#but I like stating it clearly at the beginning since it’s a background point that the rest on top of

[queen-vv]

Yay I did it I opened my gundam wip and edited a sentence and fixed some syntax

[linkspooky]

Kusakabe the Last Man Standing

Is Kusakabe going to defeat Sukuna all by himself?

Probably not. I fully expect Maki and Yuji to get back up and join the fight. However, Kusakabe is a character that has been slept on for awhile and with him being reluctantly shoved into the spotlight I think it's time to write a meta analyzing him. Especially since the revelation that Kusakabe is the strongest first grade fighter didn't come out of nowhere, in fact Gege has been building up Kusakabe in the background for quite some time which I'll explore under the cut.

So Okay, He's Average

I want to begin this analysis by saying that Kusakabe represents a type of character that Jujutsu Kaisen is desperately in need of. He's just a normal guy. He's our only example of an everyman character. Usually in manga the protagonist serves as the everyman character, especially ones like Yuji who come from a normal life and are being introduced to a fantastical world for the first time, but Yuji ain't normal. Someone who willingly eats a finger that may kill him just so he can be useful and save a stranger isn't normal. Gojo has Yuji pegged as one of the crazy ones within the first few chapters.

Gojo says that sorcerers have to be crazy, that the best Jujutsu Sorcerers need to be broken in the head otherwise they can't get over their fear of curses and risk their lives fighting them on a daily basis. The cast is full of eccentrics, Gojo the strongest of all isn't even able to relate to other human beings, Sukuna is termed a calamity, Yuta kisses cockroaches without hesitation there's not a normal one in the whole bunch.

The ones that are normal, like Miwa who acts like an average high school girl, has no technique, and Mai who desperately craves to be a normal girl and doesn't want to be a jujutsu sorcerer, either are minor characters or they die.

You could say Ijichi provides the point of view as a normal character, but he's a minor character at best and uninvolved in the plot. Then there's Nanami, who represents the typical japanese salaryman. However, Nanami is extraordinary in that he is far more moral than all of his coworkers, such as returning to be a sorcerer because the work helps people instead of keeping his cushy job, and prioritizing the lives of children over himself.

Us mediocre and average people are in desperate need for representation. Cue, Kusakabe.

His introduction clearly demonstrates his attitude is different from most sorcerers, rather than running straight into danger, Kusakabe is trying to search for an excuse to stay out of danger where it's safe. While it's cowardly, it's also what a normal person would do in this situation. We are so used to sorcerers who either risk life and limb without a thought for the sake of other people like Nanami or Yuji, or sorcerers who enjoy the fight like Gojo that Kusakabe stands out.

Miwa who is basically the example of the normal girl among the teenagers shares several parallels with Kusakabe, they're both simple domain masters without cursed techniques, they're both self serving, and also Kusakabe is her teacher and probably the one who recruited her considering he shows up to save her at the end of Shibuya.

Kusakabe is meant to represent what a normal person with common sense would do in the world of Jujutsu, but that doesn't mean he's weak. As I stated above Gege has actually been building up Kusakabe's strength in the background for quite awhile.

When training with Yuji, Gojo first brings up that some sorcerers rely on their techniques too much and that Yuji doesn't necessarily need a fancy technique to win, he can overcome them by learning to control his cursed energy and then using it to strengthen his already amazing martial arts skills and physical prowess.

The Big Three clans like tend to overvalue inherited techniques too, the downfall of the Zen'in is that they didn't recognize the strength of people like Maki and Toji with no cursed energy because they believed their cursed techniques to be inherently superior.

In Mechamaru's fight against Mahito, Gege makes a big deal spending an entire page explaining the history and mechanics of simple domains. There's obviously no need to put this much attention into detail to explain simple domains unless they're going to come into play later, and while Miwa uses them as stated above she's a minor character.

A technique called the "Domain for the Weak" what better technique for a normal guy like Kusabe, who is stuck in a cast of super-human characters. When fighting with Yuji, Mei Mei compares Yuji to Kuskabe.

"You're on par with a grade-1 sorcerer at this point. To be this good without a cursed technique... I think you're the only one since Kusakabe."

To further compare him to Mei Mei, Mei Mei monologues about how because her cursed technique of controlling birds is weak she tried to strengthen her body. However, eventually she hit a brick wall and couldn't get any stronger and reach Grade-1 on her efforts alone. Which is when she decided to start using Ui Ui as a tool to make herself stronger by making binding vows between him and herself to strengthen her, in addition to inventing her suicide crow technique.

However, Kusakabe is even stronger than Mei Mei and he managed to reach that level by himself without needing to groom and manipulate a child.

Kusakabe also spends all of Shibuya avoiding getting in a fight with a special grade cursed spirit, and yet at the end of Shibuya he ends up tanking an Uzumaki Maximum from Kenjaku at point blank. Kenjaku even praises him.

This is the same Kenjaku who can use Suguru Geto's cursed technique even better than Geto can, and who wiped the floor with Choso while bragging that a cursed spirit that's ranked Grade-1 like Choso could never go one on one with a special grade. We never saw Kusakabe directly fight Kenjaku (he would probably run in the opposite direction if given the chance) but the fact that he can use a simple domain to cancel out one of Geto's strongest techniques point blank is really telling.

All the while having relatable thoughts like this one. In a lot of ways, Kusakabe reminds me of Todo, someone who Gojo mentioned as being one of the next up and coming star students alongside Hakari, and Yuta. Todo has a cursed technique that's simple but effective, but he also fights similiar to Yuji by his expert control of cursed energy. Todo fights mainly with his fists and martial arts and his impressive knowledge of how cursed energy moves though the body, his cursed technique gives him an added bonus.

Up until this point in the manga though Todo is the most knowledgable about cursed energy, he teaches it Yuji very easily and explains it in ways Yuji can understand. Fighting alongside Todo also brings out Yuji's full potential as a sorcerer. Todo is all muscle, but he fights with his head and is the smartest student in Kyoto.

All of this to say, Kusakabe's strength without a cursed technique can be explained by relating him to Todo. In the Gojo vs. Sukuna fights who is the main voice explaining to both the other students at Jujutsu High and the audience just how the battle is going down.

Kusakabe is not in there in the field, he's watching it on TV, and yet somehow he can disect and explain to the others how both Sukuna and Gojo are using high level Jujutsu Techniques. This is Sukuna and Gojo we're talking about, two geniuses who are the height of jujutsu and can often improvise and make up new techniques on the fly and yet Kusakabe is able to keep up with what's going on.

Kusakabe gives the play by play, he somehow knows what falling blossom emotion is even though he's not from one of the three big families. He explains to Hakari and Higuruma who are natural geniuses who don't quite understand how their powers work, how Gojo can change the conditions of his barrier and how exactly he made the barrier smaller.

Remember Kusakabe is also a teacher at Jujutsu High. Unlike Gojo who doesn't try to explain basic concepts to Yuji because he's such a genius, Kusakabe is also educating all of the students here and phrasing these high level techniques in ways they can understand. You can't really do that unless you yourself have an intimate understanding of the subject matter.

What I mean to say is by putting Kusakabe in charge of the discussion, Gege is demonstrating that Kusakabe is a character who understands the mechanics of cursed energy and domains on practically the same level as Todo who as we said is considered a prodigy. This is also some clever foreshadowing, because Kusakabe here seems like he's still a background character because all he's doing is essentially expositing to the audience and yet... how impressive must he be if he understands all of these advanced domain techniques when he's just a guy with a sword and no cursed techniques that uses simple domains.

Kusakabe also understands Higuruma's legal talk in about ten seconds, and can explain the mechanics of Higuruma's domain and why their plan to put Sukuna on trial might not work. He is much smarter than he seems at first glance, Miwa even makes a joke about it. He even analyzes Sukuna's techniques after facing them head on once - and he's the only one who notices how odd it is that Sukuna's not using his fire technique like in Shibuya.

Sukuna mentions that Kusakabe along with everyone else's cursed energy reinforcement techniques must be on another level if they're able to stand up to his slashes (even if they're in a weakened state right now). After all, Ishigori who was not only one of the strongest fighters of his era but was also hyped up for his massive pool of cursed energy that rivaled Yuta's was torn to pieces by Sukuna's slashes.

Kusakabe also seems to be the one in charge of the strategy for the fight (though it was Angel's idea to let Takaba handle Kenjaku, maybe they're both coordinating but Kusakabe is definitely leading them in the field).

My point being, as much as he's accused of handling his large cast Gege is often able to give a lot of characterization in a limited screentime. Kusakabe is more than he appears to be, and it's clever how Gege built up his importance without anybody noticing, because Higuruma himself likes to avoid conflict, hide in the background and is constantly downplaying his own talents. Ino even made another joke about it last chapter.

The commonly held view is that the sorcerers who reject their humanity and only care about refining their technique are the ones who become the strongest sorcerers. However, Kusakabe was able to climb to the top of the Grade One sorcerers despite lacking that attitude.

In my opinion, Jujutsu Kaisen is fundamentally about balance, so while there's a definite trend of Sorcerers who resemble Sukuna are the ones who become stronger - it's not presented as the only way to be strong. Yuji only defeated Mahito by cooperating with Todo. On top of that, Sukuna while finding Yuji boring admits that Yuji a mostly selfless person still demonstrates an indomitable will that Sukuna can't break no matter how hard he tries.

If Sukuna represents the thesis that the only way to become strong is to throw away all your humanity and become wildly selfish, then Kusakabe represents the antithesis as a mostly normal person (if a bit cowardly and self interest) who somehow climbed the ranks over people like Mei Mei who represent the kind of selfish monster Sukuna is.

This is actually the pattern for most of the Sukuna fights this arc too. Gojo and Hajime both represent the desire to be understood, and Sukuna rejects both love and says he doesn't need people to understand him because he understands himself.

Yuji is a human who is mostly selfless, and has inherited the curse of his fellow comrades as sorcerers, specifically carrying on the torch for Nanami who is also content to be a cog in the machine if it means he can help his fellow sorcerers out. Sukuna is a selfish monster, who is an individualist and sees other people as toys to amuse himself with.

Higuruma is a genius on the level of Gojo Satoru, but when challenged by Sukuna he ends up sacrificing himself instead in a direct parallel to Nanami in order to pass the torch onto Yuji.

Yuta's domain is literally called "authentic and mutual love" and Sukuna said to Hajime that he understands exactly what love is and he still rejects it. Sukuna's entire philosophy revolves around rejecting the love and friendship, while Yuta only fights for the sake of his friends, and can't believe that his life is worth living without people in his life who love him.

Sukuna gives a whole speech on how by rejecting cursed energy, and using a heavenly restriction to push her body to the peak of physical strength a human can achieve, she's forcing a role on Sukuna to compete with her as the peak of sorcery to determine which one is better.

Now it's Kusakabe turn to have a role in this fight too. While Maki has no cursed energy, she doesn't really represent humans because she's you know, a she-hulk. Kusakabe might be the most human character present that's willing to face down Sukuna. Kusakabe is the most human character someone who climbed this high without being born with any technique, Sukuna is the most inhuman monster in the series, a calamity that Yuji refers to as a true curse.

Gege even threw in these callbacks to Gojo panels.

That in itself might be foreshadowing that maybe Kusakabe stands a better chance against Sukuna then anyone in the audience thinks. As the number #1 Kusakabe stan, I'm definitely willing to bet on those odds!

[respectthepetty]

Y'all can thank @negrowhat and @27vampyresinhermind for this post because I wasn't going to watch Wandee Goodday until Wednesday, but here I am clowning while traveling with color-coded boys in love.

First, starting the episode with 69 and the yellow bananas on the purple boxers is the way I want all my shows to begin.

Especially because I feel the yellow bananas are going to be a thing for BD Yellow Yal Yak.

Next, I am fully on Team No-Kiss-on-the-Lips-until-the-Finale, so Yak being so comfortable with Dee to kiss him goodbye is the small crumbs I need to survive.

Since Yak is subtly making his way behind Dee's walls and the colors tell us this since Dee now has a little yellow light in his room by the TV.

It wasn't there before he decided to be Friends-with-Benefits with Yak.

And it's nice because as others have pointed out, Yak and Dee do seem to be actual "Friends" with benefits.

They fix things for each other, like Yak fixing the broken heart light that Dee was too busy to properly care for.

They call each other and know when the other is not doing well, but they also don't push each other to share.

And they also match colors.

Which reminds me - Is this plum, like dark purple, or brown?

Because what Ter is wearing is clearly brown, but the poster of them is purple, so I just think that Dee is already destined to win this scholarship.

But he won't go abroad

Because he will realize he is right where he needs to be.

And I think it was reinforced by Yak not taking the necklace back.

So even though Yellow Yak initially said no to fake dating and broke off their friends-with -benefits arrangement, he still allowed Dee to carry a part of him around.

And his brother and Cher understand how important that is because Yak easily handed over his name even though he fears having a public relationship. Also, I still think the brother is a Blue Boy because he is loyal and stable, but I need a moment to figure this out (when I've had more than three hours of sleep).

The boundaries and the colors are quickly shifting because Yak was black last episode and Dee was white, but this episode, as they go back-and-forth over this fake dating possibility, they switch colors.

But Dee is still a Purple Prince with his purple boxing gloves, purple hand wraps, and Yak pointing out that homeboy *should* be rich.

So even though Dee leaves in a huffy state and in blue, he is highlighted by purple lighting.

Which Yak absorbs when he decides to take Dee's hand and helps Dee cross the obstacle, together.

Which leads to Yak giving into Dee's request as he is highlighted by the yellow lights in the background.

He commits to the bit and shows up to the hospital with the purple-wrapped flowers.

And seems to fit right into Dee's life as both match the background of Dee's apartment.

Sidenote: It will never not please me that Dee's apartment building was colored purple.

So that little yellow light in the beginning of the episode to show how Yak has slowly started to integrate himself into Dee's life turns into a full-on yellow lighting attack.

They may be fake dating, but the feelings are about to be real.

And it's not because Dee is wearing Yak's yellow next week (with Yak wearing Dee's fake blue).

But because Yak has this blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment of realizing he can't distinguish between the fake and real.

"Stay True" to yourself and your feelings, Yak!

[sokkastyles]

ATLA Live Action Ep 1 Thoughts:

When the writers meant they wanted it to be like game of thrones, clearly they meant "we want the battles to happen in complete darkness so nobody can see what is going on," and not, you know, the sex stuff.

Idk why this never occurred to me until now but ostrich horse is chocobo.

They are clearly going for a darker, more grittier feel here, but it clashes with the attempt to keep things true to the animated origin. Like, the earth kingdom OC looks straight out of some more realistic Adult fantasy show, whereas Sozin's character design makes him look like evil Santa.

So firebenders are able to do that to bodies, which I appreciate from a fanfic perspective and also confirms what people have been theorizing about the agni kai, that Ozai put his hand on his son's face. Not sure it was necessary to see it, though. The original does a good job of horrifying us with implied violence and the adults already get it, while showing it makes it less accessible to a younger audience. This is hardly a problem unique to this show, though.

Air nomads actually riding sky bison!

I like having more background with the air nomads and Aang's actor is great but front-loading the flashbacks doesn't work great for the pacing.

One thing I do really like is the emphasis on how the war damaged the harmony of the nations in more than just a spiritual way. No one has friends from other nations now. Zuko comes seeking "someone who does not belong" with the (false) promise that no one will get hurt if everyone keeps to themselves, keeps the status quo. The air nomads are a complete anomaly in a world of division. We are introduced to Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Zuko, and all are isolated in their own way by the war at the beginning of the story.

Overall there is something just weird about the pacing. Characters keep pausing at vital moments of action to deliver exposition or meaningful monologues. It just feels off.

Zuko so desperate for "glory" that he accepts Sokka's proposal to fight one on one (nice foil to the final agni kai by the way). Then his surprise when Aang shows himself reveals that Zuko himself did not know whether he would really find the Avatar in this village he's suddenly shown up to terrorize. God, it just emphasizes how low Zuko is at this point. This is probably his first real high stakes fight and he might have killed Sokka over absolutely nothing out of a false sense that he had something to prove. It's just...sad.

The scene at the Southern Air Temple looked great and had me in tears. I actually saw some criticism of this to the effect of them "ruining Aang's arc" because he comes out of the Avatar state himself, but first of all, let's be real and admit that if mastering the Avatar State was Aang's arc, he never completed it. Second, just because he could bring himself out does not mean he can control it, and he's still letting his emotions control him which is a learning curve for handling that power, it's just that he was able to control his anger in that moment by remembering the people he loved. Which is not that different from how the scene plays out in the original, only he isn't using Katara as a crutch. Which is a good thing, actually. It's much more fitting and poignant that he thinks about Gyatso here.

I don't think there was any mention of Katara wanting to go north. She has a few lines about wanting to help more and Aang teaches her about balance so she can bend now, apparently, but where is her drive? It feels like they're attributing her accomplishments to Aang and that bothers me. Maybe it'll be mentioned in the next episode, since they haven't talked about Aang learning waterbending yet, either. But I do miss the Katara who was ready to banish herself from the village the moment she met Aang not just because it was the right thing to do, but because of her own desire for independence and autonomy.

Liked the scene between Aang and Iroh. It gives us a glimpse of an Iroh who is stuck as to what to do and so he just gives Aang the Zuko treatment by offering him tea. I'd be excited if this means we get to see more development for Iroh.

[shizukateal]

Grimm Variations - Episode One Review: Cinderella

Ok, starting with the heavy hitter aren't we Grimm Variations? Really have that much confidence in yourself in spite of your kinda ugly art direction? Ok. Alright. I see how it is.

GATHER 👏 ROUND 👏 CHILDREN 👏 LET'S 👏 TALK 👏 ABOUT 👏 GOOD 👏 VS 👏 BAD 👏 SUBVERSION 👏 SLASH 👏 DARK 👏 TAKES.

This is actually a pretty fascinating example, since it has both cases simultaneously.

(sorry for the shitty gif, I don't know how to reduce size without sacrificing quality)

Let's start from the beginning: This version of Cinderella takes place somewhen at the intersection of the Meiji and Showa Periods in Japan, which is to say in the Roaring 20's. Instead of our usual protagonist, the story centers on Makiko and Sawako, our prospective Evil Stepsisters, as their mother Tsuruko, a former geisha, marries Viscount Otawara, who has a single daughter: Kyoko. Kyoko enthusiastically welcomes her new family with open arms, even gifting precious things to her new sisters, who clearly love the luxuries of the social ladder that they've climbed. However things take a turn for the dark as Kyoko starts manipulating everyone around the house with wounded gazelle gambits to convince them that her sisters are mistreating her and usurping her place. The story thus becomes about Makiko and Sawako going to the ball (hosted by a count's son) to try and escape their Evil Little Stepsister.

There's also some background stuff at the start of the episode about the brothers grimm and that little girl Charlotte up there, who appears as a living doll of Kyoko's, but since none of that is explained here we're just gonna focus on what this dark take says thematically about the tale of Cinderella.

Right from the beginning the overturn starts when the first scene makes it clear that Cinderella's dad holds all the power in the relationship with the Evil Stepmother, whereas the Grimm and Perrault versions make her the one wearing the pants. It's never explicitly stated in either of them, but it's natural to infer that the Stepmother is of a higher peerage than Cinderella's Dad to explain how she would hold power over him and his daughter when trying to rationalize the story, and it's a common plot point in adaptations. However, this alone a subversion does not make. After all, if you read trashy romance in aristocratic settings (like I do), you know that it is extremely common for social climbers to be presented as sniveling usurpers, who get arrogant and greedy and turn into bullies the moment they have a modicum of luxury and rank in spite of their Inferior Manners (unless they are the protagonist of course). Lots of Cinderella stories follow that formula.

And that's exactly what Kyoko uses against her stepsisters.

Makiko and Sawako are stupid. If their unrefined manners are forgivable and a simple matter of environment and time, the way they openly slobber over and covet the riches of their new house makes them no favors. When they think one of the servants stole jewelry from them (and it was a piece that Kyoko had given them at that) they immediately get angry and physically aggressive towards a person whom they were equal in rank perhaps mere days ago. It takes them too long to stop and realize that hey, no servant would openly flaunt a piece they'd stolen from their master, so maybe something else is afoot, but by then it's too late. The other servants of the house can no longer trust them, so of course they continually take the side of the poor, defenseless little mistress Kyoko.

The tale so turns into an interesting mix of one-part hitchcokean aristocratic horror-thriller, impulsed in part by the flaws of the protagonists, and I'd say around a quarter-part view into the hypocrisies of class. Makiko and Sawako's refusal to engage with the servants with respect and compassion, trying to act the rank they've ascended to, cuts them from a support network, even as they are handed wealth and luxury. However it is undeniable that because of their lowly origins and etiquette people view them with scorn, distrust, and antipathy, a fact that is driven home when they are the ones who get mean whispers and comments upon entering the ball. They don't stop from being victims in the narrative just because they aren't likeable. By contrast, Kyoko may wear old plain clothes and do house work, but because she's nice to the staff and is seen as the legitimate blood heir, everyone looks at her with compassion and chucks her unnaturally cheery disposition towards her circumstances to good breeding, to the point that she gets away with poisoning her stepmother for years until she dies.

Likewise, at the scene of the ball the sisters fail spectacularly at captivating their prospective Prince with their uncouth behavior, so all our Cinderella has to do is be pretty and make a scene in front of everyone for things to take its predestined course. Tsuruko dies that night thanks to her stepdaughter forcibly feeding her one last cup of bleach before she leaves. And even though everybody witnesses the sisters grieving over their mother's corpse, nobody has sympathy for them the next day, when Makiko becomes the head of the family at Kyoko's (clearly secret) behest. The moment the Prince appears and declares his intention to marry Kyoko, Makiko and Sawako are expediently given the boot to the ass and thrown out of the house. Thus both of them are forever expelled from aristocratic society... and forever free from Kyoko.

Cinderella has followed her usual course of ascending to a higher to a social strata while reclaiming her lost position thanks to the intervention of a powerful man... But it's the Evil Stepsisters who have escaped an abusive situation by leaving the comforts of status behind, which goes very specifically against the message the original story gives. What's more this is due to their own character development: they knew that Kyoko would sabotage them if they tried to escape her via marriage, so they baited her into pulling a stunt and deliberately sabotaged their own chances with the Prince so that he would take her away from them.

THAT, my guys, is actual subversion. THAT is commentary. It's impeccably brilliant...! Or at least it would be were it not for the biggest flaw in the story: Cinderella herself.

Near the end of the first act the sisters try to warn their mother about Kyoko's nefarious acts. Of course, she doesn't believe them. After all, she asks outloud, what does Kyoko get out of acting like that? It seems that the scriptwriter didn't realize that asking that question explicitly in dialogue would put it at the forefront of the audience's thoughts before the whole thing went into print.

I mean the script makes Kyoko talk about her family being her precious "dolls" or whatever but that explains absolutely jackshit when her attitude is so inconsistent. Keep in mind, this Cinderella kills her own dad when he unwittingly threatens to disturb her status quo and starts the second act by saying out loud that she fears the situation she's created might end, but after the sisters do succeed in suckering her she just goes "oh well :) thems the breaks" and it's implied she'll move on to torturing the Prince for shits and giggles and that's it.

Alas, however, I must be fair and truthful in my final assessments. I came into this series expecting vapid edginess and mediocrity and while it hasn't exactly disappointed on that front, it has just enough thematic juice to move into the tier I was most afraid of: trash but still good enough to be frustrating. Join me next week for more suffering if it keeps up this way.

[lunar-years]

Argh it makes me so mad, that could have been the perfect time to finally save the waste of time plot of the pr business, I have no idea what the writers were thinking, did they really think they were doing something good by devoting a huge chunk of screen time of the football show with all of their fave characters to just one of the characters on her own failing to do the thing she is good at. It could have been the moment for Keeley to finally show her PR talent we know she had, to make some big meaningful post online about body autonomy and respect, to decide by herself to go for it without Jack and her money. Instead no, she tells a few people she isn't ashamed (great, as she shouldn't be, That at least is the Keeley we love) then does nothing until one person in her life apologises and doesn't act like it was her fault. Then she continues to do nothing and gets dumped by Jack. It could have finally made that whole plot line have a point, but no!

I know very little about Keeley Hazell but since people say she has a similar background to Keeley-the-character and was one of the inspirations for Keeley, it boggles my mind that SHE wrote that episode. Like...what? 😭

anyway yeah it's definitely one of the episodes I most had a problem with in s3. The only two things I really like about it is that it absolutely did showcase Juno's acting chops (the weight of her emotions are SO visceral in that episode and that's all thanks to Juno, she did amazingly with material that, let's face it, was pretty shit) as well as Jamie showing up for her + the JamieKeeley hug. But even both of those pros could have been SO much more impactful if they'd written the episode better.

Then there's the stuff I didn't mind in itself because it was in-character bad (or in Jamie's case, misguided) behavior in an intentional way (imo) which is the comment from Roy, Jamie apologizing for something that very much wasn't his fault, and Jack being a jackass. However, I came to mind them later because:

Roy needed to name that mistake in his big apology letter to Keeley or else it doesn't work. Why the fuck did they have him say it then. Ughhhh. It's so shitty that they never have him state WHAT the hell he's apologizing for, not even just about this but about everything to do with the breakup (i mean, if we want to talk about accountability....)

Meanwhile Jamie getting his wires crossed about accountability in that way makes sense for him as a character, and I also do not necessarily think it's Keeley's job to reassure and comfort him there, and I further understand why she wasn't in the right state to do so, anyway. But there should have been some follow-up afterwards where it's made clear it WASN'T JAMIE'S FAULT!! i can't begin to tell you how much I loathe that the prevailing narrative online the next day was "🥺awww Jamie's finally taking responsibility for his actions and finding accountability!!🥺" gross. Jamie was a victim of the leak, too.

i have the minority opinion of not really minding that they made Jack a rich entitled bitch who cares more about her own optics than she does Keeley. 🤷‍♀️ But it was admittedly really hard to watch Keeley beg Jack to take her back an episode later. And the fuck of it all is that i don't even necessarily think that is out of character for Keeley (she's clearly in very bad shape mentally at that point), but the fact that her headspace is never made explicit or explored in any meaningful way...atrocious! what's the point of putting her into these situations if we don't even get a deep dive into her head about it. ugh.

And then there's the stuff that was just straight up stupid and or horrible to watch, like Keeley being bad at her job for some reason and that truly terrible rebecca keeley scene and the even more terrible after school special locker room psa where the players delete every photo they've ever put on their phones 🙄

[givehimthemedicine]

why the mothergate opening and the demogorgon's entry could not have been virtually-simultaneous events

(putting this point out solo as background logic for some other gate stuff I'm working on)

so mostly this post is about when this very first scene actually occurs:

I think they want us to think it immediately follows the gate opening scene, but we have some clues that it does not.

Elevator Scientist

Elevator Scientist appears in both water tank flashback scenes.

here he is in the first tank flashback (seen throughout 1x05), the one where El is spying on the Russian and hears demogorgon noises. she screams and bangs on the tank wanting to be let out. we are not shown what goes on outside.

and here he is in the second tank flashback, the 1x06 one, the one where El actually finds the demogorgon, screams, and the mothergate opens.

based on those two guys having the same shirts and ties, these flashbacks would appear to be from the same day.

since we're shown the room full of scientists panicking and scurrying for the exits in this scene, it's easy to figure this is where the Elevator Scientist scene picks up. but let's look closer at:

Elevator Scientist's costume design

do you see my problem with the idea that these scenes happen in fairly rapid succession?

gate:

fleeing:

in his panic, he took the time to unclip his ID - not his keycard, but his ID, which plays no role in his ability to navigate the building - from his outer coat pocket and clip it instead to his shirt pocket? that doesn't make sense. I also am not sure I see the same pens in his pocket.

frustratingly, they don't let us see any more of him in flashback #1, so I can't know whether it matches then. (it doesn't make sense for it to have happened then, but still, I'd like to have seen it.)

the only reason I can think of for moving your ID is if you took your coat off and had to move your ID to your shirt.

time must've elapsed between these scenes, during which ES felt calm enough to still care where his ID was clipped when he removed his coat. he was not in a continuous state of panic from the cracking of the wall to his fleeing.

the different vibe in the tank room

when ES first bursts through the doorway, they let you see just a glimpse of the tank room behind him. it lacks the erratically flashing cold-blue lighting and crowded pandemonium of the gate opening scene, as well as...

the alarm

clips in video form below so you can hear what I mean.

the alarm sounds immediately when El screams and the wall starts cracking. (it's not super prominent in this scene's mixing but you can hear it.)

however, Elevator Scientist scene begins with a long shot of the HNL hallway in silence. only when he bursts out of the tank room door does the alarm begin.

unless that door was 100% soundproof and the alarm was sounding solely inside the tank room. which. I don't know what the point of that would be. the alarm persists all down the hallway to the elevator so I don't feel like that's the case. and according to the massacre, that alarm sounds all over the building.

my point here is that the alarm has not been going off continuously ever since the wall cracked. these are two separate soundings of the alarm, another indication that we are missing some time in between these events.

Brenner and Scientist #1's wardrobe

this guy, named Scientist #1 in the script (ha), is the other guy at Brenner's side during El's tank experiments.

the script says of Brenner: "loose tie, stubble, clearly hasn't slept in some time."

I can't say Brenner actually looks disheveled in the final product. and I also notice Scientist #1, who you'd think would be having a similarly hectic morning, is wearing a different shirt and tie than when the gate opened. Brenner is Steve Jobsing with his black ties in s1 so I can't tell if he changed.

what's that have to do with my proposed missing scene? I guess nothing. perhaps this script detail was truly discarded. perhaps the man simply took a shower the next morning. I'm just looking at this squinty in case this has timeline implications I'll revisit later.

Scientist #1's omitted lines

as they walked into the tank room, Scientist #1 originally had more lines that confirm we're missing a scene:

surely, in all his specificity about where each person was standing, Scientist #1 wouldn't fail to mention that Elevator Scientist was also right next to them. he doesn't, because he's not describing the gate opening scene.

their next dialogue is in regards to whether "it" came from the gate (which we assume to mean the demogorgon, because that's all we had going on in season 1 but hey, who knows). Scientist #1 is clearly referring to an unseen event that happened after the gate opened but before the Elevator Scientist fled.

the moment "it" entered.

this also indicates Brenner was there to see it.

what happened to the other scientists?

we know they didn't all die.

Brenner and #1 obviously survived in their observation chamber (I'm rolling in that sentence like a dog in poop)

@aemiron-main here's some name bullshit for you: I was gonna say that we know Elevator Scientist must be one of the doctors other than Shepherd, because that's the guy who goes into the gate later on:

but actually that guy's name is spelled "Shepard". to be exact he's "Test Pilot Shepard", according to the transcript (I can't find a legit 1x04 script, can anyone hook me up?)

why must we have a Shepherd and a Shepard in the mix. PLEASE can we have normal things. just for a minute. pleeease.

anyway Brenner tells Joyce at the end of 1 that "six people have been taken this week" and Will, Barb, Elevator Scientist, those two hunters, and Shepard make six. so I don't have any solid reason to think any other scientists died in addition to ES. I'm gonna say they fled through other exits and call it a day.

what happened to El?

obviously this didn't make it into the show but:

a shot of the water tank "filled with water but no one's in there" PLEASE BE FOR REAL. Duffers why would you exclude this.

so together with them wanting us to think Elevator Scientist is running from something immediately after the gate opens, the aim of that empty water tank shot would've been for us to wrongly assume El mysteriously vanished from her tank when the gate opened.

whereas really I think El was simply let out during the time they didn't want us to realize was missing.

my reconstruction:

experiment 1. El panics and is let out of the tank, and taken probably either to her room or the infirmary depending how shaken she is.

knowing they're onto something, Brenner summons a bunch more observers and convinces El to go back in the tank later the same day.

experiment 2. the wall cracks, the alarm sounds, everybody freaks, spectators flee. El is let out of the tank again. Brenner either personally escorts El to safety or orders her escorted by orderlies, depending whether El or monitoring the gate is his top priority. (probably the latter)

initial panic dies down, the alarm is cancelled. a core team of scientists remain in the tank room to keep an eye on that crack in the wall - Shepherd, Braun, Wilkins, and Manning in the outer tank room, and Brenner and Scientist #1 in the observation chamber.

they observe the crack - which may or may not already be spreading - for some time on the order of many minutes to some hours. at least enough time for Elevator Scientist to feel warm from the excitement, remove his coat and reclip his ID, then wait around long enough and calmly enough to get cold again, and put his coat back on.

eventually, Brenner and the others witness the demogorgon(?) enter through the gate. somebody sounds the alarm again. they scatter. Elevator Scientist flees and gets yoinked.

this chaos may equal a lack of supervision on El elsewhere in the building, and this could be when she makes her escape.

anyone see any glaring issues, before I build more theory on top of this?

and this is the SIMPLE (single El / single timeline) version mind you

[ravynous]

it starts with a small flap。

▌| character/s: riddle rosehearts, kalim al-asim ▌| request: Hey, may I request some headcanons of the dorm leaders react to a MC that is a lot like kanao from Demon slayer? (Vil, Riddle, Kalim) ▌| warning/s: mean jabs (riddle’s part), mentions of assassination (kalim’s part) ▌| author’s note: excluded vil because I have no idea on how to write him… ALSO, WINGING KALIM’S ‘CAUSE I HAVEN’T READ HIS STORIES YET (the requester deactivated TT) ▌| link/s: masterlist

Riddle Rosehearts

Riddle collared you after you pointed your nichirin katana at Crowley’s neck after he failed to explain where you ended up at. In your defense, the floating coffins and “masked man inside the mirror” resembled a demon’s blood art.

What a great introduction for the both of you! You’ve got a house warden who’s warning his freshmen (Ace and Deuce) that it’s dangerous to interact with the new prefect, someone who has broken multiple rules already; and you’ve got yourself an eerily silent new demon slayer who only speaks after tossing a coin – both students who are at odds with each other.

Ace and Deuce never took his word regarding the prefect though. After all, they were the ones that experienced your protective nature firsthand in the mine incident. The housewarden only grew more agitated – couldn’t they see that he was looking out for them?

“Clearly, you were born to parents with no great magical capability. And as a result... You lack even the basic education necessary to attend a school such as this. It's quite sad.” Riddle’s jab towards your lack of an academic background felt humiliating, but… you felt infuriated all the same. How dare he, a person who doesn’t even acknowledge his own mistakes when enforcing his rules, condemn you.

“And? I may have not grown under my biological parents’ guidance, yet I managed to receive genuine love and care from my masters and sisters, something that you have obviously never gotten. How pitiful.”

The tension between you peaked the moment before Riddle’s overblot. You thwarted Riddle’s attempt of collaring your friends using the second form of flower breathing, Honorable Shadow Plum. Your blade chipped where the metal collars hit as Riddle’s magic turned stronger. This effectively made him lose his temper (which was not your initial goal…).

That statement of yours was absolutely the trigger to Riddle’s overblot. Since your breathing style was made up of mostly offensive attacks (and could end up killing him), your role was mostly deflection. Trey and Cater were in awe when you sliced a tree – that the blot monster threw at your group – in half.

After that fiasco, your friendship with Riddle was gradual. He began apologizing for his hurtful comments, and you did the same.

You offered to help him after his overblot, adapting the physical therapy exercises you’ve done with your sisters for injured slayers. Riddle’s strength and stamina has improved little by little under your guidance.

Appreciates your quietness, there’s enough chaos in NRC. Can’t help his worry when you begin following some of the Queen of Hearts’ rules without questioning them. It reminded him of the strictness of his mother – the invisible shackles masked with ‘motherly love’. Your situations might not be the same, but the similarity lies in the repressed wants and emotions.

Riddle was horrified at the state of the Ramshackle dorm because you lacked any sort of housework skills. So, he offered to tidy it up a bit together, with you doing most of the manual labor (like, moving heavy objects and placing the newly bought wooden planks), and him using magic to clean higher places.

You bonded over your shared love for sweets. He’s a bit upset that he can’t recreate your favorite, ramune – which you described to be a sugary lime-flavored soda, so he introduces you to his favorite, a strawberry tart. Riddle believes that he should do something to give back for all your efforts. (Maybe ask Trey for a favor when changing the tart’s flavor.)

When you eventually become comfortable with Riddle, he loves listening to your stories back home! Although nearly all of them involved your deadly missions, some were of your family and fellow demon slayers. He’s interested in your katana and the way the Butterfly Mansion functioned, seeing as the current head – Shinobu – was both a slayer and a doctor. You’re both interested in medicine too, and this serves as another bonding activity for you.

Overall, you have a calm relationship with Riddle. It’s built upon shared interests and desire to improve. Both of you also use teatime to read science and alchemy-related books, and he tutors you in subjects you have difficulty in.

Kalim Al-Asim

It hurt to be around him at first. Kalim’s demeanor reminded you so much of a close friend back home – one that was kind and warm and giving – gave you a helping hand when you were struggling, gave time to listen to your troubles, and gave you advice that changed your views in life.

Yet you could pick out their differences with such ease. He reminded you of home, but not quite. It took time to adjust to his presence, longer than others.

Kalim’s confused whenever you show a conflicted expression when he comes into view. He’s questioning himself if there was ever a moment that you’ve spoken face-to-face that would cause you to actively avoid him.

Greets you every morning – he’s never smiled so brightly as the time you waved back and showed a small smile. Slow progress is still progress!

He has long learned to avoid surprise hugs after you elbowed his face due to defensive instincts.

Kalim always strikes up small talk, since he has now found someone who was genuinely interested in the stories of his daily life. It’s quite chaotic in your opinion, and Kalim takes it as a win whenever he hears you hiding laughter. Friendship was easily formed because of his cheerful demeanor.

He remembers that the prefect was from another world, and he makes it a personal mission to introduce Twisted Wonderland’s own wonders to you.

“We've known each other a while now, huh? But there's still so much I want to learn about you, and so much I want you to learn about me. No need to spell that out, I guess... Ha ha.” Kalim was so transparent about his feelings, yet – your only reply was a short hum. There’s expectancy in his gaze as he watched you play with the coin with your knuckles. He liked your voice – soft, gentle – resembling the fluttering of his heart when your lips curl into a smile.

“Then… Please wait until I am fully comfortable. I will lay myself – my past – bare before you, the same as you have done to me.” And Kalim agreed – he’ll forever remain thankful for your companionship.

Kalim had grown accustomed to you becoming protective of him (and by extension, Jamil too). The number of assassins that targeted him were nothing to you, disposing of the bodies as quickly as they appeared. He has expressed worry over you, and reluctantly let it go after you’ve assured him it was fine.

There was a time that you visited Scarabia that you accidentally passed out in the desert due to the unfamiliar and scalding heat. Grim had panicked after trying to pull you up and was in near tears when he told Kalim and Jamil that his henchman had died (you were alive, just exhausted). That was also the first time Kalim has used Oasis Maker in front of you. 

▌| written by RAVYNOUS — please do not copy, edit, screenshot, or repost any of my works. Likes and reblogs are very much appreciated.

[twistedapple]

Miguel O'Hara: What's his deal

Ok so ever since the theatre realease of Across the Spiderverse back on May 31st (yes in France we get our new releases on Wednesday, this is why the early videos on YT had French subtitles btw in case you were wondering), I have been deep in it. Like. DEEP. The main offender for that being Miguel O'Hara, who immediately started living rent free in my head and he is clearly not leaving any time soon. Anyway, this is completely out of topic for my blog but I do what I want so let me rant about the aforementioned Depressed and Overworked DILF because we love men with problems in this house.

WATCH OUT FOR THE SPOILERS (and unhinged ramblings that totally sidetrack).

Ever since the release of ATSV, a lot of videos have been available on YT to dissect everything, and of course I have been having an intense focus on character analysis, because that movie is absolutely brilliant at establishing character arcs and presenting new Spiderverse characters in one of the most efficient, thrilling and engaging way I've ever had the pleasure to witness. We've been blessed with Gwen's heartwrenching character arc (and she deserves none of the hate she's been receiving, but don't get me started on that), Hobie more like Homie in the span of 5 minutes on screen... And Miguel, who blesses us with his ego, anger issues and massive trauma while also dropping bits of a gentler side - but only bits of it. And I have been extremely normal about Miguel, since he absolutely doesn't tick all of the boxes of the Tickle My Fancy list.

I have been ranting about him in many YT comment sections for more than 2 months now (hi Purple Kisseokjin and Schnee lol), but with the digital release of the movie, I finally remembered I have a Tumblr blog where I can yell about Miguel all I want, so here we are now. Now where do I start...

First Part: Miguel's character design

I've overall been highly impressed by the various art styles given to the Spiderverse cast, and how it reflects who they are and where they come from. Miguel in particular hits many soft spots for me for a good reason: his association with architecture and industrial designs, which are topics I'm interested in (especially architecture). As such, I will begin this study by analysing both the character and environmental designs for Miguel and Nueva York, and how the depiction of Nueva York 2099 reflects the state of the narration as well as how Miles and Miguel feel and think - following the same logic as what we get to see with the use of watercolours on Earth-65B, during Gwen's sequences, to express emotional states. A mandatory tangent will be made in regard to Miguel's themes as well, because they fall in line with my arguments for the character and background designs.

There are some main points to take into account when it comes to anything related to Miguel's design: straight lines everywhere, light rough sketch lines, gouache tones. Where do we find these elements? In architecture design. Older ones made in a traditional way usually have gouache for the colours (although ink and watercolour are also present), and the light sketch lines and straight lines are present to study the perspective, as shown in the example below:

Feels familiar? Well, will you look at that:

One of the reasons why I am giggling everytime he appears on screen is because of these delightful sketch lines. Looook, it has the same style as architecture concept art! Even better, from the mouth of one of the character designers, Kris Anka: NO CURVES!

Even his face has sharp angles (he truly has the most powerful cheekbone game), look at the sketch lines:

And you know what else has a lot of straight lines and sharp angles? Nueva York.

Look at this. Look at this. It's even in the title card when Miles arrives at the Spider Society.

Allow me to make a slight detour to explain what we are looking at while looking at the architecture of Nueva York 2099. What we are seeing here is a blend of brutalism and eco-brutalism. Brutalism is characterised by its materials, steel and concrete, as well as its intent: in a post-WW2 world, architecture is seen with more pragmatism and values function first. Eco-brutalism is a branch deriving from Brutalism, and aiming to reintegrate nature in the concrete jungle in order to create an harmony - albeit a fully man-made one.

The concept artists took (eco-)brutalism and ran away with it for a massive Solarpunk vibe, which makes the whole setting very interesting considering that in the comics, Nueva York is also very much a futuristic dystopia. Yet, using (eco-)brutalism to have us experience the place for the first time along with Miles is a great way to give a sense of awe by way of what we envision as the future to be now:

The interesting bit about it is how (eco-)brutalism and the adjacent solarpunk aesthetic are associated with a rather hopeful future, one where humanity manages to harmonise its modern way of life with a new development of nature. It feels like a haven mixing the relaxing greens of nature with the sharp lines of brutalism architecture, and that's how Nueva York feels on first sight. Similarly, Miguel O'Hara's first appearance leaves quite the memorable impression: tall, with broad shoulders and everything about him being sharp (it's even exagerated in the comics part), even his web.

(Fun fact time: ball pens have initially been designed for architecture and industrial drawings, they are fantastic tools to draw neat lines and create a nice variety of shading as well based on how you push on the pen and how you hatch/cross-hatch to modulate the intensity of the shading. You know who and what could be drawn solely with a couple of ball pens? Check the answer below.)

He also shines at the Guggenheim by showing how competent he is, with a certain benevolence on top of it: he initially rejects Jessica Drew's suggestion of adding Gwen to the lineup (yes Miguel, you don't want her because she's buddy buddy with Miles), yet saves her from being shot by her own father and ends up getting her on board as she finds herself with nowhere to go. It certainly leaves a similarly good first impression as the bright and harmonious first sight we get of Nueva York.

However, the environmental and character designs both give us a deeper look into Nueva York and Miguel, and it's certainly not as pristine as it seems. Just as Miles is about to discover the truth of the Spider Society, he enters a darker lab and Hobie keeps warning him, until they reach the area where Miguel is pretty much playing Big Brother by watching them through some of his screens:

I'd argue that the darker space is a callback to the comics, in which Miguel becomes sensitive to light after his genetic mutation, But it is the very opposite of what we've been shown when introduced to the Spider Society: soft whites and greens are traded for deep blues and the stark orange of multiple screens as well as the tone on Miguel's own costume - the bright orange light of the screens is even reflected on him. This is not a pleasant place, and everytime we see it (the Go Home Machine area has a similar style, albeit more organic in the creepiest way, as displayed above on the 4th screenshot), we witness Miguel having outbursts of anger as well. There is also something that feels disconnected from humanity in the sense that it's colder and more methodical in the design, either with all the sharp angles and stark contrasts, or the alien design of the Go Home Machine.

It's an impression that can also be found once we discover the underbelly of Nueva York, while Miles is being chased:

Here, we also have dark tones with stark neon lights that create the impression of a colder, less caring place, that points to the dystopic nature of the place. The impression is created with great efficiency not only by intense contrasts, but also by using the classic codes for a dystopic society: the solarpunk tones can be found in other stories such as the video game Mirror's Edge (classic case of solarpunk hiding a dystopia), and of course the darker cyberpunk aspects are a staple of the Dystopic Futuristic Society, that goes as far back as the first Bladerunner movie at least, and that can also be found in movies, series and games such as the Ghost in the Shell movies/series and the Cyberpunk TTRPG/video game (which pretty much gave its name to the genre) - I'd even argue we could go further back in time for the references with classics such as Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. It matches with the atmosphere of the Spiderman 2099 as well, which is set exactly in that type of darker, cyberpunk dystopia.

I argue that there's something coldly methodical in Miguel's design and, by extension, Nueva York 2099's design as well. And it is delightfully balanced through an initial positive introduction of both, before being broken down for a darker turn later on during the movie, as it matches Miles' own amazement-turned-disappointment throughout the sequences in Nueva York when his initial desire to belong somewhere is brutally turned on its head by the very persons who could have given him that sense of belonging he was seeking.

Interestingly, even the soundscape for Miguel, "Spiderman 2099" and "Lab 2099", expresses the underlying coldness of Nueva York 2099 and Miguel's own scientific, methodical approach to problems. As explained by Youtuber Azcona in his Miguel O'Hara Suite playlist:

"I'd argue that it has the same tonal resonance that the Prowler theme in the first movie had, though is less villainous and dreadful as that theme. Miguel's theme is a five note synth line that sounds akin to an alarm or siren. It's blaringly loud, but is also used for more calm dialogue scenes in an effective way. The words that come to mind when describing the musical soundscape of Miguel O'Hara is "methodical", because no matter how loud or abrasive his theme gets it has an underlying feeling of coldness and efficiency. This is further shown through a repetitive synth ostinato that plods and chugs during a lot of his scenes/scenes involving the multiverse at large. It's reminiscent of Blade Runner in tone and it's mechanical nature, and I think it suits someone as jaded and distant as Miguel. Not only is his theme alarming and efficient, but also efficient in it's cold, electronic soundscape and melodies."

And this very methodical, cold tone is itself used during the infamous Train Chase and Miguel's on-screen mental breakdown... But more on that in the next part!

[kimberlyannharts]

Ranger Academy: The First Arc

So! Ranger Academy has given us four issues, and as we're getting a break next month, these four issues are clearly meant to be seen as the first arc or chapter of the story. While I didn't really expect to give this series most of my attention, apparently I do have a lot to say about it, so let's discuss these four issues and my thoughts on the series so far.

Ranger Academy's kind of in a weird place, at least from my experience. As far as I'm aware, there's really not much discussion or hype for it in the fandom? Which, in some way, makes sense - the series is completely disconnected from the main series and from the beginning was stated to be skewed more towards younger readers; almost as an introduction to Power Rangers as a whole. And it does that job well......for the most part.

Before I get to the writing though, I just want to take a minute to highlight the art, since I don't talk about it enough in my recaps/other discussions. It's great! Drawn by Jo Mi-Gyeong and colored by Fabiana Mascolo, the art for the PR comics in general continues to be a high point. Every character, even the background teachers, have a distinct memorable design with a lot of personality in their poses and gestures, and the numerous settings we've already gotten - Sage's moon home, Ranger Academy's different campuses, the planet Chromia - all look fantastic. My only nitpicks would be I wish we got more non-humanoid cadets, and sometimes the way faces are drawn in profile look a little odd - especially when they have their mouths open - but those are nitpicks.

When it comes to the writing, things get a little trickier. For the most part, I think the story is good. The basic premise to all this in case you're new: a young girl named Sage lives on a remote moon with only her adopted father Rhianth and a herd of weird goat-like creatures. One day two cadets from the titular Ranger Academy, Mathis and Tula, crash-land on the moon and tell her about the Academy. Sick of living alone under her father's rules and wanting adventure, Sage stows along with them on their return journey and becomes an official student. So now instead of herding goats, she's making new friends, discovering secrets of the Academy, how her father connects to all this, and becoming a Power Ranger.

As I said, I think this is a solid premise for Boom's first ever completely original Power Rangers book (I count Power Rangers Universe as a sort of test-run for original stories, but that was still pretty connected to the main series and using established canon concepts.) The mysteries they've introduced, such as the lost Green campus, the implication that certain Ranger colors were purposefully erased from history, Rhianth's past, and Tula's interest in these secrets, all help build on the somewhat basic premise and are slowly giving the book its own identity. Sage herself is a very likable and relatable protagonist; a kid wanting more out of her lonely, isolated life so she takes the first opportunity she can to escape, but is now realizing that it's not going to be some fun adventure. The supporting cast is a little underdeveloped, but everyone's perfectly likable and I'm interested in seeing how they grow. I think for me there are two main problems that drag the book down: the setting itself being underdeveloped and the Ranger alumni cameos.

Ranger Academy itself? Meh

A criticism that immediately came out following the book's release, that I agree with for the most part, is the book pretty much follows the structure of a "magic school" story to a T. A "normal" kid who wants more out of life gets thrust into this new world by some kind of outside force. The school has a category system where kids get put into select campuses based on personality or skills. The main character doesn't fit in with everyone else until they find some friends to take care of them. There are secrets about the school that are being kept from the students, and secrets of the main character's family being hidden from them. Also, there's a bully.

During my first read of the issues, I agreed that this was a detriment to the book, but now rereading it again, I think the problem is less that the book follows these tropes and more that it speeds through these tropes REALLY QUICKLY. You can tell they want to move things along to the good stuff where Sage morphs, and I understand why - this is a Power Rangers book, and people want to see Power Rangers. But at the same time, you really don't get much of a chance to get to know the school outside of its basic layout of its campuses and that the headmaster is literally a giant floating head. You don't learn any of the non-cameo teachers' names, outside of the librarian, and that's mostly because he was part of Rhianth's old friend group. You see some of the classes Sage has to take, but there's no discussion on if each color campus focuses on a particular subject. We establish that first years are on a rotation schedule of attending classes in a different color campus each day, but what's the difference between classes in the Blue Campus and classes in the Pink?

Now this might seem trivial, and it kind of is. It does help the reader feel Sage's overwhelming new situation by not giving her, and therefore the reader, the full picture. And there's nothing saying that these concepts won't get developed down the road. Sage has three and a half years left of school, after all, assuming the book continues long enough to cover that length of time. But when it comes to these kinds of stories, the school's operation is a huge part of the charm - what makes THIS magic school stand out against all the others on the YA shelf? You basically have to turn the school itself into a character. Hogwarts is so iconic because that series does this perfectly. Ranger Academy simply doesn't have that yet - it still just feels like a generic school, really an army training camp more than anything due to the hostage negotiation and survival classes she takes, with nothing to make it stand out except for the promise that we'll get to actual Power Rangers stuff soon.

Oh, and.....the cameos.

The Cameos

So.....yeah. This is a big one for me. I think there's time for the series to fix my issue of the school itself feeling underdeveloped, but it's already too late for the cameos

Back when Ranger Academy was first being advertised, they were quick to show off that the book could cameo any ranger at any point in the franchise - the book itself accomplishes this through the Rangers using tubes as a sort of interplanetary, interdimensional Zoom........or just kind of.....showing up, as is the case with Cruger, Yale, and Katie. (I don't really know what constitutes a cameo physically being there as opposed to a tube hologram. It's another thing the book hasn't explained the rules for yet.) And for the most part, this is a fine idea. It makes sense, and fun for the simple novelty of "look!! it's my blorbo!!!" that no one is immune to.

But they get more and more out of place as the story of Ranger Academy starts to pick up.

Like I said before, the book is starting to hint that the school only having five colors isn't COMPLETELY MMPR pandering - the school is, indeed, intentionally erasing certain Ranger colors from their students' awareness. As someone who would love for the big twist to be this school and its system is inherently corrupt, this is a good start.

HOWEVER. In order to make this work, you have to assume that a) the Ranger histories that the students learn about just don't mention ANY rangers that aren't red, blue, black, pink, or yellow and b) the Ranger alumni who teach there don't mention them either. And that's just too much for me to believe, I'm sorry. For some colors like orange and white, maybe, but gold? Silver? GREEN???????? There are too many of those guys to believe they can get covered up. And I really don't see the ranger alumni being okay with erasing their teammates from history. Green is the third-highest ranking at SPD. Hello? SPD? I think these guys would have heard of SPD? Since Cruger teaches there? (And if not at school then certainly once they're out and traveling the galaxy.)

I've mentioned before that the cameos are starting to feel more like a higher-up mandate than something the author chose to do, and that'll only be supported by a lack of explanation as to how this works with the narrative they're weaving AND if none of the cameo rangers actually.......play a real part in all this. Not that I want the canon characters to overshadow the new characters, but it would feel like kind of a letdown to have access to ALL of these characters and not give them anything to do besides generic exposition (there's really nothing specific to their characters in.....ANY of the cameos' dialogue, besides the five hundredth "uh, is that a CAT???????" joke with Yale.) or not take the chance to develop some of them by, say, assigning them a mentorship role to a specific student. I LOVE seeing Katie, after BOOM kind of ignores her in favor of Jen, but is all she going to amount to is being their bus driver? I didn't even realize it was her until people pointed out that they called her Professor Walker. Nothing about her suggested that she was Katie. So I worry about the aforementioned "it's my blorbo" novelty to wear out pretty fast if the cameos start to feel more and more like just fanservice for people to post about online.

But overall.....it's fine. I'm going to keep reading, and we'll see where this goes. I don't think everyone will like this - as seen by how I barely see anyone talking about it lol. But I'm cautiously optimistic now that we're getting into the meat of things with Sage's new, FORBIDDEN!!!!!!!!! color.

(Just don't bring in Dark Specter oh god please)

Misc Thoughts:

= For all the build-up that the First Trial would be this HORRIBLE LIFE-THREATENING OH GOD HELP ME event, it was actually pretty...lowkey. They literally had no trouble until someone broke their ankle, which....could happen anywhere, at any time. Fern did that, you ain't special. We didn't even see any of those cool monsters they kept bringing up

= So after all my confusion about when and where this series is set, going back in my reread helped me notice that there IS a clue towards setting in a scene where Sage is going through yearbooks: a shelf labeled "Class of [X]498" (the first number is obscured by one of Sage's narration boxes.) So it's.....tentatively set in the far future of the PR universe?

= I've said it before that I don't blame the author for apparently not knowing that previously the books established Xybrians like Kartyr follow a name pattern of a one-syllable word (Trip, Star, Ace, Trek, etc) but it is a little funny to imagine the possibilities. Jerk, Dick, Twerp

= I think a joke could have been done with Cruger, a dog, and Yale, a cat, being in the same room together

= I hate that the Academy was founded by Zordon. It's too low-hanging fruit for me. I'll say it again that I wish it could have just been founded by some OC team

= #Lindy4Orange2024 and FUCK the Bandorian Monks!

[nikeiyomiurioverthinker]

I absolutely love your AU where Nikei and Tsurugi become friends post SDRA2, they are such disasters. Do you think that had they figured out their shared goals of looking for Yuki/Utsuro before SDRA2 that Nikei could’ve defected from void in an attempt to ruin Mikado’s plan? Tsurugi was willing to work with Syobai so I could see him working with Nikei too.

And what would he be like facing Emma, Hajime, and Iroha after betraying them?

I love them too, they are my favourite little fucked up guys.

Now, on Tsurugi's end, I do not believe that he'd have any problems working with Nikei at all, actually- the CoU was never a criminal organization as far as we are aware, we don't know if Nikei has a criminal background but that is extremely doubtful, and in an hypothetical where Nikei immediately went to him to become a traitor of Void, Tsurugi would have accepted him with open arms, pretty much. As you said, he was willing to work with Syobai because he was useful- Nikei is not only more useful in this context (since he is trusted by most of Void), but he doesn't come with NEARLY as much problematic past actions.

And let's be honest- working with the Kisaragi Foundation would have been the easiest option for Nikei. If all Nikei truly cared about was ruining Mikado's plan, he could have worked with Tsurugi to plan a stake out and get Iroha, Hajime and Emma (and Syobai, probably) captured by the Foundation and thrown in prison for ya know. Kidnapping and all that stuff. It'd be actually insanely easy for Nikei to have done that- it would be the most efficient way to ruin Mikado's plan and make it effectively impossible for him to recreate it again, since he'd have run out of lucky pawns on his chessboard.

Thing is... Nikei just would never do it. He came up with an honestly absurd plan that was needlessly complicated and insanely expensive to pull off (I kinda headcanon that Nikei had to sell literally everything, his house included, to pay Syobai. Bro really gave all his earthly possessions to the old man), but the one positive of it is that the rest of the CoU is largely unaffected by it. Sure, in the game he states that he was okay with dying in the case that they got the vote wrong and that would mean he would be okay with killing Emma, Iroha and Hajime off, but 1. His mentality in chapter 4 is very different from the one he would have before the game, and 2. In the case his plan worked, he literally would already know who did it, so of course he would lead the class trial to the correct solution.

(As an aside, the reason why Nikei would actively try to shoot everyone, Iroha included, in the chapter 4 post trial is that he is literally desperate and, at that point, he does not care for Iroha anymore- Emma and Hajime are already dead, Iroha has demonstrated that she does not care for him and has no intention to be on his side, his plan clearly failed and he has no opportunity to pull a plan like that again- all he has to attach himself onto so he doesn't implode is his hatred for Mikado. Early game Nikei would not have considered shooting Iroha.)

This plan makes sure that, ultimately, the rest of the CoU doesn't have to face any consequences- Nikei probably will, because there was no way that Mikado wasn't going to take his revenge on Nikei, but as long as the others were okay, Nikei was willing to be executed. Working with Tsurugi would ultimately mean that he would have to hurt them- throwing them in prison and being forced to face whatever crimes 'planning a killing game' entails. And since he doesn't know yet that Mikado is planning to kill them all, this is the choice that actively harms them the most.

And as much as Nikei loathes Mikado, his care for Emma, Hajime and Iroha outweighs it. Every. Single. Time. So he simply wouldn't work with the Foundation with the knowledge he would have at the beginning of the game.

For him to consider it, he would have to know more about Mikado's plan- for example, if he knew that the shitty wizard wanted to kill them all, he would be significantly more willing to work with Tsurugi since it's the option that doesn't end up with them dead. Even that, it would only happen in the case that straight up confronting the gang (slowly running out of ways to call them) with the information wouldn't convince them to jump ship immediately. Choosing to put them all in harm's way is gonna be EXTREMELY hard on Nikei, but he is willing to do it if the other option is worse.

As for how he would be after betraying them... honestly, I just don't see it lasting long? Sure, he would have gotten them thrown in prison, but it wouldn't take him long at all to try and break them all out (which would succeed since. Luck and all). It's all very funny, actually.

"Nikei what the actual FUCK you got us incarcerated!?!?!?"

"And I will do it again, now shut the fuck up and follow me."

All in all, I just can't see him fully betraying them in ways that would harm them in the long run. The only reason Nikei even agreed to working with Tsurugi in my au is that he still has that chapter 4 character derailment thing going on (unhealthy way of dealing with his grief causing him to become more hateful and spiteful), Iroha betrayed him not once, but TWICE, and then she abandoned him in prison while she escaped with Syobai (technically a third betrayal). You'd have to do something absolutely terrible to him for him to consider betraying you.

[heinzpilsner]

Okay, I'm back, and this is another part of 'Overanalyzing beach Maiko' series! ... Which means we'll try and focus on overanalyzing beach Maiko goddamit as opposed to all the other tempting beach psychological stuff. Yay.

Anyway, today we're going to find out who of the pair actually screwed up the most. Isn't it exciting?

(Spoiler: the answer can be a bit unexpected.)

So, in the last part, Mai broke up with Zuko, and now they're about to meet again in the company of Azula and Ty Lee after... some time (somewhat between twenty minutes and a couple of hours, really).

The pair had an opportunity to calm down and reflect on what happened (and in Mai's case, probably to hear the other girls' opinions), so I'm sure they are different people now!

They both have analyzed their wrong attitudes and relationship mistakes, and now they are wiser, and stronger, and fre...

Zuko: "Where is your new boyfriend?"

Zuko: "My life hasn't been that easy either, Mai." Mai: "Whatever!"

...Nevermind.

But let's not get ahead of events here.

The scene begins with the royal siblings approaching the girls. Zuko walks past Mai with sad expression on his face while she is glaring at his back. Then she looks away with resentment. But then...

Mai: "Hey."

Well, it was very... minimalistic. But it's good to know that Mai reevaluated at least some things here!

...Which ones exactly is an important question though. What if among them was the belief that nice butt is not a reason enough to stay with a guy who can innocently ask you one evening whether you prayed tonight or not?

Okay, okay, I know.

This butt joke was not very minimalistic.

Seriously though, if we leave alone the fact that Zuko is not exactly in the best state for romancing anyone due to him being a cringe-worthy disaster his major inner crisis...

And the fact that Mai clearly should try and find for herself some sources of endorphins which wouldn't depend on how far from a mental breakdown or a high treason her trainwreck of a prince currently is...

And the fact that this whole relationship wasn't such a great idea from the point of compatibility in the first place...

Who of the pair should've made a first move towards reconciliation in the perfect scenario?

Yep, that's a really important question here

I mean, at first it seemed obvious to me that it must be Zuko - since he was acting like an idiot and screwed up the loudest, but...

When I actually tried to analyze the situation through this paradigm, something in the picture didn't really add up. This pesky elusive something kept breaking the general logic, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it for quite some time, you know.

But I think I finally managed to figure out what it was about.

Mai's reluctant little "hey" is the key here, actually.

(It will be a long way, but I hope it will worth it)

Let's look at the totality of facts:

For the whole day, Mai's behavior indicated she doesn't value Zuko all that much.

On this background, he showed her all his ugly sides and gave her not just one, but several good reasons for a break-up.

Just now, he walked past her without stopping to apologize for his words or behavior.

She is clearly still angry at him.

And after all this, Mai, an egocentrical girl with perhaps a bit too much pride, still initiates contact with Zuko.

Doesn't it seem at least a little bit weird to you? It sure does to me.

And, in my opinion, it most likely means one thing...

It was really freaking cold on that beach at night.

... Okay, okay, sorry.

Azula was also a firebender, bad hypothesis.

It means that as soon as Mai got the opportunity to look at her life without Zuko, she suddenly felt that she needs him much more than she thought previously. Like, much more. So much, in fact, that even her pride, resentment and common sense couldn't really beat it.

And yet, she was treating him like a gum that stuck to her shoe. She wasn't grateful for that he gave her nearly enough and took his affection for granted.

So, you wanna know how badly Mai screwed up exactly?

Take the intensity of all cringe-worthy shit Zuko demonstrated today, add to it a little 'hey' multiplied by Mai's pride - and that will be your answer.

Math is so fun.

I always was bad at it though.

I doubt though that Mai herself realized even half of it - otherwise she wouldn't look that angry. I suspect it was mostly her need in itself that made her forget how to be "smart and proud" for once and make a first move.

Except that she probably rationalized it as "Since I'm feeling very generous tonight, I'll give this idiot another chance."

And she is still hoping for Zuko's apologies, so she could graciously forgive him and accept him back.

...Pfffft.

Good luck with this one.

Even though Zuko chilled out quite a bit since the party, until he sees the central belief on which his whole course of actions was based as misconception, he can't apologize for his behavior.

Well, technically he can, but...

"Hello, Mai, Zuko's here. Of course, you treated me like dirt and tried to freaking cheat on me on top after I fed you all the stuff you wanted and almost broke my brain by trying to find at least something about your negativistic ass to compliment... but I a little bit overreacted here. Calling you a big blah was a bit too much, I guess. You're only a small blah. So, yep. It's all I wanted to say. Take care here."

The thing is, Mai didn't really make it clear that she's loyal to Zuko when he doubted it. She only yelled at him for "blowing up over every little thing" without addressing the topic of jealousy directly, and then everything just gone to shit.

And as far as Zuko's knowledge goes, Mai could call her cheating "a little thing". So how exactly he's supposed to understand his mistake if Mai refuses to talk to him properly?

"He could simply use his brain", I can hear someone thinking loudly. Well, it doesn't really seem to be an option at the moment, does it?

You can thank the writer for this.

Mai here is smart though, and smart girls don't explain themselves to their stupid boyfriends even when it actively harms their relationship, apparently.

Fortunately for Mai though, this stupid boy is also lonely as heck. And despite Zuko's "Where is your new boyfriend?" line (which indicates he still resents Mai for her "infidelity" and probably has been imagining in all vivid details how she and Ruon-Jian feed each other fruit tarts since he left the party), he all but runs to her in response to a slightest hint he is still wanted.

Damn, I clearly need to think of some new Mai-related stuff to crack bad jokes about, don't I?

Zuko: "Are you cold?"

So... You're a good caring boy here, Zuko, there's no question about it. But... goddamit.

Is it physically possible to be more love-starved? You could take a leaf out of Mai's book about how to be proud, you know.

I mean, the hell are you doing getting all cozy with her? She just broke up with you! Oficially! After she supposedly tried to cheat on you! Yes, you were an idiot for believing so, but you don't know it yet (otherwise you'd be ashamed of your previous stupidity and wouldn't accuse her again like this).

Even if your reaction was... unnecessary scandalous that's one way to put it, cheating attempt is still a serious transgression (just like breaking up with a partner is a serious act). You can forgive her if you like, but you can't just 'are you cold' it off! You're supposed to talk about it, goddamit!

Perhaps if Zuko just waited a little bit longer instead of moving towards her, Mai would actually overcome her pride and explain the situation to him.

But when his relationship needed it most, Zuko's self-respect vanished. Again.

And now Mai knows that she can whistle at any moment and he'll run to her no matter what (not as fast as she'd prefer, admittedly, but they can work on it). Yep, that's exactly the message you need to give a girl who supposedly looks at other guys and believes it's okay to use you as a free service.

(No.)

How do you think you ended up in such a situation with her in the first place, boy? Give this girl an inch and she'll take a mile!

Ugh, whatever. I guess it doesn't make much sense to expect such an awareness from a lonely 16-year-old in his first relationship.

Naturally, getting in response to her huge gracious 'hey' just a pathetic show of care and forgiveness (as opposed to expected tearful repentance), Mai pushes Zuko away again, and thus concludes this segment of beach Maiko interactions. Yay.

The next dialogue of the pair centers around Mai's personality and demeanor, so I guess this is what we'll talk about next time. And... Mai fans, I warn you: it's not gonna be pleasant~ (when it ever was with me though, lol?)

Thanks for your attention!

(By the way, all you've just read could be  total bullshit, because the topic is quite complex and that in fact was my third attempt to analyze the situation, muhahaha! Take it or leave it.)

I ignore all notifications.

P. S.: I just realized something. Why it's zutara but Maiko for me? It's kinda contr-intuitive given my preferences, I suppose.  But I just feel like this. Maybe it's about difference between something familiar and alien. I'm not gonna change anything anyway - it would be too stressful for my autistic brain right now, lol.

R.I.P., Akira Toriyama.

[c0rpseductor]

i think of all the things that stick in my craw about lore olympus the Most one is the stupid fucking way it handles virginity and the gorgeously “I GOT A CALLOUT POST” backpedal throwaway bit it adds in later. truly it’s so….

like. for personal background i read the first leg of LO in i think 2020? i didn’t have nearly as discerning of taste as i do in 2024, and on top of that i was dealing with a lot of like, trauma memories coming back about sexual assault. i really wanted something nice and brainless to take my attention off my horrible life and decided to read LO. the arc about assault did not deter me because i thought there would be some kind of cathartic payoff. i promise all this is relevant.

anyway, one of the big stupid plot points in the first leg of the comic was like, persephone wouldn’t tell anybody she’d been assaulted by apollo (for obvious reasons), but eros finds out she’s not a virgin anymore through his metaphysical Virginity Sensing Powers and is like Hey what about your eternal maiden scholarship you can only get if you’re a virgin forever??? and she’s like ummm haha! and it’s all kind of mind bendingly offensive. my personal state is kind of relevant bc at the TIME this did not register to me, since it was already how i thought about myself. i just kind of accepted the idea that virginity could be a metaphysical observable status that could be taken away and that you could be punished for not having, so i was like, “yeah this reflects my experience” <- unhealthy

eventually a long time later, i think once the comic started up again after a hiatus, i went to catch up and decided to reread it from the beginning. and because i had gotten further in recovery THEN i was like Wait a minute….this is kind of an insanely horrific thing to reify…..and then of course the whole rest of everything else fell apart. like pulling on that one thread when I wasn’t in such a state of self loathing and duress made me see that the whole comic was actually godawful, and not even good for brainless entertainment OR catharsis the way i’d hoped when i was at rock bottom.

what REALLY makes me hate it is the backtracking. later on persephone has been in therapy for a while (YES. LOL.) and mentions to hades like “Actually um i don’t HAVE to not consider myself a virgin bc my therapist (FUCKING LOL!!!!) explained that it’s just a construct and assault doesn’t count anyway.” which is better but still doesn’t really scratch the surface and also doesn’t matter anyway because

HOW. DOES THAT EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE WITH THE FACT THAT ANOTHER CHARACTER COULD FIGURE OUT WHETHER OR NOT SHE WAS A VIRGIN LIKE IT WAS A FUCKING BLOOD TEST????? it was so stupid it was the most blatant ass-covering i’d ever seen it made me want to tear rachel smythe to bits with my teeth

it’s not that i think it’s inappropriate for a survivor of rape in fiction to not consider themselves a virgin and then change their mind later, or to not consider themselves a virgin EVER and be critical of the idea of virginity and the expectations placed in the categories of Virgin and Not Virgin to begin with (this is where i’m at irl). it’s that the author clearly did not have such a criticism of virginity in mind to begin with and seemed to have no problem with the idea that loss of virginity is an ontological change to your physical and metaphysical being that can be done due to assault. That’s like. insane? it’s horrible. and she just tried to cover her ass about it with like one throwaway line rather than give any of that incredibly thorny topic justice (not that i want to see her try! but you know). absolute worst thing I could’ve picked to stare at for cheap fluffies during The Childhood Rape Trauma Spiral Of 2020-2021

[jenosbigtoe]

i didn’t realise readers get into the nitty gritty abt y/n background story when reading smut. i just blur it out if it doesn’t fit me personally. like aren’t we all reading smut… for the same reasons…all i want is amazingly written smut. which you do by the way. like it’s fictional works, and usually writers state the dynamics/tropes in the beginning of their works… so like if it doesn’t fit what you want to read… find something else. I thought the haechan twin trope was genius since he is a gemini, and clearly you went that route to show how close they are as siblings. like it’s cool you’re wanting to be more inclusive to fellow poc but i understand it’s so hard to ask of that of one person to cater works to every demographic. thanks for the amazing works ☺️

tbf, brother’s best friend is a suuuupppeerr popular trope and it’s one of those ones where you have to put some imagination 😭 like it’s not even just non-korean poc that can’t be siblings with the neos, it’s straight up just non koreans in general 😭😭😭 including white people and south or southeast asians alongside the black and brown communities. i’m asian myself so it’s easier to just imagine but for other people, i understand it doesn’t make as much sense.

you do bring up some good points and it is pretty difficult to cater to every demographic. i’m not perfect but i will try my best to make sure my readers don’t feel left out.

thank you for this message and for your support 😭💗 i write and publish my work on here because of readers like you 🫶

[bellamyroselia]

Kid Icarus & Aphrodite-problem

Well, I guess after Ares and Apollo this was kinda meant to happen eventually. There’s a lot to say about Aphrodite… Or truth to be told, there’s a lot to say about how Kid Icarus seems to have written itself into a corner when it comes to her. I’ve already joked about how Aphrodite isn’t allowed to have things in this franchise despite the fact that she hasn’t even been introduced yet, and that’s the issue. Taking things away from Aphrodite is a risky game, because she’s probably the Olympian who indirectly has had the biggest influence over the Western civilization as a whole. You can’t really act like she doesn’t exist and compositing her with another figure is near impossible… So what to do here? 

Compared to the two previous parts, this one went into a much more unexpected direction so discussion is now more encouraged than ever.

Going quickly over Aphrodite’s historical background, her name doesn’t exist in Mycenaean Linear B scripts - what this means is that just like Apollo and Hades, she wasn’t worshiped in Mycenaean Greece but instead came to be during the Dark Ages. As for where she came from, it’s widely accepted that her character was influenced by Phoenician Astarte and Mesopotamian Inanna, both of whom are goddesses associated with not just love, beauty and sexuality but also war… So yeah, come in peace Aphrodite did not. Her oldest points of worship as Aphrodite we recognize can be found on Cythera and Cyprus, and in both of these places she was worshiped under epithet Areia (Warlike). So Aphrodite in her oldest recognizable form was still a goddess of beauty and love but also a war goddess - in case you ever wondered why she and Ares were an item in the mythos, this is it, it’s all about the local war god meeting the import war goddess. But as you may have expected the idea of a goddess of love and beauty also being a goddess of war was seen as scandalous in most city states, and therefore her connections to war were mostly erased, Iliad even having a scene where it’s told that she doesn’t belong to the battlefield. But despite the erasure of her more warlike qualities, that did nothing to slow her down since she still manages to be quite conflict-happy in the mythos and she’s not afraid to go big with it. She’s definitely a goddess whose good side you wish to be on because just like being loved by Apollo gives you huge death flags, being hated by Aphrodite will always make you suffer in one way or another. And how much people tried to avoid being hated by her indeed - she was one of the most beloved Olympians, playing second fiddle only to Zeus. So yeah, Palutena’s in-game popularity is built on a lie!

Aphrodite’s influence in the mythos can’t be underestimated. She of course has at least five children with Ares, these being the twins Phobos and Deimos, the goddess of harmony Harmonia and the most important ones regarding Kid Icarus, Eros and Anteros - Pit being quite clearly an Eros-expy and Dark Pit could qualify as a darker take on Anteros, who’s already a bit more edgier than his brother, being the avenger of unrequited love. This is however just small potatoes compared to all the other myths Aphrodite has featured in; to begin, she’s actually the main reason why the constellation Pisces even exists. The most common tale says that once Typhon attacked she jumped into a river and was brought to safety by two fish, alternative story says that after she was born from the seafoam she was brought to shore by two fish (more often portrayed as ichthyocentaurs in art). She was the one who gave Galatea life on Pygmalion’s wishes and later on would end up falling for their great-grandson, for their daughter was Adonis’ grandmother. On Hera’s wishes Aphrodite made Medea fall for Jason, on Poseidon’s wishes she made Pasiphaë fall for the Cretan bull, she gave Hippomenes the golden apples to distract Atalanta during their race and she did end up causing the whole mess that led into Theseus ordering a hit on Hippolytus. Aphrodite was also the one behind Eos’ lust, as she cursed her to desire a new man every day because she didn’t want to share Ares with other goddesses. She similarly cursed Helios to forget everyone he ever loved romantically and then made him fall in love with princess Leucothoe because he had ratted her and Ares out (long myth short, sad ex desperately wanted to get back with Helios and that’s how we got heliotropes). And to round this up quickly, Aphrodite was the one who gave Pandora her beautiful looks (it was Hermes who made her a bitch), she cursed Orpheus to die terrible death (she and Persephone were having an argument on who gets to keep Adonis, Zeus asked help from Orpheus’ mother Calliope regarding it and Aphrodite saw that as an personal attack) and she along with Hera and Athena was dead-set on getting the apple of discord, which would start the chain reaction that leds into the Trojan war. She also famously wasn’t into Hephaestus, but she wasn’t into Apollo, Zeus or Hermes either so one could argue that good looks and power can only get you so far when it comes to her. 

Into more important matters, Aphrodite is the mother of Aeneas, one of the last demigods. He’s first seen in the Iliad as a minor character and his origins are told in the first Homeric hymn to Aphrodite, but his influence would only end up growing as the years went by and not just in literature - you see, gens Julia believed that they descended from Aeneas. Long history lesson short, gens Julia was quite influential in the Roman society as this is the patrician family line the likes of Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero belonged to, without them the world would be much different. Aeneas was also the main character of Virgil’s epic Aeneid, and it’s pretty much the only reason why most of us even care of the name Virgil nowadays. Aeneid’s meaning to Western literature can’t be ignored as one can easily name a work influenced by it, and if you think you can’t you’re a filthy liar - Historia Regum Britanniae makes the first royal house of Britain (the one likes of Blaiddyd, Lear, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia belong to) descendants of Aeneas and Dante Alighieri chose Virgil to appear in Divine Comedy as his guide precisely because he had written Aeneid (Aeneas also appears in Limbo, whereas the likes of Achilles and Odysseus are in much more unpleasant circles, Achilles honestly deserving worse than what he actually got). Other works such as Faerie Queene, Paradise Lost and Os Lusíadas have also been influenced by Aeneid, and that’s only the surface. Through Aeneas Aphrodite holds Western culture in chokehold, for all of this exists only because she thought Achises was hot. It’s pretty weird to think that something like Shakespeare’s King Lear or Devil May Cry exists thanks to her, that truly puts things into a whole new perspective. And you probably thought I was joking about Aphrodite’s influence over Western civilization! All roads may not lead to Rome, but surprisingly many of them lead to Aeneas and therefore to Aphrodite.

As for what’s probably the most important Aphrodite-myth considering Eros, it’s of course the tale of Eros and Psyche. It begins in a city where people had declared that local princess Psyche was as if not more beautiful than the goddess, so they abandoned Aphrodite in favor of worshiping the princess. Aphrodite was obviously angered by this, so she ordered Eros to make Psyche fall in love with something hideous as a way to humble her down. He agreed to do the deed, but once he saw Psyche he couldn’t help but fall for the princess himself - for once in his life he decided to defy his mother’s wishes and crafted a plan on what to do next, even getting the god of west wind Zephyrus on board to help him.

In the meanwhile Psyche was quite miserable, as everyone was treating her more like an object rather than a person. This didn’t go unnoticed by her parents, so they went to console oracle of Apollo for help. Considering how Apollo’s a quite petty man, the oracle told that they should abandon all hope and leave Psyche on a mountain, as she would be marrying someone feared by not only Zeus but also every other deity. Psyche and her parents were obviously horrified by this, but they did as the oracle told and she was left on the pointed cliffside. Later on Zephyrus picked her up and brought her to a beautiful palace, where a disembodied voice told her it was all hers and that she would be provided by many invisible servants while living in there. At first she was nervous to meet her husband, but after the first meeting she started looking forward to their nights together. This continued for quite some time, our main couple grew even happier together but in the meanwhile Psyche’s family was getting more depressed over her fate and she was starting to worry about them in return. Eros promised that her sisters can come to visit her, with a condition that she wouldn’t listen them if they sounded jealous and Psyche agreed. Zephyrus then brought the sisters to the palace once day came, but as expected the sisters started to get jealous really quickly and made Psyche worry if the oracle’s words about her husband being a monster were indeed true - what finally broke the camel’s back was them suggesting that he was planning to kill her and their unborn child. So when the night arrived, she had prepared herself to see if her husband really was a monster, only to be pleasantly surprised when she found Eros in her bed. But while admiring him some oil from the lamp she was holding spilled on Eros, causing him to wake up and leave. Earlier in the story Psyche had said that she’d much rather die than throw this marriage away and she was willing to live by that statement, so she goes to search Eros and atonement - in the meanwhile Aphrodite was behaving like a spoiled brat and made the whole deal about herself and how much suffering it had brought to her. She kept calling her son a horrible child for daring to defy her, refused to refer herself as his mother, said he was a good-for-nothing, loathsome seducer and threatened to replace him as he clearly wasn’t trustworthy anymore. Yikes!

In the meanwhile Psyche had wandered around to find some trace of husband, and she eventually found her way into Aphrodite’s temple. After beating Psyche for a while and having a good laugh over it, Aphrodite then locked her in a room, dumbed different kinds of grains on the ground and said that she should sort them by night if she ever wanted to see Eros again. Sometimes prompted by him, ants nearby take pity on Psyche and helped her - predictably Aphrodite wasn’t all too happy about this, so she came up with a much more deadlier task. The goddess brought Psyche to a grove and told her that she should gather some golden fleece from the aggressive sheep living in the grove. This disheartened her as she knew gathering fleece directly was a suicide mission, but she was consulted by local river deity who told her how the sheep behave and that instead of approaching them she should just collect fleece caught on foliage.  Psyche did as was told and Aphrodite naturally became even more enraged, telling her to go gather water from river Styx. While Psyche found her way to Styx without much hassle, she was overwhelmed by the hopelessness of the situation - luckily for her everyone had come to the conclusion that Aphrodite was being horrible and Zeus sent one of his eagles to help Psyche to get the water.

At this point Aphrodite’s patience was running thin so she gave Psyche a box and told her to go into the Underworld, get some of Persephone’s beauty and come back with it because this whole deal of torturing her little daughter-in-law had been so hard for her and she had to look good while going to the divine theatre. After being consulted by a tower on how to actually get into Underworld without dying, Psyche did as was told and and it didn’t take long for her to be greeted by Persephone. She ignored the banquet the goddess had set up for her, told Persephone why she was visiting her and she agreed to help Psyche without a hassle - but after returning into the mortal world, Psyche’s curiosity took the better of her and she wanted to see that beauty herself. It turned out it wasn’t beauty at all but rather Stygian sleep, and it Psyche caused to drop down a like a rock.Thankfully for her Eros finally managed to escape his imprisonment at this point and he flew straight to his wife, drew the sleep back into the box and gently pricked her with an arrow to wake her up. The two had a heartfelt reunion and Eros then brought Psyche to Olympus, asking Zeus if they could now get properly married. Everyone agreed, Zeus told Aphrodite to stfu and they gave Psyche ambrosia, making her the goddess of soul. The two had a glorious wedding as equals and some time later Psyche gave birth to their daughter, either named Hedone or Volupta, the goddess of pleasure, joy and delight - because only with both a heart and a soul, can any of those feelings exist.

Now with all that out of the way, I think you can see what I meant when I titled this post as Aphrodite-problem. She’s literally too important to be ignored, be it when it comes to history, the myths in general, the role she plays in Eros’ life and even in-game references as minimal as they may be (after all, Pisces Heal has to come from somewhere). But despite all of that it’s almost like Kid Icarus wants us to believe that she doesn’t exist, but all that does is launch even more questions. Would she end up upstaging everyone else if she was around? It’s a possibility, and I guess it could also draw a lot of unwanted attention things such as why Palutena would even have angels - Aphrodite having the Erotes around is justified since she’s their mother, Athena in the other hand has no such justification. I think it could be possible that Palutena may have been intended to be in fact more of a composition of Athena and Aphrodite rather than just simply being less problematic Athena; that could explain some things, like why she has angels. Aphrodite is also actually associated with mirrors unlike Athena, mirror not only being one of her symbols but the astronomical symbol of Venus and the female gender symbol in fact is her hand mirror. However it only really makes sense from a marketing standpoint, since Athena and Aphrodite are two deities you really just can’t composite. While I can understand the basic “This is primarily for children so there can’t be anything too sexy here” reason combined with the thought of mother using her children as free labor being scummy with the added misconception of Athena being more ””pure”” when compared to other Olympians for going with more Athena-based character, all it does is create a character with an internal consistency of a flipflop.

What are things Athena and Aphrodite have in common? They’re both Olympian goddesses, neither of them are into Hephaestus, they both wanted the apple of discord, have a kill count and were worshiped under epithet Areia, that’s about it. Pretty much everything else about them is contradictory, the most obvious thing being how Athena is one of the three virgin goddesses while Aphrodite is unapologetically sexual, with all the quirks it brings to one’s life added to the top like parenthood. Their relationships with other deities and people are wildly different, and it just reaches into uncomfortable levels once you remember Ares, his and Aphrodite’s shared children and Aeneas - Aphrodite’s relationship with Eros isn’t really a problem by itself, but it has potential to become one if we want Pit to become independent from Palutena. 

Starting with the easier problem which is Aeneas, it boils down to the fact Athena and Aphrodite supported different sides during the Trojan war. That alone is problematic enough, but it becomes even worse when one remembers Athena’s actions during the war. One could even view it as Athena’s villain arc just for the fact that she supported Greeks, because multiple works from Classical antiquity portray the Greek side of war as being pretty morally bankrupt, it all culminating in the lost epic Iliupersis. As for what Athena did during that time, short list includes her doing things such as ignoring the pleads of Trojan women when they asked protection against Diomedes, luring Hector to his death, telling Achilles to go kill Troilus and giving Odysseys a the idea of the horse. Quintus Smyrnaeus even goes as far to say that she and Hera were the only deities happy about the destruction of Troy, which… Yeah. That’s straight-up villain behavior. Pretty much everyone Aeneas has ever loved is either dead or POW at this point, and that’s ignoring how during the war Athena fully supported the guy who tried to kill him. With all this in mind, it’s definitely a good thing that Minerva isn’t an important character in Aeneid. Juno’s the closest thing to a villain it has, so Minerva would’ve likely been in the same boat had she been there. 

Moving into the other elephant in the room, it being Ares. He’s Aphrodite’s favorite boyfriend and depending on your point of view, them having one the best relationships among Olympians is either highly amusing or just plain sad. As already mentioned they have at least five children together and if you remember my post about him you know that I think he’s a likely candidate for being Pit’s father, for he and Pit seem to share much more similarities than Pit and Aphrodite. The big wrench here is that Ares and Athena famously don’t get along, which is the complete opposite of his and Aphrodite’s relationship - so what’s the relationship even supposed to be like in the case of the potential composition? Majority the myths of them interacting follow the formula of some guy does a thing → Ares doesn’t like the thing → Athena supports the guy who did the thing, so they’re not even the type of people who autonomously interact with each other. Most of the things in question that anger Ares are however related to his children, which puts things in rather distressing light - you see, going after your lover’s children by other man/woman is pretty exclusively Hera-behavior when it comes to Olympians. Hera’s behavior in these various myths is rooted to the fact that she’s the goddess of marriage and a loyal wife, so this would absolutely not fly with a composite character. Unlike Hera Aphrodite isn’t even married to him, and she also has multiple children with other men like with the already mentioned Adonis and Anchises - so what we would have in our hands now is a character who's a massive hypocrite. One can definitely try to view the myths Athena and Ares interact through romantic lenses and after doing so one could definitely make an argument of Athena being romantically frustrated… But that still leaves way too many uncomfortable questions out in the open, like what’s the case of Ares’ and Aphrodite’s shared children. Even when Eros and Anteros are ignored, it leaves Phobos, Deimos and Harmonia in this odd limbo. Them being specifically Ares and Aphrodite’s children is important to their characters, so whose kids are they supposed to be now and where are they? Considering the way she treats Pit, I doubt Palutena’s actually a mother of any sort but it just makes me wonder who their mother is then supposed to be. Phobos and Deimos being with Palutena would actually make more sense than her having angels, since Athena is a war goddess and would therefore technically have power over twins whereas this isn’t the case with Erotes… And speaking of Eros, wouldn’t this mean that if Pit ever wants to go on his own, Palutena has the potential to become his worst enemy? Aphrodite seen in Eros and Psyche is quite an intimidating figure, even if the worst of it reserved for Psyche.

So… What have we learned here? That Kid Icarus indeed seems to have written itself into a corner when it comes to Aphrodite. That and one doesn’t need Ovid to come up with reasons for Pit to think that Palutena may not be flawless, but that’s a discussion for another day. There wasn’t even any room to talk of potential plotlines, because you can’t even be sure if she can exist by the rules Kid Icarus has set on itself. On one hand, they really badly want Palutena to be like Aphrodite - she’s the one who’s pretty, popular, widely beloved and worshiped, has an interesting history and most importantly, has Erotes as part her retinue loyal to her and only her, them helping to pave the modern day view of angels. On the other hand there are multiple things that don’t just make sense if Aphrodite doesn’t exist as herself… Not to mention that Palutena’s character would take quite a nosedive if the theory of her being intended to be more of a composition of Athena and Aphrodite rather than being simply less problematic Athena is true. The intent may have been good, just take the best of both of them and leave the ugly bits behind, but… Their contradictory natures mean that things that weren’t problems before become ones, so what actually ends up being created is this horrible hypocrite who’s a bad romantic partner and even worse mother. Considering how the games already don’t really want to acknowledge Athena’s actual faults because it would mean acknowledging that Palutena isn’t perfect, all this would do is to make it much, much worse. Palutena’s character would be ruined beyond saving and the tragic part there would be that it was by her very design. Handwaving can only take you so far when it comes to something of this magnitude.

So all in all, I think this post can be summarized to these three points:

If you’re creating something based on an already existing material with an established world, some figures are literally too important to be ignored. However if you’re still trying to pretend that they don’t exist, maybe don’t include any references to them into your work. It just draws attention to their nonsensical absence, which is the last thing you want to do.

Compositing characters is harder than it seems. If it looks like the characters you’re trying to composite may not mix well, it’s better to not composite them at all. Last thing you want to do is to create a character that’s not internally consistent.

On hindsight, maybe it was a bad idea to make the Eros-expy work for a goddess primarily based on Athena. 

That’s all from me right now. What do you think? Do you think Kid Icarus can write itself out of this corner or does the series have to accept the consequences of the writing choices that have led it here? Is there even a good way to solve the Aphrodite-problem, meaning that the best way to handle it just to never bring her and people closely connected to her up? I’m interested of hearing your thoughts.

[hyunjinspark]

I have a lot to say about chapter 13 so sorry if it’s a bit long and also if there is some grammar mistakes im so sorry since it’s not my first language but I will try my best to organize my thoughts😭

Okay first of all I feel like that flashback of Hyunjin in the city at the beginning was really necessary because we can finally see what was his background and his mental state before moving back in Daejon. Seeing his pov was just so fun to read 🥹

EVERYTHING about y/n and Hyunjin relationship is just so great I love the way you can clearly see the evolution since the beginning. They were just so shy with each other at the start and now the fact that they are so chill with each other and they are not afraid to be even more themselves and even making jokes about what happened👀 I feel like they are past that point where they were trying to convince themselves that they needed to keep their hands to each other but right now they are like « you know what fuck that ». I mean even hyunjin said at the end that it was the only way for him to make y/n happy 🥹 Btw the scene when he told her about the list he wrote in his journal with all the things that makes y/n happy I MELTED.

Everything about this relationship is just so healthy even if nothing can actually happen between them for now im sure they will be happy together at the end 😤 And the angst in this story makes it even more real and better like it can’t be perfect between them. But just the fact that their feelings aren’t changing towards each other despite what’s all happening to them is just so devastating😩(in a good way).

Also we will keep saying it to you until you understand but Jade your smut is LITERRALY SO GOOD like it was one of the hottest thing I’ve ever read. I don’t even like phone sex in general when I read a story but yours just made me feel butterflies I swear. I think it’s also due to the fact that you made their relationship evolve so well that any smut you’ll write it will be automatically super hot but don’t doubt yourself you’re so good at it plz don’t ever stop 🙏🏻

Now Hana…😒 honestly I knew something like that was going to happen and ofc Yeonjun said she had « a lot going on » but that doesn’t mean she has to be a shitty friend to y/n 99% of the time. At this point I don’t even want a redemption arc for her she just doesn’t deserve y/n and Yeonjun. Btw Yeonjun is probably one of my favorite character in this I just love him so much (He is already my bias in txt but the fact that you made such a lovely character for him in this story makes it even more pleasing to read).He just broke my heart at the end I get that Hana still might be hurt too but right now she is just being a b*tch I swear😭 free my boy from Hana he doesn’t deserve any of this.But I will also say that I’m waiting for a redemption arc for Yongbok I miss my man so much 😔 I’m really looking forward to what he has to say to y/n in the next part👀

My favorite scene would probably the one when they were at Yeonjuns place by the pool. When they were talking about how they changed each other and the marks that they left etc.😫 it was just so hot and so romantic (and also really sad) I just loved it. I cried probably 3 times while reading this chapter but it was really worth crying for honestly some scenes were just so intense.

You did such a great job for this chapter Jade please don’t ever doubt yourself for your writing. And don’t worry about the words count I’m sure every people that loves you and this story would even read 100k from you Im dead serious. Thank you for your hard work Jade we love you and I’m really looking forward to the next chapter 🫶🏻

I’m sorry this is so longggg and I still feel like I have a lot to say 😭(writing this as I listen to Love Untold ,the lyrics are just so accurate with slwy I want to cry)

please dont worry about any mistakes, you did absolutely great! you’re so right about hyunyn, they definitely are past the ‘fuck that’ point in terms of not caring as much about their established rules, and its always exciting from here.

thank you for liking the phone scene ! i always fear it can end up being awkward, but they’re so asgdhdks im glad you liked that conversation 👀

jun is so precious indeed 🥺 im happy to give your bias some justice in this story, and sorry to make you cry three times :(

thank you for your sweet words. this made me happy first thing in the morning!