#there are ways to kill off likable characters without it being random and just for shock value

[brainrothawks]

i’m never complaining about horikoshi ever again. fuck gege akutami tho, may he never know peace

[nettleshuttle]

Hmmm... how about we go with Yuuri?

guess what, it’s yuri-related rambling time!!

> general opinion/how much i care about them: as it’s not hard to guess by the many art pieces of him that i’ve drawn and posted, i really like this guy! he’s actually one of my favorite arc v characters — neatly written, well-based (even if partially shallow at that), with some threads hanging loose that i can snatch at and extend at my leisure, plus a condescending bastard personality befitting the kind of petty antags that i enjoy. i love how unhinged and impactful he gets in the show, all while retaining characteristics that make him likable and believable as a character

> a ship i love: considering yuri’s personality/backstory and the way he works in the canon, i don’t really see him, you know, forging deep romantic relationships or attachments of any kind, since the academy has pretty much effectively deprived him of the need/possibility to do so. i like the possible take on his relation with sora, but only as mostly a one-sided thing (on sora’s part) and rather something yuri engages in unseriously, just because why not. tbh, i don’t like his ship with serena that much — partially because i don’t see the appeal of their dynamic (which they don’t have much of in the canon anyway), partially because she’s a lesbian and the show-writers told me so personally seeing him as a not-shippable character sits right enough with me

> non-romantic relationship i love: i’m taking this outside the canon, for reasons above-described. his relationship with serena when viewed as an early childhood friends thing that broke off due to the academy’s influence is nice. what’s even nicer and works even less in the canon is his possible dynamic with yugo though. i thought of it randomly while planning out a fic and from then on i’m absolutely down for the chaotic friendship they could have, with them bickering a lot, but gradually opening up in front of each other (yuri very gradually, yugo casually oversharing everything since day one), yugo being the person with enough goodwill to put up with yuri and yuri being the surprised edgelord that he’d get when he realizes he’s got an actual friend ready to stick with/up for him despite his lousy personality

> NOTP: romantic-wise probably the ship with serena, though i’m not particularly against it either, just not something i’d go for by my own initiative. not quite digging the ship with yuya too, but without any real reason apart from what has already been written

> fanfiction idea: (limiting myself to two on that. prepare for random screenshots without context)

my first pick will always be the arc v / zexal crossover fic i already mentioned here, where yuri is the professor’s right hand man and academy’s commander, busy in the xyz dimension, working along with yugo (under reiji’s supervision, reluctantly) to track down and apprehend xyz rebels — or other people who have unknowingly strayed where they shouldn’t have

the second one is not a yuri-centered wip, but he plays a role in the plot (as the thing is told from sora’s point of view). i’ve grown to like it because i started writing it while though ~one/third of arc v and i made up most of yuri’s character on the spot as he hadn’t had much screen time by then. long story short, thought were being thunk (that’s this wip’s name by the way) and i hope i’ll get down to finishing it. one day.

> something that makes me think of them:

these poisonous, kill-a-fellow, bright-color-mess, malicious suckers — you may guess why. and exotic snakes in general, actually far more than the jungle plants he’s associated with in the canon

[moodswingsabz]

Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes: a not-so-local legend in the making

As I sat in the South Stand, watching our new unknown quantity look like he was absolutely killing himself to chase a ball down the channel, I was finding myself asking more questions, rather than finding any answers to the ones that had arrived with Luis Lopes. How would a player without any real senior football adjust to life in the Scottish Premier League? Is a striker or a winger? Why is he called ‘Duk’? And now I found myself wondering if this guy was up to match fitness? Did he have the ability and flare that been stated when he signed? Whenever he reached the ball he looked as if he needed to catch his breath before he could do anything with it. Not long after this I remember being in The Bobbin beer garden, catching the last of summer, when my Celtic-supporting pal told me that he thought Duk was a real player. I was non-committal, I still wasn’t sure either way I told him. Thankfully, the answers the to these questions and a certainty of feeling, for myself and surely all Dons fans, weren’t long in the post. The likability of Duk as a character and the sheer joy of shouting ‘DUUUUUUUK’ whenever he scored, created something, put in a tackle or simply ran close enough to the Red Shed gave him an instant rapport with the Dons support during matches but in the initial stages it did still feel like the jury was very much out on what we were going to see from Duk across the season. He was prone to perhaps overplaying slightly and losing the ball too often and Jim Goodwin was only too happy to remind the media and fans that he wasn’t yet up to match fitness, often accompanied by a random percentile. Then came the goal against Ross County, a sublime touch and finish that lit up an afternoon that would end in frustration for Aberdeen. After this, Duk began starting games and it was in only his second start at Pittodrie, against Hearts, that the all the scraps of talent and desire that had been seen in previous performances came to fruition, with a cool finish through the legs of Craig Gordon followed by an assist, where whilst down injured, he managed to receive the ball, work his way past the Hearts defence and the lay the ball on a plate for Vincente Besuijen. For me it was then that we really knew what kind of player we had on our hands. Last time out I spoke of the affections that can be garnered for a hometown hero but it can be just as enjoyable, even if very different, seeing a player come from the relative unknown and really find their feet for your team. We’ve been lucky enough to see it a few times recently at Aberdeen with the likes of a James Maddison, Danny Ward or Sam Cosgrove (arguing this is probably a tougher sell than it was getting him off to Birmingham) and this season we could be seeing this scenario for two or three in the squad with Bojan Miovski, Leighton Clarkson and of course, Duk. It’s quite a rare phenomenon and no one would argue that we haven’t had to endure our fair share of duds, players who landed with plenty of promise that really never took off, who left Aberdeen with not much more than the knowledge safely secured that you can put pasta in a pie, but when it works, it works. It’s simply a great feeling as a fan to see a player come in from parts unknown and really take to Aberdeen as both a place to develop their football and a city as a whole. Reading what Luis had to say about his time at the club and city this week, how at times it almost felt like he’d been in born in Aberdeen, had me feeling a bit more emotion than I’d usually like to admit on a football blog. There were a very tough few months for Aberdeen post the World Cup break and Duk wasn’t immune to this but with the recent turnaround in performances under Barry Robson, he is back to his blistering best. The back heel at Tannadice felt like the springboard for what is hopefully a huge turnaround in our away form this season and the brilliant early double against Hearts confirmed that with the resurgent Dons, comes a resurgent Duk. Inevitably the conversation has already started about how long we’ll get to enjoy seeing Duk’s moments of magic in an Aberdeen shirt, his brilliant and passionate celebrations after scoring and the general ‘scenes’ he seems to be able to create at Pittodrie. There is already talk of other, more financially fruitful clubs coming knocking and that we should enjoy Luis whilst he’s here. However, as a football fan, it could be said that there is no certainty of enjoyment in the future and quite often the present can be too stressful to be fully enjoyed (other than those magical times where ball hits net) and it’s really the past we look to, to find our satisfaction. Despite everything that has happened this season, Duk has delivered many brilliant moments , some mentioned in this article but also many more. So of course, we’ll need to enjoy him whilst he’s here but no matter what happens next, no matter what happens with the young lad from Benfica B, Duk has given us memories to look back on and enjoy for many years to come.

[loving-villanelle]

I’m sorry, I have to say it. Villanelle’s complete 180 lack of personality and how the plot just happened to her this season completely turned me off the entire show. She was a vivacious force of nature in the first two seasons. Yes, I understand that she had to come down to earth in order to be on Eve’s level romantically, but they didn’t have to strip every memorable thing about her away just to do it.

It feels like a targeted hit at this character and, frankly, at Jodie. After the backlash the writers received for sidelining Sandra/Eve and being so focused on white characters, it feels like they went too far in the opposite direction of sacrificing Eve’s likability and giving Jodie crumbs. In reality, we wanted to see them given equal screentime and fleshed out both individually and together.

NO ONE asked for a litany of new characters to hint at a spinoff. They gave all of Villanelle’s screentime and plot to these randoms. And in the 11th hour, they kill her off and tell us that we’re supposed to be okay with that.

Fuck that. This feels targeted.

This whole season was an absolute god damn mess. You're right, Jodie was completely sidelined for most of the season. Sandra got good screen time at first, but like you said, it unfortunately was in a way that really sacrificed Eve's likability as she was almost unrecognizable to us, with no explanation as to why. But I feel once the flashback episode happened in 4x05, even Eve started to get sidelined a bit as well. The only adequate screen time either got was in 4x08, when really they should've had that amount of screen time the entire season. Even if their scenes weren't always together, it is insane that whole ass scenes were regularly happening without either one of them in it. They both had their characters all but destroyed. We got to see a small glimpse of the old them in the finale, but then they were both victimized with one dead and the other as good as. Just absolutely piss poor storytelling, Laura Neal should never touch another show again

[0poole]

I LOVE No Straight Roads

Honestly it’s hard to keep me away from a game with great visuals and even greater character design. I knew from the INSTANT I saw these characters that I was going to love it. I just finished it because it’s (unfortunately) pretty short, and even though I cheesed the final boss through it’s very lenient death mechanics (Instant respawn at the cost of a good rank) I actually appreciated that it wasn’t a pure cake walk. I’ve yet to rematch all of the bosses, but since I had genuine trouble with the later ones I’ll hold off on that.

But who cares about gameplay, am I right? I sure as hell don’t. I would’ve bought the game no matter what the hell it was. I wanted the characters (and the music, although I realized that second) and that was it. 

First of all, I love any world that is super fantastical but cheesy in its concept, ala a city powered by music, and battles between artists using music. Ideas like this only spawn from a mind that wants to create a fun atmosphere, if nothing else, and it was sure as hell fun. I genuinely love when someone goes so far into a crazy idea and doesn’t waste your time explaining it with real world logic. Wanna know how a city can be powered by music? Shut up and look at the cute virtual mermaid. Lord knows I did. Every once in a while, it does you good to just let the player/reader/viewer just revel in the idea without having to go out of your way to make things seem realistic. It’s not about “turning your brain off” or whatever, it’s picking your battles.

Also, I can seriously love a world with great background characters to it. Any game with the right situation to insert the random nobodies you find onto the streets into the art in the credits really played into the greatness of the world’s less important characters, and that’s always a good thing. It’s technically world building. But, since I always love to pick favorites, I’d have to say my favorite background character is easily Mia, the NSR infodesk assistant. It’s funny, because you can literally search “nsr characters” into Google and she’s the third image result. I love how jumpy she is when you first interact with her, since NSR probably spread the word about B2J suggesting they’re rock thugs who’d beat up anyone, so for all she knows she could die right then and there with a guitar lodged in her skull. She’s probably just some intern trying to pay for college. She don’t want trouble.

Also, I just realized that 90% of the characters in this game have the same body structure that I always love, that being having arms/legs that sort of fan out in width into relatively large hands/feet. It’s a kind of limb structure I fall into so much because it just really hits me right for some reason. I really can’t explain why.

Anyways, I gotta talk about the big boys individually:

Mayday and Zuke are an amazing duo. I’m always a sucker for a cute and crazy girl, but honestly Zuke hit so many of the right notes too. I will say it’s weird to pair the martian Zuke with the humanly-skinned Mayday, but honestly it doesn’t even matter because he looks so cool on his own. I love his weird blocky blue dreadlocks, and his weirdly shaped shirt which bares his chest in the weirdest way... And, oh my god, Mayday’s weird Spongebob background flower eyes? It’s little tidbits like that that really make me jealous. How could I have ever thought of that? It looks so perfect, and I don’t know why. And her little booty jig she does in her idle animation? Adorable. I played as her as much as was reasonable not only because I’m a filthy button masher with little strategy but also because she’s so damn cute. I can also appreciate how she has a tough-as-nails persona while still keeping a semi-girly attitude, like with her falling for 1010 and Sayu. Characters are so much better when they’re a perfect blend of characteristics, instead of being all one-note, like how Zuke is the quiet one but gets heated against DK West, and all. 

Honestly the voice acting for every character is great, but I love when Mayday’s VA’s accent shows through. It’s a perfect twang to accent (consider this the only acknowledgement of a pun in this post) her snarkiness. 

DJ Subatomic Supernova was going to be an easy favorite since he’s all space-themed. Also, I don’t know why I always end up liking the egotistic characters. Not in the sense that I like their egotistic-ness, but in the sense that I like everything else about them and they just so happen to also be egotistic. The same applied with Empoleon (maybe like my 2nd favorite Pokemon) and Rarity from MLP, probably among others. Either way, I’ll never not love space themes. Not to mention he’s got a funky disco theme, and I’m slowly starting to realize that I am in extreme love with techno-funk styles of music. The instant I heard his music he cemented his place into my playlists. 

As for design, I still have no idea what the fuck he is. Clearly AI is at human levels in this world, but if he’s a robot why does he still have hairy legs? But, if he’s a human, is that weird orb his head? Is it just some sort of puppet which he controls from inside his giant jacket? I know I dissed explaining things realistically but I actually want to know with this guy. Even the wiki doesn’t say. Either way, he’s clearly the logical extreme of “being at the center of your own universe.” Even his jacket depicts a solar system, with his hood being the sun. Didn’t see that until I tried to draw him. I really wish this guy wasn’t so tied to his DJ stand so I could reasonably draw him without it. I don’t want to draw his hairy ass legs. It is a great touch for his design though (although I prefer his beta look with pants and long boots, another design trait I tend to gravitate to) since DJs could reasonably not wear pants, since they’re always behind a table.

Sayu is my favorite. It’s so plainly obvious. It’s weird to say that sometimes, because some characters like Sayu are so clearly engineered to be as adorable as possible, to the point where they’re basically a parody of whatever they’re supposed to be emulating, but then they do that so well that they are still likable for what they’re trying to parody. Also, even though I’ve never looked into any vocaloid superstars myself, the fact that they exist and are loved in real life is absolutely perfect to be used as a character design in a world like this. It’s so weird conceptually, but we all know it’s normal and realistic. But yeah, she’s a giga-cutie whom I’ve already drawn and I’ve listened to her theme on loop on many different occasions. Favorite character, favorite track, favorite weapon of choice (What did I say about Empoleon?), which, and I wouldn’t have noticed this myself, looks like the USB symbol you see above USB ports on computers. How crazy perfect is that?

Even apart from my unbridled love for cute monster robot(?) girls, her boss fight is probably the 2nd greatest of them all, at least conceptually. She’s just a hologram, so you can’t touch her, but you CAN disconnect the artists which control her in order to defeat her. It’s the kind of concept for a boss fight that could only work for this type of character. I’m a sucker for the cute girl that provides her voice, but I love how the animator (video editor? the yellow one) actually attacks you with a mouse and lowers the brightness of the setting once he appears. Also, the mocap guy being the deeply-voiced type but still providing the adorable movements of her body. It’s such a great combo of characters, and their little extra art in the credits makes me like them even more. I just wish we could interact with them individually.

DK West was probably one of the most interesting characters visually, especially since I knew of every other NSR member long before the game came out, but I only just heard of him closer to the release. I wasn’t sure where he was placed, but I definitely assumed his gig was the weird shadow demon we saw in the trailers. When I finally saw him in game, I was shocked to hear him speak an entirely different language most of the time, which was really cool. Also, finding out he was tied to Zuke and wasn’t strictly an NSR artist really made him more interesting. You know, if his fucking shadow clone magic didn’t make him crazy cool enough. Even though I suck at his game and am not especially fond of his raps, the visual of him rapping with this giant monster behind him and dozens of weird shadow wingmen by his side hyping him up was probably one of the coolest in the entire game. The dark way they were hyping him up too gave such a bizarre atmosphere, especially since it parallels his seemingly chill and smiley demeanor. 

I definitely hope they’ll introduce new bosses as DLC in the future, and make them sort of in the same vein as DK West, where they aren’t the biggest artists ever, but they want to pick a fight with B2J. I’d kill for any extra content this game can provide.

Yinu is obviously special since she was the subject of the demo they put out for the game. Even though I knew all her bells and whistles, she and her mom still beat me a few times in the full game. Considering she’s semi-tied to story-ish spoilers I kinda want to go more into her in a separate section. It is worth considering playing the game first since it’s not hard (with the easy going deaths) and it’s short length.

1010 seriously grew on me as I learned more about them and interacted with them. I got their shtick when I first looked at them, but after seeing that animation of them touring the city on Youtube I was kinda falling for them. Then, I learned that they’re apparently repurposed navy war robots? I mean, maybe not them specifically, but it seems to heavily point in that direction, with the warship cars and “attention!”s and all. It took me a bit to get into their music too, but once I actually fought them and put their actions to the music I fell in love with it. I swear, Neon J’s weird dancing can has some of the smoothest moves in all of gaming. I don’t know whether they mocapped out those movements or got one of the greatest animators ever, but it looks so impossibly clean his part of the song gets me like 30x more hype than it would normally. 

Also, their little art piece of them looking at fan mail in the credits is probably one of the most adorable things ever. Even if they’re just Neon J’s puppets, that piece of art really makes it seem like they love every one of their fans. I’m not gonna lie, I might swoon a bit too if they picked me out and gave me some special attention.

Oh yeah, and the fact that Mayday was super sad in her showstopper against them was adorable and hilarious at the same time. The little tweaks they made to the showstopper for each fight were great.

Eve just has to be Lady Gaga, right? Like, an even crazier Lady Gaga. DJSS is Daft Punk (or any artist with a helmet persona, you know what I’m talking about), Sayu is Hatsune Miku, DK West is Kanye West, Yinu is a generic child protege, 1010 is a KPop boyband (just pick one) and Eve is Lady Gaga. That’s just how things are. But, again, this is the kind of boss fight that only this type of character could provide. It’s not just surreal imagery, it’s ARTISTIC surreal imagery. The fight is so mesmerizing in every way, especially by how it starts off so slow and calm and progresses to insanity, as well as the increased emotional investment in the fight making you feel so much more into it than just “That’s the boy band. Let’s fight.” Not only does it get you more invested, but it makes her artistic persona go deeper than just “she looks weird.” She is genuinely conflicted about her relationship with Zuke, and naturally that leads her to literally split him and Mayday apart. That mechanic specifically was the coolest, although I do wish they made it more obvious when you needed to switch over to a different side. I was getting pulverized by her fight too, since there were so many things to pay attention to. Her fight was definitely the best one. 

Tatiana and Spoilers:

Let’s be real with ourselves, the twist was so obvious. I do also think, though, that obvious twists aren’t bad if they’re just good reveals. At some point, a person just has experienced so many stories that “only pretty good” twists are easy to spot. It doesn’t mean that the twists are bad, it just means you yourself experienced.

I feel like her transition from rock to EDM was pretty understandable, even as a non-musician. She was so caught up in what she assumed was popular that it basically consumed her. It’s easy as an artist to want to forgo what you truly want to make in favor of what makes you popular, and clearly since her transition to EDM made her the CEO of the biggest company in the city (world?) that probably made her think she truly needed to change her outlook. Then, when she saw B2J try to bring it back, she sort of coined them as being as misguided as she was and knocked them down a peg. Plus, they were kinda being jerks about it.

It’s kinda like the Trolls sequel, where everyone pegs rock music fanatics as being too stuck up in their own heads to appreciate other types of music, which honestly seems more like the case than the alternative. When I first heard of the story of the game, I was seriously hoping they did put an asterisk on B2J’s ambitions because they were a bit sketchy from the start. 

That’s kinda where I want to talk about Yinu, because she was the true turning point in what they were doing. She’s literally 9 and yet she’s getting dragged into all this BS. When she said “I hate you all” at the end of her fight, and played a somber tune on her broken piano after the fight destroyed it, you kinda got a kick in the face to realize you’re kinda being an asshole to some of them. Sure, they fight back, but they wouldn’t fight in the first place if they didn’t have to. They are just people who play music under a joint name that B2J just so happened to get in hot water with. 

Then, of course, there’s Kliff, who also reeked of surprise villain, and who’s basically the embodiment of the bad side of B2J, where he just wanted to destroy for his own sake and not for the actual greater good. Once B2J realized their mistake, they backed off, but Kliff was so hard pressed to do what he planned on in the first place he wouldn’t stop. I kinda wish he got a bigger fight to his own since he’s clearly a big enough tech genius to divert a whole satellite into one specific building. Maybe the Elliecopter chase bit was his thing, but I do kind of wish he was there to fight against them too.

Even though Tatiana did kind of reform a bit quick, It’s still not too crazy to assume she could see that B2J was just misguided and the fact that they worked to revert their wrongdoings for her sake would make a pretty strong impressions. They clearly can hold their own, so it’s not like she wouldn’t want them to join NSR too. 

Oh yeah, and her boss fight was clock/time themed. If there’s a theme under space that I love, it’s clocks/time. 

And If I am to be respected by the internet, I must provide a negative opinion to balance out my positive one. I will say that the character model physics (like Mayday’s braids, DK West’s vest thing, Neon J’s fluffy neck thing, etc) got kinda funky at times. Especially DK West’s vest, which was completely messed up for every scene he was in... Also, even though the voices are mostly great, some lines felt a bit off. Just a bit. That good enough? Good.

But yeah anyway that’s another favorite game to add to the pile. Eventually I’m gonna have to compile a true list of my all-time favorite games/movies because I do kind of want to have a solid idea of what my all-time favorites are.

[thattimdrakeguy]

Pennyworth R.I.P. REVIEW!

The biggest flaw of Pennyworth R.I.P. is that it’s trying to be a character study without understanding the characters.

Character studies that suck at being character studies massively annoy me, because they can ruin the perception of the characters for lots of people that don’t know better, and that’s pretty much what this is.

Tim wouldn’t be happy to get a call to a funeral.

They ignore the disconnect between Jason and the Bat-Family when he still uses guns.

Alfred didn’t baby Damian.

And they might as well not have included Ric if he wasn’t gonna be Dick.

But I’d expect no less from James Tynion and Peter Tomasi. It went pretty much how I figured, because they always ignore Jason’s actual relationship with the Bat-Family, Tynion never understood Tim, and loves melodrama to seem like his work has substance, while Tomasi just babies Damian to pander to people, and forcing sympathy, just to force some likability out of cheap places for him.

This is shown best in this moment:

I just don’t feel like Jason Todd would do this. He’s not a jerk like this. He murders, he’d probably torture, he wanted revenge, but inside his heart is still that of a heroes (ignoring those ooc comics where Jason’s just a generic villain anyway), he cares about people as people, he should understand rushing in of all people. He isn’t a petty pisspants. Jason’s actually quite calm most of the time. He’s angry in very specific situations. Yelling at people like this, doesn’t feel like Jason’s style.

This reeks of Tomasi’s typical style of “Aww feel bad for Damian” in general as well as just making character’s be jerk to Damian randomly to make them look bad for Damian’s sake, and Tynion’s useless melodrama to at least seem like he can write drama, when it’s just cheap and over the top instead.

Damian being the only one there when Alfred died is already a traumatic experience. They didn’t have to make Jason out to be this unrepentant ass to show that. It reminds me all to well when Tomasi did the same thing to Tim to make Damian seem more in the right to beat him up. Except this just makes Jason all the more crueler given the context.

--

For some reason as well, Tim’s Red Robin when he should be Robin in a flashback.

So did they retcon that away AGAIN?

This is like-- the, hmm, 1, 2, 3, 4,-- 5th time they took Robin away from Tim in some manner.

This is ridiculous at this point.

--

It’s trying so desperately to be deep, but since no one really acts like themselves, it’s just forced. It can’t be actually deep in regards to the characters when the characters don’t act like the characters.

This comic follows the trope of remembering the best memory of the one that passed, and it just feels like a parody at some points, because of how ridiculous or forced it gets. That trope is a trope because it’s a natural thing people do, but they just tell these mostly random stories that don’t feel right because half of them are out of character anyways.

It is also completely ridiculous how it follows the trope of everyone acting out, because they get so pissed so fast it’s just idiotic. It’s so rushed, like the writers felt they had to get to these moments and raced to it.

--

I think Damian’s flashback is the worst when it comes to really forcing sentimentality, almost purely because it’s set in the beginning of Damian’s time as Robin with Bruce, and they just have Damian and Alfred act out of character to give them these cutesy moments that would be out of character no matter where in Damian’s character history.

But especially back when Damian was still barely not murdering people all the time.

Like can Tomasi stop ruining Damian’s character? He’s the most overrated writer Damian ever had, because he’s constantly just using pandering to hide that he isn’t that great. Damian is still learning to not be crazy here given the time in the flashback. Why is Tomasi acting otherwise?

Damian isn’t a normal kid and that’s the point.

What’s the point of his character growth when they act more and more like he didn’t need it? They always do that or have everyone ignore Damian’s actions half the time which makes him avoid proper growth. It’s tiring.

--

Tim’s is idiotic because it focuses on something so random when Tim and Alfred actually had sweet moments quite often. They played video games together, 

Alfred helped convince Bruce to buy (Tim’s then girlfriend) Ariana’s Family business so she could stay in town,

he even looked after Tim when Tim was forced to go to a boarding school by his dad Jack Drake,

Alfred freaking drove Tim around in a van to fight crime when Bruce was away even.

They had lots of sweet moments already seen, but they focus on something so less personal, and more just random.

Continuing some idea Tim isn’t that involved with the Bat-Family that much ever, an outcast he was even called once. When he used to be the Bat-Family’s heart.

--

Jason’s is the same way with it’s choice of story sort-of. His story is so random, short, and unemotional that I feel like it was just an excuse to have Alfred crash into a building with the Batmobile rather than tell a story with a lot of meaning besides a quick “aw” and “ha”.

--

Barbara’s is the best. It doesn’t feel too forced, mostly just figuring out where Alfred got the time is the only reason id feel that way, but it actually focuses on a sentiment that feel legitimate, like these characters would actually do this.

It actually feels like a story that she would bring up. Something the previous stories were lacking. This feels like a natural story to tell, and it makes it the best part of the whole comic. It’s emotional, sweet, and sentimental, in all the right ways.

--

Dick’s doesn’t really have a lot to do with Dick, but it’s nice. Not too much to say about it unless I missed something.

--

Most importantly of all Alfred’s death feels meaningless because DC’s habit of shock value takes away any emotion, and it shouldn’t have ever happened.

Alfred been a character that everyone recognizes as part of Batman for decades and decades. So loyal and iconic. A character everyone can write, and killed for a story that no one likes, and all he gets is a crappy one-shot that seems like it didn’t have the right thoughts put into it.

I would’ve rather have read an extended version of Barbara’s flashback, because it had class.

This is contrived mediocrity that tries so hard to convince you it understands the characters and that it’s deep, emotional, with all this substance, but without the tools it needed to make it work.

With such an unneeded death, this was never going to feel emotional or deep, but a lack of understanding of the characters only makes it worse.

Closest they get is Tim trying to step up and help Bruce, but it’s done in that typical Tynion style of “Look at how great Tim is”, and it just gets soiled cuz it feels pretentious. Tim’s a boy doing his best, but he doesn’t come off that way the way he gets written here. It’s a veil of past Tim, but it doesn’t have the right heart.

Alfred deserved better.

[fairuzfan]

Inumaki and Okkotsu: The Pattern that just keeps on.... Patterning

I always found it quite odd how Yuuta outright decides to kill Yuuji after the Shibuya arc. Sure he’s Sukuna’s vessel but he too was the subject of an execution order just last year. Surely he understands that the people the elders decide to kill are for their own benefit, people they see as a threat to their authority. So Yuuta should find a friend in Yuuji, even if he did cut off Inumaki’s arm. Besides, isn’t killing him a bit of an extreme reaction?

But the thing is, for Yuuta, it’s not. And if their positions were reversed, if Megumi had been hurt by Yuuta’s actions, then Yuuji would probably react in a similar manner too.

In an earlier post, I mentioned how Panda says that Inumaki and Yuuta’s circumstances are similar, in that their cursed technique has had such a profound affect on their relationships with others. This sets them up to be foils and rivals, much like how Yuuji and Megumi are as well as Gojo and Getou. 

And with each of these pairs, the pattern that keeps repeating is with one character being far more focused in their goals and their interactions and the other being more world minded with the people around them. 

Gojo and Megumi are shown to only be concerned with the people directly around them, not really sparing much thought about the people they don’t know. Yuuji and Geto are so sympathetic to the people they haven’t even met, people they may not even make a connection with, making it a central point in their character’s conflict. 

With Inumaki and Yuuta, it’s far more complicated because we haven’t really seen the point of view of one of the pair but I’ll try. I’ll probably add more to this post when we learn more about Inumaki but until then...

Toge is described by others as a kind person, someone who cares about how his cursed technique will affect others. He’s similar to Yuuji in that regard, someone with a power they have no real control over but try their best to contain it. Yuuta, who has had far more internal reflection and development, is also afraid of harming others because of Rika. 

But for Yuuta, he’s only concerned at the hint of an instance where something might happen, like when those bullies were pushing him around in Volume 0. 

This isn’t a negative thing really. I mean, you can’t really predict every time something might happen that may cause Rika to lose it. So him only being concerned about this when it happens is quite reasonable. And it’s not like he never tries to stop these things from happening. He tried isolating himself for most of his life and realized that it’s just not possible. It isn’t until he comes to terms with Rika that he feels more comfortable interacting with others. 

Toge, however, still isolates himself in a way. He limits his speech, while still being friendly with others, but never truly connecting though words out of fear that he may inflict something terrible to the people who talk to him. So even to people he doesn’t know well, he keeps his distance out of concern for them. 

But Yuuji and Megumi never had this problem, not really. Getou and Gojo didn’t either. Each pair has their own central struggle they have to deal with. 

Gojo and Geto’s is perception of self as it relates to others. Megumi and Yuuji’s is morality of protection of life and its overall importance. 

For Yuuta and Inumaki, their struggle is the need for connection while under the understanding that connection implies mutual harm and how to navigate that without isolating yourself. 

And their cursed techniques are a perfect depiction of this. They both have potential to do great harm and try to avoid it. But the only way to avoid it is to distance themselves.

Because of this, they see each other as similar souls, people they’re concerned for. That’s Yuuta becomes so angry on Toge’s behalf. 

And it’s not just that Yuuta is trying to get justice for his friend.  Yuuta become protective of Inumaki because he cares for him, but also because they’ve gone through the same things. Yuuta sees himself in Toge in a way that he doesn’t see himself in anyone else.

Someone who was so thoroughly affected by their cursed technique that they couldn’t fully connect with others the same way everyone else did. Yuuta’s trying to get justice for himself. 

And there’s something else I found odd here. The “I don’t care if he’s Master Gojo’s pupil.” Right away, he closes himself off from a connection to someone he could relate, and he realizes that. He basically admits “If I got to know him, I’d probably like him and become friends with him since we had similar circumstances.” He refuses the possibility of connection, something that motivates Yuuta’s entire character, in favor of vengeance, which, by the way, we aren’t even sure Toge wants.

Like Megumi, Yuuta chooses the people directly around him, people he’s already made that connection with and forgoes a new connection because of the destruction Sukuna caused towards his friend. Yuuta’s acting on his own personal conscious, not the ideal of what’s right or wrong on the grand scheme of things.

We aren’t given Toge’s viewpoint of the issue at all. We aren’t shown his resentment or forgiveness. We just show the physical consequences of when Sukuna went hogwild and made him lose his arm. Yuuta makes the executive decision to kill Yuuji, speaking on Toge’s behalf.

For all we know, Toge could hold no resentment towards Yuuji and not want to see him dead (which is where I think this is headed. I sincerely hope for a physical confrontation between Yuuta and Toge, where Toge forces Yuuta to admit that significance of Yuuta’s existence rather than just the threat of Sukuna’s.). Or it could result in Toge supporting Yuuta and turning against the first years (which, imo, goes against the core of Toge’s character but I could still see that happening and breaks the pattern of opposing viewpoints between best friends. We haven’t really learned much about Toge from himself and mostly have had secondhand accounts of his personality.)

Which now, I’d like to go back to my earlier point. I kept likening Megumi to Yuuta throughout this but I said that if their positions were switched, Yuuji would do the same thing as Yuuta. 

Yuuji has been shown to be protective of the people around him and that’s been exacerbated through the Shibuya arc. When Naoya mentions his intention to kill Megumi, Yuuji get’s defensive. 

But like, who wouldn’t? Some random guy says he’s going to kill your best friend. But this is a little different from Yuuta wanting to avenge Toge, since Naoya outright states his ill intentions.

 And... that’s kinda not the point, either way. Yuuji has been watching so many people he’s been close to die around him despite wanting to give them a proper death. So as it builds up, his resolve to not “kill” anyone and preserve life, slowly starts to disintegrate. 

So they start to fight. Yuuji with the intention to protect his friend but coincidentally Yuuta comes in about to start fighting him as well. Now we got Yuuji fighting to defend Megumi and Yuuta fighting to avenge Toge. Two sides of the same coin. Maybe they both have the same intentions too, with Yuuji wanting to kill Naoya to counter Yuuta’s intention to kill Yuuji. 

Don’t get me wrong, Naoya is not a likable guy and personally I can’t wait for his reckoning, it will be oh so sweet. But he’s still human. Yuuji seems to have drawn a (very faint) line that he “kills” curses but will not do so to people. He confronted Noritoshi Kamo only with the intention of retrieving his Sensei, not anything else. But with Naoya, who imo embodies so many aspects of humanity that it’d be better off without, he’s genuinely a selfish guy.

He’s like... Mahito. He does things for his own benefit and doesn’t really care how that affects others. We know Yuuji ended up having no qualms about wanting to kill Mahito. 

And then Yuuta, well, he basically sees Yuuji as Mahito. To Yuuta, Yuuji’s a guy who chooses life, the selfish choice, over giving that life up to protect others. In Yuuta’s mind, Yuuji does more harm than good, but that’s only because he hasn’t gotten to know him. Yuuji may have the King of Curses within him but he’s a genuinely caring person who wants to help people. Yuuta only sees the consequences of his actions, albiet quite destructive consequences.

And Megumi and Toge, both the people that they’re fighting for, are, surprise surprise, nowhere to be seen. Yuuta’s probably worried about protecting Inumaki so he doesn’t want him to come along. Yuuji’s ashamed and unwilling to face Megumi so he distances himself. And they’re both fighting on someone else’s behalf, someone they aren’t even really communicating with.

So now we got the whole Mahito vs Yuuji situation two times over. But a strange twist of fate is making Yuuji into a Mahito to be exorcised, despite his visceral hatred of him. Yuuta’s probably going to fall into the same pattern as Yuuji, where he’s forced to confront the humanity and importance of life that he’s wanting to extinguish. 

Yuuji and Yuuta both need to work on their communication with the people around them before continuing in their path, lest they fall into the same pattern as Getou who’s constant stewing made him go insane. All three are well intentioned people who care so deeply but because they decide to take on everyone’s burdens by themselves, they distance themselves more and more from the people they��re trying to protect.

[kitsbookshelf]

The Twilight Saga: a detailed review of why I can’t stand them and love them in (almost) equal measure

Before I start this borderline scathing review, I just want to let you know that it's full of spoilers, so if you haven't read the books, look away now. This is your only warning.

Now that that's out of the way... I can't stand the Twilight saga. Twelve-year-old me is cringing at my hatred for it, and Twilight fans are waiting to set me on fire, but it's true. I think they're poorly written, and there are soooo many parts of every book that just...missed the mark, at least for me. Let's start at the beginning, with the first book: Twilight.

Bella, our darling main character, moves in with her dad, Charlie (let's take a moment to appreciate perhaps the only normal, mentally stable person in this entire saga), in the rainy small town of Forks, Washington.

Bella is quite a bland character, but that just makes her easier to project yourself onto when you're reading the book if that's how you immerse yourself. For me, I found her obsessive and definitely not emotionally stable, and it did honestly feel like reading the diary of a manic and very unstable 17-year-old. On one hand, that's good--I'm reading from Bella's perspective, and it's written exactly how I'd expect her to write--but on the other hand, the writing feels...cheap? I completely blame my own taste in writing style for my opinion on this one, but I just couldn't enjoy the very boring storytelling happening here. It was all very 'tell-tell-tell' instead of the 'show-tell-show' way of writing I prefer.

Now here is where my adoration for this book comes in: Edward Cullen. Specifically, the interactions between him and Bella. They have conversations, and banter, and it's a fun little human-vampire-friendship that isn't awful to read (I will never never forgive the films for leaving some of the dialogue out, it's pure gold and possibly the only saving grace of this book). The characters felt like teenagers here, but it was only for the few short pages we got of them interacting without the overly-exaggerated brooding that our sweet Ed is known for.

The romance between Bella and Edward is...concerning. For me, I couldn't find a single bit of actual romance between the two of them beyond Bella's obsession with him and Edward's bloodlust and weird self-control thing he has for her. It felt really unhealthy, and I couldn't wrap my head around how people actually think there's romance there.

The whole James thing...I don't know about anyone else, but it felt really random. Yes, it added a conflict to the book, but I felt like there wasn't really any good development to make it more relevant. That all seemed to happen later with Victoria, but James didn't really feel like he fit into the story very well. I think I would have preferred it if he was gradually brought in through the book, or if there was some sort of lead up to the conflict instead of just--WHAM! Tracker dude wants to kill Bella because Edward got protective and now only the final section of the book has any action.

Twilight completely had the potential to be a good vampire-human romance novel. There was no real need for the James-Victoria storyline, even in the later books. What did they add? Only the entirety of Eclipse, but that book could be taken out completely without disrupting the story all that much.

New Moon feels like a completely different book, and I actually really liked it. The writing style still got on my nerves and made it more difficult for me to enjoy the book, but the content was so much better.

Bella's spiral in New Moon really added something to her character. Instead of another book of her constant Edward-Cullen-is-the-most-beautiful-man-to-ever-exist inner monologue, we got a whole book of her.

Jacob Black was introduced, and he was a genuinely likable character (the one thing I will say is that his inability to take 'no' for an answer really did put me off him for a large portion of the book and the next one) who brought some more normality into the book. It didn't feel like I was reading an overly-exaggerated supernatural romance, and I enjoyed it. The banter between the two of them was so realistic, and I actually really loved how Meyer explored Bella's coping mechanisms and her dependency issues when Jacob phased and Bella was left without him again.

The conflict here was much more well-executed than in Twilight, with the Volturi having been mentioned before and now becoming established properly in the saga. They're the perfect villains, and I enjoyed reading about them much more than I enjoyed the rushed few chapters of James's story in Twilight. I loved how Meyer kept Bella awake the entire way home from Italy. You really got to see the sort of wild relief that she felt when getting Edward back, and I think it was well-written and made me feel like there was slightly more going on here than the forced romance in Twilight.

I really do feel like the subject of them being mates should have come up a lot sooner. Maybe some questions on how a human could be a vampire's mate, or exploring the complications of it, because then maybe Bella's obsession would have been far more understandable earlier in the saga, and it might have felt more 'organic' than the relationship I read until Bella became a newborn later on.

And now we reach Eclipse... Eclipse, Eclipse, Eclipse... I hate it. There isn't a single part of this book that I can honestly say I enjoyed. I felt like it could have been taken out completely, and it wouldn't have made a difference to the story.

The whole book felt like a filler, purely there to resolve the issue of Victoria before moving on to Bella's pregnancy and vampirism in Breaking Dawn. It didn't feel like any part of it was important, or really memorable.

Victoria's whole storyline could have been erased without destroying the saga. The only interesting thing about the whole conflict with her was that she managed to orchestrate it without Alice seeing her, and that was the one thing that kept the book rolling on instead of it being a handful of chapters of the newborns being defeated.

The one thing that this book set up was the truce between the werewolves and the vampires, and I definitely think that could have been done in another way if James and Victoria had never existed (if you can't already tell, I really don't see the point to James and Victoria, and they don't add anything to the books except for a tiny, irrelevant bit of drama).I enjoyed how Meyer wrote the love triangle, and how she made Bella love them both. It felt, to me, more realistic that Bella would feel something for Jacob after everything we read in New Moon and how much she cared about him.

Beyond those things, though, this book really did feel completely useless to me, and I couldn't wait to stop reading it and get back to something that felt like it had a decent plot.

Okay, last one (I commend you for surviving this far). Breaking Dawn.

I...didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I think it's a good conclusion to the saga, and I like how the characters all got a happy ending, but I can't say I think it's amazing or even close.

Bella becoming a mother felt strange and disjointed to the rest of the books--she'd never said she wanted to have a baby, and had even stated that she didn't mind not having a child if it meant being a vampire with Edward. Then suddenly she's pregnant and will let herself die to give birth to the baby? It doesn't fit with what we've read of her character up to this point, and it irked me.

And the baby name...Renesme... Can we take a second to appreciate how stupid that sounds? There were so many other options--honestly, I'd have taken literally any other option--and Bella chose to mash their mothers' names together in the worst possible way. Renesme. Ugh.

Don't even get me started on Jacob imprinting on a baby. The whole thing of imprinting makes perfect sense, but why, why, why did he have to imprint on a baby? A half-vampire baby? Surely his wolf-y instincts would be telling him to get away from her, not throw him right into her tiny little arms and have him fall in love with her. I don't get it, it creeps me out, and that's all I'm going to say about it.

As for everything else... I think it was good, it just sort of felt flat to me. All of the good parts seemed to happen intermittently through the book, scattered between barely tolerable sections and parts that, in my opinion, were shoddy. It made for a difficult book to get through, but the conclusion to the saga was almost worth the trouble.

[kareofbears]

Ok. . . but can you give an in-depth explanation as to how you feel about akeshu?

yes. 

rest is under the cut since this is going to be a long answer 

im a big big big big big fan of enemies to lovers. love it. loved the initial hate, the heightening tension between two characters with conflicting situations or personality types. i love the anger, the arguments, the sighs from everyone around them because they’re tired of the repetitive beef. during quarantine, i even wrote out and gave a verbal presentation to my beta explaining how an enemies to lovers arc would work through writing and all the needed dynamics in order to justify a person falling in love with their enemy. 

and yeah, the process is the best part of it. i want to be able to see the transition between worst enemy to begrudged partner to lover. that’s the best part!!! the character development!!! the molding around each other and learning to accept their character flaws!! the willingness to defend that flaw in front of other people!! 

but here’s where the problem lies: akechi goro. 

oh akechi. oh akechi goro, the bane of my existence and the object of affection by everyone in this god forsaken fandom. look, i get it. it’s really really fucking hard to resist the charm of akechi goro, i admit it. he’s so interesting, he’s so in-depth, he’s so cool and rugged and he’s such a bastard that you end up kind of being obsessed with him, and that’s fine. I'm also kind of obsessed with him. 

but i don't like him. because he isn’t a likeable character. there’s a huge difference between thinking he’s a fantastic character and loving him. because i don't love him. i hate him. i despise him. he’s caused so, so, so much grievance, so much pain to so many characters in persona that it honestly impossible to give him a redemption arc. it’s not possible. even if you go down the Black Star route (amazing fanfic, brilliant work) it still doesn't redeem him. he killed futabas mom (which literally led her to her spiraling depression and self hatred and manifested intense mental illness that led to her isolating herself from the world and made her lose her mom that she loves so much) and killed haru’s dad (how on earth can you justify that one??? god, haru wanted nothing more than to just see her dad happy again) and killed so many other random people!! and don’t feed me that “oh he had a sad life” shut the fuck up literally everyone in p5 had a sob story and you don't see them killing people. he’s complex, not likeable. 

but here’s the good part: the game doesn't want you to like akechi. i mean it. they never said what he did was okay (never. they never said it was okay), they never said that you had to like him. all they said was that you had to work with him. even in the third semester, the one people are so insistent on calling a redemption arc, isn’t a fucking redemption arc. they just want you to see who akechi really is!! without the facade!!! all they want is for you to see how complex he is, see him spiral and angry and bitter and they want you to see him turn out the complete opposite of akira. 

and here’s where we actually start talking about akeshu

akechi and akira are two halves of the same coin. akira chose the side of justice (by ironically being a criminal) while akechi chose the side of vengeance (which is ironic, since he’s a detective.) see, even with that whole crime vs justice thing, they’re connected. the person who ruined their life is the same person (shido), they both have had hard lives. but they turned out as opposites, with akira having a much better life than akechi--which is why akechi is so obsessed with akira. what does akira have that he doesn't? why did he turn out happy when he’s still miserable? and that creates a tension (which we will talk about later)

akechi and akira are rivals. they are connected, they always will be. it’s a hero/villain narrative that we all love, it’s an interesting character dynamic. it’s fun to see them interact. 

but by god, it does not mean that akechi and akira are good for each other. i would go as far to say it would do akechi a huge disservice as a character if you made them end up together. 

remember how akechi is a complex character? if akechi ends up with akira, you would essentially be ripping out all of his complexity just to have both of them date. akechi doesn't want to be with akira, and if you honestly think akechi is in love with akira id be surprised because he’s not--he’s obsessed with akira, infatuated with him. what he’s feeling isn’t love, it’s the feeling of frustration. he doesn't care about akira, or anyone. he cares about himself, and that’s it. which is what makes him so interesting because this never changes throughout the entire game!!! that's so FUN!!!

and the game never wants you to forget that complexity!! because they never gave akechi a redemption arc!! they want you to remember him as someone who’s willing to die for himself. (and, in a way, that’s the extent of akechis mercy. because before shidos palace, he wasn't even willing to die for himself, you know what i mean? he was willing to die in shidos palace because that’s what he wanted, he wanted to defeat shidos cognition of himself, he wanted to save the thieves because they were the first to listen to him and understand him, but he didn't really do it out of empathy. he did it because he’d rather die than continue living shidos lie--funny because that how he ‘dies’ in the third semester. nice one atlus)

and i get it. the game gives them such an undeniable tension that its super easy to see it as love, but its not. it’s not love, guys. that tension isn’t love, because what it’s actually tragedy. it’s tragic that akechi can’t have happiness (in canon, at least.) it’s tragic that akira, the person who loves his friends more than anything, who would die saving someone he doesn't even know, it’s tragic that he can’t save someone who’s the most desperate to be saved. and that is why i love platonic/non-romantic akeshu, because i think that concept is way more interesting than them falling in love. it’s about akira’s obvious trauma that he couldn’t save everyone, it’s about akechi’s hard-headedness about not wanting to be saved because he’s been let down too many times for him to ever put trust into anyone again. 

it’s tragic. it’s meant to be tragic. persona 5 is a game about fighting for reality, and reality is fucking hard. so the fact that these two people have such a tragic ending despite what we, as an audience, are used to (happy endings), is part of the game. they’re not meant for each other. they won’t work, they don't work. that tension isn't made out of love or sexual tension--it’s stemmed from tragedy and hate and confusion and such a deep rooted sadness from inside of them. 

they both deserve better than each other. akira deserves to be with the friends he made in tokyo, and akechi deserves to be with someone (if he lives) who isn’t associated with the metaverse at all. he deserves a clean slate, he deserves a fresh start. he deserves a reset. 

and another reason is that akira loves his friends too much. he would do anything for them. it’s supposed to be funny--the wildcard, with no vulnerability, no weakness, has the most weakness out of all of them because he cares too deeply about his friends that if one single thing were to hurt them akira would fold like a deck of cards. you think akira would do that to haru? to futaba? yeah, right. he would never. akira can forgive but he would never forget. he’d never compromise. not for his friends.

so going back to the topic of enemies to lovers--akeshu is not enemies to lovers, because there are certain rules for enemies to lovers. enemies should be fun. it should be people on the opposite team with different perspectives. enemies should not be morally horrific. the ‘enemy’ should be forgivable. both characters should still come off likable. they should both be able to stand up on their own legs as characters even if you take away their love interest. for example, hermione/draco wouldn't work because draco calls Hermione a slur on many occasions. that is not forgivable. if draco instead, i don't know, cheats off her test or something and she gets mad and they have a back and forth thing, then sure, hermione/draco could work. 

a fantastic enemies to lovers would be snowbaz from carry on. uh, zootopia? thats a great one. natsume and mikan from gakuen alice is good too!! basically, there’s a lot of actual good enemies to lovers out there. enemies to lovers shouldn't be morally ambiguous. it should be fun. it should be the right kind of tension. the characters should be likable from both sides. and akeshu does not have that. 

tldr stan akiryu and akesumi instead 

[gayregis]

Do you have any thoughts on TWN using non polish actors to portray characters from polish fantasy book with dense polish culture and roots? And on how most of the cast apperereance are drastically different than in the books? Like Foltest, Renfri, Fringilla or Calanthe? (Sorry this is the correct one, i forgot to add Fringilla on my previous question.)

i feel like the witcher should not be handled by a large american company like netflix. it is clear that a lot of decisions were made to “dumb the series down” in a manner that would make it more of a pop culture phenomenon that could be used to profit off of from viewership, subscriptions, social buzz, and merchandise, instead of an opportunity to demonstrate actual artistry, storytelling, character depth, and poignant messages. the company that handles it CAN be american or another nationality besides polish, but it shouldn’t be a huge one focused on making as much money and social sharability as possible, that will ruin things. (i also feel like the witcher should not be a live-action adaptation, but this is kind of besides the point... to better gauge how i think the feel of a visual-audial witcher adaptation should look, my dream adaptation would be that of a more “adult version” (”adult” meaning in themes like war and despair) studio ghibli or laika).

in regards to casting, i feel like it’s fine to not use an all polish cast as long as they fit the character description in a way that is actually relevant to the plot. so many people in response to people of color being cast in the witcher were volalitely racist and demanded a “polish cast” - as if polish MUST = white. even though poland is not as ethically diverse as some other european countries, people of color do exist in poland, as they/we exist everywhere. if you want an “all-polish cast and production,” that’s fine to me, i don’t think it’s inherently necessary, but i think if one is doing so, that doesn’t mean that it would be wrong to cast actors of color in roles. 

i think the issue lies more with storytellng, for two reasons. one is that eastern european people involved on set seem to actually understand the witcher and what it’s about way better than any of the british cast, and by that i mean sakharov and baginski, who have demonstrated more understanding of like, the style of storytelling (not every scene needs to be jammed with action, drama, sex, gore), what the characters actually mean to each other, and the lore in general. this makes sense because i have read some articles and such before about how the witcher was and is important to its fans in poland and eastern europe because very little “slavic fantasy” ever gets exported and represented internationally, and of course sapkowski involved many cultural references in the series, so it’s recognizable to people from those regions (or are diaspora from those regions) who grew up hearing these fairytales, etc. it’s more of a meaningful callback and less of a “foreign curiosity,” if that makes sense. so for those reasons, i think it’s important to have a majority polish and/or slavic writing room/directors/etc, people behind the story and how the story is told - but that doesn’t mean the writer’s room should be all white men, though. diversity in gender, race, etc should be considered.

the other reason is that the casting for the netflix is inaccurate, but not for reasons of race. the issue with anya chalotra as yennefer isn’t that she is indian, it’s that her hair is incredibly straight and flat and not like yennefer’s curly stormy hair at all, and that her face is so soft and childlike, she doesn’t look stern and cold like yennefer at all. there are many casting issues amongst the white members of cast, such as henry cavill, who doesn’t fit the description of geralt at all because geralt looks like he’s starved constantly, and joey batey, who ... well, dandelion is supposed to be blonde and curly long-haired... but of course, these are the appearances which don’t really “matter” in regards to the story. except i think geralt’s build, as well as yennefer and ciri’s proximity in age, which makes me nauseous to think about how they only have a 6 year age difference

one physical description which does actually matter to the plot/lore is that of calanthe, pavetta, and ciri, as they are a matrelineal line, but in netflix, they don’t look related at all. i saw so many people complaining that they should have chosen a white actress for calanthe, but why is she the problem? why not cast people of color for calanthe, pavetta, and ciri altogether? they should look related and have the ashen grey hair/green eyes, but that doesn’t mean they have to be white. it’s a similar issue with yennefer and fringilla. they are supposed to look similar, and i saw many people complaining that they chose mimi who is black to be fringilla, they are just using “they need to look similar” as an excuse to hide their racism and anti-blackness, because anya is more white-passing than mimi is. from my perspective, why not then cast a black actress who looks similar to mimi as yennefer, then? “they need to look similar” again does not mean “they need to all be white or white-passing.”

we should have cast actors that both fit the descriptions of the characters in the books AND are diverse, without it being “random diversity to appeal to a diverse audience.” lauren thought she was so clever by throwing the actors of color in the roles of background characters, stereotypes, forgettable and disposable aides to the white leads, or super evil villains... i see what you did... why not center actors of color in an actually proud and leading light, with lead roles, where the casting makes sense and isn’t there for tokenization that does nothing to empower people of color? actually incorporate people of color into your artistic projects in a way that respects them and makes sense and not just so you can get more views to make more money

other divergences from canon like foltest were just piss-poor and demonstrated the lack of understanding about the messages of the story. foltest was supposed to be handsome, elegant, and as a refined a king as any, to show how those in power are actually corrupt and as prone to disgusting acts as any other human being, that foltest is not a better man than geralt because he is beautiful and sits on a throne. by making him disgusting on the outside, they totally missed the point that he is supposed to mask his disgustingness on the inside with beauty on the outside. also i feel like (maybe related) twn really made a whole joke out of foltest and his relationship to his sister because in one of the flashbacks (in the sorcerer? gala? party?) foltest is shown as a kid with his sister and his mom grabs his arm or whatever and is like “foltest stop bothering your sister” as like some kind of fucking joke... literally they made a “funny ahaha incest joke” like seriously wtf. the story of the striga in particular should be taken seriously imo because of how rawly the tragedy is depicted... this is probably why it’s one of my least favorite short stories... its so sad and also incest disgusts me horribly

for renfri i feel like she was just sooooo ... more “likable” as a character, a lot like how yennefer’s character was changed. you feel feelings of pity and curiosity towards her rather than actually being intimidated by her. renfri in the books actually made me so mad because i think she represents something like what ciri goes through across the saga, just how when you have the choice on how to respond to your abuse, you can easily become consumed with revenge, and i think renfri made me think of myself in that way so i really disliked it when they changed this terrifying raw aspect of her anguish and hunger for retrubution that made her lose her humanity into like, more of a palatable manner of killing... it really was just “girl with sword” and it was so boring. the lesser evil literally makes my stomach turn and that’s why i only read the story like once as well...

also to return to fringilla, i liked mimi and i thought she should have been cast for yennefer instead maybe.... i just was really upset at how much they changed fringilla’s character in the writing to be a “generic evil villain” when in the series she actually is kind of unique in my opinion. she is like, not allied at all with the main characters, but ends up saving both yennefer and geralt’s lives. she’s not good or bad, she’s not super loyal to the empire but she is still nilfgaardian/beauclairoise, and she just exists as a character and that’s why i actually like her in the books (asides from all of the unnecessary library nonsense). i thought mimi could have handled that complex role really well but they totally took that away from her and just made her a flat boring forgettable “evil” character that does “forbidden black magic” and is super loyal to an empire that brought her purpose because yennefer was mean to her once or smth ig... yeah ok. also i fucking hate how they had cahir of all fucking people order her around. idk how old cahir is supposed to be in netflix because he’s obviously not like 16-20 as he would be in canon during this time period, but to have him be the boss of fringilla... that is dumb as hell. i just try and think about that ever occuring with books verse cahir and fringilla and i think she would smack him off of his horse and into the mud. she’d tell assire and assire would get mawr to drag him off by his ear as he tries not to cry.  also of course i hate cahir’s casting and the fact that they showed his face. why. it ruins like every message that his character had...

oh also because i HAVE to talk about it. i hate how they tried to make jaskier more masculine/boyish with not giving joey a wig or flamboyant setting-appropriate garb, i think they are allergic to men with long hair that’s not a grime, dirt-covered mess... literally just give half of the production wigs or better wigs i swear to god ... also like this is totally for another post but i don’t think making jaskier a flirt is inherently misogynistic like he acts in the books at times. like just write the misogynistic bits out and it’s fine... flirtatiousness is not evil when it’s consensual and appreciated ... i think they just really wanted geralt to be the one that gets large amounts of p*ssy because he’s muscular or w/e and jaskier became this sort of helpless annoying barnacle on his side instead of a real character and friend to him. and to bring this point back to the main point , i think character appearance really affects their characterization: jaskier in twn has short, boyish hair with no facial hair, which makes him look kind of juvenile, jaskier in the books has curly long hair with some light facial hair, which kind of brings up ehhh what would you call it... 70s casanova energies maybe, a man that puts oils in his hair and such, male thottery...

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Disability and James

@zarohk asked for my thoughts on a Disability Studies/Media Studies perspective on the disability depictions in Animorphs.  [PLEASE NOTE: I am nondisabled, so if I err, please tell me so.]

I’ve mentioned before that James is one of my faves, and possibly my favorite minor character who isn’t a yeerk host.  His introduction pulls off a seemingly impossible feat through not only creating a likable Sixth Ranger, but creating a likable Sixth Ranger who comes after David.  James is also a complex, nuanced character whose disability is a feature but not a summation of his personality.  Plus, he’s a masculine boy who is all about about nurturing others, which always makes me happy.

A few places where I commend the depiction of James:

He leads a social community of disabled kids who help each other.  It’s a big part of third-wave progressivism to emphasize sub-communities and various identities helping each other out: women supporting women, queer pride, Latinx-American culture, etc.  That’s what we see with the Auximorphs, especially James.  James’s motivation is somewhere between 99% “help my roomies” and 100% “help my roomies.”  His initial response to Jake and Cassie explaining the war is “so what, a bunch of ableds are gonna get taken by yeerks, not my problem.”  It’s only when Cassie points out that the yeerks are eugenicists who murder disabled humans that he switches to “okay, I guess we’ll go fight in your stupid war.”  He insists on even the kids who won’t be fighting (Pedro, Tuan) getting the power to morph, and tells Jake that he’ll take suggestions but not orders.

He emphasizes his own and Pedro’s bodily autonomy.  James actually goes so far as to throw Jake onto the floor when Jake tries to grab his wheelchair — a move that emphasizes James has the right to move his own body around, and that that includes prostheses.  Everyday ableism too often involves random strangers taking charge of the bodies of disabled people, attempting to guide blind pedestrians or push wheelchairs around without asking permission to move a person’s body like that.  "My body, my business” is obviously a huge motif in Animorphs, and James pretty explicitly extends that to prostheses as well as fleshy limbs.

He’s nobody’s sidekick, and nobody’s fool.  When the Animorphs first tell James that they’re alien-fighting shapeshifters, he assumes that they’re here to prank the disabled kids who they think must be desperate for attention.  He barely gives them the time of day even when they prove themselves, and he doesn’t “play nice” even when they add him to the team.  James defies the cliché of the disabled kid desperate for the approval of nondisabled peers, and specifically calls it out.  He’s the leader of a semi-independent unit who has his own agenda, rather than being at the original Animorphs’ beck and call.  Like Toby and her hork-bajir, he’s here to make sure that his group and his loved ones don’t get left behind when the war ends and intersectional identities threaten their rights once again.

He kicks ass.  James is competent, tough, skillful, and self-confident with or without the Animorphs.  There’s a fairly realistic period where he has to learn the basics of morphing along with the other Auximorphs, but once he learns he’s highly effective.  He saves Jake’s life during the Air Force battle (#53), rescues the original Animorphs from Tom’s yeerk (#50), and helps Ax and Cassie escape a mob of morph-controllers who have them cornered in a subway tunnel (#52).  He’s agentic and powerful, something we don’t see enough of in disabled child characters.

He emphasizes that the more-privileged communicator has to be the one to do the work of meeting in the middle.  Cassie notes in #50 that James puts in a lot of work to communicate with Pedro (who is paralyzed) and Timmy (who has a speech disorder).  James is the one who can hear/speak in a fairly normative fashion, so James often “translates” for Timmy — but he always does so by letting Timmy finish a sentence rather than cutting him off by trying to guess what he’ll say next.  James is the one who can work the stereo in his and Pedro’s room, so he makes sure that he always lists genres and waits for a blink of confirmation before he changes the music.  James also defers to Pedro’s request for country western in spite of being a punk rock fan himself, because James remains conscious of the fact that if he doesn’t like the music he can always leave the room, while Pedro doesn’t have that option.

He’s thoroughly individuated.  James likes Blink 182 and dislikes reality TV.  He uses his morphs for agility — peregrine falcon, lion — more than firepower.  He spends a lot of time on his hair, and he treasures privacy as much as he values his friends.  He repeatedly calls Cassie and Jake on their bullshit, in spite of being visibly scared to do so as the new kid on the team.  One wouldn’t necessarily think that these are huge accomplishments (and to be clear, they’re not) but there are way way too many minor characters in wheelchairs, especially sci-fi stories, that don’t get characterized beyond their various emotions and thoughts that directly relate to their wheelchairs.

A few places where James falls into the common traps of implied ableism creeping into fiction, as written about in Narrative Prosthesis:

He gets “cured”.  The fact that James’s body is, however implicitly, depicted as a “problem” that must be “fixed” suggests that the theoretical ideal point is the nondisabled body he would have had if not for the car accident.  Like I said, it’s 100% fine if a disabled character gets written as preferring to be nondisabled, but if the series offers the unquestioned assumption that the “correct” body is the nondisabled version, then that’s... not great.

His disability is presented as a mystery that needs solving.  Like Loren, James gets presented with an implicit frame of “why are you like this?” that assumes his body is “abnormal” and therefore begs a question.  In James’s case, it comes in the form of Collette explaining why he’s disabled (a car crash) before we ever even hear from James himself.  Again, it’d be fine if this was the only time this happened, but the fact that the series “explains” almost all of the disabled characters (Taylor, Loren, Mertil, Kelly, Pedro) suggests that disability is something that needs explaining because it’s aberrant.

Some of the physical descriptions of James are a bit eugenicist.  After he first demorphs, Cassie says “standing over the group now, steady and strong, was James. He was taller than Jake, broader-shouldered... long and muscular” and describes how James helps to carry the other Auximorphs as they acquire battle morphs (#50).  James gets presented as a contrast point to the Auximorphs who remain disabled, because his body is presented as “correct” while theirs are not.  If it was just Cassie, that’d be one thing, but Ax says “unlike James, the others are physically helpless” (#50) and later Jake describes the contrast between James being strong and the other Auximorphs being “weak” and “faintly pathetic” (#53).  In the process, the descriptions tie together the ideas of being masculine, being independent, being physically strong, and being worthy of respect.  American rugged individualism, especially as it applies to white men and boys, has a dark side in that it often regards physical dependence on others as a sign of cowardice or weak will or moral failing.  That assumption underwrites some of the way that James gets described by the other Animorphs.

He gets killed.  By killing off James and his fellow Auximorphs, the series falls into the “kill or cure” narrative that Mitchel and Snyder trace throughout history for the overwhelming majority of disabled characters.  Disability is too often presented as being necessary to “solve” through death or cure, to the point where the Fries Test (designed to be a minimum threshold for disability representation, like the Bechdel Test for women) requires that disabled character(s) make it to the end of the story without being eradicated through cure or kill as the bare minimum condition that a story be somewhat less ableist.  Animorphs does not pass the Fries Test, because it eradicates its disabled characters through a combination of cures and kills.

Specifically, he gets killed to manipulate the emotions of a nondisabled character.  When Visser Three kills James, the moment is presented through Jake’s point of view, and it leads up to Jake’s decision to flush the Pool ship.  Maybe my biggest frustration is that that moment only serves to cause Jake pain and help push him off the rails.  It doesn’t change the plot of the final battle the way Tom’s death does, it doesn’t stop to give James a conscious choice the way Rachel’s death does, it just makes Jake sad and mad and reckless.  It’s the same dang dynamic as women in refrigerators: the less demographically privileged character becomes a prop for a more-privileged protagonist to have emotions about.

Anyway, to say it again: none of those individual elements of James’s story — death, cure, urgent backstory — would be necessarily problematic if there were equally-major disabled characters in Animorphs who didn’t demonstrate those elements.  It’s the fact that James demonstrates all of those elements and so do most of the other disabled characters that makes me wish the series had done better.

[miamonologues]

Females are strong as hell

Some lessons from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

This is a newly introduced series to me by my own Netflix algorithm and let me tell you, IT'S MY NEW FAVORITE ONE. I finished the series quickly because it was "unputdownable." I had to keep watching because the entertainment it provided served me well (it's practically my kind of humor). Despite being a comedy with a light-hearted ending, I kind of cried when it ended because, well, I had to keep going now with my own life. Back to boring paperwork and non-fiction reading. So instead of moping about it (and yes, I know I can just re-watch it again, but you and I know it'll feel different), I thought, why not list down SOME lessons I learned from its four main characters. I emphasized the word SOME because, believe me, you will learn so much more. Not just from the plot and these four characters but from the other characters that are unmentioned here. So here we go, what Kimmy, Titus, Jacqueline, and Lillian taught me.

What Kimmy taught me:

Kimmy taught me to not let your past define you, and being a late bloomer has a lot of advantages. Intentions are pure, ego untainted, and your presence becomes infectious. Sure, she may have missed a whole big chunk of her life, but she also realized how much she hasn't. The world will continue to evolve with or without us in it, so what's there to miss? We'll bloom just as much.

You will never do the world harm by choosing to be kind. It was always about helping people when it comes to Kimmy, which became one of her callings and ultimate purpose in life as the series escalated. While the people around her taught her that the world can be cruel sometimes, and we become accustomed to it, she chose to kill the cruelty with her unconditional kindness.

You can be tough without compromising your sweet and loving self. Kimmy had to learn the ins and outs of life's cycle. She may have suppressed her feelings and emotions at some point, but she knew that we're all entitled to all feelings. Which made her character very likable. Eventually, she learned anger, frustration, rage, and sadness. It wasn't always love and happiness, but she knew it was just part of our functioning.

Face your demons, but move forward while doing it. Trauma is not to be ignored by a person's past experiences. Even though Kimmy had trouble facing her past, she still did. But instead of staying in the past, she met it by saying, "yep, that's all that is. The past". It's not likely for someone like Kimmy to be at peace with her terrifying bunker past. Still, she is as the title says, unbreakable.

What Titus taught me:

He gave me a new light on how to view gay characters in a series. He is NOT your gay best friend, but an entire character and heroine that completes this show. An openly gay role in American entertainment is like a Hollywood Archetype for "sidekick/best friend to make serious and dark topics seem lighter and funny." Uhm, no. Titus is different. He is known for how unapologetic and opinionated he is. Making him a strong character that you should not be messing with.

He taught me to be expressive and passionate. It's not easy to in New York, a place to live your dreams and other people who chose it to live their dreams. Titus taught me to never compromise doing what you love for the sake of fortune and stability. Rent should've been taking notes.

He taught me to stay true and continue to pursue your ultimate dream. Despite his self-centered and lethargic temperament, he is authentic and resilient. His character improves in the series without compromising his beliefs and goals. Eventually, he got what he's always dreamed of. Along with Mikee, which btw, I STAN their relationship and I’ve been rooting for them since their first conversation.

What Jacqueline taught me:

She taught me to never forget to look back at where I came from. Like Kimmy, Jacqueline tried to forget and abandon her past. Although it wasn't because of trauma and suppressed emotions, Jacqueline became neglectful of her roots. After massive shifts in her life, she eventually decided to go back and embrace her family roots. Which provided not only her peace of mind but also to fulfill a purpose that is anchored towards her family's heritage. Throughout the rest of the series, we also see how she kept in touch with her family and how they have been supportive of her as she rebuilds her life.

She taught me that's it's okay to start again.  After several mishaps in her lavish lifestyle, Jacqueline realizes that she has much more worth than a trophy wife. Her character developed as much as well in the series. Dealing with divorce, being broke, and having no experience to start a career. She killed it anyways.

She taught me to learn how to unlearn. Coming from a wealthy and obnoxious lifestyle, Jacqueline had to keep up with her change of status, which made her humble herself and put others first. Whether it was for Kimmy or a random stranger. Even with how she tackled love and dating. In season 3, she fell in love with a man because of his compassion and care for the better (which she broke off eventually when that man became a narcissistic, self-serving being). Towards the end of the series, she questioned a man who was attracted to her. Pointing out that he should like her for who she is and not just for her looks. Kudos to Jacqueline for being able to do an easy job in starting all over again—and—being able to do it in style.

What Lillian taught me:

She taught me how to fight for what I believe in. With her unconventional ways and dispositions, Lillian was the more badass gal in the group with her continuous fight for anti-gentrification and preserving the neighborhood. Including its crime-filled community, kind-of-unhygienic but vintage establishments, and torn down structures and buildings (give it a break, it's an absurd comedy). Even though some of her character's dispositions are impractical, Lillian taught me to always fight for what I believe in. Even if our beliefs sound impractical, we have a voice. What better way to use that than to speak them out and who knows, maybe someone will listen and take action with you.

She taught me to not care about what others think of me. Like Titus, this is what Lillian has been throughout the series. True to herself. Even when she started dating a rich man, and Jacqueline insisted she had a makeover when she was about to meet his family, Lillian didn't comply. She liked who she is doesn't care what people think of her. In this new age of selfies and personal branding, caring what other people think has been mainstream since we got introduced to social media. We can't blame those who do care because the internet says so. So next time I find myself overthinking what others have to say about me, I'll think of Lillian.

Final thoughts:

First, to say that the series is relatable is a downplay. This series attacks topics through its characters about modern and mainstream problems about society. They tackle it absurdly and funnily, but still quite agreeable.

Second, you can learn a lot from these four characters, and it's unlikely that there is a character from these four that you will hate. Because once you watch it, you will admit to yourself that, at some point, you may have been like a Kimmy, Titus, Jacqueline, or Lillian in your life. And I don't just mean on their mistakes and blunders. Just the entirety of how they represent what their character stands for. Especially with how their characters develop as the series profressed. This series stays true because we are only humans who make mistakes just as much as we will make successes from these mistakes. It's the circle of life.

And lastly, it's pure comedic genius work that is woke and hella funny. Kudos to the creators of this show. It sucks that it only lasted 4 seasons. You will love joining these four people in their adventure through life. And I agree 1000% to the series' theme: Females are strong as hell.

P.S. I'm re-watching it again. Feel free to judge. And I love you, Tina Fey

[goldenkamuyhunting]

The fanon wiki lists Tsukishima's first appearance to be chapter 13, with Capt. Wada. The anime also shows this as well. The man resembles Tsukishima, but is it really him? In the manga version I'm reading (I'm reading it online so the volume versions might be different), he just looks like a generic soldier. The first truly recognizable Tsukishima can be found in chapter 70, so shouldn't that be his first appearance? (I'm sorry it's hard to understand, I have no idea what I'm talking about.)

It’s a good question.

So let’s clear up some things. The online version uses the volume scans for the first 10 volumes, in short up to chap 100.

They then moved to a scanned version of the magazine version up till chap 152.

From chap 153 onward (if I’m not wrong) they used the digital version of the magazine version.

So scanlations come from the magazine version from chap 101, but quality increases from chap 153 due to them using the digital version of it.

So basically yes, for chap 13 you were reading the volume version.

Now... when do Tsukishima truly appear for the first time?

In chap 70 which is the first time in which we hear someone (Tsurumi in our case) say the name ‘Tsukishima’?

We know for a fact Tsukishima was around earlier than that.

A Japanese fan managed to ask if soldiers that were looking like Tsukishima were his relatives and Noda replied they’re all Tsukishima... even though his name was never mentioned back then.

Question number 5 (30 March 2018)

Q: I’m curious to see a soldier that looks like Sergeant Tsukishima in book 4 chapter 31

& book 5 chapter 46.

Is he a brother of the sergeant?

A: They’re all Tsukishima. [Translation from Golden Kamuy Central]

Sadly he didn’t ask about the guy in chap 13 but the fact that those guys are all Tsukishima though, confirms that Tsukishima was around prior to chap 70 but the character design for Tsukishima wasn’t established right from the start.

The beard changes shape, the clothes vary.

This lead fans to assume that since Tsukishima was around PRIOR to his official apparition, Tsukishima was meant to be the identity of the following soldiers:

- The guy murdering Wada in chap 13 (same eyes, beard, similar nose although a bit more marked than Tsukishima)

- The soldier with Tsurumi in chap 34 (same face but missing beard)

- and this guy who also appear in chap 46 (same face and same clothes Tsukishima wears in chap 46 but beard missing)

It’s also worth to say that as Noda draws characters in very different ways the fact that those characters are instead VERY SIMILAR seems to support the idea they were meant to be all the same character.

The anime seems to side with fans as it confirmed all the above speculations using Tsukishima instead than a random stock soldier.

Ep 3 (chap 13 scene)

Ep 8 chap 34 scene

Ep 10 chap 46 scene

Tsukishima’s voice seems the one to be used in Ep 2 to tell Tsurumi Ogata has regained consciousness (chap 7 in the manga) but, same as in the manga, we don’t see the speaker.

If the anime confirmed the fan speculation in accordance with Noda or on his own it’s up to speculation as we’ve no idea. What we know is that they had stock soldiers they could have used instead of Tsukishima who, in the first series, didn’t really need to be used as the anime had no idea there would be a second series for quite a while as this is tied with the success of the first series.

Anyway, how common it is for a character design not to be established right from the start?

Common enough although the changes can be small or relevant...

...though I dug into this more in another ask, in which I also analyzed Tsukishima’s character design changes.

Character design changes are sometimes fixed soon, Tsurumi’s design was immediately corrected for the volume version so that in the following chapters he appeared with the right design, Henmi and Usami’s design were fixed the chapter after the one he appeared, but sometimes not to sooon.

Ogata’s character design was changed at his second apparition but there was no way to fix it on the volume version and Noda didn’t even try to do it with the flashbacks showing Ogata in vol 1, Vasily’s character design was fixed only when the chapters were transposed in the volume version in short months after he appeared on the magazine.

It changes from case to case.

But yes, you might argue, who says we should accept, as the anime did, that the guy who drew Wada out and shoot him is Tsukishima? Can’t he be a stock character?

As long as Noda doesn’t confirm it, everything it’s possible and, even if he confirms it, actually everything remains possible, after all Noda even retconned the time in whcih Wilk was jailed and wrote out of the story one of the fake skins so let’s keep in mind this is his story, retcons are an uncomfortable but valid way to fix things in a story and he’s human and can forget details.

Honestly, unless Noda has a better plot in mind for him, I believe it would be detrimental to Tsukishima if that guy were to be a stock character.

Tsukishima is basically Tsurumi’s right-hand man and, since Kikuta is in Noboribetsu and Koito in Abashiri, the higher in rank. It makes sense to send him to Captain Wada, to draw him there, and it makes sense Tsukishima, the higher in rank after Tsurumi, would do that work so as to set an example for the other soldiers.

We know Tsurumi made clear to Tsukishima he would have to do dirty things and Tsukishima agreed.

We know he did dirty things, like taking part to the massacre of all the guards in Abashiri. We know he chased Tanigaki, planning to kill him and, while I like to think he wouldn’t have sunk killing Inkarmat, her unborn baby and Huci, he might have been forced to do it if things were to take the wrong turn. He threatened to kill Koito, he was aware the three Russians would be killed so as they could be considered the culprits of the kidnapping he took part in and he even commented on how they let Ogata kill Hanazawa, clearly aware that the guy would be killed and which consequences this would have for the 7th.

And let’s not forget that Tsukishima knows that Tsurumi wants to go at war with Japan for the ownership of Hokkaido because there’s no way the emperor will let him take Hokkaido without fight.

So it’s not like killing Wada, which for Tsukishima was likely just another pet of the central governement, to protect Tsurumi, is this big of a thing in terms of actions.

However it’s meaningful for us, for the story and for the character that Tsukishima is.

We’ve this guy, this guy who does, as his first thing, something terrible like killing a superior officer, this guy who’s generally around Tsurumi... but we don’t think much of him beyond that he should just be a minion among other minions so we shouldn’t feel concerned about him.

In whatever work no one cares about the soldiers of the ‘bad guy’, they’re just minions whose duty is to do evil and be killed off by the hero... but this applies, in a way also to the soldiers in an enemy army.

Sugimoto himself will say he persuaded himself the Russians were just ‘bad guys without a soul’. We don’t bother thinking at what each soldier in a army felt, which sort of person he was, if he sided with his commander or was forced to take part to that war. They’re all just ‘enemy soldiers’ without a real identity and representing minions as just ‘enemies’ without a real identity is, undoubtedly a narrative expedient but also something that mimicks how humans see the enemy armies.

Only in this story, in Tsukishima’s case, it turns out that minion that killed Wada is not just a minion we shouldn’t care about and could easily forget.

He has a name, he’s a person, a likable person, with feelings, a guy who loves long baths and who feels bad when Edogai dies. A guy who believes Tsurumi’s victory will bring benefits for everyone, a guy who’s capable. And the more the story goes the more this random minion is fleshed out more and more.

In a way Tsukishima stands in for all the minions in Tsurumi’s army.

While the other characters are quickly introduced, we get a name, we get some characteristics, they immediately rise out of the ranks of minions to become characters, Tsukishima doesn’t do it that fast.

It’s impossible for Noda to introduce us to all the 100 minions Tsurumi has, but, Tsukishima’s story in a way reminds us that they are all like him in truth, people with a name, people with feelings who could have a deep backstory behind themselves, who might have noble goals.

Many of us will feel really sad if the minion that Tsukishima is will die.

Plus, showing Tsukishima around, doing tasks and being effectively Tsurumi’s right hand man is a good idea in itself so as to establish Tsukishima as an existing character in the universe and not something Noda pulled out of his hat only at chap 70. Tsukishima existed, did things, was around, Noda showed him around, we were the ones who hadn’t given him the right importance in the beginning.

So yes, not only I believe the one killing Wada is meant to be Tsukishima but I also think it’s a great idea plotwise, one of which the character that’s Tsukishima benefits.

However, unless you consider the anime an official source, so far we’re still without an official confirmation. It might come in the future, it’s possible that Wada was another piece of the Ogata’s rebel group plot or that Wada was actually tied to Kikuta in some form or that Kikuta will just investigate on his fate.

Or maybe Noda will never tell us.

So ultimately it’s up to you decide for yourself.

If you ask me that guy is Tsukishima... but that’s just me.

I hope this will help. Thank you for your ask!

[norcumii]

Ruminating on Rebels,1

Apparently I’m blathering on about Rebels episodes as they happen, which I hadn’t expected. I hope that means there’ll also be an overview at the end of the season, but I haven’t decided yet. Regardless, I finished the first one, so here we go.

SPOILERS AHEAD. REBELS CRITICAL.

Episode 1: Spark of Rebellion Part I

Overview:

Vader talking to an Inquisitor about how “the Emperor has foreseen a new threat: the children of the Force must not become Jedi. Hunt them down and any Jedi who might train them.”

Lothal: seeing Ezra top of a watertower watching a new super star destroyer coming in, zipping off to the city, where he helps a random citizen who some Imps are roughing up – it’s demonstrated he can pick pockets like nobody’s business. Then it turns out him helping the fruitseller (is this a Cabbage Guy reference? It feels like a Cabbage Guy reference) is self interest, to get food. Spots the Ghost crew beginning a heist of several speeders worth of mystery crates, Ezra inserts himself to grab a speeder. Chase scene out of the city, TIE fighters come in, the Ghost swings in and takes out one (leaving the other – this convinces Ezra to go with the crew, along with his crate that he Force jumps with onto the ship). Bit of a battle, off to Hyperspace, back to the planet where they give food from the crates to needy folks in “Tarkintown” and the guns to a smuggler that gives them intel on some Wookiee prisoners. Ezra discovers Kanan’s old lightsaber and a holocron, steals the latter. Crew bluffs their way onto the transport ship, only to find out it’s a trap via incoming Star Destroyer, and it’s on Ezra to go warn the others due to jammed comms.

Random impressions:

I hate this art style. I feel like it’s specifically designed to sell toys. I feel the same impulse to reach out and take armor apart that I have when I see a new style of mechanical pencil: my hands itch to find out how to take it to pieces. I paused during certain scenes and it’s such a clear picture I wanna reach out, snag the toy, and remove bits to figure out how it all goes together, and BOY does that kill any immersion. Also, everything is plastic. Especially hair. Like, “great, you make bouncy lekku, but COULD WE MAYBE SEE HOW THAT’S HAIR AND NOT A BLOB EATING EZRA’S HEAD?”

The fight scene choreography is nice, I will certainly grant that. The chase scenes were also good.

I am honestly, SERIOUSLY concerned: Kanan shows up, and I have no idea WHY, but BOY do I want to immediately punch him in the face. Like, my brain is going “that man has a very punchable face!” This is not a normal reaction for me, and I can’t tell WHY it’s happening. Help?

This show is clearly trying for the “repetition is funny” model. Hells, Sorkin can do it. Let’s find out if it sticks!

DOES ANYONE IN THE GFFA BELIEVE IN LOCKING THEIR CARS SHIPS? BECAUSE SERIOUSLY, THEY NEED TO START LOCKING THEIR SHIPS. I AM SO GLAD WE HAVE WRITTEN THAT AS A PLOT POINT AT LEAST ONCE (even if the fic’s not posted yet) BECAUSE THIS SEEMS TO BE A THING.

Apparently Zeb isn’t a furry? He kinda looks like he should be furry. But between the “rare hairless Wookiee” crack and him referring to Wookiees as “those hairy beasts” I guess not? Hrm. Hopefully that’s cleared up later!

If there’s one clear moment I loved, it was absolutely when Ezra realizes he’s in space, and the moment they go into hyperspeed. That was just beautiful. Wide-eyed AWE, for all that he immediately wants to go back home. THAT was well done.

Hopefully more coherent views:

It’s not a hot mess, but it does feel a bit across the board. Fine, it’s the first episode, those do that – especially when we don’t know yet how coherent a storyline this series is supposed to be. (Like, season-long arcs. Are those a thing? Yes I have seen later seasons but it was sporadic and I honestly don’t recall more than random beats, so I’m trying to approach this as a fresh slate.) It’s about introducing the characters and situations first and foremost.

And regarding that...it’s messy. Some things are just not meshing. I’ll probably save most of that for next time, after seeing more interactions, but meanwhile, the things that really jump out at me.

Ezra has been alone since he was about six. Fine. I desperately want him to be more feral. Dirty fighting, an absolute biter – you’ve already got him being good at getting out of spaces and away from people, but he comes across like he’s been on his own maaaybe 5 years tops? He’s too smooth. Also, it’s not clear yet if he’s used to his Force abilities or if that’s somehow awakening due to...age? Being exposed to Kanan? I am seriously hoping this gets addressed, but meanwhile I love the idea of an Ezra who just thinks it’s normal for him to be able to make impossible jumps or run incredibly fast or not be noticed (sometimes) when he tries really really hard. He doesn’t know why most folks can’t or don’t do that, but not his problem – just gives him an advantage. It’d be delightful to see that in contrast to a Kanan who’s been suppressing all things Jedi for literal YEARS (quite understandably), and now he’s weirded out by how good this kid is at some stuff. He’s just a natural at it, and that’s...disconcerting. Match that with how Kanan knows how to hone those skills, or use them in different ways, even if he’s not as GOOD at them, and you’d have a fascinating power dynamic going on.

Kanan and Hera are also off in a way that I think was just the animators not meshing with the writers, and the oversight was lacking there. Kanan’s look when Hera takes Ezra away so she can keep an eye on him – it was jealousy. Now, fine. That makes sense, all things considered, but at the same time it kinda set off my creep meter? Like, dude, this lady already called you “love” earlier and the power dynamics make it clear you’re second in command around here, I can understand being insecure about one’s place in an uncertain galaxy but that made it look like you thought there were going to be shenanigans going on in that cockpit which EW.

Is it the art style? Is this related to the face-punching instinct and me somehow really disliking this guy without grounds so far? I have no idea, but it’s also concerning.

The other bit of animation that bothered me was when Chopper drags Hera and Kanan in to find Ezra has discovered the lightsaber. Kanan is fierce, defensive, and sounding JUST this edge of holding on to civil behavior he would like his glowstick back, NOW PLEASE. Hera, meanwhile, is leaning against the doorframe – smirking? But when the camera turns and Ezra leaves the cabin, she’s frowning and looking grumpy. What even is going on with that? If it’s a set up of Ezra – 1, dick move, and 2, creepy.

End summary:

It seems like a weak start. No one grabs me as a sympathetic character I wanna claim, no one is actually likable to any degree. That’s literally just the first impression and not a killer factor, because first episodes can often be about wrong impressions – trying to stay positive. Hate the art style which is going to be a problem. Need to remember to blather on about team dynamics next episode.

[datleggy]

a list of every anime i love/recommend, accumulated over the last 10+ years

1. NATSUME YUUJINCHOU 

SUMMARY/REVIEW: 

The main character is a teenage boy named Natsume, whose parents died when he was too young to remember them properly. He’s passed around random relatives homes, but because he can see yokai (spirits), he’s ostracized by classmates and his foster families (ALL HIS CHILDHOOD FLASHBACKS ARE SO FUCKING SAD) and eventually very distant relatives (an older couple who never had kids of their own and have so much goddamn love to give D:!!!) take Natsume in, and the story basically starts from there. 

It’s a very heart-warming story following Natsume’s new life in this new town, accepting his ability to see yokai, forging new relationships in the form of friends and family, and even with the yokai themselves. 

This is honestly probably my favorite anime/manga period, because it’s so sad but so cathartic and you watch as the main character grows and learns to trust those around him, and finally gets the unconditional love he’s always deserved, not to MENTION THE FACT THAT THEY DO A WHOLE EP WHERE NATSUME IS TURNED BACK INTO A LITTLE KID AND IT IS SOOOO GOOD OMG

Plus for those of you who enjoy whump, this show has a decent amount of it. Mainly emotional whump, but also some episodes where Natsume is injured or sick--as well as I believe one where his companion (the chubby cat on his shoulder who’s actually a pretty badass yokai) gets shot with an arrow and is down for the count. 

10/10 would and have watched again. 

2. KODOCHA NO OMOCHA 

SUMMARY/REVIEW:  The main character is a sixth grader named Sana. She’s a gifted actress on a t.v. show everyone likes and she’s silly and fun, very intuitive and surprisingly empathetic for a child. 

Her main problem is in school, where Akito, who she deems the leader of her class’ wolf pack of rowdy rude boys, lets them terrorize not just the teacher, but all the girls in class, as well. 

I don’t really want to give a lot away, so I’ll just state the obvious. This anime/manga is shoujo, which means that it does focus on a romantic relationship throughout the series. Mainly the one between Sana and Akito. Sana is absolutely oblivious about her own feelings, while Akito is a stubborn little shit. 

I remember watching this at like, age 12 maybe? And I really enjoyed it because (although I do enjoy your typical silly doesn’t take itself too seriously slice of life shoujo) this particular anime, while super funny and light hearted at times, was also really dramatic and even kinda dark, which was surprising considering the characters ages and the general kid-friendly vibe (especially the opening for the anime). 

3. DETECTIVE CONAN

SUMMARY/REVIEW:  Our main character is initially Shinichi Kudo, teenage detective, who’s on a date with childhood sweetheart Ran (whose father also happens to a detective but like....not a good one lmao), when his nosy ass self decides to go and check out some shady business and gets “poisoned”. 

The poison he’s given is intended to kill him, but what it actually does is turn him back into a child. And now, as Conan Edogawa, (who’s 7 but like....we just supposed to believe all these cops and detectives on the force are cool with a seven year old wee lil babe on these really gruesome ass crime scenes??? lmaoooo) we follow him on his adventures as he solves crimes and tries to solve the biggest mystery of all, his own! 

I absolutely LOVE this anime/manga, even though I’ll be honest, there is SO MUCH FILLER, but I like the characters enough that I really don’t mind. The show is at least 900+ episodes in at this point, and there are a total of 26 movies so far, last time I checked. 

Also, the show is a whump fangirls’ dream come true. The main character is thrown out of windows, balconies, shot at, and in one occasion actually shot, he’s had broken bones, sprains, almost been blown up or drowned/burned, been sick, and oh, his occasional transformations from child to teenager are incredibly painful. 

This show is probably at fault for my love of whump, since it was one of my first animes at like, age 9. smh. 

4. THE DEVIL IS A PART-TIMER!

REVIEW:

I’m not even going to summarize this one. The title does it for me. This is truly one of the funniest animes I’ve ever seen. Motherfuckin Satan works at a McDonalds part time and it is the BEST. 

Technically I would count this show as a kind of harem, but only because there are like three main girl characters after the overlord Satan himself. I usually dislike harem type animes but the way this is done is sooooo good I couldn’t resist. 

I would watch a million filler episodes of Satan trying to solve problems at his minimum wage job tbh. I love every single character, I love the plot, I love everything about this anime! In terms of comedy (with the occasional plot driven serious moments) this is IT bro. 

5. BLACK BUTLER

SUMMARY/REVIEW: 

The main character is Ciel Phantomhive (roughly 14 years old). His parents are killed, his house is burned to ashes, and he’s kidnapped (around age 9 or 10 I believe) and abused. During this abuse Ciel calls upon a demon to free him and help him get revenge on those who harmed the Phantomhive household, which is where Sebastian, one “hell of a good butler” comes in. 

We then follow Ciel and Sebastian on their path of vengeance, and along the way we meet Ciel’s human servants, three very clumsy and seemingly bad at their given tasks characters (i love them all), and some of his extended relatives and connections. 

My favorite thing about Black Butler is the art, both in the anime and manga. Everything is so detailed and pretty! 

The characters are interesting, the plot is dark but they manage to make most of the series overall pretty light-hearted and funny in general. Though of course there are chapters/parts of the series that get really grim (which duh, the whole thing focuses on revenge so...) 

I have to say, the arc I enjoyed the most has to be the movie, Black Butler: Book Of the Atlantic. It is beautifully drawn and sooooooo entertaining. 

6. INUYASHA 

SUMMARY/REVIEW: 

Our main characters are Inuyasha, a half-demon, who’s been in a sort of spiritually binding coma for the last few decades, and fourteen year old Kagome, who falls into an old well in her family’s shrine and finds herself being transported into another time period. 

Together, she and Inuyasha travel across the lands in the feudal era to find the scattered shards of the shikon jewel, a powerful jewel which grants anyone who possesses it ultimate power. 

I was too young to stay up and watch Inuyasha on adult swim, so my mom would tape the show on a VCR for me to watch the next day after school--yes, I’m old old. lmaoooo I ADORE this show. 

It’s so good! It’s got everything! A tortured lil half-demon with a sad past who’s stubborn and rude but got a good heart! A fierce and equally as stubborn main protagonist, who’s whole ass family knows exactly where she goes off to??? and are supportive af????? like???? her mama packs her and her squad of demon/exorcist/demon hunter pals bentos?!?! lmao i love it. 

The characters are awesome and funny and likable as all heck, and of course they all have their sad backstory, but like, unlike some animes (lookin at YOU Naruto) they don’t go mega overboard on it, at least not without some plot behind the episode. 

7. YU YU HAKUSHO 

SUMMARY/REVIEW: 

Before I even start in on the summary, ya’ll should watch this soley bc of the cute ass 90′s style animation alone. LOOK AT ALL THAT SHINY HAIR!

ANYWAY. Main character is teenage hooligan and overall cutie pie Yusuke! He gets struck by a car and fucking DIES in the first episode after shoving a little boy out of the way, only to end up in the spirit world where the head honcho up there (who looks like a wee baby) tells him “Oh shit, didn’t expect you to like, actually do anything self-sacrificing EVER so like, you’re not on our list of people who were supposed to die today...” 

And uh, I don’t wanna give anything away, so I’m just gonna say that if you haven’t seen this anime yet, you definitely should! It’s hilarious and dramatic, the fight scenes are very well done, all the side characters, who eventually become main characters are a blessing (specifically Hiei, who’ve I’ve had a crush on since I was 12) and the ending is a satisfying one, which you can’t really say for a lot of media. 

8. CHRONO CRUSADE 

SUMMARY/REVIEW: 

I still get weepy when I think of this anime, so all I’ll say is it’s about a badass demon slaying nurse and her demon companion and some very tragic shit. 

It’s a great anime overall, especially if you like crying yourself to sleep at night :) 

9. GHOST HUNT

SUMMARY/REVIEW: 

The main character is high school student Mai, who is hired by Naru, the head of a Shibuya psychic research, and together, with a group of questionable exorcists/psychics, they encounter paranormal phenomenons and some outright scary shit. 

I’m not really a fan of the horror genre tbh but I do like mystery, and the series deals with that quite a bit. They deal with each case for several episodes so nothing feels too rushed. 

The series is really fun in a creepy, wtf is that way. I recommend the manga, only because it’s more detailed in terms of plot than the anime. 

10. ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM 

SUMMARY/REVIEW: 

I didn’t really make this list in any particular order but if I had to say, Assassination Classroom and Natsume Yuujinchou probably tie for BEST ANIME PERIOD! 

This anime is about a weird ass “alien” creature, no one knows where it came from or why tf it’s here on earth, all they know is that in one year it’s threatened to blow the world up. 

His only request to the government is that they let him become a teacher for Class E, the worst class of Kunugigaoka Junior High School, and he will stay put, so that they can attempt an assassination on him during this one year period. 

AND LISTEN! I am a shallow hoe, so I literally never would have read this manga or watched the series had I not been roaming Barnes and Noble one day with my S.O. and picked it up to read as a JOKE! 

I was hooked after the first chapter and I am soooooooo glad I picked this manga up, bc it is absolutely not the type I would normally go for, cover art wise. I finally, after many many years, learned not to judge a book by its cover bc LORD this anime is so goddamn good, you don’t understand! Like, I’ve watched it so many times and still laugh at the same parts, cry at the same parts, am proud af at the same parts! like, this anime is an instant classic and should definitely be more popular than it is. 

assassination classroom and natsume yuujinchou????? MASTERPIECES! 

[thebalancewentwrong]

Why Steven Universe Future feels off (WARNING: BIG POST)

(This post was made when only the first 4 episodes were out)

Table of contents:

1. Intro and explanation

2. A new show

3. So much to do in such little time

4. The end of arcs

5. The plot?

6. Other little bits

7. Conclusion

1. Intro and explanation

So I want to make it clear before I dive into this right of the bat that I honestly truly love Steven Universe with all my heart. It is easily my favorite show of all time and has influenced and affected me in so many positive ways beyond just enjoyment of the show.

That being said I (and the person I was watching it with) felt that something just felt a little... off for Steven Universe Future. It just didn’t feel quite right, and didn’t grip me nearly as much as as the original show or the movie. Now maybe it’s because of my experience in both film and writing and my desire to understand what makes my favorite things tick, I couldn't just let it go and decided to really dig deep into what it is that makes it feel so different and I think I figured out some of the reasons as to why.

I haven't seen too many people talk about it on here and though that maybe it was just me. Most people on here seem to enjoy the show with no problems and if that's you then great! please don’t let me take that away from you, just ignore this post and move on if you don’t want to see me dig deep into it, I honestly hate being a fun killer/ buzz kill on these things but I asked a few days ago if I should make this post and a couple of people said they were interested so here we are.

And yes I know this post is excessive but I have a lot to say on the matter, also understand this is not a post bashing on the show or calling it “bad”, it’s just an insight into what makes the show tick and how it differs to the original show (and the movie)

With all that being said, let’s jump into the first major thing.

2. A new show

Ok, so this one kind of goes without saying, but yeah Steven Universe Future is a new show. It’s not season 6, it’s a new show and as a result I think it’s only natural for the creators to want to try and emphasize that fact by giving it a different feel.

They accomplish this with a lot of subtle things but I think that it’s likely done intentionally in order to differentiate itself from the original series. Now do I think it was a good idea to change the overall feel of the show in order to separate it form the original? ehhhh not exactly... It would make more sense if it really was a different show, but you literally can’t understand anything that happens in SUF without watching the original show in almost it’s entirety, so eh.

That being said you could argue they wanted to try a new feel just to mix it up after working on the original for so many years and I guess I can get that.

This is a fairly weak point overall, however I wanted to start with the lighter stuff before getting into the big bois.

3. So much to do in such little time

Again, this one may be kind of obvious for some but it honestly feels like that some of the episodes either really should have been longer or deserve to have a whole arc around them.

I’m talking especially about ‘Rose buds’ and ‘Volleyball’. Both of these episodes feature some pretty heavy themes and ideas that in the original show could easily be the focus of an entire 4 episode long arc each.

But here they have put everything into just the one episode, cramming it all in and constantly hitting us with big ideas and surprises. Not saying the episodes are paced badly, just that I think that these ideas really could have and perhaps even should have had way more time to be explored and expanded.

For example in ‘Rose buds’ there are so many moments that could easily be their own episodes if given the chance:

The ‘Zoomans’ learning to pilot the zoo

Greg and Steven reuniting with the Zoomans

Bringing the zoo to earth

The Zoomans reacting to earth

Freeing the Rose Quartzes

Greg reacting to the Quartzes

Pearl reacting to the Quartzes

Do you see what I mean? they could each be an episode in the original show, but here it’s all just one episode and as a result it feels like it goes by too fast, we don’t get as much time to react and take it all in, to absorb it all. Instead with it all being in one episode it weirdly devalues these moments as just an almost throw away one off episode.

It’s still a good episode, don’t get me wrong but I really do wish that the concepts within it were given more time to breathe.

4. The end of arcs

Ok, now we are getting into bigger stuff. So tell me, did Amethyst and Pearl seem a little different to you? Almost a little too... complacent? Like they didn’t quite react the way you would expect them to? Well that’s because of their character arcs.

In a story, character arcs are very important to making characters interesting and likable, It’s essentially the transformation from what the character was like at the beginning to what they become at the end. Typically through these arcs, characters confront their weaknesses and issues, they tackle their flaws and eventually overcome them.

Now the character arcs in Steven Universe are amazing and I love them, but they have one problem: they are done.

The things is, by the end of ‘Change your mind’ the main crystal gems and even Steven to an extent had been through so much and had confronted all of their biggest flaws and demons that they all just completed their arcs and ended the story as their best selves.

Then in the movie they do something super clever by reverting them all back to default and we get to see how far their arcs have taken them and how much they have changed, it’s simultaneously a brilliant way of addressing their arcs and tying into the theme of change and growing stronger, it’s honestly inspirational from a writing perspective for me.

But then we get to future... where they don’t get the novelty of being rest to zero here, instead they have continued on from where we left them as their perfect selves.

Now I’m happy for the characters, it’s really nice to see them all happy living their best lives, but having flaws as I said helps the characters be relatable and continually interesting, but they really don’t address them here, as... well they’re over it.

Again, in ‘Rose buds’ our old Pearl would have absolutely freaked out at the sight of the Roses, or probably be really mentally scared and messed up... but not here. Here she has gotten over Rose, and while she is still made uncomfortable by the Roses, she is nowhere near as messed up as she could have been once upon a time. It’s nice to see her change so much but it feels off to us now, that’s not how the Pearl we knew would react, and that’s why it feels weird.

5. The plot?

So this is the biggest bit that honestly bothers me the most because I’ve seen other media do the same things and it’s upsetting to see Steven Universe fall into it but, as of right now Steven Universe Future does not have a plot.

I know, I know, that’s a crazy statement to make but hear me out. A plot is an incredibly basic thing that helps bring everything together and to get audiences invested. A plot is essentially made by a goal, the goal does not need to be complicated, it just needs to be something that drives the story along.

In Star Wars, the plot is essentially for the heroes to stop the Empire, It’s pretty broad but it’s still a plot and a goal for the heroes.

In infinity train the main character wants to get off the train and get home.

In JJBA: Golden Wind, Giorno wants to become the boss of the mafia.

In Steven Universe (original series) Steven wants to learn about his gem powers and the crystal gems want to defeat and bubble all the corrupted gems.

And in Steven Universe Future, Steven uh he’s trying to uh... live.... life...?

See what I’m saying here? There is no goal, there is no plot, the story hasn't really started yet, we as an audience don’t have much to hold onto story wise to keep us invested.

“But what about Steven’s new pink powers?” I hear you say. While yes this will very likely tie into the main story at some point, as of right now it’s just a plot thread waiting to be picked up. The main thing is that none of the characters are really following that thread right now, it’s just a thing that’s kind of happening while other stuff is going on.

Imagine if instead of just going “huh cool a new power!” Steven actually went out of his way to pursue this now power and find out what it is, giving him a goal. Or hell even telling the crystal gems about it and giving them something to do, then you can say with confidence that:

‘Steven Universe Future is about Steven trying to find out about his new powers”

Simple as that, but unfortunately as of right now this is not the case.

Like the episodes wouldn’t even have to be all that different, it would just help to know that we had an overall goal in mind and the rest could carry on as usual, just like it has many times in the show.

I am 100% confident that it will become a plot point, but as of the first 4 episodes so far it hasn’t been properly established yet and as a result the episodes feel like they are missing something, it just feels like a slice of life story, but with really intense and interesting ideas, and ultimately, just feels off.

6. Other little bits

This next part is just a list of little random things that are ultimately inconsequential and don’t deserve their own points but might contribute into the overall ‘off’ feeling of the show.

The music does not quite feel to have that Steven Universe charm (Idk about this myself I’m not a music person as much as the person I watched it with who pointed it out.

No musical numbers yet (again a small thing but you think there would be one by now?)

Voice acting a bit off? (could just be me but that sound a little strange, as if they have a new voice director (maybe they do idk))

Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl (they haven't really all been in a scene together yet which feels weird as they always used to be together)

Some character models seem off (probably just me but sometimes characters like Pearl just seem weird in some shots idk)

Steven isn’t quite as jovial? (this is likely intentional for where is character is going, but it’s important to point out as it’s intentionally made to make the viewer feel off about him)

There is likely more that I might add later.

7. Conclusion

So these are the reasons I’ve found that Steven Universe Future might feel a little off from the rest of the show (and movie) It’s entirely possible that you won’t agree with me on anything here and that's fine, these were just my findings and an attempt to rationalize why I feel this way about the show.

Please believe me when I say I want nothing more than for this show to be just as good as the original show if not even better because I honestly love the SU franchise so much. That’s why I made this post, because I want it to be the best that it can be and these are the things that I feel might be holding it back.

Honestly so many of these things are easily addressable and very likely will be! Although my personal prediction is that the actual ‘plot’ won’t properly start until the end of episode 10 as the description for these episodes seem like they are going to be along the same lines as the first 4 eps.

Either way I will be happily watching as the new episodes come out as nothing can stop me from loving Steven Universe at this point, the show has already done so much for me and I will forever love it for that <3