#they redeemed it by giving him a cute human world outfit though

[devilishdelights]

It never really occurred to me that mammon is just straight up wearing jeans. Like I know he does…. But when I see them…. I get so confused….

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 - Disc 9

Finally reached the final volume! Really the only things I got out of this was the art and maybe the omake bits. Didn't care about the characters/plot at all lol. I guess this is a parallel universe so it doesn't contribute much to canon...It was cute though, so no regrets.

Ch. 52

-These "final battle" chapters have been a breeze to get through since it's mostly just action. I'm glad they threw a little bit of strategy in there with Taichi's explanation of the dot matrix though. Makes it feel more well thought out.

-In the previous volume I had complained about the lack of a team, but they did explain how Hideto's previous battle was crucial to winning this one, so I guess that's something. (But Zero and Taichi still have to be number one...)

-The mangaka confirmed my suspicions about Neo being an anagram for One. I guess that was pretty obvious...

Ch. 53

-So we finally see the "super ultimate" form of Arkadimon which I guess is stronger than the mega form? IDK...shit's confusing. The design kind of reminds me of the witches from Madoka. Sort of eldritch looking. I don't understand if his appendages are supposed to be like hair or tentacles...

-Sort of want to see an alternate ending where Neo achieves his goal, just so he can then fall into loneliness and despair when he's all alone in his new world (or would he be OP enough to create fake people? IDK...)

-"God Matrix" was pretty epic, but I feel like it didn't seem all that destructive despite looking like a nuke went off. We lost, what, one digimon? (One named digimon anyway)

Ch. 54

-More deus ex machina stuff. Apparently most overwrites shorten digimon's lifespan, but OH! There's a super-special-secret overwrite, the Alforce, that makes digimon power up through sunshine and rainbows! Riiiight.

-I don't like Zero's Alforce form because he looks kinda soulless now, almost like a bad guy. His "outfit" gives super sentai vibes. It's just kinda all over the place. Also, Mari said "he doesn't look like a dog anymore!" This manga keeps tryna gaslight me into thinking Zero looks like a dog when he never did lol.

-I thought the whole "Neo is doing this because of his sister's accident" thing was already established? I know Rei didn't know, but Sigma?

-Lol at Rei INSTANTLY jumping off a cliff. She didn't even hesitate for a second.

Ch. 55

-Okay, I'm going to say something hypocritical. First I was annoyed that Neo was a flat, evil-for-the-sake-of-it, villain, but now I'm annoyed that he gets to be insta-redeemed for "secretly having his heart in the right place." How are they going to pretend he still cares about his sister at this point? I feel like I could go back and find a bunch of evidence of Neo not giving a shit about Rei anymore (in fact 2 seconds ago he was carelessly tossing nukes in her direction), but oh well. I get the vibe that this franchise really likes redemption arcs.

-Lol guess Demon is the final boss after all! What a twist! I like his super ultimate look, very Go Nagai looking. Too bad his name is kinda stupid. Will Neo help fight him? (Somehow...without a partner...)

Ch. 56

-Ugh, they're doing that really tedious shounen power escalation thing. Every other chapter it's like "yes, we've powered up, no one could possibly beat us!" and then "What's this? An even STRONGER digimon!? And they know that legendary, ultra powerful technique!? This is our toughest battle yet!" and then a stronger mon/ability shows up and so on and so forth. I think the digi-formula is to drag the battle on a liiiiiittle past the point of annoying the audience to make things feel more climactic.

-They tried to give Demon some nuance by pulling the whole "liberation from tamers" schtick. I feel like there's not a ton of merit to it since it's the digimon that called the humans into their world in the first place.

-Demon says "humans created us!" I guess in this version of digimon the v-pets exist, so true (but then some just came outta nowhere like Zero?)

Ch. 57

-Okay, I'm glad they used the already established digimental's power instead of introducing more new, innate ancient digimon powers. Super ultimate Zero doesn't look super different from his prior form. It's maybe a slight improvement, but not very noticeable...

-We get a redeemed!Neo moment. I still kinda wish he'd answer for his crimes more, but maybe that comes later. They're kinda busy right now lol

-The digimental looks pretty different from the ones in the anime. Reminds me of an exsphere (from Tales of Symphonia)

Ch. 58

-This was a pretty paint-by-numbers ending. The day is saved, everyone celebrates and then the kids have to go back to their world. One element that set this apart from the anime is that there's still the v-pet element so Taichi is technically still acting as Zero's tamer. How things look from Zero's POV we'll never know.

-The ending reveal of everyone's human world counterparts threw me back to Dot Hack, especially with Rei in her wheelchair. Sigma without a mask was cute, I like how there's some subtle shipping with him and Mari in the background.

Omake - A New Courage

-Lol Taichi and Taichi, now we're getting REALLY meta! They did a good job of visually distinguishing the two Taichi's while still making them nearly identical. The art was definitely the most fun part about this omake.

-Agumon looked soooo cute in this ;w; so tiny next to Zero! And he gets to ride on his shoulders <3

-Why did Zero devolve (de-digivolve?) in this? I thought in the manga universe that wasn't a thing...

-The excuse for the plot this time was pretty lame "oh, the humans are making viruses and stuff so that manifested in our world," yeah whatever. Again, it kind of annoys me how anime!Taichi just instantly agrees to help with a battle that could take ages when he should be more concerned if he'll ever see his friends again.

Overall this was like a C+ experience. Perfectly serviceable, but not super memorable. In MAL terms I give it like a 5 outta 10. What do you call shounen for younger kids anyways? Super shounen? Baby shounen? There's gotta be a term out there...

[tenshindon]

Have you gotten Yamcha for the ask game yet? Or Tien? 😊

i have received Neither Chaps !!! So I will now do them both :) Pause on that :) gonna put this under a Read More since This Will Be Long <3

Yamcha:

Give Me A Character and I Will Answer:

Why I like them:

Uhhhh A Lot Of Reasons. Like. A lot. BUT I will be brief and say I like him because as a kid I always thought he looked cool and I always thought his first fight with Goku was radical. With My Big Man Brain Now I love him for just how sincere of a guy he is? And how loving and friendly and supportive? And I make fun of him for it but the wolf aesthetic genuinely is really cool- not to mention how he loves to change up his outfits and hairstyles!

Why I don’t:

I have no reason to hate this man. Like none exists. In The Most Platonic Way Ever he’s literally the perfect man and I would take him home to meet my mom and even then she would be happy with me dating a man if it was Yamcha Dragon Ball.

Favorite episode (scene if movie):

I have so many favorite Yamcha moments and ergo episodes good god help me BUT I will name ONE off the top of my head so I’m not stuck here forever and I really love the baseball scene in Z for Many Reasons it’s just so good it plays on loop in my brain 24/7 so I Will Say episode 10 of DBZ :)

Favorite season/movie:

The Tien Saga.... legendary.... yes he did get his leg broken but everything before AND after that??? Immaculate. Perfect. Astounding. No The Tien Saga Is Not Therapy But I Will Use It As Such

Favorite line:

Anything Yamcha says is music to my ears and is pure gold, and aside from The Iconic “Looking good, Tien!” quote from Budokai 3, I gotta say my actual favorite quote??

“No big deal. Bones heal, just like everything else.” -Yamcha to Tien in reference to his broken leg after the 22nd World Tournament

Like. It’s SUCH a simple line but it’s SO telling of Yamcha’s character?? Tien literally broke his leg with no concern of the long-lasting effects of doing so, not to mention his dickish behavior beforehand towards Yamcha beforehand. So for Yamcha to just be ready to forgive him at the drop of a hat when he sees Tien’s seem sincerely apologetic? Dude no one talk to me I’m going to write an essay again.

Favorite outfit:

I Mean This In The Most Platonic Way Part II but Yamcha can make Literally Any outfit and hairstyle look good it should be illegal. However I am legally required to choose One (1) outfit and at this point we should all know how much I adore the desert bandit fit of his. It’s just such a classic and cute look to him (not to mention The Sword <3)

OTP:

Oh You Know :) but if you don’t it’s Yamcha and Tien- even as just Friends They’re So Good I’m Going To Write An Essay like god I want what they have so badly.

Brotp:

I love his relationship with Puar, like I genuinely would love a small arc dedicated to how they even became friends in the first place since their origin together is so mysterious yet intriguing? But aside from The Obvious answer I love his brotherly relationship with Goku and Krillin! Unfortunately that relationship wanes as they all get older but I’ll always cherish the moments where he radiated such Big Bro energy.

Head Canon:

I’ve got a dumb amount of headcanons it’s terrible BUT I think my favorite headcanon is that Yamcha’s leg never properly heals after the 22nd Tournament.

Unpopular opinion:

I. Have a lot. Of unpopular opinions. Just genuinely loving Yamcha’s an unpopular opinion in of itself BUT One of my unpopular opinions is that Yamcha’s a flirt, a cheater, and promiscuous. If he’s ever portrayed as a flirt towards women, I can give it the smallest pass in the world that he’s trying to cope but even then that’s such a stretch in my opinion- and I guess this is on top of being a headcanon but Frankly I don’t think Yamcha’s ever even kissed anyone- he’s playing the long game everyone he’ll get his kiss on his wedding day btw that’s like. Partially a joke; I joke around a lot that Yamcha’s Super dedicated to the whole Nothing Until Marriage idea lmao.

A wish:

For the love of God Yamcha pack up your shit and Puar and just move in with Tien your apartment’s shit.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen:

Honestly? I kind of don’t want Yamcha to get a girlfriend? But I also DO because he wants that the most in life and it’d be great to see SOMETHING nice happen to him!

My only gripe with him getting a girlfriend (and hopefully then a wife) would be that his girlfriend wouldn’t be that well defined of a character and she’d just be said in Passing Mentions.

5 words to best describe them:

Perfect, immaculate, loyal, courageous, lovely 

My nickname for them:

Furry, Dumpy, and Wolfie!

Tien

Give Me A Character and I Will Answer:

Why I like them:

Again I Have A Lot Of Reasons BUT I love how like. Deceiving he is as a character. Like ask anyone and 90% of the time people will say Tien’s smart and serious and No Bullshit but no he is exactly the opposite he’s dumb as shit in any department outside of farming and fighting and he’s such a lil’ jackass when breathing next to Yamcha. 

Sincerely though, I absolutely love his character development- it’s one of my favorite arcs in Dragon Ball to be honest but That’s An Essay For Another Time. I also love how funny he can be, intentionally or not, and he’s surprisingly really relatable at times? And just his dedication to fighting’s really neat too; at this point he MUST know he can never be stronger than Goku but he still tries nevertheless and that’s really indicative of his bullheaded personality.

Why I don’t:

You could not pay me to dislike him I’d sell my kidneys for Tenshinhan.

Favorite episode (scene if movie):

Any episode from the gang’s escapades on King Kai’s planet good lord save me. That’s where Tien’s existence shines the best it’s so good.

Favorite season/movie:

His own saga man like. As much as I LOVE Redeemed Tenshinhan I also love how much of a jackass he was like why was he like that LMAO

Favorite line:

Again, aside from The Iconic x2 “Looking good, Yamcha!” quote, I gotta say it’s:

“Yes... sir! <3″ -Tien preparing to strike Goku with the volleyball fist during the 22nd World Tournament.

Also “I left Chiaotzu and Yamcha behind. This seems too dangerous for them.” -Tien to Gohan during the Resurrection F saga

Favorite outfit:

Like Yamcha, Tien’s outfits always hit. Not a SINGLE one misses. BUT I gotta say I love his classic tits-out look- more so for the fact I like how he shows off his scar as a kind of way to say he’s moved on from the Crane School like Damn Son you love to see it :,) Deep reasons aside, my second-favorite outfit’s got to be the Buu Saga listen man everyone just had the Hottest outfits in the Buu Saga you can’t blame me.

OTP:

Oh You Know :)

Brotp:

Tien has Two (2) friends in his life man the pool’s small but even if it WAS larger I would say Chiaotzu anyway LMAO. Love them dudes man.

Head Canon:

Tien is just. Terribly academically and socially stupid. The Social Ineptitude isn’t even a headcanon that’s just fact but when I said he’s stupid in every department But Fighting And Farming I meant it. Flirting with Tien is a nightmare. If you’re not Yamcha or Chiaotzu joking with him is a headache. He’s only smart in the vocabulary department other than that he couldn’t tell you how many planets are in the solar system. He’s dumb as rocks but is smart enough to convince everyone around him he’s smart because he knows what picayune means.

Unpopular opinion:

I have nothing but love and respect for Krillin, but it makes like. No sense to insist Krillin’s the strongest human on earth. Tien does not go hard on that grind 24/7 just for everyone- writers included- to reduce him to such trash when fighting. But why pit two kings against each other you know?

A wish:

Please just give him one good sexy fight that’s all I’m asking for. Also Tien PLEASE use the solar flare you dumb motherfucker YOU INVENTED IT??? Actually all of my wishes are fighting related but yeah Tien for God’s Sake acknowledge how crazy your move kit is and fuck it UP MY GUY.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen:

Tien please don’t get a random wife I fortunately cannot see that happening but for the love of God Toei if you make that happen I will actually commit arson. Any other fear I could have either has come true or cannot happen.

5 words to best describe them:

Deceivingly smart dumbass I love

My nickname for them:

Headass, Slap Head, My Man/s, Bald Motherfucker, Polyphemus Headass (I know Polyphemus is a cyclops but shush), Four Arms, Machamp, Stitch, Roach, King, and Ikea Dresser

[mystech-master]

Annon-Guy: What are you personal thoughts on Nu-13 and Lambda-11 In terms of gameplay and personality? You can talk about their character designs too id you want too.

Okay, I need to first summarize what I know of Nu and Lambda at the moment before I give my personal thoughts. A lot of shorthanding and maybe some errors may be involved so plz forgive me.

long post bellow, beware.

Nu-13 and Lambda-11 are both Prime Field Devices, artificial humans made for the purpose of exploring the boundary. Specifically, they are Murakumo Units: PFD’s outfitted with the Nox Nyctores Lux Sanctus: Murakumo as full-on weapons.

When Ragna’s siblings were captured, because of Saya’s innate gift with seithr, she was used as the basis for creating all of these Units. There are usually referred to as “clones” which means everyone treats them as either the same as Saya or also sisters, leading to a lot of incest jokes and rants in the fandom. More on this later but I feel like it has to be brought up.

we first meet Nu-13 as the final boss of the first game Calamity Trigger, where we learn that this is technically the 3rd time she and Ragna have met, since before this Ragna was blowing up NOL branches and cauldrons to stop more Murakumo Units from being made, as they are all just fake copies of his sister who was tortured for their creation.

Nu-13 has a full-on yandere crush on Ragna due to 2 factors I believe, 1. she is constantly viewing him through the lens of the fragment of Saya’s soul saying “Ragna is the big brother who loves me”, and 2. Ragna killing her again and again. This causes her to see Ragna killing her as loving her. Not helping is her being made in the Boundary which completely fucks up your mental state when near it.

At the end of almost every ending in CT, Nu defeats Ragna, skewering them both on her sword, they fall into the Cauldron and travel back in time 100 years to become the Black Beast that ravaged the world in the Dark War, creating a time loop. As when a Murakumo does an imperfect fusion with an Azure Grimoire (or at least a piece of the Azure) it becomes a Black Beast, with a perfect fusion resulting in a Kusanagi: the God Slayer (which is what Noel becomes and what the villains were trying to do to take down Amaterasu (the god of Blazblue world). Fitting as a Murakumo, with the Kusanagi being a super version of it, has a Nox capable of resisting Phenomenon Intervention, which is the Mater Unit’s main Power. So when they say God Slayer they do not mean gods in general they mean a SPECIFIC god. Just need to say that).

Anyways, Nu kills Ragna every now and again for like 725 loops before Noel steps in during the true ending and manages to grab Ragna before he and Nu fall into the Cauldron.

In Continuum Shift, the second game taking place right/ a week after the first game, Nu’s body is recovered from the bottom of the Cauldron (yes those things apparently have a bottom they aren’t just portals) by Sector Seven and Kokonoe proceeds to ake Nu’s soul and put it in the body of another Murakumo Unit, Lambda-11 to use as a puppet and fight for her. Her weapons are made of titanium alloy instead of Hihi'irokane (the mythical Japanese metal which is also in the Susano’o Unit and is also the name of a Soul cutting sword in Blazblue), and she is outfitted with an IDEA Engine, an improved version of the Artificial Causality Phenomenon Weapons: a scientific counterpart to the Nox Nyctores using Atomic Power rather than souls.

Lambda’s memories are still in there and she recalls the torture she had to endure by all the scientists creating her, which I assume all Murakumos underwent including Nu, so Kokonoe has to erase her memories to make her an effective tool, even if she regrets it.

They don't really explain where the soul starts and the mind/memories begin and vice versa though, this is another thing I will tackle later.

She sends out Lambda in the second game to do things, she like Tager for the most part just acts as Kokonoe’s proxy, until the climax of the true ending where Ragna is fighting Terumi at the top of the NOL branch. Just as Terumi is about to kill Ragna, Lambda takes a lethal blow for Ragna, and in her final moments, Nu’s soul comes to the surface and is glad she got to see Ragna again, him having recently gone through the character development of not seeing Murakumos as things but as people after interacting with Noel. As she dies and fades into sparkles, weird for a science thing, she grants Ragna her Idea Engine, giving him the power boost he needs to defeat Terumi and later save Noel who was smelted into the Kusanagi.

Now in the third game, because Ragna and Nu have a Life Link, which means one cannot die permanently without the other being killed in a short time frame, Nu is now able to come back as she couldn’t before with Kokonoe shoving her soul into Lambda. She mostly just acts as the villains' combat android until she copies Noel’s power to summon the Master Unit (as both are Saya fragments and also fragments of The Origin, the first PFD who made contact with the Master Unit and sort of.....became it?). Then in the climax, the villains summon Take-Mikazuchi, a giant titan satellite laser thing, and make Nu the core of it. Once the body is destroyed Ragna goes inside to deal with Nu. She proceeds with her usual shtick of telling Ragna they will “become one” and to kill her and all that, saying the backstory of pretty much every Murakumo about how she was made to be a weapon and how she was tortured and shit, this is also her saying Noel’s backstory since Noel ‘Observed” Nu as her which is SORT of true since they are both Saya but not really, it’s confusing as hell. But, basically, she is saying the shared Murakumo Backstory and Ragna sees this as her cries to be saved, while Nu, who only sees her and Ragna’s relationship as a mutually sadomasochistic one, goes bonkers and tries to kill Ragna, not out of yandere lust, but actual anger and hatred. Ragna wins and brings her out of Take-Mikazuchi, where Izanami takes control of her and makes her stab Ragna and he goes berserk and loses control of the Azure Grimoire.

the fourth game Central Fiction is a mess so I know the least here but from what I recall:

Nu is now growing to be her own person, she is less robotic but that means Yandere Ragna mode is on all the time. She is going around absorbing Nox Nyctores to get power so she can kill Ragna and do the merge. Near the climax, she is fighting Jubei and when she almost kills Tsubaki, Hakumen steps in and wrecks her shit. (In a previous time loop Tsubaki was killed by Nu b/c Noel didn’t exist and wasn’t Jin’s secretary instead of Tsubaki, so she went after Jin in the first game who was going after Ragna, she got caught in the crossfire, with Nu’s yandere mind hating any female in the same room as Ragna, and dies. Jin then falls into the cauldron after Ragna and Nu to become Hakumen during the Dark War. More time loop BS).

Meanwhile due to the Embryo, BS plot device, Lambda just.....comes back to life. Even though her soul was technically never a part of the story as it was NU’S soul in the body during CS. Anyways she is basically “good Nu” she is fighting the villains through sheer Power of Love and just wants to see Rgana again, she is pretty unimportant in the overall scheme of things.

After the world is remade Noel and Lambda move into the rebuilt church where Ragna and the siblings grew up and became nuns, looking after the comatose Nu who is kind of a vegetable with her sole reason for existing, Ragna, now no longer existing and all memory of him being erased.

Okay so after that lengthy summary, here are my thoughts.

1. the sister thing.

In spite of them being “clones” of Ragna’s little sister Saya, that hasn't stopped a shit load of ship teasing with the Murakumos by both the writers and the fandom.

Part of me thinks it’s because they go too far in the “They are their own unique people, they aren’t just fake copies of Saya” to which the fans mostly agree, but that just means while they aren’t Saya they are still related/connected to her. It isn't like Ragna can only have ONE sister.

Also, the reveal of Izanami being Saya at the end of CS also factors into this.

My only way to do mental gymnastics around this is saying that by “clone” they just mean copy/looks like her and has the same abilities, but genetically they are different.

I mean, we have no idea how Murakumos....work. They can't have any mechanical bits because we see them get zapped in-game and they have no metal, Noel CERTAINLY would've known she wasn't human if she didn't grow like a normal human or eat, sleep, produce waste, etc.

To me, Murakumos seem to be like software/computer programs given physical form via seithr. More like the Valentines in Guilty Gear, “robots” made up of information.

Plus, the story only ever points out the sibling connection with Ragna and Noel, and that’s in the LAST game and until then she’s just a stranger to him, with Lambda and Nu NEVER being treated the same.

And before anyone goes “BUT THE SCIENTIFIC DEFINITION OF CONE MEANS ‘HUR DE DUR, SAME DNA’ AND THEY USE THE WORD CLONE TO DESCRIBE THEM IN CANON! MEH!”, that could just be an over-simplification as to what they are, and I feel like a lot of series just rely on an oversimplification of terms. Like how Black Holes mostly work in fiction is NOT how they work IRL.

Now, does this mean I would’ve wanted Ragna to get with Noel or Lambda or Nu? Fuck no. I can appreciate cute little one-shots that have nothing to do with canon, but in terms of looking this train wreck of a story and trying to fix it they have other issues that make me not want to ship them.

I might go into why I wouldn't want Ragna x Noel in another post later, but I’ll stay on topic with Nu and Lambda.

Both are kind of boring

Lambda is basically Nu with less personality and is just a plot device for the most part.

As for Nu, even if you redeem her and keep her loving Ragna qualities without the yandere murder, it is still boring. because all her interests are Ragna she has nothing else going for her. Outside of the most generic romance shit what can you see Nu doing with him? it’s a bit upsetting because Nu seems like the type of person who’d have Ragna’s back and punch Jin in the dick if he insults or threatens Ragna, which is something I would LOVE in an S.O. for Ragna.  But without her own interests and character, she is just......boring. And yeah you could theorize that she gains an interest outside of Ragna post-redemption but that is too broad of a statement that I can’t really do anything with it.

So frankly, even IF we ignore the sister thing or do weird mental gymnastics about it, Ragna/Nu and Lambda would just be BORING as they are in canon outside of the most generic BS.

2. The connection between Nu and Lambda

Really Lambda was just made to keep Nu’s gameplay in while killing her in canon, that is a dumb excuse.

Some people like to see Lambda s Nu but redeemed temporarily but then come to CP and it’s like none of the Lambda stuff mattered. You’d think that at least Ragna would use Lambda’s death as an ace for his argument on using the Azure Grimoire as when he wasn't able to use it he got his shit kicked in and someone had to DIE for him because of that. But NOPE.

Then she is revived for bullshit fanservice reasons in CP Extend and is barely a thing in Story Mode

A while ago I made a post showing 3 ways they could've gotten rid of Nu that would’ve made good character moments. I will be focusing on number 3 here: Have Nu and Lambda be the same person.

Instead of Lambda being brought back via Embryo Bullshit, have Nu and Lambda be a split personality deal. Like Nu is the CS Mu to Lambda’s Noel. Say during Ragna’s Arcade mode or Nu’s Arcade mode Nu slightly hesitates when about to kill Ragna, reality flickers a bit revealing Lambda’s color scheme on Nu, showing that Lambda is within her. Nu’s soul spending time in Lambda has given her an alternate identity.

This doesn't just have to affect just Ragna, maybe Lambda remembers that Kokonoe mind-wiped her and tried to make her into a puppet thus making her no better than the villains.

During the climax, instead of Nu’s yandere rage, we have that mixed in with Lambda’s hysterical cries begging for death due to the torture of Nu’s memories. Both side tr and kill Ragna out of rage or trying to force him to kill them in self-defense. Ragna, of course, doesn’t and saves them, thus allowing Nu-Lambda to be brought back to Kokonoe and redeemed.

Maybe her hair is a mix of Nu and Lambda’s making it a Platinum Blonde (making it a mixture of Nu’s white hair and Lambda’s blonde hair), and the tanner skin complexion and red eyes further separate her from Noel.

3. Story roles

The first two games are fine for the most part but I have some ideas for the last two.

For the 3rd game, an idea I had was instead of Nu being the one to summon the Master Unit via stealing Noel’s power, have Amane do something important in this game instead of having him chase Carl.

he is said the be the “Uzume” like the god who stripped and made Amaterasu come out of the cave after her sibling fallout with Susano’o. Simply have Amane be the “herald of Amaterasu”, possibly being a being similar to Terumi, a spirit of a god unit. maybe not AS powerful as the Sankishin, but just under. This means that Nine’s Hino Kagutsuchi would fall under this category as well. Or maybe he simply has a story connection with Noel in accepting the part of her connection to the Origin and the Azure or something.

To go off of the shipping thing above, maybe to at least use the Saya soul thing, she is struggling with her feelings towards Ragna because how much of these feelings are her own, and how many are born from an isolated sibling’s misplaced love? This is probably something a villain taunts her about

I kind of theorize that Saya’s fear of other people instilled in her during the siblings’ days as lab rats and Ragna protecting her made her develop an unhealthy sister crush on him, this, of course, isn't helped by the Origin (who she is based on) wanting Ragan to be her knight in shining armor.

Again, more on this later possibly.

Anyways, so Lambda can get her own feelings in order and prove that she isn’t just a copy of Saya or Noel, she tries to make her own identity. maybe cutting off that large Murakumo ponytail in the process, b.c that’s an Asian culture thing about cutting hair to symbolize the beginning of a new stage in her life. Maybe after forgiving Kokonoe, she joins Sector Seven not as a field agent like Tager, but as Kokonoe’s new assistant and friend, showing that she isn't going to be used as a tool or a weapon.

I still need to get on with drawing Lambda in a lab coat styled after her Murakumo cloak.

As for at least Nu’s connection with Ragna. It is weird because I generally either hate or have enormous contempt for almost everyone Ragna has interacted with for the pettiest reasons. For Nu, while she is crazy towards Ragna and tries to kill him, it's due to her own psychosis and insanity, which is partially Ragna’s fault. Everyone else who gives Ragna shit is either a villain (in which case it’s fine because it is a VILLAIN, which Nu sort of counts as), or an arrogant asshole who KNOWS what they are doing for the lols. So I SORT OF give Nu a semi-pass. But like I stated above I can’t see what she would be if she were redeemed, so I do feel like if she wasn't going to be used as a way to bring Lambda back, she should've been killed.

 The point is, the Murakumos have a lot of potential for smaller things but they are incredibly mishandled in a lot of ways too, including showing up where they really shouldn't a lot of times. Shipping is okay so long as you are capable of doing mental gymnastics to ignore the sister shit, and don’t look at a whole lot of other issues.

These are just my thoughts and maybe I didn’t explain things enough, or I did it weirdly, or I have some different opinions, IDK. This series gives me a lot of feelings

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

If you don't mind me sending in some more about the ask game: 24, 40, 41 and 50? :3

(Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition ask meme)

Under a cut for length and for spoilers.

24: Favorite ship? ;)

The Havres The transport pods that look like whales Oh boy, the can of worms has been opened now!  I’m a proud multishipper and am cool with a lot of different ships/headcanons, but some that I enjoy are Melia/Fiora, Reyn/Sharla/Gadolt, Dunban/Dickson, Dunban/Mumkhar, Shulk/Reyn, Shulk/Alvis, and Alvis/Kallian.  Shulk/Fiora may be basic but it is also cute, so I don’t have any problem with the implied “canon” ship either.  They’ve clearly got something going on and I find it heartwarming no matter how platonic or romantic you read it.

40: Feelings about Future Connected?

To be fair, I didn’t play FC personally, only watched my brother play it, but my overall impression was *shrugs*.  I was glad to see more of Melia, of course, and Shulk was fun too.  Seeing a bit of the postcanon world was also great.  I knew from hearsay/my brother that the Bionis’ shoulder was intended to be in the game proper, but since I myself am quite new here I didn’t get the same excitement from seeing it finally realized.  I mostly loved seeing Alcamoth again.  It was one of my favorite inhabited locations and the tragedy of seeing it post-Mechonis Core was a standout moment to me in the original game, so I was happy to go back.  I actually quite liked Kino and Nene but couldn’t help but think they felt...out of place in FC’s narrative (same goes for the Ponspectors), plus it’s too bad we didn’t get to finally see them interact with Riki after all that.  Gael’gar was underdeveloped as hell and ultimately wasted as an “antagonist”; his ending was tragic but almost distressingly unemotional since there was so little buildup.  The use of the track “A Tragic Decision” (which had been used for highly emotional scenes with Egil and Zanza) felt incredibly forced and almost insulting considering how little they’d developed him.  His whole “arc” was awkwardly integrated and poorly executed, which was a shame since, had he been a bit less cartoonish, he might have been genuinely interesting.  Frankly, FC just tried to address too many things in too short a runtime.  I never found the Fog King particularly threatening and made Eye of Sauron jokes the whole time.  According to my brother the ending implied some kind of multiverse with XC2??  I know nothing about 2 so I just thought it was underwhelming.  Seeing Melia and Tyrea interact again was probably my favorite part of FC, though I thought that ended a bit awkwardly as well.  I’d like to think that Tyrea continued to heal after FC because hoo boy, does she have some stuff to work through.  I loved the two main encampments and Radzam the Machina chef is my new favorite NPC.

41: How did you come to know Xenoblade Chronicles?

My little brother had been a fan of the Wii game for years, but I just never bothered to ask him about it, I guess!  I think the problem was I conflated what little I knew of XC1 (which was that Fiora “dies” almost immediately) with what little I saw when he was playing XC2 (which was the human(?) Blades, the creepy Nopon, and the even more fanservice-y women’s outfits).  I just assumed they were one and the same and thought it was one of his more invalid interests.  I knew it must have had some redeeming qualities since he doesn’t go for fanservice but I didn’t care enough to find out.  Oh, how wrong I was, at least about XC1!  He preordered the Definitive Edition as soon as he could, and since I had free time and he had talked it up, I decided to watch him play it.  The rest, dear reader, is history.  As soon as he finished his playthrough I dove headfirst into the fandom and started playing it for myself!  I had to finish it quickly since I was in the process of moving and the Switch was his, but I completed the main story just in time and had an absolute blast.  I’m utterly in love with this world and am so glad I gave it a chance.

50: Any advice/other words for any prospective/future fans?

Welp, I’m not sure how many made it this far since I dropped a ton of spoilers in here, but do what I did and give XC1 a chance!  I know they throw a lot at you right out of the gate but boy does the narrative Go Places you’d never imagine at the start.  It’s a fantastic journey with a delightful cast of characters and some really neat worldbuilding.  Even if you can’t play it, you can watch all the cutscenes here and tag along!!  If you are able to play it, I recommend completing sidequests in an orderly fashion instead of ignoring them like I did (due to my limited timetable) and having to go back and one-hit a bunch of enemies for by-then-underleveled armor/gems/extra skills/etc.  Just get the EXP and area affinity when you can, plus you might end up completing a lot of the quests by accident just from wandering around!  Learn to use Melia’s elementals, especially leaving Aqua in the initial slot to help keep everyone alive.

[kathyprior4200]

Behind the Innocent Mask

(Evil Niffty AU)

 With a snap of Alastor’s fingers, a fire blazed to life with a whoosh in a small circular fireplace. A dark figure fell into the flames, the head poking out and one dark claw resting on the side. He Radio Demon walked over and picked up the figure with his hand. A large yellow eyeball opened up, taking in the curious faces of Angel, Charlie, and Vaggie.

With a poof and a squeak, the smoke and ash cleared and the demon was revealed.

“This little darling is Niffty!” Alastor introduced before letting go. She landed on her feet. The short cyclops demon wore a bright pink 50’s dress with three white polka dots near the top and a poodle off to the right. Her arms and legs were stick thin. Her short hair was fiery magenta with one portion of it yellow. Like other demons, her teeth were razor sharp.

“Hi! I’m Niffty!” she greeted with a wave. “It’s nice to meet you! It’s been a while since I’ve made new friends! Her pupil grew smaller and darted in circles.

“Why are you all women?” she asked. “Have any men here?! I’m sorry, that’s rude,” she added quickly.

She briefly picked up Charlie, while Vaggie angrily pointed her spear at her. Angel flinched back in surprise. Due to his feminine appearance, Niffty thought Angel was a woman.

She darted behind an overturned couch. “Oh man, this place is filthy!” she exclaimed. She lifted up a couch cushion and spotted a spider dangling from a string of web. She chomped on the spider and continued talking. “It really needs a ladies’ touch, which is weird, because you’re all ladies, no offence.”

She rushed toward stained glass windows with a dust ruffle.

“Oh my gosh, this is awful! No, no, no…” She darted around, removing cobwebs. She ran forward and poked at a piece of cloth with a sewing needle, then continued to clean the room. Alastor grinned in amusement and wondered away while the others stared in disbelief.

The blue piece of cloth which looked like a bug was, in fact, one of many Voodoo like critters that Alastor summoned. Or, in this case, he had stabbed it with a sewing needle before Niffty picked it up and delightfully gobbled it down before continuing her work. It was Alastor’s ways of rewarding her for both being polite and being a source of entertainment.

Later on, Niffty had finished tidying up the room. She walked into the lobby and happened to find Alastor pulling Vaggie and Charlie close and remarking, “This is going to be very entertaining!” Pricks of jealousy stabbed through her mind. Ever the hopeless romantic, Niffty had an obsession with men for as long as she could remember. In her life as a human, she had fantasized about meeting the love of her life and going on various adventures with him. But working as a maid and chimney cleaner to make ends meet in America wasn’t particularly ideal. There were the additional problems of discrimination against women and the Japanese. Indeed, the Pearl Harbor military strike happened in her human lifetime, traumatizing her and her family for many months. If that wasn’t enough, Niffty had been molested by her conservative uncle. That event became one of her angst-filled poem themes she kept in her hot pink notebook.

Things went from bad to worse, when as a young teen, she died in a house fire, after a bad incident while serving an upper class European-American family. It occurred in the 1950s.

Niffty soon ended up in Hell, but could only witness events while living in fire. Fortunately, Hell was full of fire and brimstone, so the servant demon could wonder around. From afar, she admired all the powerful overlords, eventually working for Alastor after he charmed her and offered her a deal. To gain a physical body and meet new friends, assist the Radio Demon. She eagerly accepted.

 Sewing, cooking, cleaning, reading and writing were Niffty’s favorite hobbies. She did all of them when she was a human and still enjoyed them in Hell. Additionally, she could speak some Japanese.

  When Niffty was cleaning the room, she could see concern in the eyes of Vaggie, Angel, and Charlie. She figured that they weren’t used to seeing a demon so hyperactive, with strokes of a chaotic nature thrown in. (With being summoned by Alastor several times, she was bound to pick up a few of his traits).

 Niffty watched from a distance as Alastor changed Charlie’s outfit and shoved Vaggie aside. She briefly looked down at her dress and admired the poodle design. Every time Alastor looked at it, disgust would reach his red eyes, but Niffty also sensed some deeper discomfort. It was amusing during the few times when he let his guard down like that.

 Back when she was human, short with black hair, Niffty would often slip into other characters to practice her acting. Dressing up and “being” other characters was a fun experience, and practical, too. In her spare time as a human, Niffty would sew costumes for herself and even play instruments such as the piano, harmonica, and saxophone.

In many ways, she was similar to Alastor; almost always smiling, energetic, enjoying the thrill of theater. It was so easy for Niffty to get immersed in the realm of fantasy and romance.

 After all, fantasies were better than hell-filled lives of low self-esteem and self-doubt.

 Even now, Niffty was putting on a happy face after dusting off the old grandfather clock in the corner. (It always seemed to stay dirty no matter how hard she tried to clean it). With more demon guests supposedly arriving, she would have to prepare some meals soon. Cooking was fun most of the time, but being pressured to serve fast without any form of gratitude from customers, was tiresome.

 Although Niffty wouldn’t admit it to anyone, she had an awareness of the social structure of Hell, based on her observations hidden within flames. When putting her mind to it, Niffty could be quite manipulative. In fact, she wasn’t hesitant to concoct plans by herself for her own ends. It gave her something to think about while her hands were busy.

When Niffty was cleaning the room, she could see concern in the eyes of Vaggie, Angel, and Charlie. She figured that they weren’t used to seeing a demon so hyperactive, with strokes of a chaotic nature thrown in. (With being summoned by Alastor several times, she was bound to pick up a few of his traits).

  As Alastor sang his reprise, Niffty happily looked at her new outfit conjured by Alastor’s magic: a black and pink dress with a round hat with daisies on the top. Alastor pulled the residents into a hug as Voodoo spirits appeared from the darkness. Niffty admired the show, briefly wishing she had powers like that.

There was a quote that Alastor used that stuck with her: “The world is a stage, and a stage is a world of entertainment.”

If only she could create that worldly stage for herself.

 Alastor kicked a skull away and Niffty rushed to clean up the pieces with a broom and dustpan. A boom rattled the hotel and blew out the windows. Niffty, mesmerized, soon witnessed a door flying straight into her face. Knocked back by the force, she knew that no human could survive that.

Niffty soon appeared outside with the rest of the group, watching as Sir Pentious arrived with his blimp. She watched with a small smile on her face as Alastor wrapped the blimp with black tentacles and causing everything to explode.

“Well, I’m starved!” Alastor exclaimed to the shocked group. “Who wants some jambalaya?”

Niffty darted around Alastor, a big smile on her face. Despite resenting being ordered around by him, she still blushed whenever she got close to him. She skipped up to the hotel with the others, imagining what Alastor’s soft red and black hair would feel like in her dainty hands.

 Niffty headed to the kitchen to prepare jambalaya for the group. She was used to making this New Orleans cuisine for Alastor several times a week when she was summoned. (It did get pretty boring in the fire.)

Niffty poured a tablespoon of oil in a frypan and then cut up slices of chicken and sausage. She removed the tails from shrimp and used another cutting board to chop green onions. Stirring in the tomatoes, meat, and vegetables, she added all the hot sauces: hot pepper, Cajun, and Worcestershire.

Finally, she added rice, chicken broth and the shrimp on top. Before long, she brought out five hot steaming plates for the group at the bar. Husk was drinking the remainder of his booze on his stool, still pouting at not being able to win his prizes. Vaggie looked around at the bar in disgust, clearly appalled that alcohol wasn’t going to be removed from the hotel. Angel Dust lounged on a pool table, drinking a Shirley Temple in a glass while sucking on a straw. Charlie was chatting with Vaggie about new plans for the hotel.

“Oh, this is exciting!” she smiled. “Now that we have a maid and a person to welcome the guests, I’d say things are looking even better.”

Husk scoffed. “Fuck that bullshit. Thanks to that talk show clown over there…” he mentioned to Alastor leaning smugly against a nearby wall… “…I’m stuck here doing a stupid charity job. If I had my bets, I’d say I’ll go insane spending several more hours here.”

“Oh don’t be such a sourpuss,” Charlie said. “Alastor said you’d make a great addition to the hotel.”

“Stuff your mockery, princess. You know how annoying and deceitful he is. I’d fare better being chased by hellhounds than being stuck here with him.”

“Just give him a chance, Husk,” Charlie said. “You’ll see that even the most sinful among us can be redeemed.”

Husk rolled his eyes. “With your singing and cheer? Good luck with that.”

Charlie glared at the cat demon, Vaggie holding her back.

“I, for, one, welcome our new Hazbin overlord,” Angel remarked, from the pool table. “He’s classy and has those cute furry ears…”

Vaggie stomped over to Angel and grabbed him by the collar. “Don’t let him hear you say that!” she hissed. “You’ll be vaporized in an instant.”

“Geez, calm your tits, Vag,” he replied, backing up and hopping off the table. “Though his eyes and smile are kinda creepy. I wonder how it would feel for him to make work of me with those claws of his…”

He sighed in content and sucked his straw again.

“Fuck you,” she spat in revulsion. “You have a messed up death wish.”

“You mean, a double death wish?” he asked with a laugh. “Double Hell, here I come!”

Vaggie growled and stormed back to the bar table.

Niffty came into the room, holding up the plates of food.

“Ah Niffty!” Alastor exclaimed, moving from the wall. “What perfect timing! Jambalaya, just how I like it.”

Niffty placed the plates in front of the five individuals. Another plate of dead voodoo looking rats appeared off to the side, Niffty eagerly gobbling them down, much to the shock of Vaggie, Angel, Charlie, and Husk. Alastor winked at her, causing the maid to blush, a rat tail hanging from her mouth. She slurped it up and ran off with a nervous giggle.

“Such a sweet little darling, isn’t she?” he mentioned. Charlie smiled nervously while the others remained silent.

“Well, dig in everybody! This food won’t eat itself. Unless you’d like me to demonstrate…”

He wiggled his fingers while Husk, Vaggie, and Charlie rapidly shook their heads.

“Aww, come on,” Angel murmured, almost to himself. “It’s been a while since I’ve watched vore…”

“I’m gonna be sick and I haven’t eaten yet,” Vaggie groaned. Husk, too, was picky about the mesh up of food in front of him. Charlie, and Angel, however, dug in in delight. Angel ate with four hands.

“Oh, Alastor! This stuff is marvelous,” Charlie exclaimed. “So spicy and full of flavor. I haven’t had spicy food like this in a while.”

Alastor laughed. “It’s my mother’s special recipe. She made it so well, it almost blew her straight into Hell. Ah, memories of times so swell. I figured you’d like it. A charming belle, eager to try new things.”

“Rhyming asshole,” Husk scoffed, staring at his empty green bottle.

Angel sat on a bar stool with his tongue hanging out, red from the heat of the sauces. His eyes were shining.

“Wha…what are you doing now?” Vaggie asked, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.

“The tingling feeling of the heat, seeping into my taste buds. Fantastic. I’d love more of this from that musical strawberry pimp.”

“Angel!” Vaggie seethed under her breath.

Angel shrugged. “What? That’s what he looks like to me.”

Vaggie tentatively tried a taste of it, as if it were spiked with poison.

“Not too bad…” she began. Then the heat of the sauces kicked in.

She swore in Spanish under her breath then rushed off for some water.

Alastor was already almost finished with his meal. “It can be pretty intense for some people.”

Vaggie came back and glared at Alastor. “Are you trying to kill us?”

“Did you not hear what I said earlier, dear? If I wanted to hurt you all, you wouldn’t be here right now.”

“How do I know you won’t try to kill us in the future, huh?” she asked, pointing her weapon.

“You know it’s rude to have weapons present at dinner,” he added.

“What? You afraid of this or something?” she continued, holding it out.

“Vaggie!” Charlie called, lowering her friend’s arm. “There no need to get into a fight like this. Alastor’s been nice to us so far. At the very least, he’s trying his best.”

“Trying his best?!” Vaggie asked. “He’s nothing but a talk-show pervert lord.”

Charlie turned to Vaggie and thought for a moment. “Are you jealous that I danced with Alastor?”

“No!”

An awkward silence.

“We were just having fun,” Charlie said. “It was his way of livening things up for the Happy Hotel. You were more than welcome to join us.”

“I’d rather fall from grace again than dance with that son of a bitch.”

“Wait…” Angel Dust asked. “What do you mean by ‘falling again’?”

Vaggie paused. “None of your business!” she snapped.

Niffty sat in the corner, giggling at their confrontation. Oh how she loved seeing people embarrassed when their dark secrets and thoughts came out.

 “You girls done?” Alastor asked. He wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“Yes,” Charlie said, taking a deep breath.

“I’m out,” Husk muttered, heading toward the back to search for more booze. After stumbling, he heaved and vomited the contents out. Then he groaned and promptly passed out on the floor.

Charlie gasped, hands covering her mouth. Angel stared in shock. Vaggie face-palmed with an “oh, no.” Alastor turned his head backwards to look at the giggling Niffty. He tilted his head and Niffty’s giggles fell flat. Without a word, she rushed over and helped Husk onto a nearby couch before cleaning up the mess.

“Well, that was a satisfying supper!” said Alastor breaking the silence. He got up and held out his arm to Charlie. “Now, how about you give me a tour of your hotel and I can provide you guys with some entertaining dad jokes?”

“How wonderful. I’d love that,” Charlie replied. She turned to Vaggie. “I just want to make sure that my friend is okay.” She looked at Vaggie with concern.

“I’m fine, Charlie,” she said with a sigh. Charlie looped her arm with Alastor’s and held out her hand to Vaggie. Reluctantly, Vaggie took it and the group headed off down the hall.

“Say,” Alastor said as they walked. “The graveyard’s getting overcrowded, don’t you think?”

“What?” asked Angel.

“What graveyard?” asked Vaggie, her eyebrows raised. She shuddered at the thought of Alastor posing in a graveyard of his murder victims.

“You know, the one where people are just dying to get in. Hahaha!”

“Oh, I get it! Good one, Al!” said Charlie.

“Ha ha,” Angel said with sarcasm. They arrived in a larger room with tables and a stage off to the side. Alastor turned to shadow, then materialized in front of the microphone.

“Uh, nobody asked for this,” Vaggie said. Charlie, Angel, Niffty, and Vaggie took their seats.

“Let’s just see how it goes,” said Charlie. “Jokes will surely remind demons of the good things in life.”

“Besides drugs?”

“Yes, Angel.”

“Besides dancing in the nude?”

“Yes, Angel.”

“Besides steamy sex?”

Charlie sighed in frustration as Angel laughed.

 Alastor tapped the microphone. “Testing, testing, is this thing on?” The mic made a screeching sound that made the viewers cover their ears.

“Apologies for that,” he said. He chuckled and summoned a black tentacle from the ground. It tossed the metal microphone to the side before vanishing. His own vintage microphone appeared in front of him.

“Thankfully mine always works.”

“You ready?” Alastor asked, speaking into it. The microphone came to life, and the being inside it rolled his eye.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

He cleared his throat as a spotlight shone on him. “Did you hear about the guy who invented the knock-knock joke?”

“Yeah, what about him?” Angel asked in a bored voice.

“He won the no-bell prize! Ahhahaha!”

Charlie smiled. Niffty said “ha…ha…ha…” bored too.

“What did the buck say to his traveling doe? ‘Come home soon, dear.’”

“Yeah, you’d know all about deer, wouldn’t you?” Angel remarked. Charlie laughed, and even Vaggie let out a small smile.

“Hey, Charlie,” said Alastor.

“Yes?” she asked with a faint blush.

“Can February march?”

“I don’t know. Can it?”

“No, but April may!”

Charlie broke into fits of laughter.

“This is torture,” Vaggie said.

“Boo! Get off the stage!” Angel called.

“How many more jokes do we need?” asked Alastor.

“Zero!” booed Angel.

“Well, I was going to make a joke about paper, but no, it’s tear-ible!”

“Uh, god damn it,” Vaggie groaned. “I’m glad Husk doesn’t have to witness this.”

“What’s a demon’s favorite dessert?”

“Your mom!” yelled Angel.

“No, it’s actually devil’s food cake. Hahaha!”

Charlie giggled some more. “The hotel residents will love these!”

“Yeah, sure,” Niffty deadpanned, walking away.

“Hey Vaggie?” Alastor asked.

“What?!”

“Did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?”

Vaggie’s eyes went wide, her face beet red. “Why…you…”

“Don’t worry, crawling up from Hell hurts like hell!”

“Why not have the best of both worlds?” Charlie asked. “I’d love to visit Heaven someday.”

“Foreshadowing…” Angel said in a stupor.

 Niffty smiled sinisterly in a dark corner. Her plan was coming into motion.

[ayeshintheclouds]

I watched Never Have I Ever!! And I have many many thoughts. Just about on every aspect of it so oops this might be kinda long. But I like having somewhere public to post it cuz I don’t have to be apologetic and guilty about making it long, cuz if I was texting someone id feel as if I’m making them obligated to read so much.

Anyways!

Overall, I quite enjoyed the show! There’s a lot of controversy around it, i keep saying a lot of indian girls complaining about being misrepresented. Which I agree that they have a right to, because it’s the first time we’ve ever gotten a main character representing us, and we can’t help but hold her to a higher standard. But I’m trying to look past that a little, past the stereotypes and see it more by itself in terms of a plot and character development rather than just the cultural standpoint.

In no particular order, here are some opinions about the show and characters:

I loved the realistic arguments they show the night of her dad’s death. Honestly, they were a bit jarring how similar they are to our family, and how sometimes under pressure everyone kinda turns on each other and doesn’t get along. I thought that was a really realistic scene how a little thing like losing a music sheet ends up turning into a lot of unnecessary drama.

I love Paxton! I still absolutely can’t decide who I ship more with Devi but I do love his character. He genuinely does care for his sister, and he’s so quick to sacrifice his pride and call Devi when his sister needs help, even though he’s really mad at Devi rn. I think it’s adorable that his sister even gives him relationship advice. And Paxton is genuinely such a good friend, although he’s tryna be all cool and stuff, he encouraged her to be herself in her indian dress and I hate how Devi disregards his whole personality and only wants him physically. It upset me that she only saw him as some status symbol to obtain, never really an actual human with feelings. He deserved better, so although I love him, I’m not sure I ship him with her after she kinda used him the whole show.

The car ride scene!!! With Paxton and Devi! Ok I watched this scene approximately a bajillion times! I think it might be my favorite moment in the whole show. I love everything about it, the subtle glances they cast each other the entire time, the neon lights as they drive through the city, the way for once in the show she seems somewhat like emotionally vulnerable and nervous rather than brash and hot headed. The music was beautiful too.

I love Fab and Eleanor!!! I love their stories and I’m so so glad they got the attention from the show at least since they didn’t get it from Devi. Fab is literally so adorable and I just wanted to hug her🥺 Eleanor’s mom made me so frikin mad and I’m truly really glad Eleanor learned to live without her and how Fab helps her deal with it. I know it’s pretty dramatic how she stays dressing all different and changing her personality, but I related to that so much:(when someone hurts me or walks out on me, it makes me feel not like myself anymore, and I often visibly and noticeably change my attitude and behavior for a while before springing back.

The Kamala plotline!!! Uhhhhh ok very mixed feelings. I thought Steve was adorable. They just discarded him when he was an absolute sweetheart and it made me so sad for him🥺poor Steve. I do like that they’re actually showing arranged marriage for what it is though. In my opinion it is a very traditional and flawed procedure, as we see when Devi’s mom has kamala wear a certain outfit and has her hide the career part of her personality, to try to be a certain way she’s not. BUT I think i am glad that they didn’t show it as something forced upon her, like she’s being married off against her will to some creep she’s never ever met. It’s more like a blind date but arranged by parents. And although she is pretty pressured into it, she has the power to back out any time (even if it’ll somewhat outcast her). And I like that they decide to continue their relationship but on their own terms and he likes her for who she is. I think overall it’s a pretty solid and realistic representation of arranged marriage: a very traditional way of doing things with many flaws, but not forced or oppressive or morally wrong in any way, and can usually work out quite nicely many times. Except why’d they break poor Steve’s heart like that:(((

Ben. Ok Ben grew on me a lot through the show. He was such a complex and interesting character and I thought his development was so amazingly done. I thought he was truly such a sweet soul for doing all that he did for her, letting her stay over, convincing her to spread the ashes, driving her there so fast. I almost feel like he doesn’t deserve her either😂. And hhfjdndndnd I really don’t know how to feel about that end scene that was wild omg. But romance aside. Ben is such a well written character and I think he really was neglected by his family and I really hope that changes or he finds a family in Devi’s.

I know her parents and the therapist were side characters. But I think they’re pretty cool. I like the really sweet relationship her parents had. It was so typical indian parents yet adorable. The motorcycle ride and the comforting scene🥺 I love them a lot they remind me of my own parents. And I think her mom is infinitely strong for dealing with the death of her soulmate and Devi being so absolutely difficult. I think the therapist was extremely patient and the scenes with her were hilarious. I loved most about her how genuine she was. No therapist irl would care enough for the patients health that they would so blatantly disagree with them and even suggest they find someone else if it’ll help them. They would never risk losing the money and offending the client. I once heard someone say that they’d love to be a child therapist cuz all they have to do is agree with everything the kids say, be like “aw yeah the world hates u ur parents hate u, ur right” like feed into their teen angst, and the kid convinces their parents to keep paying for your services. But Dr Ryan is like a mother. She just wants what’s best for Devi, and she’s willing to sacrifice her own profit for it.

Ok I guess I should probably talk about my biggest issue with the show which is Devi. I kinda hate her😭I tried so hard I really did but I genuinely cannot bring myself to like her character. I don’t agree with almost any of her actions and her behavior upset me a lot. And pls you don’t understand she nearly killed me with second hand embarrassment the first episode in approaching Paxton like that aaAAAA Like I was basically watching through my hands at that point. I know she’s going through so much, she really has a lot of trauma and grief. But I can’t help but feel like the way she handles it is not very realistic at all, cuz I know people with trauma and they would never use it to justify the awful things she does. I know that everyone grieves differently and everyone has different coping mechanisms, but I just cannot bring myself to like her. Coping mechanisms that hurt others immensely are so unhealthy and I feel like she should’ve at least redeemed herself somehow. Maybe I sympathized with her at some points. But never liked her. I think she was disgusting to her friends, she always assumed her problems mattered more than theirs despite Fab and Eleanor having such heavy stuff happening. She didn’t even bother caring, and I’m convinced the only reason she even came back and tried to make it up was because of her own selfish reasons: she didn’t want to be lonely and friendless (she literally admits that!) and she’s jealous of that new kid they’re friends with. She does not seem at any point to actually care for their feelings as humans, and treats them like status symbols, two objects she owns to show people she has a social life. She reminds me of Greg from Diary of a Wimpy Kid and not in a good way; he was so awful to Rowley and obsessed with popularity and narcissistic Blegh. Also with Paxton like I mentioned before, she only cares about his body and popularity and literally does not care for his friendship and personality the slightest bit. I think it was disgusting that she lied about sleeping with him like that, cuz it may have been manageable to him, but for a lot of people, that’s like a pretty messed up thing and I don’t think they’d want to be friends with someone who was that creepy and a blatant liar. The stuff she said to her mom about wishing she was dead, that absolutely broke my heart. I can’t imagine being her mother in that moment and hearing your daughter say something like that after losing the love of your life. I think that would be like the worst thing to say to someone grieving, and might potentially endanger their mental health. I was truly worried for her mom, even though I know it wouldn’t be that type of show. Honestly. The only reason I don’t like full on despise her and think she’s irredeemable is because I pity her so much. She lost her dad and wasn’t able to walk for a year. That’s a lot of pain. But truly, like Fab said, it’s not a free pass to be a jerk. And a character shouldn’t be written in a way that their only redeemable quality is that u pity them to hold them less accountable for their actions.

Overall I enjoyed the show!! Minus devi😭but besides that, I’m so glad we’re getting some representation and there’s a new really cute and fresh show to watch during quarantine. I NEED A SEASON TWO SO BAD PLS and I really really hope Devi grows up a bit more in it and maybe I’ll start to like her:)

[buildridernews]

[Review] Kamen Rider Build - Episodes 38-41

It's time for an actually timely review for once! I seem to be bucking the whole "I'm consistently halfway into the month when I decide to catch up on last month" trend.

Episode 38: "Mad World" (マッドな世界)

So we ended last month on two big cliffhangers. For starters, Evol now has what he has declared is his final form, which is kinda neat - typically you only see the "final form" term applied to the main Rider, and its origins are with the final boss of a video game, so here it's 100% on point. 

But we also discover that having Sento be possessed by Evolt resulted in his brain being kind of jumbled back together, meaning he remembers being Katsuragi Takumi. It seems like this would be an obvious thing to have come up at some point, in retrospect, but of all the times for it to happen...

As everyone makes a hasty retreat from an overpowered Evol, he decides to take a moment to do some kind of ssspace magic, turning some Fullbottles into these black and gold variants - thanks to magazine reveals, we know these are called Lost Fullbottles...

Anyway, Katsuragi proves to be an unsettling one for everybody to be around since he doesn't entirely trust Ryuga, he makes half-hearted apologies to Misora for using her, and he has a real emotional argument with Gentoku which I'm sure will be elaborated upon in the Rogue spinoff. This scene was interesting since they do some cool editing to alternate between showing Sento's actor and Katsuragi's actor in the same outfit.

When it comes to the whole presentation of Katsuragi being "brought back", there's ways this could go that could be a little bit... clunky, and I don't know if I can properly put into words why. I guess the best explanation I can think of is, it'd be real weird to me if this involved his face turning back to normal as well, because then you'd have to figure out a reason for why he'd want his face changed back that isn't insulting to Katsuragi (since the point of this subplot is to redeem him). Basically I'm glad we just got Sento's actor with a different personality.

So what the hell is Evolt doing right now? Well, to keep that actor involved, Evolt just decided to take on Soichi's appearance because I guess he can do what he wants. That's probably gonna be used to trick us at some point. He's decided that Namba has an ultimatum to answer to: Let him rule the world as a whole while Namba is just a prime minister of Japan, ooor he dies. At the same time, he gives Utsumi an offer to join him since he's a very useful scientist... which both seem like things that wouldn't meet in the middle, but just you wait.

Things get interesting as Utsumi tries begging for help from Gentoku, everyone else (minus a bitter Kazumi) is getting involved, and Katsuragi is staying in the lab working on the block item Sento pieced together before. When it comes time for Utsumi to approach Evolt in Pandora Tower about the ultimatum, Utsumi instead unleashes some Hard Guardians, the gear bros, and suddenly even the other Riders show up! I gotta imagine this was in reference to the talk he had with Gentoku since Kazumi is indeed nowhere to be found. I would have liked to see the moment where Katsuragi agreed to all this but it was interesting to see him try fighting. Especially since he specifically had trouble with a form SENTO invented. Cute.

Then something unexpected happens: Evol takes out the gear bros! They got powered up earlier in the episode with the implication they would die from any further nebula gas dosage, but I figured this was a seed planted for several episodes from now. Nope, one falls, the other switches into Hell Bro mode, then takes a hit from Evol to protect Great Cross-Z. He dies realizing that fighting for the sake of others actually feels pretty good, after seeing how Cross-Z seemed to be stronger for a previously unknown reason.

So, I feel like the gear bros are characters I can completely see others getting attached to, and I HAVE seen that, but they ultimately didn't do much aside from look cool. And if I'm being critical, I'd say they have 3 things that make for a weakly written character: If you make them too cool then they're flawless and boring, if you make them too stoic then there's not much room for personality, and if you focus too much on them being a duo then they have no idividuality - they're just the gear bros, which I've always called them since I can never remember their actual names. They had their moments, as few as they were, but I kinda leave these two deaths with a shrug and "Huh, didn't see that coming."

Then shortly thereafter, Evol kills Namba! And it's so beautiful becaue not only does Utsumi watch it unfold in terror on a tablet, where he can't do a thing besides watch from the camera Namba was recording from, but Evol also fakes him out with a laugh and a hug then turns him to fucking dust. It's so brutal, enough to make a man crack.

And I think he might've, considering Utsumi's memories of being a brainwashed Namba boy flash before him as he laughs maniacally and gladly joins Evol. With a duplicate Evol Driver, he uses a clever pair of Fullbottles to transform into Kamen Rider Mad Rogue, which we will see in more detail next episode! But it's a real cool suit. It's basically all of Night Rogue's suit with color changes, which makes for an interesting Rider suit. Plus, y'know, bringing us aaall the way back to when people found the BatEngine sound on the belt and wondered if Night Rogue would become a Rider.

Episode 39: “The Genius Can’t Be Stopped” (ジーニアスは止まらない)

And so, Mad Rogue takes on everyone with pretty great ease, which isn't surprising since he's a new Rider. Despite not wanting to take part, Grease shows up to help them escape, and once we're back at the cafe/lab we see that Katsuragi still isn't trusting of Ryuga. He's pretty much decided that Ryuga is part of Evolt, and even though Ryuga keeps telling him he's now fully human... he has these strange visions that appear to be from Evolt's memory of destroying Mars. Which is weird since one of them is from the perspective of someone seeing Evol. But maybe that's intentional.

Katsuragi has created what he believes is the ultimate bottle, combining the ingredients of all 60 Fullbottles to form the Genius Fullbottle. Misora isn't impressed, however, because Katsuragi lacks a certain heart that Sento had, which bothers him. He's left with even more to think about as a weakened Gentoku tries desperately to move so he can go fight and redeem himself for his sins.

Katsuragi goes out to fight Mad Rogue, but as he tries using the Genius Fullbottle, it won't activate - something is stopping him. As he takes a quick beating, Great Cross-Z jumps in, giving a wonderful speech about Sento was A DAMN HERO OF JUSTICE and making Katsuragi really come to terms with what Sento had that he doesn't. It's something that will use the Rider system for good, and put a stop to Evolt, so he has no choice. With Katsuragi literally standing face-to-face with Sento in his head, he puts his trust in this person to do what's right. Sento's back, baby.

With his new gadget, Sento transforms into Build's final form: Genius Form. A suit covered in 60 Fullbottles, which happen to be uniform enough to make one red side and one blue side. Super fun transformation.

So, Genius Form has grown on me, and it's certainly had time to. The form got leaked like 6 months ago, and... man, I dunno how that happened since we didn't get proper confirmation that it was legit until more toy catalog stuff came out. That was a leak that made me go "Oh I hope no one got FIRED for that".

Anyway, next episode.

Episode 40: “Ending Revolution” (終末のレボリューション)

Once Mad Rogue tries to fire away at Build, he finds that he's severely outmatched. Build is damn near bulletproof and can move at speeds he can't keep up with. Not only that, but we learn that Build's new bottle can actually get rid of the effects of the nebula gas, which I assume is what he does here to weaken Mad Rogue - otherwise I dunno why they showed it. He unleashes a finisher, then is rescued by Evol. But not before Evol randomly hits Kazumi just to take the Fullbottles his former comrades used to transform into Hard Smash.

So this is a thing we got mention of in episode summaries a while back. These episodes deal with "Lost Bottles", which is a term also brought up in the show by Evolt. I THINK what's going on here is some miscommunication between the show writers and toy developers, because the black and gold bottles are officially called Lost Fullbottles in promotional material for the summer movie and are being called Lost Bottles here. The reason why I think it's miscommunication is simple: Katsuragi referred to the Genius Fullbottle as the Genius Bottle. I'm decidedly going with what sounds like the proper designations.

Back at the cafe, everyone is still processing the fact that Sento is Sento again. He seems to remember all of Katsuragi's memories up until the Skywall incident, so there's that. Gentoku is going through some identity crisis of his own as he has decided to become a gag character - he's dressing informally for once and-- I kinda like him better this way. And I'm glad the sound mixing department knew that the scream from his transformation item was made for comedy.

After a whiplash change in tone, Sento is thinking about the Lost Fullbottles that Evol referenced, when suddenly the voice of Katsuragi pops up in his head with some answers - Katsuragi never made these bottles, but they were made by his father. Sento decides to go to Hokuto, and it just so happens Kazumi also wants to go there to sneak into Faust and retrieve his comrade's bottles. Ryuga, for once in his entire life, recognizes these are all stupidly risky ideas and just gives Kazumi his (apparently now repaired) Dragon Sclashjelly in case he needs it.

While at his mother's old house, Sento finds an odd photo in his father's belongings: A woman by the pier with a boat. I thought this woman was familiar, and it's because she's one of the victims from one of the first episodes who smuggled them to another location by boat! I remember how nice it was to see a victim used that way. However, Sento finds it odd that his father had a photo of this woman in his belongings since he SHOULD be dead, and a Guardian - which would not have been around at the time he was alive - is seen in the background.

Meanwhile, Kazumi does something stupid and sneaks into Faust in disguise, only to be caught and be given more nebula gas - enough that he might die if he loses a fight. He manages to escape, but is cornered by the Hokuto prime minister, who's become Evolt's latest experiment: A Lost Smash. This is a combination of a Hard Smash and some Clone Smash, and he considers it to be this monsters' final form - so it's cool we get that kind of lore for these monsters! She uses Kiba's old Fukurou Fullbottle to transform and beat the crap out of him, only for Build then Mad Rogue to enter the mix.

As Grease feels like he's on the ropes, he thinks about the idealistic speeches Build always gives and about how he's letting it get into his head - using the Dragon Sclashjelly in his own belt, he suddenly gains TWO Twin Breaker weapons, along with a significant power boost!

So, this is another talking point, because if there's anyone that fans wanna see with a new form, it's Grease. He is truly the Necrom of this show, except Necrom's eventual power-up was a whole new weapon, whereas Grease just gets two of the same weapon he had before. So that's a little disappointing. But hey, Necrom did get a new form in some post-finale material - here's hoping they keep the V-cinema thing going and you get a Grease movie!

So, Grease overpowers Mad Rogue, sending him running, and Build uses the power of his bottle to deliver a Rider Kick to our new Lost Smash to safely defeat her and undo the effects of the nebula gas. After she wakes up, it seems like she's come to her senses and the effects of the initial Skywall incident have worn off, so she's become a decent person again. Evolt shows up, however, to proclaim that he's going to use the Lost Fullbottles to create a new world!

And then we get a most unexpected twist if you didn't think too much about the previous photo of the boat woman. She talks with Ryuga and Sawa and she remarks that she did indeed know Katsuragi's father, because he was just there the other day... which means he is very much still alive.

Episode 41: “The Best Match Truth” (ベストマッチの真実)

Picking up where the show left off, Evol tries taking on Build in his new form, and Build manages to catch him before he can switch to his strongest form, which gives him an edge. He does some kind of change to Evolt's body genes, but we don't know why just yet - all we know is he's excited about it.

Hot off the heels of the realization that Papa Katsuragi is alive, the boat lady passes on a USB device to give to Sento, which contains several documents on his inventions, but for now we're getting details on the Lost Fullbottles. I did a post about it, so I'll just say the key parts here: Gathering 10 of the black Lost Fullbottles causes something that defies the laws physics, which certainly raises the stakes. Also later we learn about the origin of Best Matches which is beautiful and tragic, but I also talked about that in a post. Good stuff.

This episode also provides us with a proper recap of the show so far, with the meta commentary I love from the cold openings, and it kinda tosses out a fact I hadn't even caught onto: Every Smash has been a person connected to the group in some way, be it a loved one, a possible witness to an event, or even one of them, like Sawa. But that brings into question who the guy from episode 1 was.

We don't have to wonder for long, as Sawa manages to get enough info on him to know that he was connected to Katsuragi's dad. Sawa arranges a meeting between him and Sento, which he hopes will get him closer to his father.

Meanwhile, we've learned just what effect Build's new form had on Evolt, as he tells all to his masked ally in Faust's lab. It seems that up to this point, Evolt has just mimicked human emotions, but Build's attack has basically caused him to gain actual emotions. Now he's feeling high on life and it seems like he's just being quirky... but there's some implications to that.

Sento meets with the man, but he reveals that he was sent to attack Sento as another Lost Smash, proclaiming that he'll be killed if he doesn't follow orders. Build finishes him off safely, and he starts to learn the truth, until Evol shows up and kills him instantly, then explains that Build's attack gave him emotions. Then Evol attempts to turn Build into a Smash using a bottle he has, but Build's form neutralizes it, allowing him an upper hand. As he successfully starts overpowering our main villain, Evol's rage begins to build up, then he disappears.

That's when Build makes a sudden realization, which the show pretty quickly passes by despite how alarming it is: If Evol has emotions now, that means he can gain a higher Hazard Level and become stronger and stronger.

Finally, Evolt returns to Faust's lab with two more Lost Fullbottles taken from Build during their fight, which means he's up to 6 - only 4 left to go before something unfathomable happens. Then we end on the proper face reveal for Evolt's lab buddy: Katsuragi's father... who I will probably have to start calling by his first name eventually. BUT NOT TODAY.

So that was one hell of a month of episodes! And this latest one tells all, what with the Lost Fullbottles and the motifs of the Best Matches explained. It's actually kinda sad the show's almost over... only a couple more months now.

Next review, however, will be something different.

Yeah. See you Next Build.

[antiloreolympus]

I really like LO. It is one of the Webtoons I look forward every week along with Your Throne, Remarried Empress, and Cursed Princess (there are more but these are my top top top favorites in Webtoon). However I do think that there are things wrong with it. Heck, I would dare say MLP: FIM is better written in terms of character and plot and that I loved it more than LO (in general and in the messages it say). At least MLP had characters like Perse but still had autonomy.

I love how some characters in the comic has scars and other quirks and yet are never seen as ugly in general (at "worst" they are just normal it's just there at best someone showers them with love like how Persephone says she likes Hades' stars).

I also like the diversity in the characters body types but I don't like the way RS unintentionally made the two skinny major characters (who happens to be confident in their sexuality) in the story well... toxic, abusive, and has little to no redeeming qualities (sure we have Hera but she IS kind of a hypocrite). It just perpetuates the evil skinny popular whore stereotype. It just screams "not like other girls" and it's just emo-teenage phase level writing. I'm not even skinny and I myself am a H U G E person but it just pits women against each other for very shallow and immature reason.

I don't see anything wrong with the size difference. My mommy is shorter than me and she's very curvy. Though, they should have at least given Persephone a semblance of maturity other than her outfit changes (that looks good on her but clothes are not a symbol of maturity).

I understand the special treatment given to Hades when it comes to the whole "Imma ask an entire shopping store to close so me and mah bae can have a nice time" 'cuz he's a king. However, I don't like how no one called him out on his treatment on the shades. Like it was just glossed over.

I don't mind the interpretation of Persephone as "pure, UwU, can never do wrong, total angel, cinnamon roll" because those are likeable traits in a person (regardless of gender). However, I do not like the fact that her Act of Wrath is just retconned in a way that makes her seem she's too good for that and that it's something she is simply fully not there and something took hold of her. She's a Greek Deity. Greek Gods and Goddesses are not a reflection of what is ideal but rather what is real (in Greek era standards). Even if she tries so hard to be good, nice, and benevolent, she is still prone to human emotions. It would have been much better (in my opinion) if they just painted the event from her perspective and didn't changed that much. She had a bad day, her friends (who are basically her little sisters) killed by disrespectful mortals, and she went to confront the mortals in a non-violent way (she probably brought the scythe for protection or intimidation) only for the mortals responsible to STRAIGHT UP DISRESPECT her, her role, and the land that they reside in. Disrespecting the beings responsible for the life and food you need is not only stupid but also ungrateful. RS could have made Persephone fully aware of what she is doing but still doing it because FUCK IT she's in angry Big Sister Mode now. She witnessed her friends/sisters die and the last thing she said is for them to leave her alone and the people responsible aren't even sorry and apparently, they promised that they wouldn't defile that land. She is fully aware of what she did and that just makes her more guilty. She does not have an excuse but she at least has a very valid reason. In short, RS should have just made the Act of Wrath a conscious thing and used the Act of Wrath as a reason of why you should not mess with Persephone or the people she cares about. It could have been a sign that she would make a good Queen of the Dead. She is kind and caring but you shouldn't mess with her or the people she cares for. It also makes her guilt even worse because again she is fully aware of what she is doing and that it's wrong but still did it. Like the only difference from Helios' version and hers would just be that there was no giant tree and that the mortals disrespected her first.

And lastly, I am kind of getting tired of HxP fics that makes Demeter the bad guy or depicts Perse and Demeter as having a strained relationship. Where is my Mommy's Girl Persephone who just love the attention her mother gives her and basks in it? Where is Demeter that understands that her daughter is a person but is still endearingly overprotective? Do these people know that you can have a very functional relationship while still being on good terms with you mommy dearest.

Like I want an HxP fic that features a really close bond between Persephone and Demeter. Where Hades has to step up his game to not only earn his love's affection but her mother's approval and trust as well. I want an HxP fic where Persephone is perfectly happy with her place at her mother's side, where she helps out her mother and is doing a damn good job with it. I want a story that shows Persephone as a cute, UwU, and just a really nice Goddess and the fact that she is a Good and Loving Goddess is the reason why you shouldn't mess with her. She loves her friends and if you mess with them, you become the very thing that will help plants grow (aka fertilizer). I want Demeter to be like "So proud of you, sweetie".

When Hades comes along, he helps Persephone see the world beyond her mother's fields. Persephone could realise that even though she is happy at her mother's side, she also wants to live outside of her mother's shadow by doing spring. Then it's just Hades and Persephone being Underworld's Power Couple, Elysium for the good is made, the Erinyes established with Persephone as their mistress, Persephone sic'ing the Furies onto the people who deserve it, and they still manage to be the most functional and sweetest couple in the entire Greek Pantheon.

I imagine the Winter part is because both Demeter and Hades are having a dispute about both of them wanting Persephone with them and Persephone just wants to be with both of them, so she just enlists Stoner Fucker Dad Zeus to help her stage the ENTIRE MYTH OF PERSEPHONE'S KIDNAPPING.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that although I love LO, I do have some problems with it and that even though I may not agree with the some things in this blog, I still enjoy reading through this blog and it did help me want more in LO.

No problem and thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!