#sure he could be a mentor figure to an extent probably but the dynamic is weird there

[who-the-fuck-knows-blog]

now that we have canon confirmation that izzy wanted blackbeard/‘provoked’ ed into blackbeard because it was the only way he felt needed to ed, it was the closest he felt to ed was when they were a team and he thought that ed would discard him if he didn’t keep blackbeard alive (because he is in love with ed, not blackbeard, but he didn’t think he could have ed.) i will just block you if i see you saying izzy did it because he was power-hungry or to get his own rocks off… lol

[kuraiandroger]

Diasomnia Relationship Headcanons

Basically what the title says, they’re my favorite dorm and I’ve projected on them a lot so I hope I’m not alone in how I see these dynamics </3 Enjoy!

 Lilia and Malleus

I see them as parent and child, even though Malleus seems to want to hide that sometimes. It’s probably because of his title and his age gap with the other children in the “family”  that maybe he feels embarrassed about Lilia doting on him, but oh well. I still see him as a child compared to Lilia (despite the fact that he literally is lol) because he seems to be a lot less present in the kids’ lives, and we’ve gotten several glimpses of his apparent emotional immaturity (Avoiding his problems, throwing “lightning tantrums”, sulking, etc). Paired with the fact that Lilia covers for him a LOT while still acknowledging these issues he has... I just can’t see them as equals lol. I only see a father and his very mildly unruly lol son. U_U It’s okay Malmal I know you’re trying your best.

Lilia and Silver

A rather similar relationship to Lilia and Malleus, to be honest. It’s just a lot more open, and I suspect that’s because Silver is sort of young and he doesn’t really have anyone else he’d rather run off with. His temperament is different than Malleus to an extent; Silver doesn’t strike me as a child with a single rebellious bone in his body, so he has no problems hanging out with and admiring his old man. I like to think Lilia had a very tender bond with both of his sons when they were infants, and some of that shows still in his relationship with Silver. They are just good ol dad and son (but really, dad, I’m fine with doing the cooking for tonight).

Lilia and Sebek

Sebek himself has called Lilia his mentor, and I really think that’s the basis of what they are, but I also think Lilia takes some of the liberty of acting like a dad to Sebek too sometimes. I believe Sebek was very present in Silver’s childhood so he is comfortable with Lilia’s authority. A good example of this was when Lilia told Sebek to use a quieter voice in Sam’s shop, much like the way a parent would scold their child lol. Sebek, too, while admittedly gullible, seems to heed Lilia’s advice with great respect, such as when he showed the other first years his secret natto ingredient that he’d heard was good from Lilia.

Malleus and Silver

Contrary to what most people think (due to Malleus’ status as Silver’s guardian), I don’t entirely see him as “Silver’s other dad.” Here’s where I start projecting lmao because I had a sibling who was many years older than me myself, so I sort of get the “older sibling who I respect because they are that much older than me but I also barely know them” vibe from these two. I am sure that Malleus took responsibility for Silver when needed, but it’s just really obvious to me that Lilia is the primary parent and Mal almost certainly looked to him for advice. I dunno, I could be completely wrong about this one, but I am just rather hung up on Lilia still viewing Malleus as his child despite the fact that he is long grown and therefore Malleus doesn’t seem to place the same priority on parenting Silver that Lilia does (which, yeah, I realize could very well be because of Malleus’ title and all). 

Some people have said it could’ve been out of respect, but I’ve also taken into account how little Silver seems to acknowledge Malleus as anything more than his liege (he didn’t even know very much about Malleus’ interest in gargoyles which....blows my mind a little lol) and really calls Lilia his father instead. There is a peculiar blend of comfort and distance between Malleus and Silver that I personally don’t entirely see as a parent-child dynamic </3. For the most part, I just see these two as distant age-gap siblings wherein the older one might’ve helped raise the younger one but was too much older than the younger sibling to really connect with them  (This could change during the Diasomnia chapter, but yeah). TL;DR: Distant older sibling Mal, as evidenced by Lilia’s much higher influence as the true “father” figure.

Malleus and Sebek

A pretty obvious lord-and-knight dynamic here lol. Malleus seems pretty indifferent to Sebek’s devotion, but Sebek still wants to impress him anyways. I’m sure Malleus just lets him do whatever because Sebek’s a little kid to him lmao

Silver and Sebek

This one! My favorite one! Their sibling-like dynamic really stands out to me because again, I have lived it lmao. I like to see them as a sibling rivalry because it’s very refreshing to see within a piece of media that also focuses on sibling characters that do get along (the Leeches, etc). These two tend to bicker, and they only hang out when they have to (such as when the whole family is together, or when they’re at their school club), and seem to have their own separate social lives despite knowing a lot about each other. I’ve noticed they also pick on each other for things the other cannot control (such as Sebek’s “annoying” voice, or Silver’s sleep disorder). As someone who has a sibling I really don’t get along with sometimes, it just hits home lol.

I’ve noticed that something else us bratty siblings will do, is tend to ignore any traits we have in common in favor of shaming the things we don’t share... Which is very much something that Sebek and Silver do to one another. In reality, I really do think they have rather similar personalities, but the fact that each one expresses it so differently causes them to fight (for example, Silver and Sebek are both very blunt but careful individuals, yet their level of enthusiasm for what they do is a source of conflict). Despite this, sibling rivalry-dynamic characters will still have moments where they get along, such as when they share an activity, like swordfighting.

I like to think that while Sebek is quite literally just Silver’s childhood friend, they have reached a level of comfort (and annoyance) with one another after years of growing up together that their dynamic manifests the way argumentative siblings do, and I love that for them.

---

SOOO uh, thank you for reading if you did! This is my first text post in a really long time, please be nice to me if you happen to disagree with any of this, it’s just headcanons! Sorry if it’s a bit wordy at times too, I like to shove as much in as I can. </3 Anywho, we’ll get a better scope when Diasomnia’s chapter releases someday, haha. 

[searchforthescars]

Dulcie and Pal’s relationship ☕️, because you’re latest has me going.

Aha well thank you, I’m so glad my locked and loaded rants can entertain! 😂

(Also under a cut bc this is long)

To the best of my recollection, we never actually learn why or how Dulcinea got involved with the Sixth House. I seem to recall it was something about Palamedes reaching out to her asking about her particular brand of cancer, but I’m not sure if that’s correct and I don’t have any searchable e-book copies of either book so I can’t verify (I only own physical copies of these books)

I think Dulcinea, to a certain degree, did misuse her relationship and standing with Palamedes - she was much older than him (she was an adult and he was a child for most of their correspondence). I don’t think it was malicious in intent - rather, I think it was the misguided actions of someone who was in a lot of pain and probably very exhausted from said pain - but I don’t think Dulcinea, as an adult, should’ve relied that much on a child.

That said, I enjoy thinking about Dulcie in the context of an older sibling/mentor figure to Cam and Pal, because I’m sure she did get an earful from Pal about Cam. A lot of my favorite Cam/Pal+Dulcie headcannons go along these lines. But I do think that Dulcie misused her age and standing when it came to getting care and help from Palamedes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was part of why Cam talked about Dulcie the way she did in Dr. Sex and in GtN.

Also, you may note that I’m not assigning blame to Dulcie over Pal catching feelings for her. That’s not her fault; no one can command someone else’s emotions. I think when Pal revealed the extent of his feeling to her, vis a vis a marriage proposal, is when she realized that she was occupying a space in his life that was inappropriate in a sense. Granted, he was an adult by then, but not by very much (I’m guessing he was 19 when he proposed since he was 20 in GtN).

All in all, I think Dulcinea and Pal’s dynamic is good and bad, and it occupies a narrative grey area that’s interesting to parse. I can see why Pal would be charmed by her (especially as someone who had way older fandom friends up until I was 19 or 20), but I also see - as the Older Fandom Friend myself - why Dulcie was perhaps a bit problematic in being so close to, and relying so heavily on, a child to try and save her own life. I don’t think she took malicious advantage of Pal’s goodness, but she did benefit from the imbalance.

(As another aside, I could say more about the fandom’s read and infantilization of Dulcie, but that’s another post lmao)

[lefossile]

Why is the Fullbringer Arc a meaningful plot milestone 3

This time I bothered to be picky and check some grammar;

links to part 1 / part 2

part 3/?

This time we gonna try and scratch the topic of SALVATION. 

Now we’ve saved Rukia, Hime, Karakura, the world, but the topic continues to be a key theme here in the arc too. Salvation is as a fact constantly mentioned by the heroes themselves, and they are namely divided into two camps. Those who were saved by Kurosaki (99.9%) and those who were saved by Ginjo.

And if in the first case everyone is so happy and grateful how Karakura got prettier under Kurosaki-kun, then the latter cannot boast of such a thing. It intertwines many other topics that I indicated before, and evolves in a kind of tragedy of salvation from Ginjo. Which is because he is designed to mirror Ichigo to a certain level, the same with salvation. If Kurosaki is presented as pro-creative salvation, then Ginjo is destructive. Which is not precisely true of course, but only one perspective of their conflict as substitutes.

Together however, Ginjo and Ichigo form a Shinto dyad until the moment Kurosaki rescues / purifies Ginjo himself (on that later). Which is further indicated by their sun and moon themes respectfully. If you haven’t read a beautiful thread by @blue-dream-rhapsody​​, you should go and do it rn, because it’s really godly and eloquent composed and adds good perspective on the main events of the arc and symbolism.

Among the fullbringers, basically most words about salvation are heard from Riruka’s lips in the chapters Pray for the Predators, but we will try to analyze an example of a not very successful “salvation” using the example of Tsukishima. 

What could go wrong? It would seem that by his act Ginjo should have saved Tsukishima as a child, like the others, from loneliness, but since salvation is presented as destructive (not at that point, but further into the narration to mirror Ichigo), instead of growth, as Ichigo’s friends show, we got hyper fixation up to codependency, which resulted in this

These are not the words of an adult, but the reaction of an abandoned child. And by his actions (most of which are behind the scenes), Ginjo really builds a similar hierarchy between Tsukishima and himself, thereby not allowing even him to approach and understand himself to 100% extent, which is tragic. That is of course due to the trauma Ginjo has to live through (and probably because he still fathomed sort of responsibility over Tsukishima, who was the only one left after the OG fullbringer skirmish), and it does certainly not discard the bond they have. Which is, namely, the closest bond probably between fullbringers, but still goes along “reach out, but not hold” lines. 

That imbalance of their initial relationship left such a strong mark on Tsukishima psyche that it took Ginjo to die, so Tsukishima, who was experiencing a break with his mentor and father figure in real time, could finally understand the message. That’s, well, drastic.

If we look straight through every panel, you can see that Tsukishima does not approve of everything that Ginjo does (again read the amazing analysis mentioned above), but agrees, as he is afraid of losing the latter’s favor. And although he teases Ginjo and their verbal exchanges are the closest in dynamics of all fullbringers, they are still not equal (at least at that point, thank you CFYOW for the improvement)

 Although I applaud how, by one (1) phrase, Tsukishima was able to understand what in and how Ginjo’s memory should be changed so that the complex flex of one actor’s theater should develop as intended. They are, if fact, that close, that Ginjo allows him into his past willingly, permits him to take action there on his own accord. And Tsukishima knows Ginjo to an extent, where he understands what should be changed, where the critical point of breaking lies and what role he himself has to undertake to be “the villain”. He, fully realizing that it’ll take him against the person he respects most, and wishing to “save” that person willingly is what makes him agree with it. 

Hot take: Ginjo, knowing or not, could’ve to a certain extent altered Tsukishima’s fulbring, which is actually the result of the latter’s loneliness. If we look carefully - the ability itself was not originally a combat one or a method of violence. This is a way to get rid of loneliness, to establish bonds, which are a recurring theme in the arc too. Like all fullbring abilities, Book of The End is a reflection of the owner’s character, which we observe here. And in general, Tsukishima, who unlikely had any initial penchant for sadism suddenly turns into this, I wonder why.

Other Fullbringers, such as Jackie or Riruka, also realize how different their “salvation” is from the others, how it differs in it’s core and how the whole way they manage to live through it is different from people saved by Ichigo. Jackie says it directly, Riruka mostly mutters to herself, but both show this alienation from others, which correlates with themes of fullbringers and loneliness. (which is further explained in CFYOW)

In other words, the innate abilities belonging to Fullbringers, is the very source which causes them to grow alienated from the world, and at the same time, it is also the chain that keeps these isolated individuals tethered to it.   

Even so all Fullbringers feel a great share of respect towards their leader, essentially and wholeheartedly want to repay him forv the salvation he gave them. The other thing is that they just cannot succeed and bring Ginjo the much needed closure, althought they try, because he separates himself. And it’s very distincly hinted in the raws after the chapters, where everyone is represented by their fullbrings, and we know how Cross of Scaffold looks and what we see instead of it? The Substitute badge. [here I blabbered what it also could mean] Yet I am sure everyone gets what this means.

And that’s also the intervening thought, that is subtly hinted: one saves others through connections, through being able to emphasize  with others, being able to warm and open up to other people, through forging bonds. This way it becomes clear, why Ginjo is shown as destructive, because after the incident with his original group and SS betrayal he lost that quality (which is in itself absolutely credible and a very humane reaction which I love and can relate to). Although not completely, but up until he, himself, is saved by Ichigo and can be set to a metaphorical rebirth as a soul and get some closure, those “salvations” are incomplete.

I mentioned before the word purified, and I think it really passes here, because the moment Ginjo dies, where his “earthly” stuggle ends and he gets his closure with Ichigo (at least) and we see the “right” choice theme reaping the consequences, he then, as moon symbol, watches over the rest of fullbringers until they are, actually, saved and able to move on. The destructive turns procreative. We see, that there wasn’t as big distance and as much antagonism inside the group, as we could possibly suggest earlier.

This also goes nicely with the fact, that fullbringers are akin of Hollows, and as we know, Hollows often have these “attachments” they are unable to get over after death, and that’s what’s happening when I said Ichigo, in a form, releases Ginjo of this “chain, that tethered him to the world of the Living”, in the same way he purifies Hollows.

P.S It actually goes kinda nicely with the whole Amaterasu|Tsukiyomi legends but that would make another longpost.

Fullbringers still have these strong bonds (as antonym to the loneliness and another recurring theme through the arc), no matter what. They still care about Ginjo even when he’s in the afterlife.

SUMMARIZING:

The salvation theme is circular because everyone wants to save everyone: the gang wants to save Ichigo, the fullbringers want to save Ginjo, Ginjo wants to save himself from guilt and get revenge on SS, Ichigo wants to save himself from helplesness, but also saves everyone around, and those whom he saved before help him in doing so. He saves Ginjo, which the others failed to do, but not only once but twice.

The second time namely be when he does not give Ginjo’s corpse to the Tsunayashiro family for the removal of a piece of the Rey-o and asks for permission to bury Ginjo’s body properly. So that Ginjo can come to SS and finally make peace with himself and the whole situation. 

[and i got emotional all of the suddent so i gonna dab out, pls stay tuned when i’ll stop wailing and will move on to cry abt ginjo some more]

[aspoonofsugar]

What do you think of Mori's role in BSD?

Hello anon!

I have talked a little bit of Mori and his ability here.

As far as his role in the story goes I think he embodies two things.

1) The mafia.

2) The past.

1) As far as the first point is concerned I would like to highlight the symbolic role of the mafia in the story.

I have talked a little bit about it in the post I linked above:

At the same time, on a macro level, the story needs a resolution of some type between the Mafia and the Ada since it is obvious that the two organizations are linked because of the past of many characters in the ADA being linked to the mafia somehow. Dazai, Yosano and Fukuzawa all have a past which involves one or more members of the mafia, for example.

And here:

The  mafiosi are who the detectives could become if they were to completely  lose themselves in their most violent and darkest parts, while the HD  are who the detectives could become if they were to embrace simplicistic  ideals over people. This is also why this arc has been particularly  hard on Kunikida since among the members of the ADA he is the one who  risks to do so the most.

In other words the mafia is nothing more than the societal structure which organizes and takes charge of those people society doesn’t care about. The mafia symbolically represents the part of the city nobody wants to aknowledge and everybody fears. In other words, it is some kind of macro-representation of a collective jungian shadow.

The tripartic alliance perfectly illustrates this point:

The alliance is based on the collaboration among three organizations each one associated to a specific time of the day.

The Military Police and the Ability Secret Service are associated with daytime because they represent the accepted authority and law. They are who the citizens look up to and they must adhere to the rules and the laws.

The ADA is associated to the evening because they are an in-between the day and the night. They want to preserve the law and try not to act outside of it, but also see its limits and use loopholes and bend the rules to help people. They can look both at the government and at the criminal world critically, but they have also been shown to work well with both.

Finally, the mafia represents the night i.e. something which is totally not bent by the rules of the day. They are that part of society which was in chaos after the war and over which Mori seized control.

The members of the mafia are basically people society gave up on and who have no interest into being re-integrated in it:

Let’s highlight that Hirotsu has “society” among his dislikes and he is one of the oldest members. In short, he embodies why a person prefers spending their whole life in a criminal organization rather than in the respectable world. It is because of a dislike for it.

As far as Mori is concerned he says so:

He claims to love Yokohama even with its dark side and it seems that he has taken upon himself the difficult mission to organize this side of the city. However, the interesting thing is that, under his leadership, the mafia and the underworld have basically become nothing more than a mirror of society and the same abusive structures and dynamics if not worse have been established. However, this is also why Mori has been so successful.

Mori is loved and accepted by his subordinates specifically because he gave the mafia members the illusion that they can be a society on their own. He gives rules to the criminal world and organizes it, so that it can be more tolerable. After all, it is not by chance that the people most loyal to Mori are those who have experienced a much more chaotic world:

At the same time, these people are also somehow convinced of this:

They have accepted the world of the night as the only world where they can live and prefer this world to have some kind of law, so that they can feel more like people.

However, here lies the contradiction of the mafia and of Mori. All in all, this regulation of the world of the night is also what lets this world survive and favours specific dynamics from which both the governement and the mafia gain something, but which have negative impacts on the individual.

Kyouka’s case is a perfect example of that.

All in all, Kyouka is a victim of both the government and the mafia. On one hand the government chose to use her as a scapegoat to protect itself. On the other hand the mafia weaponized her ability.

She is also an example of how these two realities which should stay separate have actually built a twisted and beneficial relationship. The government can use the mafia as a scapegoat and a place where they can recycle individuals they don’t really want to take care of, while the mafia takes these individuals and turns them into pawns.

To summarize, the mafia represents that part of society which should remain hidden and is accepted as long as it does. Mori is the one who made this possible by transforming the underworld in a society he administers and in this way he makes it tolerated, but also makes sure that the true problem behind these people who have not a place to belong is never addressed nor solved. So, in a sense, Mori is weaponizing a social problem.

2) I have talked about BSD addressing a generational conflict in the meta on the Guild Arc whose link is above.

One of the reasons why the integration between the two organizations and in general among the different sides of Yokohama is so difficutl is not only because of the characters’ personal problems (unwillingness to cooperate, old grudges etc.), but also because the younger characters who have the best chance to change things find themselves in a flawed system they inherited by older characters.

All in all the series explores the theme of having to deal with the consequences of one’s parents’ actions (both negative and positive) and the characters all need to make themselves independent from parental and mentor figures, so that they can become their own people.

As that meta makes clear Mori is one of the representative of the old generation. He has contributed to the current peaceful situation Yokohama is in, but at the same time he has also been exploiting other people’s weaknesses.

Simbolically, it is interesting that his ability is the same, but also almost the opposite of Kyouka’s aka the character I used in the already mentioned meta to explore the theme of facing a parent’s legacy.

Both Mori and Kyouka’s abilities consist in guardian entities who protect their host, but who also exhibit specific personalities.

As it has already been stated Demon Snow represents Kyouka’s parents’ legacy which is ambiguous and with which Kyouka has to reconcile.

Elise is instead a child because symbolically she represents Mori’s tendency to manipulate and exploit the weak. She can also represent Mori’s own emotional side which is underdevolped like a child is.

Demon is initially presented as a dangerous and ruthless monster, but turns out to actually have good intentions and to be willing to help Kyouka, while Elise is introduced as a harmless little girl, but she is later revealed to be a violent ability.

This also fits with how Kyouka and Mori themselves are introduced in the series. Kyouka appears as a cold assassin, while Mori as a friendly doctor. However, these appearences are soon subverted.

However, the most interesting thing when it comes to this foiling is this:

Mori has perfect control over Elise to the point that even her current tantrums happen because Mori wants her personality to resemble Yosano’s, while Kyouka can’t influence the Demon’s behaviour and has just recently gained enough control to use her ability without her cellphone.

This perfectly shows where the two characters are in termsof control over their lives and the things around them. Mori is an adult and one of the most influencial people in the city, whereas Kyouka is a child who has been moving from a horrible place to another until she found someone willing to help her.

All in all, Mori is linked to these two concepts and I am expecting for him to be overcome in the end precisely because he embodies them too much. On one hand I think the conflict between the mafia and the ADA should be settled, but it seems difficult as long as Mori is around because his involvement in traumatic episodes concerning Dazai and Yosano’s pasts makes so that him being around makes so that the conflict is always there even if asleep. On the other hand the younger generation should surpass the previous one and do better and this symbolically overlaps with exponents of the old generation leaving the scene either because they die or because they lose power.

Specifically, I think Mori is bound to play a role in Dazai’s arc because of the two of them being obviously foils, as both Fifteen and the Dark Era show.

Mori is who Dazai could have become if Oda’s death had not made him realize something important:

“He’s a friend”

Dazai is as ruthless and as manipulative as Mori is, but he is not ready to give up a genuine and healthy connection he has made and in this way he both learns and shows that he is able to think outside of an utilitaristic mainframe, while Mori is not able to do so. He probably cares about Dazai to an extent, but he won’t develop this emotional attachment into something healthier.

That said, Dazai’s arc in the manga might very well involve him becoming someone completely different from Mori and so overcoming the influence the man has had on Dazai’s life once and for all and solving his personal conflict with the mafia in a positive way.

As a matter of fact, Dazai’s past with the mafia is brought up pretty often and he has left some important relationships unsolved. The one with Akutagawa is probably the most important, but there are also the ones with Chuuya, Koujo and Q who all knew him and have shown different levels of resentment over him leaving the organization.

At the same time, Dazai is trying to recreate a new version of the soukoku partnership he had with Chuuya and in this way he is stepping into Mori’s shoes as the one continuing the “tradition”.

However, I think that shin soukoku will actually answer Mori’s question:

“Only a diamond can polish a diamond. I wanna see for myself if that is true”.

The problem with Mori’s attempt is that it was purely utilitaristic, while I think that Dazai might be willing to make Akutagawa and Atsushi work together both because he needs them to fight against a strong opponent, but also because he might be trying in this way to fix the damage he has made to Akutagawa. It is still a pretty indirect and manipulative attempt, but at least Dazai is recognizing that there is another level to people other than their strengths and weaknesses. And it is probable that Natsume, by talking about diamonds, was referring to people’s interiority rather than to their abilities. In other words, Mori might have attempted to find an answer to Natsume’s words by onlu combining the ability of two people, while Dazai might find a better and more meaningful one by having his mentees develop psychologically thanks to each other.

These are my thoughts so far!

Thank you for the ask!

[sterlingun]

Character: ― Nicholas ‘Nik’ Sterling Faceclaim: ― Theo James Age/Pronouns: ― 33 | he/him Occupation:  ― Lycan Alpha Hometown/District: ― born in Downtown, Houston / lives in Upper Springs, Houston

HEADCANONS

Though there’s no real blood relation between Nik and the old Alpha, over the years spent with the Lycans he’s grown to admire the man and regard him as a father figure he desperately lacked all these years. With the old Alpha growing weaker day after day, eaten away by the illness, Nik is terrified of the thought of losing him too, he still considers him his compass and most trusted adviser.

He still hasn’t given up on searching for his sister - even though the odds are against him, he believes he owes it to her to never stop trying, whether he finds her dead or alive. It’s the only remaining loose end from his youth, when his father was still there to wreak havoc on their lives. 

His brother used to show him card tricks when they were kids, and when he joined the Lycans - he left behind a worn deck of playing cards that Nik is still very attached to. It’s the only physical memory he has of his brother. After that, especially when he was on the run he focused a lot of his efforts on card tricks and learning to cheat his way to a win. It was a way to make money when he was on the run, and you can still see him absentmindedly playing with cards to this day, especially when he’s thinking about something, or something is bothering him. 

He wears black leather gloves a lot, and it’s very rare to see him without them - probably only closest to him have seen him without them. When he was a young boy his father would make him and Ethan hold a scorching hot iron bar to ‘test their durability’. It’s not a fond memory for Nik, and neither are the scars. Besides, he’s worn them so much they’re pretty much a part of his image these days. 

If you’re even remotely familiar with the way he walks, you’ll know he has a very specific gait. He tries to compensate for it, make it seem languid and aloof, but it’s still visible, especially on a bad day. This is the result of the first time he tried to kill his father, when the old bastard left him with torn ligaments and a broken patella. 

He’s got a thing for fast, expensive cars and has a garage by the house filled with whatever he’s passionate about currently. Do not start talking about them, because he won’t ever stop - you’ve been warned. He’s quiet usually, but oh boy this topic is a black hole. 

A bit of pyromaniac, if he can set it on fire and has a reason to - he will. And he prefers matches over lighters when it comes to lighting his cigarettes. He won’t ever admit it, but it’s got a lot to do with how he ended his father’s life. 

Watches are his thing. Majorly. You walk into his closet and there’s an entire section dedicated just to expensive, limited-edition Omegas and Patek Philippes and Piagets and god knows what. He thinks it adds to the whole look, plus to be honest - he’s a nerd about this stuff. Also another topic where you do not want to get him started. 

Likes to read a lot. Even if he had no formal education, you can strike up a conversation with him about pretty much anything from philosophy to literature to technology. I think he kind of values knowledge a lot, and it’s his biggest regret he had no chances to actually study and learn about something. 

His biggest vices are whiskey and cigarettes. You can always see him with one or the other, or both - depends on the situation. 

He has a set of two expensive silver guns that were given to him by the old Alpha and he will protect these things with his life. The story goes that Nik’s mom gave these to the old Alpha for their 10th anniversary, but the old man wanted Nik to have them and to remember that even though she made some bad choices, she did love Nik too. 

He’s got a tattoo on his back that says ‘Death before dishonor’ and on his chest a tattoo mimicking a scar from tiger’s claws hides a bullet wound he’d received fighting his father. There’s some small silvery scars on his back, he’s had them since childhood and isn’t too keen on discussing them. 

100% blames himself for losing his sister and the death of his girlfriend, he can’t be reasoned with when it comes to these topics, and even though he won’t admit it - he still has nightmares about both, as well as the death of his brother .You could probably classify him as a chronic insomniac, but try convincing him of that...  

WANTED CONNECTIONS

The Sister - She’s someone he’s lost a long time ago, and he never quite forgave himself for letting their father take her away. He’s spent the years since she’s been gone actively searching for her, either himself or through other means. I feel like he thinks of her as this pure thing from his childhood, untainted by their father because she was kept protected by their mother from young age. I think it’s a complicated relationship, because long ago he probably resented her for being their mother’s first choice while he was left behind, but there’s too much love there to truly ever allow himself to feel that. He wants to find her, but he’s terrified of what life has done to her innocence and well-being, and even more terrified that she’s died along the way because he wasn’t capable of finding her.

The Brother/Sister in Arms - Someone he connected with when he first joined the Lycans. It could either be someone who was suspicious of him at first, or someone who accepted him right away. I think it would make an interesting dynamic either way. Because it was tough for him at first, he was used to being alone and completely incapable of trusting anyone, a bit too familiar with violence given his age, had connections to the Reapers (even though he was obviously against them) etc. So he either butted heads with this person at first or he was trying to shoo them away because they attempted to reach out to him. But now he appreciates that they stuck around through thick and thin and they’re one of those rare people he’d trust with his life. Either male or female I think it could work either way I’d just be super excited to see this happen!

The Ex-brother/sister-in-law - Okay this is something I would love to see happen. Nik blames himself majorly for his late girlfriend’s death, because he pulled her into this life and refused to let go because he’d found someone he felt safe with for the first time. Now this could go either way - this person could be angry and resentful because they blame him for what happened to their sister, or they could be like 'she wouldn’t have listened even if you told her to leave’ because they know how stubborn she was and how much she cared about him, so there was nothing to be done and it was just a tragic story. Anyway this is my shit, there’s angst either way and I’m ready for it.

The Friend from Before - Someone he met and ran with for a certain period of time after he escaped Houston and before he came back and joined the Lycans. I think it opens up a lot of doors - like this person could now be back in town, or they’ve been here for a while, maybe they’re a Reaper (ooh drama), or unaffiliated, or want to join the Lycans, idk the possibilities are endless! I’m just excited about someone who knew him from before, I think that would make for an interesting dynamic to expore esp if there’s angst and someone left someone behind…

The Ex - Okay just like the one before, I’m leaving this pretty open to interpretation. It can be as casual or as angsty as we wish, we’ll just figure it out. I mean that journalist girl he fell in love with was his more serious thing, but he’s not that young I’m sure there’s been a lot of people along the way. It could be his crippling issues that got in the way, or both of them had crippling issues (entirely plausible tbh), they might have been too explosive for each other, or he wanted to protect them… It could be someone like the Friend from Before, so like during that time period (which would be super interesting actually!), or someone from Lycan he’s on bad terms with, or good terms? Honestly, sky’s the limit I just love exploring different dynamics and also heartbreak and also why people don’t end up working together.

The Mentor/Mentees - Ok the old Alpha was his mentor, but tbh I would like to see someone played who took him under his wing back then, like showing him the ropes, teaching him things, practicing with him, building him as a person etc. I just dig that okay? I dig it the other way around too though, so if anyone is willing to be his mentee and go through that stuff, I'm so there for it. Because he sees himself in a lot of the troubled people so he’s always there for it, even through it’s sometimes tough love. We can always work out the dynamics so that it fits both characters, but I would just love to see it happen. I think it brings out the protective/caring side in Nik.

More, more, more!! - I might add things on as I go, but honestly if you have an idea for a connection (does’t have to be one of the above) please feel free to reach out! We’ll work it out and tbh nothing’s set in stone.

THE STORY

He was born in Downtown, Houston - dirt poor trailer park kid who was still too young to be bitter and resentful about the cards he’d been dealt. His father was a petty criminal, hell-bent on trying to impress the Reapers, just as he was hell bent on spending what little money they had on gambling, or beating them and their mother. All in all - his childhood was a bleak series of weeks and months and years, spent alongside his older brother and a younger sister. 

Their father tried to groom Ethan and Nik for the life of crime, wanting to introduce them to the Reapers from a young age. But as soon as those two were capable of thinking for themselves, they realised most of it was just senseless violence and a promise of a life of subservience. They played along to an extent (training-wise) but generally rebelled against him even if they’d earn a beating after that. 

Eventually their mother disappeared, taking their sister along with her. As it would turn out, with Lycans on the rise she saw an opportunity and ran. Nik guesses she thought her ex-husband had already asserted too much influence over Ethan and Nik so they were left behind. There were stories that the Alpha took an interest in her, which sent their father pretty much further over the edge so next few years would be hell for the brothers. 

Nik and Ethan were each other’s stone during those formative years, but eventually their mother reached out to Ethan offering him a way out, leaving Nik behind once again. It was first of many brutal hits to come that Nik would have to learn to deal with.

Enraged by the fact she took his firstborn, Nik’s father tracked down their sister, and as retaliation, took her away from her mother and the Lycans. Nik saw her only briefly, exchanging barely a few words before she was sold off to god knows where. Seeing what his father was truly capable of doing, Nik escaped Houston, his mind set on finding and saving his sister. 

He’d spend the next few years bouncing around, erasing his traces along the way as he perfected his skills and looked for his sister - using his rage and determination as a driving force. 

Things would come to a halt though, when the news of his brother’s death reached him somehow. Apparently, their father had no problem driving a knife through his son’s heart the first chance he got. Broken and in disbelief, Nik flew back to Houston. 

He laid low for a while, before finally feeling prepared enough to strike down his father. That didn’t go down as well as he’d hoped, considering his Reaper friends got involved - but Nik was content enough with the damage he’d done. This was his first try after all. 

This was a catalyst for the Lycans’ Alpha to reach out to Nik - it seemed that out of the bunch, he was the only one left, and he was borderline insane with rage and hatred he harboured against his father and the Reapers. Which was exactly the kind of thing that was of interest for Alpha. 

He’d spend his late teenage years and early adulthood with the Lycans, being trained as one of their own, rising through the ranks, being subtly groomed by the alpha. He’d meet a girl in those years, a stubborn reporter he would fall madly in love with, and he’d probably tell you those were his ‘happy’ years. 

But his father wasn’t done yet - he eventually had Nik’s girlfriend beaten to a pulp, left do die in a dark, damp alley so that all Nik could do in the end, was say goodbye to her by the hospital bed and then go out to seek his revenge. 

It seriously messed him up, but he also seemed completely unable to rest until he tracked his father down and set fire to the house he was staying in. A cruel way to go, considering he knew of his father’s fear of fire - but Nik was long past caring. 

The rest was history. The Alpha continued to groom him to eventually become his successor but their time would be cut short by an illness that started tormenting the old man. A vote was cast, and though Nik got the majority - he didn’t get all the votes like the Alpha had hoped. Main concern among the deciding betas was Nik’s age - they were of the opinion that he was too young to take on such a responsibility. 

Though slightly reluctant, after the old Alpha abdicated about a year ago - Nik rose to the occasion and took his place as the new Alpha, and has been working out just what kind of leader he’s meant to be for the past year. 

[notforgottcn]

⧼    sophia bush, cis female, she/her   / when the bell tolls by anthony ramos   +   taking a leap even though you don’t know how far the fall is, hot coffee and ballet shoes, filling out late night paperwork because you don’t want to go home yet    ⧽   ━━   let me tell you a thing or two about ADELLA ROBBINS. the THIRTY SIX year old daughter of BRUCE WAYNE is a POLICE OFFICER in town, and has sometimes been referred to as THE PHOENIX. they’ve always seemed very DRIVEN & PHILANTHROPIC, though i’ve heard that they can be pretty ALOOF & UNFORGIVING, too. it’s common knowledge that they have NO ABILITY ; guess we shouldn’t get on their bad side, huh? 

tw: death, 

BIOGRAPHY ::

you’re more alike to your birthmother than you will ever know, you have her smile, her walk. that’s what bruce would tell you if you were to ever ask him. you don’t. you feel enough of her ghost on your shoulders without having more information about her. you know a name that is all you want from the woman who left you first.

you are left on the steps to wayne manor. sometimes when you’re sad you like to picture what alfred’s face looked like when he found you out there in january cold. you stay with there for two months. there are photos of you with your siblings. dick kept one for years it would seem. still even here where you’re supposed to be safe, you only last for so long before you’re sent away again.

mr and mrs robbins gave you the best childhood that they could, and for awhile the pain of your origins are tucked away neatly in a draw that you don’t open very much. instead you excel at your education, throwing yourself into dance lessons enjoying the moments you could snag with your parents (they were busy people, you learnt very quickly not to hold it against them).

still things become harder as you get older, you’re the odd one out at that fancy school  you attend. thought you’re not sure how they first found out. here is the first appearance of the fighter inside of you. it will be harder for you to ignore things now. your parents are called several times because you had lashed out at the people who had refused to leave you alone. you are told that were it not for your parents standing in the school community you would have likely been expelled. you are still incredibly proud of that black eye.

you take up martial arts as a compromise, with the understanding that you will behave in a manner more befitting your station in public. the fighting doesn’t really stop you just learn to mask your behaviour. a real sign that you are your fathers daughter.

at sixteen you’re sneaking into clubs making a name for yourself in the new york club scene. you only learn later that photos of you drunk and throwing up into a gutter are only going to undermine you later.

your parents passing in a mutant rights demonstration changes everything, throwing you into a world you’re not ready for. people want you to be an adult, but your nothing more than a child in your mother’s shoes. trying so hard but failing so fast. you easily see the bad sad of humanity, despite the fact that you come out relatively unscathed. it changes you, your angry and most importantly lonely. feelings that really wouldn’t go away.

the loneliness of being alone opens up things you had tidied away years ago. who were your birth parents? why did they give you up ? stupidly it would seem in hindsight you were trying to fill the space left by your parents with people you didn’t even know.

when the name on the test reads bruce wayne it stops everything. the first emotion you really remember is confusion. it was supposed to be someone you didn’t know, someone you could put behind you rather than someone who had been in the background for your entire life.

the first time you go to the mansion after the reveal you yell and scream as loud as your lungs could manage. how could he do this to you?? give you up to people who would manage to rip you apart. he hadn’t known, he couldn’t have, but you blame him for it anyway. him and them, the mutants that cause the accident, they’re the only ones you could, even as your brain tells you it’s stupid.

you remember telling him that you want nothing to do with him but even that doesn’t last too long. you move into the manor eventually, after digging your heels in and demanding to know everything. you find out about batman around the same time. the truth about your father, and as much as he knew about your mother.

that first year is hard, you are ripped from your life in new york and placed in a home that isn’t yours. the people in it are aching doing their best to heal from things that don’t involve you, and yet again you are unwanted by the majority a complication they don’t need.

still not everything in your life is bad, you are alive and for what it’s worth you have more family then you’ve ever had before. jason is the first to really make you feel at home. alfred assures you that the others will come around in time, you aren’t so sure.

taking up the cowl was technically dick’s idea, though you couldn’t become batgirl without permission from babs. just like everyone else in your family the bat becomes an outlet for your anger, a way to enact change and for a year you love it. you make the mantel your own and in some ways you’ve never felt more alive then you do in gotham at night.

just like everything else in life however it is possible to outgrow the hero antics and at nineteen you are more than ready to be something more than just batman’s sidekick. so you follow your heart and you leave. the next few years are a bit of lost time. you travel a lot (you parent’s money lets you) never really staying in one place for too long. still that doesn’t mean you don’t try for some form of stability. england is your favorite, grey skies and cups of tea, but somehow you always end up back in the states. especially after things there end badly. you get your heart broke and you can’t see the direction your pointing in anymore.

how predictable that you’d end up in new york again, some days feeling like you’d never even really left at all. still this time your not some wealthy girl. you’re enrolled in the police academy, you work your ass off and you’re on the streets by the time your twenty seven. it’s the perfect balance for you between the rush you used to get as batgirl but also working within the law. you can’t help but enjoy the fact you don’t need to cover your face.

still you’ve picked up a habit of moving on: new york, star city, gotham you’ve worked in each of them. paragon was an odder choice, after so long running from your family, your birth father’s legacy, but at the same time it feels like a good way of touching base for a while. besides, with everything that goes on in town, it’s probably a good idea to have a cop on hand who actually knows how the hero gig works.

FACTS ::

addy still dances but it’s more as a stress relief than anything close to professional.

her entire life goal (when it comes to the batkids) is to be considered the cool aunt though the extent to which that actually is questionable.

she has two cats toodles (x) and watson (x) and they’re her favorite thing in her whole world.

she functions entirely on caffeine, yes she knows it’s bad but it’s not a habit that she can see herself breaking.

a massive disney nerd!! she’s not sorry for it.

RELATIONSHIPS ::

family ;;

bruce wayne - father/ sperm donor. she doesn’t want this thanks.

alfred pennyworth - grandfather figure / secret keeper. they’re very close.

dick grayson - adopted brother / mentor. brings out the best in her.

jason todd - adopted brother / best friend. jason understands more than most.

tim drake - adopted brother / confidant. they go for coffee it’s cute.

cassandra cain - adopted sister / favorite batman. strong girls supporting strong girls

damian wayne - brother / terror. their dynamic is interesting at the best of times.

important ;;

adrian trevor - lost love / once in a lifetime. think luke and lorelai with extra angst.

friends ;;

andrea hill - close friend / ride or die. the person addy would call with a body.

ziva mizrahi - work friends / . someone addy trusts to have her back.

wanted connections ;;

travel buddies!! - anyone that she could have traveled with or met when travelling.

all the brotps: honestly give her friends.

anyone she could have interacted with as a cop good or bad.

league kids she’s keeping an eye on.

league kids her own age she likes to get a drink with.

any other kid she might feel protective of because lbr that’s all of them.

[nellie-elizabeth]

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: He Said, She Said (6x08)

Episodes like this will be overly scrutinized because they seem to be making a statement. People will wonder if it's too "after school special," or they will try to point to any possible missteps that Brooklyn Nine-Nine has made in the past, in order to say that this show doesn't have the right to talk about this subject. People will nitpick, and some might be genuinely upset... but personally? I think this episode stands on its own merits, and I think it was pretty great.

Cons:

The subplot was really funny, and focused on the Disco Strangler. I don't have any problems with it in particular, but I thought Terry and Charles were kind of underutilized. Holt was hilarious, but the other two were just kind of there to react to his silliness. I'm not sure what I would have preferred, but I think there might have been more potential here than we got to see.

Pros:

Keeping to the subplot for now, I've got to admit that it's fun for Holt to be the punchline of the joke every once in a while. His determination to catch the Disco Strangler, and his belief in his nemesis' escape was really funny, especially the recurring bit where he'd start part of the story only to find out that he'd already told it to everyone several times. The comedy here was also underpinned by Holt's insecurities. The Disco Strangler was the case that defined his success as a detective. If his nemesis really is dead, or at least so old that he can't be a threat anymore, that means that Holt is also past his prime and out of touch. The comedy here worked mostly because of the performances. I don't think a less talented actor could have pulled off some of the material that Holt was working with.

Onto the main plot. There are several things I want to praise. I'm going to be talking about sexual assault in a frank way, and I want to be clear that this is just my opinion, that I can only speak from what I've learned, and that I am by no means an expert.

First of all, I think this episode was smart to keep the particulars of the case very... predictable. By that I don't mean that they had no impact, I just mean that they weren't extraordinary cases involving serial rapists, dark alleys,  or anything of the sort. The story of Keri is something pretty extreme, but at least she does avoids being raped by physically attacking her assaulter. The story is familiar - it's in a workplace, and it involves a male co-worker taking advantage of a situation. The assaulter then makes jokes about it with his bros, and lies about what happened to the police. Pretty par for the course, honestly. Amy's story is also very hard to hear, but it's also quite typical - she says that her first mentor helped her through the ranks and got her promoted to detective, but then tried to kiss her as "payment for her career." Male authority figures who try to exchange sex for career advancement? Yeah. That's a big problem, and has been for a long time. The consequence of keeping these stories grounded in reality is that they don't feel like exceptional tragedies, the way a horrific murder would. They're the kinds of things that women experience every day, and while they might seem less significant than the violent crime we often see portrayed on TV, that doesn't mean they aren't awful to endure.

I want to talk about Rosa's role in this episode, which I found really interesting. (Also, kudos to Stephanie Beatriz for directing). She and Amy position themselves slightly differently when it comes to the subject of Keri's assault. Rosa believes that Keri should have taken the hush money and kept quiet about it. Amy, on the other hand, wants to press forward and get Keri to press charges. This is kind of an ideals vs. reality debate, or at least it seems to be at first. Rosa is being practical, while Amy wants to do the right thing and put away a bad man. At first, it seems that Amy should have listened to Rosa, because the results are sort of... mixed. The bad guy gets caught, but Keri's work environment has become so hostile that even though she doesn't get fired, she's forced to quit. Rosa comes forward and tells Amy that another person has come forward to tell her story of sexual assault, inspired by Keri. So... even if it is two steps forward, one step back, that's still one step forward. I loved that message. Amy's quote at the end was hilarious, and also an important part of the message: "We can be different and still have the same cause!"

Jake's role in events was appropriately downplayed. He had a quote that exemplified it: "I have landed on active listening; I will no longer be chiming in." I'm not going to throw a pity party for men who feel like they need to tip-toe around conversations involving rape culture and sexual assault. But, I do want to point out a very real tension between letting women be the voices of a movement, and want to be an ally and show support. This is true in any case where someone who is not part of a minority wants to show their support for a cause. It can sometimes be difficult to know when you're not going to be a part of a conversation, and to learn to listen to the voices of others. I think everyone can understand that to some extent. So is Jake perfect at it? No. He goes to his default when he's uncomfortable and makes jokes to deflect the awkwardness sometimes. His behavior shows how insidious the patriarchy can be. Jake thinks the office where Keri was assaulted is... really cool. The assaulter wants a Batmobile. Everyone has dorky nicknames and they party hard all the time. Jake is amused and drawn to some of this boorish, juvenile behavior. I'm not saying that the episode aligns Jake with the assaulter, exactly, but it shows that there are people out there who are probably very cheerful, and share interests with you, and seem like a "good guy," who are capable of this monstrous behavior. It's not always simple to distinguish these men.

I also want to touch on the characterization of Keri. This goes back to what I was saying before about the stories of sexual assault being familiar. Keri is a very stereotypical corporate woman. She's professional in the extreme, and you get the sense that she has to be, if she is going to be at all competitive in her field. She's the type of woman that will get called a bitch for being too professional and not sexually available, even though men with the same sort of focus and ruthless attitudes will get rewarded. This story feels all too real.

The scene were Amy told Jake about what had happened to her was really powerful. I like that we didn't linger too much on the story, or make it seem like Amy was spinning out of control. But she's clearly upset, and she has every right to be. It's so heartbreaking to think of Amy Santiago, an exemplary detective and employee, questioning her worth because of what a male superior did to her. Because of his actions, she had to question whether she had really earned her promotion. That's what people don't seem to realize - you could look at the situation and say, "oh, a guy tried to kiss you and you didn't want him to. That's not that big of a deal!" But there's just so much more at play. The power dynamics make everything complicated, and there are lasting effects involved.

That's where I'll stop for now. I thought this was a very powerful and well done episode. It didn't try to be a "Very Special Episode," but it undeniably put extra attention towards tackling a very important topic with finesse, compassion, and still a decent amount of humor.

9/10

[thatsweetbobbyfacetho]

Miguel/Samantha or Robby/Samantha?

Miguel/Samantha anon.

I adore that dorky little boy and I really need him to redeem himself with Sam. I feel like the two of them make a really cute couple.

With Robby, I feel like sure he has a physical attraction to Sam, she is good looking I mean you can’t blame him, but in a way I feel his feelings towards Sam are more complex then just “damn I wanna date her!”

Robby has had it rough growing up. Absent father and neglectful mother. He is starved for attention. I mean look at the people he was hanging out with prior to working for Larusso? You could tell he didn’t really like them but he also didn’t really want to be alone.

Then we have Amanda who interviews him, seemingly quite impressed with his (fake) resume. Then Daniel gains his trust. You can tell that he not only looks to Daniel as a father figure but he has mad respect for Amanda too, especially when she puts Louie in his place. (I hesitate to say he looks to Amanda as a mother figure because no matter how shallow and stupid Shannon is, Robby still loves her and wants a relationship with her. Shannon at least was physically there (as she doesn’t seem to have much of an emotional presence in their lives) which was more than Johnny was)

He spends a very spiritual healing day out in nature with Daniel to come back and be invited into the family dinner setting that he has been longing for. He was able to sit around a table, no distractions, and have a meal and conversation with a “father” and “mother” and “siblings”.

I honestly feel that Robby’s feelings towards Sam are that of familial rather than sexual. He longs for a family and in the Larusso’s he has found just that. I have 3 older brothers. I’ve had my brother hold my hand when hiking down a steep slope. I’ve had my brothers get me out of trouble with my parents. My brother that is closest to me in age was probably my best friend growing up and we were (and to an extent still are, children make things complicated and he has 4 of them). So yes, I can see how people get a ship out of Robby and Sam, but I can also see them in a “sibling” dynamic. Also I think that Robby respects Daniel too much to risk his relationship with his mentor in the odd chance that things might go south in a relationship with Samantha.

And to be honest, those who like the ship because of reaction from Johnny to his son dating Daniel’s daughter? Think how much worse it would be for Johnny to realize his son has adopted Daniel’s family!

I mean, sure they might do something in season 2 to change my mind but for now, I guess it’s wait and see lol

[wingletblackbird]

The Team: Built on Weak Foundations

Anakin and Obi-Wan love each other to bits. Most of fandom can agree on that. Anakin and Obi-Wan made a great team; they were even “the team.” Most of fandom can also agree on that, and I, personally, agree with the above statements as well. However, as amazing as the Anakin and Obi-Wan partnership was, it was built on poor foundations. No matter how awesome your house is, if you build it on bad ground, it will sink. Below I will examine the two major unresolved issues that destroyed “Anakin and Obi-Wan.”

1. Jealousy and Insecurity

When Obi-Wan and Anakin meet, Obi-Wan is very dismissive of Anakin. He doesn’t realise yet how strongly Qui-Gon feels the boy should be trained. Anakin is just one of many “pathetic lifeforms” that he’s encountered. Obi-Wan barely even registers his presence beyond a roll-your-eyes-at Qui-Gon’s-latest-charge mentality. Anakin, who’s survival has often depended upon whether or not people liked, or needed him is more than aware of this fact. However, he’s not too bothered by it, as it’s unlikely to affect his future…yet.

When Anakin meets the Jedi Council things changed. The Council doesn’t want him trained, and Anakin has no clue what to do with that. The rejection would be devastating to anyone, let alone a former slave-boy with no education, no credits, nowhere to go, who left his mother behind, and is at the mercy of strangers, (who don’t seem to like him…) To make matters worse, he can tell the Council is apathetic towards him. (They don’t even bother to consider what to do with him if he’s not going to be a Jedi. It’s beyond callous! Only when Qui-Gon points Anakin’s poor situation out do they just palm him off on Qui-Gon while admonishing him not to train him.) Naturally, Anakin is deeply uncomfortable. If the people in power don’t like him, it means he’s not safe. As a consequence, he sidles up to Qui-Gon afterwards, and murmurs “I don’t want to be any trouble.” He’s trying to find out a) what he did wrong, and b) how he can fix it. He’s just trying to do what he has to to survive. Pleasing the Masters is what his life has been about since he was born. This is the lens through which he views his world. It’s all he understands.

Nevertheless, his question to Qui-Gon is not only spurred on by what happened with the Council. It is also because Anakin was right there when Obi-Wan complained to Qui-Gon about how “the boy is dangerous.” Obi-Wan was jealous, and insecure about his place as Qui-Gon’s apprentice since Qui-Gon had said he would train Anakin. Qui-Gon didn’t mean for it to go that way, of course, he cares a great deal about Obi-Wan, but if the Council were going to be difficult, what else could he do? Maturely, Obi-Wan comes to realise this, but before he does, he is undeniably seething with jealousy, and Anakin knows it. This knowledge made him feel increasingly uncertain about his position with the Jedi. Thus, he nervously approaches Qui-Gon. I really feel quite bad for Ani. He must have felt so insecure, like no one cared a whit about him. (They didn’t, except for Qui-Gon and Padme.) Who knew what horrible things could happen? Alone, in a foreign place, with nowhere to go? It would be terrifying for anyone, let alone a nine year old boy from the slave quarters of Mos Espa.

Therefore, after Qui-Gon dies, at the funeral, we see Anakin finally work up the nerve to ask what’s been bothering him for awhile: “What’s going to happen to me now?” Obi-Wan tells him that he will train him, and you can see that Anakin looks uncertain about that. Obi-Wan has shown no indication up to this point of liking Anakin. Anakin knows this. He knows that when they first met, Obi-Wan dismissed him, and when they came to Coruscant Obi-Wan became jealous of him. Anakin doesn’t bring this up, lest it make a bad situation worse, but it is on his mind. It’s plain as day in his demeanour and expression at the news. For Anakin, it is intrinsically important to be valued, if not liked. Right now, he isn’t certain of either. All he knows is Obi-Wan is in charge of him now, and with Anakin’s history, that means that if his “master’ doesn’t like Anakin, or is upset with him, things could get nasty very fast…

Naturally things got better. Obi-Wan proved himself to be benevolent, which helped earn Anakin’s affection. He didn’t beat Anakin, starve him, treat him cruelly etc. Also, as he was one of the only people to ever be in Anakin’s corner, Anakin really came to rely on him, and look up to him: Anakin learned to love Obi-Wan very dearly. By the same token, Obi-Wan got to know Anakin and became very, very fond of him. He came to believe in Anakin when no one else would. Nevertheless, the beginning of their relationship, the foundations of it were never shored up, and fixed. Obi-Wan, out of fear of attachment, never told Anakin he was loved. That if he could do things again, he would choose Anakin, and not dismiss him so casually. Furthermore, not only did Obi-Wan fail to reassure Anakin of his place in Obi-Wan’s life, but out of fear of censure by the Council, he was often very critical of Anakin, constructive criticism to be sure, but without more praise to balance it, (lest Anakin become arrogant, oh the irony), it did nothing for Anakin’s mental health. Anakin, as an insecure abused boy, required praise to feel sure of himself and his position.(That’s why he acted out. Arrogance comes from insecurity. He was trying to prove himself.) Did Obi-Wan like him? Did he not? Would it last? 

Anakin’s well-being has always rested on knowing he was good and useful. Now, he’s unsure of himself. He’s a self-confident boy in the beginning of TPM, but by the end of TPM we can already see him become the insecure, scared, awkward individual we see in AoTC. With the insecurities that began their relationship never dealt with, Anakin must always wonder in the back of his head if things will really last. This is why in AoTC he says “He’s overly critical; he never listens,” and at his most emotionally vulnerable he yells, “He’s jealous. He’s holding me back,” because this uncertainty about Obi-Wan that has existed from the beginning of their relationship has never been dealt with. Obi-Wan was jealous of him once upon a time, after all. Sure, they love each other now; they work well together. They’d die for each other, but it’s built on sand. As we know, it will come back to bite them. 

2. The Fraternal/Paternal Dynamic

Anakin was also looking for a father-figure. He never had one growing up, and Qui-Gon fit the role nicely. Ani was a child, and need a parental figure in his life. When Qui-Gon died, and not being with his mother anymore, Anakin turned to Obi-Wan as a parental figure to cling to. However, Obi-Wan felt uncertain about being a master. He hadn’t anticipated being knighted so suddenly, only to immediately take on an apprentice. As a result, while he throws his all into training Anakin, he does step back from areas where he could afford to act more like a paternal than a fraternal figure. Anakin needs someone he can bring his problems to, and look to guidance from: A father who will look out for him. Due to the above first point, Anakin’s comfort in bringing his needs to Obi-Wan is limited, but it is exacerbated by the fact that Obi-Wan just wants a little brother to hang around with. Obi-Wan sees himself and Anakin as orphaned sons of Qui-Gon, and he became responsible for his brother when their father died. (Not that he would ever describe it in such terms, attachment and all that.) 

This means that Anakin doesn’t get the guidance, the discipline, the benevolent support, the role model he needs from Obi-Wan. He doesn’t have the father he needs. In fact, to some extent he turns to Palpatine to fill the void, (whom Obi-Wan left him with, and probably felt a weight off his shoulders in doing so), but it is really from Obi-Wan that Anakin craves paternal approval, but he rarely feels as if he receives it. Obi-Wan just wants to pal around with him, and that’s an entirely different sort of thing. Thus, you get the “you’re the closest thing I have to a father,” comment from Anakin, which is ignored by Obi-Wan who had not signed up for that kind of responsibility, and the “he’s like my brother” comment from Obi-Wan in RoTS which just highlights how these two were never quite on the same wavelength. Again, as we all know, this comes back to bite them. 

They didn’t realise that they expected different things from the other.  Anakin’s needs were never quite met by Obi-Wan who didn’t even realise what Anakin’s needs were in the first place. Obi-Wan starts to clue in at the end though, far too late: “I have failed you, Anakin. I have failed you.” He did. He never fixed the relationship. To be fair, Anakin never made his needs clear either. Nonetheless, he was the child, and in an environment he was not allowed to feel safe in. Opening up is hardly going to occur under such pressures. It was up to Obi-Wan to raise him, and provide that environment/support. By the time Anakin is an adult, the war has started, and it’s basically too late. Anakin can be blamed for a lot of things, but the weaknesses he had from poor support in his youth had their source with Obi-Wan. How Anakin dealt with that, as an adult, is up to him, but the reason for their existence, in and of itself, is not. Worse still, it puts Anakin at a disadvantage as a grown-up. Nor do I blame Obi-Wan alone for his inadequacy in his role as mentor. He was at a disadvantage too; he was still young himself when he was given custody of Anakin. It takes a village to raise a child, as they say, and Obi-Wan’s inability to offer proper support stemmed from his own lack of proper support by the Council. It is a cruel dynamic, a cruel cycle even, and it is devastating in it’s tragedy. Thus, did brother turn on brother/father turn on son to Duel of the Fates.

[lemongogo]

Do you think klance will ever become canon?

MHLmml this is such a difficult question for me because im always really poor in determining what will and will not become canon (sorry in advance if this is hard to read. im sick nd its hard to look straight at the screen so i might mess up big time w/ wording and what not. its hard to Think straight and formulate ideas)

a lot of the times, realistically speaking, i don’t think klance will become canon because i dont want to trick myself into believing it will, only for it to not. theres a lot going on that would prevent such from happening.. i mean, montgomery and dos santos’ reaction was simply, “we already have it planned out so regardless of what resonated most with the fans, we can’t change the course of the story”, and that leads me to think that we may not be as lucky as initially perceived. secondly, this show is focused moreso on team dynamics regarding voltron and overthrowing an evil dictatorship in the galaxy than it ever will be on relationships. but like??

klance has such a gd solid foundation to where i wouldn’t say its impossible (in fact, im actually really convinced it can be a thing). without going into too much detail, this is a show fostered on netflix rather than some public domain like nickelodeon where the content is rigidly monitored. if korrasami could happen on a strictly regulated channel, the opportunities for klance is exponentially higher. plus?? makers of lok are here for voltron, so that might also have some effect.

secondly, klance is the ship that has THE best basis for a relationship. i mean, keith and shiro are canonically confirmed to have a brotherly / mentor relationship. nothing romantic can ever happen there. same for pidge and shiro. shiro is a confirmed dad figure for pidge. hunk is w shay and i don’t think they’re interested in giving him anyone else tbh. allura doesn’t react to lance’s flirting in a positive note, and they’re also seen more as siblings and/or colleagues in s3 so i would say allur//an/ce is out of the way. and ka//llu/ra has had such little development that i find it hard to think they would choose that route. anyone else doesn’t really have a solid foundation, either. like, nothing that would even begin to hint towards a relationship. 

klance however? DANG ! i mean.. look at the progression in just three seasons already. we’ve gone from “enemies” who constantly argued in s1 to having moments of consolation in the privacy of each other’s company in s3 that suggests they’re on the path to becoming good friends. and if it’s any indication with 8 possible seasons....... i wouldn’t think its far off to say they’d go from enemies to friends to lovers. but thats just my interpretation. like.. if there Was going to be a ship that would become canon (not saying there is), klance is The One where it seems to be the most feasible just sayin...

plus you have the whole thing w jeremy saying that we’d be happy w lgbt content in vld? and the thing about lance eventually finding love?: “But I think there is, to some extent, at some point you’ll find that one person that above all you kind of fall in love with a little bit and realize that it’s nice to have that one person than kind of just going all over the place. Not spoiling too much, but yeah. He’ll mature in all ways.” like........ who else could that possibly apply to...

and then their uh.. horoscope signs lets be real... a water paladin with a fire sign and a fire paladin with a water sign... they didnt have to do that fam... but they chose to anyways js

and then microexpressions? they look at each other so fondly, even when the other isnt around? (lance in escape from beta traz when he talks about how cool keith is). 

and i have like. a lot more i can add but my mind is rly fuzzy rn and i cant think straight so im just gonna stop here

so if you were to ask me, id say that yeah?? hopefully?? objectively speaking, there is a lot more set up for a potential relationship than any other pairing. so the probability of keith and lance is like. super duper high. but im not sure if relationships are even in their plans you know what i mean?

so the question isnt necessarily do i think klance will become canon moreso do i think voltron will introduce a relationship. like. if there was a guaranteed relationship, i’d say klance for sure, but im not sure if they’re even going to have one to begin with yk? but w those gay ass scenes in s3 i think theres a p good chance ;-)

[magma-paint]

Some Sun and Moon headcanons

Okay, mostly Guzma and Plumeria, but I’m gonna try and cover as many characters as possible. And of course, be advised for NSFW ones.

Professor Kukui is actually a distant cousin of Archie’s. They don’t talk often but when they do, Kukui is confused and disappointed that his cousin started an evil organization hellbent on expanding the ocean, but finds amusement that he’s dating the leader of his rival team, Maxie of Team Magma. But no, really, he’s glad his cousin has sought reform and found a partner he’s happy with. Kukui will still joke with Archie asking when the wedding is.

The closest thing Lillie had to a first Pokémon other than Nebby was a Ducklett named Odette. She let it go to be happy when it became a Swanna. She dearly misses Odette, though, and hopes maybe she’ll see it again.

Hau started watching El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera after finding out that Frida, like him, enjoys delicious sweet fried dough treats (churros for Frida, malasadas for Hau). Now he likes the show for the family dynamics and got Kukui to watch it as well. The two often joke who would win in a match: Kukui as the Masked Royal, White Pantera, El Tigre, or any other character adept at fighting.

Mallow would love to go on Master Chef or Hell’s Kitchen, but she’s a bit terrified of Gordon Ramsay in addition to absolutely admiring him.

Mina is a low-key hippie/stoner. That explains why she looks stoned the majority of the game. Although she’ll only tell her friends about essential oils and other medicinal herbs, especially hemp products that don’t come packaged with the bad psychoactive effects.

Sophocles and Molayne would be great at Cinema Sins. And Gaming Sins.

Gladion is a huge fan of Shadow the Hedgehog and you cannot tell me otherwise. Plumeria and Guzma are jokingly regretting the day they got him that plushie.

When the day comes that Kukui and Burnette announce they’re going to have a baby, Guzma will be the first and probably only one whose mind will go in the gutter, screaming “They had sex!” in his brain so loudly he has to look around to make sure no one can actually hear what’s going down in his mind.

When Guzma dissolved Team Skull, he watched people leave from the balcony of the Shady House. Once he was alone he snapped off his necklace and threw it away, just like how Ralph did in Wreck-It Ralph.

Type: Null (and Silvally to a certain extent) really doesn’t behave like a typical animal but it does have more canine mannerisms than anything. It also loves playing fetch.

Plumeria really does not like to talk about her family at all, having rejected them and making Team Skull her real family. Cliffnotes version is her mom was a raging alcoholic, her dad was a habitual cheater and pathological liar, and her two older sisters had mixed results. Her oldest sister, Chrysanthemum, did go on to become a successful fashion designer and own her own shop, and the other sister, Dahlia, pretty much ended up as high-school dropout, teen mom, freeloading trash with a rap sheet and won’t take any responsibility for her actions. But wait, if Chrysanthemum was the good girl, why doesn’t Plums just stay with her? Well, no matter what, Plumeria was always thrown to the wayside and she decided to look out for herself and eventually ran away from home to find some friends she could call family and treat just like a loving family. That, and Chrysanthemum scoffs at how horrible her family is and turned her nose up at Plumeria after finding out she got involved with Team Skull.

Lusamine has tried sexual advances on Guzma at one point. He wasn’t comfortable at all and post-Ultra Space he doesn’t want anything to do with her. No one knows exactly what happened but Guzma has confirmed she tried to get in his pants.

Lillie is actually a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and relates to Fluttershy the most. Hell, Gladion got her a big plushie for her birthday to make up for not taking her with him away from the Aether Foundation.

Mohn doesn’t reminisce about Lusamine and the kids because it could be likely he suffers from some degree of retrograde amnesia after his studies on the Ultra Wormholes.

Ever wonder what’s going on when no one dares go in the arcade on Royal Avenue or in the Hau’oli Shopping Mall? All of Team Skull is spending their coins on the DDR machine. DDR just seems to be a thing they do a lot and something you gotta be good at if you wanna join.

Also, everyone in Team Skull has their nails painted. Everyone. Female grunts have the pinkies painted hot pink, the other fingers with black, and the Skull X on the thumb, male grunts have the thumbs painted electric blue, the other fingers black, and the Skull X on the pinkie, Gladion has his painted all black but with a red edge like Shadow’s color pattern, Plumeria has her index, middle, and ring fingers painted black, her thumbs fuchsia, and her pinkies yellow, and Guzma’s all black or a special color of polish that accurately represents Dark Eco.

Plumeria will not let Guzma go out with certain Grunts while bored, drunk, or impulsive. The last time it happened he came home with his belly button pierced (he kept it, by the way).

Acerola is a HUGE fan of Homestuck, and Rose and Nepeta are her favorite characters.

Guzma has been found to give Nanu volumes of Garfield comic collections for his birthday. Nanu has also said they’re some of the best gifts he’s ever gotten and he’ll read them with his squad of Meowth and Persian.

Gladion will deliberately show Kill la Kill to Lusamine during one of their video chats while she’s undergoing treatment. Either it’ll cause some self-reflection or she’ll blow it off.

Hau has been known to sing “Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride” while on walks with his Raichu. The result is adorable.

Ilima doesn’t care if people refer to him as a boy or a girl, he even likes to watch people try to figure it out. But he utterly HATES people turning everything into a matter of identity politics.

Wicke’s cup size is a DD at MOST. She really doesn’t get why she’s told not to look up art of herself and even more confused when she DOES look up art of herself.

Calling Plumeria flat-chested will get your ass kicked. She’s between a B and a C cup, and to Guzma that’s fun enough to play with.

Wicke is the aunt of Velma from Scooby Doo. She wants to visit her niece as much as possible and learn about her adventures but working for the Aether Foundation shoots that plan hard in the foot. They keep in touch by mail, though, and Velma has at least one wall of her room she plasters with postcards from Alola.

Faba is low-key gay for Colress, but he’s perfectly content with just hanging out with him or “partaking in gentlemanly endeavors”, as he calls it. He’s too posh for the term “hanging out”.

Yes, Team Skull is considered a family, but Guzma isn’t exactly a Father to His Men. He tries, though, but since he came from a sh1t family it comes across more as the older brother but mostly boss role.

Hala won’t admit he adores the “You’re welcome!” song from Moana. Not even after he’s been caught singing it in public or by himself.

Olivia has heard these jokes about rocks before and she hates them, so stop it: “That’s a leaverite, you leave ‘er right there!” “Oh, that’s an Indian sex rock. You know, another fucking rock.”

Guzma hates wearing jeans or other pants that have a fly on them because the edge of the fly digs into his belly button.

Not an excuse for her behavior, but Lusamine’s obsession with beauty stems from her own mother’s obsession with glamour and beauty. She wanted Lusamine to be as pretty as she could possibly be, and Lusamine is the one who took it too far, where enough screws came loose and she concluded that the only thing capable of achieving God Tier levels of beauty were the Ultra Beasts. Cue insanity after research on the Beasts became her undoing.

On that note, Lusamine is the daughter of Queen Barbee from Panty and Stocking. She took hairstyle tips and fashion advice from Stocking and Weiss Schnee, respectively, growing up, went to college with Gol and Maia Archeon and their insanity rubbed off on her, and took parenting advice from Medusa Gorgon and Ragyo Kiryuin.

Lana was endearingly nicknamed “Ponyo” as a baby. Only her family knows about it, though.

Kiawe has seen quite a number of burns throughout his life. By now he’s practically indifferent to any new ones he sustains and has even kept a record of how many he’s gotten. Currently he has dealt with 209.

Nanu once took an Espurr under his care and Acerola fell in love with it so much he eventually entrusted it to her.

Hala isn’t just Hau’s grandpa, he’s considered to be everyone’s grandpa, because wouldn’t it be cool to have a grandpa who specializes in Fighting Types, is an island kahuna, AND will mentor and help you become one of the best trainers ever? And still give it to you straight what you need to fix?

Plumeria has some of the most miserable periods ever, even on birth control. We’re talking an emotional trainwreck where she’ll either ragequit or cry at the drop of a hat and some of the worst cramps imaginable. When that happens, stay away and let either the Grunts or Guzma take care of it. The Grunts will usually try to make her some herbal tea or even cheer her up with some artwork and a pillow and blanket nest she can curl up in. Guzma makes sure to get back as quickly as he can with dark chocolate, the biggest toy panda he can find, and DVDs of South Park and Panty and Stocking.

It actually takes a lot to get Guzma to cry, but thinking about how Lusamine threw him away in Ultra Space and the fact he’ll never live up to his father’s expectations are the fastest shortcuts.

Wicke has tried to get Lusamine some help in regards to how she treats her children, but it usually got brushed off or denied. To say Wicke was tired of seeing Lillie and Gladion be treated like dolls, toys that could be easily disposed of when interest was gone, is the biggest understatement of the century.

Team Skull used to have rollerskates/rollerblades as part of the uniform. The lack of decent stretches of level ground where they could actually be useful resulted in the retirement of them, but they’ll still rollerblade near Po Town.

Lillie plays piano, and her favorite song to play is Chocolat. She had no idea it was from the Panty and Stocking soundtrack until Gladion pointed it out and then he had to explain the series.

Someday the news will cover what happened with Lusamine, which will bite the Aether Foundation pretty hard in the ass.

Mina has made so much art that Hapu has had to let her rent out a shed on her property to store it all.

Kukui would love to see the moves Precipice Blades, Origin Pulse, and Dragon Ascent in action. Even more so in Primal status. Although Burnette jokes that he wouldn’t be able to survive the intense nerdgasm that would ensue.

Hau doesn’t just have an appetite for malasadas, he also likes orange poached squash. Hell, he could eat a whole pan of it at once if you let him.

Mallow preaches that you don’t put pineapple on pizza. Olivia and Kiawe disagree.

One time Plumeria made better-than-sex cake for dessert, and Guzma half-jokingly and half-seriously said “Challenge accepted” to the namesake.

After becoming champion and their final battle, the player character will INSIST Guzma to stay at their place or Hala’s so he can get back on the road to becoming a great trainer and keep him out of his parent’s house and the toxic environment that created his anger issues. They care about this dork.

Hapu’s Mudsdale is named Big Macintosh and is capable of saying only one human word: “Eeyup.”

Although Nanu is a cat person, he really dislikes people shaming Absol for its tendencies and its infamy. He’ll take one under his wing in a heartbeat if he finds one.

As a little kid, Acerola was TERRIFIED of the movie Coraline. Now it’s one of her absolute favorites and what may have helped her gravitate toward Ghost types.

Plumeria’s Salazzle is kind of a brat. She’ll bite at your ankles if she doesn’t know you or if she doesn’t get what she wants, Grunts have complained of stomach problems caused by drinking from cups they left unattended as she left poison spit in the ones she drank out of, she has burned Guzma at least once when she tried to jump in the bath with him, and on occasions has given her own trainer poisonings, scratches, and burns when Plumeria tried to get her off the bed. But if anything threatens a member of Team Skull, it’ll probably be the last thing they do. She’ll also try to seduce you into giving her your food.

Guzma’s first Pokémon was his Golisopod. He caught it as a Wimpod when he was a kid. Every day he’d go out to the nest to try and lure the bug out with some berries and try to catch it, but usually with no success. One day he went back out there to get his mind off a recent whooping he got but all the times he failed to catch the Wimpod just kind of caved in on him and he sunk down by the hole in the rocks crying. The Wimpod came out, nudged his hand, and crawled in his lap to try and console him. As Guzma left to go home it followed him and since then they’ve been inseparable.

Burnette has partaken in the pet-shaming fad on the internet with Kukui’s Rockruff once. The cheeky little puppy had a sign propped against him that read: “I buried my human’s Z-Ring on the beach at low tide and he couldn’t get it until the tide went out again.”

Cynthia and Grimsley often get into arguments with Steven and Wallace over who’s the better Elite Four/Champion couple.

Red and Blue aren’t dating in the Alola games. It’s more of a “take your frenemy on vacation” outing.

When Lillie and Gladion were younger, they asked Wicke if she could be their new mama. By the end of the day Wicke’s chest was hurting from crying so hard.

Burnette’s team consists of Pokémon she brought from Unova; a Musharna, a Gothorita, and a Beeheem. The outlier is a Comfey she acquired when she and Kukui got married.

Sophocles’ Togedemaru thinks he was destined to be an alarm clock. Every morning at 5 he jumps up on Sophocles’ pillow and starts chittering loudly, quickly hopping as he does to emulate a vibrating cell phone.

Guzma’s Golisopod is highly protective of his trainer to the point he will attack anyone who tries to hurt him. This overprotectiveness stems from when it was a Wimpod and it couldn’t do anything about Guzma getting beat by his father with golf clubs. It really wanted to do something to protect his trainer and once it evolved it finally could, although it seems like a vast overcompensation. The two people that Golisopod will be very dangerous to approach when in the vicinity are Guzma’s father (if that bastard tries to lay a hand on that boy again this bug will fuck his sh1t up) and Lusamine (he didn’t even trust her to begin with and he was right all along).

Type: Null (and Silvally) loves having its belly rubbed. It even curls up next to Gladion while he sleeps.

Ryuki (the Dragon user who appears as a challenger for the Champion Title) used to be the Trial Captain at Poni’s Abandoned Trial Site. He quit the position to pursue his rock star career and by the time he returned he was no longer eligible to retake that position. Thus, the Trial Site remains without a Captain.

Guzma really doesn’t like Kahili or her guts. He always lost to her when they were kids because her Bird Pokémon held advantage over his bugs, and after his last battle with her she said he could train until he dropped dead from exhaustion but he would never be good enough and that he was absolutely pathetic. Kahili really didn’t care how talented Guzma was, if he never placed first in any competition he entered, he wasn’t worthy in her eyes. Not even the Dawn Stone he won for his first ever victory was warranted. To Guzma, Kahili was just like his father and that’s why he refuses to have anything to do with her.

Mohn is actually pretty damn strong physically and used to be in really good shape. After getting married, having kids, and the stress from his studies on the Ultra Wormholes, however, the pounds started packing on. Eating all those Poke Beans doesn’t really help.

Lillie made a lemon cake for Lusamine to commemorate her 4th consecutive week on the mend and showing good progress in recovery. Lusamine loved it and broke down into tears after Lillie revealed that Burnette taught her how to bake, going on to profusely apologize and vent her regret for not teaching Lillie or Gladion anything about baking or something they may have been interested in.

Tapu Cocoa has a similar history as that of hot chocolate’s evolution in Mexico, but what helped shape Tapu Cocoa is the fact it was a drink created in honor of the Tapus. Koko, Lele, Bulu, and Fini were so pleased with the respective concoction prepared for them as tribute by the mortals, that each kind of Tapu Cocoa was adjusted and perfected for consumption by all. On Melemele, the drink is prepared with a splash of coconut; Akala, often served with a strawberry tea cake or with crushed raspberry; Ula’ula, prepared with chile peppers; and on Poni, prepared with orange peel or served with a macadamia nut cookie.

The only way that Kukui can get away with the assumption that the Masked Royal is someone entirely different is that he can pull of the character well enough that the illusion stands. Unfortunately the player character can see right through it (he shouldn’t have spoke with his usual speaking pattern when the player got to Royal Avenue).

Headcanon voices of the Tapus: Koko’s voice sounds similar to the Guardian of the Cave of Souls’ from The Book of Life, portrayed by Eric Bauza; Lele’s voice would sound similar to a very serious Pinkie Pie from Friendship is Magic, portrayed by Andrea Libman; Bulu’s voice would be similar to that of the Cave of Wonders, portrayed by Frank Welker; Fini’s voice would be reminiscent of Rarity’s from Friendship is Magic, portrayed by Tabitha St. Germaine.

Guzma’s Golisopod and Plumeria’s Salazzle have an interesting take on the friendly rivalry relationship. They’ll fight each other and give each other sh1t, but they’ve got each other’s backs. Mess with one, you mess with both. And if left to their own devices they can restrain each other if needed (although Salazzle is the one doing the most restraining).

Golisopod, Salazzle, Rockruff, Silvally, and to a certain extent, RotomDex, are on the cock block squad; Golisopos and Salazzle to Guzma and Plumeria, Rockruff to Kukui and Burnette, Silvally to Gladion, and RotomDex to the player.

Kahili comes across as pushy and having no time for anyone’s antics, but in reality she pushes herself to perfection way too hard and blows off people who try to help her. She’s so focused on trying to be the best in the golfing world that when she eventually cracks under the pressure she’ll have no idea how to get back on track or reach out for help.

The tattoos that the Team Skull higher-ups wear are actually made from a cosmetic paint that’s highly durable and can last for a whole year. Hence why they easily disappeared post-game, Guzma and Plumeria scrubbed them off (and it took 2 and a half hours straight to scrub them off).

Faba can admittedly be very cocky about his position, which he may have been able to get away with while Lusamine was running the Aether Foundation, but Gladion can easily one-up him and put him in his place.

The whole squatting thing among Team Skull actually started with Guzma. The guy suffers from quite a bit of back pain, which stems from all the times he was beaten by his father. His hunched over posture, not only a sign of someone who’s been browbeaten to the point their self esteem has sunk to the lowest doldrums, is the result of poorly set broken bones that have since healed over (Plumeria and especially Hala hound him on getting into a therapist to get that fixed as soon as possible) and when he does stand up straight his back cracks very loudly. While hunching over helps the pain a bit, in the long run it makes it worse; the pain also seems to worsen while sleeping in a weird position, slouching while sitting, or during sex on some occasions. The only thing that really seems to help his back outside of Plumeria cracking his spine back in place while lying face down is squatting down when he needs a break from standing. Some Grunts asked why he squatted down when he needed to rest and he just responded “It helps my back and I just think it’s cool.” Cue the Grunts joining him and soon it was a thing all across the team.

The Seafolk Village in Poni Island takes a lot of cues from Adabat from Sonic Unleashed as the two locations are in close proximity (at least a 5 hour boat trip). Probably explains why the night theme sounds like it was inspired by the Jungle Joyride night stages.

The old lady in the trailer that Plumeria and some other Team Skull members live in post-game is actually a very grandmotherly family friend of one of the Grunts. She’s helping them get back into good standing.

Mimikyu could disguise itself as any Pokémon it pleases if it wanted, but it sticks with imitating Pikachu because of it being the mascot and because it wants to nab a share of all that glory and attention.

After battling Lana, the reason why she doesn’t pop up again until after the player is crowned Champion is because she took the boat near her house to go look for Kyogre. She didn’t find it, but she made friends with a lot of Water Pokémon out there.

Despite Plumeria sounding irritated with Guzma post-game, she’s actually worried sick about him. When she does meet up with him again she can’t even pretend to be mad at him, she’s just so happy he’s okay and is actually brought to tears when he reveals he’s taken Hala up on his offer and is back on the road to becoming a great trainer again.

Personal Headcanon! Based on my experiences at the Hau’oli Battle Buffet, I don’t think my character could actually eat 5-10 servings of a single item in one go (whenever I see text like “You got _ plates of (whichever food)” I tend to think the plate size reflects the average plate size at American buffets—they’re big, about 12” in diameter). So, I like to think that once I’ve gotten my haul I actually share my food with my team.

Adding onto an earlier headcanon, Plumeria and Kahili didn’t like each other at all either especially because of his past with the latter. After Plums went through the Elite 4, Kahili mentioned Guzma and that Plumeria could do better than him. Plumeria got so angry about her attitude that she had to give her a verbal dressing down and once Kahili found out that Guzma got HURT by his own parents for losing, she actually felt sick to her stomach after remembering everything she ever said. She still fears it’s too late to apologize even behind her cutthroat demeanor. And if she attempts, man will Plumeria have to serve as the most patient mediator ever. Apologizing to Plums is one thing, apologizing to Guzma is another.

Gladion won’t admit it, but he likes it when Hau invites him over to his house. One time he brought over his console and some Sonic games for a sleepover and it was the most fun he’s ever had.

Olivia has encouraged Mallow to make her own YouTube channel where she makes videos about her latest recipes. While Mallow hasn’t made her channel at all—besides, she’s too busy with her duties as a Trial Captain--she still wonders about how well her show would do if she made it. She’d call it “Mallow’s Kitchen” or “Sugar, Spice, and Delish Tamato Slice!”

Kiawe would never have considered putting Wyoming on his bucket list of places to travel to had someone not mentioned Yellowstone National Park and the supervolcano slumbering beneath it. Now he’s gotta check that sh1t out.

Colress is a secret agent for the Aether Foundation.

Ilima was bumped up a couple grades because of his maturity and willingness to accept greater responsibilities as a Trial Captain.

Plumeria knows firsthand that the “skinny penis” joke associated with Guzma is a flat out lie.

Wicke jokingly checked out some Steven Universe episodes at Faba’s recommendation. One season later, she became infatuated with the series.

Guzma has a very bad habit of lying to his mother and he hates himself for it. The reason why it sprung up as bad as it did is because his mother, while well-meaning, is really none the wiser about her husband’s behavior. Mother asks about his bruises? Guzma says he fell on Route 3 even though the bruises came from, well, the obvious. Mother asks why Guzma can’t get out of bed? He says his stomach hurts even though he was hit so hard last night he was still in too much pain to get up. Mother asks about Team Skull? Guzma says he had no involvement even though the news HAD to have covered them at some point and may have footage of him. Even if he did tell the truth growing up what could she even do about it? Sit his dad down and talk about what’s going on and try to resolve it? Guzma still loves his mom, but he’s starting to get tired of her laze-faire attitude and naivety that would make Lianne Cartman look like she’s got her ducks in a row.

Ilima makes either sugar cookies or macadamia nut cookies when friends come over for tea. They just seem like just the kind of fancy cookies that would be served with tea, in his opinion.

Hau faced Hala first in his run through the Elite 4 and convinced him to go all out against him. Considering that Hala unintentionally scared Hau when he was little and refused to unleash his fury since then in battle, Hala took that challenge. At the end of their battle, both of them were crying as Hau went to hug him; Hau was proud of his grandpa for unleashing his full fury in battle, and Hala was proud of his grandson for how far he’s come and bringing his best.

Mina has always had paint in her hair. Finger paint, acrylic, oil, you name it. When you get super artistic from a young age you never really pay attention to where your painting tool goes outside of the canvas.

Guzma’s hair is hella SOFT. It’s like petting a cloud made of very plush microfleece. To keep it that way, Plumeria lets him use her shampoo and conditioner and he makes sure to wash his hair every other day.

Molayne likes to think of the frequency of his friends cussing on a scale from 1 (no swearing here) to South Park (they swear so much you’d think they need their mouth washed out with soap). Molayne ranks about a 3 (some swearing, but only as needed), Kukui is about a 4 (might need a stronger word on occasion for things), Sophocles ranks about 4, Hala ranks about 3, Hau is a 1, Nanu is a 6 (frequent low-key swearing to infrequent strong swearing) Plumeria is a 9 (uses stronger words very frequently), and Guzma ranks at South Park (he swears a LOT). The player character… well it depends on who you are, I guess.

The best place to get Tapu Cocoa is at the Observatory. Especially at dusk.

Guzma and Plumeria rarely get completely unclothed for sex because their outfits are just too comfortable. All they really gotta do is kick off their shoes and socks, Guzma will get rid of his glasses, off go Plumeria’s pants and sports bra, and Guzma just has to yank the front of his pants down, pull the crotch of her panties aside and stick it in. Plumeria also pulls her shirt up over one or both boobs for him to grab. Sex after showering or bathing only really calls for Plumeria to clip her hair back. Condoms only used to protect against STD’s since she’s on the pill (this is the only relationship they’ve ever been in, but you never know).

Sorry, Grunts, you may be sexually attracted to Plumeria or Guzma (it seems to be a rite of passage for a Grunt to find themselves attracted to either of them during their involvement) and you can fantasize about fucking all you want, but sex between the Grunts and the higher ups is off limits.

If you want to know how bad Ultra Space affected him, Guzma has had to confide in Hala and Nanu about a particularly bad nightmare he had one night about being tentacle raped by Lusamine as the Mother Beast. Sure, he’s had nightmares for a while as a result but damn…

Professor Willow is Guzma’s biological father. Because Guzma’s mother isn’t the most trustworthy in long-term relations, she was seeing Willow on the sideline while already in a relationship with the man she would later marry. Guzma was then conceived by Willow in a time frame so close to sex with the husband that the mother and her husband both thought Guzma was of the man we see in the game. The mother continues to see Willow on the sideline while pregnant and he’s well aware of her having an affair with him and tries to get her to just come clean to her husband and he’ll help mediate the fallout. She really doesn’t think it’s that big a deal. Willow takes her to the hospital and at birth it can be seen that Guzma’s hair is a dead giveaway of his parentage (black and white, just like Willow’s). The husband eventually finds out and puts two and two together when Willow comes over to see the baby. The mother gets caught with her cheating but still treats it like no big deal, Willow is forced to stay out of his son’s life indefinitely, and Guzma looks forward to a miserable life with this man as his father. If Willow could do it over again, he would’ve just walked right up to the husband, told the truth about the affair, and accept a role as a single father to raise Guzma on his own once he was born. Professor Willow misses him so much and he knows he’s going to have a lot to talk about with Guzma when he finally sees him again.

While going through some of Plumeria’s music, Guzma and Gladion found a couple of ‘N Sync CDs. Wondering why Plumeria listens to them a lot they decide to play them for the lulz. The next day they’re in the nearest media store looking for their own copies.

THIS WAS 10 PAGES OF HEADCANONS IN MICROSOFT WORD WHAT THE FUCK???

[cthoughts]

Yuri on Ice

I watched Yuri on Ice recently and after going through some tags and reading some fanfiction, I’m somewhat dissatisfied.  The show itself is intriguing and compelling, but it’s not exactly explicit about what’s going on with any of the character relationships.

This is obviously true of the main pair, Yuuri (Japan) and Viktor, if you’ve watched the show, but the character that actually interests me most is Yuri (Russia).  

Being only 15, he seems painfully alone and desperate during most of the show even though he hides it in his brusque manner, furious outbursts, and bravado.  None of this is ever really made explicit, but it’s hinted at enough. The dynamics of his relationships with Yuuri and Viktor aren’t explicit either, but they’re hinted at.

There are three things around Yuri and his relationships that bother me.

Misunderstood, Not a Jerk

The first is Yuri’s characterization in many fanfictions.  He’s called a brat or bitchy or any number of similar things.  He gets written as someone who’s constantly violently angry and inconsiderate of other people’s feelings.  That’s not really true though.  He can be a bit rough around the edges and he gives in to impulses that are driven by his own insecurities, but he doesn’t actually have a desire to hurt anyone.

Yuri is immature in some ways, but he’s also mature in others.  He has a developed understanding of his goals and of himself as a skater.  He has a strong work ethic and doesn’t mind sacrificing for his goals.  He truly cares about the people he’s close to when it comes down to it too.

He cheers Yuuri up by giving him the special katsudon pirozhki that Yuri’s grandfather made. His big motivation during his final skate is also focused on trying to keep Yuuri on the ice by blocking him from his goal and making him have to try again next year instead of retiring.  He’s obviously rooting for Yuuri and Viktor even through his moments of jealousy.

He’s a great, supportive friend to Otabek pretty much as soon as they decide to become friends.  His bond with his grandfather is the only unconditional love he can think of and that’s not because it’s the only unconditional love he’s ever given.  Rather, it’s because it’s the only unconditional love he feels he’s ever received.  Seeing as he considers Otabek his first friend, Yuri obviously just never had the chance to show his affection before.  Once he has the chance, he does just fine.

I mean, the show’s shorthand for Yuri being a sensitive person is pretty simple anyway.  He’s obsessed with cats and what person can possibly be callous through and through when adorable kittens are their weakness?  Yuri is pretty harsh in the first couple episodes, but even so, I could never really hate him like I normally would because he was obviously a flawed, struggling person. Then you realize he’s only 15 and you can sympathize with why he doesn’t handle himself well when he has little to no emotional support.

As a 15-year-old whose only family seems to be his grandfather who doesn’t even come to his competition, he has an almost nonexistent support system.  I can’t really figure out why his grandfather didn’t show up, but my guess is that while his grandfather is supportive, he’s not really hands-on with Yuri’s skating. That’s a shame since it’s such a huge part of Yuri’s life.  Either that or his grandfather was feeling too poorly to come that day which is yet another blow to Yuri’s support system.

Yuri’s other acquaintances are all in something of a business relationship with him, depending on his talents to create a result.  His coach, Yakov, cares about him, as does Lilia, but their job is to constantly push Yuri, keep him in line, and help him fulfill his potential as a champion skater.  This is all great for his future career prospects, but it’s not what an affection-starved teenage boy needs.

What Yuri needs is someone who pays attention to him as a person without requiring him to meet certain standards.  He needs someone to listen to him and support him instead of trying to constantly change him.  What his coaches do is probably best for his skating career, but it leaves him unbelievably vulnerable as a person.

Yuri sets his sights on Viktor as a skating goal, but he also admires Viktor.  He craves his attention, partly because Viktor is the best and having attention from the best would automatically validate Yuri.  However, I honestly think he became much more fixated on Viktor after Viktor’s challenge simply because Viktor was the first one in awhile to understand Yuri and speak to him on the same level.

Viktor and Yuri

This brings me to the second issue I have with portrayals in fandom.  Viktor is not a menace.  He’s not as selfish and silly as people make him out to be, and he didn’t thoughtlessly abandon Yuri.  

Viktor saw Yuri doing quads before his body was ready and knew that he was on a path to injure himself permanently. He saw Yakov’s attempts to handle it backfiring spectacularly and he stepped in to do the only thing that would stop Yuri.  He challenged him to be the best without jumps and Yuri rose to the challenge and didn’t wreck his body permanently in the process.

I’m pretty sure Viktor never really forgot about his promise to Yuri.  I think he knew Yuri would follow him to Japan and he wanted that.  He knew that Yuri was too focused on him, so becoming Yuri’s personal choreographer or coach wouldn’t have been good for Yuri’s development.  He also knew that both Yuri and Yuuri needed to shake their skating up a bit, so he likely had the competition idea planned from the beginning.  He choreographed the routine for Yuri like he’d promised in the first place, and that was all he could do for Yuri.

Like Yakov and Lilia, he was trying to help Yuri as a skater the best he knew how by distancing himself, but he also didn’t do what was right for Yuri emotionally.  It wasn’t intentional on his part, just like it wasn’t on Yakov or Lilia’s. Viktor clearly cares for Yuri considering how he deliberately watches Yuri’s performance and even hugs him without prompting.  He was just never vocal enough about it.  

We have to remember that Viktor is only 27 too.  It may seem old to some people, but that’s how old I am and I can tell you I wouldn’t know what to do half the time as a coach or a mentor.  Viktor himself says in the show that he wishes he’d had Yakov’s advice at certain points because he doesn’t have the experience he needs as a coach.

Viktor and Yuri are like big and little brothers when it comes down to it.  Viktor related to and cared about Yuri because he saw so much of his own rebellious spirit in Yuri, but he tried to control Yuri to help him (like many older siblings do) instead of just being there for him.

Everyone around Yuri in the skating world is trying to do their best to help him as a skater, but they’re manipulating him instead of working with him and explaining and listening to why he has objections.  I suspect they don’t try because they’ve fallen into thinking he’s unreasonable simply because they’ve never understood his reasons.  

Yuri’s not blameless either since he tends to think their ideas are stupid until he finally realizes the point of them much later on (e.g. trying to do the quads when he was told there was a really good reason not to).  Still, he’s a teenager and the adults around him have more of a responsibility to set things right.

Otabek and Yuri

This brings me to the third thing.  Otabek is the first person who really listens to Yuri and supports him without manipulating him.  He’s the first person to be vocal to Yuri about wanting to be considered a friend.  He’s everything that Yuri needs emotionally that he hasn’t been getting.

Mila and Yuko are the closest otherwise, but Mila seems to be fond of Yuri without really seeing the problems. For Yuko’s part, she realizes he needs someone, but Yuri is too suspicious of her spying on him for Yuuri to fully embrace her as a friend.  Otabek is someone that approached Yuri directly and showed immediately that he saw Yuri for who he was and was interested in him for that, and so Yuri trusted him enough to let him in.

Rather than reading about how Otabek likes Yuri being a firecracker and just takes any and all unreasonableness that comes out of Yuri’s mouth lying down, I’d like to see their relationship portrayed as the outlet it is for Yuri.  I’d like to see Otabek discover and benefit from the more thoughtful and considerate side of Yuri.  I’d like that side to have room to breathe rather than remaining hidden under layers of defenses.

The great thing about Otabek and Yuri is that they’re truly equals.  Yuri has been cast aside and ignored emotionally to a certain extent by all his acquaintances, but having Otabek act as his minion or enabler isn’t the answer. Allowing Yuri to have support and show his support in return is what will really make their relationship great and allow both of them to grow.

Conclusion

I rambled a lot, but basically I’d like to see the characters and their relationships handled with a little more gravity and understanding.  Yuri is not a brat through and through, Viktor is not a selfish airhead, and Otabek is not a long-suffering doormat.

Their characters in the show may seem one way, but a lot of the time there are things going on just beneath the surface.  What they say or what they pretend to be like isn’t always the truth.  Sometimes it’s a means to an end that’s at least well intentioned.  None of the characters are really frivolous.

There are no truly evil characters in Yuri on Ice either.  Some characters are more annoying than others and some are more self-centered than others, but all of them have their own relatable reasons for wanting to win.  No one is truly trying to destroy the others.  They’re only trying to be the best and win the top spot (and in Yuri’s case, reacting badly to his own insecurities).

Which Yuri?

I lied about the conclusion.  There’s one more thing I was thinking about Yuri that I’ll just smoosh in here.

I could argue that Yuri on Ice isn’t a story only about Viktor’s Yuuri, but also about Otabek’s Yuri.  The title seems to come from Yuuri’s music, but in the end Yuri has just as much focus and just as much development, possibly even more, than Yuuri does.  He’s also the one who ends up overcoming all his obstacles and winning.  If the story was supposed to be about Yuuri alone, there was no reason his rival had to be named Yuri.

The romantic relationship between Yuuri and Viktor, the sibling-mentor relationship between Yuri and Viktor, and the rivalry-friendship between Yuri and Yuuri are the true heart of the show, which is why those 3 are the ones in the opening. If any one of the 3 were missing, then the other 2 wouldn’t be as richly developed as characters.

I think Yuri on Ice was meant to refer to both Yuri and Yuuri rather than just one.

[recentanimenews]

THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Gambles Away in Episodes 85-91

Hello there! Once again, it's the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! Noelle Ogawa here, and this week I'll be your host as we make our way through the many arcs of the shonen giant Naruto. Last week, we covered episodes 78-84, and this time we're going to sweep episodes 85-91. 

This time, we have new introductions and new threats, starting off with the mysterious Akatsuki retreating and ending with Tsunade contemplating a tough choice. We get a little glimpse of the last of the three Sannin, and how that bond has fragmented over the years. Most importantly, Tsunade is confronted with two life-changing decisions, neither which are easy to make. This arc is a pretty heavy one. Let's see what the team has to say about this batch!

The Akatsuki have retreated for now, leaving us with an uncomfortable feeling of something greater out there. What are your impressions of the group, especially Itachi and Kisame?

Paul: I want to know what the political goals of Akatsuki are. Both Itachi and Kisame wear their Village headbands with the symbols defaced, so I'm wondering if – despite being obviously cruel and evil villains – they're also the heroes of their own story, because the current entente system that turns children into weapons in order for rival nations to publicly flex their military muscle is pretty messed up, yo.

Kevin: Early on, Itachi seems like there’s some kind of frailty to him, that he’s incredibly strong but can’t fight for long. Kisame also seems like a competent fighter (albeit with a strange weapon), but otherwise is Itachi’s henchman. Having seen how their characters develop, this is an interesting starting place.

Carolyn: Yeah, it seems to me that they believe in what they are doing. That seems to be a common trope with this show so far, though. Lots of characters who may or may not be bad guys but they have a tragic backstory and a firm belief in what they think is right. David: I understand why it happens for dramatic reasons, but I do kind of wish there were just slightly more straightforward foreshadowing about the motivations for our villains, and this the introduction of the Akatsuki makes the best case for this. On the positive side, Itachi serves as a solid example of what Sasuke should probably not become, complete with a skillset they both can theoretically share. “Look out, Sasuke!” Or so I would tell him, if he wasn’t put completely out of commission in multiple ways so that the plot could move on without his obsessions getting in the way.

Joseph: I’m a big fan of introducing villains and painting them as irredeemably evil only to turn that notion on its head later, so I’m excited to watch them develop. Kisame looks more like he belongs in Arlong’s crew from One Piece, but I dig how they only partially revealed the power of his weird shark sword.

Danni: A shadowy group of super powerful villains after the main character sounds pretty cool, so I don’t really know why I’m not all that interested in the Akatsuki yet. I think I’d like to learn more about their motivations first. For now, though, I’m pretty satisfied with the continued conflict with Orochimaru.

Jared: There’s certainly still a number of unanswered questions surrounding the group. Who else is in it and why are these two out and about by themselves? What’s with the headbands being defaced? Those will get answered at some point I’m sure, but from what we’ve seen thus far, Itachi seems like a pretty big deal with how he quickly he dispatches Sasuke and comes up with a way to escape Jiraiya’s trap. Kisame seems more like his muscle, but has that pretty wild sword.

Kara: This was yet another case of seeing the cosplayer before the character, so now I have at least some context for those coats. Also, Itachi’s presence has been in the background of the story for… 80-something episodes now? This has been a slow burn finally getting to him. I wasn’t disappointed; there’s a lot here I’m looking forward to exploring.

Here we encounter another training arc, where Naruto is trying to master the Rasengan. How do you think this compares to previous training, and do you think it’s being handled well?

Paul: Although the completed Rasengan technique is visually impressive, I'm already sick of seeing Naruto playing with balloons. I wish there were some other aspect to the three stages of the training.

Kevin: During the tree climbing, it seemed like Naruto and Sasuke mastered the technique very quickly due to competing against each other; and during the water walking, Naruto caught on in less than a day, then mastered it when Jiraiya undid Orochimaru’s seal. Mastering the Summoning Jutsu was better, since Naruto had to keep practicing, but it realistically became training for drawing out the Nine-Tailed Fox’s chakra, which boiled down to “run out of energy, then put your life in danger.” For me, the Rasengan training is the first time the show has successfully conveyed how difficult and time consuming ninjutsu training is supposed to be and just how hard Naruto pushes himself to grow faster than anyone else.

Carolyn: As always, I was impressed with Naruto’s dedication to learning and advancing his craft. He is very dedicated despite all of his obstacles and it warms my heart.

David: I was honestly just going to say what Kevin said, so I guess I’ll elaborate a little bit instead. The first time we see Rasengan performed is against a random yakuza guy, which works well for introducing the technique while also not giving away just how important it is. Jiraiya’s explanation to Naruto about how the technique fits him well because it doesn’t require hand signs demonstrates both Jiraiya’s understanding of Naruto’s strengths while also serving as a valid cover-up for how powerful he realizes Naruto can be. Seeing in small, increasing stages what exactly the Rasengan does, while grounding that all in the mechanics of the show we’ve been taught so far, makes the whole process feel much more satisfying than a general “power-up”. And, most important, the scenes where Naruto is just walking around practicing on his balloons are endearing as heck. I’ve been there too, little buddy.

Joseph: I appreciated the mundanity of his practice sessions. It may not make for the most compelling television, but, like Kevin said, it got the point across well enough. Now we can sit back and be duly impressed when he unleashes his full Rasengan potential.

Danni: It’s a little mundane, but I appreciate it. The mundanity of it is helping Naruto mature a bit since he’s beginning to realize that he maybe shouldn’t have been goofing off so much in school. I also like how the balloons provide a good tangible example of what the Rasengan is and how to control it.

Jared: There sure is a lot of Naruto just hanging out in the woods struggling with this portion of training, but it fits considering how big of a deal Jiraiya makes the technique out to be. Plus, using balloons and rubber balls seems like a strange choice, but really works with what Jiraiya wants to teach Naruto so he can understand the technique.

Kara: I really enjoy the fact that Naruto learned the Rasengan in a way that made sense to him — the whole thing with the cat, for example — to the point where even Tsunade looks at it and, while recognizing what it is, also recognizes that it’s different. That’s something I’m liking about Naruto’s progress in this set of episodes: he may not be by-the-book, but he’s working it out for himself in a way that makes sense to him, which is a valuable thing no matter what you’re learning.

We have a fair chunk of time devoted to Jiraiya and Naruto’s mentor-mentee relationship. What do you think of this particular dynamic?

Paul: I don't have much of an opinion about it yet, because Jiraiya has a very “hands off” approach to instruction, and he's not exactly a very supportive or nurturing type. He may be extremely skilled as a ninja, but as a teacher, he kinda sucks. I don’t feel like he’d stick his neck out for his charges in the same way that Kakashi and Iruka would.

Kevin: I am liking Jiraiya more and more as he spends time as Naruto’s teacher. He’s more hands off than Naruto would necessarily prefer, but he knows that Naruto learns best by figuring things out himself, and still keeps on eye on his student to check up on progress and probably make sure Naruto doesn’t do anything too reckless. He’s still not great as the father figure Naruto seems to be looking for, but they’re both still warming up to each other.

Carolyn: Man, hands-off style could be cool. And Jiraiya doesn’t necessarily have to be a father figure to Naruto (though it makes me sad he’s not). But overall I just find him to be a giant jerk. I got very upset about Jiraiya blowing all of Naruto’s money. (He wanted to be responsible and save it!) Good for Naruto for letting that Pervy Sage have it.

David: It’s a trade-off that serves a few purposes. Jiraiya is completely correct to recognize Naruto as being mostly self-motivated; it’s hard to imagine a Naruto who improves because he is constantly coddled, right? At the same time, Naruto clearly desires that kind of relationship, because it’s something he’s been denied almost his whole life (thank goodness for Iruka). And for Jiraiya’s side, it plays into something I think I see developing among the Sannin as a whole - a theme of strong latent abilities not being realized to their fullest potentials. Orochimaru is obsessed with progress, but only to the extent that is helps him, which is why he tries to sabotage the village instead of support it. Tsunade is more capable than anyone else to help others, but also too scared of failure to help anyone but herself, which is why she is hesitant to become Hokage and willing to consider Orochimaru’s current proposal. Finally, Jiraiya is ridiculously charismatic, but so empathetic that he can only see the disadvantages to his presence, which is why he refuses the proposition to become Hokage and can’t commit fully to Naruto’s growth.

Joseph: Despite the fact that he blew Naruto’s money, I feel like there’s a hidden lesson in everything Jiraiya does. Remember when he first started trying to summon and kept bugging Jiraiya to “watch his training?” Even then getting him to do so was like pulling teeth, but the way he leaves Naruto to his work now shows how he’s attempting to foster his independence and prevent him from leaning too heavily on the desire for praise and exterior encouragement. He still has a ways to go, but Jiraiya is improving as a character each installment.

Danni: I appreciate Jiraiya in this batch as more of a goofy grandpa and less of a wild horndog. He seems like a good fit to be mentoring someone like Naruto. Their shared goofiness plays well, and Jiraiya’s apparent callousness is just a front help Naruto become more independent. In the end, he always rewards Naruto for his accomplishments.

Jared: Jiraiya becoming less of just the prototypical perv character has been better and I like how Naruto and him are able to almost keep each other in line. Like they’re calling each other out on their own bs. He’s certainly different as a teacher as it’s more hey, you’ve got to figure this out on your own, I’m not going to hold your hand, which is certainly something that Naruto will need to learn in general. So I think overall it isn’t what Naruto would’ve wanted at first, but it works.

Kara: It was a lot easier to be a Jiraiya fan this week. Like I said before, we’re seeing a lot more of how Naruto learns, and that he and Jiraiya were a lot the same. It was a little thing, but I loved the exchange between them about being the the type that has trouble focusing in class. I think all of Naruto’s teachers so far have been good for him and connected with him in some way, but Jiraiya really seems to “get” him and what he needs to grow.

Your closest loved ones returning from the dead in exchange for dooming your home- Orochimaru delivers a harrowing proposal. Is this a good deal in your eyes? If you don’t think so, what’s something that would tempt you?

Paul: As the audience, we've already seen one example of Orochimaru's Resurrection Jutsu, and it was clear that the people brought back to life were just an image of the departed, dancing like puppets while Orochimaru pulled the strings. Tsunade didn't witness that, and her trauma isn't helping her to think clearly, because the likelihood of Orochimaru betraying her is 100 percent.

I honestly don't know what would tempt me. I'm a pretty simple person, and I'm generally happy as long as my basic needs (food, water, shelter, clothing, etc.) are met. Maybe if the villain threatened my loved ones, I'd be forced to comply, but I can't imagine voluntarily striking a deal in exchange for some good or service knowing that the end goal was the destruction of my entire community.

Kevin: I legitimately don’t know what I would do in that situation. Sure, the many should outweigh the few, but the few are people who I care about more than anyone else. I would definitely be tempted, and shows how good the character writing in Naruto can get. Put in Tsunade’s position, I could seriously see myself going either way.

Carolyn: I suppose it depends on the situation. It might sound terrible, but I’m sure I would take the deal for my kids in a heartbeat. David: Hard to admit, but I also completely sympathize with Tsunade here, and it’s hard not to see her gambling addiction as a coping mechanism for how her powers that should have been ‘definitely’ useful ultimately failed her twice.

Joseph: It’s a solid proposal from Orochimaru, and I think it’s reasonable for anyone’s gut answer to be “it depends.” With that said, Tsunade knows Orochimaru. One would think despite her emotions she would know he’s a walking monkey’s paw in this situation.

Danni: Why on earth would anyone ever trust Orochimaru?

Jared: I dunno, I think it’d be hard to accept a deal like that when the person offering is saying he’s going to do some big ole terrorism afterwards. Although, if the offer was that my student loan debt was wiped away, I might think differently.

Kara: I actually sat with this for a few minutes, because there are people I’ve lost whom I’d give just about anything to have more time with. That said, not only do I know a Monkey’s Paw when I see one, I also don’t trust people of even a fraction of Orochimaru’s badness to hold up their end of a deal. It’d either not happen, or happen and be awful. I’d probably buckle faster to threats than promises, because I can see him delivering on those.

Jiraiya reveals that Tsunade doesn’t just need to return to heal Sasuke and Kakashi, but also to become the new Hokage. She has a lot of reservations about the position, considering she has a complicated past with the world of shinobi. If you were in her place, would you take the title? Why or why not?

Paul: Tsunade, just like Jiraiya, clearly doesn't want the job. I think both of them realize that to be Hokage means always being willing to sacrifice one's personal well-being for the good of the Village, and neither of them are ready to do that, because Jiraiya is too self-centered, and because Tsunade has already lost so much already. I wouldn’t want that kind of responsibility, either. I can barely look after a pet goldfish, let alone a whole community.

Kevin: In short, I would probably take the position, mostly out of a sense of being able to change things for the better so that history did not repeat itself. Tsunade’s idea for medical ninja in every team was eventually implemented and shown to be effective, and adding in that she clearly wants to keep as many shinobi alive as possible, she would probably try to keep the ninja villages as peaceful as possible, and if war broke out minimize the Leaf’s losses. So even though she has a lot of baggage concerning the position, in her position I would try to use that baggage as my motivation to change how the village operates.

Carolyn: I think I would take it, if only because of some sort of misplaced “I’ll show them” attitude and because it would kill me to think I couldn’t help prevent other people from going through the same thing. Which … is super hypocritical in light of my resurrection answer, but there you go.

David: Pretending I was in Tsunade’s position right now, I would take it, but for entirely selfish reasons - I know that jerk Orochimaru is out there trying to tempt me and do even worse, so being the leader of essentially a nation of ninjas would be the ultimate revenge. Definitely not the best reasons to do anything, though.

Joseph: The practical me knows I don’t want that kind of position, but the part of me that wants to be the center of attention would probably win out.

Danni: As someone who doesn’t know any ninjutsu, I think I’d make a pretty bad Hokage overall.

Jared: It’s a bit of a mixed bag because the village is basically demanding she take the position regardless of her feelings. Considering how complicated her feelings are about the village and all of that in general, it makes sense why she’d be like nah. I think to really get into the headspace for that kind of position, you’d really need the type of drive that Naruto has.

Kara: In her exact position? Big nope. Her grandfather was Hokage and she had people around her who fully understood the real responsibilities involved. Between their demises and the way things went in general for the village, I’m not sure I could step into a role I’d held to a certain ideal in very dark, very different conditions. Adding insult to injury. That said, I like Tsunade so far, so I’m hoping she goes for it regardless.

Last up, what are the high and low points for this week?

Paul: My high point was the reveal that Tsunade is absolutely terrible at gambling, because I like it when heroic characters are really bad at some morally dubious activity. My low point was how thoroughly destroyed Sasuke was by his confrontation with Itachi. The poor kid gets physically and mentally traumatized and put into a coma, and Itachi didn't even break a sweat in the process. Sasuke doesn't deserve that kind of treatment.

Kevin: High - Jiraiya coming forward as Naruto makes progress in his training after hiding in the shadows to silently observe. He’s still kinda of a dick to Naruto a lot of the time, but we are seeing more of his caring side that eventually makes him everyone’s favorite ninja grandpa.

Low - I honestly really like the vast majority of this arc so… people not being much more vocal about how the town’s castle is suddenly gone? Sure, we get a few people running away, but that’s the kind of thing that should’ve made much more of a general panic, especially since a giant snake exploded out of it.

Carolyn: High point: Naruto giving Jiraiya the third degree for stealing his money. Tell him what’s what, Naruto.

Low point: The Sasuke meme, actually. It was harder to watch than I was expecting. He seemed very broken.

David: High: Jiraiya wakes up hungover and asks Naruto to fetch him some water, to which Naruto responds by blowing up a water balloon over his face. Low: Honestly this was my favorite batch of episodes so far, and I don’t remember disliking anything, but Jiraiya’s character flaws are very frustrating to watch because Naruto is honestly a great kid who deserves a ton of respect and attention. So, that.

Joseph: High: The gradual development of Jiraiya and Naruto’s relationship is fun to watch. Low: I find it hard to believe the ninja clans had never thought to have a freaking medic on the field until Tsunade suggested it.

Danni: The high point for me this batch was when we found out Tsunade is 50. The low point for me is when anyone acted like that was at all a bad thing and not an incredible bonus.

Jared: High point would be when Tsunade was constantly winning and instead of celebrating, immediately knew that something was about to go very badly. Low point, I kind of felt like parts of how Tsunade was written was very generic in a way that felt too tropey and just taking from a list of bad things that can happen to characters and slapping them on her. With how the series handled Sakura in the beginning and has kind of forgotten about her recently, I’m not that surprised it feels like it’s happening again.

Kara: High point is Tsunade going outside to scrap with a kid. I can respect that, I don’t care if Jiraiya thinks it’s immature. Low point is once again having action take place in an animal interior or reasonable facsimile thereof. I don’t cope with that mess well at all.

COUNTERS:

"I'm gonna be Hokage!" count: 6 (32 total) Bowls of ramen consumed: 0 bowls (33 bowls, 3 cups total) Shadow Clones created: 0 (297 total)

  With that concludes this week! Please join us for this rewatch, anytime, especially if you haven't already watched the original Naruto!

  Here's our upcoming schedule:

-Next week, on April 19th, NICOLE MEJIAS will show us the deadly and legendary faceoff in episodes 92-98.

-April 26th will have DAVID LYNN take us to the Land of Waves in episodes 99-105.

-March 3rd features PAUL CHAPMAN, who will walk us through the inevitable Naruto vs Sasuke in episodes 106-112.

  CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

  Thank you for joining us for the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! See you next time!

  Have a question for next week's batch of Episodes 92~98? Drop it in the comments and you might find your answer in next week's installment!

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