#also shifu's a jerk in the beginning

[thingsbyrubithus]

art block? *laughs hysterically* never heard of them

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Kung Fu Panda Legends of Awesomeness - "Forsaken and Furious"

Episode 78 overall 

Synopsis:

The Furious Five grow tired of the villagers not respecting them, even their old enemy, Hundun, doesn't see them as a threat anymore, as Po gets all the credit, which has them believing him to be responsible for the loss of respect. However, after their master revealed a portrait of Po being lifted by the Five and witnessing his efforts in trying to cover up, the Five realized that Po had nothing to do with the loss of respect from the villagers as they realized that it is all Shifu's doing, which leads to an argument and the Five quitting the Jade Palace to strike out on their own. Meanwhile, Junjie allies himself with Hundun to take down Po and Shifu. After Po gets captured, Shifu goes to the Five for help as he admits his mistake and apologized to them as they worked together to stop their enemies. Through their victory, the villagers respect the Five again.  

Characters:

When people ask for more Furious Five content I don't think this is what they have in mind.

In this episode, villagers don't appreciate the Furious Five and put Po on a pedestal. It's not that out of character, not that a mob of people can have one character but I digress. We've seen it time and time again. In one episode they can be fanboying over the Five and Po and in the next, they'll be laughing their asses off because one of them tripped or something.

One of the villages is way too happy over Po possibly killing Hundun. Psycho!

The only compliment I can give is that the Five aren't angry at Po for it. He even opened the episode by telling a story about how awesome his friends are. Po acknowledges he couldn't beat Hundun without them and thanks them. It's not his fault everybody turned into an ungrateful jerk. 

The one really out of character is Shifu. Suddenly he's feeding Po's ego and undermining the Five. Which is so stupid. Constantly throughout the show, Shifu is shown punishing Po for his wrongdoings and snuffing out Po's ego, and the idea that the Dragon Warrior might be more important than anybody else.

Look at this painting! I don't know if he painted it himself or if was it commissioned but there's no way a Shifu from any other previous episode would've been okay with it.

Also, Shifu can't say sorry to his students now. The same guy that said sorry to Tai Lung can't say it now. He does say it but it was way harder for him than it should.

Poor Po is at the center of this awkward situation. He tries his dame best to make Shifu and the Five make up and show the townsfolk how great his friends are. Unfortunately for him, the plot demands that villagers are blind and stupid, and Shifu and Five are out of character. When he is tied up and screams for his friends to leave him and save the town I felt that. The voice actor did a phenomenal job. The episode ends with him passing out from all his injuries. He didn't even get the ending hug. Po was such a trooper in this episode!

If you're not bothered by characters not acting like themselves and care for the story alone then it episode is good. For me, it's just frustrating. And it's a shame cause there are a lot of things that I liked. Po and the bad guys had some of my favorite moments in the whole show.

Villains: Master Junjie and Hundun teamed up.

There's a joke at the beginning that Hundun wants to fight Po and doesn't care about the Five and it carries for the rest of the episode.

Junjie is the only one who acknowledges that the Furious Five can show up and help Po, so he plans to get rid of them first.

They don't even have to do anything! The Five lives out of their own will. They even make a joke about how so many unexpected things happen that they have to constantly change their plan.

In the end, they want to try blow up the town with only five barrels. One for every member of the Furious team.

Po and Junjie make it seem as if the place will be wiped out from the face of the earth, meanwhile, a couple of buildings would just topple over at most.

[sketching-shark]

okay, I'm sorry for this rant but don't you think macaque redemption arc with kind of rushed plus it doesn't it make any sense at all, he literally tried to kill the whole team, especially mk and now he's suddenly a good guy?! this is just catra all over again... nothing will ever beat Zuko lol and now people are hating on me for my opinion XD i mean he's betray the team again just watch...

Ah no need whatsoever to apologize about the rant anon! As one of the extremely tiny "your 'redemption arc' displeases me' voices in fandom I can totally see where you're coming from asdfaewds.

So I have to admit that I've never watched She-Ra or Avatar all the way, so I'm not precisely sure how these redemption arcs or "redemption arcs" went down so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong...but from what I did hear & read in reviews in Catra's case her story was something of a shitshow where she like tried to destroy all of reality & killed a bunch of people & treated Adora her supposed love interest like trash up until & even after they got together but she's apparently completely good and forgivable now because the plot said so, right?...so par for the course when it comes to "redemption arcs" these days lmao. And as for Zuko, the whole thing was that the series actually took a lot of time to showcase him slowly working hard towards being a better person over like an entire season & more, yes? Like he didn't just suddenly flip a corner, and the distrust team avatar held for him after the way he hurt them was actually framed as understandable? And he wasn't just changing his behavior because he wanted something from them, but because he came to a very difficult decision that was based on his own guiding principles of what he thought the best thing to do was? But yea it is kind of funny how much people hold up Zuko's story as an ideal redemption arc & yet no one seems to want to emulate it lmaoooo.

But to repeat what I've said about Mr. Six-Ears, I do feel like Qi Xiaotian, who was one of his primary victims throughout the course of the show, going out of his way to extend a hand in friendship was pretty jarring. Because yeah while what seems to hopefully be the base BEGINNING of a redemption arc is being set up in such a way where one villain doesn't look that bad compared to another that they help defeat, Macaque is still the simian who beat the tar out of/tried to kill Qi Xiaotian at least thrice--and laughed at his pain for two of those occasions--to say nothing of the way that he used and threatened Zhu Dachu, Tang Shifu, and Long Xiaojiao first with the shadow lantern and then when he forced them to set the flame of Samadhi off. Hopefully they'll address some of that in season 4 if they want Macaque to be a more major character, & not just brush it off. I do think there's a way to talk about the importance of kindness and second chances while also holding people responsible for their actions, even if that is a somewhat difficult needle to thread. As it is, given the "redemption arcs" that you see being created these days (which usually means that some character is an entire asshole who gets worse and worse up until the 25th hour when they magically change & everyone is expected to forgive & accept them immediately not matter what), Macaque's story line wasn't as half as bad as it could have been. He is still very much a smarmy jerk, & still enraged at Sun Wukong, & still just off doing his own thing rather than being immediately brought into team monkie. He does seem to have changed at least a little in terms of maybe being more willing to work with others to accomplish a goal and maybe being a little more open to interacting with others outside of a manipulative and/or "your-enemy-is-my-enemy" kind of deal, which may be something that he'll pursue, or he could just go back to his old ways. For me the best redemption stories are those that focus on making the CHOICE consistently every day to be a better person, so I guess we'll see what they do with the shadow monkey. So tl;dr, what they chose to do with Macaque in s3 wasn't half as bad as it could have been, but your frustration in how they handled what is hopefully only the beginning of a redemption arc, especially given that the short time of each episode is another real hindrance to properly setting up a satisfying redemption arc, is very understandable.

I personally feel like Monkie Kid could potentially do something really interesting with Macaque if his story line starts following something of a "redemption without forgiveness" plot, in which at least a few characters that the shadow monkey hurt never fully forgive him and/or he & Sun Wukong never fully forgive each other for whatever went down between them, but that he still finds a way to be happy and satisfied with his life by forging genuine relationships with others while still atoning for past violence. I say this partially because I'm starting to get rawther tired of fandom takes that are some version of "Wow! Sun Wukong is literally the worst person in the entire world & every bad thing Macaque has ever experienced or ever done is all the Monkey King's fault! Anyway, I can't wait until they become besties again!" Like what. But mainly because the lego show Six Eared Macaque seems to have become so obsessively enraged at Sun Wukong that he has basically nothing going on in his life that isn't tied to the Monkey King in some for or another. In a very real way, these super monkeys seem like they're still playing out their relationship in Xiyouji, with Macaque trying to snatch away everything that Sun Wukong values for himself, and Sun Wukong responding with contempt and violence. But now with the added bonus of Macaque swinging between telling everyone he forces to listen that Sun Wukong is a terrible person (& that he by association is so much better) while also seeming to find it impossible to even imagine living a life that isn't defined by his past friendship with the Monkey King. And that's...super duper bad & painful for all parties involved!!~ So while I get that reconciliation plots are popular no matter what went down, I feel like it would be much more powerful and much more satisfying for Macaque to end his story by metaphorically stepping out of the Monkey King's shadow & making a life for himself that isn't based on hate and sorrow regarding Sun Wukong.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Reviews: Miraculous World Shanghai: The Legend of Lady Dragon

Spoilers below.

-OH some lore!

-Wow for Shifu, his students got bought out.

-OMG ITS THE JERK IS THE GUY AT THE END OF THE NY SPECIAL. Interesting

-BABY FEI!

-HE DIED! WTF

-She got robbed. So she failed badly

-Like the intro to this. Damn its crisp

-So Marinette is living her best life right now. Love that ladybug and chat noir bonding.

-Marinette gotta deliver a gift to the post office for her uncle.

-ADRIEN IS IN SHANGHAI!

-Marinetter got a lot of information on Adrien, some of which I'm question means of which she acquired. XD

-So Marinette realized she could use the gift delivery as a chance to maybe meet up with Adrien. That isn't really that bad. Its actually really clever.

-Gorilla is best boy.

-Adrien just wants to spend time with his dad. F*** YOU Gabriel.

-Oh damn! Gabriel has the Prodigious! And apparently its more powerful than the miraculous? WTF. Nooru knows about this

-Gabriel of course sucks and won't listen. Because Gabriel is a desperate whore.

-what do you MEAN 15 years ago? Gabriel how deep is this evil hole

-Marinette honey no, I love her. but wow. Her parents are so happy tho.

-Marinette's parents are the best. STOP SALTING THEM.

-Her uncle is so happy to see her.

-Marinette, APPRECIATE YOUR UNCLE!

-I love The uncle.

-Gabriel is such a jerk. Adrien just wants to spend time with him.

-Oh wow the restaurant looks great.

-CHENG LORE! ALSO SABINE IS SO CUTE AS A KID.

-SABINE'S REAL NAME IS XIA PING! I am so happy to know this!

-He is making good points. She could get lost.

-Marinette tracking him. also Kwami speak all languages. Neat

-I just realized... did neither ladybug or chat noir tell each other that they are out of Paris?

-Adrien out with his dad (Gorilla) for walk is precious.

-PROTECT GORILLA HE IS A BEAN!

-Oh Gabriel being a jerk. what else is new?

-How does Gabriel know about this all? I am so confused.

-Fei is back. She is strong. Also She is a kind person.

-Oh no... she is actually trying to rob people.

-Oh she can disguise herself.

-And GABRIEL STILL SUCKS

-PLAGG is still Plagg. I missed seeing plagg.

- So if Marinette had stayed at the restaurant and chilled with her uncle. ADRIEN WOULD HAVE SHOWED UP. This is what happens when you are TOO THIRSTY!

-Marinette found him.

-and Fei just robbed her. Like HOW DID MARINETTE GET ROBBED SO EASILY?! Marinette is confirmed easy mark.

-Marinette she just robbed her don't help her

-and marinette just realized she is LOST IN SHANGHAI!

-Oh damn Fei is kicks butt.

-Adrien is so happy Marinette is in Shanghai! Thats so sweet. The Uncle ships it. The Bird ships it.

-Adrien you are a sweet bean. But I want to sock you for calling her just a friend.

-HOLD UP, HOW CAN GORILLA HAVE AN EAGLE action figure. Isn't this special suppose to take place between season 2 and 3? I am so confused.

-Marinette is lost, and she is lost.

-ADRIEN BONDING WITH HIS FUTURE IN-LAWS

-Adrien just confirmed she is always late.

-The old lady trying to help. Thats so nice.

-Fei, that guy is the d-bag that screwed over your adoptive dad!

-Guy is such a d-bag

-So Fei was being a jerk.

-Oh they are trying to return the necklace.

-Oh Fei speaks French, how convenient

-Fei feels guilty. GOOD

-Goriila is a bean.

-OH THEY ARE WORRIED.

-ADRIEN GONNA SEARCH FOR HIS FRIEND! YES! MARICHAT TIME.

-Chat noir transformation remix! Nice.

-They are making the police efficient here.

-Well Fei is gonna keep feeling guilty about this.

-Chat noir making Parisian heroes look good.

-Fei is gonna feel super guilty about this.

-THE PARROT IS SENTIENT!

-They found the earrings.

-Fei is pissed.

-Tikki found Marinette.

-Fei got fast hands

-Fei redemption arc now.

-OH NO, THE GUY REALIZED IT.

-Fei gonna fight them.

-THE GUYS FROM EARLIER!? They are great.

-Chat noir calling ladybug out of concern for marinette. So cute.

-Gabriel is such an a**hole. He remembered Marinette but not his own son.

-Fei revealing origins now. Oh damn.

-The guy is the one who ruined everything.

-Liar revealed. What a shock (not)

-So this guy is gonna be akumatized. Well he is a jerk. Gabriel knows how to pick em.

-FEI! KICK HIM AGAIN!

-King Money?! NICE NAME.

-Oh damn King Money looks boss as heck.

-Ladybug is finally here.

-I saw that sigh. You love your kitty Ladybug.

-That ladynoir is so strong.

-Fei is pretty boss.

-Oh no! THEY GONNA OPEN THE VAULT.

-I love that vault. The cave looks sweet.

-The guy realized it, kind of a smart man.

-What was Hawkmoth planning for 15 years?!

-Oh damn that power! Oh snap.

-The dragon guard look sick.

-Hawkmoth pulling a baller move with that. Like "B**** I aint fighting your guardian."

-Ladybug on the scene.

-Fei unlocked the power.

-WOW LADY DRAGON LOOKS REALLY COOL. And the Renlings looks kind of cool. Prodigious seems interesting.

-Renlings, the spirits of Human values. And, most of them look better than the Kwami, except plagg. Plagg is the best.

-Oh wow so they have neat requirements.

-SHE CAN SHAPE SHIFT! AMAZING

-I WANT THE PRODIGEOUS

-Only noble people can use the dragon.

-Revenge aint noble

-CHAT NOIR TO THE RESCUE!

-HE AKUMATIZED THE DRAGON GUARD GUY!

-Yan Woshi! OH DAMN, HAWKMOTH BE PLAYING FOR KEEPS!?

-This akuma maybe one of the best ones yet.

-HE LOOKS SO COOL.

-PLOT TWIST! HAWKMOTH ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT HIS SON FOR ONCE! I am shook.

-HAWKMOTH GOT THANOSED. So Hawkmoth cares instantly loses. XD

-"Is that good news or bad news?" Chat noir, you are right. But thats your dad

-RUN ITS NOT GODZILLA!

-Ladybug and Chat noir getting their butt kicked.

-Fei also getting wrecked.

-Zag confirmed furry

-Fei just left them high and dry.

-And Chat noir is dead! ANGST.

-Ladybug gonna talk some sense into her.

-The mascara smeared. Thats real sadness.

-Cue power of friendship talk.

-Fei saves her with the power of friendship.

-dragon v. dragon fight!

-Oh I like this lucky charm.

- Yaloshi is his name now? (these subs are confusing)

-Oh snap, the power of team work! And fighting in the belly of the beast.

-THAT LADYNOIR HUG.

-They tied up the guy.

-Fei should have killed the guy.

-Meishi is adorable.

-I LOVE THIS LITTLE CONVERSATION. THEY ARE GONNA PRETEND TO RACE. and then show up later.

-Oh fei, marinette AND Adrien are celebrating his birthday. Thats cute.

-They BOTH SAID IT! I Cant even! (also I see you Adrien, you aint slick)

-The boys crushing on Fei.

-Adrien has such soft looks for Marinette.

____________________________________________________________

So overall. The beginning was a tiny bit cringe, but not as bad as the trailer made it out to be.

I really liked Fei. She grows on ya. And I liked Lady dragon. I liked the renlings

I will say it is a better special in terms of Lore and plot than the NY special. It was lacking in the love square interactions that I wanted. But they were still cute when they had them. I do think there are a few plot holes, like Eagle being an action figure. WHEN DID THIS SPECIAL TAKE PLACE. (Edit, found out it was an animation error, NVM)

Also, now the elephant in the room? Was the special racist?

The answer is, no.

It wasn't racist, so we can all calm down about it?

So I give it an 8/10

The lore being my favorite parts.

[chalkrevelations]

SO. Back to the beginning, Episode 1 of Word of Honor. This is likely to be a little bit different experience than the prior posts, when I was watching the eps as they aired, compared to now approaching the show as whole and complete. May be rummaging around for things I missed the first time through, stuff that takes on new meaning set in additional context – we’ll see how it goes.

With that in mind, spoilers for not just this ep but possibly for the entire series. Get out of the car now and come back later, if you haven’t seen all 36.5 eps and want to watch it unspoiled.

First thing to strike me, right up front: You know, I think we tend to lose sight in later parts of the show – when we’re getting Laopo!Zhou Zishu pouting so he doesn’t have to cook dinner - how terrifying ZZS is in his own right (and by “we,” I actually mean the show, too). One of the things the first few episodes gets right, I think, is the sense of eerie inevitability and dread created by both the falling lanterns of Tian Chuang and the blowing paper figures of the Ghost Valley, and how similar they are. I think it’s easy to lose that - when the lanterns and the paper figures are gone and our charming and adorable couple are busy being charming and adorable at each other, in between varying rounds of being wracked by guilt and PTSD – easy to lose that this is there too, part of them – both of them - under the skin. I think it’s particularly easy to lose that for ZZS, when he’s already done a lot of work, off-screen, pre-Episode 1, during the 18 months he was putting in those first six Nails, to come to some kind of equilibrium, and meanwhile we watch Wen Kexing’s entire torturous process play out on-screen. Wen Kexing’s story is one of reaching an equilibrium, but Zhou Zishu’s story is one of maintaining it, which I think may be less showy, but is equally valuable, just as I value the Four Seasons Manor arc, especially, for giving us a vibe of two adults comfortable in an already intimate relationship, as opposed to the veritable sea of will-they-won’t-they tug-of-war coming-together-for-the-first-time-as-emotional-AND-plot climax relationships that we’re usually awash in.

Anyway, straight up we’re introduced to an assassin who, we discover, doesn’t like to get blood on himself. It looks like metaphorical blood is fine, just not actual blood, but then we discover, well, maybe he’s not as OK with metaphorical blood as he schools himself to look. Also that conversation with Li Jingan about her dad having to die because he’s a traitor to the country – I now wonder how much of that particular conversation Zhou Zishu mentally brings to the table in later conversations about his own father being executed for the same reason. Also, wait wait wait. Zhou Zishu tells Jingan that he took Jiuxiao’s body back to Four Seasons Manor and buried him next to their shifu, but I don’t remember seeing another grave there, other than Qin Huaizhang’s and his wife’s. Script inconsistency, or are you supposed to be lying, ZZS? I mean, would you be so downcast at the state of Four Seasons Manor when you arrive with your husband and son for your honeymoon, if you’d actually been there only a couple of years before? It didn’t fall to pieces overnight. Also, HAIRPIN FORESHADOWING ALERT. Our first sign of how important the hairpin is, the way ZZS’s impassive face cracks wide open when he sees the hairpin that Jiuxiao made and realizes he must have given it to Jingan. Clearly important!

Mmm. Here’s a point for the “Prince Jin is a f’kn asshole” list – Prince Jin wants ZZS to deal with Bi Changfeng personally when Bi Changfeng requests to leave Tian Chuang. And OK, ZZS is the leader of Tian Chuang. But you’re never going to convince me Prince Jin wants ZZS to deal with it personally because Prince Jin is actually so very furious that Bi Changfeng made a mistake. You will never convince me this isn’t a … it’s not even a test of loyalty, at this point, because Prince Jin has no reason to think yet that ZZS is anything other than the faithful hunting dog on a leash that he’s been, lo, these many years. Putting ZZS in a position where not only is he losing the last of the direct disciples of Four Seasons Manor, but he’s being asked to (as good as) kill him with his own hands - it’s just cruelty for the proof of your power and influence over someone. Also, given Prince Jin’s later diatribe about how everyone leaves him OMG (have you considered it’s your personality?) (But also Beiyuan! I know who you are now, and yeah, I would have let Wu Xi bride-kidnap me away from this jerk, too), I have to wonder if Prince Jin isn’t trying to make ZZS feel exactly as isolated as he, himself, feels, as part of his overall desire to make sure that ZZS has no one other than Prince Jin so that their positions are parallel – only having each other in the whole world. I also have to wonder if he’s not hoping for precisely the reaction ZZS has to Bi Changfeng – you’d rather be dead than be with me? Because that hurts, you can see it on ZZS’s face (thanks already, Zhang Zhehan), and I rather suspect Prince Jin wants it to hurt. I notice we get an echo of this later in the ep, with Prince Jin saying pretty much the same thing when ZZS asks for the final Nail. GOOD. I hope it hurts you just as much. I wonder if ZZS realizes this while he’s kneeling there in the throne room. It’s probably too late for him to get any satisfaction out of it.

OH, HEY. That’s HAN YING already, one of the two people accompanying ZZS to put down Bi Changfeng, looking super-pained like he knows what this is all costing his beloved. Han Ying, I really hope you got to tap that at least a few times before ZZS made his break for it. Is that one of the reasons Prince Jin seems to have such antipathy for you, or is it really just that he can’t stand the idea of someone whose loyalty to ZZS is greater than their loyalty to Prince Jin, himself? (Seriously, y’all, why is there not much much more Han Ying/ZZS fic?) Meanwhile Duan Pengju, omg, this asshole, is already looking smug and punchable. Really, he’s kind of enjoying the Seven Nails placement a little too much. Showing your hand pretty fast on the petty evil thing, show.

So, one thing I didn’t catch the first time around, is that ZZS isn’t just self-injuring to punish himself when he takes the knife to his chest – he re-opens wounds on all the places where the first six Nails have already been placed, so it will look like the placement is fresh. If you can’t tell he hasn’t just put them in, there’s no reason for anyone else (read: Prince Jin) to suspect he’s bought himself some time before he loses his senses. As far as anyone knows, he’s going to fall over with locked-in syndrome any day now. Which just makes the implications of Prince Jin vowing that he’s only letting him go for now EVEN ICKIER. For all Prince Jin knows, what he’s going to get back is a flesh doll that will just lie there, although I guess on the plus side, ZZS would never leave him again. Thanks, show, I need a shower, now.

ZZS says all the right things to argue his case to Prince Jin – he’s only good as a weapon, he has no skills nor utility for building and governing the country – and I think partly this is because he just knows the right things to say. I mean, you don’t become the Number Two guy in the country, with thousands under you and only one above you, if you can’t play imperial politics. But I also wonder if deep down he doesn’t actually believe it – he was successful at building Tian Chuang, but he couldn’t maintain Four Seasons Manor and even drove it to ruin. So, I’ll just be over here, clutching my chest, over my heart. Fortunately, Zhang Zhehan provides quick distraction from this pain, and I … Y’all. I can’t. I just. I CANNOT. When ZZS drops to his knees and starts stripping in the throne room. Just. Mmmmmrgh. THIS VISUAL. Although, you want to know what one of the hottest parts actually is? That pair of leather bracers hitting the floor on top of his belt, and ZZS isn’t even in the shot at that point. OK, fine, I am willing to read some dirtybadwrong fic with this whole scene premise at its heart, even if it does include Prince Jin. Zhang Zhehan, you are KILLING ME. I might have rewound this part. More than once. You can’t prove anything.

Aaaand then we get that gorgeous, painful shot of ZZS riding out into the snow that I know I’ve talked about before (including the way I get an odd echo of Lan Xichen off of it). There are several places in this ep where the cinematography is to die for, and this is one of them, the bleakness of the landscape and Zhang Zhehan (and his FACE) deep in that shadowing cloak against the stark snow as he rides out into freedom and the unknown. Then cut to somewhere green and forested. Interesting that the show starts with snow and ends with snow. That parallel with the imperial cage says some things about immortality that could stand to be unpacked – but later. Because ZZS is putting his face on – literally – and I am once again in pain, only it’s not the good kind of pain. It’s caused by that dreadful fake facial hair. There are some things that could be unpacked here, as well, about the fact that making ZZS supposedly unattractive involves a clearly fake goatee, a single aesthetically placed scar, and darkening his skin. I’m going to try to step carefully here, because this is kind of out of my lane, but it is … a noticeable thing. That probably ought to be noted.

So, ZZS takes just a moment to turn his (fake) face up to the sun and feel the warmth on it … and then with 10 minutes left, we’re on our way to Ghost Valley, where there’s some chaos and then Hanging Ghost gets got by a Mysterious Stranger To Be Revealed Later, who chokes him out (remember this). The Mysterious Master of Ghost Valley appears dramatically on his High Ledge to Make Some Pronouncements while playing with some walnuts omg (rolling two of them in one hand – remember this), and we see his eyes, which are partially obscured by chunky sidebangs, which are farther forward on his forehead than we’re going to see later, not only hiding some of his face but making it look more angular. The troops get berated, shit rolls downhill, and another dude gets choked (remember this) as Ghost Valley Master’s hair continues to artfully hide most of his face and he worries about his manicure post-kill (remember this). War is declared on Hanging Ghost for stealing the Glazed Armor, and more chaos is set into motion.

All of that takes literally two minutes, and then we cut to three months later, and no one realizes it yet, but the fam is getting together. ZZS is tits out in the gutter - only beginning his career of being a minx who flashes his collarbones an awful lot for someone who has Very Secret Scars He’s Hiding On His Chest - happily drinking himself to death in the sun (we really need to talk about this correlation of snow and immortality vs. sun and happiness …). Meanwhile, slo-mo shot of Wen Kexing looking precious and perfect, with delicate pink lips and dove-grey robes, as he checks out the rough trade in the gutter. Oh, the expectations this show is getting ready to smash. We cut from a shot of pristine precious WKX to ZZS holding up his hand, and we get a shot of the sun through ZZS’s fingers looking an awful lot like some shots of characters halo’d in light that we’ll get back to much much later in the show. Chengling appears out of nowhere to be Best Boy. A-Xiang is purple and smol and ready to brawl, and I already love her. I already love them all!  So much! Here are my delicate and precious feelings, show, go ahead and stomp all over them!

[waitwhathappenedin]

Wait, what happened in Girls of Storm and Shadow?

Like a fool, I read this book thinking that it was the last one in the series. (Maybe because of the numerous ways it's similar to We Set the Dark on Fire???).  Well anyways as I got closer and closer to the end I realized that I was going to have to brace myself for a cliffhanger and a long wait after.  So, for when I finally get my hands on Girls of Fate and Fury, here's an incoherent list of everything that happened in this book. Spoilers!

Ok so our main girl is Lei and she's dating Wren who was like basically raised with this revolutionary for a dad in order to kill the king but Lei got their first (that was the earlier book and frankly I don't really remember how it happened)

So now Lei and Wren are dating and super cute and they're trying to get this rebellion started by getting a bunch of different clan leaders to sign on.

But here's the thing the rebellion turns out to be mega bad!! Wren kills people in order to keep her magic going (like this bird princess), and her dad is basically like we should raid and burn down villages and make it seem like the king is doing it so that people hate him more!  They even targeted their friend Aiko's village and killed her family.

But Lei like barely gets time to process this information when she finds it out because they're with the cat clan (and General Lova who keeps being a jerk and flirting with Wren), and then they get attacked!  And there's this great part where this general is like Lei come with me to save them, and Lei's like I'll save them by kicking your ass.  Or something like that.

And then it gets crazier because our boy Merrin (the bird who rescued them in the first book, and is now on their revolutionary team for this book), takes Lei and Nitta away and is like yo I betrayed you to be re-admitted into the bird clan.  You thought they were on your side?  Well the surviving daughter started a coup because she suspected how awful the rebellion could be after she died.

So that nonsense is going on and Lei's like I'm out of here and she wanders through the desert until she gets captured by the king's General Naja.

Dun dun dun! Cliffhanger!

Ok so one theme in this book is like recovery from trauma.  Like Lei kind of develops this reliance on alcohol to stop having hallucinations where the king is following her.  And then Wren's magic runs off of pain, and I feel like she is dealing with her trauma by sacrificing herself (and others) for the cause, so she can feel like it's worth it.

Also I don’t know about you all but the Steel caste seems ok enough, but I can’t wrap my head around some of the people/animal combos.  And then also thinking about Monstress - castes are created either way, but different ways that power is distributed.  Innnteresting, innnnteresting.

Characters!

Lei and Wren - cute couple whose relationship falls apart during the book

Hiro - shaman who sacrifices himself so that Lei can protect the group while they're facing the lizard clan (Czo?)

Bo and Nitta - cat siblings and thieves.  Bo dies while they're at sea and it's super sad and also some of them blame Hiro and Wren for not using their magic to save him.

Shifu Caen - wise mentor who teaches Lei how to fight.  Also later we find out that he and Wren's dad (Ketai Hanno) are lovers.

Merrin - poor misguided bird guy who was stuck up at the beginning, falls in love with Bo (despite the clan divide - cats v. birds), and then betrays the group!

[fox-and-benedict]

[Fanfic, 100% OJ] Exercise

Series: 100% OJ / Suguriverse Words: 1153 Characters: Suguri, Sora, Hime Originally Posted: March 22, 2017 (link here) A/N: As a writer, I love slice of life and most of my writing is in that kind of genre. The disadvantage of this is that certain types of scenes never come up -- action scenes being a prime example. Occasionally, I like to set aside time to practice them, and this was an example of that. Also, you’ll see me refer to the series as ‘Suguriverse’ from here on out even if the main character is Sora, since the time period is actually Suguri’s.

The air was thick and still. They faced each other across an open field, blades of grass rigid with frost. No mud. Firm enough footing to lunge across the clearing in one shot. The battlefield was marked by posts strung together with rickety chain, chewed by age. Empty, but for them.

A training exercise, they called it. Physiotherapy. Stretching arms and legs that had slept for centuries, cajoling them back into fitness. It was Hime’s idea. Sora had shown no reaction, looked around with green eyes that were wide, and blank, like an animal’s. Her eyes were narrowed now, but calm. Waiting for a movement, a moment. A predator’s eyes – no, not a predator. A soldier’s. Suguri settled into a defensive stance. They’d decided on wooden swords, this time – they could take more punishment than that, but why tempt fate? The blade was longer than she was used to. Heavier. She wondered how well she’d fare with her short arms. She was hit with a sudden envy for Sora, for the extra few inches she had in height, the extra weight. Little differences like that could be decisive.

Sora moved. The slightest possible shift of her leading foot. The sound was tiny, but there; a feint. Suguri prided herself on her speed, but Sora was fast too. If the blonde haired girl decided to bridge the gap, she’d reach Suguri long before the sound did. Harder, too. Even heavy, sturdy swords like theirs would only last for a hit or two. Better make them count.

Stillness was difficult. Landbound fights were difficult. Suguri was used to the air, the freedom of motion. A 360 degree battlefield. On land, you couldn’t dip under or over somebody, or circle around to the back quicker than they could follow. It was oddly two dimensional. Her body ached for motion, for a release of tension; her muscles felt like coiled springs, straining under the weight of their energy. She pondered beginning her attack. Sora was heavier, stockier, more apt for defence. As a soldier, she’d probably play to her strengths and punish an ill-judged attack. But Suguri’s speed was nothing to be sniffed at. If she could surge forward, provoke the counter and then dodge, it’d be her victory without a doubt.

As if sensing her resolution, Sora launched forward. Blades of frosted grass flew at her feet, clods of mud blown clear by the power of the motion. For a fraction of a second, Suguri registered wide, shining green eyes, a nose crinkled into a snarl, before moving to the important things: Sora’s right arm, the sword in her hand, lifted up high for a vertical strike, left hand drawn across her chest for balance and protection. Too quick to dodge. Suguri braced, set her heels back and held her sword horizontally across her body, slightly slanted. Too straight and the sword would break, hard; she wanted the force to roll across the blade.

There was a flicker of motion, and Sora’s posture changed. It was like watching a video with frames of animation removed; one moment her arm was in the air, the next it was curled back at her shoulder, quivering with suppressed force. Her arm shot out like a cobra, into a thrust that shot under Suguri’s guard and bit the empty air above her shoulder. Suguri realised her mistake and tightened her grip on the sword, but too late. In a single, practised gesture, Sora’s right arm jerked back and sent the tip of Suguri’s sword careening into the empty air, her left hand shooting forward to catch her jacket near the neck as the silver-haired girl tried to pivot away from the attack. There was no time to even panic before Sora’s right hand cracked down again, once, twice, the butt of her sword pounding against Suguri’s head like a drum. The world exploded into stars and Suguri felt her knees give way, Sora’s grip at her neck loosening. She fell, and Sora’s knee was there to meet her when she did, a quick sharp stab at her stomach, as bad as a knife. It kept her upright for just long enough for the sword to crack down again, and this time she met the floor with a crash, her ribs aching, her head swimming. She saw Sora’s leg move, winding up for a kick, and tried to roll out of the way.

It wasn’t enough, but it wasn’t necessary. Before the kick could come, a black iron chain shot towards Sora’s other ankle and jerked her leg out under from her. She hit the ground face-first with a thump.

“That’s enough of that, I should think!” Hime said sharply, from her seat atop the rickety fence. “Goodness me. When I said you should practice your swordplay, I rather thought you’d be fencing rather than just hitting each other.”

Suguri groaned. She felt justified in groaning. She felt even more justified in asking Hime to be the judge of the contest. She had had a feeling something like this would happen. Sora looked at her, her green eyes blank and unassuming again. Her expression was absolutely nonplussed.

“That was how we did it… in my time. On land, at least. Knock them over, draw your gun and shoot them. They made us practice with shovels,” Sora said, climbing to her feet.

“…I’m glad I wasn’t on the opposite side to you,” Suguri replied.

“Yes, well. If you could perhaps not kill your friends out of force of habit, that would be nice. We shall just have to try something else, I suppose,” Hime said, sighing. “Was it good exercise, at least?”

“No. I just ran across a field and hit somebody,” Sora said.

“There’s such a thing as brutal honesty,” Suguri grumbled. She felt vaguely insulted, but couldn’t disagree with the assessment.

“Oh, cheer up. I’ll kiss it better later,” Hime teased, and ruffled her hair. Suguri rolled her eyes. “I suggest we retire for some cocoa and a brainstorming session.”

Suguri sighed, and made to follow her. Today had driven home that, rusty or not, Sora really was from a different era. A different world. The way she fought was more efficient, and brutal, than either Suguri or Hime could muster. What would have happened if Shifu had had somebody like Sora on his side, those many moons ago?

“Hey.”

Suguri felt a hand catch her sleeve. Sora’s hand. She turned to look at her newest friend, and found her face inscrutable as always. She always seemed so placid, like a cloud aimlessly floating across the horizon. If Suguri had to guess, though, she was probably going to make an apology for being so forceful.

Silently, tentatively, Sora put her hand on Suguri’s head and gently ruffled her silver hair. A contented, peaceful smile spread across her face. For the second time in as many minutes, Suguri sighed.

Close enough.

[zhouszishu]

Hi! I just wanted to ask what do you love so much about when a snail falls in love? Its been on my to watch list for a long time but I still haven't gotten to it. I need a push

my anon, my dude…the real question is what don’t i love about when a snail falls in love tbh. okay that’s a lie i did have some nitpicks about the drama but overall what i loved about it honestly outweighs any and all negatives i had against it. 

also here’s your warning, this is about to get extensive and unnecessarily long because i’m not kidding when i say that this drama is my favorite. (there are some very teeny tiny spoilers!! but i tried very hard to keep it to the very the minimum.)

okay i tried breaking down why i love when a snail falls in love so much into something somewhat coherent with bulleted points. i hope it isn’t too confusing.

xu xu aka the love of my life and queen of my heart. 

she became my favorite character of all time pretty quickly tbh. i just adore her so much and found her so relatable in how small, quiet, and introverted she is. despite her meek demeanor tho, she’s still very much allowed to be a strong female character, even if she isn’t strong physically.

what i also love about xu xu is how smart and competent she is at what she does and she knows that. i like that she’s allowed to be confident and self-assured in her abilities, especially in a field of work that is so typically male-dominated. despite her genius abilities tho, xu xu also understands where her abilities lack. this of course, is mostly in the physical aspect of police work, and even if she doesn’t like it, she readily accepts that she needs to work on physical fitness if she wants to stay in the violent crimes unit.

also shoutout to wang zi wen who portrays xu xu tho because she did such a brilliant job. like i just think that she got so much of xu xu right in terms of mannerisms and attitude and overall just did a really amazing job at being the xu xu that i imagined after i read the book and idk man, i can’t imagine anyone else in the role of xu xu now. 

the fact that the writer never forgets that the story is about our snail, xu xu. 

i feel like for so many dramas, it’s so easy for the writing to prioritize the male lead who overshadows the female lead and completely forget about her and only has her there as his love interest. with when a snail falls in love tho, this is never a problem!!! the heart of the story is xu xu and her journey and growth in becoming a police officer and there’s never any doubt about that!!! 

the friendship between xu xu and yao meng. 

these girls just have such a loving and supportive friendship and thinking about it makes me cry tbh. their relationship is so different from how it is in the book and i could never be more thankful that the writers chose to do this. yao meng in the book is very different from how she is in the drama and there’s even some pettiness that you would expect from a second female lead who also romantically likes the male lead. thankfully, there’s none of that in the drama!!! there’s no unnecessary hate between them, just a lot of love and support and wow, just give me more beautiful friendships between female characters 2kforever. 

the very well done slowburn romance. 

oh man where do i even begin. the buildup between ji bai and xu xu’s romance is so wonderfully done. their relationship starts off slightly antagonistic because of their different approaches to criminal work but ji bai isn’t the typical male lead jerk. his antagonism towards xu xu doesn’t come from any sort of misogyny but a real concern about her being a liability to his team. he quickly changes his mind and accepts her more readily tho once he sees how willing she is to change and from there a beautiful relationship slowly evolves. 

their relationship is built on these very quiet and gentle moments and ugh, it aches so good!!! don’t expect the typical loud and in your face moments often seen in dramas that indicate how these two people are falling so madly in love with each other. the romance between ji bai and xu xu is slow but you can see how they come to develop something romantic through their conversations and interactions. ughhh just thinking about these two makes my heart swell in the best way possible and now i have the urge to just go rewatch all their sweet moments.

the fact that ji bai and xu xu are very much equals in their relationship. despite how she calls him ‘shifu’ and she’s his student in terms of like learning police work and all that, they’re very much equals!! ji bai asks for xu xu’s opinion on things and takes the time to listen to what xu xu has to say because he knows that she’s very good at what she does but also how ji bai slowly learns to trust and open himself up emotionally to xu xu throughout the drama is just ugh, they’re so beautiful together i cry. 

okay this point is kind of spoilerish but there’s this conversation between ji bai and xu xu towards the end of the drama that just makes my heart so happy. in the conversation is ji bai acknowledging how xu xu is capable of living her life without him and it made me go !!!!!!!!!!!!! the first time i watched it. like this is so important, sosososo important!!! i feel like dramas are always very end-all-be-all with their romance but the fact that there’s this acknowledgement of xu xu’s agency and how she exists outside of their relationship is so important and amazing! it’s a reminder that, yes, the romantic relationship between xu xu and ji bai is great and all, but she won’t die without him. like xu xu isn’t with ji bai because she can’t live without him and all that romantic bullcrap but she’s with him because she chooses to be and she sees how he brightens up her life and idk, the conversation was something so small in terms of their overall relationship but it just made me love ji bai and xu xu even more.

also the chemistry between wang kai and wang zi wen!!! oh my god i die every time these two are on screen together because their chemistry is excellent and i’m sosososo happy they’re the ones to portray my #1 otp. like idk how they do it but these two are amazing as ji bai and xu xu. (also if you’ve seen wang kai and wang zi wen in ode to joy at all you know that they have a very explosive chemistry and do the whole sexual tension thing very well but with when a snail falls in love, they managed to reign in all of that and portray a very nice slowburn filled with a subtle, burning, and quiet sort of tension and ugh, it’s so amazing and beautiful to watch i just love ji bai and xu xu so much i can’t even)

okay i think that’s all i have to say about why i love when a snail falls in love lol. if you actually read through all of this, congratulations and thank you for even bothering to read what i wrote lmao. i’m so sorry i’m so fucking extra when it comes to this drama but yeah, it’s my favorite for a reason lol. anyways, i hope i convinced you to go ahead and give this drama a try!

[thismightyneed]

Been a while since I saw any of those movies or any family animated feature, but I don't think any of them deal with family abuse. Which is a bloody shame because there should be movies about that too. I'd relate more to them that's for sure. It's easy to project onto them, but if there is anything I learned during film studies it's that creators of family flicks are terrified of touching the topic of abuse in the family in any meaningful way.

both movies main deal/threat has to do with dealing with partial or full on ramifications of bad family relationships get you! so for me thats dealing with abuse, is not my fault they act like “look how nicely we fixed the problem!“ when they just do a mediocre resolution of how to go at family issues

under the cut for rant about how fuckup this movies get me!

tai lung from KFP became who he was becuase shifu, his dad (guy raised him since baby, nobody start nothing about “teacher” stuff) raised him from the begining to be the dragon warrior, and tai lung DOES! shifu make it tai lung’s life prupose!! he trains and become the best, and the movie never ever make show that he was cheating at it or was a jock douchbag BEFORE the scroll incident, it even show that tai lung did this very much to make shifu proud of him really, and suddenly the turtle comes by all like “yo shifu I know you been raising this kid since he was a baby, and me as your old master/uncle figure/best friend, never bothered to tell you UNTIL TODAY, basically his graduation day, that I feel your boy is TOO PROUD to be having this honor, I mean, is not liek if you put that idea on his head since he was a kiddie and NAME HIM AFTER IT, anyways, he is not getting it, also I not telling you this is more of a fake zen prize BYE!” and in the flash back shifu doesn’t even bother to try comfort his OWN SON, and when he lost it becuase his whole life purpose is lost forever, what does shifu do??? SEND HIM TO JAIL!

FOR LIKE DECADE AND HALF AT LEAST! this guy send his son to jail and never even try visit him to try mend things with him and when he returns and shifu ask for “forgivenessssss“ at his death fight with tai lung and he reject him showing how HE IS TOO EVIL TO BE REDEEM!!! HE GOTTA FRIGGING DIE!! shifu even thanks po after he killed him all like “finally can rest now that my mistakes are gone!!“ HE WAS YORU SON SHIFU, HE GOT LIKE THAT BECUASE YOU WERE A SHIT DAD AND DIDNT TRIED FIXING HIM UNTIL TOO LATE! BUT SURE, IS TAI LUNG’S FAULT BECUASE HE COULDN’T FORGIVE AND FORGET!

and seriusly man, you say kubo didnt deal with family abuse???? that movie is liteally “familly abuse: the movie“! and I always feel bad becuase kubo is such a precious looking movie....with such painfully bad crap ending! it suppost to be about how love and forgiveness can save you but literally end with “even if a family member harm you constantly, emotionally and physical, in the end, depends on you swallow it all becuase the correct thing is always forgiving!!” just because kubo’s murder grampa is now senil, doesnt mean that the trauma of all that stuff is gonna go away! what if even if everybody is singing about how lovely he is suppost to be, he become his douchbag prick self again even if he doesnt rememeber he was a god, that’s just his attitude! according to the movie end, kubo gotta suck it up and still try love the old jerk becuae hey, maybe amnesia will kick in again and make him docil for another couple of years! becuase family unbreakable bond!...no matter if that bond is liek a chain at yoru feet!