#but I've been on power savings mode bcs i have Too Much going on

[xfindingtrouble]

I haven't had much time for Stuff or a things this past week but I would love to invade some inboxes. So like this & I'll do precisely that!

[dnangelic]

// WHO WOULD BE ON DARK AND DAISUKE'S POKETEAMSSSSS ive always thought daisuke would have a smeargle (art moment) an eevee (wiz moment) (also normal types bc hes So Normal and Regular and Unassuming) annnd zorua (edgy red moment) while dark has shiny zororak (edgy purple moment) and. idk. maybe an umbreon to mirror daisuke's eevee. blinks

@zenigatakeibu

HARVEY AUGHHHHHH UR SO SMART!!!!!!! honestly dai wouldn't be a hardcore pokemon trainer (he's here to steal hearts not to win fights or become champion^tm) so he wouldn't have a fully decked out party. dai would LOATHE battling, he'd never want to do it, even if given dark's reputation he'd probably get flamethrowers and lightning bolts fired his way every other day or night. it's hard being dark. he'll still use his abilities to save other people because that's his whole thing but whatever.

in my head it was like - hilariously enough dark and wiz would be daisuke's only 'pokemon' and this was an immutable concept in my Brain, if i didn't go the legendary/fragment of giratina route then dark just would've been a gengar possessing the niwa line (to mirror the way dark's sometimes described as the infinitely repeating 'ghost' of the original niwa/ancestor) or a nightmare-curse from darkrai that bled into reality (not biblical/'creation' focused enough, esp on the hikari side of things.)

dark's not allowed to be human, ever, so why not make him just the weird human-infused product of the equivalent of vaguely-pokemon-satan already who has weird dimension hopping powers(dai n dark can already do that normally) and a cool edgelord aesthetic that has a gold torque just like one of their outfits. and wings. and territorial behavior with a sensitive side lmao or everybody wanting to 'seal' and lock them away for being chaotic/trouble makers aldkjaldkjf - anyways you get it! wiz and dark even within dnangel canon are supposed to be pretty unique weirdos already, wiz is more like shaymin status (a la there's only ever like One Around) which i also think suits him a little better than an eevee would too -

^ you can see what i mean right. KDSJLDKJG GOTH SHAYMIN TO CANON'S PASTEL. these small transformers mammals can kick it into FLIGHT MODE. but i can still totally see dai loving normal types overall like smeargle and eevee!!

in canon the way that artworks fill up dai's house as dark collects them i can see him basically filling up his mansion with all sorts of pokemon that are only 'his' in a kind of a distant and territorial, royal sense- canonically he gets artworks that are / can turn into a small bird (towa, maybe a natu given the psychic/supernatural 'guide to eternity' thing she has going on, or a swablu/altaria since it fits her aesthetic more?) a snake, (or a gecko, that's argentine, there's plenty of pokemon for that,' and a whole ass dreameater-tapir for baku, (drowzee and musharna are both RIGHT THERE) so if we're going canon-wise, i'd give him those!!! i love him slowly building up his found family of little weird guys who he loves and who love HIM very much, + again it elevates the whole giratina fragment/noble ruler of another realm/burdened boyking bit. otherwise, i've always used a clefairy(not a clefable! not! a! clefable!) to represent daisuke and still a gengar to represent dark. dai just has a fairy type affinity in general alongside his normal type behavior since he's a fragmented fairy tale mc. give him a mimikyu or impidmp or something. if anything i think the ghost types as a whole fit dark very well too - mostly in lore.

banette being thrown away and haunted inanimate dolls??? sinistea being just a lonely lil guy in a cuppy?? sableye?? LITWICK???

^ 'SPEND LESS ON LITWICK.' 'NO.'

[atherix]

hi again!! i'm back as i said :3 first of all, you answer made me so happy ahh i read it on my way back home and i couldn't stop smiling at my phone like an idiot. the fact that you've thought about me means so much:( being perceived but in a good way. sometimes happiness is your favorite author answering your ask and telling you they still love hearing from you<3 (also if you see this, hiii belle :3 i saw your reblog and im so happy that you were somewhat inspired by my silly little ramblings!!<3 you are literally so cool) anyway i tried to figure out what was the last part of the series i wrote to you about but my memory seems to just refresh every few months and i don't remember at All. i've been binging the series for the whole day today and i just finished midnight miseries so i'm gonna talk about it now bc i have so many thoughts!!!! i was thinking whether i should catch up with everything and then write about it but we would sit here for the next week if i did that i think so . i'm doing this in parts. (and i hope i don't sound too silly if i make comments about something that just gets resolved in the next part or something lmaoo . im catching up okay) first of all, mumbo and grian making a greenhouse for scar is everything to me they're so sweet.... they just want scar to feel safe and comfortable ahh<3 of course mumbo would want to spoil his partners as much as he can<3 and wanting scar to move in with them!!! they want to have him close!!! and tubbo as well!!!! they're a family!!! grian and mumbo taking care of tubbo and thinking fondly of him makes me so happy, they love that boy (honestly who doesn't, midnight tubbo my beloved) AND BLONDIE APPEREANCEEE I HATE HER SO MUCH but that's good because. she's such a good villain, she makes me feel pure Rage. likee she's so unhinged and fucked up but also powerful and it makes the situation so serious when she appears. the entire time when mumbo and grian fought with her i was just like. yeah it's not looking good for them huh. SHE DRANK GRIAN'S BLOOD. AND THEN MUMBO DRANK GRIAN'S BLOOD. LITERALLY INSANE SO MUCH WAS HAPPENING. grian trusting mumbo completely and not being afraid of him, only afraid of losing him means so much to me:( they love each other so much grian having an identity crisis in the middle of the fight because she called him a godling ohhhh i know there will be more grian lore in the next parts and im so excited to read them!!! MUMBO GOT TO BE FERAL AND PROTECTIVE AND ANGRY THAT BLONDIE OFFENDED HIS MATES YESSSSS! i love mumbo manipulating shadows so much, the way you describe it is literally so cool!!! he's so badass with his shadows, covered in blood and filled with rage<3 TUBBO SAVES THE DAY MY BOY!! but i was so surprised when he appeared bc i was wondering what was he even doing at the mansion. he's gotten so strong and he's so skilled with magic, he really takes after scar in this aspect huh<3 also kudos to tubbo for facing a super powerful vampire like that, especially unprepared, it must have been so scary. scar will Not be pleased when he finds out that both of his lovers and his son came this close to dying.....

them not calling scar right away is . and scar not calling them for help either, they're all so dumb and overprotective of each other god!!! GRIAN FINDING THE WATCHER'S BIBLE AT SCAR'S PLACE AHHH LITERAL CHILLS. the brief moment when he thought that oh shit oh fuck could scar follow them but also he loves scar and trusts him so he doesn't go into full on panic mode because of this:( GRIAN FLYING. GRIAN FLYING. GRIAN FLYING!!!!! GOD THIS WAS SUCH A COOL MOMENT. HIM FLYING FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE HIS WINGS GOT CLIPPED. but of course he decides to face blondie on his own because he's too stubborn for his own good. nothing bad could happen right! right!! his whole confrontation with blondie was so good, the way she plays with his emotions ughhs i hate her so much!!!

AND THE SCENE WHEN TUBBO AND SCAR FIGHT BLONDIE TOGETHER IS SOOO SO COOL GOD. THEM FIGHTING TOGETHER AND BEING SO COORDINATED AND TRUSTING EACH OTHER I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!! scar going completely feral as soon as someone lays their hands on tubbo so real<3 but blondie not dying after being blasted is um. a little troublesome. THE ARGUMENT MADE ME INSANE IT WAS SO!!! i'm so glad they actually talked about their issues this time because yeah. they definitely needed that. tubbo yelling at all of them was deserved honestly, he said if no one in this room is gonna be a responsible adult i guess i'll have to. and he was so right for this, call them out tubbo! the 15k words of conversation was something that really needed to happen and i'm so glad it did<3 they all deserve a little honest talk about their feelings and the comfort of knowing that the people you love will still love you even when they know about your deepest insecurities and troubles, as a treat. all of their stories made me so sad, i love them so much:( scar is so dear to me im sorry i keep saying this but i have to let you know how much i love him!!! im a midnight scar enjoyer first, human second. him feeling guilty about his father trying to help him even though it cost him his own life... when he was just a kid.... and he would absolutely do the same for tubbo... :(( god i want to hug him so bad, i'm glad mumbo and grian are there to do it instead. mumbo feeling the need to protect his coven because he feels like he's failed to protect everyone else in his life:( it makes me so sad because he's such a great lord and he's so caring it hurts!! he loves grian and scar (and tubbo) and would do anything to protect them. i love how scar went "let me tell you something" and brought all these books, like, he's been in love with mumbo for such a long time, mumbo's always been a great person to him and he wishes mumbo could see it the way he does:( GRIAN LORE!!! he's really been through so much hasn't he. the stuff about having a soul of the wacther he killes inside of him is so interesting, i can't wait to see where it goes. i always say it but i love your wordbuilding so much, your mind never fails to amaze me honestly. you come up with such cool concepts and you make the lore so entertaining and interesting, the world you create feels actually alive and every little bit of lore you throw at us is always fascinating<3 i'm obsessed with the way you describe the magic and how it works in this universe, it's cooler than so many fantasy books i've read seriously i started writing this maybe an hour ago, it's like a full time job atp LMAO. but i hope you will enjoy it, i just love rambling about how much i love this series<3 i will continue reading tomorrow so you can expect the reaction to the next parts soon. i can't wait to red midnight alley, i sure hope nothing bad happens there hahah! i'm looking forward to see what you have in store for us next, even if it might make me join the angry mob that's coming for your life<3 (affectionately)

Sorry I took so long to answer, work is evil orz Hello hello and welcome back! :D

hhhh I'm glad!! :'3 Being perceived can be scary but in this case, is good <3

(@stitchthesewords now they'll definitely see it >:3 )

Mmm it's been a hot minute and I don't remember either 😔Midnight Miseries!! AKA the one where they Talk™! :D No worry, you'll never sound silly, after all you're commenting on what you've read so far <3

🥺 I love them so much they want him to be happy and comfortable and they're so valid for that. Also sweet im hjhhh Mumbo is like "I have all this money I've built up over the last few centuries I may as well use it to spoil my mates" <3 and honestly, so valid. Yes!! Tubbo is Coven Child!! Keep him close <3<3 They adore him. He is Son™ now 😌 (We all adore Tubbo <3)

WE HATE BLONDIE, ALL THE HOMIES HATE BLONDIE. I'm so glad Blondie gets the reaction I want :'3 She's so fun to write because she's just pure evil im hhhhhjfhsdj YEAHHH THE BLOOD. GRIAN'S BLOOD. WHOOOO POWERUP. Of course Grian trusts Mumbo completely and totally <3 They're so in love 🥺

Mmm when it starts to set in you're not so Avian as you thought </3

I LOVE FERAL MUMBO I LOVE PROTECTIVE MUMBO I LOVE MUMBO HE DESERVES THE WORLD YASSSSS. God I love exploring Mumbo's shadow magic, it's just. So fun. I love. When you consider at the start of the story all he knew how to do was Shadow Walk, he's gotten SO GOOD with his magic and everyone is proud of him <3 hhhh. ALSO TUBBO YEAH. He was such a brave lad here <3 And indeed, Scar was NOT happy at all hehe

They're so dumb and overprotective and hypocritical and in love (and adore their son too) <3

ALSO THE PARALLEL TO MIDNIGHT MISUNDERSTANDING! Where Grian saw something incriminating (Scar "handing over" information to the purist) and jumped to the conclusion that Scar was actually working with them, but here he saw something incriminating (Scar owning the Watcher's Tome) and instead of assuming he's an Observant, takes what he knows about Scar and chooses to trust hima nd I'M SO ILL OVER THEM HHHAAAA-

YEEAAAHHHHHHHH I was grinning so hard like "I could. really fuck some folks up with this" AND. HIS FIRST TIME FLYING SINCE MIDNIGHT FOLLY AND IT'S THIS!! MMM I LOVE THEM. God, Blondie being a manipulator... and knowing she's playing them bc it's fun. "The world is a stage" and she wants entertainment I'm. HJDSJH.

THEY'RE SUCH A GOOD FATHER-SON DUO. They work so well together and there is undying unwavering trust and just ;-; they are Everything to me. Scar is such a papa wolf <3 That's HIS son ain't NO ONE gonna touch him <3 Hehehe :)

Tubbo deserved to yell a little, after being in between all of that smh 😔 BUT YEAH. THEY FINALLY TALK. Bare their pasts, reveal what has led them to be how they are now and. Mmmmm got, opening up like this... I am holding them gently. 🥺

That scene got away from me so bad but it was delightful I love them. These boys can fit so much trauma in them <3

hgdhjjgfd I need you to know I adore Midnight Scar, in the og doc he absolutely stole the show and I would die for him <3 God yeah.... I really put Scar through it. And the fact that he can't even deny, even knowing how it feels to have your own father die to save you, that he would do the same for Tubbo if it meant saving him I'm so so so 🥺 And Grian and Mumbo there to hold him and talk to him and tell him how loved he is I'mm HHHHHH

Mumbo was given such a heavy responsibility when he was so young, at least this time he's choosing this. And by god he's going to PROTECT it this time. He won't lose it 🥺 YEAH Scar being a history nerd (Fae collecting stories.... hehe) really came through this time <3 Him like "wait I already know about what he got up to in the Vampire world before going isolationist but this story sounds familiar lemme- oh yes these amazing people were absolutely him" and just. Showing Mumbo all the good he's put in the world, even if he felt like he didn't do enough...... previous ;-;

GRIAN LORE!!! Hehehe well that's an. interesting one. :)

HHHH thank you so much I WILL cry at you <3 I love worldbuilding so much ;w; I'm so happy you enjoy it!!! And that is high praise, I love magic systems so it makes me really happy to hear <3 Thank you so muchhhh 🥺

LMAO I love reading your essays even when they take me ages to respond to <3 (that's mainly bc I have limited free time but I absolutely love your essays do not worry <3) I love reading your rambles thank you for sharing them with me!!! <3 :) What angry mob :) There's no angry mob :) Whatever Belle has told you is a lie :)

[littlelegoman]

HARUMI HAURMI AHHHHH

The... the cryslized thing... the Crystal King looks like... looks like... the overlord.

OH MY GOD IT IS THE OVERLORD

Harumi has such a pretty voice.

"It's hard to tell with you sometimes!" Autsim at its finest /j

Half joking.

Lloyd truly loving Harumi is actually... ah.

RUMI AWW

No no I don't ship. I don't think I Do. But it's kinda....

Kinda on the cops and harumi's side. Still love the ninja.

"Old timer" is litterlly the equivalent of Jesus.

JAY PLEASE-

Jay knowing about like vehicles and stuff bc he grew up.in a junk yard building trains

And he's steal my least favorite ninja

I believe harumi and llyod are both like 16-18. Which is very clear. It's very clear they're young jn the way they talk and it's clear Harumi is being influenced by the Overlord.

""Part oni" like 1/4 oni Jesus.

First ninja master is half fdragon/oni.

Garmadon and wu would be.... 1/3 dragon, 1/3 human, 1/3 oni. Their mother is human right? Where did she come from? They have a mother don't they?

Llyod would be 1/4 dragon, 2/4 human, 1/4 oni.

He's part oni, alright. A small part.

oHHH WHATS IT LIKE TO KIN HARUMI AND LLYOD AT THE SAME TIME

GIRL BOSS OMG

Cole's voice is so strange to me. I miss Kirby morrow. It was quite nice while he was around. Evil llyod my beloved

I can't tell if that's his genuine oni powers or the Crystal King.

Ou right I just remembered bootleg garmadon that's technically still garamdon called Harumj "duaghter" and now I feel icky again.

I think the only one who could truly beat Wu I'd Aspheera. Bc they're both so old and talented. They have the connection.

MINI MINI PIXALS

I AGREE THEURE ADORANLE

MINI PIX MY BELOVED. NO NO MINI PIX WAIT FOR NYA

IS THAT A BATH TUB LMAK

Mini pix can replace nya I wasn't too arrachted anyways

The chicken thank God it's safe

Harumi ranting about the great deavoror

Pythor: 😬

Harimi sounds a lot like Yae Miki, thinking about it

Thought he was gonna go "harumi has served me well but it's time to get rid of her" and he didn't and that's surprising.

OH MY GOD JE TOO HER DOWN TOO

This could be solved easily with fire arms

Oh God Crystal zombie

Vinny my beloved. HLLY SHIT WAIT

"I've got this house guess and he keeps me up all night talking"

Is.

Is that who I think it is?

IS GARAMDON CRASHING AT VINNY'S?? LMAO

OB MY GOD WU YOJ KNEW HE WOULD RETURN GOD DAMNIT THIE WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE TO KNOW

If the mysterious sender isn't Harumi I'm gonna be furious

VINNY FOLSON LIVES IN-

He's been sending then or... his house guest

YES YES ITS GARAMDON

Also he's more docile.

He's like a house wife lmao.

Vinny of NGTV NEWS THE WISEST MAN HAHA

I TELL YOU VINNIE is the man

he has come along way.

HA VINNY REALLY WAS LIKE : I CAN FIX HIM

Garmadon dancing with the plant.

"Harumi?" The sound of care. /pos

"She was like a daughter to me." Stop SAYING THAT GOD YOURR REAL SOM IS RIGHT THERE AND HE STILL HAS ROMANTIC FEELINGS FOR HER

CHRISTOFERN NO HIS OWN SON CHRISTOFERN OH MY GOD THATS SUCH AN AUTISTITX THING TO DO Getting emotionally attached to something.

Oh fuck off he's 1/4 oni it's not like- I'm like 1/8th German and you don't see me learning German

Also when did his oni form have wings.

Jay here to save his bf

I give up. Fine, he's oni. 1/2 oni I guess.

If we find his ex girlfriend and or partly adoptive sister then we can get things done

Oh God not Misako.

OH YES THE NEW NINJA

I KPVE THEIR COLORS that's the only reason

Lloyd bout to enter his yandere simulator snap mode

Mini pix <3 <3 <3

Sorry the autistic kicked in long time ago and the giddy feeling is here

I want to see more of garmadon and Vinnie interact bc I'd like to belive he cares just as much for Vinnie as he did for christofern

Ronin has a soft spot for the ninja imo.

CHRISTOFERN

HE LIVES

HE LIVES

NO NO CHRISTOFERN NOT AGAIN GOD DAMNIT I JUST IVE GOT EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT TO THE FERN PLEASE IM BEGGING YOU

stim

Kai and Cole bickering

Nya is not the only one on the ship Jay.

I'm on episode e11, good, I was worried it would end

The paper boys

"I FISJED OUT TJE LAST ONE IFS YOUR TURN"

Antonia please

Actually what who was the first one to fall again?

Jay and Nya is not a ship I ever expected to like but it's greater

Just cut of her legs and take her torso

YES YES WATER POWERS

"I am not about to lead a group of children in to a battle" you litterallg have though.

BENTHOMAAR MY BELOVED

Sorry did you say return if the ice emporer-

Quanash? Dude lktterally who?

Oh God the final battle happened ten years ago give me a break

OH OH GOD ZANE

Dude how did you escape.prison did they just let everyone go

FUGI DOVE I TELL YOU HE'S GOTTA BE UKTRA POWERFUL HE-

Fugi-dove <3

HAHA BORG

boy oh boy aren't I an avid lavashipper

I'm so glad skylor isn't a y/n.

Jake is like Kai's sun

Christofern....

I'd be mad too Skylar.

Princess Vania

Vinny my comfort Character

Raver seven aka blazey h. Speed.

Zane dies like seven hundred times I'm over it atp.

"for beings such as you or i"

SOBBING FR

MINI PIX I LOVE YOU IF MINI PIX DIES I DIE

It has been two hours I want this to end so I can dream about my ninjago series

Nya and Jay need to get married after this, it's like the 100th war they've had

NO THE CHICKEN

NKF THE CHICKEN

I am invested.

Harumi truly wants it to end. But logically, it won't. Time and time again evil came back. Perhaps all that's left is join evil.

THE SHINRARIANS YESSS

Theerplopiqns

"For king benthomaar of the endless sea!

MINNI PIX K LOVE YKU

Yes Stacy or whatever her name was our bisexual icon

THE LGBT UKE LMAK

Does ninjago end here bc this would a good end and I'm not sure how much more they can vo kn. Also this is op lol

I want Mister E or... F to be reviled as Echo Zane, or what's left of him.

Oh my God it all comes back

It all-

harumi slay slay them

He was always oni, it was like... triggered with the bite. LIKE my mother's disease after I was born

Again. Everyone coming together would be a good finale but I've heard people say this isn't the end?

This show would be better with swearing

I'm sorry it's the little details of the LGBT rep that get me.

KILL THEM WITH PRIDE YEAH

HOW TO I HIT THE RESER BUTTON

Garm... garmakdn?

NO.NO NO NO NO HES NOF DEAD IS HE?

Holy shit oni llyd. Does this mean there's a dragon lloyd too?

The last time we untied the weapons garmadon turned back time so....

OH WHAT FU THE WEAPONS ARE THE FSM

NO THE NINJA

Oh heh look a dragon

Oh he is alive

"YOU WERE FAKING'

he's talking to a plant

To be fair the whole... uh... what where they called? Whatever the uh tales things showed that there is a story after. That the ninja were like turned ti gold Stone.

Nothing like the end if the world to bring ervhone together

Christofern my beloved

[sunshinexlollipops]

youre still alive right 😭 just wanted to check in since its been a while

I'm alive but like, so much is going ON anon. since 2020 it's been like an episode of the twilight zone and I'm just hanging on through the script lmao. there's some shit that's just too much to divulge on here but so much of my personal life and self has changed or has been affected since 2020. I'm honestly a diff person in some ways but I just had to focus on myself and my life bc shit was falling apart or was in crisis. I'm good and I'm stubborn, and honestly it's just kind of like one thing after another, but I have a stride to me that I had lost for a good while. still working on getting back into writing again, and that's also going to be different for me now (I mentioned in another post that how I handle characters and work through issues is gonna be diff) and I'm excited to see the change play out. esp if I can get it right / how I want it w ACW. otherwise imma just keep on trying to get better a little bit at a time. it's a process, and I'm not done yet! 😭

ty for your patience w me. I know I've taken forever and have been so out of touch w this stuff (honestly a lot of stuff I've forgotten and it feels foreign -- like last time I was here, the lower interface was different at the bottom of posts sooooo). I appreciate you checking in on me! I'm not dead. just holding down what I can. and unfortunately that didn't include my writing or Tumblr bc I'm on like, power saving mode. sorry if it seems like I just dipped. it be rough out here and I'm making by how I can. it's improving! but it's slow.

[sol1056]

Do u think the bad writing in VLD has been rife since the 1st episode? Or is this a new devt in S3? I've always thought the writing has always been oversimple since the start. I fucking hated that finger counting bit just about as things were getting serious and that was the pilot. And things always got resolved in like 1 episode. Like hello? They were able to bond and form Voltron in 1 episode? (1/2)

I dont get ppls expectations abt the show which for me has always been unsophisticated and juvenile albeit still entertaining. Maybe its just a case of BNFs headcanons being mistaken for canon by fandom bc of the long periods bw seasons. (2/2)

I feel like this is actually two questions, so I’m going to answer the shorter one (ahaha yes this is a short answer!) here, and get into the measure of writing quality in a separate post. 

When it comes to BNFs, I’ve gotten reasonably good at identifying their personal agendas masquerading as analysis. That said, yes, the long gap definitely gives time for head canons to percolate, and I’m not entirely convinced that this works for this kind of story. (Or alternately, that this crew of EPs/writers realize the extent to which one-season drops radically alter the viewing experience, and how storytelling methods need to adjust.) 

Truth is, I had zero expectations for VLD. I remember the original and let’s just say, I’ve moved on. On the other hand, my exposure to AtLA’s tonal shifts (from serious to ham-fisted comedic in nothing flat) meant I was used to gritting my teeth through tin-eared comedy-attempts like meat thermometers or finger-counting. 

And then there’s issue of unsophisticated or juvenile storytelling.  

I am probably not the only person here who’s been spoiled by Japanese storytelling, since most anime from a decent-enough production house will integrate levity and gravity pretty seamlessly. I think American productions’ humor isn’t an issue of skill, but symptomatic of deeper problems. 

The first, and biggest, is that American animation struggles to be seen (and by extension, seeing itself) as a valid form of storytelling. Animation is treated as a soap bubble (no lasting impact on the popular culture landscape) and cotton candy (inconsequential, mindless consumption). I can almost guarantee you that any writer or VA involved with VLD is probably asked semi-regularly, “when are you going to write/act/work on a real story?’ 

With that dismissal in mind, those radical tonal shifts (from serious to juvenile) can sometimes be a sign that creators are too-aware of this mindset, and too-afraid of being mocked for treating this like it’s a ‘real’ story. So humor is used as a wink at the audience: don’t worry, we’re not getting carried away and thinking we’re doing shakespeare, we totally get this isn’t worth taking seriously. 

[I hate that, by the way. Respect your goddamn story or find another job.] 

When humor is used organically, it works. Lance trying to create a cheer and Keith not getting the point is both awkward and kind of adorable, as a way to characterize how out-of-sync they are. But humor like meat thermometers signal not-taking-this-seriously, and you can tell, and that’s what makes it so jarring. 

And the reason you can tell is because the writers’ contortion is right there in the script. Hell, you can even see it in the way the VAs handle it, too. 

Allura: And it’s a good thing it wasn’t because it took you… Coran? Coran: Seventy-five degrees. Oh, sorry. No, this is a meat thermometer.Allura: However long it was, it was too long.

You could simply remove Coran’s entire line without changing the scene. It’s an aside, with no integration. And if you listen to the VA delivery, there’s a half-beat and the next line carries on as if Coran never said anything. There’s no reaction. It’s literally wasted breath, wasted animation.

To me, that’s a sign the writers were trying to juggle that tension between ‘this is for kids, it means nothing’ and ‘this is a crucial scene to establish stakes’. So they throw in silliness to satisfy the first, but integrating that humor would elevate it out of that wink-to-audience mode. Done right, comedy is as much serious business as drama, and both require seeing the story as more than insubstantial, forgettable cotton candy. 

The most important thing to remember is probably this: even if these writers believe in their story and want to do right by it, they’re still up against a powerful corporate structure that sees cartoons as nothing more than an elaborate way to sell merchandise. To that corporate overlord, a writer’s measure of success – people showing up at writer panels at cons, a vibrant community of fanfic and fanart and fanlore, fan questions on podcasts, basically so many people embracing the story, the characters, the world – means absolutely nothing to the corporate overlords if no one buys the merchandise. 

Let me reiterate that, in bold, so the bottom line is clear:

A stupid story with flat characters and cheap animation that sells a bajillion lunchboxes or gunpla or whatever will always be judged ‘more successful’ by the corporate overlords than any story that doesn’t move merchandise, no matter how well-told or beloved by the fans. 

To a good writer, the story is an end in itself. To the corporate overlords, the story is wrapping paper around the check they get every month: watched once, torn away to get the good stuff, and quickly forgotten. When you combine American popular perception of cartoons with corporate overlord agendas, it’s damn near a miracle we’ve gotten even scraps of any good from VLD, and that’s an entirely separate issue from whether the EPs/writers can create a good story in the first place.

(Meanwhile fandom collects every bit of the wrapping paper, saves it, cuts it up, tapes it back together in a completely new shape, and then gets into flamewars over whose reconstruction was the best.) 

One last note: I am, at the very least, pleased that the VLD casting director chose seasoned VAs with substantial chops. AtLA gave itself extra trouble by choosing VAs for their age rather than skill (oh god that was painful until they leveled up). VLD hasn’t made that mistake; even when the script stays serious, a bad VA can still ruin it with a wink at the audience and undermine a scene’s emotional heft. The VLD VAs have done a fairly good job of not dropping to that level, and in a few places I do think that’s what’s kept me watching even when other elements are substantially under-par. 

[wingheadshellhead]

Hi, I love your blog! So I've been reading a lot of 616 stevetony lately, and I've noticed that in both canon and in a lot of fiction, Steve seems to really dislike Extremis (even before superior iron man). Why do you think that is? Even without looking at this with shipper goggles (which I always am), I think it's really strange that Steve has so much disdain for something that essentially saved one of his best friend's lives.

(THIS HAS TAKEN ME 5 BILLION YEARS BUT HERE IT IS FINALLY)

i used to be in the same boat and automatically assumed steve’s dislike of extremis was one of those fandom headcanon things that was so commonly accepted it’d basically become fact, but it’s really, actually, all 100% canon. but the comics that deal with it happen right before civil war so i think many ppl have simply forgotten or skipped over that part of tony’s timeline.

execute program is the 6-issue arc that comes right after extremis and it’s the main thing i tell everyone they have to read if they’re putting themselves thru the ringer that is 616′s civil war. it is so so important to understanding tony’s headspace and where he’s at before the events of civil war occur. 

READ EXECUTE PROGRAM. a) bc it’s absolutely crucial to tony’s side of civil war, b) the follow-through from the extremis arc is just… amazing, virtuosic. i really genuinely think it is a fascinating, excellently-written arc, c) when it gets gay it gets very gay. truST ME you do not need your shipper goggles for this at all bc guess which of the following things are canon: the sound of steve saying his voice being the only thing that snaps tony out of (likely a dissociative episode) trying to murder a villain that nearly kills peter, dyeing his hair blond when he’s going on the run, tony stopping his heart to save steve’s life. all of them !!! all canon !!!!!! 

extremis is, basically, terrifying. to the average human being, hell even the average superhuman. it’s p much unfathomable the sheer level/magnitude/scope of extremis. extremis allows tony to access and control any piece of technology on earth and even in earth’s atmosphere, he can hear satellites. it’s like having the singularity as a superpower. 

so part 1, iron man vol. 4 #7 (2006), opening issue and we have tony stopping a villain with lethal force, all while counting down the milliseconds and bidding on priceless artefacts.

now, avengers don’t kill. and tony doesn’t, he stops the man’s heart, then restarts it, basically performing defibrillation. 

and then we get this conversation: 

and after tony jets off leaving the new avengers to sort out the aftermath, we get this disturbing reminder:

a proper reread might prove me wrong but i don’t think the writers ever clarify whether this transformation in tony’s personality is due to extremis or outside manipulation (which is the culmination of execute program’s arc as i’ll go into in a bit). but when your brain is literally a machine and you Have Become more machine than human, this is the natural progression of tony’s humanity – the aspects of compassion, empathy, etc. – fading into the background to accomodate for extremis. 

extremis brings out everything about tony that steve (and possibly the world) fears most. it makes him cold and calculating, and with a brain like tony stark’s elevated by the superhuman capacity to think and react at the speed of a machine, he’s unstopppable.

part 2, iron man vol. 4 #8, we have tony nearly straight up burning a man alive for almost killing peter and laughing about it. 

he’s so deep in Destroy Mode that he doesn’t even register steve’s warning, and here i think he acts entirely out of instinct –– like extremis is thinking for him rather than his brain prompting him to do this. 

extremis is also the cause of tension between tony and the newly-formed new avengers (one of my favorite line-ups!!), he almost gets into a fight with logan and jessica has to break them up. it turns out tony is missing time in his memory, which is extremely worrying for someone w/ his level of power…

what’s so fascinating about extremis, and why we have so much to thank warren ellis for (the writer of the extremis arc), is that it is the perfect and the most logical climax of the modern iron man story. tony’s worst villain, as we’ve known since the very beginning really, has never been anyone else but himself. and in the case of extremis, it’s a highly technologically advanced version of himself that can do and be everything he’s ever dreamed of being able to achieve vs. him. 

the question extremis asks is at what cost? at what cost does technological advancement, bleeding-edge breakthroughs, and the spirit of human innovation come at? how far would tony go to become the Ideal version of himself that he sees as superior in every way? what would he sacrifice for that?

extremis represents basically the pinnacle of sci-fi tech in iron man comics, it’s why even god awful superior iron man used a 3.0 version of it as the foundation for tony’s sins. it’s the farthest point he’s ever reached, and it’s also the lowest in terms of the damage and fallout that comes from it. because ofc, tony stark can’t have nice things like this, but also bc the hubris + nature of extremis allowing its host to play god can’t exist without there being negative consequences. really b ad consequences. 

huge respect to danial & charles knauf, the authors of execute program, too, because they find a way to perfectly bring the arc full circle as ellis did with his extremis. the central villain plot revolves around ho yinsen’s son. the kid hacks extremis and uses it to control tony, sending him to subconsciously assassinate a bunch of people on his kill list, i.e. a list of all the men involved in yinsen’s death. i mean like, HOLY SHIT, an iron man plot where a literal ghost from tony’s past – a direct victim of events tony was involved in, the son of the man that sacrificed his life so iron man could be born and so tony stark could live – shows up, weaponises tony’s own body + technology and uses him to murder people who are scheduled to participate in a peace summit despite the blood on their hands and the human cost of their involvement in the weapons industry.

DRAWING PARALLELS BETWEEN YINSEN’S LIFE’S WORK AND TONY’S LIKE DEATH AND DYING WOULD BE KINDER. again bc of my memory or even regardless due to constant retcons + reruns of the iron man origin story, i don’t know if it’s ever been explicitly stated before that yinsen also got into the weapons industry in order to get the funding necessary to support his other revolutionary work. but his son literally conflates yinsen with tony here, blending them into one + the same with that final panel and it becomes very obvious that at least a small part of him blames father for entering into weapons design. if he hadn’t, he might never have been captured by the the terrorist group that wanted him and tony to build them missiles. 

also, yinsen + villains involving yinsen are a recurring theme in iron man history but can we talk abt the fact that tony has never ever let himself forget the man bc jesus christ

yinsen’s kid is killed by a SHIELD sniper, activating the dead man’s switch and unleashing all the peackeeping units tony built that are now compromised. now, tony’s no jean grey or wanda maximoff but if this arc shows anything it’s not to underestimate him bc intentional or not (lmao) if he put his mind to it there’s literally no limit to the damage he could do. 

we see various heroes fighting off the peacekeeping units, and the new avengers are at the peace summit fighting a hulkbuster. 

and here it is people !!! the 23989485th time tony kills himself so steve can live. 

JUST. THE LOOK ON HIS FACE. AND THEN THIS ABSOLUTE LACK OF HESITATION:

so, yes. extremis was traumatising for pretty much every single person involved. steve has extremely good reasons for HATING extremis, even in the early stages or even if a fic is taking place before the events of execute program.

if you read the full arc, you’ll see tony running himself into the ground with his new abilities (world’s greatest multitasker can now multitask 192483958 things at once? ofc he’s going to use and abuse and exploit that), you see him spiralling and losing his grip on reality (mainly because he’s actually having dissociative episodes and losing time due to being remotely controlled to assassinate ppl but also bc of the Effect extremis is having on him). i brought up wanda and jean earlier as a casual reference but like, to put it in that kind of perspective, people just weren’t made to have this much power.

on a smaller scale, apart from eating up all of tony’s time and attention and mental health in a really bad way, it just Distances him from everyone. especially from the team. it’s Isolating, having this much going on in his brain and no one else in the world to fully understand it. 

and on steve’s side, you also have the fact that tony’s genius is both one of the things he loves and lowkey resents most about him. he has this deep-set anxiety about tony with all his brilliance and intelligence leaving him behind in the dust, or worse, laughing at him and how outdated and dim-witted he is in comparison. this is steve’s version of tony’s “i’m never going to be good enough for him”, a sentiment summed up in a quote from him as early as tales of suspense vol. 2 (1995): “yes, tony stark, a man of today and tomorrow is the man i’ll never be.” he’s so afraid of being abandoned + alienated by tony’s mind and the future that tony’s worked so tirelessly to build that might render him irrelevant. he’s scared of a future where he has no purpose, but more or just as importantly, he’s scared of becoming obsolete in tony’s life, of not being needed by tony anymore. one of the things that endeared him so much to tony, and which laid the foundations of their lifelong friendship, was the fact that from Day One (1), tony made him feel At Home. he never let him feel ashamed or isolated as The Man Out Of Time, he actively worked to make steve feel comfortable and to give him the things he needed to acclimatise and to fit himself into this brave new world. 

extremis undoes all of that. it propels tony so far and so fast into the future that it makes tony untouchable to steve. all of the ‘i can hear satellites’ stuff renders steve helpless and even more out of his depth than usual. it presses all of steve’s secret buttons and then some.

to sum this all up, and to finish my extra rambling abt tony bc u asked me about extremis and i couldn’t not finish with this:

here we have, ladies and gentlemen, everything u need to understand abt tony going into civil war. and it’s not on any of the official civil war fucking reading lists which really pisses me off because whether or not they did it on purpose the knaufs basically wrote all of execute program as the perfect precursor and characterisation groundwork for an antebellum tony stark. 

a tony stark who was just very recently manipulated against his will into assassinating people and causing a world-threatening incident that could have resulted in the deaths of thousands, including his own friends and teammates (and the love of his life), is a very different tony stark to the one ppl see in civil war #1.

what happens in stamford was an accident, too. no one meant for that to happen. tony knows first fucking hand what that means and what it feels like to carry that responsibility and guilt. his position in civil war supporting the SHRA is not only to protect the potential lives that could be lost in another stamford incident but also to protect superhumans and superheroes from ever being exploited against their will by villains to kill and hurt and destroy. 

superheroes are inherently susceptible to being used, it’s just part of the narrative convention –– a superhero is brainwashed or mind controlled or otherwise forced against their will to do something awful. and even if it’s not their fault there needs to be  accountability  for the victims. both the victims that suffer directly because of superhuman incidents but also the superheroes that become victims of ppl who abuse their powers. it’s abt protecting superheroes not just from civilians but from themselves. and if u’ve read a single comic u kno that this kinda shit happens way too often and way too easily.

sO YE S T hIS iS W HY. AND IT Ex PL AINS SO MUC H AND i j UST WISH P PL WOULD GODDAMN REA D THIS. LIKE EVERYONE WHO EVER WANTS TO SAY ANOTHER A GODDAMN THING ABOUT TONY STARK IN CIVIL WAR NEEDS TO FIRST READ EXECUTE PROGRAM FIRST OR PAY ME $10

anyway…………… one last time, i’m so so so sorry this took forever to get to. hope the wait was worth it!