#there were so many opportunities to point out the many parallels in their backstories and we got NOTHING

[jester-step]

okay but barbara kean and edward nygma both started out as good, friendly people, both struggled with a darker side of themselves, both dealt with drug use and childhood abuse, both had downhill character arcs in S1 that culminated in a traumatic event triggering a mental breakdown, both became flashy villains with a flair for drama and violence, and ofc they’re both bisexual icons

my POINT is their chemistry and parallels were wasted on Ed’s revenge arc and we were robbed of them being not only an iconic power duo but also besties 💔

[halliescomut]

Boss/Noeul for The Boy Next World

So we got official confirmation (that we were all expecting) that Boss and Noeul will be playing Cirrus and Phugun respectively in The Boy Next World series coming form Mame/MeMindY. I read the whole novel in about 2 days...finishing up 4 hours prior to the announcement. (Poor decision making on my part honestly.) But I wanted to talk about the novel and basic story, the characters and what I think makes Boss and Noeul a good fit for them, some concerns, and some moments in the novel I'm excited to see.

I am going to attempt to sort of graduate spoilers, so we'll start with no spoilers, move on to potential mild spoilers, and the on to pretty moderate-severe ones. I will clearly mark each transition, so you can stop reading when you like.

No Spoiler Section- Story and Character Summaries

We'll start by going over the basic summary of the story. Phugun and Cirrus are university students that live in the same apartment building. One night Cirrus shows up at Phugun's apartment and tells him that he is his boyfriend. Phugun is understandably confused, as despite having attended the same high school and university, they've NEVER interacted before, but invites him in. Cirrus asserts that he is from a parallel universe where they had started dating in high school. From there it's a bit of a shenanigans ensue situation, but Phugun, being soft-hearted, agrees to try and help Cir get back to his own world, and Cir simply can't help doting on whatever Phugun is available to him. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you might yell.

Now to the characters:

Phugun (often called Phu) is a 2nd year humanities student. He is described as small, cute, and a bit silly. He's also quite feisty and soft-hearted (though he doesn't present that side of himself) and importantly he's kind of superstitious. It is a main character point that he believes that wearing certain colors on certain days will bring him luck, and on days where he can't bad things happen to him. He's an only child and his father passed away when he was in middle school or junior high, so probably about 12-13. After that his mother began travelling abroad, leaving him under the supervision of an aunt. He has a close-knit group of university friends, though from what I can tell none of them pre-date uni.

Cirrus (most often referred to as Cir or P'Cir) is a 4th year business management student. He is described as tall and very handsome, often pursued by other students, but he entertains no one. His nickname on campus is Ice Prince, and many people seem to be afraid of his dark glowers. He does have a small group of friends as well, one from high school (or possibly previously) and one that appears to be just from university. He is the eldest of two children, with a 1 year younger brother (Zone), and his parents are divorced. With Phugun, Cirrus becomes warm and doting, in contrast to the cold persona he presents otherwise.

Now reading through those descriptions you may think...those sound kind of a lot like Rain and Payu...and you are correct. Beginning the novel, I had the same concerns, that these characters were far to similar to their LITA ones and wouldn't offer much space for growth and progression as actors. I have also read the LITA novels (they're actually the only Mame novels I had read before embarking on the Boy Next World) and while I enjoyed Love Storm, I did feel that there wasn't A LOT of serious depth or emotional growth happening in the novel. This is not bad, it's simply my observation, and I enjoyed the novel and series regardless. Through the BNW novel we do have access to both leads points of view and a lot more detail about their backstories, so they are far more fleshed out, complex characters from the start. Because of this, I am potentially hopeful of some really affecting moments that will give Boss and Noeul a great opportunity to really stretch their acting wings. I've made a post before about Noeul's acting specifically, as Rain is incredibly different from him overall, and that remembering that definitely increased my appreciation of his performance there. Rain as a roles is more one that seems simple because he's kind of the most relatable, but for him to be so different from Noeul would offer a specific set of challenges.

There are also a couple of instances in the novel that I think Boss and Noeul in particular could convey very well....

Parallel World Set-up

I also want to give a small explanation of the parallel world basis for the novel, as there are many wildly different systems used in fictional stories, some more complex than others. Below is a pretty basic diagram of the type of parallel world set-up we're looking at.

It's pretty basic, the timeline moves forward and a certain point an occurrence or decision changes the course of the timeline creating to separate but parallel worlds (hence why they travel in the same direction together). In media this divergence point can be anything, in Sliding Doors it's Gwenyth Paltrow's character catching the train versus missing it, but it can also occasionally be a decision. A yes leads to one future, no leads to another, similar to a choose your own adventure story. The divergence point is revealed in the novel, but I won't spoil that, but that decision creates Timeline B where Cirrus and Phugun meet and begin dating in high school. That is the only difference between the two timelines. The orange dashed line is the inciting incident of the novel itself where Cirrus-B ends up in timeline A, and Cirrus-A ends up in timeline B.

I'm going to finish up with trigger warnings for the novel (and likely the series) if you choose to pick it up prior to the show coming out. There are some pretty serious instances of emotional and physical abuse of Cirrus at the hands of his mother, starting from when he was a child. There are also a couple of instances of homophobia. Most of this stems from two specific characters, but there are insensitive and degrading comments made by sort of background characters as well. Grief and grieving is also a potential trigger, as there is discussion related to the death of Phugun's father throughout the novel. As someone who has lost both parents, I did cry at these moments.

Mild to Moderate Spoilers- Scenes and aspects I would like to see in the series

So there are a handful of portions of the book that I really would like to see in the series, and a couple of 'silly' things that I think would just be fun/funny. I'll start with those.

Since we've now established the potential for recasting... I think it would be hilarious if Mame cast a bunch of the actors from the friend group in LITA as the friends in BNW. Specifically Pepper as P'Ren, one of Cirrus's friends who is obsessed with his tropical fish. It would just give the whole thing a bit of a community theater vibe, and I love that.

Since we have a a parallel or alternate universe situation, cast the previous Cir and Phu (Haii and Title) from TharnType 2 as the other versions of them. We don't actually see the other versions in the novel, but it feel like it would be funny like in the opening credits to see like side-by-sides of their lives/timelines.

Now on to actual story points and scenes from the novel I really want to see, and one I kind of hope we don't. We shall get the No out of the way first:

-I do think it is important to keep the child abuse storyline, but I very much hope that it is kept very circumspect or minimal in the show. I would especially not like to SEE it. I think maybe having Cir and Phu talk about it, maybe with audio-overlays or allusions to what happened. But it's pretty dark, and I don't want something like what we got in Don't Say No. Mostly because I have concerns about how filming those scenes can psychologically impact a child actor.

Now the YES's:

-I very much want to see the potential or alluded to second couple of P'Wim and Jin (who are friends of Cir and Phugun). Their vibe is one best described as Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood, and their interactions in the novel were delightful. I'm sure how much we'll get depends on the episode count, but I'm hopeful for more than a Ryu/Sun situation in Wedding Plan.

-As discussed, Phugun has some superstitions related to the clothes he wears, and in the novel this goes all the way down to underwear. I would love to see like a calendar montage where you see him rotating through a rainbow of different colored outfits. (It would be delightfully gay.)

-I want Zone to be in the show. He's only present a couple of times in the novel, but I do feel that he's necessary to the story and that removing him would negatively impact Cirrus's character/backstory, as his relationship with his brother does play a role in a lot of his choices. But in the novel, they have a fun dynamic, and his interactions with Phugun are quite sweet, so I feel like it would be a great inclusion.

-There are a couple of instances in the story where Cir sings Phugun to sleep to comfort him. We know Boss has a lovely singing voice, I would like to see that.

-There is a scene related to a musical instrument that was left to Phugun by his late father, but Phugun can't play it. In the scene Cirrus plays it for him, and it's one of the scenes that made me absolutely lose it. Now the instrument isn't a guitar, but since we know Boss can play guitar, I don't think it's unreasonable to just change the type of instrument, as that doesn't really affect the story. Though I am aware that a lot of viewers hate the "guitar in BLs" trope, there is a real emotional gravitas to this scene that I think it would be unfortunate to lose.

-Lastly, there are not many NC scenes in the novel, I think 3 fully explicit ones and a couple that are alluded to. But the first one is a BJ in which Phu is receiving and Cir is performing. Now BJs in general are rarely even portrayed in BL, for many reasons, but the fact that it's not easy to film in a manner that would get by censors, or to portray in a romantic light are probably major factors. It's also something that could be far more uncomfortable for the actors to film. But when they are even hinted at it's often the 'Top' who is receiving, we honestly rarely see concentrated effort from a 'Top' to pleasure their 'bottom' without achieving their own 'completion.' I think a lot of this stems from the heteronormative relationship aspects traditionally applied to BL couples. Just as there's an idea in heteronormative/patriarchal society that a woman is there to provide pleasure to the man, and a man is not obligated to return it, that get's saddled on homosexual characters, leading to a situation where we rarely see Tops do much more than prep and penetrate (and the prep is often off screen). It's something that bugs me regularly, even in shows I really like. It's something you see with Kinn/Porsche, with Dean and Pharm in UWMA. These are characters where there is supposed to be this insane level of affection and adoration in the Top for their bottom, but they're not going out of their way to make sure they feel good??? Seems fake. In fairness to Mame, while she does fall into many a problematic trope, she also really likes bossy bottoms who advocate for their own pleasure, so there is that.

So....that's my thoughts on what to expect and what I hope to see. I hope you enjoyed.

[8-beats-per-minute]

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️MUTANT MAYHEM SPOILERSS ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVENT SEEN IT AND DONT WANT SPOILERS

Okay now with that out of the way, my thoughts on the movie

I really enjoyed it.

I went to see it with a few friends and one of them made a really good point. They actually act like teenagers. Like yes, it was kinda cringey at some parts but that’s because it sounded like something a teenager would say because teenagers are awkward.

I’ve had very stupid conversations with my friends that sound like the conversations in the movie.

I noticed that this movie did the “teen talk” a lot better than I’m pretty sure all other versions of tmnt (in my opinion), even better than rise I think. Most others sound like adults writing teenagers and it sounds good most of the time but others it sounds weird.

Now for the main reason I made this post: April and Leo.

I was kind of dreading this when I saw in the trailers Leo would be interested in her (2012 April and Donnie flashbacks) but it was well done. I am a bit tired of April being a love interest for the turtles but I think it’s important to include that April is black, plus size and has acne and how Leo described her as “the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen”. Unfortunately the qualities she has aren’t shown very often to be attractive because of bs beauty standards.

It’s late so I can’t fully explain what I’m trying to say so disclaimer in case I didn’t come across this way: I don’t think that being black, plus size or having acne makes you not pretty, you are, just society sometimes says that and society is stupid.

April and Leo are cute together and written well and there is no “one of them is obsessed and the other is leading them on” going on. The fact that they end the movie looking into TCRI is adorable to me. My fav investigator duo.

Also Leo is an absolute dork. The whole phone call scene: “it’s a date then!” “Wait what a date?” “Uhhh *cue fumbling and wrestling for the phone* uhh nothing bad service byeee! Who’s got no rizz now?” Like Leo you are bad at this oh my god. (Again awkward teenager stuff)

And his bothers teasing him was so funny. They did not let that slide and teased him at every opportunity. Classic sibling behaviour

The tease for shredder was fun and I can’t wait to see what they do with him and his backstory.

Best Splinter. I love him so much. I love his whole “hating humans” arc and how he paralleled superfly and how he CHOSE to not be like him.

Both superfly and splinter have a very understandable fear (that turned into hate) of humans and how they both thought that the best way to protect their families were to hold their family too tight.

While splinter hid from the world and his fear pushed him into hiding and laying low, superfly’s fear caused him to lash out and take out his anger in a destructive way.

But splinter getting a girlfriend at the end was so cute he deserves this.

Also side note: why did so many turtles almost get hit by cars in this movie? Specifically Mikey.

He almost got hit in the flashback, then in the garage, then in the final battle with the flying cars. Then Donnie also almost got hit, I think just before they were captured but I’m not sure.

When they had to leave the movie and walked home really sadly and kept looking at the humans longingly I legit almost cried.

I was kind of surprised they ended up actually going to school and everyone was accepting. I thought they’d be like “we don’t need humans to accept us cause we accept ourselves” but I’m glad they got to go to school. They deserve it.

Also April being super upfront with them about if they didn’t save her she’d probably be running screaming was so funny. Also how she was planning to release a story about them while knowing humans probably wouldn’t accept them was a very realistic thing.

I loved April so much by the way. The way she fucking chucked the news mic into the crowd was iconic.

The fight scenes were SOOOO AMAZING I LOVED THEM SO MUCH. The splitting between the 4 (I think) fights at the same time and every other fight scene were so well done. Them figuring out that they skills they learned for years actually work in a fight and how they’re awesome at it was adorable to watch. And the way in the beginning how they were using their skills to steal get groceries was great.

All the turtles up from every version are good fighters (in their own ways) but these versions are definitely up there with how skilled and how well they work as a team. Love them.

AND THE TURTLES SHARING A ROOM AND BUNK BEDS WAS ADORABLE. It’s so funny cause later they were like “yea we have so much space to hold the 6 or 7 other mutants in our house on short notice we have lots of space!” Which means they chose to share a room with is adorable and a little bit unrealistic lol.

It seemed like a pretty realistic movie and I have bullet points of the least realistic parts (excluding the mutant animals cause duh). And this is just me being picky lol, I still loved this movie and these are just jokes.

The fact that they wrote nice things on aprils locker at the end of the movie

(Pointed out by my friend). She went from being puke girl to April O’hero. They would probably stop teasing her since she was friends with the most popular kids in the city but the 2 most likely outcomes would be

1. They just stopped and then left the insults on there, maybe scratched them out

2. Wiped off the locker and never spoke of it again

No one writes nice things on other peoples lockers lol

The boys want to share a room

I guarantee if 4 teenage brothers had a choice between sharing bunk beds and each having their own rooms, they’d have their own rooms.

Imagine arguing with your sibling and you don’t have your own room to sulk and avoid them? By choice??? People need their own spaces. No matter how much I love my siblings if I shared a room with them it’d be chaos.

There would be one prank done in that room to one of their beds and that’d be the end of the shared room lol

The fact that everyone unquestionably liked them (especially at school)

Kids are assholes. That’s it.

AGAIN this is just things I thought were unrealistic in a funny way, it’s a kids movie so it’s not that deep.

This was definitely one of my favourite versions of tmnt (I haven’t seen all of them but still). It was a good mix of serious and goofy and I liked it a lot. I recommend seeing it, I want to watch it again lol

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here friend, thinking about how not only (as pointed out) that this season of OG is mediocre but LS has also been pretty Meh and remarkably for similar reasons. So because I have too much time on my hands today and too little willpower to be productive, here I give you my vaguely thought out character parallels between the two shows this season, and how they've made the season frustrating.

Eddie and Nancy: Both of these characters have had no plot or arc all season. Basically they're moral support and comedic relief.

Maddie and TK: Both have had a sort of half plot to themselves but ultimately are there to be supportive, be sad when their loved ones are in danger, and generally remind us Madney and Tarlos exist.

Bobby and Mateo: Both had exactly one plotline to themselves, both those plots came out of nowhere, and both were centered around another character that was mentioned maybe once before.

Athena and Paul: Both had a single plot centered on their past that was actually interesting and believably important for the character (though in LS at least it didn't require its own episode away from the group). The problem was that there was little to no follow up or any sense of closure, we're just kinds left to assume some sort of conversation happened.

Chim and Tommy: Both have been fairly visible this season (definitely Tommy more so than Chim except for the last few OG episodes) and had some pretty good best friend moments. But both had had incredibly frustrating plots that just didn't make sense or serve a purpose (Chim forgiving his parents and Tommy - a Mom - trying to one up an actual child).

Hen+Karen and Judd+Grace: Both were strong points for the their shows season (I'm firmly of the belief Tomorrow was the best episode of either show this season). Only a relatively minor complaint for both, namely the WTF did this come from of the Denny plot and that Grace's recent storyline has the 5th crime investigation on what's supposed to be a weewoo show.

The 911 Guest Cast and Owen: Basically these always seem to drag the show out of the firehouse and into some bullshit no one asked for. The exception is Ravi, who is the equivalent of Owen when the focus is on him being a captain to his team.

Buck and Carlos: Frankly both their plotlines have been a mess (though Buck has twice as many as Carlos), didn't go anywhere, and are full of missed opportunities for character development, especially in the realm of having an honest conversation with their parents.

If you've been keeping score I have left out of the list Marjan. This is because between the shows I feel like Marjan's character has been handled the best, even almost perfectly. We got backstory, character building, and even a cute dating plot.

Anyway hope you enjoy my afternoon musings!! This is also in part me trying to pretend this season is over (for OG at least) and I can draw these parallels instead of facing the fact we have 2 more episodes to slog through.

Bestie, were is the lie????

This is so spot on though and I laughed so hard when I read this! I've been...not necessarily avoiding but certainly not reading any LS spec because I'm just to tired to do that and OG but whooo boy am I side eying some of the stuff I've seen floating around. LS pulling the old RNM line of Tarlos having to "earn" their wedding like 🙄🙄🙄 Plus there was something about "tragedy" striking and WHY would they need more new drama when they had a whole unexpected WIFE that got sort of brushed off and the resolution for that happened off screen, and Carlos DIED and then it was just like, never mentioned again, and TK is going into his wedding without his mom. There's already so much there, why on earth would they need to invent something else?!

And don't get me started on OG doing the same thing but also packing the guest cast with a thousand people to wrap up Buck's 700 arcs he's got started that they just did nothing with until the last couple episodes apparently. I am...so tired.

Agreed though that the Marjan stuff has been good this season when she had stuff going on! I honestly don't know WHO was in charge of OG seasons 1-3 and the arc planning and pacing because Timmy is over on LS and it's having the same messy issues as OG in that regard when OG had like, the PERFECT formula those first few seasons. What was going on over there?! And more importantly, how do we get it BACK?!

[idabackwardsintherain]

Obligatory, your character can be trans, there’s a trans character in the game, the goblins are a fictional race, there is no ties to any real world race other than what you made up. Jk gets paid pennies on top of her already inflated billions through royalties, she wasn’t even a part of the game, she’s a scumbag, but attacking innocent people for playing a video game isn’t helping your cause.

Have you never heard of allegories in fantasy? If not, here's a pertinent example: JKR openly stated werewolves (a fictional species) are an allegory for people living with HIV/AIDS. Werewolves are not real, but are specifically tied to a group of people who actually exist.

Something else to consider: a lot of people don't consider Jews human, and find it very easy to either compare us to a mythical race or to accuse us of literally being a nonhuman species. Look at dual seed (also called second or serpent seed) theory, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion being the basis of Icke's reptilian conspiracy, the belief (less popular today but still brought up regularly) that Jews have horns, the superstitions about us being able to curse people, and—for extra credit—the various antisemitic tropes that accuse us of nonhuman behaviour without alleging that we're a nonhuman species. (If you don't know where to start with that last one, check out the Wittenberg Judensau which Luther used as cover art for his book about how Jews worship the Devil.) These are things many antisemites use as allegories for their beliefs, while others believe these things to be literally true.

Regarding the ones who use fiction, particularly mythical beings, as a symbol of their antisemitism: I've encountered neo-Nazi forums where members explicitly suggest to one another that they should use Skeksis (a fantasy race from the Dark Crystal franchise) as code for Jews so people won't immediately know what they mean. Here's another example of people discussing the possible use of Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance as a rallying point to encourage people to see the "truth" that Jews engage in blood libel and general behind-the-scenes manipulation of power. There was also a nasty incident when Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg announced their Christmas-themed show Baking It! and the official YouTube channel had to turn comments off because people who were angry about two Jews celebrating Christmas started posting antisemitic quotes with the word "Jew" swapped out for "elf". They didn't literally believe Jews are elves, but they seized the opportunity to use a fantasy race as a metaphor for Jews when it suited them (even though Christmas elves are more frequently equated with Sámi). I've included screenshots of that below the cut.

Point is, many aspects of real Jewish history as well as popular anti-Jewish myths have strong parallels in the Potterverse goblins. The vast majority of these things were not a part of goblin folklore prior to the 20th century, so the "that's just what they're like in traditional mythology!" doesn't hold water. I genuinely believe the parallels in the books were unconscious on JKR's part, being a product of the insidious saturation of antisemitism in our society, but the film franchise expanded on it and added additional features (e.g. long noses, something never mentioned in the books), and now this game is adding even more. Hogwarts Legacy's plot and design normalises antisemitic narratives and visual motifs, and if any neo-Nazis are looking for a new dogwhistle, they'll have plenty to work with here.

You can easily write fantasy without doing this shit. Hell, you can even write about goblins stealing babies without doing this shit! It's not some massive insurmountable task to exclude antisemitism from your work. Together, Moira Squier, Adrian Ropp, Adam Koford and Shane Lewis formed a team of experienced writers who should have more than enough talent to come up with something other than On the Jews And Their Lies 2.0 for a backstory.

As promised, here are some of the comments left on the Baking It! trailer before they were turned off:

If you don't recognise the dogwhistles here, look up 109/"make it 110", "the Jewish problem" and "Jews will not replace us"; also consider why people reference showers or ovens apropos of nothing.

[d3sertdream3r]

Sabine is my favorite star wars character of all tine and I wanted to like her so bad in Ahsoka…. But I didn’t :’( Did you like her? Can you make me feel better about not liking her pretty please?? 

I don’t really know how to make you feel better about something you’re disappointed in, but I can share some of my thoughts! 

You’re definitely not alone. I’ve seen lots of criticism towards how Sabine was handled. I think my main problem with it is live action Star Wars these days doesn’t seem to know what to do with female characters that aren’t wielding a lightsaber (Andor is a notable exception to this imo). They even gave one to Leia in TROS to make her seem more important than she already was. 

I really loved that Sabine and Hera were such amazing women with many talents that saved the Rebellion’s butt a million times without using the Force. Hera is barely in Ahsoka, and Sabine didn’t get to create any explosives, use her spray paint, or I don’t know… go into any depth about the fact that her entire civilization and family were slaughtered. I liked that she was able to decipher the map ball thing with her knowledge of art in the first 2 episodes, but it felt like a lot of her Rebels character was lost to focusing on making her a Jedi.

The lack of discussion about the Mandalorian Purge particularly bothered me. I kept waiting for that to be expanded on and it never was. They just continued to push that she needed to train with a lightsaber without addressing her entire backstory. I feel like Ahsoka's apprentice should've been a new character and Sabine should've stayed just a Mandalorian. She was interesting and amazing enough like that, she doesn't need to be a Jedi to be important! I don't hate that she's a Jedi now, but I'm not really a fan of it.

There’s clearly going to be more story happening in the future, but I feel like the introduction of her to the general audience and the explanation of where she’s at during this point of her life for the people that already know her wasn’t handled that well. It also didn’t feel terribly emotional when she finally used the Force for the first time. I was expecting it to be a big moment like when Rey calls the lightsaber to her at the end of The Force Awakens, especially since Sabine has been trying so hard for years. 

Side Note: It would’ve been nice to go into how they even discovered Sabine is force sensitive when she couldn’t access it for so long. How did Ashoka know she could be trained to use it? I feel like the first season would’ve been the best time to explore this. 

Another Side Note: I was really hoping Ahsoka’s fear of Sabine turning to the dark side would be connected to Sabine making the choice to doom the galaxy to Thrawn for Ezra, paralleled with Anakin’s decision to doom the galaxy to Palpatine for Padme. Both of them were willing to sacrifice the entire galaxy for the people they loved, which is very dangerous for force users since they have the actual power to sacrifice the galaxy. I hope they discuss this more in the future. I feel like what Anakin did for Padme is never talked about in Star Wars and its weird because it’s the reason everything is happening in the first place! This was the perfect opportunity to talk about it and they still didn’t for some reason.

I have hope for Sabine's future, but there's certainly some changes that need to be made. Filoni is a good writer and great world-builder, but he needs some help with the more emotional and spiritual aspects of female characters in particular. During his animation years he had a writer's room to help him out with that... hopefully they have more writers and feminine perspectives for season 2!

[moonndust]

chapter 20, 21 and 22 were something… (part 1)

(includes fire emblem engage spoilers)

only alear, kagetsu, alcryst and merrin survived the griss hide n seek level

and i vividly recall alcryst always dealing the final blow.

atp if alcryst dies in-battle then it’s fuckin over for all of us

alcryst died once at some point and i immediately went to the time crystal

he’s like my only maxed out character and i am not risking the chances of losing a wet towel of a menace

one crit and its all over for the enemy

kagetsu had like 8% crit chance and landed on like more than 10 crits in a row.

i like but also dislike the lack of characters in each cutscene. like wtf was everyone else doing when griss was talking to alear? they were clearly right there??? right???

then get his ass. sneak up on that bitch and STAB HIM IN THE GUT OR SMTH.

it’s that easy.

this game has so many plot holes. way too many that i can’t even think of one.

like half of the casualties in the plot could’ve been avoided if we used that damn time stone. framme was so fuckin right about using the time stone to stop florra port from getting destroyed. use your brains y’all!!! USE IT!!!

ik it would make the game like longer but still‼️

i didn’t understand a single thing in veyle’s backstory (i wasn’t paying attention to all the “tell don’t show” shit)

my opinion on marni drastically changed when she immediately switched up. it really felt rushed but i really like how her va portrayed marni’s feelings.

marni’s death was like witnessing a child getting disowned and killed right after

mauvier’s character is great‼️ he’s just bland‼️that’s all‼️

the battle was pretty easy ngl. alcryst (as always) landed the final blow on veyle.

the cutscenes were awkwardly put together ngl. like the cutscene where veyle is crying over alear’s dead body, vander and alfred are just 🧍

i mean ig it could work as a parallel cutscene to lumera’s death but still.

why tf were they just standing there. they were most likely standing in shock but at least make them closer to alear’s body or smth omg.

anyways

the writing is dogshit but i somehow nearly cried in some cutscenes. don’t ask why bc i don’t know either.

i’m blaming the god tier va work for that. they put so much effort for such a shitty script that it works.

zephia, ik you’re hot n all, but i am this close to throw hands at your ass

“we’re all family here.” THIS IS NOT THE FOUND FAMILY TROPE THAT I REMEMBER

mauvier was just there. ngl he did a lot of work in the battle but he also didn’t do much at the same time??

i’m not done w/ the chapter 22 battle yet but goddamn that’s a lot of cutscenes.

ngl it would’ve been fun to fight the corrupted + corrupted veyle as the units w/o alear. that was such a missed opportunity for a good challenge.

i like corrupted veyle’s voice better than her normal voice…

oh no they took away marth’s blue hair and pronouns 😨

they took away everyone’s colored hair and pronouns 😱

now they’re all red and pronounless 😢

i started the battle in chapter 22 w/o knowing that alear was the only one who could get the rings…

so my dumbass made alcryst waltz to lyn’s ring and i realized that i fucked up

had to use the time crystal and go back 2 turns to the very beginning

and replay the battle from scratch.

pandreo (once again) was a fuckin trooper and carried everyone

the emblem rings i assigned the everyone was lowkey random but i let the ai do it for me since i am a lazy fuck

so there was uhhhh alear/roy, alcryst/lyn, kagetsu/lucina, pandreo/corrin (later changed to micaiah), seadall/byleth, rosado/eirika (changed to corrin), clanne/celica, zelkov/eirika, alfred/sigurd, merrin/leif (originally ike) and timerra/ike

i sorta did change timerra’s class to picket pretty late so she kinda died in almost everything but its ok i still love her

i wanted to play around w/ the change class mechanic on the benched units i had (i wanted to give diamant exposure therapy through sage class)

i actually have a good strategy that i didn’t even get to use and i’m pissed.

this is just a one shot alcryst centered strategy. 1) make alcryst engage w/ lyn and dispel doubles, 2) pandreo uses rescue and teleports alcryst close to him n seadall, 3) seadall uses dance on alcryst, 4) astra storm that bitch w/ those sweet chain attacks‼️

this could also help w/ lucina’s all for one skill.

seadall’s dance was a life saver in every battle.

alcryst, kagetsu pandreo and merrin are the biggest carries in my team atm

alear is just… there

in conclusion? always take out the villain when they least expect it.

griss in post-battle chapter 20 telling alear the big fell dragon thing? get his ass from behind.

hyacinth just standing there at chapter 10? pop his old bones

when sombron appeared before alear died? just yank the helmet off of veyle’s head. marni cracked it ffs.

oh yeah and use the time crystal like your life depended on it plot wise.

[scipiosmith]

Ilia for bingo?

There aren't that many squares hit on this one, because Ilia isn't a character I have particularly strong feelings about, in the ordinary course of things, but there's a little bit to talk about for each one.

- Wow! They are a horrible person This one is a little harsh, and sounds harsher than I really feel towards Ilia, but this bingo board doesn't deal in too nuance so it is what it is.

The thing about Ilia, and the thing the kind of annoys me - albeit not enough to say that I actively dislike her - is that she's genderflip Adam. She's a White Fang warrior with past history with Blake, a romantic obsession with Blake that leads her to violence and to attempting to take the lives of Blake's parents (Adam orders the hit on the Belladonnas, Ilia willingly carries it out). The only thing that they don't have in common is that Ilia never abused Blake, and that one can be chalked up to lack of opportunity.

And yet. And yet. Compare the reactions that the two of them get from the fandom and in-universe. Blake talks about how she wants to save Ilia, and then does save and forgive her her past actions, then proceeds to join Yang in stabbing Adam to death. Not to say that was wrong - it was a battle, he was an enemy, inter arma enim silent leges - but why does Ilia deserve endless chances while Adam doesn't? And of course the fandom loves one and hates the other.

It might be the clearest cut of example of double standards between men and women in the show.

-If they were real I'd be afraid of them

This one is pretty self-explanatory: she's a killer, a killer who can camouflage herself. That's pretty scary.

-Wasted Potential

Ilia is set up as a parallel to Adam. That's made explicit in the 'X character is the embodiment of Y word' scene; Blake talks about how Adam represents Spite, and then says that she worries that that same sense of spite is consuming Ilia, but that she hopes to save her before that can happen.

And there's something in that, it isn't bad, the problem is that it almost comes too soon, given what we later find out about Adam's backstory, his servitude in the mines, his getting branded sorry hit in the face with a convenient branding iron. Ilia, meanwhile, gets to give her backstory directly to the audience (and can I just take a moment to say that Blake's volume 5 short might be the best delivery of a villain's backstory in the whole of RWBY? The choice to let Ilia exposit her own past means that she gets to speak for herself in a way that very few other villains do, while the fact that we get her side of the story rather than objective truth, say via flashback, means that there is interesting space to interpret what she is and isn't saying) and it's an interesting contrast to Adam: while he served in the mines, she got to live in Atlas, attending an elite prep school - but at the cost of having to hide what she really was. There's some interesting stuff that you could do with that, but nothing is or can be done with it because we don't find out about Adam's backstory until... well, really until the DVD commentary for volume 7, by which point Adam is dead and Ilia has left the show, so there isn't much to be done with the similarities or the differences.

Meanwhile, the real wasted potential is the other parallel which goes ignored, between Ilia and Blake. They both passed for human in order to attend elite educational establishments, and both outed themselves under traumatic circumstances - Ilia by turning blue when she learned of her parents' deaths, Blake with her ill-considered words in the argument with Weiss - and yet while Ilia was rejected by the human 'friends' she had made while passing, and reacted to their rejection with violence, Blake runs away and is later accepted by the group for who and what she is.

It would have been nice to see Blake reflect on that a little - perhaps, instead of bringing up Adam's spitefulness, she could have segued from her love for the other members of Team RWBY into Ilia, and how she wasn't offered the love and friendship that Blake received, making Blake determined to offer it now.

It just seems as though mirroring the hero and the villain would have been more fruitful than mirroring two antagonists who never meet and one of whom is barely in the volumes where Ilia appears.

[autumn-foxfire]

Asdfghjkl we must’ve watched the ep at the same time, there weren’t new posts until just now but yEAHH :D I WAS BOUTTA CRY MY HEART WAS SHAKING THEY REALLY MADE IT SO SAD AND THEN THE ENDING KICKED IN 😢 c’MON right after that, AND THE ANIMATION WAS PHENOMENAL LIKE WHOOOO I liked the zoom-up they did into Hawks’s eye when Dabi yelled his name, oh the shock! And that they aided the viewers with that was going on when he was being a speedy boy, all the better to retain info for characterizations!

(2) I was holding my breath hoping they balanced the “Hawks might have to kill but he doesn’t want to” right. Good points: They kept “I don’t want to fight you!” Twice’s “that’s just convenient for you!” Helps that, it’s a different line vs his petty “sounds like a you problem” but sinks in better because WE know as the No.2 a fight isn’t inconvenient, we see him winning easy, he just doesn’t WANT to fight. Love how the scene lingers on so many important lines tbh. (3) The camera is literally WATCHING Dabi blurt out “You didn’t notice me! You were distracted by emotions! You MADE A MISTAKE HERO!” Wayyyy more than a simple “looks like sentiment tripped you up after all!” from behind him. He’s going through a full facial range of expressions here. The audience will remember, bless. And I like they altered Fatgum’s “yo Hawks is a spy” scene to take place after the Machia reveal vs out in a random field with Tokoyami going ?? My mentor, what??? out of the blue (4) Once again having NPCs go “how’d we get so much info?!” HERE instead of Fatgum asking + going unanswered in Tsukauchi’s office in a small barely noticeable panel will STICK, it’s impactful! Pity we lost Toko wanting to see Hawks again, but it’s fine. Maybe next time? Or it was there and I forgot oop. Hnnn, don’t like the “kill” vibe, but tbh I expected it :/ I mean. Okay. “Someone has to die” could be read as that. You know how Dabi wasn’t planning on Twice dying, but used the opportunity? (5) Looking past his carelessness for a moment here. Maybe the anime is trying to parallel that by saying, “Hawks was planning on killing Twice, but he took advantage of an opportunity with Dabi’s interruption knocking out Twice for him” which uh, changed quickly. “I said don’t move!” (You did not buddy.) did they keep that I forgot 😭 also the collection of Twice’s echoing “die, hero” was CHILLING, my last complaint is “I didn’t belong there.” With them transitioning that line into- (6) Hawks’ shadow face, it would’ve been SO GOOD if they made it a contrast by switching from his sad smile to that face but y’know they cut it. Instead it’s a switch from old Twice to current Hawks. And that line + that smile would be So Good, had they used the word “cage” instead of “there” because the motif appears in his backstory. Nevermind, one more thing. Rip, Hawks looking cool af descending with his sword. Hello uh, demon Hawks hidden in the fire. (7) Looking at ani react vids and ooh, you mean after Dabi said “heroes are always ready to save a life” he’s all “ironic isn’t it?” errr, was that there 😶 sounds more like he’s throwing shade on Hawks than “yeah I trusted you would save him” Hawks is SO FAST I can’t tell if we can see him hold onto the burning feather lol, slow down for my mortal eyes boi. Slight positive note? Guided flashbacks and added snippets to give a clear vision to the audience is good. Some people didn’t notice- (8) That he was destroying the cameras. Also nice they flashback connected “I want to help you, you’re a good person” to “those who help their friends aren’t that bad” is it Hawks that isn’t all that bad? Is it Twice who is nice? Read both ways! But hmm. Anyone notice the distinct lack of THE RECORDER?!?! #HoriReallyDitchedTheRecorderPlotForNagantAndToldTheAnimeToFollowConspiracyTheory. Whelp. No one can call me “in denial” if everyone is going to be this sus about it. Review concluded, thank u!

I've already shared my review of the episode on another ask so I'm not going to repeat it, I'm just going to sit here like :o at all the details you managed to pick out in the episode XD

I noticed the lack of recorder as well and I'm disappointed it's not going to have a role in the manga, it could have been utilised so well to have the league turn against one another due to Dabi's actions but I guess with AFO playing puppeteer with almost all of them it's no longer needed.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

hi yes im still alive

DON’T MIND ME, I’M JUST--

HAVING A MOMENT TO PROCESS ALL THE LORE AND STORY CHAPTER 6 JUST DROPPED ON US, I CAN BARELY WRITE

AHHHHHHH, I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS 😭 kjdbbaufbiafafvoaybo LEMME PUT ON MY THINKING CAP AND THROW SOME STUFF OUT ASDYUBUASDLI;AGVUOQIB;VI You’ll understand why I used Leona’s face here even though it’s Idia and Ortho’s chapter after you read my thoughts--

***Chapter 6 (and other main story) spoilers below the cut!***

Okay, just to keep it simple, I’ll try to keep things in chronological order!

First is a bullet point list of my thoughts on chapter 6 so far, then all my questions and theories (mostly a biggish theory on Ace) are at the end of the post.

Expectation: Idia cowering in his room, Vil and Rook busting down his door using Epel as a battering ram, dead Ortho theory confirmed

Reality: SWAT TEAM RAID ON NRC, DORM LEADERS (sans Kalim) AND JAMIL GET KIDNAPPED

Admittedly, I’m disappointed to see that the injury Grim inflicted to MC was basically just a cat scratch and nothing more. I thought it would be a lot more impactful if MC had to deal with juggling the realization that Grim has betrayed their friendship and trust while also on the verge of death (or at least while being severely injured)... And given how MC reacted to the attack at the end of chapter 5, I would think whatever struck them was much more substantial than just a cat scratch. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say either the script got scrubbed by Disney, or the intent was that MC was still woozy from VDC / OB Vil, MC felt so betrayed that it shook them emotionally, or that MC was just that weak by default that they can’t defend themselves against cat claws.

Hey, Ramshackle’s finally getting renovated! Proceeds to immediately get destroyed again--

I feel like????????? They tried to retroactively explain why Neige won to try and mitigate the uproar over how VDC ended. There’s some dialogue between the VDC group about how they didn’t perform at their peak because of having just walked out of dealing with OB Vil, and how Neige’s fans were going to vote for him anyway because they resonated with his background. Honestly, I think they should have moved on from that sore spot instead of bringing it up again, even if how chapter 5 ended didn’t personally bother me.

BOOM, HERE COME THE TWST TERMINATORS--

NOT GONNA LIE, THOSE STYX GUYS LOOK HOT SO COOL

AAAAAAND IT’S KIDNAPPING MONTAGE TIME, KIDS

JOABSFHUPAUABDBADB CALM DOWN, RIDDLE??????? YOU’RE GOING TO COMMIT ARSON IN BROAD DAYLIGHT--

Okay, I know this chapter’s focused on Ignihyde and Grim, but the standout part to me (so far) has been the scene where Leona’s being kidnapped. Historically, Leona has not been a character that I like (excluding that one time I had to pretend to like him for a game). I feel like he’s one massive missed opportunity (he didn’t show up much in chapter 2, he’s pretty similar backstory-wise to his Disney counterpart compared to the other Dorm Leaders, he didn’t seem to learn anything or become a better person even a LITTLE after chapter 2, etc.). I’m not a fan of his lazy and arrogant attitude either (even if it is justified by his backstory). But here? THIS IS THE LEONA I ACTUALLY LIKE AND WANT TO SEE MORE OF. 

LIKE????? I CAN’T DESCRIBE TO YOU HOW MUCH I LIKE THIS SCENE???? Yeah, we have Leona fighting STYX at first, but as soon as he realizes who they are, he wises up and surrenders because he knows better than to resist arrest. AND NOT ONLY THAT, but he uses King’s Roar in a smart way--to turn the falling greenhouse glass panes into sand so they don’t hurt anyone nearby (namely him and Ruggie).

And after he turns himself in????? LEONA TELLS RUGGIE TO TAKE CARE OF SAVANACLAW FOR HIM!!! THIS is what a real leader would do. He looks after himself and his people, but he knows when to surrender, AND he leaves his “kingdom” (the dorm) in good hands while he’s away. THIS is the Leona I want to see.

AJBDUASHPFBUABFIABIYFBIPFAAFIAF I ALSO REALLY LIKE HIS SASS WHEN HE JUST THROWS HIS HANDS UP AND ASDBIASBIABAIODDAYOFAIPPADAIDB SAYS “I’ll go with you, but be careful while escorting me, okay? Despite my looks, I'm a precious prince. I’ll get sick/dizzy if you drive recklessly.” SARCASTIC SASSY SMARTASS??????? IF YOU HAD MORE LINES LIKE THIS, I’D LIKE YOU MORE

I love how Azul’s still talking about capitalism/how he can profit from Idia (apparently the Shrouds are like the TWST equivalent of Google??????) as he’s being escorted away by the agents?????? IF I WERE HIM, I’D BE PISSED OFF THAT THEY INTERRUPTED MY BOARD GAME????? At least let the man finish first--

Damn, everyone’s being tasered???????? And apparently all the STYX agents are equipped with anti-magic plates? I guess Bind the Heart can just eat shit then--

Lilia’s ringtone is cute, period.

CROWLEY CALLED STYX TO CAPTURE GRIM???? GRIM IS OFFICIALLY A SCP THAT NEEDS TO BE CONTAINED????

WAIT WHAT CROWLEY’S BEING KIDNAPPED TOO??????? Oh well, the school is probably safer in Trein’s hands anyway--

askhlbfbilhidbabbidasb RIDDLE WAKES UP POST KIDNAPPING AND HE’S USING LEONA AS A LAP PILLOW?????!

How does it feel to be held in a room against your will, Jamil? Yeah, don’t like a taste of your own medicine, do you?

OH HI IDIA, NICE YZMA MAD SCIENTIST GETUP YOU GOT THERE

Wait, what????? THAT’S IT?????? SERIOUSLY???????

MAN.

I have so many questions??????? Specifically about STYX and what they do, and how the Shrouds are tied into all of it.

So they say STYX is a specialized unit called in to quell serious Overblot cases. And if Crowley called them to deal with Grim... well, bad times ahead for Grim. STYX has also been studying Overblot for a long time, which is why (I think?) they captured Riddle, Leona, Azul, Jamil, and Vil. 

There’s been some allusions made between Grim and Stitch in a lot of fan art and fan theories I’ve seen, since their struggles have some parallels: that being them struggling to decide if they are “good” or “bad”. I don’t know if this was intentional on the part of the TWST writing team, but regardless, it’s a really good concept that plays into the themes of TWST itself. There’s no good, there’s no evil, no black and white--most of the characters we see may be BASED on villains, but that doesn’t MAKE them villains. They are good, and bad, in their own ways--and now Grim is dealing with that crisis as he fights to keep his sanity and avoid completely succumbing to Overblot.

Though Idia seems to be involved with STYX’s research, it doesn’t sound like he personally gave the order to retrieve those test subjects (or at the very least, he’s not happy about roughing up the test subjects), it sounds like the orders came from other people in the organization. His parents, perhaps?

They mention briefly that Idia’s parents are asking him to “come home”, so it must be for something urgent. Are they worried about his safety? But Idia’s lines at the end of chapter 5 lead me to think he is estranged from his family, since he straight up rejected a job offer linked to them (Olympus Corp is owned by the Jupiter family, and the Shrouds are a branch family of Jupier), and says something like “I’m not welcome anywhere”. Has Idia done something to disgrace him from the rest of the family? Or is it more of a self imposed/self inflicted statement, given that he always says he’s “cursed” and acts like he’s guilty of something that deserves scorn?

Why is Idia participating in STYX research, even if it means experimenting on his fellow students (and fellow board game enthusiast Azul)? People are speculating that he wants to use blots to fully revive Ortho (if dead Ortho theory is true), or that Idia actually has heroic intentions (he wants to know more about blots to prevent OBing from happening?), but at this point??? Literally anything could happen?!

In future parts, I’m guessing Pomefiore, MC, and Adeuce will team up to break Jamil and the Dorm Leaders (except Malleus, Malleus got left out again www) out? And HOPEFULLY we get to see Rook’s Unique Magic or at least more screen time, since I feel like he got so little in chapter 5... Another thing I’d like to see is Ace and/or Epel getting their Unique Magic, or at least starting to develop it. It’s really mostly Ace I want more details for.

A theory I’ve been holding onto for a long time is that Deuce getting his UM will spur Ace on to become jealous (since he has always seen Deuce as an idiot/”lesser” than him), and that will cause a rift in the friendship, or for Ace to throw himself into a dangerous situation to prove himself (he has done it before with Riddle)... and has his ass rescued again. This would make Ace even angrier, since he feels like everyone is treating him like a little kid or rubbing it in that he isn’t “as good” as they are. I don’t know where it would go from there (I’m sure TWST would get creative), but ultimately it would culminate in Ace making amends with everyone and rushing in to save them from either Grim or Idia OB.

I don’t think Ace would discover his UM in a similar manner as Deuce (Deuce had to embrace his own stubbornness and straightforwardness, but as the term “Unique” Magic implies, the way a magic develops and manifests is “unique” to the user). While Deuce has to learn to accept his own way of thinking, I believe Ace is already sure of his own way of thinking and has totally accepted it. I think what Ace has to deal with instead is coming to terms with his fickleness. We’ve seen him time and time again treating his loved ones kind of callously, from constantly bullying MC, Grim, and Deuce to ghosting his own girlfriend and flaking on people when they are counting on him to do a task.

The issue with Ace isn’t that he isn’t aware, it’s that he is aware and he seems to think this behavior is totally okay. He demonstrates little to no remorse in what he does and says, and he doesn’t seem to care about the consequences either (how many times does he get punished by Riddle, yet he keeps doing the same dumb things over and over?). Ace appears to operate under the mindset of always being in the right, or (if he’s in the wrong), he won’t really acknowledge it, or he will wave it off as “no big deal”--and I think that’s his greatest weakness.

In the scenario I described earlier, I mentioned that Ace’s jealousy will cause a wedge between him and his friends, and I think this will play into him realizing the error of his ways. When he has finally driven away all of the people that supported him, what will he have left? Nothing. Then maybe Ace suddenly finds himself relating to Idia, or to Grim, who have Overblotted and are in a similar emotional state as he is. Confused and lonely... and that energizes him to pitch in again, even if all he has is wind magic up his sleeve. Everyone could be shocked that Ace has returned, and in that moment, he could finally realize his true potential and unlock his Unique Magic!

(Maybe that’s too specific, but that’s a scenario that I’ve had playing in my head for a long time!)

... Buuuuut given that Ace has gotten little to no spotlight so far in chapter 6, I’m not sure if they’ll lean into him developing his UM yet (unless they pull a chapter 5 and really start addressing Ace in the latter half of the chapter like they did with Deuce). Seeing as chapter 6 is dealing with a lot of heavy topics (death, Grim lore, Overblot lore), I’m thinking maybe the TWST team will push off Ace’s UM development to chapter 7???? The only way I can see it happening in chapter 6 is if the chapter is SUPER long, or if the writing is REALLY good or really bad. 

Anyway, I’m keeping my fingers crossed!!! I’m so excited for the rest of chapter 6... I hope that we don’t have to wait too long for it!

[kaypeace21]

what if it IS peter? how do you think that would fit into everything with will? inquiring minds would like to know lol

Like I said yesterday then Peter like all the numbers, creels,monsters, fake-russia ,lab etc were created by Will : and Peter's backstory would parallel the Byers' ...similar to the creels.

  Honestly, if they went with the 001/ Vecna theory-it’d make WAY MORE sense as the Creel’s son , then peter. Since the creel house is “vecna’s lair”. Both him and Will draw with crayons, wear plaid, have a sibling see a dead rabbit. And I have a sneaking suspicion- his name is Gil. Gil is a nickname for William, and Gil is like a fish-gil. Creel-means ‘fish trap’ . And before El first appears in s1 Hopper mentions “El-enor Gilipse”. And in s3 Hopper mentions “Alice Gil-bert”. Alice creel (Victor’s daughter’s name is already confirmed). So i’d much prefer  Gil Creel (over Peter) being Vecna cause it’d make more sense. And further establish the connections to the supernatural with Will. 

It would also be similar to my theory: Will the wise , the wizard = Vecna the undead wizard .Vecna would be "William " whether Gil Creel or "Will the wise".

Like I said yesterday on st day- here ( in my episode title post) . It feels like a wasted opportunity for vecna not to be Will the wise.

Vecna was a human , who wanted to live forever. He became a wizard and eventually an undead wizard in order to obtain this immortality. Cough Will- is a zombie boy, Will the wise is a wizard, and is afraid to grow up. And the comic when talking about Will the wise says :" I want him to live forever ". Human vecna's mother was also a witch (Joyce joked she was a witch in s1 to Will). His mother's death was a turning point for future vecna.

Mirkwood (what the boys called the woods in s1) . Is a forrest from "lord of the rings" and is controlled by the "necromancer " (cough -zombie boy . And his zombie story in s3). And in the woods/mirkwood , is castle byers. Will's password for c.b. is 'rhadaghast'- a lord of the rings wizard that controls animals and nature in the woods. Mirkwood is also called ' forrest of darkness " and "the shadow of dol gudur" (shadow monster aka mindflayer.)

It's like how-

VECNA wanted to overrule the shadowplane's: fortress of memories.  Shadow plane, is also called  Plane of Shadow. AKA : Dustin in s1 mentioned the "plane of shadows" (aka the upsidedown) is a dark echo of our world. And Will could "shadow walk" there. And Mr clark says the 'plane of shadow ' (upsidedown) was made by necrotic/shadow magic.

Vecna also lived in the quasi-Elemental Plane of Ash : it was the innerplane at the intersection of the elemental plane of FIRE (Will the wise's fire powers) & and the negative energy plane. It was a place that sucked the warmth from any living creature (like the mindflayer).

Vecna was also the original author of the " book of vile darkness." Will in s2 said the mindflayer (aka shadow monster) was for a story he was writing. And in s3 Will - in the wizard outfit- wrote a zombie story which came true. Yet another connection to vecna- who is associated with darkness and the undead ,along with writing books.

The eye immagery of the vecna also goes with the spying and surveillance within the series - via the lab, the mindflayer, El's powers,the eyeless demogorgan, the eyeless creel, and the bunny whose eyes were gouged out. The rabbit connects to Jonathan's hunting story- in relation to their dad.

Not to mention it'd make sense of the doppleganger immagery

-billy (aka William) dopplegangers in s3,

-the doppleganger ref in the rebel robin novel

-and the doppelganger ref in the recent st game app.

-alot of the s4 st movies had litetal dopplegangers (or 2 diff personalities- or two halves of one person fighting for dominance of 1 body) . Just 1 ex, of many s4 movie films: black swan- the white vs black swan. Aka Will vs Will the wise.

-it connects to the st comic with the fire weilding twin vs the human twin . The fire twin gets pissed when someone tries injecting her arm with a needle- like possessed Will in s2. The fire wielding twin was mentally trapped in a dark, cold, fantasy world with the demogorgan.

The fire twin is called a "hunter" and the "woods is their domain"- cough Will being forced to hunt by Lonnie. The "mirk-woods" of darkness being controlled by a wizard .

The human twin even has Will's bangs. And the twins were given alot of mirror immagery- similar to black swan .

vecna (aka ) - is an ex human, undead- wizard , associated with the plane of shadow, fire , the cold, darkness, memories, and writing books ... who is also afraid of aging . It would make sense Vecna is ' Will the wise'- a Will doppelganger: who heavily influences the upsidedown and its creatures. It would be symbolic of who actually is subconsciously controlling everything aka (normal)Will.

Cue the st comic where Will - as Will the wise- was controlling the monsters all along.

However, I think maybe they have to get through to Will the wise (aka vecna) to stop it all. For example, vecna is undead and Dustin in s2 mentions how an undead army could stop the mindflayer. For everything to stop - maybe they have to breakthrough to Will the wise (the other 1/2 of Will). In s3 , suzie mentions the "wizard of earthsea" - a boy- wizard with a bowl cut who accidentally releases a shadow. To defeat the shadow he has to learn to accept every part of himself. That includes the shadow...

- also Will vs Will the wise. A doppleganger twist is most likely coming especially if we look at how many characters in st share the same name. Its intentional...Jennifer hayes (popular girl) & Jen (Mr clarke’s gf). Tina (highschool gal) & Tina- erica’s friend- Tina & christy are also nicknames of christina (s4 character). Susie (dustin’s gf) & susan (max’s mom). Sam (max’s dad) and Samantha (girl at party)/ samuel (possibly argyle). Billy Hargrove, Bill (dianne’s new huband),  and Will-all being nicknames for William. Robin & Bob-nicknames for Robert. Lonnie & Larry-nicknames for Lawerence. Ted  & Eddie being nicknames for Edward.James (Will’s bully), Jim Hopper (real name James), jacobi, and jason- all 4 are derived from jacob . Marsha Holland (barb’s mom) and marsha kelly (therapist s4)/martin relate to mars. Tom (reporter), tommy (highschooler), thompson (other highschooler).

- but I wouldn't be mad if vecna = Gil (William) cause the symbolism still fits. But I do prefer a literal Will the wise. XD

[guardianspirits13]

I wanna talk about Natsuo Todoroki for a second here.

tw// mentions of abuse, self harm, and suicide

Natsuo visibly has the most emotional trauma out of anyone else in his family (Touya not included), and I really wanna talk about why that is.

For starters, we haven't seen him really smile since he was introduced in chapter 187. He's introduced as having a friendly, easygoing persona and it's easy to imagine this is how most people outside of his family know him. However, every time we see him appear since then, another layer of his trauma is revealed and expanded upon, and it cuts DEEP.

I think the main reason that Natsuo still seems so vulnerable compared to the rest of his family is different than what you'd assume. Fuyumi and Shouto both spend a lot of time around Endeavor, and have been in close proximity to his (relatively recent) decision to atone. They have seen his growth firsthand and come to terms with it. Rei has obviously taken a very different path to healing- not entirely voluntarily- but she has been working with doctors and therapists for years to change and recover and reconnect with herself and her children. Natsuo is off at college, and takes every opportunity he can to avoid Endeavor. He (understandably) wants nothing to do with him, and shows stagnant resistance to his attempts to atone.

The reason why Natsuo can't move on from the past is because his trauma didn't come from Endeavor. It came from Touya.

Now initially we were led to believe that it was simply Touya's untimely death that still bothers Natsuo, and it makes sense seeing how Endeavor drove him to the edge. Losing his best friend and brother as a young kid without parents to support him or any therapist to speak of can absolutely been the source of persistent emotional damage, but the more and more we learn about Touya's situation, the more evident it becomes that Natsuo's trauma is much much deeper than even grief.

Touya, as we know, was driven by an ambition instilled in him by his father and experienced extreme rejection sensitivity when those ambitions were no longer realistic. Touya's relationship with his parents could be described as insecure attachment, a psychological term primarily regarding how kids react and respond to their parents and other close relationships. As he was raised, Touya learned to equate his potential to be a hero with his personal worth and similarly confounded attention with love. The difference being, of course, that love is unconditional, but even attention was being continually directed away from him as a punishment for continuing to train and burn himself so he could once again become worthy in his fathers' eyes.

This is where Natsuo comes in. At first it was assumed that all of the Todoroki children were born out of Endeavor's strong-willed desire to have a child that could surpass All Might, but we learned that this isn't exactly the case. I'd argue that it was narratively poetic on Horikoshi's part once this was expanded upon. Fuyumi was born to support and encourage her brother, and that is the exact role she plays 23 years later, keeping her family together.

Natsuo's case is even more intersting.

It was bad enough if Natsuo was only born for the potential of his quirk, but it's even more sinister that the sole intent behind his birth was to discourage Touya from his ambitions. I'd say it was to replace him, but it was more to promote the idea that Touya was expendable than to raise aonther kid with the same ideals but the potential to actually achieve it, although that was definitely a secondary motivation.

The parallelism in this is how much Natsuo's life revolves around Touya. He was born because of Touya, he looked up to and took care of Touya as a kid, and the absence of Touya in the present continues to drive him and his decisions in life (but more on that later).

I continue to pray that we will eventually get more solid backstory on Natsuo and Touya's relationship as kids and where it cut off, wether on a bad note or not, but there are a few things we know for certain. One, Touya was mentally ill. Yes, he was rejected by his parents but he seems to have been particularly vulnerable to this compared to any of his siblings since he was the first of them and thus relied only on his parents for validation in his early years. He shows early signs of a variety of different mental disorders, particularly BPD, which I have previously written a whole analysis for on its own. Touya is shown self-harming both by the very nature of his quirk and even by very directly ripping his hair out. He was incredibly self-destructive.

This is why it is so much more concerning to me that Natsuo, who was AT LEAST four years younger than him, was his primary source of comfort. Natsuo was too young to have known anything more than 'my big brother is sad that daddy won't train him anymore' and he obviously wasn't equipped in any way to handle Touya's severe mental illness. Touya most definitely needed professional treaatment as his forms of coping were abnormal even for the neglect and rejection that he experienced. Natsuo comforted Touya through breakdown after breakdown, and more than that Touya relied on him and came to him voluntarily for support. Natsuo was the best option he had, and he took full advantage of that. The main source of Natsuo's trauma was Touya's reliance on him.

Not to say at all that this was in any way Touya's fault- he was mentally ill and desperately in need of some form of comfort to keep him sane; it was almost a survival method at this point since neither of his parents really acknowleged him at all anymore. Touya's instability hurt Natsuo more than parental neglect ever did, but it was the neglect that enabled it and striped Touya of the supportive atmosphere he would have needed at this point not only to prevent but to heal from the mental damage he had already suffered.

Natsuo dealt with this for years and you can see how much it hurt him to see Touya in so much pain, not only from Endeavor's rejection but from his own self harm as well. For Natuso to know that his brotherly love would never be the same as having loving parents; would neve be enough- but at least it was something so he continued to love and care about his brother for little in return- is indicative of the kind of character he is.

(Edit: After the events of chapter 302 we know that Natsuo's relationship with Touya wasn't perfect. I will elaborate more on this in a different post, but I just wanted to clarify that although we were shown a very high-tension scene between them, it is implied that this was a regular occurrence that Natsuo was usually more receptive too but tired out of, in addition to Touya's spiraling mental health. It fit with the natrative to show the tension Touya was feeling with his family from all directions, but Natsu and Touya clearly had a stronger relationship up to and before this point, evidenced by their sharing a room and playing together regularly.)

He is incredibly selfless, and it's interesting to note how many of his positive qualities as an adult stem from negative experiences as a kid. He never really felt love from his parents, so he relied on Touya (and likely also Fuyumi) for that as well. If he grew up learning he had to give love in order to recieve it back, it absolutely influenced who he became in the future, a solid example of this being the responsibility he feels to reach out and have a relationship with Shouto and further regrets that he wasn't able to help his abuse in the past either. Another aspect of his character that intruigues me is how gentle he is. Personality-wise he seems about as opposite as he could be from the awkward, stoic, emotionally-stunted person that is Endeavor.

There are a couple of reasons for this, beyond what I've already discussed.

One, he had little to no contact with elements of toxic masculinity growing up, especially not from Endeavor.

Two, most of the influence he did have growing up was from Fuyumi, who is established to have endlessly cared for him since he was a literal baby.

Three, he grew up in a household where almost everyone around him was in much more literal, immediate pain than he was so he developed a very strong sense of empathy that might also have been tied to early survivor's guilt.

Now I have one important distinction to make, and that's the temptation to label him as a 'softboy' or something of the like after seeing him caring for his family and more pointedly, watching him break down in tears during chapter 252. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with men being soft or vulnerable (on the contrary it's actually so so important and relevant that Hori is writing characters like this in a mainstream shounen manga but that's an essay for another time), it is unfair to label him as such based on a moment when his trauma is being exposed.

Because his truama stems from such a young age, there is a blurry line between just being born with more emotional intelligence and the situation he was in fostering those traits. You know, the classic nature/nurture thing. My point being, it's important to tread carefully when discussing the nature of his personality to avoid invalidating his trauma; I have no doubt that he is very strong for having survived these things, and the moments we see of him onscreen are definitely among his most vulnerable.

Another thing that people less familiar with Natsuo's character might assume is that he is hot-headed and argumentative. I thought that at first too- after all, he doesn't seem to shy away from yelling at Endeavor when given the opportunity. However, this doesn't seem to be the case at all.

The first real scene we see him in with Endeavor, the man walks into the room and Natsuo decides he can't handle it and goes to leave. However, Endeavor happens to be blocking the doorway. Endeavor physically stops him and provokes him to his face, asking him to say whatever is on him mind. While Natsuo is notably not confrontational, Endeavor is. I think it's fair to say that he felt at least uneasy at this gesture. Natsuo is very honest with his feelings, and it's obvious that he's pissed at the audacity of Endeavor to be so oblivious to his own son. This is presumably one of the first real interactions they've ever really had, and at this point Natsuo has been dealing with trauma (caused by Endeavor!) on his own for years, and Endeavor seems completely oblivious to his pain and dismmisive to the rest of the family's as well.

Again during the internship arc Natsuo tries to get along with Endeavor and this time he actually gives it a fleeting chance. Tensions are high, however, and the conversation very quickly becomes uncomfortable, at which point he leaves. It is continually implied that Natsuo is uncomfortable being around Endeavor because his very presence brings up painful thoughts and memories of a time when sharing the same space as him was a warning to run and hide. This is later directly confirmed by Natsuo as he says that every time he looks at Endeavor's face he remembers Touya and the pain he was in.

I feel like an important side note is that we have never seen Natsuo outside the context of his family, which is understandable, as the role he plays in the story directly relates to them. However, if you take a look at Shouto, even though his experiences have shaped him to become who he is, he definitely acts differently when Endeavor's not in the vicinity.

Back to Touya's death, it would be very rare that someone would mourn a death for an entire decade without finding closure unless there are other factors preventing it, and uncomfortably this seems to be the same thing for both Natsuo and Endeavor: guilt.

This is getting incredibly long already, but it's important to note that Natsuo probably felt an incredible responsibility to take care of Touya and protect him because of his empathetic nature. His love was never going to be the same as having loving parents. His encouragement was never going to be the same as having support from Endeavor. Even further than then neglect and abandonement, it was not being able to save Touya that really made Natsuo feel worthless.

He seems to try and remedy this inability to save Touya and diminish his guilt by doing everything he can to be better. He reaches out to Shouto to be a better brother, he consistently pushes his limits to entertain Fuyumi's notion of a happy family, and he's working hard towards a degree rhat will allow him to help people like Touya (and Rei) because he failed to do so in the past.

His bio mildly implies that he didn't have much of a direction he was heading in after high school, but Fuyumi's encouragement led him to seek out his current college career. This goes back to Natsuo's 'purpose' in a sense revolving arount Touya, from his birth to his relationship with him to his death, after which he lost his direction. They were always rather inseperable, so naturally their seperation hit Natsuo hard. He lost his direction in life so when Fuyumi encouraged him to rediscover it, he thought of helping people, because that's ultimately what he was born to do.

Thank you so, so much for reading this if you made it to the end! I clearly have a lot of thoughts on this. Let me know what you think about it as well, and hopefully we'll get more info on this soon in the manga :)

[the-blue-fairie]

On the Subject of Aporia

I guess I disagree with the notion that Show Yourself is Let it Go done “the right way.”

Much can be made of the fact that, in Let it Go, Elsa doesn’t truly work through her issues. But the thing is... she doesn’t really work through her issues in Show Yourself either. She doesn’t confront the roots of her trauma. She isn’t able to meditate on the roots of her trauma. She doesn’t get true catharsis and she doesn’t get true relief. In fact, Show Yourself goes some ways to sweep the roots of Elsa’s trauma under the rug.

And here I have to discuss how Frozen 2 frames Agnarr and Iduna. Because Frozen 2 never dwells upon the part Agnarr and Iduna played in Elsa’s trauma. It idealizes them, ignoring the fact that they were the ones to initiate the separation of the sisters in the first place, they were the ones who taught Elsa that she had to hide.

In the past, I’ve seen people put the blame on Elsa for the separation - saying that her fear after the accident instigated it and pointing to the fact that Elsa herself continues the separation after her parents’ death.

This reading is disingenuous, to say the least. While the accident scarred Elsa as a child, the separation (which was instigated by her parents, with the affirmation and complicity of the trolls) was what cemented the self-hatred in her heart. Elsa continued the separation after her parents’ death because she learned it well throughout her childhood.

I don’t like the fact that certain people place the blame for the childhood separation on Elsa, who was a terrified child at the time. A terrified child listening to the adults around her, adults in positions of authority. Adults who chose to close the gates, reduce the staff, limit her contact with people, and keep her powers secret from everyone, including Anna.

You can’t blame a child in an extreme situation the same as you blame an adult - but I’ve seen people in the fandom do it - and it frustrates me.

And again, as I’ve always said, Agnarr and Iduna are in an extreme situation too - and they are working under the guidance of the trolls. Agnarr and Iduna are good people - but their choices still contributed to their daughters’ pain.

And neither the films nor the shorts show the sisters processing their parents’ actions and how those actions hurt them.

Not even Dangerous Secrets does that - because Dangerous Secrets focuses on Iduna’s and Agnarr’s perspective. It’s not about the sisters processing what their parents did to them.

And again, “processing” doesn’t mean “condemnation.” I’m not advocating that the sisters condemn or hate their parents. Processing can also mean realizing that their parents were in a painful situation and forgiving them, accepting what happened.

But neither the films, nor the shorts, nor Dangerous Secrets do any of that. Even though coming to terms with the past is a key theme in Frozen 2 and a theme that centers on Agnarr and Iduna, Frozen 2 ignores their part in the childhood separation altogether.

It could have brought it up and, in bringing it up, it could have beautifully paralleled Iduna having to hide being Northuldra with Elsa having to hide her powers. It could have the sisters, as they are forced to make tough choices, sympathize with the tough choices their parents had to make. It could have truly confronted the roots of Elsa’s trauma by referencing the separation when Elsa meets her mother in Ahtohallan, giving the scene greater emotional weight. Or, the film could have highlighted that the True Evil comes from people like Runeard - whose fear causes him to kill, whereas Iduna and Agnarr’s fear for their children’s safety caused them to try and protect, even in an imperfect way.

The possibilities that present themselves are limitless - but only if Frozen 2 had the courage to address Agnarr’s and Iduna’s part in the childhood separation - and it didn’t. It had multiple opportunities to. It simply made the deliberate choice not to do so - to brush those actions essentially under the rug.

It’s like the movie thinks that, if it references Agnarr and Iduna’s part in the separation, that will make Agnarr and Iduna seem bad. But actually, the opposite would be true. If the film directly addressed Agnarr’s and Iduna’s part in the separation, they would become even more sympathetic because viewers would get a clearer understanding of what they were going through and see clearly how they were good people. On top of that, both Elsa and Anna could get a chance at true closure with them.

But the film goes out of its way not to bring that topic up. Even when Olaf recaps the first film, it’s like this: “[as Elsa] Anna, no too high! Blast! [as Anna] Ohhh! [as Elsa] Mama Papa Help! Slam, doors shutting everywhere, sisters torn apart. Well, at least they have their parents. [beat] Their parents are dead.”  “Doors shutting everywhere” and “sisters torn apart” describes the event passively. It’s just “something that happened.” The problem is, within the context of the first film, it’s not just “something that happened.” It’s something that happened as a direct result of the trolls’ choices and Agnarr’s and Iduna’s choices. And I stress their choices over Elsa’s because she was a child in this situation and they are the adults in authority. 

Thus, in a film that’s supposedly all about coming to terms with the mistakes of the past, a film where Agnarr and Iduna play a crucial role, this aspect of the past is actively ignored. Even though not ignoring this aspect of the past would enrich both films and clarify things more fully for people who are on the fence about Agnarr and Iduna (also, hopefully it could address the trolls’ part in all this, because no piece of Frozen media even begins to grapple with the trolls’ part in all this.)

And I know you might say, “Well, Dangerous Secrets addresses the parents’ part in the children’s separation!” And that’s good that it does so. But that still doesn’t get to my central point: that no piece of Frozen media shows Elsa and Anna coming to terms with what their parents and the trolls did to them, and how that influenced Elsa’s actions in the future. 

Now, some people have argued that the films and shorts do address the sisters coming to terms with what their parents did to them, because through their parents’ portrayal in OFA and F2 it is implicitly suggested that Elsa and Anna have no ill feelings towards their parents.

But I’ve addressed this before in the past:

“Having ‘no ill feelings’ is the culmination of an emotional journey that we don’t get to see. We get to see the sisters dealing with the emotional ramifications of their childhoods and what it means for themselves, yes. We get to see them reconnect during Frozen Fever. But we don’t get to see them processing feelings for their parents (and the trolls) that must be complicated for them.

And saying that emotional journey is implicit or is addressed subtly because we see that the sisters bear their parents no ill will... I’m sorry, but that just isn’t good enough for me. The sisters bearing their parents no ill will is an endpoint. It’s not the emotional journey itself. We don’t get to SEE that journey addressed directly. We just have to be content with... implication.”

And the fact we just have to be content with implication when Frozen 2 is so much about the sisters’ relationship with their parents and Frozen 2 offers every chance to go beyond implication is... troubling to me.

It’s more than just an oversight on F2′s part. It’s a deliberate choice.

And it weakens the emotional impact of Show Yourself.

Show Yourself is framed as Elsa gaining closure regarding her mother, her trauma, her sense of self. But, regardless of that framing, it... doesn’t exactly give Elsa that closure.

Because Frozen media, outside of Dangerous Secrets, seems bent on glossing over the part Elsa’s and Anna’s parents and the trolls had in the sisters’ traumas in childhood. Because Frozen media doesn’t give the sisters a chance to talk together or reflect together on their parents’ and the trolls’ actions and come to terms with them. Even Dangerous Secrets, which does better in exploring the nuances and complexities of Agnarr and Iduna, can’t do that because the book is telling the parents’ story, not Elsa’s and Anna’s.

So parts of Show Yourself feel like... going through the motions of catharsis with no actual catharsis - because there are still open wounds that Show Yourself doesn’t even try to heal because the film won’t openly admit they exist. Because, as with Let it Go before it, there is still work to be done.

But at least Let it Go let Elsa be frustrated with her parents’ poor choices. At least it allowed Elsa to repudiate the strictures placed upon her:

Don't let them in, don't let them see Be the good girl you always have to be Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know Well, now they know 

There’s more reflection on her parents’ part in her pain in those few lines than in the whole of Frozen 2 - even though much of Frozen 2 is directly about her parents.

I’ve seen people describe the transition from Let it Go to Show Yourself as a transition from reckless defiance to acceptance and peace... but this framing doesn’t work with the film’s portrayal of Elsa’s relationship with Iduna. Because for that framing to work, we’d actually have to see Elsa’s transition towards acceptance of her mother’s actions. We’d actually have to see the emotional process of Elsa making peace with her parents’ choices.

And we don’t.

And that’s tragic because, especially with the backstory Frozen 2 gives Iduna, there’s so much you could have done with Elsa’s relationship with her mother. So many parallels Elsa herself could have made as we see her truly going through the process of healing.

(Also, this last note isn’t related to Let it Go or Show Yourself, but, How does Anna feel about the trolls modifying her memories in childhood? I’m sure it has come up in the intervening years in-universe, but we’ve never seen it addressed... and that speaks to the larger issue I’ve been discussing.)

EDIT: Kristanna and Greatqueenanna have informed me that Anna’s missing memories are the subject of Memory and Magic, the second book in the Sisterhood is the Strongest Magic series - and, while I’m glad of that, I still am a bit bummed that they are relegated to an obscure book that not everyone will read and may be of dubious canonicity at this point instead of being addressed in the feature film that centers on addressing the past and coming to terms with it. While Dangerous Secrets is much more high-profile, I have similar reservations about it as well - because not as many people are going to find it as find Frozen 2. Moreover, Dangerous Secrets is meant to be a supplement to Frozen 2 and it doesn’t focus on Elsa’s and Anna’s emotional journey regarding their parents. I guess Frozen 2 is supposed to be that emotional journey in a way, but because Frozen 2 refuses to touch the childhood separation and Agnarr’s and Iduna’s accountability for it, that leaves a... gap in the text... so that the emotional journey feels incomplete.   

[intothewickedwood]

Once Upon A Time Rewatch: 6x19 The Black Fairy

Peter Pan! So weird to think they were married but I mean they’re both kinda obsessed with collecting children that aren’t their son which is a weird coincidence.

Aww baby Rumple!

Malcolm looks so happy to have a baby. It seems it was the loss of Fiona that made him resent Rumple. Perhaps he could have been a father with her support but he just couldn’t handle being a single father. 

I wish we got to know more about fairy lore

Rumple was born in winter. He’s totally a Capricorn!

Aren’t Saviors meant to save realms from dark curses? But the dark curse wasn’t created yet. Maybe they retconned it and they’re just meant to save people.

That dragon egg is awfully convenient. What happened to the characters going on quests to find things like this? It’s too easy to wake Blue up.

Snow straight up strangling the Blue Fairy. I know it’s not her but I think Snow deserves that opportunity. 

Quick thinking Rumple with that cuff! 

Why does Emma have to have sleepy time too?

Is the shack Rumple was born in the same place he and Milah lived in? Probably not.

Yep. Really shouldn’t have given her that book of prophecies. What did they expect? Fiona to be overjoyed her son would die at the hands of a great evil?

Wait. It’s not possible for someone to turn themselves into a fairy? There must be something about Fiona. There’s something about that family, I swear. It seems they were all destined for great power and great evil.

Regina teaching Zelena to drive is the best thing ever but she totally could have escaped with Henry on her broom if things went wrong. If people in New York saw her and Henry flying high defying gravity they’d just think it was promo for Broadway’s Wicked.

Lmao! Omg Zelena! This scene is glorious!

Oh yeah, baby Robin could fit on the broom too. They’d make it work!

Regina: “I trust him to raise you.” Lol. So true but now I need all the fics with Henry raising his little cousin and Auntie in New York. 

The Black Fairy is so freaking creepy singing a lullaby to Blue.

The hatred emanating from the Black Fairy for Blue gives me shivers. 

And then she’s like “I’m so happy we get a chance to play,” and sits down like a child. Chills, I tell you! Like, Blue has completely destroyed who she used to be.

What was she going to do to the child if she’d found one with the crescent mark? 

Aww. Rumple breaking down and saying “I would do anything for you, son.” This man freaking loves his children. 

How did they end up in Rumple’s dream when Gideon was the first to be sprinkled with the night night sand?

Hook: “How do we know you are actually you.” Regina: “Because it’s me!” Sounds legit.

Aww, Hook just called Regina “love”. Are they getting along again, now? I saw a meta the other day that noted how Regina only started to dislike Hook when he got serious with Emma and I’m pretty sure that’s true. Interesting!

I wanted to see a proper witch fight dammit! For a show with so many sorcerers, we deserved more magical duels.

But omg Zelena suddenly running the Black Fairy over and her flipping over the car is the best thing in existence! 

Aww the sisters’ little smiles to each other. 

The sacred vault of the fairies? Are they, like, religious? 

This poor woman. I feel so sorry for her. She’s just desperately and feverishly trying to protect her baby. What did they expect from her? Most mothers would go to those lengths if they were told their child would suffer such a horrible fate. That would bring anyone to the end of their tether.

Omg wtf. “He’s destined to die so that other children may live.” That is a beyond cruel thing to say to the face of a mother. What the hell? Omg the pain on Fiona’s face. No child should be sacrificed for another. How heartless of the fairies.

So did Emma replace Rumple as the EF’s Savior or can their be multiple Saviors? 

Agggh this is so horrific. Poor Fiona finding out she is destined to kill her own child. She’s devastated. 

Oh, did she get the crescent scar when she was disarmed? 

Oh cool, the Black Fairy can project memories! That’s quite a unique power.

Blue could have saved a lot of people by remotely teleporting their hearts into her hands from the EQ’s or Cora’s and yet she didn’t.

She has a point. Even if she severed her destiny so she wouldn’t be the one to kill him, he could still be in danger from some other threat.

Blue, what the hell! Summoning a portal was absolutely uncalled for. What because she dared to upset you as you were so desperate for him to become the Savior for some reason? Probably part of her long-game evil plan. So what if he didn’t become a Savior?! Blue’s going on like that was the worst crime. She was just trying to protect him and you separated a doting mother who was no longer a danger to him from her child! You had no right! She is so self-righteous, I swear to god. It’s nothing to do with her. Who does she think she is?! Blue has ruined so many lives and gotten away with it because she believes she’s all high and mighty. She’s just as much of a villain as any other on this show. It makes me so mad. Poor Fiona. No wonder she hates Blue. 

Fiona: “I promise you son, I will spend every moment of every day trying to find my way back to you!”

I think she let Rumple hate her because it was too painful and she didn’t think she deserved his love. 

There are a lot of parallels between Rumple and his mother’s stories. They are much alike. 

Malcolm genuinely loved Fiona. He said she was the love of his life. Gosh I needed backstory with those two! After her he felt the only way he could be happy again was to return to childhood and Neverland so he didn’t have to think about Fiona. It was too painful. Easier to pretend he’d never loved. 

Malcolm must have lied to Rumple and told him his mother had abandoned him.

The fairies imply Fiona is dead to cover their own asses. They won’t say they banished her because they damn well know he’d fight them to get the love of his life back.

Lol. Sorry but calling your child Rumplestiltskin just to spite him is hilarious. What does it mean? Oh! It means “Little Rattle Stilt.” I mean it could have been worse it could have been “Little Sh*thead.” 

Also the Fairies hearing him blame the baby for his wife’s death should have rung alarm bells. They should have put him in a home where he’d be loved and cared for. Nope, just leave him with this guy who hates him.

Eww. They put a heart on the dinner table.

Giddy Up’s got his heart back! Yehaaaw!

“A seafaring man does not take superstitions likely.” So he is superstitious! He allowed a woman on his ship for years so maybe superstitions are different in the EF.

Oh my God, next week’s the musical episode!!!! I can’t wait!!!!

[thevoidable]

Why Spinaraki is an underrated gem of a ship

Okay, so first of all I just have to make a quick disclaimer: this is not to discredit other Shigaraki and Spinner ships, this is just to highlight why I think these two in particular are just neat. 

Also, manga spoiler warning, as per usual. Content below the cut.

Why their characters work

Spinaraki’s dynamic is something that I feel like is overlooked by a lot of bnha fans, even from a platonic sense, so I’d like to briefly go over their individual characters to reiterate why they’re such a good match for each other.

Starting off, Shigaraki is an absolutely brilliantly-written villain, with a deep and complex past and personality that make him more than your average end-game bad guy. His broken mind that has been beaten to hell and back by severe trauma is still able to recognise flaws within society and the people that live in it, and has come such a long way since his first debut in the series. But what makes him stand out from most other villains is just how human and empathetic he is deep down.

Despite all of AFO’s grooming into making him a hate-filled, destruction-craving god, Shigaraki still retains a key quality from his childhood: a desire to befriend the friendless.

The reason why the League is such a good portrayal of a found family is because of this innate want to sympathize and look after the outcasts in his life. It didn’t take much time at all for him to come to respect the other members of the League by the time the Overhaul arc came around, and during the MVA arc, it’s clear he cares deeply about their wants and needs. He’s patient and listens to them, valuing their opinions greatly.

And now it’s time to turn our attention to the underrated character of this underrated ship: Spinner.

Spinner was understandably one of the more forgettable villains during the training camp arc - all he had to his character was that he was a hardcore Stain fanboy and nothing more.

However, that all changed when the MVA arc dropped, and we saw a side to Spinner that ties in to one of the BNHA universe’s underlying problems in their superhuman society, and made him so much more three-dimensional, lovable, and relatable. A victim of heteromorphic discrimination, Spinner was outcasted in his hometown and forced into reclusion, where he wasted his life away in his room lest he step outside and risk being called a freak again. It wasn’t until he saw Stain plaguing the news that he was finally inspired to act, seeking out the League who claimed to uphold Stain’s ideology.

At his core, Spinner was simply searching for something to jump on, something that would make him get up and make significant change in his life, and looking at his backstory, it’s no wonder why Stain’s ideals struck a chord with him. He has plenty of reason to despise society like the rest of the League, but his experience with being discriminated against also makes him a sympathetic and sensitive character. He recognises that he’s extremely out of place in the world, even amongst the League, because he was the last one of them to figure out what he really wanted in the end, and it’s clear he has plenty of insecurities when it comes to questioning his purpose in life, comparing himself to others - like Toga, another fan of Stain - and how they seem to fit in so easily.

It’s because of these insecurities that Shigaraki and Spinner work well together, because Shigaraki’s patience, understanding, and confidence is what allowed Spinner to solidify his conviction and come to terms with the fact that not 100% fitting in and just coming along for the ride is perfectly okay.

How their chemistry develops

Spinner and Shigaraki’s first proper on-screen interaction was during the highway scene after the Overhaul arc. This is also the first time we see Spinner question whether the League really is about Stain’s ideology or not, and Shigaraki responds by reassuring him that they’re making a necessary sacrifice. 

Since this is the point in the series where Shigaraki begins to really place his trust and respect in the League, it really shows with how he trusts Spinner’s driving enough to sit on top of the damn truck. And speaking of Spinner’s driving, this is the first time we get a glimpse into his character beyond the fanboy, scenes that we were unfortunately robbed of in the anime.

Spinner’s love for video games immediately gives him something in common with Shigaraki, and the both of them frequently use video game lingo to describe their battle strategies and thought processes.

(Spinner’s face in the corner absolutely sends me.)

From then on, their interactions go into a radio silence until the MVA arc kicks in, and this is where their relationship really begins to take off.

After we get some exposition on heteromorphic discrimination from Spinner, we return to the League in their temporary hideout where we discover that they’re not doing too hot. They’re at a stalemate, unable to really do anything too productive, which prompts Spinner to speak up. He’s frustrated with not knowing what direction they’re going in, and understandably so, because right now, the League is his only place to go. If he left, he would be entirely on his own again, and this time with the heroes breathing down his neck.

He goes into brief detail about the kind of harsh environment he came from and why he was inspired by Stain, and in the heat of the moment, he doesn’t think twice about grabbing the front of Shigaraki’s shirt, the man who could disintegrate him with one touch. Spinner’s got mad balls, I’ll give him that.

Now, it’s known that Shigaraki isn’t too fond of Stain, but he still doesn’t get angry at all, even when Spinner is right up in his face. He remains calm, patient, and is ready to explain what he wants to happen (until he gets interrupted by Machia, of course).

Fast-forward to when they’ve all been warped inside the doctor’s lab and Shigaraki now has to present his conviction to Ujiko - Spinner’s expression is a little difficult to read here, but it seems his expectations for what Shigaraki has to say are low.

However, when Shigaraki speaks, his words deeply resonate with Spinner, and it becomes clear that Shigaraki had listened very closely to Spinner’s frustrated rant back in the hideout.

That last panel is especially interesting and drawn in a very deliberate way. Notice how, as Shigaraki is explaining his feelings, everyone except for Spinner is either confused or uninterested, and the panel is framed so that Spinner is the only one looking directly at Shigaraki. It very subtly conveys how Spinner is the sole person in the room who understands how Shigaraki feels, because despite coming from completely different backgrounds and experiencing completely different levels of trauma, Spinner and Shigaraki still hold the exact same sentiments when it comes to their innermost thoughts and desires.

So, needless to say, Spinner is now somewhat invested, and ready to pay close attention to Shigaraki’s future actions.

The next time we see them, it’s a month and a half later, and here we see Spinner relaying his concerns about Stain once again to Toga.

It seems that he’s talking more to himself than to Toga, and it reveals his insecurities about his place in the League. He’s debating on whether or not he should stay or leave, and which is the better option. He appears to be willing to wait a little longer to see things through however; he wants to see where Shigaraki’s pursuit of his dream takes him.

(That’s pretty home of sexual of you, Spinner.)

Cut to when the League are battling with the MLA - Toga gets caught up with Curious, Twice runs off to go look for her, and Compress and Dabi are separated from the group via Geten, leaving Spinner and Shigaraki to fight together. Spinner is the first to witness Shigaraki’s Quirk suddenly evolve to where the decay will spread to whatever is touching it, and he’s quite amazed by it.

They begin to get a little overwhelmed with how many soldiers they’re up against, and since Shigaraki is in a very hazy, sleep-deprived state, Spinner voices his concern for him. Shigaraki brushes his own health off to the side to bring up his uncertainty in his decision to fight the MLA, and he asks for Spinner’s opinion on the matter, showing that once again, Shigaraki listens to and values what his allies have to say. This time it’s Spinner’s turn to reassure Shigaraki that he made the right choice, allowing him to refocus on getting to the tower.

Shortly after, the Twices show up to help escort Shigaraki to the tower, and Spinner takes this opportunity to help lighten the burden by taking out the politician, who is basically giving the MLA soldiers stat boosts.

In the midst of his fight, he reflects on where he came from and how he got here, and he finally solidifies why he wants to follow Shigaraki. After realising that they share the same sentiments, he too wants to see the horizon that Shigaraki is envisioning. Shigaraki “lit a fire in his heart”, and as all he can think about is helping him in whatever way he can, he comes to accept that it’s fine if he’s just coming along for the ride.

(”I’ve got nothing I love” Are you sure about that-)

As we come to the grand finale of the battle, Shigaraki obliterates a huge chunk of the city, levelling it completely, and Spinner is the only other member from the League to witness it.

He’s completely awestruck, and when it comes to Spinaraki, it doesn’t get any gayer than these two lines parallelling one another: 

Some post-development crumbs

Now that we have their relationship established and developed, we can poke at the smaller stuff that takes place afterwards.

The first little crumb we get is when Shigaraki is introduced on stage in the room beneath the MLA mansion. The other League members are waiting for their cue to walk out, and Spinner’s heart beats as he watches Shigaraki intently.

After the speech, Shigaraki collapses from exhaustion, and while Compress simply remarks on how it’s a miracle he was still standing, Spinner expresses legitimate surprise and concern.

And for one last crumb until we see them interact again, I just think it’s cute that Spinner is in the support regiment of the PLF, yet again continuing the notion of Spinner wanting to help Shigaraki however he can.

In conclusion…

Spinaraki is a surprisingly soft and wholesome villain ship with a lot of fluff potential. Just two local gaymers who want to get back at society for condemning them, and who have each other’s complete support and loyalty.

Shigaraki has a huge soft-spot for his fellow outcasts, and Spinner is no exception. He accepts Spinner for who he is, doesn’t make any condescending remarks about him or his appearance, and remains patient and calm even when Spinner gets frustrated, making sure to listen and take in every word that’s said. He values Spinner as a person, and that ends up meaning so much for Spinner in the long run.

Spinner was someone who had no desires of his own, and nowhere to go where he felt safe and accepted. Even after taking up Stain’s ideals and joining the League, he was uncertain if he still belonged there - he’s noticed how there is no longer a trace of Stain’s ideology within the League, and he’s still faced discrimination in the form of Dabi calling him a lizard during the highway scene, something which the CRC does at the beginning of the MVA arc. However, Shigaraki ended up becoming Spinner’s reason for staying, finally giving him purpose to his life. They feel the same when it comes to acting out against society, and they’re able to understand one another on that emotional level. They have plenty in common, and it’s very clear now that Spinner is fully-prepared to follow Shigaraki to the ends of the earth.

Spinaraki’s dynamic is severely underrated, and the concept of Spinner - who has no prior romantic experience - crushing on the world’s new destructive god is too good to pass up. And the video game dates? 10/10, so damn adorable, they could bond over so many different games and just chill out when they don’t feel like going outside. Not to mention it’s just so good how Shigaraki isn’t fazed by Spinner’s appearance and how Spinner desperately needs that from someone, because this boy has obviously not been loved at all and craves that kind of connection (I mean, just look at how easily flustered he got from Mandalay’s flirting; no wonder he was pissed about it afterwards, now that we know what kind of history he’s had. That was probably the first time anyone’s ever complimented his appearance, and it just ended up being a dirty trick).

So yeah, Spinaraki has my whole heart, and I can’t wait to see them interact more (pls lord Horikoshi, give us Spinner reacting to buffraki when they reunite, I need to see his gay little heart panic for a whole second). Their dynamic is one of the cutest within the League, and I really hope more people see it when the MVA arc gets animated.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this - have a cute little sketch my good friend @batsyart​ did as a bonus!

[mc-critical]

Something I can never bring myself to understand is the MY fandom’s seeming obsession with *proving* Mahidevran or Hürrem as the more morally correct, more noble, more respect-worthy etc sultana. Or measuring whose actions and beliefs were the most justifiable or who suffered the most unfortunate circumstances. It seems to completely ignore the fact that most characters in the franchise, sans a small handful of characters, fall into the category of morally questionable or ambiguous. I feel like both Mahidevran and Hürrem are both victims to the same terrible circumstances and the enviornment in which they both lived and were forced to adapt to was a catalyst to a lot of their deplorable actions and beliefs. They both came to the palace as concubines with no family nor money to their names (I can’t recall if this was held consistent in the TV series for Mahidevran’s case or not but I know this is the case for her historically as well), both of them had their worth and their livelihood tied to their ability to produce princes and please the Sultan (who will take any opportunity to remind these women that they are a mere piece of property to him anytime they attempt to assert themselves in any way.) Then there’s the looming threat of the principle of fratricide that basically haunted them throughout the entirety of their motherhood. I’m in no way saying the immoral decisions they made was justifiable or somehow okay (Mahidevran killing Mehmet, Hürrem killing Mustafa, etc.) I just feel that there’s a lot of black-and-white thinking at play whenever the Mahi/Hürrem discourse comes up. What do you think?

Thank you for bringing this up, because it's probably the thing that bugs me the most about this fandom (outside of Tumblr currently). You voiced my overall thoughts into words so well!

I think these double standarts come from many places that can be both the only reasons for a person or just one of the many. In my experience, this "black or white", "all or nothing" attitude stems from the absolutist belief that people should pick sides and root for only one character (usually the protagonist) in a narrative. They're using the standard, superficial narrative roles of the protagonist and the antagonist in terms of Hürrem, thinking that for some reason the protagonist is always morally right in all she does, simply because she's the protagonist and we're supposed to unconditionally root for her. And if they don't like the protagonist, they choose root for "the other side" instead. They're better than that anyway, so of course, we should root for them!!

To be honest, the earlier seasons of the show make an attempt in justifying this assessment, with them having the narrative voice be rooted in Hürrem's favor, despite of all possible problematic actions that tell a different story altogether. MC Hürrem was given very understandable and sympathetic motivations, thorough character exploration, gradual character development and the privilege of far too obvious Plot Armor (make no mistake, every historical figure in the show has Plot Armor, but with the many attempts at her life, Hürrem's in particular, was way too glaring at points, sometimes to a ridiculous degree.) and the writers making her enemies doom themselves by their own failings, with her seemingly only enduring the "charade". (Valide's flanderization post-E38 is the most egregious example of this.) People I've encountered that are excusing Hürrem's behavior, are citing precisely the first episodes to present their arguments, often refusing to go beyond that. Mahidevran's motivations, while as nuanced as Hürrem's, don't seem as delved into in comparison at first (the origins and backstory of MC Mahidevran are shrouded in ambiguity, and while this is thematically appropriate for her character arc, as I explained here, it definetly doesn't help her case in bringing in more vocal sympathy.) and it could seem that her character is simply antagonistic to Hürrem, doesn't go anywhere and later revels in the depths of her ambition and wounded pride earlier than Hürrem began that similar development of hers. Some Mahi stans could see that probable difference of treatment in narrative and support her simply because of that, as well.

Assessing moral ambiguity isn't all that easy in the grand scheme of things, but it especially falls short when the narrative voice seemingly doesn't support it at first. But many miss that there's a very thin line between the actions and the narrative voice, that only turns into a very deep incongruity as the series progresses. I don't know, perhaps determing the moral ambiguity is indeed so complex, confusing and conflicting, since the whole story could get too complex and many might wonder who they'll root for now when everyone is so problematic. And that's a show that began as a simple soap opera, no less! Why would they even put in the effort in this case?

Not many people are used to ambiguous and questionable character development and are still trying to prove that there is one main positive characters in the show, which is why they try to make Mahidevran or Hürrem more morally right and justifiable than they actually are. They are so passionate about the debates they engage in, because this time period and MC is truly so ripe in analysis and it could be very fun to figure out where these characters come from and go through their 4-seasons long evolution in one chosen context, but by doing this, they so often miss the depth and nuance of the subject at hand and it all turns into a one-sided discourse that drives me nuts.

There is a historical context of the issue is also important to note, in my opinion. Both Mahidevran and Hürrem are historical figures and quite a bit of facts and deeds of theirs are now widely known. Most people in the fandom have opinions of them in advance or could've gained opinions of them a while after they began to watch the show. (There are also numerous fictional interpretations of the events during Süleiman's reign and the players in it, which may also play a part in the overall judgement.) Either way, the known historical facts about them (and other fictional interpretations one could've read, of course) could influence their points of view by a certain amount and use these general impressions to present them while analyzing the characters in the show. I've heard numerous arguments that this Hürrem isn't like the Hürrem the history knows about, that she isn't "their" Hürrem and what they read about her isn't depicted all that much in the show, which takes a lot away, according to them. I especially hate when they call MC Hürrem a one-dimensional "evil" caricature that only has vileness and smug about her, no conscience, no complexity whatsoever. (no, MC Hürrem isn't as simplistic and is much deeper and more nuanced. As far as fictional interpretations go, what they're describing is Hürrem in "The Sultan's Harem" from Colin Falconer, not MC Hürrem! In the MC/K franchise's terms, all they're doing is reducing her to the level of MCK Turhan Sultan, which is disrespectful to this character, to say the least. Turhan is the exact thematic contrast to Hürrem smh while Falconer's Hürrem is the most absurdly evil caricature imaginable, at least IMO, please and thank you!) Or even more unbelievably and outright hilariously, considering Hürrem's actions and the Sultanate of Women overall the downfall of the Ottoman Empire o.o and that's why Hürrem is so ruthless, so cruel, always intentionally, of course. This is plain ridiculous. Mahidevran, on the other hand, is presented by this clique as her "victim", as a completely innocent victim that had everything taken away from her. That Hürrem had stood between her and Süleiman and "ruined" their family. This take ignores every other factor of this falling out (Süleiman, that is) and a part of the nuance of Mahidevran's character. Reducing her to a simple "victim" doesn't cut it at all. Conversely, we have fans that simplify MC Mahidevran's character beyond every belief, loving the historical figure, but claiming they made her an "evil" and "stupid" bitch that cries and whines all the time. It's limiting and one-sided and even if it appears so, there are way far more layers to her character, that develop consistently throughout the narrative. The historical context of the time period itself is usually brought up in the debates, too, justifying whoever they want to justify by "It's a war, only the strongest ones survive!" or "You eat or get eaten! We should understand their time period, not judge by our contemporary times !", which is understandable and valid, but the only thing they end up doing is applying this logic only to their preferred characters when it should be applied to everyone. They try their best efforts to make one more morally right than the other, but they continually fail in the process, because the metric they judge them from is plagued by double standarts.

I wholeheartedly agree with you that excusing one of them, but not the other for most situations is wrong, because Mahidevran and Hürrem.... aren't all that different. What most people seem to miss, is that their character arcs are so contrastingly paralleling, because both of their endings were far from victorious and they got it for the exact same character reason, gained in a different way and in a different time. The persistent insistence of the fandom wanting a main character necessarily having a triumphant grand finale fails flat immediately, because there is no true victory in the franchise. They also miss the negative character development of both of them, them having to do the exact same stuff in many instances, both of them letting go of their pasts and/or former attachments, becoming vicious and ruthless in order to adapt to the circumstances, both of them had to make moves out of desperation because they felt threatened and they both protected their lives and the ones of their children at the end of the day. Heck, they're way more alike than they're different in my book. There is no morally right, no more noble here. Both of them had no qualms to do whatever it took to secure their own future and as you said, the narrative presented very neat motivations for them to do so as a whole. There is always a shade of grey and yes, who has the lighter shade of gray could be up for debate due to differing sympathies and perceptions, but that mustn't stop people to at least try looking at the "bigger picture" and try to view their characters with a bit more criticality, depth and respect.

Rooting for both conflicting sides is still seen as questionable and contradictory by some, but there really is nothing wrong with exploring their motivations without justifying them, no matter where your sympathies extend. I think it creates a more unbiased outlook on the both these characters and the themes around them and it's always awesome to see people doing that in any fandom, really.

And both Sultanas are worthy of respect, I said what I said.