#all the redundancy of so many character arcs????

[pixiesnooze]

When it comes to complex characters there needs to be more than just justification for their actions. There needs to be character arcs and developments and improvement or even a downgrade there needs to be something otherwise it’s stagnant and boring. There also needs to be acknowledgement that, yes they had undergone traumatic situations and experiences and that makes us as reader understand the THOUGHT PROCESS behind the characters actions, HOWEVER that does not mean that those action are inconsequential. For every action made by the character and every decision taken by the character there is an outcome and whether it benefits that character and imposes a (say) traumatic experience on a different character, then that is a completely separate discussion from understanding why the character had done what they had done. I can understand why they did that, in the face of their past experiences but that does not mean that it was right. Whether it was to protect themselves from hurt or having to undergo similar situations (especially trauma inducing ones), that action or decision caused another (innocent bystander) person hurt too. Does it make them a bad person? It depends. Because that is when the character arcs, the character developments the MORE to the thought process comes in. How did they, once they realised the hurt they have cause/continue to cause, undo or reflect or atone for that hurt? Just because we can understand why someone does something they do does not mean they are exempt from hurting people, and making amends, atoning. And no amount of “well they went through this” and “they went through that” and “they didn’t want to get hurt again” takes away from my previous statement.

[jackdaniel69nice]

Does anyone else think the bird jokes are overused and redundant :/

Like people reduce Tokoyami’s whole personality to a single physical trait and I just think it’s weird. In mha canon not a single (good) person makes jokes about tsu, shoji, or Tokoyami’s heteromorph traits. Tokoyami doesn’t even exhibit any bird traits (except the perching), that’s all headcanon. The only one who brings up his avian appearance is hawks. There are only 5 instances I can remember someone saying something about mutant appearances (excluding the direct assault against shoji and ordinary woman)

Mineta calling shoji octopus, which he then apologizes for after finding out how rude that is to say

Jiro saying “that damn bird” when dark shadow blocked her attack. It felt more like a statement of her frustration than an insult.

Bakugo calling tokoyami bird brain, which is normal for him

Dabi calling spinner lizard, and spinner getting offended and yelling at him (I don’t remember if he continues to do it afterwards)

Shoto calling that police chief a mutt, there was no excuse for that, that was just racist

And still I think these are pretty tame compared to how the fandom treats heteromorphs!! The stereotyping of Tokoyami and hawks is absolutely insane. I love when people come up with headcanons for them having more avian traits but when those traits become the butt of the joke it’s extremely distasteful. If I see one more cannibalism joke about eating chicken I’m gonna hurt something. You guys do realize birds eat other birds all the time right???? There is a reason “chicken hawk” is a name. A hawk literally tried to attack my chickens yesterday, they love chicken. That is the reason hawks favorite food is chicken. I can see why tokoyami would want to hide his avian traits because if people in mha are like ours he would have been bullied to hell.

I know people making bird jokes are just having fun, but it’s just really weird to me. It’s important to see the comparison between real life racism and the heteromorph racism in mha. There is a reason horikoshi adds the mutant rally in the final war arc, the lesson there has flown over so many people’s heads. I hope this post gives you more insight to look beyond appearances and actually try to understand these side characters a bit better.

[invested-in-your-future]

Why do you think RWBY v1-3 worked compared to the rest of it?

Hm.

Honestly a lot of the first three volumes doesn't - the pacing can be awful (and grinds to a halt within arcs dealing with Jaune), the writing decisions leave a lot of to be desired(and are beyond offensive at times).

To say what the first three volumes do well is to talk about what the volumes after dont.

The issue with V4 and onward is simple one:

Too many new redundant characters

I have been hammering on this point again and again - in a weird attempt to expand the world, the showrunners ended up filling it with things that overlap win purpose or outright have no purpose.

Generally if you want to have something happen and want to choose between existing character and new character as initiator, nine times out of ten it's better to go with an existing character.

For example, why did we need Salem's evil council of evil? Why did we need a whole team of villains on Salem's side that essentially fulfill same role and purpose as Cinder's group already did? They don't exactly do anything for the lore or the setting and most of their purpose is one-note - Hazel for example exists just to rage about Ozpin in a poorly executed attempt at making his intentions and role more ambiguous - but there are already plenty of characters who can fill that purpose, so why was Hazel, as a character made? Raven exists, Ironwood exists and is clearly having a crisis, even Haven's headmaster exists (let's say he does) - plenty of ways other characters can fulfill the same purpose as Hazel without Hazel existing. Same extends to the rest of Salem's group - Watts exists solely to "explain" the computer virus (why did we need it explained?) and to have a reason to go against Atlas (but Cinder already has a reason thanks to her backstory in-show???) and Tyrian is the same way.

Too many redundant story beats

The writing attempted to make the setting more complex, but in the end a lot of what's added has no real reason to be there - why do we need Relics when Maidens are already there? Even if we were to go with the same idea of Gods causing doomsday(as dumb as it is) the writing could just as easily have the exact same plotline with collecting Maiden powers, for example. So why have vaults and then relics on top of that?

The Gods are the same way too. Why have Gods at all when you can already comfortably just go with the idea of Salem getting Maidens powers to her side being just as catastrophic? Salem's backstory doesn't even need them - in fact if one were to remove the Gods and keep the backstory the same, the end result would be exact same story. But the show doesn't do that - instead, come V9, it adds ANOTHER layer of gods and magic trees and gives the god brothers a backstory that ALSO wasn't needed and doesn't do ANYTHING in terms of furthering the narrative.

Generally if there's a plot thread you'd want to do the first question to ask would be "Does this change ANYTHING for any of the characters?" - plot is an excuse to get characters through the story beats after all. In the case of God Brothers, the plot thread invents a new problem and then solves it - nothing changes.

Lost Focus

The show is titled RWBY for a reason.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang - that's the core of the show.

The show started with the color trailers focusing on them and their journeys. The Volume 3 ended with them each having their own issues to deal with and plot threads tying to those issues.

What do the Volumes that follow do with that set-up? Nothing.

Volume 4 is absolutely pointless in grand scheme of things.

Volume 5 is absolutely pointless in grand scheme of things.

Volume 6 is absolutely pointless in grand scheme of things.

In fact, I wrote about the story structure issues with V4 years ago

The narrative structure, at the basic level, is a game of Connect-the-Dots - you have specific story beats you want to reach that work in accordance with overall story and character outline - it's up for The Plot(tm) to lead the characters from one beat to the other.

The way RWBY works past V3 is by inventing a new problem that didn't and then resolving it, essentially staying in place. I sort of outlined it in the V4 structure chart in my write up in how nothing in that Volume serves any real purpose nor furthers the characters.

What does the mess at Haven Academy contribute to the story story that Beacon already haven't? Does what happen there affect the story going forward? No.

What does team RWBY and the whole absolutely dumb and boring mess with the mech and leviathan do for the story? Are there any lasting consequences from that happening? Nope.

What does the run-in with the Apathy do for the characterization? Are there any lingering psychological effects? Do we learn something new about how Grimm function or how the Eyes work? Are there any lingering implications or any story holes that the encounter slots in into? Absolutely nothing.

That's three big examples in those Volumes where the writing invents a new issue, resolves it and doesn't further characters or narrative by doing so.

In Connect-the-Dots, you don't stop hopping from dot to dot midway-through, you don't hop back and forth between existing dots. Story beats and character beats are beats for a reason - they move things forward, they affect things, they alter things. If you have something that leads the narrative back at the place it was before in then you might as well delete the entire thing.

Now this is not the same as characters being stuck in loops or the idea of repetition as storytelling device - repetition that the narrative is aware of WOULD be a story beat in on itself and this is not that.

In fact even going into Atlas arc - the endgame has almost nothing to do with the build up to it and would happen anyway even if most of the volumes leading to it were removed.

Anticlimactic Payoff

If the narrative is build up to something, the pay off should generally equal to the amount of time and focus spend on the build up (unless it's used as a contrast).

Yet in RWBY a lot of mysteries end up being more of matter-of-fact answers than revelations.

What happened to the moon? Oh something crashed into it.

Why are Ozpin and Salem the way they are? Gods did it.

Why is Raven angry at Ozpin? He...turned her into a bird?

What has been Raven up to? Nothing.

Is Ozpin shady or not? Eh, not really - he's just sort of there.

What's up with the creatures of Grimm? Gods did it.

All of these were teased and built up going forward and the actual revelations never justified the build up or teasing that came before.

None of those revelations did anything to further the narrative or develop characters.

It was as if the writers were going through a checklist of what needs to be revealed.

So, What about the first three Volumes?

Now, flip everything I wrote about V4 and onward upside down.

That's the first three Volumes.

The only characters that exist are the ones that have an use within the narrative.

The plot threads are revealed when they become relevant - Mt.Glenn comes up when it matters, for example. If anything there's not enough reveals.

One can easily trace the plot threads through the story - how Ruby's introduction to Beacon affects her dynamics with Weiss, how Jaune's and Ruby's struggles with unexpected positions of leadership affect the team formation, how the friction within the teams furthers the plot to crash into villains goals. And what's more - each mini-arc ties to the four leads and their characterization. Things don't just happen - each storyline starts with the character and ends with characters growing or their relationships changing.

The Payoff is extremely good - V3 takes every single thing the show did through the three volumes and makes use of it. Everything matters - Mt. Glenn exposition, Roman, WF stuff, Jaune's insecurities, Pyrrha's characterization, Yang's characterization, Blake's conflict, Ruby's growth and position int he story, Weiss growth, etc - everything gets used and everything affects the characters involved.

For all the flaws, for all the absolutely insensitive story decisions and bad jokes - the first three volumes manage to handle those key points well and the end result is far more enjoyable.

The volumes after don't.

While good action sequences helped one of many reasons I hold V1 through V3 dear to my heart is because the show pulled off something that was quite rare back then when those Volumes aired - delivering actual consequences and not being afraid of upsetting the status quo within the story.

[mlem2460]

EAHF:

switched at birth au & y it ADDS to the story instead of taking away fr it

1) i get y people dont like the 'apple & raven being switched at birth' reveal undermining their whole stances on the storybook & their destinies cause that WOULD BE redundant & a terrible execution HOWEVER

2) think of the ✨possibilities✨

3) of the absolute ABUNDANCE OF ARCS available to all after the reveal

raven's frustration at everyone FINALLY believing she can be good, but only because they are ONCE AGAIN reducing her to her BIOLOGY rather than her actual character n struggling the keep her stance for choice over destiny & running the risk of rejecting the acceptance that she's been chasing being within her reach for all the wrong reasons, (extra spice for having to face resentment from some rebels for her new storybook happy ever after & no longer being encouraged to have outbursts but expected to have the emotional intelligence of a white after being partially raised by the most deranged queen in history)

apple being left by so many royals (not all tho, be fr) for being 'evil' & not knowing if she should be upset cause yes: they're supposed to friends, but no: they are following their destinies as they should, but yes: if she's supposed to be evil now resentment is good-but in an evil way? cue a jekle&hyde level of seconded guessing & doubt because she was raised to be good & she has strived to be kind everyday of her life but now she has to be evil to follow her destiny & oh this feels horrible, should she apologize to raven for the pressure she placed on her?, but no she's evil now and she shouldn't apologize for anything ever, but she feels horrible, but if she's evil is she supposed to feel horrible?, or should it feel good to do bad?, what does she do??

royals having to decide if they're more committed to being good friends or following their destinies

rebels having to decide if they want their leader to sign for a happy ending most of them dont get, resent her for that same ending, or pressure her into staying a rebel the same way the were pressured to follow their destinies

dexter panicking cause yeah! raven is amazing & everyone should see it, but oh gosh pls dont let daring be her prince that would be too much, but he wasnt supposed to be prince charming either?!?

briar struggling to support her friend (cause obv she not abandoning apple) but not knowing how to help apple in her struggle to try to stick to being a royal as the new evil queen when she herself is a rebel

maddie being 10 toes down for her bestie since day one & accidentally wreaking havoc on royals who cant actually be mad cause that's the mad hatters daughter & trying to make her conform would encourage rebel ideals of going against ones destiny but HOW IS THE TEA ROOM UPSIDE DOWN & THE GOWNS OH FOR THE LOVE O-

royals, sidekicks, henchmen, villagers, etc all across the kingdom now having concerns about children whos traits dont line up with their parents or whatever else

i personally hope grimm has an aneurism

it's easy to say the evil queen switched them for sh*ts n giggles & thats fun for its own reasons BUT what about the infinite possibilities of other culprits??? snow white sees her daughter has dark magic? switched. whoever ravins dad is tryna get back at the evil queen? switched. random bumbling henchman/sidekick doing a lil whoopsie? switched. concerned citizen tries to keep innocent child fr the evil queen & the delirious post-labour evil queen tries to take back her child? switched. jealous ex-lover or bitter sidelined sibling/relative? switched. magic? switched. hotel? trivago switched.

A N D every characters stance, feelings, etc are changed depending on how & y the switch even happened in the first place

In Conclusion:

don't let this au flop because of poor execution

[queenvhagar]

if they decide to make daeron a bastard imma scream... aside from the fact that it makes alicent even more of a hypocrite daeron being valyrian looking is actually pretty fucking important. in the books jace and daeron are only a few months apart in age and everyone was like "omg look at the queen giving birth to another targaryen looking baby while the princess had a baby that looks nothing like her or her husband!" also how the heck did daeron get a dragon if he's a bastard!?

first they give us no nettles now possibly this shit... I'm so over them adapting grrm's work into a version of whatever they think is cool.

also who the heck was princess aeriana. ik some folk are saying that it's possibly a made up character before aegon's conquest ... but the targaryen's weren't royalty at that point so wtf are the show makers high on, and i'm still mad at the stupid northern plot where they have jace talking about how aegon the conqueror went up north, plus cregan talking about how alyssane and jaehaerys visited winterfell during his dad's time which again makes zero fucking sense ... it was during alaric stark's time and he's probably cregan's grandpa or smth.

don't get me started on how they switched up addam and alyn's ages, plus didn't give us anything on marilda of hull ... oh and rhaenys apparently is totally cool with corlys having bastards and even thinks the boys mom must have been so pretty ...

this season is so boring and overall without context. daemon spends his time being high on harrenhal. alicent is going through major depressio arc. helaena is her usual mumbling self without any agency of her own. aemond is terrible. rhaenyra is ... idk what they're doing with her but i don't like it. aegon ii seems to be the only remotely interesting character but now he's gone.

so glad there's only one episode left of this disaster to get through ... can't believe they made us wait so long for this shit ... personally won't be waiting for season 3 because at this point it's probably going to be just as boring.

so disappointed we never got to see... jace negotiation with manderly's, sara snow, nettles, rhaenyra going mad with grief over luke, b&c going according to the books with helaena offering herself instead of her children, daeron in oldtown, book! accurate alyn and addam and daemon doing something instead of imagining how it'd be to fuck his mom...

sorry for the rant lol everything's just piled up for me since i waited until now to watch the shows and avoided spoilers to the best of my abilities. please do feel free to delete if you wish.

When people tell people that Game of Thrones was slow paced and technically very little happened and this season is just like that and to cope... nope.

As you mentioned in the second to last paragraph there were so many interesting things they could've done with this season to fill the time and expand on the story and characters... Instead there are 3 locations where morning scenes happen that don't grow the characters at all, nobody has any realistic motivations or emotions and reactions to events (and if they do they're framed as incorrect, like Jace or Aegon). It's oversimplified and redundant. No thoughts to be provoked. No depth to explore. No arcs for characters except maybe Daemon but it's been stretched way too far out and made irrelevant. No intrigue or politics. No scheming. Characters seem displaced from the setting...

I hope season 3 is the last season, and I won't be tuning into any other ASOIAF adaptations based on the crap fanfic quality of this one that they're trying to present as profound, deep, groundbreaking television.

[tempenensis]

I know you don't usually weigh in on non-canon content, but I've seen a lot of people say 236 was a bad ending, or like gege joked, that things are moving too fast or he's missed a chapter (or 20, I'm personally annoyed that we jumped from Nov to Dec 24, I know gege wants the manga to end for some reason, but those three weeks of training/preparation would have been a great time to let us get re-invested in the student characters since the culling game arc felt like it was missing so much)

Do you have any feeling for what could have been a better way to end things, if indeed things are ended, for Gojou Satoru? Or do you agree that things have been moving too fast?

Sorry for this and please feel free not to answer if this is not the kind of question you want to entertain, I am just curious if you have an opinion you're willing to share since I feel you have a very good grasp of the jjk's plot and themes! I trained as a literature major, so my interest is always in whether character consistency is maintained and what a story is saying and whether that message is carried successfully or not and what that might mean for us as readers. I'm personally still on the fence about this particular twist because I'm trying to withhold judgement of the piece until we actually see it as a whole, but I am starting to feel that the narrative started to unravel a bit after Shibuya, like somehow we didn't see a lot of the characters to their full potential (like Nobara T.T my baby Nobara). Maybe this is just part of gege's notorious fast pace.

Some of this I believe is due to JJK's titular meaning of the issue of curses and what they represent being an "endless battle" but there's only so many times one can show hopelessness and loss I think before it becomes almost redundant. We actually haven't seen that many on-screen sorcerer deaths, but somehow it's been two of the most popular adult characters so far, and only direct mentors, which is a frequent trope of the hero's journey in western literature. I think that even though I really wish it hadn't happened, Nanami's ending made a lot of sense. Power-wise, Gojo's current death also makes sense, and he's not the kind of character who instantly changes his mind or learns something in his heart from a single experience, but I think it feels somewhat frustrating from my point of view because despite the bodhisattva imagery, he had more to learn as a living person, rather than continuing to believe he was like a flower and maybe no one had the right to ask him to understand. I don't know, it's just a bit frustrating for me because I think it feels character consistent (which I think gege tends to be pretty good at) but somehow incomplete too.

Again my apologies for the long ask, you're always the one I wish I could sit down and have a conversation about these things with!

-raindrop anon

Hi, raindrop anon,. Good to see you again.

First of all, I don't really think Gojou's death is particularly bad, but yeah, as you said, there might be something leaves to be desired in the plot - if jjk is a traditional shonen manga, that is. But jjk is different, which is also the reason for its popularity. I feel that jjk storytelling has always been fast-paced, and one thing that Akutami-sensei does really well is to stick to the main points that he wants to tell with his manga. The last time we have a non-serious non-battle chapter was probably chapter 64 lol - but at the same time, this also shows how jjk departs from the traditional shonen jump manga custom where the mangaka tends to drag the story to make the manga runs longer. Gege on the other hand, seems adamant to want to end the story sooner than later (if his last estimation is to be believed, only a few months left for jjk).

I don't actually have a strong feeling of how gege should end thing with Gojou, but it's been a habit of him to get to the.. shocking side of things; we see this with Gojou getting sealed back in Shibuya. Nanami's death. Then we see the Culling game, and Tengen getting killed. And lastly for Gojou to die. The longstanding status quo is going to be changed eventually. And the next one with status quo is already targeted; Sukuna himself.

As I follow this manga, "things moving too fast" has always been the opinion I saw a lot discussed here in my askbox for many, many developments in the manga. And this is more of a personal preference, but I actually like the fast-get-to-the-point-storytelling that Gege uses with jjk, exactly because how it breaks away from traditional jump manga. I feel that this fast pace is just how gege do his storytelling since the beginning lol

tldr is all I can say is jjk has always been different and fast-paced, gege is unpredictable, and I'm in the opinion that Gojou's death does make sense, unfortunately :')

[matan4il]

Eddie and baby trapping

Okay, so I remember when 505 aired, I made a joke in my weekly meta about Eddie smugly looking at Buck and saying, “you’re stuck with us,” because he KNEW his baby daddy wasn’t going anywhere. I think it was about a day or so after I posted that meta, I saw the joke about Eddie baby trapping Buck in reference to that same scene for the first time, and I laughed and thought it really says something if so many people understood the scene in more or less the same way.

Some time ago, I was talking to @toughpaperround about an old TV show I love (it finished airing before my parents even met, which is why it kinda feels redundant to name it, I’m just “lucky” to live in a country where, when I was a kid, they used to air old shows during the day). I got all nostalgic and ended up looking for it online. Turns out that as a kid, I only caught the second part of the show. So guess what? I knew back then that The Hero was raising a kid on his own after he lost the kid’s mother. What I didn’t know at the time was that the kid wasn’t The Hero’s biological son. And I’m actually kind of even more in love with the fact that he raised that boy so much as his own that I had no idea they weren’t blood related. However, seeing the first part of the show made it clear that The Hero WAS, in fact, baby trapped.

The shortest version of the story is that there’s a great disaster, The Hero is sent to save and get out as many people as possible, which happens to include this very beautiful woman (and she’s also kind of famous in that reality, I think) and her son. After everyone’s been rescued and goes on with life, the mom finds The Hero and tells him her son has been distraught since he lost his dog in the disaster. She said with how The Hero treated him while saving everyone, she’s sure The Hero is good with kids, and she needs his help with hers. Mind you, she’s the actual parent, The Hero is single, has no kids, is not a professional who is trained to help or has any kid experience in any way, is very handsome and brave, saved everyone, won a medal, and looks damn good in a uniform. Did I mention he’s very pretty? And as a guy who regularly puts his life on the line to save others, he’s also clearly someone who’s not gonna say no to people asking for help. Especially not when it comes to a kid. Long story short, he helps the kid, the boy expresses a wish by the end of this story arc for The Hero to be his dad, Hero and mom get married, she dies shortly after, Hero’s left emotionally scarred, I skipped to the second part of the show.

Because watching the first part, I was like... “Oh, she baby trapped him for real. Not as a funny joke fans tell.” And I came to realize, I quite detest when shows do that. When they’re too lazy to work on building a real connection between two characters, so they shove a damsel in distress with a kid into the path of a Good Guy, and the initial, deeper bond is between the guy and the kid. The damsel sort of... comes with the package of wanting to be the kid’s actual dad and all sorts of family feels that muddy the water.

And the beautiful thing about Buddifer is, that's NOT their story. During 201, when Eddie is trying to get into Buck’s good graces? He clearly never even thinks of bringing up Chris and using him like that. In 202, when Buck asks about the phone call, Eddie is hesitant when it comes to telling him about Chris and showing Buck his photo. We never see Eddie explicitly asking Buck for anything regarding his son, he never tries to dump a part of his parental responsibility on someone who isn’t a professional in a relevant field.

It’s Buck who in 202 chooses to go on consoling Eddie with why Chris is actually real safe, in 203 it’s Buck who chooses to right away alert Eddie that cellphone reception is back, in 204 Eddie still never asks Buck for help (presumably indicating that he also didn’t ask for any at the end of 203, it must have been Buck who offered to drive Eddie to Christopher’s school) and so it’s Buck who smooths things over with Bobby before any problems might arise, and it’s Buck who’s thinking about how to help Eddie when talking to Maddie, and it’s Buck who decides to set up the connection with Carla.

I just need to say how much I love Buck for being that person, not just the man who feels compelled to help when asked to because he’s a Good Guy, but the person who is sincerely interested, and who for real falls in love with Chris as well as with the way that Eddie loves his son. See, when they reach the school at the end of 203? It’s very evident that Eddie isn’t thinking about Buck for a second when he runs in to hug Chris. He’s not concerned about what anyone else might think, their hug is the most genuine expression of love, and relief and their strong, beautiful bond. And Buck just sits in the car with the biggest case of heart eyes ever observed on any TV screen.

And I also love Eddie for being that person, who can accept help when it comes to Chris (help for himself is a different matter) from professionals, but isn’t looking to dump his burden on others. He won’t actually baby trap anyone into helping him or being his friend or involved more than they actually want to be. He’s the man who hesitates before he shows his son’s picture to a relative stranger, because that’s a part of being a protective parent as well, but he’s not closed off to the point of being suspicious and rejecting Buck’s wish to be there and step into the mess with them. Eddie somehow manages to find just the right balance between not dragging Buck into Christopher’s life more than what Buck might be comfortable with, and yet not shutting off his new friend either. That’s not easy in this sensitive situation, especially for a man like Eddie, who has never had a good role model in terms of how to let people in and accept the right amount of help, how not to become extreme in either direction.

I still think the joke is hilarious! But if we’re being serious, I believe a part of Buddifer’s magic is that there was no baby trapping. They really chose each other and became a real family. The show took its time investing in them and building them up as a family. It’s at least a part of why I personally love them so much!

~ ~ Thank you so much to the wonderful @buckleyirondad for helping me with the gorgeous gifs for this meta! You’re a star! xoxox

[mhevarujta]

One of the reasons I hate the anti-elriel rhetoric is that it's so deeply rooted in misogyny. It DOES go deep enough that fans are along to hate on Azriel because they project on his feelings from Elain negative connotations that aren't there, but the primary reason for the hatred lies with people's feelings for El. Not all female characters are hated due to misogyny, but Elain is. There is this growing belief that a strong woman has to start that way. She also has to be a fighter or to be snapping at people. She has to be in touch with her sexuality and have more experiences by that age etc. That's how women are seen by many. None of that is inherently bad of course, but it's not the only representation of what it means to be a woman. Like, while this is fantasy, the Archerons' human world is not based on modern times. I wonder if those who hate Elain for being suffocated by her own family, thus learning late to poor her foot down and stand up for herself and her loved ones, also hate real women who were this way because they were smothered within their societies. Because this is literally what happened to Elain. Elain's perceived shortcomings are the result of who she was conditioned to be growing up. This is something that started from the society, extended to the parents (because Elain being this way was something they could put to use), and ended with the sisters. While it was out of love, Feyre and Nesta very much perpetuated the conditions that diminished Elain and created these expectations for her. That's understandable because they had been mirroring their parents' perception of Elain. They didn't limit her intentionally. Nevertheless they did it and are still doing it to an extent. If anything, I think that Elain having to rise above her upbringing and to stand up on her own two feet is a story that feels more real and grounded for a world like the one the Archeron's were raised in and especially for the daughter of a rich -then ruined- family. Moreover, Elain's struggle with her identity as a supernatural being ties into the same themes. The cauldron gave her a mating bond, which she HAS to see as a gift and to embrace. It made her a seer, which she HAS to embrace and use. It gave her a new body, which she DID NOT ask for. But readers neglect the forcefulness of what Elain was put through because ShE's NoT ThE ONly OnE AnD sHe ShOUlD bE GrAteFuL. But this is not how agency works. Agency is also not something inherent. When one is being denied again and again and again the opportunity to act thus, it's no wonder they have a hard time with it. Blaming women for having this forced upon them is not feminist. It's redundant and pretty transparent. Elain finding herself close to her mid-twenties will be such a powerful arc in my opinion.

[indieyuugure]

Aside from the space arc what would you say are the worst episodes of TMNT 2012

Oof, uh, well I think I actually have a few controversial opinions on some of these, but there are definitely a few that really stand out.

Alright top 5 LEAST fav TMNT 2012 episodes:

Mazes & Mutants, I get that it’s just supposed to be silly but I really don’t really think the jokes landed on me or something cause I skip this one every time. It’s just a really weird episode.

Mutant Apocalypse Arc, you all saw this one coming. This episode is angsty in the cringiest way and the plot/backstory doesn’t makes sense if you think about it too long. I might have forgiven this episode/arc if they had done a better job on the character designs, but I think we all know how that went.

The Usagi Arc, yes okay, yes. I will just say it now, I don’t like Usagi. 2003 is the closest I’ve been to actually liking this character but 2012 Usagi is…ugh for some reason I find him extremely annoying and it’s only made worse by the fact that everyone fawns over him. There’s nothing wrong with liking him, but I just don’t. Also the pug kid is some how even MORE obnoxious than Usagi. This was on of the arcs that I was checking how many more episodes I had to watch.

A China Town Ghost Story, basically the same reasoning for Mazes & Mutants. Like, why does this episode even exist?

A Foot Too Big, idk this episode always makes me so uncomfortable. It also always kinda pissed me off that even though they try to make it plot relevant but throwing in the “oh, is Donnie gonna learn his lesson about respecting April?” Like if he had actually learned the lesson I would see the value in this episode, but he doesn’t which makes me wonder why I just suffered through 20 mins of bad fur rendering and psychotic Sasquatch hunters. I know the Donnie x April shippers out there will be giving me crap for this one but i feel like from either side of the shipping war, this episode is completely redundant, you can skip it and nothing happens.

Well anyway, there’s my rants on my top least favorite episodes. I still like 2012, but I usually just try to pretend these episodes don’t exist. I will say this, there are a few more(like maybe 2 or something) that I dislike, but I felt like I didn’t hate them enough to put them on here.

Good question! :]

[sepublic]

Obviously it would be way too many villains to juggle and thus give justice but could you fucking imagine if they brought back ALL of the old villains for Crystalized, even the ones who were already brought back in Day of the Departed?

We know Traveler's Tea can bring back the dead from the Departed Realm. But instead of Morro, who has already proven himself to be chill, maybe the Preeminent could be brought back in his place, since she was the true villain of Possession. The Preeminent could take a smaller minifigure form, or even be a miniaturized Lego build. Her being a lot smaller is because she got weaker from being dead longer, and Pixal defeating her.

Nadakhan gets brought back and it turns out he remembers all of Skybound, just as Jay and Nya do! Or he doesn't. Jay and Nya explain to the others that there was a whole season that just got undone, and given their experiences with time travel, it's not entirely out of the question for them to accept this. Nadakhan can't grant wishes anymore because that's a huge can of worms from a writing standpoint... Maybe the Overlord used technology to limit him, knowing what he was getting into because he heard the stories of Nadakhan. Or maybe his wish-granting was lost due to Djinjago's destruction, which is what Dragons Rising did. Again this is inconsistent lore but it's Ninjago so whaddya expect.

Yang is still haunting the Temple of Airjitzu, but as a chill and reasonable ghost. Maybe he gets crystalized (can ghosts be crystalized???), brainwashing and forcing him to the Crystal King's council.

Acronix and Krux are easy to explain, in fact the way they were left in canon is just begging for them to make a comeback, because if Wu did, why not them? Tbh a part of me thinks Machia is, in some ways, a better fit for this role; She much better represents her villain faction than the Time Twins do, since she's an actual Vermillion. Maybe all three characters can represent Hands of Time; Machia was also there with the Time Twins as part of Iron Doom, so again, easy explanation. The Iron Doom falls out of the time vortex and idk gets obliterated by the impact, maybe it lands on some explosive stuff, so only the Time Twins and/or Machia make it out alive; So there's no Vermillion army or time machine to rely on.

Iron Baron somehow survived getting encased in molten metal; I dunno how but he just did. He somehow broke himself free. Maybe his mechanical arm was still functional.

Should the Omega Oni be included? It might seem redundant with the Overlord there, but he technically WAS a big arc villain. It was a very short arc by Ninjago standards but whatever. Maybe having the Omega there could be used to contrast his existence with the Overlord's, and/or explain what the Overlord's whole relation to the Dragon/Oni divide even is.

Vex is retrieved from the Never-Realm. He's probably the least justified of all the villains to bring back given he's canonically a wimp, but maybe the Overlord selects him specifically for the psychological torment it'd bring on Zane. I like to think that Zane unsettles the Overlord because while it makes sense for the First Spinjitzu Master, and later his grandson, to defeat him... By comparison, Zane is a nobody in the eyes of the Overlord, just a master of another regular element, no more special than the rest; And yet he still beat him, put the Overlord down longer than Lloyd even did. So he's scared of Zane deep down, and he's using Vex as a way to get back at him.

Unagami gets corrupted by an evil virus because the Overlord already has experience with hacking given his stint in Rebooted. Unagami might be a bit more problematic for censors because once the show starts depicting him as a literal child, it might make censors uncomfortable to have him getting beaten up under any context, even if he did re-assume his Prime Empire form.

Mammatus is... Well, he could easily be crystalized. But given how his character is a racial caricature, I wouldn't be surprised if Lego wanted to avoid touching his character anymore; I suspect he was written as an actually reasonable person to avoid unfortunate implications, even if Ninjago still ended up doing that in a different way. Tbh I wish Mammatus and the Keepers got better focus and writing, especially during Seabound, but I can understand why he'd be left out.

Kalmaar is dead, but so were the villains in Day of the Departed. To break off on a side tangent, I'm surprised the writers killed off Kalmaar, despite Crystalized and its villains-returning gimmick being right around the corner. Given Vangelis and Aspheera were merely imprisoned, it'd have been easy to just have him be imprisoned, but I guess they didn't want to bring him back? But yeah, if you can bring back the dead by opening a portal to the Departed Realm with Traveler's Tea, then that opens up for a lot of villains to come back pretty easily.

So with all of these explanations in mind, our list would include;

-Samukai

-Pythor

-Kozu

-Cryptor

-Chen

-The Preeminent

-Nadakhan

-Yang

-Acronix and Krux

-Harumi

-Iron Baron

-Omega

-Aspheera

-Vex

-Unagami

-Vangelis

-Mammatus

-Kalmaar

-The Overlord

Yeah, I left out the Mechanic and Mr. F. Mr. F was kind of a useless addition since he wasn't actually Mr. E, meaning the writers didn't bring back the dropped Echo Zane plotline. And unlike Mr. E, who had an actual presence and menace, I kinda forgot about Mr. F a lot of the time, and Harumi better represents the Sons of Garmadon. I also left out the Mechanic because he isn't really a major arc villain, just a recurring thug. Tbh I'd replace him with Soto, who could represent the first half of S2, and whose pirates are an actual existing faction with continued relevance, and even defeated Nadakhan!

Also, I’d like to think Zane’s Ice Emperor persona makes an actual dramatic return and not just as an ineffectual gag, like maybe he has to use the scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu to combat the Vengestone army, and seeing Vex again could trigger the past. It’s only for like one episode because we need Zane, but it’s a villain cameo for the arc where all the villains return.

But yeah, if we keep out Soto and Machia, that still brings us to 20 villains to juggle. Which is why this never could've happened. But I can dream, right? Writing a version of Crystalized that includes all of these characters and gives them some actual characterization and dynamics would be a Herculean feat.

(Now imagine a story that brings back all of these villains AND the ones from Dragons Rising…!)

[nitewrighter]

What’s your pettiest DC opinion? Like, a little detail that arguably Doesn’t Really Matter in the grand scheme of things story wise but seeing it or not seeing it still annoys you? (Mine is Jim Gordon’s wife AND daughter both being named Barbara. No. There is one Barbara Gordon don’t do this to me.)

I mean I guess he and Barbara are just kind of weirdoes like that because their firstborn is also named... James...

But I dunno how good a gauge I have on how petty my DC opinions are--like there's fandom complaints (AKA "Clark having his DNA stolen when he was fucking dead doesn't automatically make him obligated to be a father figure to a clone that was literally designed to co-opt and profit off of his image, you weirdos") and then there's writing complaints ("What the hell was Final Crisis's actual goal with Mary Marvel--like how is this a character arc if she's like at least 40% possessed the entire time--is this some kind of weird extended metaphor for superpowers as addiction--why are there so many upskirt shots") I think a lot of the writing complaints can be shrugged off just by virtue of the naturally nebulous and writer-dependent nature of comics, y'know, "If you don't like it, you can find another run."

I guess... this isn't really 'petty' per se, but I feel like when it comes to their Elseworlds and Multiverse stuff, DC's kind of put itself into a hole where, like, because Elseworlds isn't the canonical universe, they feel this need to take things in as dark and shocking directions as possible and honestly that's gotten really tired and redundant. Dark Nights Metal, Tales from the Dark Multiverse, DC vs Vampires--like, if you look back at older Elseworlds titles, sure, you had some dark, high-body-count, end of the world stuff (Like Distant Fires---BOOO DISTANT FIRES, BOOOO WE HATE YOUR PUSSY), but for the most part a lot of the Elseworlds titles were about exploring how major setting changes and role swaps and shifts in characters' lives and development could affect familiar and well-known DC stories (Like Superman Inc and JLA: The Nail--YAAAAY SUPERMAN INC AND JLA: THE NAIL YAAAY WE LOVE YOUR PUSSY). I haven't read Dark Knights of Steel yet, but that one seems like a refreshing pump on the brakes from all the grimdark shit. But anyway, yeah--basically the assumption of, "If we're going to make this Elseworlds story memorable, we have to kill off SO MANY beloved characters"--like after a while it starts to feel like a child throwing a tantrum and kicking his toys around rather than telling a story.

Also bruh how many times are you going to kill off Martian Manhunter I mean REALLY. LEAVE HIM ALONE. JUST LET HIM HAVE HIS CHOCO COOKIES AND STOP SETTING HIM ON FIRE. BRO WHAT DID HE DO.

[oblivionax]

I finished watching House of the Dragon season 2, and I need to talk about it.

DISCLAIMER: Contains spoilers! Bear in mind that I didn't like the show. Nor do I hate it, but this post is probably going to be a rant. So, if you liked it, feel free to skip my post and/or not agree with it, be it fully or partially.

And a casual reminder that it's not only my personal opinion, but also an opinion of a person who has a degree in film studies and screenwriting, so I know what I'm talking about. Visually? Stunning. Writing? Well, about that...

Here goes nothing. The series had a great potential that was not fully used, in my humble opinion. The idea is very good, but execution could've been much better. Many scenes are painfully long, and many are fillers bearing little to no message/significance. The characters regress, and to me, season 2 was somewhat weaker than season 1. I'll admit I can't say I liked season 1 more, however. It suffered from the very same issues that only grew in season 2.

Some character development was abandoned in season 2, Daemon being the brightest example. His visions in Harrenhal are too redundant and feel practically useless. All that to show that he eventually fully pledges fealty to his wife and gives up on the crown. Like, not because he decided to, but because he was seeing visions? Huh?? That's lazy writing if you ask me.

And let's take a moment to talk about his visions: I think when he picked up the crown and returned it to Viserys after the latter dropped it in season 1 was a beautiful moment meant to show his evolution as a person. Season 2 showed me that it didn't matter as if it never happened. Look at him. He feels soooo guilty now for... for what? He did make amends with his brother, did he not? He supported Rhaenyra. And don't tell me he pretended to. That's a season 2 thing that appeared out of blue. Those visions never advanced the plot. In all honesty, I see them as a waste of time and budget. Like yeah, cool seeing those same actors, yeah, cool, Daemon feels something.

But then, why go through the same character arc he went through in season 1?? I also hated the vision where he slept with his mother. Like, why??? It'd make more sense if it meant something like he doesn't really love Rhaenyra, he loves himself, and he marries her because he sees himself in her because they're literally flesh and blood. Perhaps he views her as a part or an extension of himself, an appendage. That'd be interesting, but it would've been shown differently. And, besides, it's not the intention of the scene where everything is ridiculously simple. But why include his mother? To show he's dumb? Or horny? Both? It served no purpose.

Aemond was dumbed down as well. I liked it when he was looking for Aegon to crown him in season 1, telling him how important it is and how he'd love to be king himself, but reminded it was Aegon's duty as heir. It was somewhat... nice? Though in his own rough manner. Yeah, he has quite a temper, but he also was said to be educated and cunning. Smart. Where did that go in season 2?

In season 2, he's a man-child. Wasn't he supposed to like feel guilty for having killed Luke? Wasn't he actually aware of the consequences of his actions? No, he pretends he doesn't care. Or maybe he's so dumb he actually doesn't. It pains me. He had a great potential.

The same goes for Aegon himself and Helaena. Especially Helaena, who basically became the background character. A queen who... who's just there? Yeah, she was shocked at how peasants hated her, but did she at least try to change anything? To learn more? No, she was just sitting around, sad and powerless. We never see her interact with Aegon, too. And that's terrible. Doesn't she at least try to speak to him? Advise him?

Unlike Aemond, Aegon was more like Viserys, though this wasn't well shown I find. There was but like one moment where he said something about not being willing to cause more violence or something like that in the beginning of season 2. And that's it. I know, he's supposed to be a rebel, a wayward son, young and all that. But still, he took his role as a king quite seriously. Well, that's what they attempted to show, at least. After his injuries, we see what remains of him, which is not too different really. He's literally mourning his cock. Excuse me?? And where's Helaena? Their daughter? It's as if they no longer exist.

Oh, and let's not forget the ending where everyone is just staring into the horizon during the last 20-30 minutes of the episode. Anticlimactic, even considering the budget cuts. Perhaps, especially considering the budget cuts, because the story felt painfully stretched this season. Many scenes are unnecessarily too long. About most of them, I had a craving to cut them out (if I were editing the show). The pacing is odd, as if they needed fillers to meet the required running time for each episode.

Rhaenyra is frustrated, and that's frustrating to watch. She's a queen, but she listens too much to her sexist advisors who are supposed to be loyal regardless of her gender. They've sworn themselves to a woman but have no compassion for her. I know they probably seek to control her. But she's strong. She freaking has a dragon. I'm not saying she should threaten them, but what would they do if she did? Basically, she complains the whole season about being a woman.

Her kiss with Mysaria was really unnecessary. What did that even mean? I hoped it'd be a platonic hug of understanding. But nope. It was... awkward. And didn't seem to do anything as later they looked like it never happened. Then her meetings with Alicent, especially the last one... so flat. Why? Alicent has no choice, certainly, but why would she be so stubborn? Only to return and go "actually you know what, I've changed my mind" to Rhaenyra, who's like "great timing, you're a tad late." That made her look not desperate but kinda... stupid.

Oh, and another one of the issues from season 1 that festers in season 2 is the unstable tone. They're trying to be funny sometimes without being too funny, but it looks so off. One moment, you're trying to set a dark and dramatic tone. The next, it's a joke. Naturally, as a viewer, you'd be confused at how you're supposed to feel. Humour is usually used in drama to enhance immersion, make characters more human, build a connection and empathy between them and the viewers, and most importantly to give more emotional weight to dramatic scenes. Unfortunately, that's not the effect they're getting in House of the Dragon, which is a great shame.

I have too many questions, as you can see. Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read me, and feel free to comment or even DM me. I'd like to hear what you think and whether you share my opinion or not.

Have a great day!

[that-spider-fan-over-there]

BNHA 429: It's not really a win when the only comfort is that Izuku/Ochako didn't became canon during a breakdown.

Honestly I think this is the most confused I've been with this story, so this might be the most openly critical I've been. (I've rewritten this five times already, so if it looks all over the place, I apologize).

"Joki Joki" being Tenko was debunked, which. You know what. Fair. Creating a character that looks like him only for be someone else with a tragic backstory five chapters before the finale? That's kinda cruel.

Harsh backstory for a small-role guy, by the way. A mutant Quirk (that we'll probably know only from supplemental material, if at all) his family didn't have, mouth sewn shut, locked in a basement for years, family leaves him and (probably) a Decay Wave was his only escape? And they say the world of BNHA isn't a harsh one /hj

I'm glad they didn't pull a Teen Wolf (iykyk). Ochako thinks Himiko is dead, Izuku's a shoulder to cry on. For... *counting* 4 pages of holding it in, 2 of actually talking about it, all of the 8 being about Izuku being nice but hypocritical (emotional suppression my dear beloathed Ch. 430 I fear you-).

Izuku says she's "his hero"- it's true, he thinks all his friends are his heroes. But we're shown 2/4 times (Blackwhip and the mob, but not Tenko cornering him in the mall, or their first meeting?) which made me realize he's the only named character/hero she "saved". The "who saves the heroes" thing? Not like she helped other heroes, that plot went to- oh.

Also, the whole "putting others before yourself", the only example listed that comes close to this is her giving some of her Entrance Exam points to him. The others are just her being nice to him, repressing her feelings, Blackwhip was the only other moment that kinda counted. The only "other person" she put before herself? Himiko.

I'll believe Himiko's dead when I see it; blood transfusions don't kill the donator. They take a minimum of 4hrs max. They sent Spinner and Touya to a hospital, but not Himiko, who was unconsicous, winging a transfusion out? Yeah, that's bullshit, "hope for a sequel" is becoming more and more of a plea.

I wish I could say I liked the breakdown, but all I think is "Ochako's a character development tool, with redundant, pointless arcs, and all she got is doomed yuri, trauma and reassuring words from a LI".

I didn't see Izuku crying at first; removing "Joki Joki's" 2 pages, the "talk" took 8/15 pages, I kept wondering when did he ever relied on "her strength", it's not like he trusted her enough to talk about his feelings, secrets or anything.

Class A interrupting was funny, I'm with Katsuki: Does Izuku still have embers (he does). I'm sorry to Ochako, I just didn't care anymore. I knew he didn't tell anyone else, lol (<- I'm shaking him into opening up-). But if he wasn't willing to open up about that I wonder what else doesn't Class A know. Does Inko know her son's dreams are over again or…?

Uh. One For All, crystalization of power from everyone's hopes, LFtR vestige scene, remaining embers looking a bit stronger, "Control Your Heart" is still a thing, "holding someone's hand makes me feel at peace", we have that talk with Katsuki, rule of narrative means if he opens up there's a chance this story can end on a hopeful note, Izuku fans here's how we can still win- (I'm inhaling hopium, I know)

I'm confused Hawks isn't getting ditching the Hero Billboards, just expanding it for "ordinary people". Isn't that continuing part of the problem? Part of why Dabi was created, why many heroes don't care about being a hero? I get it's to inspire others to be everyday heroes, but this if backfires in-universe...

Aoyama's farewell party with Eri singing was as sidelined as the 3Baka (… actually no, 3Baka is still more sidelined sob) and it hurts, but hey. Monoma got a statue before Katsuki, I just know if he isn't traumatized about his corpse he will brag. (I'm trying to find positives in this chapter)

The last pages. I know it's symbolic. Society extending a hand, Izuku "inspired" them to move. It's what Izuku was talking about in Ch. 1, "saving people is the coolest thing a hero can do". It's even from his poem inspiration "Called useless by all/Neither praised/Nor a bother/Such is the person/I wish to be".

But it doesn't come just from Izuku fighting giving up OFA, but from him still failing Tenko, who was doomed from the start, the LoV never knew who he was before "Tomura" (so. Spinner how's the book working out-). And no one else wants to, look at Ch. 427.

If it was still an ambiguous "AFO searched for Tenko", fine Ig, but since Ch. 419, it's half "No one helped Tenko except AFO" and half "Tenko never had a chance to live". I'm not saying them hating Tenko isn't justified. Look at what they have to rebuild. But ditching the "Tenko's whole life was planned" part, they still don't know the LoV came to be because they thought a child looked scary. Jeez, no one knows they were victims of ostracism, abuse, manipulation. Why they turned out the way they did.

And it ends on Izuku and Ochako smiling with the "future where heroes can relax" line. It's adorable, but they're still dealing with the guilt of Tenko and Himiko being gone. But I guess it's fine because they're smiling now? Because people are now doing something? So the reward from almost dying is: Bystander syndrome is chipping away?

*sigh* I guess the TL;DR for my opinions are:

Joki Joki isn't Tenko but damn if he isn't a woobie,

If I don't see the corpse Himiko isn't dead, I refuse,

Somehow Ochako's breakdown was more about Izuku, and we still didn't get introspection, just because it's comforting words doesn't mean they don't feel hollow,

It sounds like I hate her: I don't hate Ochako, I just hate the way she's written in "Tell, Don't Show" for Izuku, even my opinions about the breakdown are more about "dude what are you talking about" rather than it being about her and her alone, so I can't take her as seriously,

I think I just became Katsuki ATP: yeah yeah she's crying but what about Izuku and OFA- oh it's mostly fine.

The fun bits were relegated to two pages and small panels but I like to think Monoma goes to Katsuki's room to brag about the statue, Eri deserved to have a full page to sing

Hawks, I fail to see the point of switching Hero Billboards to "Everyday Ladybug" Billboards,

Bystander Syndrome is one thing, how are they gonna prevent another instance of the LoV if they don't know it was discrimination that started it all or that Tenko was a walking Greek Tragedy?

Izuku and Ochako's smiles give "Aw, it's adorable. Oh it's traumatized" vibes.

Yeah no, I'm not buying it. If Edgeshot can still live, why can't Himiko or Tenko? Why does Izuku still have embers, if we have one chapter left? What is the reasoning for "twisting fate", "saving and winning", "perfect victory with zero casualties", "I wanna save that little boy" if it ends on standard shonen ending?

Hell, OFA had dead people communicating with our protagonist and antagonist, and is connected to the deuteragonist, and you're telling me it doesn't mean something good can happen to Tenko?

... God now I just hope the next one isn't a timeskip, just Izuku and Katsuki holding hands, talking and being honest to each other (especially Izuku because oh boi I have seen some Writing Critics and I can't say I disagree) (maybe we'll confirmation on what actually happened to Himiko and Tenko, what about OFA, but that only depends on the page count of the next one).

Once again, sorry if it's all over the place, this chapter just. It wasn't great, in my (overthinking) opinion. I'm still unconvinced Himiko and Tenko are dead dead, until the last page of BNHA, we now have BKDK talking left, so let's see what the next one will bring. And I'm not rewritting all of this, I'm tired XD

So, yeah, that's my thoughts! Thank you for reading!

[watermelonsloth]

Boruto Shipping Opinions

I’m gonna put a brief aside here to say two quick things to keep in mind before reading:

I am not going to go into great detail or analysis here because I’m holding off on that until the manga wraps up.

I am caught up with the manga, I am not caught up with the anime. I have watched up until the arc the new team 7 infiltrate a prison, the second chunin exams, and whatever clips/moments I’ve stumbled upon being discussed. I am not an avid fan, I do not know all the ins and outs of character dynamics, and I don’t even keep up with that part of the fandom. I have no horse in this race.

BoruSara

I don’t like this ship, and I don’t know if that’s an unpopular opinion. I’ll try to avoid saying “they have sibling vibes” or “they’re just friends” because, coming from someone who has used that excuse in the past, it is very difficult to explain/defend argument. So much so that now it just comes across as cheap to me.

I will, however, say that I don’t like it for the same reason I don’t like NejiTen. It comes across as “he was a boy, she was a girl. Can I make it anymore obvious?” It feels like it stems from the idea that boys and girls can’t just be friends. If the dynamic was introduced with an edge of romance (like how Naruto and Sakura’s dynamic was introduced with Naruto having a crush on her), maybe it would be a different story. But as of right now, it feels like the fandom reading into something that doesn‘t need to be read into.

KawaSara

I hate to say this, but I’m guessing this ship stemmed from SasuSaku fans reading them as “next gen SasuSaku”. Look, everyone can ship whatever they want or choose to refrain from shipping, but I’m sick of the fandom projecting old ships on new dynamics. I have seen BoruSara compared to SNS, NaruSaku, and SasuSaku (for some reason). I have seen BoruSumi compared to NaruHina. I have seen MitsuSara compared to SasuSaku and SuiKarin. I have seen KawaSara compared to SasuSaku. Every single time I thought to myself, “The manga starts with Boruto asserting that he’s not his dad and this isn’t his dad’s story.” I get that comparisons will naturally arise since it’s a sequel series, but these kids are not carbon copies of their parents and they don’t have the same dynamics their parents did.

Now that my rant is out of the way, I think a hypothetical child between them having black hair with pink highlights would be cute and that’s about it.

MitsuSara

I wish these two had more of a dynamic. Both characters have interactions with Boruto and clear dynamics with him, but they don’t really have much going on with each other. They both have recognizable personalities, but they mellow each other out whenever they interact and it makes them boring (I’m guessing Ikemoto isn’t interested in them together). They also only tend to talk to each other about Boruto (at least in the manga). Say what you want about them, but at least Sasuke and Sakura had a dynamic.

Anyways, funny ha ha, Orochimaru gets an Uchiha in the way they least expected.

MitsuBoru

Gayer than any of the Naruto dynamics and that is saying something. However, I struggle to like the ship because I’m just so confused.

First, why does Boruto have so many lancer/foil/rival characters. Kawaki, Sarada, and Mitsuki all act as lancers. I get that writing doesn’t have to be formulaic, but they aren’t even all lancers to each other, having dynamics that bounce off of each other, they’re just lancers to Boruto. At least for me, it’s already gotten really boring and ends in the three’s dynamics with each other falling flat.

Second, the sun and moon symbolism makes no sense to me as a writing decision. The obvious problem is that it’s redundant; it’s already been used for multiple Naruto dynamics. The less obvious problem is that it contradicts Mitsuki’s manga introduction. Mitsuki was introduced as the middle between Boruto and Sarada’s two extremes, taking up a role similar to Sakura’s in the og team 7. If he’s supposed to be the moon to Boruto’s sun, why is he introduced to us as the earth? The admittedly more minor problem that distracts me is that Orochimaru was the one that Mitsuki down this road. Why? Orochimaru wasn’t redeemed by Naruto and has never shown interest in him or this philosophy before now. My best guess is that they’re fascinated by Naruto’s affect on Sasuke, but that still leaves me with questions.

It makes me think that the writer didn’t have any ideas when they introduced these two.

BoruSumi

I don’t like how the fandom is making another love square, but I doubt there’s anything I can do to stop them.

This ship is boring because Sumire is boring. That one anime arc made her interesting, but it’s referenced and relevant so rarely that she goes back to being boring. I’d like this more if the story let Sumire be morally gray or treated her like a redeemed villain more. As of right now, I think the only leg the ship has to stand on is writing tropes and I do not care.

KawaSumi

This ship feels like the product of the same people who ship SasuHina/SasuIno/SasuKarin/KibaHina out of spite. My last post/reblog went into why this happens but the short of it is that it’s easier to ship something in peace if the biggest “threats” to it are paired together. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I have a feeling most KawaSumi shippers also ship BoruSara.

KawaHima

Please… just stop. If not for yourself, then for me. I’m already barely coping with how popular NejiHina is. Why have I seen this as much as I have??? This feels like a personal attack on my sanity. They’re siblings.

Other

This is the section for all the ships I have little/no opinions on. I think MitsuCho is too boring for how popular it is, I think ChoSara should be more popular, I’m disturbed by all of the Eida x next gen ships because she looks and acts like an adult (at least how adults are portrayed in Boruto), and I’m surprised Code x Eida isn’t more popular, but I also think that Code has gotten the Kabuto treatment and isn’t very popular in the fandom.

The ships I haven’t mentioned I either have so little fucks to give or so little information on that I have ZERO thoughts about.

[highfantasy-soul]

NATLA Episode 5 - Spirited Away (2/3)

[Masterlist of my NATLA thoughts]

An explanation of what I'm doing here and my history with ATLA.

Of course, full spoilers ahead.

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Combining Zuko chasing Aang in part 2 of the winter solstice with Bato of the Water Tribe and The Blue Spirit was a good move: in only 8 episodes, too many near-misses for him catching Aang could get redundant, so getting June to track him to Roku's temple was a great merging of those lines. While I miss Zuko holding onto Katara's necklace, since Katara didn’t make it to the Avatar temple, it's an ok change for me. It's a convenient way to merge in The Blue Spirit and have Katara and Sokka MIA without them just randomly being sick - they're actually trapped in the spirit world, so their plot is still relevant rather than the 'we're doing nothing but dying of thirst' plot they got in The Blue Spirit episode. Honestly think the way the live-action puts Sokka and Katara on their own journeys during big plot arcs that focus on Aang was really really good. First with the Omashu (animated) episode where they got stuff to do in Into the Dark (live-action) and now here with the Blue Spirit storyline.

I could watch Zuko being horrendously awkward trying to get info in the covert and not screaming orders way for like, 6 episodes. That whole tavern scene was just so freaking hilarious with all the mentions of the side quests from pirates to canyon guides to stopping the volcano! It really felt pulled right from the animated show - paying homage but seeding the themes from those episodes into other part of this live-action story!! Love June's introduction - and I'm so happy they got rid of the weird Iroh and her stuff and just had her compliment him to throw the pair off balance.

So I guess I should address some of the issues people had with June's characterization: I don't think her telling Iroh he was cute (like with Suki and Sokka) was her suddenly simping for an older man and genuinely pursuing him. That is not how people flirt. Take Sokka and Suki - is that how they flirted? Sokka and Yue? Katara and Jet? Aang and Katara in the animated show? Mai and Zuko in the animated show? You know who did flirt like that in the animated show? Tylee with Sokka when they were fighting - only ever when they were fighting. Was that her actually wanting to have a relationship with Sokka - throw out all her own wants to just get with a man? No. It was a way to gain the upper hand in a fight and throw your opponent off balance. With Tylee, she's already a bubbly, cheerful, open person, so we can read that flirtation as flippant and thrown out there because she's confident and not concerned with putting a filter on. With June, she's also confident, but she also is a beautiful young woman bounty hunter who is in a (assumedly) predominantly male field and has to deal with a great deal of strong and dangerous men.

Being incredibly forward with an individual who wouldn't expect to be flirted with is a power move. It's a way for her to assert dominance immediately in the situation - to take the lead and knock them off balance before one of the two men makes an unwanted pass at her. I didn't read her flirtation with Iroh as genuine, or at least, not as her just getting all hot and bothered and rolling over for the pair based purely on the fact that she was attracted to Iroh. She probably is great at reading people and saw that Iroh was marginally decent, so would agree to work with them, but she still wanted the upper hand and control in the situation - she wanted to clearly define her role as someone who was choosing to let them employ her not as a servant to do their bidding. She placed herself firmly above them - there would be no subservience from her. This is also not making June a bad character - it's making her a strong character (strong as in she believes what she believes and is unapologetic about it) it's not 'flipping misogyny into misandry' or whatever, it's showing June has agency. Like with Suki, the live-action gave June an actual character instead of her just being a cardboard cut-out of a Dragon Lady.

Having the lesson being learned in the town be that Zuko needs to stop thinking so rigidly - be prepared to take the unexpected route - was a great story beat to introduce with June. Instead of the plot being straight forward of Zuko sees June = Zuko gets her to track the Avatar and switching it to Zuko being annoyed and insulted that she's a bounty hunter (just as he was insulted that fire nation operatives would fight behind masks and doesn't think his father would approve) and then having to be convinced by Iroh to learn new ways of doing things was a great character building addition.

It's funny to me when people complain 'Zuko didn't say honor ONCE!' when every single action Zuko did - every opinion he voiced - SCREAMED about his honor. What was that again about the live-action telling not showing, not trusting the audience to understand character motivations, and being flat in its characterizations? This very internal integrity - honor - that he has is what's leading him to uphold Fire Nation values and rules so strictly, but it's also the very core honor of his being that will help him turn against his father in the end. It's consistent characterization that's just so wonderful to play with - their core remains the same, but how they interpret it once they have more info changes. And I'm not just saying that because those are my favorite characters to play in DnD! This is a totally objective and unbiased analysis! I swear!

I really loved all the additions with Azula in this season. It really rounds out her character and we see WHY she's as driven as she is in season 2. Seeing her need for perfection, her needing to go above and beyond to do better, and the hint of her blue flame was great. Just like the animated series explores at the end of season 3, no one starts out a 'monster' - they're taught to be that way. I never liked the reduction a lot of the fandom did with Azula and Zuko where Zuko was the one 'born good' and 'like his good mother' while Azula was just 'born bad' because she was the one 'like her father'. People aren't so simple as just being 'born bad'. In the animated series, Azula gets 'humanized' at the very end of the series, but I think showing her striving for the approval of her father - that vulnerability - makes seeing where it takes her in her brutality that much more horrific. We see that she doesn't HAVE to be this way (same with Zuko), but she was pushed to it due to her upbringing - the same as with Ozai and Iroh before Iroh had his loss and change of heart.

I saw some complaints that the spirit world was too bright and cheery here - and uh, I don’t see it? It's super grayed out, misty, creepy af, and ominous. The ONLY time it's colorful and cheery is in Gyatzo's little hut which… yeah, he created that little bubble of happiness - the rest is very in line with its depiction in the animated series.  Obviously sans the giant wolf, but basically it's the same vibe - creepy, ominous, and a perturbed spirit warning them away.

In the animated series, Sokka wants to go out and physically fight Hei Bai and Katara has 100% faith that Aang will figure it out. When Aang is thrown back by the spirit, Sokka runs out to help him fight - something that he mirrors in the live-action as it goes after Katara and he draws its attention over to him. Due to them weaving several of Aang's plotlines together in this episode(s), Hei Bai doesn't get as much time to be the main antagonist which I think is a shame, but with them giving more development to Katara and Sokka during this episode, I think it's ok. If I had to choose between more angry spirit destroying a village and seeing the root of Katara and Sokka's character trauma, I'll choose the character trauma every time. I always did think it was a shame that Sokka spent a bunch of time in the spirit realm and we never got to see/hear anything at all about it - there's a lot to delve into there that the animated show just skipped over.

Love love love Yue in the spirit world as a three-tailed fox! And how she explains Hei Bai's pain - foreshadowing the pain of the ocean spirit after it loses the moon spirit - her small bit of dialogue really sets up a lot with Sokka's growth, the state of the world, and the pain of the spirits (and humans reacting when they go through painful things). So cool that the showrunners used this foray into the spirit world and the fog to do a rendition of The Swamp from season 2 - even down to Sokka seeing Yue! Yeah, it happens differently, but the swamp showed each of our protagonists things in their past - and Aang one of his future (though in this episode it GAVE Aang his future). Very well done, in my opinion.

[shummthechumm]

since seeing a few posts about TPB and how it treats firestar’s kittypet origins as a flaw he needs to overcome, wouldnt it be amazing if the “fire alone” prophecy was failed in some way? yes, short term, he DID save the clan, but in all the arcs following this? 

(looong post under cut)

yeah he’s a decent guy, but his clan immediately turns back to the status quo. sure, lionclan united to defeat tigerclan, but the relationship between wind and thunder deteriorates as soon as windclan rebellion starts. cats within his own clan, who witnessed the impact his very not-in-accordance-to-the-code actions had on defeating tigerstar. aka ONE OF THE BIGGEST TYRANTS IN RECENT CLAN MEMORY. but oh actually everyone dislikes kittypets still in tnp. dustpelt/mousefur especially love to bring up their distaste with the state of thunderclan (”too mixed”). even brambleclaw, his own apprentice, judges cats like daisy based on the fact that she isnt clanborn. it reads as thunderclan respecting firestar in spite of where he came from, instead of them appreciating a major part of his identity that they wouldnt let him forget just a few books ago? you know? getting over their biases and learning to respect others outside the clan? 

were these xenophobic ideas not utilized by tigerstar to climb maim and torture not just cats outside the code, but those who dedicated their lives to it? is that...not a sign for introspection?? 

and on a similar note: the books really want us to know that the only reason scourge was defeated was because he didnt believe in god, which is a really weird conclusion to end this arc on. we see fireheart constantly questioning the code and using his better judgement (most of the time anyway) to do what is the morally righteous thing to do. his unique outlook on clan culture saved a lot of lives. he wanted desperately to find belonging in thunderclan, but often sacrified his safety + position to save lives. but no actually the moral we’re supposed to take is “firestar became leader and proved that his soft kittypet roots couldn’t hold him down!!!” i dont know if him being born in thunderclan wouldve changed his very justice-driven personality, but maybe not being brainwashed from infancy played a factor in many of his choices in TPB.

so with these moments where firestar starts to show some of his conditioning crack through (ex: feeling horrified at the idea of cloudpaw not believing in starclan--and wanting to SHOCK him into being a believer; etc etc), is genuinely an engaging character flaw...that should be treated as a flaw. all of these standards of what a “true warrior” should be--constantly being crammed into his head from a pretty young age; against his own sense of personal identity and moral compass. does he WANT to be seen as a true warrior? does he want away with all of these redundant rules? does he want to redefine what that even means?

even in FQ he is pretty pissed to hear bluestar trying to justify an ENTIRE BRANCH OF THEIR CULTURE being axed off because no one was willing to spare territory. while that book has other issues, its still nice to see glimpses of that characterization i like slipping through. if it was an intentional internal conflict, you can take it even further. 

this is why i like to imagine that firestar’s prophecy came from whatever ancient beings sent down the po3 prophecy (i believe in oots they downright confirmed that the ancients likely sent starclan/the tribe of endless hunting the po3 prophecy decades before even mapleshade’s time). firestar may have served as the short term solution, maybe as a way to get set up the three in thunderclan. im 90% their prophecy outdates his, anyway. what was the intent of this prophecy, truly? 

was he meant to save the clan(s) from a few one and done baddies, or was something more long-term intended. if so...did he fail???

how does firestar cope with this? does he reflect? he knows about the po3 prophecy--what if he were to learn of the manipulation his kids went through by the forces he was taught to worship? ik canon firestar doesnt rlly react to the secret reveal post po3, but...in a better series...would he stand for it? how could he react, knowing that starclan targeted his very bloodline for a prophecy far older than the clans themselves? 

in a different world, would bluestar had even accepted him had it not been for the prophecy?? where would he be then? how would he fare with the knowledge that many cats he idolized when he was younger--cats he grieved for, were roped into perpetuating the unhealthy cycle of reliance both starclan and the living clans have for each other?

......is starclan even the source of the fire alone prophecy??? if not them, then who was??>?? how far did this go?? how far is starclan willing to go to get their desired outcome?

 give me existential  firestar, PLEASE