#i love popular kid foils for main characters

[biblicalhorror]

I keep seeing posts about how Fig should be the one to run for president instead of Kristen and I could not disagree more tbh.

Fig hates responsibility literally more than anything else. She hates deadlines. She hates structure. Sure, the chaos anarchist might be exactly the energy Aegfort would want running his school, but she's fundamentally incompatible with that kind of position of power. She's charismatic, yes. But a grand majority of the time, she prefers to use her charisma for trickery and deception, not for popularity or politics. She has a very hard time being likeable or impressive as herself, which we see in action during the most recent episode with the note to Riz, or during episode 1 when she convinces Gorgug he was the one to seal the Night Yorb. In fact, a running character theme for her this season has been about how uncomfortable Fig is with herself, whether that's in regard to physically being in her own body or in keeping agreements with herself. Being student body president puts a lot of pressure onto how you the person is perceived, which Fig would absolutely struggle with immensely. (Tbh it would be very funny if she ran as Wanda Childa, though.) Fig is also an extremely loving and caring person, which I think people assume would translate well to a position in politics. But the thing is, Fig intensely cares for her own people. The opposite side of that coin is that she is also very frequently extremely distrusting of random strangers for little to no reason. She is kind, but in the sense of being extremely loyal and protective of her loved ones, not necessarily in the sense of being humanitarian. Frankly, I think the pressure of having that much power over so many of her peers would not be good for her mentally. Not to mention the fact that she actively has the bird cop coming after her for identity theft. The last thing she needs is more visibility.

Kristen, on the other hand, is almost entirely motivated by The Greater Good. She has a very hard time showing up for the people in her life on a day-to-day basis, and she also has a very hard time even caring for herself on a basic level, but she is always looking at the big picture and calling out structural injustices. Her main motivation as a character revolves around fighting against inequitable power structures created by evangelist gods, and she will never fail to put herself directly in the line of danger if it means protecting someone else, especially if she can stand up to some bullies in the process. This is the girl who, without any casting ability, decided to use a cantrip to try and help two souls, one of which was a literal stranger, pass on to the afterlife together in peace. She wants to bring people together more than anything else. Interestingly, she is also not good at facing herself and being perceived. However, unlike Fig, she deals with almost a disconnect between her public persona and her true inner self, which manifests as random chaos to keep other prople at arms length rather than constantly hiding herself behind different disguises. In a way, she's actually a super compelling foil to Fig. Kristen is very bad at being there for the people she's closest to, but she knows how to reach out to strangers and offer community. She knows how it feels to be isolated from her own power due to a disempowering social structure, and she understands grand, sweeping social power arguably more deeply than any of the other bad kids due to her history with all of her various dieties. Kristen, deep down, struggles with seeing herself as a person with agency rather than a conduit for power, and her fear of her power being exploited by a greater being to bring suffering unto others I think actually puts her in kind of the perfect position to be going into politics. She will always be vigilant about making sure there is a voice for the voiceless, and she would not put the needs of the few above the needs of the many. Also, she brings exactly the brand of chaos Aegfort is known for into all of her campaign-related interactions. And thanks to her friends, that might win her the election.

[balanceoflightanddark]

What if Ozai gave Azula her ideas in smoke and shadow and how to execute them during their private conversation in the search?

It wouldn't be that far-fetched considering Azula's goal is for Zuko to act like Ozai and Ozai himself was manipulating Zuko into acting like him way before in the promise. By the end of the search, her mind was too much in mush for her to think clearly. To see her regain some semblance of control all by herself just feels a little too far beyond even her capabilities.

What Zuko and Azula had in common was their innate desire for Ozai's validation, Azula was sadly duped into thinking he was getting some from Ozai, so she dedicated her life to being Ozai's cheap knock-off and being loyal to him by default. If anyone can out-manipulate Azula, it's Ozai.

Contrary to popular belief, Ozai did not betray Azula during Sozin's comet, she was beginning to worry that she was losing his "love", so she's likely in the same boat as season 1 Zuko and is pushing herself all the harder to be what he wants her to be.

We still have yet to see Ozai truly betray Azula. Perhaps Ozai can escape prison and it'll happen sometime after. Zuko and Aang can try warning her but she disregards them, leaving it up to her to find out the truth the hard way.

I imagine Ozai discovering an unintended side effect upon having his bending removed. He can no longer bend but he now has almost the same abilities as Taskmaster and Mokujin. After his escape, there can be build-up for the creation of the red lotus.

Hey, sorry if I didn't get to you right away. Life happens, you know?

So anyways...I mean I guess it would make sense for Ozai to try and use Azula to ruin Zuko's rule. And considering that Zuko treated Azula worse than Ozai in the comics, she does have a lot of reason to go ahead with it since...well, she's got nothing left to lose at this point. Plus it would keep Ozai as being the main antagonist since...well, the overarching villains for the comics were the New Ozai Society after all.

That being said...I think we can add a bit more to this. I think it would be more illuminating that he first tear her down for her failure at Sozin's Comet, then dangle this plan as her last chance of "redemption" in his eyes. Similar to how he sent Zuko on that wild goose chase for the Avatar. Probably wouldn't even expect her to succeed and maybe force Zuko into a position where he would have to kill her. That would be diabolical on Ozai's part and show how much of a bastard he is just to tear Zuko down. And of course, Azula here would just be a pawn in this scheme of his just like in the show.

Naturally the chaos she causes would give Ozai an opening to escape...which probably would send Zuko on the warpath against her. At this point, I would imagine Aang or Katara to put their foot down and tell Zuko that his hatred for Azula (I can see this developing into full blown fury at this point) isn't healthy and is just making the situation worse. Maybe even have Katara point out how she was in the same situation with the Southern Raiders and only worked with him to keep Azula from being the Fire Lord to end the war. Now he's taking things too far. Which would be a good way for him to actually receive some character development which was sorely needed in the comics instead of the narrative coddling him.

As for Azula...it's gonna be rough when she puts two and two together. Maybe have Ozai try to kill her or abandon her to shake off Zuko's pursuit, basically having that betrayal moment and finally showing her that he never gave a rat's ass about her. I could even see her having another breakdown when Zuko catches up...only for someone from the Gaang to stick up for her. Again, probably either Aang or Katara since Aang's a nice kid and Katara's Azula's foil and probably knows what she's going for (a little at least). Maybe get in the way and force Zuko to stand down lest he burn them. Probably force him to rethink his thoughts on Azula. Azula herself probably won't forgive Zuko and wouldn't be buddy buddies with the Gaang after how they treated her in The Search...but it would sow the seeds for a potential redemption down the line since this is the first time somebody ever stood up for her.

Finally, having Ozai start up the proto-Red Lotus would be a nice foil to Iroh being the Grand Lotus of the White Lotus. While I do think that his story is done with, it would give him a chance for some much needed focus and possibly give Azula a chance to take him down. So...yeah. Nice ideas here.

[straightbaittournament]

only the straightbait with the lowest percentage will be eliminated; everyone else goes on to round 2! propaganda under the cut:

kit tanthalos and graydon hastur:

Classic arranged marriage trope but the she-hates-him part never goes away because she’s in love with her best friend/bodyguard Jade

tobias funke and debrie bardeaux:

It’s maybe not exactly right but Debrie starred in a series of softcore gay porn films called Straightbait where she seduces a guy but tells him he has to sleep with another man before he sleeps with her to prove how attracted to her he is, thus proving he isn’t gay. Tobias is also super gay. They date for like 40 episodes and raise a son together. Tobias gets left by his first wife for not being sexually attracted to her and then has an affair with a gay porn actress from a series called straightbait I just think it’s pretty funny.

izuku midoriya and ochako uraraka:

It’s the classic main character x friend who is a girl ship. They have no actual romantic interactions outside of their friendship. Ochako has “feelings” for Izuku, but they are clearly feelings of friendship until one of her friends insists that she must have a crush on Izuku, making her feel confused and embarrassed. Izuku clearly sees Ochako as a good friend, but when they first meet, he blushes and thinks “I can’t believe I just talked to a girl.” On the same day, he also blushes when he sees that a famous male hero is proctoring their exams. It’s literally so boring as a romantic ship. They have no chemistry as a couple.

willow park and hunter:

THEY ARE NOT STRAIGHT THEY R BI4PAN BUT IT IS AN M/F RELATIONSHIP They are an M/F relationship in The Gay Show and they are hinted and teased but never confirmed

travis touchdown and sylvia christel:

in the first game travis spends the entire game trying to get with sylvia (HE FAILS MISERABLY) and inbetween the sequel and the spin-off they get married, have kids, you know the drill HOWEVER COMMA in that same period of time travis runs away from said family and later moves in with a man. So.

raleigh becket and mako mori:

Literally everything about the writing of Pacific Rim make it seem like they're setting up for a romance between these two and then they just. Don't. Despite this, "drift compatable" was one of the most popular AUs for couples after the film came out for a hot minute because of how romantic they made the concept seem. *gestures to the entire movie* seriously

jeff winger and britta perry:

the show starts off with jeff creating the study group so that he can get with britta, they serve essentially as narrative foils, with jeff not caring about people and britta caring too much about people, they nearly get married on THREE (3) separate occasions, they're secret friends with benefits for an entire season but break up when the group finds out, they're the only two people from the core group left in greendale when the show ends; but in the end they make jeff's "true love interest" the girl who was half his age when the show started (36/18)...

asuka tenjoin and yuki judai:

The ship name (fianceshipping) comes from the episode where Judai *accidentally* duels some guy to become Asuka's fiance (said guy never asks Asuka how she feels about this, ugghhh greater Duel Academia student body be normal about ladies challenge). Turns out that he *didn't know what a fiance was* and just wanted to have a good ol' time cardgaming. I think that this says more about this ship than anything else I could tell you. During the final season, Asuka almost confesses to him but cuts herself off & they then thank each other for giving each other some clarity of mind because they're both going through pretty rough times at that point in the plot. Looks concerningly like they're about to do a whole "ohh we need to make the main girl and boy romance out of obligation" bit and then they just don't do it. It's great. I have no idea if this counts because I didn't personally feel baited but I think they're very fun as a pair and I like them 🫡. judai is the gayest guy of all time (subtext) and im like 80% sure asuka was experiencing comphet bc he's the only guy in their grade that treats her like a person. besties 4ever!!!!!!!! straightmod has been informed that judai is also textually queer because he is canonically attracted to a non-binary character.

kwan and win:

This is a Thai teen drama that focuses on many teens going through hardships and it's very dramatic and very fun I love it so much THESE TWO. They circled around each other for two whole seasons and the tension was there!! He was a bad boy, she was a good girl, every time they spoke there was something in the air. They were both arguably the leads of an ensemble cast and it really felt like they were being set up to get together but then it just... never happens. This show has been out for 10 years and I'm still mad about it. THE WASTED POTENTIAL OF IT ALL

valkyrie and thor:

Like a lot of ships with a white man and a woman of color, their chemistry and history get shunted to the side by racist writers and fans who refuse to acknowledge them as anything other than friends.

good luck everyone! now go vote!

[ac-liveblogs]

Tbh I kinda lost interest in MHA when the focus went from the students to the pro heroes which wouldn't have been that bad if the series were longer and we eventually would've went back to them. I loved these kids, I thought they all had so much potential to become powerful heroes or be really successful in a certain niche yet the only characters that matter are Deku, Todoroki and Bakugo and aside from them ,the pro heroes...I know Horikoshi has health issues and he has been writing this manga for years it's just I think if we would've gotten like 3 or 4 arcs centered around the students it would've probably felt better for me personally.

Hmm, I think I'm sort of in the opposite camp. I agree with you that additional arcs developing the students would have benefited the story a lot, but I preferred the series when it switched focus to the pros. That's because the pros were better positioned to provide commentary on the state of BNHA's world, which... even if the manga is about Hero School, if the plot wants to talk about "heroes vs villains" being at least in part a social construct, the pros are going to be more valuable pieces to use than a bunch of completely normal school children.

Which is unfortunate, because you end up with a cast that largely doesn't have anything to say or unique to contribute. Like, you even see that with characters like Bakugou not having much to do outside of his role foiling and growing up with Deku. I like Bakugou, but man. Man.

Todoroki, Aoyama and Iida are the closest to that discussion, but they're disconnected from the problem, are paid off too late to capitalise on and leave the conversation early respectively. Uraraka has her storyline with Toga, which is great and I'm hoping that will pay off in a way that doesn't completely center Deku.

Or, Tokoyami is adjacent to Hawks, but mostly in the capacity of "I care about my mentor, no matter what dubious things he did I believe he is a good person" which is great for Hawks, but that's still about Hawks... because Tokoyami can't be the one doing what Hawks is doing, he can only comment on it...

I think BNHA ran into the problem, really early on, that if your students are first year high school students just starting to learn how to fight or save people, outside of really wild circumstances it's difficult to get them involved in the plot if it's happening outside of school.

It's not impossible obviously (Bakugou could have been asked to go undercover in the League of Villains instead of or alongside Hawks, just off the top of my head) but if Hori really does have health issues that require speeding up this manga I can see why so many corners got cut the way they did (it really would explain a lot). Class 1A kind of just... ended up being baggage. I can see how if Horikoshi had more time to cook, 1A probably would've been set up to take the places of characters like Miruko or Best Jeanist.

Also, and this is unfortunate, Horikoshi did design the vast majority of the class to have a huge spread of powers because he wanted to showcase a variety of different kinds of heroes. It's just that stuff like that really can make you dead weight in a war arc in a combat-oriented manga. Like, what's Koda gonna do. Unfortunately, I think Horikoshi did the best he could with a lot of them during the evacuation scenes with respect to the limitations he put on them, and the fact that Deku, Bakugou and Todoroki are kind of supposed to be monsters.

I think that's probably why he ended up falling back on Mirio, Tamaki and Nejire so heavily later on... who in 1A beyond The Main Guys could possibly plausibly join the Major Fights? It really sucks, but my god it all added up horribly.

I know this isn't really popular anymore, but I actually liked a lot of the filler episodes in Naruto part 1 that featured a random grab bag of Naruto + the other genin in the village. Maybe BNHA's anime would've benefited from some of that lol

[movietonight]

I was tagged by @variousqueerthings to share mash thoughts!

1. Whose overall narrative feels the most satisfying to you?

I have three different answers. If I take "satisfying" to be doomed from the start haunted catharsis? Hawkeye, obviously. It's incredibly satisfying to see a sitcom without much * turn into a beautiful heart breaking eleven season long mental health spiral.

Then there's Klinger, who has the most satisfying narrative from a meta perspective, seeing a one episode gag turn into a beloved character who begins showing up in the credits and gets a big wedding and farewell.

Then there's Charles and Margaret, who graduate from narrative foils to complex and likeable characters with lots of memorable and :') moments.

2. Whose finale narrative feels the most satisfying to you?

Literally the ones above. Hawkeye and Charles make me both tear up every time and Margaret and Klinger make me go :') with pride to see how far they've come.

3. What's a post-canon headcanon that you have (about anything or anyone)

I think they try to hold at least one other reunion to see each other again with all their families in the same hotel on the anniversary of the party

4. What's a pre-canon headcanon that you have (about anything or anyone)?

I think Trapper and Charles vaguely met in Boston at work (maybe at a conference or maybe their hospitals collaborated on something)

5. Who's a secondary/tertiary character you wish you could have seen more of?

Honoria, Bigelow and Kellye.

6. What's a headcanon you have about a non-main character?

I think Kellye got all of them their Hawaiian shirts (yes I know they were popular at the time and sold in different places but I like the thought that she is their main Hawaiian shirt dealer and I think it's also the only explanation why Charles has one)

7. Who's your single episode MVP?

Inga <3 She said Trans Rights. Shout out also to British UN guy bullying Charles, Brandy Doyle the burlesque icon, Tuttle and Park Sung.

8. Share a headcanon about anything that you don't get the chance to talk about enough

Charles listens to "Songs on the Death of Children" because of his brother :)

9. What's one of your favorite non-romantic dynamics on the show?

Potter and everyone. He's just so dad and grandpa coded and I love how a lot of that was just Harry Morgan being Like That. Potter just adopted an entire camp of weird traumatised kids.

10. What's an underrated dynamic overall on the show?

Klinger and Mulcahy being besties <3 Klinger being the only one attending services and Mulcahy telling people to compliment his gloves lives rent free in my brain. Runner up is Charles and BJ making 2 separate people believe they are seriously sick because they were annoying. Absolute gremlins and they should have worked together more often.

11. What's a moment that was shocking to you?

Just the entire episode George. I was 15 and just figuring out I could be queer and watched an entire episode from the 70s set in the 50s. Really rewired my brain back then.

12. What's a moment that you could analyse forever?

Just about anything in Dreams. Shout out also to the coffee scene in sons and bowlers because everyone needs to have one small line in that episode that makes them foam at the mouth, right?

13. What's a moment that you want to watch over and over?

Movie Tonight. Any moment from that episode. Also just the entire episode. It's one of my feel good episodes and it's just sooooo <3

I tag: all my lovely mashtuals and anyone else who wants to do this (bonus points if you haven't seen mash and just commit to the bit making things up)

[roostertuftart]

ooh would love to hear your thoughts on 26 & 27!!

I already did 27 right here!! :3

26. Most shippable character?

Kyle!!! I mean come onnn he's so easy to put with almost anyone. He's gotta be the most popular character in this fandom to ship with a ton of different characters, though I won't lie? I struggle to place why? Despite being apart of the bunch who ships him with like... 90% of the rest of the cast, I don't know what about it makes him so versatile as a character, but I guess it goes with how he's just a very good as a protagonist and also tends to be given that treatment in AUs/fanfictions/etc. And that's so interesting with how he tends to serve more in the show as a foil to others than a main. It's really neat actually, how differently the fandom uses his character than canon does!! I'm almost certain I've seen someone talk about this exact subject though I can't for the life of me remember where that was from, but I think it goes hand in hand with why he's so adaptable to so many ships.

The only characters (speaking within terms of characters I like and are in his age range) I think that I don't ship him with are probably Butters, Cartman, and Bebe I think??? And Heidi too. Besides that, if I like one of the kids in South Park, I probably think it'd be pretty cute if they were kissing Kyle.

Based on this ask list :)

[beevean]

Top 5 of your most shameful ships from your fav pieces of media

oof. The one question that I am still ashamed to answer on main... :P

Well, whatever, I'm a freak. Under the cut to pretend I still have some dignity:

5) Baroryuu (Great Ace Attorney): it got far more popular recently which I'm very grateful for, but I did not forget the sheer vitriol against it and against Barok when the game came out. Sorry if I think their character development is sublime and I got teareyed when Barok started being so nice to Ryuu, saying stuff like "You are a lawyer of boundless talent" and "I believe that you saved my life" :') also I never believed that the 9 year age gap was a big deal? 24 and 33 are both consenting adults, especially in the context of the year 1900 in which the game takes place in. Please don't infantilize Ryuu, I love him just as much as Barok.

4) Jaspis (Steven Universe): says something about me that I despise Lapidot but like this one a lot. Also I can exploit a quirk in the Stevenverse and look for fics tagged Malachite if I want more of their sweet sweet toxic relationship, to avoid all the fluffy stuff I have no interested in :D but yeah, their dynamic was tragically cut short by the story. I loved the reveal that all that time, it was Lapis abusing Jasper, the cute waifish Gem taking all of her anger and resentment against the last person who dared to treat her like an object... and it just so happens that Jasper has such a warped sense of self worth that she liked being abused, and begged Lapis to come back, because she was so enamored with her power (and Malachite's - "we can fly!" aww). This was a kids show!

3) Sagamaji (Yakuza 0): yes, I really looked at that sleazy 50 something old man lording his power over the poor 24 yo who would do anything to protect his kyoudai, and immediately jumped to the most obvious conclusion. I am trash. I also might have felt something other than fear at the scene where Sagawa chokes Majima in the public toilet. But considering that I found dozens upon dozens of fics with the same premise of "Sagawa forces Majima to Do Stuff because he can", I'm glad I'm not alone, at least. I also like Kazumaji quite a lot, one of my favorite Gay Rival ships even, but that one's super duper popular 😂

2) Isaavor (Castlevania): damn you Stabbing scene, you really rearranged my whole braincells. Not that I also don't like Isaactor in its beautiful tragedy, but in this case, I am stuck between the Western fandom who deadass ignores it, except for one (1) fic I stumbled upon in a kink meme page, and the Japanese fandom who adores it but simply because they find both Trevor and Isaac hot. And I get it, I truly do. But... my parallels... my bonding... my sass... there is Something here, I feel it... like yes it's a crack ship and I love joking about Isaac having Thoughts 👀 about that whip (and those tiddies on trevor's chest), but I don't know, I think they have more chemistry than it looks.

Sonegg (Sonic): DeviantART did a number on me when I was 13. Age gap? Who cares! They want to kill each other really badly? Yeah, isn't that very sexy of them <3 there's only so much attitude Sonic can give Eggman before it looks like he wants to get dem eggs for himself. Plus, all the planning that went into analyzing Sonic to create Metal, hmm, Eggy? 👀 much like Isaavor, I'm stuck in this weird place where I recognize it's a crack ship and I mostly joke about it, but also, they're both foils of each other, they're interwoven as archnemesis, they're more similar than they let on... they have chemistry. Not a cute loving chemistry, but who needs it? :P

[bye-bye-firefly]

Hi!! Do you have any DR post-game headcanons?? Or backstory headcanons? Or food preferences headcanons? Headcanons in general???

omg okay. so like. my whole thing is that i really really hope that it was a simulation that they werent just ai or that this was all real like i really desperately want to believe that when shuichi maki and himiko got out they woke up and found out they were just. in a simulation. and they merge the two realities they were living into one and we get everyone like. Together. and theyre ALLOWED to be happy although traumatised. and this goes for all the games like i dont want to believe that the canon that is presented is meant to be taken super literally. v3 makes me want to believe that they were ALL simulations it was all just for tv and why would they kill actual kids for tv and not have real ass people be like "thats so fucked up Why Are You Doing This" because thats the one part of it all that my suspension of disbelief will not allow me to go and that seems like something everyone else can agree on. theres no way parents would just let their kids go on a show where they could get MURDERED BRUTALLY. and then have that death TELEVISED. and thats like my main one and its really a popular fandom one but i just. I need this. To feel okay

other headcanons...my favourite one is that when shuichi is deep in thought, he makes a concentrated face and puts his fist under his chin. i love having kokichi and kaito be brothers. i like thinking theyre found family and that sure they hated each other for a while but they found comfort in each other and that should continue on in every universe. they should be allowed to be brothers. i also like to think that shuichi and kokichi are two people that just completely run on no sleep like so often that its worrying. this is consistent no matter what reality they are living in. kaito has a hero complex and i think that one is just canon but i havent engaged in the material recently enough to say...i have only been referring back to my notes on characterisation from the last time i did a character analysis...i should really fix that i need a refresher i cannot just Live Like This who am i if i dont have a proper handle on who these fucking people are

i have thoughts on sakura. she doesnt have that gravelly voice that they give her in the game she like fully has a deep voice but its still feminine and gorgeous and sure it has some growl but it just feels like. they tried to make her sound like a Man. you know? and im not a big fan idk thats just my thoughts on that. chihiro is a girl in stem and she was actually trans and thats my headcanon that i think was controversial like 3 years ago. it might still be controversial idk idc

i know this is not something you asked about but i keep thinking about it because of kokichi and kaito but its just. aughghguthhghj;orwisjkh NO ONE UNDERSTANDS HOW TORTURED I AM ABOUT THEM so much of that fucking game is dramatic foils SO MUCH and always ALWAYS people love the dramatic foils BECAUSE OF COURSE THEY DO like OF COURSE people would love oumota now im not particularly a fan of shipping them but idc if other people do but for my purposes im talking about them as like found family as like brothers because thats how I see them just . i keep thinking about the die young animatic even though that is BLATANT shipping it just reminds me how bad it hurts kokichi hated the killing game as much as everyone else (besides tsumugi of course) and no one believed it and kaito had to work with him in his final moments and kokichi was under so much stress and was panicking so bad over everything because who could just be COMPLETELY TOTALLY NORMAL about DYING that he just let it slip that yeah he HATED this shit he wants to END this his plan the whole time was to END THIS and the only person he trusted was shuichi and he was going to die and he was so young and he had to die either way he had to die and kaito had to help him die and im sure kaito never saw himself in that position he never thought he would be the one killing but he WAS because he HAD TO because he HAD TO SAVE MAKI he HAD TO KEEP HIS FRIEND SAFE but kokichi was also sort of in a way his friend that night and kaito was the only friend kokichi had that night and even after all of this people STILL were like outside of it looking in like I will never know Kokichi. AND ISN'T THAT JUST TRAGIC? no one even fucking knew him because he couldn't be honest out of pure fear and terror and a need to protect himself and that was ALL he was thinking about was am i safe and am i by doing this attempting to stop the killing game. he always knew it was going to go that way. and that is so tragic. and kaito had to be the one to carry it out and it didnt even fucking work it didnt even end the killing game. but at least kaito went to space. at least kaito went to space, somehow. and monokuma didnt even get to kill him. i just wonder if kaito in some way did find a way to like kokichi. i wonder if knowing that kokichi was always and forever hating the killing game no matter what he said gave him comfort and helped him forgive him. surely they had time to have a moment like. i dont know if i can forgive you but i would like to try. surely. i like to believe it. kokichi was understood for like the briefest of moments and kaito saw him as he was and then he was dead. i hope that brought him comfort. and this is mostly why i want to believe that its a simulation broadcast as drama television. like surely kokichi wasnt understood for a few hours and then killed for a plan that failed. kokichi gets to live a life outside the killing game and got to see kaito and later shuichi and everyone else and everyone got to see the show while they were waiting for everyone else to come out of the game and maybe they understood each other a little more and maybe they felt bad for each other after thinking about it for a few weeks like. maybe we didnt deserve to be put through that. maybe being put in that kind of situation brings the worst out of people and we just saw the worst of each other because we had to find some ways to survive. i HOPE. SOOOO fucking badly. for MY SAKE....

[patroklides-archive]

so, now that i have played scarlet blaze, some thoughts! under the cut because spoilers.

THE GOOD

the premise of the route (and the game itself) is very interesting and i thought the game did an excellent job of showing how the characters have been impacted by the ripple effects of byleth being absent.

i really enjoyed getting to see a softer, warmer side of edelgard than what is shown in CF. i have a lot of thoughts on why, but in short: it has little to do with the difference between byleth and shez and everything to do with monica's fate. (i'm going to make an entire headcanon post about this at some point.)

i really enjoyed hubert and lysithea's supports, and after a bit of consideration i have decided to incorporate hubert having living siblings into his primary canon as well. marie and i are working on developing his sister and hashing out the specifics but i will make a big post once we have things nailed down.

ALSO HUBERT+HAPI SUPPORTS? COFFEE BUDDIES? I DIDN'T KNOW I NEEDED THEM TO HAVE SUPPORTS BUT THEIR SUPPORTS WERE PERFECT.

the game did a fantastic job of showing edelgard as someone who wants to minimize casualties and even had her explicitly say that she didn't want to kill rhea — which was also there in the first game, but ig it was too subtle for a lot of people becaue "edelgard wants to murder all the nabateans" is such a popular "edelgard critical" talking point lmao

i love everything about monica von ochs.

shez is a delight and they make for a FANTASTIC foil for byleth.

byleth having spoken dialogue is SO good bc i feel like while byleth's character is essentially the same as the base game, having them be voiced and not player-controlled means you get to see it from the outside, so it makes byleth feel like a character in a way that they didn't in the main game.

scarlet blaze's treatment of petra was a HUGE improvement over cf's. she gets much more agency, it's clear that she's there of her own volition and that edelgard sees her as an equal, and in particular, she's allowed to be angry and bitter (particularly in her supports with caspar).

the lords getting to actually talk to each other in the chasm???? edelgard and dimitri getting to actually speak???? edelgard and claude getting to actually WORK TOGETHER for their common goals??? GOD. it's not quite the "golden route" people wanted/hoped for but it's still very good.

the game's take on ferdie's relationship to his father is VERY good and i really enjoyed his supports with edelgard and hubert in this game.

edelgard not having any particular romantic interest in shez but then immediately going "sooooo 😳 what do you think about the ashen demon" to hubert as soon as byleth is recruited and talking about how she feels "drawn" to them is SO funny to me. A+. perfect. no notes.

THE LESS GOOD

the game very much feels like it's trying to "fix" three houses and/or respond to complains from the fans, to mostly good results, but there are a few instances of it trying to fix what's not broken. (the ferd.ithea supports, for example, and cute on their face, but feel a bit like a reaction to the people who thought that dorothea was unfair or too mean to ferdinand in the main game, which imo kind of... undermines their dynamic a bit.)

they just made the empire dads act just like their kids which feels like the laziest possible way of characterizing them. esp count varley. while they do have bernie acknowledge his abuse and she seems to have moved past being afraid of him into just not liking him/not caring about him, and i do like that in a sense, it feels like it's a bit at odds with what bernie says to byleth in their A support.

the ending felt a bit... underwhelming. i get that they wanted/needed to have rhea die but didn't want el to be the one to kill her, and there is something kind of poetic about thales and rhea killing each other, but i did just sort of stare at the screen like "...that's it?" when that happened and then after the game immediately ended.

i feel like i will have a lot more thoughts esp of the "mixed feelings" variety when i get to azure gleam given what i know of el's fate

[thegreyscalerainbow]

Slash Ships Get to Know Me

Thank you for tagging me @animeangelriku​

Rules: Name at least five (but no upper limit) slash (M/M) ships you love. Each from a different fandom.

1. Puzzleshipping (YuGiOh!)- To anyone outside the fandom, it may not make sense, and when I was originally in the Yugioh fandom circa 2006 it didn't make sense to me either. It confused the hell out of me because I was a baby ace ignorant of anything other than what media spoonfed me. But I did value their relationship deeply and knew they did love each other to come capacity. It wasn't until I finally got to watch the subtitled version as an adult that it clicked. It's so very special to me because even though I had preferred the platonic version of it as a kid, it's still incredibly nostalgic for me and it came back into my life at a time when I needed it 

1. Ozbert (Pandora Hearts) - Controversial, I know, (It used to be the most popular ship in the fandom) and I have not engaged with this ship in some years since it got in the line of sight for a lot of antis. I actually left a Pandora Hearts discord server over the harassment I saw. But again, I am asexual and aromatic, and this relationship was the first slash ship I got heavily into when I was a teenager. It's got tons of nuance and angst, and as someone who has read a lot of period fiction and is very aware of what was socially acceptable at the time, I view this completely differently from a modern-day setting. My enjoyment of this ship has morphed and is actually not romantic now, but it's on this list for leaving an impact on me. For those who balk at the idea that Oz is 15 and Gilbert is 24 for the main story arc, keep in mind that due to plot reasons, this is a very specific scenario, with supernatural elements and actual time travel involved. In the beginning, Gil is 14 and Oz is 15. So this is someone who had a childhood crush, clung to that love for ten years, but now his crush is back and hasn't aged a day. For me, it's exploring the complexity of that, and it's tragic. Gilbert is such a wonderful character, and any way you look at his feelings, you just know that even if it's not romantic, he and Oz are family.

3. VaNoe (The Case Study of Vanitas) - Same author as Pandora Hearts, and I just know she is going to hurt me again. And I will thank her. We have a reversal of the usual dynamic seen with vampire series. This time, it's the sweet naiive cinnamon roll Vampire, and edgy dark Human with a mysterious past and a broken moral compass. They are foils for each other and have so much chemistry it just works so well! At first, Noe does not like Vanitas at all and wants nothing to do with him, this draws Vanitas to him because he enjoys bothering people who catch his fancy and hate him. Then while his affections are on another, Noe learns more about him and he becomes very attached to Vanitas. Realizing now he has actually made emotional connections, it's clear that Vanitas is now afraid and is pushing them away. There's a push and pull here, and I'm both apprehensive and excited to see where their journey takes them. Even though we know it's going to end badly, based on the first chapter. I'm here for how much Noe has learned about his strange partner, to the point of figuring out a way to speak Vanitas' love language. Also, they both have no flipping clue what Love is, and the entire scene that unfolds during is gold. Vanitas is the kind of character who has never been treated gently by anyone, so I enjoy seeing depictions of him getting that from Noe, because it catches him completely off guard.

4. SidLink (Legend of Zelda) - This one is casual, because I actually have not played Breath of the Wild (I fully intend to though!!) but fandom content of this ship sucked me in. I found one fanfiction that was so incredibly sweet, and fell down a rabbit hole with that writer’s works and have fond memories of reading it. I will definitely have the ship goggles on once I play, I adore Sidon as a character, and I don’t know, giant peppy shark man and tiny human...what is there not to love? 

5. SoRiku (Kingdom Hearts) - Another more recent ship, as I was not in the Kingdom Hearts fandom in its heyday. I did not have access to the games, but saw plenty of fandom content of it and honestly, it was always a place of nostalgia even before I watched the Let’s Plays that were online. I’m so glad I did, and many others who adore this ship have laid out all the reasons why better than I could. I just haven’t explored it for myself outside of canon as much as I would like to, but I love it for the same reasons I love the other ships on this list. I guess that says a lot about me because all of these ships but ONE are riddled with Angst. What can I say...I like my Hurt/Comfort fics. I also enjoy seeing them in AUs where they get to live in better timelines. It’s a sort of Catharsis. Now, since the games are still going, where their relationship ends up in canon remains to be seen. I hope it ends well! 

And because I like to go ne step further:

6. Natsume x Tanuma (Natsume Yuujin Chou) - It’s so stinking sweet and I’m so soft for it! This series is actually my favorite, and I have revisited so many times for the atmosphere and combination of supernatural horror and slice of life. Natsume lives between worlds, he did not make connections with people because he faced ridicule and was unwanted (he scared people) and he hated Yokai because they interfered with his daily life to the point he did not fit in with humans. He could not share what he saw and suffered. As the series goes on he is able to make connections with both human and Yokai and one of the first people he opened up to about seeing them was Tanuma. Tanuma has some level of spiritual power that allows him to see phantom shadows, so his awareness of Yokai is such that he immediately accepts Natsume and wants to help him. He’s pushing through that wall Natsume has spent most of his life building. Even though he can’t see them and may put himself in danger, he wants to be there for his friend. They share secret knowing glances and smiles, and gradually Natsume is more and more accepting of his help, and opening up to him. Such as being able to admit he can’t see the fireworks at the festival because a giant yokai is in the way, and Tanuma smiles and offers to find a new viewing spot. This series is in a Shojo magazine and the manga-ka chose to make her protagonist male so that she wouldn’t be forced to write a romance. As a result, the girls he interacts with are friendly, but definitely don’t have a lot of romantic potential. Natsume is still way closer to Tanuma than anyone else, even with Taki hanging around. I feel like he and Taki have a friendship, but it ends there as she had never suffered the hardship the boys have. She’s just more likely to team up with Tanuma as a Protection Squad to intervene in the dangers Natsume faces.

[fanarchoslashivist]

Honestly, I never wanted Chloe to have a redemption arc like Catra or Zuko, because Chloe was never a Catra or a Zuko. Chloe was Flash Thompson. She was the mean school bully to the superhero, and I LOVE those characters. I love, specifically, the privileged bully with troubled home life that idolizes the hero and picks on the hero's secret identity, but through their love of the hero comes to grow as a person and sets out to use their power and privilege to protect.

And she's not the first one to break that mold, Dash Baxter never grew out of bullying Danny in Danny Phantom, he only treated Danny with respect and helped him when his identity is revealed, but he DOES have interactions where his humanity shows through, and he happily helps in several episodes, even though his character development shows no growth he's still a rounded, flawed character.

Then we have Mandy from Totally Spies, who is annoying and vapid and catty, completely shallow, and is just a lot of fun. She NEVER changes, her few times where she joins the girls, or treats them better, or learns to like them are immediately turned around by the end of the episode, but you never expected her to actually change. She just wasn't mean to the main characters for that time, she was still Mandy.

I love these characters! I love Bonnie from Kim Possible and Kate from Lizzy McGuire and Bufford from Phineas & Ferb. I think Chloe would have made a great addition, she would have been a perfect snob who caused problems. I really looked forward to that dynamic, and I do understand there was a lot of behind the scenes issues that played tug of war with her arc, but the way she's still being portrayed after several seasons, where they really just want to hammer home that she's some evil creature and not a spoiled 14 year old, is kind of :/

I mean, yeah when she was on her road to redemption I definitely wanted Chloe to be the next Steve Palchuk but even then I kind of accepted that ZAG just doesn't have the patience, care, and skill to make Chloe a Steve Palchuk.

Miraculous Ladybug could never.

[lurking96]

I have to say that I wouldn't hate Bakugou so much if his stan wouldn't be so fucking annoying. Like I hate how many of them say but you just watch the anime you don't read the manga or Bakugou was just a child and he's a bully not an abuser.

I'm like "guys I read the manga" I have to say that Bakugou being a kid and hitting kidMidoriya looked more soft in the anime that in the manga. Indeed many Bakugou's scenes look more soft in the anime that in the manga. Besides, even if Bakugou character wasn't a dick for like 300 chapter I still can dislike/hate him. He doesn't get hurt because I don't think that he's a god or because I make post with the anti bakugou tag. So, why his stan gets so mad about a random person on internet saying that Bakugou is a bad character. I like Izuku Midoriya and he gets more hate than Bakugou and I don't go on my way to attack people.

Also they love saying but he's the most popular character like good for you and for him but know telling me if you take Bakugou out of the manga what changes? The answer is nothing mostly all the plot would be the same because Bakugou is popular but not really relevant.

The thing is. People watch the anime and read the manga. Another thing is that the main leaker needs to write a message if or if not Bakugou appears in the chapter. So some of those may not read chapters that do not involve him. Which makes the understanding of the story worse. Others have also noticed that the Anime changes things up or makes them appear more soft than they were in the manga. Or changing up the shedule of an arc. I prefer to hold the manga as source of info over the Anime. You are okay to dislike a character. You are okay to only tolerate a character. No one likes every character. You can not make a character that is well liked by everyone. Nor can you make a story that everyone will actually enjoy. So you always will have people that may not like the character for one reason or another. It is fine to critique a character. And it is fine to like a character that has flaws. That is an imperfect character. It does not necessairly make you a bad person. But it seems that those Stans have a certain idea of “Purity” and “perfection” that liking a character that is not perfect in their mind will make them a bad person. Or that they are simply blinded with their fave and can’t comprehend that someone might dislike their “perfect UWU little baby gremlin”. Speaking of popularity. A bit ago the character Yo Shindo who last appeared before that in the license exam arc got in the top 10 of the popularity vote. The characters hobby as far as known is trolling. So what we have here is a bunch of trolls working together to lobby a character that has not appeared in quite a bit into the top 10. A bit later Yo Shindo actually got an appearance in the manga. So it seems the writers listen to the poll. A poll that as we can see with that can be rigged. So I would not hold that poll representative. Someone else can be rescued from the sludge villain by Midoriya. Todoroki could have been kidnapped as he showed disdain for Endeavor and there is the Dabi connection.  IIda could have jumped into Shigarakis attack. You can trade Bakugou out with other characters and it would not be that hard. Bakugou offers a rivalry he tries to push on the MC but other characters can take that role too. He does not even have a villain foil.

[ginger-snap-talkin-nonsense]

What’s your take on Big Nate? Exspcially, since its been turned into an actual show now, have you found it better or worse on the scale from Middle School to DOAWK?

I adore Big Nate it’s got more bite than DOAWK (not to say that series doesn’t have bite but less pronounced) and feels Calvin and Hobbes in terms of writing style and joke structure. All of the main characters are funny and has a very “what if Charlie Brown deserved it?” Vibe I just dig. I would say as a comic series it’s probably the one that held up the best consistently.

And hooooooly shit was that paramount+ show bad. Like me and my boyfriend spent an entire day watching every episode because we were stunned at how wrong everything was. Why is Francis a soft boy he’d shank you for a number 2 pencil and leave you bleeding until he finished his test so he could be the first done. Where the fuck is Gina the entire time she’s a delightful antagonist in the series and great foil to Nate, the decision to make DeeDee a main character is honestly a bad call and there’s so little of her in the comics they kinda just make up whatever they want about her and none of it is particularly funny. She’s a fucking gay theater kid do you know how poorly you have to be written not be enjoyable to me personally? Teddy gets maybe 2 lines the entire series, Godfrey is a raging bitch which is super missing the point that Nate hates her because she does her does job and cares about it, and absolutely does not deserve his bullshit. She cares about Nate. She’s the comics Edna Kerbappel and they just make her a Trunchbol. Nate’s dad has no dignity now he’s just weepy and pathetic which has removed his entire bite, his older sister feels stuck in an awkward place between actual older sister and mom figure (Nate’s dad is incredibly good at being a single father so we’re gonna take that away from em), Gordy is missing, Jenny is all over the place, not nearly enough fun is had with Artur, Chad is written like Mort in that weird Netflix show which isn’t Chad (many of the same writers worked for both), we decided of all things to keep the joke about the ‘haha unattractive tough girl who has a crush on Nate and he thinks she’s gross’ so that’s lovely, and Nate has been stripped of all character and bite to be a the character Nick actually clearly actually wanted to write about-Johnny Test. You can’t convince me this show isn’t Paramount+ attempting to cash in on JT during its brief reprise in popularity with the reboot on Netflix.

[blazehedgehog]

Do you think the Sonic franchise would be universally accepted if it were to go into the direction set out by the SatAM cartoon (e.g. roboticization, Robotnik with demonic pitch-black eyes and a robotic arm, Sonic being part of the Freedom Fighter ragtag group) instead of the direction it took from the country of origin (e.g. Eggman being round and wears glasses, having colorful and surreal places)?

Well, let me ask you what you mean by that, because by 1993 Sonic the Hedgehog was a pretty big household name. Kids knew who he was, their parents knew who he was, and just in North America, he had two TV shows and a comic book. He was everywhere. That counts as "universally accepted" right?

And I suppose this is what you mean, right? Sonic was massively popular in the 1990's, when Sega of America changed so much about his identity to suit the region's tastes. And now, Sonic isn't as popular, so are the two data points related?

To me, this just feels like a broader version of "Robotnik was a better name than Eggman, because things were better when they called him Robotnik." And that has always been extremely circumstantial.

To my viewpoint, SatAM was extremely of its time. Cartoons were shifting in a certain direction -- typically the "Saturday Morning Cartoon" was something colorful and funny. There wasn't a lot of serious storytelling going on. It was stuff like Looney Tunes, but also things like G.I. Joe or Transformers, where they were more about action than meaningful plot.

That probably started to change around the time Fox debuted the X-Men cartoon in the 90's. This cartoon took stories from the comic books and (poorly) adapted them in to a Saturday Morning format. It was inscrutable and kids like me found it hard to follow, but my brother, who is 14 years older than me and was probably in his mid-to-late 20's, found it pretty fascinating. It broadened the format a little bit and soon the floodgates broken open.

Spider-man, Batman, Gargoyles, soon Saturday mornings were awash with darker, edgier, more serious cartoons for older kids. Even the Ninja Turtles, who were broken from the Transformers mold of colorful, action-based shows, was reworked to look darker and more serious. And right at the end of that first wave of shows was SatAM. Right place, right time, right vibe.

That... ended. Batman was eventually replaced with Batman & Robin, that was eventually supplanted with Superman Adventures, then the two shows were combined in to Batman & Superman Adventures, and every time it got retooled, the tone got lighter, and lighter, pushing back towards the old action shows of the 80's. Gargoyles went in the opposite direction, retooling itself in to "The Goliath Chronicles," becoming so self-serious it borderlined on a Saturday Morning soap opera. It lasted barely a whole season and most modern continuations of the Gargoyles mythos ignore it entirely. The "Red Sky" Ninja Turtles has more or less been treated the same, with extremely sparse home releases until it eventually landed on streaming a few years ago.

The Sonic comics kept the SatAM cast alive and relevant, yes. But obviously Batman comics stuck around, too. And Spider-man, X-men, and Ninja Turtles. That was the format a lot of these shows were trying to copy to begin with, so it makes sense that SatAM would transition to comics fairly painlessly.

To circle back around to how successful the games are or aren't, it's hard for me to cite this now because I always looked at the TSSZ article for it and now that's gone, but somewhere around 2010 or 2011, the Sonic franchise was actually listed as one of the most profitable entertainment franchises in the world that year, rubbing elbows with the likes of Pokemon and such. This was years after SatAM had fallen out of favor and the comics were starting to hit the skids because their availability was going down (this was a problem in the comics industry as a whole, not just for Sonic).

Meaning that, largely, the success of Sonic at that point was due to the games and 8 year old reruns of Sonic X. And it still landed in this top ten. I'd love to find this article, really I would, but it's impossible to google now thanks to so many other articles praising the Sonic movie for being the highest grossing video game movie of all time, mixed in with articles about how the Sonic fast food chain is dying and what happened to it.

At the very least, Sonic rates to make it on the Wikipedia list of "Highest Grossing Media Franchises." It rates high enough that it beats out Fortnite, Halo, Minecraft, My Little Pony, and Roblox.

Also, to back up a bit, consider: the Sonic movie did really well. And it wasn't Ken Penders' pitch for a SatAM movie, it was something wholly different.

And then consider the outrageous success of Sonic Mania. The most critically acclaimed Sonic game since 1994. Though sales figures aren't super clear, I'd estimate it's also probably the best selling Sonic game in the last decade and a half. There is nary a hint of the Freedom Fighters or "that Robotnik" in that game anywhere.

I love the Freedom Fighters. I love SatAM Robotnik. I'd love for them to come back in an official capacity. I'd love for the Archie comics to officially pick up right where they left off and keep going as if they never missed a beat. It burns me that Archie or Ken Penders or both forever tainted a lot of that stuff so badly that it's become an exclusion zone nobody wants to touch anymore. I've talked at length on this blog about how I think a character like Princess Sally was a perfect foil for Sonic and how they played off of each other extremely well. I want that back. I want Bunnie Rabbot back. I want Antoine back. I want Robotropolis back. And Snively. And Ixis Naugus.

But also, at some point, you have to look at the cold, hard truth: Sonic doesn't need those characters, it doesn't need that universe, and the SatAM version Sonic would not exist at all if it wasn't for the original Japanese Sonic first. SatAM was supplemental material to the main version of the thing people already liked. That's the entire reason something like Sonic Mania could achieve the success it did.

And that's all there really is to it.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Do you any suggestion for Super Sentai?plz

*cracks knuckles*

Well first off, if anyone wanting to get into Super Sentai watched Power Rangers growing up, I’d check out the series whatever season you watched was adapted from to see how things went there in comparison to how they were in the United States. So if you grew up with the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, watch Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. If you don’t know what the Sentai the season you grew up with is called, I’d check out RangerWiki, which provides a lot of information on both franchises.

I’d also recommend checking out a few episodes of the very first Super Sentai entry, Himitsu Sentai Gorenger. Not all 84 episodes, mind you, but I’d just watch a few to see where Super Sentai got its roots from, because the team football attack gets referenced a lot further down the line. Yes, you read that correctly.

But for individual seasons for beginners, it’s harder for me to answer. Super Sentai has varied aesthetically and tonally across its 45 year run. Some shows are dark and gritty, while others are light-hearted and goofy. Some shows have a vehicle motif, while others use animals for a motif. So the seasons I’m going to talk about will cover all kinds of tones and themes across the years. I also haven’t seen every single entry, so these are the ones I’ve seen that I recommend for beginners.

Denshi Sentai Denziman (1980-1981, 51 Episodes)

Centuries ago, the evil Vader Clan conquered and decimated the Denzi Civilization. In the modern day, the talking dog IC awoke from his slumber when the Vader Clan began their invasion of Earth. So IC recruits five people to become the Denzimen to defend their planet and stop the Vader Clan once and for all.

The first three seasons of Super Sentai were very experimental, but Denziman was where Toei started to get an identity for Sentai down. Not only would the black visors and sculpted mouthpieces become a staple for Sentai’s (and by extension, Power Rangers) suit designs, but this was also the first season to really start a few Sentai traditions. It was the first season to have female villains, the first to use a transformation device for the heroes, the first time the monsters grew to fight the team’s giant robot.

The Denzimen, while not really going through any character development, are still very likable characters, especially Denzi Blue/Daigoro (played by legendary tokusatsu actor Kenji Ohba). The villains are also a lot of fun, a real improvement from the first three villain groups, who were all basically Earth-based terrorist organizations and/or death cults. The Vader Clan is full of villains who are just as entertaining to watch as the heroes, especially Queen Hedrian, played by the late Machiko Soga, who would later go on to play Witch Bandora, the character Rita Repulsa is adapted from in Power Rangers. There’s not that much of an ongoing for most of the series, and it can get pretty goofy at times, but it’s still a really good show.

Choushinsei Flashman (1986-1987, 50 Episodes). 

Five infants are abducted by the Reconstructive Experiment Empire Mess to use as test subjects for experimentation, but are saved by benevolent aliens from the Flash Solar System. They all spend the next twenty years in the system developing their combat skills and special powers until they decide to head back to Earth to fight Mess themselves as the Flashmen, despite the warnings of their alien caretakers.

The 1980s are usually referred to by fans as Super Sentai’s golden age, with a string of great seasons thanks to famed writer Hirohisa Soda. Flashman is no exception. While Denziman tended to have more stand-alone episodes, Flashman is more story-driven. Later on, there’s a really dark plot twist that I don’t want to give away. Admittedly, some of the special effects can be dated to showcase the Flashmen’s powers in addition to stock footage being reused a lot, but the action and camerawork are still fast-paced and rarely do the fight scenes get boring.

The villains are the kind you love to hate, and their actors all give great performances, especially the late Unsho Ishizuka (the Japanese voice of Professor Oak) as Great Emperor La Deus. This is easily one of the darker Super Sentai entries, but if you don’t mind that, I highly recommend it.

Choujuu Sentai Liveman (1988-1989 49 Episodes). 

At an academy for the finest minds in the world, three of the students feel their talents are being wasted on designing a satellite to conduct scientific research. They soon join up with Great Professor Bias, leader of the Armed Brain Army Volt, who takes them all under his wing as his students and generals. Before they leave, they kill two students, leaving their three friends traumatized. Two years later, Volt begins its plan to conquer Earth, but the three friends of the two victims developed their own technology to fight them as the Livemen in the two years since they last saw their former classmates. Bias’ students have developed their own abilities through mutating their bodies, starting a conflict between some of the most intelligent youths in the world while figuring out what Bias’ evil plan is...

Some Sentai fans consider this to be even darker than Flashman at times due to the themes discussed. Unlike earlier seasons, the heroes have a more personal connection to the villains, and act as foils to them in terms of morality. The show also has some surprisingly deep themes at times, deconstructing the harsh standards the Japanese have for education and the effects they can have on people. Seriously, the main villain, Great Professor Bias, sets up a competition for his generals as a way to advance his plans, treating it like a high academic honor. 

This series also has some amazing special effects for the time. This was the first Sentai series to have an animal motif, so they go all out by using one of the most complicated models for his giant robotic lion, a stunning innovation for special effects. It was also the first series to introduce the gimmick of combining two robots, which is a genius marketing tactic when you think about it, motivating kids to buy both robots to combine them. Even putting those technical aspects aside, this is still one of the most iconic Super Sentai seasons, and a must-watch for beginners.

Choujin Sentai Jetman (1991-1992, 51 Episodes)

An elite soldier is chosen for a top-secret military project meant to turn him into the leader of a team of supersoldiers called the Jetmen. After he gets his powers, the satellite base is attacked by the Dimensional War Party Vyram. Not only are the four remaining “Birdonic Waves” meant to empower the rest of the Jetmen scattered across Earth, powering four civilians instead, but the soldier’s fiance is killed in the process. So he has to recruit the rest of the Jetmen and form a competent team to stop the Vyram from conquering their dimension.

A lot of Precure fans view Heartcatch as the best series in the entire franchise, and many Sentai fans view Jetman the same way. It was a huge success in ratings and toy sales, which actually helped to save Super Sentai from cancellation after the disastrous sales and ratings of the previous series, Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman. It also had some elements that made it stand out from earlier Sentai seasons. While I’ve talked about how Marinette was forced to become Guardian against her will while the show doesn’t acknowledge it, this show actually does point out that almost the entire team is a group of civilians with no combat experience. Earlier episodes are not only spent assembling the team, but also training them to better fight the Vyram and pilot their giant robot.

The series introduced a love triangle for three of the Jetmen, and while controversial among fans, was very popular with Japanese mothers, who were rumored to find Gai/Black Condor very attractive and begged Toei to not kill him off. The love triangle, while arguably one of the weakest parts of this show (but still better written than the Love Square), was part of the main theme of the team being more conflicted, showing they weren’t all best friends all the time.

This extended to the Vyram, who also tended to fight with each other over their plans to conquer the Earth. Sure, there was the occasional villain in earlier seasons who tried to overthrow the big bad, but this was the first time we had a whole group of villains trying to one-up each other. The best way to describe the Vyram is if the cast of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia were supervillains who were still competent at their jobs.

The series is also incredibly dark, and is often seen as the darkest Sentai has ever gotten. There’s a lot more violence and blood than usual, and a lot more onscreen deaths that aren’t just limited to the villains. Humans are actively killed or hurt in the crossfire, and it shows just how painful this war is. And because of all of that and many other reasons, this is seen as the peak of Super Sentai. If you have to watch a single Sentai series, watch Jetman.

Ninja Sentai Kakuranger (1994-1995, 53 Episodes)

During Japan’s Sengoku Era, a team of five ninja sealed away the leader of an army of Youkai, rendering their kind powerless. In the present day, one of the few surviving Youkai tricks two bikers, who are actually descendants of two of the ninja in the past, into undoing the seal and giving all of the Youkai their powers back. Another descendant of the ninja recruits them into taking on the legacy of their ancestors to fight the Youkai, becoming the Kakurangers.

The 1990s were when Super Sentai was starting to delve more into fantasy elements rather than just science-fiction, and also started to take on a more light-hearted tone. Kakuranger is no exception. It’s a lot more goofy than the other entries, even using comic book-style graphics during its fight scenes. There’s also a narrator who appears to explain the history of the Youkai of the week, a detail I really like. While this show is still unashamedly goofy, it still gets more serious in the second half, but never loses its comedic moments entirely.

Like with Jetman, Kakuranger shows the reality of drafting two civilians to fight a war against the supernatural, with only one of the first three Kakurangers knowing how to fight. That Kakuranger in question, Tsuruhime/Ninja White, is easily one of the best Sentai heroines of all time. Not only was the first female and non-Red to lead a Sentai team, but she was only fifteen years old while the other Kakurangers were in their twenties. Marinette could learn a lot from her, and no, that’s not an insult. Tsuruhime is a complete badass, and a team-up with Ladybug would be the coolest thing ever.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, watch Kakuranger.

Kyukyu Sentai GoGoV (1999-2000, 50 Episodes)

The demonic children of the Grand Witch Grandiene begin causing natural disasters to bring destruction to Earth in order to revive their mother. In response, five rescue workers who also happen to be siblings are recruited by their estranged father to become a team dedicated to saving lives from the Psyma Family’s actions.

Did anyone ever watch Rescue Heroes as a kid? Imagine that show, but with the intensity turned up to eleven. This show is epic, with amazing action and some of the coolest giant robots in Sentai history. One of their robots is a giant train armed to the teeth with guns. Even putting aside the action, this show does a great job at highlighting all the dedication rescue workers have to their jobs by showing a lot of rescue scenes in addition to having GoGoV fight the Psyma. It even teaches the audience about firefighters from Japan’s Edo Period. There’s really not a lot of shows that explain what rescue workers were like in the past, which shows just how invested this show is in teaching people about rescue workers.

While this wasn’t the first Sentai series to feature a team of siblings (the first being the aforementioned Fiveman), I think it managed to capture the dynamic best. Family is a key theme of the series, with the healthy relationship between GoGoV contrasting with the more toxic environment the Psyma Family has.

This is easily one of the most action-packed Sentai series ever made. It is literally Fire Force twenty years before that anime premiered, and it is AWESOME.

Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger (2004-2005, 50 Episodes)

In the not-too-distant future (Next Sunday, A.D.), the universe has come together to the point where Earth has made contact with several intelligent alien civilizations. However, intergalactic arms dealer Agent Abrella starts to help out the extraterrestrial criminals on Earth, called Alienizers, by providing technology and giant robots to them because he enjoys profiting from crime, and dreams of a world without the police. In response the organization Special Police Dekaranger, or S.P.D., brings together a team of officers to apprehend the Alienizers.

You want to see space cops doing space cop stuff? Then this is the show for you. Admittedly, this isn’t the most story-driven show, but is instead carried by its characters, who go through a lot of development. The Dekarangers have one of the best team dynamics in Sentai history. All of them are very likable characters, and it’s a lot of fun to see them interact. But the best character in the show goes to the Dekarangers’ boss, Doggie Kruger/Dekamaster, a dog alien who becomes a Dekaranger himself, labeling himself The Watchdog of Hell. That has to be the coolest title any superhero has ever had. Dekamaster is another one of the greatest Super Sentai characters ever, taking down a hundred goons in his first battle by himself.

I haven’t even gotten to Agent Abrella, one of the coolest Sentai villains of all time. He’s obsessed with profit and chaos, and he’s easily one of the most sadistic main villains compared to his predecessors. He isn’t some evil emperor who wants to rule the world. He just wants to raise hell and make a quick buck from it. He’s also voiced by Ryusei Nakao, the Japanese voice of Frieza from Dragon Ball Z. That’s another appeal of Sentai, the voice talent. A lot of big-name voice actors have voiced characters, like Mao Ichimichi and Kotono Mitsuishi. Hell, the currently ongoing Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger has Yuki Kaji of Attack on Titan fame voicing one of the main characters.

Dekaranger is easily one of the most popular Sentai seasons out there, as it has a lot of additional material. Not only did the Dekarangers get a theatrically released film like many other seasons before it, they teamed up with two separate Sentai teams, some of them cameoed in the anniversary series Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, they got a reunion movie ten years after its finale, four of the Dekarangers guest starred in another Sentai series two years after that, Uchu Sentai Kyuranger, which served as a prologue to a team-up with another Toei hero, Uchuu Kenji Gavan, and then that led into the Dekarangers cameoing in another Kyuranger movie meant to be an epilogue to that series.

Yeah, this is why I haven’t talked about the Sentai movies in this post. You don’t have to watch any of these unless you really enjoy Dekaranger, which you should at least check out. It’s slow at times, but it’s still a lot of fun.

Engine Sentai Go-Onger (2008-2009, 50 Episodes)

The Banki Clan Gaiark have traveled from their home dimension of Machine World and chosen Earth as their new home, but they have to pollute the planet to serve as an ideal living space for their kind. In response, sentient animal-themed vehicles called the Engines choose five humans to partner up with, the five humans in question becoming the Go-Ongers.

Unlike most of the shows I talked about, Go-Onger is incredibly goofy, and I love it. The characters are all incredibly likable, both the Go-Ongers and the Engines. While Sentai had touched upon the idea of treating the mecha as sentient beings, this was one of the earliest series to actually have their partners talk, leading to some interesting character dynamics. The villains are also really fun to watch. While they’re about as competent as Team Rocket at times, there are moments where you actually feel bad for them, especially towards the end of the series.

It’s also really funny. Granted, comedy is subjective, so you may not find the same things as funny, but there are a lot of funny moments in this show, all helped by the actors giving amazing performances. Go-Onger can get extremely wacky at times, like in Episode 31. I’m not going to say what happens, you should watch it for yourself.

What makes the humor really work unlike the last attempt at a comedy-focused Sentai, Carranger, it didn’t really feel mean-spirited by portraying the heroes as idiots by claiming to be “parodying” Sentai. Yes, the Go-Ongers can be dumb at times, but they still take their jobs seriously when they’re not goofing around. There’s not really much I can say about Go-Onger other than it being a bunch of dumb fun. If you’re in the mood to start off with something more light-hearted, I’d check it out.

Samurai Sentai Shinkenger (2009-2010, 49 Episodes)

For centuries, generations of samurai have waged a war against a race of demons from the underworld called the Gedoshu. After their leader was temporarily sealed away for several years, the Gedoshu begin another invasion of the surface while trying to flood the Sanzu River, which grows through human misery. In response, the current generation of samurai, the Shiba Clan, assemble to fight the Gedoshu as the Shinkengers.

This was actually one of the first Sentai seasons I ever watched, as my first Power Rangers season was Samurai. And yeah, while Samurai is a really bad adaptation, I’m here to judge Shinkenger on its own. Admittedly, there are a lot of qualities that can be chalked up to cultural differences, like the whole honor code samurai have and certain plotlines you’d see in a jidaigeki film. The Shinkengers themselves are all very likable characters, and you can really relate to their struggles of being forced into this war (again, handled a lot better than what’s going on with Marinette). All of them have different responses to their situation. Some of them dedicate themselves to wholeheartedly following their lord (Takeru/Shinken Red) or being more vocal in their hatred of their duties.

The villains are also really interesting. Sure, the big bad is pretty boring, but the side villains are just so twisted they really steal the show. Takeru/ShinkenRed gets a rival who serves as a perfect foil to him, representing the idea of why one fights. Even the concept of the Gedoushu is pretty terrifying. Demons from another world hellbent on causing misery to flood our world with their water, which I must point out, is deadly to humans. They’re not my favorite villain group, but they’re a close second.

There’s also some clever plot twists that happen late into the series that I don’t want to give away. Sure, you might have a hard time getting used to the Japanese culture at first, but Shinkenger is still a great series.

Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger (2011-2012, 51 Episodes)

The Zangyack Empire invades Earth and because of their army reaching across the universe, they become the greatest threat the planet has ever had. In response, the previous thirty-four Sentai teams unite to fight them. They succeed, but the attack they used to wipe out the battle fleet stripped them of their powers. A few years later, a group of space pirates come to Earth in search of “The Greatest Treasure in the Universe”. While the pirates couldn’t care less about stopping the Zangyack, they still have to deal with them while searching for the treasure, which is somehow connected to the previous thirty-four Sentai teams. Also, the pirates form their own Sentai team, the thirty-fifth Sentai team in particular, the Gokaigers, who have the ability to TRANSFORM INTO ANY OF THE PREVIOUS SENTAI TEAMS.

For Super Sentai’s 35th anniversary, Toei wanted to go big this time. While the previous two anniversary seasons only had movies that paid tribute to Sentai as a whole, this was the first season where the anniversary aspect was in the premise alone. 

The interesting thing is that the series was changed last-minute, and it was totally for the better. See, in March of 2011, Japan’s Tohoku Region was devastated by an earthquake registering at a 9.1 on the Richter scale. To this day, it was the largest earthquake ever recorded in Japan’s history, and that’s not even getting into the tsunami it caused the same day. What does this have to do with Gokaiger? In response to the tragedy, several tokusatsu stars including Super Sentai alumni took to social media to encourage kids to stay positive, and even asked some of Gokaiger’s showrunners if they could reprise their roles in an episode. Originally, there were going to be some cameos from past Sentai heroes, but it would only be limited to the ones whose powers would upgrade the Gokaigers’ giant robot. After this, there were a lot more cameos from Sentai alumni in the latter half of the series. Out of Gokaiger’s 51 episodes, 24 of them were tributes to past seasons. And that’s not even getting into all of the cameos in the movies too.

This was another one of the first Sentai seasons I ever saw, and it really helped me get into the franchise as a whole. It manages to explain things to people who haven’t seen certain seasons, while paying tributes to said seasons and making clever homages older fans will understand. Admittedly, the show does spoil the endings of the older seasons like Liveman and Jetman, so keep that in mind before starting this one.

Even outside of the tributes, the Gokaigers are some of the most memorable characters Super Sentai’s had in recent years. While they aren’t exactly evil, they start off not really interested in protecting Earth and care more about getting the Greatest Treasure in the Universe. The only reason they fight the Zangyack in the first episode was because their lunch was interrupted. A team of anti-heroes in Super Sentai hasn’t really been done before. Even then, there’s an interesting dynamic where some of the Gokaigers have more of a moral conscience than the others. And as the series goes on, they start to care more about protecting the Earth, even if they don’t admit it.

It’s just a really good show, and even if it isn’t your first, I’d check it out.

Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger (2013-2014, 48 Episodes)

When the alien entity known as Deboss invades Earth during the prehistoric era, another bird-like alien named Torin empowers several dinosaurs into the mighty Zyudenryu to fight off the invading force. After a brutal final battle, Deboss was sealed away, but his army of followers was still growing. In response, Torin started to recruit several humans throughout time into the modern day to become the Kyoryugers.

While Gokaiger was the first Sentai I ever watched, Kyoryuger was the first Sentai I watched every week as it aired, so it has a special place in my heart despite its middling reputation. Yeah, Kyoryuger has been criticized for starting the trend of Red Senshi stealing all the screentime, and while that can easily be applied to later entries like Shuriken Sentai Ninninger and Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger (the latter basically made Red and Gold the only ones to pilot the giant robots while the others watched), I don’t think it's as bad as everyone says it is.

There is just an amazing cast of characters here. It’s the first Sentai to be composed of ten rangers (while Dekaranger also had ten, three of them were just one-offs), and it does a really good job at balancing them all out. Yes, Daigo/Kyoryu Red does get a handful of power-ups and can be the focus at times, but the other characters all have their own distinct personalities and are just a blast to watch. I’d honestly recommend watching a few episodes of this show to get an idea on how to do an ensemble cast. If I end up doing the whole “tokusatsu has better toy tie-ins than Miraculous” thing, expect me to talk about how Kyoryuger introduces its new characters and giant robots.

And then there’s the soundtrack. Oh my God, the soundtrack. Sentai tends to have banger songs for their seasons, and Kyoryuger is no exception. “Vamola! Kyoryuger”, “Solid Bullet”, “Kyoryu Gold! Iza!”, “Yuuki Bakuretsu”, “Chou Shinka! Kyoryu Beat”, “Houkou! Bragigas”, and “Senkou no Brave”. So many of these songs are incredibly catchy, and I haven’t listed all of them. The show has a bit of a music motif, so it makes sense for there to be a lot of insert songs.

The one major flaw I have to point out is that you kind of have to watch the theatrical movie (which is only slightly longer than an average episode), in order to understand some of the plotpoints for the season’s endgame, but other than that, it’s still a really good season to start off on.

Mashin Sentai Kiramager (2020-2021, 45 Episodes)

The Dark Empire Yodonheim attacks the planet Crystalia, with the king’s brother betraying him and siding with the enemy. The kingdom’s princess is sent to Earth to recruit five warriors to fight the Empire. The chosen five all possess “Kiramental”, a way of weaponizing their imagination, which they use to defend the Earth’s radiance.

Precure fans might remember this being the season where Cure Star met the Red to promote the latter’s season (actually referring to Cure Star as his sempai), and I can kind of see why. A lot of fans have jokingly compared this season to Precure because of the gemstone motif and focus on creativity, with Juru/Kiramai Red acting like a Pink Cure according to some of the comments I’ve seen in Sentai discussion forums.

This is the most recent season to finish as of this post, and it’s already gotten a lot of praise in terms of writing, characters, story, and managing all of these during the COVID-19 Pandemic and having to adapt to losing five episodes in the process. The characters are very likable, the Red is one of the better ones in recent years with him being more timid compared to the more hotheaded ones, and the villains are also amazing, and some of the best in recent years. Episodes can range from funny to tragic to just plain awesome in terms of writing, with seemingly innocent filler episodes being the source of major bombshells and plot twists. 

Honestly, there’s not much I can really say about this show other than check it out for yourself.

But these are just my recommendations. If you do some research and see a season you like, I’d go for it. If anyone else wants me to do these for Kamen Rider and Ultraman, I’d be happy to.

Sorry this took so long.

[dykeseinfeld]

u asked someone to remind you to post about your pjo dual protagonist thalia/bianca au and i am SO intrigued by this idea please say more

anon asked: hey queen hope your homework went good yesterday 🌸…now what were you saying about thalia and bianca 😳 ?

ok y’all i’m here...the moment almost none of y’all have been waiting for....bianca/thalia protagonists with alternating pov’s au

warning it’s kind of super long and may or may not read like a 2nd grader’s semi-coherent game of pretend so under the cut it goes!

so the main things you need to know about this au are 1. thalia survives and 2. annabeth’s + luke’s ages are a lil diff bc canon is my sandbox 3. i can’t decide if percy exists in this au or not (maybe y’all can help me decide?)

so the first book:

would start a few months after grover brought thalia (12), luke (13), and annabeth (10, not 7)  to camp half blood. they were chased by monsters sent by hades on the way, and thalia almost didn’t survive, but ultimately she got lucky and managed to send a bolt of lightning through her spear for the first time and they made it into camp

it’s been some time so annabeth is happy as a clam in the athena cabin doing her 10-year-old-with-severe-mommy-issues thing and luke is actually pretty popular with the hermes cabin bc he actually Met Their Dad Holy Shit and also he’s getting pretty good with a sword

at the same time, thalia is alone in the zeus cabin. everyone has been freaking out bc they all saw the huge bolt of lightning that incinerated a couple hellhounds as they made their grand entrance and What The Fuck Child Of The Big Three???

she’s also further isolated because chiron will take her for private training sessions sometimes, since she is clearly really powerful already and also Hades Himself was trying to kill her (chiron told her the reason was the big three’s pledge not to have kids, and maybe about the great prophecy? if he tells her that then she’s sworn to secrecy)

once grover leaves on another protector assignment, thalia mostly hangs out with luke, and annabeth. luke + annabeth both will try to eat meals with her at the zeus table but annabeth doesn’t want to get in trouble and luke is genuinely making friends in the hermes cabin so thalia will feel bad sometimes and send him back

kronos, seeing this bitter isolated child of the big three’s dreams: it’s free real estate

MEANWHILE

hades is Pissed that thalia survived and zeus got to break their oath And get the glory of a prophecy child

so he sends someone to take bianca (12) and nico (10) out of the lotus hotel and casino a little early.

grover is still their protector, but since the Stirring hasn’t begun in earnest yet and hades is lowkey determined to keep them safe, they make it back to camp half blood with no escort/incident

bianca + nico are put into the hermes cabin, and luke kinda takes them under his wing bc while he’s not bitter he still needs therapy bc this 14 year old has never met a pre-teen he couldn’t try to parent

luke introduces nico and annabeth since they’re the same age and they become really good friends!! she Loves mythomagic and he thinks her dagger is super cool and they’re both just really excited about camp <3

bianca is more reserved and resistant to the whole thing, and she wanders around alone exploring and runs into thalia in the zeus cabin

at this first meeting they get into a bit of a fight bc bianca is still in shock/denial about the gods being real, but thalia at this point has zero patience for this

anyway after that and maybe another scuffle during capture the flag or something they hit it off and become best friends in the way girls can, especially bonding over how they’ve both had to take on raising annabeth and nico basically on their own at the age of 12

~QUEST TIME~

thalia is given a quest for [unspecific reason] and chooses bianca and luke, they go off leaving annabeth and nico frustrated at home

quest hijinks etc, bianca is trying to figure out her parentage + her weird mysterious powers? and thalia is arguing with luke because he’s settling into camp/hero life really well actually but she’s getting progressively angrier with the gods for trying to kill her and also keeps getting dreams from kronos and doesn’t get why he doesn’t seem to remember all of the shit that the gods have put him through

bianca + thalia have las-vegas-style-heart-to-hearts where thalia shares her tragic backstory about her mother and her brother and how hades tried to kill her and even about the great prophecy and how she’s trying on this quest bc of that and her dad but at the same time these dreams are making her suspicious that he might’ve been responsible for her mom’s death.

bianca then shares her own stuff, about how terrified she was being on her own with nico having to protect him but also not remembering most of her childhood and not remembering her parents or how she ended up in the care of this lawyer and just the absolute mindfuckery that her memories/past are

luke is asleep in those scenes i guess lol 🧍‍♂️

anyway eventually they finish their quest in this massive climactic battle where bianca discovers her powers in a huge-showy-”i’m the ghost prince”-way and is formally claimed by hades which thalia sees as this Massive Betrayal obviously and bianca is horrified too because she knows what hades did to thalia but at the same time she’s just so happy to finally understand at least part of her past

thalia just reaches a breaking point though because everyone around her just doesn’t understand her anger and just when she thought she had found another sympathetic person who understood what she was going through she joins hades??? no. no fucking way. kronos reveals that he’s the one who has been sending her dreams, prob by sending some messenger who he possesses or smthing and when he offers thalia the chance to join him? she does (dun dun dun)

main beats of the rest of the series:

thalia and bianca on opposite sides of the war training to be the prophecy child, they come together a Lot and have like melodramatic fight scenes where they talk out their anger and try to get the other to join them bc they don’t want to kill each other

luke is extremely conflicted/betrayed and there’s a titan’s curse moment prob towards the end of the third book where they’re fighting and thalia is trying to get her to go with him but here he actually does go to join her (gasp!!) and is evil for at least one book but his heart’s not in it and he goes back to the good side eventually

by the point of luke’s betrayal, annabeth and nico are growing and developing and old enough to go on quests w bianca and by the last book they’re a main trio of sorts and their hypothetical character development is already making me emotional

there’s just a lot of general sexiness with foils and inner conflicts and bianca doesn’t even want to be the prophecy child but she needs to for the fate of the world and bianca is so angry at thalia bc thalia is a daughter of zeus and could control her powers and is perfect and just meant to be the prophecy kid, not some daughter of hades who they didn’t even have a cabin for before

hm maybe by either the last or second-to-last book thalia + bianca are close to reconciling or at least their interests are aligned for the moment and they read the text of the prophecy together and things go Wild bc they both think “single choice shall end his days” either is about luke or nico and it turns up the gas to their fighting both of them care about both of them and yeah

and then i can’t decide if there’s romantic arcs at all but if there were it would go like this:

just a dash of thaluke where at first it was luke having a one-sided crush but thalia misses him a Lot after she goes to kronos and wonders if it’s that she misses him or if it’s something More until to get him to defect there’s like a melodramatic moment in the fight where thalia kisses him and they go off to be Evil Together but it ends bc luke doesn’t believe in the cause and only joined her in hopes of getting thalia back to his side

once luke leaves/is kicked out thalia realizes that she didn’t love luke she just wanted a family and also in the second half of the series she realizes she’s a lesbian as a parallel to her redemption arc

bianca meanwhile is unconcerned w romance until she has her botl-hoe-moment where within one book she 1. runs into the hunters on a quest and has a thing with zoe nightshade who tries to get her to join plus tells her about that time she met thalia, 2. she goes to calypso’s island and falls in love w her in the moonlight or w/e and has her what-if moment, and 3. when they meet up that book thalia somehow knew abt zoe + calypso and seems almost angrier abt them  than the war?? weird bc bianca knows that thalia is Totally Straight right??

my main point is that bianca/thalia is our friends-to-enemies-to-lovers endgame thank you i will take my pulitzer now