#and luna's literally describes her whole arc...

[bishopony]

Ohhh buddy I have THOUGHTS (This is so long, I'm so sorry)

1. I actually like Twilight better as a unicorn, she should never have became an Alicorn. (And that's coming from someone who first started watching around S5)

2. However, if Twilight becomes an Alicorn then all the Mane 6 should have been Alicorns. Rainbow, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity did just as much as Twilight! Where are their wings/horns?

(That would have been awesome for the rest of the series!)

3. You are 100% right the tree castle is horrible. It's so barren and empty and so clearly made to sell toys. The library was nice and cozy and fit Twilight perfectly.

4. I absolutely hate redeemed Starlight Glimmer. Words cannot describe how much I despise this mare. You mean to tell me Twilight would throw a child into hell but let Starlight I-broke-space-time Glimmer go?? Absolutely not.

(Sunset Shimmer is a thousand times better and everything Starlight wishes she could be)

5. I actually like that Cozy Glow doesn’t have a backstory. Sometimes villains are just evil to be evil.

That being said, they should have at least tried to reform Cozy Glow. At the bare minimum put her somewhere other than (I can't stress this enough) PONY HELL!! She's like 12 Twilight holy shit-

6. Not enough people read the G4 comics. In fact, you should stop reading this ask and go read the comics instead. Most of them are online for free. I recommend The Return of Queen Chrysalis (1-4), Reflections (17-20), and Siege of the Crystal Empire (31-34).

7. MLP G5 isn't actually that bad, but it took too long to get off the ground. By the time it went from mediocre to good, most people didn't care. (Also Hasbro got greedy and G5 paid the price, but that's a rant for another day)

Also G5 should have been it's own thing, with no ties to G4.

8. Celestia and Luna should not have retired. Celestia I can understand, but Luna? Poor Luna just got back to Earth (or whatever the planet's called), no way is she retiring like 5 years in.

9. The CMC all having the same cutie mark was dumb. (And felt like a cop-out. Let my girls be unique!) Also the cutie mark designs themselves are just the ugliest things ever. Did no one teach that designer color theory??

10. King Sombra is best villain. However they should have picked literally anyone else to voice him in Season 9. Or even have the VA do a different voice! It's not even a bad voice, it's just not King Sombra's voice.

11. The Apples and the Pies are not related. Let me ship Marble Pie and Big Mac in peace. Let people ship Applejack and Pinkie Pie in peace.

12. Sugar Belle and Big Mac are a terrible couple. Maybe they were fine off-screen, but all we see is miscommunication. The only way that marriage is ending is in divorce.

13. I actually like that EQG used pony skin tones instead of human ones. That being said, there was way too much whitewashing—just use the pony's actual coat colors. I promise you can give Luna dark blue skin and it'll be fine. (How the fuck did Habro make the character with literally white skin even whiter?? HOW?? WHY???)

14. And finally (holds up megaphone): Just because Applejack and Rainbow Dash were seen together in the end, that doesn’t automatically mean they’re a couple!!!! —Sincerely, someone who thinks AJ and Rainbow are too similar to be a couple.

Ooooo ok cool I also have some thoughts LMAO. long post so read under the cut

I also like Twilight as a unicorn more than an alicorn but I do think it was right for her to become one since it was the climax of her character arc. The problem is that the show was meant to end after she became an alicorn and it went on for several more season :,) I think she was an alicorn for far too long

Not really sure I agree with this since it was only Twilight's destiny to become an alicorn. While it would've been cool to see them as alicorns and the whole mane 6 put forth equal effort to saving equestria, it just wasn't meant to be lol.

i saw someone's AU where the castle looked more like the student 6's tree of harmony and I like that a lot more, THAT'S how you design a crystal tree house ^^'

I like Starlight Glimmer and her unconventional approaches to problem solving, but man she did get off way easy for nearly destroying the world. I mean, idk, community service or something? Also why is Cozy Glow, a child, in pony hell? Why was she trapped in stone? How did the writers think that was an appropriate punishment but other characters like Starlight and Discord get redemptions? ToT

agreeing, no extra notes lol

I have a few of them! I've read the Nightmare Rarity and mirrorverse ones, I really love the comics

Agree with this one as well. G5's issues all come from Hasbro wanting to make even more money off of G4 and not allowing G5 to be its own thing like it should have. Hasbro, a toy company, should have made way more collectible G5 merch instead of the same cheap brushables of the same 4 characters over and over. I also saw someone on twitter make a good point that the G5 show should've aired on disney+ instead of netflix since that's what most families have nowadays. truly, G5 is just a victim of corporate greed

Yeah I always felt bad for Luna for that lol. If Celestia wants to retire good for her, but at least Luna should've have stuck around and helped Twilight. Can't image Ruler of Equestria is something you just get used to immediately, esp as one person instead of two like before

Totally agree, no extra notes

He's not my favorite villain, but he is fun, and they could've gotten a better VA for him lol. Or at least changed the direction for his voice? The VA is skilled and sounds good but the voice was a little too smooth IMO.

Yeah it was never actually confirmed so it's not canon. I wouldn't worry about shipping them cause the show writers clearly don't care lol

It's kind of forced imo. They're two random characters and I think they just wanted to use Sugar Belle again. I don't remember that episode well but ig discord was stopping them from seeing each other? idk they should've just gone straight to each other. just not anything I'm invested in

Agreed, they should've had their actual pony colors if they're not gonna have realistic skin. It was weird that rarity became pure white and luna was lightened so heavily. and why is celestia pink. if they were trying to avoid racially coding the characters they certainly failed that cause it just implies that they're all white

I think some of the writers said it was canon? Or at least implied since hasbro wouldn't let them confirm it outright. I don't like appledash either way, and can just pretend it isn't real lol.

[aezyrraeshh]

; OC DUALITY

i was tagged by @risingsh0t to take this quiz for some of my ocs; thank you so much! tagging @aartyom @nuclearstorms @nokstella @faarkas @reaperkiller @girlbosselrond @swordcoasts @arklay @calenhads @shadowglens @florbelles @devilbrakers @steelport @indorilnerevarine @honeysofte @benningsthing & whoever else wants to do this!

; carnal and holy sinning (this is a love letter to myself)

you are the world's leading cross bearer of the most guilty conscience. you feel everything you touch turns to gold but in the way that it becomes molten and rich; and what i mean is that when you allow yourself impulse (which is not often) it leads to disaster. when you want someone it feels like sorrow, and you love the world like tacky honey, and you'll wish it could all feel less heavy. you look at yourself in the mirror and yearn to stake the heart and ascend with peace. someday, you'll rot into the earth, and the dirt will cave with you like a sigh of relief.

; god-hungry scientist and their abominable child

you stitched something together inside of yourself and gave it life with light from the sky and now it won't die it and you can't kill it because part of you loves it and you're not quite right in the head or the person you used to be but at the end of the day it's simply a beast of sadness. you crave the mercy you didn't get from your creators and so i'm telling you please forgive yourself. please hold the monster by the hand.

; moon curse of the werewolf

you have found yourself hungered or sickened or ambitious to the point of emotional carnage. you are fine, until you're not, and then you could rip someone in your way apart with your bared teeth by complete accident, and later claw at yourself in fits of pain trying to apologize. do you look at the moon that blessed you in her name, at her marred beauty and baneful eyes, and wish she could just crush that loving-hateful heart of yours before it crushes itself? every bite you take out of flesh is a response to the threads of silver bullets in you that haven't healed. the duality is that the human inside is howling too, gnashing, and without the wolf pelt, everyone can ignore it and turn away. at some point, you got tired of the moon being your only witness. now the wolf is there to make sure others know that you are hurt, and deserving of humanity, of attention to wounds. because that wolf loves you; all of you; and knows when you are hurt better than yourself.

[wofdesignhub]

I’m gonna draw a dragon again soon so quick rant

You know one thing I REALLY hate in wings of fire? There’s a tiny, little inconsistency throughout the books. And that’s the sizes of scavengers to the dragons. Because I’m just gonna say it here: the “canonical” size comparison such as the picture below makes NO SENSE considering how everything else is just conveniently a decent size for a dragon. And trust me, we WILL get to it being “canonical”

A mango can fit a dragons palm when it should clearly be tiny as the actual love I have for this book series. What about cows? How come they’re described to be massive enough to feed a whole dragon? They should be like a candy bar to those things! And don’t get me started on how completely unrealistic it is for a sloth to be big enough to wrap itself around a rainwing’s neck. Like that must be some pretty massive sloths around that should ABSOLUTELY be massive compared to a scavenger.

Also the funny part about that pic I showed you? Yeah well scrap that cuz that’s also pretty inaccurate. We were to believe in the VERY EARLY books that scavengers are like hamsters to dragons. Literally the size of their right toe. Also also the fact that Smolder is like 50 years old AND also also also the fact that dragons keep growing as they age, then that just tells us that these scavenger are way, WAY bigger to these dragons. Especially if Flower here is the size of his FOREARM!

“Oh, but the islands are more suited for dragons! Of course everything will be big!” You cry out! Yet it is implied that scavengers were the dominant race BEFORE The Scorching, and even if that was a whole lotta years ago, then that must’ve been the FASTEST evolution process in the south coast yet.

And it STILL gets worse! Scavengers, even after being concluded to be the size of hamsters to dragons, Tui is constantly and very much maliciously switching the sizes of these scavengers to fit the plot because she has never figured out what she ever wants. Winter keeps Bandit in what’s implied to be some.. hamster cage? Okay, so he must be pretty damn tiny, which makes some amount of sense considering he’s probably a… teenager… I mean, okay, sure, whatever, I’ll let it slide- wait! But so is Winter! Winter is bigger than Qibli, sure, but neither of them are any bigger than other fully grown dragons! Winter is a teenage dragonet! So how small is Bandit?? How small is he compared to a- and let me emphasize- a FULL GROWN DRAGON!!!?? What!!!

And by the way, have you SEEN the actual cover of Dragonslayer??? Look at that and TELL me how completely unrealistic it is if we are to believe scavengers are the size of a dragon’s forearm

Also also also ALSO in book 14 Daffodil is shown tossing and catching Bumblebee who had just hatched and this is just unnatural and biologically confusing to think about. HOW is Daffodil bigger than a newborn dragonet? And this makes even LESS SENSE when you realize that it’s been implied that a newborn dragonet is the same size as a regular sized scavenger ACCORDING to the fact that it’s really easy to pick up a baby dragonet by the hand COMPARED to the size of Flower to Smolder’s hand in the picture??? HOW? Tell me how, Tui!! How is this possible!! And don’t you dare tell me that “oh! Pantalan dragons are smaller than Pyrian!” Because that is just ludicrous to me. I will LAUGH at you if you tell me otherwise because that is just a cheap way to excuse any of this. There has NEVER been any quote of Luna or any other Silkwing, Hivewing, or Leafwing being significantly shorter than a Pyrian dragon. 

I should really cut to the chase but I’ve… never liked Tui’s writing. I don’t like that she avoids criticism of her writing. She has great ideas and is so creative in the world of WOF but for most works she’s either rushing it or coming up with something on the spot. And neither are good if they’re not thought out well enough! All of the endings to the arcs are bad and poorly thought out. The logic in how specific stuff works is just terrible. Arc 3 is just a NOTHING arc full of NOTHING characters (except maybe Snowfall and some of the Leafwings they’re… fine). I’m sorry but as much as I “pretend” to like WOF, and I REALLY mean it when I say “pretend”, but this book makes me get an aneurysm the more I really look deep into it. I am beyond terrified of looking into the guidebook because I KNOW there will be inaccuracies, confusion, and Tui slamming down whatever ideas she has without a second thought. I already know she put the weird and unnecessary mudwing mating rituals!!

Anyways, drawing that stupid blue and yellow rainwing later, I don’t want to go and look for her name now, goodnight everyone, don’t talk to me

[twig-tea]

SHIPPER TAG GAME

Tagged by @lurkingshan and @stuffnonsenseandotherthings to dig into the vault. Friends, I have been Perpetually Online since 1995, when that meant I had to haunt my school library computer at lunchtime, so this is going to be for the fellow Olds. Sorry in advance for the HP mentions.

1. What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care anymore?

Have I let any ships go? Hmm. I'll go with Mulder/Scully from X-Files. Watching now, they should definitely not end up together lol

2. Which ship would you consider your first one?

Sailor Mercury/Sailor Jupiter from Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon. I. Was. Obsessed. This ship hit me like a ton of bricks in I want to say 6th or 7th grade.

I watched the show as it aired with English dubs, found out the episodes we got were censored, immediately fell into my completionist ways, went to the Asian mall (it was literally pan-Asian with stuff from Japan, China, Taiwain, Korea, etc.) and got definitely not official VCDs with Mandarin subtitles, and would sit with friends who spoke Mandarin and had them translate the subs to English for me (I say this like I forced them, but they offered because they were my friends and they also felt passionately about people seeing the uncensored show). I then learned how to Internet and would trawl for fanpages of the manga (it would take 20 minutes to load an image at the time, so rather than full scanlations I'd get walls of text describing what happened with maybe a single panel illustration). Uranus and Neptune were fantastic, but I already had Ami and Makoto aka Mercury and Jupiter long before I got to the Uranus/Neptune episodes (or the Sailor Stars manga arc).

3. Your first fanfic belonged to which couple?

Definitely Sailor Moon fanfic was the first fic I read. It was an easy step from finding fan summaries of the chapters not yet out in English > finding fan sites with fanfic on them, back before we had archives or even decent search engines and you had to just find the sites you needed through links from other sites. It was like a whole new world of possibilities opening up. The first real fanfic community I was in was Harry Potter.

In terms of first fic I wrote, I am not a writer; I've only ever written a small handful of not worth mentioning ficlets featuring the Kirk/Spock ship (Star Trek TOS).

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw a fanart over?

Oh it was likely Serena/Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon and it was in person, because I had friends who got me into anime and manga early and they were artists who drew a lot of fanart.

5. Did you ever get into ship discourse?

Friends, I had a Livejournal. It was impossible not to get into ship discourse.

6. Did you used to have any no-otp or have it currently?

I am going to echo @stuffnonsenseandotherthings and @lurkingshan and say I was dead-set against Hermione as a ship with any of the men in Harry Potter (Hermione/Luna or Hermione/Ginny, though, we could talk), and I also really disliked Draco/Ron. I also am not here for Spock/McCoy (Star Trek), and I don't really enjoy Stucky (as in Captain America/Winter Soldier or Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes from Marvel).

OH and can I be a hater on main for a second? The first couple that I remember hating as a thing was probably Jo and Professor Bhaer from Little Women; I was SO MAD they married in the end. I felt very validated years later when I read that the author Lousia May Alcott was forced by her publisher to marry Jo off and made up the couple out of spite.

7. Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

The last fic I read was a Word of Honour modern AU pairing Wen Ke Xing/Zhou Zishu in which they rescued stray kittens.

SInce I started this, I've also read a One Piece Luffy/Zoro fic (and that's not even my favourite ship--I've been a Zoro/Sanji girlie since the early 2000s! I'm weak for banter.)

8. Currently, do you have any OTPs?

I have so many. SO many. Truly. I don't even know where to start with this question! I follow several AO3 tags and fanfic writers that I get regular fic updates from. Most of my OTPs are either canon (from queer/BL/GL media) or the most popular ship (I feel very lucky that my taste is so basic). There is no one couple I love the most. Just going to throw a dart at the board: From BL, the one I come back to a lot is Hira/Kiyoi in Utsukushii Kare, because their dynamic is so intense.

9. Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

Hmm. That's what fandom is for, so not really? I usually get more annoyed when people do get together that I wish had stayed platonic (never forgiving Pacific Rim for that kiss, it was so unnecessary). And I'm extremely mad about censorship, i.e. couples that DID get together but we didn't get to see it for whatever reason (see e.g. Uranus and Neptune from Sailor Moon Sailor Stars; Chinese danmei novel live-action adaptations). Otherwise there are lots of these but I just read the fanfic and recover. I'll say I'm still annoyed Buffy didn't get to have with Faith what she had with Spike though. Their chemistry was off the charts.

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

This is such a hard question. I came around a little on Lan Xichen/Jiang Cheng from MDZS/the Untamed, though it's still not my fave (it's a soft no not a hard no). I'll also give you an oldie: Andie McPhee and Pacey from Dawson's Creek. I hated Andie's character back in the day but now I like her character but really dislike how she was used in the show, which isn't the same thing. And I actually really liked how she and Pacey worked together.

I'll also give you a BL one: Kurosawa and Haruta in Ossan's Love. Ossan's Love s1 & 3 it was clear they were not OTP so that's a bit irrelevant anyway, but it's much less clear in s2 (the AU season) and the first time I watched it I wasn't sure how I felt about the way that season ended as much as I loved the season as a whole. I like it more every time I rewatch.

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, was considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

LOL I am with everyone else on the Brian/Justin train but since that's been said twice I'll go with something else. I was a big Harry/Draco shipper back in the day, which would now probably get me cancelled for shipping someone with his bully (though a significant part of the fun of that ship was about how Draco was such an ineffectual bully...but I digress), in addition to of course how the author's transphobia ruined the whole thing for all of us (fanfic doesn't make her any money, so I don't have a problem continuing to read it in theory, but it's left a sour note over my experience and makes any engagement in that fandom less fun).

12. What was your favorite crack ship?

I was one of those foolish people obsessed with Hawkeye/Coulson before we'd even seen them face-to-face or knew almost anything about MCU Clint Barton. I still read fanfic of that ship even though it's been fully jossed and makes no sense at all anymore. Ok one more, I really love the very small Breakfast Club fandom shipping Brian/John and Claire/Allison. I've read the few fics on AO3 for the queer pair ghost ships in that show multiple times.

13. Who is the couple you read more fanfics of?

Of all time, I've probably read the most Kirk/Spock fanfic. But that's due to the length of time I've been into the ship, the amount of time it's existed, and its popularity. I still read Kirk/Spock regularly.

14. What most of your ships usually have in common?

Honestly most can be boiled down to grumpy/sunshine pairs in which both are very competent in specific ways and both are hiding crippling self esteem issues behind their grumpy or sunshine-ness, and have strong but differing moral codes that they each respect in one another (and is usually where the feelings start). Banter is a must. I am admittedly also here for height difference in my ships. Double-plus bonus for terrible communicators who learn to understand one another's particular communication quirks.

Perfect encapsulation of this dynamic is Danny/Steve from Hawaii Five-0 (listen that show was copaganda trash but the fanfic was fun as hell).

15. What do you absolutely hate in a ship?

Power dynamics that remain unaddressed as part of the story. Hate to love that isn't earned over time. When the relationship makes each other worse rather than better. When they never learn to trust one another. When one of them is in it as part of a savior complex and that doesn't get challenged or worked through. When only one of them has a personality. There's very little that I'd say is a hard no in terms of dynamics or setup for me, but it has to be handled well, and sometimes I don't have the energy to give something the benefit of the doubt.

tagging: @respectthepetty @wen-kexing-apologist @so-much-yet-to-learn @ginnymoonbeam @bengiyo with as always no pressure, plus anyone who sees this who wants to fill it out, consider yourself tagged and let me know so I can see it!

[saviolum-sanguineus]

Colour Theory & Romance in Butterfly Court

I was re-reading before the newest episode of the show dropped, and I realised that there's a whole wealth of shipping material that's gone (as far as I can tell) untouched. So naturally, I had to channel my inner Rory and get to exploring - so grab your kittens, your art supplies of choice, and get ready to have your mind BLOWN below the cut.

See that? No, it's not the colour of the sky, but it is the key to a lot of interesting nuance in Butterflyverse ships. All those gorgeous descriptions of clothing, magic, and physical appearance put a lot of emphasis on colour, specifically what colour each character is associated with.

What does this have to do with ships, you ask? Let's get into it, using some of the most popular ones as examples. DISCLAIMER: these are the most popular BC ships as of april 2023, based on how many fics are on ao3 tagged for each ship (book/show/movie all included).

MatRory

Mat: green-red are at a 90 degree angle to each other, so he’s got an element of opposition within himself as well as stability. His whole arc is based on internal conflict (remember his kitchen thoughts right before Andrey got stabbed?) thanks to the external conflict that he’s involved in. When he meets Aurora, she becomes a focal point - and her main colour association is white, which is centred in the colour wheel. Rory and Mat challenge each other’s views and ultimately stabilise each other to work towards a common goal - and IT SHOWS. Literally. Even if we take out Mat’s red association, MatRory stays stable based on the monochromatic scheme; they’re constantly working along the same parallel. Monochrome schemes evoke senses of calm and peace, which makes sense for one of the only canon couples that hasn’t gone through a ton of angst because of being together.

Moving onto something a little more controversial: Esme/Enoch, aka E-squared. A lot to unpack here. Let’s start with Esme: she’s almost comically consistent with wearing red all the time as “her” colour, her hair is red, she’s careful to only perform fire magic in public (or at least look like it), and the amount of time she spends covered in blood is non-negligible. The book also spends a good amount of time describing her eyes: one of the first things we learn about her in the books is that “her eyes are the colour of greed” and there’s a mention of her eyes matching a gold body chain she wears at Razac’s party. Her magic is "fierce gold light". So Esme is strongly red/gold associated. A stretched-out analogous combo, if you will. She’s independent on her own spectrum of warm colours; Esme supports herself throughout the books and it’s only when she gets involved with things outside that spectrum of power that stuff gets Complicated.

Enoch’s eyes are also given a lot of screentime; they’re consistently described as very pale, icy blue, and his magic manifests as “pale aqua” or “cyan” light. If we include Ward colours or his preferred “benthic blue” ink for letters, it’s impossible to miss the association between Enoch and blue. Let’s compare their magic (the focus of their first meeting, when Esme comments on Enoch’s magic after he heals her): gold is essentially yellow, maybe with a touch of orange, and blue is directly across from that on the colour wheel. Esme and Enoch are complementary; constantly opposed despite their attraction and ability to make the other person more vibrant. Some might say opposites attract…or that their differences are irreconcilable and at the heart of why they’ll never be completely happy together. However you look at it, there’s a lot of tension there.

For another spin on the blue/gold complementary angle, let’s take a look at Lunesme. Luna’s hair is naturally “blue”; on the cover art and special edition illustrations, it looks either sky blue or slightly cyan depending on which printing you’re looking at. Regardless, Luna and blue are very, very strongly linked. So we’ve got the same complementary colour relationship - but Esme’s interactions with Luna are completely different from with Enoch.

Although they both share intimate moments, Esme does a lot more “hesitating” and “considering” around Luna, and in the church scene we can see that she’s taking space to be more active and engage with/for Luna, whereas with Enoch (the assassin scene, ice skating, Razac’s party), Esme is more reactive. She’s not on a back foot, necessarily, but there’s definitely a different dynamic (and this could be intentional. Esme does flaunt her relationship with Enoch at the beginning, when she’s still sure of herself within that warm hue spectrum, but the whole thing at her apartment after the Seraphine gala throws her off).

The complementary tension in Lunesme draws them together, but the reasons they support each other so well are the same as why they keep having this will-they-won’t-they energy. Esme’s fear of hurting Luna pushes her away - and it’s why she takes the protective initiative in the church. With Esme’s red/gold and Luna’s blue, we’re looking at a triad - arguably the same as E-squared, but with what we know about Luna and how she and Esme have shared a surprising amount of secrets with each other (the scene where Esme let her pet her ears lives in my head RENT-FREE, and I live in London :P), their stability is challenged by the secrecy of their relationship. They usually only meet in shadowy scenes (remember the lighting in the church scene and all the times shadows are mentioned? Seraphine gala escape in evening…Esme only turns the lights fully on after Enoch arrives). The vibrancy of Lunesme is dulled by their fears of being exposed or bringing harm to one another, since they’re only totally honest in whispers or in letters.

Next example: Imperial Triad. We’ve established that Enoch is blue; Nicholas is pretty obviously green (the eyes, the magic, the Remington colours) and Andrey is most often seen in variations of grey (usually “pearl” and “dove”, with Taran’s hair overlapping a little on “dove” and exclusively taking “ash”). Just looking at hue, green and blue are analogous and grey (a tone) mutes them - this isn’t a bad thing, don’t worry! It’s a bit ironic because Andrey’s antics create more chaos than not, but in the context of his relationship with Nicholas and Enoch, the colour shows how he stabilises them (because let’s be honest, they’re both Unhinged and varying levels of good at hiding it). Their higher saturations are evened out by Andrey keeping them occupied, and overall their hues are harmonious together.

I don’t think we can necessarily try to predict any endgames just through this theory, but it’s pretty obvious that there was a lot of thought put into the symbolism of each character’s colour association and how they play into the relationships between them. It’s already been stressed that wearing certain colours in court is a way of showing or requesting favour, so even in-universe, we might see some mention of something similar! My personal guess is that it’d be focused on magic colours, but we’ll have to see.

[two-hearts-beat]

as a preface I should say a lot of my meh-feelings about hotel del luna come from the extreme hype that I had seen going on before

okay so what mainly bothers me is that they kinda hindered their two (very cool and complex) protagonists in having significant or visible character development

specifically what I've noticed is that chansung isn't just superficially orderly and disciplined but very intelligent and righteous to his core. and while I get that love can blind you or can make you accept things you otherwise wouldn't.... it just feels very weak that he tolerates manwol's morally gray and/or completely immoral behavior (or mediates it himself and then immediately stops talking about it)

also while she certainly has a right to be angry and vengeful, and while people who are selfish or do things only for personal gain do certainly deserve a second chance etc.... still she's had like a thousand years worth of second chances on top of literally every episode being an opportunity for her to better herself but the progress seems miniscule.... maybe I’m overly critical and not giving her enough credit for the good things she did but throughout the whole show I had a really hard time rooting for her (or was I not supposed to anyway?) and since chansung basically does everything in support of her, I had a hard time rooting for him (as her henchmen) as well

also the magos and the evil spirits are supposed to be the villains of the show, but they’re kinda also just more extreme versions of chansung and manwol respectively: one being driven by a wish to find meaning and gain control, the other being driven by their darkest emotions... so we don't really get that narrative effect of manwol (&chansung) seeming better/more heroic in contrast to the ‘villains’ [also btw, I might just be too dumb to understand this, but the motivations of the magos are still unclear to me]

additionally I think it's kind of a missed opportunity - even if very realistic - that our two protagonists are constantly busy REacting to situations and other people's actions as opposed to getting the chance to act themselves... thereby almost everything they do can be or has to be explained by the need of the situation rather than free will

to come back to the love/giving second chances motifs for a sec: I really really enjoyed the slow burn lowkey romance that was woven into the show, I guess their love language is 'quality time' (or 'acts of service' in his case) or possibly 'dealing with the dead together' because it sure as hell isn't words of affirmation or physical touch... in fact we get very little that could be described as 'yearning', 'loving glances', 'careful touches' or 'sweet words' (refreshing for a kdrama I suppose, even if a little cold); I think they only really nailed a - believable, touching - relationship between them in the last two episodes

so that’s.... probably a matter of taste; however sometimes I felt almost as if the episodes were out of order cause they'd go from a mood of intimacy (physical closeness or even kissing) back to businesslike interactions in a very short amount of time (I guess this means their personalities and dynamic isn't ruled merely by romance which is cool, but it still felt a bit.... plastic)

and about the second chances/morality thing: I know this is a weird and flawed comparison but if you look at word of honor, we get two morally gray characters struggling with their idealized image of the other person and simultaneously struggling with their own ideas of right and wrong and all this clashes and we get a variety of difficult situations that arise out of these expectations and uncertainties amidst the rest of the chaos in that world and it's wonderful... I feel like we could've had that in hotel del luna too, but it was at most an undercurrent instead of a fully utilized part of the arc

so to me the episodes sometimes felt a little empty, which is why the show as a whole felt like the longest 16 episodes I've ever watched tbh.... the untamed went by much faster... *sigh* maybe I would feel differently if I had binged hdl

[alirhi]

The problem with DJ

Like I said, sweetie gets his own post lol. It's funny how far he's come, from a random side character made just to be killed off, to my go-to RP boy, to my favorite character I've ever written. I'll skip the origin story lol (aka the irrelevant random RPs over the years) and get right to the meat of the problem: Crossroads.

It all really comes back to my flaky friend, A. Back when she was creative and invested, she made this crazy girl, Casey, who DJ fell head-over-heels in love with. Casey was highly toxic and came with some unusual baggage, but that's what I loved about her as a character. And honestly? Every girl in DJ's life is kind of toxic. That was rather the point.

DJ describes himself as "a walking, talking stereotype." He's a broke, drug-addicted teen from the wrong side of the tracks with an abusive alcoholic father. His mother committed suicide when DJ was 4, and DJ's been an addict since he was 13. He's also got ADHD, and he's a genius. Sleeps through the few classes he actually attends and still gets straight As genius. He's got two distinctly different groups of friends: his more straight-laced school friends (most of whom have known him since pre-drug days), and his rave/burnout friends. He's also an indiscriminate (ish XD) manwhore. He'll sleep with literally any girl who shows interest, as long as he's not her first (ties into his lack of self-worth and stuff. he doesn't want anyone to be "stuck with" the memory of him as her first - Casey straight-up lies to his face to get him to fuck her 😂 I love her. she's so awful...)

I eventually gave him a little brother, because I'd never put much thought into why DJ - who, again, is scary smart, and also unnervingly self-aware; pretty much impervious to denial - would do drugs. When he was just a random RP character, I...didn't really care? 😂 His background and motivations were less important than the hijinks he got himself into. But then A fell as hard for him as I did, and we decided to give him a real story, so he needed a real motive. Enter baby brother AJ, who is their father's true target, so DJ does stupid shit to piss dad off and keep those fists flying at him, not baby bro.

When DJ meets Casey, he's drunk and high and accidentally gropes her. She punches him and knocks his ass out lmao. He later apologizes, and she and her twin brother Seamus join DJ's school friend group, and she and DJ become fwb. That's the most he can really offer; DJ doesn't date, because he knows he won't be faithful, so why string a girl along? Naturally, because he's book smart but otherwise kind of a moron (lol not really, just no will to live. he tried to kill himself 3 times before he was introduced to drugs. his friends keep warning him about STDs and he's like "eh, death by karma actually sounds pretty apropos") he ends up getting Casey (and a couple of other girls) pregnant.

One of those other girls is his dealer/rave bestie, Luna. Aside from Casey and her family, here is the biggest divergence between the story A and I worked out together, and the one I'm now writing alone. A hated Luna; she hated anyone who was competition for Casey, because she'd latched so hard onto this DJ/Casey pairing that everything that could have been something for them to overcome, she just saw as a threat that needed to be squashed. So she insisted on killing off not just the baby (Lu was always going to miscarry), but also Luna. Y'all... that hurt. A lot. I adore Luna. I'd sooner kill off DJ (and in fact, there's a version of the story where he ODs and dies, and Casey eventually marries AJ). I did not want to kill Luna. But for the sake of not arguing with A forever, I did, and it became a huge part of the overall story, because DJ was in love with Luna. I saw this as an opportunity to explore poly love. A was just like "fuck that. kill her. want a poly ship? Thow Izzie-" (one of DJ's school friends, Izumi) "-into the mix! Casey likes her!" Gods forbid I wanted a little friction and compromise, people finding common ground and learning to live together. DJ likes Izzie, he does. And Izzie canonically does have a huge crush on him. But she's possessive and catty - just like Casey - and they would have imploded.

When I decided to remove A from the equation, my first impulse was "fuck yeah! I don't have to kill Luna! LUNA STAYS, BITCHES!!!" but like...

Now I have to rework DJ's entire arc, because his crippling grief and guilt over her death drove pretty much the rest of his story.

Anyway, in the old version (with the three phases), in phase 1, DJ got clean, married Casey, and got his shit together. In phase 2, they were gender-swapped (there's a reason for that beyond a god's weird sense of humor lol but I'll get to that in a minute) and DJ went from a mousy drug-addicted pacifist to a deadly cleaner for Casey's Irish mob family. It all ties into which parent (s)he is afraid to reflect. male!DJ is terrified of becoming his father; female!DJ is disgusted by what she sees as her mother's weakness and refuses to be her. So while boy-Deej danced and played drums and never took a swing at anyone even in jest, girl-Deej was a fighter, and a damn angry one. In phase 3, back to being a boy and a druggie, DJ overdoses and dies. And the Goddess who'd been trying to get her hands on him this whole time finally manages it. See, Adaghar (god who gender-swapped DJ and Casey) knew about Larash's (goddess who wanted DJ) obsession, so he was trying to make sure DJ lived a long life and went to literally any afterlife that Larash couldn't reach. She finally gets him, and through a series of odd events, he ends up killing Adaghar and taking his place, becoming a god.

That's all gone. 😂 Now DJ's just DJ, no grand destiny or anything, just a kid with an awful home life who needs to clean his act up and do right by his kids. Honestly, that's enough imo. I still adore him and can't wait to get his story done so I can read it... but I'm totally stuck. I don't know how his story ends anymore. I know he can't end up with Luna even if she's alive because they'll end up strung out and on welfare for the rest of their short, painful lives. They are deeply, deeply in love with each other, but they're both tortured addicts and Luna has zero self control. Neither of them will ever get clean if they're together.

And like... that's not even getting into all the craziness with DJ's oldest son, Ari. Ari had different versions, too - one where DJ had no idea he existed until he was about 7 (and had gone through some shit, poor kid) and showed up on daddy's doorstep; that version grew to be an angry, snarky little shit and I love him to pieces. Then there's a version where DJ found him when he was 2 and cleaned his act up and Ari grew into a happy, well-adjusted kid. And obviously in the girl-DJ version, she, y'know, gave birth to him lmao so she knew about him. But Ari had this whole arc with a vampire and he moved to Achlys in one version, and in another (the one where DJ died) he was adopted by AJ and Casey and became a doctor, and... ugh. I love this kid. And now everything about him is a big question mark, even more so than DJ cuz - guess what? the vampire was A's character, too! 🙄😖

Blargh. I dunno, guys. I don't know what to do with this whole thing.

[atheistj]

“Save it for the ladies.” 

I didn’t intend on writing anything about the new Terminator Dark Fate trailers because I’ve already said a lot about the new movie. But that line struck me so much that here I am writing more meta on Terminator and the role of women in this franchise, as victims and as heroines. I’ll primarily focus on Sarah Connor and Dani Ramos for this. So here we go. 

As the title suggests, the “Save it for the ladies” line was a standout moment for me in the trailer. First of all, the line is funny. It’s rare that we get to see a terminator have a funny scene like this that isn’t cheesy, and Gabriel Luna sold it perfectly. I’m excited that his terminator will actually have a personality. The line is also just clever writing. “My whole body is a weapon.” “Save it for the ladies.” He literally is saving it for the ladies he is currently chasing, specifically Dani. 

But what mostly struck me about the line was what a reminder it was that terminators are so often trying to terminate women. The first Terminator movie was about Arnold’s terminator trying to kill Sarah. Though in the second movie the terminator is going after John, he still targets Sarah in the mental hospital, then later in the movie stabs her and tries to force her into giving up her son. It’s best not to acknowledge the movies that followed that, but they continue a similar trend with either Sarah or other women. 

Now we have Terminator Dark Fate, which is harkening back to the first Terminator, with Gabriel’s terminator going after Dani. I haven’t seen Dark Fate yet, but from what we have seen, Dani is clearly similar to Sarah in that she’s the unlikely hero. She’s a young woman living a simple life, not someone you would think would be a savior of humanity. Sarah was the same, and though her importance was due to the fact that she was John Connor’s mother, the movie never mitigates her role to just a mother. She’s described as a “legend.” 

Neither Sarah or Dani are particularly thrilled about their “legend” or “hero” status as it gets people they love killed. One scene of Dani in the new trailer that very much reminded me of the first Terminator is when Dani is going off saying “Nobody else is going to die because of me!” as we know her brother dies early on and her father is likely killed as well. This reminded me very much of Sarah’s line to Kyle in the first movie “I didn’t ask for this honor and I don’t want it!” Not to use popular tumblr quotes for this, but they both fall under the category of “having greatness thrust upon them.” They were not born into greatness or work their whole lives for it. They just wanted normal lives until the burden of all humanity was placed directly on their shoulders. Which leads us to the interesting gender dynamics of the Terminator franchise. 

The terminators typically take on a male form when they need to blend into the past (we’ve had a female terminator, but it’s best to forget that incident because yikes) which makes the gender politics of this franchise that much more obvious. We consistently have a seeming male character trying to kill a female character, putting her through great trauma through physical and emotional harm. This is all in an effort to keep her from saving humanity or playing a major role in the saving of humanity. Sarah was ultimately the one who had to destroy the terminator who had caused her such pain, and I imagine Dani will be allowed the same revenge on Gabriel’s terminator. 

The damage the terminators inflict on their victims, often women, is long lasting. As we saw in Terminator 2 and in the trailer for Dark Fate. In T2 when Sarah saw Arnold’s terminator again, she was immediately mortified and actually ran back into the abusive mental hospital, and she could never really get over that throughout the movie. She consistently hated him, even though he was not the same terminator. Then in the Dark Fate trailer, when she sees yet another Arnold, she again wants him dead right away. Linda Hamilton acts this very well. It’s not a funny reunion for Sarah. It’s traumatizing to see the face of her abuser again, even thirty years later. 

I’m really looking forward to a similar dynamic playing out between Dani and Gabriel’s terminator. It looks like we’re already getting a lot of that in the movie. I imagine, though Dani is not the same as Sarah, she’ll follow a somewhat similar character arc, and I’d love to watch her kill Gabriel’s terminator at the end. A major point of the first Terminator as well as the second is Sarah stops being the victim and becomes her own protector. And while Dani should have her own character arc, I imagine she’ll follow similar beats, and I look forward to seeing that. I’d also love a mother/daughter dynamic between them. Anyway, can’t wait for Dark Fate.

[octaviareina]

As always this is gonna be long, but i just need to give the credits to this amazing season of The Punisher!!

Finally I took courage and finished watching the second season of The Punisher. And it was just me who was crying 2 hours after the episode ended ??

For me, this season was so good in terms of acting, kind raised the series on another level. The whole psychological plot of each of characters is simply amazing, as each one suffers from the events and how/why they are linked. I love Ben Barnes, and I just do not have the words to describe his performance this season, it was just incredible. ~He, Jon and Amber should be nominated for Emmy for such performance.~ You know, all that story about "If you hate/love a villain so much, it's because the actor is doing a great job", so that fits perfectly here. Ben manages to deliver all the character's emotional load, all the confusion, all his action , it was a simply amazing perform. It makes you come back to "cheer" for the character, rather, it makes us embrace the character again, he involves us completely in his plot. I literally cry in the final scene, and when he has that breakdown, after confronting Frank. I was like, "Come here baby boy". He almost makes us forget that his face still "perfect". Almost, It's disappointing every time he takes off his mask and his face is still perfect. But anyway they give what they promised, that was the damage was in his head. But it's still a great performance, and that's why I consider him as a antagonist and not a villain in this season. He's charismatic, it's not like the psychologist, I'm sorry but she's has zero charisma, all her scenes were dull, her story was cool, but the acting was just annoying/boring. I loved the ironic end that she have. Continuing in session villains, I really liked John Pilgrim, he had charisma, the character kept a pace even though it was sometimes difficult to understand his actions and what motivated him and his boss. Another rich guy and coward giving the orders ?? It was not cool, and completely underdeveloped, this whole arc does not please me in any way, the development was not good, and it was confusing, boring and draggy. It would be nice to see a villain who would blow us away, and discredited, like Billy many times. Something like Wilson Fisk, this reunion would be nice. The Gnucci, Allyosha, maybe? Anyway, if there is a next season I hope villains and their stories are better built.

About the good guys, I love that Curtis have more scenes, I love his relationship with Amy, the cool uncle, and I really tough that he and Madani would become a thing, lol. I LOVE MADANI, and I will protect her at all the cost!!! I really love all Amber acting, all the trauma she carries. I loved the end where she kicked some asses. Because she is a strong woman, who has her beliefs, she was not only there as a mediator, she defended her point, she changed her mind, and she fight. In a series where the protagonist is male, the role of a strong woman stands aside, and Madani was well exploited, not totally, but it was.

About my Baby Amy, oh god, i love that Kid, she really was a good addition. I love her relationship with Frank. I loved to see all the "soft" side of when Frank was with her and yet he became ferocious and deadly with anyone who messed with her. I loved the dialogues between them, the ironies, the quarrels, and the fears there. The scene where she climbs on the bus and when she turns around he is no longer there, I bet he left crying like a little child. I'm going to miss her in a possible next season.

About Frank, it was so good I like the ways in which they humanized the character. His scene breaking, boy... caught my heart, Frank has a code, and if that had happened, idk... like he was willing to die without any questioning, he had accepted the guilt and his fate at that moment. Break my heart that scene. The fight and action scenes simply look better and better. I literally paused a few times so I could breathe because I was out of breath seeing Jon and Ben fighting, it's the fucking mood. My ovaries explode every time Jon makes that low, thick voice, or when he screams in a fight, JESUS saves me!! anyway, the show ends with closed dots. And yet, a single point for a possible next season, and I hope we have. Because I hope to see Frank and Robbie Reys (Gabriel Luna), a girl can dream !!!

I think that it's all folks!! Tell me if I forget something!!

[namixart]

To start off 2019 with some positivity, I'm going to make a list of things that I absolutely love and make me happy in my favourite shows, movies, books, games etc. Small things, big things, no particular rhyme or reason. It was surprisingly therapeutic. Feel free to reblog and add your own!

Link being left-handed now let him use sign language Nintendo please

The entire Sector 6 Market section in Final Fantasy VII and the Honeybee Inn in particular

Zuko's character arc

The Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack

Final Fantasy X's worldbuilding

Everything about Disney's Mary Poppins it put me in a good mood for three days straight

How Percy absolutely adores his mum and is supportive of her relationship with Paul (after a while)

Edward Elric

(Yes. Just Edward Elric as a character, person, concept, actions...)

Major character design kink: boys with long (ish) blonde hair (see Edward, Link, Zidane, Howl)

Final Fantasy IX's soundtrack

Aerith and Tifa being close friends despite both being in love with Cloud

The Gentleman Bastard Sequence's worldbuilding

The fact that one of the characters in Zootopia speaks with my city's accent in the Italian dub (you never see it in any movie)

Final Fantasy IV's world being just vague enough that it tickles my creative bone to expand on it

Kingdom Hearts I using original storylines for the Disney Worlds

How Yato's eyes are very a very clear indication that he's a supernatural being in Noragami, being unnaturally light and bright

That one panel in the Kingdom Hearts II manga where an almost-naked Pete carries Maleficent bridal style out of the collapsing tower

Sleeping Beauty's art style and instrumental soundtrack

The fact that two super popular shonen manga/anime have leads who are super smart instead of being dumb muscle or the stock happy-go-lucky-not-very-bright protagonist (Fullmetal Alchemist and My Hero Academia)

How some of the Olympians like Hermes and Poseidon are so casual when interacting with mortals

The scene where the Spaceport is revealed in Treasure Planet and the look of the film in general

The first few chapters of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga before card games took over the plot

People in the Gentleman Bastard Sequence being emotionally honest despite being literal con artists

The theatre motif in The Republic of Thieves

Cloud, Aerith and Tifa threatening Don Corneo, but especially Aerith saying that "she'll rip it off" if he doesn't cooperate

Locke and Jean becoming pirates in Red Seas Under Red Skies

The Hunger Games movies being the most accurate film adaptations I have seen in my life

The Kingdom Hearts soundtrack, especially the vocal tracks, Dearly Beloved and The Other Promise

Final Fantasy VI shoving you in what usually is the backstory of a videogame and literally destroying the world

Edward defending Mustang when he had his sight taken from him despite them having spent 90% of their screentime together bickering

Tony Stark and Peter Parker's relationship in the MCU

Sophie throwing a tantrum after she realises she's in love with Howl and creating deadly weedkiller to express those feelings

Darcy being a goddamn social Disaster in every incarnation of Pride and Prejudice

The relationship between Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye

The Once Upon a December sequence from Anastasia

The mere existence of Zamira Drakasha and Ezri Delmastro and everything they represent

Sokka's role as both the strategist and the goofball in the Gaang

Peter Parker sharing a hot dog with Loki when he could have asked for anything because Loki owed him a favour

How the plot of Kingdom Hearts is so ridiculous we don't even question it anymore

Enormous muscly men I can still categorise as "super adorable and sweet" (Major Armstrong, All Might)

Howl being the biggest drama queen in the book

My Hero Academia's fantasy AU ending

Spider-Man (PS4) nailing the Friendly Neighbourhood Spidey aspect of the character and letting him interact with civilians

That moment when I was sure Bakugou was going to join the League of Villains but then he didn't and I've never been happier about being wrong my entire life

Zuko practising before asking the Gaang to join them

SNAP SNAP SPARK SPARK

Harry's wonder at every new thing in the Wizarding World

The fact that Spider-Man's backstory could just as easily be that of a villain but instead he's a hero and he has the biggest heart

Jake and Amy being in an Adult and Communicative relationship while still being themselves and each other's best friend

Winry being just as much of a prodigy as Ed and Al and building Ed's automail at 11 years old

Percy Jackson starting out as a standard straight white kids' series and Riordan adding ALL THE DIVERSITY as soon as it got popular enough that Disney couldn't say no

Charlie Weasley just outright trespassing into Hogwarts to smuggle an illegal dragon out

The soul and essence of Pride and Prejudice being passive-aggressiveness and sarcasm

Apollo's haikus in Trials of Apollo

Every scene using Deep Canvas in Tarzan

Winry and Edward's diametrically opposed reactions to the realisation they're in love ("Oh I guess I've fallen for him alright moving on" vs "Fuckfuckfuckfuck oh shit no why oh god aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh")

Lilo & Stitch's watercolour backgrounds

The fact that Roy Mustang's womanising persona is a facade to hide the fact that he's a) a huge nerd, b) going to overthrow the government and c) in love with his lieutenant

The "makings of greatness" speech in Treasure Planet

Spider-Man (PS4)'s swelling score as you start web swinging

The Battle of 1000 Heartless in Kingdom Hearts II

Sophie proudly describing Howl to Abdullah, him assuming she was listing flaws and her getting angry about it

Edward and Alphonse being atheists despite having literally met their version of God

The fact that Amajiki is one of the top three hero students despite his crippling anxiety

Rubicante recognising Edge as a warrior and apologising for Lugae's horribleness

Edge unlocking new powers out of sheer rage

Sora throwing a tea party at the end of Dream Drop Distance while his best friend was still asleep

The backstory in Skyward Sword about Hylia and the first Link

The "immoral manga" omake in Fullmetal Alchemist

The School Festival arc in My Hero Academia, Eri finally smiling and Deku and Mirio being the best big brothers I've ever seen

Kingdom Hearts III finally coming out this month

McGonagall's cat form resembling her human form

Edward finally breaking down at the end of Fullmetal Alchemist god I love this boy so much he has such a big heart

The Enlarged Suit Scene from Howl's Moving Castle

Most of Howl’s Moving Castle is a delight to be honest

Kairi's reaction at the news that she would be training with Axel in A Fragmentary Passage

The bonfire scene in Cosmo Canyon from Final Fantasy VII

Uraraka deciding not to focus on her crush on Deku in order to grow as a hero

Rydia summoning Titan and raising a mountain at the ripe age of seven in Final Fantasy IV

The friendship between Percy, Annabeth and Grover

Kairi and Lea looking like they're going to be a team in Kingdom Hearts III

Greed (at least the second one) claiming that his goal in life is to have everything when in fact he only ever really wanted friends

The Main Theme of Final Fantasy playing during the scene where the characters not in the final battle pray for the party in Final Fantasy IV

The Overture from Phantom of the Opera

Locke Lamora from the Gentleman Bastard Sequence being named after Locke Cole from Final Fantasy VI

Luna Lovegood never having to change who she is and remaining weird and happy

Terra Branford becoming more human by feeling not romantic love but maternal love for a bunch of orphaned children

The "You're not alone" scene from Final Fantasy IX

Darcy respecting Elizabeth's refusal of his first proposal and working to become a better person after she points out his many flaws

Neku learning to open up to people in The World Ends With You and literally saving Shibuya through character development

Bakugou's slow development into a better person

The sketchy animation during Disney's Dark Age

The official character artwork for Skyward Sword

Harry and Sirius's relationship

Spider-Man being a street-level hero and being super humble even though he can literally lift Thor's hammer

That little high-five between Sora and Remy in the 30 seconds trailer for Kingdom Hearts III

Rosa and Rydia immediately ignoring the boys' order to not come to the Moon and stowing away on the Lunar Whale

Plus Edge's adorable "Y-you're here too!?" in the DS remake

Cloud not being allergic to smiling and joking around in the original Final Fantasy VII ("Let's mosey!")

Thor and Loki starting to mend their relationship in Ragnarok

Into The Spider Verse has a scene where Miles uses Spider-Man comic books to figure out how to use his powers and it's the best and I love it

You know what, Into The Spider Verse as a whole because I saw it a while back and I'm still gushing

[head-and-heart]

The 100 Highlights - “Sleeping Giants” (5x03)

Hey, guys! It’s Kate back this week to recap the latest episode of The 100, “A Dad Story”, by listing some of my personal highlights of the episode. I have to say, every single episode of Season 5 so far has been super solid and this episode is no exception to that. Can’t wait to dive into this one!

Can I just start off by saying that I love how tastefully they have been implementing music into the show this season so far? I absolutely love Tree Adam’s score and its honestly weird sometimes to think that we had an entire two seasons without his genius, but I also think there’s power in not using any music at all for certain scenes. It creates a different vibe (and it becomes more effective when music is used). My one beef with the score in previous seasons has been that there were certain scenes I felt music wasn’t required, and that scenes would actually be more powerful without it (such as in the scene where Bellamy finds out Octavia is “dead” in Season 4 - I felt the music was detracting from his cries of grief). But I have noticed this season that they have quite a few scenes, compared to usual, where the music is used extremely liberally if not at all! And it gives a different vibe to the show - reminds me of TWD a bit at times. I love it.

Hi there. Charmaine Diyoza is joining Niylah, Luna, and Jaha on the list of characters who have the most soothing/pleasant voices to listen to on this show. It’s hypnotic. Honestly. God.

I’d like to take this moment to say that Emori and Raven’s friendship and trainee/mentor relationship is EVERYTHING!

The dramatic irony of Bellamy and the others listening over the radio and thinking the woman they are talking about is Octavia ... it’s A Lot

“She’s a feisty one. Pretty too.” Yasss that is my QUEEN

I have to say that the new characters we’re getting this season are possibly the best new characters we’ve ever been introduced to. Kara Cooper was amazing. Charmaine is a chilling, smart, yet reasonable antagonist and every line she says is fascinating. Madi has so much character potential, and McCreary is just the right kind of sociopath that can fuck our heroes up and ensure the show is always interesting (and also the kind of villain I feel JR has been so hesitant to incorporate into the show in the past, with the whole “there are no good guys” everything-must-be-morally-grey stance). Not to mention Zeke, who is just like ... everything I could ever want guys. THE NEW CHARACTERS ARE JUST SO GOOD. And the acting has been REALLY strong.

CHARMAINE DIYOZA IS SO FUCKING COOL AND RUTHLESS AND BADASS AND I ALREADY LOVE THIS NEW ANTAGONIST. She manages to be both authoritative and intimidating without ever having to raise her voice or pull out a weapon. That’s power. 

Seriously fam, I can’t get over how awesome these new characters are. We really hit the jackpot this season. They’ve opened up so much room for future story by introducing all these new people.

I really love how they have managed to show just how close the members of the ring are with each other while also demonstrating the tension between everyone, and all the ways that they can push each others buttons. There are so many layers to all the dynamics up in space and I am pleasantly surprised by it because, with how the season has been described, it sounded like the factions were going to be spacekru as a unit vs the bunker vs Clarke/Madi vs Eligius. But by showing all the conflict within these small groups, it creates potential for allegiances to shift around more than I was expecting. The bunker is built upon internal chaos, Eligius is far from being a unit (with a handful of loose canons and Zeke thrown into the mix to switch things up), Spacekru has some conflicting opinions/beliefs, and even Madi and Clarke are not completely on the same page about how to deal with the new threat. It’s really exciting all the different things the writers might do with that.

The scene where they find the cryo chamber felt like it could have come straight out of a scene from the mummy, where one character walks past a coffin and disturbs one of the dead. And when Kodiak’s eyes popped open, it was like a mummy awakening from the crypt. There was just something so eery about the vibe in there. The suspense was glorious.

“Murder ... murder ... arson resulting in murder ... armed robbery ... resulting in murder” I love one (1) comedian

Great-great-grandpappy Blake had four pHD’s. Bellamy is descended from a family of nerds: confirmed. I love winning.

The debate between Bellamy, Raven, Murphy and Echo over what to do with the sleeping army was just so tense and SO GOOD. Every single one of them had a good point. This is The 100 handling moral dilemmas at their finest.

“Clarke didn’t die just so we could go back to the ground and make the same mistakes.” THIS IS BELLAMY AT HIS BEST - THIS IS WHAT HIS ENTIRE CHARACTER ARC HAS BEEN LEADING TO. THIS MOMENT. He finally got to face that sleeping army of 300 once again and had the opportunity to choose differently this time. And he did. isaythatsmybabyandimreallyproud.gif

ZEKE SHAW IS AN ANGEL I FREAKING LOVE HIM. “Believe it or not, this is the best conversation I’ve had in over a hundred years.” HIS SMILE IS THE CUTEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN Y’ALL HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I WANT TO JUST HUG THIS KID

But seriously, let’s talk about Zeke Shaw. Hearing someone take about life before the apocalypse is just ... wow??? I didn’t know how good it would feel to find a character that we can actually relate to, that understands our time. Hearing him talk about being an altar-boy just outside Detroit, being a fun-loving adventure-seeking kid with a Harley Davidson, made my heart warm.

“God, I miss that bike. More than most of the people.” First of all, relatable. Second of all, my heart hurts. When you think about it, Zeke’s story is pretty tragic. Leaving his whole life behind only to wake up a hundred years later to discover that everyone he once loved is dead and the world is irreparably changed. Imagine how fucking jarring that would be? Even if he doesn’t show his sadness much, I’m sure he must be feeling it, if his reminiscing is anything to go by.

HIS SMILE IS SO BRIGHT. WHEN DO WE EVER GET GENUINE SMILES LIKE THIS. LIKE, GOD, I MIGHT BE FALLING IN LOVE WITH THIS GUY

I’m never going to be over how awesome these new characters are fam. They’re so well-rounded already I’m shaking

“Start with how the world ended.” “Which time.” MOTHERFUCKER I’VE GOT CHILLS. HOW TO BE A BADASS WITH TWO WORDS: A GUIDE BY CLARKE GRIFFIN

“I left Clarke behind to die and I can’t - I’m not doing that again.” MY BOY GOT CHOKED UP IT’S BEEN SIX YEARS AND HE’S STILL SO AFFECTED BY HER LIKE F UCK

But real talk, that BR scene was beautiful. Their relationship has been chronically strained in the past but it really feels like they’ve built a true partnership up in space and I’m super here for it. They’re a good team, and they have a bond that kind of reminds me of a sibling-like bond (one that’s not as fucked up and dysfunctional as what the Blakes have). I really loved it.

“There wasn’t an escape pod.” “...Wut” Congrats, you PLAYED yourself. What a classic Murphy move dam

“You know what, you’re right: dying alone would have sucked.” I LIVE FOR THESE SEASON 2 PARALLELS

Real talk though: I may not ship them romantically but Lindsey and Richard have hella good chemistry and Raven and Murphy’s scenes together always pop so this is a GREAT sign for 5x04

“Just breathe” Bellamy Blake is the daddest dad to ever dad you heard it here first

BELLAMY AND EMORI BELLAMY AND EMORI BELLAMY AND EMORI 

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A SMILE MORE BRIGHT

“She’s just a kid.” Bellamy, this is the most on brand thing you have ever said.

“Bellamy. Clarke knew you would come.” CUE MY SCREAMING AND FLAILING HOLY F UCK I KNEW I WAS GOING TO DIE WHEN MADI AND BELLAMY MET BUT THE FACT THAT SHE RECOGNIZED HIM ENOUGH FROM CLARKE’S DRAWINGS (and JUST him) OH MY GOD. This is the fanfic meeting of my dreams. 

Madi: *grabs Bellamy’s hand* Me: *dies*

“Madi ... no.” “Madi, no.” I LOVE TWO SOULMATES

“I won’t let anything happen to Clarke. I promise.” Even after all this time he’s always looking out for her. And Madi just trusts him. So easily. Ugh my heart.

BELLAMY STEPPING OUT OF THE HEADLIGHTS LIKE AN ANGEL. BELLAMY HOLDING UP THE BEST DAD IN THE UNIVERSE MUG. BELLAMY BARGAINING FOR CLARKE’S LIFE. BELLAMY HOLDING CHARMAINE’S ARMY AGAINST HER. BELLAMY PERFECTLY BALANCING THE HEAD AND THE HEART. BELLAMY. 

i’m turned on

Let’s be honest though that “Best Dad in the Universe Mug” is the MVP of the show for sure. That mug has singlehandedly carried the whole season. Riley who? Nothing but respect for my new fav character.

No offense but Clarke immediately dissolving into tears on the floor at the sight of Bellamy is highkey relatable. Me too bitch the fuck

SHE.

IS.

BOOM OUT MOTHERFUCKER

okay okay okay I gotta backtrack though because when Bellamy says those words he is literally JUST staring at Clarke, right into her eyes. Because those words were not for Charmaine, they were for Clarke. So she would know just how important she is to him. So she knows that, even though they have aged, their connection has not. I mean, fuck. 

THIS EPISODE WAS SO FREAKING EPIC GUYS. IT WAS POSSIBLY EVEN BETTER ON REWATCH. IT WAS JUST SO GOOD. 

And 5x04 is gonna kill us all so expect some WORDS from me next week. Byeeeeeeee

[kinetic-elaboration]

August 9: The 100 2x01, The 48

Okay, settling down to rewatch 2x01, the start of my favorite season...

I love this Clarke so much. Badass Clarke, sneaky Clarke, a Clarke who will fearlessly do what she has to in order to escape and to get to her friends. A Clarke with convictions and guts.

How DO they know everyone’s names lol? Is that ever explained? (ETA: Monty was obviously the informant.)

Mount Weather is one of my favorite parts of this show, honestly. I love that their mission is in part to preserve the beautiful things humanity created, like art; they gave their prisoner Starry Night. The ORIGINAL Starry Night. I just find that very moving. All of these non-essential parts of being human... the show has abandoned them and that’s part of why it’s so hollow for me now, I think.

Level 5: where it all begins and it all ends.

The Clarke/Maya relationship could have been so much more, tbh. Like they had their good moments, like threatening to kill each other etc., but they could have gone deeper.

Surprise! Underground executive branch family dinner! This is the sort of twist I can get behind.

Haha remember when actual delinquents still existed? I joke but truly the later canon has ruined parts of this show for me.

I forgot Tristan survived into 2x01. Not for long. Such Grounder hypocrisy: “That’s one. I lost 300.” He makes it sound as if Finn marched into a village and killed 300 people--they were fucking soldiers on the attack you dum-dum.

“Only our warriors speaking English.” Well that sounds like bullshit based on literally everything we see after this point.

The statue of Lincoln is “the place we go to settle disputes.” First, please don’t say they settle disputes to the death or some nonsense, and second, that’s his namesake... Significant? I mean, objectively, no, but can I make something out of it somehow?

I disliked Luna but she COULD have been so interesting and she and Lincoln COULD have had quite a dynamic. I headcanon them as exes. I want to know their whole backstory tbh. When they met. How. If he wanted to go with her to the sea. If he did perhaps and then came back.

Drink every time someone cauterizes a wound.

You know what else they should have done? Story line about the meeting of Grounder and Sky People medicine. Oh wait that would have taken away from the repetitive war story lines never mind.

That dropship is so fucking impressive. WHERE ARE THE AWARDS FOR THE SET PEOPLE?

And the costume people for those awesome masks.

Am I supposed to feel bad for this Grounder and his charred friend? I do not. Next time, don’t attack the children for no reason and you won’t get burned to a crisp. Easy.

The thing is I can never get behind the Raven + Murphy friendship 100% even though their S5 dynamic looked interesting because he literally fucking shot her and that’s just not a bygones are bygones thing. But they do have personalities that mesh well together so in that way it’s sort of a shame. Also he 10000000000000% had a crush on her don’t even try to argue.

She fired that gun at him. I forgot that. She fired but was out of bullets, that’s the only reason he didn’t die right there. “Yeah I would have shot me too.”

I’m p. sure that’s the real Mount Weather?

I know the Mount Weather people have no leg to stand on when it comes to the Grounders and that they’re...pretty obviously racist, but in their defense--the Grounders were written to be pretty savage, so “savages,” while unforgivably racially tinged, is a fair descriptor of them.

I know I’ve harped on this before but Mount Weather has a judicial system of some sort and it’s possible to press charges there. Somehow. The world building on this show sucks balls.

“They also said you were their leader” is like some retconning, okay. Because you will not convince me that for most of S1 BELLAMY wasn’t the leader in the eyes of the delinquents.

“Kiddo.”

Fucking love Dante. Where are my Dante + Clarke mentor/mentee or ex-mentor/mentee or different-gen-rivals fics?

“We prioritize safety over sentimentality.” As Maya takes blood she absolutely doesn’t need but is having just in case and that she knows comes from someone else’s tortured body because she’s accepted this as something they do, because she’s not sentimental. But she already feels guilty.

Clarke is already using the word “capture.” I had a discussion with someone once about Clarke’s vision of Mount Weather versus, say, Jasper’s, and why it was different and I said some poorly phrased stuff that didn’t really reflect my thoughts and opinions and it still haunts me but I feel like this is...relevant to that. How she immediately feels ‘captured,’ trapped.

Clarke’s devotion to her friends and her people was still so pure and right here.

Dante really does believe he “saved” them. I wonder what his thought process was... I really hate the “savages” so I must save these children? These children look interesting, let’s meet some new friends? She’s right of course that if they were really guests, they could leave.

Multiple crash sites over 100 square miles = I should go on google maps to confirm my Pennsylvania/Farm Station theory but I’m too lazy.

GOD THOSE CLOTHES. I love that Clarke picks the pants and the high heel shiv.

There’s no way there’s actually time for natural selection to work that fast in 97 years and also I’m pretty sure the Sky People are genetically modified because their original pool was way too small for the process Dante is describing but whatever this show is all la-di-da science.

Also: this is how you run an underground Bunker OCTAVIA.

Dante was the only rival/antagonist/whatever Clarke has ever had that rivals her instincts and intelligence yeah I said it; fight me. I know she needed to be on the outside for this season to work but he should have been her mentor. He basically set her up to be mentored and then she ran off and into L who basically destroyed her and she’s never recovered.

THAT REUNION. Heartwarming. Though hard to watch too because this show did both Jasper and Monty so dirty. (Yeah I said that too WHAT OF IT.)

“Dying. Same as you.” Murphy gets all the good lines. That’s why people like him, forget this “redemption arc.”

The Grounder Raven killed was Murphy’s guard and honestly--hilarious. He abandons his post, realizes all his friends are skeletons, pickpockets one, then is shot by what he must initially assume is a dead body. Better character than almost anyone introduced from S3 on.

This cake scene is the most iconic. Jonty were scene stealers stfu. They’re children--basically. They get to act their age. They get to be happy and silly and they loved each other so much.

“Pretend like you’re happy to see me.” / “We are happy to see you.” See? Adorable. I know he’s no cinnamon roll but gosh, adorable.

And then Clarke comes in like secret espionage time and they just look so Tired TM.

I feel like Monty knew, or suspected on some level, that Jasper wasn’t just ‘bummed out’ by Clarke’s suspicions, he was panicking a little.

I can’t believe Jasper and Maya have known each other for like 10 seconds and she’s already seen his O face.

“Clarke’s the only reason we survived.” Um ex-CUSE me but I know you didn’t forget Bellamy’s existence, Jasper.

Clarke’s so smart!

Maya brings out the big guns, literally.

“I’m the one who fired the rockets. Should I not have done that?” is so heartbreaking. Mostly because of the delivery. I love this entire scene. There are like 8 different scenes I love in this episode, like whole-heartedly and truly love.

Clarke’s suspicions really do look like paranoia. Like I see what she’s picking up on, saw it even the first time I watched this ep, but there’s a sense in which she does appear irrational.

There’s actually something kinda funny about Bellamy running out with a spear in one scene, looking around blankly, and then getting chained up as a prisoner in the next scene. At least he inspired his little protege Monroe. Scenes like this are the reason she joined Pike in S3.

Tristan’s like “Who are these fucking children running at me and screaming?” Then he gets shot in the head. Goodbye Tristan you won’t be missed.

“We’re here now. Everything’s going to be okay.” This sounds like Kane playing out a hero fantasy he’s had since he was a child. Except he’s talking to two mud-stained kids who are looking at him skeptically instead of, like, a captured heroine or something.

I feel like they set up this conflict where the adults/Sky People elite come in and, like Kane says explicitly, assume they’re in charge and everyone will fall in line, but then the delinquents don’t see it that way or want that: they have their own priorities (their friends) and their own relationships (Finn and Bell don’t even LIKE each other but they’re still communicating by look) and their own knowledge (the pipes that allow them to move through the dropship camp quickly and without permission). But then... it sort of plays into the rest of the season...but not that much?? Not as much as I would like.

“You are not animals. There are rules. Laws. You are not in control here anymore.”

This show sacrificed a lot of complex relationships to just either make people buddy-buddy who had no reason to be or just arbitrarily assign relationships to scenes or episodes without regard for continuity at all.

Raven took Jasper’s goggles.... never over this.

How was bringing Octavia to TonDC faster than collecting some beetles for her to eat?

“Loss, pain, regret. Time eases these things.” I’d say this is the sort of line the show should be repeating but God when it gets a line in its teeth it never lets the fuck go so I guess it’s better this one remains pristine.

I find Dante very sympathetic but also so creepy.

They weren’t really patrolling for other people, were they? Because like...surely they would have found them. They’re at the dropship and close by. He was just bullshitting here. But why don’t they want to make even more new friends?

Dante’s stationery is presidential themed lol. Glad we stocked up the bunkers properly with the important stuff.

The crashed Alpha Station is beautiful. I believe this was the first time it was shown on the show? Ugh, this whole sequence with the music, it’s perfect and so touching.

Jaha is the most tragic and heartbreaking figure on this show. He also doesn’t get the appreciation he deserves. Just...the image of a man alone in space, talking to his loved ones, hoping they can hear them, not knowing if they can... I almost can’t handle it. I used to be very unsure if I liked where his story line went after this (seeing it in its entirety, I defend it) but surely he could not have died this way.

....I really gotta sleep now.

[sanjiafsincedayone]

Nami and “Dorobou Neko"

So lately it’s been brought back into discussion that Nami’s nickname Dorobou Neko (translated to cat-burglar) might possibly come to use again. I’ve seen some talk about it already, but feel like adding my own thoughts since the debate has been pretty heated.

First let’s just look at what the nickname can stand for. The term Dorobou Neko can be used to describe women in Japan that are accused for stealing someone’s husband or lover.

“The Japanese use the term for women who steal other women’s husbands but the term doesn’t apply to men who steal wives! One male native speaker wonders whether husband-stealers have come to be called cats because women’s seduction of men is like the meek way in which cats sneak into houses.”

Since the very beginning of the Sanji’s arc when it was announced that he was leaving to be wed a lot of SaNami shippers started to speculate if Oda possibly would use the double meaning of Nami’s epithet. Especially after we knew she was actually going with Luffy to bring Sanji back it became a rather interesting topic for us.

Oda has called Nami Dorobou Neko since very early on, and what’s even more noteworthy is that he actually already used it in the sense of a “Husband Stealer” in the Thriller Bark arc with Absalom and Lola. We’ve also seen quite a few parallels between Whole Cake Island and Thriller Bark, even with Lola herself reappearing in the story. So of course SaNami shippers kept on speculating about the epithet possibly becoming relevant in this sense again.

With Sanji being called “Mr. Husband” recently the thought has resurfaced.

However, apparently it needs to be explained that just because SaNami shippers see the possibility of the nickname being used in relation to Nami and Sanji and Purin, that does not mean that we view Nami as an actual husband stealer.

First, Purin and Sanji are not married. They’re not even in a relationship. So it would be impossible for Nami to be an actual husband stealer or “homewrecker”.

That is not what we are saying. Neither does the use of Nami’s nickname in relation to coming in between Sanji and Purin have to mean that it is something that Nami does on purpose. She doesn’t have to be in love with Sanji or actually actively try to “steal him” from Purin.

That’s not how Oda used it with Absalom and I doubt that’s how he would use it with Sanji if he actually decided to use it again.

In fact, the nickname would most likely (if used at all) be an accusation from a third party. I don’t even think Purin would be the one to use it, despite it being possible in her “evil” mode. A lot of people already saw the panel of Purin reacting to Sanji carrying Nami as possible jealousy. So it’s not completely impossible that Oda would write something similar with Nami again to get such a reaction from Purin.

However, I do not think Purin would say this, since she is aware that Sanji is in fact not her husband. No, it is then much more likely that perhaps one of the chefs or some third party would accuse Nami and use the nickname. Since they actually think Purin and Sanji are married there could arise such a situation when Nami and the rest meets up with Sanji and Purin.

Oda even used this joke from Sanji recently.

Nami doesn’t have to do much for Sanji to fawn over her, and if he loses his cool it’s possible Oda could write in Nami being called Cat Burglar, most likely as a joke. Meaning that Nami wouldn’t have to do a single actual “stealing” or “home wrecking” action for her to be called a husband stealer. Just like with Thriller Bark it would more likely just be a small misunderstanding or over reaction.

It would not reflect badly on Nami in any way but perhaps how the “bad guys” would see her. And all the strawhats have been accused wrongly by their enemies plenty of times. Nami herself has already been accused of this once and it’s not like that actually reflects her image or personality.

I’m pretty sure the SaNami community doesn’t talk about this theory because we think that Nami would actually step in and literally steal Sanji from Purin. Which again, wouldn’t even be possible since Sanji doesn’t “belong” to Purin to begin with. And even more so since Purin is actually on their side...

So, that being said us talking about Nami’s epithet being used does not mean we see Nami as a prize or as a homewrecker. It does not reflect on Nami’s character any more than how their enemies can see the strawhats as bad. Oda writing about the Vinsmoke’s talking about Nami as if she’s a whore doesn’t make her one, and neither would anyone calling her a Husband Stealer actually make her into one.

So I’m going to ask the LuNami community, something I generally avoid, do you really think we are so shallow that we simply see Nami as Sanji’s toy? Or as a plot-device for shipping? Do you really believe that we hate or care so little about her as an individual character? Personally I love Nami and I love One Piece as a whole. I’m not just a shipper, I’m a reader and a fan of One Piece first, as I assume most shippers are.

Or for that matter we don’t see Sanji like this either. We’re not using Sanji as some thing that either belongs to Nami or Purin. It’s speculation about Oda possibly using the double meaning of Nami’s nickname again. Not about Nami actually coming in between Sanji and Purin acting like Sanji is hers. That is not at all what this discussion is about, so please if you think something is wrong then feel free to ask or explain what you think before labeling a whole group as shallow and disgusting.

I know not all LuNa shippers can possibly think that the whole SaNami fandom is toxic and delusional, just like we don’t think the same about all LuNa shippers.

So here I invite you to message me and let me know what you really think. Because personally I feel like this topic has been way bent out of proportion.

Also this is not an invite for a fanwar. Please be polite and understand that not everyone has the same view as you.

Thank you for reading.

[todokori-kun]

The

 queen is back and I’m so freaking happy <3

‘annoyed’ nothing you say is annoying ok, I’m actually just really relieved and happy that I’m helping in any way at all. Also you listen to my rambling all the time and you supported me with my anxiety (you have no idea how much our convos helped after I first saw a doctor about it and was feeling really confused about what to do) so ‘what did I do to deserve you’ is probably what I should be saying to you.

Tbh when things are as serious as you’ve described then you’re definitely not overreacting. Like I said before, I’m always ready to listen/talk when you need to. And you don’t have to stress about replies; I honestly don’t mind at all as long as you’re ok.

Thank you Queen Luna you’re the best ;-;

Also, good news and bad news:

Bad news- A bit after I sent the last message mom apparently found out about Tumblr and decided that I probably shouldn’t get an account here because of all the NSFW content. I get why she’s worried so I guess I won’t be getting an account here for a while.

Good news- HOWEVER, I was chatting with someone on ao3 and they asked if we could move our convo somewhere else. They recommended something called Discord so I got an account there. If you’ve never heard of Discord it’s basically a voice and text chat system usually used by gamers, but it seems to be pretty popular among non-gamers too. PMing is possible there :D (The only flaw is that you can’t send very long messages, so you have to send multiple short ones, which is a bit annoying…but otherwise it’s pretty neat so maybe we can try it if you’re ok with that?)

XD yeah that’s actually pretty accurate.

*reads Luna’s message*

*inhale*

UM. DO YOU HAvE ANY IDEA HOW AMAZING YOU ARE. LET ME TRY TO BE A GOOD, SUPPORTIVE FRIEND AND TELL YOU

Yep it was one of the grossest things that ever happened to me OTL I’m still swimming but I’m taking a long break right now- a break that started because my little sister broke her toe and we were basically stuck at home taking care of her (the pool is a bit far for me to go on my own so if mom’s stuck at home so am I), and then got longer because the pool’s old and some things had to be ‘fixed’, and then got even longer because my coach is getting married (just reread that and realized that I sound super annoyed, I’m actually not, I have no problem with my coach getting married XD). I’ll probably start again around next month, though :)

Thanks ^^

Oooh are you a comic fan??? I haven’t read any superhero comics because there seem to be so many AUs(?)/different timelines so trying to figure out where to start is really confusing, plus I actually sorta prefer manga/manhwa art styles (not that wester comics are bad- a lot of them have really good art too, I just personally prefer the manga/manhwa styles (especially for the panels). Also the ecchi-ish costumes/anatomy for almost every single female superhero gets a bit ridiculous sometimes lol). Some of them seem really fun, though, and I’d like to try them out someday…

It’s really cool that you’ve been a fan of T'challa for so long, it must’ve been even more exciting to see him in the movie :D

Imagine everyone watching The Winter Soldier together. Then the  'brainwashed bucky’ scenes start.

Illumi: *stares intently at the screen*

Illumi: I see no problem with this.

Watching Civil War and Leorio goes Dad Mode and covers Gon’s and Killua’s eyes when Hisoka starts making…innappropriate…noises during the fight scenes

(Hisoka low-key writing reader insert lemons about various MCU heroes. Most likely Natasha (because she’s a lot like Machi, his only female crush so far), Bruce (how Hisoka would love to unleash the beast), Thor (he’s a literal GOD imagine how badly he could mess Hisoka up *schwing*), Wanda, and Vision (he probably liked Loki too before Loki got beat up by the Hulk and Hisoka was like ‘oh I have a new senpai’)

Then Illumi gets Milluki (his tech genius little brother) to hack into Hisoka’s computer for info and is like 'what is this Hisoka I do not understand why you derive pleasure from this trash’)

Everyone thinks Gon should relate to Tony on a personal level but he doesn’t, because despite being a sunshine angel he’s also a freaking weird kid who doesn’t hate Ging. At all. (Though that might have something to do with the fact that he doesn’t even consider Ging his parent in the first place; he never even calls him 'dad’ or 'my father’)

Killua, on the other hand, relates to Bucky a bit too much and thinks HYDRA is basically the Zoldyck family.

Everybody’s Team Cap except for Illumi, who’s Team Iron Man (“Why would you want to break the rules?”), and then Hisoka randomly shows up like 'Team Hulk ;)’

Every time Howard Stark is mentioned everyone just stares at Ging, who shifts uncomfortably

(Yeah did I tell you about the time Leorio punched Ging for being a trash dad?)

OMG. Thank you for that. I’ve seen a lot of 'Hisoka as the clown from the 'It’ movie’ posts on tumblr but never any fanart for that idea. Run, Gon. Run.

I’m considering teaching myself to animate just to make those animatics XD

(Also, random thing: it’s Chuseok over here (basically like the Korean version of Thanksgiving, I guess?) and usually, people recieve money from older relatives during holidays like this in Korea. I got about 80 dollars (50 from my maternal grandparents, 10 from my paternal grandfather and 20 from my uncle) so I’m debating on what to spend it on: It’s either a tablet so I can learn how to do digital art (I’m thinking about polishing my drawing skills for a while and then making a webcomic. My parents support this so they’re willing to pay a little extra for a tablet) or a ukulele (I like the piano but I realized a while ago that it’d be great to have an instrument that I can carry around, so I did some research and the ukulele seems good. I really like the sound so I’m willing to put some effort into learning it). Idk which one I should choose, though. Technically the tablet should be my priority but I also like the ukulele…

(and idek why I mentioned this either, guess the talk about animating reminded me of the tablet lol))

I thrive on angst. Tragedy fuels me. (But tbh HxH is a LOT darker than I was prepared for. I’m currently shipping an ant king with a genius human girl and I know from spoilers that they’re both going to die)

Yeah, she’s alive :D but apparently Kaneki is now 'dead’ (though I don’t think he is really, if Ishida kills him off now (after all the stuff with Hide? All the character development Ken hasn’t gotten yet? When he still hasn’t talked about anything with Shuu or Hinami or even Akira?) and gives us a new protagonist or something I might finally rage-quit this series.

Or not, since with all the Touken stuff and Kaneki being sorta insensitive ever since he became the OEK…maybe a new protagonist is what we need?). I was liking all the parallels with Arima in the first series until this, because it was just…um. I think my main problem with the whole thing is the freakng PACING because it just feels so clunky and awkward. This is probably one of those chapters that will be really good if Ishida somehow manages to connect it with the next chapters and has everything make sense later, but if he doesn’t do it well it’s going to suck forever OTL

At least TG finally confirmed Naki’s death, though. I mean, the ideal situation for me is if he never died in the first place, but at least a confirmed death is better than Ishida suddenly bringing him back to life after that panel with Yamori. And his death scene was handled well. (Now please just tell me that he, Kanae and Hairu aren’t coming back as Kanou-Furuta zombies and I will be semi-satisfied)

Also AOT if you haven’t read the new chapter yet spoilers but

(The-Reiner-Eren reunion I HAVE WAITED SO. LONG FOR THIS

Also Eren’s grandad ;-;

And maybe we’ll finally be seeing Annie again soon since she’s been appearing in so many flashbacks and Reiner’s probably going to ask about her if he and Eren get to actually talk

Love those hints about something finally starting to change

ANOTHER PERSON FROM MIKASA’S CLAN? I hope we see this lady again, she’s lovely

I can’t believe how much the art has improved, it actually looks GOOD now 0.0)

Aw, that’s ok! I’ll be looking forward to seeing it when you get a new skirt :D

Yeah, I’m really excited for OC’s name too…must be something important if they’re keeping it hidden for this long. I guess it’s French (or a word from some other non-English language) since 'Ciel’ is French for 'Sky’…and it probably has a meaning related to the sky since they’re twins. Idk. Maybe it’s the word for 'star’ ('etoile’) since stars are also a big thing in this arc?

Looking forward to your reaction! I haven’t read the novel yet but from what I know it sounds great :D (also I cannot resist the L + Naomi duo even if they never actually interacted in manga/anime canon)

Btw, is it ok if I ask how far you’ve gotten with the DN anime?

(Also fun fact: Ryuk was originally designed to look like a handsome young man (an 'attractive rock star’, in the words of DN’s creators. You can find a pic of his original design on google). His design was changed because the creators felt like he was overshadowing Light XD

But also, I just found a post on tumblr that said Takeshi Obata (DN’s artist) mentioned that Ryuk’s face in canon could just be a mask to hide his true appearance…which means that he could technically still look like that in canon. Wow. I actually think I have the book where it says Obata mentioned that, I have to go and check it now lol)

Watch it if you dare and prepare to weep over all the wasted potential, because now that I read/watch more about it I guess the saddest thing is that it COULD have been great. I mean, like I said, the visuals are REALLY good, L’s actor could have been a good L if not for the bad script, Ryuk’s actor/design were also super great (it’s just his role in the movie and his motivations they messed up ;-;)…

I don’t watch Avatar (I’d like to when I have the time, though, because it seems like a great show) but I’ve heard of that movie and tbh I can’t even.

Ty :D (Ayy the queen said I’d make a cute Peridot *fangirls*

You’re also my closest friend right now and I love talking to you so much <3 thank you for everything Luna.)

See this is why you’re awesome. Thank you so much ;-; (and what, did Queen Luna mention me to her parents. Did I make a good impression. Omg. (jk, jk lol))

Also: I’d like to rec a song to you, it’s called 'Lovely’ by Twenty One Pilots :D

Oh look I actually replied within a week :’)

OK ILL START W DISORD BC IM EXCITE. I already have one, from a while ago, my # is 5773! So add me whenever you want ^^ ((But please just send me a short message here, cause I turned notifs off for it, so i can turn them on again ^^)) Well, uh, here’s the thing about short messages.  If a site/app has an instant message feature, you can bet I’ll be the one to split a sentence into 10 separate messages for dramatic effect… So, uh, prepare to have 42 new messages instead of like 4 waiting when you open the app ^^

I never ever ever have any problems with listening to you. I just appreciate you’re comfortable enough with me to be able to come to me. Honestly, I truly appreciate you in my life, especially considering that you can always reassure me with your words ^^ Truly a writer’s talent :p

Well, I’m going to a psychologist soon, so we’ll see what they’ll say. Idk tho, I dont think I even care anymore. I just want this stomach thing to pass as soon as possible.

Ouch, I hope your sister is better now… I’ve never broken anything so I wouldn’t know the feeling. Aww, coaches getting married is actually the cutest thing ever XD My archery coach got married a few years back and she was practically glowing.  Ah, if you don’t mind me asking, do you have a particular stroke you specialise in or do you just swim everything? 

I could say the same about comic/manga styles. Tbh, I don’t really consider myself a comic fan? When I was a kid, I used to buy the children’s comics to ward off boredom, but never really continued after I got into reading actual books. Black Panther happened to be among those comics and I remembered him when they mentioned T’Challa in CW. I wonder if i still have those old comics somewhere… But yeah, i was pretty excited when they mentioned him XD

That viewing actually sounds amazing… I get the feeling they’d all want to do an in depth analyzation of the characters? (But idk i don’t really know the characters that well) except for Hisoka, who’s probably just schwinging around being creepy per usual. I’m torn between wanting to read those lemons and just backing the fuck away…. Probably read like a paragraph and then set everything on fire. Yeah, that sounds good. 

I presume you’re not gonna watch IT? Random, but i thought of it bc of the fanart… Tbh I won’t watch it either. I’ve never watched a single horror movie in my life and i intend to keep it that way. Unless you count Coraline as horror, which I actually would in some ways? Idk tho, that movie traumatised me. Not even joking when I say I occasionally have nightmares related to it. Advice; if you haven’t, DO NOT WATCH CORALINE. Don’t be fooled by the fact that it’s a cartoon. I mean 9 is a cartoon, but it’s also freaking dark. HAPPY TREE FRIENDS IS A CARTOON AND I WOULDNT TOUCH THE VIDEOS WITH A 9 FOOT POLE.  Long story short, cartoons are not a joke.

For some reason I confused the Ukulele with a Lute and was like ‘I’m not gonna judge, but… why?’ then i actually googled it and realised I’m an idiot.  But, um, I can’t say anything other than it’s your choice and you should do whatever would make you happier? There’s that trick of throwing a penny in the air and if you’re disappointed when it lands heads/tails, you know you want the other one. Idk, tho, both options sound equally nice!

… HxH gets weirder every time you tell me about it

KANEKI IS WHAT NOW Um, okay then.... alrighty...

guess who dropped TG again

WELL FUCK IM SCREAMING ABOUT THE NEW CHAPTER WHOAH EREN’T GRAMPA WHOAH THE REUNION However, the best part is Reiner acting like a dad during the festival

Oooh Etoile would be interesting!

I’m still at the ep where L dies ;-; I haven’t had the time to move forward, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to watch some during this weekend

Well, uh. My mom came into my room while I was writing this and had to ask me why i was crying (I’m pretty sure she thought I was having one of my all-time-lows again). The reason why I was actually crying? The song. Words can’t express my gratitude. I’d download it, but tbh I feel like I’ll start ugly sobbing again every time I listen to it...

random note, i started going to school by train! It’s actually a lot nicer than the bus and cheaper XD Idk why i put this here but yay

[shadysadie]

Sailor Moon 90s Dub Names

So some of the name changes in the Sailor Moon DiC dub really baffle me. (Keep in mind I did not watch Sailor Moon as a kid, I was vaguely aware of it's existence, but I never watched a single episode until I was a senor in high school, so I started with the sub and have no nostalgic ties to the DiC/Cloverway dub. However I did read the Mixx version of the manga so I was exposed to the changed names there and later I heard so much about the dub I went and watched a handful of episode out of curiosity)

Lets start with the title character

Usagi – DiC name: Serena – Mixx name: Bunny

Okay Usagi is weird because she actually has two dub names, obviously Serena in the anime, but a lot of people don't seem to know in the first American printing of the manga she was actually called Bunny. Now I don't know which came out first in America the manga or the anime, and I'm too lazy to look it up, but I'm going to guess the manga did just because of this reason. Changing Usagi to Bunny actually isn't too stupid, Anime hadn't quite taken over America yet so a lot of people still got rattled by super foreign names. As I get older I do start to understand localization was the thing in the 90s. Since Bunny is literally what Usagi means I didn't find this too stupid. Plus it shows why Usagi is obsessed with rabbits.

 Serena though? I don't think Serena fits the character AT ALL! Not only does it simply sound like it doesn't fit the character, but look at the name meaning: "clear, tranquil, serene" none of those things could be used to describe Usagi. And yes, I know the same could be said for Serenity but Serenity was Usagi's PAST LIFE, not who she is now. I've gone off on what I think of keeping her Princess name the same a few times on this blog so I won't even go there in this post.

 Now, in fairness, this one I actually was given an explanation for at a con, at a panel with John Stocker (one of the men who originally helped write the dub script) I asked why they didn't just use the name “Bunny” and he said it had to do with syllables, the mouth movement for “U-sa-gi” matched the mouth movement for “Ser-ren-na” better than “Bun-ny” But since everyone but Rei and Chibiusa use honorifics, I'm calling bullshit on this excuse. (Victoria was also in the running for a dub name, which fits Usagi even less than Serena, but at least the syllable excuse would work for that one.)

Mamoru Chiba– DiC and Mixx name: Darien Shields

 I have to admit, I find it hilarious that they do try to capture the name meaning here. Mamoru literally means “Protect”, and so I laugh that they just literally make his last name “Shields”. To be honest, while I find it a kind of boring name, I don't think it contrasts him too terribly much because I kind of find Mamoru to be a boring character. (sorry Mamo) Like I could totally see him as a Darien, that's fine, it's the 90s, whatever. But again, like with Princess Serena, do we really need to make his past life's name “Prince Darien” Seriously? Along with it being lazy. Darien does not sound royal to me, particularly not fantasy/mythology status royal. And Endymion is a great name with a great story behind it! Like why did we have to cut out that mythological tie? In Greek Mythology an astronomer (or shepherd depending on variations) name Endymion fell in love with the goddess of the moon and was cursed by Zeus, that's a great detail that totally gets erased.

Chibiusa (Usagi Small Lady Serenity) – DiC and Mixx name: Rini (No official princess name to my knowledge)

 This one totally disproves the syllables excuse because there's no way in hell anyone thought “Chi-Bi-Us-Sa” was the same mouth movement as “Ri-ni” But I suppose this one makes sense since Chibiusa is a nickname for Usagi, Rini is a nickname for Serena. I suppose the name fits her well enough, though I do think in the Black Moon Arc the enemy kept referring to her as “Small Lady” instead of “Rabbit”. Like, okay, whatever, her name isn't Usagi, Rabbit wouldn't make sense. But then at one point the enemies try to trick her by appearing as Neo-Queen Serenity and she calls her Small Lady, and Chibs is all like “My mommy would NEVER call me Small Lady, you're not really her” like, no bitch, that's your name! It's not a title, Usagi was just that corny when she named you. DiC DON'T CUT USAGI'S CORNINESS!

Ami Mizuno – DiC and Mixx name: Amy Anderson – Cloverway: Amy Mizuno

Okay Ami, Rei, Mina, and Michiru I can't criticize too much because they're just the American translation of the Japanese names so I don't really mind, they're spelled different, but so what? But Ami baffles me because she's the only one of the girls with a different last name. Like, why? Seriously, why? Even Usagi's last name stays the same and that's arguably much more Japanese sounding than Mizuno. I mean, don't get me wrong, Anderson's my last name, it's a good last name, but why is she the only one with an American last name? But what makes it even better is Cloverway then changes it back to Mizuno and no one ever mentions it again.

Just for fun I'm also going to point out that “Blue” was in the running for a dub name for her and I think that's the funniest shit ever. “What should we name this character?” “IDK, what's her color scheme?” “Blue.” “Good enough!” I'd actually like to thank the dubbers for sticking with Amy.

Rei Hino – DiC and Mixx name: Raye Hino

Can't say much about Rei. It's spelled weird, I would have gone with Rae, but whatever. Dana was apparently in the running for her, again, glad they decided against changing it.

Makoto Kino – DiC and Mixx name: Lita Kino

I actually think Lita fits Makoto pretty well. Almost just as well as Mako-chan. Sara was also in the running which I also don't think would have been a too terribly bad choice, Lita's less generic though.

Minako Aino – DiC and Mixx name: Mina Aino

Again, same name, just a different variation of it. Artemis even calls her Mina as a nickname in the original so whateves. Carrie was in the running for her which would have been a fucking awful fit, so I'm glad they stayed with Mina.

Haruka – Cloverway name: Amara – Mixx name: Haruka but also sometime Alex

WARNING: Raging hate boner rant coming up!!!!

This is the name that actually got me to write this whole thing!

Out of all the name changes Haruka's pisses me off the most. It's SUCH a bad fit. I don't hate the name Amara itself, I actually think it's kind of pretty, but it does NOT go with this character! You give the most gender androgynous character one of the most feminine names? It doesn't fit. It sounds weird, it doesn't mesh with her personality, it seems weird every time they call her that!

And what's most baffling to me, THEY STILL PLAY THE 'IS SHE A GUY?' GAME! When Usagi and Minako meet her, they still pad after her thinking she's a guy. Haruka is a name that while typically more common for women, is gender neutral. Amara is definitely not. How can you not hear the name “Amara” and not instantly think, “Oh, shit, that's a chick”

Now the Mixx Manga did something weird, because they introduced the character as Alex Haruka, but only for the panel she was introduced in, then she was Haruka exclusively until one panel in the Dream Arc when she's called Alex again, but that's it. So...great proof reading there guys. Honestly Alex should have been her name in the Cloverway dub. Sure it doesn't fit her as well as Haruka does, but it fits a hell of a lot more than Amara. And more importantly it's one of the most gender neutral names ever.

Also her first draft name was Corinn, can't decide if that's better or worse than Amara. Seriourly dub, why didn't you take Alex? Or another gender neutral name? Riley? Sam? Ash? Jess? Skyler? (BTW I totally just googled “gender neutral American names” to give these examples and had to laugh cuz Skyler would have been the best, corniest pun ever)

Michiru – Cloverway name: Michelle

 Again this one I have no qualms with because I've seen plenty of animes where the name Michiru and Michelle are used interchangeably depending on the dubber and the VA's accent. Again, same name different language.

Nerissa was supposed to be her dub name, which is fucking stupid, I'm glad they stayed with Michelle.

Setsuna – Cloverway name: Trista

Okay, so this is actually the reason I know all the names that were in the running, because I actually had to look up Setsuna's dub name, not cuz I hadn't seen any episodes of the dub with Setsuna in them, but cuz the name Trista to me is really forgettable. I don't know why, it's just a super forgettable name, Setsuna, more than any of the others, even more than Haruka really, I can't see having any name other than Setsuna (other than Plu of course) though that brings me to a little side tangent. Because Chibiusa doesn't call her “Plu” in the dub, she calls her “Luna P” which, no, I'm sorry, no, just no! Luna P is Chibi's toy, not Pluto, Luna P doesn't even remotely make sense as a nickname for Pluto. Yes she does talk with Pluto using Luna P (which I think is called “the Luna Sphere” in the dub) but that doesn't mean we get to degrade a badass character such as Pluto down to the status of a stuffed floating cat's head. Bad dubbers! Bad!

Also, her almost name was Celia, which again, no, sorry. Setsuna is Setsuna.

Hotaru – Cloverway name: Hotaru – Mixx name: Hotaru, but also Jenny just a couple of times.

Last but not least, my favorite character, Hotaru. Now obviously I can't get mad here because they didn't change her name, but I am really confused as to why. Seriously I still can't figure out why they changed ever other name that sounded too Japanese but this one character. Unlike Rei or Mina, this isn't even one that can be an American name too. Hotaru definitely sounds Japanese. Why does just this one character get to keep her super Japanese sounding name? Absolutely no idea. Like Haruka the Mixx seemed to have wanted to rename her but decided against it and not been very good at telling everyone they decided against it because the name “Jenny” pops up a few times in the Manga, but only after Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna adopt her so take that as you will. I'm glad they didn't rename her, but if they would have chose to I don't think Jenny would have been a god awful choice