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monstergoblin · 1 year

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The Owl Pirates

Posted First On A03 Here It’ll be updated there first and might take me a bit to get to updating it here as I always seem to forget about my tumblr. <3

Summary:

Eda and Lilith were helping Willow back on board as she was the one who jumped in to save the person. The boy with blonde hair wasn’t anyone Luz knew, and she hadn’t spotted anything nearby of a shipwreck or an island. Was the boy even alive?

Luz darted towards Willow quickly offering a hand, even though Eda and Lilith had had it.

“Who is he?” Luz asked dumbly as she stared at the unconscious boy. She knew no one should know the answer, but someone did.

“He’s with the navy.” Lilith pointed out as she backed off from the boy now that WIllow and Luz were carrying him.

“Aw he’s just a little scamp though.” Eda shrugged. “I’m sure we can bring him around.”

“He may be missing his badge, Edalyn.” Lilith's voice was quiet and calm. “But this is Belos nephew.”

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An owl house pirate au because that's my favorite type of trope.

Trigger warnings Always read safe: Depression, Suicidal thoughts, Pushing down feelings, Overworking self to ignore feelings, Child Abuse (Belos is a bitch okay), Gaslighting, Self Gaslighting, Manipulation, Injuries

Notes: I’ll try my best to updated the trigger warnings as this goes on. Once again its more up to date on A03, Also Tumblr killed my formatting so there might be differences in that or mistakes.

Disclaimer: There's a high probability of plot holes. Some characters may be ooc as 1 im not the best writer, 2 Im not editing 3 In my head in this au lots of different events have happened so characters are meeting at different points in their arcs. I also don’t know shit about boats man I only know one or two things from reading other pirate fics but im going off small google searches.

One more thing most of this is written when I am very sleep deprived enjoy the typos!

Chapter 1: It's bad luck to find a navy boy in the water

She was almost to the top, where she could perch and no one would notice her unless they looked straight up. If she pushed forward she’d make it.

She climbed higher up the ships ropes - daring to see if she could make it to the very top. She had many times before but doing so without being caught was the trick. Sure, the crows nest was a perfect place to see everything but where was the fun in that. Luz wanted to chase this exciting feeling everytime she climbed. Just to see above it all.

“Man overboard!” one of the crewmates' voices hollered from below causing Luz to forget her little adventure entirely.

Someone overboard was much more exciting. She slid her way down the ropes and swung until she landed down close enough to see what was happening or if she was needed. She was so ready to see who fell off the ship and how, but it wasn’t quite what she thought it would be.

Wind rushed around Luzs head making her short hair fluff up in the most comforting - yet messy way. From up here the ocean waves blocked out the noises of the crew. Not that Luz didn’t love her crewmates- it was just nice to have a place so out of reach to escape to.

Was the boy even alive?

Luz darted towards Willow quickly offering a hand, even though Eda and Lilith had had it.

“Who is he?” Luz asked dumbly as she stared at the unconscious boy. She knew no one should know the answer, but someone did.

“He’s with the navy.” Lilith pointed out as she backed off from the boy now that WIllow and Luz were carrying him.

“Aw he’s just a little scamp though.” Eda shrugged. “I’m sure we can bring him around.”

“He may be missing his badge, Edalyn.” Lilith's voice was quiet and calm. “But this is Belos nephew.”

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Overtime one learns to accept defeat.

Knowing death is coming for you and there is nothing you can do to stop it.

His limbs were tired, his chest hurt and he just couldn’t will his body to obey.

Though even if he could move, he probably wouldn’t.

It was a cruel joke that fate would not even allow him death.

Someone was carrying him, or holding him? His senses weren’t working right but something was wrong he just knew. He wasn’t where he was supposed to be, he was supposed to be dead.

“He’s got scars on his face.” A loud voice remarked, he could almost make out the feeling of someone holding his chin, moving his head. Though that could just be the swaying of the world.

“He was the youngest navy officer, of course he’s going to have scars.” Another voice responded, this one older, female, more mature. Somehow it was familiar but Hunter couldn’t place where.

“He looks kinda funny.” A young male voice chirped but then let out a little squeak of surprise.

“Be a little nicer.” This voice is an older male, friendly, soft. “Lay him on the bed girls.”

There was a response from the loud one, but he couldn’t make it out as the voices all started to collide with each other. Then it was silent.

It was too hot. The heaviness of whatever thing was on him was too hot. Despite his body's protests Hunter tried to force the heavy thing off of him, but it wouldn’t budge. The heat of it was going to kill him, he needed to breathe.

A large hand found his arm and Hunter froze. The soft male voice said something but Hunter couldn’t make it out. The arm was holding him but it wasn’t in a hard cruel way so he must not have done something wrong.

“Ha-ha-hot” His mouth wasn’t working properly neither were his eyes. He didn’t know when he’d open them but everything was so dark, and wobbly.

“You need to keep it on.” The voice responded and Hunter knew better than to disobey. Knew that he was entirely too tired to fight back anyway. So he nodded his head which came out as more of his head was just turning slightly.

“Shouldn’t he feel cold?” The chirping young voice asked.

The soft voice explained to the younger one something, but Hunter had closed his eyes, and they were too heavy to open now.

His body was heavier than ever. He just wanted to stay in the soft blanket that engulfed him, and sleep forever. Even if he wanted that his morning routine wouldn’t allow it. As he was about to wake his eyes to open, the events of the last few days replayed in his head.

He didn’t have morning duties to attend to anymore.

Hunter sat up pushing the blanket off of him with ease and took in the sight of his surroundings. The cabin had a set of bunks, a table covered in supplies and cabinets. It was a poor excuse for a medical cabin. From the lack of navy banners in the room, Hunter could guess this would not be a navy ship.

A navy ship would’ve left him to die after all. Like he should’ve.

The door of the cabin swung open and a short boy wearing a yellow bandana around his head came stumbling in carrying far too many towels and bottles in his arms. The boy didn’t notice Hunter sitting up as he came in. He was too busy putting the items down on the desk to even turn his direction. He was muttering something about a stupid Gus under his breath as he sorted out the towels from the bottles.

Only then did he seem to notice Hunter's presence. He stared wildly at the other boy for a few moments before darting out in a panic.

“Steve!” He screamed as he pounded away.

Hunter didn’t know why he stayed in the bed. He should get up, he should walk out the open cabin door, he should fight for his life and escape. So why didn’t he want to.

It wasn’t very long before the scrawny boy returned with a man. The man was a lot less distressed by Hunters awakening than the boy. He closed the door and gently approached the bed taking a seat.

“Are you feeling better?” He asked simply, holding his hand up to Hunters head.

Hunter reflexively flinched back from the hand, but the man didn’t comment, only gave a soft smile.

“When you feel like talking Ill bring Eda in.” The man explained. “Just let me know.”

Why wait? Why not bring her in now?

Get his death over with.

“Shouldn’t we tell Eda now?” The boy asked.

Well technically yes,” The man shrugged and patted the boy's head. “But with near death experiences, his mental state might need that few extra minutes.”

“She’ll be mad if we don’t tell her.” The boy argued.

“We’ll still tell her, just in a few minutes.” The man smiled. “She doesn’t need to know we took our time.” he got off the bed giving Hunter some space and took a chair near the desk instead.

“You know Luz probably heard me already.” The boy turned to the door, which had been closed before but was now open with just a crack. As if the door knew it was being stared at the crack closed.

The man clicked his tongue. “Okay so you wont be getting those few extra minutes then. Matt, can you buy him some time at least.”

“What do I get out of it?” The boy held his head high with a smirk.

The man sighed. “We can figure that out later, just stall her please.”

“I’m holding this favor over your head!” Matt sang as he darted out the door.

Silence overcame the room as the boy ran out. Hunter simply watched it happen.

Buying him time? That seemed stupid. He didn’t need time. He was already far out of time. Why wasn’t he dead? Why didn’t they just leave him?

The burning feeling of being watched made Hunter stop staring at the door. Blue eyes were staring at him, not in the harsh judgemental way, but in a soft curious way. What was he supposed to do? With Judgemental eyes he at least knew how to act. This kindness was unusual for a stranger.

The man didn’t say anything, only watched. He had fluffy hair that was tied up into a ponytail. His cream shirt was barely visible underneath the black coat and many bottles and pouches across he wore, with black pants and boots. It was obvious what this man was, a pirate.

So why did he look vaguely familiar? As if Hunter should know who he’s looking at.

“Do you remember what happened?” The man asked after a long while of staring.

That’s when Hunter looked away, instead choosing to stare back at the door.

“Eda’s gonna demand answers.” The man sighed out. “Just be ready for some yelling.”

Hunter kept his gaze on the door. When he was younger the thought of being stuck on a pirate ship was terrifying. Now he didn’t really feel anything waiting for his impending doom.

“I won’t let her do anything stupid, so don’t be scared.” The man was attempting to comfort but Hunter didn’t need that. “You’re not in danger here.”

Not in danger? That’s a silly thought. Hunter spent his whole life in danger. Empty words weren’t going to change that.

“You’re not gonna talk to me are ya.” The man leaned back in his chair. “Good luck kiddo.”

Good luck?

Hunter never had good luck.

He didn’t want luck.

The silence wasn’t unbearable, just long. Time was passing dreadfully slow and the man didn’t seem to be in a talking mood anymore.

Or maybe just gave up on talking to Hunter.

The door opened with a loud thud and an older woman stormed in. She stopped in front of the bed and stared down at Hunter. Edalyn Clawthorn the owl lady. Captain of the Talon.

The pirate who haunted Hunters dreams not but a week ago. Who if Hunter had met before, he would’ve trembled.

Instead he could only stare at her. Couldn’t bring his mouth to move to form the words that were caught in his throat.

She looked just like her posters, dressed head to toe in red. Boots decorated in golden buttons, long overcoat embroidered an owl design, her hat sitting upon her mess of gray hair. With yellow eyes glaring down at him.

“I know who you are, Hunter.” She started with a bite to her voice. “You’re Belos’ dog, and you were assigned the IvyThorn under the captain Terra.”

None of that mattered anymore. Just get it over with.

“There was a prisoner aboard that ship.” Eda snapped. “Raine Whispers, heading to their execution. Where are they?”

Hunter couldn’t bring himself to care about any of that anymore.

Eda grabbed Hunters shirt collar and pulled him up off the bed. It should’ve hurt, it should’ve been scary.

“Where is Raine?” Eda demanded, but when Hunter only met her angry eyes instead of responding she tossed him back down on the bed pulling her blade from her belt. “You better talk boy! Unless you want me to kill you here and now!”

“Eda-” The man at the desk started- like he promised he would.

“Just do it.” Hunter interrupted, his voice sounding much weaker than he intended.

That caused Eda to pause, her temper fading for a moment as she looked down at Hunter. He did not meet her gaze, only stared at a wall.

“You want me to kill you?” Eda repeated in a quiet disbelief.

“Yes,” Hunters voice broke and his gaze started to get hazy. “Kill me.” His eyes meet Edas now, “I should be dead already, so just kill me.”

“You want to die?”

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It was heartbreaking to hear such a small thing say something like that. To long for death over talking to a pirate. It wasn’t an honorable death as the navy had taught them, it wasn’t right.

Though as Eda stared down at the child facing her with such a broken expression asking for death. She could tell this wasn't what the child thought dying was. He didn’t view it as an honor. If he did he wouldn’t be crying.

This kid was so young, just like most of her crew. He was older than most of her kids but still, he was just a child. A broken child, who should be grateful his life was saved, but instead claimed he should be dead.

He wasn’t in an accident. Someone tossed him overboard.

Eda put her blade away with a sigh. This is why everyone started calling her soft. She’d be wrong to deny it at this point. At least she wasn’t a cold blooded monster.

“Look kid.” She put her hands on her hips looking down at the boy who was still silently crying. She didn’t like the miserable nature of him. “What happened?”

The boy only stared up at her waiting. As if his mind was elsewhere. Eda put a hand on his shoulder and he winced.

This was not the arrogant spoiled brat Lilith had thought it was. She had to have been mistaken. Though Lilith was rarely wrong as much as Eda hated to admit. It was annoying at times but he did have too many identifiable features for Lilith to mistake. Scars practically covered him, his face having one on his cheek and on across his nose, his neck had plenty too but the rest was hidden by his clothes.

A child shouldn’t have this many scars.

“Alright.” Eda sighed out. “I need you to talk.”

Hunter didn’t respond, as Eda expected. She picked him back up from the ground and placed him on the bed, and he just let her. Only winced or flinched when she went to grab him, but other than that allowed it.

“Steve.” Eda turned to the ‘doctor’ of the ship. “Has he said anything to you?”

“Not before you entered.” Steve stood now with his hands in his coat pockets.

“Keep an eye on him.” Eda ordered marching out of the room.

“Course captain.”

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Eda had told her not to talk to the newcomer. Camila had told her to listen to Eda. It wasn’t a hard thing to do. One easy little job to avoid the newcomer. Yet Luz wasn’t told not to spy on him. She had done that when Matt went screaming for Steve earlier. She saw them talking to the boy, but he never said anything back. She was the one who told Eda he woke up.

She knew better than to spy on Eda when she’s mad, if Luz got caught when Eda was in a bad mood, well it wasn’t fun. Though Eda would never hurt any of them, she was too nice for that. It was just Eda was very stressed sometimes, everyone was. Eda wanted to find Raine again, hopefully the ship Hunter was on didn’t sink. Raine would’ve been a prisoner and Luz doubted the navy would’ve allowed Raine to not have their hands bound.

“What is she gonna do with him?” Luz asked allowed as she leaned against the railing of the ship.

“Probably kill him.” Gus shrugged as he sat on the wooden deck of this ship.

“Then Steve would’ve wasted all that time fixing him.” Matt argued sitting on top of a barrel. “He’s been working so hard to help this guy for days, If Eda just kills him it's pointless.”

“Come on guys, this is Eda.” Luz laughed. “She may seem all big and scary but we all know she’s a sweetheart.”

Said sweetheart marched past the trio and towards Lilith. Not acknowledging anyone else as she passed. She didn’t seem angry from what Luz could tell- and Luz was getting pretty good at reading her. She was just trying to figure out what she was going to do.

Which meant it wouldn’t be a big deal if Luz broke the rules right now.

“Let’s go check on him.” Luz jumped from the railing and darted towards the medbay before the others could come up with a reasonable argument not to.

“Luz.” Matt whined but followed Gus- who did not protest- and Luz anyway. “Edas gonna be mad.” he whispered out.

“I wont tell her if you don’t” Gus chuckled.

The door was one of the few that didn’t squeak open- yet- on the ship. Those doors were always the best for listening in on conversations she wasn’t meant to be a part of. Through the crack Luz could make out the blonde boy- Hunter- sitting on the bed. He was crossing his arms, not in a casual way, but in a stiff way. He starred ahead blankley as tears were streaming down his cheeks.

Did Eda yell at him?

“Actually, let’s give him privacy.” Gus whispered, being the first to back away. Luz nodded in agreement. This had seemed a lot more fun if the newcomer had been rude or snarky.

He didn’t seem like a navy boy.

“I told you it was a bad idea.” Matt whined as the three made their way back to the main part of the deck. “No one listens to Matt.”

“Matt, if we listened to you, we wouldn’t have fun.” Gus argued with a smile.

“I am plenty of fun!” Matt defended.

“Yeah?” Gus questioned. “prove-”

“Luz!” Edas voice interrupted their conversation. She was standing near the door of the captains quarters crossing her arms waiting. There wasn’t any way Eda actually saw them sneaking over to the medbay. Right?

“Yeah?” Luz hopped her way over to Eda trying her best to look innocent.

“Come in, I have an idea.” Eda held the door open for Luz.

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They wanted information. Information Hunter did not have. Either way they would kill him, they’re pirates. If he gave them information they’d kill him after, or if he didn’t they’d do it as punishment. It’s what the navy told him.

So why weren’t they killing him now?

Hunter hadn’t stopped crying since he started. He tried but his tears didn’t like to listen. He wasn’t even upset, he’d cried enough already why was he still crying? That man just kept looking over at him too. As if concerned.

As if pirates could be concerned.

He didn’t dare move, or more- he didn’t want to move. He only sat on the bed holding himself, waiting and crying. He wished the owl captain would get back soon so she could end him and the haunting memories would just stop.

The door swung open as if fate was finally hearing his cries.

In the doorway walked a young girl. She wore a purple bandana around her head that covered most of her hair, but little brown fluffs escaped. She had a cream shirt underneath a purple vest and brown pants that flooded around the top of her boots. She had a bright smile on her face.

Behind her walked Eda with a smirk on her face as well.

“Hunter, you aren’t going to die by my hand.” Eda declared- as if it were some amazing announcement. He didn’t care how he died, just knew it was coming. “Instead you’re going to be helping us out, little owl.”

He looked over to Eda now. Unsure what to think about her decision.

“This is Luz.” Eda introduced the little girl. “I'm placing you under her watch, in case you get any ideas. Do you understand Hunter?”

He didn’t know why he nodded.

“Now, If you have any information regarding Raine, I would appreciate it, but I doubt you do.” Eda added. “Luz, remember what we talked about.”

Luz gave a quick nod, smiling all too brightly.

Edalyn Clawthorn was forcing a navy boy to join her ship? What help would that be? What kind of captain instantly turns an enemy into a crewmember? How had she not been betrayed yet?

As Eda left the room Luz came closer to the bed.

“Hi, I’m Luz Noceda.” She held out her hand, but when Hunter did not take it she put it back down with an awkward little shuffle. “Well, I guess that's not your style. Would you like a tour of the ship?”

Hunter chose a random wall to stare at, between Steve-who was still watching Hunter- and Luz. As to keep them in his sight but not actually have to look at them. He was too tired to look at them.

“Well that’s okay, it’s been a long week for you.” Luz took a seat next to Hunter, she was too close. “I’m just glad to see you’re not crying anymore.”

He hadn’t realized he’d stopped.

2ND Chapter Tumblr Link

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daybreakrising · 7 months

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5. What is a character you love, but don’t think you can write? 6. Name 3 things you love most about your muse/muses. 7. What is one overrated roleplay trend? 13. Is there one trope you can’t stand? 18. What is one thing you’d wish to see more in the rp community?

meme for roleplay muns | @wwriothesley

5. What is a character you love, but don’t think you can write?

k//azuha. i adore him, have done since the first time he appeared, but i don't think i'd be able to capture him to a degree i'd be satisfied with.

also, i'd love to write one of the g//enpact ladies but i have no idea who bc i don't think i'd do any of them justice dklfgnlfhgj

6. Name 3 things you love most about your muse/muses.

1) i love that there's quite a variety of personalities within my muse list. i might joke that i have a Type (and i do) but there's actually quite a wide array of characters. it gives me the chance to explore different attitudes and values & keeps things interesting.

2) i can't not mention wrio here, since he's clearly the current favourite. the thing i love most about him is that he's more than what he shows on the surface. i especially love that he turned out to be nothing like anyone expected based on his look. i really enjoy exploring the depths of his character and i can't wait to keep building on that both through my own headcanons and through writing/discussing with partners.

3) i also love my villains. i find villains / antagonists really fun to write, because they don't adhere to any rules. the more morally grey the muse, the more fun i can have with them. i'm not afraid to get dark & i won't apologise for their behaviour in the context of writing (but neither do i excuse them or pretend it's remotely Okay. i'm not a villain apologist and i never will be)

7. What is one overrated roleplay trend?

overformatting replies. i don't see this anymore, so i'm either following the right people, or it's died (or dying) out. but for a while, there was a lot of - frankly wild - formatting trends that i just couldn't understand. now i'm all for making things look nice, of course, but when i can't physically read something because it's so over the top, it kinda defeats the point. if i'm straining my eyes to read your tiny text, or struggling to understand a word because it's got a thousand spaces in it, i'm gonna get tired real quick and i'll lose interest entirely. just... keep it simple. simple can still be pretty.

13. Is there one trope you can’t stand?

oh, man, there are quite a few. i don't even want to mention some of them for fear of ending up in tags i don't wanna be in. i'll let your imagination run wild with that one. generally, though, they're all relating to types of relationships that i just do not vibe with at all.

i guess one i can discuss is a villain getting an undeserved redemption arc - and by that i mean a redemption arc where everyone just conveniently forgets all the terrible shit they did and the villain is never held accountable for their actions. no. that's not redemption, that's bullshit. give me a proper redemption arc with guilt and accountability and consequences.

18. What is one thing you’d wish to see more in the rp community?

it's gotten a lot better since i first started writing here, but it will always need more work - communication, tolerance & patience. i'm so happy that my little corner of the community doesn't seem to have any problems in that department, but i know it's far from true for other parts of the community. some people take this silly little hobby far too seriously and they need to just... chill. that feels like a bit of an obvious answer but i think it's an important one, so... /shrug

#wwriothesley #;forever yelling into the abyss (ooc)#( thank you for sending these !!! )#( those last three took a while to answer bc my brain is Tired )

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overobsessedfanboy23 · 2 years

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I finished Sevens and I’m... well...

*deep breath*

Sevens has easily the worst ending out of every Yugioh series so far.

Yes, people who are new to my blog, that includes Arc V and yes people who know me a bit better, that includes Zexal. I don’t even mind those two that much. If you haven’t watched Sevens and don’t want to be spoiled, don’t read the rest of this post. Everything below the cut is going deep into spoiler territory. (I also spoil the ending of VRAINS as I compare Sevens’ ending to its ending a few times.)

Okay so, the Sevens ending. Remember in my VRAINS overview when I said the note that the show ended on (despite how emotionally effective the finale was overall) hindered the themes of the show and was just a weird overly vague thing to end a show on? Yeah, multiply that times a hundred for Sevens. Nothing in the final episode is conclusive. Luke and Yuga have an honestly really underwhelming final duel where Yuga finally beats Luke and it’s brushed aside really quickly for Yuga to finish the duel with Otis alone, destroying Rush Duels to defeat him and yet somehow that protects duelling? Cuz… overly complicated master duels are back??? But it’s okay because now it’s in the hands of the kids???? Wasn’t the whole point of this show that the old format stifled progress/potential and it was time to move in a new direction and make duels fun again?

Wasn’t the whole theme of the show that progress was important and if you don’t embrace the future you’ll be left behind in the past????:

Where was this theme for the entire second season of the show come to think of it????? It was a central theme in the first season that feels like it only shows up briefly in the second one. What’s the deal there?

Anyways, Rush Duels and Yuga of course come back at the very end AFTER TWO YEARS but like Ai’s return in VRAINS, it’s a brief tease that doesn’t amount to much and unlike VRAINS, the emotions of Sevens’ final duel were not strong enough to support the obviously temporary farewells between the audience and rush duels as well as Yuga and his friends.

Because it’s so much more obvious that it’s a temporary departure in Sevens than it was in VRAINS. Because keep in mind: VRAINS permanently killed the other five Ignis and Roboppi, it was not at all a stretch to think they would permanently kill Ai, the final Ignis. I even dreaded it would happen. With Sevens though… it’s like: NO SHIT THEY’RE NOT GONNA LEAVE THE PROTAGONIST IN SPACE OR GET RID OF THEIR NEW FORMAT. Yugioh temp-kills characters all the time and it hasn’t bothered me much but here… I don’t know, it just feels like after an entire show of subverting so many YGO tropes, Sevens dove hard into one of YGO’s worst tropes at the very end and it just didn’t feel natural at all.

The final duel itself was fine, I liked it until the very end where Rush Duels were destroyed but overall, I think season one actually had the better finale. And was better overall.

Season 2, despite technically being more focused on one narrative, felt way more all over the place than season 1. Season 1 told a lot of mini arcs but all of them with similar themes and a consistent feeling that gave it a sense of cohesion. Also, all of them came together in the final arc in a really fun way. Season 2 meanwhile… It focuses really hard on the Goha siblings for the first third only for none of them to amount to much and for their arcs to be forgotten, including Yuga Goha who was just a massive disappointment in general.

It seems like he was just named the way he was to make Yuga Ohdo be a stupid red herring to the big “who’s the sixth president question?” which didn’t amount to much since Yuga Goha didn’t amount to much. He’s set up as a massive threat and was a really cool villain and interesting potentially sympathetic character but has the rug pulled out from under him so quickly to make way for Otis being the final big bad which… doesn’t flow very well. It’s hinted at enough that it’s believable but he was out of focus for so long that it feels out of nowhere for him to suddenly be the villain. Also, his motives are barely touched on so he feels very flat despite having a lot of potential.

I dunno, I still enjoyed season 2, and Sevens as a whole, but I feel like the show definitely peaked in its first half. Heck, season 1 could almost be treated as a full show, I feel like it had fewer loose threads by the end than season 2 did and just ended with a much better feeling. Still, I did like season 2. I enjoyed the Goha siblings as characters, particularly Yuo and Yuka, I love the mini arc of getting everyone’s memories back, I think that was a nice way of showing how far all the characters had come and felt a lot more tonally in line with the rest of the series and really? Any of the more slice of lifey or introspective character conflicts this season were still really enjoyable, I love the core four protagonists and it’s nice that they managed to keep Asana, Neil, and Roa consistently involved.

And as always with Sevens, the duels themselves are fun. And I’ll forever be ecstatic that season 2 added fusion and made it more epic than it has been in a long time. Like, on par with GX epic. God I loved that moment where Sevens Road Magician and Dragias fused, what a great show of friendship.

So overall, Sevens had a good to great first season and a so-so to good second season, leading to an overall pretty good show in my eyes. It’s not one of my personal favourites, it can be a little too child-pandering and off the wall at times and like I said, season 2 had… issues but it was overall enjoyable and definitely the best YGO at one particular thing:

Writing female characters

Good job Yugioh. You finally realised that women are people. What do you want? A cookie? This is what you should’ve been doing all along. Still, I’m glad to finally see improvement in this area.

#yugioh #ygo #yugioh sevens #ygo sevens #sevens #rants #rambling

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mylifeincinema · 1 year

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My Week(s) in Reviews: January 1, 2023

First and foremost... Happy New Year!!

Okay... now let’s get into it. I’m keeping these short because I have little to say about them or they’re going to be featured in My Best of 2022 shortly, anyway, so let’s just go with the old three things format for most of these, yeah? Good.

The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg, 2022)

1. Wholly feels like the film Spielberg’s been working toward.

2. That final shot is the reason (as if I needed another one) why Spielberg is my favorite director.

3. I’m going to be genuinely shocked if this lands anywhere other than on top of my top films of 2022. - 10/10

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Rian Johnson, 2022)

1. What a cast!!

2. A ton of fun, and it chooses an approach and sticks with it. If you’re underwhelmed with the ‘twists’, that’s kinda the point.

3. Seriously, though... what a cast!! - 8.5/10

Babylon (Damien Chazelle, 2022)

What a clusterf*ck…

It’s very clear Chazelle lost the thread about 40% in. Cutting that whole Tobey storyline would help. Also cut the opening scene, just start on the party. Tighten up Margot’s arc, we didn’t need that snake shit. Cut Jovan’s arc complete, there’s enough there thematically for a separate film. Give that to someone who can tell it in a way that’ll actually resonate. Leave everything with Brad Pitt alone. He was fantastic and his arc is the only one that felt like it progressed and ended naturally. Beautiful, tragic, interesting shit, right there. Actually loved the ending, but a bunch of other late moments for Diego felt sloppy/rushed. The phenomenal editing helps some of the more upsetting issues throughout, but can’t save the film from the total loss of cohesion in the those final acts. Despite all its many flaws, though, I still pretty close to loved about 65% of this film. - 6/10

Avatar: The Way of Water (James Cameron, 2022)

1. Visually stunning. Probably the easiest VFX win since the last, right?

2. Someone should give Fincher the money for his 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea... if this film is anything, it’s proof the tech has reached the point where Fincher’s vision is not only possible, but feasible.

3. Has James Cameron actually ever heard two people talking to each other? My God, that dialogue is atrocious. (The screenplay all-around, really.) Yikes. - 6.5/10

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Eric Appel, 2022)

1. This is not only the perfect approach to a Weird Al biopic, I’m pretty sure it’s the only approach to a Weird Al biopic.

2. Very funny if you’re familiar with Yankovic as a person, downright hilarious if you go in only knowing his music.

3. Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna... I repeat, Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna. My God! - 7.5/10

Emily the Criminal (John Patton Ford, 2022)

1. Aubrey Plaza is really damn good.

2. So is just how terribly things go in that third act.

3. The rest... not so much. I really don’t get all the hype. - 5/10

Black Adam (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2022)

1. This is a very bad movie. Very easily one of the worst of the year.

2. Any promise Dwayne Johnson had every shown has been tossed in the garbage for terrible line delivery and tough-guy stares.

3. Pierce Brosnan deserved better than this. An interesting character and perfect casting completely wasted in favor of whatever this shit was supposed to be. - 2/10

The People We Hate at the Wedding (Claire Scanlon, 2022)

1. Not a good movie by any stretch.

2. But Kristen Bell.

3. And Allison Janney. - 5.5/10

A Christmas Story Christmas (Clay Kaytis, 2022)

1. Corny as f*ck.

2. But the type of corny I can get behind.

3. And that Christmas morning was the obvious tear-jerker material I’m a sucker for. - 6/10

The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch, 1940)

1. James Stewart really is one of my all-time favorite actors. Just always so damn good.

2. Love me some Lubitsch, yet for some reason I have so many blind spots with him.

3. I know we live in completely different times, but even looking through the scope of the time, that ending seemed a bit forced. Still a delightful film overall, but she must’ve been really desperate to let the shit he pulled go. - 7/10

Elvis (Baz Luhrmann, 2022)

1. Significantly better than I expected. But painfully overlong.

2. Austin Butler is fantastic. Tom Hanks is (somehow) borderline awful.

3. Baz Luhrmann’s direction is god-awful. But there’s a shit-ton of it, so I guess the Golden Globes look at Directing like the Academy does editing, now. - 5.5/10 (Almost all of those 5.5 are for Butler and the early performance sequences only.)

Enjoy!

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.

#movies #movie reviews #the fabelmans #black adam #babylon #avatar: the way of water #elvis #emily the criminal #glass onion #my week in reviews #weird: the al yankovic story #a christmas story christmas #the shop around the corner

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jim-fetter-illustrations · 2 months

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Pyramid on Mars?!?!?!?!

Ok, Ok, I found this intriguing to say the least.

I ran across this accusation that NASA's Mars rover photographed a rock that looked just like a Pyramid. (WTF!) Turns out The Mars rover did photograph something that looks just like an egyptian pyramid like the ones we see here on earth. (again WTF!)

Furthermore, there are no additional photographs showing differing views of this "pyramid" rock formation, out of the more than 4000 photographs the mars rover took of this area it apparently only took "one" of the area the pyramid was in (WTF!),..... only one that was released to the public that is,.... Hmmmmmmmmm. (double WTF!)

Hey ya can't make this shit up people.

NASA did not highlight this particular photograph nor make any mention of a "pyramid" having been photographed on Mars, I mean just imagine all the conspiracy theories that would generate over a pyramid on mars!!

The space agency also didn't include a scale with the photograph as it routeinly does with MOST rover photographs, because apparently no one wanted to know what size anything in this photograph was I guess............

And don't go thinking,.... Well it don't look any bigger than the rest of the rocks laying around so it's not all that big, because remember this thing has been there for thousands of years collecting dust, dirt and debris burying it deeper and deeper, so this might just be the tip of the Pyramid buried for thousands of years,.... not unlike the pyramids here on earth, if we hadn't done continued maintenance on them by clearing away the tons of sand blown around them every year we probably wouldn't see them at all today.

So if you ask NASA about any photograph of a pyramid on mars you will be told "There isn't any photograph the mars rover took of a Pyramid".....

End of story!

Therefore, for now we'd have to classify this "pyramid" photograph as another example of "pareidolia", like the "human face" that was supposedly spotted on the red planet.

"Pareidolia" is like the tendency to perceive a specific image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern. The scientific explanation is the human ability to see shapes or make pictures out of randomness crap ya see in anything you look at,..... like when you see faces, and animals in the clouds, or like when religion said thousands saw Jesus part the red sea,.... very ambiguous to say the least.........

It still intrigues the hell out of me though, I rather like the Idea of Egyptians on mars and then moving to the earth because of some catastrophic event forcing them to relocate in the galaxy, and we all come from their DNA and their manipulations with genetics. Because I just don't see the whole God and creation with Adam & Eve, the snake and apple, and Noah's Arc thing being what we are all here about........... and then religion profiteering off humanity evermore,...... that scenario just don't make a damn bit of sense to me.

............... and not that the Pyramid on Mars thing being where we came from does,...... it's just easier to believe than a supreme being nobody ever met that created us and then used us as slaves to profiteer by his representative churches on earth does.

I'm thinking of the "Occam's razor principle" here, and sometimes "The simplest explanation is usually the best one." philosophically speaking that is......

Just a random thought........

And no I'm not 'Nutz' I'm more like "THE TENTH MAN PRINCIPLE".

Whereas If nine people in a group of ten receive the same info and agree on a hypothesis, it's the responsibility of the tenth man to protest that hypothesis, and argue the case for unlikelier scenarios.

That's me in a nutshell, Lol

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#Pyramid on Mars #THE TENTH MAN PRINCIPLE #Mars #Mars Rover photograph of pyramid #mars rover #photographs on mars

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mhaynoot · 11 months

Text

ch182

oh cheongryeo my little psychopath you really are a psycho

he's so red flag red flag im so in love alslkd i didnt expect a whole ass kidnapping scene but like damn thats good pay off considering the sprinkling of foreshadowing, building tension and bait with the fake de-escalating "im sorry" part

listen i like my ships as messy as possible. the more they bring out the worst in each other to the point it loops back into actually making them better is so Peak Ship Dynamic

warning: my opinions and some personal critiques on dod here

i think im gonna take a break on reading this though and just wait for manhwa updates instead because the novel is very ... slow? or maybe i should say its a bit too light hearted for me i dunno

i think it would have been a little more interesting if the other members of testar were also part of some other system or if there was just a lot more drama in genera. i dont know but considering what i know of irl kpop and the really messy fights that happened, the internal and interpersonal character conflicts here are just the slightest bit too tame for me personally and, while that isn't necessarily bad thing, its just not to my drama loving taste. also the external conflicts aren't all that spicy either to act as a counterbalance.

well tbh, i was already very worried when i saw the survival show format and the first debut or die mission because thats a very short term conflict. and the back to back missions, format and tension of the survival show is incredibly good for creating escalating high stakes and, combined with the death penalty, it has a natural development for consistently high tension and lots of potential drama and conflicts. and the novel hit those points very well. and while i think they definitely could have potentially made this arc a little longer and explore different aspects, it does end as a satisfactory first arc. but now there's the rest of the 600 chapter story which will have to match that level of tension. and so far i dont think it really has? at least until cheongryeo LMAO which is why i love him so much!! he makes things interesting and the novel isnt afriad to make him villainous and start shit up and do actual things that really fucks up moondae and has like some future consequences like oh no whats gonna happen to their relationship, whatll they do in the future when they meet, whats happening to the other members and their relo with this sunbae who they admired

i just feel the novel is really fluffy and light hearted for a death scenario concept. and even if it didn't want external conflicts to be too heavy, a way to keep the stakes might have been to shift focus onto interpersonal conflicts instead. like i really thought they'd continue to do that when the keun seijin and bae seijin arc happened. and then the chungwon arc too! but it feels like its been twenty small online conflicts in a row between them. i just want stuff with like actual group breaking, and potentially friendship destroying conflicts that they have to work through.

yes the testar members are wholesome and nice and they love moondae and...? that's about it right now for the last some chapters now. they dont have arguments, they dont even really properly talk to each other. i know moondae treats it like coworkers and professionalism but maybe bring up more of the other members perspectives. like i know we're in moondae's pov but like considering the consistent pov shifts, it wouldn't be too bad to at least make it so that we can flesh out the other members and their relationships with each other too?

but like what do i know?

maybe i should've seen moondae's easy rise to platnium and quick skill up as an indicator that this novel isn't really focused on drama and breaking the kneecaps of its mc like what i prefer. i dunno i just thought that was a bait or smth and things escalate hard later or smth HAHAH yeah i guess when i saw the death failure, i jumped to conclusions and thought this novel would be a really gritty one that might touch on and explore the messed up behind the scenes of kpop

#dodlr

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thatblondeperson · 2 years

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What's your favorite timsteph moment from comics and what's one you've written?

Oh man, I have too many!!

Favs tho:

Their first date in Robin issue #57 and the moment at the end.

Neither of them wants the night to end, but just loOK AT TIMMY!!!! He's so happy that he just has to do a little flip on the swings, it's the cutest shit ever. And even though this next panel is from Convergence: Batgirl, it still is a part of this date and it's too cute not to add into the compilation of dorks being in love. LOOK AT IT.

Do you know how many times I've made this my wallpaper? Too many times.

Also this itty bitty bit of a page from RR issue #10:

Do you see it? Allow me to read too much into something. (And I don't even mean Tim still feeling like it's his job to protect Steph)

It's this.

This is my Ao3 pic and I'm gonna be a massive fangirl and say that even though this isn't like an official kiss, it's one of my favs because Tim's eyes are just ever so slightly open, like he wants to keep them on her. You've got both of them with those gentle touches on their jaws. Not to mention the subtext of Tim's memory of this being in pink, giving it a literal rose-tinted view, meaning this is a positive, optimistic, idealistic memory. Now these could mean many things, but given the nature of their relationship in RR, I'd say this is a sign of Tim forgiving the past a bit. He's not thinking negatively about Steph, he's remembering working together and being in love. It's cute, and imo displays some of those lingering feelings pretty blatantly. Your ex I'd about to be shot and you're thinking about how you two used to make out?? Priorities, Tim. (RR Tim was way too horny 🤣)

Plus next page you get this:

Look who's in love again.

LOOK AT HIM.

And this, in Robin issue #102:

I will never be over that intense look on Tim's face when he's planning on making Steph soup, it's just so intense! MUST MAKE MY SICK GIRLFRIEND THE PERFECT SOUP!!

And then he carries a massive pot of soup across Gotham and on the subway to get it to her. He loves her 🥰🥰🥰

And don't forget their whole date in Robin issue #111. The infamous piano date. Like I've said it before, @incoherentbabblings just made a post about it, but Tim and Steph aren't great at communication or opening up about difficult things. This arc is one of the better ones for their domestic growth, but I just love how vulnerable she allows herself to be in front of Tim, and how respectful and supportive he is of her. Is this sort of thing I wish we could see more from them, then leaning on each other and finding a space in each other that they don't have anywhere else. Little things like this that when over time it builds up, you end up with a relationship where they know each other so well, and can read each other easily. It's a special bond that they have, not broken even if they aren't romantically linked.

Also these, which are old edits by @fragileicicle I believe? But I love the quotes. They give me heart palpitations.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😭😭😭

They were so in love.

BUT HEY YOU ALSO ASKED ABOUT MY FAV MOMENTS IN MY FICS!!

Which hey, thank you, I always wanna talk about my fics. People should ask me about my fics. Gonna put it under the cut though to not be annoying...

There's a lot of little things I like in my fics. I loved writing drunk Tim in Un-Bottled Feelings, especially the idea of him trying to picture a bigger Arkham built around the current Arkham to stop the breakouts. I just like the image of him strategically planning that out as a viable solution to keeping the worst criminals locked up instead of running amok.

I just loved writing completely helpless Tim being super flirty. The loss of inhibitions allowing him to be subconsciously unfiltered. It was fun! Though I need to fix that fic...the pros and cons list doesn't format right on mobile. Alas...

I really like the simplicity of Kisses From Tim Drake. I just saw a list of kisses and I was like "WHY NOT ALL OF THEM??" Any excuse I have to write happy couple TimSteph being affectionate and sweet with each other, building a relationship and whatnot.

For Finding My Way Back to You, just getting to write their flirtatious banter was fun, giving them a punchy back and forth. It's really fun in their first collision in their suits when Steph continuously calls him her potential sidekick. I like giving her the upper hand a little bit, even if I wanted them to end up in equal ground.

The whole Tim/Kon/Bart interaction in ch 5 was SO FUN! That was a chunk I had written way back before that fix was even written. I knew I wanted if in the fic, I just didn't know where. The whole bit with Tim climbing into her window at the end because he's scared of her mother, but he's just reminiscing on days when he used to merch out there smitten with her.

I kinda liked doing things like that in that fic, rewinding and resetting. The smack to the face, the casual Tim stalking, the coming in through the window, the usage of Scarecrow since he appeared in turning point fights for both of them, the starting over at the playground. A sort of "go back to the beginning to move forward" sort of therapy for both of them.

LOVED getting to address Tim's burn scars. Such a point of tension for both of them, but there's so much potential in allowing them to be a healing symbol for the two of them as well.

The whole little "not date" in ch 9. Funny thing about that...I pulled R-Patz name out of thin air because I assumed this fic is taking place in like 2011 and I looked up popular actors of the time, and of course Twilight was huge...but then after I wrote that he got cast as Batman and I just decided to keep it. It was perfect.

I got to do so much either this fic. I pulled out every cliché, I got to write jealous Tim, horny Tim which was recieved better than I thought it would be, I got to write Tim slowly opening up more and being more relaxed and carefree, a side of him we only got in internal monologues by RR it seemed, I liked writing Tim trying to apologize fof being a jerk while they're both in the middle of a hand-to-hand fight, I liked writing a new piano scene which no lie, that almost kiss was also drafted well before I'd even written ch 1. I loved getting to name Tim's fishies too. They deserved names.

I think the things I think of the most with that fic when I looked back on it were:

The scene talking about Steph's death. I saw a post saying that Tim doesn't have to apologize for that and people who expect her too are being ridiculous yadda yadda, but much ruder. And here's the thing...no she doesn't have to apologize for running off without telling anyone, that was her decision and she had her reasons, but that does not mean she wouldn't. People were still deeply affected by her absence and the grief of losing her. I loved writing this little bit especially:

"It's alright," Tim said, pulling out of their hug. Come back… He brought a hand up to her face and stroked her cheek lightly with his thumb. His hands really did feel nice, so incredibly nice. "I can't pretend to understand everything you went through, but I just… I wish you would have told me."

Stephanie leaned forward, letting her forehead rest against his, staring into his pale blue eyes. "Would you have let me go?"

Tim stared right back into her eyes, and Steph could have melted into his touch. "Would you have listened to me?"

Steph smiled softly. Of course she wouldn't have, and Tim knew that because he knew her. Nearly every last piece of her. It was easy to feel safe with him. She wondered how much Tim felt the same in regards to her.

I just loved that section of dialogue. This whole scene of them breaking through some of the worst of their shared wounds, all while tim is stitching up a physical wound? I'm just really proud of myself for that.

The whole ch 18 talk/kiss interaction was originally very different but there's one paragraph in there that I desperately love in regards to Stephanie drinking her peppermint tea.

It tasted like Tim. Like late nights on rooftops poking fun at other heroes, watching the way Gotham came awake at night, making constellations with the lit up windows on the buildings when they couldn't see the stars, locking lips while the ambient sounds of the city rumbled around them. She gripped the mug tightly and brought it close to her chest while Tim cleared his throat, tapping nervously on the side of his own mug.

The whole point of that fic was to cover EVERYTHING. I read so manh panels of do many comics, trying to get all of their low points and traumas out on the table so I could go through them in the most constructive and healthy way possible while still playing true to their tendency to kind of be hot and cold with each other before they find a comfortable thermodynamic equilibrium space. Getting them to air out their skeletons so they can move on and start anew. I've wanted to write that fic since I got hooked on that ship. It's my masterpiece.

THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK!!!! I'm sorry this was so long, I loved this question though. This took me forever to write up. I'm doing g this on mobile with like...10 tabs open. But thank you!!!! ❤💜

#timsteph #tim drake #stephanie brown #red robin #batgirl #robin iii #spoiler #robin iv #batfam #batfamily #personal #ask tbp

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makeste · 4 years

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BnHA Chapter 294: A Half-Assed Escape

Previously on BnHA: Mirio was all “SURPRISE I’M BACK THANKS TO OUR RESIDENT SEVEN-YEAR-OLD WHO RECENTLY EARNED HER BACHELOR’S OF BEING A TOTAL BADASS.” Kacchan was all, “you know what, Dabi’s been trending long enough, time to remind the fandom what a real G looks like,” and he blasted his little bleeding body back into the fray and was all “FROM HERE ON OUT CALL ME DYNAMIGHT!!” Mirio was all, “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... oh, you’re serious,” and Kacchan was all “!!”, and so that’s the story of how my son got murdered twice in one day. Meanwhile in the Todoroki Drama Zone, Deku was all “STOP MURDERING MY FRIEND” and Dabi was all “THAT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS” and fandom had a whole big debate about Whether Or Not Dabi Trying To Murder Deku’s Friends And Mentors Is Any Of Deku’s Business, which went exactly how you think it went. Anyway, so then Deku yelled at Dabi, and Endeavor was all moved by his manly words and randomly went to go uppercut Machia in the chin. And, seeing as how the Momoserum finally chose that exact moment to kick in, Machia is now down for the count.

Today on BnHA: The Miriosquad handles the Nearly High End Noumus, freeing up Jeanist to jasphyxiate (okay that one doesn’t really work so well) the rest of the League. Compress is all “TIME FOR THIS MILD-MANNERED SIDE CHARACTER VILLAIN TO SHINE”, except that by “shine” what he actually means is “use his quirk to punch a literal hole right through his own ass to free himself.” The rest of the chapter is basically just a back and forth between him and Jeanist, with Jeanist trying to recapture him, and Compress repeatedly thwarting him by chopping more holes out of himself because HE’S FRESH OUT OF FUCKS, AND THE ONES AT THE STORE ARE ALL SOLD OUT, MOTHERFUCKERS. Anyway, so with Compress basically dying and all, Horikoshi is all “you know what that means”, and delivers a freshly-baked villain flashback revealing that Compress is a descendant of Harima Ouji, a.k.a. the Peerless Thief, a.k.a. some famous guy whom Gentle mentioned this one time for like two seconds back in the day. The chapter ends with Compress finally demasking himself and dumping Tomura back onto the ground, a.k.a. The Worst Possible Place For Tomura To Be. ( •﹏•)

WHY IS CRUST HERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD

-- OH WAIT, SHIT. OH

AIZAWAAAA you’re alive and receiving medical help thank GOD. HOW MANY EYES DO YOU HAVE. AND MIRKO!! HOW MANY LIMBS DO YOU HAVE, OMG

so is this Aizawa dreaming about Crust’s final moments, then?? jesus. with All Due Respect to Crust’s memory, does Aizawa not already have enough misplaced guilt on his conscience as it is?? “nope, we’re gonna keep piling it on. that’s all he is now. three limbs, an indeterminate number of eyes, sexy hair, and Guilt” well shit

motherfucker y’all really out here placing an oxygen mask on Gran Torino’s corpse. fucking shounen characters. each one comes with a lifetime warranty

DAMN YOU HORIKOSHI WHY DO YOU KEEP SHOWING THESE CLOSE-UPS OF HAWKS’S UNCONSCIOUS FACE ALL WHUMPED OUT AND EXHAUSTED. HOW MUCH MORE OF THIS ARE WE GOING TO GET. ARE YOU PLANNING ON KILLING ME WITH THE UPCOMING CONVALESCENCE ARC, BECAUSE IF SO, AT LEAST HAVE THE DECENCY TO TELL ME AHEAD OF TIME SO I CAN MAKE A WILL

for a moment I considered going back and checking my previous recaps to count how many times I’ve already made a joke about Dabi’s fire incinerating Hawks’s wings but not touching so much as a hair on his five o’clock shadow, so that I could calculate whether or not I could possibly get away with making that same joke one more time. but then I realized I could just do it in this kind of roundabout way I’m doing right now instead. so there you have it

FFFFFFFMT LADY AND MIDNIGHT NOOOOO

PLEASE BE ALIVE. PLEASE RESPECT THE SIGN ON THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING. THE ONE THAT SAYS “NO LADY CHARACTERS ALLOWED TO DIE”, WITH THE FINE PRINT AT THE BOTTOM “AT LEAST NOT UNTIL HORIKOSHI GIVES US LIKE TWENTY-SIX MORE OF THEM FIRST IF THAT’S THE WAY HE WANTS TO PLAY IT.” IT’S A GOOD SIGN, PLEASE RESPECT ITS WISHES!!

so anyway though, Jeanist is giving a speech about how god knows how many people all worked together to bring Machia down. and now RHA is getting in on those fabric puns too, I see. “A SINGLE STRAND MAY BE THIN BUT TOGETHER THEY FORM A STRONG ROPE” oh so you think you guys are funny eh? I’m a frayed knot

MEANWHILE EXCUSE ME BUT WHY ARE YOU FUCKING CRYING BLOOD, HOLY SHIT

fffffff. so much for him taking over as the Number One once all this is over. so let’s just recap real quick, because Horikoshi has long since made it clear that one of his plot goals for this arc is to wipe out every single member of the Billboard Top Ten. so how we doin?

Endeavor - was just figuratively eviscerated in front of the entire nation by his homicidal zombiepunk son. also burnt half to death and possibly down a lung. will almost certainly be forced to retire after this one way or the other

Hawks - lying prettily in a medical tent. wings status: gone. hair status: still perfect

Jeanist - WELL I THOUGHT HE WAS FINE BUT APPARENTLY HE’S OUT HERE DYING, JESUS CHRIST

Edgeshot - MIA, last seen fighting Re-Destro. I really want him to have kicked RD’s ass because fuck that guy, but realistically they probably fought to a draw at best

Mirko - alive but in critical condition and missing something like 1.5 limbs

Crust - dead, currently haunting Aizawa’s traumatized dreams. now he’s gonna be triggered the rest of his life by people giving him the thumbs up, THANKS A LOT

Kamui Woods - was set on fire which is His Weakness. thoughts and prayers

Wash - last seen floating hospital patients to safety as Tomura’s wave of decay descended towards him. probably dead ffff

Old Man Samurai - haven’t seen this fucker in a hot minute, who even knows where he’s wandered off to

Ryuukyuu - currently being treated for her wounds, looked pretty bad off. but it’s hard to tell how hurt she is since most of the injuries were acquired in her transformed state. SHE BETTER GET WELL SOON

anyways, so yeah. so much for the top ten. guess that’s another reason Horikoshi brought Mirio back now, huh

so there’s a big panel of everyone fighting the Noumu while Machia lies there all “blurgh.” good riddance my dude. it took like twenty chapters and a hundred people to stop this guy so I really fucking hope he stays down. you’ve had your fun

anyway so Jeanist is sending another steel thread towards Dabi! and he’s all “just a bit more!!” fklklj this is gonna go real well isn’t it

meanwhile Mirio’s fighting a Nearly High End with all of these weird rock formations jutting out of its skin. go on and kick his ass then, Mirio

“each of these guys is probably just as strong as the Noumu from Kyuushuu” hold on I thought Ujiko or Tomura or someone said that wasn’t the case? not that Mirio would know I suppose. anyways let’s just hope he’s wrong cuz if not these kids are probably screwed

kLSDKFHLSKHGLKLK OH MY GODDDD

IIDA FUCKING TENYA YOU’RE A PEACH. THINKS THE NAME IS OUTRAGEOUS, CHECK. USES IT ANYWAY, CHECK. “JUST BECAUSE I DON’T UNDERSTAND DOESN’T MEAN I CAN’T BE SUPPORTIVE.” WHAT A CLASS ACT

AND KACCHAN IS RESPONDING WITH AS MUCH DIGNITY AS HE CAN MUSTER

WOW, SON. IT’S ALMOST AS THOUGH YOU HAVE A HOLE IN YOUR TORSO, OR SOMETHING!! although listen up, real talk, the fact that Kacchan of all people can’t muster the energy to yell at someone questioning his ability to kick ass is HIGHKEY troubling and we may be in need of an intervention here soon :/

now Jeanist is finally turning his attention to the League! was... was it not already on the League. omg

ACTUAL SCREAMING AHHHHHH FUCK FUCKLK LK AHHLKHKFFFF

hey so um. what the actual fucked up hell. my soul left my body. imagine if you saw the reflection of this panel on your bedroom window. you would never sleep again

OKAY RHA TRANSLATORS ARE YOU HAVING YOURSELF A LAUGH AGAIN

THIS CANNOT BE WHAT HE’S ACTUALLY SAYING RIGHT. BUT IT’S RIGHT IN THAT UNCANNY VALLEY OF NOT BEING QUITE SURE, THOUGH... (　ﾟдﾟ)

(ETA: just a next-day clarification here, apparently my sleep-deprived ADHD word-skipping brain completely skipped right over the “a” in that last panel, so what I read was, “and Shigaraki’s limp noodle.” so yeah, the moral of this story is always read the speech bubble carefully before you start making running jokes throughout the rest of your post, folks.)

oh wow he’s really freaking out lmao

to be fair though, I’d argue that Dabi has gotten pre-tty close at this point :’) thrilled for him, really I am

but anyway, well then figure something out you big dramatic robot-armed fiend. didn’t you just say you could touch your own ass? can you not just Compress yourself to break free?? does it not work on you? or would you be stuck afterwards lol

(ETA: I was picturing him compressing his entire body at once, not just chunks of it. ghhhlkh.)

holy shit Jeanist. are you stupidly trying to cut off their air, or are you going for more of a sleeper hold (jleeper hold??) thing instead. the latter would be way smarter and faster and probably safer as well just saying

but unless Spinner is just being super dramatic, it sure looks like he’s fucking strangling them djslkjlk. this will certainly cement his popularity among the villain stans. good thing you’re not running for office any time soon bud

anyway so I have no idea what these guys are trying to do now. what is this

do you even have till the count of 5 at this rate. I mean

OH MY GOODNESS

HE’S REALLY FUCKING DOING IT!! HE’S COMPRESSING HIS BUTT!! OMFG. TOMURA HIDE YOUR NOODLE!!!

WHAT THE FUCK

DID YOU COMPRESS A PIECE OF YOUR OWN ASS. FUCKING WHAT. PUT THIS MAN’S PICTURE IN THE DICTIONARY NEXT TO THE WORD “LOYALTY”, HOLY CRAP

HOLY SHIT COMPRESS

“HOLY SHIT DID THAT GUY JUST PUNCH A HOLE THROUGH HIS OWN ASS IN ORDER TO SAVE HIS VILLAIN PALS. FUCK IT, HE DESERVES TO ESCAPE”

jeez, talk about... A HALF-ASSED ESCAPE ATTEMPT :D :D :D hahaha. but real talk though, Horikoshi has clearly never tried to leap twelve feet straight up in the air multiple times in succession with only half his glutes though. everyone, I regret to inform you that this panel right here on the left may be slightly unrealistic

also where the hell is he going to go?? did you pack a jetpack away in one of those little marbles sir. and what about Dabi?? and Skeptic too, I guess, but we don’t really care about Skeptic

(ETA: at this point I had to stop reading for about two hours because I had to go out and take care of something; that’s also why this is being posted later than usual lol. anyways so where were we.)

oh my lord

the existence of a translator’s note here implies that the earlier line about Compress being able to reach Tomura’s junk was not, in fact, ad-libbed. hmm. hmmmmmmmm

anyway so now he’s grabbing Compress again because OF COURSE HE IS, so now we’re right back to square one! except now Tomura and Spinner are secured inside of little marbles, and presumably Compress is the only one who can release them

oh nevermind he’s just maiming himself again instead, SHEESH

Skeptic a man is dying please have some goddamn respect

so, uh. is he gonna die, though??

I really can’t tell wtf is going on here, this is the most confusing the art has been in a while. Horikoshi put all of his spoons into that creepyass close-up panel earlier, that bastard

OMG WHAT ARE YOU SERIOUS

DON’T FUCKING TELL ME THE “COMPRESS IS RELATED TO THIS THIEF GUY FROM OLDEN TIMES” THEORY IS ACTUALLY TRUE WHAAAAAAT. OH SHIT

so apparently Harima was a Robin Hood type guy who stole from... heroes?? wtf. are heroes the 1% in this scenario. y’all didn’t have any Fortune 500 CEOs to steal from?

THAT’S THE BLOOD THAT FLOWS THROUGH YOU, OH SHIT. and in a related oh shit, the fact that we are getting a Compress flashback now of all times doesn’t bode super well for him. ffff

MEANWHILE THE TODOROKIS ARE STILL TODOROKI-ING

listen here boy if you touch one freaking hair on Shouto’s candy cane head I swear to god --

WHAT DID I FUCKING SAY!!!

SHOUTO NOOOOOO. WTF YOU’RE LITERALLY THE ONE GUY WHOSE WEAKNESS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FIRE. DABI YOU SHIT, YOU BETTER WATCH YOURSELF!! I’M PRINTING OUT A COPY OF THAT COMPRESS PANEL!!! KEEP AN EYE OUT ON THAT BEDROOM WINDOW YOU PUNK!!!

SO NOW POOR SHOUTO IS UNCONSCIOUS AND FALLING!! SOMEONE SAVE HIM!! WHO CATCHES THE CATCHER

COMPRESS LITERALLY HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE RIGHT NOW, WHAT IS HAPPENING

PLEASE DON’T CALL TOMURA LEADER OF THE “PLF” YOU KNOW I CAN’T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY WHEN YOU DO THAT. ARE YOU DYING. ARE YOU JUST A FUCKING HEAD NOW WTF

(ETA: “masks are removable, makeste” you know what it’s been a long day okay lmao. or I suppose Compress is really the one who is lmao.)

GASPPPPPP

okay. okay. looooool okay then

WHY WERE YOU COVERING THIS SEXY MOP OF HAIR UNDER THAT HOOD YOU TOOL. IT WOULD HAVE LOOKED SO GOOD WITH THE TOP HAT. I’M SO MAD AT YOU RIGHT NOW

as if it wasn’t enough for him to demask himself, he also had to get all shirtless and then do this weird attempt at a sexypose too huh

hard to say exactly how much of his torso is currently missing, but safe to say that’s proooooooobably not good. :///// fuck

on the other hand, Kacchan also has a torso hole and he’s still flying around like he just drank a dozen red bulls, so

this man lost his ass and he’s still out here monologuing like it’s the last two minutes of The Prestige. one might say he is monologuing his ass off

so he let Spinner and Tomura free, but is Dabi still trapped in his marble?? wasn’t he all on fire and stuff?? hopefully he can still turn off his quirk in there because if not that’s a pretty fucked up way to die. somewhere out there Snatch’s ghost is all “YEAH I’LL SAY.” oh how the turntables

last but not least, sooooooo. Tomura. back on the ground. that’s. um. ...shiiiiiiiit

#bnha 294 #mr. compress #...and actually that's pretty much it lol #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #sorry this is up later than usual (and mostly unedited as well)#just one of those days

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teruthecreator · 3 years

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okay. thoughts on the grad finale

gonna slap it under a readmore bc i’m Sure i’m gonna ramble.

uh spoiler warning for the finale of taz graduation, as well as spoilers for the season in general.

also, these are my own thoughts of how the season went, what the themes were, etc! if you don’t agree with me, that’s fine! but i don’t wanna have a convo w you in the replies about it i’ll be honest. if you want to share your opinion so badly, make your own post, alright? that good? we cool?

aight. so. finale thoughts.

to make it short: i think the finale was a satisfying end of a very good arc.

to expand upon that, let me share what i think the themes of graduation were and why the finale satisfies those themes.

i made a post about this a while back (here it is if you want) but my honest belief was that the theme of graduation was self-reliance: the concept that you don’t allow yourself to be governed by forces that go against your own beliefs. this concept was coined by essayist ralph waldo emerson to talk about how the american people shouldn’t allow the government to create laws that go against the will of the people. now, understandably, this feels very anti-capitalist which is what i think a lot of fans believed was reflected through the season.

but, in reality, self-reliance has more to do with being active in your government and making sure you’re being represented the way you want to be by your representatives. that’s sort of the vibe emerson was going for in his essay, and i think. in a sense? that translates to graduation. but i took self-reliance in the more metaphorical about breaking away from those things that are controlling you. which, in graduation, was A Lot Of Things.

the way i saw it, there were two major groups that inflicted order upon the world and the thundermen--conveniently separated as order and chaos (not the deities though, just the concepts).

the order half of control existed mostly through the school and the HOG. the HOG created the economic reliance on the heroes and villains system, which removed all literal meaning from those terms and turned them into bureaucratic titles. society existed under these very strict checks and balances; heroes and villains supplied money to the kingdom in terms of entertainment, which then boosted that kingdom’s creditability and allowed them to contribute more to nua’s economy, which then led heroes and villains to have a higher demand, thus perpetuating the cycle. it’s important to note that this term does not represent the sort of morality we expect for heroes and villains--hell, even the term “evil” turned into an arbitrary term used to show those heroes and villains who failed the system. this is the more prominent representation of control that the thundermen break away from in achieving their own self-reliance. they don’t see the value in a system that holds no real moral code (fitzroy Especially, but i’ll get into that in a bit), and can’t help the public when there’s actually a serious situation. as we saw with althea in the beginning, the HOG had no way to help the thundermen when they were dealing with the whole Demon Prince situation (as he had already placed some of his own people in there, proving these kind of systems are easily corruptible). so this wasn’t a system meant to Actually create heroes and villains--it was just a way of boosting the economy.

the chaos half of control existed primarily through grey and Chaos. grey represented how chaos could be controlled, through various means. he planted that tree for the centaurs to fight over because he knew it would constantly create conflict, which he enjoyed. he kept the school under a watchful eye to prevent anyone from stepping out of line with his grand ideas, and used several manipulation tactics to try and get his way (most notably, his own admittance of grooming fitzroy into joining his side, which didn’t work). grey was the perfect example of how chaos does not automatically mean a lack of control. he was very controlling in how he did things because he had an endgoal: find hieronymous and have a war. but he didn’t even realize he was contributing to a greater idea, that being Chaos’s insistence on causing general disarray. as we realize now, Chaos’s plan was both for them and Order, but i’m leaving Order out for a second because they only really rear their head in towards the end. for the most part, audiences were led to assume that Chaos was the Big Bad(TM); they were the one pulling the strings, allowing things to happen to cause general chaos and disarray. them supplying random mortals with their endless power was a way to plant chaos into the world of nua; but it was a chaos they controlled. fitzroy resisting them was not simply a refusal to bend to Chaos, but it was resisting the control put on him through his magic.

these systems were constricting the thundermen on both sides. when they thought they’d find help in one side, they were disappointed to find that there was nothing anyone could do. the only people who could fix their problems were...them. so they forged a new path, set new ideas, and became self-reliant. that’s what i think is the most important aspect of graduation; not the anti-capitalist implications of turning over the economic and political systems in place, but the idea that if nothing that is supposed to help you is actually helping that you can just...do your own thing!

and i think that’s what the finale really shows, at the end of the day. that these forms of control were not doing anything helpful, and were in fact ruining the fabric of space-time! that’s where i think Order comes in because Order is really...the ultimate culmination of control. they are aware that Everything being done will benefit their cause. the HOG? well, they make sure everybody’s so incompetent that they can do their work. grey? well, he’ll contribute to the plan without even realizing it. they even manipulated Chaos and enacted their own form of control over Chaos to make sure that they had no reason to believe that this plan couldn’t go wrong. but Order knew. Order always knew there was a chance for error, and that chance was very great. but they didn’t care! so long as they had control of things, they could try a hundred times to get it right. they had no care for mortals, unlike Chaos.

the thundermen showing Chaos the truth is the final jenga piece that collapses this tower of control. which is why the finale is so great.

travis does a phenomenal job of incorporating chaos (general chaos) into the battle mechanics. it may be stupid and slightly arbitrary, but having them change forms randomly and having to adapt to those new circumstances really does exemplify the season!!! the thundermen were constantly forced into new situations (being sidekicks/henches, fitzroy becoming a villain, being let in on the heiro dog situation, the unbroken chain trial, joining forces w grey, etc.), and in all of them they simply found a way to adapt and keep working their way. which made the finale generally interesting and also thematically interesting!

i think my favorite part of the entire fight scene is right at the end, when argo chucks the shark’s tooth necklace at Order. and time stops. and they’re given a choice.

the fact that they leave it to a coin toss?? oh my god...how fucking FITTING!! like, that’s disorderly. that’s going your own way. it’s new, it’s terrifying, it has DIRE UNKNOWNS ON EITHER SIDE, but it’s what they do! and...it ends up working out! i think it would’ve worked out either way, but the fact that they left it up to chance really shows how they aren’t allowing anything to control their actions.

AND THEN WE GET TO THE EPILOGUE. MY GOD I LOVE THE EPILOGUE I’M GONNA GO OFF SO MUCH.

first off, i loved hearing how Nua adapts to losing this very significant form of government/economic contributor and turns to more people-based work. citizens uniting together, fixing things, making amends, THAT’S SELF-RELIANCE BABEY!!! THAT’S THE WHOLE EMERSON SHIT! HAVING A SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT THAT ACTUALLY HAS THE INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE AT LARGE!!! YEAHHHHHHHHH THAT’S THE WHOLE SELF-RELIANCE THING!

now, i’ll break it down by characters:

fitzroy

GOD. LOVE IT. FIRST OFF, absolutely ADORED how his character arc involved him stripping himself of these self-assigned titles because he actually has an identity that is all his own and he doesn’t NEED arbitrary titles to prove his worth because HE HAS IT IN HIMSELF. not to self-plug or anything, but that’s ssoss!fitzroy’s WHOLE SHIT. I’VE ALREADY BEEN ON THIS TRAIN, BITCH, AND TO KNOW I GOT IT SO RIGHT...GOD. FEELS GOOD.

but also, i just really enjoy how his ending went in general. the fact that he doesn’t really know what he wants to do, so he just...does stuff he likes to do? that’s so good! because, if you remember, fitzroy had a Very set schedule of life events when the campaign started. he was going to get his wiggenstaffs degree, go back knight school, get his knight school degree, and then go to goodcastle. but all of that was based on a very limited understanding of himself.

fitzroy’s character arc has primarily focused finding himself, specifically in terms of identity. for someone who was bullied for his past, the present formation of himself was Extremely important to fitzroy. he thought that shutting out his past and taking on this grandiose title of knighthood would make him something more than himself. he would no longer be fitzroy; the poor, country kid trying to make it in a big world. he’d be Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt; respected, honored, revered, with a title to prove it.

he explains to fauxronymous (pre-reveal grey) that the reason he wanted to be a knight was because he wanted to assist in doing good. morally good. fitzroy has Always had a very clear sense of his morality; this comes through when he refuses Chaos on the basis of many people having to die if he agreed. but being a knight also had the added of bonus of a very respectable title that no one would want to look beyond, which fitzroy felt he needed because...i don’t think he Saw anything beyond that. in himself. he wasn’t himself for a very long time, and i don’t know if he ever thought he would be again. he’d wear this new identity, start a new life, and be happier....he hoped.

then, things changed! and he started to realize that arbitrary titles don’t do shit because plenty of people with Big Important Titles ended up being Awful People! so he started to value himself For Himself; his wit, his humor, his strength, his magical prowess. and, i think, he started to wonder what knighthood was Really about. was it about upholding a moral good? or was it just another bureaucracy filled with people who won’t do shit when things get bad.

i think this is why him becoming a lawyer is fitting. especially because of the reasoning he gives sylvia nite. now for A LOT OF PEOPLE, i’m sure they hear lawyer and assume some corporate hotshot who doesn’t give a shit about people. but fitzroy is Not applying to be a corporate laywer. he SPECIFICALLY telsl sylvia that he wants to help people who cannot help themselves, and he wants to do good in that way. THAT kind of lawyer is more of the pro-bono, district lawyer. the ones that don’t make crazy amounts of cash, but help those who cannot afford lawyers and represent them when the government is fucking them over. those lawyers don’t rely on title, they rely on principle.

that’s the perfect representation of fitzroy’s growth. holding his identity within himself, while still trying to do good by those who need it.

firbolg (aka gary)

i think the firbolg’s ending is so unique but so...right for him. his character arc has really been focused around finding his family. he had one, in the beginning, in his clan. but that didn’t end up, y’know...working out that much. so he had to go out into the world alone--something that firbolg’s are rarely--and try and navigate these foreign spaces all by himself.

we see very early on how he latches onto the idea of groups. he likes being considered a part of the thundermen; he very much hoists himself upon the CFO title and wears it proudly. i think, where fitzroy needed to find identity within himself, the firbolg needed to find it within other people. which is completely okay! he’s still an individual, but you can tell he finds comfort in numbers because that’s what he is used to.

him going back to his clan was, i believe, his finally severance with his identity as “firbolg”. he would never be welcomed back to his clan, and one of the few people in his life who supported him was now dead. but his father was proud of him; his father was happy he seemed to find his own clan, even if it wasn’t with other firbolgs. from that moment on, i think the firbolg begins to try finding himself within the thundermen. within his friends.

so his epilogue is neat! it definitely captures the loneliness he feels on his own, and how he feels lost with himself without others. i think it might seem silly to some that he would become a gary, but i think it’s fitting. the garys were always present in his time at school, and they were always helpful. they didn’t mind how long it took him to talk because the gary’s are stone gargoyles--what the fuck do they care about time? it was a group that the firbolg saw as familiar to him--always willing to help, slow, stony, and attuned to a larger group.

and i think the way gary takes this idea of unity and family and puts it into financial assistance just...it just ties everything together! we saw how attached he got to the concept of finances, thanks to his very confusing accounting class. so he had all of this new knowledge--this knowledge that represented a separation from firbolgs--and this new clan. and he used it to help other clans and families!! i think the fact that the Garys financial advice works specifically with groups is what makes this so fitting. because gary wants families to feel stable within themselves; he understands how finances can create struggle and divides, and he wants to provide relief.

giving financial advice to communities so they rely on themselves and not the government (aka inviting them to be controlled once more) is a VERY self-reliant concept. not that i think gary’s goal is to have no social networks to exist, but he wants to give communities the ability to rely on one another and foster that feeling of togetherness. so groups aren’t fighting over things, but are trusting and loving and relying.

just like gary’s always wanted. and just like what he has with the thundermen.

argo

argo’s ending is probably the funniest, but also the sweetest. i think that argo’s character arc revolved around finding his place. we see how argo’s early personality and motivations revolved around his past. he very much had a revenge story since the start; he wanted to enact revenge on the commodore for murdering his mother, no matter what it took. which made him very limited!! in terms of the self. he saw himself less for what he was now, and what he was then. and what he couldn’t do then.

we see how much he finds comfort in being a part of the thundermen, but also how he feels...out of place. i think this is because a part of him is still attached to his past and doesn’t think he can do anything beyond his set plan. the unbroken chain certainly contributes to this, by not only separating him from the trio but also reinforcing his connection to his past through his mother’s involvement in the unbroken chain.

the commodore also being a part of the unbroken chain is, i think, what causes the shift from past to present within argo. his life’s goal is standing right in front of him--attached to the group his mother once was a part of--with his friends at his side. letting the thundermen in on his history is the start of bridging these two halves of argo. and the fact that the thundermen are so willing to helps makes argo feel more a part of the team and more a part of this reality.

when he kills the commodore, it isn’t intense. it isn’t overly dramatic (minus the fight prior, which was BADASS), it isn’t crazily staged. it is argo, staring down the commodore who lies prone on the ground.

he kills himself unceremoniously and completes his life-long mission.

what becomes of him in the epilogue is the culimination of both past and present. he takes what he knows and loves (the sea, the mariah, sailing) and blends it with what he’s come to love now (his friends, this adventure, and making people happy). there are SO many instances where argo uses performance to his advantage. this man is piloted by clint mcelroy, of COURSE he’s going to have a flair for the dramatic.

so for him to open up a themed cruiseline, based on the stories of him and his friends? SO FITTING. and it isn’t forcing himself to leave his past behind or to completely ignore his present circumstances. because he’s found a place in the now, in the merging of these two sides. and by merging them, he paints a bright future for himself. a future that is partially known, partially not. partially old, partially new.

but it’s all his.

after that, i think their final scene is just...sweet. a nice, jovial, joking send-off to a nice season. it proves these people have grown and will continue to grow, even when we no longer see their story. it does exactly what graduation does--shows you a struggle, a triumph, and a glimpse into the future.

i’ll miss it so much, but there’s nothing more i could’ve asked of this ending. it was exactly what it needed to be; nothing more, nothing less.

#taz grad spoilers #taz graduation #sir fitzroy maplecourt #argo keene #firbolg #taz fitzroy #taz argo #taz firbolg #ignorance cloud on #this took a while and now my head hurts so lol!#also if there are spelling mistakes leave me alone i cant read this text anymore

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ouyangzizhensdad · 3 years

Text

The Mo Village arc and establishing the MC

MDZS is a sprawling book with many characters, but it seems that it was clearly important to MXTX to establish her MC’s characterisation very strongly from the start. Although the novel in its entirety leans toward providing a strong characterisation for WWX, I thought it’d be fun to look back at how it is conveyed to the readers in the first few chapters before the inciting incident at Dafan Mountain

(N.B. I’m using a composite translation made of different translations so the wording/format might be slightly different than the version you are using)

Framing

The prologue starts with a conversation between unnamed characters in an inn, discussing the news of WWX’s death. While it was a clever way to already introduce an important theme of the novel (the effects of public opinion and how easy it is to make someone into a irredeemable villain) and get the exposition out of the way, it also frames WWX as a character: as readers, we are introduced first to perceptions of him, a characterisation-from-hearsay we’ll be able to compare to his characterisation in the novel. WWX is a “scourge” whose death is celebrated, who “defected” and bit the hand that fed him, a “deranged” killer who took thousands of lives. But before he went on the crooked path, he was a promising youth--although others seem to think he was corrupted from the start.

“But it can’t all be blamed on the path he cultivated. Ultimately, it was still because this Wei Wuxian’s moral character was too flawed, angering the Heavens and man alike! By the heavenly law, everyone answers for their deeds in the end, good and evil……”

The rumours also suggest that if WWX comes back to the world of the living he will enact his revenge upon them all, and his unimaginable powers would allow him to rain fury upon both Heaven and Earth. We get told: this guys is an incredibly powerful villain, reviled and feared by many.

But the Yiling Laozu had enough power to overturn the Heavens and smother the Earth, move mountains and drain seas—at least, that was the way the rumors went. If he wanted to resist the summoning of his soul, it wouldn’t exactly be outside of his abilities. If in coming days his spirit were restored, if he forcibly possessed a body and were thus reborn, then not only the cultivation world, but all of humanity would inevitably meet with an even greater frenzy of vengeance and curses, sinking into a chaotic age of foul winds and bloody rains.

Establishing WWX and how he reacts when he’s thrown into an unpleasant situation

When WWX is brought back by MXY, we already have something to contrast him against thanks to the hearsay and rumours, and from the get-go we get a sense that WWX is not this fearsome figure that people made him out to be.

I’ll never get over the fact that our first introduction to WWX’s is the equivalent of the “the audacity of this bitch”.

Hazily, he thought: that’s quite a lot of courage you must have to kick this Laozu.

Our MC and POV character is thrown into a situation, and from his reactions we can rapidly tell that he is someone who is observant, resourceful, good at deductive reasoning and thereby apt at solving mysteries. This is something that is reinforced at many, many points in the first few chapters and helps us buy in into what happens later in the novel when they uncover many other mysteries. WWX is a guy who figures shit out.

When WWX figures out he was summoned as a “an unforgivably evil malicious spirit“, we get his take on his public perception.

Wei Wuxian reeled at the implications. How had he been classified as “an irredeemly evil, malicious spirit”?

Yes, his reputation was rather poor and his final moments, horrifying tragic—but he had neither haunted nor had he seeked revenge on the living since becoming a spirit. He would dare to swear upon the Heavens and the Earth that you would never find a more peaceful and well-behaved lonely soul of a wild ghost!

At the same time, readers get a sense that even when he’s dealt a bad hand, WWX does not wait in despair for his luck to turn. Even though WWX describes his situation as “hopeless” and keeps “repeating over and over How could this be! in his heart “, he immediately goes into problem-solving mode, trying to figure out the situation and the wishes MXY forgot to share. This also happens later.

There was not a single thing to help him find some joy in being reborn! He might as well sit and meditate for a time, and adjust to the new body.

That same passage gives us a sense that WWX is not rushing into situations without taking the time to take it in, make up his mind and prepare as much as he can: the fact that we see him do meditation twice during that day (before he goes to the East Hall and after he checks on the Lan juniors) also contributes to that idea.

The chapters convey as well that WWX is sympathetic to MXY’s situation and does not resent him even though he forced WWX to enact revenge in his stead. As readers, we thus receive the following message: WWX is not prone to being resentful, to hold grudges.

He had originally wanted to wash his face and pay a few respects to the owner of this body, but there was no water in the shack—neither for drinking nor for washing.

WWX is also, for a lack of a better word, sassy. It’s clear that he has a flair for the dramatics and lots of attitude. Look at that dramatic entrance.... he just.... yeets the bowl he was holding....

He pondered for a moment. Then, rising to his feet, he kicked the door open.

The two servants, in the midst of making eyes at each other, screamed in horror as the double doors of the shack suddenly burst open. Wei Wuxian threw aside his bowl and chopsticks and walked outside without anyone’s leave [...]

We are also introduced to the fact that WWX does not seem to take himself seriously and loves to shock people.

When it came to wild displays of misbehavior, Wei Wuxian was a master. In the past when he ran wild, he still had to mind appearances lest others accuse him of having not been raised right. But now that he was a lunatic anyways, what face did he need! He could go straight to making a scene, acting however it pleased him.

While WWX is clearly not the one-dimensional evil monster depicted in rumours, we do see that he can be cunning: he lies easily if he feels it motivated, he is very good at talking people into a corner, apt at making them do incriminating things by leading them on, which he does by humiliating the Mo family for their mistreatment of MXY in front of a crowd. But in a way, that is also a quality of his: he is not just silver-tongued; he’s good at assessing a situation and people’s characters, able to figure out what will set them off.

We further get proof that he is not a blood-thirsty monster who disregards others when he tries to figure out if he can satisfy MXY’s spirit without having to wipe out the Mo family (although it is clearly the obvious solution) and when he is shown to care for the well-being of others. This is illustrated by the way he double-checks (through ruse) that the zhaoyin flags are properly set up and will be used safely by the Lan juniors.

During the conversation, Wei Wuxian had already finished making a rapid examination of the Yin Summoning Flag in his hand. It had been painted in the correct manner, and there were no missing sigils either. There was not a single error or omission, so they should worked as intended. That being said, the person who had painted the flag lacked experience, and the painted sigils could only attract the evil spirits and walking corpses within at most five li. That should however prove to be enough. (chapter 2)

[...]

Wei Wuxian’s first thought was that something had gone wrong with the flag arraw the youth had set up. His inventions needed to be used with extreme caution, or else risk disaster. This was also why he had gone to check earlier if there were anything wrong with the array. (Chapter 3)

As our POV character, WWX comes across as endearing through little details: it’s in the way he calls LSZ a “good little seedling (好苗子)” and calls the Lan juniors a group of “小朋友“ in his inner monologue, or when he defends the Lan juniors from Mo-furen’s accusations. Or the way he likes Xiao Pingguo because it looks at him with contempt:

A donkey was tied to the handle, chewing on it. When it saw Wei Wuxian run over rashly, it seemed like it was surprised, and eyed him sideways as if it were a real person. Wei Wuxian made eye contact with him for one second and was immediately touched by the minuscule amount of contempt in its eyes.

Establishing how WWX acts in high-pressure situations

Things escalate quite quickly into accusations of murder and death and resentful corpses. This first sequence is thus our introduction to how WWX acts under pressure and in high-risk situations (which will continue to happen to our MC until the end of the novel).

WWX is shown to be cool under pressure and quick to think on his feet, constantly re-assessing the situation and the risks. He is also seen as expecting people to arrive to conclusions without him needing to explain them out loud, like when he takes out the zhaoyin flag that MZY stole from his corpse, letting the Lan juniors understand on their own what happened. When he needs to explain, he will not do it in a straight-forward manner, giving small hints first (this preludes many of WWX and LWJ interaction when they understand each other’s thought process with only one sentence being said, and preludes how WWX will continue to act with the Juniors later on, making them think through the situations instead of feeding them the answers).

We also get the proof that WWX does not privilege self-preservation over the fate of others.

If he wanted to avoid having the situation get out of hand, Wei Wuxian should retreat. If they people who came did not know him, then all would be well—but if they happened to be someone who had dealt with him or fought against him in the past, it would be hard to guess what would happen next.

But the curse meant he could not leave Mo Village yet. As well, the spirit that had been summoned had taken two lives in quick succession, meaning it was extremely vicious. If Wei Wuxian left now, once the reinforcement arrived, the streets of Mo Village might already be packed with corpses missing their left arm, of which some would be blood relations of the GusuLanShi.

After a short deliberation, Wei Wuxian thought, fight a quick battle to force a swift resolution (速战速决). (Chapter 3)

[...]

Wei Wuxian was watching the battle attentively. His tongue was slightly curled, suppressing a sharp whistle inside of his lips, preparing it to be let out. The whistle would be able to evoke even more hostility in the cruel corpses, which might turn the tables. Then, however, it would be difficult to ensure that nobody knew that it was his doing.

In the blink of an eye, the hand moved like lightning, ruthlessly and precisely breaking Madame Mo’s neck. Watching as the Mo family grew closer to defeat, Wei Wuxian prepared to blow the whistle that he suppressed under his tongue. At the same time, the echoes of two strums on a stringed instrument came from far away. (chapter 4)

As well, we are told something about WWX when he only leaves once LWJ arrives: certainly because he’s afraid that LWJ might recognize him but mostly because (as it will become clear later on) he trusts that LWJ will be able to handle the situation in his stead. In order words, although WWX is willing to risk himself to help others, he is not careless with his life and safety (for instance he makes sure to destroy the proof of the Offering ritual before fleeing to make sure no one can figure out the fact that he is back from the dead).

WWX will not hesitate to fool people or pretend in order to help his goals. In this case, he is trying to help and fight without appearing like a powerful cultivator who can do modao, balancing self-preservation with the incentive to protect the people present. This is why he pushes LJY in front of LSZ at one point in the battle, instead of blocking it himself, while pretending to just be a lunatic doing lunatic things.

Inside of the Lan clan’s uniform jacket, there were compact stitchings of incantations using thin threads of the same color, included for protection. However, against strong ones like this, it could only be used once before it became invalid. During the emergency, he could only kick Lan Jingyi and use his body to protect Lan Sizhui’s neck.

This sequence also allows the reader to know more about modao and WWX’s skills, and how he can control corpses, as well as how WWX perceives his own abilities.

TLDR:

The Mo Village arc, in conjunction with the prologue, competently sets up a lot of the moving pieces for the novel. It also leans heavily toward establishing a strong sense of characterisation for our MC and POV character, which is neat!

NB: I think it’s also very telling that the next chapter after the Mo Mansion arc begins with us learning that WWX has been, in the past few days since his retreat, lorded over by a capricious donkey. WWX is clearly not someone who takes himself very seriously (often mocking himself):

The donkey ran over there and nothing could make it leave. Wei Wuxian hopped down and slapped its honoured buttocks. “You’re definitely destined for wealth, even harder to please than I am.” The donkey spat at him.

#mdzs meta #i kind of hate to call this meta because it's not uh very deep lmao #wwx #wei wuxian

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murasaki-murasame · 3 years

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Thoughts on Higurashi Sotsu Ep15 [FINALE]

For better or worse I think Ryukishi achieved exactly what he set out to do with this series, and I guess everyone’s just gonna be forced to reckon with how they feel about his own perspective on this franchise versus how they feel about it, lol.

Anyway, thoughts under the cut, plus Umineko spoilers.

I’m not entirely sure where to even start with this, but I guess the TL;DR is that I honestly think Gou/Sotsu was ultimately just fine despite it’s issues, and part me of can’t help but be like ‘I told you so, lol’ about how this really did end with this episode, and also committed pretty hard to the Umineko prequel elements.

It’s not like all of my theories were correct in the end, but I at least think I was pretty spot on in my prediction last week that this would end with the miracle of them side-stepping the sword issue entirely and choosing the third option of forgiveness and reconciliation. And also them ending it with an epilogue where we go back to the Matsuribayashi timeline and get a happy ending for Rika and Satoko that provides a ‘non-magical interpretation’ for the story while also giving us an idea of how Bern and Lambda formally split off into their own entities and start the relationship we see in Umineko.

I didn’t quite expect them to go down the route of having them agree to just spend a few years apart and accept that they don’t need to literally always be together, but I think that was a really good way to wrap things up between them. It’s pretty much the healthiest compromise to their conflict that doesn’t come across like it completely invalidates one of their dreams. I get why it feels too anti-climactic and convenient for people, but when you pull at that thread you get into wider topics of what the entire story is about, since this was always going to end with Satoko being redeemed and forgiven. People might not have taken him seriously, but Ryukishi was 100% genuine about his regrets about Matsuribayashi’s ending, and how part of why he came up with this new story was to create a better ending, while also doing more with Satoko as a character.

Basically I think a lot of the fandom negativity towards this boils down to people fundamentally disagreeing with the idea that Matsuribayashi was even ‘flawed’ in this sort of way to begin with, or that Satoko was badly written. It’s valid to disagree on this stuff, but at the very least we all have to grapple with how Ryukishi has his own specific relationship with this series.

People like to focus on how he’s a troll who likes to mess with people, but I feel like this is a bit of a wake-up call for people about how he’s actually extremely sincere, almost to a fault, and he likes to use his stories as a vehicle for expressing his personal philosophies and ideals.

This whole story is also a good example of how he just sees this as ultimately being a fictional story about fictional characters, and not literally a matter of real people who need to be sentenced for their crimes or whatever. As early as the original VN he was almost being outright preachy about the message that nobody is irredeemable, and that philosophy carries through to this. But to be more specific, nobody *in this story* is irredeemable. He’s pretty open about the fact that in practice you can’t apply this sort of ideal to real life, but fictional stories are their own separate matter.

I think this whole issue of how he views this as a story first and foremost is also the central reason why this ended in a way that comes across as Satoko being let off too easy for her crimes. One way or another, Ryukishi’s made it clear that he sees this as being no different to how other characters had arcs where they committed crimes but still got forgiven, or how Takano is basically a straight up war criminal who also got forgiven for her crimes.

Anyway, this episode at least committed to the Umineko stuff, so that was satisfying. Sure there’s people that still want to deny it, but at this point I think a lot of people are just being stubborn, so it’s not like anything would have really convinced them, lol. I’m also genuinely not sure what people even would have expected them to do beyond what we saw her, aside from having the two of them literally put on their gothic lolita outfits and turn to the camera and go ‘we are literally Bernkastel and Lambdadelta from the video game series Umineko When They Cry’. I almost feel like there’s some kind of misunderstanding from people who aren’t familiar with Umineko when it comes to the idea of what it even means for this to be ‘an Umineko prequel’, or ‘a Bern/Lambda origin story’. I mean, this is quite literally exactly what I expected and hoped for in that regard. It’s not like I was expecting them to incorporate anything related to, like, Beatrice or the Ushiromiya family.

I think this is also one of those things where you just have to decide for yourself whether or not you want to earnestly engage with the story that’s being told, or if you want to assume that there’s some level of malice or trickery going on.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting them to literally have Rika and Satoko recite part of Bern and Lambda’s final conversation with each other word for word, lmao. Combined with the scene at the end where ‘Witch Satoko’ talks to herself about how she’s going to give her body back to Satoko while she goes chasing after Rika, it was literally just the exact origin story of their relationship as it’s depicted in Umineko.

I still feel like this would all only really be ‘worth it’ if we actually get something like a full on anime remake for Umineko, but at this point I can’t help but feel satisfied with this part of it all.

It’s not like I think Gou/Sotsu as a whole is perfect or anything, though. I don’t hate it as much as basically everyone else does, but I think Ryukishi’s the sort of VN writer who really struggles with the shift to writing for an anime. I think a big part of the frustration people have is just from how this is formatted as a weekly anime series spread across basically an entire year, instead of being something like a stand-alone VN chapter that you can read at whatever pace you want, even if it ultimately takes the same amount of time to read as it would to watch all of Gou/Sotsu.

There’s also the whole issue of this being a sort-of-remake, which snowballed into a whole list of structural problems. They absolutely tried too hard to have their cake and eat it too, and they should have just committed to it being made for old fans only, instead of trying to sincerely incorporate elements from the VN that old fans don’t care about anymore because they’ve gone over it already.

And as I’ve said several times before, it was a major issue for them to decide to put Nekodamashi in the middle of Gou and then spend like 20 episodes on flashback answer arcs until finally getting back to that cliffhanger. I’ve been waiting until this all ended to decide exactly how I feel about that, and now that it’s all over I still think it was a really bad idea. I don’t think it was an issue for them to reveal that Satoko’s the culprit that early, but having the gun cliffhanger specifically happen that early just gave people misguided expectations and tainted the answer arcs because people were just impatient to get back to the cliffhanger. And then the cliffhanger itself ended up being somewhat anti-climactic, which is what I’d been fearing would happen. It would have worked fine if they shuffled it around so that the cliffhanger happened right before Kagurashi and was followed up in the very next episode, or if this was a VN where you could binge your way through the flashback stuff, but spending like half of an entire real-life year to get back to that point only to have the resolution be ‘Satoko just shoots Rika and the death loops keep going’ just didn’t really work properly.

I’m a lot more generous towards the Akashi arcs than most people are, since I think they really over-estimate how much re-used content there is there, but they still suffer from the central issue of the show trying to be accessible for new fans. It could have been heavily condensed otherwise, without losing anything in terms of Satoko’s whole character arc.

On the other hand I think the first half of Kagurashi was awful specifically because it highlighted how bad of an idea it was to put Nekodamashi so early in the story. They still ended up having to go back to that arc and repeat it anyway, in the most 1:1 recap-y way in the whole show, but that wouldn’t have even been an issue in the first place if that was instead the first time that arc happened in the show.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I would rearrange the story to make it flow better while still following Ryukishi’s intentions, and I think they could have condensed it into a 2-cour season with this sort of structure if they did something like this:

-First arc where Rika gets thrown back into the loop and quickly figures out that somebody intentionally caused this to happen, and it’s not Takano because at least in this idea of mine she’d try and investigate her only to find out that this version of Takano regrets everything and is planning to flee the village with Tomitake.

Basically I think this could tie into the idea of Satoko initially wanting to just concoct an idea world for Rika so that she won’t want to leave this time, but sort of like what I think happens in Saikoroshi, Rika would still reject it, and this time around there’d be the additional layer of her knowing that somebody did this to her for an unknown reason. Maybe they could even initially market it as a new adaptation or a remake of Saikoroshi, and then reveal that it’s a sequel, to keep that whole element to the series. Either way I think this would end with everything going to shit when Rika rejects that fragment and wants to go back to St. Lucia’s, and Satoko basically snaps and kills her, and that way the audience can find out about her being the culprit without Rika finding out about it yet.

Maybe there could even be some dramatic irony where Rika’s attempts to meddle with certain ‘trigger events’, and her displaying her looper side, inadvertently triggers people around her to get paranoid, and the whole fragment would start to spiral into tragedy from there. I think they could at least use the whole conflict in Tatariakashi about Teppei actually being good this time as a starting point for that sorta thing.

-Second arc, rounding out the first cour, which is basically just Satokowashi. I don’t think there’s much that you’d need to change here, but like I said above I like the idea of her initially trying to just invent a perfect world for Rika and her to live in, instead of jumping straight to murder. But maybe instead of her literally just watching Rika’s loops, she could instead just be stuck using her looping powers to try and figure out how to create that ‘perfect world’ in the first place, by personally investigating all of the different tragedies and how to prevent them.

-Staring the second cour, a third arc where we basically just get to see those loops Satoko goes through, and her whole process of solving the tragedies and ‘purifying’ characters like Teppei and Takano, until we eventually see her perspective on the first arc, and how she reacts to Rika ultimately rejecting the world she tried to make for her.

-A fourth and final arc which is basically just Nekodamashi + Kagurashi, where she just totally snaps and tries to just torture Rika into never wanting to leave the village again, and eventually Satoko gets exposed and they have their direct confrontation with each other.

With that sorta story structure, you’d keep all the relevant bits of Gou/Sotsu as it is now, while being more focused on Rika and Satoko instead of doing kinda half-assed reruns of the Rena and Shion arcs. It’d also push the big cliffhanger between them until near the end of the show, while still revealing to the audience relatively early on that Satoko’s the culprit.

I’d also like them to do more with Satoshi and Shion, so maybe like with how Teppei gets redeemed and Satoko almost gets to have a happy life with him in Tatariakashi, the central question arc of this hypothetical story could also involve Satoko making sure that Satoshi wakes up from his coma, and Shion also gets to have a good relationship with all of them. You could probably do something interesting with the idea of Satoshi and Shion being in the camp of not trusting Teppei and his whole redemption arc.

Honestly I could spend a long time talking about how I would have done things differently, lol. For one thing, I think the Akashi arcs would have been much better if they just changed it so that Satoko used psychological tactics to make people paranoid, and we completely cut out the whole syringe plot device. I get how it fits with Satoko’s whole certainty gimmick, but it made those arcs way too predictable. Even if we knew the outcome, it’d at least be entertaining to see exactly how Satoko might go out of her way to set up the different tragedies. We kinda got glimpses of that sorta plot point in Wataakashi when things seemed to go outside of her control, but they didn’t really do much with it.

Anyway, this is a whole lot of words to say that I think that in spite of the serious structural issues going on, I think Gou/Sotsu as a whole is fine, and was at least working with a lot of perfectly good ideas that could have been executed much better.

Also, on a side note, that one scene during their fist-fight at the start where the art-style changes a bit was kinda weird, but I really liked how it looked, and part of me almost wishes the whole show looked like that, lol. I like Akio Watanabe’s character designs, but I feel like that sort of stylized, almost TWEWY-ish art style would have been really fitting for this series, especially in the horror/action parts.

Oh, and the new rendition of You was so good it almost felt emotionally manipulative, lol.

#murasaki rambles #higurashi #higurashi sotsu #this got kinda long but I still feel like there's so much more I could say about this if I wanted to

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baconpal · 3 years

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pokemon rant time

this one’s about the 2 new things, and is at least slightly intended for people actually excited/interested in them, click keep reading or perish

Gonna try and keep stuff short cus there's a lot of topics this time and I've already gone off about how pokemon Isn't meant for me or meant to be a good video game anymore, but gamefreak is right back on their bullshit, so I feel I need to at least point it out.

I'd like to preface all this with, if you are a fan of pokemon still, please realize you can ask for more out of this series. Expect perfection, even if you don't think you'll get it anytime soon. Pokemon won't go anywhere, the old games won't go anywhere, and gaming is a hobby, not a necessity; don't accept low quality products from a company just because you feel like you're supposed to.

With this next wave of pokemon games, gamefreak is clearly testing how little they can put in to a $60 game while still keeping the 2 major audiences they've cultivated. By responding to the most obvious and vocal complaints from the community, gamefreak is aiming to make games that seems like what most players want, without having to put in the work on quality products.

GEN 4 REMAKES Pokemon BS (I am not calling this shit BDSP) is intended for the audience that put up with let's go and RS remakes. The most vocal and obvious complaints for these games is their failure as definitive versions of the games they are remakes of, such as missing features/content, or drastically changed story/dialogue/style. In a way, the recent remakes are inferior versions of incredibly old games, which shows a lack of improvement in pokemon as a whole.

To address these issues, BS is very, very, VERY clearly aiming for a more 1-to-1 recreation of the DS games, but with fully 3d graphics. Clearly the map layout has been transferred exactly, and gen 4 already had mostly 3d environments to begin with, and everyone knows about the future-proof pokemon models at this point, so the amount of effort required to create something like this is absolutely minimal. Assuming dialogue, trainer teams, move lists, etc. are also lifted directly from DP, then this game could be developed in basically no time at all, leaving the team time to ensure the product is of decent quality and includes ALL of the content of the originals, if not more, like the earlier pokemon remakes did to ensure they were truly definitive versions of the games. That being said, it is unlikely the team behind BS has been making use of this saved time to improve the game.

One failing already clear is that the quality is not very good, at least graphical quality. The footage we have shows environments lacking in color compared to the original, with messy, unpleasant textures that contrast poorly with the simplistic environments. The characters especially do not work. As cute and fun the fanart of tiny dawn has been, BS dawn and all other characters look awful. They have gorilla arms that reach down to the floor and lifeless faces, as well as incredibly stiff/simplistic animations. As it stands, BS is a visually inferior game to DP, though most consumers will simply see it as 3D>2D without any understanding of what an artstyle is, so this might not be a problem for many, but that doesn't mean you should accept it.

What remains to be seen is what content will be added/missing from pokemon BS. It is very possible that massive parts of the game, such as the underground, variety of online modes, postgame areas, and content from platinum could be missing entirely. We also do not know if pokemon from after gen 4 will be worked into the region, or even supported. Gen 8 still currently does not support a large number of pokemon, and the remakes may continue this limited dex trend.

Even assuming the remake includes everything from the DS games and doesn't add anything that slows down the story or harms the experience, it will still only be an exercise in forced obsolescence. The main reason people can't really play DP still is that the online isn't supported anymore. If BS turns out to be exactly the same as DP, then you're buying the same game for at a higher price, only to play it until the online service goes away again, or the next game comes out, if both don't happen at the same time.

Don't let yourself buy a 13 year old game at twice the original price.

GEN 4 NOT-REMAKE KIND OF NEW THING On to legends now, gamefreak is targeting the people who put up with sun/moon and sword/shield. The obvious problem with those games to most people was simply a lack of change from the standard pokemon formula. Even when changing the gyms to trials or stadiums, most people still understand that the format and story structures are mostly unchanged. Of course, this problem has seemingly been addressed by changing the game structure a fair bit, but almost entirely by removal.

Trainer battles, and by extension, gyms and tournaments/elite 4 have been confirmed to be absent, meaning all battles are only vs single pokemon, in spite of the player likely having a team of 6 pokemon. Even if battle difficulty is increased to compensate (doubtful), this will still drastically increase the simplicity of combat and make it even less likely for the game to include any meaningful challenge. Exploring towns and meeting NPCs is also seemingly missing, as the game is confirmed to have only a single village, which frankly looks incredibly boring and we've yet to see a single NPC inhabiting the village.

Battles now use an ATB format instead of a turn-based format (for those of you who don't know what that means, it basically means nothing, it's still turn based, it just means the speed state determines who gets more turns instead of who goes first, that's it), but beyond that there seems to be no noteworthy changes, pokemon learn 4 moves with limited PP, type advantage will still definitely be the most important aspect to battle, and the player being able to walk around during battle provides no meaningful impact. While the little dash the pokemon do to approach each other is cool, it is already a sign that gamefreak will not be addressing the issue of lacking animations for pokemon battles, as they can't even be assed to animate and program pokemon walking around the environment during combat, and lucario doing 1 kick for a move described as a series of punches isn't a great sign either.

On the topic of lacking animations, the new "pet simulator feature" for legends seems to be an advancement on the ride system from sun/moon, which presumably people missed from sword/shield. Being able to ride on your pokemon to do stuff sounds cool, but in all likelihood, this system will be limited to only a select few pokemon who will each do a select few actions, and is not a reasonable replacement for all the other pet raising features that have been removed in the past. Similar to BS, the total number of pokemon included may also be limited arbitrarily, in spite of the fact that no new pokemon need to be added, as these games are not claiming to be a new generation.

The largest issues I personally have with this new game is the horrible technical quality and gameplay quality shown in the initial trailer. Unfortunately, these types of problems seem to be difficult to explain to the average consumer, even though the issues seem incredibly obvious and inexcusable to people like me. Most people were able to understand the problem with the berry trees in gen 8, because it was easy to explain, "this tree doesn't look like the other trees, and it sticks out, isn't that weird?", and so gamefreak has eliminated any immediately obvious issues like that, sticking with a very consistent artstyle for legends, making it almost impossible to easily explain its faults to the average pokemon fan.

People have been really quick to compare legends to BoTW; the game that invented grass, trees, and mountains. In spite of these comparisons, nobody seems to point out that legends looks dramatically worse than that almost 5 year old game from the previous generation. Plants are stiff and lacking in energy, draw distances are poor, colors are drab, and textures are messy. Many parts of legends seems to ape BoTW on just the surface, essentially just following market trends. Even the controls seem to follow after modern 3rd person shooters/stealth games, including a seemingly pointless roll and a clunky looking ball lobbing arc that feels unfun before even getting to play it myself.

The largest issue, painfully obvious to some, and impossible to explain to others, is the framerate. The trailer clearly was ran on actual switch hardware, and not prerendered, which would be a good mark for gamefreak if it didn't result in a trailer that never once hit 30fps. Even with empty fields, with only 1 or 2 characters on screen, the game was incapable of meeting the target speed, and had to resort to optimizations like reducing the frame rate of pokemon only inches away from the player to stop-motion levels of choppy. If situations with almost nothing going on result in slow-down, how will the game perform during actual gameplay? Even though slow-down is something everyone can feel, many people aren't capable of identifying it.

The major things to wait and see for legends is if the removed aspects of the series are made up for by some additional systems or content, and definitely wait to see if the performance improves. As with BS, preordering a game like this only shows that gamefreak only has to market the game by saying it's different, not improved, like they've been doing for years now.

TL;DR FUCK GAMEFREAK One major thing of note is that gamefreak is releasing 2 games based on gen 4 at the nearly the same time, meaning they have no obligation to design new pokemon or even include pokemon not from sinnoh, and also that the sales of each game can be used as an indicator for which of their 2 audiences is more loyal to them. Both BS and Legends are in a position to be pushes aside if they fail, but if either succeeds, gamefreak can continue in the direction of the more successful game and reap the benefits, without any need to innovate, improve, or adapt to criticism.

The last thing I feel I have to remind people about is that gamefreak is a company; you don't need to be "grateful" to them. I've seen that word thrown around far too much by people who seem to buy pokemon games like its a tax, and not something they want to do. You don't have to suck up to a company that made games you liked as a kid if the games aren't what you want anymore. Pokemon is so wildly successful that it can't possible die, so don't buy the games out of pity, or out of some feeling of obligation. Buy the video games you want to play and nothing more.

Basically, if you are considering getting any of these new games, please wait until the games are out before purchasing them, and decide for yourself if they are worth your money, and more importantly, your time. Preordering these games only lets gamefreak know their audience will buy and put up with anything. They have no real competition at the moment, so the only thing the audience can do to encourage improvement is show some of restraint.

#juvenile rant #pokemon #if you read all that then good job cus jesus that got long #please just respect yourself #you deserve better games #you arent weird for wanting things to be good #anyway have a good night

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littledevil-jpeg · 3 years

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Okay, so last post I was giving Lucifer 5B some credit for getting me interested and intrigued about a shitty character, so, as all things should be balanced, here comes the other side of the question. I'll say right off the bat that Lucifer was never a show I took seriously, all at once because of the tone, the way they chose to develop and delve into the themes, the monster-of-the-week format (though also done in spn, there it's redeemed by the darker tone and more subtle theme-development. Obviously, this is S1-S5 I'm talking about) and again the overall way this world works. I've been known to accuse Cobra Kai and even Breaking Bad for coincidence-bending, but they don't even come close to the level of Lucifer here. Then, of course, there's how easy everything is, like a bloody sled on ice: drugs - no problem, kill someone - no problem, infiltrate a mafia group - no fooking problem. How? Well, glaze over that, it's not that important. Except it is. Remember how in that same Breaking Bad Walter's team spent considerable chunks of the show planning, hiding evidence, preparing, measuring little details, diligently covering up their tracks. And they were only involved in a measly drug manufacturing business. Imagine the shit Lucifer runs, with crime bosses, drugs, demons and prostitutes piling out of his front door. Obviously it's a show about angels and demons, and the realism isn't the focus of the program, but still, these things matter. There's always a convenience to it. Like, oh, you need to infiltrate the Russian mafia or some shit? Don't worry, I know a guy - and poof, problem gone. That's not even to mention the universe bending out of shape all around Lucifer, everyone (Chloe especially) putting up with his humiliating bullshit, the fact that he would be kicked out the police in anything even remotely resembling real life, that the mc's get away with almost everything, the unrealistic dialogue that no human irl ever speaks, the second-hand embarrassment, the cheesy "morale" speeches, the dull, predictable cases that are all done by the same formula... and more. So okay, there's a lot, a lot, of problems with this show. Which is why no one really takes it that seriously, we all know it's kind of trashy. But "kind of trashy" is one thing. Now, when season 5 introduces a genuine "evil twin" that we're meant to take with even a bit of seriousness, in the footsteps of such chef d'oeuvres as Dispicable Me 3, when that twin is the most caricature-like villain in recent history, when the allmighty is a buffoon with half a brain, forget omniscient, and isn't even in-line with the stuff he's done before, when one of the main cast is offed as though mid-sentense, with no lead-up, no foreshadowing, no preamble, like a toss of a dice, when the main character is on a race to become God himself, and his love interested Mrs God, and when, oh, Jesus fucking Christ, just stop already! I truly wonder if the writer's room a big dart board with all these drunk-ass ideas stuck onto it, and they blind throw to make the next season. It's finally hitting me now, as I'm writing this, what on god's green earth I watched yesterday.

Why does Lucifer need to become God? Why does a war in Heaven even have to be introduced? Why not focus of the more intricate inter-personal conflicts on Earth, on the characters and their mentalities, on those meaningful arcs that hold actual importance, and emotion, and down-to-earth (lol), well, meaning again. Why do we need a heavenly war? Why does Lucifer need the approval of the angels, when the moral seems to be that he makes himself who he is, not his status, not his people, not his past and not the Silver City (an excellent moral, by the way, so credit where it's due. This self-actualisation business is the second best thing in the whole show)? I get that this is why the majority vote doesn't work, but then what does work? Are they ment to self-actualise into becoming God? Now, I'm aware it's left uncertain whether Luci really is God, so I won't go there for now, but then we have the issue of his resurrection. Was it a reward for self-sacrifice? That wouldn't fit so well, considering all the previous sacrifices that were much more impressive than this one. And what's the philosophy behind that - he's acting out of love? But to what end, if by dying he practically fucked all the other people on Earth, including the very same Chloe he just brough back down? Are these really the qualities for a God to have?

Or did he once again self-actualise, but this time he actualised himself to life? That would truly be a stake-killer. I saw a theory that he finally saw himself as worthy of Heaven, which doesn't quite link to coming back to life. Well, these are perhaps, once again, speculations, and maybe this will be cleared up next season. As for Lucifer's God status, it's a shitty move on the writers' part. Not only was the execution rushed, but thematically, again, Lucifer becoming God to feel worthy of Chloe is nonsense. From a plot and theme standpoint, why does this need to happen? This Godly status holds no meaning, no emotional worth, it's not fullfilling, not symbolic of anything fitting other than that same old "bad to good" and I guess the irony of the Devil becoming God, but the irony is an empty one if it has no real meaning. Which is the case. The whole thing is empty of substance, and I don't know why they went there. You know, it's hollow anyway, not least because Lucifer really doesn't deserve it. Even this season, he is nothing but a child - he acts and thinks like a child, he unchangeably does the same "projecting" bs from season to season to season with no actual sign of emotional maturity other than that in the words of other characters. But you can say he's different all you want, it's not gonna work if the subtle signs of his change aren't there. Say, imagine if Endeavor kept running his mouth about atonement, but kept dutifully abusing his kids - this is that. And yeah, Lucifer loves Chloe in his own way, cares about her, and even comes out of his self-absorbed little world for her, which by the way bugged me about their uneven relationship since season 1 (you know, treating her like shit with a flimsy excuse and then "making up" for it with a grand gesture of sacrifice or a round of angsty suffering. Time after time, every time.)

And finally, of course, there's the issue of how inconsiderate it is to Chloe for him to become God. I mean, it's dead obvious no relationship will be possible there, not without becoming even more unhealthy than it already seems. Themathic significance and meaning aside, even then, even in-universe, it's a shitty thing Lucifer does, again, for himself. So that he feels worthy of Chloe. What she feels, once he's made it his goal to do something, essentially doesn't matter anymore. And the plot fascilitates this splendidly, I mean, she always forgives him without fault like a well-oiled machine. Always, whatever he does, and it's gotten old a long time ago. We know Lucifer can do anything, anything at all, and he will be forgiven - by Chloe, by Maze, by Dan, by Linda, by Amenadiel, by anyone that he needs to forgive him. You'll be lucky if they don't do it the same episode, and extraordinarily lucky if it takes them three or four.

There are many other things to discuss this season, like Dan's ridiculously badly written death, Chloe's whole character stagnation, the, khm, the musical episode, the saturaday morning cartoon villain problem, the fact that Michael manages to descieve an omniscient being, and God himself. I might do those separately, might not, we'll see, as those aren't nearly as interesting to dissect as the above.

Aaaand, anyway, if he is now God, I strongly suspect they'll play the angle of "even though he's God, he stills feels shitty, as true self-love/worth comes from elsewhere" and the usual thing.

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