#because in the first game literally his only redeeming qualities for me were his character design and animations

[subdee]

B and E for the ask game?

Pretending I answered this two days ago... Aha.

B:  What was the first fandom you read fic in?  Which was the first you wrote fic for?

First fandom: It was Ranma 1/2! In second grade we got a PC for the first time, a few years later we got a dial-up internet connection. The only people on the internet at that time - as far as I knew anyway - were adult nerds and college students. The college students had the fast college internet, so their pages were unusable because they all had huge fancy anime JPEG headers that took 10 minutes to load.

I starting reading fanfiction because plaintext loaded quicker, and my favorite page on the entire internet was someone's boring HTML page that was literally nothing but a manually-updated list of links to every Ranma/Akane fanfiction that existed on the internet in English.

I was probably in 6th or 7th grade. I'd never read the comics, which were expensive as they were still being sold in the western comics format, where you charged a lot of $$$ for a small number of (flipped) pages. The tankobans came out a year or two later. I'm probably mixing all this up. I saw some of the anime, eventually, renting tapes from a going out of business video rental store near my high school boyfriend's house.

Uhh where was I. Yeah, to this day I've never seen or read all of Ranma 1/2, but I read literally every English language Ranma/Akane fanfic that existed on the internet circa 1995. I liked the ones where Akane was in love with girl Ranma, and Ranma didn't care that they were dating a lesbian, the best.

First fandom I wrote in: Naruto! I was still in high school, or maybe just starting college? I started some ambitious WIP, specofically to make friends with a group of livejournalers whose blogs I'd been lurking for several years (I succeeded in this btw, just not with the Naruto fic - with Death Note mainly). Since I didn't have any real plan for the fic, I didn't make it very far before I gave up.

There's another one I wrote, close to around that time, that I wish I could orphan or at least delete from my ff.net account, but alas I can't as the email I used to sign up for ff.net no longer exists. It was a fic about Sasuke and Hinata in an arranged marriage, there's a rape in it, I wrote it as a proof of concept for how horrible that pairing would be, but it got positive feedback from Sasuke fans invested in how I was going to redeem him. Yeah, lesson learned, never write an anti-fic.

E: What character do you identify with most?  Is there a certain fic of yours that captures these qualities particularly well?

Hmmmmmm. Usually I'd say, Yukino Arizawa from His and Her circumstances? She is insanely competitive and ambitious but hides it so she can get more adulation from her high school fanbase. I'm not exactly like this but I admire it, and it's closer to my mental image of myself than the majority of female characters. "They think I'm sweet, but I want to beat them all into the ground with the best test scores, best grades, AND be the best athlete! Haha!"

In general I'm not really trying to write characters who are like me when I write, though. It's like, write my essay about the canon, pretend it's fiction and not an essay; or join a fandom event to make friends and write an AU I can put some of my personal experiences in to make it more interesting. Fanfic as a social thing, more than a way to explore myself.

I'll plug the way I wrote Ging (HxH) in "Pariging Coffee Shop AU" though (though you just said you don't read AUs and especially not coffee shop AUs). I like the way he's a mystery in that and then... Revealed to be SOMEWHAT interesting but in a way that only appeals to like, the niche of the niche. (Academic genius only popular among sociology grad students, etc.) Hah.

Here's the fic:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32737069

Thanks for the ask <333

[julietasgf]

Why do you think Ma stayed with Strabo after seeing all the terrible things he did? I feel like she probably does love him on some level since she's still with him no matter what he does, but it's just like why??? While reading your fics on the Plinth family, I kept wondering why Ma didn't just leave Strabo. This isn't a criticism of your works, I just genuinely didn't understand why Ma kept staying with him even after seeing all the terrible things he was doing Sejanus. Like why was Strabo leaving Sejanus at school simply for being a few minutes late not a good enough reason for her to divorce Strabo's ass and take Sejanus away??? And when Strabo hits Sejanus, she still doesn't leave him??? Do you think D2 had more of a patriarchal culture where divorce was highly frowned upon and it was expected for women and children to just obey the father/husband and weather through the mistreatment/abuse? The line where Ma says that she's an adult who knew what she was doing when she accepted Strabo's love really stuck out to me because yeah, if she wants to accept that kind of terrible love, well like she said, she is an adult and it's up to her if she wants to be treated that way. But Sejanus is a child who didn't get the choice of choosing to be the recipient of his father's "love", he was brought into the world and had the misfortune to be stuck with a terrible father. Like it's one thing to be an adult and accept that kind of mistreatment, but to stand by and watch as a kid is forced to "accept" that kind of love??? Did Ma ever actually bring up divorce/separating to Strabo, or was that all just her internal thoughts? Would Strabo have made it impossible for her to leave him anyway? I know it's not easy to leave a toxic, abusive relationship, but I just keep wondering why it seemed like Ma didn't choose Sejanus over Strabo. Like why didn't Ma do more to protect Sejanus from Strabo? She keeps saying that she knows that Strabo is a bad man but it felt like she kinda just watched as Strabo destroyed Sejanus mentally and emotionally? But also what did Ma love about Strabo near the end? She knows he's a terrible person but still loves him? What are this man's redeeming qualities to have Ma stick by him through literally everything??? Also did Strabo just not care about the rest of his extended family in D2? Like he had to know that by siding with the Capitol, he was gonna screw over his own family in D2. To me, he seems like the type of man to not give a crap about his in-laws/wife's side of the family, but what about his own blood relatives? Like did he not care about screwing over his own parents and siblings (if he had any)?? And what if his own nieces and nephews were picked from the Reaping? Do you think any of Sejanus's cousins were sent to the Hunger Games? If Strabo could have some influence on Marcus being in the games, I want to believe that he could also influence it so that his nieces and nephews are safe from the games, but this is also Strabo we're talking about sooooo I guess I wouldn't also put it past him to not care if his nieces and nephews were reaped. this got kinda long, but i've been thinking a lot after reading your character studies and i think i'm kinda obsessed and in love with those works now lol

hi!!! so, first, tysm for reading my works, it's genuinely so sweet from you to tell me that you liked it and I'm so happy that you enjoyed them :((( <33

okay, so, I'm going to be very honest with you: I don't know either, and I wish I knew.

talking about the book, and not my hcs and not my works: I never understood why ma plinth stayed with someone like strabo. she clearly loves her district, she clearly holds her culture and traditions dearly, and she doesn't seem happy at the capitol. her family cut ties with her, only her sister still keeps contact. there's a part near the end where she says that when they moved to the capitol and got to the house for the first time, she felt like it was a disaster, she knew it was a disaster. ma is such a sweet person and it just didn't make sense to me. was she okay with what strabo did at the war? was divorce never an option? was she willing to choose strabo over her family? why?

I have two points regarding this (and now I'm also talking about my hcs and my works).

first one: what you talked about a patriarchal culture in D2. I think it's probably the most possible and strong option. it didn't seem like ma plinth worked or had any job or occupation besides being strabo's wife and sejanus' mother. her family cutting ties with her and her not seeming to have an actual option regarding moving to the capitol (because, to me, it seemed that if she could, she would come back, she would stay). I don't think that it's that frowned upon women working in panem, but I do think that when a man can sustain his family alone (especially after the war), it means status and power. ma plinth seems very dependant on strabo's money, and I wonder what would be her options if she left him; what would she do? where would she go? she doesn't even have a family anymore.

second point: apathy. now, the whole thg universe has very complex characters, and none of them are completely flawed or completely good. ma is lovely, she's sweet and kind and genuinely one of the nicest characters in the whole saga, but she watched her husband betray her district, her home, and did nothing. she watches fucked up shit happening and does nothing. it's not that she doesn't want to do something, but it's just so much easier to just let strabo do whatever he wants, even though it hurts, even though it goes against her morals. she did it regarding her home and leaving it, she does it regarding her son (even though for sejanus, she does put a little more of effort, but not enough to make actual changes, just to protect him from further harm).

I think ma fell in love with strabo once when he was a young, passionate man, ambitious but not completely bad, and then they married. the years passed by, and he got more and more ruthless, and more and more cold, but divorce didn't seem like an option, not really. I think ma still loves strabo as some sort of response, trying to keep in her mind more of the boy she met than the man she married.

(I actually have some hcs for how they met, why ma holds strabo so dearly to the point of trying to live with the fact that he's the worst, and my thoughts on sejanus just keeping the cycle going on with his ending with coriolanus but this is for later)

OOOH I HAVE SOME HCS REGARDING HIS FAMILY, but again, this is for later. but making it short: I think he had siblings, I don't think he cared about them, and this goes beyond just being ruthless. now, it didn't come to my thoughts the idea of one of sejanus' cousins getting reaped; even though it's a very interesting concept. I don't think it happened to sejanus' cousins from ma's side of the family; she would be heartbroken if that happened, and she's already devasted with having to move to the capitol, so I can totally see strabo playing his cards to make sure none of them actually get reaped. now, regarding sejanus' cousins from his father's side... the story is very much different.

thank you again anon, for your ask and for telling me that you enjoyed my stuff, it makes me very much happy <33

[la-pheacienne]

Lol if it was ShOckING then how can it be expected and something "we shouldnt feel surprised by"? Even with shocking character moments in got they were still expected and made sense for them. Events like the jaime attacking ned or cersie putting joff on the throne never left an audience confused after and go on the internet to try scramble an excuse for them because we understood who these characters were and what matters to them as they played on screen. No one was actually thinking that daemon would still be hung up over being replaced as viserys' heir 20yrs later and be so angry as to hurt rhaenyra his brothers daughter and wife over it. Like if the writers had done their job in showing who daemon really is than the moment daemon and rhaenyra started having conflict and were alone together we shouldve felt nothing but dread for rhaenyra. But we didnt and the choke came out of nowhere. Because to us the show was building towards daemon never hurting his family as his one(1) and only redeeming quality that was keeping him away from straight up villain territory. And the fact that even the writers had to come out and explain that scene is proof they either failed to do what they wanted to do or they used a scene of domestic violence as ultimately just for shock value.

"Shock value is the potential of an image, text, action, or other form of communication, such as a public execution, to provoke a reaction of sharp disgust, shock, anger, fear, or similar negative emotions".

Unfortunately American media is full of it. It's kind of their thing. It's easy to provoke an emotional reaction, it's very difficult to create a multilayered story. So they prefer the former.

House of the Dragon particularly suffers from it. Examples:

Viserys ordering the slaughter of his wife and showing that slaughter on screen. No guys it's not a feminist take. Showing a woman's belly being cut in half is not feminism. It's shock value.

Laena ordering her dragon to burn her alive when she was already dying anyway. Again, not feminism, sorry. The quiet tragedy of a woman dying in childbirth and the grief of her husband are obviously not impressive enough for dumb Americans so let's include a totally idiotic suicide that makes zero sense narratively just to provoke a reaction = shock value.

Larys masturbating on Alicent's feet. Adds nothing to the narrative, we already know that Larys is evil as fuck and we already know that Alicent is using him to USURP the rightful heir. These things are already established. A negotiation that should have been meaningful for Alicent's character, by showing her cunningness, determination and plotting skills is reduced to meaningless victimisation, thus objectifying one of the main ANTAGONISTS of the series in order to evoke a reaction of disgust = shock value.

Rhaenys' girlbossification. Added absolutely nothing to the narrative apart from shock, sure, kill a bunch of civilians just to threaten the usurpers? And then leave? What? One of the most stupid scenes in the show.

Crispy Cream killing Laenor's lover. Another extremely stupid scene. Didn't make ANY sense, Crispy got zero conséquence for it, I literally don't understand why that scene was included other than its shock value because it's a game of thrones wedding.

Daemon killing Rhea. Jeez. Horrible, horribly shot, horribly acted, Daemon had less human traits than a fucking Dementor I mean WTF. Am I supposed to care about this woman that appeared on screen for 1 minute? Lol I literally dgaf. It was included merely for shock value and it didn't even shock me because it was just so pointless. That's another level of lame right there.

Daemon choking Rhaenyra, the woman he spent 10+ years pining after, the woman he wanted to protect by exiling himself. The woman that just lost their baby and her throne. That woman. Sure guys domestic violence can occur in a couple that seemed to love each other deeply before the first violent strike, but that's real life. In fiction, it doesn't work that way, sorry. In fiction, when you show a character having a certain trait, you fucking STICK.TO.IT. You don't change that on a whim. If you show that Daemon is loyal to his family, he needs to stay loyal to his family, period. Characters in fiction have an interior logic that doesn't exist in the real world. Real people don't necessarily have that interior logic but fictional characters do. You mess up that logic, you fuck up the story. Aristotle said about tragedy that characters need to be static and that is the most important part. STATIC. It's the narrative that moves the characters forward. They don't just randomly throw a fit out of nowhere because of a random change in personality. But if you use the word STATIC to an American producer they may faint out of boredom because they have literally two brain cells. So yeah again, adds nothing to the narrative apart from shock. Not feminism, just stupid shock value.

Ned's death and Cersei putting Joffrey on the throne were shocking scenes but we ALREADY KNEW that Joffrey is a piece of shit and Cersei wants to put him on the throne. We were only interested in the how the hell are they gonna do that. And when we saw it it was magnificent. It elevated their character arcs by moving the plot forward. That's great storytelling.

[twistedtummies2]

The Devils I Know - NUMBER ONE

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Welcome to the final entry for “The Devils I Know!” For this spooky time of year, I’ve spent all of October counting down My Top 31 Depictions of the Devil, from movies, television, video games, and more! And today, I unveil our topmost contender! Who is my favorite Devil? I’ll give you a hint: sunshine is his destroyer. NUMBER ONE IS…Tim Curry, from Legend.

If you know me especially well, then you probably already knew this would be my number one choice. But for those who don’t…I could just simply say “it’s Tim Curry playing the Devil, I don’t need any other reason,” and leave it at that (which, frankly, would be true), but I’m an old windbag who likes to ramble and pontificate, sooo…nope. I’m gonna talk all your ears of…or…um…type all your eyes out…that sounds terrible, ANYWAY…! Directed by Ridley Scott – famous for the “Alien” franchise, of all things – 1985’s “Legend” was a film meant to be an homage to classic fairy-tales of yore. It’s not directly based on any specific story, mind you; it’s simply meant to be a story that FEELS like a classic fairy-tale. The plot is essentially a conglomeration of various elements and tropes taking from many myths and fables, so it isn’t exactly the most complex or unique…but, to be honest, that’s part of the point. “Legend” is meant to feel like a story out of your past, a story we all know, despite being its own original piece, and it’s more about the fantasy and the spectacle than anything else. It is a feast for the eyes and the imagination, with some hidden meaning under its surface, much like so many illustrated fairy-tale storybooks of decades past were. Now, to be fair, these same elements can turn some people off from the film, so to speak (not me, but some people), but I’ve yet to hear ANYBODY complain about one thing in the film. That one thing – the one part everyone agrees is the best part of the picture – is its villain: Tim Curry as the Lord of Darkness, or simply “Darkness.” Darkness is, of course, the Devil: he essentially has two plans in the film sort of moving together. Darkness wants to first of all kill the last two unicorns in the world, as apparently the unicorns are angelic symbols of light, and, being Darkness, light isn’t exactly something he cares for much. (“Sunshine is my destroyer!” he recites a couple of times in the film.) He ends up getting some unwitting help from the beautiful but naive Princess Lili. This, for me, is where Darkness gets interesting: he actually falls in love with Lili. And…he actually means it! Yeah! He legitimately loves her, and wants to impress and please her. It doesn’t seem to be a mere case of lust, he’s not offering her anything in exchange for loving him, exactly…he just…loves her, and wants to marry her. Of course, being the Lord of Darkness, he has no idea how to properly EXPRESS and handle love. Lili is not receptive of his advances, and ends up actually using that love against him to trick him and help save the day at the end (ouch, poor devil…literally), but I’ve always found this specific element fascinating. Because the rest of the time, Darkness is a classic Devil in every way: a pure evil fiend with no real redeeming qualities and a lot of power and prestige. But this one sympathetic element really helps make him a more layered character, and helps to make an already amazing Devil even more amazing. Beyond the sympathy, what qualities make him amazing? Well, beyond all else, two things: the actor, and the costume and makeup. I mean…freaking LOOK AT THAT THING. My God…or…My Devil! Just…LOOK AT THAT THING. That has to be one of the greatest costume and makeup designs of any movie ever, without question. Curry is completely buried, literaly head to toe, in that makeup. In fact, there’s a story about how Curry tried desperately to keep his own eyes for the outfit, only for them to demand he wear special contact lenses to give him feline-like eyes. Curry grumbled as he put them in…but the moment he looked in the mirror, he immediately felt impressed by how he, himself, looked in the full regalia. And he deserved to be impressed, not only because the Devil in the film is MAGNIFICENT to behold – like a blood red living sculpture of evil beauty – but because Curry himself, through all that makeup, not to mention vocal effects that deepened his voice and gave it a powerful, unsettling echo, manages to give, in my opinion, possibly the finest performance in his entire career. This is, without a shadow of a doubt, my favorite Tim Curry performance, if nothing else, and part of it is how effortlessly he seems to pull it off; he just lives inside that costume and that makeup, as if it is nothing. You have no problem believing this Devil as a walking, living, mighty thing as Darkness strides across the screen. Curry was cast because, to paraphrase Ridley Scott, he felt that the actor could bring something “operatic” to the role, which was obviously desired. Indeed, Curry is his usual melodramatic self, but it’s in the best way: this is an imposing creature, ruling the room with every moment he has onscreen, but also so human with his more sympathetic qualities. When I think of Tim Curry, Darkness is one of the first things I think of. When I think of the Devil, again, Darkness is one of the first things I think of, if not THE first thing I think of. This is just how I would imagine the Devil to look and behave, beyond all else, and to me, that is what makes him so great. He has the right balance of so many qualities other Devils, before and after, have: he’s theatrical, yet he’s genuine; he’s malicious, he’s tragic; he’s a master manipulator, and a beast of the battlefield, all at the same time. It’s the full package. These facts, beyond all else, are what make the Lord of Darkness from “Legend” My Favorite Portrayal of the Devil. No more need be said. Thank you all for joining me! I hope you had fun with this crazy little list. And don’t worry: when and if the day comes I see what Old Scratch actually looks like, I’ll let you know if any of the plus-thirty versions I’ve covered were anywhere near the mark. ;)

[cospinol]

...actually this spring’s isekai pickings were a little bit better than usual, not even one 2/10 on my list! isenido just barely scraped by by sparing/pseudo-redeeming touma at the last second, but his plotline was SUCH a downer it made me despise the protagonist enough to knock the whole show down to a 3 when otherwise i’d have at least considered it for a low 4, accrued mainly from the excellent little romance with leviathan (of course her screentime is minimal and the rest of the harem is especially worthless to make up for it) (also, touma’s goofy yandere antics are genuinely a treat, but if i think about them for too long i remember that he literally actually did nothing wrong and my spirit of righteous vengeance starts thinking maybe this shit is a 2 after all). though i will soon have forgotten everything abt this show except for its wonderful myanimelist synopsis

i can’t find a single other website that uses the phrase ‘isekai-normie’, all respect to the mad genius mal editor responsible. the double-isekai aspect is almost so stupid it’s worth talking about but it’s also not even in the damn show, the classmates he got isekai’d with do not even appear in the fucking plot, so i won’t waste more space in this post on it

anyways i was expecting to dole out more 3s this season but everything else managed to accrue enough random charm points to scrape by; fundamentally i’m most affected by tone and this particular set all trended towards the genuinely fluffy and forgiving, which is shocking considering yuusha ga shinda is on this list but i’m a sap so i loved the bullshit reverse body-swap resolution and was even kind of rooting for touka and yuna’s deeply stupid romance by the finale. tensei kizoku is probably the meanest of the bunch but it made up for it in other ways (first and foremost: wataru hatano catboy ojisan. the character he voiced in yuusha ga shinda was also the highlight of that show lol, a seasonal throughline), mostly literally by having great design sense and introducing a whole cast’s worth of new characters every single episode so even though the main harem was another viciously terrible one we essentially ended up spending no time with them at all, i’d mercifully completely forgotten about the elf girl by the time she popped in in the finale

on the flip-side of this is that ‘uncommonly garbage set of love interests’ is the other throughline of the season for some reason, with iseleve being the other main offender, but in that case it’s offset by obvious Main Girl Who Will Win kaori being more than charming enough to balance out the rest of them. i was disappointed that there were so many irritants and distractions in the real-world part of the plot because yuuya using his video game hacks to win at crane games and getting coerced into becoming a fashion model is WAY more interesting than any of the generic isekai antics on the other side of the door (it’s so pathetic it loops around to deeply compelling at points), though i ended up liking the latter half well enough too once the evil onii-sama plot made it to the redemption arc portion. it’s too brief to really write home about or to bump this show up to a 5 but it did remind me pleasantly of a speed-run version of seikoku no dragonar’s prince julius plot, which will always be the gold standard for those (don’t @ me)

and that leaves isesuma Season Two as the only one on the list i haven’t talked about yet but it’s an outlier that i feel like i have to treat a little differently just because it’s very funny as a case study; when the first season aired in 2017 it was genuinely the worst thing i’d ever seen and i didn’t hesitate to give it a 2/10, while this season felt pretty much as average as one of these can get, and there’s no doubt in my mind that they are of pretty much the exact same quality. the only thing that really stood out this season was how little of a shit touya gives about his harem, even with him being a clueless/reluctant-type protagonist i remember the previous season actually attempting to build (even being mostly dedicated to building...?) romance arcs with the sisters in particular but this season girls he’s JUST met just get added to the fiancé roster *by the other girls* without even consulting him and the show doesn’t even play it as a joke. the mal synopsis for this one presents the harem as the main hook but the only time touya seems to care about anything in this entire season is the mecha engineering plotline, if you close your eyes you can pretend it really is still summer 2017 and you’re watching knight’s & magic..................... anyways it still just barely snags a 4 by actually putting in the white-haired catboy rival (i guess he isn’t actually a catboy but i spent all of s1′s intro thinking he was so that’s ingrained as fact for me) who was in all of s1′s damn intro but did not appear in the show at any point. he’s here now!!!!

also, i did drop katsukami at episode 4. self-respect moments

[smolcinnamonchipmunk]

I meant 1-3 characters per favorite media oops! Sorry for not being clear. I just really like seeing people talk about things they like that I might share too.

I hope you like long posts, cause here is one. I stopped at four media stuff because I didn't want to ramble more than I did in this, haha. Here's a lot of me talking about things I like HTTYD: Favorite movie series of all time. If you let me, I'd write fucking novels on how much I love it. I will die with my DVD collection and plushies. First movie is my favorite, the original side shows were interesting, and I will also die on the hill that the Light Fury sucks. We don't talk about the Nine Realms.

Hiccup: Hiccup is my favorite character in the entire HTTYD franchise. I was one of those nerdy kids that was quiet in the corner unless talking with friends. Surprisingly, I don't think I was proper bullied, but I also don't have very good memory recollection. But, not the point. He's 'nerdy', he's goofy, he's got the sarcastic kind of humor that I love, he befriends a dragon which he literally is willing to sacrifice his life over (I won't get into how the third movie kind of ruins the rest of the series messaging), and he's overall just a fun character.

Toothless: He's a fucking dragon. Not just that, he's the goodest dragon in the Archipelago, how can you not have him as a favorite HTTYD character?! Adorable, scary, and protective of his friend, I fucking love this dragon and I would both kill and die for him.

Stoick the Vast: I didn't entirely like him at first, but I also saw the first movie when I was prepubescent. No one likes the parent that scolds you, lol. But, I watched HTTYD on loop enough that I graduated to listening to the commentary version over and over, and I think I remember the commentary version talking more about Stoick. He's just a dad trying to do his best for his son and village, and he's very wholesome.

Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss: I'm going to combine these because as much as I lover Helluva Boss, I only have a few favorites. I like most everyone, but they're not my favorite. I understand if you (In general, not directed at you, Anon) don't like this show, but the way these YouTube animated projects have hopefully paved the way for more indie projects going forward earns a lot of respect.

Alastor: We know almost nothing about this man, but this Dr. Pepper bastard appeals to me in an automatic way. Will he have redeemable qualities? Maybe, maybe not! They're in Hell for a reason! I want to touch his hair floofs and see if they're ears!

Stolas: SAD BIRD MAN, I want to pat him on the head, even though I'd have to climb a ladder to do so. I've always hated the forced engagement thing, and I like that they delved into it in a more realistic way than I think a lot of forms of media do. He just wants to be gay and happy, let him.

Fizzaroli: Another one we don't know much about, but I love his design, voice, and he's basically the lap-Imp of the overlord of Lust. This boi's FUCKING

Obey Me!: I almost never got this game, but I got so many ads I gave into my curiosity, and I'm glad I did! Still don't like that Luke's an option

Mammon: I'm not much for Tsundere characters (Like, Levi's a bit much for me.), but Mammon is just… a really good mix. Like, he's not going to admit a lot of things, and he'll insult you, but there's not a lot of bite to it and there's several instances of him actually being concerned and I think he even asks at some point if he took a bit too far. Surprisingly considerate boi, head pats all around.

Lucifer: I'm a sucker for kind of intimidating characters. I think it's something to do with being an adrenaline junkie, but also I really hate roller coasters. Either way, strict dude but also has people's interests in mind. Just, sometimes needs to be told to lay the fuck off. Definitely feels like he'd be the type to corner you and enjoy the panic on your face tho

Diavolo: Golden retriever of a man, socially clueless himbo. Fred Jones of the demons. I love him and his goofy self

Twisted Wonderland (So far): Kind of Obey Me!, but Disney and the characters are drawn by the author of Black Butler, so immediate interest on design alone. I wanted to play this ages ago, but it was only released in Japan for a while I think, and I forgot about it entirely until last week.

Malleus: I know almost nothing about him other than he's a dragon boi, or looks like it, and likes to take walks outside in the quiet. Seems chill. I want to see a dragon form tho, I BEG

Jack: Fucking BEST BOI. Has a proper fucking moral code in this bitch that isn't 5000 rules and is just "Don't cheat >:(", and I want to give him a pat, AND HE TURNS INTO A GIANT WOLF. Another sort of caring Tsundere thing that reminds me a bit of Mammon

Riddle: He reminds me of Ciel Phantomhive from Black Butler, who's my second favorite in that manga, sooo, yeah. Kind of has a Lucifer issue where he needs to chill the fuck out, but he currently has the most sympathetic background to me.

[hotcocoabombb]

archiving my thoughts on sonic 06 with some light revisions since I'm hoping to abandon twitter now :)

Sonic's campaign:

I finally beat Sonic's campaign. Did I enjo- no. Not at all. This was absolute ass. It felt like torture. I forced myself to do this out of curiosity. The last cutscene was nice but Jason is so bleh as Sonic he took me out of it. Elise and Sonic had a good relationship but the rest of the story was dumb, the gameplay was either boring or frustrating, and honestly the only redeeming qualities were the music and the story being laughably bad. So I give Sonic's campaign a 1.5/10, although that could change depending on the other campaigns

Shadow's story:

Just beat shadows campaign. I think past me summed it up well. This was better than Sonics campaign, but in the same way where I'd rather get punched in the face instead of getting punched in the balls. There's no mach speed and no level quite hits the low of Sonic's Kingdom Valley, but overall this just wasn't fun. It was less frustrating and more boring, which honestly I'd take in a heartbeat. Also I don't see why people rave about his characterization in this game so much. Like yeah that sure was how shadow the hedgehog would react in this moment. Nothing groundbreaking, idk why people lose their shit over it all the time. The story is still weak as fuck, mephiles is an awful villian with no presence, and the voice acting is very meh. I'd give it a 2.5/10 overall. Better than Sonic's but not by much.

Silver's Campaign:

I just beat silvers campaign and holy shit he is the best one by FARRRRRR. Sure, silver is slower in a speed platformer, but because 06 controls so awfully the slower speed actually helps the game feel, plus his hover helps how bad mid-air movement feels. And his levels are all fun! The ball puzzle genuinely didn't give me any issues somehow so ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ it's fine lmao. This is still sonic 06, so it's not amazing, but I actually had some fun. 5/10. I might play some of these levels again one day. Onto Last Story!

Last Story/Final Thoughts:

Unfortunately the energy from Silvers campaign didn't carry over. End of the World is rage inducing making you use all of the broken characters that aren't fun to control, and the final boss is boring, but functional at the very least. On its own that gets a 3/10. As for the game itself, Sonic 06 is like the kid who fails every exam. Like you can tell he's trying but it's just disappointing yet expected at a certain point. Everything good in this game would be SO much better if you experienced it in any other Sonic game. The only thing this game has going for it is Silver's Campaign, which isn't even that good, it's just relatively better than the rest imo. All of this leads to me just feeling like I wanted to play any other game in this franchise, and it just made me feel like i was slowly decending into madness. I'm glad I played it, even if just to give myself the experience, but outside of a few levels from Silver's campaign I never wanna touch this game again. This is the 2nd biggest exercise in frustration I've ever had, and I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to play it. Onto the story. It's terrible. Aside from Silver, who may just be my favorite Sonic character now, this whole game just has awful writing. When they try to pull emotional moments at the end, they didn't land bc I didn't care. Sonic dying is actually the dumbest fucking part of this game. His death scene literally made me cackle the first time I saw it. Frontiers ending pre-update 3 handles this better, and that was rushed beyond belief. Every part of this story thats "good" is, once again, better in any other sonic game. People rave about Shadows writing but honestly it's only slightly above sonics, and way worse than silvers. It may sound like I'm trying to be contrarin but this is seriously how I feel. But TLDR, Sonic 06 is one of the most dreadful experiences I've ever had. I was begging it to end by the time I reached the end of sonics campaign, but instead it dragged itself out for 2 more tedious campaigns, an ending that underwhelmed more than frontiers, a shitty final boss, and made me never wanna touch my 360 again. 3.5/10. The only reason it's not lower is because of Silvers campaign, and the music. Never again

[skylordhorus]

WAHOO WHAT A GREAT GAME!!!!!

[calzonekestis]

Having a Black character be put in peril so that they can be rescued by a white savior is not a Good thing to do in a story.

Eddie Munson is actually a non violent person who tends to avoid physical conflict.

Both those statements are true.

However, if he had been there when Jason’s baseball cap wearing bro tackled an 11 year old Black girl to the ground, pinned her, held her arms behind her back and threatened to break them?

Vecna wouldn’t be the only person taking eyes.

That bitch would have gotten a nail-shield to the face. Repeatedly.

I know the intent of that was to be upsetting and uncomfy, but I’m just.

Sick of them doing the Sinclairs like that. First with Billy, now that bitch.

And tbh after the Lucas/Jason confrontation, I’m looking back on all their interactions with hindsight and.

“I never should have let you in.”

“I never should have knocked.”

Lucas already proved himself on the basketball court, but they had to go all frat boy and like. He had to earn his acceptance.

On Jason’s wiki page (editing is still locked rn) it’s mentioned how one of his redeeming qualities was that he checked on Lucas when he had a hangover.

Which. I kinda get the feeling that Lucas was probably most certainly pressured into drinking? Or at least as much as he did? That it was a hazing thing?

Jason and his friends are just. Douchebags.

Maybe there’s a reason they were douchebags, like a reason Billy was a douchebag… but like with Billy, that reason isn’t an excuse.

And I don’t think that they had any abusive background or anything. I think it was their environment, sure, but it was one that was very catered to serve them. Straight white clean cut Christian patriarchy.

Sure, Jason didn’t seem so bad - until Chrissy died. Until his perfect world started to crumble, people were daring to upset the status quo of it all. That’s when he started to spiral. When he and Eddie had their stare down in the cafeteria?

Chrissy wasn’t even a factor in that. Eddie insulted him and his place in the hierarchy. Eddie insulted a lot of people. None of them had egos so fragile (or penises so tiny) that they wanted to throw hands.

He couldn’t accept that he didn’t know Chrissy as well as he thought, even though there must have been a reason she felt she couldn’t go to him. Be it he’d belittle her trauma/ED if she confided about it, or if he treated her like a she was a burden/distraction before the game, or whatever.

She put on a brave face and smile, while she was literally hurting herself… and he was completely ignorant. Head in the sand. Or up his own ass. This is her boyfriend. Meanwhile, Eddie someone who she hasn’t talked to in years, is able to tell in seconds that something is off and that she isn’t ok.

He doesn’t pry or overstep as to why she wants the drugs - he knows better than to ask, and it’s better for business if he doesn’t. Though he cares enough to try and make her feel at ease and safe with him. He doesn’t judge her for not being ok, he just wants her to feel better.

Meanwhile Jason just refuses to entertain the idea that she may not have been ok. That he may have played a part in it, that she may have gone to Eddie rather than him because he was part of the problem. That’s just not fathomable to him, because he’s perfect and walks on water.

When Nancy offers her condolences, he shows little to no reaction - instead asking where her Hellfire Club member brother is and getting all aggressive.

He didn’t actually love Chrissy, because he didn’t actually know Chrissy.

He loved the simplistic picture of her that he and her mother and society made her feel like she had to live up to.

Mans didn’t actually know the girl to love her. He wasn’t actually grieving her as person, he was grieving what she was supposed to be in relation to himself.

An embodiment of toxic masculinity. R Rated Gaston. Anthony Michael Hall in Edward Scissorhands. Youth Pastor Archie Andrews. Call it whatever you want, but he is not some misunderstood meow meow.

Again, said it before, I’ll say it a dozen times over. Mason Dye did a fantastic job portraying him. He tried to bring some depth there, he’s talked about Jason’s headspace at a con - but he could only do so much with what was on the page. He wasn’t given focus like Joe was, to where he could sort of improv and influence the perception of the character.

I’m not saying he’s not a good character, but he’s not a good person. And that’s ok. You can have problematic trash faves. I have a Darth Maul url, I mean, fuck. The woobification is something I cannot and will not sanction.

[forevermore-quoth-the-kitten]

Batfam as SAO Abriged Quotes Part 2, Because I Can

First | Current

Tim, Doing a Great Job at Making Lex’s Life Miserable And Enjoying Every Minute Of It: Well how would you like me to mock you? I take requests.

-

Some Villain: Someone so dead inside, he’d use a child as bait to lure me out.

Dick: Hood would never do something so horrible.

Jason: Oh no, she’s right, I totally did that. *points over his shoulder at the tied up and gagged Damian still in his Gotham Academy school uniform*

Dick: What?!

-

Steph: I will eND you, thot!!

-

Villain: How did you know I was lying?

Damian: Ah, you see, it’s quite simple, really. You see, I’m not an idiot.

Villain’s Goon: Yep, that would do it.

-

Duke: What the hell is that?

Babs: Well Signal, I believe the locals call it a, hex-a-gon? Not sure if I’m pronouncing that correctly, I’ll have to check back with you.

-

Jason: Sweetie, I’m gonna let you in on a little known secret of comedy. Bad things, aren’t funny, when they happen to Jay-Jay.

Lian: What about Daddy?

Jason: Oh Daddy’s fair game, go for the throat.

-

Cassie: Our team doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘surrender’.

Tim, from the background and on his back: But we’re willing to learn!

-

Tim, 110% Done With Ra’s Al Ghul and His Bullshit: Plans To Kidnap Him: Wow, this how you thank everyone who saves you? I can just feel the gratitude radiating off of you. Like a warm summer breeze wafting across the meadow . . . that Bambi’s mom was shot in.

Talia: *impressed by both the insult and the delivery*

Ra’s: *barely knows what Disney is outside of it’s existence as a major corporation, does not get it*

-

Babs, doing her Oracle thing with Dick tied up in her tower for his own safety since he has a broken leg: Even in that state I’m not convinced you won’t try to set me on fire with your mind  . . . *she freezes, turning around to deadpan at him as he glares* you’re trying to do it right now aren’t you?

Dick, whose little brothers are in danger: ssttaaaaaarreeeee

-

Jason: streaking through the snowy sky, on a sleight full of christmas cheer. The patron saint of prostitutes, look it up, Old Saint Nick.

Duke, slightly horrified because they’re reading a story to literal children: *shocked pickachu face*

-

Jason, Black Mask’s captive, does not give a shit since he’s already died once: No language on earth has a word for how little I care. A quantum supercomputer, calculating for a thousand years, could not even approach the number of fucks, I do not give.

Steph, with the others about to save him: *files that one away for later use*

-

Jason, the Ultimate Abridged Kirito Kinnie: Really? What part about that was out of character for me?

Tim, who he’d left to fight a whole gang by himself so he could go hit his favorite bakery before it closed: *flips him off*

-

Bruce, 17: Sorry, what was I talking about?

Alfred, a Tired Father: you were apologizing.

Bruce, Self Aware of his Issues, Mostly: that doesn’t sound like me.

-

Dick, young and dumb, over at Babs’ otherwise empty house: but uh, are you sure it’s ok for me to be over this late?

Babbara Gordon, Batgirl and badass to a fault, raising an eyebrow: why wouldn’t it be?

Dick, very very dumb: Oh sweet naive, stupid Barbara. *doesn’t notice her get up and dim the lights* you may not be able to see the dubious implications, but to a man as worldly as I- *open his eyes* Babs?

Barbara, stripped down to only her underwear and bra: why are your pants still on? are we doing this or what?

Dick, red faced, staring: *tea kettle noises*

-

Jason, standing up when the rest of the Batfamily got beaten down as we scattered around, unable to move: You know something? I really . . .  hate . . . people. *calls the All Blades and attacks the Untitled* They're selfish, ignorant, loud obnoxious pricks, with basically no redeeming qualities whatsoever! I mean really! Look at all they've achieved! Genocide, global warming, reality TV, and just a never ending parade of failures and fuck ups! They are, without question, a complete write-off of a species, AND HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME CARE ABOUT THEM!!!!! *the untitled dies, Jason drops his swords, panting while stumbling in place* There. Everyone's safe. Now you can all go die for all I... care... *falls back, unconscious*

[m-y-fandoms]

1 Thing I Love & 1 Thing I Hate About EVERY Danganronpa Character Part 1

Part 2

SPOILERS FOR ALL THREE MAIN GAMES

I’d love to hear our opinions as well in the comments or my inbox or DM’s! If you try this trend with DR characters, tag me!

Sayaka Maizono

♡ Her passion for her career and friends.

✘ The way she tries to screw over Makoto when the game had just begun. Like wait and see what happens before screwing over such a great guy? Leon didn’t deserve it either.

Leon Kuwata

♡ His voice actor (English), and how real and human his execution was in that we all would be so scared and irrational. It was just so iconic and sad as it’s our first introduction to the death in this series and we all think: “shit, this is real... they are really killing these kids.” I didn’t think it would be that brutal, just seeing his body limp at the end with the haunting music.

✘ His design is disgusting. I hate how he looks.

Chihiro Fujisaki

♡ So innocent, so kind, so intelligent

✘ Shouldn’t have been killed for such a stupid reason, also they did Mondo dirty with that motive for killing as well. Just a mess. As for the actual character, Chihiro cries right off the bat when you do your introductions and that was kind of annoying to me personally.

Mondo Oowada

♡ He has a lot of respect, understanding and emotions for someone I thought would be a hard-ass douche biker.

✘ The worst motive to kill ever in a game where you know you’re getting executed if you’re found out. Like you’d be extra careful and that’s his reason to kill? Lazy writing.

Celestia Ludenberg

♡ Bad bitch energy and her goth lolita design.

✘ Manipulation and double murder. Bad bitch energy only goes so far. Confidence is different then selfishness. Also, of all the chapter 3 triple murders... the worst motive to kill.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru

♡ Emotions: secure in his masculinity, able to cry, show emotions, and apologize when he’s wrong. He’s funny and likable.

✘ The Ishimondo white hair thing was stupid. Taka was fine on his own.

Hifumi Yamada

♡ Writing takes talent, fan fiction as much as any other style or genre. Also the talent of his voice actor (who also voices Kiibo/K1-B0).

✘ Literally everything else about him.

Sakura Oogami

♡ I love everything about her. I love her wisdom, loyalty, design, voice etc. Just step on me, mother.

✘ Why the hell would she ever agree to be a spy even if it meant the end of her dojo? I just don’t think she would do that rationally because she isn’t selfish. The others would suffer for her spying. She remedies this with redemption in her letter in chapter 4 but still she should’ve said no off the bat. Everyone had something to lose. The dojo wasn’t worth spying for monokuma. Also I just don’t think she would commit suicide. She can’t help the remaining students survive and redeem herself truly if she’s dead.

Kyoko Kirigiri

♡ Bad bitch energy, calm and collected when I could never be.

✘ Especially in future arc of the anime, damn can you show some emotion please? Through your words and expressions not just your actions. Sure she was willing to “die” for Makoto but like I just want more emotion from her sometimes, even in THH.

Makoto Naegi

♡ So pure. I Love Bryce Papenbrook. Makoto reminds me of Sora and I love his design.

✘ In THH I didn’t mind his innocence but in the Danganronpa 3 future arc anime, when people started straight up abusing him and accusing him, he needed to grow a little backbone.

Byakuya Togami

♡ Love my dad, king shit, also love how over the progression of the games and animes he becomes a little more kind to his friends.

✘ Why the fuck did he mess with Chihiro’s body? Just so cruel and disrespectful.

Yasuhiro Hagakure

♡ Funny magic man. Sexy voice.

✘ Please. Please Hiro use your brain just once. Why do we have to prove Kyoko isn’t a ghost?!

Toko Fukawa

♡ Character development in UDG and I love Genocider.

✘ Putting down herself and others constantly gets old in THH.

Aoi Asahina

♡ Love her voice actress and her personality

✘ We really just gonna get everyone killed in chapter 4 huh? Surely you know they don’t all deserve that.

Junko Enoshima

♡ A very memorable villain with great hair and design.

✘ I just can’t stand her. I hate her so much.

Mukuro Ikusaba

♡ Her mercenary background is super cool as a concept.

✘ Too bad it wasn’t explored nearly enough.

Hajime Hinata

♡ Seeing the protagonist be a little less naive, innocent and positive than Makoto was a refreshing change, although I loved Makoto. I liked Hajime’s cynicism and expressions that sometimes just screamed “this shit again, huh?”

✘ I enjoy the way Izuru looks but I hate him as a character. He is sexy to look at but Hajime is just a better character overall

Teruteru Hanamura

♡ His love for his family and mother especially is so cute and heart breaking if you know the full story.

✘ He needs to know when to dial it back and quit with the perversions. And no it’s not just how he looks, Miu needs to chill at times, too.

Twogami

♡ I feel like he genuinely cares about his friends, just hides it well

✘ His death felt like a cop out and poorly written. It just didn’t sit right with me. Also his design is disgusting to me, his outfit and such.

Mahiru Koizumi

♡ Loyal to her close friends.

✘ I just have no interest in her as a character and I find her boring.

Peko Pekoyama

♡ Loyalty. Loyalty is something I value very highly in every form of relationship. Peko is also very hot.

✘ Come on girl... I know how you were raised but you should’ve known Fuyuhiko didn’t think of you as just a tool and you two should’ve expressed your true feelings long ago. Like even in secret. How do you live like this? Also I feel like killing Mahiru could’ve been avoided with a calm talk.

Ibuki Mioda

♡ Cute design, positive vibes.

✘ Cringe sometimes in the way she talks.

Hiyoko Saionji

♡ Beautiful character design and some very good insults and snarky remarks at times.

✘ Just irredeemably mean and annoying. Even when you do her free time events she is just so annoying.

Mikan Tsumiki

♡ I like her design as well as her hair, expressions, sprites and clothing.

✘ I hate her. I just hate her whether she’s in her true psycho form or timid stuttering form. She’s just annoying in my opinion.

Nekomaru Nidai

♡ So supportive, can hold my drink at a party. Respects everyone and wants the best for them.

✘ Bro Mechamaru was a stupid plot point. I just couldn’t stand looking at him and couldn’t take it seriously. Still sad when he died though.

Chiaki Nanami

♡ From chapter 5 of sdr2 on she is impossible not to love if you didn’t already. Just the selflessness, the sadness of the reveal and execution, how she returns to help Hajime at the end???? I love her. I love her hair design, color palette, her personality, everything.

✘ I’m bitter and miserable about her being the only class member to actually die (the despair arc anime) also her falling asleep at random times is kind of odd and she doesn’t seem to be like that later on in the game??? Like it seemed like a cheap joke but not actually who she is? Hard for me to explain.

Gundham Tanaka

♡ King shit, couldn’t praise him enough. He’s sexy, loves animals, and is funny as hell sometimes. His voice actor is a saint and a cool dude and I named my guinea pigs after the Dark Devas (yes I know they are hamsters in the games.)

✘ Come on dude. I get that being from Hell and magic and having evil powers is your shtick, but we all know that you and Nekomaru sacrificed yourselves so the others wouldn’t starve. We know you care about your classmates. There comes a time when it’s time to let personas and facades fade and be true to your heart. I just feel like him denying he cared at the end hurt. We all know he cared. I didn’t like how he was haughty until the end. He deserved better. I love him.

Nagito Komaeda

♡ I love him so much. So cunning and intelligent, always a step ahead. And he’s big sexy.

✘ Him killing himself in chapter 5 hurt me so bad I was like in denial for days. Also hate how Bryce Papenbrook gives him a raspy stoner psycho voice in the game then a light airy higher-pitched voice in the despair arc anime. It just bothers me. I love his voice still but the inconsistency just hurts my OCD

Sonia Nevermind

♡ I love that she’s so interested in her passions and love her feelings for Gundham

✘ Her outfit and bow are atrocious. Also why didn’t she start liking and talking to Gundham sooner on? Their romance bloomed late and it would’ve made for a better chapter 4 ending if they were a bit closer.

Kazuichi Souda

♡ Cool design and outfit, love his voice (also voices Kaito in V3) and his backstory is relatable at times. He’s also very human in that he’s scared a lot of the time or insecure or blames others in panicked situations. It’s not always a good thing but it’s human and realistic.

✘ Gosh he can be so annoying. Sometimes flirting or whining too much is well... too much.

Akane Owari

♡ Strong-willed and definitely someone I would be friends with

✘ What the hell is her outfit? Gymnasts and athletes don’t wear that shit. Stop objectifying her when it doesn’t even make the product or plot better. Like there’s absolutely no point to making her dress that way. I was a gymnast for 15 years. Even those who do parkour (which Akane seems to do more often than actual gymnastics in the anime and game) don’t wear what she wears. Also she’s underrated.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu

♡ I love him. He’s the DR character I’m most like out of all the games and anime. Tenko is a close second. I think he’s adorable, love his character arc, development, redemption, and love his voice.

✘ In the anime/despair arc, Fuyuhiko is not done justice. He doesn’t get enough lines, has a different voice actor, just doesn’t give off the same vibes.

Izuru Kamakura

♡ Sexy man long hair good.

✘ Boring character. I wish he were just Hajime.

Kaede Akamatsu

♡ Loyalty and leadership are such attractive qualities in her. Also she faced her death with such class and dignity and I respect her because I could never.

✘ Some of the voice lines Erika does for her are just weird and cringe. Just random moans or grunts... I don’t know it’s like when Ann Takamaki from Persona 5 (also voiced by Erika) makes suggestive noises as well. Just grinds my gears. Also hate her outfit down to the hair pins.

Shuichi Saihara

♡ I love his nasally voice. I love his design and he’s so adorable. I love how emotional and compassionate he can be. He ties with Makoto for favorite protag of mine.

✘ That sprite where he sniffs his hand. And his ugly ass hat.

Rantarou Amami

♡ Sexy man, sexy voice, sexy piercings

✘ Ugly outfit, and wasted potential

Ryoma Hoshi

♡ I respect him and feel bad for his outlook on life and for how poorly he views himself. I love his little hat as well and he’s the first “different styled” character (Hifumi, Bandai, Teruteru) that I liked the design of.

✘ I hate when he says “got a long ways to go,” it’s overused and annoying, and wish he gave himself more credit. Also hate that when you first meet him he warns you that he’s killed people and is dangerous to be around. Come on buddy, you know you wouldn’t hurt your friends. Stop pushing them away.

Kirumi Tojo

♡ Competence, well rounded, skillful

✘ Boring as hell. I wouldn’t waste one free time event on her.

Angie Yonaga

♡ Dark skin, super cute, love her talent as an artist myself.

✘ Gives religious people a bad name and is super manipulative which I hate.

Tenko Chabashira

♡ I relate to her and feel bad when she’s misunderstood. She’s a good person deep down. Also love her sprites.

✘ There’s more cunning, funny and clever ways to write her digs at men.

Korekiyo Shunguuji

♡ I’m in love with this man. Long hair, voice, mystery, mask, intelligence, passion, talent.

✘ He definitely was a victim of abuse and a lot of people refuse to see that and just hate him. Team Danganronpa should’ve given him a redemption arc where he realized his sister abused him and changed.

Gonta Gokuhara

♡ I love his design except for his suit. Also he’s so cute and naive. I cried for his trail.

✘ No need talk like caveman. Better way to do this.

Kokichi Ouma

♡ Like Nagito, I value his intelligence and crazy cunning.

✘ Shouldn't have died. Also shouldn’t have manipulated Gonta. That was just cruel.

Miu Iruma

♡ She has her hilarious moments and her death surprised me and was sad.

✘ Sometimes she lacks basic empathy, i.e. calling Tenko “Tencrotch” when she just fucking died.

Maki Harukawa

♡ Amazing character development. Didn’t see her surviving until the end at the start. Also her love and passion for Kaito.

✘ “Do you wanna die?” gets old.

Kaito Momota

♡ Just the overall best bro you could ever have.

✘ Has some toxic masculinity issues and anger issues.

K1-B0

♡ Pretty much everything about him. His design, his attitude and personality, especially how amazing and cool he is chapter 5 onward, his execution made me so sad. He’s so innocent and funny without trying.

✘ When you do his free time events he’s very arrogant and just talks about himself a lot... it seems odd and not similar to the Kiibo we see throughout the game.

Himiko Yumeno

♡ Super cute design, love her voice and “Nyeh...” and her sprites. Her character development is great as well.

✘ Why did they take so long to make her important and likable?

Tsumugi Shirogane

♡ An excellent and well hidden reveal

✘ I hate her. So annoying, from the voice to the references and her personality.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

(Accidental 150 Follower Special) IOTA's Top 10 Worst Episodes of Miraculous Ladybug (Part 1)

If you saw one of my earlier posts, an anon asked what my favorite and least favorite episodes of Miraculous Ladybug were. So, I decided to make a little list explaining the best and worst this show has to offer.

A few quick ground rules here. I'm not going to list any episodes I had previously talked about in some of my other posts. This includes “Kung Food”, “Animaestro”, “Syren”, “Reflekdoll”, “Chameleon”, and most of the episodes relating to Chloe's “damnation arc” that Astruc planned since he first created the character (“Despair Bear”, “Queen Wasp”, “Malediktator” and “Battle of the Miraculous”). Also, I'm not counting the specials, mainly because aren't listed as episodes, and because I don't want to talk about them.

Other than that, anything goes, so let's get things started with the worst list.

These are the Top 10 Worst Episodes of Miraculous Ladybug (in my personal opinion because your opinion is also valid)

#10: Stormy Weather 2

“Stormy Weather” was the very first episode of the show, and it really made a good impression on new viewers. So naturally, when it was announced that Stormy Weather would return, fans were excited. Then when the episode aired, Hawkmoth gave her even more powers, including the power to create a volcano big enough to potentially knock the planet out of orbit when it erupts. So Ladybug and Cat Noir have no choice but to stop the villain once again.

What does this plot lead to?

Yep, this episode is nothing more than a clip show. I understand that clip shows and bottle episodes are a necessary evil, but why would you set up something this awesome with a fan-favorite Akuma like Stormy Weather, and then not even bother to show it?

This episode is yet another attempt at showing that the show totally has character development. The whole reason Aurore is Akumatized into Stormy Weather again is because Chloe says that people can't change because Astruc (who was one of the four people writing this episode) is determined to make you hate this teenage girl more than the main villain of the show.

So of course, everyone spends most of the episode talking about how much they've changed, which is represented through clips of past episodes that do a horrible job at actually conveying any development.

According to Marinette, Adrien has “become a friend she can talk to about anything, except when it comes to her feelings for him”. Ah yes, you can tell they're friends by the fact that they barely hang out together, much less share a conversation because the writers are going to drag out the whole “Marinette stammering in front of Adrien” until they get tired of it. So basically, never.

All Alya and Nino talk about is how Ladybug helped them become a couple, and become superheroes, even though neither of those are actually related to character development. Though that is a fitting metaphor for the way both of their personalities have basically devolved to “the couple”.

Chloe talks about how nicer she's gotten, while footage of her doing awful things is played. I wonder who wrote that part in...

Even Ladybug and Cat Noir talk about how much they've grown and how stronger they've gotten, as opposed to focusing on STOPPING ANOTHER ICE AGE FROM HAPPENING. How can Hawkmoth even think this will get him the Miraculous? Yeah, sure I guess he can get them from the frozen corpses of our heroes, but what then? He still doomed humanity, and I don't think he can reverse the damage like Ladybug.

Towards the end, the clip show becomes slightly interesting, as Adrien mentions an unsigned card he got for Valentine's Day in “Dark Cupid”, and how similar the handwriting looks to Marinette's.

Does this lead to Adrien figuring out Marinette has feelings for him? Is the sky bright red? Both of these questions have the same answer.

Yeah, out of nowhere, Adrien just mentions Luka, who wasn't mentioned at all in this episode, and immediately thinks Marinette is in love with him. And that's how the episode ends.

I put this at the bottom of the list because I don't think it's completely fair to judge clip shows, but even some clip shows at least try to put in some effort and justify the clips, like what The Legend of Korra and some seasons of Power Rangers did. And the fact that the whole point of the episode is a poor excuse to claim that there's character development in the show only makes it even more infuriating.

Oh my God, this is only Number 10...

#9: Oblivio

While I already talked about “Cat Blanc”, this episode shares a similar theme as that episode: Giving viewers what they've wanted for three seasons, Marinette and Adrien finally learning each other's identity and starting a romantic relationship... only for the reset button to be once again slammed, making the entire episode pointless.

The only difference is that unlike in “Cat Blanc”, where there was an actual love confession that made sense, here, Marinette and Adrien find out the other's identity when they get their memories wiped by the Akuma of the week, Oblivio.

From then on, it's just fanservice. Instead of actually developing the relationship between Marinette and Adrien, the writers just decide to cram an entire episode worth of Adrienette content into a single episode just to tide fans over. Marinette and Adrien seriously fall in love despite only knowing each other for like, an hour at most. And the fact that the writers undo all the romantic progress of the episode makes it come across as pointless.

But the ending is what really cements this episode's spot on the list. As soon as Oblivio is defeated, Alya takes a picture of Ladybug and Cat Noir kissing without their consent and then rubs it in Ladybug's face.

Even though Ladybug doesn't know the circumstances (she has no memory of the events of the episode), this was still an invasion of her privacy, and she looks horrified by the picture that Alya is obviously going to post on her blog.

And of course, Cat Noir is more than happy to see it, ignoring how Ladybug feels and claims that they'd make a great couple. Because everyone knows good couples are formed by someone gaslighting the other into going out with them.

But wait, it gets better! In the next scene, we learn that Alya and Nino were akumatized into Oblivio... because they were caught in an embarrassing situation by their peers.

Alya: Remember when we visited Montparnasse Tower? Well, we went and hid to play Super Penguino, but Ms. Bustier caught us, and...

Nino: And you guys made fun of us for playing that game, saying it wasn't our age and all.

Alya: We were totally embarrassed at getting caught.

This was my thought process when I first heard Alya and Nino's explanation.

How can Alya claim to take a compromising picture of Ladybug, ignore how she feels, and not realize the similarity from when she and Nino were akumatized? This is what completely killed Alya for me in canon. This was the point where I couldn't care less if Marinette was friends with her or not. Sure, there are still fanfics, but those actually portray her with some kind of conscious. So to summarize, Fanon Alya is awesome, but I hope Canon Alya's 4G plan runs out.

This episode is just forgettable, but the ending made things worse. Apart from, I guess the action scenes and some funny jokes, this episode has no redeeming qualities. Like, literally the best thing to come from this episode was @miraculouscontent​‘s LadyBugOut AU, as it actually addressed the hypocrisy of Alya's character, among other problematic aspects of the show.

#8: Oni-Chan

Just a heads up, most of the episodes on this list are from Season 3. Just want to give you an idea of what to expect.

This episode is about Lila tricking Adrien into helping with her homework, when she is only doing it to get closer to Adrien. Marinette tries to spy on the two and stop Lila from hurting Adrien... even though she knows Adrien is aware that Lila is a liar, and is visibly uncomfortable around her.

And because the episode spends so much time on Marinette following Adrien and Lila, the buildup to Kagami getting akumatized is incredibly rushed. Seriously, she gets a single line of dialogue before she gets akumatized, and the motive is ridiculous too. Lila sends a picture of her forcing a kiss on Adrien, and Kagami immediately bursts into tears at the sight of it.

But wait, it gets better! When Kagami is akumatized into Oni-Chan (the writers know that's a term used for males in Japan, right?), she turns into a psycho hellbent on killing Lila because “Adrien doesn't deserve her”. Most of her dialogue is her saying how much she loves Adrien, making her come across as, for lack of a better word, a yandere.

This episode just destroys Kagami's character, making her as unlikable as Katie Killjoy in the process. If it wasn't for “Ikari Gozen” actually treating her like a human being (obviously Astruc's planned character development from the beginning), I'd completely hate her.

It also shows how much of an evil genius Lila is, as she has the brilliant idea to convince Oni-Chan to kill the only person capable of saving her from the Akuma's wrath. And this somehow gives Hawkmoth the idea to forge an alliance with Lila. It's also another reason why I believe in Darwinism.

This episode is low on the list because it does have a few redeeming qualities, like Lila facing consequences for lying, however brief they may be, and it has a great character moment with Adrien realizing on his own how terrible Lila really is, a far cry from what he was like in “Chameleon”.

Other than that, it's pretty bad, and still deserves a spot on this list.

#7: Antibug

HA! I said MOST of the episodes involving Chloe's “Damnation Arc” wouldn't be on this list, but not ALL OF THEM, so this one counts! Take that, convoluted rules I made up for some reason!

What was I talking about again? Oh right, “Antibug”. Oh crap, “Antibug”...

This is one of of several episodes in Miraculous Ladybug that really should have been a two-parter. It tries to be daring and includes two Akumas in one episode, but both of them are poorly executed.

An invisibly entity starts harassing Chloe, so Ladybug and Cat Noir start an investigation. It turns out to be Chloe's lackey Sabrina, who was akumatized after a falling out between the two. Well, I say “falling out” lightly, because what actually happened was that Chloe and Sabrina were cosplaying as Ladybug and Cat Noir, Chloe pretended to be the real deal while crashing an interview with Jagged Stone before Sabrina accidentally blew her cover, causing Chloe to be humiliated on TV and end her “friendship” with Sabrina.

Ladybug learns this from Chloe's butler, while Chloe never mentions the incident. So when Ladybug and Cat Noir engage the Akuma, Ladybug ignores Chloe's advice on where the corrupted object, naturally not trusting her judgment. And this is portrayed as a bad thing.

This episode is the start of a long-running trend in Miraculous Ladybug: Marinette needing to learn a lesson, while Adrien/Cat Noir is the one to help teach that lesson.

Chloe did nothing to help, only made things worse, and lied about why Sabrina got akumatized. It's kind of obvious why Ladybug wouldn't trust her word. The whole point of The Boy Who Cried Wolf wasn't to trust the liar after all.

But if that was all the episode did, it wouldn't be on the list, because now, the narrative wants to make the audience feel bad for Chloe before she gets akumatized into Antibug... who is just a lazy palette swap because new character models are expensive.

This part of the episode isn't nearly as bad as the first half, but like “Oni-Chan”, Chloe's akumatization is incredibly rushed, and we don't really get a chance to sympathize with her before she goes full Antibug.

Even Antibug herself isn't that interesting of a villain. The whole idea of an evil doppelganger is that they're a perfect match for the hero, but we only see Ladybug and Antibug fight for a few seconds, while Cat Noir does most of the fighting with her while Marinette's Kwami recharges. I like that Ladybug and Cat Noir show their teamwork to defeat Antibug, but I feel it would have been more interesting to see Ladybug and Antibug duke it out before Cat Noir helps turn the tide.

Again, this episode really needed to be a two-parter to better expand on the story presented here, because it had a really interesting premise. I'd personally read the version of “Antibug” in @justanotherpersonsuniverse​‘s “The Adventures of Panthera Noire” (an AU fanfic where shy girl Juleka gets the Cat Miraculous instead of Adrien). Not only does it have two separate chapters for Vanisher and Antibug, it also does a good job of setting Chloe on an actual redemption arc, unlike Astruc's “damnation arc”.

#6: The Puppeteer 2

As much as I've ragged on Adrien/Cat Noir in some of my other posts (and will continue to do so in this list), that doesn't mean I think Marinette has problems too, and this episode is a prime example.

Marinette and Adrien go to a wax statue museum with their friends (and Manon), but because of a poor choice of words by Nino, Adrien thinks that Marinette hates him. So he does something that everyone loves, practical jokes.

Adrien seriously thinks that pranking Marinette will improve her opinion of him. Even the prank is ridiculous, pretending to be a wax statue to make her laugh. And it leads to... Oh God... This is easily the contender for one of the worst moments in the entire show. Marinette goes up to the statue and... gets close to it. Yes, we, the audience know that this isn't a statue, but putting that aside, just look at what Marinette does to the “statue” (AUTHOR’S NOTE: I made a gif from the episode, but it wouldn’t go through, so I recommend you check out the episode and watch the statue scene for yourself if you don’t value your sanity). Even Adrien, as dense as he can be, is a little unsettled by what Marinette does.

If the scene was about Marinette talking about her feelings for Adrien, I'd be more lenient on it, but this? This is just uncomfortable to watch.

Even the dialogue makes Marinette sound incredibly creepy.

Marinette: Wow... it looks so... real. The wax is nearly as hot as skin. It even smells exactly like him...! Oh, beautiful statue of Adrien, your wax is so soft! Your yak hair is silky. Your eyes are so green. Oh, shall I be a statue, too! Everything would be so much easier. Why haven't we been molded together in the plaster of destiny? Marble to marble, wax lips against wax lips, entwined for eternity...

I think Gilbert Gottfried said it best.

This scene alone put this episode on the list, and the Akuma doesn't make it better. I really liked “The Puppeteer”, and I thought her ability to control past Akuma victims was incredibly fun to watch. And when she returns to take control of the wax statues of past Akumas they... don't use their powers (with the exception), and serve as cannon fodder for Ladybug and Cat Noir to plow through, making the return of the villain very underwhelming.

Even the end where Adrien tells Marinette that he is in love with someone and only sees her as a friend. This should devastate Marinette, but in the next scene, thanks to some fortune cookie nonsense from Tikki, she's still unsure about her relationship with Adrien, and that's how the episode ends. Seriously. Because just need to keep the status quo consistent, right? It's not like Marinette doubting her crush on Adrien and worrying that she's just wasted her time would have been interesting to see, right? Play that happy ending theme already!

Of all the episodes on this list, this is the one I was dreading talking about the most because of some of the moments here. And yet, there are still episodes that are worse than this one...

Here’s Part 2

[warrioreowynofrohan]

This is similar to one of my previous posts, but it has some new elements so I’m copying it over. This is the second of my posts on the core themes of each book in The Stormlight Archive. The first, on Rhythm of War, is here.

This post contains Rhythm of War spoilers.

Stormlight Archive Themes - Redemption in Oathbringer

If I pretend I didn’t do those things, it means I can’t have grown to become someone else. It cannot be a journey if it doesn’t have a beginning.

Redemption is a theme running through the entirety of the Stormlight Archive, but it is strongest and most central in Oathbringer- not only in Dalinar’s character arc but also in Szeth’s, in the start of Venli’s redemption arc, and - in a negative manner - in the arcs of Moash and Amaram. Oathbringer also, to my mind, encapsulates the philosophy of the entire series regarding redemption in one scene of striking symbolism.

The idea of redemption is Oathbringer is often paired, in analyses, with that of accepting responsibility for your actions - indeed, I almost titled this essay “redemption and responsibility.” And that is absolutely a necessary element that distinguishes the successful redemption arcs from the failed ones. But in thinking about it I realized that I had things in the wrong order - for both Dalinar and Venli, mercy is is what enables them to take responsibility, not the result of them doing so. They are both able to grapple with their actions and take responsibility for them, and this is what enables their redemption arcs, but in both cases it is a consequence of them already having been shown grace before they exhibited any change in behaviour.

When Dalinar visits the Nightwatcher, he has been a brutal conqueror for 23 years and then a drunk for the last five and a half. His sole redeeming characteristic is that he knows in his soul what he needs and it isn’t power or strength or to return to the man he was before Evi’s death, or the ability to blame someone else for his deed. He knows he’s guilty, and he begs for forgiveness. And what Cultivation gives him is not precisely that, but the chance to become someone better. It is crucial to remember that, while he forgets his actions and forgets Evi, that is not what asked for; his goal was not to be free of the knowledge of what he did, but the chance for it not to be the end of his story; the chance to be something other than the monster he knew he was.

When he rejects Odium’s offer to take his pain, on the battlefield outside Thaylen City, it is without any expectation of forgiveness or of freedom from his crushing guilt. Evi’s forgiveness is not something he has remotely earned or deserved, by that action or any of his actions; it is pure grace. When we talk about redemption arcs, “deserving” has nothing to do with it. Dalinar didn’t remotely deserve his. He knows this, and it’s why he’s ready to hold out the possibility of redemption to Amaram and, in ROW, to Taravangian - because if Dalinar can be redeemed, then the door is not closed to anyone. The difference is not in worthiness of redemption, but willingness to accept it.

And this is also seen in the beginning of Venli’s redemption arc. Timbre finds her and stays with her long before she’s demonstrated any positive qualities that would subgest fitness for being a Radiant. In the context of ROW, knowing that Eshonai bonded Timbre just before her death, I believe it’s because Eshonai asked her spren to look out for her sister. As with Cultivation’s gift to Dalinar, it is Venli’s bond with Timbre that enables her to become a better person, to make herself accountable to her people for her actions, to begin taking personal risks to do what is right.

Something similar is also present in Elhokar’s arc. Kaladin saves him before he’s done anything substantive to change, when Elhokar has only shown the first beginnings of recognition that he is not the person or the king that he should be or wants to be. He is capable of the change he exhibits in Oathbringer, the genuine humility and desire to serve his people, because Kaladin’s rescue gave him the chance to become that person. It’s not truly a failed or prevented redemption arc. He died, but he died trying to be better, and that matters.

The difference with Amaram, that prevents his redemption arc, isn’t that he’s uniquely evil. (Dalinar has also killed his own men, in battle-lust rather than in cold blood.) What prevents it is the rejection of the truth he knows in his soul: that he has done something horrifically evil, that he is in the wrong.

“No, he’ll never forgive me.”

“The bridgeman?”

“Not him.” Amaram tapped his chest. “Him.”

Amaram’s rationalizations during his fight with Kaladin are the consequence of him refusing the knowledge of who he is, or trying to escape from it. Ironically, Amaram previously put up quite a good pretence of willingness to accept responsibility for his own actions - he told Dalinar that after the war was over he’d be willing to stand trial for what he did to Kaladin and his men. I believe he meant it - but what he wanted, like Taravangian, was to be seen as, or see himself as, some kind of martyr, sacrificing his morality for the greater good. Which is a very different thing from the recognition that you’re wrong.

Moash’s arc is also one away from accepting responsibility - in his first chapter in Oathbringer, he feels terribly guilty for betraying Kaladin and recognizes thst he was wrong, and then he moves further and further away from this in every subsequent chapter, until Odium’s whispered lies - What happened at the Shattered Plains wasn’t my fault. I was pushed into it. I can’t be blamed. - begin to take hold. When he gives up his pain to Odium, he remains driven by the desperate need to hide from his guilt, and his campaign in ROW to drive Kaladin to suicide is driven in large part by the need to prove to himself that giving up hus pain was the only possible decision by driving Kaladin to make the same one. As long as Kaladin lives, he is proof of an alternative path. (Yes, a twisted death wish that regards this as mercy is also part of it.)

Moash, like Amaram, and Dalinar, and Venli, does receive an offer of redemption undeserved, not in Oathbringer but in the first part of ROW, in Renarin’s vision of him as someone who protects rather than destroys. He responds with terror - it can’t be possible, it needs to not be possible, because if another course is possible then his actions are not inevitable and he is responsible for them. (I know this vision has been compared to part of the magic system the Mistborn books, but to me it’s far more intuitive for it to be the Surge of Illumination, which we’ve already seen used by Shallan in a similar way in her drawings of Bluth, Gaz, and Elhokar, among others.) He spends the rest of the book trying desperately, and unsuccessfully, to extinguish that possibility.

And finally we have Szeth’s redemption arc. Szeth has never been in doubt that he is morally responsible for his actions, even when he did not concieve of himself as having a choice about them. I see his arc in the prior books as something much more nuanced than “just following orders” - that’s an excuse used by people who want to get out of making hard decisions, who prefer comfort and complacency. Szeth very much did not want to be in his position as assassin - he loathed it, and himself, and was willing to do anything within his power to avoid it; after killing Gavilar, he actively seeks out a life in obscurity as menial slave, concealing his abilities as far as he can, because that means he won’t be used to kill. It’s a life Kaladin spent years trying to escape from, and it’s Szeth’s idea of a best-case scenario. Szeth is in the position of desperately wanting choice, but conceiving of it as a privilege that he no longer possesses. I thimk this is connected to the meaning of Truthless - the underlying concept/rationale for the oathstone seems to be that literally anyone - any random person in the world - is capable of malimg better choices than you, so they, and not you, get to decide what you should do with your life. It’s near the end of his arc in Oathbringer - But it had always been nothing more than a rock - that he at last recognizes that he did have a choice about his actions.

Szeth, in his arc in Oathbringer, is very much motivated by the desire to do what is right and make right decisions, thpugh he is very out of practice at making any decisions at all. In the first test of the Skybreakers, he perceives that there’s something more important going pn that just chasing after wretched criminals, and that the warden’s immiseration of them is the worst crime of all. But it’s the second Skybreaker training session, with the practice fight using the balls of coloured dye, that gives us what I think is the heart of the theme of redemption both in Oathbringer and in the Stormlight Archive as a whole.

The contest feels a little out of place and low-drama - the recruits’ first test is killing criminals, and their second one is a game? But I believe it is absolutely crucial via the metaphor it communicates. Szeth starts out diing very well in the game - no one has hit him yet - and is actually enjoying himself for the first time in many, many years. And then he thinks this: He could not be happy. He was only a tool of retribution. Not redemption, for he dared not believe in such. If he was to be forced to keep living, it should not be a live that anyone should ever envy.

Other characters either accept both responsibility and redemption, or reject both. Szeth accepts responsibility, accepts guilt, tries to do right, even without the belief that redemption is possible.

And immediately after thinking that, he gets hit with the dye for the first time. He was doing well in the game when he was enjoying himself; now, when he rejects the possibility of redemption, he stops doing so well, and ultimately loses. Almost as if the universe were trying to tell him something.

And then, when he is bombarded with dye, runs out of Stormlight, and falls into the Purelake at the end of the exercise, he realizes something. It’s not actually about how many stains you have. He washes them off in the Purelake. And he wins the game.

To me, especially knowing Brandon’s religious background (and being a Christian myself), this is extraordinarily powerful symbolism of baptism, of the washing away of sin and entry into new life. It is stating the theme of redemption for the whole series. How many stains you have, what you’ve done in the past, doesn’t matter for redemption; what matters is whether you’re willing to accept redemption, accept the mercy that is offered, choose to be a new person. There is no such thing as being beyond redemption. The heroes of the story are not some perfect ideal, not the ones who manage to pick up very few stains. They are the ones who are willing to recognize that they have them and to wash them off; to recognize the wrong they have done and to change.

[thatdarnblogagain]

Mortal Kombat Battle of the Realms - An Honest and Unbiased Review

(By the Elder gods! Another bad movie!?!?)

I love Mortal Kombat. Let me say that again. I love Mortal Kombat. If there is one fighting game franchise I have grown up on and devoured its lore, it is Mortal Kombat. I owned several of the games, read the comics and the first live action movie is easily one of my guilty pleasure movies. The 2021 live action disappointed me but I had faith in the animated version. I had watched Scorpions revenge which while taking liberties with the source material was still enjoyable.

So I snuggled into my chair and got ready for the newest offering of Battle for the realms and let me tell you...I felt myself die a little on the inside. The movie is terrible. Not “Oh it’s bad but has some redeeming qualities” or “It’s so bad it is good.”. It is just bad. Let me explain!

The Characters:

(Hey at least the characters look...okay.)

Don’t get attached, because not only do some characters die, which is expected but some of them just get so little screen time you wonder why they were there. Jade and Kung Lao are two of my favorite characters and both are footnotes in the story of this film. Liu Kang is way better in this and gets his ‘Chosen One’ moment. Literally. Other characters get less importance than they did in the first animated film while Scorpion gets a whole subplot to himself that somehow ties into the rest of stories. No one besides Liu Kang and Shao Khan stood out. Oh and the Grand Master is in this. And he sucks. Wasted a ton of the cast for...

The Fights:

(Why yes, this movie was like a kick in the groin.)

Well tell me now, do you like fights that last 20 seconds or less? Then you will love 90% of this film’s fights. Do you like power scaling meaning nothing and characters getting so utterly annihilated that you wonder if the animators were taking some rage out on them while creating the scenes? This is the film for you. I have no problem with fights going quickly or being one sided to show strength but this film has quick fights for the majority of it, except for the ones that are one sided affairs and the loser gets the most brutal of fatalities. It is almost like...

The Story:

Story? A hodge podge of terrible decisions! Move on.

The...okay, we will discuss the story:

(Is it too late to be in a good movie?)

The story is a combination of several plot lines that would have served better as their own stand alone films. Sub Zero’s revenge plot, the tournament plot and the Shinnok’s amulet plot all could have made great films but they were instead crammed into one story and did not work. This however seemed out of the hands of the animators who seemed to have been told this would have been the final film possibly. The decisions of characters such as Raiden and Shinnok are so hilarious that I almost checked to see if this was a comedy. This results in a terrible pacing for the film and overall the story is all over the place.

The Bottom Line:

(Fatality...to this movie franchise.)

This film is by far the worst thing I watched all year, aside from Wonder Woman 1984 but with this I was far more disappointed because while Wonder Woman may get a chance for a third crack at the big screen this may be the last of the animated movies in this style.

PROS:

.Yes pro players exist for this game and I can never hope to beat them in a game.

CONS:

.Sporadic tone

.Fights are way too fast.

.Characters are dumb or get little to no screen time.

[moiloru]

About the so-called "Third-Case Syndrome"

I've been in the Ace Attorney fandom for a few years now, and there is a story I've heard more times than I can count: the story of the "Third-Case Syndrome." After joining the Danganronpa fandom, I realized - not without surprise - that a similar "Third-Chapter Syndrome" had admittedly cursed the series. However, I do believe that, in both cases, it would be wise to exert caution: things are never as simple as they seem. Now, even if this seems evident to me, I'll say it just to be sure: this is only my opinion. You might disagree, but please do not be toxic about it.

Before we proceed, I'd also like to warn you all: spoilers ahead for the entire Danganronpa and Ace Attorney series (even the Investigations and DGS games). Now, let's begin.

Ace Attorney:

AA1 - Turnabout Samurai:

To start off, we have 1-3. I agree with most of the fandom that it is slightly too long and the investigation segments drag out. Going from Studio One to Studio Two, to the Detention Center, etc. is quickly boring. However, its cast is solid (especially Powers and Oldbag), Dee Vasquez's motive (self-defense) is original, the Steel Samurai's theme slaps, and Edgeworth gets the first bit of his character development! I believe it outweights the negative aspects of the case and make it enjoyable. I believe it is far better than 1-1 and 1-2 (with its obvious twists and rushed ending), although it doesn't compare with 1-4 and 1-5, of course. But it's definitely not the case that people point the finger out when arguing about the "curse."

JfA - Turnabout Big Top:

I'll definitely be playing Devil's advocate on that one, but I like 2-3. Of course, the whole "love triangle" thing was shit, but the rest of the case was fine! Regina sucks, that I can agree with, but Moe was funny (in my opinion), Max got some quality character development in the end, Ben & Trilo were a nice duo, and Acro... Acro is one of the best culprits in the series, hands down. His theme is amazing and he is one of the most tragic characters in the series. Knowing that he unknowingly killed the person who had helped him is just sad, and his motive for trying to kill Regina, while not excusable, is understable. Losing the two people he was closest to, and him explaining that he couldn't "up and leave" (literally, too) before Bat had woken up was just sad. Also, while 2-3 isn't amazing like 2-4 (my favorite case) is, it's miles ahead of 2-1 (which objectively sucks) and 2-2 (which lasts for hours with an annoying and predictable culprit). Besides, the plot twist at the end with Edgeworth appearing sets the tone for the upcoming final case. In my opinion, Turnabout Big Top gets some undeserved hate.

T&T - Recipe for Turnabout:

3-3 is really good, no questions asked. The mere fact that it's better than 3-2 (predictable culprit, forgettable victim...) is obvious to me. But it also features the return of Maggey, and the first (and only) appearance of amazingly comical characters like Furio Tigre and Victor Kudo (who both have amazing theme songs). The victim might be a little forgettable, but he at least gets some development, unlike Bullard in The Stolen Turnabout. Of course, Tigre is obvious as the killer, but he's meant to be this way, and the way you corner him is amazing. The reveal that Godot can't see red on white matters in 3-5, and the case is hilarious. Special mention of Viola Cadaverini, who's underrated by the fandom, in my opinion. 3-3 is probably the strongest third case in the Trilogy, and it is definitely not the worst case in T&T.

AJ - Turnabout Serenade:

Okay, this case sucks. I dislike it very much and I can't find anything that would redeem it. The victim is boring, Daryan is obvious, Valant isn't good enough, the mini-game is tedious, and the "Phoenix saves the day" thing is repetitive. However, 4-3's biggest flaw is the defendant, Machi Tobaye. Lamiroir is an enjoyable character, and the plot twist surrounding her eyesight isn't bad, but it doesn't make Machi good enough not to ruin the case. This case is the weak point of a great game, but fortunately, 4-4 more than makes up for it.

DD - Turnabout Academy:

Dual Destinies is my least favorite game in the main series, but it has some solid cases, 5-3 being one of them. The trio of Juniper, Robin, and Hugh is amazing (even if the twist around Robin was pretty obvious), the WAA trio works very well, and we even get a chance to see Klavier again (his objection clip sucks, though)! It is definitely a strong case, even if Means was a bit obvious, and while it doesn't hold up to the great ending of DD, I do believe that 5-3 is better than 5-1, 5-2, and maybe even 5-4.

SoJ - The Rite of Turnabout:

Maya's comeback makes this case good, albeit not great. It is better than 6-1 for sure (drags on too much for a tutorial case) and probably 6-4 and 6-6, but it pales compared to 6-2 and 6-5, of course. Nayhuta is the weak point of 6-3, but everything else about this case is pretty good! The "new" Maya is a right balance of her former self with some more maturity, Datz is funny, Beh'leeb Inmee was a really emotional character, and while I don't like Tahrust too much, the plot twist around his death was pretty cool. Also, this case also makes it clear why Phoenix did what he did in 6-5 when Inga blackmailed him: he can't lose Maya. It could have been better, but this case is solid, and definitely not part of a "curse" of any kind.

AAI - The Kidnapped Turnabout:

Unfortunately, AAI kinda sucks. The first three cases aren't that good, and while I1-3 is probably better than I1-1, I'll admit it's terrible. It's long, the Amanos sucks, Lauren Paups isn't that great, and if it wasn't for Kay, the case would probably be the worst in the series.

AAI2 - The Inherited Turnabout:

Is there anything bad to say about I2-3? I mean, you play as Gregory freaking Edgeworth, so what more do you want? Ah, yes, it also has DL-6 development, the exceptional Katherine Hall and Jeffrey Masters, plot twists, flashbacks done right (!), and while the villain isn't great, he is satisfying to catch, and he matters in I2-5. Honestly, this case would probably be enough to prove my whole argument.

DGS1 - The Adventure of the Runaway Room:

After a somewhat disappointing second case (in my opinion), DGS1-3 is really good! Megundal (I'll use the names from the fan translation, since I'm used to them and like them better) is quite the interesting character, and the Engarde-like plot twist surrounding him is amazing. His death in the final cutscene is also good and ties in nicely with the final case. Ryunosuke's first trial in England gives him cool development, and damn it, Barok van Zieks! His legslam, glass throw, and objection clip suffice to make him an amazing character, and there's more to him that just that. This case is better than DGS1-2, DGS1-1, and maybe even DGS1-4 if you don't consider its link to DGS2.

DGS2 - The Return of the Great Departed Soul:

While not as good as the two following cases in my opinion, this case is definitely above-average. Gina's comeback is just great, and her new mentor-protégé relationship with Gregson is nothing short of wholesome. Enoch Drebbler is one of the best culprits in the duology, and Courtney Sithe's character is very good, too. She gives a confident vibe that really serves the case. Benjamin Dobinbough (because his canon English name is one I refuse to acknowledge) is a great clueless defendant, and his relationship to Barok is quite nice! It definitely makes the case trickier! Rozaic has a really mysterious and enjoyable atmosphere surrounding her, and finding Herlock standing like statue at the wax museum was amusing. Of course, the best thing about this case is Asogi's return. It is handled well by the game that doesn't try to cover the obvious plot twist.. The final cutscene is just *smooch*. I also can't forget the Joint Reasoning with Herlock when looking for Enoch. Again, this case is definitely not part of a "curse" of any kind.

Overall thoughts:

I don't think the Third-Case Syndrome holds for Ace Attorney. Some third cases weren't good (4-3 and I1-3) but most are either good (1-3, 3-3, 5-3, DGS1-3) or excellent (I2-3 and DGS2-3). I know Turnabout Big Top traumatized most of the fandom, but I don't think it's that bad, and definitely not bad enough to start a curse revolving around third cases.

Danganronpa:

Trigger Happy Havoc:

Chapter Three of THH is... good enough. The pointless argument between Taka and Hifumi is annoying, to be sure, and Celeste did us a favor by getting rid of them. And her plan wasn't bad, either! It could have worked if Makoto and Kyoko had not been there. However, I do believe that this chapter is too boring before the first murder. The motive is also... meh. The plot twist oh Hifumi waking up and remembering Celeste's true name was enjoyable, though. 1-3 isn't amazing by any means, but I think it's better than 1-5 and 1-6, but it stands no chance against 1-2 and 1-4.

Goodbye Despair:

Well, this one sucks. I think it's the only DR chapter that literally has a plot hole. The "Despair Syndrome" motive is probably the worse in the series and this case pretty much ruined Mikan's character. Her execution is lame, Ibuki shouldn't have been a victim (seriously, why?), the culprit is obvious, and the timeframe to execute her plot doesn't work if you aren't Sonic the Hedgehog. Also... that attempt at fanservice was cringe, and it almost killed Hajime. The only thing that redeems this chapter a bit is the name "Titty Typhoon" but that's it. This one definitely alimented the "curse," and rightfully so. In-between two great cases, 2-3 doesn't make a good impression.

Killing Harmony:

3-3 is a chapter I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, the atmosphere was excellent and fitting of the killer, and Kokichi's prank had us all freak out at first. I don't like neither Angie nor Kiyo (sorry, Kiyo fans), but somehow, it didn't make the chapter worse for me. On the other hand, the Necronomicon motive sucks almost as much as the motive in 2-3. It could have worked in DR2 considering the Killing Game happened virtually, but in V3, the motive was just an outright lie from Monokuma, so it doesn't work. Also, Kiyo was a bit too obvious: the music, the theme, his sudden importance in the plot, the séance... it was just a bit too much not to make him suspicious. Finally, this chapter's major flaw, which I can sum up in one word: sister. That, was traumatizing. Without even going in details, everything that happened after Kiyo's "sister" appeared during the Class Trial ruined it. I'm also curious to know if the writers at Spike Chunsoft are mentally stable, considering Kiyo's relationship with his sister and the fact that they ship Monotaro and his sister Monophanie in the next case. It's not a bad chapter at all, but it has its flaws, unfortunately.

Overall thoughts:

While I wouldn't call it a "curse," it's true that third cases in Danganronpa aren't amazing, especially in DR2. You'll also notice that I didn't mention UDG simply because it's too different a game to be compared to THH, DR2, and V3. If we ever get another Killing Game, I hope that the third chapter will be better, because we've yet to have an awesome Chapter Three so far.

Final thoughts:

I don't believe there are curses revolving around third cases/chapters, neither in Ace Attorney, nor in Danganronpa. However, it's true that in the case of Danganronpa, on average, third cases are the weakest, while Chapters Four and Five are almost always great. Third cases in Ace Attorney definitely get an unfair treatement, though.

Thanks for reading, and I'm open to discussing all of this if you disagree!

[jheyjette]

Hoo boy, finally finished week 3. Here are my thoughts:

- RIP Kanon, I was hoping at least one team would survive, but nope. She’s gone. And she deserved better.

- Why was Ayano’s boss battle like that? I had to lower the difficulty because her stupid last move kept one-shotting my team.

- Beat’s reaction to seeing Pi-Face again was as hilarious as I expected it to be. Also, I can’t believe I had to fight his tabooty butt again. 

- Neku’s return was as triumphant as I expected it to be! I literally started clutching my heart at some point. After three years both in-game and in-universe, it was great seeing him again! Also, also! He’s wearing Shiki’s brand! My heart.

Me: So they played Calling during Beat’s reveal, are they gonna play Twister for Neku?

*Twister starts playing*

Me: Noice

- Neku’s voice...got deep.

- He’s so small compared to Beat lol.

- He’s so calm and chill now, the complete opposite of how he acted in the first game. I also really love the way the narrative treats him. I’ve seen a good deal of sequels/spin-offs that don’t do the returning protagonist justice, so I’m glad Neku’s character was treated with the respect he deserves here.

- I’m honestly still really miffed that Neku had to miss out on three years of his life because of plot. Like, this poor kid fought so hard for his happy ending, only to have it stripped away from him mere months after! I really wish the writers could have found a way to integrate Neku into the story without robbing him of his happy ending like that. Just...let the poor boy rest.

- Neku/Coco friendship is something I never knew I needed. I honestly wouldn’t mind getting a spin-off game about their adventures in Shinjuku.

- Love how most of the tracks that are playing when Neku returns are remixes of songs from the first game.

- Me fighting Shiba: he isn’t the final boss, is he?

Kubo: Hey

Me: Ah

- Absolutely loved how Kubo had zero redeeming qualities and got the death that he deserved. Just, everything about him was slimeball personafied from his voice to his design.

- Shoka was Swallow my predictions were so off. But also, that’s so cute??? I’m definitely on board the Shoka/Rindo ship now. I also just realized that Swallow’s texts stopped coming in after Shoka officially joining the Wicked Twisters, I should have known better!

- How many final days are there???

- Hazuki really just came and went huh. I can’t tell if he’d get along with Joshua, or if they’d be constantly at each other’s throats because of how similar they seem to be.

- Rhyme’s new outfit is so cute! And she found a new dream, good for her!

- Shiki has a face!!! After 14 years, Shiki finally has a face! I literally squealed the moment I heard her voice!

- Of course Joshoua just shows up out of nowhere. Some things never change, huh.

- I really wish Kaie got more voiced lines, he has such a soothing voice. I’m glad that he at least didn’t get erased like most of the other reapers. Same for Tsugumi. I really wish she got to do more, especially with how hyped up she was from as far back as solo remix’s secret ending

-  This isn’t the boss’ final form. There’s are part 2, isn’t there? And, yep. There it is.

- The way that Joshua introduced himself to Rindo, made Shoka go poof, and then peaced out was very...Joshua of him. But like, where were Neku and the others when this was happening? Did they suddenly move to a different spot?

- So Joshua sent Neku to Shinjuku to protect him, he does care! Aw.

- Shiki’s reunion with Neku! Bruh, I wanted to cry along with her! Finally!!!

- Rindo and Shoka’s reunion was also very cute, but like??? Where has Shoka been living? It’s been a month, girl, where have you been staying???

- I really loved how the credits look! 

Overall: I loved this game! I had a hard time putting it down, and I ultimately feel like it was the perfect follow-up to the first game! It’s been a very long time since I’ve played a game that I never wanted to end! I loved seeing the old characters, I loved meeting the new characters, and overall, I felt like there was a lot of love put into this game! I’m so grateful that Square Enix decided to give this franchise another chance!

- I still have Another Day left to play, so here’s hoping it’s just as fun and silly as the first one!