#babys first mentor to father figure arc

[wicked-jade]

Christ, there's still a week until the new season starts, and I am already so, so tired. I think I am officially too old for discourse.

Like, I love this fandom. I really do. But I think we need to collectively step back and take a deep breath.

In every single interview I've watched, Ralph has seemed genuinely excited about his storyline this season. Do you really think he would be okay with them trampling all over Mr. Miyagi's legacy? He has always been insanely protective over the original movie as a whole, and that character in particular. Billy, too. They've always emphasized how important it was for them to honor both Mr. Miyagi and Pat Morita.

Look, I'm not saying there's no reason to worry. It's Cobra Kai, of course there is. They've made plenty of bad decisions that I strongly dislike. (Baby plot, anyone? Drunk uber-ing?) As a general rule of thumb, I keep my expectations low. Like, buried under the basement low. But I do have faith that both Ralph and Billy would draw the line if they really believed this storyline was disrespectful to Miyagi's character.

And Ralph certainly wouldn't be talking about how rewarding it was for him to play.

Also, not for nothing, but the title of that yahoo uk article that's going around was click bait. Not to defend Jon, Josh, and Hayden - god knows I have my own problems with them - but they never actually say it's 'important to tarnish Mr. Miyagi's legacy' in the interview.

What they do say is that Daniel has always put Mr. Miyagi on a pedestal, and that any tarnish whatsoever on his mentor/father-figure is going to shake his confidence and maybe change his perspective going forward.

They also say that while the things he learns don't necessarily sound good at first, he doesn't have the full story. Maybe I'll be proven wrong but I really don't get the feeling that they're going for "Mr. Miyagi was secretly EVIL all along" or anything like that. More like Miyagi was a good man who had flaws like anyone else. And what made him great is that he didn't let those flaws or his anger or whatever mistakes he might've made in the past define him. Which, if well done (Yes, I know it's a big if) could be a really touching character arc for Daniel to have.

Because no one is perfect, and he's holding both himself and everyone else (along with Mr. Miyagi's memory) to an impossible standard.

And honestly, that would be a good lesson for a deeply flawed character like Johnny to learn, as well.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Another case for Mild!Miguel:

HOBIE is the reason I think Mild!Miguel exists. Hear me Out:

Inversions & Parallels in ATSV

[A post where I talk about how the existence of Hobie's arc backs up and/or proves my Mild Miguel theory.

MEDIUM length, I talk about plot connections and writing stuff as well as my predictions for Miguel in BTSV.]

Subversions: Character Building in ATSV

One thing that sets ATSV apart from a lot of other Superhero movies is that it's centered around not 'heroing', but the characters and the relationships they hold.

Each character in ATSV has a Subversion in their arc.

Subversions being the defying of the audience's expectations pre-conceived notion of a character. Almost every character we see experiences a conflict with how we first understand them.

Gwen goes from being closeted and closed off both emotionally and literally in terms of her Spider-identity. She starts the movie pushing away her close friends, and ends her arc embracing her dad.

With Jess, she is introduced as a family woman, who talks about her husband and child openly. When in reality, she's not a familial or a parental figure in the slightest.

Pavitr is introduced as a confident guy, who can effortlessly save everybody and still have time for school, a relationship, and a collection of streetdogs. But in reality, he's still just a kid who hasn't taken an L yet. He needs help, panics and sucks at hiding his secret identity.

Peter is shown as a happy comfortable new father who has perfected the art of being a full time dad and changing avocado poop pampers. But later, we see he's just a guy, still figuring this whole dad thing out.

With Rio & Jeff, they start the movie literally grounding Miles, and by the end, they're forced to trust him out there in the big world.

Even Miles experiences this, as he goes from a kid who wants to be apart of something bigger - before realizing that he only needs himself.

The writers of ATSV use these subversion in order to make three dimensional characters.

And Hobie Brown, may be the best example of this. The Writers preying on our pre-conceived notions of punk, and love triangles to give us a vision of Hobie before he even appears on screen.

In the film Hobie, is the only subversion that is purposeful. He's the only one doing this behavior on conscious effort.

Hobie is an outlier. His subversion is intentional - and doing this gives him enough power to exercise a lot of influence over the plot going forward.

Hobie Brown is the king of Subversion.

But who doesn't have a Subversion? Miguel.

But let's hold that thought for a second.

Parallels: Relationship Building in ATSV

All of the subversions are what cause conflict in plot. And in ATSV, ever character and their conflict, as an a equal reflection of their situation - A Parallel.

And the same way each character experiences a subversion, that leads to conflict -

Each Conflict has a Parallel situation that mirrors theirs.

And these parallels can help us predict the story.

Gwen & Miles Parallel each other:

Miles' family is desperate to be apart of his life, while Gwen's family - her father, openly rejects her. And in the end: Miles ends up as far away from his parents as possible, around the same time Gwen returns to her fathers arms.

Jess & Peter Parallel each other:

Jess begins the story with a hands-off mentoring approach - while Peter's is more emotionally driven. And in the end: Jess begins questioning her callousness towards Gwen, meanwhile Peter questions if his approach and babying of Miles is actually what he needs.

Rio & Jeff Parallel each other:

Rio starting the film being more stern on Miles - the last one in the guidance consolers office and the one to remind him of the cake. Meanwhile, Miles' dad is the one trying to cut Miles some slack. And in the end: Rio is the more open one - she's the one who lets Miles go with Gwen, and the one who hears when out at the end. Meanwhile Miles' dad is the opposite - ready to jump at the accusation of drugs. (lmao)

Hell, even characters that we see on screen for less than ten minutes could be considered parallels:

Pavitr & Margo Parallel each other:

Pavitr is inexperienced, but loving life. He's out in the field enjoying himself and his universe. While Margo is more experienced. She works the Go-Home Machine. But unlike Pavitr, she's not out in the field, and she doesn't enjoy her universe. By the end of their arcs: Pavitr is humbled and realizes there's some dark moments that come with Spider-man, and some close calls. While Margo regains her motivation and spark through Miles, heading out in the field again.

Every character has a subversion - Ever subversion causes conflict - and every conflict leads to a parallel. And through that, the story is made.

Just one problem:

Hobie doesn't have a Parallel. Neither does Miguel.

Why does Hobie - the only one who purposely uses subversion - not have a parallel?

If Hobie is 'The guy playing a pretentious fake punk based on people's preconceived notions of his ideology and appearance, who uses it to his advantage only when he wants to, and uses it for good - that results in a growth in community'

Where is 'The guy playing a pretentious authority figure based on people's preconceived notions of his ideology and appearance, who uses it to his advantage only when he wants to, and uses it for evil that results in a loss of community.'

Where is that guy? Can you find him?

Oh, damn it's Miguel.

Story Structure in ATSV:

If we look at the story structure of ATSV not only do we see that there's subversions and parallels, but we see a hole in the story.

With each character going on an arc the completely subverts audiences expectations - Why doesn't Miguel? (he does.)

And with each subversion, in Hobie's case, if everyone has an reflection of themselves and their situation that tie them into the story by common themes - Why doesn't Hobie? (he does.)

Why is Hobie the face of 'fake rebel that leads to great purposeful action' - and there's no 'fake leader than leads to horrible un-purposeful action'? (there is)

Did the Writers just leave this hole, and not tie Miguel and Hobie's arc in the same way as everyone elses?

No. There is a connection there.

Hobie is Miguel's reflection. Miguel is his parallel. Miguel's subversion is that he's not mean. He's putting on a persona.

Their parallel is - that they're both putting on an act. One for rebellion, one for order.

The difference is - Hobie enjoys his act, he uses it for good, and good things come of it. When he drops his mask as the 'fake punk', he does it out of the urge to empower himself.

Hence why he demasks himself in the comics.

And on Miguel's hand - He doesn't enjoy his act, he uses it for bad, and bad things come of it. When Miguel drops his mask and tells Miles two days, that is his mask dropping. It happens not out of empowerment, but vulnerability.

The whole scene in the lair is a purposeful ACT. That's why when he looks at Hobie (ironically, his parallel) he is able to turn it off immediately. Within seconds.

Whereas Hobie drops his mask in times of trust or action and rebellion - Miguel drops his in times of apathy or vulnerability - aka HIM SHOWING MILES GAB'S DEATH.

Miguel's conversation with Miles here - is the only time we see him not putting on the 'evil, angry, grumpy boss' mask.

He's vulnerable. This is Miguel unmasked. MILD MIGUEL.

While they were walking - Hobie takes his 'fake punk' mask off to be candid with Miles. He speaks honestly and offers empathy - and that is the GOOD inciting incident for Miles' rebellion.

Miguel is the parallel.

He purposely strips his 'fake mean boss' mask off in order to be candid with Miles. He speaks honestly and offers empathy - by telling him how long his father had to live (something he didn't have to do). And that empathy that Miguel gives is the BAD inciting incident for Miles' rebellion.

And when Miles is faced with the parallel of both Hobie and Miguel in rapid succession - it's enough to spawn him to escape.

Hobie and Miguel are opposing but mirrored forces on Miles.

Every character has a subversion. Every subversion causes conflict. Every conflict causes a parallel that spans action.

If Miguel doesn't have a subversion - and Hobie doesn't have a parallel, then how can those conflicts meet? Why this gap in the writing.

If Hobie does have a parallel, the only one left is Miguel.

But, if we're to believe that Hobie does have a parallel, and Miguel is that parallel - then naturally, they're mirrors of each other - and just like Hobie is - Miguel is putting on an act too.

And because the strongest representation of Miguel we see is anger, we know the anger is a mask for something else; aka MILD!MIGUEL

Which is what we see at the climax scene, the real Miguel.

Miguel and Hobie reveal their true colors at the same time, because they're parallels.

Hobie chuckles - the next shot - Miguel snaps.

It's meant to show in that moment in those two shots, these two characters are at their emotional peak. A battle between the two of them - convincing Miles - that Miguel doesn't even know about.

Hobie wins in this moment, Miguel loses, and we see them completely demasked, come to find out - we were wrong, Hobie the one in control and calm - and Miguel is not, he's grasping for control in anyway possible and it's literally slipping from his hands.

There stories are linked, and they barely share any lines at all.

Mild!Miguel exists because Anarchist!Hobie exists.

And all of this is why I think the following:

My predictions for BTSV:

Looking at Hobie's arc:

Fake Persona - Persuasive Set-Up (Talk with Miles) - Inciting Incident around Miles that leads to action (Miles breaks out, Hobie leaves to give Gwen the watch) - Self evaluation and commitment to the cause (joining the gang)

I think Miguel's is gonna follow the same thing

Fake Persona - Persuasive Set Up (This is Everything Speech) - Inciting Incident around Miles (Miles breaks out, Miguel snaps) - Self evaluation and commitment to the cause

Miguel re-evaluates himself and changes sides, turning the Societies resources on Spot.

Based on the subversions, parallels and plot arcs we see in ATSV, my most honest guess is:

Miguel is gonna redeem himself by choice very early into the film.

You know how the first half of ATSV is writen so when you rewatch it again, you'll see the complexities of Hobie's character?

I think the whole movie is written that way. So when you rewatch it AFTER Beyond the Spider-Verse, you can see the complexities of Miguel's character as well.

______________________________ THERE THATS WHY I THINK MILD MIGUEL EXISTS BESIDES EVERYTHING ELSE AND ALL THE VISUAL QUES AND STUFF. THIS IS THE MAIN REASON.

THAT'S WHAT I MEANT I'm so relieved to finally make sense of it. GOSSSSHHH

If you read this far, thank you for your time and entertaining me I'm SO SERIOUS THANK YOU

Please let me know what you think I'm DYING to know

Anyway closing RANT BELOW

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Warning: I go Miguel Mode below]

Thats why this WHOLE TIME I've been like he's RIGHT THERE HJSGDGKDS Cause like -- the story calls for it. if hes not faking why does he have that platform???? Why doesn't Hobie have a paralllel?? Like why is Hobie just this random ass OP character randomly dropped in for funsies - he isn't he's there to reflect Miguel's fake power. Hobie hides his true power the way Miguel hides his powerlessness AHHHHH

THATS WHAT IVE BEEN TRYING TO PUT IN WORDS!! THAT LIKE...I WAS WATCHING THE MOVIE *deep breath* I FEEL SO RELIEVED.

I was watching the movie and feeling like somethings missing in the story - that there's a whole connection that's MISSING There's SOMETHING we're not getting - there's something there. Something that can tells us SO much about the next movie

and seeing peoples interpretations of Miguel made me be like no.... he cant be the only 3 dimensional one. Everyone is the OPPOSITE of what we think they are. Everyone.

And everyone has a parallel. And this is the connection that is missing.

tTHIS IS WHAT I MEANT HOLY FUCK I FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO SAY IT.

When I say 'He's in the room with us, he's standing right there' - I mean 'His existence as a character is what completes the plot. Mild!Miguel HAS to be there logically speaking'

DO YOU GET WHAT I MEAN LIKE MILD MIGUEL AND MIGUELS ACT AS THE LEADER IS CENTRAL TO THIS MOVIE AND THE NEXT.

MILD MIGUEL IS GONNA BE A HUGE PART OF THE NEXT MOVIE

ahhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Anyway if you're still here after THAT Hello hi I love you - Please tell me your thoughts and if you think it makes sense!

Here's Hobie for your travels!

Bye.

[melonteee]

Hey Melon!

I was watching your video on chapter 1113 & when you were talking about Sanji & Bonney's I got so excited. I hadn't initially noticed all the childhood parallels between them (agree with u 100% tho), but I do think Sanji is becoming her favorite Strawhat & that they have a dynamic/growing bond that Oda seems to want us to pay attention to.

However, I was assuming that Bonney was sort of imprinting (might not be the best word) on Sanji. We all know Sanji is very kind to girls so I think Bonney has only seen his best side & I think his specific brand of kindness might be reminding her of her daddy. Kuma & Sanji also both have terrible martyr complexes so she might be getting the same vibes from them & naturally gravitating towards Sanji because of it.

For all we know Bonney will be a true orphan after the arc and since she's still so young it would make sense for her to be looking for a parental figure even if it was subconsciously. That coupled with the points you brought up of how Sanji would be able to understand her in a way maybe the others wouldn't makes me more confident in my gut feeling.

I personally believe Bonney is actually being set up to be the last member of the crew so Oda adding in this dynamic between her & Sanji would help her integrate better. Maybe Oda wants Sanji to parent & mentor a child the same way Zeff did since Sanji looks up to & desires to emulate the kind of man his "true" father is? He has such a strong desire to protect & it would be sweet to see him able to put all that energy towards one person.

I also just think it would be funny to give Sanji a surrogate baby sister/daughter given how outlandish he can be sometimes. We already have Bonney calling him a "good man" (ur like 10 girl what do YOU know 😂) so imagine Bonney being very confused as to why Sanji doesn't get bitches & her trying to be his lil wingman? Their dynamic has a lot of potential for humor & tear inducing moments me think. I'm also very much a girl dad Sanji truther so anything that can quench my thirst for it is great in my book. Give it to me Oda. I'm begging you!

This is so long I'm so sorry! Thanks if you bother to read all of it 😊

Well see first of all Sanji DOES get bitches, it's just that HE'S the bitch that gets GOT and he's oblivious to it, so jot that down!

Second of all, Sanji and Bonney have a very interesting relationship at the moment. Sanji clearly wants to be a positive figure in Bonney's eyes, and wants to be the one to protect and save her - and one of the reasons is because Sanji is softer towards girls. But there's also the fact that Bonney is doing everything to find her father, and we must remember how Sanji reacted to Kinemon and Momonosuke in Punk Hazard,

Sanji's heart immediately softened at Kinemon saying he was looking for his son, and while he had an odd relationship with Momonosuke, Sanji still cared for and protected the kid. Sanji has a REAL soft spot for anyone with a father/child relationship, probably because his OWN blood father sucked, and his ACTUAL father was a man who took Sanji in despite it all.

I don't think Bonney will join the crew because I really cannot imagine Nami accepting a child on their crew for the unforeseeable future, especially in such dangerous waters, but Sanji and Bonney's parallels really break my heart.

The fact the two of them have loving mothers who gave their lives for them. They both have blood fathers they'd despise and, no doubt, have complicated feelings about their blood. They both have ACTUAL fathers who adopted them and sacrificed SO MUCH for their futures.

They seem like mirrors of each other in a lot of ways, and Bonney is also using Sanji's name specifically, so she must feel a strong safety or connection with him. Sanji is trying to help Bonney, to keep her safe, and to keep KUMA safe, because HE experienced all these turmoils and traumas as a child too. Sanji watched Zeff sacrifice so much for him, his heart would BLEED for Bonney - who is watching HER father do the exact same thing.

I'd say it's much more of a big brother/little sister relationship between them, but it's also something more than that, because Sanji is saving a kid he would truly see himself in.

[narutocharacterpolls]

ROUND TWO

UMINO IRUKA vs SAI

Reasons for submission under the cut

Iruka

he is kind-hearted and soft and has a big heart

he always has a watchful eyes over his students. But he can also be stern if needed. He knows how cruel the world can be and wants to make sure his students are properly prepared for the dangers they'll face

he doesn't have prejudices against his students. No hostility towards Naruto who was often the victim of misplaced anger due to the Nine-Tails who was sealed within him. Thus, Iruka came to be one of the only adults Naruto respected in his youth as well as the only person who could control Naruto's behaviour to some degree

due to Iruka's more nurturing, protective and compassionate nature, Naruto views him as a mentor and Iruka in turn, views Naruto as a younger brother

he treats Naruto to ramen whenever Naruto returns from a mission, where Iruka gets to see how he is developing as a ninja

his refusal to allow Naruto to graduate at first was not out of spite, but merely out of caring strictness and a desire for Naruto to work harder and reach his own potential

has a great sense of duty, honour and selflessness as seen when he protected Naruto from an attack, suffering a shuriken wound in his back in order to protect him

he regards the children of the village as the backbone of their village, even being willing to sacrifice his own life to ensure their safety

Iruka to Naruto: "Stop acting like a baby! You want to know what I really think of you?! I think you're one of my most precious students… and… you're like a little brother to me."

he is Naruto's first mentor figure. He deserves more credit and screen time!

he's the only adult with a working brain

one of the few adults who sees Naruto as a human being not a God savior

is the only one who actually apologies to Naruto for treating him badly

one of the reasons Naruto turned out the way he did

he deserves a Reise

a nice father figure

Sai

cute and funny

honestly just underrated imo

has an interesting character arc around learning how to understand and express emotions again after a childhood of being trained out of it

is definitely autistic and it makes me happy bc I am too <3

being able to bring the animals he draws to life is a cool ability

he did so much for men in crop tops culture

sweet boy

is a fool who does not know when to shut the fuck up

[beetleviolet]

(To tune of Spiderman theme song) Raaat-man, raaat-man, does whatever a rat can! From his master learns to fight. Takes down shredder with a single bite. Look out! Here comes

SPLINTER (and origin story)

So I've done minimal research on rats. Like very minimal. Like I know that 1. One breed of rats that are pets are called Fancy Rats (which would be the greatest thing ever if not for fact two) 2. Apparently father rats carry baby rats on their backs. So I will absolutely be drawing that at some point.

Also I accidently used a pen that bleeds so I couldn't color some of the images 😭

But anyway I made Splinter a white and gray rat because uhhh I felt like it. And isn't he cute??? (Yes. The answer is yes.)

Splinter grew up a rat and was the pet of Hamato Yoshi, a ninja master from Japan with the mission to defeat the Foot Clan. Yoshi was asked by a friend to hide a canister of mutagan. The Shredder was after it and it would be awful if he got his hands on it. Unfortunately, the Shredder found out and showed up at Yoshi's apartment complex. It was a long fight, in which it was revealed that the man who had given Yoshi the canister had been killed. Anyway there is an epic fight scene and Yoshi ends up being taken down. They ransacked the room before finally checking Splinter's cage, where the canister was hidden in some sort of rat cage toy thingy under shredded paper and stuff.

Shredder opens the cage and Splinter bites his hand. So Shredder does the natural thing and bitch slaps Splinter and the entire fucking cage out the open window right behind it. This is when it falls onto some sort of moving truck for a turtle sanctuary. This is how I justify using wildly unique turtle species from all over the US, one of which is deaf and wildly endangered. The canister lands on the street and breaks, mutating the turtles and Splinter. Splinter grabs the turtles and runs into the sewers.

Splinter struggled a lot with his kids when they were younger. It was risky to leave them alone, but he had to go to the surface to get food and supplies. As the kids get older its easier to leave them at home, even take them with him sometimes. He is super careful, but at some point Leonardo and Donatello end up getting out on their own. This is what leads to.. the incident (I'm being so cryptic I'm so sorry) (oh wait no I'm not im enjoying this quite a bit)

Things became harder after that. Leo was super scared of his Dad leaving the sewers, and even more scared of leaving them himself, so Splinter went out for groceries when the kids were asleep or got Raph to distract Leo for a couple hours. As they got older they got better. Leo goes out to the surface on a regular basis for errands, so Splinter assumes he's doing great now! (Cough he uh. He's really not.)

After witnessing Rise Splinter, I really wanted to give the boys a positive role model, but I also knew he has to have flaws so. Uh.

Splinter is a good Dad. He takes care of his kids, knows them well, and loves them to bits. However, he just isn't a good teacher. He doesn't know how to hold back in criticisms, which totally reflected on Leo whenever he leads training. Raph tries to compensate by being super nice and supportive, even when he doesn't mean it. It kinda skews the dynamic when Splints is in teacher-mode. Splinter also applies this style of criticism to himself and is super hard on himself about the death of his mentor/owner, Hamato Yoshi. This reflects on his kids more than he realizes, particularly Donnie, and I plan to explore this sometime at the end of or right after the first arc of the comic. Which... we won't get to for a WHILE.

I still need to develope Splints a little more, but since in the present comic we haven't met him, I figured I have some time to work out the kinks.

When he's training his kids call him Sensei, but otherwise they call him Dad, or when they were little they called him Papa. His signing style may be the best next to Leo, his hands are a little quieter and softer most of the time.

[quibbs126]

I’m thinking more about the “cartoon show about the Ancient descendants starring Princess Cookie” thing I offhandedly mentioned and I just wanted to share some ideas concerning it

In my head, it’s probably closest to the She Ra reboot, but I’m not sure how much since it’s been a few years since I’ve seen it. But the main character is less Adora and far more so Glimmer. And also we don’t exactly have a big cast of royals to work with

So there’s Princess as our main character and Knight as her bodyguard/love interest/best friend (at the very least Knight starts with a crush on her, whether that gets reciprocated or changes later on is up to you I suppose). She lives in the Hollyberry Kingdom with her parents and an absent adventurous grandmother(I mean absent like she is in the game, not so much she’s a deadbeat. Just imagine this setup like the game)

Custard III is pretty much the team baby and is basically like a younger brother to Princess. The plot probably starts with Princess and Knight meeting him and learning he’s the descendant of Pure Vanilla Cookie, king of the long lost Vanilla Kingdom. Not sure what the plot would entail but this seems like the best starting off point for a show. Other than that, Custard III probably lives in the Hollyberry castle with Princess, since he has nowhere else to go

As for Dark Choco, well it depends whether you want him as part of the main supporting cast or not. If he’s part of the hero group, I’d say make him his Young Prince version, and he’s the oldest member of the group and by proxy most experienced, but he still has things to learn. He’s a family friend and already part of the group at the start. Not sure why he’s a frequent cast member but whatever. He’d be the older brother type and probably the group’s main/best fighter. Also he has issues with his father that would probably get worked through throughout the show

If we’re going with him being like he is in current day, then he starts out as part of the antagonist group, but he eventually leaves and gets his redemption arc, possibly via the power of Princess’s trust and friendship, eventually becoming part of the group but more as an older mentor/uncle figure

Though I’ll be honest, with the first scenario I have this neat idea of Dark Choco losing his eye in this series, where instead of how he does in canon, he loses his eye defending his friends, in some sort of scenario similar to the prom night rescue in She Ra (fun fact: this scenario of the prom night rescue but with Cookie Run characters is where this whole idea started). He then has a character arc about his new loss of an eye but he pulls through it and ends up seeing his injury as a symbol of his loyalty to his friends.

He might also have a slight corruption arc in this series with the Strawberry Jam Sword, but it doesn’t have nearly the same ramifications as canon as the team figures out what’s going on pretty quickly, if not immediately (in that he’s not in control), and eventually help free him from this. He probably also doesn’t join the villains in this scenario, at least not while he’s in control, and if he did it’d be after a very long time skip where he’s basically been broken, which I don’t imagine happening

I admit, this first scenario is the one I like more, I just put the second one since it’s the one closer to actual canon

We don’t really have any more “Ancient descendants” to work with (well there are more, I mean more in descendants from other Kingdoms), but they’ll get added once they show up I guess. I mean I know there’s theories for other characters, but since nothing’s currently confirmed for them, I won’t be using them as main characters

Now for Tiger Lily. So she’d show up occasionally throughout the story as a mysterious character, saving the group on occasion but never go back with them, disappearing back into the wild. Or heck, maybe she only shows up when Princess is alone, so nobody else knows who she is, though maybe the others would meet her later. There’d be hints to Tiger Lily and Princess’s true relation, like Jungleberry and references to Princess once having a twin, as well as possibly an episode featuring Tiger Lily and her wondering what this connection she feels towards Princess is, and simultaneously vice versa with Princess, but their true connection wouldn’t be revealed until like, at least a Season 2 (wait no, don’t these sorts of reveals happen at the end of Season 1s? Eh whatever). But there’d probably be an arc much later on of her trying to integrate into normal society and her trying to connect with her family she’s never known. Princess would be the easiest since they already know each other, but her parents are another story

Oh right, I should also mention, since this is in the form of a kid’s cartoon, all the main characters are children/teens. Staring off the show, Princess/Tiger Lily/Knight are around 14, Custard III is somewhere between 7-9, and Dark Choco is around 17-18, in the scenario where he’s part of the supporting cast the whole way through

Clotted Cream and the Creme Republic might show up as a late addition as well, never being made part of the group but more like a guest character that pops in from time to time. Though we might spend more time with him in an introductory arc with the Creme Republic and this being where Custard III’s family is from, though nobody knows until the name Custard is mentioned. Though in the end, Custard III chooses to stay with Princess and friends

The main antagonists would probably be Dark Enchantress and the Cookies of Darkness, and the Ancients would also be featured characters, with Hollyberry eventually appearing again, or perhaps her first showing up as a normal huntress but later being revealed to have been Hollyberry watching the kingdom from the shadows. But the Ancient stuff would really only happen during Plot Time, as I like to call it

And uh yeah, think that’s about it, just thoughts I had. Tempted to make this an au, but I don’t know how considering the characters aren’t different in design or anything and there’s not too much different from canon in a vacuum, it’s just that the story is being told in a different format and with different main characters. It’s more a bunch of neat ideas I like

Also not sure what role the dragons would play. I mean I feel like they should play some role, at least Pitaya, but we already have a group of antagonists and they don’t really fit in with them

[dwter]

You know, Lance is honestly probably one of the first people that actually talked to Keith and established some sort of relationship with him. Keith was an orphan for at least a little bit in his early life after his father died before Shiro eventually took him in. Then, he lived alone after being kicked out of the Garrison because Shiro was gone, so it's important that Lance seeks him out and forms a relationship with him because he needs that. The only person Keith really had before Voltron was Shiro. His mother left when Keith was just a baby in order to, ultimately, protect him, and his father died when he was very young, so he was put into the system. Shiro, somehow, found him, took him in, and he's the reason Keith enrolled in the Garrison (as Keith said in S2, his life would've been a lot different without Shiro). My point is, Keith needs people. That is a big part of his overall character arc - growing out of being a loner who pushes people away and learning to let people in. We know he can come off as distant and uninterested, which has to do with all his underlying issues. We know he's a hothead and got into trouble at the Garrison (I don't think he started stuff with other students just for the hell of it, I think he might've gotten treated poorly by his classmates... and I'm sure the reason he popped Iverson in the eye wasn't because he started something himself, I bet Iverson said something that really got to Keith, probably something about Shiro). Combining that with his high achievements as a pilot, I imagine he spent a lot of time by himself while in school. I think he not only chose to stay away from people, but I also get the impression that people just either didn't talk to him at all anyway. Other students may have just avoided him because of how he was, so they might've been intimidated/scared by him, or they were raging assholes to him. Then, Lance decides they’re rivals. He's not scared of Keith, he is intrigued... he is interested. He wants to be on Keith's level. He wants to compete with him. Lance is determined to have this rivalry, to get Keith's attention, to be a part of his life somehow. His rivalry with Keith makes him strive to do his best in order to beat him. It inspires him, in a way.

  Once they're a part of Voltron together, Lance doesn't just aim to compete with Keith and get on his nerves, he talks to him like a regular person, too. The, "I say Vol, you say Tron!" cheer is a good example of that. He made Keith feel like part of the group and established a connection with him from the get-go. Shiro is older than Keith, a mentor and a brother figure. He raised him. They're not exactly equals. In contrast, Lance is his peer and while he may not exactly see himself as Keith's equal yet, Keith views Lance as his equal. They are friends. Keith needs friends, especially friends his age. He needs more than just Shiro, he needs more people in his life who love him unconditionally. His relationship with Shiro and his relationship with Lance are both important, but vastly different. They're important in different ways, for different reasons. Of course, Keith has developed great relationships with the others on the team, but Lance is likely the second person he's ever really connected with.

[grimalkinsquill]

For the fanfic ask game: 🍬📗💘

Do you write for multiple fandoms? If yes, what is your favourite fic of yours for each fandom?

Yes! I write for multiple fandoms for enrichment purposes (what I learn in one fandom space can be translated to another and I am literally a hunter-gatherer for tropes and prompts for my friends of one fandom).

Uh, this answer will be long, but favourite fic for every fandom I've written for (as recorded by Ao3, as my Quizilla fics and FF.net fics are no longer accessible):

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Cliché Spy Tactics. Rivals-to-friends-to-mutual-idiotic-crush meet-cute! I still find it actively hilarious.

Red vs. Blue: Storytelling. An unreliable narrator fic told entirely by the world's most eccentric best friends.

Overwatch: Sostener. A start of redemption, built out of the Year 1 Overwatch Lore of Scraps. One of the things that endears me to this story is that I got to play with my SoCal heritage with it.

Warframe: Midnight Mother, Cinnabar Children wins by default, being my only Warframe fic 😂 I do think there's good about it though, simply from the two lines

Simaris snorted. “I’m so glad you’re not like them. You’re sensible.”

“False,” she teased, “I have you to be sensible for me. Like a father of ancient myth.”

Dungeons & Dragons: Dangerous Woman wins by default, but also because it spawned me to write a 72-page homebrewed worldbuilding document that's gained a life of its own.

DC Comics: Guardian. My beloved "Drag Black Adam from Lawful Evil to Lawful Good" fic. What stands of it now is largely me pulling together different instances of his backstory together into something remotely coherent. Runner up is A Study in Cyan, largely because it has a cat-based hero who compares the experience of her boyfriend slowly coaxing her down from her various traumas to "getting a cat out of a tree" and that's a metaphor I'll stand by.

Young Justice: It has 3 fics in it, but the Low-Key series overall is my baby. I think it gets extra shoutouts for having 80k words of platonic slow-burn (it takes Captain Cold a LONG time to figure out that Theo is His Kid. Like, not biologically his kid, but oh my gods is She His Kid. Like, emotionally. He has been dadding her for 75k words and he writes it off as being a team leader and a mentor for a baby hero. Understanding he's Being a Dad takes him an embarrassingly long time. His teammates knew before he did, the bastards [derogatory]. Like. Way before him. Right when she first stole his signature cold gun from him, the little shit [affectionate], which is at like. Chapter fucking One of the first fic in this series)

Guild Wars 2: EASY WINNER the four times that pact commander magna and shining blade asset canach gave the rumor mills false ammo and the one time they didn't. It's SO FUNNY. Fake dating during a dragon-slaying saga between two non-humans with different cultural spheres. All because a nosy 6-year-old thought they should have (gasp) friends.

Fallen Hero: Rebirth: Does it say? is still. So fucking good. I took a scene from the game and slipped in personal traits in between, lovingly-crafted flashback sequences pondering the nature of what it means to be human. Fall In Line is a very close second, as it unpacks a LOT of gender trauma for me (in a way that's subtly mirrored by Felicette's Everything. Fall In Line is more blatant about it than Felicette's arc will ever be).

Pokemon: Do Something Crazy! It's a story of healing and growth for everybody involved! And also includes speculative biology, because y'all know I Am Like This.

FFXIV: Ganzhyllsyn's 4 Steps to a Heist, hands down.

Critical Role: I was broken; now We're golden. I saw Essek and went "what if big brother?" and ran with it.

Fairy Tail: the heart is hard to translate / it has a language of its own. My sole attempt at a NaNoWriMo-esque challenge. I still like this weird translation of the manga's events as MMORP events and inter-guild drama.

Miraculous Ladybug: of Sages and Warriors. Duh. You knew this. Close seconds are O' Neighbour Mine and A Tricky Treat.

Na Daoine Maithe: I only have Lighting the Wick thus far, but there'll be more. This visual novel has lit brainworms and they are persistent.

And uh, if you're still here after all that, here are the OTHER TWO questions you asked (I'm sorry, I like a lot of things and thus write a lot of things)

Do you want to write something outside of fanfiction? If so, what about?

So like. I have three original project ideas, two of which are interactive fiction games. The first idea is that I take Dangerous Woman, strip it of all the DND stuff, and make that a novel in its own right (because that'd be extraordinarily easy for me to do, I'd just have to, y'know, finish it. I know how it ends, it's just a matter of landing the execution).

My two interactive fiction game ideas:

You play as an orphan in the setting of Dangerous Woman, ending up as one of King Oberon's adopted kids. You investigate a weird anomaly in Oberon's territory and meet a cast of odd characters (some of whom are romanceable, all of whom are friendable).

You play as someone who just got reincarnated as one of those flat villainess characters in a fantasy novel...that you, the player character, have never personally read. Frantically remembering the info-dumping of your best friend, you try to survive: will you give in to how easy it is to be what people think you are or will you fight it?

Is it easier to write angst or fluff?

Fluff. Any day of the week. I find a lot of what people consider to be angst to be boring melodrama and a lot of what people think of what I think of as angst to be "tame". Like a lot of things with me, both terms have an asterisk and a lot of variables, but fluff has fewer variables, so fluff wins.

[phoenixlionme]

Aang and Ezran Comparison

1. Have a deep connection to the animals of their respective worlds -- Aang being the Avatar has animals become drawn to him; Ezran has stated that he relates more to animals than people and can communicate with them

2. Wear warm-colored clothing - Aang is more yellow and orange; Ezran is mainly red

3. Lose parents - Aang’s parents are never seen onscreen; Ezran lost his mother as a baby and his father during the series.

4. Discover father figure’s death after their allies tried to hide said death to protect them -- Aang discovered the skeleton of his mentor and father figure, Monk Gyatso; Ezran discovered his father’s passing when Corvus came to “rescue” him and referred to him as king, Ezran was then able to piece it together

5. The youngest and shortest of their respective friend groups -- Aang does become taller than said friends as he grows up; while it’s yet to be seen as of this post of Ezran will outgrow his friends, season 4 does have him go through a growth spurt, though, he’s still the shortest

6. A special power no one else has -- Aang can control all 4 elements like every other Avatar before him; Ezran can communicate with animals, which no one else in his world seems to be able to do

7. Two main animal companions (one small and one large) and the reason they are brought in the main cast -- Aang has Appa (since his youth) and Momo (since the 3rd episode); Ezran has Bait (since his younger years) and Zym (the first episode), and Zym does become larger than Bait in the 4th season

8. Both are friendly, kind-hearted young men who only want to help those in need.

9. Both have pacifistic ideals that they struggle to maintain and are sometime ridiculed because of it

10. Both fit the all-loving hero archetypes, which is a character who cares for those in need and wants to ensure peace and love for everyone, even their enemies.

11. They are both wise beyond their years but are often seen as naive because of their pacifism and kindness.

12. They have a character arc that involves running away from their duties and learning to confront their responsibilities.

[birdantlers]

When I was little I used to watch dbz kai on nicktoons, which cuts out a lot of the filler content from Z. It was always insane accidentally discovering the og scenes on YouTube, like secret surprise content

This does not include the bit where my mom walked in the kitchen and asked what was wrong, so I told her I watched a sad animal video because I didn't have the heart to say I was crying over DBZ clips hdkdj (she knew what it was and didn't really like it lol)

[spicyicymeloncat]

(Sorry it took so long @birdbound I just moved house and then procrastinating writing this. I drew kid Kai tho so you can’t be too mad

Kai!!! It’s him! The big man! Love to see it! I feel like I’ve talked about him a lot recently so I’m not sure what to say without repeating points. I think people tend to feel really strongly about this character and honestly I have a few mixed opinions on his portrayal in the show (although I think I tend to disagree with a bunch of people’s opinions about him too, so maybe I’m just weird).

Also look!!! I got his core set! This is actually my first Ninjago set ever (because I stopped collecting Lego before I decided Ninjago will take all my brain space). I love the evo sets because they just put dorky stories in the instructions which was really fun, look how happy he is. I actually drew Kai in his evo gi because yes.

Anyways…

So one of Kai’s main defining character traits is that he’s a little rugged, a little mean and I don’t mean this in a bad way I just mean that like in the pilots when they’re first establishing the characters everyone has like they’re defining thing. Cole is the buff commanding one (and his main gimmick in the pilots is about subverting that trait with his fear of dragons), Jay is the one who talks too much (which is again subverted when he loses his voice) and Zane is just doesn’t understand social cues. And Kai is defined as someone who struggles working in a team because he literally doesn’t care about anyone there, which I think is understandable, he’s under a lot of stress. But he is the one to take offence and do things on his own terms.

Yknow how Kai has main character vibes? Although after the pilots he doesn’t even do that much? I think Kai actually has lancer vibes but because the actual main character arrived late and was having a villain arc, Kai kinda fills that role without Lloyd. What happens when the lancer character hasn’t yet found the hero character? Well since they’re supposed to contrasting parallel to the hero, they have the potential to have just as much main character energy.

Also all the other ninja have major side character energy that Kai just doesn’t yknow? I think this is a more prominent reason as to why Kai is seen as the main character. Because he doesn’t have side character energy like everyone else. All of the other ninja’s true potential episodes aren’t related to the main plot but just other personal things to those Ninja (Cole and Zane’s backstories and Jay’s love life), but Kai’s was also the resolution to the “who’s the green ninja” arc, which was prominent to the whole season and the green ninja stuff in general is significant throughout the whole show.

But yeah Kai had major bad boy lancer energy and as of the team dynamic he’s usually takes the more headstrong role. He’s not afraid to criticise the actions of the team (s8, s11), tends to have a habit of going off on his own and not working/communicating with the team (pilots, s1 kinda, s7), also his absolute outwards confidence (s3 when he went on that date and was just showing off, s6, s9 when he said he was the looks of the team, s12 kinda). Although he’s not a total paragon like Lloyd or Zane, he provides a much needed second opinion to the team and makes things more interesting. And it means that his softer side is just that much more endearing.

I’d argue that Kai has two central themes in his arcs and character growth: destiny/being a hero/power and family/general care:

- In the pilots he’s motivated to save his family, whilst learning to work with others

- s1 he has to learn to not obsess over destiny and instead learn to be a good mentor figure to Lloyd

- S4 he literally had to compete in a power contest and also his complex about the green ninja is back

- S5 he has to save Lloyd who had officially reached baby bro status

- S6 his father is foreshadowed

- S7 his parents. They exist.

- S9 isn’t much but he empathises with dragons

- S11 he loses his powers (another power complex

These are really interesting and I kinda wish they got developed better but we’ll get to my gripes later.

Something that’s funny is that, every time Kai isn’t having a power complex, he’s given a gimmick for the season and everytime the gimmick is that he sucks at something fr. s3 he doesn’t get technology, s4 he can’t skate, s5 can’t swim, s12 sucks at video games. Hes not even a good blacksmith like s10 was about him being like “oh no the world is relying on my awful blacksmith skills” (Although he perseveres). He’s like, the anti-Jay. Can get bitches and has zero talents. I mean this affectionately and I love him for it but man whenever the writers don’t know what to do with him they make him suck at the core theme of the season. I mean I guess it’s cuz he’s goofy like that. Kinda a himbo who only knows swords and we should all appreciate him for that. I’ll come back to this too.

So here’s where the takes get slightly more critical but I think it’s safe to say that Kai is kinda undeveloped. He has main characters energy but not actually that much focus in the first two seasons, and whilst we get everyone’s backstories in s1, we don’t for Kai, we don’t even get to discuss his parentlessness at all. Whilst he has the green ninja prophecy and goes into that more prominently than everyone else, he still shares it with the rest of the cast.

In s4, I still believe that it’s a Kai season as much as s3 is a Zane season, but it’s more like he’s the camera into the world, rather than having arcs. I think it’s because everyone else feels like they’re side characters doing side arcs that aren’t inherent to the main plot. So Kai feels like a main character because he doesn’t do side plots. Maybe it might be the fact that the main arc Kai had was Skylor and imo the romance was not amazingly written. Like all he did was heart eyes at her until she stopped being evil. Idk they just weren’t that compelling to me. Also I don’t think they really address Kai in regards to the consequences of the last season, not in the same way as Jay and Cole. And also the green ninja thing felt very spontaneous, I thought that arc ended 2 seasons ago?

In s5 he has the whole Lloyd brother thing and the snowboarding scene and him jumping into water for Lloyd was good I just think they really could have and should have done more with his character in s5. Especially since Morro, his evil parallel, was right there.

And then s7. Ughhhhh. Most people say this is the worst season and they are right. Yes we finally get the parents. For some reason Kai wants to kill them at first but that doesn’t really have a deeper meaning beyond Kai being fooled easily and jumps to conclusions. They could’ve dived into maybe Kai resents his parents a little bc he has trauma of them leaving or something and that’s why, but they don’t. The time twins are also annoying, like every other villain is either incredibly plot relevant (the overlord gives us fsm lore, Morro gives us wu lore, Chen gave us elemental masters worldbuilding) or are fun (pythor manipulates children, Chen takes over the world via elaborate roller derby competitions, Nadakhan relies on wordplay and managed to uproot the city), and the time twins are neither. They’re just random elementals who think they’re better than everyone else because of a saying to do with their powers and their goal is to destroy technology?? I don’t think Kai really goes through an arc or character develops and neither does anyone else (apart from maybe Lloyd?).

I don’t even remember if Kai got anything in s9 other than his one how to train a dragon tm moment, although he gets a little focus in s10 with the weapons. And then in s11 he definitely does get an arc, it just feels kinda unnecessary especially when all it took to get his powers back was just to try really hard? Like had he not already tried before? And then in the rest of the wildbrain era, he mostly takes a back seat.

Idk he has a really good set up and all the themes that link to him are there, but his writing never fully sees it through. S7 is the biggest let down because it has the perfect villains to parallel Kai, as in power hungry, self appointed tyrants when Kai himself has struggled with a power complex and thinking he deserves a high ranking title. I’d really like for Kai’s parentlessness to be brought up a lot more as an established reason why he does the things he does in s1-4 especially since he does briefly talk about it in s5 and it sets up his s7 arc. It would also be nice if Kai got more of an arc about how he coped with Zane’s death in s4, since whilst we can see Cole and Jay leaving because they could probably tear the place down if they were together any longer but Kai still had Nya and Lloyd so it would be really interesting to explore how much pain he felt that he decided to leave them, and again we could go on to the parallels Kai shares with his parents and how he too briefly becomes an absent figure in his family’s life. Also would be cool if Kai had more of a connection with Morro on their similar stories in s5. And for god’s sake make s7 make sense it was supposed to be the finale of Ninjago and it was lame. Brief thoughts about the rewrite I’m planning but it would be cool if Krux, in his way of controlling the situation, actually partially raised Kai and Nya (as in visits on holidays). Then he has a personal connection and is a much creepier villain, holding more control and power over the situation. And maybe his goal is to change the timeline due to trying avert some sort of destiny prophecy thing, just to tie in that theme Kai has. Idk idk.

Also with the fact that Kai tends to be not good at a lot of things like technology or swimming, whilst it’s just a comedic gag and not plot significant, I think it would hit better and feel less mean if it was in contrast to Kai usually being skilled. Like take the fact that he nearly beat Cole in the first episode but reference that Kai is independently one of the strongest fighters on the team. Let’s say he’s the best swordsman, the best at offensively utilising his powers (albeit not great at damage control) and has the constitution to take damage and continue fighting. He probably trained the hardest because he was fuelled by firstly, saving Nya in the pilots and then wanting to be the green ninja, and even when the team splits up, he continues training and fighting (red shogun). Then him facing adversity in incredibly mundane areas is funny because “Kai? One of the most proficient ninja, master over fire and expert with the blade, doesn’t know how to swim?”. It also makes s11’s arc better set up, as Kai losing his powers is even more about his loss of identity, he literally attaches his skill and power to his sense of worth.

Okay I’m not gonna make a big deal about this next paragraph but since this is all my opinion, I do want to elaborate on why I said that I tend to disagree with other fans when I’m talking about Kai, because (Crystalised p1 spoilers) I actually like how he was portrayed in the first episode. He had a really mature reaction and functional (not entirely healthy but functional and work in progress) coping mechanism in relation to loss. Sure it would’ve been nice if we got more of a focus on what went down with him, but I think there wasn’t a lot of time to do so since the plot moved really fast. I think people kinda expected Kai to just be angry and angry only but I really enjoy seeing him in a different light, because it still feels in character to me. Also I think sometimes Kai gets simplified down in to angry overprotective brother when he’s actually a really chill bro who even in s1 isn’t even that amazing at the concept of “looking after child”. People act like he raised Nya when they’re almost the same age and he talks about Nya as if they mutually had each other instead of Kai being in charge. Like Nya probably beat up his bullies tbh. Kai hasn’t ever been overprotective of Nya as seen when he’s supportive of her being samurai x and also of Jay and Nya for the most part(pilots don’t count because he just had a normal reaction when your family gets kidnapped, and idk what Wu’s teas are on tbh but I reject that one ep). And also Kai was the one to lose Lloyd in s1 when he got captured by snakes. Only really after Garmadon died did Kai step up and make a big deal out of the brother figure business for Lloyd. Overall sometimes imo ppl play up his backstory the angst but then ignore interesting arcs for him, or the integrity for other characters or even take it out on the writers and stuff, and like if that’s how you like your eggs then sure. It does kinda annoy me if I think a character is being misinterpreted but that’s kinda just my personal beef ig.

All around, Kai is a pretty solid character with just enough interesting points for people to dig their teeth into. He definitely deserved better than s7 but oh well. I love the mini figure I got for him tho he looks so dorky and I keep fidgeting with him cuz he’s on my desk

[kalinara]

would you mind sharing with us those hopes/wishlist-type ideas for a Nate storyline in season 3? :D

I don't really have like a full storyline in mind or anything. I just have things that I'd really like to see. I think they're probably not all mutually compatible, but well, that's okay. It's a wishlist, not a checklist!

FIRST AND FOREMOST, I want Nate to redeem himself. I think most folks on tumblr are at least open to this idea, but I remember seeing quite a few folks on reddit and other places going on and on about how they think it'd be better and "more realistic" if Nate wasn't forgiven.

That irks me to no end. Because, first of all, what does "realism" even mean in the context of this show? Since when was that EVER a priority in this sweet little fable about a manic pixie dream girl who accidently materialized as a forty-five year old American man and saves everyone through kindness and love?

That's an oversimplification of course, because the show does and always did have its share of darkness and pain, trauma and abuse. But even then, the whole point is that people are people! They have layers and reasons for what they do.

Nate is motivated by pain and trauma, and he's been acting in terrible ways. But we know he's capable of better than that. And we know, at heart, that Nate wants to be better than that. So I'd be very disappointed if he wasn't given the opportunity.

"Cynicism" isn't the same as "realism", the show already has a few irredeemable monsters (Rupert and James Tartt, for example). We can afford to give Nate the chance to be better.

So now with that rant out of the way, here are some things/scenarios that I'd love to see, in no particular order:

1) I'd like to see Nate do well as the head coach of West Ham. I think it will be tough for him. Any screw up will be magnified, and Rupert will not be a pleasant boss if he doesn't get what he wants. Nate is also not a people person, and that's going to be a difficulty for him. But I'd like to see him rise to the occasion, now that he's in a place with less personal baggage.

It's not as satisfying to imagine a humiliated Nate crawling back to Richmond. I'd prefer to see a strong Nate, with a new understanding of Ted through his own relationships with his players, coming back as an ally and friend. (And if he does leave West Ham, I'd like it to be on his terms, or at least for his reasons.)

2) @hacash had a great scenario idea where Nate teams up with Trent to write an expose on Rupert. I love this. It'd be a perfect parallel/reversal to what he did at the end of this season, but for the right reasons this time.

3) Since Nate is presumably still a main character, we're probably going to get a closer look at Rupert's life in general. And particularly Bex. I would love to see Nate get to know Bex, see the real Rupert, and get her and baby Diane out of there.

4) I'd love to see Nate and Rebecca have a talk about Rupert. And maybe about Ted too. It occurs to me that, for all of Beard's protectiveness and anger, he never outright told Nate off for what he did. No one has. And maybe someone should. Ted certainly won't.

5) I want Nate to find out about the picture. Because knowing Ted as we do, I think the picture will still be up. Even after everything.

6) I kind of want/think we'll have a scene where Nate figuratively talks Ted off some kind of a ledge. Like Ted is on the verge of making some kind of dreadful decision, and Nate is the one who is able to keep that from happening.

I like this idea, because I mentioned in a previous post that I don't think Nate has any idea how much Ted is hurting. And I want him to be able to see his former mentor/surrogate father with clear eyes. And to do something to help.  

I especially like the idea that this happens BEFORE any kind of redemption arc for Nate.

7) I want to see the team annoy the shit out of pre-redeemed Nate through their enthusiasm and support. Because they love Nate. And probably, as far as they know, he just took a great professional opportunity.

8) I want truth and apologies to come out, all around. I want the team to apologize to Nate. I want Nate's own actions to come to light. I want Rebecca to apologize to everyone. All of that. Clear the air.

I'm sure if I think about it, I'll think of a few others, but this is my wishlist so far. :-)

[crystal-moon-101]

Managed to do another redesign with rewrite notes, this time my second favourite character in Ben 10, Azmuth The First Thinker. And just like Ben, he's canon self is such a mess that I wish to fix in my own way. The other Galvans in this picture are his family, with his father from the movie "Destroy All Aliens", his nephews mentioned by DJW, and their mother who is Azmuth's twin sister. So let me get into the notes and rewrite ideas of mine!

-Retaliator-

Yes, I am aware that this is most likely not his name, but I could not be bothered to make up my own at this point, and I also find it funny to have a Galvan dad called this, so I'm sticking with it. So Retaliator is the father of both Azmuth and Divi, a very humble and calm old galvan, who has seen a lot through his years, now retired and mostly just trying to keep the family together through small things.

Retaliator has the rare gene of having aqua/turquoise eyes, a recessive trait in galvans, similar to human with the red hair gene.

Retaliator looks younger than he should be, and that's because he is, in a way. You see, right before Azmuth vanished to start working on the watch, Retaliator fell ill to an disease with no known cure, and this caused the family to...kind of break down. A lot had happen up to this point (Things that will be noted throughout this), and none of them wanted things to end like this. So Azmuth did something he know he shouldn't have, as such a thing takes so much time and resource, and generally frowned upon, and ended up creating a new young clone body for his father's brains to be transferred too. By the time Retaliator woke up from surgery, his son was already gone, off in hiding. It this was event that really made Retaliator realize he may not have been the best father for a long time...

While he is retired now, Retaliator use to do work based around energy stuff.

Since he's family's back together, he likes to host game or movie nights, or even little dinners and get togethers.

He adores his grandsons, and loves to share stories from his past to them, and he's one of the few people they calm down around.

He will admit that he did...go a bit wild when he thought Azmuth died, fighting Ben in the Galvanic Mechamorph suit, but him and Ben have since made up, and the old galvan likes talking to the young lad often.

He has most defiantly embarrassed both of his kids by showing off baby photos of them.

He met his wife through work, like most galvans, with her being a much higher up worker. Surprisingly, despite their statuses, it was his wife who asked him out first, having found him very charming.

Retaliator can never thank Ben enough for convincing his son to come home, and despite their bickering, he enjoys seeing Azmuth's bond with Ben, as the two have a way of balancing each other out.

While he may be in a younger body, his mind is certainly still that of an old galvan, and can often act like his body is older than it really is due to the mental age of his brain.

-Azmuth-

Ahhhh, dear old Azmuth, how I love your character concept, and yet get so frustrated with your actual canon self...There is a lot I have changed in terms of his placement and behavior on the show, and while I can't note all of them down there, the major theme behind them is that he is not a complete jerk in them. Don't get me wrong, Azmuth would still have flaws and issues with his off-standing nature, but he would act in a way that feels more natural, showing his growth and change while mentoring Ben. He genuinely wants to help and is a good person, it's just...he still has a lot to work through. In terms of his slight redesign, I'll like to mention that if you look closely, his outfit is a mixture of his first original outside, crossed with his UAF outfit.

I did mention that I couldn't note all changes of him in series plots, since most boil down to be him being nicer and more realistic, but I will note one change because it's big enough to mention. For the Diagon/Forever Knight Arc, Azmuth did not create Ascalon, because I while I get he's smart and created things like the Omnitrix, I don't think he should be such a big source of dangerous artifacts in the series so often, especially ones that cause trouble. So instead, Ascalon was a weapon crafted in Ledgerdomain, to help fight Diagon who orientated there, and at the time had been trying to conquer earth, and Zenith leaving Azmuth happened because of miscommunication and issues between them instead.

That being said, Azmuth does get involved in the Ultimate Alien Diagon arc when Ben himself calls Azmuth over, needing his help knowing he can better understand Ascalon, and eventually entrusted Azmuth and the Galvans to keep it and the trapped Diagon safe.

Azmuth and his sister had a very rebellious phase as teenagers/young adults, this being the age that Azmuth said he was a lot like Ben, though admittedly, Azmuth was slightly more of an ass than Ben ever was. They were going through a tough time, and Azmuth reacted negatively too it all. Funnily enough, the one thing that seems to make him doo a 180 degrees in personality was his massive swooning crush over Zenith.

He won't ever admit out loud, but he does find Ben's trait of nicknaming his aliens kind of funny...

He shares a mentoring role towards Ben with Grandpa Max and Tetrax, with Max handling the more emotional and human side of Ben's problems, Tetrax handling the physical training and teachings, and Azmuth handling the more logical steps and hard truth Ben needs to hear. He's one of the few people to give Ben the smack of reality he needs from time to time.

That being said, Ben is also one of the few people able to handle Azmuth right back, and give him needed talkings to when the man is losing himself to a bad habit.

Mostly due to the fact that Tennysons seem to have a habit of making people very close to them like family, E.g with Ben seeing Kevin and Rook like brother figures at times, there seems to be subtle hints between Azmuth and Ben that there might be parent and child like moments between them, though both would deny it if brought up.

It doesn't help that Azmuth ends up taking it upon himself on making sure Ben is healthy and happy, based on scans from the Omnitrix he reads daily. Of course, he'll just say he doesn't want the boy he entrusted his watch with to die in a stupid way, but people close to either of them know that Azmuth really does care deep down.

He has said both "I'm too old for this" and "I'm too young for this" many times.

Azmuth has admitted that he's nervous around the Omnitrix, and doesn't like putting it on. He's not good at handling the idea of becoming something he's not...

The Malware arc for Azmuth was...a lot more complicated than canon. Azmuth really did try to fix Malware, but for some reason he couldn't, and it scared him that one, this might be the first problem he can't find a solution too, and second, he just came back from hiding and had been wanting to make changes in his life, so to fail and hurt someone already? He didn't know what to think. It didn't help when Malware started refusing his help and ended up endangering the lives of others, including galvans and Azmuth's own family. And despite it all, Azmuth kept trying over and over again to let him help Malware, but the villain always refused, until Azmuth eventually had to accept that he couldn't do anything. When Malware was finally killed, Azmuth went quiet for a good while, and needed time to recover from his mistake.

Due to some past issues, Azmuth mostly refers to his father by his real name, and only calls him dad or father during emotional or quiet moments.

Whenever they're hanging out, Ben likes to bring him and Azmuth cricket smoothies to drink together.

Despite how they seem to bicker often, Myaxx and him play off each other rather well, able to dry wit each other every day.

Azmuth and Albedo's relationship is also very complicated. Before Azmuth returned, Albedo was an outstanding Galvan and protégé, being praised every single day. This, unfortunately, made Albedo develop a prideful nature and his close minded views on the galaxy, as he rarely was ever put down or critiqued. His ego also got a bit of a boost when the great Azmuth took notice of him, and made him his assistant, and while he loved it at first, some issues started to arise when Azmuth wasn't like the other Galvans who praised Albedo to no end. That isn't to say Azmuth never complimented him and liked his work, but he was an honest man who knew no one was perfect, and especially wasn't going to worship someone, knowing what kind of ego that could make in someone. It doesn't help that Albedo just can't understand what Azmuth sees in Ben, and how the two bond, despite Ben's young careless nature, and being human. It ends up making Albedo want a lot more from Azmuth, the man he looks up too, and when he's denied that he eventually turns his back on the First Thinker. Azmuth can only hope that being able to turn into other aliens, and being stuck as human, will teach Albedo that Galvans, including himself, aren't what make the galaxy function.

Azmuth is typically one of the must unfazed people you'll ever meet.

Given most Galvans have an issue of seeing themselves as the top race, Azmuth is kind of fond of Blukic and Driba for being very open and helpful to outsiders, and was even the one to suggest them to join the Plumbers.

Zenith and Azmuth too meet up again eventually, and while they don't get back together, they do make amends.

Azmuth was fairly small for a Galvan for a long time, until he finally hit his growth spurt late into his teen years, something his sister use to tease him over.

Greymatter's DNA mostly comes from Azmuth, meaning Ben actually looks like a Azmuth when he was young, his family having made comments about Ben being his "Clone".

-Divi-

Here we have the twin sister of Azmuth, Divi. A dry wit, no nonsense, sarcastic and feisty single mother of her three chaotic sons. Unlike Azmuth's father and nephews, she was something I had to completely make up from the spot, since Azmuth was said to have nephews, that meant he had to have a sibling, so it was fun to create someone with an interesting dynamic with Azmuth. She is, after all, one of the few people to exhibit some of those petty family squabbles out of him. So I hope you enjoy her and her sons.

As mentioned before, Azmuth and her went through rebellious phases after some downfall in their family life, with Divi jumping around jobs and never settling for one, and even dating another Galvan that neither Azmuth or Retaliator approved off. When Azmuth first left Galvan Prime to go into hiding, Divi and her boyfriend had still been dating. However, when he finally came home, he found the boyfriend to be gone, and Divi now a single mother to three sons. Azmuth never got a clear story what happened to the boyfriend, but he knows that the break up was nasty, and that the boyfriend isn't on Galvan Prime anymore.

Sometime after Divi had her children, she eventually settled for a job in the nursery/incubation centre on Galvan Prime, looking after eggs and newly hatched tadpoles before they go home with their parents.

Divi is quite a blunt and honest woman, who has no time for dragging things on, and while she may sound harsh, she ends up just wanting the best for people. In fact her open nature of speech is how she gets people to listen and see reason.

Her and Azmuth had a...bit of a dysfunctional relationship growing up. Azmuth was actually a slow learning when he was young, and Divi had a habit of picking on him. They did eventually mallow out, until tragedy struck their family and they entered their rebel phases, and the bickering and arguing come from both sides. They have made up since Azmuth returned, but the two have their squabbles here and there, but they're mostly just playful banter or family habits.

Her and Myaxx get along quite well, and the two like hanging out with each other.

She's also fond of Ben since meeting him, and the two like chatting whenever he plays with her sons, he's even babysat for her a few times.

She has no interest in dating again anytime soon, and is proud to be a single mother.

She's the one who points out Azmuth and Ben's family like roles to each other often, mostly due to the fact that she understands what a paternal feeling is like, and because she's blunt about it.

She got her wisdom feet first out of her and Azmuth growing up.

While Azmuth was off in hiding, Divi reconnected with his father when looking after to him after surgery. So, unlike Azmuth, she mostly just calls him father and dad.

-Trapez, Cieven & Aegls-

The three mischievous nephews, sons and grandsons of the family. Left to right, Trapez, Cieven & Aegls, who are the triplets of Divi. The three are like glue, and are often playing or up to little tricks, creating chaos around Galvan Prime. While they mostly look the same and are all tricksters, they do have personality differences. Trapez is the best when it comes to emotions and the phycology behind it, something most Galvans struggle with, and can come across as the kindest of the three. Cieven has a lot of traits from Divi and Azmuth, being fairly intelligent and wanting to be a lot like his uncle someday, though does have some of their sarcastic nature as well. Aegls is the most energetic of the three, hype up often and quick with crafting and thinking of ideas. When you combine all three together, you get a force of endless chaos.

Their mother has been honest to them about who their father is, and why he isn't around, but the three have grown up fine without him, and will forever be grateful for the work their mother put into caring for them.

They were born while Azmuth was away, and so have been building up hype about their missing uncle for most of their lives, enough so that when Azmuth did come back, they all tackled hugged him while he was still understanding the idea that he was now in fact an uncle.

They love Ben and the Omnitrix, roping Ben into some of their pranks and shenanigans, and while Ben mostly tries to stare them into the right direction, he can't help himself half the time and joins in on the chaos, much to Azmuth and Divi's dismay.

They do become a part of my Ben 10 Next Gen Series, given Galvans take forever to age, and will finally be young tweens when the Next Gen takes place.

The three each have different dream jobs for the future. Trapez wants to be a psychiatrist or doctor, Cieven wants to be an inventor, and Aegls was to deal with energy based matters like his grandfather once did.

Never give these kids sugar or coffee, it will end badly.

The three...had a bad encounter with Malware during his rampage, and for a while were scared around Galvanic Mechamorphs...They get over it eventually, but Malware does haunt them for a long while.

They once picked up some colourful language from Azmuth and Myaxx when overhearing them once. You can imagine how Divi took that.

-The First Thinker Family-

The traumatic event that struck the family was in fact the death of Azmuth and Divi's mother, who was killed by someone who was after Galvan Tech. The family fell apart after that, with Retaliator falling into a deep depression and being distant from his kids, and Azmuth and Divi going wild in their teen/young adult years to distract themselves from the grief. They've all come together now and have been taking the proper sets to honor her memory, and become a family again.

While no one has outright said it, Ben has kind of become part of this little family in a few ways, and after a while Azmuth stops being survived when the boy shows up for family dinners or game nights.

They all live on Galvan Prime, though Retaliator is known to take trips here and there around the galaxy, wanting to see more of it during his retirement.

On the outside, many Galvans treat the family as there wise people, who have sage advice. And while that isn't wrong, once you get to know them they're a very chaotic family...

[ichayalovesyou]

Spock & Pike :D

I don’t think I can stress enough how EXCITED I am by the potential of Strange New Worlds has for showing a really awesome, wholesome, healthy father-son relationship between Captain Pike and (Lieutentant? Or possibly Lt. Junior Grade) Spock. I mean, Spock’s gonna be in his early thirties, and that is barely an adult by Vulcan standards (which I’d imagine put him at a physical age of 25ish with his mixed heritage) regardless, he’s still pretty young! Him baby!

Something that caught me off guard that actually rubbed me the right way about Spock & Pike (and to a smaller extent Spock & Una) despite on the surface seeming out of character, is that he’s visibly happier and more relaxed around them! The fact that he admitted to smiling when Pike basically comes to rescue him speaks VOLUMES. I mean, he wouldn’t admit anything resembling that to Jim or Bones until they had been friends with him for years!

I mean by the time we get to TOS, Spock still struggles with a lot of inner-conflict and has trouble opening up to people. And we kinda get a small taste of how much worse that was for him when he was younger through Discovery (TAS and the AOS movies too). He’s still more stable and confident in himself in TOS than anywhere else beforehand, and considering Sarek isn’t... a great dad. I can only imagine Pike (and Una too probably!) had a LOT to do with it.

Pike seems like exactly the kind of mentor/father figure Spock would need to get where he is! There’s so much love that’s clearly there already (the unusually emotional display from Spock, Pike calls Spock “our boy” to his mom and older sister for crying out loud!) I only think it’s almost a shame that we aren’t seeing the first Pike five-year-mission to see how we got from the way he is in the turbolift with Una to where we see his and Pike’s relationship in Disco. Although I’m sure we’ll get flashbacks considering how intensely important Talos IV is to Pike’s arc.

Plus, it’s so rare, that you get to see a well done, healthy father-son type character relationship in TV shows these days, or at least not ones where the mentor doesn’t immediately die or turn evil (or something between). We already know what happens to Pike occurs after he & Spock part ways so there’s no risk of that in Strange New Worlds. (I actually have a theory that Spock does find out Pike already knows will happen to him, which has TONS of character development potential, such as Spock’s “the needs of the many” doctrine having some more heartbreaking context. It’d also give the conversation they have at the beginning of The Menagerie more depth, but I digress.)

Even Star Trek barely touches on that kind of character dynamic (and the only healthy one that comes to mind is Sisko and Jake, and if you want something even MORE sidelined, Rom & Nog) Star Trek does love it’s daddy issues, this would be an interesting change of pace. It would be the first time we’d get to see that sort of thing happen between two major characters in a Star Trek show (I feel that it’s clear by the promo pics that Pike, Una & Spock are intended to be SNW’s “triumvirate”). I would just love to see it, especially since SNW has promised a lighter, more optimistic Starfleet than what we’ve been getting lately.

[starcookiechu]

ROTT Review

SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE. You have been warned.

FYI: I just finished the movie. So my opinions may change a bit but here I am writing a full review.

Before I talk about the movie, I have to say this movie has fantastic animation. The music is as good as usual.

Ok now the story. Let’s start with the our Trollhunters.

Fair Lady Claire. My girlie Claire really brought her all into this. I’m really proud of the young woman she has grown up into. However for the sake of the plot and story they make her run out of magic juice quite a bit. But my girl is still the best and gives it her all.

Wingman Domzalski. I will be perfectly honest. Toby is kind of the annoying best friend at times and bothers me as a plus size person. (They really push the over eating thing to the point that it’s his biggest factor.) Toby is a very eager kid who is ready to get in the action. Never being negative to his friend but the best emotional support who will always be at his side. Sure Toby was used a bit as comedic relief in the movie but when push comes to shove, Toby will always be there to do the right thing.

Blinky is amazing as always. One of the best father figures out there.

Aarrrgh was there. Was great for the scenes he was in, but all together didn’t do much that altered the story.

Our Trollhunter, Jim Lake Jr. Someone I admire and basically see as my little brother/child. Kiddo really did it. I know everyone is upset that Jim’s arc was redone when we had the “Unbecoming” episode. If I could come to a peaceful middle ground, I saw we all need to blame Merlin. He really rocked Jim’s world and self worth. When the creator of the object you need to save the world with tells you “You’re not enough”, it really can be a great setback. But once we past that, Jim really pulled through. Amulet or not, he is our Trollhunter.

Mommy Dr. Lake was there. Barbara was mostly there for our emotions.

Dilf Strickler. I felt that he was changed a bit since we last saw him, but he had a new purpose. He was more cautious and happy because he had a chance at a happy life with Barbara. Which makes what happens to him more upsetting. 

Nomura my sweet. This movie did not deserve you. At least she was with Draal.

And Not-Enrique (seriously why didn’t they ever give him an actual name) just wasn’t in the movie.

How about some CreepSlayers?

BABY ELI PEPPERJACK CAME BACK LOOKING SO CUTE. So proud.

Bumbling knight oaf Steve the Palchuckian was great as usual.

I will say though. The whole pregnancy plot was just a way to get Eli and Steve out of the way. I could feel that the writers maybe didn’t like Steve so much since Wizards. But Steve was once again someone to laugh at. Pregnant and out of the way.

How about some Akiridions?

Aja my darling girl, oh how you’ve grown. I understand some think she has changed. However I must say that her preparing a plan B on the side was smart. She isn’t just a princess on earth anymore. She is a queen on a distant planet. So if she thought evacuation was best, it would ensure that everyone would live. And avoid losing more valuable people from her life. So no, I can’t blame her.

DJ Kleb was there. He was kinda doin his own thing and messing with Steve. Brother-in-law stuff.

It was good to see Varvatos Vex.

Stu was the man in the background working on the busy important things like working on the amulet. Personally I feel like the series REALLY underutilizes Stu A LOT so I was so happy to see him being a part of something huge.

And finally some Wizards.

Douxie my love, you were amazing as usual. His powers have grown greatly and have contributed to the adventure. But god the writers really do love to take everything away from him don’t they. It’s unfair.

Archie was kinda just there and just... I understand leaving Douxie but that doesn’t mean I like it.

Nari the sweetest. I can only imagine the guilt she felt to end Nomura. Her self sacrifice was probably the one in the movie most called for.

Alright now I’ll talk about the movie.

I can whole heartedly say this movie was rushed. To be honest I feel like the original writers weren’t completely in this. At least it felt kind of not so much Trollhunters or 3Below vibes but more Wizards, if that makes sense whatsoever. Something is off.

I just want to blame Merlin for everything. To hell with that guy.

The beginning sequence was great. A car chase to a moving train. Which ends up with Toby of course screwing up and breaking the brakes. Of course. The train falling off the tracks which ultimately ends up with Nari gone. Oh yeah, and video recordings of Magic, trolls and being taken in by the police. Great.

WHY TF WAS TOBY TELLING THEIR STORY TO THE POLICE. YOU DON’T MIX THE POLICE IN STORIES UNLESS YOU KNOW THE COP PERSONALLY. CUZ IT’S A MESS AND THE POLICE GET IN THE WAY. GDI TOBY.

Our heroes go back to base on the new and improved Camelot. Where we discover that Barbara and Strickler are now engaged. Happy news and would secure that Jim has another Father figure in his life and his mother’s happiness. Which explains Strickler’s “stay behind” advice. Now he has a family to watch over. He must be careful and warns that Jim’s actions could cost so much that he might not be able to afford.

Enters our Majesty Aja and the new stud on the block, Eli. Dang I wish puberty hit me like that.Truck-kun strikes again. And also enters... the pregnancy thing. I will say, I didn’t mind it too much... at first. But there are complications. Steve is too young to be a father and dang 7 kisses?? I can’t help but feel like Aja should have mentioned that or it was a last minute plan to write out Steve and Eli. (Which it was.) It was funny sure cuz omegaverse and ALIENS but all together it’s really iffy.

They really had Douxie preform a body-swap spell only so it would be undone. And undoing the spell only hurt them both?? C’mon. C’mon.

And they mention the Krohnisfere. We’ll get back to it. Jim gets a brand new amulet infused with Akaridion tech. However theres an issue. It was created by Merlin right? Who is a wizard right? Who uses MAGIC. Shame Douxie wasn’t there to help make it. Ya know. 1/2 of the original creator of the AMULET. So it’s missing a huge part and for the sake of the plot, Jim doesn’t test the Amulet which is out of character personally.

Toby makes a silly big deal over a penny. I was actually hoping they would make it a silly Chekhov's gun later on. But no, it’s just Toby being loud and comedic relief.

The titans are released and we visit a very pregnant Steve. Ok so it’s a rushed kind of thing. ok.

Aja suggests evacuation. You can say it’s out of character but we need context. When Aja helped in the Doomsday Battle, she was ensured a way out but if she let the people of Arcadia perish. She decided to stay and help. But now the Trollhunter himself can’t help. So to ensure the survival of everyone, evacuation. A best chance for everyone to survive. Plus she is now a Queen. She rules over a whole planet which must change her thinking.

Now our characters are split into 3 teams:

Blinky, Archie, Archie’s dad and Claire for the Krohnisfere.

Jim, Aja, Toby, Strickler and Barbara for the Glacial Titan.

Nomura, Douxie and Aarrgh for the Earth Titan.

Now here is where I have problems. WHY. DID. THEY. SEND. TROLLS. TO. BRAZIL. IN. THE. DAY. Nomura dying was just so out of pocket. Unnecessary. I couldn’t even grieve properly I didn’t have a chance to process. The best thought I could think was “At least she’s with Draal now.” 10 seconds later, Strickler makes the choice to sacrifice himself. Because of Jim’s heroic’s, Strickler decided to try to save the most important people in his life. The person who was always dishonest finally had a chance to live a happy life with his family. The one who played it safe now had to make the final impulsive move. And unfortunately, his death was in vain. These deaths were just so forced. It wasn’t in any way good. And Strickler being one of the best written characters just going in such a way was just off. He died for nothing. He could have turned back and fought another battle but... no.

(BTW Barbara was just there... for Strickler’s death.)

We move to Babara and Jim having a heart to heart. I’m glad she didn’t blame Jim but a small moment of anger. Something a little more real for me but no I guess. Barbara will always just be Jim’s mom. She mention’s Jim’s father and it passed so quickly I missed it on my initial viewing. I’m happy that Jim’s father is never revealed or made a bigger part in his story. This is good representation for those of us who did have our fathers walk out on us. That we can grow despite our parents failing us.

And finally team Krohnisfere. Archie just leaves. He’s gone. Poor Douxie. A mentor and now his closest companion.

Our heroes meet up to go against the Volcanic Titan. In comes Varvatos Vex on a Gun Robot. Nice to see some good ol Gundam with a character mentioned throughout the entire trilogy. However it doesn’t last. BTW for the sake of survival, Aja leaves Jim and Toby. Iffy.

Douxie pulls a “Jason stop. This isn’t you.” thing with Nari and is reunited with his friend.(+ points for the shippers. It’s kinda winning me over?) Also, Claire now has the power to teleport a Titan. I know she’s much stronger than she was for the Trollhunters Sn 2 finale, but cmon. You can’t just say she’s out of magic juice and then pull this. C’mon.

(btw did the titan make a War of the Worlds tripod sound? No? Just me?)

Nari sacrifices herself and takes the other god with her. Which takes away Douxie’s other companion. Mr. Stark I don’t feel so good. Why does this movie hate Douxie so much. (I am so sorry shippers. Angst.)

BLINKY DIDN’T SEE A PAGE? ADDRESSING IT IN THE SHOW DOESN’T GIVE YOU A PASS. I forgot the word but this irony isn’t greatttt.

Jim now has to pull out the legendary sword Excalibur. But he can’t cuz he hasn’t harnessed the power of friendship.

And Steve is giving birth. At the worst time. What is this a zombie movie??? C’mon.

Jim says “Magic is friendship” And Stu is finally being used for one grand act. Seriously Stu is just so unappreciated. So he fixes the amulet with magic.

Basically everyone who went on top of the Volcanic titan falls off at some point. Except Jim cuz of course some 1v1. 

ONCE AGAIN Claire is out of magic juice. Because... reasons.

Toby makes the choice to race to Jim’s side with the technology to cancel out magic. (Wait how does science stop magic again)

BTW, For the Good of all doesn’t hit as well BUT it’s not mentioning any glory towards stinky Merlin so I am happy with the change.

JIM HAS A NEW TRANSFORMATION. MY BOY. MY SON. I’M SO PROUD.

Toby races to Jim and his helmet falls off the taco truck. That honestly should have been a huge warning sign. I was worried he didn’t have armor but we know how this goes.

Jim defeats the final titan and everyone is happy. The fight is finally over.

STEVE HAS 7 KIDS. OUCH. 

Seeing Jim run to Toby was heartbreaking. Now this is the one scene where the movie really let out actually process a character’s death. How on earth can you process your best friend, your most faithful companion dying. Jim goes through too much I swear to god.

Now let’s discuss the time travel plot. I honestly feel like they pulled some kind of Attack on Titan ending. The main character burdened with knowing the future and what could have been. And if everything is meant to be how it will be, destiny will reconnect them again. (Jlaire reincarnation AU???)

I’m actually ok with this ending. I understand people would want the time stone to return only a few minutes. But even then, the kiddos still have police records, so many people dead at the titan’s hands (or feet) and now the world knows about the existence of trolls thanks to the internet. In New York no less. And people are still dead.

We return the the beginning of everything, reflecting the “Unbecoming” episode.

(NGL I’m bothered that they didn’t do anything to stop Steve from bullying Eli, but Jim can’t do it. He’s saving it for Toby.)

And now finally, let’s discuss Toby becoming the Trollhunter. From the beginning, Toby never considered himself good enough to be the main star. Always the wingman, the 2nd best. Support. Now it was Toby’s turn to climb the ranks and be the Hero he’s always wanted to be. It’s Jim’s turn to live an easier high school life. I don’t doubt that he won’t follow Toby. But now he knows what to avoid and how to make the story process more smoothly.

I understand some are unsatisfied with this ending, which is kinda trademarked with Dreamwork’s shows. I get it. But honestly as of right now, I think I like the ending.

The amulet didn’t choose Jim because this Jim is not the same Jim as in Sn 1 Ep 1. He is a new man. And I think we all can agree that it’s his turn to be happy.

---

I still love this series so much. It is my favorite cartoon. Of course it has it’s flaws, but this ending is at least satisfactory and not heartbreaking. Now it’s up to us to either continue the story or contribute our ideas in fanfiction. I look forward to everyone’s creations.

Don’t think. Become.

[copperpieceharlot]

Bud I’m sorry to swing into your inbox uninvited like this but my soul is having an OOTS renaissance thanks to your content in the tag and did you say Leverage AU

haha holy SHIT this got Long. but yes. i’ve been. Thinking. (also literally Never feel like you have to apologize for sending me messages. i was Hoping someone would ask me about this. now i have an Excuse to share EVERYTHING ive written abt it :3)

Obviously, Roy is the leader/brains of the outfit. He grew up having some Strong Opinions abt what’s Legal versus what’s Right due to tragic backstory involving the death of his little brother which was definitely SOMEONE’S fault for negligence but since there technically wasn’t any illegal behavior, there were no consequences for it. Also he’s still angry at his dad bc he thinks his dad is also partly culpable (and also also just a dick). He’s the Moral Backbone of the team (alongside Durkon, more on that later) in basically the same way Nate was in og Leverage. He’s actually not the best at figuring out what people want (that’s Haley and, shockingly, occasionally Elan), but once he has that info, he is the absolute best at figuring out the ideal plan of attack to use in any given case.

Haley is still a thief. I mean she maps to Parker almost PERFECTLY. Her dad was a thief & a conman, her mom wasn’t but knew about it and mostly accepted it, but she died tragically in a mugging gone wrong or smth, which made Ian crank the paranoia WAY up and taught Haley to do the same in the name of “safety”. Let’s keep the “Ian is in Trouble and Haley needs money, Fast” which is why she signs on to the first job in the first place. She’s less acrobatic than Parker, tending towards finding (or making) weak spots in security, but she can still make a tumble check when she needs to.

Elan is the grifter who is somehow an Idiot but also not???? It baffles everyone. When he’s playing a part for a con, he’s FLAWLESS, but then the rest of the time he’s just. No Thoughts Head Empty. He probably gets lured in initially because he’s decided to try his hand at being part of a full team, rather than the two-man cons he’s been running that invariably end w his partner conning him as well and stealing half of his take. Also he likes the idea of being Crime Friends. He’s that tweet where it’s like, Roy: “after the heist is over, we split up and never communicate again” / Elan: [about to unveil his Crime Buddies Forever Friendship Quilt Puppets]: “never?”

Vaarsuvius is the hacker/gadget person. They have a Vaguely Snobby Yet Unidentifiable accent, dyed(?) purple hair (nobody has ever seen their roots) and nobody knows who they “really” are or where they came from, but they’re good at what they do so everyone just accepts the mystery. They probably got suckered into the team by their initial employer (who I’ll get to Eventually, lol) framing it as a challenge to their intellect, like, “oh, I see, you’re not smart enough to make this team work for you...” to which they were like Fucking Watch Me and also melted his computer. Anyways. They are joined (digitally) by their Intrepid Friend And Co-Conspirator (his words, not theirs), a fellow hacker known only as Blackwing, or, on certain forums, Blackwing_Bird. (In the first season, V only occasionally references him when saying they’re “calling in extra help” or smth for a particularly complex hack job. He starts showing up a little more in s2 and eventually by the start of s4 is a regular & established presence, but only appears as actions in a computer interface or output.) Elan is convinced he’s an AI, Belkar doesn’t think he actually exists, Haley pretends she doesn’t think he exists, and Durkon and Roy try not to think about it too hard, as long as B and V still get the job done.

Belkar is the hitter. He is on the team bc their initial employer got him out of jail for it. He doesn’t have a tragic backstory, he just likes doing violent crimes. As the series progresses, he grows some empathy & stuff, but really only for people who actually deserve it. Assholes still get decked. It’s all very touching. (Also he has dwarfism caused by achondroplasia. It doesn’t actually bother him and is useful in fights bc his opponents frequently have no fucking clue how to approach him, but he likes Pretending to take offense at stupid things just to see how far he can go with it.)

Aaaand last but not least, Durkon is the least involved member of the team. He’s actually a career criminal and Roy’s mentor, and wasn’t a member of the initial team that [redacted, I’ll tell you later, PROMISE] put together for a couple of reasons, the main one being that he’s Officially retired in order to spend more time with his family, which consists of his mom, his friend (not girlfriend) Hilgya, baby Kudzu, and a truly stunning number of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Roy frequently calls or visits him for advice and he Occasionally shows up to help out on local jobs, but generally he avoids doing crime if he can (as part of a deal with Hilgya, who is also a career criminal; basically, they’ve both cut back on the crime in order to provide a more stable home environment for Kudzu. But sometimes, you gotta do a little crime, and in those cases, Sigdi enjoys spending time w her grandson.)

NOW. THE BIG REVEAL YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR. Who got the team together in the first place?!

The answer: Lord Shojo (or whatever Normal Person Name you want to assign him). Now this is where it gets tricky: he had them do a thing that they thought was good, THEN they thought it was BAD, but then when they confronted him he revealed that it Appearing to be bad was actually a test of character and would they consider working as basically internal investigators for him? But then he had a heart attack, so, rip. But THEN it turned out that he’d left them a bunch of money anyway and they were all feeling kind of Inspired so they formed the Order of the Stick, LLC (which, no, i am not coming up with a new name, actually, because I just don’t care. someone else can come up w a justification for that name, tho, i’m sure it’s possible). Also Miko was there and was unhappy abt their actions, and also their general existence.

Moving on. Villains!

Redcloak is the Sterling replacement, because that DEEPLY amuses me.

Xykon is a season-long main villain, probably one that Redcloak finds himself working for but then “teams up with” (read: blackmails) the Order to bring him down bc even Redcloak finds Xykon distasteful. That’s season 3, let’s say.

Tarquin is another season villain, say season 2. Nale probably shows up pretty early in s1, actually, as another recurring antagonist like Sterling but uh. Less good at it. Anyways the s2 final 3 eps deal with them (accidentally) discovering that Tarquin runs some Evil Empire Company, then trying to outplay him and take him down. Idk if Nale still dies in this version tbh.

Tsukiko is a one-off s1 villain who returns briefly in s4 alongside Miko, who has gone well and truly off the rails.

Season 1 finale has to do w Roy finally getting Vengeance for his little brother.

The vampire squad is the s4 finale villain who do smth terrible to Durkon and then get the Mother Of All Revenge served up to them by the Order.

I envision the show as being 5 seasons (like og Leverage) but I’m not going to sketch out s5 because I think it should be based off whatever happens in the current story arc, possibly involving some legacy of the OotSquiggle.

Other stuff!

The Order of the Squiggle is a legendary criminal team from the 60s who stole a BUNCH of famous shit & then proceeded to legendarily implode. This has no bearing on the plot I’ve sketched out, I just think it’s fun.

The Sapphire Guard members should probably be reworked as FBI. I don’t care about most of them but I do think that Lien and O-Chul could be like, FBI agents who Choose to look the other way while the Order does their very-much-not-legal-but-still-fair Justice Crime, and maybe even help them out on occasion.

So, the Final season-by-season outline, based on everything I’ve written so far:

s1 e1: getting the team together, doing a con for Shojo, then at the end he dies and the gang is like “dang what now?" and intend to split up except then they Don’t.

mid-s1: Nale shows up and tries to trick the Order, but then gets beat like a drum.

late s1: Tsukiko is an underling of the Villain Of The Week, winds up in police custody. But She’ll Be Back.

s1 finale: Roy’s Vengeance: The Vengeaning. also we meet Redcloak as an antagonist.

s2 e1: the truth abt Haley’s father comes out

early s2: The Two Live Crews Job but it’s the Order vs the Linear Guild and the Linear Guild ARE all bad guys.

mid-s2: Redcloak returns. ugh.

late s2: the sapphire guard FBI makes its first appearance, hello O-Chul and Lien.

s2 pre-finale: once again they’re in conflict w Nale over smth, he spends the whole episodes making Cryptic Remarks, they basically beat him (like a drum!) but then the stinger at the end is that Tarquin reveals himself and Elan is like “Dad?!”, roll credits.

s2 finale, part 1: Elan is hanging out w Tarquin bc he’s DEEP in Denial, the Rest of the team tries to take Tarquin down, but it doesn’t work.

s2 finale, part 2: Elan finally gets a clue and they manage to beat Tarquin. still haven’t decided if Nale dies or not, but I’m leaning towards yes. also they rescue Haley’s dad.

s3 e1: fuck dude idk.

early s3: Redcloak shows up, AGAIN, everyone groans. he has blackmail on them, he wants them to take Xykon down.

mid s3: The Rashomon Job but it’s about stealing the Talisman of Dorukan and it turns out that Nale was there too (“oh!” Elan says. “I was wondering why I looked so weird in all those mirrors! But it wasn’t my reflection, it was Nale’s!” “Sweetie, that wasn’t Nale’s reflection,” says Haley. “Huh,” says Elan, “so the mirrors were broken?”, cue eye rolling from everyone else.), and the Successful thief was Hilgya, who’d nabbed it from the owner before it even went on display.

s3 finale: they beat Xykon, actually factually, because he deserves to get his ass Thoroughly kicked, even if only in AU form. Lien and O-Chul are there, so are some other less helpful FBI people. There’s a bit where O-Chul Exact Wordses his way out of telling his superiors about the Order’s less legal activities without technically lying. King shit.

s4 e1: doesn’t really matter. maybe smth to do w some legacy of Tarquin’s company to set up the drama w Malack & Durkon later.

early s4: Durkon gets SENT TO PRISON. Malack approaches the Order abt this because sure they have Different Ethics but they’re still Friends. (Roy is surprised and a little hurt that he’s never heard of Malack, but he ignores that in favor of Let’s Get Whatever Fuckers Did This To Our Friend.)

immediately after that: Miko and Tsukiko return as a Team, preventing the Order from working on the Durkon situation

mid s4: Redcloak makes another unexpected & unwelcome appearance but he’s maybe a little less of a dick? the Order collaborates with Malack & his Crime Buddies (hello, Vector Legion) to pull one over on him tho, because “less of a dick” does not mean “a pleasant or decent person”, and also he was mean abt Durkon being in jail, so he totally deserved it. he still gets whatever he wanted tho, just takes a blow to his pride. also prevents the Order from helping Durkon. they’re having a LOT of setbacks wonder why that could be, not to make sure the season fills its whole length or anything, no sirree

s4 finale: something something taking down the organization, headed by Hel (yes that’s her real name), which framed Durkon for their Big Crime. Durkon goes free and Extra Firmly retires, For Good, He Swears, but says he “met someone new” who might be an asset.

s5 e1: minrah joins the team! and the episode is set in like, somewhere really snowy. that’s all i got.

the rest of s5: don’t know, don’t care, it’s open-ended until the comic finishes up.