#but I love an asshole protagonist and I liked Jazz a lot tbh

[decepti-thots]

How much do you want people to read the OP ongoing? Tell us your opinions. Also tarnma for the ask meme if no one’s asked that yet

OK so listen. While the OP ongoing had some very glaring flaws (that is: barber is obsessive about canon in a way that can be extremely detrimental to the overall story at times, to put it very mildly, lol), structrually it just really GOT something frankly no other IDW comic ever managed for me. Including Barber's other work! Namely, it was a comic about OP, and specifically about the OP we had seen up til that point, the OP that was rightfully widely derided for being an asshole because so many phase one IDW comics just went in a really dumb direction for years, with no actual goal in mind for said assholery, just edgelord nonsense because it was unfortunately often written by people bothered at the mere concept they might like something not entirely for Mature Audiences TM. And it actually looked really hard at it like "ok, well, this happened. what does it mean for the universe we're writing in that it happened?" and just went with it. and I respect it so much bc that is a WAY harder option than going "errr look the old writers were just kinda bad, let's just write OP to be basically OK now and pretend that didn't happen" tbh!

I like the fact that Barber responded not by doing a retcon to "fix" it but instead actually took it to its logical conclusion, and I like the way he did so. See, IMO, in OP, the main character is not Optimus. Optimus is much more what I'd call a focal character than a protagonist. He is the focus. Other characters and consequences orbit around him; they are satellites, and the series as a whole follows their orbit. It explores why other characters respond to him. It has comparatively little interest in him specifically at many points; it's interested less in "redeeming" OP, often, and more in exploring his impact. And it's good at that.

It's not a comic about making IDW OP a great person after all. It's the much more awkward proposition of "well, we got handed this character, what do we do with him?" and I love it for that. (Also: it has such a great commitment to its extended cast. It's where Aileron and late IDW phase 2 arcee and pyra and idw jazz content all lives!!!)

I know a lot of people really hate IDW1's Unicron finale specifically. I very much disagree and enjoy it greatly. But I think specifically even if you do feel that way, I have found that apparently a lot of people do not know that the actual epilogue/final issue of IDW period is OP #25, which is narrated by Arcee after OP's death, with other characters interspersed. I will say that maybe the OP ongoing isn't for everyone, but if you read Unicron and didn't read OP #25, do so. It caps it off so beautifully. (Bonus: if you are a Starscream fan and didn't do this, do it, IMO, you missed a couple very important pages if you didn't.)

Anyway. I like Barber's work on IDW, and I like his work on OP specifically. Shrug. (Also, Jazz is THERE, I know we all complain abt Jazz never being in anything but he actually gets some shit in this one, guys, he SHOWS UP and it's GOOD,)

As a thank you for listening to all that, here's a response for tarnma. Congrats you got my first "don't ship" but it's a little more complicated actually SO let's get into specifics:

Don't Ship It

Why don't you ship it?: so in canon, it just doesn't appeal to me. I love a good enemies to lovers, and I love some good hatesex vibes even, but the thing is, it's just not personal enough on Tarn's side. I can see the vibe there for Pharma, but I don't see it for Tarn, and without that intensity, I can't find something to latch onto, personally. I will say it's not necessarily the "tarn abuses pharma" vibes that I know turn a lot of people off, because I think there's plenty of opportunities for that dynamic to be a temporary thing that is less "actual abusive realistic dynamic" and more "look these are cartoon alien robot villains on opposite sides of a fake war, if you develop them outta that cartoon war before they're involved I'm interested", and especially I can see a post luna-1 pharma just being on Tarn's level, but it just feels so asymmetric on Pharma's side, the personal element.

What would have made you like it?: so the exception to the above is, listen: can you make me an AU where it is personal for both? Because if so, I'm interested. Convince me Tarn is as invested in Pharma as the reverse and I am intrigued. There are AUs I would/will read for this! Or write for this, even!

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?: absolutely. I think anyone who writes this purely to be horny as hell is god tier and I salute them, because they do not get enough credit for being on their entirely respectable bullshit, IMO. good for them. Also, I respect anyone who cares about Pharma, whomst've i love, period, so.

[kronos-the-timelord]

All of the bnha asks, coward

heyyyyyy

1: What part of the anime/manga piqued your interest? - nothing about the show itself piqued my interest, it was actually meme and mad talking about it and me being v confused that i started to watch it

2: Did you think Midoriya would be a good protagonist in the first few chapters/episodes? - yeah, i really fell in love with his character right away

3: How do you think Midoriya’s conflict with Bakugou will end? - i think it’ll take a while for it to end, just because of all the baggage and years of conflict between them, but i hope it’ll end with them on the same page and being friendly with each other but i think there will always be that barrier between them

4: What was your first reaction to Bakugou’s treatment towards Midoriya? - he was a fucking bitch and should have been punched

5: What do you think of All-Might as a hero? - very over the top tbh, love him, but a little too much, kinda reminds me of a superman that loves the media’s attention, but actually does his job so no complaints there

6: Do you think that Midoriya deserved to get OFA? - i do feel like there were people, like mirio, who could have it and be the best, but i feel like midoriya deserved it because he does have that drive to be a hero and him not already being super awesome and learning how to use it along the way adds to his underdog character

7: Aside from Midoriya, which character in the series do you think has had the most character development? - i wanna say bakugou and shigaraki

8: Favorite unpopular character? - RAPPA AND FATGUM ARE MY DUDES AND I LOVE THEM WITH ALL MY HEART

9: Favorite overall character? - i really love chrono and eri rn,, they’re super great and i love them

10: Do you have any OC’s? Describe them! If you don’t, create one on the spot. - i do!! I don’t have a name for either of them, but i have a lady whose quirk can revert ppl back to the week before their quirk showed up, like full-on kids and it only lasts the week but then my other character is a dude, who is a complete asshole btw, who can stop someone’s quirk by touching them

Pink: What are your main/favorite ships? - chronohaul, todo(ii)deku, toshinko, shigadabi

Blue: Do you have any NOTPs? - anything with one of the kids and an adult or anyone with mineta,, 

Yellow: Favorite fanfiction about your OTP? - probably second-in-command by letsfracturethings

Green: Any preferred rarepairs? - rapgum,,, i love these bois

Purple: Do you have any works centered around your OTP? - they’re all in my head ;-;

Orange: Fluff or Angst? - why not both??

Red: What do you like the most about your favorite ship? - i’m answering these next couple with chronohaul,,,, the dynamic,,, they were childhood friends ;-; ,,, chrono was the only one leaving with overhaul and eri bc he was important ;-; ….. ohmygod

Turquoise: What do you hate about your favorite ship? - theres not enough content for it ;-;

Lavender: Does your ship get a lot of hate? If so, why? - not really,,,

Grey: Realistically speaking, will your ship ever become canon? - no ;-;

Pop: Do you think the “Dabi and Shouto are brothers” theory is true? - oh fuck yeah

Indie: Opinions on the Traitor Kaminari theory? - please no

Punk: Opinions on the Traitor Kirishima theory? - PlEaSe No

Rock: What do you think of the “The doctor from Midoriya’s childhood is affiliated with the League Of Villains” theory? (in reference to this post) - oh it’s fucking true

Jazz: What do you think will happen now that Eri has been saved? - the league will probs try to steal her after they figure out that the bullets were made from her and the protags will have to save her again ;-; i just want her to have a normal childhood

11: Dekusquad or Bakusquad? - dekusquad

12: Most underrated student? - momo, my queen

13: Dadmight or Dadzawa? - dadmight dadmight DADMIGHT

14: Whose quirk do you think is the most unique? - i actually really love chrono’s and eri’s quirks,, they’re so cool

15: Aside from Midoriya, who do you think has the most potential to be #1 Hero? - probs todoroki,, 

16: Should Mineta be replaced by Shinsou in the hero class? - YES,, MY GOOD BOI DESERVES TO REPLACE THE TRASH

17: Favorite student(s) outside of Class 1-A? - 

18: Any HCs for the entirety of Class 1-A? - they all got Aizawa get well cards/presents after USJ and they have a running tally of who can make him laugh/smile during class

19: Do you remember their seating arrangement by heart? - only some parts of it

20: Which of the students do you think has the most potential to become a villain? - i don’t really think any of them,, i mean all of them have their own reasons for joining the hero course, but they also all have that drive to do good

Techno: Favorite villain? - omg this is a hard question bc i love them all,,, i think i’m gonna have to go with a tie between toga/chrono/rappa

Classical: Eight Precepts of Death or League of Villains? - why not both???

Metal: Which villain’s quirk would you want for yourself? - chrono’s or overhaul’s

Soul: Shigaraki or Chisaki? - don’t make me choose between my boys ;-; i love them too much

Alternative: Most obnoxious villain? - i really didn’t like moonfish or muscular,, they weren’t obnoxious, but i just didn’t like them

Apple: Favorite popular HC? - shoto has prescion dumbass energy

Strawberry: Who is your favorite pro-hero? - FATGUM!!!!!!

Banana: Which of the pro-heroes’ quirks fascinates you the most? - i think it’s a tie between fatgum and hawks

Cherry: Should Endeavor die like right now - i wouldn’t say right now, but you know,, if it happens,,, not gonna complain too much

Pear: What was your reaction to Todoroki’s backstory? - i wanted to hug him and fucking destroy endeavor

Kiwi: Should the BNHA girls get more spotlight/recognition? - YES

Pineapple: What do you like the most about BNHA, as a whole? - 

Watermelon: Dub or Sub? - i prefer the sub bc some voices in the dub are terrible -cough- present mic -cough-

Coconut: How do you think Hokiroshi is doing, in terms of the plot? - i think it’s a great plot so far, i also like how the perspective changes from heroes to villains a lot

Blueberry: What makes BNHA unique from all the other shonen animes/mangas out there? - i think it’s just the characters and how in-depth they are

[earthdeep]

so I actually finished fe echoes shadows of valentia after *checks back through blog* about one and a half years. or rather, I got totally fed up on my first playthrough and restarted a few days ago bc I was sick of having it semi-complete. I have Thoughts so... under the cut

might as well get the technical stuff out the way. 

loved the artstyle. but the ui fucking sucked. all the important numbers and stuff is WAAAAAY too small to make room for character portraits and the layout of a lot of options is just... weird. oh and there’s no way to look at a zoomed out map and it’s a pain in the arse when I just wanna check where the fucking enemies are.

combat system is... definitely interesting for a fire emblem game. I enjoyed it overall, but it felt a bit lopsided. no weapon durability (yay), no weapon triangle (eh), magic users learn spells in character specific orders (hm), 90% of bow using enemies can’t do shit against fliers (wtf?), absurdly high crit rates (ugh)... lance users ended up near useless by endgame. I had a single one who could hit hard enough to take down an act 5 enemy, and he was too slow to chase them. meanwhile I could keep my archers back way out of enemies’ range and crit them, or field my many mages who could do massive damage AND heal each other constantly. srsly, all hail our lady and saviour delthea, who by the final boss had 30 atk and could oneshot almost every enemy with her lowest level spell. she is the best, and I love her very much.

there was a lot of other fidgety stuff especially on the overworld that really got on my nerves after a while. I’ve never been fond of the point hopping system that’s fairly common in tactical rpgs, but echoes has the infuriating variation that forces u to fight every respawning enemy u cross. fuck those graveyards. fuck them to hell. especially fuck them when I have to pass them so often to complete sidequests in the villages and such. but at least dungeon exploring is still fun. well, I say that, and it leads into another bother.

fates, the previous fe game, did a lot to improve the experience of casual players such as myself. the protagonist being allowed to fall in battle without an insta game over, for example. phoenix mode was nice for replays too, tho since echoes was preeeeetty linear that’s a moot point for me. echoes decides no, actually, fuck that, and also fuck the battle saves introduced in awakening. ur gonna work through duma’s tower for an hour with no way to save and reload and if one of the ten million enemies in there knocks down celica ur losing all ur progress without even a chance to use the in-universe save scum device. bc fuck u.

incidentally, duma’s tower is where I quit during my first playthrough.

buuuuuuuut there’s more to games than mechanics. there’s story too! and... hoo boy. there’s two major sticking points for me that ultimately make it a disappointment. spoilers ahead for literally the entire game.

number one: the broken aesop of alm’s arc. ie, fernand was right.

so, fire emblem games have a lot of birth destiny and divine rights to rule and all that jazz. while it can be just a background fact of life (awakening and imo path of radiance fell into this) or a major problem that causes protagonist centred morality out the whazoo (Y HALLO THAR FATES’ CONQUEST ROUTE), echoes tries to go a different route, especially in the first act. alm butts up against those who don’t think he should be allowed to be a knight, let alone lead an army bc he’s of common birth. even those on his side (*cough*clive) struggle to hold noble and common life of equal worth. but here’s alm, the poster child of destiny caring not for trivialities such as parentage. he’s a good fighter and a good leader, and proves that even a commoner can become a hero!

except they can’t. alm isn’t a commoner. he’s a prince. he could never vanquish duma if he hadn’t noble blood in his veins, bc the falchion is locked in a vault only royals can enter, and is a sword only he can wield. were he truly a commoner, he would have failed. and all this would’ve been easily forgotten fridge logic if the characters hadn’t kept bringing the even a commoner bs all the way with them until he found out who his dad was! fernand, the primary voice for this shit, doesn’t die until after seeing alm revealed!

frankly, alm being a lost prince was purely a detriment to the story. oh no, he killed his dad? who fucking cares. blood is the only thing they share. I’ve seen this dude like twice before I cheesed his ass by warping my best units up to his section of wall and zapping him. half his dialogue is only available post-patricide. alm had more of a connection to Asshole Cousin Berkut that to him. also, his plan for preparing for the end of the world as is stood was one of the worst I’ve ever seen.

but there’s also a more fun point. number two: the straight agenda!

ugggggh. listen. on my first round through, I joked a lot abt all the unrequited love going around. and honestly there’s quite a lot of interactions that I found genuinely nice. faye and leon being open about their feelings and accepting they aren’t requited, and alm and valbar being honest and comfortable with that. or delthea mentioning her crush on clive to his sister and having mathilda immediately pointed out. or like, clive and mathilda’s entire relationship during the game. I like me a lovey dovey battle couple.

but then the epilogue slides hit. why the fuck would mathilda become a Good Housewife(TM) after marrying a man who encouraged her as they fought alongside each other. delthea gets the same treatment and settles down with an unnamed husband and becomes “normal” in her slide. then u have mae and boey who get married and have children and argue AND THAT IS IT. like guys, I like me some rivals to lovers as much as the next lesbian, but u can’t be said to have kids that give u more reasons to fight and have me believe this is any way healthy. please find a replacement for celica bc u do NOT work together on ur own. *sigh* at least clair and gray have a nice marriage where they’re both free to be themselves. in my game anyway, idk if she hooks up with tobin if they get higher support, but when he’s an archer and she’s a frontline fighter, they never had a chance.

and then there’s alm and celica.

I could’ve liked alm. I really could. while his base is still Default Fantasy Hero, I like his comments when u examine things, I like that he has the nerve to stand up to clive when he’s on his bullshit. but dude. u met ur fake cousin celica briefly when u were kids, got along well, then obsessed abt her for like a decade. get. over. it.

same to u celica. u were fucked in my eyes from the beginning bc I find devout characters actively dull, but come on. u made a friend who had a birthmark like urs. as far as ur concerned, that’s all. stop reading the script and try learning the politics of running that kingdom ur set to inherit.

beyond the “alm...” “celica...” wistful calls, and the forces of destiny/the writers, I could not tell u what draws these characters together. the one time they’re not staring into the middle distance at each other, they’re in a petty fight that makes celica look like a spoiled child (and keeps her there until after she sells her fucking soul to the shadiest guy in the fucking universe? celica. celica cmon.) like why do these people like each other. with as much as destiny pulled them together rather than human connection, they may as well have been siblings instead.

on my first run, I genuinely thought that was where they were headed. I got given “alm can lift royal sword” and “celica ‘lost’ brother in fire” and put together that OH! they’re brother and sister! like mila and duma! bc it’s history repeating itself! and then conrad showed up and I was confused. also, iirc alm genuinely believed celica was a cousin of his while they were interacting as kids and didn’t learn she was just in Fantasy Witness Protection until later, so for that to turn into poorly telegraphed romance is just... ew.

anyway. at least most of the characters were good. can’t even pick a favourite tbh. I like clair a lot, and tobin and gray. mae and delthea are both fun and adorable. the valbar/leon/kamui trio are great and chill dudes. I even like silque despite being the nun type, bc she just tries so hard and I appreciate that. oh and sonya’s very lovely with genny and DESERVED BETTER THAN BECOMING A LITERAL SOULLESS HUSK IN THE EPILOGUE AS SHE TRIES TO HELP OTHERS, FUCK U ECHOES.

also there are definite immersion hiccups. oh, the land’s barren and we’re facing famine, huh? *stares at trees full of oranges* *stares at wells full of water* *stares at baskets full of fish* *stares at inventory full of meat and vegetables* *stares at knife that can produce food if I kill an enemy with it...*

wait. I turned a lot of enemies into food with that knife. like my inventory for celica’s army filled up with it. was... was I eating people the whole time?! D:

anyway, fe15, 7.5/10 too much swamp

[mimi-kurusu]

BNHA ask: All of them you havent already done

hhhHHHHH YEEEES! ok this got really long so i put it under a read more!

1: What part of the anime/manga piqued your interest?tbh i watched it on a whim with one of my friends because we were bored and procrastinating on homework one night and we looked at the plot summary on crunchyroll and went “yeah sure!”

2: Did you think Midoriya would be a good protagonist in the first few chapters/episodes?yes!! immediately i loved him and only wanted the best for him; i have always thought that he makes a wonderful protag!

3: How do you think Midoriya’s conflict with Bakugou will end?not really sure! i just want them to be on good terms ;w;

4: What was your first reaction to Bakugou’s treatment towards Midoriya?i was not happy to say the least, but knew that his character would evolve :D

5: What do you think of All-Might as a hero?i love that man oh my god

6: Do you think that Midoriya deserved to get OFA?yes!!! are you kidding me??? he’s a good bean who just wants to help everyone!!

7: Aside from Midoriya, which character in the series do you think has had the most character development?iida and todoroki!!

8: Favorite unpopular character?i’m not 100% in-tune with the fandom so i can’t tell who is unpopular really so i may be wrong in saying mina and hagakure?

9: Favorite overall character?…. aizawa and uraraka

Pink: What are your main/favorite ships?midoriya/uraraka, midoriya/todoroki, aizawa/mic, kirishima/happiness and good fortune, endeavor/being alone and miserable forever

Blue: Do you have any NOTPs?any of the adults/any of the kids, endeavor/his wife or anyone else for that matter

Yellow: Favorite fanfiction about your OTP?i love all erasermic fanfics

Green: Any preferred rarepairs?not sure if they’re really rare, buuuut allerasermic, iida/todoroki, mic/all might, midnight/aizawa, aizawa/mic/midnight, midoriya/shinsou, uraraka/mina, kirishima/kaminari, jirou/kaminari, and jirou/momo are all very good and i love them

Purple: Do you have any works centered around your OTP?nah

Orange: Fluff or Angst?angst that ends in fluff is THE BEST!!!!

Red: What do you like the most about your favorite ship?the dynamics between the characters!

Turqoise: What do you hate about your favorite ship?canon can be unhelpful ;A;

Lavender: Does your ship get a lot of hate? If so, why?i’m not sure since i don’t really pay attention, but i certainly hope not? the fandom (or at least the small section i’m in) seems very relaxed about shipping!

Grey: Realistically speaking, will your ship ever become canon?one of them, maybe (midoriya/uraraka). i consider erasermic basically canon x3c

Pop: Do you think the “Dabi and Shouto are brothers” theory is true?i’m unsure, but it’s a good theory! it’d be really interesting, but dabi doesn’t look anything like shouto and the rest of the todoroki kids, so i’m on the fence :0

Indie: Opinions on the Traitor Kaminari theory?please no ;A; my heart can’t handle it

Punk: Opinions on the Traitor Kirishima theory?see above ;;;A;;;

Rock: What do you think of the “The doctor from Midoriya’s childhood is affiliated with the League Of Villains” theory? (in reference to this post)oh…. my god…. i’m stunned! i have never seen this particular theory before but WHOA WHOA WHOA! my mind is BLOWN!

Jazz: What do you think will happen now that Eri has been saved? look, i only know that eri exists because i am bad at blacklisting spoiler tags. i know she exists, but i have managed to avoid anything about her like her quirk, who she is in relation to everyone else, and what happens with her, so i’m not really sure! (i am not caught up with the manga since i mainly just watch the anime, btw)

11: Dekusquad or Bakusquad?both!!

12: Most underrated student?kouji hands down

13: Dadmight or Dadzawa?uhhh obviously BOTH! two dads are better than one

14: Whose quirk do you think is the most unique?aizawa, mineta, momo, kurogiri, jirou, midnight, sero, aaaand tokoyami

15: Aside from Midoriya, who do you think has the most potential to be #1 Hero?i believe in my kids and know they can all be great heroes, however, i want to say that iida, momo, todoroki, and bakugou are pretty high tier. as for who is #1 between them… it’s a good toss-up. :P

16: Should Mineta be replaced by Shinsou in the hero class?nah just add shinsou in. the more the merrier!! give aizawa more kids 2k18

17: Favorite student(s) outside of Class 1-A?shinsou and mei

18: Any HCs for the entirety of Class 1-A?each one of them has slipped up and called aizawa ‘dad’ once or twice. momo keeps a tally for each student in a notebook. hagakure, todoroki, midoriya, mina, and momo herself have slipped up the most. aizawa never flinches nor does he mind when this happens and is fully aware of the tally. he keeps his own mixed in with papers to grade and important files.

19: Do you remember their seating arrangement by heart?lmao nope (sorry kids!)

20: Which of the students do you think has the most potential to become a villain?i impulsively want to say bakugou, but when i actually think about it, i just can’t picture that?? the show (and manga that i’ve read) have made it a point to show and explain that he is a flawed, angry kid who does terrible things, but learns from people calling him out and losing and making mistakes and all that. so it just seems to whittle his characterization to bare bones by saying he might become a villain because of these things, ya know? so i guess the real answer is none of them XD

Techno: Favorite villain?kurogiri

Classical: Eight Precepts of Death or League of Villains?shhh i don’t know the first group so i gotta go with the league

Soul: Shigaraki or Chisaki?i don’t know who chisaki is but i absolutely do not want to choose shigaraki >>

Alternative: Most obnoxious villain?SHIGARAKI LMAO

Apple: Favorite popular HC?actual father dadzawa, esp when he adopts the kids with crappy family situations. c:

Strawberry: Who is your favorite pro-hero?aizawa, mic, all might, midnight, thirteen, gunhead, selkie

Banana: Which of the pro-heroes’ quirks fascinates you the most?mic’s!!! i relate!!! so much!!!

Cherry: Should Endeavor die like right nowYES. REST IN SMITHEREENS, ASSHOLE

Pear: What was your reaction to Todoroki’s backstory?i despised endeavor so, so much and wanted to adopt todoroki immediately. sorry endeavor, but he’s MY son now. it made me love that boy as much as i do and now i just want him happy and safe more than i did before learning his backstory

Kiwi: Should the BNHA girls get more spotlight/recognition?UH. DUH!!!!!!!!

Pineapple: What do you like the most about BNHA, as a whole?the wide range of characters!!! everyone is so cool and fascinating and there’s so many!

Watermelon: Dub or Sub?i love both! :D (tho i like mic’s japanese voice better since his entire thing with all the “YEAHHHHH!”s and other little english remarks he says makes more sense when he’s not already speaking 100% english. XD plus it’s higher and more… uhhh well, over-the-top in a good way!)

Coconut: How do you think Hokiroshi is doing, in terms of the plot?i love it so far! i’m having a great time watching and coming along for the ride and really look forward to season 3!

Blueberry: What makes BNHA unique from all the other shonen animes/mangas out there?the characters!!! both in design and personality and how the writing treats them, idk, it just feels different, ya feel?