tale, because at least this one didn't make me want to gouge my eyes and ears out. But that's not saying much.

Overall Rating: 3/10

Verdict: Salt every last one of these damn snails

Previous Review (The Croods)

Next Review (Mr. Peabody and Sherman)

[animechick2015]

Anime I watched in 2022 Part 2:

11. Rising of the Shield Hero Part 2- 3/5

Where do I begin with this? It started off strong but by the 3rd or 4th episode I started to question if this was the same shield hero that I watched before. Don’t even get me started on how many times I watched Ost die only for her to come back to life. Thank goodness for the banger opening and ending. I briefly read the manga a while back so I knew that content was left out. After this season ended I reread and yup A LOT was left out. Hopefully the next season can redeem this show.

12. Spy x Family 10,000/5

Ahhhhh I was so excited for this one. I read the manga so I knew the plot well and was a wee bit nervous when I saw Cloverworks was one of the studios doing the production (they basically cut 90% of Horimiya content) but much to my surprise they kept all of the original content, plus added some to really flesh out the show and it’s characters. This will be one of those shows that people will be talking about for years to come. The animation, the characters, the opening and ending were all spectacularly done. Anya deserves all the happiness in the world. Loid is the best fake dad and fake husband (all for the mission of course) and Yor is the new waifu, I don’t make the rules. God I really love these characters and seeing them animated so wonderfully brings a smile to my face.

13. Ya Boy Kongming 5/5

This was a underrated gem for this year. I need to thank tik tok for showing me clips for this one otherwise I wouldn’t have know it existed. And that opening: A BANGER!! Seriously, if anyone skips the opening, they need to be arrested immediately! All the characters were so likable and you were cheering on the ‘rivals’. If you’re a fan of music, I highly recommend this anime.

14. The Case Study of Vanitas 5,000/5

Ahhhhhh! Ok ok. I’m calm now. But seriously this anime has turned my brain into goop. I had serious Vanitas brain rot when I finished watching this one. From opening to ending this one hooked me. Alllll the characters were interesting, even the minor ones; you just wanted to know more about every one and everything. And I know, I KNOW Vanitas and Jeanne are endgame but whyyy is the chemistry between Vanitas and Noe sooooo good. Like holy guacamole their chemistry was off the charts (and that first ending didn’t help either) I can’t wait to know more about these characters and see what shenanigans they get up too.

15. Misfit of the Demon King Academy 5/5

There’s just something about overpowered characters that gets me so hyped. Now don’t get me wrong, I like to follow the journey of a character from rock bottom and see them rise to the top. But sometimes you just want to see a Main Character just go nuts from the get go and that’s the main character from this series. “Did you really think killing me would stop me?” will never stop being epic. Like damn! This was such a refreshing anime and the ending I didn’t expect. Really can’t wait to see more of this universe.

16. The Millionaire Detective: Balance Unlimited 4/5

Listen, there was so much hype around this anime that I went into it expecting a lot. Especially the chemistry between the two male leads but alas I was severely disappointed. While the story and other characters were good it just felt like something was missing. And I know everyone loves Kambe but I was more into Haru and I just wanted him to one up Kambe in some way (don’t ask me to go into detail because I can’t even explain it myself). Maybe I need to read the manga to get into this one.

17. Love After World Domination 5/5

This was such a cute, dorky romance. If you were a Power Rangers fan as a kid, I think you’ll appreciate this one. It’s a nice spoof of that universe with the main characters trying to navigate their love life, school, being a hero and being a villain (is she really a villain though). I went into this one with absolutely no expectations but every week I was continuously surprised by this story. Really hope we get a second season to this.

18. Skeleton Knight in Another World 5/5

I know a lot of people kept comparing this one to Overload but can I just say that I enjoyed this one wayyy more than Overload. Arc and Arianne are much more enjoyable characters to me and I just adored their chemistry. And Ponta was just the cutest addition to this series. This anime only has 12 episodes but it was enough to hook me in to that universe. I’m really hoping we get another season.

19. Overlord Season 1 3/5

I really tried to like this one. Honestly I tried my best to like it but I couldn’t get past the first season. The characters felt bland and overdone for me. Maybe it’s because I watched so many isekai anime’s prior that this one didn’t wow me. Maybe if I’m bored I’ll give this another go.

20. Komi Can’t Communicate Part 2 5/5

Ahhh cuteness overload. I really love Komi and seeing her progress slowly but surely is always a wonderful sight to behold. Chadano will forever be best boy. This season had so many laugh out loud and wtf moments that I really hope we get another season.

[irkimatsu]

Hi my friend (who’s the biggest husk simp I know) introduced me to your blog and I saw that you posted something paper Mario related and I feel I must ask what your favorite game and character in the series is

PAPER MARIO PAPER MARIO PAPER MARIO

For what it's worth, my love for Paper Mario only lasts for the first three games. Sticker Star was a mistake and I never played anything after that. Those first three games are so good, though. Yes, I'm even an apologist for Super Paper Mario, it's very different from the first two but I love it for what it is. I'd actually say the first one is my least favorite of the three, not because it's bad, but because I recently replayed it and it definitely had some growing to do. The original established something great, then TTYD came along and perfected it. So my ranking is TTYD > SPM > P64. Sticker Star doesn't even get a ranking, it's a waste of data.

Character-wise... Vivian, of course! Even before I realized she was originally trans I loved her. The whole thing of "soft-natured character is abused by family until someone comes along to tell them it doesn't have to be this way" gets me every damn time. (See also, Crona from Soul Eater.) Though I can't say that knowing she's trans doesn't make me just the slightest bit happier, and seeing the remake retain that fact, however faintly, makes me a little more optimistic for the future. Bless you, Vivian. I also love the Yoshi Kid; he's a cute, spunky little thing, and damn it I love Yoshis, always have. Bow is cute, too. And oh my god, Tippi and Count Bleck/Timpani and Blumiere. Part of the reason I love SPM so much is how much the story tore me to shreds. Dimentio's a great villain, too. Been way too long since I've played SPM, I no longer own it or a Wii, so it'd be nice if they remade that next...

So yes! Paper Mario! Very good! I'm hoping TTYD's success will lead to the series getting pulled out of the decade plus slump the series has been in. Give me lovable characters! Give me plot!

If you're into LPs and don't mind some old Internet humor that, um, might not have aged well, I recommend Lucahjin's playthrough of the series! She's hilarious, and has the same filthy-stupid sense of humor I do. (I also really like her playthroughs of Danganronpa and Ace Attorney, and to my knowledge those playthroughs are a lot less sketchy, humor-wise. Five years really changes a person.)

(And tell your friend I really appreciate the rec! Hope they're enjoying my writing; and you, too, if you're here for that! Husk simps unite!)

[scrunkore]

Scrunkore Media "Thread" 2023: Part 5

I got burnout and never got back into it so I'm hella simplifying it lol shit happens

the scrunko core has burned out, rebooting

50) Wendell & Wild (Movie, 2022)

A lovingly crafted stop-motion animated movie with some good old kid-friendly horror vibes and a punky attitude, even starring a pretty nice transmasc character that I'm super happy to see. It's a nice story with a good visual style and a lot of heart, and I think Key and Peele being involved is pretty funny honestly. [4★]

51) Murder by Numbers (Switch, 2020)

Decent enough Picross game with a basic detective narrative stringing it together that I'm not really a huge fan of, but it does its job and I appreciate the adorable robot as well as some of its representation. And no idea how they got the composer from Ace Attorney and Ghost Trick, lmao [3★]

52) Pokémon Picross (GBC, Unreleased)

Yeah, this was better than the 3DS one, it's just basic Picross that doesn't do much (only real mechanic it adds is being able to change the music) but that's still better than the shitty mobile game model. They really should have just released this, it was straight-up finished and I even got a cart that works on original hardware because I think that's neat. [3.5★]

53) Paper Mario: The Origami King (Switch, 2020)

Going to be killed for playing this as my first Paper Mario but who cares, this game is cool in spite of its awkward battle system (which DOES kinda suck). Just a fun adventure with typical quirky writing and some surprisingly powerful moments, plus an excellent soundtrack, I'm sure some of the earlier games are better but I did play this one and did enjoy it. [4★]

54/55) Knives Out/Glass Onion (Movies, 2019/2022)

Incredible pair of detective movies, both full of really engaging writing and directing work that keeps you invested and never stops being entertaining to watch, surely still really good on a rewatch too. They also really fuckin' hate rich people, especially the second one which is woke as hell and has one of my favourite endings in anything, so that's what some might call "based". I can't wait to see what Rian Johnson does for the third Benoit Blanc movie, which is apparently meant to be a 2024 release. [5★]

56) Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Comics, 2018-Present)

These are some damn enjoyable comics, telling some fun and generally quite well-written stories set after the events of Sonic Forces with a cast of really cool characters. Honestly kind of ride or die for Tangle and Whisper, but original villains like Dr Starline are great to read too. Early highlight is definitely the Metal Virus arc, but the more recent stuff with Surge was excellent too. Safe to say the team behind these stories know their shit. [4.5★]

57) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Movie, 2023)

They really did it, they went out of their way to make a bigger and better sequel to one of the greatest animated movies I've seen, and it's very possible that they succeeded... but we won't know until the second part comes out, which looks unfortunately unlikely to be any time soon because production sucked. Still, what we did get is yet another gorgeously animated spectacle with a cool storyline, everyone knows that. [4.5★]

58) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Movie, 2023)

One of the only parts of the MCU that I cared about more or less concluded with this movie, and fuck it might be the best one in the trilogy. Rocket's harrowing backstory really hits out with that theme of some jerkass playing god, and the core adventure of the film is pretty engaging too, just as cool as ever. Plus it's now confirmed Vocaloid exists in the MCU lol [4.5★]

59) The Suicide Squad (Movie, 2021)

Another instance of James Gunn making an actual good superhero movie, this time making a good adaptation of something that previously had a bit of a shit one. I appreciate the kinda edgy nature of the titular squad that was handled solidly here, and their antics are honestly pretty funny. Fun action sequences too, and it's honestly really cool how much the movie thinks rats are awesome (they kind of are tbh). Peter Capaldi, the best version of Doctor Who, playing a mad scientist role is also just... really good. [4★]

60) Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (Movie, 2022)

Man fuck Disney, this is obviously the best version of the Pinocchio story and their attempt to overshadow it was lame as hell. I quite like the darker take on the story with themes of death and war around Italy's rise of fascism (Tom Kenny Mussolini is crazy btw), and of course the stop-motion animation is really quite excellent. Always love to see movies made in such a way. [4★]

61/62) Sonic and the Secret Rings/Black Knight (Games, 2007/2009)

Yeah, I get why the storybook duo of games have a bad reputation, because the motion control gimmicks kinda suck, but Secret Rings suffers from it far more than Black Knight, and that still has the cool ideas and solid writing combined with a great soundtrack (both games have this). Maybe the mission-based level structure isn't great, but there's some fun stuff to be found in these. Wish they were better though. [2.5★/3.5★]

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[emmafallsinlove]

you ever get irritated when seeing lorelai just brush over things with rory’s other boyfriends that she crucifies jess for? dean has an affair with rory but he gets a break cause he’s 19, not the kid who grew up with an alcoholic mom and her string of boyfriends. logan jumps off that giant tower thing with rory but no, lorelai’s gonna keep hating ‘the boy who broke my daughter’. i hate that she advocated for dean over and over again when clearly, rory wasn’t in love with him, she just wanted to be. and i hate that she sent that letter to rory to convince her to give logan a second chance. yet, not once did she stand up for jess, not when he was clearly struggling with something greater than logan or dean, something that came so incredibly close to the same struggle lorelai went through in terms of neglect and abandonment and mistrust.

oh my god anon, you have no idea how much i hate the way jess being treated by lorelai. i have so much problems with lorelai lately as long as i keep rewatching, and i totally agree with you. somehow she can forgive logan and share a cake with him in her kitchen after he: got her daughter arrested, made her quit yale, made them not speak with each other for 5 months 3 weeks and 16 fucking days!!!!! and yet she still accepted his requests to ask rory to marry him? i am sorry but s7 lorelai is so out of character to me i’m just pissed. I would have shoved logan down the damn stairs before i would agree him to ask my daughter to marry this jerk if i was lorelai!

and oh my god don’t let me start with lorelai unclear obsession towards dean! she fucking worship the ground he walks on! and he did nothing to deserve getting that treatment! oh wait, he changed the water bottles every time he came to visit, what a hero.

but jess who had an alcoholic mother and had no one by his side and she could have at least understood him a bit more, love him a bit more, treated him like he’s the reason to all the bad in the world and I HATE IT I HATE IT my boy jess deserves the world -

and i just hate how lorelai basically kicked rory out of her house when rory told her she’s quitting yale, and then didn’t told her about her engagement to luke and had the nerve to get mad at rory for changing her phone number? like i am sorry but if my mom would have been getting engaged to the person i see as my father figure and she wouldn’t have told me about it - it would have become my villain origin story. rory is stronger than me in that regard.

[scjacka]

Last episode. Let's all make our Christmas wish this year that it doesn’t come back

I don't even really remember how the stupid thing started (I may have been drinking to get through it XD). This is going to be disjointed because I rage paused a lot and I WILL NOT be rewatching any of this to get it correct. This show doesn't care about my time so I'm not wasting any more of it by rewatching, lol.

Kris is completely useless. Like there was zero point to him being in this season at all. I was also of the mindset that he was going to be a bigger role and maybe take over for Scott but he was completely pointless. I JUST REMEMBERED HE WAS THE KID THAT SAW SKINNY SCOTT WITH THE CANOE AND THAT WAS HIS SANTA ORIGIN STORY OR WHATEVER AND I STARTED YELLING AT THE REVISIONIST HISTORY AND MY HUSBAND WAS LIKE, ARE YOU OK?! AND I WAS LIKE DO I LOOK OK?!!?!

I may be wrong, but is this the first time we've actually seen the factory floor in this whole damn show? Like we're always in Scott's office, the stables, the real world, or the monitoring room. Have they even made any toys in these TWO SEASONS?! Maybe they have and

I liked the Betty/Olga fight (but like why a fake sword?) but the way it was cut back and forth with the Mad Santa/Scott discussion was annoying

The gnomes are just pissed cause they can't make toys... that's like all it took? Feel like we shoulda figured that out sooner. Same goes for Noel just being like, hey gnomes, just come help us.

The mug is the "amulet". Ok, sure. I didn't pause the show in anger about it. Like, not only did we rewrite and destroy the magic-powered watch from 2 earlier this season now we re-wrote the mug. None of this is helped by them bringing up the damn thing 2 episodes before the end like we knew anything about it and it wasn't just shoved in at the last minute. Does each Santa have a different "amulet" (for god sake just call it a talisman or something not associated with a necklace) or do they all get their power from the same ones? Did Judy technically drug him into being Santa then. Like got him drunk on Christmas power? If it's tied just to Mad Santa then why on earth would Judy still have it if there was a coup and all that shit to get rid of the man? Wouldn't it also be locked away somewhere?

Didn't Scott say he made Cal's vest out of the coat? Maybe I misinterpreted that in the early episodes but now he's just wearing it like no big.

Laughing really hard at Scott not realizing he's been a douche until the "villain" says he is with regards to Cal. MS should just be Santa and Scott can go live at the fake Santa village with Fluffy.

Laughing really hard at suddenly remembering Charlie exists and pretending like you get some kind of Christmas powers from him.

Sandra is all-powerful. Good for her I guess.

I still love Befana. Like she's the only character I consistently enjoy watching

Elizabeth Mitchel is too good for this show and is acting much harder than she should with this garbage.

"We fixed EB he's good now but we didn't have the budget to bring back Tracy Morgan or he didn't want to be in the makeup again or something so we're just not gonna show him, but take our word he's fine!"

Why are they singing again and especially that song? Something about a child elf and the lyrics "I touch you once, I touch you twice" is unsettling to me.

Cal's gonna go to college... wouldn't he have to like, go to real school first and have transcripts and whatnot (I'm sure they'd magic it away or whatever). Also, he's not that bright so like, how's he gonna fair in higher education?

Everyone that goes on Kribble Krabble doesn't come back. I swear to god that's the plot of one of the few Hallmark xmas movies I've ever watched. But I guess that means Curtis isn't exploded. With the logic that they all Kribble and don't come back, I'm convinced that was actually Judy working in the bad xmas village which is just a sad development for her and really a downgrade from being at the Pole

So we basically end this season right where we started at the beginning of season 1. Like, Cal's not gonna be Santa and Scott's just gonna be Santa forever and never retire. Mad Santa is there now too I guess (also, there are werewolves in TSC canon... ok, sure). He's with Fluffy in the fake Santaville I guess, but whatevs

I forgot until I realized I took a picture of it, the line from Carol about leaving her job and her life behind and not complaining about it. Like on the one hand yes, please go off queen cause you deserve so much better. But also, you've kinda been complaining about it since the 3rd movie.

Oh right, Tim Allen got to mention Jesus one last time just to make sure it got in there. I literally had to turn on the closed caption cause I was like, did he just say "The King" and sure enough he did, capital K and everything. YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS ALLEN!! Like pick silly fantasy Santa show or pick something religious. IDK it irks me so much

I feel like I had more to ramble about but I'm tired just from having to remember all of this from last night, lol. Just needed to get this junk outta my head. Honestly, very glad Jack wasn't in here to be slandered by this show. Same for the Millers. Same for Bernard again (besides in name and that dumb picture that still makes me mad) and Charlie again.

[lunarsilkscreen]

Culex and Paper Mario

The original Secret Boss from MarioRPG, is also the sprite for the remake version. Which is really cool. But the themes between Mario world and FF world are interesting.

Culex represents an Final Fantasy style God-Boss, who has collected all four of the elemental crystals (The FF worlds variant of the Seven Stars)

This, is foreshadowing of the enemy MarioRPG must battle against in his titular game. This Mario's last name is of course: RPG. The villain of the game is Smithy, a liquid metal God-Boss from Terminator, who mass produced sentient weapons, including, probably; RPGs.

In FF the mirror image of Mario is a group of heros who collect (or interface with) 4 crystals which control the essence of the world itself, and use their power to defeat an evil world-ending God bent on its destruction.

This *secret boss* while secret to the player, I think is canon. He represents what happens if Mario and party fail to stop smithy.

But more interestingly... He is a two-dimensional being in what is depicted as a 3D world. This intersection between 2D and 3D is the premise behind Paper Mario.

<aside>It probably isn't, it probably arose from some devs playing with 2D Mario sprites in a 3D engine.</aside>

Paper Mario has a similar shack to MarioRPG, doesn't adventure with his brother Paper Luigi like your typical Mario Bro. Mario RPG doesn't even have a brother in this game. Not unless you count the Mario&Luigi games as canon to the RPG game.

God damn it, I can still hear Culex's Battle Music in my head to this day.

The Paper Mario games often play as a repeat of MarioRPG. As if it's a story told to future generations. The Star Sprites, the star Kids, ever elaborated upon. But what is missing in these future stories is that Bowser is the bad guy.

Bowser is often always kidnapping peach, so I'm not saying he's a good guy. However, in MarioRPG, they did put aside their differences for the good of the world.

And yet... Paper Mario retells the story of MarioRPG, as if the two had never been friends. Just like every Super Mario Brothers game from 3 onward. A stage play, a retelling. As if it were ... Dare I say it: JUST A GAME.

It's as if the story tellers had forgotten who the real villain of MarioRPG was. Is this on purpose? Did Bowser try to make himself appear more formidable? Are the story tellers just really biased against Bowser? Or is it some other force?

Or; Is it The world Culex created? Culex doesn't die after his boss battle, he just returns home. Is it possible, in trying to recreate his own fallen world, he brought the souls of his people forth to the original 3D Mario World?

"I like this extra dimension. I think I'll take it." - Culex Probably

[watanabes-cum-dump]

thoughts abt darkstalker now that i am no longer ten years old

everyday i sit and think "oh yeah darkstalker went off the deep end it's his fault he's kinda racist" and then i remember that his father never seemed to love him despite being able to love his mother and sister and like did that not get to him???? no it doesn't justify shit but given that he knows abt how rigid the icewings are and his dad apparently doesn't have the capacity to love his own son (and i guess his daughter properly bc he did make the analogy that arctic sees whiteout as a necklace, you know an object) for no reason he probably thinks they're all heartless.

oh also did arctic reallllllly love foeslayer or was he just longing for an excuse to get out of his royal duties or whatever? because he's absolutely miserable in the night kingdom and makes no move to try and adjust and be happy. like i thought this is what you wanted buddy i thought you didn't want ur life being controlled. because suddenly he's soooo miserable he tries to bring whiteout back there. like god damn you are such an asshole idc if you loved your wife you sure as hell never acted like it.

oh and ALSO darkstalker wanting a redo of his family with clearsight so he can be happy? he views her as his only option to be happy and have a family with. on the one hand it's really cute how he's only willing to have her and that he literally could not cope with her death in like book ten??? (gimme a break I dropped wings of fire after they introduced the lost continent or whatever) he's literally sort of a yandere with the earrings and stuff, and listen i love my yandere men but i digress, he would have never hurt her. even in the cave he probably could have seen it coming but no he trusts her more than anything like god damn when is it my turn??? these two were so loving and healthy while it lasted, the fact that there were some futures where clearsight is his queen makes me believe that she would also do unspeakable things for him and that's what makes her decision so much more heartbreaking :( in the same way the fact that there were futures where they had their little teehee domestic life with their kids suggests darkstalker could let go of his racist ass conquest for her??? I KNOW DARKSTALKER DID WRONG BUT BY GOD HE LOVED HER. I want a love like theirs (the cute soulmate high school sweethearts part obvs)

can we also talk about how much he loved his sister and mother? like seriously i cannot believe this shit darkstalker LOVED AND RESPECTED the women in his life and i am here for it. ik wof universe is like a matriarchy but still i am so tired of dudes having these warped perceptions of their mother and sisters i just like that he actually loved them.

i will always say that darkstalker's story was not only a villain origin story but a tragedy because darkstalker really only wanted the best in the beginning and in later books he turned out like... that. initially i didn't think much about how he manipulated moon but uhhhhhh... now i do be thinking twice. seriously out of all the futures clearsight and darkstalker managed to get the worst one.

idk what prompted this i was just thinking about how much darkstalker and clearsight were tragic (yes darkstalker's choices were bad, i meant tragic in the "a thousand different futures, a thousand different ways we can be happy together but this one still happened" sense. damn clearsight had it rough) and then i just... thought. which is a dangerous think i should not be allowed to ponder under any circumstances.

anyways about my past with wings of fire, i think the series has kind of fallen off but this shit was my childhood like this was everything to me. i read book nine in ONE DAY and i made a fanfic with OCs with my friend i was dedicated. next to percy jackson, wof was my top dog until i got into anime and video games

[safyresky]

Okay so, Shoes off the Bed Clause. I think this is my fave episode so far???? I just.

AND A MYSTERIOUS FIGURE??? I BET IT'S EITHER PAST SANTAS OR BERNARD. PROBABLY BOTH. AHH! I'll stick thoughts under cut bc spoilers.

ok so FIRST OF ALL, WHAT THE FUCK SIMON???????

I figured he'd go corporate (I GOTTA have a bingo by now) but WOW SEEING IT? AWFUL! IS THIS WAS FROSTMAS FELT LIKE? BECAUSE WOW. SIMON IS SOMEHOW WORSE THAN SANTA JACK, I SHIT YOU NOT. The Union comment? Him not caring about the concerns Betty or any of the elves had? Two elves EXPLODE IN FRONT OF HIM and he goes "this is fine and totally normal!" WHAT THE FUCK, SIMON! WHAT THE FUCK.

This man is my villain origin story, bout to go torch the north pole mySELF frfr. god DAMN.

Second of all, BEFANA!

I love that Betty went to see her, I LOVE that the jacket was there, also LOVE THAT BEFANA IS GOING TO CONTACT BERNARD 100% THAT'S THE HIM. CALLING IT NOW. And I think B-Man deserves a tolling bell as his calling card tbh, mans puts up with a LOT of shit.

AND HORSE GIRL SANDRA?

I like that we're seeing more of Sandra's abilities. Still feel like they're not being done in a decent way given everything else going down? We have 0 explanation about why she can speak to animoos and they don't seem to be delving into the why more which is upsetti spagetti here at SafyreSky Industries. The POTENTIAL! AH!

Buddy and Noel SHINE, of course

AND CAROL! CAROL IS OUT HERE GIRLBOSSING AND WE LOVE IT FOR HER

I am so happy she is right back in it, that's. I'm. Very good for her!! I'm NOT a fan of her being so like. SCORNED by the Mrs Claus thing? And that being a point she keeps bringing up? Like I see why, I get it, BUT STILL. And I am very much of the opinion that she could just. She could just fucking. She could be GIRLBOSSING withOUT the reason being "29 plus years as Mrs Claus has made her. Well. Like that". STILL REFUSE TO BELIEVE SHE DID NOT SEND HER KIDS TO SCHOOL OR SCHOOL THEM HERSELF BUT YOU KNOW, WHATEVER. GUESS I'LL DIE ON THIS HILL, TOO. (the previous hills being THERE SHOULD'VE BEEN TWO TIMMIES IN THE MAIN SQUARE IN TSC3 and JACK FROST THAWED AND ISN'T A VILLAIN ANYMORE)

ugh. anyway, I think Ana and I are about to start our rewatch? I'm sure more thoughts will come your way from SafyreSky Industries tonight because holy lordy smokies im. wOW

[minijenn]

Jen Tortures Herself With Every Dreamworks Animated Movie Ever: Shrek 2

So I haven't seen this movie in years and having just rewatched it, I can safely say, this movie invented comedy. Hands down.

Seriously though, what can be said about Shrek 2 that hasn't already been said? It's iconic, in every sense of the word, maybe even more of a meme factory than the original Shrek was. And yet even aside from being one of the funniest animated movies ever made (more on that in a bit), it's also just a really good and compelling story that hits all the right spots and really continues building on this world and these characters in an excellent way.

We kick off right after the first movie, with Shrek and Fiona freshly married and heading to Far Far Away to meet Fiona's parents. Throw in some family tension, the deviously delighful (milf) that is Fairy Godmother and her little bitch boy of a son Prince Charming, the ever debonaire Puss in Boots, and you have a movie that's an all time hood classic.

The jokes in this are so raw and so damn funny. Like the union bit and the police brutality joke? This damn movie was ahead of its time oh my god. Even outside of the humor though, the story itself is really good and does a great job helping you connect even more with the characters than the first movie did. Shrek especially, I feel like this one develops him even more, and you get to see just what lengths he'd go to for Fiona. It's honestly really sweet (and human Shrek is jacked wtf).

The rest of the cast is also great. Fiona may not get as much screentime here, but she's still a lot of fun. Donkey is a bit less annoying here than he was in the first movie, and the new additions like Puss in Boots are superb, there's a reason they gave that crazy lil cat his own franchise ya'll.

You also get a pretty interesting redemption arc for Fiona's dad, King Harold, who I just realized is the frog prince??? Like am I stupid or something for never knowing that before now??? Damn. Fairy Godmother is a FANTASTIC villain who gets to headline what may be one of the most epic climaxes in any animated ever (seriously, the I Need a Hero scene is pure HYPE). Speaking of music, the soundtrack is great just like the last movie's, with I Need a Hero being the highlight because oh my god ya'll, she slays it.

The animation definately got a bit more tuned up for this one too. The character models are much stronger and less... plasticy, I suppose is the right word, and the way they move is much more natural and fluid. The world itself is also given a lot more personality. I love how Far Far Away is basically just LA. That's such a fun little inside joke I never got as a kid.

As a whole, Shrek 2 is a fantastic movie. There's this trend we're gonna notice with Dreamworks trilogies where the first movie is great, the second movie is the best thing ever, and the third movie is either still really great (HTTYD3 and Kung Fu Panda 3) or the most confusing, what the fuck happened here thing ever (Shrek the Third). But we'll get to those when we get to those. Just... pray for me ya'll. Cause I gotta watch Shark Tale next. Lord have mercy on my soul.

Overall Rating: 9/10

Verdict: Get some dental insurance

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