#and the villain brother doesn't have a really interesting personality or reasonings

[thatsitso]

Yes I finally watched Trigun

[shinjisdone]

When You Have An Secret Admirer - And It's Not Them (Ignihyde; 6)

A love letter was left at your door and now you are searching for that ‘secret admirer’ - everyone wants to help you out…but have their own reason for it.

'Nobody really thinks anyone without any magic is or can be interesting, but I honestly thought you were the most fascinating person ever since I saw you...'

form of headcanons + scenario-ish

[note: reader is gender-neutral but mostly mentioned in 2. pov; a series of everyone you meet following you. headcanon will follow each char. own thoughts on the situation. mostly nervousness, slight jealousy & stubbornness]

Part 1: Heartslabyul

Part 2: Savanaclaw

Part 3: Octavinelle

Part 4: Scarabia

Part 5: Pomefiore

Part 7: Diasomnia

Alright, maybe staying in your room became too much.

Especially if you have love letters, hand-made school notes, flowers and now a flying mirror throwing you compliments all stuffed in your dusty Ramshakle room. The one place that is supposed to be a haven is now suffocating.

It's hard to digest this 'secret admirer'. All of this and all that they tell you is so flattering and so much. The majority of the students here are usually kind of pricks, like villains out of a fairytale book, so to have someone pour their heart out so unashamadly, even knocking Rook out of the park, is...shocking. Whenever they are brought up, it leaves you stumped.

You cannot deny the chaos they caused...after all these overblots, you thought the worst of the worst is over...but things at Night Raven College never seem to be still. You understand that others are upset and you don't want them to be upset...but what are you going to do? Find that admirer yourself so they can get their grande, over-the-top confession over with?

Idia Shroud

Fingers are vehemently and obsessively typing codes upon codes of the security doors - the new security doors that Idia just implemented.

AAAAAAA HE KNOWS HE IS NEXT

NO NO NO Idia is no fool. DO not take him for a FOOL! Each dorm was targeted and attacked one after another and he KNOWS he will be next!

He knows! He watched everything unfold online! Through the cameras! He counted the days on the calender! And well, he knows the majority from Ortho. The real MVP.

This is bad. BAD BAD BAD.

Some weirdo, self-proclaimed Chad Romeo is gonna barge into his dorm - or sabotage his scores - or destroy all his communication IRL - or GASP delete his steam library!

Whatever they may be, they are waaaaay over themselves! Going on some kind of Z like Zorro vengeance x romance anime genre and thinking they are the good guy.

Spoiler alert: If Idia and all he loves (his brother and his games) get hurt, YOU ARE NOT THE GOOD GUY!

Just let them give up on this weird escapade and have them confess already! Then he can be spared!

THEY BETTER GET THEMSELVES TOGETHER, OH SO ROMANITC SECRET ADMIRER, AND HAVE THEM CONFESS TO YOU ALREADY!!!!!111211!!

Oh. Wait.

That's actually not something Idia wants.

It was just a sudden brain blast idea. If the admirer just gets their confession, then surely Idia and his dorm will be spared (because he is sure he'll be next! I mean, the order is so??? obvious???) - but if they do confess...you might accept...

In fact, Idia doesn't want anyone to confess to you in the first place at all.

Not even himself!

Uh, n-n-n-not that...he wants to c-c-c-c-c-confess to you, or anything...

FML this is hard

He is sharpening up security left and right and imploring Ortho for some kind of advice on what to do. Idia is too panicked to make a decision.

The dormhead is certain he will at least get humiliated, his one weakness! If not, then surely something worse is going to happen...

Sure, he did awful things before and during his, er, overblot but ngl hasn't everyone? Why can't the admirer just skip him like an event?

Leave him alone and just focus on their goal...which is you.

The solution is right there - have the admirer confess to you already. Idia can even lend a hand with his tech-geek knowledge!

But it feels so wrong. The jealously and pettiness is eating him up, causing him to hesitate.

Idia is imagining what it would be like if you said 'yes' to a normie...and it just gives him more reasons to shut himself in.

The thought of failing to seize the moment leaves a black hole in his stomach...he's both scared, paranoid, jealous and upset.

He is just one click away from making a choice...and maybe he should try being risky for once...

Ortho Shroud

Very not against you having a secret admirer! Even when they are being very bold!

Even Ortho notes how unusually determined this admirer is. Isn't distance adoration supposed to be more delicate and...not happen so often? It's been almost a month and everybody's talking about the admirer and their anitcs! Not very "secretive" if you ask him.

It is none of his business...if it weren't for his dear big brother!

Ortho can see through him as if he were glass. It is beyond obvious on how he feels about you and your admirer. If only he wouldn't shut himself in so often and for such a long time, literally everyone could realize his deep feelings for you. And Ortho wants to do nothing but help his brother.

Hence he was so uncertain when Idia kept on asking him to tail the admirer - so far so that they were able to track them and find out who they are.

He keeps on tabs - while Idia keeps on fighting himself on what to do. It goes on and on in circles until someone decides on something.

The robot boy grows worried...and asks his brother to follow his heart rather his fear.

Well, this is strange.

Why on earth are there signs and trinkets wanting to lead you to a path as if you were lost? What is this, Hensel and Gretel?

You'd have long chucked it up as a bad attempt as a joke but all the signs were actually...holograms hovering near the walls. Only nerds or Ignihyde students would be smart enough to be able to create such things but they are also too chill to even think up any jokes. Besides, the path seems to lead to the spring, a public space. Why should anyone want to lead anyone to a usually crowded place such as that?

Peculiar that only you are here to see the holograms, too.

Certainly nothing too outrageous would happen and you'd make sure to keep your distance as you made your way there. In fact, once you came close enough (by hiding behind a pillar, you aren't taking your chances) you could make out a lone figure sitting on the spring. They seemed to hold something rather big in their hands...

This...couldn't be it, could it? The destination is a person?

You cautiously approach...only for a blue light to blind you.

Ortho Shroud

You winced as you took a few steps back, hissing like a cat.

The light dimmed down siginificantly and a figure was a bit too close for your liking.

"So sorry, Prefect!"

You blink and your vision cleared. It was Ortho!

You ask him about what he's doing here and the many holograms around. He avoids each question, pointing out how there are no holograms, what are you talking about?

He didn't almost barge into you, he was practicing bis new, updated gear! What are you talking about?

And no, you did not hear a yelp. What are you talking about?

You lean to the side, peeking to the left of the robot boy. He still tries to get your attention on him.

The silhouette is gone...

Idia Shroud

Oh god WHAT HAS HE DONE?

The good thing...? The right call...?

How is he supposed to know? Panicking while typing away and suddenly gritting his teeth and cancelling all of this!

Cancel! Cancel, cancel, cancel!

Just a moment ago he was so diligently planning everything...the signs, the locations, making sure there would be no one but you two...

No one but you two...

Just you two at the spring...three special words and Idia would no longer have to cower in anguish...

He sucked in a cold breath, as if his entire room was a hallway of death.

"Aaahhugh, damn it!"

Keyboards are swept aside as his hands bash against the screen in attempts to open up another tab.

"Screw this make-believe date! Screw this confession trope! It never works anyway and you always have to wait for the next episode ONLY FOR SOMEONE TO INTERRUPT IT ALL AND THAT CHARACTER WILL BE ME!"

Fingers aggressively tap on one word over and over again. Cancel.

"I'm nothing much but I'm not gonna be so STUPID to HELP MY RIVAL get the MC! That's self-sabotage and wallowing in pity times 100! No, 'secret admireeeeer', you will NOT get with the Prefect and maybe I will not but some overconfident, extroverted romantic-schmantic romeo is definitely NOT gonna be THE CHOSEN ONE!!!"

Idia keeps on tapping and prattling. Cancel. Cancel. Cancel.

Alas, the panic in his voice moprhed to petty anger.

He knows who they are, which dorm they are from. If anything were to happen to him or Ortho, at least he got some info...

Giddy over the advantage, the dormleader barely noticed that he was on speaker...

A message was quickly sent to him and he stops, gulping down his fear.

Ignihyde might not be spared as he wanted it to be but for once Idia followed his stupid, foolish, love-struck heart...and he feels a bit less immediate regret than usual.

[yeaaaaa Ignihyde wasnt much, there is only...1 person honestly. Ortho is like...middle schooler weenie-hut junior edition he gets no say in anything regarding love. He only loves his brother! Does anything for his big bro (>‿♥) Idia is such a shut-in that you cannot put him in many scenarios anyway...but i like the thought of him freaking out :) ]

[kaythefloppa]

Wild Kratts: Our Blue and Green World Trailer.

Underneath the cut for those who consider it to be spoilery, but we have a trailer for the one-hour special, Our Blue and Green World, airing April 1st, 2024.

The Kratt brothers disagree on what's better; blue oceans or green forests. Aviva takes on the role of referee to demonstrate how oceans and forests work together to make our living planet, just like Martin and Chris need to keep working together. It's up to the gang to get Martin and Chris back in sync in time to save planet Earth from Zach and Paisley's villainous plans.

This special was first mentioned back in May of 2023 during an interview with Martin Kratt heralding the show's premiere of its 7th season. The original title was Blue and Green: The Living Earth before it was chaned to our Blue and Green World. The episode will feature climates and habitats corresponding with the Kratt's "blue and green." With it, will come the introduction of new Creature Power Suits: The ones we have seen thus far in the trailer are Indri Power, Green Anaconda Power, and Blue Whale Power.

My thoughts:

HOLY SHIT THE BLUE WHALE SUIT

HOLY SHIT THE BLUE WHALE SUIT

HOLY SHIT THE BLUE WHALE SUIT

*calms down.*

Ok but I'm starting to see a weird pattern in the PowerSuits in this season. For some strange reason, they have to retrofit the wearer's mouths to match the ACTUAL anatomy of the animal the suit is based off of. They did it with the Wild Pony and the Mountain Goat Power Suit and both of them were.... ugh. Now they did it with the Blue Whale Suit and to be fair, while I hate that particular feature, it's not enough to make me hate the suit. In fact, I kinda like it more because of how silly it looks (Martin is the perfect person to wear this suit tbh). Still though, I wish they designed it like the Crocodile, Hippo, or Puffin Suit where the giant mouth is simply an attachment that doesn't move while the wearer speaks.

For those who don't know, Indris are the largest species of lemur in the world (alongside Diademed Sifakas). They are the only animals besides humans that can find and use rhythm using "wailing songs" to communicate. They're also critically endangered due to slash and burn of their habitats and poaching for their flesh as delicacies (yeah, very odd that Gourmand isn't here, but I digress). There's an estimate to be less than 10,000 left in the wild and are expected to have a population net decrease by 80% within the next 30 years... yeah, considering that they're endemic to Madagascar, not a very good sign. I didn't even know what an Indri was until reading the article, and if I'm not the only one who had no clue about these guys, it's probably definitely a good sign that they're getting some spotlight in this show.

The Indri Power Suit looks so goofy, but again, something about how silly it looks just makes me appreciate it all the more. I... weirdly expected it to be way bigger like the Puffin Suit, but again that's just me.

I am a huge fan of how they designed the snake-inspired Creature Power Suits in the show. But the Anaconda Creature Power Suit... holy shit.

LOOK AT IT /POS

Look at the markings! Look at the green! Look at the patterns, and the color schemes! Chris FINALLY got a green Creature Power Suit to activate! Our boi won! It's also a pretty clever callback to the Amazon special where Chris met the Anaconda (I really hope the Power Disc for this suit is green because god that would be so aesthetically pleasing).

Ngl, if the old flash games were still on the website, and this was one of the Power Suits I could earn for my character, I'd play it in a heart-beat.

I'm really interested to see the Zach/Paisley team up. This season already started to utilize her better by giving her another solo appearance, and now we're seeing a 1 on 1 team up with her and another villain. I was always gunning for a Paisley/Donita teamup but this works too. They're both very similar characters that can bounce off each other in similar, yet different ways (I actually headcanon that they're related - second cousins to be exact - because of those similarities). The final battle is gonna be kickass.

If you were to tell me without any context at all that this was a screencap from the upcoming WK feature film (that this episode is often mistaken for), I would believe you. Because HOLY SHIT! The linework, the lighting, the hues, AND the shading! I am becoming more and more grateful for the 2-year long hiatus - the animators needed time to cook and they fucking COOKED. For an extended TV episode, this is pretty damn impressive.

People don't talk enough about this, but fun-fact: A lot of the animators of this show had experience working for Disney. Erika Worthylake was one of the artists on this show, doing several beta designs for animals such as wild ponies and salmon sharks. In 2019, she was the lead designer for Anga, one of the new characters in Disney's The Lion Guard (which, much like Wild Kratts, was animated in Toon Boom). Ben Balistreri had collaberated with the Kratt Brothers and Luc Chamberland in 2007 to work on the show's pilot episode, creating several different designs for the animated characters. Ten years later, he became the executive co-producer of Tangled: The Series. Kendal Brouet, who animated A Creature Christmas, worked on The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder in 2022. Just to name a few. It's just a fun little thing that comes up in the back of my mind whenever the topic of WK animation comes up, and this instance of animation is so fucking good that I HAVE to talk about it, because I have MAJOR respect for these guys, and if there were ever moments in the show that remind me "Oh, this slaps," I just remember what these talented artists worked on through the years and it clicks together nicely in my brain.

According to Whrokids, this episode is gonna have a runtime of 58 minutes. I found this screenshot of someone who did far more searching and sleuthing for new episode content (they were the ones who found this trailer actually). I'm not sure how valid this particular screenshot is, but if this is the case, then this will be the longest episode of Wild Kratts in history, and will be the closest thing we get to a Wild Kratts movie (until the actual WK movie is released in theaters).

Fucking. Hyped.

[darkdrin6]

They're both wrong.

Hi. Recently, we often see different opinions about Kuai and Bi Han in this new relaunch (another one, my God). It's incredibly nice to see people who are really trying to look at what is happening from all sides, but guys - our attempts are in vain, because this game is a damn dummy. Some blame Bi Han, others blame Kuai, and everyone is right in their own way, but what if... THEY'RE BOTH WRONG.

To begin with, the game clearly marks its favorites and does not even try to pretend at least some intrigue and depth. Let's be honest, dear ones, we knew from the very beginning that Bi Han would be treated dirty. The only thing missing was the banner "I'm a villain, guys" at his breast. Let's leave aside how it breaks the character to hell and disappoints. Let's look at what is happening objectively.

So, Bi Han is the head of his clan, who took this place after his father's death. According to Bi Han himself, he let their father die (somehow, and we probably won't know the details). What for? Because their father's vision limited the clan (we probably won't know the details either). Objectively, Bi Han had no need to somehow bring his father's death closer for the sake of power in the clan. Because - you know - Bi Han is the eldest son, he would have taken this place. Considering Kuai's words that there are enough people loyal to Bi Han in the clan, this means that it was not about power as such, but something else. Bi Han let his father die not for the sake of power for himself personally, but for the sake of the greatness of the clan (whatever that means, the game does not give explanations). This is not a selfish motive. At least, not in the direct understanding of this concept.

It seems that Bi Han is not interested in taking over the world completely. He says that he needs a part of the Earthrealm and nothing more. He... wants to build a state? This is a contradictory goal, but it has a place to be (and also our joke about him wanting to restore the Qing Empire turned out to be prophetic; we need to stop joking about it). From this we can draw a logical conclusion that it is not in his interests to betray the Earthrealm, to condone its destruction or subjugation to someone else. Because it literally contradicts his goals.

The next thing that fans hate him for is that it is he, Bi Han, who leaves his brother the his scar. We've seen claims that he tried to kill Kuai and... it's quite possible that he did. Emotions, rage push him forward, to attack. Bi Han is constantly angry, but especially in this scene. And if you review this scene, you will clearly see that Bi Han waited a VERY long time before Kuai noticed that the knife was in his other hand. This is really a decent slowdown, and Bi Han had the opportunity to kill his brother at the same moment. But he doesn't. His attack is an impulse, not a cold-blooded desire to kill Kuai.

Another reason to hate Bi Han is Smoke. More precisely, the fact that Bi Han - that's terrible! (sarcasm) - does not accept him as a brother, because Tomas is not his blood brother. Bi Han says that Tomas is not Lin Kuei by blood, and this moment raises questions. A clan is a social association that is based on blood ties. This is usually one or more families united by kinship of varying degrees. In the old chronology, it was never exactly said whether Lin Kuei was a clan, a united kinship. More often it seemed that these were conditional ties, more idealogical than blood ties. But here Bi Han puts a lot of emphasis on blood ties. So does this mean that Lin Kuei is still related to each other? This can also be regarded as the fact that Bi Han says that Tomas is not part of their family, and not the clan as a whole, and this is the case. Even people treat blood brothers and sisters differently, it all depends on the upbringing and the situation in the family. We don't know anything about the context, we don't know about the past, about the relationships of these people. Frankly speaking, they do not communicate with each other like real living people who, albeit conditionally, are part of the same family. All their dialogs can be replaced with:

Bi Han: the exposition. Kuai: the exposition. Tomas: the exposition. Bi Han: exposition and an unexpected plot twist. Kuai: the exposition. Some important phrase. Tomas: another exposition. Write me a check and I'll go to in a better movie. Bi Han and Kuai: we will also go to in a better movie, but first here's another exposition.

The only time one could truly believe that they were somehow connected to each other was when Bi Han asked if they were both unharmed. He just fought Ermak, a creature with thousands of souls, but it is he who asks Kuai and Tomas if they are okay. Not the other way around.

Another problem associated with this scene is that many people did not seem to be watching it with their eyes. We literally had to point out to our friends at this point. Damn stone. Reconsider, come on. Bi Han doesn't kick him, doesn't throw him down. He just ends up too abruptly on the edge of the wall and a piece of stone breaks down by accident. Bi Han doesn't want to kill Tomas. Bi Han doesn't want to kill Harumi either, for that matter. In that dialogue, he says that the family can be a means in this war. He doesn't say "I will kill your wife", he just said that he might consider influencing Kuai through something/someone else. Take Harumi hostage or influence her to influence her husband's decisions. Maybe just find a way to negotiate with her, because with Harumi, Bi Han doesn't have a family drama that seems to have been accumulating for years. People who accuse Bi Khan of something he didn't actually do, be ashamed, because this is slander.

Bi Han is still the antagonist. More precisely, he could be him, but his betrayal does not make any sense at all, either emotionally or in plot terms. He doesn't do anything else after it and disappears from the plot. He might as well have just been injured by Shang Tsung or by Quan Chi, and recovered in the hospital behind the scenes.

The problem is that the game doesn't want players to somehow empathize with Bi Han or even support his goals. And his goals (no matter how illusory they may be) have a place to be. He is ready to take extreme measures, radical decisions, but in fact he has not done any of this yet. The studio did not make him either a positive hero, a cool antagonist, an inspiring villain, or a neutral character with his own motives. He's just a piece of evil cardboard, against which Kuai should look as good as possible.

Is Bi Han right? We don't know. The game does not give any context and declares that he wants power for the sake of power, which is always as negative as possible, because the desire for power does not lead to good. Is he right to let his father die (whatever that means)? No. Without context, the answer is unequivocally "no". Is it cruel of him to be cold towards the orphan Tomas? Cruelly. But there is a place to be. Again, we lack at least some context. The game just says - hey guys, Bi Han is a villain now, condemn him for his villainies that we didn't even really come up with. Excellent solution, NRS writers, just excellent.

Summing up - Bi Han: 1) ambitious (which is not explained by anything) 2) cold with others 3) somehow involved in the death of his father 4) puts his clan above everything else and even above blood ties (although he himself refers to the importance of blood kinship and .. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE AT ALL)

In a number of dialogues, Bi Han is inconsistent, but let's remember that he is a person who will not tell the enemy the truth about his relationship with someone. So don't take at face value everything he says to other characters in the intro. He is still angry, but he still wants the brothers (Kuai for sure) to be on his side, although on his rules.

And now let's approach the situation from the other side. Kuai and Tomas. And we will immediately abandon Tomas, because - you know - he is not even a character in this farce. He's just a weak-willed appendage of Kuai, completely devoid of personality, and the script is completely to blame for this. Tomas had at least some problematic and self conflict in the old chronology, he literally lived with a demon in his head. Unfortunately, now he's just a dear friend of one of the main characters. He deserved more. Let's remember the wasted potential with a kind word. And let's move on.

So, Kuai Liang. Let's not touch on the topic anymore that this is not really the Kuai we knew; that the studio also took away all his personality. This has been said many times. Let's look at it within the framework of this particular plot. He is the second/youngest son of Grandmaster Lin Kuei clan, and he probably has less chance of to rule the clan. From his official biography, it can be said that he was attached to his father because he grieved after his death. Again - we don't know anything about their relationship. Of course, the child's love for the parent is unconditional (but for some reason this does not apply to Bi Han), and it can be understood that Kuai is devastated by the death of his father. But there is no context here either. Were they really close? Or was Kuai's father a kind of idol, as for many children with rather cold parents? We don't know, because the game doesn't say anything else, except that the previous Grandmaster took the wounded orphan and raised him in a place where Tomas could see the people who killed his family every day. It's a very merciful decision, man, but let's not talk about it now.

Kuai follows his father's vision because he grew up thinking it was the right thing to do. And it makes sense. It is right for Kuai to guard the Earthrealm with the methods that his father instilled in him (perhaps because we again have no idea what was between them). He is quite young, with a hot heart and a hot head, so with all his sanity, feelings will often prevail in him. And this is normal for a living person. He is not as desperate for action as Bi Han, and is more passive at such moments, which can be explained both by the family situation and the nature of his character. Again - we don't have the context to judge for sure. And although some of his statements seem indifferent towards his brother, the game clearly does not imply that Kuai is a bad person or a bad brother. Although, of course, it is not perfect.

Understand correctly. This whole family - Bi Han, Kuai Liang and Tomas - is problematic. If you listen to some of their dialogues, look at their general behavior and logically understand what is happening, then a picture emerges when an unclear family problem has been growing for years, but all three have too little habit of talking about their feelings and trying to solve the problem with words, not a fight. But at the same time, the plot is desperately trying to make Kuai a positive character. And the most revealing scene here is Kuai's attack on his brother in the tomb. Let's take it in order, because a lot of people have problems with this scene too. 1) they are captured 2) Shang Tsung talks about his plan, trying to lure Lin Kuei to his side (and thus the heroes get information) 3) Bi Han silently makes it clear that he seems to agree to the sorcerer's terms (we remind them that they are still in captivity) 4) Bi Han says he let his father die 5) Kuai attacks and in a fit of rage tries to kill his brother, he does not succeed (and it is the intervention of another soldier that does not allow Kuai to make a mistake) 6) Kuai escapes

This scene is stupid and meaningless from beginning to end. Bi Han, whose goals are to control a part of the Earthrealm should least of all trust Shang Tsung. On the other hand, if he says no, nothing will stop the soldiers from cutting the throats of both brothers right here. The army of living statues is not some incredible tool at all, they burn and melt very well (as we have already seen). Why did Bi Han agree to this seriously? But what follows is a moment that is just confusing. Bi Han says that he let their father die (it is unclear what exactly he means), and Kuai attacks him without the slightest hesitation and delay with such fury that without outside interference he could have killed Bi Han. Yes, he is emotional, he is furious, he is in grief. To know that your own brother did this is just awful. But before that, Kuai is shown to be a calm and sane person who will think first and then do something. If he had remained the same as he was shown to us, he probably would have really doubted his brother's words. You know, if our brother had said that he was to blame for the death of our mother (as a person whose mother died, we can say so), we would have first thought if he had gone mad. Because in family relationships it is normal to believe in the best in your relatives. Did Kuai have doubts, suspicions? No, the game didn't show that. Again, we are not given any context. The plot wants us to just believe that Kuai is right to appeal to our conscience, because parricide is always bad (tell that to Tyrion Lannister, yes).

Kuai can be understood in his anger. Even if it happened that he accidentally killed his brother in a fit of rage, he would regret it. The game tries to pretend that he is a good person and that he really cares about his brother, even if he is absolutely crazy, but the plot doesn't even try. Kuai takes Bi Han out of the fortress so that he does not help Shang Tsung. This is exactly what Kuai himself says directly. He's probably a good brother (???) *bewilderment*.

Kuai is actually trying to be a good person. He is trying to restrain Bi Han's ardor, to support Tomas. He doesn't really want to fight, but he doesn't run away from battle either. The difference is how he solves his problems. Knowing that a paramilitary clan remains under the command of Bi Han, which may pose a threat, Kuai escapes. Again, we don't have the context to understand whether this decision is logical or infantile. We mean that he is the son of the previous Grandmaster who defeated the current Grandmaster in battle. He definitely has at least some weight in the clan. He could have just grabbed his brother and hammered some common sense into him, because - you know - lives depend on it. But the plot literally does not allow Kuai to act logically.

He's not a scoundrel. Not a traitor. He tries to follow what he thinks is right. He is the same person with his own goals as Bi Han. But the difference is that the plot exposes one of them as a villain, and the other as a pure and innocent hero. And such a sharp separation, which does not allow the characters to be interesting and lively, is frankly annoying.

By the way, Kuai is also inconsistent in the introduction. He clearly doesn't want anyone else to harm Bi Han, but he doesn't tell him about it. And it makes sense, because there's still this damn family drama between them that makes them both angry.

In the end, they are both wrong. They're both terribly scripted characters that the writers play like dolls. And it's not the fault of the characters, it's the fault of an absolutely immature plot. Don't blame them both, understand that this game just can't handle the disclosure of heroes and uses manipulative elements to hang labels.

We understand the frustration and the desire to find meaning where there is none. But, as they say in our country - do not stretched an owl on the globe (no need far-fetched facts).

This is a terribly manipulative immature plot that attracts attention only at the expense of the fanservice. Don't blame the characters, don't pour shit on them. Remember that they are hostages of the script.

The perplexed Kenshi, as the embodiment of our reaction to everything that is happening.

[squish--squash]

The best Sherlock Holmes adaptation (that people hardly know)

The stories and adventures of Sherlock Holmes is probably one of the most well-known, most referenced, and most recognizable series out there, as well as one with an insane number of adaptations. Hell, Sherlock Holmes even holds the world record of being the literary character with the most screen adaptations.

This has led to many, many people making ranked lists of their favorite adaptations, and I've looked at a lot of them to see if my favorite one appears. It doesn't. Not here, here, here, here, here, here, or here.

On the Wikipedia page for Sherlock Holmes adaptations, it is listed...in the external links section, at the very bottom of the webpage; it's only visible by expanding the "screen adaptations of Sherlock Holmes" panel

On here, under the three names it's regularly tagged as, there are a collective 13.9k followers (the breakdown is 5.2-1.9-6.8). In comparison, the "bbc sherlock" tag has 47k followers, "sherlock" has 644k, and "john watson" has 13k followers. Pretty underrated, if you ask me.

And so, you're probably wondering what this adaptation is, and why I think it's the best. Wonder no further!

The best Sherlock Holmes adaptation (at least, to me) that is criminally underrated is called Yuukoku no Moriarty, or Moriarty the Patriot. (and before you ask, yes, it's a manga! with its own anime!)

Now, because this post is already long enough, and because there is going to be A LOT OF BIG SPOILER WARNINGS, I'll be defending my claim under the read-more. But with that out of the way, let me begin...

Reason #1: Wait, Moriarty??

Moriarty is well-known to be the arch nemesis of Sherlock Holmes. He's the big baddie of the original series. So why in the world is this adaptation named after the villain? Because the plot is focused around Moriarty. As far as I am aware, this could be the ONLY adaptation so far that has done this (please correct me if I'm wrong! I'd love to find more). Furthermore, the "James Moriarty" in question is actually three brothers: Albert, Louis, and William (the "main" Moriarty), and the overarching plot follows their schemes as "the Lord of Crime" to... change 19th century England for the better?

Reason #2: The Premise is INTERESTING as FUCK

Yeah, you heard me! The big baddie in this adaptation is trying to do what they deem as "good"! It's called Moriarty the Patriot because William, Louis, and Albert are trying to make England a better country in their own ways; they view the class system of 19th century England to be, quite frankly, shit, and want to lessen the abuse and dehumanization of the lower class caused by the nobles. And, well, they do this by killing corrupt nobles. Or, well, more accurately, they help people commit crimes to kill the nobles, and stage it to look like an accident or make it extremely difficult to solve. It's actually really fun and cathartic to watch imo, especially in the early episodes of the anime and the early chapters of the manga. I'll come back to the plot later, but for now, I think it's time to get back to the characters.

Reason #3: The Gang's all Here!

The three Jame Moriarty brothers aren't the only characters: you also have the baker street gang (Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, and Ms Hudson), the Baker Street Irregulars, Mycroft, Sebastian Moran from the original series, Lestrade, Irene Adler, Herder (another character from the original series), and interestingly enough, Billy the Kid (in the manga). And these characters aren't just one-dimensional name-drops, but characters with so much personality, backstory, and motives. Take, for example, Sebastian Moran: he's a sniper who works for the Lord of Crime, yeah, but it's because he has a long-earned loyalty to William; both of them have a keepsake from the other, and after William's supposed death during this adaptation's version of "The Final Problem", it's the keepsake he gave to William that saves him from a dark path (there's much more to this story in particular, but you'll have to find out more yourself if you're interested). Also, there's Moneypenny in the manga. But why the hell is she here?

Reason #4: His name is James. James Bond (and he's trans!)

NAME ONE OTHER FUCKING SHERLOCK HOLMES ADAPTATION THAT HAS JAMES BOND, I'LL WAIT. YOU CANNOT. But yes, James fucking Bond is in Moriarty the Patriot, and is one of the best characters for many reasons. One of them? We actually meet him as a woman. And who is that woman, you might ask?

Irene Adler.

(note: the version I read calls him James Bond, but from what I've heard, his name is actually spelled "James Bonde" to avoid copywrite issues. However, for this post, I'll use "Bond") It's...incredible. The entire arc introducing Irene Adler and her arc into becoming James Bond is one of my favorite arcs in Moriarty the Patriot. It takes the original "A Scandal in Bohemia" and sprints with it. Like, the entire Bohemian-king-wanting-that-photograph with Sherlock and Watson is just a ploy, so Irene can be under the protection of public-hero Sherlock by tricking him into thinking he blew up her house with his smoke-bomb trick. Because she stole ENGLISH GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS SO CLASSIFIED, THE GOVERNMENT WANTS HER DEAD. It's just the way the series builds off the original works by Doyle in a way that not only stays true to the original, but is also its own thing. Because yeah, we don't see Irene Adler again after her "scandal" is solved; and that's because she fakes her death as Irene, and starts working under the Moriarty brothers as James Bond, now a man. Additionally, Moriarty the Patriot handles Bond being trans in an amazing way. Him being trans is no joke! The Moriarty group accept him as a man the moment he tells them (except for Sebastian Moran, who's confused about it at first before he warms up to it; in all actuality, it's his confusion and reluctance that's joked about, not Bond's manhood, which is a refreshing thing to see as a queer person myself). Even when reuniting with Sherlock, John Watson, and Ms Hudson, the three are respectful and understanding. Oh my god wait a minute I just realized I haven't even mentioned Sherlock yet-

Reason #5: Benedict Cumberbatch WHO

Sherlock Holmes in this adaptation is the best Sherlock, hands down. Why? Because he's fun, goddammit! So many Sherlock adaptations see the genius personality of Sherlock Holmes and see nothing else. They make him cold, uncaring, calculative. A lot of Sherlocks would shoot a man dead for a lead on a case. But not this Sherlock. Is this the face of a man who's cold and uncaring?

HELL FUCKING NO! And he's literally presented with the opportunity to shoot a man for a lead on a case, and he turns it down! Because he's good! Yeah, he's prideful. Yeah, he can be a prick. He treats Scotland Yard like a joke. But he's also silly. He's kind to the people he cares about. He wants to help people. He's hilarious with Ms Hudson and Mycroft, and his interactions with William Moriarty is one of the best things to read about in this adaptation, because their cat-and-mouse game matters so, so much in this story.

Reason #6: Cat and mouse; puppet and puppeteer; friend and...friend?

Sherlock has a very interesting role in Moriarty the Patriot as a whole. Sure, he's the detective. But he's so much more. When he's introduced (in episode 6 of the anime, mind you!) to the story, the overarching plan of William and his brothers shift to include him: William wants him to be the hero of the play they're setting for the country, because in the end, William plans to be defeated as a common enemy of the people. And so, the game begins. The Lord of Crime starts setting up crimes for Sherlock to solve, so he gains publicity. So he's recognized as the hero. He's the only man smart enough to solve the trail of breadcrumbs Moriarty leaves, after all. Sherlock starts as just a puppet in the plan of things. Led along on strings from crime-to-crime, slowly piecing things together. And Sherlock hates it. But...Sherlock and William meet outside of being a simple detective and criminal. They meet on a ship, and for the first time, William finds his mind not drafting up plans or thinking as the Lord of Crime the first time they speak to each other. And for the first time, Sherlock finds someone with a mind equal to his own. They meet again, on a train, and solve a murder together (one William was NOT behind). And behind this game of cat-and-mouse, behind the puppet and puppeteer, something blooms. When Sherlock learns that yes, the William James Moriarty he's grown to known is indeed the Lord of Crime, he's not mad. He's...glad.

(note: Sherlock calls William Moriarty "Liam", beginning with their meet on the train; he's the only character in the series who does this. Not even the other Moriarty brothers call their brother "Liam")

He's glad it was William; it couldn't have been anyone else, in his opinion. It wouldn't have been worth it otherwise. It all comes to head in this series' version of "The Final Problem", where Sherlock finally confronts Moriarty, once and for all. It's where William plans to be defeated by his nemesis, the hero. Because he's the self-proclaimed villain. "Catch me if you can, Mr Holmes", is what he challenged to Sherlock on the train, after he joked about William being the Lord of Crime. And Sherlock catches him, in the end. But not as a detective. He catches him, as a companion, after William jumps to his death into the river Thames to set his defeat to Sherlock in stone.

Reason #7: What Comes After

The anime ends after "The Final Problem", but the manga continues. And this is where I really, really think this adaptation shines its brightest, with the aftermath of everything the series has been building to. The main reason Moriarty chooses his death is because of the bad things he's done his entire life. He never enjoyed killing people, but felt he had to, and felt his death was the proper "punishment" for it. But through Sherlock, he finds that that isn't the answer. It's obvious that Sherlock would live through the fall into the Thames. But what about William? In most adaptations, he dies. In the original, he died. But in this? They both live. They both survive. Some big ideas floating around before "The Final Problem" involved revenge. An eye for an eye, if you will. Judgement, and delivering it. But afterwards? It's atonement. It's forgiveness, and the lack of it. It's growth, and redemption. They're saved and taken to America to recover and start new lives. William Moriarty finds ways to atone for his actions without choosing death. Sherlock does too, for his own crimes. They decide, together, to begin anew, find new purposes.

and it's beautiful. When they return to England, three years after their disappearances, their growth is obvious and amazing to see; the other members of the Moriarty gang have also chosen their own paths of redemption, and seeing it all come together is something I'll always enjoy rereading over and over. And the redemption and reunion with England is just the end of part 1 of the story. There's more to be made with this series.

Reason #8: Made With Love

It's so, so obvious that Moriarty the Patriot was made with love for the original series. The way details of the original stories are kept and built off of to work flawlessly as it's own story is something I will be continously impressed by. There was so much thought, heart, and soul put into this adaptation, and you can tell it by reading and watching it. There are so, so much more I could go into—like the music in the anime, deeper dives into the arcs of the main cast, how well the relationships between characters are formed and established—but I think it'd be better for you to just find out all of these things by yourself.

So please, if you've gotten this far, give Moriarty the Patriot a try. Let it prove to you how good it is. Let it show you that it really is the best Sherlock Holmes adaptation out there.

[theheirofthesharingan]

I just found your blog recently, I hope you don't mind that I've been crawling through and liking so many posts. I've always loved Sasuke and never minded Itachi, he was a good villain but it may be saying something that his crimes (while not insignificant) are only rated so highly (from my pov) because he did it all in one night. There are plenty of ninja who did far more heinous things for worse reasons (Orochimaru is a far worse person let alone dangerous villain), so while the big reveal of the plot around Itachi's betrayal was somewhat surprising, it was not exactly "shocking" so much as it felt like it recontectualized things.

I don't really think it makes sense for ss fans to even bring up that "S*kura would never put Sasuke through what Itachi did" considering she was never and would never be in a position to act as Itachi did... but very few ship vs ship arguments are made with "good sense" in mind. (I actually liked her genin arc, she changed from her rather damaging pushy behavior to taking ownership of her own emotions but that then backslid during shippuden... making her once again pushing her own agenda without anyone's input)

I just found your blog recently, I hope you don't mind that I've been crawling through and liking so many posts.

I don't mind that at all. Don't worry about it.

I've always loved Sasuke and never minded Itachi, he was a good villain but it may be saying something that his crimes (while not insignificant) are only rated so highly (from my pov) because he did it all in one night.

I believe it's true but it's also a dreadfully one-dimensional way to look at the situation when a myriad of information is later provided to give context to the whole thing. He's introduced as a cold-blooded killer with zero redeeming qualities, which after the reveal turns out to be more nuanced and layered than we earlier thought. While his actions are still unforgivable, there's so much more to it. So, sticking to what he's shown as initially and refusing to acknowledge anything and everything that follows afterwards isn't how you assess a character or a piece of media in general. It's just looking at his actions and motivations on the face value and refusing to take a deeper look like a petulant child.

There are plenty of ninja who did far more heinous things for worse reasons (Orochimaru is a far worse person let alone dangerous villain), so while the big reveal of the plot around Itachi's betrayal was somewhat surprising, it was not exactly "shocking" so much as it felt like it recontectualized things.

I would not be comparing Itachi with the likes of Orochimaru who was evil and never showed an ounce of remorse.

He did this. This is creepy as hell. Itachi would never, ever do this.

Now, Itachi's crimes are horrible but there's more to them than just "he followed the orders and killed his clan" and "he traumatized his little brother." People tend to downplay his trauma because he isn't a perfect victim and his reaction to the life he lived deeply affects Sasuke. He's only seen as a perpetrator, when, in truth, he's a perpetrator because he's a victim first. There are lot of things he had to learn and acknowledge, but he never rationalized his crimes.

Among his many objectives to die at Sasuke's hands one was that he wanted to be punished for his crimes by the person he'd hurt and wronged the most, because of all things, Sasuke didn't deserve to go through any of what he did.

The guilt he lived with would have been colossal because forcefully prolonging the life so he could be punished for his crimes that weren't even entirely his own fault is a big deal. This is why he's so well received among the audience as well. He doesn't feel entitled to being treated right or with respect. He doesn't think he's worthy of forgiveness or deserves justice.

During his fight against Kabuto, his interaction with Sasuke is also quite interesting. He keeps telling Sasuke and Kabuto both he's not worthy of the praises they shower on him. And he actively avoids looking into Sasuke's eyes.

There are moments he looks in Sasuke's direction, but mostly he avoids looking at him. This is just one example. It's the body language of someone who's heavily guilt-ridden, someone who feels disgusted with himself especially the way he asks both Kabuto and Sasuke to not see him as a good guy.

I don't really think it makes sense for ss fans to even bring up that...

Oh, obviously. She was never placed in the circumstances where she had to make hard choices keeping someone else in mind. Not just that, Itachi did what he did because he wanted to keep Sasuke alive, because the life he'd lived showed him death was the worst thing to happen, so he wanted to protect the person he loved the most from this. When it came to her, though, instead of learning his reasoning, she jumped to the conclusion that Sasuke needed to die. She wanted to do this to "save him from the darkness." Funny, because he was the same boy who'd sacrificed himself to save Naruto's life not too long ago. Who'd wanted to save her life at any cost from Gaara. Who had killed Orochimaru and Itachi - the most dangerous criminals. He'd also freed Orochimaru's prisoners. Considering Konoha was following his trail, the news of this would have reached Konoha too. Despite this, her first response to learning Sasuke falling into darkness was that he should be killed.

I actually liked her genin arc..

Same. I liked those bits. And she was brilliant in Pain arc as well when she saved lives of the wounded Shinobi and civilians, and also during the war arc. But she should have moved on from the person who'd done nothing but brutally humiliate her, reject her. It's not even a character flaw, it's just... Idk what it is.

[yall-hate-kids-tourney]

Loser Round 1: Damian Wayne (DC) vs. Aang (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Propaganda below the cut

Damian Wayne:

Damian is a kid who was raised as an assassin and because of that when he first appears he has some really messed up ideas of how to prove himself to his father by being aggressive with the criminals they capture and attacking his brother. Because of this people act like he is the most evil character ever and refuse to give him any grace. They make him out to be this awful irredeemable monster who just wants to kill his brother and hurt people. If the fandom isn’t making his out to be The Worst(tm) then they are ignoring his existence all-together. He is a really interesting character who has done some not so great things but he’s grown and learned a lot through various character arcs (as much of an arc as a comic book character can have) and he deserves to be acknowledged for himself and not just as a villain so that people can woobify his brother.

——

HES JUST A LITTLE BABY GUY!!!!! Little baby man raised as an assassin and learning how to be a real person <3. But because he was kind of a dick and also a little stabby early-on, especially to the fandom's main "so sad uwu depressed baby" blorbo (and also he's not white), people treat him like he's satan incarnate

Aang:

Aang is a kid who was thrown into responsibility against his will and when he ran away he woke up to a world where everything and everyone he loved was gone. A lot of the decisions he makes that people attack him for are either a result of his grief and attempts to keep his people beliefs alive or his immaturity because his is literally a child. Also he is constantly getting slandered in ship wars because of the way he interacts with Katara in canon because he is often selfish with her and obviously that makes him such a horrible guy! (No he is just a kid who is stumbling through his relationships like all of us do.) Everything he does makes perfect sense considering his age and circumstances and I’m tired of people saying he should have done things differently. God forbid a traumatized child not act like a perfect reasonable angel with the mental capacity and communication skills of an adult. 

——

People are really over there saying the 12 year-old boy is a horrible and selfish person for refusing to murder a man !! He's 12 !! He's the last of his culture, which valued life and pacifism, and wants to keep that alive !! HE'S 12 !!!!!!!

People also like to pretend he can't understand another character whose mom was murdered because he believes it's important to Not let yourself be consumed by revenge, and is being self-righteous for asking her to Not go on a revenge quest (often in the name of shipping wars) when

1) His Whole People Were Killed, and

2) homegirl is 14, asking her to not kill someone when she doesn't have to, for her own good is literally the right thing to do

[justatalkingface]

So in light of the absolute fuckery that's been Chapter 407, I want to talk about All For One, because I don't think I've ever really talked about him.

I don't mind that he's evil for evil's sake, I don't mind that his ultimate goal is to take OFA so that he can take over the world and make everyone reliant on him or whatever. I don't mind that he nearly took over Japan back in the day. But like everything else Horikoshi touches, AFO had potential that was ultimately squandered away.

I hate how he was literally pure evil IN FUCKING UTERO, I hate how he was barely even utilized (outside of Kamino Ward, which that was fucking awesome) before he tries wrestling control of Shigaraki to be the main villain again. I hate how even though he allegedly has hundreds upon hundreds of Quirks, he spams the same 3-4 ones, and I hate how for supposedly smart and devious he is, we never see him utilizing UA's bad PR or his traitor to his advantage.

It's kind of weird to say this, but I both miss AFO, and feel sorry for him. I know he's been in the story a lot, but... it feels like AFO, the real one, fucking died at Kaminio, and his idiot corpse has just been running around since with Hori's hand up his ass.

Before Kamino, AFO was evil, yes, and and we didn't know about him, but he felt like a real person; an asshole, but he was something you could imagine a super-powered mob boss could end up being.

Since then, though? He's just been becoming more and more... shallow. It's like Hori was hinting at these dark, mysterious depths of ancient man, and then he pulled the curtain and showed us a fucking puddle. And now? All the mystery, all the backstory?

'BeCaUSe i'M EEEEEEEVVVILLLL'. Unironically, it seems to be his only motivation anymore. He does bad things because he's evil; he doesn't actually want to take over the world, that's just something he's doing because taking over the world is evil. Money? Power? Ultimately worthless, nothing more than tools for the purposes... of EVIL!

So... here's the question: why is he evil?

Because he was evil when he was an adult. Why was he evil as an adult? Because he was evil as a kid, apparently, instead of anything more interesting like him slowly being radicalized by Quirk Discrimination. Why was he evil as a kid? Because he was born evil, instead of anything more interesting like a terrible family, or because a police officer hurt him and traumatized him for life. Why was he evil when he was born?

??????

Because he was born of evil genetics, maybe; I wouldn't put it past Hori to make him unironically Quirk Satan or something. The thing is, that's not how human beings work; even an actual sociopath isn't going to be born this gibberingly, one-dimensionally evil. Worse yet, it's fucking boring to have a human being this basic; at this point why aren't they fighting a robot, or monster or something? It'd have the same level of motivation, and it'd feel more interesting than this.

Even ignoring how stupid he's become post-Kamino (which is a related but different point, best summed up by post-Kamino AFO is basiclly running around with his pants on his head, constantly getting one upped by the heroes, the kids, and basiclly random strangers by now), AFO was at his most interesting, not only when he was competent, but when he felt like a person; there's a reason DFO is so popular, and it's not just because it drags Izuku into it, but because it humanizes AFO, gives him real, human motivations to make us interested in his character.

The worst part of it? There's been so many chances to make him more than this caricature of a human being; by making him care for Shigaraki (or for Dr. Plot Device, or even Kurogiri, his loyal minion, before he was Eraserhead's seemingly somewhat retconned 'human interest' (which was barely a thing), or even just for Gigantomachia, who is basiclly a giant, super-violent dog, who he could have cared about like he was just a giant dog), or for him caring for his brother.

I mean, shit. In all honesty, I could make the 'biting baby' thing work, even. Ideally, it'd need some set up beforehand, but you know how Himiko is (the only one we've ever seen) with desires from her Quirk? Do something similar to how Yhwach in Bleach was on AFO, with that kind of logic, with him needing something, at this fundamental level, to be functional, that he's almost addicted to stealing Quirks, that AFO as a Quirk only works as a Quirk because somewhere in his magic DNA he's... unstable. That the very versatility that allows him to hold every Quirk is starving for the stability of a normal Quirk, so that even as a infant, he's instinctively trying feed himself something a normal human would never need.

There's this whole, interesting dynamic this would introduce, a real nature/nurture-y kind of thing, that would put a whole new spin on his character; he's this seemingly pointlessly evil person because his needs, combined with the only real role model he had for someone in his situation, the demon kings he's seen in manga, and a society that rejected him, both as someone with a Quirk by the normal humans, and as someone who could take away their Quirks by the Quirked, turning him into this because that's all he's ever known.

And here's the thing? This idea? Hori could still try to do that. He could try to turns table us with this sudden development, and try to make a real boy out of AFO. But I don't think he's going to; I really don't think he'll do that. Worse, even if he does try that, he'll just double down on AFO being 'born evil' instead of anything with any real depth to it. Do you know why I think that?

Because in all honesty, AFO isn't a real character anymore; he hasn't been for awhile now. All he is is a plot device, the duck tape Hori's been putting on everywhere to try and hold the story together against all the plot holes and logic failures that have been built up from years of bad, biased and rushed writing. More and more, he's become the reason for everything, the cause of every problem Hori can't be bothered to think through, every villain he didn't want to actually have to explain.

The Readers/The Characters: Why did X happen? What caused that? How does Y feel abou- Hori: AFO did it. I ain't gotta explain shit.

And that's the real reason he's so stupid, BTW, the reason he never uses any other Quirk, or applies any creativity in combat (or anywhere else), and why he keeps losing... it's for the plot. Because the thing is? AFO is fucking overpowered.

Let me tell you something I've never seen anyone else acknowledge: All Might never should have won. He overpowered AFO, sure, but we saw from their fight that he barely did that; didn't crush the puny caster AFO once he got past the lasers, his one super Quirk barely out-performed AFO's stacked Quirks in direct combat. Which, yeah, sure I can see that....

But. Why did AFO fight fair, just power against power, blow vs blow? Why didn't he, like, release poison gas as they fought? All Might is strong, but he still has flesh, blood, lungs; he's still very vulnerable to all kinds of softer Quirks. Where was the touch activated Quirk, like that kid from the License Exam, would have turned All Might into a meatball, or taffy, or whatever? Where was the voice activated Quirk that would have stunned All Might for a critical moment?

Hell. Why didn't AFO cheat? Why did he fight All Might, like an honorable person, when he realised the man was possibly a threat to him, instead of just... assassinating him, like a crime lord (or demon king)? Go to his home (or Might Tower, or wherever), drug his food, put something in his water, hell, just launch a surprise attack from point blank range? We know he tried for Eraserhead's Quirk once, before... apparently just giving up and never trying again; why didn't he try again, get it, and use that?

And beyond even all those problem, I don't see a reason for OFA to have survived long enough to get to All Might in the first place!

I mean, seriously: we know that every user fought AFO, viciously, to point where it caused their early deaths (except the one that basiclly started to Snap himself out of existence). We know OFA was only slowly building up in power, and the early versions especially didn't do much at all, and the Quirks all of them had where never top of the line because they were literally just a random person nearby when the Holder before them died.

So. Riddle me this: why, when a bunch of honestly mid-tier people tried, again and again, to kill AFO, who was overwhelmingly stronger than them, who had access to more tools, powers and money than they did; why, when all these factors were stacked against them, did they survive to the point where they could even pass OFA on? How did they survive blows strong enough to destroy buildings, laser blasts, all these powerful Quirks and techniques that AFO uses casually that most heroes would have been instantly killed by, if not flat out destroyed.

I mean... fuck, there's a decent chance AFO knew they had OFA in them, which he wanted (for whatever reason; sentimentality clearly isn't a emotion he's allowed to have, and early OFA wouldn't have been worth the effort for him to go through all of this to try and acquire it), which means instead of just killing them, he would have captured them, taken them back to his base, and then tortured them until they gave him OFA, just so they would finally be allowed to die and not hurt anymore? While I'm at this, why didn't he just kill any pedestrians around after he killed whatever OFA Holder he was fighting; it's not like morals are going to stop him, are they?

Fundamentally, MHA is built off the premise that AFO, terrifying criminal genius with countless Quirks, strong enough that he makes people by him hallucinate out of terror, is so pants shittingly stupid that he spent almost a hundred years basiclly punching himself in the face rather than just winning fights that were ludicrously stacked in his favor again and again and again; I mean, hell, he could still be an utter moron, and as long as he just got lucky once, just once, the giant, unending sequence of coincidences and logic breaking victories that allowed All Might to get his Quirk never would have happened.

None of this, of course, is even mentioning everything happening in the Final Arc, like AFO's obvious weakness to allow him to be finally beat forever appearing out of nowhere, in him having Remnants (even though AFO took eight users to to power it up enough to get to the point that AFO was apparently always at, and us having no reason to think this was a thing before now, much less all the absolute nightmare fuel questions that raises about the Nomu, and all the Quirks that AFO's doctor had stored away), and Eri's Quirk actively accelerating to heal him, thus limiting his life span (or the fact it's even working like that in the first place), even though it's a time Quirk, not a healing Quirk, and it doesn't fucking care about how wounded he is.

So, why did it happen? Why is it still happening?

Because he's a plot device. Because he exists, not as an active character with his own agenda, but as an adjustable target for the heroes to fight against, again and again and again, and if he won, the story would be over. Fundamentally, Hori made AFO too strong, too smart, too well connected, too perfect to every truly lose in this setting, and instead of trying to fix that, in any real way, impose some kind of realistic limitations or drawbacks in his wildly over-powered Quirk, or just kill him off so he wasn't a factor anymore, he just... made the man stupid.

[rainybraindays]

I don't like making posts like this, I don't like opening my blog up for people to come and harrass me but oh my god, why does the fandom allow posts like this to get away unscathed?

You don’t have to like Marina. I'll never claim that. You can like or dislike whoever you want.

But I do wonder, if Marina was played by a white woman would we get nearly as many posts like this? Would everyone be as okay with it? Would we have been so quiet about the fact that Ruby Barker was harrassed for this role? Or would there be way more people defending her? Would she suddenly be sympathetic when now shes not?

Why are we all so okay with taking this character with a nuanced story, put in a horrible situation with almost no options and turning her into a villian?

Like did we watch the same show? Did you miss the bit where she doesn't want to find a husband at all and only starts when she thinks shes been abandoned, which she only believes because she gets a forged letter saying she was? Did you not see Portia slap her? Did you not also watch a man old enough to be her grandfather being forced on her?

Lying to Colin wasn't okay, I'm not defending that, but literally tell me what her options were?

The man she loves is dead, but she doesn't even know that she thinks he abandoned her, so she can't reasonably assume Phillip will take responsibility when his brother won't. The only people Portias interested in introducing to her are those she wouldn't introduce to her own daughters. She can't reasonably think Colin will be open to her as a wife since shes pregnant becausethats not the norm. But Colin is, he says he would have married her even knowing. And Colin also doesn't view Marina as a villian, in season two hes sad yeah, but he’s also guilty because he doesn't think she deserved what happened.

This is a nuanced messy situation but no one wants to look at that.

Like you all make it very clear you view her as a whore, because she did a very normal thing and had sex. You all view her as a manipulative snake of a person, when if she was even the Whistledown article wouldn't have been a stop for her because she would have tried to get out of it. You conveniently forget that she almost killed herself in an attempt to abort her children because of her mistreatment post Whistledown article because that takes away from the idea you've concocted that shes some villainous bitch.

But then you turn around and want Penelope to have sexual knowledge that she realistically wouldn't and canonically doesn’t. You praise her for her Whistledown work even though it keeps hurting people she loves and shes lying about doing it.

This is weird, posting about how you can't wait for a character to die, and how you hope the death is - lets be honest here- humiliating, is a bizarre thing to do.

Its even more bizarre to do that, tag the character, and then also tag two ships that really the post really isn't about.

Like why is Polin tagged? Because they're both mentioned? This isn't a polin moment. You don’t talk about them at all in the meat of the post. Why is Philoise tagged? Because she's an 'obstacle' for them? They haven't even met, they aren't mentioned at all, they have nothing to do with this.

And on top of tagging these things you say "don't try and defend her to me" which why would we you clearly wouldn't listen. You follow that with saying "If you like her you probably suck" and claim to have tagged this as anti marina when you didn't. You put this in her main tag and then added "death to marina".

Theres no respect to your peers in the fandom, and clear disrespect to people who do like this character and are actually willing to engage with the character beyond fanon portrayal. Because thats what this is its not even taking her at face value anymore.

You wonder why people dislike this fandom, specifically the polin side of it, and do things like this. We as a community need to improve because stuff like this isn't uncommon, this is just one of the most blatant I've seen.

I'm going to be entirely honest if you follow quotegirl19, or don't see the issues with Marinas portrayal and treatment by the fandom this is not the blog for you.

[666writingcafe]

The Adventure Begins

Levi's overacting. Again. The only reason it wasn't obvious during the school play was because Simeon kept him reined in. Levi gets excited quite easily, and it causes him to get lost in whatever role he's playing.

I'll have to ask Simeon, but I don't think he intended the Lord of Shadow to act so...dramatically? badly? I don't know how to describe it, really. It just isn't very good.

Unlike MC. I'm not sure why I like their acting better, especially since they're currently matching Levi's energy. Maybe it's because they're intentionally hamming it up. They did mumble an apology to me before they started talking to him, after all, so they must know that Levi's acting isn't the best.

Satan's isn't much better, either. He's not as over-the-top as Levi, but I don't find him convincing as the "villain" of this story. If anything, he'd make a good anti-hero, but Solomon probably didn't want to make things too complicated.

Solomon's not a very good author.

However, I'm choosing to keep all this to myself, because the point of all this is to help MC get their first star. Lucifer, on the other hand, is having a hard time suspending his disbelief. So, I understand why MC told him to shut up. I just hope they're prepared to get their ass handed to them once Lucifer's back to normal size, because while he has a soft spot for MC, he doesn't like being silenced. Messes with his pride.

Speaking of which...the stars.

They represent the seven virtues, which are direct opposites of our sins. For me, that virtue is temperance. Solomon probably knows this, but he may not realize the full extent of my relationship with temperance.

Once upon a time, I was able to control myself and my urges. Until I wasn't. For my brothers, their sin was triggered by specific events; that wasn't the case for me. It just...happened. And I didn't realize it until it was too late.

Now, it's what most people know me for. They think I'm a meathead that only thinks about food. Even my brothers.

Which isn't fair.

Why are they allowed to have complex personalities, but not me? Why can they participate in mentally stimulating activities, while I'm cast off to the side and dismissed as too dumb to understand any of it? It's never made sense to me.

I think that's part of why I like MC so much. They're the first person in a really, really long time that sees me beyond my sin. They actually listen to what I have to say and seem to value my opinion, even if it's not related to food or sports.

Yet somehow, deep inside, I don't fully trust them. I think it's coming from my subconscious. Somewhere in there lives a hurt angel that feels like everyone he cares about will die and leave him behind. And in a way, it's true.

Lilith may have been the only person in our little family that actually lost their life, but my brothers barely resemble what they were in the Celestial Realm. It's weird. They wear the same faces, but they're completely different people. Sometimes, I feel like they're complete strangers, or perhaps taken over by aliens.

Oddly, the one person I can rely on to stay the same is Satan. Then again, he didn't have his own form until we arrived in the Devildom, so this version of him is all I've ever known.

"Beel?"

Shit.

I missed a lot, didn't I?

"Are you okay? You seem out of it."

"I could say the same to you." Why is that the first thing that comes out of my mouth? I sound like a jerk.

MC merely sighs as they sit next to me on the...bed? I take a proper look at my surroundings and realize that we're in a hotel room of some kind. Lucifer appears to be sleeping on the nightstand, using tissues as both pillow and blanket.

"Wanna go first, or shall I?" Interesting question. They don't seem upset at me.

"Your call." MC rests their head on my shoulder.

"Simeon needs my help making an important decision." Their tone indicates something serious.

"With what?" MC sighs again.

"His future." Huh? Why would an angel need a human's help with that? I know that the two of them are fairly close, but still.

"But that's neither here nor there," they quickly add, sighing. "It's not like I can do anything about it now." They glance up at me. "What's on your mind?"

"My past."

"As an angel?" I nod.

"Back then, the only thing that mattered to people was that I was strong. I wanted to be useful, so I decided to become a soldier and fight for the Celestial Realm. Problem was, I had trouble controlling my powers."

"Like I did before receiving the Ring?"

"You know, I hadn't really thought about it until you said it, but yeah. I suppose we have that in common. In your case, everyone had your back, which is good, because I wouldn't have wanted you to go through that experience the way I did." MC sits up and properly looks at me.

"What do you mean?"

"Every time I would destroy something--even though most of the time it was a complete accident--Raphael would make some sort of sarcastic remark about it. I think he started calling me the Hulk at one point, but it was meant as an insult." I pause.

"At least he had the decency to do it to my face. Lots of angels would talk shit about me behind my back. They thought I was too stupid to pick up on it, but I knew. They acted overly sweet towards me whenever I would walk in the room. Condescending, even. It was like I was a dumb kid to them." MC places a hand on my thigh and pats it.

"Sounds depressing," they remark.

"It was. Oddly enough, the one person in authority that didn't treat me that way was Lucifer. I initially thought he was too busy with his duties to really care about much else, but then one day he approached me and started talking to me. We had a legitimate conversation."

"About?"

"He told me to keep in mind that being a Celestial Realm soldier wasn't about attacking--"

"--but protecting." We must have woken Lucifer up. "You had the power to protect everyone--to keep them safe--and that you shouldn't feel bad because you were special. If you learned to control your powers, I'd recommend you to the cherubim and have you serve as a Celestial Realm gatekeeper. You did, and so I kept my promise." Lucifer beckons MC to pick him up and bring him closer to me.

"MC and I may be connected by the Ring of Light, but the two of you have a strong connection as well," he continues. "You're both motivated by the need to protect the ones you love, even if it means sacrificing yourself in the process. Drawing on that similarity is going to be the key to pass Solomon's test."

"Are you saying Solomon knew we had that in common?" MC asks incredulously.

"No. I did. I simply passed the knowledge along to him."

"How long--"

"The rooftop."

"Of Dogi Magi?" I'm glad MC understands what he's referring to, because I'm completely lost. Must have been something I wasn't involved with.

"You knew that Belphie would hurt you if you went against his order to reject me, but you did it anyway."

"I didn't want to lie to you."

"Because that would have meant hurting his feelings." Asmo may have used his powers to pick up on Lucifer's crush on MC early on, but I knew pretty much from the moment they set eyes on each other. Granted, he was more attracted to their soul initially, but who could blame him? It was bright and shiny, even back then. If we weren't under orders to not eat them, then they wouldn't have made it out of the assembly hall alive. Even Diavolo was struggling to contain himself.

Anyway, the point is MC cared enough about Lucifer in that moment to feel the need to protect him.

Just like I felt the need to protect Lucifer after I became a cherub.

MC's going to get their star.

[deconstructthesoup]

Analyzing "The Web I Spin For You"

Okay, so... THIS FUCKING SONG is one of the most interesting and compelling songs in the Nightmare Time saga, and nobody ever talks about it---unless they're praising Mariah's voice, which is something you should be doing regardless. Outside of "The Summoning," this is the only song sung by one of the gods of the Black & White, and unlike "The Summoning," which is just vibes, villain chaos, and dealing out some Faustian bargains with the NPMD gang, this song actually provides lore. It shows us a deeper look into Webby's psyche and motivations, something that the Lords in Black have yet to be gifted. It gives us a hint as to how brothers and sister split apart... and I think it might be our very first---and so far, only---look into the parent of these eldritch beings.

Okay, let's start.

"Why do you haunt me like a ghost? / You're supposed to love me the most"

Right off the bat, we have emotional depth. Webby is singing about someone who has hurt her, someone who was supposed to love her but instead used her and continues to haunt her life. Who is this person, and what did they do?

"Got me in the spell you cast / The iris of your eye is black / Weren't you the one to watch my back / Unlike the witches you summon?"

This is where it ties into the episode, with "witches you summon." You get the clear sense that Webby is talking about a family member---maybe her brothers, but it has to be one in particular, and it doesn't really feel like she's talking about Wiggly... if nothing more than the fact that his irises are very clearly not black, at least if the doll is anything to go by.

"Have you noticed that my trust has turned / You may have taught me, but now I've learned / Gotta catch you before I'm burned / In the web I spin for you"

Now, here is where it starts to make sense. I think this song is about the father of the Lords in Black and Webby---someone who taught them how to be gods of chaos. Maybe once upon a time, Webby believed in what her father was teaching her, maybe he even kept the truth secret from her, but she grew up, saw through it, decided that she didn't want to participate in the evil, and left.

At this point in the song, the phrase "the web I spin for you" seems to refer to something Webby made for her family's benefit, and based on the lyrics, it eventually became a curse for her. I saw someone mention the theory that Webby created the split timeline... and you know what? Maybe that is the web she made. A blessing, because nothing is ever permanent and nobody ever truly dies, but a curse, because she watches her brothers succeed again and again, and even when she wins, there's no guarantee that the people she helped will be happy. In fact, the episode this comes from has the only ending in the Hatchetfield universe---nobody dies, Hannah makes it out with Miss Holloway's help, Lex and Ethan get out of jail. And honestly... it hits harder that way, because I think there's enough evidence to suggest that The Witch In The Web is in the same timeline as Nightmare Time 2. And we all know how that ended.

"You used to keep me at your side / (Have you given that up? Have you given that up? Have you given that up?) / I suppose you'd have me empathize"

The way I'm interpreting it now, this could add fuel to the fire as to why the LiB resent Webby. Maybe back when she still believed in her family, she was her father's favorite. But something happened---maybe nothing more than the fact that she was kind---that changed all that. In the very next line, she says that the person she's singing about stabbed her in the back. Maybe she was lied to, maybe she was betrayed---whatever the reason, this could be why she left.

"Have you noticed that my trust has turned / You may have taught me, but now I've learned / I'll enjoy it as I watch you squirm / In the web I spin for you"

Here is where "the web I spin for you" shifts from being something Webby made to help to something she made to trap. The web she made---maybe it's the timeline, maybe it's something else---benefits nobody, but especially not the people who hurt her. She doesn't trust them anymore, so she's turned her web into something that can hurt them back.

"What's the point of giving love and trust for / I thought it something that was worth the fight for / And now I wonder what I worked so hard for / I even thought that I could give my life for you"

God. Damn. There's so much I can say, but the first thing that comes to mind is... poor Webby. Based on these lyrics alone, she has been hurt, she's been betrayed, she's likely been lied to or mislead about the purpose of what she was doing, and it's a miracle that she's still her loving and caring self. And speaking of which...

"I was the only one that loved and cared for / Have you noticed that I have it in for / As I grew older that I have no need for / The web I spin for you"

This one is actually pretty straightforward, and it lends credence to the theory that Webby truly is the only Queen in White---the only good entity in her family. The next line could either indicate that she's grown to the point where she's too powerful for the web she made, or she's outright rejecting her family and the purpose they gave her---either way, it's still cool.

"If I'm-a trust, I'm gonna trust in me / You may have taught me, but I'm now learning / All this time, I've been untangling / The web I spin for you"

And THIS RIGHT HERE is where the "gotta take it back, take it back" refrain all throughout the song makes sense. Webby is now attempting to undo her actions, now that she knows that she can't trust her family and that she's learning on her own. She's untangling the web she made, and in doing so, turning the tide.

"No doubt that if I drop dead / You'll find me tangled up / In the web I spin for you"

Full disclosure---I always have to look up those last two lyrics to know what they are, and they're very bone-chilling. My only thought to what this might mean is that... Webby's saying that the web she made might kill her. And she's either trying to guilt the person she's singing to, or she's furious at the fact that they made her create such a thing, and... yeah. I don't know what's more hard-hitting.

ANYWAYS, this song is supremely underrated

[imminent-danger-came]

continue being a little mean to toh fans please it is really irritating how some act like its got the best writing of any modern cartoon

Daawwwww I don't have it in me. TOH fans love it for a reason, and there are legitimately good moments! It's just not the most complex or well-written show out there—which it doesn't need to be—but I also totally get your exhaustion. It gets tiring seeing people praise it so highly over and over again when it's just like...fine. It didn't do nothing but it also didn't do something, you know? It's main couple is cute and queer, but that's pretty much all there is to them. It has a fun cast of characters, but they all tend to fall into archetypes. Luz is a sweet main character, but she doesn't have any real flaws and kinda takes a back seat to Hunter and Eda (the white people lol). Her foil with Philip was interesting...but then they kinda backed off and went the "you and Belos are nothing alike" direction.

((I'm also going to answer this anon with another: ))

And It's not that an unsympathetic villian is bad, or that Belos would even be sympathetic with added backstory, it's just that...there were a lot of interesting things to explore with his character that were left hanging.

Like, while he's definitely not at all a good person, it's intriguing that he would bother to recreate his brother over and over again knowing that each time the grimwalker was going to betray him. It's intriguing that he was even willing to kill his brother to begin with (though Caleb was super underutilized in general). Like, you can give a villain depth without justifying or victimizing them (hi Finnegran from tdp, I'll also add Spider Queen & LBD here). So it just feels like a missed opportunity all across the board. It's still surprising to me that we got a confirmation on the Wittebane backstory through an unrelated background character, rather than Philip himself (who had literally possessed a main character, and mindscapes had already been well-established....the pieces were all there me thinks).

And obviously it's like, people can love something despite it's flaws, and they can cherish it for the good it has, but they still don't need to praise it as an ultimate form of media, you know? We don't need to pretend toh was this dark and complex story—it was just a story a lot of people liked and resonated with. Which I'm glad it's there for those people, and I'm glad there are options when it comes to queer pieces of media!

That said the show with the best writing of any modern cartoon is The Dragon Prince (streaming on Netflix).

[aesterblaster]

Just saw a really clickbait-y youtube video that called Blue Lock fascist in its thumbnail and I will admit first and foremost that I didn't watch it and yes I've been informed that it isn't implying that Blue Lock is some fascistic propaganda but it still got me thinking so-

here's my rant/breakdown about the ways that Blue Lock is specifically anti-fascist

So first of all, popular animes and mangas having possibly fascist undertones is nothing new. I won't deny that there's a long history of Japan being a colonizer and commiting atrocities that are still brushed off or forgotten about to this day. And this does seep into some works that I personally choose to not engage with for exactly that reason. Miss me with trying to be an apologist for or glorifying real world war crimes- But Blue Lock specifically? I'd be extremely hard pressed to call it fascist.

Fascism is defined as an alt-right, ultra nationalistic political ideology usually characterized by a centralized autocracy, forced suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy and subordination of individual interests for the believed good of the nation or race according to Wikipedia. First let's go through the ways Blue Lock does match up with that.

Ego can be easily viewed as a dictator near the beginning of the manga

Most characters thrive on putting others down for their faults and strictly believe that there is some sort of natural order where people who lack "ego" are at the bottom

There is a sort of central autocracy with the top 6

Near the beginning especially, there is a violent snuffing out of any ideology that dares oppose egocentrism or the idea that you need to be a solid team to win a game

Now let's go through the ways Blue Lock denies and even goes against Fascism.

BLLK's main goal is to make a Japanese soccer team that can win a World Cup. In a more fascist manga, we would see racism ga-fucking-lore. We can see this in animes that have more right wing leaning undertones like Attack on Titan where when race is brought in it's for conflict. There's no possibility of harmony, only winners and losers. Those protected and those put down and punished.

And Blue Lock does have an extreme focus on who wins and who loses. It is not afraid to include racism against Japanese people like with Adam or portray black people in unsettling and kind of racist ways like Dada's original design. But these elements don't automatically spell fascism. Blue Lock is careful to portray characters of color as just that, characters. They don't exist to tell you about their lives of hardship and struggle and they don't exist to justify Ego's obessesion with creating a good Japanese team. As you read BLLK, you'll notice that the artist has taken care to get better at drawing different body types and facial structures. The character design isn't trying to sell some perfect ideal like fascism so famously does, it tells you a peak athlete doesn't have one distinct look. It tells you characters from other countries are just as if not more capable than the Blue Lock boys. Hell, even Sae's hatred of Japanese football is portrayed as less of a betrayal of country and pride and more of a cultural clash. The issue to be solved in Sae's character is the way he looks down on his brother, not how much he despises Japanese football teams' tactics. We know this because Ego himself rails against them too.

A fascist manga would paint Sae as a villain for even learning from and joining teams from other countries, lending them his talent instead of keeping it in his home country. But Blue Lock encourages diversification and collaberation with other nation's teams so heavily that it is literally an entire like 5 part arc right now. Ego isn't ultra nationalistic, he just wants to make a better soccer team for his country and he isn't afraid of praising and adopting from other countries in the process. The biggest win to come out of a Blue Lock team wouldn't be that they're all Japanese but that they all follow his ideology.

Speaking of his ideology, Ego is extremely harsh and controlling, yes, but he also believes in the boys. He lets them do what they believe is best. He pushes them to their limits, not because they disobey him, but because they dissapoint him. A true fascist dictator would rule with fear with no introductions of other ideologies, he would strike at any sign of weakness or opposition. At the beginning, he does do this. But as the manga goes on we see how much wiggle room he's willing to allow. He lets Isagi curse at him and question his leadership, he lets Shidou play even though he's clearly queer and extremely volatile, he doesn't punish any of the boys for injuring each other. In a fascist society, you are expected to fit an ideal or be othered, be perfect and work together with a sense of comradere because that's the only way to prove your claims that you are the best race/nation. There can be no imperfections or cracks in the facade...But Ego lets the boys be messy. He never forces them to change who they are, only forces them to believe that they can do great things all on their own. Even with Kunigami, Wild Card wasn't a correction of his disbelief in some nation or race, but instead a correction of how limited his mindset was. In fact, in a more fascist society, Kunigami's love of playing hero and protecting his teammates would be praised and celebrated. Ego putting individuality and aspiration over the good of the team as a whole is literally a middle finger to fascism.

The villain of the series is literally a greedy Japanese man that wants to commercialize the team and make them less individualized. I don't know how much more anti-fascist you could get-

Also, Blue Lock handles disability very carefully and very well. In more alt-right ideologies than not, something you'll see again and again is this idea that disabled people don't deserve the same rights because they can't contribute to society. Disabled people are a stain to be pushed away and hidden because they contradict the central idea of a "perfect" nation. In a fascist retelling of BLLK, Chigiri would be kicked from the program, not given power and influence. In a fascist retelling of BLLK, Kenyu would be attacked and beaten as soon as it was discovered that he made it into the top-six with failing eyesight. Any physical disadvantage could easily put an athlete at the bottom of the social hierarchy as well, Blue Lock could have very very easily made fun of its disabled characters for even trying. It could get away with mistreating these players and be defended for it so fucking quickly. But instead, it lets you root for them and gives them just as much care and weight as the others. It's trying to tell you that being a good player sometimes means knowing your limits and getting help, not punishing yourself because you have some biological disadvantage. It also takes care to demonstrate that no race is inherently worse at soccer than the other.

And, of course, the elephant in the room, Noa and Kaiser. Okay...if you see German characters and immediately think OMG NAZIS??OMG FASCISM?????OMGGGG HE HAS BLONDE HAIR???AND BLUE EYES?? That's a fucking you problem and you clearly aren't reading the manga. Even Noa Noel being an older man and still being allowed to play and looked up to as the best is an example of how Blue Lock goes against steriotypes about athletes. Kaiser does have blonde hair and blue eyes yes, but he also wears eyeliner and eyeshadow and has a tattoo and dyed hair... None of that would be allowed in an actually fascist Japanese manga unless it was as caricature to make fun of and dominate. But instead, Kaiser is an actual threat who has complex arcs and behaviors. Also, Kaiser isn't fascist himself, he clearly views Isagi as an equal even though they're different nationalities and he doesn't believe in any one authority or greater cause except for himself. Noa is very strict yes, and he does rank and rate the boys, but he specifically doesn't factor race into it. He also, just like Ego, allows other ideas and patterns to emerge even if they mess up his own plans for matches. He doesn't suppress anyone and is actually extremely lax. If you think he or BLLK is "fascist", look at actual real world sports teams and their strict practices or past statements about other nationalities.

Isagi as a protaganist is anti-fascist too!!!! He's a Japanese everyman who has good Japanese parents, no disabilities, an honest personality and believes in a future where Japan wins the World Cup. In a fascist story, he'd be fucking untouchable (ESPECIALLY against characters from other countries) and all of this would be paraded as proof that a Japanese soccer team is clearly superior and all-dominating. But no! He gets beat down, questioned, disrespected and constantly shown up by others. He's not special and he's extremely self-centered. He doesn't water his own beliefs down for the "good of the nation" or whatever the fuck and he grew up idolizing foreign players. Isagi never supresses other people's ideologies, he just makes fun of them if they fuck up. He's never xenophobic, even when other characters have moments that have xenophobic undertoens like Adam or Sae's comments. Isagi Yoichi's character could have a few traits flipped and be a poster boy for some alt-right manga about how superior Japanese people or hell, Ego's pupils are. But he doesn't. He's simply designed and he's rude and he looks down on people, but he also apologizes, humbly accepts when he can improve by questioning his own ideals and is open to talking with everyone he comes across.

Calling Blue Lock a "fascist soccer manga" is not only demonstrating that you have no idea what fascism is, but also disgustingly painting over all the beautiful themes and messages within the manga.

Again I'm aware that that original video wasn't aiming to negate any of these points but I have seen people make claims and jokes before that about Blue Lock's more *beat it into your head* tendencies with ideology. And I've seen jokes specifically about the German team/the way Sae seems to just hate Japanese culture. I just dislike the painting of Blue Lock as a jumping point for discussions about fascism and its effects because of the way it handles themes like cross cultural connection, family pressures, capitalism and disability so carefully.

[lykaios2]

Heya hope you're having a good day/night ^^ if you're requests are still open I had a rottmnt Leo x reader fanfic idea. (No pressure to accept this request if you don't want to)

Basically the reader is a spider person (fem or gender neutral it's up to you ^^) and Leo has a crush on them. I like the idea that maybe they cross paths when fighting a villian. Sorry if that's too unspecific.

ugh. holy moly

for some reason I really struggled with this one. there are many things I could say about this but I'm just going to leave it here for you. hope it doesn't suck

(the title is supposed to be joke about how spider people get their superpowers hahahaha I'm so funny)

Love at First Bite

rise leo x reader

tw: mid writing

word count: 2816

Leo was racing to the scene of the crime. He had only gotten the call a minute ago, and he was thankfully ready, already on patrol. As he turned the corner, he saw the culprit. Him again. Leo didn’t want to have to deal with this guy again…but maybe he didn’t have to? It appeared that someone had arrived before him…but who? He couldn’t recognize them, he didn’t think it was anyone he knew. But if they were here, they must be some sort of superhero, and he knew every superhero there was in New York. And your fighting style…so eloquent, like nothing he’d ever seen before. He had to know who you were.

He jumped to your side to help you take down the villain. As the police arrived on the scene to apprehend the villain, Leo walked over to where you were.

“That’s quite the skill set you’ve got on you, stranger. I’m Leonardo, nice to meet you.” He held out his hand to shake.

“Oh, thank you,” you replied, a bit out of breath. “I could say the same to you. I’m y/n.”

“Well, y/n, you’re looking at the greatest ninja on this side of New York. And the other side too. Now, see, I know every superhero there is in New York, but I don’t believe I’ve seen you around here before.”

“Oh, you could say I’m new here. I moved here about a month ago, but this is one of my first missions here.”

“I see. Well, y/n, welcome to New York. I’ve lived here my entire life, so I know this place like the back of my hand.”

“Thank you, and yeah, I could imagine you do.”

“You know, that’s quite the costume you’ve got there. It’s like…a spider?”

“Yeah, that’s supposed to be the theme.”

“Okay, interesting. Any particular reason?”

“Well, not much, it’s just kind of the theme of my organization.”

“Ah, okay. Cool beans.”

“For sure. Well, I’ll be off now, I have to head back. See you around, Leonardo.”

“See you around, y/n. Just remember me if you ever need help!” He said, waving to you from afar. He heard you laugh as you walked away.

A new hero, huh? He was certainly going to have to get to know you now. If he didn’t know you, how could he even consider himself the greatest ninja ever? Like he said, he knew every superhero in New York. Besides, there was just something about you…but he couldn’t quite place it. But, he had realized he didn’t know when he would actually see you again. He would just have to hope he could meet you…

“Donnie! I need your help!” Leo called to Donnie as he entered the lair. “I’m being for real this time.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. What is it you need?”

“This may sound like a strange request, but I need you to do a bit of…non-malicious stalking for me.”

“Oh, my dearest brother, you came to the right person. You have no idea how excited I am to do this for you. And you ask me this like you don’t know I place trackers on you all.”

“I always forget about those. Anyway, you can do this for me? Great.”

“Now, brother, who, perhaps, might we be stalking?”

Leo explained his situation, how he had met you, how you had just moved to New York.

“And I need to get to know them…I know everyone, all the superheroes in New York. It’s part of my job as the greatest ninja in New York.”

“Well, you are indeed the face man. I’ll see what I can do. Give me say, an hour?”

“Okay, I’ll be back here then.”

Leo acted calm while talking to Donnie, but in reality, he was a little nervous. He hadn’t quite realized, but he was becoming very focused on this. A little too focused, maybe. He sat in his room, waiting, staring at the clock. 10 minutes, then 20, then 30. He was so focused on the clock, he hadn’t even noticed that Donnie was in his doorway.

“Leo…?”

“Yeah? Wait- Donnie? What are you doing?”

“I could ask you the same question. You’re staring at the clock, and it looks rather unsettling.”

“Well, I was just, you know, waiting for you to finish up. Anyways, what are you doing here? Did you finish?”

“Well, I had to use the restroom, so I got up to do so…have you been sitting here looking at the clock the whole time?”

“Uhh…yeah, I guess.”

“Right, because that’s a normal thing to do. Is something the matter?”

“I think I’m just…a little too fixated on this, I think. I probably just need to take my mind off of this.”

“Why don’t you do that, hm? I’m going to try and finish this up.”

Leo left his room to find Mikey or Raph. It didn’t matter to him, he just needed to get his mind off of things.

Donnie came to find Leo a short time later. He informed Leo he had found the information he wanted.

“So, they moved here from Arizona, it seems. They have two siblings, a brother and a sister.”

“Okay, okay. What else?”

“Well, as for their interests, those include video games, stargazing, reading, among other things.”

“Hmm, okay…thank you. Although one more thing, did you happen to notice any spots they liked to hang out?”

“Uh…they posted a lot of pictures of them at the park. You could try there.”

Leo nodded and thanked Donnie before heading off to the park.

“Wait, Leo, do you even know exactly who you’re- Oh, he’s gone. Well, I don’t even know what his plan is at this point.”

Leo rushed off to the park to find you. He made an effort to look everywhere he could think, all the popular spots and the hidden ones, too. It was a fairly big park, so he had plenty of spots to look. Nothing here, nothing there. All the while, you had indeed been at the park. Every so often, you thought you saw a quick flash of blue out of the corner of your eye.

“Man…I must be seeing things.”

Leo kept looking, but he couldn't find you. After all, he didn’t know what you looked like under the mask. He would just have to hope he ran into you. But he wouldn’t have to wait long. Before he could search every corner of the park, a huge crash came from a couple blocks away, followed by screaming. Leo stopped immediately.

“Woah, we got a problem.”

Leo pulled out his communicator and called his brothers to the scene. At the same time, unknown to him, you pulled down your mask, hearing the commotion and getting ready for action.

All of you rushed over as fast as you could. As Leo met up with brothers, he was unaware that you were shortly behind you. Leo and his brothers started to fight, and to his surprise you joined them.

“Oh, it’s Leonardo! And…some other heroes? I guess I’ll find out in a second.”

Mikey and Raph noticed you first.

“Who is that? Never seen them before.”

“Me neither, but it looks like they’re on our side. So fight now, talk later.”

Leo heard them and looked around, finally finding you.

“Guys, it’s them!”

“Who is “them”?”

“I’ll explain in a second, I’m a little busy here.”

Leonardo, along with you and his brothers, eventually stopped the ruckus, and was able to finally talk to you again.

“Hi y/n! Fancy meeting you here again.” Leo was breathing quickly, trying to catch his breath after the fight.

“Yeah…who are they?” You said, looking over at his brothers.

“Those are my brothers. Let me introduce you. This is Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello.”

“Hi, I’m y/n, as you may have already guessed.” Mikey was the first to speak up.

“Hello! So, how do you know Leo?”

“Well, we met not too long ago. Only once though, I had to leave before we could really get to know each other too much. All I know about him is that he’s a fellow superhero, and the greatest ninja in New York.”

“You know it!”

Leo talked for a while longer with you, getting to know you. Thanks to all the info Donnie gathered, Leo was able to hit it off with you. His brother stood behind him while he talked, occasionally chiming into the conversation. But in the meantime, Mikey and Raph started their own conversation.

“You know…I think Leo might have a little thing for y/n…if you know what I mean.”

“Omigosh, you’re so right!”

“Hey, chill. Don’t want ‘em hearing us.”

“Right, right, sorry. But that’s so adorable. I think they would make a good couple. But also it’s a little early to say, they only just met. But Leo totally has a thing for them.”

Leo kept talking with you, as his brothers stood behind him.Donnie left after some time, realizing he was no longer needed in this conversation. Mikey and Raph followed suit shortly after, and it was just Leo and you.

“Well, now that it’s just us…wanna go have some fun?”

“Ew, gross, no.”

“Chill, not like that. You have such a dirty mind.” he said while smirking.

“You’re stupid, you know that?”

“I get that a lot. Anyway, do you actually want to go do something?”

“Maybe. If I can get over your sense of humor.”

“Fine, I’m sorry. Really. Does that help?”

“I guess. But, there was this one place I wanted to check out…”

“Oh? Would you mind if I joined you on this little excursion?”

“Promise me no more of those jokes, and I’ll allow it.”

“Okay, okay. But I can’t promise I’ll stop all of my jokes.”

“Well, if you are joining me, I hope you’re hungry.”

Leo was led to a new restaurant, which he had never seen before. On the way there, he was becoming a little suspicious, as the area he was being led through was an area known for high amounts of crime. But when he got there, he was in awe. He never knew about this, so how did you? Every moment he spent with you, he was becoming more amazed. He…he could almost say he loved you. But he just met you, it wasn’t anything serious. So it couldn’t be love…right?

“Come on, Leonardo. Let’s go in.”

Right. Focus on what’s happening right now.

“O-okay, coming.”

Leo followed you into the restaurant. As he looked around, he took in everything. It was definitely a nicer restaurant. The atmosphere was very calm, but also busy.

“Woah…nice place. You’ve never been here?”

“Nope, first time.”

“Hello, have you two been helped yet?”

“No, we just arrived.”

“Ah, okay. If it’s just the two of you, we have a table open right this way. Follow me.”

You and Leo followed the waiter to a table in the back. As you sat down, he handed you some menus to choose from.

“Take your time. I’ll have someone sent out in a minute to check up.”

“Thank you. Good thing I have my wallet on me, I would hate to have to make you pay. Let’s see what we have to eat…”

“Yeah, this place is a little pricey. But I’ve heard it’s really good, and worth the price.”

“It better be…ooh, they have pizza? You already know I’m ordering that.”

“Pizza? I mean, sure.”

“Pizza’s my all time favorite. If it’s on the menu, I’m gonna order it.”

“Be my guest. I’m just gonna get the chicken sandwich.”

Another waiter walked up to the table.

“Hi, I’ll be your waiter for tonight. Are we ready to order?”

You and Leo ordered food, and after a bit more waiting, the food came and you began to eat.

“Mmm…this is so good. I might have to bring my brothers here sometime, they would love this place.”

“They are also big pizza fans, I assume?”

“Oh yeah, absolutely.”

“Your brothers seemed pretty nice.”

“Eh, they can be a little annoying at times…but we’ve been through a lot together. I love them very dearly.”

“Yeah…must be nice. I didn’t get along too well with my siblings, and I had to move away from my family when I took up this position.”

“Oh…that must have been hard.”

“It was…but I got over it. I’d rather not think about it.”

“Hmm…yeah. Well, I’m done with my food. You wanna head out?”

“Sure. I’ve been done with my food for a while now, anyway.”

You and Leo left the restaurant, thanking the staff on the way out. Leo decided to lead you around New York, showing you all of his favorite spots. All the shortcuts he knew, his favorite hangout spots, good places to eat.

“Wow, you sure know about everything.”

“When you’ve lived here your entire life, it becomes second nature.”

Leo showed you around a few more spots before stopping on top of a building near the edge of the city. It was nearly night time, and the city lights were starting to turn on.

“Wow, the city looks so beautiful at night.” Leo smiled.

“Just one of the cool things about living here. Sometimes I come here alone, when I need to relax.”

“I can see why. It’s very relaxing up here.”

Leo watched as you sat and looked over the city at the lights. You looked so cute, in awe like that. Maybe he did love you. Maybe it was love at first sight, but he doubted it was the same way for you. Sure, he was amazing in every way possible. But things like this took time.

“Leo? Leo!”

“Hm? What?”

“You spaced out for a second, dude. Look at the sunset. And the stars are starting to come out, too.”

The sunset looked incredible, and with stars sprinkled about the night sky, it was even better.

“Woah…so beautiful.”

You both quietly watched as the sun went down over the horizon. The stars started to come out, and soon it was nighttime. Leo looked over at you again as you yawned and laid down on the roof.

“Tired?”

“Heh, a little. I could use a little extra sleep anyway.”

“Want me to take you home?”

“No, I want to stay here…and look at the stars.”

“Well, the roof can’t be comfortable for sleeping on.”

“You’re right. I think this would work better.”

Leo was taken aback as you came over and laid your head on his lap. He blushed slightly, but luckily for him, it was too dark to see.

“Much better.”

“Y-you comfortable there?”

“Yes, very much so.”

Leo sat as still as he could to make sure you were comfortable. He didn’t want to ruin this moment. It was perfect for him. He looked up at the stars with you. They were truly a sight to see.

“What are you doing, stupid?”

Leo hadn’t noticed, but his hand had started to drift towards your head. He was too caught up in making sure everything was perfect that he didn’t realize.

“Oh sorry, I was just…um…”

“Just…um…what?”

“Well…sometimes my brothers lay on my lap, and…they like it when I rub their heads…so I guess it was just like instinct, or something…”

“Well, keep doing it. It felt nice.”

Leo chuckled as he kept rubbing your head.

“Heh, okay.”

Leo laid back a little bit while you both continued to look up at the stars. He was so comfortable with you…he could almost just let it all out right now. He was in love with you and there was no denying it.

“Hey y/n…”

“Hm? What’s up, Leonardo?”

“Can I tell you something?”

“As long as it’s not another stupid joke.”

“Haha, no, it’s not. It’s something else…”

“Then what is it?”

“Well…um…I’ve had a great time with you tonight. And I know we’re not very close…but I think I like you.”

“I mean, cool. Good to know you don’t hate me.”

“I don’t think you understand.”

“What don’t I understand? You just said you- oh.”

Leo looked away as you realized what he meant. He was blushing again, but you couldn’t see it.

“Well…I think that’s okay.”

“Okay? What do you mean, okay?”

“Well…you’re pretty cool. Despite your stupid jokes, you’re actually pretty funny. And I’ve seen you fight before, sometimes I just sit back and watch you guys if I get there late. You’re a pretty nice guy. I like you too.”

Leo smiled as you told him how you felt. It was a relief to hear. After a second of silence, he spoke again.

“Well, now what?”

“Hmm…I think I’d like to relax and watch the stars with my boyfriend. That would be nice.”

“Your boyfriend?”

“Ugh, you’re so stupid. You, silly.”

Leo laughed awkwardly. Right, him.

[kitkatopinions]

Do you ever look at a rwby character that's training to be or already is a badge carrying law enforcement officer in canon and think to yourself "damn, I wouldn't trust this person to be a waterpark attendant, I wouldn't trust this person to hold my place in a line so I could use the bathroom, if this person offered me a car ride home so I didn't have to walk I would turn them down because I don't trust them to do that."

Because I do. And somehow the fact that they might not make the best hunters is something that's not ever even really talked about in the show, at all.

Yang? Joined the Hunter academies for the thrills, had a wildly out of control temper and tbh still does, showed some anti-faunus discrimination leading Blake around with a laser pointer, and these days responds to conflicts by launching into fight mode and wanting to solve things through violence, plus doesn't seem interested in working if it's boring if her reaction to Jaune's to-do list and her exasperation through V9 is anything to go by. And she's completely rejecting any and all opportunity to recognize flaws and grow as a person atm, and seems to think admitting flaws or rethinking your past choices is villainous behavior based on her 'that's what Ironwood thought' shut down when Ruby started questioning herself and her treatment of Ren.

Weiss? Starts out as a raging anti-faunus bigot suggesting they call the police on Blake and comparing Faunus to trash cans, idolizes her 'hero' grandfather despite the fact that he was a capitalistic billionare who (iirc) tried to strip Vacuo of its resources and built the SDC into the fabric of society. Recently, she pointed what was essentially a loaded gun in the face of an underage auraless civilian because he didn't immediately spring out of the way and let her enter his house - and no, him being her brother doesn't mean that was okay. She also doesn't actually seem concerned with doing actual work if it isn't super big and important and flashy.

Jaune? He wasn't even sort of ready to enter Beacon when he did. He cheated his way in when he didn't even know what aura was, and the only reason he didn't die was because of Pyrrha saving his ass and trying to train him, and even then, he was leagues behind the others and the only reason Cinder didn't murder him at Haven was author-plot armor. But now that he's got twenty some years of work under his belt (which I still really resent) he's also doing things like calling clearly sentient people stupid and treating them like five year olds, and yelling in the face of a seventeen year old that she's responsible for plans he had just as much of a hand in as she did and victim blaming her for being attacked by an evil villain who was trying to murder her.

(To be clear, for the above three characters, I'm not saying 'they point blank should not ever have been hunters because of their traits and/or flaws and/or flawed motivations, I'm just saying that I would've wanted there to be more of themselves and others questioning it and them working on their flaws specifically and squaring away some of their more selfish motivations before becoming law enforcement officers with badges.)

COCO? She likes being feared, her friends lovingly describe her as sadistic, she thinks letting teammates have a say is a sign of a weak leader, she's judgmental towards people from Vacuo, she gives strong anti-Faunus vibes and it's treated like it's okay because she's friends with Velvet, she tells Velvet NOT to fight when Grimm are bursting into Vale in V2 and then leisurely takes her time fighting one Grimm because she apparently can't be bothered to care when civilian's lives are on the line, she makes snap judgements about people for no reason, and also she's a big old hypocrite, and defies authority carelessly.

CARDIN?!?! You would think they would've at least addressed CARDIN properly, as a real actual significant problem, since he was a future badge carrying law enforcement officer who also targeted minorities, and tried to blackmail people, and gave off strong misogynist vibes, and liked knocking around his own teammates when they got in his way. Like???? The only thing we know changed in Cardin's behavior was that he was leaving Jaune and Jaune's friends alone because Jaune had 'stood up to him.' The writers didn't think that it was important that we as an audience got to see him either get hardcore checked and start being not that way, or get expelled and restricted from continuing on as a Hunter due to his behavior? We're just supposed to be like 'oh well, there's Cardin the anti-faunus power play loving blackmailer training to be a hunter, but that doesn't matter because the writers only cared about him to bully Jaune so who cares about him now?'

I'd like to actually engage with this story! I'd like to actually have the story of rwby discuss what being a hunter means and how some of these characters aren't well suited currently to be hunters. The writers have no interest in actually making their characters good Hunters or figuring out what being a 'good hunter' even means (case in point, V9,) and instead just expect everyone to be on board with absolutely no reflection. Why should I think Weiss deserves her hunter badge again? Why should I think Jaune deserves his hunter badge? I don't currently think they should be hunters because I feel like they haven't even thought about if they really want it or would be good at it. Because ever since V2, it's just been a foregone conclusion to the writers that the mains (all dropouts in their first year) are Hunters and deserve it and will be great at it, but they've never actually bothered to convince me of it with some of these characters. They expected their audience to just think it too, and shrug and accept it, and they now refuse to engage with the flaws their characters have either or whether or not their traits are well suited to the task of being a badge carrying law enforcement officer, so... Yeah. I wish that the show challenged the 'of course they're all destined to be hunters' thing.

[nerves-nebula]

Knowing that he has memory problems does neglected Raph struggle to trust his own judgment?

Like not even just for things gaps in memories makes sense to hinder. I’m talking even when he knows stuff or when memory doesn’t factor in at all, he knows he can’t trust his mind on some things so he struggles to trust it at all

If so, does he ever recover from all that?

(Side note: it’d be super interesting to see them face a villain like Mother May-Eye from Teen Titans 2003)

here's the thing about raph, Raph doesn't trust ppl other than his brothers, april, and casey, so he wouldn't let someone else fact check him, but that doesn't mean he doesn't doubt his own memories. especially since Donnie has rambled at length about how fallible memories are.

There more than a few times where Raph has a memory of something, but Splinter kind of tweaks it or implies it was just ever so slightly different in away that changes things. and if Raph is like "wait that's not what happened" Splinter would imply he doesn't know what he's talking about. never calling him crazy outright, just saying he's remembering it wrong. but isn't it kind of weird that, for some reason, Raph's memory is always "wrong" in a way that benefits Splinter? (Mom Reference)

so anyway, Raph doesn't like being told he remembered something wrong cuz of that, so that's why he only lets his close friends check him and might get aggro if someone he doesn't know well casually implies he's remembering something wrong. (this includes stuff as small as someone saying "i think you remembered this wrong" or "that's not what I remember" even just really small stuff like that can trigger him)

But his defensiveness is just because he does genuinely worry that since he forgets things so much, there's a chance the solid memories he DOES have aren't real. and if that's true then like what is he even doing, right? like how can he be a person in a meaningful way if the things his internal experiences and emotions are based on aren't real? That's what he thinks, at least.

i watched the mother may-eye episode to answer this ask so im gonna address that under the cut now:

I forgot how good the teen titans theme song is. also i forgot about the hive five they're are so fucking cool i wish i was every character in this show wtf. also why that guy sexually harass starfire. kinda like that starfire appears to swear all the damn time but since it's alien swears no one cares.

and the DAY is SAVED by the power of THATS NOT HOW CONCUSSIONS WORKS <3 my favorite storytelling technique tbh. just hit 'em on the head i'm sure it'll work out fine.

SLUR in early 2000's children media: OBSERVED.

really fucked up that they gave it to the Hive Five not knowing if they were gonna escape or get baked or anything. that's. wild.

there's something about a villain who forcibly makes you regress to a childlike state in order to manipulate you that is so fucking uncomfortable, oh my god. especially when they use, like, overly cutesy language. if i did something like that to the neglected gang it would be really gross. so i might do that later then, idk.