#but i keep having okay/good moments vs moments of being completely Done for no reason

[indigodawns]

.

[lucrezianoin]

"Say please" Astarion's reaction - Goblin party vs Tiefling party (well done vs good boy)

Here we go, I need to analyze the party proposal from Astarion. So, if you do not get Astarion to proposition before the party he will do so at the party (if you have high enough approval). But the way he does it is OH SO different, and I think it might gives some clues on him and in general how he regards Tav/Dark Urge (which I will call Tav from now on).

Look, I played as female one and male the other, I don't think that gender is the reason for any difference here.

First of all, how to get to the party:

Goblin party: it is the evil choice. Not only you kill refugees, but you also ally yourself with the Absolute (which is the thing you are trying to hide from and attacked you). Your companions will react like this is the evil choice (Gale will threaten to leave, Wyll and Karlach leave, Lae'zel cares little, Shadowheart pretends not to care but she drinks herself into a stupor, and Astarion well, I will talk about it in this post)

The tiefling party: It is the good choice. Even the atmosphere of the party is better, there is music, dancing etc. You defeat the goblins, you save the day.

So, to start, to make sure I take everything in consideration, these were my approval scores with Astarion: 41 (identified by the game as High) at the goblin party (evil choice) vs 38 (medium) at the tiefling party (good choice).

OKAY HERE WE GO. So at the party, the scene will be different. I will post screenshots too, but if you want to see these two scenes back to back: first is the "evil one", and the second one is the "good one":

I will focus on three things:

The "say please" moment + "what"

the fact that you can tell him good boy in the good run, but not in the evil one (and how he reacts)

The general way Astarion acts

"SAY PLEASE" -> good boy vs well done

So in the above video you can check "say please" for evil choice at 2:01, and for good choice at 0:22.

So in the evil version we flirt and then when we refuse to go to bed with him (everything is so much more direct), we can ask "Say please". His reaction is a short, almost annoyed "What." The intonation sounds so flat, indignant.

In the good version, his flirting is much more subtle (as in, Tav is not completely on the same page), his "What?" definitely has a not of surprise and is much softer. I cannot tell if it is a good surprise or a bad one, but the general sense of it is more sensual?

The note from the devs is that he never had to be in this position (asking someone please for sex) so he is surprised. Interestingly, this note does not exist for the goblin party, only for the tiefling one.

Just look at his face:

He does seem more collected in the second one, maybe like he is keeping his flirty mask more secure on himself. There is definitely a smile, but with him it is hard to get if it is his mask, or him being positively surprised. BUT what we can say is that the mask slip in the first version, and he is much more annoyed.

I also noticed that the way he is animated to say PLEASE IS DIFFERENT. Top row: evil choice vs bottom row good choice

The first pic of both rows is his face immediately after the roll, when he starts to say please, one is definitely... not super happy about it, the other seems surprised. But the ending result is similar... still, the evil choice one has him in a much more seductive movement, that thing he does where he lowers his head and looks up so his eyes are half lidded? He does that a lot in act 1 seduction, where he is trying to sell you the fantasy.

The note from the dev was "through gritted teeth" so I do not think he is happy in any of the two choices.

Now, in reply to his please, you also have different options, which for me are the most interesting one:

(also in general the good version has more close ups to the characters faces for some reason)

In the evil one you can tell him "Well done! I will see you tonight" and in the good one you can tell him "Good boy! Let's get together tonight".

I THINK this is the focal point of why that "please" scene is so different. In the evil playthrough he saw you killing innocents, having little to no empathy, siding with, well, basically the villains. Your "say please" is more likely to come from a position of needing power over him than a fun flirting line. You literally slaughtered children, and now you are telling him to "Say please". He also could be surprised because he thought he was more of an equal to you? And the "well done" sounds very military-like. Yes, you did, just like I told you to, now get on with it.

In the good playthrough, instead, you have saved innocents, he even calls himself a hero and he is surprised to be on the hero side. Up till now, you have mostly done a very good deed out of the kindness of your heart. Asking him to "say please" would be cruel unless it is... kinky? FLIRTING? I think because of who Tav is the choice to ask him has to end up in the playful seduction category instead of the "I want you to grovel" category. His reaction is maybe surprised because that is unexpected, to hear you ask that after you have been so kind, but it is still firmly in the realm of sexy times. You don't tell him "well done", you tell him "GOOD BOY". That is definitely in the realm of sexy times much much more, and kinda gives a different sense to the scene.

Just look at the difference between these two faces!! It is the same line, but in one case he is a bit closed off, in the other his face is so much more open. I can almost read... hope?? Because you are a good person?

General attitude

The thing is, it could also just mean that he is THAT good. I still think the "what" is a slip of his mask, but in general the way he acts could be just tailored for who you want and who you are. So of course, if you are good and kind you would probably be manipulated more easily by puppy easy and open looks, so the second option would work better on that Tav.

Or simply, he is already changing?? He is seeing that there is a different way to live and not being killed.

In general, the way he flirts with Tav is also quite different:

In one case (first one, evil) he is more direct. He is not beating around the bush, he asks you what happens next and you can literally tell him "well, I will sleep with you".

In the good version, he is much more elaborate, and even your choice to ask him to sleep together is much less direct ("quality time").

In general, I think what DorianDarkstar @doriandarkstar (twitter account) (WHO HAS SO MANY GOOD INSIGHTS ON ASTARION and is often subjected to my endless posts) said in reply to me mentioning the scene makes the most sense:

Also, I just wanted to add the two Tav faces:

No idea if this is just a difference of drow vs tiefling, but my drow (evil choices) is much more annoyed and confrontational!

[winterflowersftw]

Blue Lock characters as Taylor Swift songs + explanation

Notes: Hi guys, so this was another random idea I so...here I am, I guess? But yea do tell me if you guys disagree with any of the song choices here lmao. Would love to hear from you guys

ISAGI YOICHI

"I laid the groundwork and then, just like clockwork

The dominoes cascaded in a line

What if I told you I'm a mastermind?"

And

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail

Strategy sets the scene for the tale"

And

"Of a chain reaction of countermoves

To assess the equation of you

Checkmate, I couldn't lose."

My boy Isagi came into the Blue Lock system as the second last player and crept his way to the top. He's literally the mastermind pulling the pieces together and winning matches. It's really amazing how he had no ability tha made him stand out much except his brain and that was enough for him.

So yea this is HIS song.

BACHIRA MEGURU

"I never miss a beat

I'm lightnin' on my feet"

And

"I'm dancin' on my own (dancin' on my own)

I make the moves up as I go (moves up as I go)

But I keep cruisin'

Can't stop, won't stop groovin'

It's like I got this music in my mind

Sayin' it's gonna be alright"

The song 100% represents Bachira' childish, carefree and happy-to-go personality and some of the lyrics (which I put above) totally show his abilities like cmon. 😭

Okay so the first two lines are like about his dribbling ability, right? And even in the next para the top lines are like how he's not following a rhythm and is doing whatever he wants to and THAT IS SOMETHING HE DOES IN THE NEL. (Sorry got too excited)

And the last two lines are about the "monster" he had, which existed in his mind. It was very relevant in the first selection.

NAGI SEISHIRO

"And I'm just getting color back into my face

I'm just mad as hell cause I loved this place

For so long, London

Had a good run

A moment of warm sun"

This is VERY specific but I do think this fits really well during the second selection when Nagi chooses to go with Isagi and leaves Reo. Nagi actually stops being the lazy-genius he had been until episode 10 of the anime which has the match between Team V and Team Z where has an awakening (hence the "getting color back into his face" lyric) and he is gaining a passion for football which he never thought someone like him could even have. In Episode Nagi, even Reo acknowledges that the one who made Nagi put in actual efforts in a football match (which he had never done before) was Isagi and not him. Isagi was the reason of Nagi's awakening. And Reo was so sad that he was not the reason.

And right after his awakening, he decides to leave Reo because now he actually wants to improve and has a goal: To beat Isagi. And for that he has to leave Reo. So...yeah.

ITOSHI RIN

"And you call me up again just to break me like a promise

So casually cruel in the name of being honest"

And

"Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it

I'd like to be my old self again

But I'm still trying to find it"

And

"You kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath"

Okay again this one is also very specific just like Nagi's but i think this song completely represents Rin's relationship with his brother, Sae. Beating Sae is the only reason we have been given for whatever he does.

When we first see Rin at the start of the second selection, one of the first things he says is how he has to beat his brother and that's basically the bane of his existence.

And in between the confrontation between the brothers when Sae comes home from Spain and thenU20 VS Blue Lock Eleven match; a year has passed and Rin's feeling fir his brother is EXACTLY the same. (Hence the second para)

Also we can notice this during the Itoshi brothers' flashback, Sae had always been the way he is at this point since childhood. But Rin was different, he was a happy and naive kid. But that's gone now. Also how after the U20 VS the Blue Lock Eleven match when Sae comes to Rin, and Rin (and us, the audience) think that Sae is going to praise Rin who had just been in his berserk mode before; the expression change on Rin's face is so evident and heartbreaking. His expression is almost the same one he had when he was a little kid. So yeah, its very heartbreaking when Sae praises Isagi and not him when Rin has been craving for his validation for a longggg time.

Notes part 2: This took me a lot of time to wrote so please don't let this flop 😭🤞

[wolfnesta]

It’s just irksome when I see some takes get completely misunderstood

• ‘the IC is 500 so? nesta is 25 she’s an adult’- the point is that the 500 year olds are living and have lived with their trauma for much longer and should have more knowledge on these things. Not only because of that but because as leaders I would think they would know how to handle these things in regards to people living in their court but as the CoN members indicate, they don’t. But Mor said Nesta would ‘thrive’ so that makes it totally okay. Wtf??

• ‘Pointing fingers at Rhys every time Nesta does something bad is all they do’- acting like stanning Feyr.e and tolerate Rhys by extension is fine but proceeding to dedicate almost every other post to go on and on dissing Nesta is just plain shallow and hypocritical. They can dislike Nesta all they want but if they can’t keep the same energy towards other characters in the name of Fey.re mistreatment then I 🙃 can’t take them seriously. But it’s okay I get theyre just a victims of the narrative

• ‘Rhys doesn’t even want to be high king how is everyone so mad at him’- what Rhys wants or not isn’t the problem it’s this agenda that keeps getting shoved about how Rhys is so good. Which might well end up happening because of it. And that’s the problem. Because why try to make him morally grey then go on and on about how amazing and kind and ✨hurt✨ and ✨misunderstood✨ he is.

• ‘People believe head canons are canon/Interpretation aren’t canon’- as maybe it’s been noted by now in this rant canon is the problem. If someone has emotions for certain characters wether good or bad all of them are valid because like it’s literally a human right to express yourself. The unpopular part of our interpretation is that it seems sjm specifically fashioned her work so specific characters can be hated then ‘redeemed’ and because of this ended up having half of us see her mcs are actually quite crappy and her side ones don’t align with half the punishments they keep getting, which I mean— if seeing those interpretations bothers someone I recommend just blocking or filtering a tag it’s actually quite simple. Which takes me to my next point though

• ‘Just because Nesta has a reason to be bitchy doesn’t make it right/Nesta’s wrongs keep getting compared to others’- it’s ironic to hear this because this logic is exactly why I dislike the IC. The ‘comparisons’ are moments of examples. Take the HoW Elain visit scene. She happily comes by to see Nesta to explain things which is really nice of her right? despite not being present to show this support during Nesta’s intervention, but wait, Nesta walked by her once in the street without acknowledging her while she was going through depression but remember thats no excuse for Nesta to do this, which right, but So Why doesn’t the same logic apply here to Elain though? The intervention was done abrasively as it was but because they love her despite her being a bitch and so Nesta deserves this mistreatment in the name of tough love! What happened to the reason isn’t excuse logic? Then word for word proceeds to tell her not to act so miserable. People are set up to believe this idea through the entire series that Nesta is cruel and more so in acosf because Nesta says this herself and oh good lord 🙄 let’s only remember the parts where it was super evil of Nesta to blame Elain about their dead father let’s completely forget the completely offhand comment Elain had just made and not just in the visit but the complete disregard of her during the intervention. And remember reason doesn’t equal excuse. But apparently that logic only applies to Nesta. Then to proceed to say Nesta isnt even ‘trying’ and still see Nesta as the only mean one here blows my mind. Let me make sure it’s understood— this is not a comparison about Elain vs Nesta it’s the fact Nesta is portrayed as cruel and any trauma or reason behind her actions are still inexcusable and also proceed to make any mistreatment of her warranted. Where is the reason isn’t excuse logic for her?! Yet she keeps getting this trauma invalidation by the fandom left and right?? And it’s justified to mistreat her?? How this narrative can go on and on for the whole book and readers actually believe it is beyond me.

Just to name a few.

Nesta’s story was falsely advertised as a healing journey when really what we kept getting was a character that kept getting exploited over and over. The character trait that set her aside and made her so beloved to us fans was handled awfully and perhaps readers that don’t understand Nesta will never understand.

And I’m tagging every anti tag so if you come across this and feel offended then maybe you should learn to filter

[stacotto]

I shouldn't be surprised when the episode title is, "The End of Hope", but.....fuck. I can barely keep my thoughts together as I write this, but, here we go.

Watching Earth House deal with the fallout of Aerial being the new poster child for the evil Spacian overlords was damn sad, Aliyah pretty much nails how I feel about it, though Lilique going "not our problem" is both a mood and unexpected (not in a bad way ofc). It was really sweet seeing Petra be nice to Suletta, on top of commiserating over their love lives, really added some nice depth. Her dialogue was Death Flag city tho. For those that care, the post-episode radio program hinted that she might still be alive, though just judging by the rubble she was under she might not have working legs anymo- OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Clever.

Love to see Guel finally show off why he's always been an Ace in the making; my man faced off in his still school-spec'd Darilbalde vs a freshly upgraded Michaelis set to full power, and came out on top. Really appreciating his ability to use his drones, he's definitely the series' Quattro. Feeling bad for Lauda tho, dude just learned big bro just killed their father then gets the call at the end probably about what to Petra. Can already tell he's going to have a lot of internalized guilt over this happening because he skipped out on their date (for an admittedly important reason) unless she gets the chance to tell him otherwise.

RIP to the Earth House hangar and Chuchu's Demi, but I take solace in the fact that I called the Barding being her next custom suit the moment I saw the Gunpla images (obviously the Barding we saw in the episode was missing some details from the gunpla like the second head mounted on the backpack which is definitely going to be salvaged from Chuchu's old Demi but yeah, called it). Also now feeling the Felchu vibes, ya'll got me.

Speaking of new ships...why did I have to get so rabidly attached to 5nore only for her to get Anew'd literally one episode later, it's not fair. They were going to run away and see the things she drew then the rest would come later. It's not fair. 5 is either going to have a Guel arc or just go absolute villain mode, and I'm not ready. It's not fair.

Okay I'm going to ramble a bit because I have been absolutely normal about the fact that Suletta has been a rescue pilot for a significant portion of her life and that detail is only really known to those that read Cradle Planet but they absolutely showed that off right at the end because this girl is tearing her hands apart moving heavy concrete slabs because goddammit there are still people that could be saved and she did not memorize the canyon patterns of Mercury, learn to wield a beam saber with the precision of a scalpel and earn Eri's complete faith that if she said she could complete a mission in 4 minutes then it'd be done in 4 minutes for her to not put all that experience to good use. I hope her effort gets recognized. It probably won't, Gundams just attacked the school again and killed likely scores of students if not hundreds this time around, but she's gotta get some respect for this.

"What We Can Do Now" is a hopeful title, and probably another TitleDrop episode like "Not the Best Way", so here's hoping that it's either a breather episode gearing up for a descent to Earth or said descent episode proper. I mean, it's either that or Mio and Prospera coming back up to Plant Quetta to send Quiet Zero...into...oh no.

[jheselbraum]

Rewatching Change Your Mind its really baffling to me the writing choices the crew made about Volleyball this early on. So far everything we have on her suggests that she was taken from Pink because she did something that fundamentally treated her like a person in some way, or that she had cooked up some hairbrained scheme that Volleyball wound up punished for for not reining her in. There's nothing narratively in any of the flashbacks we get in Change Your Mind or Together Alone to suggest that Pink physically or psychologically hurt Volleyball, just that she got caught in the crossfire of the rest of the diamonds abusing Pink. There's nothing, that is, until Volleyball says as much in Future. In the moment I never noticed how out of left field it felt and I guess the art book, specifically the "Don't break this one" drawing, sort of masked how little of that was actually evident in the show, but on a rewatch? It's kind of disappointing how much of a misdirect it feels like. I think having the crack in her eye be Pink's doing was always the plan but with the way these flashbacks are written it honestly makes the reveal feel more like a gotcha. Like a "Oh haha, I can't believe you fell for it. Of course Pink is the one who hurt her! This isn't a shocking reveal out of left field, you misunderstood!" Especially with how the narrative treats the concept of thinking Pink couldn't have done it or even just being shocked about the fact that she did ("It looks like I'm still making excuses for her" "Is that what I've been doing?") and the narrative gotcha for expressing vs bottling up your feelings (the Pink Volleyball knew was loud and destructive and constantly expressing herself to the detriment of others, which is bad, and the Pink Pearl knew kept everything bottled up inside, which is worse, and Rose Quartz struck a pretty good balance between the two all things considered, which according to the narrative was apparently also bad. Steven, who is a child, who's had the diamond powers unlocked for what, a week? A couple weeks? Isn't allowed by the narrative to be upset by what's going on, because even though he can't control his powers, even though he doesn't know how to, his anger is upsetting Volleyball. Which, fair enough I guess, but the solution to that problem is for Steven to go into another room or something. At the very least it'd be nice if the narrative didn't act like the fact that he literally cannot control his powers, let alone how his powers affect other people emotionally, is some kind of moral failing on his part, Volleyball's trauma and Pink's decisions notwithstanding).

Like, we know that when diamonds change so do their powers. Yellow went from proofing gems in an instant to being able to alter the forms of cracked or corrupted gems, even if their gems weren't complete. Blue went from being able to force any gem into not just tears but straight up sorrow, to being able to spread joy to others. White went from imposing her being onto others to the inverse, letting others possess her. Which. Interesting narrative choice, but it's not really a stretch to think that after what happened to Volleyball, Pink's powers changed because she changed. That she went from being able to destroy physical structures and gems alike to being able to heal them (fascinating narrative choice to have your healer character's powers be tear activated but then narratively treat her like a crybaby by the way). For the rest of the diamonds this power change is framed as an objectively good thing, a sign that they're growing and changing for the better. But for Rose, for some fucking reason, that's not good enough and she's still framed by the narrative as being awful after she changed. She's the only character besides Bluebird the show can't seem to forgive and God, does it feel like they just keep tacking on reasons for that when things come out of left field like this. With Bismuth, yeah okay. We know from the start that there's a bubbled gem in lion's mane. We know that something isn't right when Bismuth is unbubbled and seems. Nice. Chill. When Pearl says Rose lost track of her at that battle. Spinel shows up completely out of nowhere, without so much as a mention of Pink ever having a garden before (which, didn't the diamonds hate organic life before? Why give pink a garden full of it?) And now this with Volleyball, where it may not have been their intent but it certainly feels like the crew were just lying to us about what Pink was like when she was with Volleyball. The horse has been dead for years at this point, we get it. You don't want us to like Rose Quartz.

[smol-warrior-1258]

Sooooo I was gonna hold off until the full season was done, kinda give the TV show time to play out as an adaptation instead of being distracted by the alterations being made for this version. Because alterations are okay! I think if you're going to adapt anything from one medium to another it should be to express the content in a new way based on the different limitations & possibilities of one medium vs another. You can't do PJO [the TV show] exactly as written in PJO [the books] - it doesn't work and shouldn't be the point - and I think the show is doing a great job to consciously avoid that trap. (My personal opinions on how several first-person narrated book-to-movie adaptations have fallen somewhat flat is a post for another time.)

And so, I was planning to wait. This is a franchise I hold very dear to my heart and have cared about for more than a decade, I recognize that I will be protective about how a story like this is being shown to a whole new generation and may influence them. I wanted to see how the shifted motivations, etc would progress objectively even if I couldn't see how it would get its way back to the story I know from the book. Let this new version run its course and go from there. You can absolutely shift some things and let the narrative move on a slightly different path without losing the heart of it - it's something fanfiction has really helped me embrace despite my initial impulse to bristle at changes to the stories I love.

But I just watched ep 3 and . . . I'm frustrated.

Everything just feels so shallow?

And I want to be clear: I don't mean bad acting. There are a lot of moments where I enjoy the delivery and the emotions the cast are putting out, and their portrayal is a separate thing from what they are portraying.

I am talking about the plot & the relationships & the characterizations & jfc the PACING. I don't know how to be cohesive about this because there's so many things that just make me so apprehensive about this show hitting deep enough emotionally by the end. It is so empty at the moment and I haven't been convinced that that will change as of yet.

Without further ado, an incomplete list of my thoughts thus far:

Oh uh . . . THIS IS MADE OF SPOILERS . . . so yeah

Gabe. I genuinely do not hate - or even really care enough to dislike - Gabe? What? I just. Just how? How can that even happen? This is such a distracting point because Gabe is a character that is supposed to be fundamentally irredeemable. Full stop. So plainly a nasty, abusive, toxic, utter dirtbag that Percy making the "warding-off-evil gesture" designed for monsters causes a reaction to a mortal. He is such an integral part of Percy's (let alone Sally's) character through a good chunk of the first book in particular, and even later on in PJO & HOO Let's be real here: Tartarus smells like Gabe to Percy even after years and I don't think you could get more on the nose than that. I really just don't understand how the show can drop the ball like this. I can - and might, once the season is complete - go on a whole separate rant about Gabe, but I think I've made enough of a point for now.

Let's talk about blue food. This show has done A LOT of verbal exposition all over the place. About everything. Like maybe kinda too much at times if we're being honest. So where is the explanation for the blue food? You have this poignant Thing about Percy burning the blue jelly beans as a sacrifice bc it's precious to him and yet give 0 reason why beyond the fact that his mom gave it to him? This isn't some fun easter egg for book fans to squeal over in the background bc it's a tiny fun reference you'd only notice as a reader - this is a developed plot point that (again) is recurrent throughout PJO & HOO oh and also ties back to Gabe being a dick for no reason but moving on not to mention a specific example of the bond Percy shares with his mother specifically in the abusive environment she endures to keep him safe. I would not be surprised if they do this bit of exposition later on, but the omission really made it feel hollow.

Which brings me to Sally Jackson, our queen. I like a lot about the portrayal that's been shown so far in terms of her alone, but I really didn't feel like we were given enough to show the relationship between her & Percy. This relationship is so so SO important - and I think the show recognizes that on a surface level to the point that it's altered the plot to confirm that she's not dead from the beginning and make that Percy's openly stated motivation for the quest - and yet I feel as though we've been 'told not shown' that fact? Sally is actively present for such a short amount of time to begin with and it's therefore even more important that her significance to Percy is given sufficient weight for the audience to buy in quickly.

Something that threw me off right from the beginning was the pacing. I think I actually did a sort of shocked double take after Mrs. Dodds went down because it's, presumably, the crux of that episode and yet was a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of scene. Then again with the toilet scene! There was no real build up or follow up; it just kinda happened? It's like all the important pieces are there but nothing is being given the space it really needs, no room to breathe, no time to let the audience be drawn in to the story & it's characters. Emotional/plot beats go by so fast you hardly have time to absorb them while other scenes are longer but still empty. Percy's introduction to the Hermes cabin & the montage (which was very fun btw) of him during capture the flag come to mind in that regard. Scenes where you have time to take it in but there's not much there to take. I don't really know what to do with that I guess? It makes it hard to judge what I'm supposed to find important and that throws me off.

Maybe this is kinda still pacing, but I feel like many of the opportunities for suspense/surprise/tension have been totally missed (if not outright sabotaged). There are instances earlier, but I am still reeling from the Aunty Em scenes. I'm trying not to be stuck on "in the book" rhetoric because that's a different beast, but I really have a hard time understanding the benefit to altering the reveal in that way. Same thing with the formal announcement that Sally was not killed - Percy barely has time to grieve before being told she's alive, and any suspense that might have built by Percy mulling over her fate is ruined. Other scenes, like the Furies on the bus, feel like they have no stakes because they're dispatched so quickly. (Okay yeah this is clearly still tied to the pacing lol). There are smaller moments where I also felt the 'told not shown' rearing it's head. Places where they say something is important but don't show anything to back that up. It's like despite all the stuff about how their quest is dangerous and how dire the circumstances are, there's no actual evidence that that's true? They're in a cab and then the bus and then strolling through the woods and then killing Medusa - all with no visible damage or noticeable repercussions to them. I just haven't felt any payoff from their successes because their successes aren't made to look like actual accomplishments.

Look. This isn't the movies. I saw The Lightning Thief [movie] in theatres (quite possibly on opening weekend) and went from exhilarated anticipation going in to actually literally ranting with my friend on the way out. Those movies were barely based on the source material and that is infuriating as a fan of such a quality series. The main frustration there *was* that MANY significant things were missing and/or different from the book not to mention the flagrant disregard for the basic plot. That's not what's going on here, at least not for me.

This is disappointing in a different way because I'm (mostly) able to step back from the fact that certain moments in the book aren't being show here (looking at you, hacky sack scene) or are being adjusted for this newer version; there are elements I'm definitely enjoying for themselves, and I can see potential in some of the changes long term. I'm going to watch through because I am willing to put some faith in a wonderful cast and Uncle Rick that this will come to a place that does the story justice.

But at the moment? I'm just not there yet.

[cienie-isengardu]

@blue-mint-winter​ commented post:

Your welcome and I completely agree about TCW changing important characterizations, especially Anakin's. Also Barriss, I will never forgive that shit. They definitely did that. That's why my favourite eps were about Jar Jar LOL

I spent the whole day debating with myself should I go on and scream about the unfairness done to Barriss and Jedi as a whole or not since talking negative about TCW at times feels like opening can of worms, but my frustration with current star wars content already hit acceptable limits and is waaay past them so I decided to screw all consequences, it is time for a mini-rant. I hope you don’t mind me bringing that up as separate post (or if you don’t wish to be tagged in that post, lemme know :))

Okay. Where do I even start? Anyone who would sort posts through my blog will know that I love analyzing stuff and more often than not, I’m critical toward the Jedi Order (especially Order as the institution) and that through the years I have a lot of critical things to say about the new canon, with the emphasis on The Clone Wars.

TCW has literally been a thorn in my side for years and although the show had its good moments (storyline wise and artistic effects/music) that I want to acknowledge, the longer the show was run, the more it felt to me as the Triumph of Form over Substance. The creators needed to go from point A (post AotC/clone wars) to point B (RotS / Order 66) but as it was proved, they did not need to actually keep Legends (old canon) elements in the original form and things were used or discarded as they wanted. Some choices made more or less sense, some were turning our knowledge totally 180 degrees with various effects or fan reactions. Like I will never agree with chip in clone brains storyline (x)(x) nor implying domestic abuse toward Anakin and Padme (they were meant to be tragic, doomed lovers, not being in abusive relationship for Force’s sake) or erasing Prequels/Legends characterization of Anakin for the more common action macho idiotic one (something that creators themselves admitted to do, which is why Skywalker is more mix of Han & Luke because apparently some people aren’t capable of accepting introverted / emotional man as main hero? Riiight). At the same time, I’m willing to defend changes done to Mandalorians,  because the story has a great potential but sadly the show focused mainly at the pacifism vs. terrorism angle. Which I guess makes sense from U.S.-centric perspective, but for someone like me, whose country/nation actually lost its independence for over 123 years (1795 -1918) and then suffered through the Nazi occupation (1939-1945) and survived the communist regime (1945-1989) before finally feeling like free country again, then Death Watch, however brutal or incoherent at times, rings a different bell. It is not about nationalism itself but wanting to have your culture back despite all the damage done through the years of forced expulsion / displacement or warriors (those not fitting into New society) and be independent from Republic / Empire. And this hits me more closely as a Pole than terrorist narratives done to DW (and Bariss). 

But the thing that irritates me the most is how characters and their powers aren’t incoherent in a sensible way. They can use Force for great action and dueling, but Anakin can’t feel Obi-Wan’s presence when the man worked undercover (sorry if the show actually explained it for I do not remember it was ever addressed?).  Anakin at first was shown as a self-sacrificing type of person (e.g. Jedi Crash) but for some reasons sometimes doesn’t do anything to save clones from certain doom even if he could use Force to stop them from falling down into lava or whatever it was in Citadel? And it is not just him? Ahsoka killed clones infected by worms but didn’t kill Bariss because they were best friends or whatever? But she is the bestie with clones! She cares! She is after all the protagonist who acts smart and all while all adults suddenly lose their brains. Like Anakin, a Jedi General, does not study maps before an attack on an enemy position, but Ahsoka did and saved the day. What a hero! And whatever she will do, it is all right at the end of day. Bo-Katan willingly supported Pre Vizsla/DW who destroyed the whole village and killed an innocent girl (whose Ahsoka befriended) but does it matter? Nope. Because she is now besties with Bo-Katan, a beloved freedom fighter, a noble lady and all the jazz.Pre Vizsla? Anyone remember him? No? No wonder, a persona non grata who would drag Bo-Katan (and Ahsoka by extension) in bad light so the show and other current sources are literally erasing him from the Mandalorian storyline. Because it is better to not remember the past than face a consequence of characters (creators) choices. 

It feels like yeah, Jedi care if the episode needs it but don’t care if the show needs some shock value or feeling of danger. Mace cares for clone troopers and even offers droids a chance to surrender but isn’t somehow bothered when 12 year old Boba was put in prison for the worst ADULT criminals. Sure, it is very reasonable. Anakin cares for clones, unless the show needs a high death toll or jokes (throwing Rex off the dam without warning). Jedi will literally jeopardize an important mission just to give one of them a proper burial but will not give a shit about dying or dead clones. And so on.

I understand that the show was made for kids, but if we go into dark themes - and the show went into pretty dark stuff, mind you - then at least it should be addressed properly. Slick accused Jedi of keeping clones slaves yet it doesn’t matter. What a bad clone! Totally forgotten for the rest of the season. Bo-Katan’s past crimes don't matter since you can just erase Pre Vizsla from her narrative. Does the story need emotional impact? Create female characters (Satine, Steela, Tryla, Teckla Minnau) to kill off, so someone else (Obi-Wan, Ahsoka & Padme) could use it for either development or making political statements and either turn dead ones into some saints or forget them all. Or just kill off clones, there is so many of them anyway, who cares how competent soldiers they were or if you make them act idiotic. Jedi lead an army made of people with no legal right, but the clones *love so much them they have nightmares about order66* so everything is right. All makes sense, right?

This doesn’t just influence how fans see Anakin (turned into a typical action male lead) or how Ahsoka is literally everywhere now. The show, as I’m seeing it, did a great disservice to Jedi. And Barriss… Barriss is just the tip of the iceberg. The authors literally twisted every established clone wars storyline around a new character - Ahsoka Tano - so there was no real reason to use Barriss since they could simply introduce us to original Ahsoka’s friend. She already interacted with so many original Jedi characters but instead the team took one of the most known Legends!Jedi Healers and turned into terrorist? Killing innocent people to prove Jedi lost their ways? It really feels disrespectful, both to fans and Jedi.  

And you know what TCW did not show us? Jedi Force-healing their troopers. Something that Barriss did on various points in Legends sources. She literally worked in various Republic Mobile Surgical Units (Rimsoo) as was seen in Republic comics series & Medstar duology or helping at triage unit(s) and as Jedi healers would not abbadon the wounded during enemy attack. Like when fire spread around them and cut away from safe way to evacuate, her first worry was about the injured people (Republic #65)

I’m really supposed to believe a person with such a mindset and compassion would decide to kill innocent people to make a point about war? Really? REALLY? Even more since there was no focus on why a Jedi like her could break and do something like that in the first place? This wasn’t a development or fleshing out for character, it was just shifting the blame on someone so Ahsoka could get out of Order before RotS/Purge. Which is unfair to Barriss. 

Oh, and by the way, remember how Luminara was talking to Anakin to let it go and accept that his padawan may have died or something along the lines? The mentioned Republic #65 has Mace Windu personally searching for survivors and not leaving enemy lines without checking first if someone survives even when he was told that enemy may attack at any moment:

 This is a proper Jedi. There is a difference between accepting that you did not manage to save someone and not bothering to at least try to save. Which is just another reason why TCW Jedi strikes me more as arrogant, manipulative and uncaring than the flawed people presented in Legends. 

Good Force, it is really bad if I'm going out of my way to rant about respecting Jedi characters...

[phoenixyfriend]

ok. karin vs anakin's genome being 50% the Force. go

Jesus fuck, okay. Uh, fair warning, I know very little about this subject, so it’s 90% bullshit. I am in no way qualified to talk about biology past the high school level.

Anakin's sixteen. He's part of a set of Jedi assigned to a weird mission regarding making contact with an isolated planet of near-humans with superpowers but no space travel. He doesn’t really have a Job here and now, he’s just there as Obi-Wan’s plus-one. There's an underlying plot about Sidious trying to acquire people from Ninja Land, but none of the Jedi are fully aware of it. Mostly they're distracted by all the ninjas and their bitching.

They call it the Shinobi Planet, because nobody can agree on a name for the planet when they ask and the last major international alliance was named after the shinobi profession, right? Good enough, you can change it later when you idiots can agree on literally anything, oh my god. The Samurai are very offended and it's a whole thing.

Anakin wanders a lot. He runs into various strange people and is mostly polite because, listen, half his friends are distinctly not human. When your immediate circle includes nautolans and besalisks and twi’leks and whatever the fuck Yoda is, you’re not gonna blink at a Hoshigaki or... uh... okay that kid just turned into a giant fox, is anybody gonna--no? That’s normal? Just him? Cool, cool, cool.

There’s a kage summit involved in the negotiations going on. IDK what’s being negotiated, probably something to get the ninjas to set up a singular spaceport so there’s somewhere to land WITHOUT ships being regularly shot down by village defense systems powered by that massive flaming purple skeleton warrior or the girl who punched down a mountain or the.. the literal desert? There’s a guy that can control the desert? Is there any way of keeping him away from Anakin?

(Gaara’s tickled pink that the reason someone wants to stay away from him has nothing to do with fear or respect for authority, and everything to do with ‘he is also from the desert and fucking hates it, so he’s staying away from the sand powers,’ because it’s very novel and kind of funny.)

ANYWAY where was I. Uh. Right, kage summit, lots of villages, they invite smaller villages to pitch in, but nobody ever ever ever wants Orochimaru anywhere near this situation, for hopefully obvious reasons, so Otogakure sends Karin.

Really, who else was it gonna be? Suigetsu? You want Suigetsu representing you on an interstellar political field? You want Juugo before he’s stabilized? You want Sasuke, master of ruining kage summits? You want these idiots representing you at the big kids’ table?

They send Karin. She’s a bitch with a temper, but at least she’s not as big of a political risk as... literally anyone else from the snakepit.

Anyway, Anakin wanders around, meeting people, trying foods, showing off when asked for demonstrations. He doesn’t have an Entire Protocol Droid, but he did cobble together a little floating helper that can do translations for him. Assume all translations are accurate and being done by the little helper bot. Bot’s name is G1-0T. Anakin calls it Glot.

He runs into Karin at one point, who’s not super into the whole situation, but at least Anakin’s interesting. She’s not interested in him, because he’s sixteen and she’s like... mid-twenties. And his hair is stupid. But! All these force-sensitive people feel weird to her, because sensor stuff, and it’s not chakra but it’s... something. Anakin is, of course, the weirdest.

(There are non-sensitives in the envoy, so she knows it’s not just a space thing.)

She strikes up a conversation about it, because hey, she hasn’t made it this far to not lean into... you know, being the kind of person who barges ahead with Weird Questions that might lead into fun science stuff.

Anakin is like. Well. This woman’s very strange, but it’s not like there’s anything against talking about midichlorians to random people. It’s easy enough to look up in the core. Not everyone knows about them, but it’s not a secret or anything.

“Wow,” Karin says, though not in so many words, “that sounds incredibly strange, and actually a lot like it functions completely differently from chakra, though maybe it intersects with nature chakra somehow. Can I take a blood sample?”

Anakin doesn’t want to give a blood sample to a stranger. Karin isn’t stupid enough to try to steal one. She’s seen what this Force Stuff can do, and this kid’s got a lot of it. She hasn’t got enough information on hand about it to know if he’d notice.

“How about I let you look at the blood of a guy that can turn into water?” Karin asks, because she’s not going to let him look at her blood. “I’ve got it with me.”

“...why?” Anakin asks, reasonably disturbed.

“He owes me,” she says, and does not elaborate.

“What, there’s nothing weird about your blood to share?” Anakin demands, like the ornery little bastard he is.

“People took my blood against my will for over a decade,” Karin says, with the kind of smile that threatens a stabbing. This is not secret information. Her healing factor is in the bingo book. Plenty of people still want her dead. “Nobody gets my blood except me.”

Anakin has no idea what to do with that answer. Most people wouldn’t know what to do with that answer. It’s not exactly a standard answer.

“So there is something weird about your--e chu ta what the fuck are those scars?”

Karin looks at her arm. She looks back at him. She raises an eyebrow.

“What do you think they are?”

He stares a little longer, and then very carefully does not say anything as she pushes her sleeve back down.

“So can I look at your blood?” she asks again.

“Uh--”

“You can look at mine under a microscope,” she wheedles. “You can’t take any, though.”

Anakin... does eventually agree. Eventually.

-----------

There is a very angry redhead yelling at a machine, and Anakin does not know what to do.

“Is something wr--”

“What the fuck is your blood?” she demands. “It’s glowing in ultraviolet. It burned the dye up. I tried to sequence your genome--”

“Woah, I did not agree to that.”

“--and look at this. Look at this!”

“I don’t know how to read your graphs. None of this is a language I know.”

“It’s garbage,” she hisses at him. Glot takes a few moments to process it. “Look at this. This is supposed to--fuck, where’s the Jiraiya file, he’s standard--this is what it’s supposed to look like for most humans with chakra. And this is a civilian, and a few bloodline users--”

“Do you just carry these around with you?”

“Shut up, you don’t exist. You have--you have more in common with summons than people. I ran a blood test on one of your human diplomats, the ones that aren’t monks--”

“When did they agree to that?”

“They didn’t, I’m just sneaky.”

“I should tell Obi-W--”

“STAY THERE, I’M NOT DONE YELLING YET. Do you see this? Do you see this shit? This is the one and only time I’ve managed to perform any kind of analysis on a bijuu. They don’t usually have blood. Shukaku is sand. Matatabi is literally just fire. This was almost impossible to make happen, but I did it because I’m a dedicated biomedical resea--”

“Because you’re unhinged.”

“--rcher, and you know what? You know what I’ve found?”

“What?”

“Your blood looks like you’re half demon,” she says, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking, a little wild-eyed and clearly pissed at him. “Half of it’s human! Half of it looks like the non-physical chakra manifestations that were torn-apart remnants of a godlike demon. The fuckers can’t die. They also can’t breed. They don’t have reproductive organs! This isn’t just demon-tainted like a jinchuuriki, I’ve got that analyzed--”

“Why?”

“Because my cousin’s a moron, don’t change the subject. You--you shouldn’t exist. Your blood is stupid. Fuck, is this what I’d find if I analyzed the Sage of the Six Paths?”

“The what?”

She ignores him, frowning at papers. “Is--I need to call Haruno, she might still have some of Kaguya’s blood dried on her old gloves from the war, I know she kept those as a souvenir from the whole ‘punched a god’ thing.”

“I’m sorry, the what?”

“There was a thing a few years back, godlike alien demon princess who got sealed into a moon by her sons a thousand years ago, but her immortal sentient goo child brought her back with a giant tree that consumed all the tailed beasts-the flaming fox you saw earlier is one of them--and then used a giant eyeball to reflect off the moon to put everyone in a hallucination at the same time so she could eat our life-forces,” Karin dismisses. “It’s not important.”

“There is--what?”

Jedi see many things. Many of those things are very strange.

This is a little much even for Anakin.

“It’s over, if you want the actual details, talk to my idiot cousin,” she huffs. “But now I need to run comparisons between the actual nonsense that is your entire existence and the actual nonsense that is my cousin’s existence, and maybe Sasuke’s... fuck this is going to be a mess, I’m going to have to cross-reference all the clans with bloodlines we know are derived from Kaguya, she’s the only angle we have on gods like that, unless... maybe there’s still some black Zetsu goo somewhere... Orochimaru must have kept a sample...”

“Uh, can I--can I go? I’m not comfortable here.”

“I need to find Naruto so he can call the Sage of the Six Paths out of the afterlife so I can see if I can get blood from a ghost to compare to yours.”

[stxleslyds]

Red Hood and the lost art of telling Joker to shup up.  

Okay, I know that I talked about Jason and Joker in a recent post but this is something different, I promise.

I really want to talk about how different Jason has been written since UtRH when it comes to him confronting Joker. Jason hasn’t been put in that position a lot but the times that he has, he lets Joker talk for far too long and actually pays attention to whatever he has to say.

The Jason vs Joker thing is basic in on itself and letting Joker talk isn’t exactly the problem here, the real problem is Jason letting Joker’s thoughts shape his future thoughts and decisions, I do understand that that’s exactly what writers want though, they want to build the problematic of: “Jason is just like Joker and the fact that he uses the name Red Hood only proves that Joker made who Jason is now”.

But the thing is that THAT problem is overdone at this point and the only time it worked was the first time it was brought up and it worked because Jason shut the Joker down.

Let’s see all the times (that I remember) the Joker and Jason have had a little chat and/or the times Joker’s words actually influence Jason’s thinking and decision making.

 Under the Red Hood – Batman (1940) #649

This is the first real confrontation we get to see between Jason and Joker after Jason’s death and it is beautiful. It's absolutely amazingly written, Joker goes on and on forever about how he killed Jason about how Jason is just as bad as him but that he is also just like Batman because he hasn’t killed him yet.

“You let me live after everything I did, you couldn’t pop my balloon. You just couldn’t. The apple doesn’t tumble too far from the paterfamilias. You are just like daddy-kins”

Jason lets him talk, yes. But he absolutely destroys Joker with what he tells him next.

“You couldn’t be more wrong about me. If right were a country on earth you’d be circling on the edge of the milky way. Yeah, I let you live but like always, every damned minute of your addled, posturing, psychopathic life, you think this is about you. You’re a worm. I’ve pitched you on a hook and dropped you into the brine. And I will beat the hell out of you Pagliacci because it was too much fun not to.”

“Listen to me Joker, I’m not you. I´m nothing like you. I know what I do and I know why I do it. You, you are, clinically speaking, a whack-job. But I know a secret, a good one.”

“You are not nearly as crazy as you would like us all to believe or even as crazy as you would like to believe. It just makes it easier to justify every sick monstrous thing you’ve ever done when you play the part of the mad clown. You are crazy, bubba, but you ain’t that crazy. Look at that. I wiped a smile off of Joker’s face. I have been waiting a long time for that.”

Everything about this is perfect, Jason gives Joker no room to mess with him. Whatever the Joker had planned on saying he had to eat because Jason wasn’t playing games and he was ready for any kind of lie the Joker had ready to tell. This is Jason Todd. He won’t let the Joker get under his skin because he knows the Joker and he, also, knows better. 

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2011) #15

Here Jason comes across Joker during the “Death of the Family” event. In this issue the Joker has information about all of the members of the “Batfamily” and he uses that to mess around with each one of them, in Jason’s case he insinuates that he was present in very specific moments of his life when Jason’s father got shot, when his mother overdosed and when he was on his own before joining Batman.

Jason doesn’t quite believe that Joker was there but as the reader, we can see this sort of sense of doubt in Jason. He hesitates a few times before resolving that the Joker is playing with him.

But as far as this issue goes let’s just say that what the Joker says doesn’t get to Jason, this changes though in the issue that follows up this story.

Teen Titans (2011) #16

This is where that story continues and where Jason starts to buy the story that Joker is selling.

Joker convinces Jason that he has his father and Tim’s father and that the only way for Jason (or Tim) to save their dads is by killing the other (Jason or Tim). Tim doesn’t believe it but Jason is ready to shoot Tim almost immediately.

However, Jason changes his mind about killing Tim just as Tim comes up with a plan for them to not actually have to kill each other. Here is where Lobdell’s writing shows all of its flaws, Lobdell is so desperate to show that Jason and Tim are besties that he forgets that Jason had no reason to stop trying to kill Tim to save his shit father because it is later revealed that Jason truly believed that Joker had found his father and had him captive. It wasn’t until Tim explained his thought process as to why those men weren’t their dads that Jason just goes “you realize, of course, the only reason I didn’t kill you right off is that I knew your big brain will figure out some way out of this” HA, nice save Lobdell but I see right through your bullshit.

Jason bought what the Joker was selling and that is the beginning of Jason’s downgrade when it comes to not playing Joker’s games.

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2011) #17

Well, in this issue Lobdell goes back to Jason kinda not believing what Joker told him, and Jason asks Bruce of all people if he thinks the Joker truly “made him or not”. Bruce says that he doesn’t believe that and that he didn’t have anything to do with the man that Jason has become either. For some reason, Jason is actually happy with what Bruce said and for a couple of moments, Jason goes back to being sure that the Joker knows nothing and that he is his own man.

It doesn’t last long though. At the very end of the issue, the trap that Joker had set up in Jason’s helmet triggers and Jason gets his face fucked up with acid or something.

But that’s not all because a hologram of Joker has something to say: “you were supposed to be my masterpiece from start to finish. But you were too stubborn to stay dead. So here is what we are going to do… You’re so determined to be your own man? Fine, let’s start with a clean slate”.

Basically, the Joker insinuates once more that he had something to do with who Jason was supposed to become and that Jason isn’t truly “his own man”, This is all a setup for a very dense storyline that will be continued in this run later.

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2011) #18

In this issue, Jason is in a coma after he is dosed with that gas in the previous issue. The Joker isn’t really present in this issue but he does make an appearance as part of Jason’s “nightmare” while he is unconscious.

That’s not all though, Jason has an illusion of Ducra (someone that he appreciates a lot), telling him that “after you left the All-Castle after you went back to the world you continued to let your life be defined by the actions of that man. You became a killer, lashing out at people who may or may not have deserved it. Eventually, you will hurt all those you have cared for. In that way, how are you any different from the Joker?”.

In this statement, there is a lot of wrongs that can come from two places, either bad writing on Lobdell’s part or just Ducra telling lies as a plot point.

“Let your life be defined by the actions of that man” is a sentence that horribly simplifies Jason’s thinking during the events of UtRH, because while he did resent the Joker, his real problem was with Bruce who had not avenged his death by killing the Joker himself. Also, Jason was doing other things back then, like being a pain in the ass for Black Mask and disrupting the drug trade in Gotham as well as trying to control the drug dealing to children. So that little sentence is just a gross misinterpretation of the true events which means that Ducra was wrong, and “she” continues to be wrong when she says that there might be no difference between Jason and Joker.

Luckily Jason thinks the same because he tells “Ducra”: “…don’t you dare compare me to that monster Ducra. I am nothing like the Joker! Nothing!”

Once again please don’t be fooled by Jason’s thinking because in the next issue it turns around really fast and really bad.

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2011) #19

Just a heads up this issue has a change of writer, Lobdell isn’t writing this arc, the writer that gives us this hellish story arc is James Tynion IV.

All that talk about Jason not being affected or not believing what the Joker told him is yeeted out of the window and it’s not a fun ride.

In this issue, Roy and Kory find a Jason that doesn’t know who they are or who he, himself, is. This is because S’aru that little floaty little shit took his memories away after Jason asked him to do so, well Jason asked S’aru to erase every memory that darkness has touched (Joker) and he does that. But him doing that is apparently erasing everything which, holy shit, how messed up is that?

But let’s take a look at what Jason says before he gets his memories taken away: “Not only did the Joker almost take my face, but he tells me he might have manipulated my entire life from the beginning! Even the good is tainted by him now. I can’t do it anymore. I can’t have that kind of doubt. If you take it away, I can go on living. I can keep fighting”. So, yeah that was a pretty emo speech. But the thing here is that if Jason is asking this dude to erase every memory that has been tainted by the Joker and he erases all of them then we might be facing one of two situations, either Joker has been messing up with Jason’s life from the beginning or S’aru is just a little bitch.

We will later find out in #20 that S’aru and Ducra planned the whole thing, meaning that they took all of his memories for ulterior motives not because the Joker had actually tainted all of them.

For many issues Jason has no memories and now that I am revisiting these issues, I now remember the twisted and completely insane plot they came up with for the “League of Assassins” and Jason being the “Chosen One”, everything was happening in this run, my god, it's like they wanted Jason to be the center of every single trope in writing history.

It’s in issue #26 that Jason asks for his memories back but the Joker having tainted his memories or not isn’t important anymore to anyone, including the writer (because he is too focused on telling this messy story), Jason (because he has enough problems at the moment) and the reader (because this book makes zero sense and it changes the story and motivations every single issue).

But there is another truth to be revealed in the next issue.

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2011) #27

Jason has planned along Ducra and S’aru to give up all of his memories to be cleansed so he could defeat Ra’s Al Ghul. But (there is always a but) Ducra says this: “Your greatest enemy returned and nearly took your face away from you. And in the process, shook your sense of identity to the core” “The final battle here will take place in the Well of Sins, and with all the doubt and fear clouding your mind, it would eat you whole”.

So yeah, now we have confirmation from Ducra that Jason had indeed let what the Joker told him cloud his sense of self and made him doubt who he was and if he really was in control.

All that back and forth for these many issues just to say, yes, Jason let Joker’s words affect him.

So here it is, let Joker get in Jason’s head to build the plot of a story, fantastic, the story was a mess because it had so much information, the mischaracterizations of Roy and Kory were at their maximum potential, and in this particular story arc not only are the events of Red Hood: The Lost Days officially erased from Jason’s canon but something quite out there is added to Jason’s canon from before he was even Robin (that’s a whole different story that I won’t be talking about here).

What an insane ride this arc was. Definitely not the kind of story I enjoy in a Red Hood book but that’s just my preference.

*This whole arc was written by James Tynion IV.

Red Hood/Arsenal #11

Joker is dead during the events of this run but the person who has something to say to Jason about how the Joker made the person that he is now is Duela Dent (“Joker’s daughter”, she isn’t his daughter she just found Joker’s face somewhere and she puts it on and “becomes” crazy, she is an incredibly weird character).

She says this, “You’re a lot like dad in that way” to which Jason says “He is not my father. He’s not even your father” but Duela continues by saying. “You’re kidding yourself if you genuinely believe that. Yeah, he took your life but look what you got in its place, you ingrate. You got your freedom. You were reborn.” 

Jason doesn’t fall for it or anything of the sort but once again writers are bringing up the Joker as the maker of the Red Hood and “suggesting” that what Jason has been doing and who he has become is all thanks to Joker. The idea of Jason having no free will is still present in this narrative, even when Jason doesn’t believe it.

Red Hood/Arsenal #12

I talked too soon because in this issue Jason is having some weird thoughts.

“Funny, isn’t it, so easy to call Duela “crazy” because she wears a dead man’s face. Because isn’t that what I’m doing? Before he was the Joker, he was the Red Hood. So maybe the line between men and the Joker’s daughter is a lot thinner than I’d like to admit.”

Here he is comparing himself to Duela and to the Joker to an extent, writers often bring up the fact that Jason uses the code name that his killer once had and they have people or Jason himself questioning why he uses that name.

Personally, I don’t think there is much to build from it (at least not from the perspective of Lost Days and UtRH), it was just a joke, a morbid one if you will. He wears the mantle of the person that destroys Gotham and fills its people with fear while he is trying to control the city’s drug trade and trying to keep the people safe in his own way. And the way he wanted to do it is almost the complete opposite of the way that Batman does things.

I just think that he is being ironic and acidic about the whole thing. He has obviously moved on from the fact that Joker killed him but he has issues with the fact that Batman has yet another child working with him while the Joker is still alive. And Jason really wanted to make Bruce suffer, so him taking the name and a similar appearance to how the joker used to look is also done to get a reaction from Bruce.

I really don’t think there is any sort of connection to make between Jason and Joker beyond that, much like there is no connection between the name Nightwing and the Court of Owls. Even though Lincoln March tried to convince Dick Grayson that he chose the name Nightwing because Owls fly at night and that meant that he was supposed to become a Talon and all that Dick still didn’t believe it because he knew why he chose that name and no one can twist his reason.

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016) #10

Finally, I can stop re-reading New 52 books, I don’t enjoy it but I have to do it if I want to talk/complain about stuff.

This one is a little different because while Jason does talk with the Joker, the Joker isn’t really there he is just part of Jason’s imagination just like the Robin Jason that he is also seeing.

In this story, Jason is helping Artemis discover who she is but he gets captured in Qurac, yup that place, and worst of all from where he is being held, he can see the place where he died. All of that is helping Jason have some very vivid memories/illusions. He does actively hold a conversation with the imaginary Joker and Robin Jason though, and he is also having a lot of thoughts that let us know how the Joker affects Jason.

“This is why it was stupid of me to come back to Qurac. Even to help Artemis, even if I thought I could handle it. Physically, I am alone, but in my head? I’m drowning in memories of the worst day of what was my very short life. The day I was murdered.”

That’s what Jason is thinking but what I write next is what Jason’s saying as he talks to the imaginary Joker.

“Not interested in replaying this over again, like I have every night of my life since it happened Joker”

So, we are told that Jason thinks about that day very often, the Joker might not be involved much in Jason’s books but he definitely has a bigger role inside of Jason’s head. They chat for a bit up until Jason decides to “kill” the Joker, he knows, of course, that it is not real but it does give him satisfaction. (If only they would have let Jason actually kill the clown for real, or at the very least chase him just to show the reader that Jason does actually want to finish the job since the Bat won’t do it himself).

Having said all that, Joker’s imaginary death doesn’t last long because Jason is trapped in his mind and the Joker is basically functioning on a loop inside of it.

That is where the problem lies in this issue because Jason is letting us know that he is still heavily influenced by what happened that day and that he hasn’t been able to walk away from it. But once more that’s not the worst thing, because all of these thoughts have led Jason to think that he (in the present and as a fifteen-year-old) is the one to blame for having ended up dead. Yeah, it is messed up.

This is what Jason says to imaginary Robin Jason, “He is never going to die, Jason. Not here. Not in my mind, not if at some point I don’t stand up and walk away from my memories. From you.”

This is a major downgrade, from the Jason that we had in UtRH because that Jason had moved on from the fact that he had been killed what he was looking for was for Batman to avenge his death. He had other things in mind as well, like I said before in this post Jason had a lot of things going on, killing Joker wasn’t his only plan.

And this situation (written by Lobdell) is also very different from what was going on in New 52 where Jason being influenced by the Joker was used to build a plot. This is just a writer letting us know that this “new version” of Jason hasn’t worked out his problems when it comes to his death and his killer. That means that we are going backward.

After he realizes that he was unconscious all that time and that he was being tortured he does get his shit together in order to get out of captivity and go help Artemis.

The Joker and that whole thing that happened in his mind aren’t mentioned again, it was just for the reader to know that Rebirth Jason has unsolved issues with his death.

Batman: Three Jokers #1

Oh yes, here we are, we have arrived to that dreaded book, awful writing gorgeous art. In this book, the “Joker made Jason as he is now” trope is at its full potential; Johns drives this hellish truck of a book at full speed into our homes and then ends it by giving us one of the worst takes on Jason Todd’s characterization ever.

But first, let’s talk about the Joker and Jason interaction in the first issue. As Jason and Barbara are left alone with the Joker that they came across moments ago the Joker begins talking because that’s what he does.

He says this, “I’m the loop-de-loop, the hamster-wheel-of-doom. The cycle of pain each one of you is trapped in. Take “Red Hood” here, for example. Have you ever wondered why he uses my former moniker? Who in their right mind would take on the identity of their killer? Am I right?”

He is obviously being a little shit on purpose and is waiting to see if somebody will take the bait. Jason is the first to talk and he says this: “I took it because I’m owning what you did to me. You made me into this. I will be your destruction”.

Congratulations Jason, you took the bait, and now Barbara will fight with you over it.

Jason raises his gun to “break the cycle” and Barbara is like “please don’t do it” and boy is Joker having the time of his life! Both of these idiots are playing his game, Johns really did both Jason and Barbara dirty with this.

Here is where THE problem with letting the Joker talk is. This Joker got under Jason’s skin in seconds and Barbara did nothing while it happened.

This is what the Joker had to say. “Let’s look at the facts here bat-people. I bashed this boy’s skull in. I killed this Robin” to which Jason says “You didn’t kill me, you only made me stronger” which is weird because the Joker did kill him so I don’t know what kinda comeback that was supposed to be but Joker wasn’t done because he continues by saying “Yes, you crawled from the shallow grave I left you in. You lived on to fight another day. Hurrah! You survived because of your tenacity! Or maybe… maybe I beat you to a bloody mess… I took you right to the edge… because I wanted to leave you alive.”

Great that’s where the clown is going, just fantastic, more of the “I made you” but that’s not all because the Joker tells Jason that him having hurt Jason wasn’t because he didn’t like Jason, it was all about Batman, Jason doesn’t matter.

But that’s not the worse thing that was written in this awful book, Geoff Johns seems to have felt that the trauma that Jason went through in the original “Death in the Family” story wasn’t enough because he decided to add something new.

That’s why the Joker says this next, “Do you recall what you said to me while I was breaking your head in with that crowbar? As your blood streamed into your eyes and your skull cracked? Because I cherish those words. I’ll always cherish them. ‘Please stop! Please! If you let me live, I’ll do anything you say. I’ll be your Robin’” “And look at you now my little “Red Hood” shooting up people and making Batman’s life miserable! You are my Robin!”

What a nightmare Johns decided to put Jason and Jason Nation through huh? I hate this, this is the worst thing that has ever been written in a Jason Todd story (although I can say that about many things that were written in this three-issue book).

Jason kills the Joker after he says all that, Barbara does (for some reason) try to stop him from doing it but luckily, she can’t stop Jason.

But here is the thing, Jason killing the Joker doesn’t make me feel as satisfied as I would have liked, and it doesn’t feel that way because Jason let Joker talk for far too long and what Joker said ended up getting in Jason’s head and messing with him.

Batman: Three Jokers #2

Yeah, there is no rest for us, Jason Nation, in this issue Jason goes looking for another Joker to kill and he finds one but he gets captured. Johns really had to get Jason naked for Joker to torture him mentally and physically? Johns is, himself, a major red flag but that’s not what I am here to talk about.

In this issue the Joker that captures Jason has the same things to say as the other one, DC writers really have no imagination when it comes to building conflict between Joker and Jason, huh?

Anyway, Joker says this, “tell me something. Why would you put on that helmet and call yourself Red Hood after what we did?” Jason of course replies “Come on, is every one of you copycats gonna ask me the same thing? It’s a joke” the answer isn’t enough for Joker (the two of them that are here with Jason) so he continues talking. “A joke? We left you with brain damage and permanent nerve pain. Physical and emotional trauma so severe that the only relief you ever find is when you inflict pain on others. You and me, boy, we’re more alike than you’d care to admit. But you know that already. You nearly died and you blame the Batman. You hate him for it. Me too. You hate him most of all don’t you?”

Now, here is the thing, that whole thing is bullshit, none of it makes sense. From Jason having permanent nerve pain to Jason hating Batman the most, everything is a lie. And my confusion here is that I don’t know if I have to feel like Joker is doing it on purpose to be a little bitch or if Geoff Johns was on crack when he wrote this and he had actually never heard of Jason Todd in his life before.

The whole thing is a mess, it feels like he is writing Jason from an origin and story that we never read. I don’t know how to explain it, but the whole thing feels cheap, it’s a cheap trope and it’s a cheap take on who Jason Todd is, was, and will be.

The nightmare doesn’t end Jason Nation because these two Jokers have something else in mind, you see, if they said that they made the Red Hood when they killed Jason the first time, maybe if they kill him this time then he could possibly come back as the Joker. Yeah, this book did nothing for Jason.

Let’s make something clear, Jason does NOT hate Batman/Bruce for not being able to save him, he hates the fact that Batman/Bruce didn’t kill the Joker to avenge him. That simple thing doesn’t exist in Three Jokers and that’s why things like the ones that happen next are allowed to happen in this story.

Bruce and Barbara find Jason and when Bruce asks if he is okay Jason just goes berserk, he says: “Am I all right? What do you think Bruce?! You did this to me. You put me on this path. And I do hate you for it. For leaving me in the dirt. Replacing me one Robin after another without a thought.”

This, everybody is what you get when you mix bad writing with Jason being mentally manipulated by the Joker.

It's a shame that Jason is being treated this way at this point in time, in a book that came out in 2020 when Jason was able to shut the clown up with a knife and a couple of words back in 2005. What a downgrade.

At the end of this issue, Jason is safe and recovering but he still is in the same mindset, he says, “What the Joker said about how I’ve been on the path to being like them for years… they are not wrong. I don’t want to be like them though. I really don’t.”

It’s like a never-ending wheel of pain with this book. Jason is talking to Barbara when he says that and he is trying to look for comfort in her. And here is where the Jason/Barbara subplot begins and I only bring this up because something that happens in the next issue is based on the kiss that Barbara gave Jason but then was like “that doesn’t mean anything, I was just trying to comfort you”. Johns shouldn’t be allowed to write Barbara and Jason ever again.

Batman: Three Jokers #3

It’s in this issue that we find out the big subplot that Johns has prepared for Jason, are you ready for it? Yup, Jason should stop being the Red Hood because if he keeps it up, he will eventually become the Joker.

I know, I know! Jason would never stop being Red Hood, he is not on a path to become the Joker, that’s crazy! Jason’s Red Hood is a character on its own and he is amazing and just because he has different morals from Batman doesn’t mean that he is a bad guy! Right?...

“I’ll give up being Red Hood for us. I can be something else. Or I can be just Jason.”

To this day I cannot believe that those words supposedly were written by Jason Todd to Barbara Gordon after Barbara rejected him three times. The level of “what the fuck is this” is incredibly high with this one…

This whole book was a mess and I am so glad that it didn’t last longer.

Anyway, that’s it. In conclusion, Jason didn’t let the Joker get under his skin the first time they interacted after he came back from the dead but later when DC decided that UtRH was just too good of a book they came up with stories where Joker does get under Jason’s skin and Jason becomes convinced that he has no free will (or at the very least he doubts his free will) when it comes to him becoming his own man.

As I have said before, that for Jason Todd is a major downgrade. And it's one of the many things that hurts Jason’s characterization in current comics.

[whenyouhearthedoorcreak]

Fuck it, I wrote the goddamn essay

I'm far too invested in this series so heres my far overthought essay on Merlin as a Shakespearean Tragedy

Okay this is just a rough outline of what I want to talk about, but the basic premise is that merlinBBC lines up to be a perfect Shakespearean tragedy (ST)

The nine points of a ST ~

The Tragic Hero ~ Arthur is The tragic hero but Merlin also fits into it on a more personal level. Arthur is a man of great presence and station he fights all the monsters and dies in the end, He has this great destiny that lays heavy on his shoulders and he unknowingly drives the plot for most of the show (I just realised how much of this show Arthur just doesn’t know about? Like the entire plot is happening behind him and he’s just having a sword fight (sub thought, that is exactly how I would frame this if I directed a play of Merlin))

Good Vs Evil ~ Morgana sort of handles this all on her own? She is presented as the moral compass of the show and is then slowly manipulated into a position of villain although there is a more complex look at this being represented by merlin gwen and morgause but that would take an awfully long time to explain

Fatal Flaw ~ typically this is given to the Tragic Hero™ but because Merlin and Arthur sort of split the spotlight this is applied mainly to Merlin. Merlin is deeply and unshakingly loyal to Arthur and while this is initially and somewhat veiled as loyalty to his destiny and the future he’s fighting for, it’s easily evident from his actions in “the sins of a father” that he is quickly becoming more loyal to Arthur than magic and chooses Arthurs well being over the fate of magic kind.

Tragic Waste ~ this is the idea that the hero will die before completing all he could do, and if that doesn’t sound like Arthur then we didn’ watch the same show.

Conflict ~ the corruption of merlins and morgana from morgause and Killgarah is the real core conflict of this show, if those two characters had never been there none of this would ever have happened. While i would agree that they could have done it better the main theme of this shows conflicts in manipulation,

Dichotomy of villainy ~ we are left by the end of this show unable to really take a side because everything felt preventable, for this reason morgana’s death and Merlins victory still feels mostly hollow

Supernatural element ~ I feel like this is fairly self evident

Ambiguity of poetic justice ~ “good will always triumph and evil will always suffer” is the simple moral code that most writing goes by, however a ST subverts this, often having its good characters commit acts of moral ambiguity and the hero inevitably fails or dies in the process. This is doen in MerlinBBC with Merlin never fulfilling his destiny and Arthur never repealing the ban on magic. We can suppose given Gwen's scene during the battle of camlann that she will most likely repeal the ban on magic and raise merlin to the title of Court Sorcerer as is vaguely hinted towards given his position in her coronation scene.

Comic relief ~ STs aren’t all sorrow and hannes acts, they have their fair share of jokes and funny moments. We can see that in some of the more joky episodes, but also in things like That tavern scene.

The last piece of this tragic puzzle is the most obvious, the five seasons of Merlin are the five acts of a Shakespeare play. I've made a handy chart to understand what I mean. Because it's a t because its a tv show and therefore worried about viewers returning the act structures isn’t broken up perfectly, but it still fits fairly well. The thing that leaves people bitter about the end of this show, I think, is because they expected the show to settle, to find a rest in its ending, what we got instead was a camelot that (while still having a trusted monarch) was still in turmoil, and a shot of merli alone and sad 1500 years in the future still waiting for arthur.

What happened with merlin is that we never got the finally, “everything will be okay” moment and so we are left wanting

The themes of Merlin are a dichotomy of Peace and Equality Vs corruption and manipulation, this is displayed through the main characters of Merlin, Arthur, and Morgana, with each being manipulated and corrupted by Killgarrah, Uther, and Morgause respectively. This is shown best through the use of Forked Path. (which I weirdly can’t find any articles or anything for? Which is odd given how popular it is but anyway) the Forked Path happens anytime the characters are presented with two strict choices without much wiggle room, both of which could end badly in the long run but must nonetheless be chosen between. This is very clear with season two's story arc between merlin and morgana, in which merlin must either kill his friend to prevent a possible future, or let her win and risk the demise of albion. Merlin attempts to avoid this, temporarily disabling Morgana from enacting her plans and the like, but in the end he is forced to choose. Arthur is continuously presented with the problem of whether to trust and show mercy to magic. Morgana is presented with either killing Uther and freeing magic, or running from camelot and lending to the further persecution of the druids. The thing you might notice is that these are all linching on Merlin and whether or not he tells the truth, his silence provides false dichotomies for the other characters. This is the manipulation I mentioned earlier. Merlin is led to believe again and again that he Must commit acts against his morals to save Arthur and therefore Albion. But as no fan will hesitate to point out, he never really had to. This is a show of the trope of Self Fulfilling Destiny that's found in all tragedies since ancient greece. Merlin’s attempts to stop morgana directly lead to their conflict, his keeping his magic a secret to protect arthur ultimately leads to arthur's death (having only met “evil” sorcerers arthur never repealed the ban and so mordred sides with morgana). If Merlin had followed his own heart then all would have worked out well, but instead we see Killgarrahs manipulation stop merlin from acting in camelots best interest.

[beybladefanboy]

A brief review of every Beyblade Metal Masters episode

Gonna try and keep these briefer than the Fusion ones were though I can’t make any promises once we get into the meatier episodes.

Episode 1: Seeking the Legend 8/10

Gingka seeking out the new Pegasus is a fun little adventure and the scene where he actually contacts and claims Pegasus is honestly epic. It’s a really good way to start a season. Masamune’s stuff… well I don’t like Masamune but I admit his introduction is well done.

Episode 2: The Persistent Challenger 7/10

Masamune is a stalker in this episode. There are too many stalkers in this show. Also Gingka gains complete control over Galaxy Pegasus way too quickly. It takes one scene and suddenly all of Gingka’s struggles become working with a group rather than with a new bey. Him not being used to his new Pegasus is only brought up one other time after this. Kenta is great here at least.

Episode 3: A New Challenge 6/10

Masamune and Gingka honestly exhaust me. There’s a couple funny moments but we’re three episodes in and I’m already tired of their bickering. Mei Mei and Chi-Yun are good new characters though, even if I don’t like Chi-Yun.

Episode 4: Ticket to the World 7.5/10

Kenta not making it to the world tournament was bad writing. Besides that, this episode is actually very entertaining. Lotta fun little battles and funny moments.

Episode 5: Fierce Battle! Leone VS Eagle 9/10

Kyoya learned from his battle with Ryuga. He creates rubble to use in his tornado and make it stronger and use against the opponent. Also this battle is freaking epic. It starts the best plot in Masters and is just Kyoya and Tsubasa being total badasses.

Episode 6: Soar Into the World 7.5/10

Tsubasa vs Yu is a good battle and then Gingka has a mini depression episode which is… fine. Cute episode.

Episode 7: The Beylin Temple in the Sky 7.5/10

I don’t know why Daxiang was so entertaining on this rewatch but he was. He is genuinely introduced well but he also just makes me laugh. Also Masamune has a rare smart moment in this episode.

Episode 8: The Third Man 6.5/10

I don’t like Chao Xin or Masamune. So no thanks to this one. It’s not a bad episode, it sets up the first battle well, I’m just not into it.

Episode 9: The World Championships Begin! 7/10

Okay this was actually pretty cool. I feel like the sequence of Masamune’s arc feels out of order for some weird reason but the battle of this episode is still good.

Episode 10: Lacerta’s Will 7.5/10

I want to punt Chi Yun across the stadium. What is his problem?! I know Tsubasa had to be driven to the point where he goes dark mode but come on. That being said, the scene where he does snap gave me chills so this episode has that going for it.

Episode 11: The 4000 Year Old Secret 7/10

This battle’s fine. A little lukewarm honestly, especially after the last one but not boring.

Episode 12: The Bey with a Hero’s Name 5/10

Why establish an entire team just to have them defeated in one episode and completely forgotten? That’s… that’s boring. These guys are boring. Also while I do like Julian, god do I hate the whole, “yeah I can rotate both ways because I’m rich” nonsense. In one fell swoop, it makes reverse rotation, something that was previously a huge deal and was the mark of evil, into just some silly quirk. It’s one of the worst things the series has done overall.

Episode 13: The Wintry Land of Russia 6.5/10

This whole episode is the characters chilling on a train and… it’s honestly fine. Madoka falling for the first intelligent person she’s ever seen in her life is pretty amusing and Lera… would’ve been a great character if she’d actually been used properly.

Episode 14: How Grand! The Cage Match 6.5/10

Gingka has no arc this season but he has a bunch of tiny character moments scattered throughout the season, with this being one of them. It’s an okay battle, with an obvious conclusion (both Gingka winning and the way he wins).

Episode 15: Libra Departs for the Front 7/10

Okay seeing Yu battle is really nice and the way he wins is fun. I don’t really have any complaints about this one, I just like other episodes more.

Episode 16: The Festival of Warriors 7.5/10

Gingka, Masamune, and Yu are so disrespectful in this episode, I don’t think they get into enough trouble for the stunt they pulled here. Sophie and Wales are awesome though.

Episode 17: We Meet Again! Wang Fu Zhong 5/10

This episode doesn’t do anything objectively wrong, unless you count wasting time on the teamwork theme that honestly goes nowhere this season and just annoying the crap out of me. I’m sure the bickering is supposed to be funny, and there’s some moments here and there but overall, this episode honestly feels like a waste of time.

Episode 18: The Scorching Hot Lion 9/10

This episode is such a breath of fresh air after the stretch of honestly overall boring episodes so far. This is a simple but fun story that introduces both Nile and Demure well and further cements Kyoya as the best person in the room at any given point… before Ryuga took his spot.

Episode 19: The Shocking Wild Fang 8/10

Kyoya you probably shouldn’t have revealed Reverse Wind Strike like that but I’ll forgive you because I love you. Also, Team Wild Fang slaying some fools is great.

Episode 20: Horuseus vs Striker 8/10

Masamune is so goddamn irritating on this episode. Nile kicking his ass is so unbelievably satisfying. The battle’s also just fun in general.

Episode 21: Eternal Rivals 10/10

This is Kyoya and Gingka’s best one on one battle and one of the best battles in the series if I’m being honest. There are so many back and forths and the conclusion that Kyoya and Gingka are on the same level powerwise is actually really cool. It’s a lot more interesting than Gingka winning, which was the only other option storywise at this point.

Episode 22: The Third Match: On the Edge 9/10

This episode is brutal. They really knock Tsubasa around and build up to his breakdown, which is a doozy. Every painful thing that could happen with this plot happens here: Tsubasa knocks away Yu, destroys the stadium, attacks his eagle, makes Hikaru panic so badly that Ryo takes a break from being a terrible person to shield her from the falling glass. That moment was the first one that made me cry when I first got back into Beyblade.

Episode 23: The End of a Fierce Struggle! 7.5/10

(Warning: I talk about abuse again in this section, specifically a parent abusing their child. Just know this anger is coming from a personal place but if it’s a triggering topic, I suggest you scroll past the majority of this part. I talk about the rest of the episode in the last paragraph.)

NOT FORCING INJURED CHILDREN INTO WHAT HAS BECOME A WAR ZONE IS NOT “SPECIAL TREATMENT”! IT SHOULD BE STANDARD PRACTICE THAT ANY TEAMMATE ON ANY TEAM SHOULDN’T HAVE TO BATTLE IF THEY’RE INJURED.

I really REALLY hate Ryo. I don’t care that Gingka and Kyoya wanted to battle, they shouldn’t have even been allowed to in the state that they were in. They couldn’t even launch their beys properly and were in physical pain the entire time. I’m sorry to bring this up AGAIN but this is yet another way Ryo abuses Gingka. He put him and his bey in physical danger and whether you consider this active harm or neglect, it’s still abusive. I don’t get how Gingka doesn’t linger on shit like this. Here’s how I’d fix it: Have Ryo refuse to force his injured son to fight and THEN someone (perhaps someone else in the WBBA, it can’t just be Ryo and a couple of teenagers) argues he’s showing favouritism and Ryo ends up feeling like his hands are tied and he has to make Gingka battle. That wouldn’t have completely excused it but it may not have made me completely hate him for two seasons in a row.

-

Okay, I got really angry for an episode I honestly like. Besides the WBBA’s disgusting decision, this is a pretty fun battle. Masamune shows he learned his lesson from Nile and actually works with Gingka as a team to defeat him and Kyoya, which is nice to see. Masamune has some good moments here and there in this show and this is one of them. Also Kyoya really shows how much he’s grown this season, letting himself rely on a teammate and not blaming him when they lose. He actually accepts the loss very graciously, even encouraging Gingka to keep winning. It’s really sweet.

Episode 24: The Creeping Darkness 7/10

Yay the dark Tsubasa thing has been explained! That’s really interesting. Mei Mei and Chao Xin’s battle against Sophie and Wales is okay, nothing special though.

Episode 25: The Axe of Destruction 6/10

I don’t like Chi Yun, so this episode doesn’t do it for me. They spend way too long on his backstory for my liking. I think it would’ve been better if Chi Yun’s backstory with Da Xiang was explained in an earlier episode or something. Overall, this episode feels like filler despite being Klaus’s introduction.

Episode 26: The Dragon Emperor Returns 9.5/10

RYUGA! Gosh he never fails to make me smile. I was feeling kinda down when I rewatched this one and the moment Ryuga appeared in his flash of lightning, I was smiling ear to ear and melting at his story of overcoming the dark power. This character means so much to me, I’m a little in awe. And you know what else means a lot to me? The Dark Tsubasa arc. Getting a visual on what is going on in Tsubasa’s mind is really powerful and the animation and acting are honestly stellar. It’s also nice to see Excalibur. Just overall a great episode.

Episode 27: Exceed the Limit! 8.5/10

Okay, I like this battle. Masamune and Klaus are so respectful to each other it makes me respect them and the battle is so back and forth it’s kind of exhilarating. Also, Ryuga gets some cameos. Yay :)

Episode 28: Dark Eagle 9.5/10

“Everyone has darkness in their hearts, instead of trying to suppress it, we should accept it as part of ourselves and learn to control it.” That message alone boosts this episode so high in my mind, I freaking love it. I also just think the Dark Tsubasa arc was overall exciting and interesting and this was a great battle and conclusion.

Episode 29: Gravity Destroyer 8.5/10

Gingka kicks Julian’s butt because a hot homeless person with a crush on him gave him some tsundere pointers and honestly, that’s beautiful.

Episode 30: The Midday Street Battle 7.5/10

“Don’t wander through the slums of Brazil alone, kids. You’ll get beat up and left for dead on the streets.” This show is so brutal I swear to god.

Episode 31: The Brazilian Trap 7/10

“If you lose at Beyblade you can still live a normal life.” He says to a kid who once had the threat of death over his head if he lost to a sadistic snake boi.

“You who has never had to worry about not having a place to live.” He says to a kid who was at the very least implied to be homeless before the Dark Nebula took him in and again, kidnapped and tried to kill him

Why do the characters never once bring up these points? The Garcias are clearly intended to be hypocrites, why not call them out on it directly? Also, Masamune is really stupid but I find myself laughing at this incompetence.

Episode 32: The Explosive Cyclone Battle 7/10

Selen out here playing Punch Out while the rest of us are trying to do actual boxing. Is that reference lost on my Beyblade crowd? Ya dodge a lot in Punch Out. The Cyclone Battle stuff is fine I guess and Gingka losing to Argo, getting a major loss in the World Tournament is pretty cool.

Episode 33: Charge! Ray Gil! 8/10

“You think we’ve had an easy time?! My path so far definitely hasn’t been an easy one either!” You fucking tell them Tsubasa. The Garcias definitely could’ve and should’ve been called out more but this was a great battle despite that. I love that Tsubasa’s dark side comes back for just a moment but he’s able to overcome it with the support of his friends and faith in his abilities that have gotten him this far. Also that scene with Ryuga at the end is downright legendary.

Episode 34: The Friend’s Name is Zeo 7.5/10

Pretty chill episode, besides the backstory bit that made my heart ache. Also Coach Steel is great.

Episode 35: Our Slogan is Number 1! 8/10

An entire flashback episode devoted to Team Dungeon? You’re really setting me up to get my heart broken aren’t you?

Episode 36: The Plot Thickens 8/10

This is mostly exposition for the arrangement system and team Starbreaker but it’s interesting exposition and definitely important going forward. It also has the introduction of my beloved Jack and shows my beloved Ryuga kicking ass.

Episode 37: The Compass of Fate: Byxis 8.5/10

More Ryuga, and the introduction of Damian. And Zeo being an angsty sad boy. And Tsubasa and Yu getting attacked. A lot happens in this episode for a seemingly uneventful one.

Episode 38: The Wicked Peacock: Befall 8.5/10

Peacocks can’t fly you beautiful disaster. What the hell has Ziggurat been teaching you, Jack? This is a really good debut for Jack, I can’t help it. He’s so much fun.

Episode 39: The Guard Dog of Hades: Kerbecs 8.5/10

This episode is painful. I like Julian, even if he’s a bit annoying, so seeing him being humiliated and tortured like that was brutal.

Episode 40: The Furious DJ Battle?! 9.5/10

Kenta feeling overshadowed and ignored by the others is straight up set up in Masters. Not in this episode specifically, but it is a good example.

Putting that aside, this episode is really funny. It feels more and more like a parody as it goes on, even before the Blader DJs show up, but especially when they do. It’s like a crazy fanfiction or something. I love it.

Episode 41: The Final Countdown 9/10

This episode is literally just a shot of pure pain and depression. Why must these children be traumatised all the time? :(

Episode 42: The Dragon Emperor Descends 10/10

Yeah, I have no idea how I left this episode off my Top 5 Masters Episodes list. I adore this episode. It’s a great show of both Ryuga and Jack’s power and personalities, showing how unhinged yet passionate Jack is, and showing Ryuga being a total badass who can actually be quite clever and a bit sadistic even without the dark power. It’s obvious he was toying with Jack from the start, to me at least, but going as far as humiliating him like that was pretty brutal. I just love both of these characters so seeing them clash is just perfect, and a neat little surprise for first time watchers.

Episode 43: Spirits’ Last Battle 7.5/10

Lots of exposition in the first half, but it’s important and some of the revelations and characters’ reactions to it are pretty impactful. Gingka vs Damian is a pretty predictable setup but it’s a reasonably fun time.

Episode 44: Showdown! Gingka vs Damian 7.5/10

I actually didn’t remember Storm Bringer coming back at all, that’s really cool.

“You really are just a victim in all this.” Okay, Gingka acknowledging that about Damian is a really powerful moment and I do feel bad for Damian despite it all.

Would’ve been nice to get a moment like this with Reiji and Jack but I digress I guess :/

Episode 45: The Miraculous Spiral Force 8/10

Ziggurat discusses global warming, overpopulation, and the energy crisis, all of which are still issues to this day and weren’t even as well known a decade ago when this came out. That is the catalyst of Ziggurat’s plan. This show has some serious balls and it does not get nearly enough credit for it.

Episode 46: Charge! Hades City 8/10

Fun episode with a lot of little moments for even the less major characters to shine.

Episode 47: The Fallen Emperor 9/10

I talked about this fairly recently in my “great things about Masters” post but I love the way Julian and Da Xiang’s character arcs meet and contrast in this episode, Julian drowning in shame from his failure, feeling like he has nothing left to lose with his pride and family legacy seemingly destroyed while Da Xiang took his failure as an opportunity to improve and teaches Julian to do the same with their battle and his words. Beyblade’s consistent theme of getting back up after a loss and to keep moving forward is a really important one and it’s very prevalent here.

Episode 48: Befall’s Trap 8.5/10

Jack finally got off the drugs, that’s nice. He and Tsubasa’s battle was fun, two really great characters clashing is always nice to see. Also, Jack is very funny and cute.

Episode 49: The Wild Beast Unleashed 9/10

Kyoya is really really really hot and badass. No thoughts, only simping.

Okay if I have to provide a thought, I like the whole “you need actual experience to be good at something” message that Kyoya is preaching. Kyoya is cool.

Episode 50: Rampage! Tempo 7.5/10

Okay, some of this science is so wrong it has to be intentionally them going with magic over science, which they absolutely should not do when the plot is rooted in science.

Ryuga’s cameo was super hot though.

Episode 51: Galaxy Heart 8.5/10

Kind of a weird finale. There is a battle going on but the thing that saves the day is Gingka and Ryuga launching their beys at a machine and sending an explosion to space, which is fun in its own right. Also the team dungeon stuff is excellent as usual.

[masterhandss]

Personally I don't see what you see in Geordo. He seems like such a scumbag to me and is the least likable charater in the whole series. He is always trying to get her alone to push her into things of a sexual/ more romantic nature without taking how she really feels into consideration. Like he "really wants her" and thats enough for him without caring what she really wants. Honestly he is the borderline non-con villian in my mind.

I mean, it's okay if you feel like that. To each their own.

Hmmm when I think about Geordo being sexually aggressive towards Katarina, I only really just think of the anime. The manga is a much more moe-fied and toned down version of the novels, and the novels does an okay job at balancing his desires for Katarina in all aspects. I'm not saying he doesn't have that trait in the other two mediums, I just think that they aren't as intense as the anime, so as someone who consumes all three versions I just tilt my head and go "huh." Of course I'm sure there are people who read the manga and novels that still feel uncomfortable about his behavior and that's valid too.

-> light novel spoilers ahead <-

tldr, there is a lot more going on to him than just someone who offers sweet words and questionable invitations to Katarina's ears, this may not be noticeable or acceptable to some people but we get to know more about how he thinks whenever the novels puts us in his point of view. You're free to dislike him as much as you want, but I like him & don't see him as a scumbag; and here's why:

I at least find it okay that Geordo is very serious about his pursuits for her because he is aware that she is dense and will not get it until you spell it in the sky. Everyone is just walking eggshells around Katarina hoping that the girl would just develop feelings for one of them to win the harem olympics. He knows that being dealt with a good card isn't enough, so he's actively taking action in order to win her heart. I mean I don't always agree with his methods either, like the "fait accompli" line or constantly inviting her to his room alone, but really, how much of that is something he really means to do vs how much of that is his excessive flirting + our minds assuming that he really means to claim her in that way?

Lines like that are really popular with japanese fans because it makes Geordo look "sexy" and "forward", which they enjoy in their fictional stories. He knows that his position gives him an advantage so he'll try to play his cards right and use it to increase his chances in victory.

It actually reminds me of a scene from the Hamefura StoryMe game, (don't really know how canon it is but I remember the JP ver. was advertised by @/hamhura) where Geordo indirectly asked Katarina how to woo a girl he really likes, and Katarina thinking he was referring to Maria, gives all the things he usually does in order to win her heart (visit her home, give her gift, dance with her in parties, be really forward about your feelings etc). I'm not saying Katarina approves of the ways Geordo attempts to win her heart, but there's some hilarity in knowing that Geordo already had and is constantly trying all the known ways to win over a girl in the world from a young age, and still has nothing to show for it. Like no awareness, much less any *feelings* lmao. So trying to make it obvious that he is interested in her romantically and sexually seems like the next logical step to him. I mean if you go by Geordo's logic and considering the time period this takes place in, he's pretty confident that he can get Katarina to love him back and they are engaged anyways so in his head he's in safe waters to attempt to make teases about such advancements if it gives him the smallest chance that Katarina would become at least aware of him through it.

Of course I know that stuff like that won't fly here in the real world, but maybe that's why I'm so lenient personally when it comes to his (debatably) sexual teases and advances, because it's a fictional story for a japanese audience. Doesn't mean I would approve any advances like that if it happens to me, it's just that it's hard to take his actions seriously when Katarina or the story doesn't take them seriously. Like, the girl would be pushed down to a bed by RufuSora and gives her a hickey and she still thinks the man is out for her blood.

He wouldn't even be entirely wrong, knowing the identities of the characters who Katarina knows has romantic interest in her in the novels, actions does speak louder than words when it comes to her. Like I said, whether or not Geordo really means what he says when the story teases the readers with sexual implications in his words and action depends on the reader in my opinion. They are there, I wont pretend they don't but I'd argue about the level of intent depending on what scene you're talking about.

The only scenes on the top of my head where he is very abrasive towards Katarina is the "fait accompli" scene, the Book scene form the anime (S1 EP8), saying he wants to lock her in his room (LN6) and the multiple times Geordo had invited her in his room at night alone (LN6 and LN8, i think).

I've already explained why I am okay with both Keith and Geordo's Book scenes from episode 8 of the first season because they are accurate representations of an exaggerated and unhinged versions of their desires towards Katarina so I won't bore you with those details again.

He mentioned in Volume 6 that he wants to lock Katarina in his room forever and keep her light to himself, which alarmed a few people when the book came out, but he said that in a moment where he feels super grateful and loving towards her because she knew how tired he was despite his fake face and without even saying anything. It was a moment where he felt so infatuated towards her that he wished the moment where he gets to rest in her arms would last forever, thus he made such a comment. I make it sound more dramatic than it was in Volume 6, it was just a quick comment honestly lmao.

For people who don't read the novels, that last part looks very sus and raises a few red flags I know, but to be fair we can't definitively say what his intentions are because Katarina never commits to those visits. Katarina has actually become wary of those invitations, because Keith and Mary have warned her that Geordo's intentions are sexual, but I'm not really trusting the word of the two people who are most distrustful and antagonistic to Geordo. They could be right, of course, but who can really say? We assume that they are correct because they care about Katarina and are wary of Geordo, but hamefura('s novels) is full of unreliable narrators anyways, it's not like Keith or Mary would consider the possibility of it being anything else because when it comes to the third prince they always fear the worst case scenario.

If you think about it, Geordo is probably aware that winning her over with a "fait accompli" won't work at all because it'll put him in a position that will make other people push him for the throne (which he doesn't want) or could ruin his reputation in high society if Katarina or her family react to it negatively. I'm not Geordo though, so I can't really say if he even have such fears and doubts in the first place, that's just my assessment based on the obstacles he has. On the outside he is really sure of himself and confident (which he arguably deserves) and on the inside he is very careful and insecure when it comes to Katarina.

Also like, spoilers but for someone who is very forward when it comes to his physical advances, Geordo is super weak when he is in the receiving end of those touches. He gets super embarrassed and easily flustered when its Katarina who is touching him, as if implying that to some extent that he's all just talk lmao.

I don't really agree that Geordo doesn't care about what Katarina feels at all, in fact his inner dilemma in the novels is that he doesn't know what to do because in every step he takes he might do something that could ruin his image in Katarina's eyes, be it pursuing or abandoning the throne or looking like a monster in front of her. He even halts his plans to make advances towards her during the Keith Kidnapping Arc, but threw it away because he knows how much finding Keith means to Katarina. He puts what Katarina want and doesn't want as his priority, so when what she feels is unclear that's when he acts on his own intuition. The only reason Geordo feels so confident to advance towards her sexually is because Katarina never rejected him before (because she doesn't know what they mean, and all of this is for the sake of simply making her aware in the first place)

I'm not trying to make anyone think that one has to read all the books in order to understand him, I think the manga does okay at conveying his feelings too. The anime really prioritizes on making him look "sexy" for the japanese female audience, so anything he does is sprinkled with spice whether we like it or not.

I'm sorry if it seems like I'm overanalyzing all his actions just to justify them, everyone has the right to be uncomfortable with his advances if it seems too much for you. It's just that his actions, while over the top and unnecessary, are done to please the type of audience that hamefura caters to, and it's hard to take him completely seriously when the story doesn't either in my opinion. Doesn't mean he's right or that any of it is okay, but it's his method of trying to put a dent on Katarina's bakashield. When you're in a race versus your friends who Katarina all loves equally, he's gonna use whatever card he can get in order to win.

I like Geordo; I like how much of his feelings for Katarina forces him to reexamine himself and realize that he isn't a perfect prince at all, that he has lots of problems and flaws that he needs to work out in order to be someone worthy of her. I like the way he falls more and more in love with her in every interaction they have because he finally gets to have a genuinely and caring interaction with someone. I like how Geordo wants to do better and be better for Katarina and the people around him, and he wants to be able to thank Katarina directly for that through being able to show his love. I like that despite how much of a chad he acts in front of her, he's a blushing mess at the thought of Katarina returning his feelings. I find it funny when his "sexual advances" fails and gets thwarted because he's trying them on the densest person and most protected lady to ever live. I like how Geordo is so head-over-heals in love with her and how much comfort and warmth she brings to him by simply being her caring and bubbly self.

I guess it's just a matter of different perspectives. If you find him unlikeable or a villain, then you do you. I try to explain why I personally excuse his actions, but I know it wont fly with everyone. We all see each character differently and absorb the material in different ways. In fact it's probably a bad idea for me to defend him with material that isn't the anime nor manga yet lmao. I mean I'm not that much of a fan of Mary anymore, and I'm kinda scared and wary of her, but I know people don't see her the way I do and I'm okay with that.

Maybe its just me, who is the kind of person who just goes with the flow and doesn't think too hard because it's all fiction anyways

It's hard to tell all this from simply watching the anime, so I laid all my feelings down in hopes that someone out there would understand why I like him so much.

Thank you for the ask, you can ask more questions or call me out if I said anything insensitive or wrong, I know a lot of this is me overanalyzing things which might look like I'm jus stretching. As someone who is aware of the things to come in Hamefura X, I can say that I am both excited and nervous as to how everyone will react for the direction of Geordo's character.

[svnaslove]

post-it notes ♡

characters: sugawara, bokuto

summary: it’s basically just them flirting with their s/o using post-it notes 

(i thought it was cute okay)

genre: fLUFF

warnings: be prepared for just how fluffy this is because it’s so cute omg

You two honestly don’t even know when or how this started, it just,, started?

During classes, in the halls, face to face, it was just you guys’s thing

It didn’t take long for people to notice the cute little thing you guys had going on of passing post-it notes to each other all of the time

EVERYONE thought you were dating, truth is, you both liked each other but were both too scared to confess to the other.

One day you decided to confess but you were really nervous, you didn’t know how you would do this and you didn’t want to ruin your friendship.

But then you decided it was better to confess then to be like this any longer

Suga made you happy and he was your best friend, what could go wrong?

So here you are, holding little heart-shaped post-it notes in your hands that you had just gotten at the convenience store and your cheeks flushed because you had ran all the way there and back to try to make it back in time.

“meet me behind the gym before the game - bug”

Oh yeah, did I mention? You have post-it note codenames for each other

You were bug and he was kit-kat

this is so cute im screaming

the nicknames had come from just random moments

You were bug because your were freaking SHORT and he was kit-kat because one day you brought him one and he got so excited and he had accidently left a little bit of chocolate in the corner of his lips and you didn’t bother to mention it to him until after he had come to sit down from his presentation in front of the whole class KDJFLSDK

“i loved that presentation kit-kat” you smiled slyly at his confused face. “Kit-Kat?” Suga asked a little confused. You reached to the chocolate at the corner of his lips and wiped it off of his lips with your thumb and then licked the chocolate off of your thumb. 

Suga baby was a MESS

Baby was blushing so hard he couldn’t function for the rest of the day

Error 404 suga.exe has stopped functioning

He couldn’t look at you without blushing for a whole week

So here you were, sticking this post-it note to his locker (which you knew he would go to to get his volleyball bag), telling him to meet you behind the gym before his practice game vs. nekoma so you could confess to him how you literally fell head over heels for him

You were twiddling with the bottom of your skirt as you saw Sugawara approach you from a little distance. Maybe telling him to meet you here was mistake? Maybe you should just say that you wanted to wish him good luck on the game? no, you had to tell him, it was to late to back out now and you it was getting harder and harder to hold back your feelings. mama ain’t raise a lil bitch.

Suga held your little heart shaped post-it note with your careful handwriting up and waved it. “I got your note.” he smiled, completely oblivious to what was about to happen. How were you supposed to confess to him when he was being so cute. UGH. 

“i uhm, needed to talk to you suga-kun.” you said twiddling with your fingers now. Sugawara noticed how tense you were and decided to stay quiet and pay attention to what you had to say, he didn’t want to ruin it since it seemed important. 

“you can tell me y/n” a little smile on his face.

“uhm, okay, well, i-, i like you suga, and not just you know, friendship like you, like, like LIKE you.” you stuttered out, feeling your cheeks heat up so much it would be noticeable even if it were dark out. 

Suga walked up to you with a little smirk (he was trying to keep it down i swear he didn’t want to make you freak out more but he couldn’t help it) 

“do you have any more of these post-it notes?” he asked simply. 

“I- what? Uhm yea, i think so.” confused, you took out the pack of heart-shaped stick notes and handed it to him. 

Suga took out a sharpie from his pocket and started writing on it, when he was done he just sticked it to your forehead and walked away. (YOUR FOREHEAD, I KNOW)

You were so confused you thought this wasn’t actually happening. You took the sticky note and read it.

“i like you too dummy - kit-kat”

Your heart JUMPED out of your chest. You blushed again you noticed something was written behind it too.

“wait for me at the entrance to the gym after the game”

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

Karasuno had won the practice match against Nekoma which had only motivated Nekoma more to practice for a real dumpster match. You laughed at the sight of the captains of both teams trying to be as sportsman like as possible to each other failing miserably because Daichi seemed like he wanted to break out into a dance and Kuroo looked like he was about to cry.

You waited at the entrance, spacing out and looking up at the stars in the sky. Only to be brought back by the familiar voice calling your name. 

“y/nn !” Suga called.

“Hi Suga!” you called back.

He stopped in front of you and blushed.

“Let me walk you home” 

“Okay” you smiled.

The two of you walked together holding pinkies under the starry sky that night and when you two had stopped in front of your house he had given you a kiss in the cheek, making you both blush.

“Good night, y/n”

“Good night, Suga”

lmao it started in the middle of volleyball practice

being one of the managers you had to take notes for the team for their plays etc.. so you had plenty of post-it notes

bokuto was being loud again, like always

“AKAASHI DID YOU SEE THAT, DID YOU SEE THAT AKAASHI”

you just walked up to him and stuck the sticky note right on his forehead

he turned it around and it said

“ssshhh, we saw it bokuto, good job”

bokuto literally stopped functioning because it was so out of nowhere and he wasn’t expecting that

he just stood there for a solid 20 seconds watching you walk away with the sticky note in his hand

akaashi was literally shook “y/n please do that more often just to shut him up”

i don’t know know what it was not even bokuto knows himself but after that he got such a big crush on you

maybe it was the way you got his attention with something so small?

so after that he got his own pair of sticky notes just to mess with you

he would write little notes to make you blush to try to get your attention like you got his, and he would be really sweet in the notes

“you look really pretty today :D “

“thank you for always helping our team :)”

yes, he drew the smiley faces too

and each and everyone of those post-it notes brought a little blush to your cheeks

not short after you ended up getting a crush on bokuto too and you would try to get him flustered with them too

“you’re doing really good today bokuto :)”

“are you a volleyball because i’d hit that ;)”

it’s safe to say that he short-circuited when you gave him that second one and just walked away and in that day, he had never played a practice match like how he did that day because he really wanted to impress you

the team had noticed you guys’s little post-it note thing and thought it was so cute

konoha and sarukui and yukie all had a game where they would watch to see the exchange of the sticky notes and laughed at how your faces would get so red after reading each others sticky notes

bokuto would try his hardest to make sure the post-it note was perfect

he would spend time on every little detail, he wanted his handwriting to be nice and the doodles around it to be perfect so he would be extra attentive to make sure it went the way he wanted and it freaked akaashi out because he had never seen bokuto pay so much attention to anything other than volleyball

no seriously, akaashi was literally freaked (in a good way) because bokuto would be silent for like 5 minutes focusing on his post-it of the day

not long after, you guys started dating and sometimes bokuto would have his arm around you and his hand would slip into the back pocket of your jeans to leave his post-it note there and he liked to watch how your cheeks would get so red, he thought it was so cute

for some reason you guys just forgot to tell the team you two were dating, you guys just thought that they thought you already were?

so uhm, this is how they found out

you were writing on your clipboard, taking notes for the practice getting the next volleyball camp set up for the boys. the team was setting everything up for practice to start and Akaashi was walking up to you to ask a question about the next training camp when OUT OF NOWHERE FREAKING BOKUTO SHOWS UP RUNNING TOWARDS YOU WITH A STICKY NOTE IN HIS HAND HE JUST SLAPS YOUR ASS WITH THE HAND THAT HAS THE STICKY NOTE AND KISSES YOUR CHEEK AND RUNS PAST YOU LIKE IT’S NOTHING. 

Mind you the whole team just saw everything and Akaashi was right there so he not only got a front row seat to the sound you made when Bokuto slapped your ass but he also could read what Bokuto wrote on the post-it note.

Your face was SO red and you reached for the sticky note stuck on your ass.

“your ass looks really good in those pants baby :)”

again with the smiley faces, i know

Akaashi knew that he liked you but he had no idea that you guys were dating so he literally yelled “what the FUCK BOKUTO” and Konoha was about to spike a volleyball at him and Yukie was about to call the police before you could stop them and Bokuto and you had to tell them that you guys were dating😭😭

“ohhh but still, whAT THE FUCK I WAS RIGHT THERE” Akaashi spluttered.

“sorry akaashiiii” bokuto said, his hair going down about to go into emo mode. you kissed him in the cheek and he sprung up with the new found energy and gave you a big hug and you giggled.

“okay! let’s get this practice started!” bokuto yelled and started jogging over to the volleyballs after giving you a little kiss at the top of your head.

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

Author’s note: hey i hope you guys enjoyed it, this is was my first time doing this style of writing with the bullet points and the multiple characters in one post so i hope it was cute ^^

also im doing requests now so if you guys have any requests for me to write you can ask here :)

[sam-t-a]

Okay. 

*Deep breath* 

I think I’m finally calm enough to put into words exactly why I hated the finale and why I wasn’t completely surprised that I hated it. 

(Heads-up: this is really long and pretty negative. If you disagree, I would of course appreciate your point of view and love to hear it, but just thought I’d let you know in case this is the kind of post you would like to avoid.)

To me, it felt like every character on the show got betrayed in some way or another, but the main ones are Han Seo (devastatingly), Chayoung (obviously) and Han Seok (bear with me). 

Cha Young: 

She started out as a solid FL who annoyed some people for sure, but who had so much promise as someone unconventional and bold. The way her mother’s death affected her and caused a clear shift in her personality was a super interesting plot point that really never got explored. We have no idea how she came to sacrifice her morality in joining Wusang, just that she wanted to spite her father, which is a very superficial exploration. She gets cute idiosyncrasies in lieu of an actual character and an actual character arc. 

We also, halfway through the show, seem to forget that her father's death was the initial trigger. Cha young does not suggest bold ideas or intricate plans, she doesn’t fill the gaps Vincenzo is incapable of filling (because that would require that Vincenzo have flaws, and that’s not something the writers can abide), and she’s literally victimized in episode 19 and bedridden in episode 20, and that is IT. 

Someone who started out supposedly as Vincenzo’s equal just became another piece in his chess set, no matter how important a piece she may be. 

So her role as a badass avenger is trashed. That leaves her role as a love interest. Now, as Vincenzo’s love interest, she was supposed to get kidnapped in like episode 5 or 6 at the most if the villain has any brains whatsoever (Han Seok may or may not, more on that later). We need a reason for that not to happen too early. Cue villain is somehow in love with her for all of 15 minutes or so throughout a 20-episode series because a love triangle is inconceivable with the show’s current structure and for its purposes. 

So, she spends 15 or so episodes making the first move on Vincenzo, every time, putting herself out there, creating cute moments, getting nothing in return, and then he leaves. No confession, nothing much, he wasn’t even going to say goodbye or give her the choice of coming with him. 

I’m sure more chayenzo-oriented fans have already expressed all the necessary outrage over this, so I’ll move on to the part that I’ve personally been way more emotionally invested in from the get go: the Jang brothers. 

Han Seo: 

I was among the minority that  hated the “Vinny hyung” angle from the get-go and I’ve ranted about it in another post, so I won’t get into it here in-depth, but basically it was because I felt like Vincenzo hadn’t earned it, so to have the last words Han Seo hears be “You deserve to be my brother” or whatever the fuck he was on about PISSED ME OFF. It’s VINCENZO who doesn’t deserve to be Han Seo’s brother and hasn’t done a single thing to earn it. He was a good ally. The situation he allowed Han Seo to be a part of was beneficial to him, but Han Seo’s attachment to him was neither healthy nor heartwarming, and it certainly wasn’t returned on the level he offered it.

Vincenzo’s disregard of his death didn’t strike me as odd because I never saw enough indications that this was a two-way street and Han Seo’s safety and well-being came second so often that I didn’t get the impression Vincenzo was doing much to keep him alive. This is what I meant when I said the show was glorifying a torture survivor’s trauma responses. Han Seo himself, as a torture survivor, meant nothing to them. He was just there to create one more contrived comparison between Vincenzo and Han Seok. Instead of recovering from the trauma, it’s simply employed to someone else’s favor. He doesn’t go to prison for Han Seok, he takes a bullet for Vincenzo, and we’re supposed to see that as so much better.

All of that might (JUST MIGHT) not have ruined the show for me if he’d died better. 1) It was narratively pointless and totally avoidable, 2) they could’ve framed it as heroic, but instead Han Seok’s hand patting his head is pushing it down, so he can’t even get shot with his chin up and his back straight, Taec’s already taller, so the angle’s fucked and the whole cinematography screamed “kicking an injured puppy” and most certainly NOT “survivor finally stands up to his abuser”. The final nail in the proverbial and literal coffin is that he is mourned by no one. They’re FLIRTING not 3 MINUTES LATER, it felt so tone deaf and left such a bad taste. As I said, I didn’t expect significant mourning from Vincenzo (gotta say, I didn’t expect no mourning, that was a shocker), and Cha young and the tenants had no real interactions with him and no reason to mourn him, which left only one person who could. 

Which brings me to Han Seok. 

Han Seok started out as a solid villain, clear goals, clear skills that help him achieve his goals and basically make him a villain worth defeating, and a very complex relationship with both his own psychopathy and his brother. 

Let me get it out of the way: I do not believe Han Seok is capable of killing Han Seo because he had every reason and every opportunity to do so in previous episodes and couldn’t do it (I say couldn’t because a certain degree of reluctance is in itself inability). Han Seo’s danger far outweighed his material value the minute he shot Han Seok and then completely lost any value once he came out to the world as the chairman and it became clear that the prosecution would be going after him if anything happened, and not his brother. But time and again, he’s proven he’s all bark and no bite when it comes to Han Seo (killing-wise, specifically). 

The scene where he asks him to beat Vincenzo to death could be interpreted as him wanting to give Vincenzo the “painful death” he would have given him, but honestly, I think he was way past that point. He just wanted him dead in the “You crazy? we have to kill him before he kills us” sense. To that end, killing off a key ally of Vincenzo’s, who betrayed you and almost got you killed a bunch of times, should take priority, but Han Seok’s priority is reclaiming Han Seo by forcing him back onto his side. Now, much like his “love for Cha young”, Han Seok’s keenness on not killing his brother was essential to the writers so that Han Seo can justifiably make it this far and still be useful to Vincenzo (he can’t help if Han Seok completely excludes him from all events, plans and management processes, so Han Seok needs to want to keep him on his side enough not to do that even when it’s more prudent). 

All of this isn’t to say it’s unbelievable that he would kill Han Seo, but it’s DEFINITELY unbelievable that he would stay the same man after killing him. Someone here (I’m sorry, I don’t rememebr who) once said that Han Seo had become, over time, far more of a foil to his brother than Vincenzo was. To me, this means that Post-Han Seo Han Seok would be out of balance (tilted screen), unhinged in a way he never was before. The Han Seok we see shrugs and “oh, well”-s and moves on in a flash, not really any different from the villain he was four minutes and a whole brother earlier. 

This is very consistent with the way the show has been de-humanizing him from the start. I’m not saying this to defend Han Seok in any way, he’s a serial killer, an abuser and a total maniac. But you can be all those things and still a human being. In fact, you can ONLY be those things if you’re a human being. The show used its villain vs villain idea to justify a lot, but in the end, Vincenzo had to be a protagonist. He had to follow up every “I’m a villain” with a contrived “but at least I’m not (insert something worse)”. 

On the level of humans:

1) Vincenzo is supposedly different because he doesn’t hurt children or women (unless the women deserve it, and shooting a parent in front of their kid doesn’t count as hurting.) 

But we never see Han Seok hurting women or children either. In fact, if we proceed with the “chayoung is the myung hee of the good guys” comparison, he hasn’t hurt any women nearly as badly as Vincenzo did. 

2) Babel vs Mafia 

Babel’s corruption is compared a lot to the mafia, with Vincenzo commenting repeatedly that the people are WORSE than the mafia...which is bullshit. Babel is a set of companies that provide goods and services, but use illegal means to maximize their profit, so they hurt/kill people in the process because they want more money and care about money more than ethics. The Mafia is an inherently criminal organization that functions PURELY on the basis of its criminality. Every single dime Vincenzo spends is blood money. None of it is clean. And while we’re on the topic, I find the whole “taking Miri under his wing” thing pretty unreasonable too because he tried to have her killed you guys, I cannot believe we’re just glossing over that. He had everyone who worked on that vault killed, just random fucking construction workers. And he’s not sorry. And the show tells you he shouldn’t be. 

3) Repentance

Han Seok says outright he won’t atone, and while Vincenzo says no such thing out loud he just...doesn’t repent, I guess. He keeps the blood money, he goes back to being a full-time mafia dude doing mafia things. He leaves the same man he arrived. 

So, if on the level of harm inflicted upon humanity, Vincenzo and Han Seok are pretty much equal (and Vincenzo might actually be worse), then why should we root for Vincenzo? 

Well, my friend, that’s where the dehumanization comes in! 

I was initially very excited to see their portrayal of a psychopath because of the very interesting ways in which the informal moral code and official justice system surrounding a psychopath/sociopath/narcissist affect their behavior and their chances of not turning out rotten, and the show looked like it was looking at corruption in general. 

But as the show went on, the villain vs villain thing proved not to be enough, Vincenzo has to be better in some way (or if you’re as obsessed with him as the writers are, then ALL ways), so it became a villain vs monster narrative. Vincenzo isn’t ethical or fair or in any way interested in having a remotely positive impact on society, but at least he’s A HUMAN BEING unlike SOMEBODY. So, the characterization goes to shit, Han Seok becomes a cartoon card-board cut out of a villain and emphasis is put on how pointless his violence is, as opposed to how purposeful Vincenzo’s is. 

This is dangerous on multiple levels (and I promise this is the last point I’m making). 

1) For people in general, dehumanizing abusers/murderers/etc. makes us very liable to forget that you don’t have to be “a monster” to cause harm, and it makes people complacent in their belief that they are “not bad people” since they aren’t total monsters. The Banality of Evil is a thing, and in this series, it goes completely ignored. No one is inherently incapable of good or inherently undeserving of humanity. 

2) For victims of abuse in specific, it’s dangerous to portray abusers (including serial killer and non-serial killer ones) as entirely bad and unlovable, because it poses the dual risk of making victims less likely to acknowledge their abuse if it comes from someone who cares about or loves them on some level because the idea that someone cannot both love and hurt you is so stereotypical. Your abuser can genuinely want you in their lives and need you and, on some level, love you, and IT DOESN’T MATTER if that love doesn’t stop them from hurting you. 

On the other hand, portraying the victims of abuse as capable of flipping an off switch and hating the abuser with no hesitation or second thoughts to the point of unapologetically and cheerfully helping someone kill them and having no mixed feelings about it sends the message that if you CAN’T do that, then are you really abused? Are sure you’re not complicit in your own abuse? Do you even want to get rid of them? 

So this is basically why the way the show ended was so painfully disappointing for me. And the main reason it hit so hard was that it was initially so good and had so much promise. I really expected more.

[utterlyinevitable]

Could you do

11 for Ethan x Odette

20 for Ethan x Becca

from the First vs. Last writing prompts?

I hope it's not too much. Thank you! ❤️

Thanks so much for the request! 💕 i just went with whatever came out. apologies for any mistakes or nonsensical rambling. 

> first vs last list <

Small Moments (Ethan x Odette)

11. First touch 

A companionable hand squeeze. A rub of the shoulders here or there. His hand in hers as she’s bandaged him up. All of them quick, natural brushes of support; small sentiments of understanding. Something they don’t think anything of, it’s all part of the job - the bond they’ve formed. 

The first time Ethan and Odette really touched one another for longer than a fraction of a second is when her arms wrapped around him. The biggest embrace she’s ever given. Hands lingering and rubbing instinctive soothing circles along his back. Her neck craning to let his heavy head rest on her shoulder; Ethan’s slumped body using her for support. 

This is the kind of support she’s seldom given anyone else. Not like this. Not hunched over on the gym floor, wrapping her body around a broad man keening into pieces she’s trying so hard to keep from fully shattering. 

She’s never done something like this before, for anyone. 

Ethan’s never let anyone see him like this, let alone let himself need this. 

Odette holds him as he cries. Her hands working his back, shoulders, forearms, anywhere to help sooth the heaving chest whilst he leans against her. 

Neither really think about what they’re doing - breaking down fine barriers - It just is. It’s what’s needed. 

It’s just the beginning of how much they need the other. 

Last touch

“Okay. I’m going,” Odette announces with finality. 

She’s staring at her suitcases. Out the corner of her eye she can see Ethan raising a brow in wordless questioning. 

She’s been muttering the phrase as she packs the entirety of the last two days. 

“I mean it this time.” 

Ethan doesn’t say anything, just moves closer. Until he’s a breath away from her. 

“I know.” 

His arms wind around her waist, cradling her close. 

Naturally Ode leans into him. Her hands trailing up his clothed arms delicately; as if taking the muscles to memory. Drawing light patterns until her fingers graze the freshly cut hair at the base of his head. 

“I wish I could take you to the airport,” he says. 

“I know.” 

Neither thought she’d have to move across the country this soon. 

“I’ll be fine,” Ode tries so hard to reassure.  

“It’s not you I’m worried about.” 

Two sets of darkened and cloudy eyes meet when Ode cups Ethan’s cheek. “You’ll survive.” 

They both know she’s right. They’ll both survive, but they don’t want to. 

“I’ll visit as soon as I can.” 

“Please don’t push yourself. We knew what we’re in for. Edenbrook needs their Chief more than I do.”

Ethan presses his desperate lips to hers, as if telling her he doesn’t give a damn what the board or the hospital needs; he’s conveying what he needs. Which, as always, is her. 

Just as it deepens and her arms are wrapped so tight around his neck, their phones sound. Ethan’s with a hasty buzz and Odette’s with a resounded ring. 

With one lasting peck she picks up her bags and walks out the door. 

Liquid Courage (Ethan x Becca)

20. First time seeing them super drunk 

He’d thought he’d seen her drunk before. 

The boisterous sounds of her and her friends giggling in the corner of Donahue’s for all to hear. Singling and making a ruckus and doing whatever it is they do. He’s also quite certain he and Becca have drowned their sorrows into oblivion together. 

He knows the way her ears and neck flush red. The way her brown eyes near black as they’re consumed by her pupils. The lopsided smirk and perpetual parting of lips he knows can’t end well for him. 

Ethan recalls - purely convinced - of her inebriation in Miami and his too. How else had they ended up the way they did. 

He’s seen her lose herself in the music; singing at the top of her lungs. But, as he’s come to realize, he’s never once witnessed her beyond reproach. 

His phone rings at such an unsociable hour. 

Ethan should be asleep but restful nights are far from plenty. 

Against all reason, he answers. 

It’s in the heavy breaths and confidently shattered tone that Ethan knows. Understands he’s never once encountered her properly drunk before. She’s drunk enough to phone an ex... what? 

Becca’s certainly seen him at his lowest point. The guilt washes over Ethan at being a part of hers. 

Last time seeing them super drunk

“Another already?” he chides as he approaches his wife - his wife! - at the open bar, signaling to the bartender he’d like whatever she’s having. 

“I should be asking you the same thing.” Her smile is crooked and Ethan can already see the stain of red wine lips overtaking her lipstick. The flush of her neck and chest peeking out from beneath the mesh of her ivory gown. 

“My tolerance is higher.” 

“Sure.” 

Ethan can’t help but wrap his arms around her and place a kiss to her balmy forehead as they wait. 

“I also did not start the day with mimosas,” he mutters against her skin. 

“Two words;” she holds up two fingers to accentuate her point “Family. Colleagues.” 

He chuckles, “Point taken.” 

They both give a nod in thanks as they take their drinks, drawing a long sip that parallels the exhausting day. 

��What else is on the list?” 

Once again Becca starts to count things off her fingers. “Did the rounds. Did the pictures. The first dance...” her smirk grows disastrously wide and her eyes glitter under the fairy lights; “I think we’re good to indulge.”  

And indulge they did. 

Refined shots with her friends. Champagne toasts formally and informally by anyone who was willing to listen and sing the praises of such a fine couple. Unabashed indulgent kisses in front of everyone. 

Not a care in the world. 

Ethan and Becca snuggled in the back of the car driving them up to their private cabin on the property. 

The two of them fumbling through the door and shedding the clothes they’ve been in for nearly fifteen hours. 

Naked and slicked with days old sweat, they fell into bed. Becca fitting perfectly in Ethan’s arms as they drifted off into sweet, publicized, marital sleep. 

_____________________________

a/n: thank you for reading 💕

@openheartfanfics 

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