#except krei is more like

[ghostpebble]

make characters like each other? no.

make one character hate the other with a burning intensity while the other thinks it's funny how hard they try?

yes. always yes.

[nkn0va]

Introduction, Rules, and Masterlist

REQUESTS ARE CURRENTLY OPEN FOR WRITING

OC INBOX IS ALWAYS OPEN! You can find the bio for my OCs here and I'm always up to be tagged in any OC things!

Masterlist and in progress works when multiple pile up at once can be found here (Last updated September 23, 2024, 1:11 p.m MST)

(For the birthday event I held, you can find all the posts via the #nova birthday bash tag.)

Greetings, you all may call me Mod Nova, thank you for stopping by my humble corner here in the infinite vastness of the internet.

I'm an introverted, sorta socially awkward young adult aspiring to make it in the music/voice acting industry. I have way too many hyperfixations for my own good and my ADHD makes me rely on music to do literally anything. Budding competitive fighting game, Pokemon, and first person shooter player. Drummer since 2 years old and wanting to learn guitar as well. I have zero idea what the hell I'm doing. Might as well write some HCs and shit while I'm here. Some rules first tho.

-Posts that aren't requests will be tagged with #nova's ramblings. If you don't wish to see any of that feel free to block the tag.

-No NSFW. I am 18+ and I can read NSFW just fine but I'm not too comfortable or confident in writing it. NSFW talk in general is allowed though. Posts will be tagged appropriately, feel free to block tag as needed.

-Maximum of four characters per request. There can be exceptions for certain groups like Phantom Thief girls, Licht Kreis members, Remix Heart Team, and whatnot, just as long as the group isn't THAT big.

-As I am a guy I will be writing for male audiences. Women are of course more than welcome here but this is primarily for my fellow guys who can't seem to find any male reader stuff. I know how it feels. I will write for gender neutral readers however for the sake of inclusivity. Do specify whether you want a male reader or gender neutral in your request.

-As a straight guy I will only be writing for women. Apologies but I don't think of guys like that.

-In general, just don't request any weird/creepy stuff. Use your common sense.

-Please try to be specific in your requests so I have more to work with. Don't wanna write something you didn't intend for me to do and disappoint.

-While NSFW content isn't up for request, general sensitive content is allowed, like angst-related topics and generally heavy stuff.

-Please practice patience with me. This is just something I'm doing for fun. I will work to get requests out as fast as possible but once I eventually start working again...any day now, they'll have to slow down.

Now for the fandoms, I suppose. I will write for:

Blazblue

Under Night In-Birth

Persona 3, 4 (Golden), and 5 (Royal) + Persona 4 Arena and Persona 5 Strikers

Pokemon

Titanfall

Hollow Knight

Helltaker (Except for Zdrada. I tried. Sorry.)

Of course if you don't wanna request anything and just talk about whatever feel free to do so. I have no idea why you would but I'm open.

Banners in post are not made by me. Credit goes to @uponawhitehorse13 for the Blazblue/Under Night In Birth banners and @genshingorlsrevengeance for the Persona banners.

[burnwater13]

Din Djarin and Cobb Vanth riding speeder bikes through the canyons of Tatooine to locate the Krayt dragon terrorizing Mos Pelgo. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 1, The Marshal.

Grogu remembered that trip through the desert with the Mandalorian and the Marshal. He remembered getting blasted by sunshine, bombarded with the wind the bikes generated and pelted with sand, rocks and small bugs that got caught up in that wind. The only good part was that for the most part the bugs were tasty. 

As he trotted around their cabin on Nevarro, looking for his drawing supplies, he thought about that ride and what would have made it better. Air conditioning. Yup. That’s right. Although his coverall was pretty good at keeping him comfortable, when you have two stars shining on you all the time it’s pretty easy to get hot. That included the air, the sand, and the surfaces of almost anything. Like speeder bikes.

Nevarro was the same way. Not hot because of two suns. It only had the one, but hot because it had volcanos and lava flows and stuff like that. It was another place that could use air conditioning. Not the whole planet. There were a few places that were nice as they were, but other places, like the High Magistrate’s office were pretty miserable if the wind wasn’t blowing at all. 

Grogu wondered why they put up with it. The equipment must exist somewhere. He’d been on the Imp ships more that once and even the old Razor Crest had some sort of heat pump gizmo that kept the place warm and cold as necessary. Well, it had most of the time. Maldo Kreis was an exception. Uff, frozen spiders. Yuck.

Of course that would help make the High Magistrate’s office more comfortable, but what about their cabin or a speeder bike? Hmmm. How would you even do that? A speeder bike was very much an ‘experience the great outdoors’ kind of vehicle. Hot, cold, wind, rain, fog, you name the weather condition and a speeder bike had the same answer for them all: whatever. 

Grogu didn’t like that answer. Sure, sometimes he could drop down into whatever pouch, bag, carrier that the Mandalorian was using that day and avoid a good deal of the weather, but Din Djarin couldn’t. Or rather his armor couldn’t. Grogu didn’t have armor or at least not a full set. And Luke never gave him a Jedi cloak to wear. That made sense because Jedi lost them all the time. Grogu might have stayed on Ossus if Luke had offered him one of those instead of Master Yoda’s old lightsaber. A cloak provided protection against many perils. A lightsaber only against one.

But back to what he was thinking about; speeder bikes. Was there anyway to modify a speeder bike so it could be air conditioned? Maybe his dad would know. Grogu hated to admit most days, but Din Djarin had actually seen a lot of stuff and might know the answer.

“Air conditioning? I don’t think I understand what you’re talkin’ about.”

Grogu tried to explain in more detail but all that happened was the person he loved the most in the galaxy laughed out loud and found it hard to stop laughing. 

“Buddy, the whole point of a speeder bike is to feel the wind in your face. Or so I’m told. If you enclosed it so you could control the temperature it wouldn’t be a speeder bike. It would be a standard, enclosed, land speeder. You can’t fit one of those in the hold of the Razor Crest.”

Grogu was pretty sure if he had stomped off, annoyed with his dad’s laughter, Din Djarin would have taken his helmet off and wiped tears out of his eyes. Instead, Grogu reminded the tall bounty hunter that they no longer possessed a Razor Crest and you couldn’t put anything other than his hover pram in the N1. 

“I am well aware of that and your opinion on its lack of privy. But your pram is a good example of what enclosing a speeder bike might be like. Is that really what you want?”

Hmmm. That was a good question. Did he want an open air speeder bike, made to his size of course, or modifications to his pram? That was a tough one. He knew that a speeder bike, even scaled down for his use, would look really cool. It would also maneuver around obstacles effectively, use almost no power, and make him the envy of the Anzellans.  That was a pretty powerful incentive to just deal with the current design flaws of that vehicle type. 

Or, he could do something with his pram. First and foremost he’d stop calling it a pram. Prams were for babies. He wasn’t a baby. Maybe he’d call it a hover bubble. He liked how that sounded. Or a flying pod? A pod racer? Nope. Not a pod racer. He didn’t like the engine layout for those things. The couplings were too exposed and he needed something more compact.  Flight pod? Sure. His dad had a flight pack. Grogu could call it a flight pod. That sounded fast without the baggage.

Then, he would upgrade the seat to provide better support and visibility as well as some much needed adjustability. It needed a cup holder. Racing tripes. Maybe a weapons system? Definitely a sleep mode. But what else?

“Modifications to the pram? Maybe we should put a tinted canopy in? Then you can see where you’re going without getting the sun directly in your eyes? If we did that I could probably fit a little AC unit in it and keep you as cool or warm as you like.”

Yippee!

Sure his dad called it a ‘pram’ instead of a ‘flight pod’ but Grogu didn’t care about the name as much as he cared that he could operate with a closed canopy and still see where he was going. And, unlike a speeder bike, it would protect him from the sand. That stuff just got everywhere! He was surprised that his dad and the Marshal didn’t complain about that more. Some of the Jedi he knew never shut up about that. Uff.

[gojifan97]

AU where Hiro died in the SFIT fire instead of Tadashi.

When Tadashi is told Callahan is still in there, he turns to his brother, but his brother isn't there. He looks around for several seconds before finally turning around and seeing Hiro run inside. He tries to run after him, but the place explodes.

No body is found. It's presumed he and Callahan were both incinerated. Tadashi blames himself two fold, one for bringing him to SFIT in the first place, and two, for not watching him closer. Aunt Cass tries to console him, but he hears nothing of it.

While visiting Hiro's room months later, Tadashi hurts himself punching Hiro's old robot. The one he used to win Bot Fights, and drove Tadashi to bring him to the school in the first place. This awakens Baymax, who points to the Microbot trying to escape. Tadashi realizes something's wrong and has them follow it.

The meeting with Yokai goes similar to canon, with the main difference being Tadashi seeing some microbots behaving in a way that's...off. Also Yokai gives up the chase earlier than he needed to.

After encountering Yokai and escaping, he recruits his friends to take him down. They think the passion in his voice is him coming to himself again, born from a belief that this man must be brought to justice.

It's not. Beneath the veneer, Tadashi is a seething with a cauldron of pure rage at this man for taking his brother from him.

The chase happens similar to canon, except again, Yokai seems distracted before he can finish them.

Other than that events go more or less the same as canon

Until they remove Callahan's mask. Tadashi is furious at the betrayal of his mentor figure.

Callahan says that Tadashi of all people should know why he's doing this.

Tadashi brings up several reasons it's different. Callahan's daughter was an adult knowingly taking a risk, it was within safety perimeters according to Krei's technicians, and that Hiro died trying to save Callahan.

Instead of saying "That was his mistake." Callahan says "That was your mistake."

Tadashi freezes, then adopts an eerily cold look. He says that Callahan was right, he does understand. But he doesn't take the medical chip out like Hiro did.

Because he doesn't need to. He just says a codeword, and turns Baymax into a ruthless killing machine. Callahan runs for his life, barely getting his mask back to get a fighting chance. However, some of his microbots begin to go rogue. Callahan looks up and says "You again?"

Another figure enters, this one only seen at a distance. He controls a smaller group of microbots similar to Callahan's, but while Callahan uses his larger group like a hammer, this player uses them like a scalpel, creating more complex constructs and maneuvers to outmatch Callahan. Also while Yokai is stoic, this one is pure sass.

The new player restrains Baymax long enough for the other Heroes to take out his combat chip, while the newcomer attacks Callahan. Callahan escapes, and the newcomer leaves too.

The others are disgusted and betrayed by what Tadashi did. Programming Baymax to kill Callahan wasn't a spur of the moment thing like with Hiro. Tadashi DESIGNED it so he could do that. Tadashi says that he didn't PLAN to use it per say, but still wanted it as a possibility. They leave.

Tadashi has a confrontation with Baymax like in canon, where he finally has a breakdown over his grief about Hiro, his responsibility for it all, etc. Baymax shows him family memories and videos he downloaded from their computers, reminding Tadashi of the good times he had and making him realize how badly he's betrayed his brother's memory. He resolves to bring Callahan in, alive.

Outside, the newcomer is watching Tadashi. He almost moves to go to him, but doesn't.

Tadashi tracks down Yokai again, and has another fight, but without the others he's badly outmatched. He's knocked away in time for the mysterious newcomer to arrive. The newcomer fights Yokai, then when he has the advantage lifts part of his mask, which is fairly robotic, revealing severely burnt skin. He then has the microbots take the appearance of a face to talk with him.

It's Hiro.

When Tadashi speaks up, making Hiro aware of his presence, he explains that Callahan saved him from the fire, but barely. He contacted some less than scrupulous friends he'd made and had them save Hiro's life. However, the ways they did so were very unpleasant, and Callahan didn't contact Hiro after leaving him with them.

Hiro has retrieved some of his original microbots and plans to use them for his own revenge.

Tadashi tries to talk Hiro down, but when Hiro gets distracted Callahan attacks. The two fight to a draw until Callahan flees, with Hiro in pursuit.

Tadashi goes to his friends and admits his faults, then tells them about Hiro. They're still mad at him, but they're willing to help him save his brother.

The fight happens similar to the movie, with the team fighting Callahan, but this time with the addition of Hiro taking a large amount of Callahan's focus.

Baymax detects Abigail's life signs sooner, so Tadashi sends him in while he follows Hiro and Callahan.

Tadashi goes to Hiro, who has Callahan at his mercy, begging him not to do this. He realizes how angry Hiro is, he felt similarly. However they can't do that, because they're following the same path as Callahan.

Hiro almost goes through with it, but finally gives up. He and Tadashi meet the others and leave, while Callahan goes into custody.

Hiro returns home and slowly adjusts to his life again. With a side of superheroing with the others!

(Oh and when Fred's dad shows up, Hiro just goes "Hey Stan. How was the mission to that evil lair in the Carribean?"

[obislittleone]

None Other Than You (Tadashi Hamada x Reader)

Okay here's the epilogue i promised...

Warnings: too much fluff for me tbh I'm not even lyin

Epilogue/10

We flipped through channel after channel, trying to find something interesting, but kept striking out with every push of the remote's button. We weren't so sure why we were even so picky about what played on the TV, for it soon would be background noise anyways.

After leaving the train station, Tadashi did exactly what he said he was gonna do, and now we laid on the couch in bliss of finally being able to tell each other how much we adored the other.

"Let me see that." I decided, grabbing the remote from his hand and turning off the TV. He looked down at me weird, but I just rolled my eyes and tossed the remote elsewhere for Hiro to find it later. Speaking of which... "What time are your brother and Cass getting home?"

Tadashi didn't even get to open his mouth when the bell of the front door sounded from downstairs.

"Well now I'm assuming." He joked, smiling wider than a child on Christmas morning. He was happier in these past few hours than he had been his whole life, and he wasn't afraid to show it. He just now understood my reason for asking when I gave a small smirk. "We can spend the night at your place, but let's wait until they head to bed."

"Sounds perfect." I smiled, pushing myself up his body to plant a nice firm kiss to his lips. "I love you."

"I love you more."

The moment lasted only a minute when we heard a scoff from the corner of the room. When we noticed he returned, Hiro responded to the turning of heads.

"Don't mind me." He scoffed again, rolling his eyes.

"We didn't even here you come up." I laughed a little. This was the last straw, I was going to get a bell to put on that kid.

"Yeah well I didn't want to interrupt you two being 'friends' and all..." he trailed off, using his fingers to put quotes around friends as he spoke with a drab tone. "Seriously though, when are you two gonna just admit it like adults."

Tadashi and I shared a glance with each other, a small giggle leaving my mouth before Tadashi responded.

"We told each other, Hiro..." he let off the boy's name with a small chuckle in his voice.

Hiro seemed a little surprised, but boy was he still clueless.

"Well congratulations, when's the wedding?"

Now it was my turn to scoff, knowing that the truth of what Tadashi and I had done this afternoon was going to come out whether we'd wanted it to or not. We didn't necessarily want to hide it, but maybe ease our family into it a little more.

"Six hours ago." I joked, and Hiro thought nothing of it. He figured I was being my dramatic and over the top self, and ignored it for a second.... but then he furrowed his eyebrows, looking over at the two of us where we laid.

"Wait a second... I thought you left for Krei-Tech headquarters today?" He was suspicious as heck, and had every right to be. What with me not being on a train right now.

"Are you gonna tell him or should I?" I looked back at Dashi, seeing the smile he'd worn all day had still yet to leave his face. He was beaming with joy and all for one cause.

"She stayed so I could marry her." He said it so nonchalantly, with the upmost disregard for having to do anything except for spend time with his wife. Even if it meant explaining the situation to his brother.

"So you guys really-?"

"Yep." I said cheerfully, sitting up and bringing a whining Tadashi with me, seeing as though he was comfortable and didn't want to leave that position for anything.

"Did you tell aunt Cass?" He asked quickly before we heard the footsteps of the woman herself coming up the stairs.

"No, but I have a feeling we're about to."

"About to what?" Aunt Cass chimed happily as she entered the room, seeing mine and Tadashi's bands intertwined on the couch.

"Wait, you didn't leave! And you two are together!" She pointed to our hands and we both smiled, if she got this happy over us just being together, how would she react when we told her the news? One way to find out.

"Actually Aunt Cass... there's a little more to it." Tadashi nervously added on, scratching the back of his neck while gathering the next words.

"There's more?!?" She squealed, jumping up and down in her spot.

My spouse and I shared one more glance before looking back at Cass.

"You might wanna sit down."

(•-•)(•-•)(•-•)(•-•)(•-•)

Having told our family and our friends about our spur of the moment decision, they were all super overjoyed to hear of the news, however, a bit sad that they did not get to indulge in being apart of a ceremony. They were all saying that we should have a wedding anyways, despite already being married, for it was like a right of passage. Eloping was not enough, because there was no white dress, there were no flowers, and there was no cake. Honey Lemon especially emphasized these points, as a lover of elegant weddings.

"And what about rings? You two don't even have any rings!" Wasabi mentioned, his OCDs kicking in especially when he'd heard about all this.

"We're gonna get some soon, we just haven't had the time the past few days..." I chided, taking a sip of my coffee as my husband slung an arm around my shoulders.

"Still, I think you guys robbed yourselves. You might regret not having a wedding in the future." Gogo replied nonchalantly. She of all people was the least expected to care about something like a wedding. Mainly just any event where she would have to wear a dress.

Needless to say, the coffee meetup that afternoon was pleasant, yet a bit nagging. Had we both missed out on an important experience? Were we going to be sad someday when we looked back on the time we were married? I hoped not. I would always remember the day as one full of happiness and joy. The day I got to keep the love of my life for myself, and myself only.

Tadashi and I had been staying at my dorm apartment the past few nights, wanting to enjoy our honeymoon period where we could sleep in a room that didn't contain the other, shorter, and more annoying Hamada. As much as we loved him it was probably for the best.

Tadashi had been laying in bed, reading a book when I came in. I leaned in the doorframe and smiled at his focused features. He hadn't even noticed I made an appearance. I'd taken a shower to rid me off the summer pollen I had gathered while out in the town today. With damp hair and nothing but a long t shirt to cover myself I went over and climbed into bed.

He looked so focused with his eyes trained on the pages that I thought he was still unsure of my presence. He all of a sudden put the book on the bedside table and grabbed me with both arms, pulling me in closely. He smothered the side of my head with kisses and didn't stop until he reached my lips.

"I love you..." he breathed out between kisses. My hands were strangling to the roots of his hair while his mouth moved with mine.

"I know." I said with a smirk. He pulled away shaling his head.

"Yeah, alright Han Swolo." He joked making me giggle like a giddy child. He turned back over on his side like he was pouting and now it was my turn to shake my head.

"I love you too." I whispered softly into his ear. With my hand on his arm I soon felt the goosebumps I'd just given him.

He rolled back over instantaneously, nearly crushing me when he rolled over om the other side, scooping me into his arms and tucking his face in my neck. He nibbled there a little, leaving tiny marks that would be brighter in the morning.

His movements were wonderful until they came to a screeching halt suddenly. His brain gears were turning and I could practically hear them.

"What are you thinking about?" I began, knowing there had to be something on his mind for him to stop what he was doing.

"What the others said earlier..." he trailed off until he got the courage to actually ask the question that was dancing on his tongue. "Do you regret what we did?"

I had to push him back from me to get a good look at his face. With furrowed brows I contemplated what he asked me, but not because I did regret it... only because I couldn't understand why he would ask me that question.

"Never." I shook my head. I needed him to know that I could sit on my desth bed and never once rethink the decision I made to marry him when and where I did.

"It's just that, maybe later on you might-"

"Dashi, I would have married you in a box, under a bridge, wearing nothing but a potato sack, and I still would never change anything." I touched the side of his face and let my thumb graze his soft skin. He leanes into my palm before he turned and pressed a kiss to the center of it.

He dropped his elbow and laid beside me, brining me in for another kiss or two. They were sweet, and gentle. We silently were lying across from each other, simply absorbing the moment. He looked sleepy, and I could only Imagine I did as well, but I didn't dwell on thay too long. I focused on his lovely features. His soft brown eyes with golden flecks in the middle that faded into black, his fluffy and wild hair. He'd cut it back to its former glorly a little over a week ago, so it barely hung over his eyes.

He reached over and turned off the light, then practically threw me over top of him. I snuggled into his chest as his scent overtook my entire range of senses. He smelled like the blooming cherry blossom trees in the park down the street. Probably from our afternoon out with friends.

When I was just about to close my eyes and drift off to sleep, he stirred.

"A potato sack huh?"

"Shut up I was being romantic."

Tags:

@ladylizzieofdarbyshire @toomanydamfandoms @baba-yagas-sapphic-lover

[rocksandrobots]

Phantoms of the Past Chapter 37 - Ransoms and Romance on the Range - Part 2

"No, no, no! Put your back into it Alister!" Allen shouted.

"Ugh!... huff... I'm trying too.." Krei grunted as he shoveled more manure onto the dump truck. He slipped and fell straight into the foul-smelling stuff. The teenagers that had been watching him broke into raucous laughter.

Mr. Allen hadn't been joking when he said he was going to put everyone to work. They were all given chores to do to help out around the ranch, and no one was considered an exception. Not even Allen himself, or his daughter, and certainly not Krei; who had been given the worst chores simply because he wouldn't stop whining about them.

Most of the Big Hero Six gang had decided to take a break from their duties to heckle the pompous billionaire, as Mr. Allen fruitlessly tried to instill some 'work values' into his thick skull. He wasn't having much success.

Honey Lemon failed to bite back her own giggles, as she saw Krei slipped a second time as he tried to get back up. She didn't want to be mean, but it was just too funny, especially after all of his insufferable bragging earlier at breakfast.

"Hehe... I think I'm going to head back to the house and grab a snack. Does anybody want something?" she asked.

"Nah, we're good," Hiro said, as she walked away.

Honey Lemon had finished her chores early that morning; feeding the horses and brushing them clean, and she, therefore, had most of the day to herself. She was just considering what else she wanted to do for the rest of the day when she passed by Varian and some of the other farm hands loading hay bales onto a tractor-trailer.

Whereas two men were usually required to lift one of the heavy bales, Varian was grabbing them and throwing them onto the trailer, all by himself, faster than the other two hired hands could carry even one.

Honey Lemon slowed. She knew Varian was stronger than he looked, but it only just occurred to her now how strong he really was. Apparently, she wasn't the only one to notice this impressive feat. She heard giggling to her right and saw Austin and her friends sitting on the fence across the way. All three of them were staring at Varian.

"Wow," The shorter girl next to Austin breathed. "You weren't kidding. He's hot."

"See I told you." Austin nudged her friend. "He ain't like the other prissy city guys that came over with him."

"I don't know, that tall guy in the green sweater was pretty buff." The other boy sitting next to her commented.

Austin rolled her eyes. "There's more to strength than just muscle, Zeb."

"Maybe so, but it's aesthetically pleasing to look at nonetheless," Zeb said with a sly smile, then he winked. "But, I can see the appeal behind the tall, dark, and handsome types."

Honey Lemon felt her ears burn. She didn't like the way this conversation was going. She started to hurry along back towards the house.

"Oh hush, Zeb." Austin playfully shoved her friend. "You don't know if he even likes guys."

"You don't know that he doesn't." Zeb shot back.

Austin spied Honey Lemon walking past them. "Then let's find out." She said returning her friend's sly smile.

"Yoo-hoo! Uh.. Honey wasn't it?"

Honey Lemon turned around to find the three teens chasing after her.

Austin had an insincere grin plastered on her face, while her two friends snickered behind her.

"We were just wondering, are you and Varian a thing?"

"Uh... a th-thing?"

"You know, are ya dating?"

"Oh! Oh no!" Honey Lemon nervously grinned as she shook her head.  

"So he's free right?"

"Umm... yeeessss?"

"Is he into boys or girls?" Zeb butted in.

"I... I think he likes both..." Honey Lemon studdered.

Zeb and Austin shared a look. Zeb held his hand out to her. "May the best cowhand win, then."

"I plan to," Austin said as she shook his hand.

Honey Lemon's brow furrowed into a scowl. "He's not a prize."

This only elected more laughter from the trio.

"Oh, what's the matter string bean?" Austin teased, "Afraid we're going to steal your man away from ya?"

Honey Lemon's face flushed a bright crimson, but before she could retort back they heard Varian calling out to them from behind.

"Hey Honey!" He called out, as he joined them. He was covered in sweat and his clothes clung to him, despite the autumn chill in the air. "Whatchya up too?

"Oh Varian, I'd like for you to meet my friends." Austin chimed in before Honey Lemon could answer. "this is Zeb, he works here, and our neighbor Charlie."

Varian shook their hands in kind. "Oh, please to meet ya."

"We were wondering if you wanted to go on that tour I promised ya?" Austin asked.

"Yeah, that sounds fun. I just finished with my chores. Honey Lemon, you wanna go?"

Honey Lemon blinked in surprise. She didn't know what to say. She didn't want him hanging around the rude teens, but she knew she'd sound ridiculous if she tried to explain why. For all she knew, Varian might find their admiration of him flattering. Heck, who was she kidding? Varian definitely would consider all the attention a compliment. He was such a ham sometimes.

Austin hooked her arm around Varian's and batted her eyes. "We could play horseshoes first, but with an uneven number of people someone would have to sit out."

Honey Lemon caught the girl's meaning. She wasn't welcomed. All because they thought she liked Varian the same as they did. Which was silly... wasn't it? Honey Lemon suddenly felt the butterflies in her stomach again.

"That's okay, we can play a few rounds and take turns," Varian suggested in his ever-practical manner.

"I th-think you can count me out." Honey Lemon said as she backed away. "I'm going to go lie down for a while."

Varian frowned. "Are you okay?"

He hurried after her and grabbed her hand. A jolt of nervous energy went through her at the touch as she stopped on the stairs.

"N-no. It's okay. I'm fine. I just have a bit of a headache, that's all. I just need some rest."

"You're sure? Do you need anything?"

"Yeah, I'm good." She lied. "I'm sure I'll feel better once I've rested my eyes a bit."

Varian was going to protest further but Austin tugged on his arm.

"Come on." She urged. "We'll want to get a few games in before Zeb has to take Charlie home."

And with that she started to drag him away, while Honey Lemon went inside.

                                                   ------------------

Honey Lemon was shaking by the time she made it back to her room. She took deep steading breaths as she tried to clam herself.

"It's okay. It's okay... Everything is fine." She sighed. "So what if someone finds Varian attractive? I mean, he is cute... I guess. It's only natural that there'd be other people who think he's 'hot'."

She began to pace back and forth as she ranted.

"And so what if I happen to not like those other people and think they're rude, and smug, and spoiled, and so very, very annoying. It's none of my business. Varian's a free person. He's allowed to date whoever he wishes. And he's not even dating any of them anyways, so what does it matter?"

She let out another long sigh and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"What does matter? I wasn't upset when he dated Karmi or said that he liked that Cassie person. Why would I be? We're not together, and Gogo is wrong. He doesn't like me in that way... and I don't like him that way... a-and we're just friends."

She took another breath.

"We're just friends." She repeated, less convincingly. "Best friends.... and nothing more... and th-that's for the best. B-because friends don't hurt one another... or leave... or break your heart cause they decided to date someone else."

She pouted as remembered her last conversation if Andre. "No, I'm fine with just being friends, and I'm going to be the supportive friend that welcomes whomever he chooses to go out with."

Suddenly she heard a familiar hearty laugh from below. She turned to look out of her window to see Varian and the other three teens playing horseshoes. They all looked like they were having a good time. Austin made a winning throw and jumped for joy.

She couldn't make out what they were saying, but Honey Lemon could hear the applause and indistinct cheers anyways. Then Austin ran towards Varian, laughing, and scooped him up in a hug. Varian returned it and gave her a little twirl, lifting her off the ground.

They must have been on the same team, Honey Lemon reasoned to herself, but it did nothing to stop the overwhelming since of loss as she watched them embrace. She flung herself onto her pillow and began to cry.

                                                  ------------------

"Hey Boss!"

Mr. Allen turned around to see the manager of his ranch flagging him down.

Kim was a tall bulky woman in her late forties. She had worked for Allen for years and knew the Lone Star inside and out.

Tagging along beside her was Johnny. He was a greenhorn, come in fresh from town looking for part time work. Allen had hired him and so far the boy did good a job... when could be found that is. Johnny had a habit of wandering off at convenient and inconvenient times. Allen suspected he had a sweetheart in town. Youngsters tended to do things like that; sneaking off to make-out or whatever.

Kim must be here to report the lad for running off again.

"Alright Alistair, you can take a break."

Allen dismissed his nephew and the other billionaire slumped under a nearby tree to catch his breath. A few of the teens he had brought with him gathered around to gently heckle him, not missing the chance to tease the pompous man.

Allen chuckled under his breath. Alistair was a good man deep down, but he needed to learn a lesson in humility. Allen was determined to teach it to him.

"Well Kim, what appears to be the problem." Allen asked, still smiling to himself. However, it would seem his manager had far graver news than just to reprimand a slacker ranch hand.

"Johnny's just came back from town, he says that the Jolton Brothers just escaped prison a few days ago." Kim warned in a low voice.

Allen sighed.

"Well... I'm sure the rangers are on their trail." he calmly reasoned.

"Who's the Jolton Brothers?"

Allen started to find the youngest of the visiting teens standing behind him.

'Bandits." Kim warned.

"Yeah, deadly outlaws." Johnny sneered, as if he hoped to frighten the much younger boy.

"Hush Johnny. " Allen ordered, then he turned and patted the boy on his head. "Now don't you worry your head over it, son. I'm sure they're well on their way to the border by this time."

Kim shook her head. "Not likely. Mason said they were spotted just out of town about twenty miles from us yesterday. I think it'd be best if we bumped up security."

"I could take first watch if you want me to." Johnny volunteered.

"Well if it's extra security you're needing," The smaller boy said. "Baymax has built in bio-scanners."

"Baymax?" Kim asked.

"That's our robot. My brother programed him to be a nurse, but he can also keep look out."

"I don't need help from some walking tin can." Johnny complained.

Allen motioned for Johnny to quiet down. "I think ya both for volunteering, but I'm going to leave this to Kim. That is ifin' you don't mind working overtime tonight?"

"Not all." She replied. "I won't sleep easy knowing the Jolton gang are around anyways."

With that Kim and Johnny left to tend to other chores, though as he left the younger of the two shot a nasty look at Hiro.

"What's his problem?"

Allen rolled his eyes. "Seems he didn't like you showing him up in front of his boss."

"Oh… sorry, I was just trying to help."

"Nonsense, my boy, you did nothing wrong. If Johnny wants to impress me then he needs to just do the job he's been assigned instead of running off. Now, let's go check back in with Alistair. He ain't even halfway done, and it's pert-near noon!"

                                                  ------------------

Hours passed, and the game had long since ended, but Honey Lemon still laid there on her bed staring blankly at the opposite wall.

Finally a knock came at her door.

"Come in." She sighed.

Wasabi poked his head out from around the door.

"Are you feeling okay? We haven't since you since lunch?"

"I'm fine." Honey Lemon compulsively lied. She didn't even bother to look up at her friend.

"Uh... huh.... Well how's your headache? Varian said-"

"Varian said what?" She quickly sat up upon hearing his name.

"Ummmm... he said you were going to lay down for a while...?" Wasabi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh... yeah..." She sighed and laid back down; this time choosing to stare at the ceiling instead.

Wasabi rolled his eyes. "Well I just came up to check on you and to let you know that dinner is almost ready, if you want any."

"That's nice." she absently replied as she continued to stare at the ceiling.

Wasabi stood there a few moments unsure of what to do.

"Soooo.... are you coming down?"

"Do you think Varian likes me?" Honey Lemon suddenly asked, still chosing not look at him.

"Ummm..."

"Gogo says that he likes me, as in 'likes me' likes me, but I think she's wrong. I mean we're just friends, best friends, but still just friends, and it's probably for the best that we just remain that way, right? I mean there's no point in complicating things and potentially ruining what we have. Am I right?"

She finally sat up to look at him, and Wasabi froze as if he was a deer standing in the way of oncoming headlights.

Honey Lemon took his silence as permission to continue as she stood up and began to pace around the room once more. "I mean, it might be nice dating your best friend because you already know that you'll get along, but what if you suddenly stop getting along? What if you start fighting all the time and wind up hating each other... and then what if we stopped dating, and then we'd no longer be together or even friends anymore! Who'd want that? It's not worth it. Am I right?"

Wasabi still didn't answer as he awkwardly side-eyed his exit. He looked like a man who was cornered as his friend continued to rant.

"And besides, he doesn't like me that way anyways. Right? I mean, so what if he's super sweet, and protective, and is constantly doing things to cheer me up. Th-that just what friends do, right? And yeah, we're constantly going out together, b-but as friends, because we enjoy a lot of the same things, like wrestling, and dancing, and having dinner together, and... ah.... Paris.... th-that's normal right? It's normal to take your friends on a romantic getaway to Paris, right?"

She nervously twirled her hair as it just dawned on her how their trip a few months ago might look like to someone else.

"Nothing happened in Paris. I swear it." She suddenly snapped, as if afraid of what her friend might think of her.

Wasabi however couldn't care less what happened in Paris as he started to slowly back away. "Listen... It looks like you're going through some stuff right now, so why don't I leave you to it and get out of here-woah!"

Honey Lemon grabbed him by the shirt collar and dragged him back inside. "No, you have to help me."

"But I'm not good with this kind of stuff!" Wasabi protested as he tried to pull away. "Why don't we get Baymax in here and you can talk to him?"

"Baymax's a robot! He doesn't know anything about relationships."

"And you think I do!?"

"Well, you are in a relationship!"

"Yeah, and I've no idea how I got there! I just lucked into it! Sam's the one who understands relationship stuff, not me."

Honey Lemon gave another tug on Wasabi's sweater, as he continued to pull away. They were locked in a mini tug-a-war as they argued.

"But you're Varian's best friend. Surely he'd have told you something."

"Nuh-nuh... No way! I'm not getting caught in the middle of this!"

"But... if you could just talk to-"

"Talk to him yourself! You see him just as much as I do."

"B-but- woah!" Honey Lemon finally lost her grip and they both fell to the floor with an 'ooof.'

Wasabi rubbed his sore backside as he stood up. "Look, I know it's uncomfortable to confront your crush-"

"I don't have a crush." She pouted, as she hugged her knees.

"Suuuree you don't." Wasabi mocked. "Either way, you can't just keep putting it off in the hopes that it'll go away. You need to talk to Varian."

Honey Lemon's bottom lip trembled as looked up at Wasabi with pleading eyes. Then she gave a sob, lowered her head, and squeezed her knees tighter.

Wasabi frowned and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Aw, Honey... What are you afraid of? It's just Varian."

"I know." She whined.

"Then what do you think will happen? That he'll not like you back and just stop being your friend?"

"No..." She sniffled. "I don't know."

"You know how silly that sounds right?" He gently admonished.

"You're right... but I'm th-that's not what really I'm worried about."

Wasabi titled his head.

Honey Lemon opened her mouth to explain, only Varian to appear in the doorway.

"Hey, dinner's ready-... What's wrong?"

He knelt down to Honey Lemon's level and placed his hand over her forehead. "Are you still feeling bad?"

Honey Lemon bit her bottom lip and silently nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"Awe, I'm sorry Honey, but don't worry I got the perfect thing to cheer you up."

He took her hands and helped her off the floor before leading her out of the room.

"Some good food is exactly what the doctor ordered. Austin and I made super spicy vegetarian chili. She says the heat should help with your headache."

Honey Lemon gave him a pained smile. "How... nice."

Varian didn't catch the hesitancy in her voice. "Yeah, I thought it was a great idea... and it tastes good too, if I do say so myself." He winked at her before dragging her down the stairs.

Honey Lemon turned to give Wasabi one last pleading gaze. All he could do was helplessly shrug as Varian excitedly pulled her into the dinning hall.

                                                  ------------------

Dinner turned out to be pretty tasty, just as Varian had bragged. Honey Lemon though had little appetite for it as she picked around the edges of her plate. She only listened with half an ear as the rest of her friends debated who had the worst chores to do today.

"I almost got run over by a stampede!" Fred exaggerated. "Fortunately my quick thinking and lighting reflexes allowed me to escape."

"You mean you fell off the fence into the pasture and Tadashi had to drag you back out." Gogo replied, deflating her friend's ego.

"That's still better than what I had to do." Wasabi complained. "I had to clean the stables... so much dirt... so much dirt everywhere."

"Well, if you think that's bad," Hiro offered. "Today I had to milk a cow." He shuddered. "I'll never drink a milkshake again."

Austin snorted with laughter at their complaints. "Looks like your greenhorn friends can't keep up with country life." She nudged Varian with a wink.

No one noticed Honey Lemon shooting a nasty look at the other girl, while Varian joined in with her laughter. "Yeah, maybe they're just a bunch of ninnies."

"Once again, what's a 'ninny'?" Hiro asked.

This elected only more laughter from the two teens.

"Well while y'all figure it out, I'm going back for seconds. Anybody want any?" Austin said as she stood up.

"Yeah, I'll take more." Tadashi said as he handed her his plate.

She took it and went into the kitchen. As she walked away Baymax offered up his help by providing the definition to 'ninny.'

"A 'ninny' is an old fashioned insult meaning a foolish or weeeeaakk peerrrs-"

"Baymax?" Hiro asked with concern as the robot slumped forward lifeless. "B-Baymax!?"

Then the lights went out.

"What's happening?" Wasabi nervously asked.

He got his answer when the front door was kicked in and three men stormed inside brandishing guns. Bandanas and lowered cowboy hats hid their faces.

"Alright! Nobody move, this is a hold up!" The leader yelled. To prove his seriousness he shot the gun in the air. Its bright red laser briefly lit up the darkened room in a flash of brilliance and several of the teens screamed as plaster fell from the ceiling and onto the table.

"Grab the girl." He ordered, and before Honey Lemon knew what was happening two strong hands gripped both of her arms and pulled her from her seat.

"Hey! You can't do that!" Fred yelled. He was the closest to her and the first to jump to her defence. He was rewarded for his trouble by a punch to the face that sent him flying back head over heels.

"Freddie!"

Wasabi rushed to his aid, while everyone else braced themselves for a fight.

Hiro pulled out his phone to call for his suit, but nothing happened. He looked down to see his phone was dead.

The taller man started to drag Honey Lemon away and Tadashi had to hold Varian back from attacking the bandits in a fit of rage.

Only for one of the outlaws to stop when he spotted Gogo.

"Hey, Boss! There's two girls here!" He called out bewildered.

"Oh for Pete's sake!" The leader rolled his eyes. "Just grab both of them then!"

The man grabbed Gogo by the wrist to pull her along, but only received a kick in the shins for his trouble. She then stomped on his foot and flipped the guy onto the table in a judo throw.

Her victory was short lived however, when the leader wrapped one large beefy arm around her shoulders and placed the gun next to her head.

"Anybody else wanna get cute!" He bellowed.

No one answered, but all glared at him with fury as he started to back away. The five of them were almost out the door, when the leader paused to gloat.

"If you want your girls back Allen. You'll deposit a million dollars, in cash, at the foot of Weeping Hill by sunset, or otherwise these two will be returned to you in body-bags. Got It!"

Allen sputtered with anger. "Why, you low down, slimy, son of a-"

"Now wait a minute." Krei interrupted. "There's no need for this. If it's money that you want, I'll write you a check now, if you'll release both girls. I'll give you a million for each. That's double what you were asking for."

Without waiting for an answer Krei pulled out a checkbook and pen from his shirt pocket. The bandits looked momentarily confused by the offer.

"Now, who should I make this out to-ooff" He was interrupted by a laser gun being pressed up against his nose.

"Are you crazy?" the third bandit hissed.

"You think us stupid or something?" The leader added. "We try to cash that check and the feds would be all over us. It's cash or nothin'. Come on boys. Grab Mr. Moneybags while you're at it. The payment is now five million Allen!"

The third gang member hooked his arm around Krei's and led the billionaire outside at gunpoint.

That's when Varian finally broke away from Tadashi's grasp. He lunged at the bandit still holding on to Honey Lemon, only for Tadashi to tackle him to the ground before he could get close to them.

"Keep your head down!" He ordered, as the leading outlaw shot a volley of laser blasts into the dinning hall. Everyone ducked for cover.

Using that as a distraction the bandits ran outside to where a fourth outlaw had a getaway jeep already cranked and waiting.

Seeing that the gunshots had stopped, Varian, Tadashi, and Hiro raced to the front door. They got there just in time to see Krei, Gogo, and Honey Lemon being shoved into the jeep while the three outlaws saddled some strange hoverbikes crafted to look like cattle.

The leader fired another warning shot at them as they sped away. They ducked again and the blast glanced off the door frame instead. When they looked up from their hiding place again, the outlaws were long gone with both Krei and the girls.

                                                  ------------------

Varian stood in the middle of the dinning hall as everyone else rushed about scrambling to find a solution.

"The land line phone isn't working either." Wasabi called out from the sitting room.

"Are you alright darling?" Allen said as he helped his shivering daughter to a chair.

"Yes, pa." Austin replied as she took a seat and hugged her knees.

He patted her head tenderly. "Thank the stars you were in the kitchen, or those fiends may have taken you too."

Hiro came down the stairs, carrying his helmet. "The bad guys must have used an EMP to cause the blackout. All our equipment is dead."

'And it looks like Baymax is going to be out of commission for awhile." Tadashi sighed as he finished looking the robot companion over.

"So what do we do now?" Fred sniffed as he held a cloth over his bleeding nose. "We can't just stay here and do nothing."

"Someone's going to have to go get the police." Hiro replied. "Cause I don't think there's anything we can do at the moment."

Varian listened to their conversation numbly. He didn't like all this talk about 'not being able to do anything', he didn't like trusting the lives of their friends to someone else, and he certainly didn't like standing around feeling useless. Yet, Hiro's words made sense. They were lacking their usual resources in addition to operating in unfamiliar territory, for now the bandits had the advantage. They had the weapons, the leverage, and knowledge of the surrounding terrain that they simply didn't.

However matters only went from bad to worse when Kim and Zeb came running up to the front door. Kim had a black eye and looked like she'd been roughed up in a fight.

"It was Johnny. He ambushed me in the security room and turned off the alarms. Zeb only just now found me locked in the closet."

"That traitor!" Allen yelled indignantly.

"That's not all he's done." Zeb added. "The fuel lines have been cut on all the cars, even the tractor."

"So we can't chase after them." Tadashi softly finished, stating the obvious.

"So we're just stranded here?" Wasabi moaned.

"Nonsense." Allen stated, "We still got the horses. Zeb, Austin, you two come with me. We're riding into town to get the sheriff."

"Then what do we do?" Fred asked.

"Y'all are going to stay here where it's safe." Allen ordered. "Kim look after them, and see what evidence you can save on the security cameras."

"I'll try... but I think he may have wiped the tapes." Kim sighed.

"I could try doing a system restore." Hiro suggested.

"And I can look at the vehicles." Tadashi shrugged. "There maybe not be anything I can do, but it's better than sitting around doing nothing'."

"I'll come with you." Fred offered. "I can look for more gas while you work on them."

"I'll stay here with the phones and Baymax, in case they come back on." Wasabi said.

"Alright, we'll see you in a few hours. We should be back with the sheriff by sun up." Allen agreed.

"Hours?" Varian whispered as Allen, Zeb, and Austin prepared to leave.

They didn't have 'hours'! The outlaws had hovercrafts and a truck. Every moment wasted was a moment they got further and further away with their friends! The farther away they got, the harder it would be to find them again, and the bandits had given them an ultimatum of only two days!

Without another word Varian turned on his heel and ran up stairs to his room. He dumped the contents of suitcase into his bed, and started frantically looking for anything that would help.

He didn't bother with the portal magnets. They would have been deactivated same as all the other electronics in the house. Instead he grabbed the swiss army knife that he had gotten for the trip, a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the bathroom, and the piece of amber that he always had nearby. He tucked this last 'weapon' into the cusp of his boot, while he pocketed the other objects.

He then ran to Honey Lemon's room and pulled out her chimpurse from under the bed. It of course was dead the same as everyone else's weapons, but there was one single chimball already made up hanging on the strap. He had no idea what it would do, but he grabbed it anyway and stuffed it into his single front shirt pocket.

Fearing that time was running out, he decided that he was armed enough and raced back down stairs.

He ignored everyone's confused looks as he flung open the front door and ran outside. Night had already fallen, and with the all electric lamp lights blown out it was hard to pierce the darkness. He had to stop and let his eyesight adjust. He saw Austin and Zeb already mounted upon their horses by the stable. He was sure Allen was there too, getting ready to head to town.

He didn't want them stopping him, so he avoided the stables and ran to the fenced-in enclosure that housed Widowmaker instead.

The wild horse was already agitated by the noise of the gunshots and all the running about everyone was doing, but he became even more distressed when he saw Varian grab the lasso, hanging on the fence post and jump over the gate.

"Woah! Woah!" Varian yelled as the stallion began to stomp and kick. "I'm not going to use this on you. I promise."

He shouldered the rope to demonstrate that he wasn't going to throw it, and then began to talk to the horse more calmly.

"Listen, I know you're scared, and that you miss your family. B-but I'm frightened too. Some bad people have taken away my friends, my family, and I have to get them back. Please, will you help me?"

Widowmaker stopped bucking and snorted in confusion. This human wasn't like the others. He didn't chase him around, or hoot and holler with mocking laughter. He didn't try to mount him, or tie him up. All he did was continued to talk, though of course the wild animal couldn't understand what he was saying. But the human was clearly distressed and on the verge of tears.

"Please..." Varian whispered, time even more gently. He held up one hand." Please,.. I can't lose anyone else.``

He turned his head away and looked at his toes instead, still keeping his hand held up, palm facing out. It was a trick his father had taught him; a way to gain a horse's trust and show him that you weren't a threat, by breaking eye contact.

Widowmaker pawed the ground curiously. This human was indeed strange, but he seemed friendly. He walked up to the man and gently nuzzled his open palm.

Varian sighed with relief and petted the horse's nose.

"Thank you." He breathed as he moved to hug the creature, and nuzzled his own face against the horse's head.

"Come on,. Let's get out of here."

He opened the gate, hopped onto the horses back, and with a click of his heels they were off at full gallop before anyone could stop them.

[elareine]

43. a book that you have read more than three times

I love that this is the question you picked because the answer is SO MANY. I'm a huge comfort re-reader. I think these are the top contenders, though:

The Rivers of London Series by Ben Aaronovitch

The first dozen or so Honor Harrington novels by David Weber (German translation). That's usually around where I give up

Anything crime-related by Agatha Christie is what I go for when I'm sick

Selected Georgette Heyer regency romance novels, with The Grand Sophy leading the list by a mile

The old paperback crime series my dad collected, e.g. Rex Stout, all terribly translated to the point I cannot read them in English cause it just feels wrong

My childhood horse books, especially the Bille und Zottel series

The Kreis der Dämmerung series by Ralf Isau, and yes, I cry every time

Manga series I've had around for 10+ years, such as Case Closed (to a point) or more limited series like Fullmoon wo Sagashite

I think the Murderbot series will appear on this list eventually, but I read for the first time in March, so... not quite there yet.

There's little nonfiction on here, mostly cause I only really got into the habit of reading that for fun after graduating. Which, uh, wasn't that long ago. But I look into the ABC der Gefühle by Udo Baer/Gabriele Frick-Baer at least twice a year, so I think that counts. And maybe Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker, but not sure.

...right. I'm supposed to rec. I think Kreis der Dämmerung is the one that's really underappreciated, but afaik there's no English version, so... sorry?

(Book recs ask game, except I'm not really reccing per se)

[mk-wizard]

Big Hero 6 The Series: It could have been better

Hello, friends. Today, I will be analyzing a TV series based on a movie that I fell in love with for its colourful themes, deep plot, compelling characters, great CGI and memorable messages. Before I get into it, I want to take a moment to say that I have quit doing videos. They are too big of a pain in the petunia to make and I write better than I speak, so I will stick to writing essays, reviews and more. Anyway, onto the analysis.

All I can say about Big Hero 6 the series is that it had a great concept, it presented some great ideas and tried hard to be a cartoon of the times, but it could have and should have been a lot better. The show’s downfall all centers around trying too hard to be kid friendly which makes the shame sting all the more because Big Hero 6 was already kid friendly even with its dark themes, sharp edges and intelligent writing. If anything, even the brightest kid friendly cartoons (Steven Universe, She-Ra, etc.) had those things and actually benefitted from them. By needlessly trying too hard, character development got scrapped, the edges were all smoothed out, storytelling was subpar, the humour was too silly and the executive meddling in the end produced a dismal final season. However, I don’t want this analysis to be one lengthy negative rant about how awful the series was because in its defense, awful is an unfair word. It did have potential and ideas which are worth carrying over to a reboot that I hope will be done someday in the future. Also, we should root for a reboot because Big Hero 6 would not be the first story that needs it before striking gold. Just look at how many times Spider-Man was rebooted in film before MCU found the version that worked. Anyway, I will list all the things in Big Hero 6 that could have been better in my opinion;

1- Go easy on the laughs and be more generous with the action. - I love adding comedy to my own writing because I think a good sense of humour makes everything better, but Big Hero 6 is not a stand up comedy routine. It is a superhero story where we expect action, suspense and life or death situations that are to be taken seriously first. The comedy should be for relief and with the right timing. Also, the chibi cutscenes and having characters act like fools aren’t funny. Ren and Stimpy are the exception not the standard and their way of making you laugh doesn’t fit an action series. In a show as big as Big Hero 6, real life physics and danger matters.

2- Make the villains menacing and gritty. - I admit that after having a movie villain like Yokai who was the stuff of nightmares, it is going to be a challenging act to follow, but it was obvious that the writers were trying especially with some villains who could have easily gone into some dark relatable territory. For example, Mr. Sparkles (the gentleman in the photo above) embodies social media and Internet personalities. Right off the bat, you have a long list of things which embody the dark side of that like scams, fraud, using social media to dox or harass, driving people to suicide, online predators, the Internet personalities being very depressed people in real life, and much more horrifying things. When you stop and look at it, Mr. Sparkles even looks like the Joker which hints how dark and scary he could have been if the stops were removed. The same goes for enemies like Hardlight who embodies online gaming, Liv with cloning, Obake an amoral and insane scientist, and Trina and Noodle Burger Boy (more on him later) being evil robots. Globby especially should have been painted and written in much darker colours rather being played off for laughs because he has many parallels with Clay Face. The only two villains who I can say were supposed to be campy, charming and comical were Baron Von Steamer and Supersonic Sue because they were a satire of the Adam West style villains.

The rest of them needed to be dark and threatening including Mr. Sparkles. In fact, I would love a rebooted version of Mr. Sparkles who gives me the heebie-jeebies. Going back to Noodle Burger Boy, I must confess that I was actually excited when I heard that he was going to be the main villain of the final season because I thought he was going to fulfill his master’s final wish and as a reminder, Noodle Burger Boy was based on a super robot for military purposes.

It would have been fantastic if Noodle Burger Boy was upgraded into a full military war machine with a new threatening look. For that, I think all of the villains deserve to be rebooted and have their full potential unlocked for better or for worse.

3- A show about geniuses merits genius level art quality. - I am usually forgiving towards art styles, but in the case of Big Hero 6, the oversimplified style with minimal details and lack of textures did not suit the show. The characters blend in with the background which makes them look flat and the special effects were extremely dulled down. I also know for a fact that Disney can do a lot better than this because I saw how superbly Tangled the Series was drawn.

You can see and almost feel the difference in quality, the number of layers and level of detail between the two styles. I think there was no excuse Big Hero 6 was not done in the same style and at the same level if not better as Tangled.

3- Don’t dumb down or flanderize amazing characters. - I absolutely detest it when characters are flanderized because it makes them one dimensional and grating. For example, Go Go is tough as nails and extremely calm, but she is not cold or hesitant towards helping her friends. She doesn’t require very special episodes for us to know that. If anything, the movie version of Go Go reminded me a lot of Garnet in how she deconstructed the broody character. She isn’t cold or emotionless. Just calm and mature. Another good example was how Honey Lemon was rewritten to be overly positive to the point of toxicity, naïve and oblivious with a juvenile obsession with stickers. Then you have poor Fred who was rewritten to be an incompetent fool. The spark that makes Big Hero 6 shine is that they are a team of geniuses meaning they are all intelligent. Even Fred is genius in his own way just not a scientific one. He has a vivid imagination, he is resourceful and can get himself out of tight spots. Please, don’t turn characters into dummies especially if their intelligence is a part of them. It doesn’t make them better or funnier. It ruins them.

4- Tadashi needs closure and honour. - I am all for Hiro making peace with the loss of his brother, but Tadashi is to the Big Hero 6 team what Uncle Ben was to Spider-Man. His loss was the catalyst if not the reason. He should never be forgotten. Moreover, there was never any true closure to him especially with the possibility that he may still be alive up in the air. After all, like Callaghan, his body was never found and it turned out that Callaghan was still alive.

With that said, who is to say that Tadashi was not secretly still alive and just hiding or being hidden? This is something that Disney really needed to clear up if not for the fans, then at least as a service to such an important character. Never just forget about them.

5- The format can only be episodic with a deep plots, continuity and character development. - Random episodes with a mere monster of the day is an outdated format which doesn’t fit Big Hero 6′s modern and bright setting. In seasons 1 and 2, when the episodes were plot heavy with character development, the series shined brightest. It also helped move the story along, but with the final season, plot was removed, closure was abandoned or poorly written if any was given, and characters were disallowed from growing. A good example at how plot and character development could have made this series and its characters better was the relationship between Hiro and Megan. Would it have truly survived or would they have broken up?

Would Richardson Mole have eventually lost interest in his obsession with besting and bullying Fred or would his obsession consume him compelling him to become a super villain? I do see quite a few similarities between Mole and Reverse Flash.

Then you have Karmi who is in my opinion, the biggest wild card of the bunch. She was intentionally introduced as an arrogant, prickly and unlikable yet complex character who rivaled Hiro bitterly.

Yet had a huge crush on his alter ego and as time went on, started to grow up and even form a friendship with Hiro. What would have happened further down the road with her? Would she have become a super hero herself? Or maybe even another love interest for Hiro kind of like how Black Cat is for Spider-Man?

Is Obake really gone?

What does the future hold Diana (Liv’s clone), Liv herself or the Sycorax the genetics company?

Is Alistair Krei going to become an ally to Big Hero 6 or an antagonist? There is also the issue at how little we know about the other Big Hero 6 characters other than Fred, Hiro and Baymax. What are Honey Lemon, Wasabi and Go Go’s backstories? These questions matter and while not every mystery can be solved, leaving none of them solved is lazy writing.

6- Executives, kindly stay out of the writing and any other part of the creative process. - I’m sorry, execs, but there is no nice way to say it. History itself proves that every time executives got involved in the creative process of any media, it got worse not better. Leave the writing to the creative team and the execs should only handle the legal stuff. Please. We understand that TV is a business, but writing itself is not. It is an art which you just don’t have a talent for. Let the creative people do their thing with the freedom necessary and you do your thing, deal? Deal.

7- Focus on Hiro and Baymax. - The are the main characters so keep them at the heart of the series no matter what happens around them. That is all I can say.

And that sums up all the things that could have made Big Hero 6 the series better, but this is all just my opinion. What is yours?

PS: I am well aware that the Big Hero 6 series is being retconned because a new series called Baymax is in the works as well as the long awaited sequel to the first movie. I am looking forward to both with an open mind. PPS: I also am aware that some people liked this show the way it was including the art style and I am cool with that. An analysis for art that includes cartoons is never right or wrong. It is solely based on opinion. I may have thought this series could have been better, but there are people who make arguments that it could have been worse.

[drkineildwicks]

Season 4 Episode Batch 3

Here we are once again!  As mentioned in this post, I’m providing episode summaries in batches (first one and second one)--this batch would probably be after a mid-season break because apparently shows are just aired like that (perhaps after the Christmas break?).

Anywho:

4.13 – Captain Cutie Goes Hollywood – Karmi gets an offer to take Captain Cutie to the big screen, which Hiro opposes but can’t explain why without outing himself.  Meanwhile, Hardlight makes trouble with his chibi heroes again.  Globby helps but they’re still outnumbered.  Karmi comes in and helps save the day again, where she reveals to Hiro that she figured it out and didn’t want to say anything and ‘make it weird.’  Fred and Globby sob with glee.

4.14 – Liv and Let Di – Di goes after Liv, livid that she sold Sycorax to Krei.  Hiro, Fred and Baymax stop her, but not before she releases a fresh wave of monsters on San Fransokyo.  Bakemono helps her escape, but presents her to Dark Volt, who is ‘very disappointed’ in her, requiring her to make up for this.

4.15 – Off the Rails – Vaquero Kozo targets the rail systems in Austinbul, calling Gogo out on national television and announcing that if she doesn’t agree to race him again, he’ll blow the rails sky-high.  Gogo accepts with the stipulation that the others stop the rails from going blooey while Kozo is distracted.  Kozo is revealed to be working partially under Goto’s orders, who has taken the opportunity to target ranches south of Austinbul.

4.16 – The Haunting of Nobu Hill – Fred is convinced his house is haunted, but all attempts to capture the ghost have failed.  Hiro is skeptical, but agrees to work up sensors for him.  Fred and Olivia are enjoying a movie, but when something happens they and Mini-Max engage in Scooby-Doo shenanigans trying to track it down. When Fred realizes it’s Bakemono, he tries to superhero without tipping off Olivia.  Olivia figures it out by the end of the episode and assures him she won’t reveal his secrets.  Meantime, Bakemono presents to Dark Volt what they were after: a data chip from Boss Awesome’s hideout.

4.17 – Raccoona Matata – Return to Muirahara Woods, where several of Di’s monsters migrated to. Hiro is surprised to find that Ned Ludd has tamed most of them.  He has concerns and tries to talk Ned (and Bessie) out of it, is interrupted by one of the untamed and aggressive monsters.  Ned saves him, and Hiro is forced to admit that his way works.

4.18 – An Austinbul Standoff – Honey Lemon is working hard to take Goto down, to the point where it’s starting to affect her internship.  Gogo and Wasabi are supportive, but point out that unlike before they don’t have an established network in Austinbul, with the possible exception of the sheriff.  After another altercation with Mizquito, who reveals why she’s doing what she does, Honey Lemon thinks she might have figured out why Goto is undermining so many ranchers.

“Raccoona Matata” was one of those woke up from a dead sleep and scribbled down episode titles, and I’m kind of amused that it’s basically a BH6 version of that one Lilo and Stitch episode where Mrs. Hasegawa adopts a bunch of experiments.

Unlike the first half of the season, which was focused on establishing characters and new locations, the second half is more focused on taking the groundwork and running it to the endgame unlike some disney shows we could mention coughducktalescough.  We got a killer finale coming up, guys....

[ange-de-la-musique]

My thoughts on the Hadestown US tour 2021.

Orpheus and Eurydice: I loved loved loved Nicholas Barasch as Orpheus. I went in not sure about him, especially since Orpheus is my least favorite character, and came out absolutely adoring him. He has the voice of an angel and I’m pretty sure he was singing slightly higher than the score just because he could. He really put a lot of thought into the character and clearly knows how to work with a script to engage with the audience well. Personally I liked Reeve Carney but enjoyed Nicholas a lot more. Morgan Siobhan Green as Eurydice was probably the weakest cast member but she was still wonderful so that says a lot about how good the cast was. Her voice was phenomenal, her only downsides were that she seemed a little nervous and stiff at times, probably just needs some time to get settled into the role. However by act two she was absolutely killing it in the acting department, especially Flowers and her return to Hadestown after Orpheus turns around. Also we love a short queen, the ensemble would be kneeling and she’d be standing and still be the same height as them.

Hades and Persephone: Kevyn Morrow was a great Hades. Like Nicholas showing off his upper register, Kevyn was clearly having a lot of fun showing off his lower register. He clearly knows the value of restraint in acting, as he didn’t have a lot of movement at times but made it work in such a way that it came across very regal rather than stiff, then energetically burst out with action during His Kiss, the Riot. Kimberley Marable was such a fun Persephone, she didn’t play it quite as drunk as Amber Gray, but it still worked. She was a riot, absolutely having the time of her life and she stole the show every time she was on stage. Even in the more serious moments that she was in the background for she was clearly focused on what was happening in the story and how her character would react, such great energy and stage presence.

Hermes and The Fates: So Levi Kreis as Hermes was the cast member I was the most worried about, given how extremely different he is from André De Shields and how the character was originally envisioned. However I should have trusted the actor, as Levi clearly was aware of this and worked hard to make his Hermes a very distinct, new character from Broadway. He played the role very camp, almost feminine at times and it worked extremely well. He has a hell of a voice and played around with the notes throughout the show to show it off. He really knows how to play up to an audience, but did a perfect job of balancing the comedic moments with the somber ones, to the point of his voice actually cracking in a near sob during the finale. The Fates were exceptional, very talented, and very good at reacting to their costars, with beautiful and elegant body language. Watching them in the background of scenes was always very interesting as they were always doing little things to add to their characters.

The Ensemble: As with everything else, the ensemble was amazing. I’m pretty sure I got to see Alex Lugo, one of the the swings, in the worker’s chorus. I can definitely see why Will Mann is the Hades understudy, even when singing in the chorus his voice was so deep it stood out amongst the others. While passing out the mugs during curtain call for We Raise Our Cups, Jamari Johnson Williams tripped over a chair and went sprawling on the stage but he played it off so charmingly and amusing that I could feel the whole audience instantly fall in love with him.

The staging: It was very interesting to see what they did for a touring stage as opposed to the stage built into the theatre on Broadway. While they still had the turntable, it did not rise or lower in the center to function as the train. Instead they had panels in the back of the set under the balcony that opened with smoke effects and lights facing the audience when they opened to act as the train. In some scenes this worked great, even better than the Broadway version - such as Hades’ entrance being made all the more dramatic that all we could see of him was his silhouette wreathed in lights and smoke until he stepped forward into the light. However for some scenes it was less than ideal - the panels stayed open during How Long and watching the ensemble run off and on stage before and after that song definitely spoiled the effect. For the most part though the change made little difference to the quality of the show and my enjoyment of it, and served as a good alternative to the rising turntable. The rest of the staging is the same as on Broadway (I think Eurydice danced slightly less, but that may just be me misremembering exactly how much she danced on Broadway).

The merch: Overall pretty standard merch, however there were two necklaces for sale that were absolutely lovely. They were also selling mugs in the same style as used in the show with the Hadestown logo, which is insanely cool.

Overall an extraordinarily amazing performance with an exceptional cast, definitely worth going to see!

[uten4]

Filled some shipping charts for UNIB completely unprompted because I knew it was the right thing to do

Orie & Wagner

I LOVE THEM. Either platonically or romantically is so good, and it's so freaking correct to say that the comedic potential of them becoming girlfriends is worth it on its own. Wagner Succumbs To Love. And aesthetically they're quite good together :) ❤️💙

It IS complicated though because it is just so... so plausible that they would make each other worse skjnvjkvs... they're both dogs of Licht Kreis... sure they rebel in their own ways, BUT IS IT ENOUGH? Especially since half the ways Wagner rebels is like. "I'm technically not supposed to kill anyone, but I reaaallyyy want toooo *puppy eyes*" ALSO Wagner's freaking (internalized) racism that she super unfairly projects onto Japanese people and Japan as a whole has to be fixed and atoned for before I support any relationship involving her 😭 (in fanworks, including my own, I'll generally take it as implied that she did...)

But on the other hand of making each other worse, they could help fix each other... be able to relate to each other because they're both high-ranking members of this same organization, and they both likely had no choice in life except to take that path...

But yeah. I like them. Their contrásts. Their existing relationship. Very good, very funny.

Chaos & Gordeau

I love them.... maybe a little obsessed with em even, idk if anyone noticed X) It's complicated though because uhhh their writing is weird sometimesssssss... but still v wholesome and funny overall so!

Oh they so make each other worse. Gordeau straight-up launched Chaos' villain arc. And now Chaos is supporting Gordeau's rampage of vengeance. That actually doesn't make me feel more complicated about them though :) And I don't want them to have any angst either, even though it could make sense. Just be surprisingly wholesome besties forever please.

They're SOOO aesthetic together.

^ Look at that. On point. As for whether they're a rarepair... among UNIB players I would say they're not, but in this universe we live in all UNIB ships are huge rarepairs, so I think I deserve some rarepair-haver sympathy for them anyway. 🙏

Strix & Zohar

Okay I'll be honest idk how to explain why I love them so much. It's already kinda hard for me to come up with Romance, so for characters who appeared so little together, or appeared so little in general, I'm sort of just relegated to *rotates them in my head.*

But the most important part is that Strix love Zohar so much :) She's doing so much just to reunite with her... she cares about her relationship with Zohar so much... and I wanna interpret her feelings as romantic and I support them. I'm very curious what kind of relationship they had before All That Stuff Happened!! How did Zohar treat Strix? Were they really good friends or was Strix blinded by love? I hope they were good friends, and if not, I hope they somehow manage to improve their friendship... assuming the confrontation ever happens ^_^

Idk why it didn't feel quite right to circle "platonically" here though tbh... even though I'd be overjoyed to have more platonic content about them. I guess I don't think about it as much as I think about Gordeau and Chaos Bro Moments, or Wagner and Orie Weird One-Sided Frenemy Rival Moments 🤔 Perhaps because we really did not get any depictions of Zohar and Strix having a friendly conversation; in fact the only conversation we got was a huge outlier to the rest of their relationship.

ANYWAY YES. Wasted potential. I need a whole new game about Strix and Zohar STAT.

[rainofaugustsith]

Rain Plays SWTOR: False Emperor

As we continue the "play it before 7.0" theme, I'm going to talk about False Emperor, the second of the two flashpoints at the end of the Ilum story arc. The Ilum flashpoints are long. As in, Suvia (Sith Inquisitor Assassin, level 75 with 306 gear and a companion at level 50 influence,) stealthed her way through, watched all cut scenes, made steady progress and had no deaths, and False Emperor took her more than 30 minutes. If you are actually fighting the mobs, count on being there for far longer. This flashpoint and Battle of Ilum the predecessors to Spirit of Vengeance: long, tedious and boring. It's mob after mob. I only do this flashpoint now as part of the story on Viri's clones (my main) or stealthers. Quite frankly there are IMHO only probable five reasons you'd want to play this: 1. You haven't and want the achievement. 2. You really want the deco offered at the end (a large statue of a hooded man - could be the Emperor but also could be headcanoned as another Sith) 3. You want your main to do all the story content. 4. You are doing the HK-51 quest. There is a component in this flashpoint you need and cannot get anywhere else 5. You have a stealther who can skip most of the enemies and walk through Have I scared you off? No? You need to do this for the story? Here we go. Where do I pick this up? If you're doing the story quest that began with "Crystal Ball" (it was granted to you at the end of the class story) this flashpoint is the culmination. It will be granted automatically when you complete "Battle of Ilum" in the story AND the subsequent cut scene. If you are doing this as a standalone, go to your activities tab -> solo -> scroll down to flashpoints and choose "The False Emperor." The mobs are mobs. They're there. They are large in numbers and tedious. There isn't much I can tell you about them, so we'll concentrate on the bosses. Like Battle of Ilum and Directive 7, this has a lot of mini-bosses you cannot skip. This flashpoint also has a lot of platforms. With one exception all the bosses and mini-bosses you will fight will be in areas where you can get yeeted over the edge, and so will most of the mobs. Mind your step.

Mini Boss #1: Tregg the Destroyer

You're on a very narrow bridge here, and Tregg's got a knockback. One part of the bridge (shown above) has walls on both sides. Try to stay in there so Tregg can't send you flying to your doom. Otherwise, no tricks.

Boss #1: Jindo Krey Jindo Krey is a Mandalorian and he will get increasingly more damage as the fight goes on. As the screencap here shows, there's also a ship that looks like the bounty hunter's ship (IT ISN'T, AFAIK!) that will be firing missiles at you to complicate things. Run up to the console pictured in the second screencap and click it to temporarily send that ship away. Other than that: once again, you're on a platform with open sides so mind your step.

Mini-Boss(es) 2: Prototype B-16 and Prototype A-14

Eh. Droids. Just kill B and then A. That's how it usually shakes out for me. No major tricks. You're on a platform again. Boss #2: HK-47

If you are doing the HK-51 quest, HK-47 will drop a part you need when you defeat him. He should have a yellow loot "ray." YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO THIS FLASHPOINT ON VETERAN OR NiM TO GET THE PART! I can personally vouch that it drops from HK-47 in story mode. HK-47 is not quite as lethal as he was when you faced him in The Foundry, if you did. He doesn't have the insta-kill or any panels to frantically click. He mostly stays in the center for this entire fight. Just stay out of his line of fire and keep moving around him. And guess what? You're on a platform! Surprise! When HK-47's health gets low he will vanish and reappear to hit your character with a very long stun. This is his most formidable trick in this flashpoint. Mini-Boss #4: Chondrus Berani

This is the only boss/mini-boss you will fight in this flashpoint who is NOT on a platform where you're in danger of falling over the edge. Enjoy it while it lasts. Chondrus does have a knockback but the most he can do here is throw you around the hallway Final Boss: Darth Malgus

BUG: If the fight goes on too long, or you get too far away from Malgus, he has been known to reset. He will return to the bottom of the stairs and reset himself back to 100% HP. That's not fun. So make sure you stay close.

Malgus has a nasty knockback that will toss you right into the air shaft if you are unlucky. He also throws Inquisitor skills like Force Storm as well as single lightsaber skills. There are a few on-screen announcements about how you will have to face Malgus alone or whatever - just keep fighting. The trick for this fight is to anchor yourselves on the stairs, with your back to the wall, so that Malgus cannot throw you anywhere. He will actively try to do that. He will also sometimes end up fighting your companion and the combat assistance droid at the bottom for the stairs, so taunt him or put your companion on passive to pull him back to you. Remember: when Malgus is defeated the loot will not be on his person. It will be in this box that appears at the bottom of the stairs.

Make sure you click that little blue console at the bottom of the stairs to wrap things up. You're done! Yay! Press "exit area" and escape. If you are continuing the story arc, you will have a cut scene in the instanced area when you are back on the Ilum base.

[teartra]

Rant about Big Hero 6 Series’ ending (and also season 3) spoilers for the whole show

It’s been disappointing... really

I knew it was doom from the start when the length of each episodes was cut off in half. Sadly, there’s no real storyline throughout the whole season and each episodes felt like a filler episode.

As one of my favorite TV show, probably one of the very first series that put me back with cartoons in my teenage years, it’s sad to see this show went downhill like this.

The first season of Big Hero 6 was THE BEST season and probably I’ll choose that season over many shows that I’ve seen now. Obake was one of the best villain, his motives made you pity him, he’s still vile especially when he use Tadashi as his way to tray Hiro and what’s best from him is the way he treated Hiro as his ‘sucessor’. It didn’t really matter if he knew Hiro’s identity, he just want Hiro to join him. Also, season 1 finale was hella dope

Season 2’s storyline was also good but here me out... I think Liv/Diane’s plotline should be the only plotline throughout season 2 and so we can use Trina’s for the season 3.

I’ll talk about first half of season 2. Liv is second best villain in BH6. She’s pretty, smart and FREAKIN MANIPULATIVE. They should’ve explore more about her in one season just like the way they did to Obake. In this plotline, they also use Karmi and Hiro’s relationship development from rival to friends who at least trusted each others. Honestly, if they want to put Karmi’s character away, they could’ve done that in more dramatic way.

The last half of season 2 should’ve been season 3. Trina wasn’t a very good villain, but Noodle Burger Boy was WORSE. I think Trina should’ve hide on that Krei’s employee identity (forget his name) rather than revealed hers early in the story. Last half of second season also progress between Hiro, Meghan, and Meghan’s father or Diego Cruz. Their plotline reminds me of Spiderman but I’m not complaining, I love that. Also, I really love Meghan. Not to take it to romantic level but Hiro did need Meghan in order to know what people his age were actually like. Yes, he had Karmi but Karmi was also different from normal kids her age. Hiro and Meghan’s relationship taught Hiro how to be a normal kids while Hiro and Karmi’s relationship taught Hiro that sometimes he should ask for help and needed a friend to work with.

Season 2 also ended with moral value of legacy and in this case, Tadashi’s. The crew also graduated, except for Hiro and Fred, and all was perfect until—-

Let’s get to the down of BH6... this season had some comic book style and bunch of characters breaking the fourth wall and logic and I really like that. the third season started good where Wasabi, Gogo, and Honey Lemon were busy with finding jobs, being a fresh graduate, managing their time with work and their superhero group and I CAN RELATE. Look, I’m still in univ but my friends moved away from me and I could barely see them these days. They should’ve keep THAT plotline because I would love to wonder how that will work

Instead there’s.... freakin Noodle Burger Boy and his robot companions. For. God’s. Sake. They’re SUPER annoying. I’ve never like NBB but there had always been Obake or at least Trina to redeem his scene. Now that the two are gone, everything just UGH. They’re too childish (and I’m also childish but at least I’m consistent) one day, they’re planning on destroy San Fransokyo and other day, they’re just like boo hoo we’re on the good side now. Season 3 felt lazy as since there’s no clear storyline.

Also this is the only season where Tadashi wasn’t even mentioned. Look, I don’t want Hiro to grief over his own brother for a long time but Tadashi had always been his motives for everything in the series. He went to university because of Tadashi, he joined big hero 6 for Tadashi, first season was still focus on his grief, he learned to trust Karmi because of Tadashi, he finally saved the city using Tadashi’s legacy and went to Tadashi’s graduation where he made a speech about his brother. And for a season finale that’s focus on family, i think it’s important to at least mentioned him once

And there’s the finale. Seriously, just about 10 minutes?? It just felt like another episodes in season 3, even season 2 arc finale felt more finale than this. It was really unclear and like... what? How did Momakase turned to the good side out of sudden. Mr. Sparke or the eel mom and daughter would make sense but her?? Na ah i don’t think so. The finale also showed us like heyy everybody’s good and we’re family and let me tell you that THAT didn’t work.

That’s my overall thoughts on BH6 series. A great show with sooo many potential if disney didn’t choose to ruin it. Kinda sad that the fandom wasn’t as huge as others. I don’t blame the crew, they did well in first and second season, i know they could’ve done a better job in season 3. It’s just sad that the last season was really baaad. Anyway I can’t wait for next year spin off, there are still bunch of question that needs to be answered and I still have trust in them

[burnwater13]

How did Bo-Katan know who Ahsoka Tano was? And why would Din Djarin need to talk to her? Grogu was confused and he didn’t like being confused. Jedi and Mandalorians weren’t supposed to know each other and they certainly weren’t supposed to help each other.

Sure Grogu had helped the Mandalorian because the Mandalorian had helped him. Simple. Easy peasy. After all they were just two travelers who had found themselves in a hostile environment and mutual aid made a lot of sense. It wasn’t like they were best friends or anything. 

Okay, they were friendly. The Mandalorian had given him the great silver toy and Grogu really loved that. But come on. That had been the knob off of a flight control stick. It wasn’t like Din had searched a marketplace for hours looking for it. Grogu had found it and liked it and Din just let him have it. 

The Mandalorian probably thought he was teething or something like that because everyone thought Grogu was a child and that happens to kids, right? But Grogu really just liked the thing. It was shiny. It was just the right size for his hands. The Mandalorian was willing to play catch with him. But it wasn’t like it was more special than that. 

It wasn’t like Din went out of his way to help Grogu. Except for that time when they went to gladiator fight place called Carnita. That’s where the Mandalorian went to find out where there might be other Mandalorians. Which made sense. Mandalorians helped each other whenever they could. Grogu supposed that Din was looking for someone who could help him find Grogu’s ‘people’ so Grogu could go back to them. 

But things hadn’t worked out quite that way. Instead they’d met Cobb Vanth, a bunch of Tuskens, and one soon to be very sad Krayt dragon. That had been a lot of work to find out Cobb wasn’t a Mandalorian. In which case, did that really count as help? Grogu didn’t think so. 

They were still just travelers again. This time making their way to that awful ice ball planet with the Frog Lady who said she knew of some Mandalorians. Well, technically, her husband knew them. Her husband who wasn’t with her or them. He was on Trask, a very watery moon orbiting a different planet altogether. But that made sense because he was a Frog and frogs like water.

Grogu had to say that the Mandalorian had helped out a lot on that trip, even though he didn’t think Din’s heart was really in it. He was too concerned about the Razor Crest taking so much damage when he crashed it. And then he just assumed that Grogu had passed the course on starship repair and maintenance. He couldn’t even tell the Mandalorian that the Jedi didn’t offer courses like that to the younglings. Then there was all the drama with the spiders and the eggs. Both tasty, but both had been a lot of trouble for Grogu.

Somehow they had managed to get off of Maldo Kreis and they reached Trask and they actually met Bo-Katan. But the best she could do was tell them to go to some other place to find Ahsoka Tano, a Jedi. But she didn’t tell Din Djarin any of that until he had helped her steal a ship. A big ship. One the former Imps were using. And the Mandalorian didn’t even let him help with that project. Grogu had stayed on Trask and spent time with the Frog family. They were great, by the way. 

Eventually, after a pit stop on Nevarro, to really fix the Razor Crest and grab some snacks, they got to Corvus. Corvus had probably been nice once. Then Imps had arrived and turned it into a smoldering wreck of a place. Grogu wondered why the Imps destroyed the natural environment everywhere they went. Didn’t they like the color green? Didn’t they like blue skies and feeling sand between their toes? Apparently not. 

And that was where his Mandalorian finally met another Jedi. A Jedi who was friends with another Mandalorian. Or at least friendly enough to keep tabs on each other and know where people were. That was pretty friendly. It was also pretty funny. 

Because Ahsoka Tano wasn’t a Jedi. Yes, she had trained at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, just like Grogu. She had been a padawan. She had a master. But she left. And she stayed away. She told everyone who would listen to her that she was not a Jedi (although she kept her lightsabers). 

Was it just that Mandalorians had so little knowledge of the Jedi, other than fighting them, that anyone with a lightsaber must be a Jedi? That was like saying anyone with beskar armor was a Mandalorian. If that was true, Cobb Vanth would like a word with them. Was it any wonder that Grogu was confused?

[unproductive-software-blog]

What does it mean to main Orie?

Orie is a personal favorite of mine, and the only character I’ve managed to play through the Arcade and Chronicle mode for thusfar. She’d be my go-to character were it not for the delays in her better combos. That said, I think she, like any great fighting game character, strongly conveys who she is through her playstyle, appearance, and backstory.

Orie to me represents in some ways the Christian ideal of a woman, both physically resembling a nun, and comitting herself wholeheartedly to the fight against evil in the name of those she loves, all while carrying herself with a level of grace and poise beyond any other. In combat her fencing style is delicate and agile, yet precise and deadly. To top it all of, she offers her opponents mercy in her victory lines (where most characters would brag or insult), and shows genuine remorse in her victory animations, kneeling beside her enemy in their last moments.

Her accompanying stand/persona/(whatever they actually call it) shows her inner feelings, however. Thanatos’s attacks are crushing and overwhelming, with a sense of uncontrollability to them (being more easily punished and physically harder to input). Thanatos being the god of death represents not only a very on the nose Persona 3 (and P4 Arena) reference, but also her true motivating factor, not her love for her conrades at Lich Kreis (the demon-slaying church for which she works), nor her religion, but a desire for revenge and a willingness to deceive and destroy those in her way to achieve that end (seen in her interactions with Hyde in arcade mode: Hyde tells her to get to safety, believing her to be nothing more than his unassuming classmate, but Orie dismantles him without so much as an explanation). Her booming cry of “RESTO IN PEACU!” during her finishing move is both a genuine prayer for the soul of her opponent, and the closest she can come to uttering a warcry on the field of battle. To master Orie as a fighting game character is to embrace these two sides. To accept one’s vulnerability with a calm and measured gracefulness, until the exact right opportunity, when, with a hushed self-assuring “ikimasu”, the single poke of a rapier escalates into a flurry of passionate strikes, erupting in the wild spinning of a greatsword.

If you main Orie you (at least 1):

Hate sex, except maybe with Orie

Believe in some religious or moral code

Have a strong sense of justice

Take time to open up to others

Carry a hidden fire in your heart

See yourself as on a mission in life

Love footsies

Actually just love to flip around trolling other players

Legitimately enjoy Slice of Life anime

Play Uniel

[tadashitea]

Movie vs Manga end

Yeah, so Baymax shoots his fist off and guides the lightning to power the portal, not too sure how but that's cool! 

The story might not have started with the bot fight but we get it here in a flashback, they don't get arrested though. 

Then Tadashi offers for Hiro to go to his school, just like the movie except Hiro is onboard for it, but he only wants to go because Tadashi's there. Hiro actually gets there and sees how Tadashi is with his friends, he realizes that it won't just be the two of them, Hiro's just along for the ride. Which is something I can really relate with, when I was a kid, I spent a lot of time around my cousins and it always seemed like they had some kind of friend that I didn't know there, I wouldn't interact, I would just do my own thing. "Don't talk to strangers." became rudimentary to me. Is it jealousy that the friends get attention and I don't? I'm not too sure. Tadashi has a cool mind reading invention though.

But this time when Hiro goes into the portal to save Abigail, he also has the hope of seeing Tadashi. Which makes it all the more hurtful when he doesn't find him but even then, Hiro believes that he's just in another dimension, different from Abigail's. When Baymax gets hammered by the debris, it's from behind, they're running from it rather than it coming from above. Though this would've been a cool moment to put in that shielding parallel again.

They have a few flashbacks before Baymax sends him off with his rocket fist, which makes it more powerful in my opinion, Baymax also brings up that everyone is waiting for him, he doesn't want to leave Aunt Cass or anybody else alone and he has to get Abigail out of there. I just realized, no "Ba-da-la-da-la-la-la" with the fist bumps. Stan Lee makes an appearance but not as Fred's dad or even Boss Awesome.

As you can see, despite all the electricity and stuff going out, nobody knows what happened, which means Callaghan actually turns himself in, he's not just caught. Minimax even makes an appearance, he rolls out of a ball! So cute. It's also the same ball that we see as Tadashi's first invention. He resembles regular Baymax a lot more though, just with a heart on his chest and it goes to Aunt Cass, not Fred. Then it ends with the same card in Baymax's fist.

What surprised me is that at the very end, we see those things that were initially missing including Krei and the in-between suit but they make it out as if that happened with Baymax 2.0, after the events of the manga.

I read the "afterword" and the person who made it, Haruki Ueno, talks about how they wanted to make it a unique experience different from the movie and they went through various versions even having it in the eyes of Mochi, starting out the manga with a one chapter one-shot but one of the more curious things he (or she, I can't find any pictures but Haruki is typically a boy's name) said "from the perspective of a manga-original character: a girl with a crush on Hiro..." I really want to see who that could be, maybe it was adapted into the series and became Karmi? 

Overall, there are definitely some things that the manga did better than the movie and a few things the movie did better than the manga, for example, characters. In the manga, I feel that we get a more fleshed out version of Hiro, Tadashi and Callaghan with the backstories especially. But with the movie, I feel we get a more fleshed out version of everyone else, except Baymax, he's the constant between the two. Obviously there are only 2 volumes so they had to squeeze and the movie is an hour and 48 minutes but they're different enough to enjoy separately and respect for different reasons and it’s not like just reading an adaptation. I’m glad I read it, I thoroughly enjoyed it.