#and i can't justify getting 2 different things of milk

[samuelsjudgments]

It's difficult to judge the farmers and that for the small creature kills. Companies do not pay for slow workers. I've been reprimanded in a job, and definitely looked down until I left the place, for choosing to take 2 minutes to save a butter fly trapped in some old cobby window. All the way up until I set the thing free into the sky, the guy was moaning about something.

That kind of compassion isn't efficient, doesn't make the corporations the money.

So in turn, I don't think it's fair to judge vegans for their products also having this issue at a production level. You try farming honestly and see how long it takes to stop and save every single one of the insects. All the snails and worms. The more you save, the more are there to eat whatever you're planting, too.

Farming is in itself kind of violent, you're stabbing chopping cutting at the earth, and whatever is in the way just gets dunked on. You bring heavy machinery into this and its like.... not even a corporate concern.

If you were to go and get a full time job somewhere and you're stopping all the way and doing things in completely different ways to save all the animals they will just fire you.

I'm not justifying it happening, I wish we didn't stretch ourselves so thin, and slowed things down, and took care, I'm saying there's no point arguing about these kinds of things, because we can't fix them. Humans are big, clunky, hasty greedy fuck machines and even vegans have cars, bikes, and accidentally kill bugs, or kill bugs at work etc.

Remember that the way we get this meat thing is still requiring a club to the head, and it's got so bad now that we're doing like, mad scientist shit in order to make them reproduce x a billion every month, and clubbing ALL of them over the head still. And most of the reason why people love the stuff so much is the ads and the tasty secret recipes that have been forced on people since we were all children. The corporations are branching out and building A.I and robots and shit and still clubbing the animals over the head to get the meat thing.

That's the core of the situation veganism thing here. All the women of the species are forced to make breast milk that's so fucked up. If we keep up being OK with these horrible things we do and only focus on advancing the things that make us money and give us power, then I don't wanna see what we turn into down the line. A species that's totally fine with the absolute molestation of a living being in order to satisfy themselves will never rid themselves of crime or war. I really think that casting out the original evil deed we ever did as sentient beings on this planet, will have some kind of cascading effect that we, this generation set of people, might not even get to benefit from. Personally it's a load off my mind, but a lot of people still don't see the evil in what's going on.

[iricathel]

Credits to the original post of @mukami-kuron-mrsadisticcat , I was finally able to find time to complete this template ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡

【30 Questions of CP, OC & Fandom★】

1. How long have you been in this fandom?

In this fandom in general? Since I'm 12 years old so that would be... *Does math* 8 years! But as for the fandom within Tumblr, in August I will be 1 year here.

I discovered Diabolik Lovers thanks to a friend, and about Tumblr... well, I think I entered this platform that I didn't even know existed before when I searched for something on google and a direct link moved me here.

2. Who's your fictional boyfriend/husband?

First, since it appeared on the screen (because I saw the anime first) my husbando was Shuu, his voice, physique and the mere resemblance with which I could get acquainted with him at that darks phase were what hooked me on him.

Then I liked Kou too, I don't remember why... Maybe because I like guys who need severe therapy 👩‍🦯👩‍🦯

And finally Ruki. It caught my attention since its first appearance in the anime, but I never gave it much importance since it was more focused on discovering more about Kou and Shuu; however, doing rp with a friend by DM I decided to give Ruki like idk a chance, see what he would do and to be honest at that time it was just a second course AHAHAHAHAHA but it turned out that I ended up liking it thanks to how my friend role-played it, causing my interest in it to grow and I ended up investigating to find out more things that finally seduced me 😔 Now this bitch is my only husbando hhhhhhhhhhh

I went from being a blonde team to a jet-black team lmao

3. Why do you like them?

I already talked about this in a couple of posts with a lot of paragraphs and little analysis, but summarizing this:

Leaving aside the beautiful voice of his seiyuu Sakurai, his great intelligence and his elegant appearance... Basically everything superficial; I consider that he is a really VERY well written character and also complex. In the first interactions you have with him you can see what a bastard son of one thousand bitches he is, given to every little or slight excuse he sees to "educate" or punish you (you can't even fart silently without this guy showing up and whipping your ass 50 times leaving you emptier of blood than a carton of milk for that little shit), but that's what I like ngl 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

If evil then why so hot

If it's so toxic that it can send you to therapy for your short life then why so tempting

Basically you can see that I like villains.

But depending on which game you're playing is more or less badass, you can unlock a yandere side or even a very soft, fluffy duffy side that would lay down its own life for you. Not to say that behind their actions they explain (not justify) why they do it. There is EVEN a whole paranoia with Karl but I'm not going to give you spoilers.

Also... Bro, he is so cultured like... wtf?? And I find it very attractive that a man knows how to cook so well.

Yeah this has been a little shitty summary but I'm too lazy to repeat this for the third time 👩‍🦯👩‍🦯👩‍🦯

4. Have you make acquaintance with anyone that ships themselves with the same character?

MmnYES sir

Obviously many people would want a slice of this man

5. How do you feel about it?

I don't care

Not that he was my bf in real life to make me extremely possessive and jealous wtf

Everyone has their version and their story with Ruki, and it's really fun to even be able to read their versions! Since they are very different situations from mine and being there witnessing how his ship begins, unlinks and ends with Ruki is entertaining because I unconsciously compare it with my oc.

Not to mention that there are many meme materials.

Apart from that, I am very used to "sharing" Ruki since role-playing on another platform, interacting with two alternate worlds at the same time, both people could manage Ruki for the other.

6. Do you feel any negativity towards them?

Nah we good, we chill, we nice, we cool.

At least for my part

7. Do you like seeing their oc(s) interact with your man/woman?

Yes~

As I said before I like to see the different stories and even compare them with each other (in the sense of how different the plot or outcome can be).

8. Do you feel competitive against them?

That's for ugly people.

9. Confident, or pessimistic?

Dang it you got me here.

I'm definitely a realist tending to be positive, I really like to immerse myself in good vibes to progress but that doesn't mean I see everything through rose-colored glasses. However, I must also admit that sometimes I have streaks where I get a blow of pessimism, even being able to seriously consider things like renewing the blog from scratch or even eliminating it completely.

10. Would you like more to get to know about your ship, or would you rather it being lowkey?

Clearly I like to show off my ships because if they are formed, it is because I love them. I love to see them progress, interact or even fight and have their relapses, but I am so proud of them that I wish other people could enjoy this content too.

11. Do you follow any of those people (them whom ship themselves with your fictional lover)

Mnyes sir, they all are my mutuals~

I have these main ships:

Rukina, with @ruki--mukami 's Ruki

Scarina, with @kindan-no-kanojo 's Scarlett

Irigiel, with @princesscrownprince 's Hagiel

Zashiro, with @the-timeless-founder 's Mishiro

Obviously if more ships are created they would be taken into account as well, but for now these are the only ones I have.

12. Are you friends with them?

Gladly yes 🤸🏼‍♀️

Big smooches for you all 💞

13. What do you think about the 'stans' ?

I appreciate that you are there to support my ships and that you are equally or more interested than me in its content!

Special tag to Rukina's Biggest Stan: @kindan-no-kanojo

14. Are you worried about plagiarism or copying of your oc(s) by others?

I would care more about my World Building, but if a lot of it is copied, things like the name or the basic idea don't matter to me at all.

Now about the oc's... nah, even if they copied everything from me they would still behave differently, since my oc's are part of my own essence and "magic". I'm not so insecure that I feel like my world is crashing down over that little thing.

I also don't see any logic in someone copying my oc's since they should feel comfortable interpreting them. It's like a person stealing a pair of shoes 2 sizes too big and trying to walk nicely in them.

15. How do you handle such a situation if it happens?

Just speak civilly with that person to first clarify my suspicions and deduce that they are not just mere coincidence as a mature and responsible adult, but in case if it turns out to be plagiarism i would try to talk some sense into them and ask that they at least change a few things so that it is just an inspiration if that is the case.

All by dm to avoid humiliating someone and causing unnecessary drama ofc.

16. Is your cp public or only between a particular circle of friends?

It is public and at the same time "private". By this I mean that obviously the content that is made is available to the public, but they cannot intervene in the interaction because they could ruin or drastically change some plan that both participants of the ship have.

However, if authorization is requested and both participants of the ship agree, Au's can be created to add drama, more development or content for example.

Example:

If Irina is interacting with Hagiel no one can get into the rp and for example accuse Irina of being unfaithful and cause a scene. However you can send a message to me or Estelle asking if you can join as a secondary character to make a plan that you should specify; at that point Estelle and I would talk to see if it's appropriate for the stage or if it's unacceptable.

This is to make it more comfortable for everyone.

17. Do you lock a specific cp ship, whats the reason? (I dare you to tag them~!)

Honestly I like to read about all kinds of ships! And I couldn't choose favorites, but these are the ones I read the most:

@kindan-no-kanojo 's Rukilett (with @ruki--mukami) and Kinolett (with @kino--sama). Sorry I love disasters so much 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

@princesscrownprince 's Rukas (with @ruki--mukami bitch you have a ship with everyone in Tumblr) bc I love gay shit too and watch a sub Ruki suffering is fun 🤸🏼‍♀️

@cursed--requiem 's Viria (with @crimson-mayhem). There's no much content about it, but I see the potential here 👁👁

@retelling-of-ragnarok 's Ryuuwen... Gwuuto...? Idk but Gwen × Ryuuto had such a beautiful storie T_T (with @fruit-of-infidelity ofc).

@korisuu 's Kourisu. I WANT MORE OF THEM. GIMME RN 🔫

@mukami-kuron-mrsadisticcat 's Koukuron (with @mukami-kou-dazzlingpinkidol). I love to watch Kou suffering, sorry not sorry 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️ AND THE EDITS MAN, THEIR EDITS.

@secretarykang 's Devyn×Saeclus (with @the-timeless-founder) I love to read your headcanons, edits and moodboards guys! Even if it hasn't been developed with a rp before, your ocs really make a very nice and wholesome couple 😔🤲💕.

There's mooooreee ships that I can tag, but i have the memory of a goldfish right now to remember them all 💧

18. What kind of behaviors do you suppose is pretentious to you?

Oooooh boy... Fine, I hate these:

- Godmodding. Obviously because I don't like my characters' feelings, actions or words being described as not only can it be very ooc but it's also disrespectful and can make me lose interest in interacting since if you are going to do everything by yourself, why do I have to participate then?

- Possessiveness, jealousy. This one is very obvious why, right?

- Mary Sues. Those characters who are so OP and don't have any weaknesses... God, it takes away all my interest.

- The "Hurry Up" person. This is what I mean by the impatient ones who think you don't have a life outside of Tumblr and call your attention to answer them or pay attention to them every 3 minutes.

I could say several things more honestly, but the post would be long.

19. What kind of comments do you dislike the most when it comes cp feedbacks of your oc(s)?

I don't pay much attention to negative comments, but I do dislike derogatory comments and/or destructive criticism by common logic.

You can give me suggestions, compliments, advice... But it's none of your business if I want to make my oc a Red Flag with legs or not, I don't care if you think that this character is a way better with this type of voice, job or eye color because that way you will like it better... That's just my work and my criteria.

20. Have you receive hates about your oc(s) before?

Geez... If I told you...

Zazu hasn't received any hate yet, perhaps because it's a relatively a recent oc, but unfortunately Irina has had poisoned bread to eat.

I will only say that I have received mmm... Almost at the beginning of my creation of this blog an anon hate saying that Irina is a Mary Sue (which I answered taking advantage of the moment to speak in a deeper analysis of Irina, since I still I had not published fight info about her); another anon hate saying it was "So boring" but that can also be taken as they talk about my content in general so idk, it's very old hate from last year. However, recently I got to see some…opinions for not saying shit because it was the only thing that was released about Irina again.

But those are just misunderstandings that people have for making movies and whole sagas in their heads and since that does not affect anything in my life, they can kiss the right cheek of my ass because I will keep making my content according to what I like or consider appropriate and cry me a river for all I care ☂️🌧

21. Do you have a complete love story of your cp?

My Rukina ship is not new, I have interacted with these two many years ago and with different people so yes, it is the most complete ship and the one I am most used to since it had its endings in the stories I created for them.

But currently with @ruki--mukami 's Ruki, the story of the ship is still in the progress and I highly doubt it will even have an ending.

22.  Do you allow joint of alternate universe with the canon version of your cp story?

As I said before, with prior communication, yes you can.

23. Are you okay with people shipping their oc(s) with yours?

Of course! 😩

After all I created both Irina and Zazu interactable as a kind of diaboy. Both are canonically single also in case you want to create a ship and with that idea I always start all the threads of my rp's unless the other person wants to participate in some Au that I have ofc, but they should know that if they try to be like some kind of love rival in that Au obviously it will have its due consequences.

Irina is very loyal and it disgusts her just to imagine an infidelity (due to past experiences) in addition to the fact that she does not like to share anything and is very possessive. Zazu, however, does not like to share either, but polyamory in his case can work (he has no problems if he has several partners at the same time, but they must be interested only and only in him). Yeah Zazu is very selfish.

24. Ever gone through a bad experience in the fandom?

Just a very little drama, but it's rather personal. At the moment I would say that everything is very nice. 👍👍

25. The ocs that you admire in this fandom are? (Tag them~)

@princesscrownprince, @the-timeless-founder, @secretarykang and @nutaella-kookie are some blogs that I think have one of the best world buildings here, plus their aesthetics and headcanons are so on point like you guys have such a wonderful creative mind 💕

@ruki--mukami, @reisakamaki, @sakamaki-manor, @mukami-kou-dazzlingpinkidol , @sugar-kuma, @kino--sama , @yui--komori and @ask--reiji--sakamaki are my fav canon blogs! It is sad that there are not many active blogs that you can interact with 😔 But the way you represent each diaboy is without a doubt admirable to see because the way you portray them is realistic, adjusted to the canon world.

@kindan-no-kanojo, @cursed--requiem, @mino-diabolik, @cyra-abbas, @kauzebridgerton, @korisuu, @solarstellarstar, @sunny-flower-spot, @veriahs-vengeance, @yourlocaltea, @crimson-mayhem , @sumire-bride , @mchallwrites, @starry-nocturne , @komori--shoma , @mukami-kuron-mrsadisticcat, @kirua9 And more blogs but I can't tag more bc Tumblr only lets me tag only... 50 people 👩‍🦯👩‍🦯👩‍🦯

26. What is the moment that caused you to feel most disappointed or excited?

Disappointed? Seeing some people who seemed to have good vibes how really they're + all the unnecessary hate that can easily be generated.

Excited? Seeing how both my blog and that of other extraordinarily creative and talented people grow more every day 💕💕💕

27. The scariest era that you have come across in the fandom?

I haven't had any yet ☕️

28. The most wonderful thing you have come across in this fandom?

Ooooo much has happened!

First, being able to create such an amazing friendship circle that I have right now. My dear besties 💕💕💕💕 In addition, I have also had the opportunity to interact and create a precious friendship with many wonderful people!

And on the other hand, I never imagined that I would receive so much support, love and longing when moving my content and characters from my old platform to Tumblr 💞💞 Thank u so much, I dearly think of all of you daily with a big smileee

29. Say something towards those that support and admire your cp~

I would wash your dirty dishes for you if I could because of how grateful I am for all the support you give my ships! It feels great that other people also love my characters interacting in other love relationships (or not so loving).

30. You've worked hard, keep up the goid work! ★★★

Thank u so much baboo *Soft smooches*

[mack3030]

opinions?

What's really funny is that this person is attacking an early access creator for early access, for something they actually took time to make instead of going after paywall creators who are literally fucking stealing models and doing the bare minumum. Make it make sense? The fucking double standards of this community man. Like...if early access creators get treated like this, it's no freaking wonder folks like leaf-motif and sixam went to paywalling. Why do the right thing and follow all the rules only to end up with your work stolen, redistributed, or mocked by people who don't understand the work you put in it? [This is by no means me excusing these people from making the choice to do the wrong thing, but I'm just saying...like if a community abuses people long enough it won't take much for them to consider abusing that community back...] Like, the community can't be all "fuck paywallers" while treating the free and early access creators like machines who are just here to crank out cc for us to use and abuse. Like, that's not what these people are for. They are part of our community, and are important to support and uplift. Even if you cannot monetarily support these folks due to your situation, you can still send them a kind word, reblog their posts, share about them on social media, etc. I just am kinda sick of the cycles of abuse I'm seeing in the community tbh. Like, EA convincing us that the game isn't playable without all this extra money and DLC and addons, which then makes it easier for paywalling creators to exploit that pavlovian-training and convince people that it's the same for CC. And those creators trying to justify it as well by saying "Well you're not giving your money to a money hungry corperation and instead giving it to a small creator!" as if they aren't using the same techniques the corperation is? And then other people seeing how easy it is to milk the CC money cow and deciding the fuck the community and just go straight to putting all of their content on patreon with paywalls. Just from playing other games recently with healthier modding communities it just shows the absolute disconnect with reality. So what can we do from here? I don't know but I think some simple steps would be: 1) Stop abusing and treating early access creators like trash. Don't share their shit before early access is over, don't complain about the wait times, and actually appreicate they're making things for you and doing the right thing. 2) Realize that your game is your game, and you don't have to compare yourself to or compete with fucking anyone. At the end of the day, in 10 years it's not going to matter that you had a piece of CC that almost nobody else had because it was ~*~exclusive~*~ or that you had a perfectly blender rendered story on your simstagram. But what is going to matter is your mental health, which is gonna take a toll if you start engaging in the toxic behavior of comparing yourself to others or competing with others because you think they "play the game" better than you, causing you to buy things you don't need from people set on abusing the community. Nobody plays the game better than you because we each play the game differently. 3) Surround yourself with people and creators who emphasize community over content. Be around creators who care about the community and give back to it and are decent humans vs people who are cranking out "content" and trying to be a "brand". Because again, in 10 years you might not even be playing the sims 4 anymore, but you might still have friends from the community that you made. I don't actively play the sims anymore but I still have sims 4 friends who check up on me and ask how I'm doing. And I suspect I'll have many of them as friends for years to come.

4) Don't be afraid to call a spade a spade and highlight people who aren't acting in the best interest of the community. Like, I get that people enjoy my blog because I do this and that people have loved following @littleblackbooksims for that reason too, but like, if we ALL took part a little bit in this, then perhaps I and others wouldn't have to shout so loud. Because IDK about you but I'd sure as heck love to not have to post so much about abusive paywallers and be able to post more turtle pictures. Anyway, I hope that's enough "thoughts" for ya on this ask.

~Sunny

[fedonciadale]

The way some of the asoiaf fandom acts so high and mighty by stating they don't like incest pairings and specifically mention Jonsa in the same post. Bleh.

They're cousins, the same as Rickard/Lyarra and Tywin/Joanna. GRRM hasn't portrayed cousin marriage as toxic or wrong, nor has he said so. When Lysa wanted to marry Sansa to Lord Robert, Sansa's reaction wasn't "I can't marry my own cousin! That's disgusting!" It's simply not considered incest in the book setting.

And why point out Jonsa? They're not really brother and sister. That's the twist. Unlike Jonerice where they believe they're strangers but find out they're aunt/nephew, Jonsa believe they're half-siblings who will discover they are cousins. It's sort of like the k-dramas where supposed siblings dance around their romantic feelings & later discover they aren't actually related, or step-siblings who eventually fall in love, so they can be together. It's a whole trope.

Hi there!

You already know why they point out Jonsa. It's not related to the fact that Jonsa is supposedly incest. It's about the fact they hate Jonsa and need a 'moral' reason to justify that.

And you are quite right: pseudo-incest and kissing cousins is a trope - and one that usually ends well. Accidental incest is also a trope and it usually does not end well. This is interpretation of literature. I can point out that GRRM might use both without ever shipping any of them.

I think people need to chill a bit about shipping or rather they should differentiate.

1) Analysis: you look at a story and come to a conclusion where it might be headed. This is pretty neutral. I came to the conclusion that JKR was going for Romione in book four. I even came to the conclusion that accidental incest and Jonerice would happen in the books because I was convinced GRRM woukd milk the secret parentage trope to give us all the dramatic shit. I believed we would get an ending with Westeros saved but about every important person dead (because the narrative punishment for incest is usually death). Pseudo-incest couples escape death because they are not incest.

2) Vibing with a ship: That is sort of random. It depends on what you like and sometimes it's not even like but only fascination? It's about tropes you like it's about things you want to explore. And there is no need to give a morally valid reason for that? You can ship a problematic couple because you like horror? I ship Dramione and although my interest in the ship (and for a big part of the fandom as dar as I can see) the ship is about redemption and change. Classical enemies to lovers. But you know, I shouldn't even need to explain that I ship them in a 'healthy' way (I had legit a R0mione shipper tell me that I risked my mental health for shipping a 'toxic' pairing). But if there are people who write very dark fic, why not? Shipping something does not equal condoning that behaviour in real life. Or you could never write about murder, theft betrayal etc. Protagonists im literature are not necessarily heroes and they certainly should not be role models. Now, as for the vibing : Sometimes the moral comes into it. I dislike Sans@n for many reasons not all of them relevant here. One of the reasons I dislike it is because it's a grown man and a teenage girl. Now, it should be obvious that this reason does not apply for the shippers. Maybe they ship them in a completely different scenario because they are a lured by the 'Beauty and the Beast' trope, maybe they ship them as a horror scenario. I don't know how they ship them and I don't want to know. I've got the ship blacklisted ad that's it. If it ever becomes canon it will be one of the canon ships I hate (not that I think it will, the textual evidence devalidates the ship as deeply problematic and points towards it never happening - two different things).

Now, I think it would be completely senseless to tell people to stop vibing with that ship or even to tell them that they are morally wrong for shipping them. Because the influence of literature on us is far more complicated than : I read about a crime - I feel forced to commit that crime or I read about a crime and liked the story - This means I like the cime and want everyone to commit it.

That is why I can understand people who say they don't like Jonsa because they don't like the pseudo-incest trope or they don't like people getting together if they grew up together. That is a valid reason for not vibing with a ship. It does not say anything about where GRRM goes with his story though.

3) Canon shipping. Now, this is where analysis and preferences align and the shit usually starts. People vibe with a ship and they want it to be canon. We mostly want that because it just feels nice to be able to say 'I knew it!' And it feels nicer to say that if you like the ship. I never had the urge to say 'I knew it' when R0mione became canon. All I thought was 'well....'. And 'other ships would have had much more narrative potential '

But many people also think that canon validates their shipping (which is rubbish because canon doesn't say anything about the quality of a ship : take Lolita, nobody would argue that the canon pairing in that book is anything but disgusting). And this is where all the 'you should not ship that' from a supposedly moral highground comes from.

'You should not ship that because it's not canon' is a rubbish argument and people know it. This is why they try to put in moral reasons. You should not ship it because it is 'incest'. Neither says anything about the narrative potential of a ship. And to be honest literature without problems is boring. I'm all for some fluff but I could never read it all day.

Can I understand people who say they don't like Jonsa because they don't vibe with it? That's O.k. I think it can certainly border hypocrisy if they ship accidental incest instead or other couples who grew up together but are not related like Anne and Gilbert from Greengables. But we don't really need reasons for liking or not liking something.

What I don't get is the argument: this is immoral and that is why a) you should not ship it or b) the author won't ever go there.

I've seen this argument used against the Dark Dany ending. Dany was abused and her turning into a villain is such a terrible message for survivors. To which I can only say : no it's not a message it's the author exploring the subject of the abused becomes an abuser. Nowhere does the author say that any of his characters should be a role model. If you want role models read a moralistic treatise. Maybe just pick some aspects of literary characters. Remember that Frodo actually failed his task when it came down to it and it was only his past action of pitying and sparing Gollum's life that saved him and Middle Earth. If you take from LotR that pity is a good action you wouldn't be wrong. But we know that anyway don't we?

So, if people think GRRM would never go for a couple that is tortured by the fact that their half-sibling status prevents them from being together or that he won't use the trope of pseudo-incest (maybe in addition to accidental incest) they should better think again (or maybe have a look at the so-called Original outline, 🤣). They are absolutely in their right to say they wouldn't like that. The narrative potential is there nevertheless. And as you said. It's 100% possible in the world of ASOIAF.

So people who argue against Jonsa that it is incest are wrong in two aspects. This is not an argument against shipping them (see 2) and honestly it's not their concern if people ship them and it's not an argument against the author going there.

It always comes down to it that people are offended that Jonsas dare to canon ship them and that we dare to challenge interpretations of ASOIAF that were there since ACOK.

The thing is: literary analysis changes. It never stays the same. We see things now we would not have seen a decade ago. Every generation reads it differently. Every person reads it differently. And this is interesting. Gatekeepers get us nowhere.

Thanks!

[fly-pow-bye]

Powerpuff Girls 2016 - “Blossom³”

Written by: Jake Goldman

Written & Storyboarded by: Benjamin P. Carow, Caitlin Vanarsdale

Directed by: Nick Jennings, Bob Boyle

Three times the trouble.

Not every episode of PPG 2016 starts with an action scene, but this happens to be one of them. We get introduced to a brand new villain named Duplikate, who has the power to duplicate things with her super-suit. Despite not having any other weapons, she's able to rob a bank. She then uses her duplication powers to make a black-and-white clone of the bank, which she just as easily robs.

A minor question: shouldn't be money bags also be black-and-white? If she brought her own bags, would any store accept black-and-white Benjamins? With her personality, I can see her robbing banks just for the fun of it, but it would have been nice to have that come up at one point. In fact, the black-and-white never comes up in the episode beyond the visuals and the lack of "who should I shoot first" cliches.

The Powerpuff Girls suddenly show up to stop her, and Blossom decides to do a multiplication pun for the other two to groan at. Blossom decides to do one of her plans. Her track record doesn't seem to be very good, but I'd imagine this would be a fool-proof plan...

...get a bunch of cars and throw them at her! Buttercup really wants to crush and mangle this villain's bones with at least 10 tons of rubber and steel, but thankfully for Duplikate, the plot, and the censors, someone has to stop her from doing that. Blossom tells Bubbles and Buttercup that the plan didn't call for blue coupes! This starts a theme: Blossom being arbitrarily annoying about something.

While Blossom and the other two are arguing, Duplikate duplicates the cars many times, crushing Bubbles and Buttercup with the duplicated amount of weight. I can’t knock the episode for not being creative with her abilities. She then runs off to have a date with a copy machine, saying that she'll do this again sometime. We can only imagine what that's like.

Blossom says she hates sequels, I can't really blame her after watching most of this, and uses her ice breath to make her slip and fall. This activates her powers, shooting a beam at Blossom that pushes her into the pile of coupes. Buttercup manages to find Blossom, and Bubbles manages to find Blossom twice. Uh oh!

There's now three Blossoms, Blossom 2 and 3 being black-and-white like all of the non-money-related clones. How can we tell the difference between 2 and 3? It never becomes important, so it does not matter. The Professor shows up to say that as long as his number of daughters is a prime number, everything is a-okay. He then leaves for the rest of the episode, making me wonder why they even bother having him around.

Buttercup: Three times the Blossom can only equal one thing...

...three more times the animators can forget to draw Blossom's ponytail? I can see that. Buttercup already has every reason to hate the idea of three Blossoms, but Bubbles needs a little more convincing. I mean, Bubbles doesn't have to worry about those chores now that the Blossoms can do them all. No need to program those perfect robots this time.

Oh, look at the door, it's someone offering free puppy adoptions. Blossom, being the responsible of the three, decides to say no and shut the door right in the guy's face, him visibly sobbing at her uncharacteristic rudeness. This instantly makes Bubbles agree with Buttercup that this is a nightmare. According to a writer's commentary on his Twitter, her actually having a reason would have been too justified for Bubbles. It really explains a lot that "too justified" is considered a reason to cut a joke in this show.

Bubbles: When will this nightmare end?

If that one blog post is right, it will not be too long, Bubbles. As Bubbles' jaw is still dropped at this, all three Blossoms get a call from the Mayor...

...that Pot-Head is on the loose again. His name is actually Infernus, but I misheard them calling him "Pot-Head" in his first appearance, and that name stuck with me ever since. He's apparently a villain made for Kaiju-esque mindless destruction, because that's something the Powerpuff Girls don't normally have to deal with. Sadly true in the reboot.

After Blossom does a “steampunk” joke for the other Blossoms to praise and the other two to groan at once again, they go in to attack him. They all use ice breath on Pot-Head's flames, and they start beating him up. Bubbles and Buttercup attempt to join in...

...but not before flexing their muscles and saying how they're going to clobber this monster. One of the major points of the Powerpuff Girls is that these cutesy little girls are still powerful enough to conquer any enemy that faces them. Scenes like this just spit in the face of that.

The flexing distracted the camera from focusing on the three Blossoms, and, as we all know, being off-camera seems to amplify their powers beyond "can get taken down by glitter and crayons". Buttercup seems completely offended when Blossom was able to take care of the monster by herself and two other Blossoms.

The Blossoms and Bubbles and Buttercup decide to split.

Buttercup: We'll be a duo so dynamic, there will be a bunch of movies based on us!

If you didn't get the reference, cue the obvious Batman TV show transition parody...

...to Crazy Jerry’s Discount Costumes. This is a subtle hint that the Powerpuff Girls are poor, alongside with the Professor’s "side jobs". Does he even have a regular job? I guess he could be a scientist, but that seems to be more of a hobby for him.

Bubbles questions why they would need new costumes. It's for the toys, of course, but Buttercup has a different reason: to give them secret identities. Judging by the villains and even some friends seemingly crashing through the Powerpuff home every now and again, that should be more of a concern, but they do a different running joke with that.

Meanwhile, at the Powerpuff home, it seems like all the Blossoms are happy with each other, so here's the obligatory "having clones is not such a great thing" scene. The other two Blossoms drink all of her milk, clean everything, and, while Blossom is going to read "The Girl With The Dragon Sticker", they do something completely expected.

Blossom 2 or 3: Oh, you mean when they reveal they were on Earth the entire time?!

Does Blossom regularly spoil books to people who she knows has yet to read them? Even Blossom has to deal with Blossom being uncharacteristically unlikable in this episode! I almost wish we could see Duplikate's date with the copy machine.

Instead, we get to see her plans after that date: to rob that same bank again and again. Well, she was not kidding about wanting to do this again sometime. She also has a tank, which she also stole, leading to more proof to the "I'm just robbing banks for fun" theory. After the Blossoms show up, she reveals that can even use her powers on herself. There doesn't seem to be any limit to that ability; she's either too smart or too stupid to realize she can probably cause a grey goo scenario just by herself. Can't decide which.

I could decide that with the next scene, though. Blossom has to think of a plan along with the other Blossoms, but, unlike that time they took down Pot-Head, none of them can agree on what plan to use! Ultimately, the other Blossoms do a plan to figure out that plan.

FOCUS TESTING!

Thankfully, they just say it in unison, no random choirs here. The other Blossoms leave to do a focus testing gag, leaving Blossom to be blasted away by one of the Duplikate's tanks.

The Mayor, realizing “The Blossompuff Girls” aren’t up to it, decide to light the ButterBubbs signal. That was the original title for the episode, by the way; Blossom's so smart, she should be associated with something more mathematic, after all. I mean, it's not like the toughest fighter should be the mathlete, right? I would not complain if that never come up again, because it shouldn't.

The ButterBubbs signal brings out Bubbles and Buttercup, in new costumes they clearly got out of the clearance section of that store. It doesn't look anything like the costumes they pointed out earlier; maybe they were too justified. They decide to use their trusty utility belts...

...specifically, to start whipping them around, and start shouting "gooly gooly gooly" as they comically run, not fly, towards Duplikate. Even Robin’s treatment in Teen Titans Go had more dignity than this. There was some commentary on this scene, and I'm not nearly that delighted to say that "because the storyboarder thought it was funny" theory was correct.

They immediately get blasted by one of the Duplikate's tanks. That's pretty much the end of the Batman parody, didn't that seem like something with a point? Well, there is one point: with just Blossoms, nothing can be done. With just Bubbles and Buttercup, nothing can be done. Only with each Powerpuff Girls' dynamic working with each other can they defeat this villain, with Blossom's planning, Bubbles' randomness, and Buttercup's...randomness.

Yeah, they don't give Buttercup a distinct reason to fight, minus those small hints of bloodthirst in the beginning of the episode. It's another episode where Bubbles and Buttercup are essentially one character. Probably should have expected that out of an episode involving duplicates.

She decides to go with the two-phase "randomly flying around and confuse the clones" plan, but only after one of the tanks blows up her giant scroll that she apparently brought over. Phase two is their usual plan to just stay in one position while all five Duplikates have their tank aimed at them. They do a twist on this plan: they actually fly away the split second they fire. If only they can do that more often.

The intended message was to show that all three Puffs needed to work together, but it seems more like it's better to not have Blossom do any plans. It was apparently the lesson in Monkey Love, too! The Powerpuff Girls are able to send her to jail...via having her being arrested by the police. Yeah, bashing people into jail just isn't fitting of the messages.

Blossom: I guess it all worked out!

Buttercup: Yup, and absolutely zero loose ends!

Bubbles: Totally, right, Blossoms?

All of them: Oh...

I was worried they were not going to bring this up. If this episode suddenly ended with Buttercup saying "I’ll go get the shovel", I would have loved that. I'm glad to know that was intended reference to a previous episode.

Instead, the other Blossoms just get stuck in that same focus testing gag from earlier, because they couldn't decide on how to reference Multiplicity. No, really. They have the same scene twice, and nobody realized they mispelt "guidelines". What a surprise.

Does the title fit?

Apparently, Blossom isn’t the one into math according to this reboot, but I’m going to ignore that and say “very yes.”

How does it stack up?

Cloning episodes usually end up being cliched messes even in good cartoons, and this one is no exception. This isn’t even the best cloning episode of the reboot; unlike The Trouble With Bubbles, this doesn’t get a high Neutral because of missed potential. This one's more of a neutral neutral. Not disgusting enough, it does have a decent villain.

Next, I will never do a reference to that particular slogan.

← Worship ☆ Mojo The Great →