#but having two two parters - particularly so close together - feels important when its the first time

[freckleslikestars]

The X Files: Piper Maru

Living Polariod Project: 64/219

#living polaroid project #living polaroid project season three #the x files #my gifs #xf gifs #txf #x files #msr #mulder #scully #fox mulder #dana scully #piper maru #‘I just got very turned on’ the way she looks at him when he says that #but also women knowing planes is incredibly hot so I get that #season three had some big hitters #although i just checked and this is the first season of a trend of two two parters per season #so its not actually that important in the long run #but having two two parters - particularly so close together - feels important when its the first time

[agent-cupcake]

Can I ask your opinion? So, I feel like everyone into 3H is in love with Dimitri, but I can't connect with him. I don't dislike him, but I feel like there isn't much to his personality without all his various mental health issues. It's hard to get a feel on what he's really like, so I end up just seeing him as a walking ball of trauma and not a three-dimensional character. Do you have any thoughts on Dimitri himself and how to separate him as a person from his psychological issues? Thanks!

Hmm, I guess my first thought is that everyone resonates with characters differently and so if you don’t particularly feel connected to him, that’s not wrong. Fictional parasocial relationships are very similar to real-life relationships, so it follows that nobody is going to like every character. I can’t say that a portion of my love for his character doesn’t come from his mental issues because that’s something I personally relate to and feel drawn to in others. That’s just who I am and how I build relationships. There is also something to be said for the unavoidable way mental illness informs a person’s behavior and character, it’s as much an aspect of them as being born with blond hair or losing an eye.

That said, I will do my best to explain why I think Dimitri is wonderful. Not in spite of his mental illness, but because I don’t think that’s all he is.

So, Dimitri is, as he says, a very clumsy person. This unfortunately extends to his social skills. He has a lot of very socially awkward tendencies and a general lack of self-awareness. This contrasts with his innate desire to please people, or at least avoid upsetting anyone. The thing is, Dimitri doesn’t always completely understand what upsets people or how exactly they might feel. His childhood isolation left him rather emotionally unaware and desperate for the acceptance and approval of others. That’s not to say he doesn’t try to understand other people’s feelings, but it’s not an intuitive process. He has a habit of saying kind of dumb or uncomfortable things out of nowhere, which is most likely his real feelings coming out in rather inept ways. He means well, but he’s just so dang clumsy.

The desperation to be included and validated I mentioned, I think, can be seen in the way he tries so hard to make the other Blue Lions see him as a peer and equal all the while keeping himself rather closed off from them. Dimitri approaches conversations as a means of focusing on the other person, trying to make an appeal to them rather than as an interaction where both parties could be seen as vulnerable. Of course, just like most other socially awkward introverts, he opens up when he feels closer to the person, but that takes a while. Gotta unlock the supports, you know? Although it’s not necessarily obvious, his incredibly stiff behavior (especially pre-timeskip) and the way he switches between overly formal and awkwardly friendly in his interactions with people as he tries to figure out how to socially and emotionally navigate relationships really gives me the impression of someone trying desperately to fit in without even the faintest clue of how to actually manage that. He also does his best to avoid social situations, which, mood. Basically, Dimitri’s a big dumb massive introvert trying to act like he’s not.

FURTHERMORE, he is a dork. An absolute goof of a person. Dimitri canonically thinks so-bad-its-good puns and jokes are hilarious. His own style of telling jokes is saying things that may or may not have contextual humor in a normal voice and then claiming after the fact that he intended it as such. Now, his supports with Alois are absolute factual proof of the so-bad-its-good humor, but might I also direct your attention to the scene before the battle against Miklan in Conand Tower (the event name is “Tower in a Storm (Blue Lions)”). Basically, Gilbert is explaining the history behind Conand Tower and Dimitri says, in an incredibly earnest voice, “You’re very well informed, Gilbert. Please, tell us more.” This is a joke. Supposed to be, at least. The delivery is somewhat emphasized, but not in a recognizably sarcastic way. Gilbert, who knew Dimitri very well when he was young, realizes it’s a joke after a second. But there are other things Dimitri says that I believe are his bad “jokes” and since nobody knows him well enough to tell, they don’t call him on it. There’s no proof, but his line in the Lord’s intro where he says, “And here I thought you were acting as a decoy for the sake of us all.” to Claude has to be an attempt at sarcasm. Dimitri is oblivious, but not stupid. In his Goddess Tower conversation with Byleth, when discussing the topic of wishes, he says, “Perhaps it would make more sense for me to wish that we’ll be together forever. What do you think?” In a completely normal voice. Following are two speech bubbles of “...” before he laughs and proclaims that it’s just a joke and that he’s getting better at telling them. Now, this is a two-parter because I see this as both his horribly awkward tendency to say things he feels without thinking too hard beforehand as well as his silly deadpan style of “jokes”. Granted, he does apologize. Dimitri’s got socially awkward zoomer humor. It’s endearing.

Here is a video of Dimitri hitting on Byleth pre-timeskip. I’m not sure how far it goes to endear someone to him, but the mostly awkward and occasionally smooth attempts of Dimitri’s flirtations are absolutely a highlight of his character. 

Now, this isn’t quite as cute as all that, but I think character arc and change do a lot for making a character feel more three-dimensional. Dimitri is hypocritically selfish. Although those are both negative terms, I don’t necessarily mean them as such, at least not in their totality. Both are things to overcome, which he does. And that’s why I feel like they’re a valid point of discussion when trying to explain the allure of his character.

The hypocritical part comes from the way he easily allows and forgives the flaws of others while constantly castigating himself for the same reasons. He says things that show an absurd amount of a lack of self-awareness. For example, he tells Edelgard, “Hm. You will prove a lacking ruler yourself if you look for deceit behind every word and fail to trust those whom you rely on.” All the while straight-up lying to and emotionally avoiding his friends. Dimitri also tells Marianne, when she is punishing herself for putting other people at risk, “What matters is that they came back safely in the end. You shouldn’t blame yourself for that.” Really, his C and B with Marianne is an exercise in hypocrisy. The standards Dimitri has for himself are incredibly, unattainably high. He’s setting himself up for failure in that way and, to an extent, knows what he’s doing because he knows that those same standards are too much for his friends and allies to meet. He wishes to take on everything himself. But, what I find so beautiful about this, is that Dimitri eventually realizes that he can’t do that. He is not strong enough to take on the weight of the world on himself, he comes to understand that it’s something he must allow himself to share with the people who care about him. He comes to realize that, as difficult as it is to accept, he is a weak person. Despite all of his introversion and inability to emotionally open up, he figures out that having a support system and allowing yourself to rely on people who love you is a necessity. Personally, I think this message is incredibly important in real life. Watching Dimitri come to that conclusion and argue it’s importance really rounded out his arc and journey as a person. Now, the relatability of this conclusion will differ, but I don’t think it has to do with his mental illness as much as it is a fundamental aspect of growth.

The selfishness is basically outlined above. Dimitri is selfish about his pain and secrets, purposefully and selfishly driving people away because he wants to keep the burden to himself. His vice is guilt and he indulges in the pain of it like an addiction. Hatred, too, is a drug. He thinks he needs it to keep going, even though all it does is bring agony to himself and others around him. Learning to accept and let go of these feelings is, again, something I think is important and a character arc that I really love, especially when you see him suffer as much as he does. Now, the execution of this is lacking, I admit. But that’s an issue for another time I think.

I am not quite sure if I did much to change your opinion, but this is all I can think of for now. There is probably a lot more than I’ve left out because I think about Dimitri far too much to be healthy. So, I’ll leave you off with some honorable mention aspects of his character that I think are super fun:

Pre-timeskip Dimitri has his hair tucked behind his ear. He can lift a wagon by himself. In the DLC, when faced with an impossible-to-open gate, it was not muscle man Balthus who said he couldn’t open it, but twinkish teen Dimitri. He’s not really smooth with one-liners. Like, at all. Notably, when attacking Manuela post-timeskip, he says, “Perhaps I should have appeared before you holding a bouquet of flowers, rather than the weapon that will end your life.” Adding to this, at one point, Dimitri fucked up a pick-up line so badly the girl came after him. Areadbhar has a mitten on it in the Azure Moon final picture. He breaks everything. His Crest activation ability even supports this, using twice the durability of any given Combat Art. One of his post-timeskip counselor messages is, “I lived in the slums for a long time, and I saw how the people there suffered from poverty and the ravages of war. There must be something I can do to save them." His room in the academy is right next to Sylvain’s, meaning that for almost an entire year Dimitri was a single wall away from hearing whatever nonsense Sylvain was getting up to. Dimitri is the only Lord that takes the throne and doesn’t abandon his people in some form or another.

And, finally, he is pretty sexy. And that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?

#dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #fe dimitri #dimitri #fire emblem three houses #FE3H #Anonymous

[aion-rsa]

Stargirl: How Cindy Burman Became the Most Intriguing DC TV Villain

https://ift.tt/2ZMmxp2

This article contains Stargirl spoilers.

Stargirl is the sort of superhero show that has no right to be as good as it is. A story about a teenager discovering a glowing, sentient staff and fighting supervillains with names like “The Gambler” in a costume that’s little more than a midriff-baring Captain America rip-off should, in all honesty, be a joke. Therefore, the fact that it’s actually one the best DC television series currently on the air may come as a surprise to many, but this little show has proven over the course of its first season that there’s basically nothing it can’t do.

A perfect mix of heartfelt optimism and deep cut fan service, Stargirl soars because it trusts both its characters and its audience. This is a show that encourages its viewers to embrace complexity and to hold often competing concepts together in the same moment for maximum narrative impact. Stargirl itself exists in a similar duality, a show with a classic comic book feel and bright tone, but whose youthful verve and risky storytelling points the way to the exciting and different things this genre is still capable of doing.

And there’s no better example of this than Cindy Burman, who is simultaneously a monster and a horribly lost teenage girl.

When we first meet Blue Valley High HBIC Cindy she appears to be little more than your average mean girl. A less interesting Cheryl Blossom-type, her only goal seems to be to make herself the center of attention at all times, whether that means sabotaging another student’s election as class president, winning the school talent contest with subversive-for-Nebraska dance moves or simply being rude to new students. Entertaining, yes – but probably not that important to the overall story that Stargirl was telling.

This is an assumption that turns out to be the furthest thing from the truth.

Because Cindy is a character – much like Stargirl itself – that’s much more complex and nuanced then she appears at first glance. The DC TV universe’s first teen supervillain, Cindy is vicious, dark, and deadly by turns. Yet, even as Stargirl acknowledges her evil nature, it also takes pains to make sure she remains at least somewhat relatable, allowing Cindy to occupy an intriguing liminal space within the narrative. She’s a teenager who knows too much to enjoy her status as a high school queen bee, but who is still seen as too young to have a proper seat at the Injustice Society’s table. She’s both the Dragon King’s daughter and someone who was likely one of his very first victims. And she’s both determined not to need anyone, and miserably lonely at the same time.

In the “Shiv” two-parter that essentially serves as Cindy’s origin story, we see a girl who is condescending and cruel, but who also desperately wants to find someone who can understand what she’s going through. She repeatedly tells her father how frustrated she is by being “all alone up there” in the world of Blue Valley, forced to date a boy that she doesn’t even like that much in order to monitor him for the Injustice Society and unable to tell the truth about herself to any of her supposed friends. The Dragon King – like so many fathers of teens before him, supervillain or no – refuses to see her for who she is, offhandedly recommending she fix her problems by going shopping or throwing another party.

Read more

TV

Stargirl Season Finale Ending Explained and Unanswered Questions

By Rosie Knight

Both the show and actress Meg DeLacy do a great job making Cindy sympathetic without undermining or trying to justify just how truly terrible she is. She’s a girl who hides deep insecurities behind a performative bitchy persona, but who also has no problem casually murdering her father’s brainwashed lackeys (for what is apparently not even close to the first time). It certainly makes sense that Cindy might be drawn to Courtney Whitmore, a new girl with a forthright attitude and little respect for the established way things work in Blue Valley. Who better, after all, to truly see you than someone who doesn’t know you at all?

It would be easy for Stargirl to insist that Cindy and Courtney are destined to be enemies because Starman and Dragon King were, their vendettas predetermined long before these girls even knew who the other was. But like so many other tropes this series has tackled this season, the show isn’t content with anything so basic. Instead, when it pulls out the traditional “we’re not so different, you and I” speech that often passes between a hero and a villain, the conversation lands differently – because Stargirl has taken the time to show us long before this moment that it’s a cliché that’s actually mostly true in this case.

In a different world, it’s pretty easy to imagine how these girls could have ended up in each other’s places, through accidents of birth or circumstance. In this one, it’s still not completely outside the realm of possibility to envision them as a sort of uneasy frenemies at some point in the (distant) future.. The Cindy who visits Courtney’s bedroom to taunt her and threaten her friends is also there because she’s literally never had anyone she could talk to about this whole superhero and/or supervillain lifestyle before, and that’s a true gamechanger for her.

Stargirl has already hinted there’s still more to Cindy than we viewers know. According to Beth, she used to be nice before her mother died, and it wasn’t until afterward that she became the “scariest kid in fourth grade”. Given that the show has repeatedly hinted that she somehow caused her mother’s death, that seems as though it’s probably when her father started experimenting on her, and we’ve yet to truly see the extent of how that’s affected her. 

Yet, despite the Dragon King’s repeated abusive and cruel behavior, Cindy remains convinced her father loves her. She even still covets his good opinion – or, at least, she does right up until the moment she stabs him through the chest. Much like everything else involving this character, CIndy’s murder of her father is a complicated decision, an act that appears to be as driven by pain as much as it is by fury. 

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TV

Stargirl: What is Eclipso?

By Rosie Knight

(No matter how messed up she is, hearing that her father – and all his supervillain friends – considered her a failed experiment has to hurt.) 

And though Cindy doubtless mourns her father  in her own way (if he’s even actually dead for real), she’s also eager to establish herself in his place as the new de facto head of the next generation of the Injustice Society. Though Cindy is knocked out by Courtney during the battle in the season finale, we see her retrieve a jewel from what is presumably her father’s vast archive of unlabeled evil materials. 

Before the screen goes dark, she addresses it as “Eclipso,” indicating that she’s well on her way to building her own version of the Injustice Society (surely Cameron Mahkent or Isaiah Bowin  might have some legacy anger issues to work out next season?). But what that will ultimately look like is anyone’s guess – particularly since this show has already proven that it’s both willing and eager to take the road less traveled, narratively speaking. 

Will Stargirl and Shiv somehow become besties who do one another’s nails and have sleepovers? Probably not. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no room for something else between them, either. Particularly since they’ve both moved out from under the shadows of the men they once called their fathers and are forging their own paths. 

After all, Stargirl is a show that’s strengthened by the familiar ground of comic book clichés, rather than weakened by them – and all because it doesn’t count on vague tropes to do its heavy narrative lifting. Instead, it leans into these familiar aspects, sharpening their edges and allowing the familiar bones of old stories to light our path to new ones.

The post Stargirl: How Cindy Burman Became the Most Intriguing DC TV Villain appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3kD6F1t

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[billyggruff]

Rewriting the episode Bismuth Part 1: Active vs Passive plot progression

One of the episodes I and many others have the greatest contention with in SU is Bismuth. The milktoast after-school special moral they tried to peddle in that episode was only matched in its awfulness by how it “both sides” a conflict involving a tyrannical genocidal regime and a rebellion trying to stay alive and free. It has been the source of a lot of faulty arguments involving false equivalencies, as well as just straight misrepresenting what Bismuth was even trying to do. I don’t blame people for not getting that Bismuth was in the right, the show sure as hell did everything in it’s power to paint her as the villain. 

It says something pretty damming about the show when Bismuth has received more of the framing of a Villain than all the on screen appearances of Diamonds put together during the course of the show so far. The way the framing portrayed her, nay, maligned her, you’d think she was worse than everyone from Jasper to YD. Yet those of us who know these visual cues and tricks are able to look past them and see that she’s not only not wrong in her anger, but she is entirely justified. 

This isn’t the only thing I want to touch upon though. I also want to show how the SU writing staff’s over reliance on passive plot progression severely affects the quality of their story ON TOP of how much they botched Bismuth. I’m going to tackle both topics simultaneously, cause why not.  Here’s how I’d have done the ep: I’d have made it a Two parter first off. 

Bismuth Part 1

One day while Connie is over at Steven’s she witnesses him going in and out of Lion’s mane. Her curiosity is peaked and she asks if she could go inside with him to see what it is like. He say he can show her but she has to hold her breath as best as she can. 

While they are inside Connie notices the bubbled gem. They burst out of Lion for air and after Connie catches her breath, she scolds Steven. 

“Steven! There is a bubbled Gem in there! How long as that been there?” Connie sounds as exasperated as she is breathless. She was not expecting to see a bubbled gem in there at all, and he hadn’t even bothered to mention it before bringing her inside. Steven only looked befuddled and scratched his head as he looked off to the side. 

“I dunno, it came with Lion? Most of the stuff inside of him was left there by mom.” From the tone of his voice he just took that stuff being left inside Lion like this was a given and not worth thinking about further. Connie on the other hand looked like she now wanted to shake some sense into her friend. 

“Steven, did you even tell the Gems about this? this is a big deal! It could be a corrupted gem inside there for all we know! What if you accidentally popped the bubble?” 

“I hadn’t thought about that...” Steven now looked kinda worried as he started to think more about the implications of that. Their exasperated exchange was loud enough to be noticed by Pearl, who walked over and inquired about what she was hearing. 

“What could be a corrupted gem?”   “Pearl, did you know there was a Gem bubbled inside of Lion?” Connie asked her while pointing at Lion’s mane. Lion only yawned in response, but Pearl was definitely taken aback by this.  “There is? Steven why didn’t you tell us? Did you bubble it? Who told you you could hunt gem monsters without us with you?! Besides, you know you should keep bubbled gems in the temple with the others. Honestly Steven.”  “I don’t know where it came from alright!” Steven flailed his arms around in frustration from getting scolded at all sides. He brought his tone down after a sharp look from Pearl however and continued, “It was there with mom’s stuff, I just never really thought about it I guess.”

“What does this Gem look like?” Garnet asked, walking forward with Amethyst to join the conversation. 

“Why do you have Connie here?” you might ask. That is a good question. Steven by the way the show uses him is a very passive character. He does not actively try to investigate mysteries like the gem bubbled inside of Lion. It is because of this passiveness that the writers have to resort to him standing on a branch and falling on Bismuth’s bubble in order to even free her in the first place. 

This is what I would call PASSIVE plot progression. Steven doesn’t intend to free Bismuth in the original version, it just happens to him.

This is not a good way to tell a story. Connie on the other hand is a far more active character. She would rightfully notice something like a bubbled gem inside Lion is out of place and grill Steven about it. Now that we have an active awareness of the bubbled gem, the turn of events that are going to happen are going to change quite drastically. All because one character was there to take an active role in the plot.

Let’s continue with Part one:

Steven and Connie proceed to describe the gem to those present. While Amethyst doesn’t recognize the gem in question, Garnet and Pearl do. At first they are happy to hear that Bismuth is there, but it also raises a lot of questions. 

“Why would Bismuth be bubbled inside of Lion? Didn’t Rose say...” Garnet started

“...that she lost track of Bismuth during the Battle for the Ziggurat...but she’s inside of her Lion.”

“Oh snap, Rose keeping secrets again.” Amethyst quipped, not getting the severity of the situation. 

“ You don’t get it Amethyst, she acted like she was worried sick, but she knew where Bismuth was. Why would she keep that from us?” 

“Who IS Bismuth?” Connie asks, Steven is also quite curious about this. 

They tell the story about one of the original Crystal Gems, the great weapon forger who outfitted the gems with their material weaponry, and even forged Rose’s Sword that Connie uses. She was a great asset to the Crystal gems as well as a dear friend.

“So why was she bubbled?” Steven asked. Again the room grows stiff. Too many unanswered questions hang in the air. 

“Garnet, could you use your future vision to see what would happen if we brought Bismuth out?” Pearl asked her, almost afraid of the answer. 

Garnet nods and focuses on the branching paths of future that involve Bismuth being freed. What she sees as a result of it ends up shocking Garnet so hard she defuses. 

With just a single character addition like Connie, the whole scheme of the episode has shifted. Now instead of randomly meeting Bismuth again and asking no questions about it, the mystery of why she is even inside Lion in the first place is front and center. It is something that the Gems aren’t taking at face value and just letting happen, they are actively concerned about the implications of what this could mean. 

Really compare it with how it goes in the canon version. They don’t even THINK to ask questions about what is really going on. Nobody is there to actively look into it, and because of that Bismuth only grew more suspicious and hurt. 

Rose has been known to keep secrets, but this is a particularly damming one that is putting the Crystal Gems on edge in my version. Connie’s curiosity into seeing what the inside of Lion is like has naturally led to this course of events. This is what ACTIVE plot progression looks like. 

Now back to the show: 

“Come on Sapphire! This is a huge deal! Are there others bubbled like this? Why would she bubble Bismuth? We knew her! We fought along side her! It makes no sense!” “Ruby, there must be a rational explanation for this. Rose wouldn’t do such a thing without a reason.”

Pearl meanwhile is processing that there is yet another secret that Rose kept from her. With every new discovery she’s finding that the gem she loved wasn’t as known to her as she thought. It leaves her feeling very uneasy as she contemplates this underneath their former leader’s portrait.

“What...what did your visions say? Was she corrupted?” “No, she was not corrupted. Being inside of Lion seemed to have shielded her from that.” Sapphire said calmly, though ice was starting to form around her, indicating she was upset. 

“She’s going to attack Steven! I, I mean, Garnet saw that Bismuth wants to Shatter Rose, and when she finds out Steven has her gem she is going to try it!”

 Ruby could barely contain herself with how angry she was with what she saw. “But why? Was she a traitor?” Connie asked, now even more on edge that there was a dangerous gem inside of Lion.  “No. Though my vision is cloudy on the reasoning behind the attack, when she attacks Steven in any of these paths, it invariably seems she’s doing it on behalf of the Crystal Gems....which makes this even more troubling....”

“How many secrets does Rose have Saph!? How long are we going to just pretend like everything is fine!? One of our friends is in there wanting to fight Rose and we don’t even know why! Why didn’t Rose tell us any of this!?” Ruby was heating up the more she ranted. 

Steven nervously pipes up, “Why don’t we ask her?”

Everyone stares at him for that, but they all know that it’s the right thing to do at this point. Still, the idea of unbubbling a hostile gem, even if it’s a friend, puts them all on edge. 

Tension is building now. We’ve heard stories about Bismuth the weapon forger, we know she has a deep rooted problem with Rose, and that Rose kept the fact that she was bubbled a secret. Though future sight has warned the group that problems ahead, those issues are so troubling that Garnet cannot hold it together. 

The framing is clear. This is an important discovery, and it doesn’t have easy answers. The only way to really find out what is going on is to free Bismuth and ask her, but they know that doing so puts Steven in danger. Though they don’t fully understand why. 

Back to the show: 

Everyone moves to the beach for the next scene. Connie and Steven are close together, Connie with her sword and Steven with his shield out, the other crystal gems similarly armed in case things go bad. Ruby and Sapphire were still unfused and unsure, but they trusted the visions of Sapphire/Garnet enough to keep everyone armed and ready.

Bismuth is released, and although it’s tense for a split second, Pearl caves and leaps into her arms with joy, happy to see her again. They all greet each other happily, but there is still a tension in the air thanks to the knowledge of the future. Connie, Steven, and Amethyst who do not really know this gem, but know she will try to hurt Steven, are especially on guard with weapons drawn.

“Rose told us that she lost you at the battle for the Ziggurat...but that wasn’t true was it.” Pearl asked with a distinct hint of worry in her voice.

“She never told us anything! It so frustrating! How are we supposed to function if she goes and hide things like this from us” Ruby fumed and crossed her arms. Sand at her feet was becoming glass from how hot she was. 

“Are you two unfused now? Such a shame, I hate seeing Garnet split in two like this” Bismuth asked, concern lacing her voice as she looked between the two short gems. Sapphire raised her hand in a placating gesture, assuaging her concerns. 

“We are normally fused and have been for quite some time, though this new development is indeed...troubling.” Sapphire admitted. She then locks her eye with Bismuth’s own, speaking clearly as she says,

“As I’m sure you are aware Bismuth, I know that you are feeling particularly hostile towards Rose, and intend on attacking her if given the opportunity. I have foreseen it.” 

Bismuth’s face darkens at that and the tension in the air grows even thicker.

“Where is Rose... I would think our Leader would want to be front in center instead of hiding away while her subjects did her bidding. You’d almost think she was an Upper Crust with that kind of behavior.” the disdain she places on the word leader is palpable.

“Rose was my mom. I don’t know why she bubbled you though. I don’t have any of her memories.” Steven said, showing his gem to her. Bismuth scowls at that. “Isn’t that convenient.” Her expression and tone of voice drove home just how little she believed him. While Steven shrank back, Connie defensively got closer to him and pointed her sword at Bismuth. “Don’t even Try to Hurt Steven, I know how to use this. I’ve fought gems before!”

Bismuth laughs at this, with hints of genuine humor and bitterness mixed into it

“Crystal Gems are recruiting humans now? When did that happen?” Bismuth asked with a raised eyebrow, sizing her up. She focused in on Connie’s face as she placed one of her hands on her hip, gesturing to the pink blade with the free hand, “I designed that weapon for Rose, but you seem like you’re quite familiar with it. I must have been bubbled longer than I thought.”

Connie has mixed feelings over that. Part of her is still on the defensive, but the other is kind of proud of herself for being recognized for her fighting stance. Pearl had taught her well. 

“Bismuth, talk to us,” Pearl pleaded, “ we’re your friends. I’m sure this was just a...big misunderstanding.”

“I’ll be happy to share what this ‘misunderstanding’ is once we get the rest of the Crystal Gems in on this little conversation. My mistake was trusting Rose to show her my project in private. Clearly I was mistaken in that trust.” The last sentence was directed towards Steven in a loud and angry voice. Steven was intimidated, but something else she had said was drawing his attention more.  “Rest of the Crystal Gems?” 

Bismuth was taken aback by this.

“Of course, Bigs, Crazy Legs, Snowflake, all of them! It wouldn’t be right just to have this little get together with just a handful of us. At least give me that much Rose”

Pearl, Ruby and Sapphire all exchange troubled looks at this. 

“There’s something you should see Bismuth...” 

Now you have a reunion, but this version is of a far more tense and bittersweet nature. Which is appropriate for a character like Bismuth. I want to show that they do indeed know and care about each other and that there is indeed history between them all, but we’ve cut through the nonsense of hiding that Rose bubbled Bismuth. Now they are all aware and they want answers as to why Bismuth fought Rose and was bubbled for it. 

back to part one: 

They go to the gem battlefields and Bismuth shows the same shock she did in the show. 

“No! We were just here! If I were...I could have done something! How long was I out?” “5,400 years.” 

Bismuth rounded on Steven and pointed straight at him as she roared out her next words.

“How many of them did we lose Rose!? How many of them had to be shattered because YOU wouldn’t do what was necessary!”

Bismuth moves closer to Steven in a threatening manner, but Ruby and Sapphire fuse to form Garnet and get in her path. “Fighting Steven will solve nothing. He is not Rose, he only has her gem.” “I don’t believe HER for a second! She lied about everything! And look where her lies brought us!” Bismuth stretched out her arms and showed the battlefield before them “We LOST! We LOST because SHE refused my help! I would have liberated everyone!”

A fight breaks out in the battlefield. Bismuth was still honed for combat and was in a war mindset since before she was bubbled, while Garnet and Pearl both did not want to fight her and mostly had experience fighting gem monsters at this point. They brawl for a bit, but Bismuth gets close enough to Steven that it ends up triggering a fusion between Connie and him.

Stevonnie goes toe to toe with Bismuth, beating her back with their own sword and Rose’s shield. Bismuth is bewildered that a fusion with a human even worked, so it throws her off balance. With Connie’s mind aiding this, they calm Bismuth down enough to talk again. That is where Bismuth says in front of the others 

“You bubbled me away. You bubbled me away and you didn’t even tell them.”

It’s heart breaking for Garnet and Pearl to hear such a thing. They knew it from everything that had been taking place so far, but actually hearing it from Bismuth really hit home how bad this was.

Stevonnie defused and Steven approaches the beaten Bismuth

“I am not my mom. I do not know why you two fought or why she bubbled you. However Homeworld is still out there wanting to take Earth, and we could use all the help we can get right now.”

“They vastly outnumber us and have far more advanced technology than we do” Garnet added

“You’re really something else...no really, you are something else....” She sounds much more bitter with this delivery than in the show. 

She looks squarely at Steven “Alright NOT Rose, I’ll play along with you. Let me show you, show ALL of you what I had been working on before she bubbled me away.”

Bismuth stood tall and turned her back to the Gems as she spoke over her shoulder “Let me show you the weapon that would have ended the war...” 

Thus the end of Part ONE, with the cliff hanger being what is the weapon (spoiler alert, it’s not the Breaking Point cause that’s an asinine and poorly designed weapon) and how ALL of the Gems are going to react to it, not just Steven. 

I also hope this helped highlighted the difference between things just happening to move the plot forward and characters actions actively and willfully progressing the plot. 

If you want a Part two, I’ll be happy to deliver it. 

#su critical #bismuth did nothing wrong #rewrite #steven universe #active vs passive

[takaraphoenix]

Has anyone asked you about Dr Who yet?

First of all, let me apologize for just how fucking long this has been laying around. But I have expected it to take… A While to answer. So, sorry for the wait.

I’m a Whovian. Which people who avidly read my PJatO fics probably know because I love to slip it in there.

Doctor Who ranks fourth on my fop five of all-time favorite TV shows.

I’ve only seen New Who though, to make that clear. I just… I dunno? I like color? I tried Classic Who, but I just really can’t go through the black and white - and the New Who does work so well on its own too, even though it factors in Classic Who.

So I will be only talking about New Who here.

I started to watch Doctor Who when it made its way into the Saturday morning program. It really didn’t impress me at all. Literally the only thing that stuck was Jack Harkness - back then, we only did get the first two series, mind you.

So when it just… stopped airing, I didn’t particularly care too much. Because they had written Jack out of the show a series ago and I was more than miffled by the concept of them constantly replacing the main characters. After all, it’s only been two series but I already had two Doctors. And? What? No. What? As a teen, I so did not have the patience for a show that changed main actors more often than some people change their socks.

So I put that out of my mind and actually kind of forgot about it. After all, it had stopped airing in Germany too, so, well, it was canned and done.

But then series 3 ended and I heard that Captain Jack actually made a return to the show. And that coincided with me getting invested in learning how to English. Literally, at the time I sucked. I only brought home 4s, 5s and 6s - Ds, Es and Fs. I copied all my homework from my half-American friend and couldn’t give less of a shit about that language. What would I even need it for? I live in Germany, we speak German, for heaven’s sake.

But I really liked Jack and I had been trying to better my English somehow. So, why not by watching this British TV show with German sub-titles? I started rewatching series 1 and 2 and then watched series 3.

I fell in love with Doctor Who with series 3. It is, to date, a masterpiece to me.

The main reason is the removal of Doctor Who’s most unlikable character. Rose. Good heavens above, I hate Rose Tyler.

Yes, she was a brilliant companion for the Doctor. Yes, she saved the world and galaxy and whatever. Yes, she was the companion the Doctor needed at the time.

But she was a shitty human being.

She was a good companion, because the Doctor was literally the only thing that mattered to this girl. And that’s a good quality in a companion. It’s a crappy quality in a girlfriend and daughter though.

The way she kept stringing Mickey along, even having the audacity to be jealous when he tries to move on but she goes out into the universe with a total stranger, was just petty.

But the one thing that I will never forgive her for and the main reason why I hate her is the way she literally disappeared for an entire year Earth-time - her boyfriend and mother and everyone believing her to be dead, Mickey even being accused of having killed her. And she just up and disappears again.

She didn’t take the time to go to the officials to clear Mickey’s name.

She didn’t even take the time to stay for one lousy dinner, or to say goodbye. Her mom believed her to be dead for an entire year and she can’t even stay one fucking evening to eat dinner with her mother? Or at the very least give her a proper, heartfelt goodbye? No, as long as I can run after the Doctor, I’m happy! I don’t need anyone else!

Not to mention that she’s a barely legal gal being shipped off with a 900 year old alien. It’s just creepy, is what it is. The fact that the Doctor and Rose were never explicitely together is one of my biggest blessings on this show. That he never even said the words had me cheering in my seat, to be honest. Because, no, Doctor, you do not need to fall in love with a 19 year old human, no. Just no.

So yeah, I fell in love with the show after Rose left.

Martha Jones is also my favorite companion. Yes, she is also in love with the Doctor - but she never turned her back on her family, she always had her priorities straight. And she was one-sided in love with him. If he had returned her feelings? Yeah, I’d be creeped out by that too then.

Not just Martha and the return of Jack though, also the plots are what made me fall in love with it.

I have to admit, the Bad Wolf plot of the first series was ,when I rewatched it, really cool. But the second series… still feels more like a filler-series, really. The plot was just so… meh. And the single episodes too - I consider “The Idiot’s Lantern” and “Fear Her” to be two of the show’s weakest episodes.

Martha brought something fresh to the table and I actually love the plots of most of her episodes. “Daleks in Manhattan” and “Evolution of the Daleks” was so cool. “Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood” are, to date, probably the creepiest episodes to me.

“Blink” is literally the most perfect episode of all in this entire show.

And I’ve rewatched just the three-parter of “Utopia”, “The Sound of Drums” and “Last of the Time Lords” more often than I care to admit or remember.

It introduces the Master to New Who and the Master is brilliant. A brilliant enemy.

I hate that Martha only stayed for one series, but her successor sure was worthy, because Donna Noble is my second favorite companion.

Her dynamic with the Doctor is probably the best dynamic written so far in New Who. They’re just friends, in a beautifully uncomplicated way where both of them are deeply aware of the pain in the other.

Not too many outstanding episodes, aside from “The Sontaran Stratagem”, “The Poison Sky” and “The Doctor’s Daughter”, but the pure dynamic of 10 and Donna totally made even the weird plots work well.

Not to mention Donna’s grandpa, who yes. All the yes for him. He was an amazing half-companion (never really know what to call the “male character who only tags along due to the female companion”),

And then the “Journey’s End”. It was such a pay-off. The way it brought everything of the past four series together was just intensely awesome. To unite all of his companions from those four series, to have even Sarah Jane back - I love Sarah Jane, I consider The Sarah Jane Adventures the best of the three Doctor Who spin-offs and her character is amazing. I didn’t even mind the return of Rose, because she was an important part of that life.

And then the entire show changed, because Russell T Davies was replaced by Steven Moffat.

Part of me was over the moon about Moffat at first, because he created Captain Jack Harkness, who is literally why I found my way to the show. And he wrote some of the best episodes of Doctor Who - “The Empty Child”, “The Doctor Dances” and “Blink”.

I have a deeply seated hatred for Moffat at this point, fyi.

I consider “The Girl in the Fireplace” to be the first warning-sign of things, really. Moffat’s intense need to ship people off. To ship the Doctor off.

I do not want my over a thousand year old alien to be shipped off with humans? Honestly, I don’t want him shipped off with anyone, at all, because I watch this show for the SciFi extravaganza and the scales, not the fucking romance.

River Song, close second after Rose on my list of characters I don’t like. Though I’ll get back to that later on when we discuss 12, because she’s currently being re-evaluated by me.

I didn’t like the 12/River plot that Moffat was hyping so hard, because… it completely hijacked the show.

Though, strike that, I didn’t like the River plot in total.

It was way too complicated. And I’m not just saying that because it was “a bit confusing”. I’m saying that because it all only fully fell into place after literally five years. That’s too long.

I do like a complex plot. I like when a plotline stretches out over a course of more than just one season. But if your plot is a messy knot of something that no one can quite figure out where it begins and makes sense until five years later, that’s just… a mess.

“Silence in the Library” aired in 2008 and the real pay-off for the River Song plotline and where it was coming from and going only aired in 2013 with “The Time of the Doctor”. I’m sorry, but that just doesn’t compute for me.

With the first four series, each of them could stand beautifully on their own too, even though in the end all four spanned together and had one pay-off.

Series 5 didn’t make a lick of sense, even after rewatching it two times. It started making a bit more sense with series 6, and then a little more sense with series 7, but come on, if you have to wait three years and then watch three series in one go to make actual sense of stuff you watched three years ago, that just can’t be it for a TV show. That’s ridiculous.

Getting a bit more into details instead of just critizing the overlaying plot, because for its sub-plots, I really did like 12′s arc.

Amy Pond is… an okay companion. She ranks among the six main companions New Who had so far - Rose, Martha, Donna, Amy, Clara, Bill - on a solid four. But the literal best thing Amy Pond did for Doctor Who was introduce Rory Williams to us.

Rory Williams is a national treasure and needs to be cherished.

Seriously, if there’s one thing I’m really-really hyping about 12, it’s Rory. He was so adorable, relatable, sweet, cute, caring, amazing. He was the best. I will forever live to regret that Rory and Jack never met, because the idea of Jack hitting on a totally confused Rory while Amy goes protective lioness over her husband is just beautifully hilarious.

Though, for me series 5 also marks the point of oversatuation on Daleks and Cybermen.

Daleks started out, in series 1, as those great enemies who were extinct and look there is only one left. And then there’s a fleet in the next series and it’s a shocker and really effective.

At this point, it has become an obligatory thing. “Ah, there’s this series’ Dalek-episode. Can cross that off my Doctor Who bingo then”. And, honestly, the Daleks are not that great as enemies? Like, they’re great foes, but they don’t do for the most intriguing plotlines because they literally just want to exterminate. An enemy with an actual goal and motivation makes for far better story-telling.

And while I understand that they are the most iconic Who villains and that we can’t get rid fo them entirely… Can we like, reduce them? Maybe have them not appear for one whole series? Because they stopped bringing something new to the table a while ago.

And this series also marks when Cybermen and even the Weeping Angels also just become… bingo-marks, really. It becomes obligatory from here on out that we have to have at least one episode featuring those particular villains. And that just becomes… so predictable.

Now that I complained again, let me return to the praising.

“Vincent and the Doctor” is one of the more emotional episodes of this show and I love it. I’ll never not cry during it.

But “The Lodger” is just plain awesome. “The Lodger” and “Closing Time” are my two favorite episodes for 12, because he had a brilliant dynamic with Craig and I also loved that Craig did get to return for a second episode. I’d love to see him again some time, maybe now that Stormageddon is older. It’d be amazing.

Series 6 was, aside from “The Lodger”, quite the let-down for me personally. I greatly did not care for “The Rebel Flesh”, “The Almost People”, “Night Terrors”, “The Girl Who Waited” or “The God Complex”. And that’s nearly half the series.

Series 7 was better again. Though I still feel conflicted about changing companions mid-series, to be honest.

Clara Oswald is a companion I have… conflicting feelings about.

I really liked her at first, but she definitely overstayed her welcome.

In series 7, she was very much welcomed. She was a nice change of pace, she was witty and I really liked the mystery of “How is Oswin still alive?”. The plot was cool; the pay-off of that was a bit ridiculous, but hey.

Oh, before I forget to mention it! I love Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax! And they deserve a spin-off so much. Honestly. I still don’t get why they green-lit the boring-ass premise of Class over a spin-off about that trio (note: Class is far better than its boring-ass premise and I enjoyed the show very much while it lasted, but that they got a show with such a lame premise green-lit over a more substantial spin-off is completely beyond me).

We gotta talk about “The Day of the Doctor”, of course.

John Hurt as the War Doctor was amazing, but I still hate that Christopher Eccleston didn’t return for that role. It think it would have weighted so much different if he did and if the plot could have continued as intended. But the War Doctor was a great way to fix the lack of 9.

And 10 and 11 playing off of each other will forever be the singularly best thing on this show, hands down.

The only real problem is that it was just Clara. This was so huge. The scales of it were so great and it was the damn anniversary. We managed to team up all the former companions for the series 4 ending, how did we not get a single additional companion for this huge-ass anniversary special? How did Captain Jack and Torchwood not show up? How did freelancer alien-hunters Mickey and Martha not help them? At the very least. That Rose and Donna and Sarah Jane and Amy and Rory couldn’t, yeah, obvious, but… At least some of the former companions should have been honored in this anniversary special.

I want to say that the pay-off for that was great, but… Honestly, it wasn’t so much a pay-off as more of a “tease for something that still hasn’t been cashed in four years later”. Gallifrey stays… but we kinda accidentally misplaced it.

Danny Pink and series 8 was what really ruined Clara as a companion.

She should have been written out with “The Name of the Doctor”, or at the latest after the anniversary episode considering that it’d have been troublesome to introduce a new companion there.

But when she started to prioritize her boyfriend over the Doctor and literally tried to murder the Doctor, that was just when her character needed to go.

Also, not to forget, series 8 features the singularly dumbest and worst episode of the entire New Who. “The Moon”. Fuck this episode, fuck it hard and square. The moon is an egg and it hatches and immediately lays a new “moon egg”. And literally everyone saw it but opted to immediately forget it. Fuck you. Just… really, were you drunk when you wrote this episode and high when you green-lit it?

And 12 did not make a good first impression in his first series either.

I saw a lot of memes of Classic Who fans pointing out how “other Doctors needed an adjustment phase too”. I get that. Yeah. 11 had that for one episode of finding himself and adjusting. But two entire series can not be the way to do it.

He had zero emotions and was thus zero relatable. 10 and 11 felt so much and so strongly, that is what made you grow attached to them. 12 couldn’t even grasp the most basic of human emotions and it wasn’t even in a funny running-gag kind of way either. It was just annoying and disorienting.

However, the pay-off for series 8 was good. The Master returning as Missy was awesome. Time Lords regenerating into Time Ladies too is awesome and also makes me think that maybe their race is called Time Lords because they are all primarily male and only have occasional female regenerations for reproduction purposes, but not as primary, designated genders. But that’s just me.

I feel similarly let down by series 9. Honestly, I can’t even really distinguish series 8 and 9. They both have the 12th Doctor who is unable to know how to human and Clara, who is growing more and more unlikable and unnecesary by the minute.

Granted, series 9 was a bit of a redemption arc for Clara, but she still felt… rather pointless, because by now she literally finished two story-arcs in this show. First through her original plot and then with the Danny plot.

I don’t like their solution for the “Three Peter Capaldis in this universe” that they came up with that series though. The whole “The face is a reminder” thing is just utter bullshit. I mean. He rescued so many people at this point of whom so many had more emotional value than Caecilius. Why the heck his face?

Honestly, if they’d just retconned it into “12 took a trip to Pompeii and was missing with 10″ it would have been a better solution that would have been more fun…

And I genuinely don’t know how I feel about Arya Stark. Her plotline is kind of intriguing, but she feels like another Captain Jack Harkness. That is to say; another immortal created by the Doctor who then gets abandoned by the Doctor and will be randomly forgotten at one point. Not to mention the cock-teasing of “There could be a spin-off about Me and Clara”, about which I still haven’t decided how I feel.

I adore Osgood. I do have to say that though and I love seeing her back, even though I’d still have loved for her to become an actual companion.

Now.

Now is the time to get back to River Song. Because the Christmas special “The Husbands of River Song” was actually the first time I truly liked River.

And it made me realize why I normally dislike her. She’s a badass and awesome, actually, but that has always been overshadowed by her school-girl crush on the Doctor and the way she’d bat her eyelashes at him and urgh, it was so annoying. In this special, she didn’t know he was the Doctor for half the time and her behavior was awesome. She was awesome. Until she realized he was the Doctor and went back to her school-girl-crush behavior and I went urgh again.

Not to mention - and this is my hardest knock on River Song and her plotline - you can’t keep writing heartfelt goodbyes. They lose all meaning.

“Forest of the Dead” had this grand, epic finale to her plotline before she was even properly introduced and that really pays off when rewatching it.

Then she was introduced.

Then we got a really heartfelt goodbye in “The Wedding of River Song” in series 6, where you thought “Wow, that’s it”.

Then you got a really heartfelt goodbye in “The Angels Take Manhattan” in series 7, where you weeped additional tears for Rory and Amy, but you’re kinda sure that this must be it now, right?

But it happens again at the end of series 7 with “The Name of the Doctor” - and this has to be it, right? It’s like the biggest goodbye yet and it has to be the final.

But oh no, look. Another heartfelt goodbye episode in the Christmas special “The Husbands of River Song”. And at that point, them saying goodbye really just made me roll my eyes.

You just… You can’t make epic goodbye episodes if you don’t plan on fucking finally writing the character off. Either stop pretending to say goodbye, or stop bringing her back, but you can’t do both, it’s just ridiculous and quite frankly also sad.

Now, moving on to series 10.

Series 10 made me fall in love with the 12th Doctor. Finally he was THE Doctor. Finally he started caring and being properly there, instead of requiring his companion as an emotional crutch. This series makes me mad that Peter is already leaving again. He barely to to actually be the Doctor as he ought to and now he’s already being replaced. Urgh.

Bill was actually a really cool companion. I didn’t undestand a single word she said for the first two episodes before I got used to her way of speaking, but after that, I fast grew attached to her.

Heck, I even grew attached to Nardole, and Nardole was the thing I hated most about “The Husbands of River Song”. But he had great character development over this one series.

I’m not sure how I feel about Missy, to be honest. Because I don’t want a redemption arc for the Doctor’s greatest foe. It was fun, but also really weird.

Now, before I wrap this up, I guess it’s impossible not to talk about the 13th Doctor.

I couldn’t give less of a rat’s ass about the casting. Literally.

I mean, as long as the actor does a good job and does the Doctor justice - not like Peter did in two out of three of his series - I couldn’t care less if the Doctor is male, female, white, black, Asian, for all I care they could have the Doctor regenerate into an agender green alien considering he doesn’t have to be human looking but humanoid. I just want an actor who captures the essence of the Doctor.

For that, of course, the actor is not the only one responsible.

The writing is too.

If they go an overly “We now have a female Doctor!!” route and start treating the Doctor different just because he is now a she, I will go batshit crazy.

If the Doctor now, all of a sudden starts actively persuading a male romantic interest (and I use the term “actively” here because the Doctor not limiting himself to females has been canon for a long time), just to keep things “straight looking”, I’ll be mad. How about we leave the romance just out? Something I’ve been pleading for for years now.

If the Doctor now, all of a sudden will for the first time in New Who take a male companion just to “keep it even”, I will also be mad. Because so far, the Doctor only took male companions as add-ons to his female primary companion. Have her take two companions, one male and one female, okay. That is what works best anyway, in my opinion.

But if the Doctor now takes a male companion and will require to be saved by The Man, then I’ll just be disappointed.

And I wish I wouldn’t have to worry about this, but I feel like… replacing Moffat and the Doctor and the companion all at once… Might change New Who completely and there’s no telling into what direction it’ll go.

So, for now, I’ll just be anxiously awaiting the new series and praying that the female Doctor will do the role justice, both as an actress and as its written part.

#Doctor Who #Ask me a show and I shall rant #TV Rants #Fandom Rants

[somme-lier]

SnowCap, a Touko x Dento fic (part 1)

Im so so so happy this is finally done! Except it went from a one-shot to a 3-parter oops

BUT ANYWAYS HERE IS PART 1 PLEASE READ I WILL CRY

It was the first snow day of the season for all the students at Sanyo High School. For most students, this just meant one step closer to having days off when the snow picks up speed, but for the Seniors, this signalled the start of the most important event of their teenage lives. The SnowCap festival.  

The rooms of the upper halls were wafting with the smell of perfume scented paper as budding adult girls snuck letters of confessions into their desired boy’s lockers, hoping they managed to ask first in time before the snake in class 3-2 asked first. The atmosphere was like no other, both tense yet blooming with passion, both the absolute essence of hormones.

 For one girl though, no such thought crossed her mind, she had someone else to do all that over-hyped bouncing and giggling for her. No, for Touko, SnowCap was no big deal, just another distraction from finals. She wonders why the school and community even bother to hold such an event and then complain when pass rates are below average. Today, was just another average day to Touko, bar the noise levels being much higher (and more annoying) than your usual November day.

 Touko was walking to school on this particularly chilly morning, a choice she normally wouldn’t make in sub-zero temperatures. She sure as hell much would rather drive in her mother’s car, but this tranquillity that the snow provided (and its noise cancelling abilities) were peace of mind to her. She enjoyed making child-like hops over the slippery patches of ice as they began to melt from the morning sun, her heavy boots leaving trails of where she had been. The chilly air was refreshing yet startling, booting her sense into full drive for the busy day ahead. Of course, this peaceful moment wasn’t going to last forever, in fact it was about to be over right now.

 If you looked behind her right now, you could no longer see the marks Touko’s boots left behind, for they had been fiercely wiped away and replaced with fresh marks from small pumps that seemed much too dangerous to run in, at least in Touko’s mind. But as she knew, danger wasn’t a word in Bel’s dictionary. Almost as if she was psychic, Bel rushed past Touko in a flash, only to come to a grinding halt a few steps ahead and a twirl to make their eyes meet. “So,” Bel’s sunny voice pierced the icy heavens, “SnowCap in a week’s time, when’s that letter sneaking into Dentos locker?” Touko felt her eyes roll so damn far into her eyes it felt like they were gonna pop out. “I told you, I have no such interest”, Touko grunted underneath her scarf, that was comfortably wrapped around her porcelain mouth. Bel’s eyes shined with mischief under her golden, messy bangs at the remark. “Ah! I get it, it’s because you’re too short to reach his locker right? Well, I guess I can help you, but then- kyaaa! It might look like I’m confessing! How shameful!” Bel gushed, but it fell on deaf ears as Touko was already a few meters ahead. She had no time for such trouble, even if Dento asked her, it’s not like she had time for such a preposterous event. Right?

By the afternoon classes begun, the first snow of the season had already started to come to a close. The slightly solid ice caps Touko had bunny-hopped over just that morning had become mushy puddles of tears. Tears from the sky, and tears of rejected girls pouring out from almost every window of the Senior block. It was retched, she thought, how come so many girls with so many talents are wasting their lives and deeming themselves not worthy all because a male rejected them?

She looked out the window to the sky, which was just stretching from a dark grey to a pale blue, as the sun began to creep its way through the cracks left by the fading clouds. A small sigh escape Toukos mouth, as her thoughts wandered to her best friend of 13 years. Iwasaki Dento, the boy she taught to read in Primary school, because at the age of 8 he was struggling to even form sentences. The same boy who was teased by his own brothers for being bisexual, the little boy who she had to protect from thugs because they thought his green truffles of hair were silly and dorkish.

Yes, Dento had a tough life growing up, being different wasn’t easy even in an accepting area like Sanyo. Touko didn’t want to take credit for his well-being but if she was being honest, she doesn’t think he would be as successful without her. For a brief moment, Touko thought she was almost left all alone in that solitary classroom, as it can get like that when you’re absorbed in nostalgia. But, a sharp tapping of the wooden floors from another’s shoes quickly brought her back to reality. She didn’t really know who was going to greet her when she whipped her head around, but for some reason, seeing Dento there struck her as quite a surprise. She almost stumbled back in shock as the abrupt realisation came over her, he was nothing like the Dento she was reminiscing about. This Dento standing before her was no longer fragile and pudgy looking, for the figure in front of her was tall and slim, and well-toned where a matured man should be. His shoulders were broad, even more so distinguished from the navy blue jacket he wore as part of their uniform. His skin had evened out over the years, now bearing a soft pale colour, the sort you would expect to see on a barbie doll, almost as if it was made of plastic, like you could run your fingers over it and leave cuts from your fingernails. His hair still had the same three truffles on the top, except now they were combed back in a stylistic way, and the lack of fringe he had (in comparison to his older brothers), made his forehead stick out in an intrusive way, but the good kind, like an unexpected surprise from your parents when you were a child. Touko had always like his hairstyle, truth be told, and even advised him against changing it when they were 12 because “it just wouldn’t be the same Dento without his wacky hair”

The eyes that were staring down at her were the most brilliant, piercing green you could possibly imagine, take all of those over the top descriptions of green from fairy tales and multiply it by 100. That was the colour of the eyes that were surprisingly so easy to get lost in, not out of lust but out of sheer interest to figure out what makes them so god damn green.

And finally, Toukos eyes hovered over his lips, a place she had never really bothered to pay specific attention to before, but today she just felt compelled to. Dento was interesting in the fact that he only had one dimple when he smiled, on the right side of his face. It was funny to Touko, but made his smile even more authentic feeling when it appeared. He had rather thin lips like every guy does, however towards the middle the formed a plump shape, like the kind you’d again, see on a barbie doll. They looked almost glossy, as if he’d applied something to them for this very moment. That smile turned into a frown of concern right before Toukos eyes, and then began to open and form words> “Tou, you alright? Uh,I mean, are we heading home together?” Dento questioned, his voice getting high at the end of his sentence, for he tried his best to hide the fact that he had seen Touko checking him out, he didn’t want to make things awkward.

 Touko suddenly came to and her vision grew blurry as it dawned on her she spent WAY too long inspecting her childhood friend’s lips. “Uh, what? What time is it? We might as well go then!” She managed to blurt out in an decomposed way. She stood up abruptly and pulled her skirt down to match her knees, as she was a respectful woman after all. After gaining her composure, she quickly charged out of the room, grabbing her bag hastily in tow, almost knocking Dento over as she rushed past him, hiding her peach shaded face. Dento recovered from the small blow and looked over his shoulder at his flustered friend. Not very often had he seen Touko in such a state.   The tension between the two was tight as they walked home together, Touko making sure she was several steps ahead of her friend. The air had once again begun to cool down as the sky prepared for another battering of snow. Touko adjusted her bright red scarf around her neck a little bit, for she wasn’t sure whether the slight flush she felt was simply reaction to the cold, or a blush. Dento was in no great hurry to catch up to her though, as he was so lost in his own guilt that his usually speedy walk had reduced to a dawdle. “If only I had kept my mouth shut”, he kept repeating over and over to himself. Every time he tried to figure out why Touko was in such a mood, he kept coming back to that one day in Summer. He remembers it so well, so well he can recite the date actually. June 27th, and don’t you dare forget it. He can also remember the exact time that day went to complete crap for him, 7:03 PM. Over and over he kept replaying the awful scene in his head, and attributed it to the reason Touko seized up on topic of the SnowCap.

Finally tired of the awkward silence, Touko scuffed her feet to a halt and turned to Dento. By now, her face was so hot it felt like you could fry an egg on it.  Somehow, she still managed to muster up words at the base of her mouth and stutter them out. “So….have you received a pretty pink letter from Tama?” she asked. The slight twang in her voice made it sound like she was slightly worried. Dento started at her blankly for a second and clicked. “Uh, no, not yet, well I assume I’ll be getting one”, he finally finished. He almost wanted to hide his head in shame that he forgot about that girl, Tamako, who felt she was entitled to him and him alone. It was infuriating, so much so he wondered why Touko even had the guts to bring it up.

 Before he could wrap his head around what was being asked, Dento heard the gentle steps of Touko turn into a hasty run as she galloped off against the harsh backdrop of a setting sun against snow clouds. “Gotta dash! See you tomorrow, bud!” he heard her voice trail off as she tracked further and further away. He considered yelling back in response, but all he could see of his childhood friend now was  a small collection of broken pavement rising up in a cartoon- like cloud. All he could do was stare at the ground and wonder, what the hell just happened?

----------

Oh gosh I’m so happy this part is over it’s the hardest one for me to write :^) Please leave a like on the post if you enjoyed it means the world to me <3 

#dento #pokemon fic #pokeani #pokemon touko #pokemon bw #fanfic #pokemon black and white #tw; romance #just incase #romance #romance fic #pokemon #pokemon hilda #touko x dento #hilda x cilan #shamless self insert #anime #writing #too many tags omg #manga

[linandara]

My Last Jedi review

I like how this has been a bit of a "coming out" season: Serious, edicated, professional people suddenly post Star Wars reviews, sometime very critical, and I realise they really care, and are crazy life long fans just as I am.

Here is my contribution. I watched The Last Jedi (TLJ) twice. Discussed it with the family, then read other reviews. I did enjoyed quite a lot of it and may watch it again but my overall opinion is, sadly, negative. Spoilers are coming.

The biggest, greatest mistake is the lack of good strong relationships. Space is cold, but ALL previous Star Wars movies always had plenty of warmth from the the various forms of love and affection: between children and parents (Luke's towards his father, Anakin and his mum, Jyn Erso and her dad), best friends (Han, Luke, Chewie, Lando), siblings (Luke and Leia), teachers and students (Obi-Van and Qui-Gon, Obi-Van and Anakin, Luke and Obi-Van, Luke and Yoda), lovers (Leia and Han, Padme and Anakin). Where are any of these in the new movie?

Whatever was developing between Rey and Finn, Finn and Poe in The Force Awakens (TFA) is mostly forgotten. Rey and Luke are not getting along, which is particularly disappointing. Finding a lost close relative (father, sister) always was a Star Wars shortcut to developing a relationship and strong feelings. Alternatively, people spend years "in the same boat" and have got to the same point, when they knew and cared for each other. Rian Johnson did none of those. It seemed for a while that there was a spark between Rey and Ben Solo but it went nowhere when they parted. A glimpse of something between Finn and Rose was at the very end. A very short heart warming scene with Luke and Leia and that's it. I really liked the moment when Yoda said he missed Luke in his nicely mocking way. But all was just some rare raindrops in a wast emotional desert. Even through Luke had known Obi-Van for a day or so, he was so upset when the old man died. Yet Rey and his own sister didn't spared a tear for him. Like saying "this was for the best".

I really liked TFA and "Rogue One". I was looking forward to seeing TLJ a great deal. Now I like TFA less as its promises went unfulfilled.

Plot holes and apparent disregard for the laws of nature was another blow. Did rebels abolished autopilots? Why did they need to sacrifice pilots with their ships? How they better than the First Order then? Why can the admiral trust her soldiers and explain the situation avoiding a mutiny?

Creating a consistant fantasy reality or suspension of disbelief is essential to fictional stories. Only once before this was broken for me in Star Wars: in the Revenge of the Sith when Anakin turns to the dark side. His downward ark was badly written which was a pity because the first half of that movie was really good and strong. In TLJ this was happening several times! Leia floating in space didn't work. Lots of aliens were badly made (including Yoda himself). I thought we are past this with the modern technology! The "Luke milking an alien" scene was disturbing because in Star Wars it is often difficult to distinguish between intelligent and non-intelligent species. One of the frases Rey said to Luke sounded definitely awful. Why wasn't it retaken? The Luke's face when he was thinking of slaying teenage Ben in his sleep was so wrong, probably because Mark just couldn't believe his character, who saved Darth Vader despite all odds, would do that.

I think, the Luke's last stand and dying scenes were good. Well made, dramatic and original. I think, him projecting through the space rather than being here in person was necessary because he was already too weak to face Kylo Ren. That's the reason he never got back. He appeared to his former student and Leia younger, as he would look like before his exile, because he wanted to be remembered strong, proper Jedi, not a broken old man already dying far away, alone.

I wish it all happened in the next movie because I just have nothing to look forward any more. Unless JJ will have a lot of Luke's ghost appearances - which would be something new for the series. Luke was the most unique and alive character in TLJ. Grumpy, weird, but thinking and feeling. None of the young characters are good enough for me to care. Especially when Rey is now really nobody from nowhere, which is boring (unless Ben lies about her parents). And she is a "Mary Sue", which is boring again. Pity, because she had a good potential to be a great character after TFA. Ben has tantrums, which is funny but I can't take him seriously. Finn, Rose and Poe are just you average token generic good rebels, nothing much to say. They are nice and are played by good actors, but it's not enough. We need true heroes for these movies to work. Luke was a simple rebel character in the New Hope which never was my favourite Star Wars movie. But he grew steeply into a proper wise knight, which was the main point of the original series to me. Rian Johnson made him broken by guilt and fear, destroying everything he had achieved. That I could potentially forgive because he finally redeems Luke and brings my favourite ever fictional character back, when he returns to Leia and confronts Ben Solo. I wanted more so much - but instead he dies.

I really hoped Luke will leave his exile and go on a quest (several quests - even better) together with Rey, his new apprentice for years to come, building a strong relationship, whether they related by blood or not. When I've seen the casino pictures I thought by some reason that this will be one of their destinations, like great scenes with Obi-Van and Anakin, Obi-Van, Han and Luke, Rey and Finn in alien bars. Nope.

As Han dies quite suddenly and frankly pointlessly in TFA, a connection between the generations seems to be unfortunately lost. I think Han should have been very seriously injured but survived his meeting with his son for a better plot.

Lots of plot lines in TLJ lead nowhere. One can say this is what real life is but if the movies will be "nothing in particular happened on that day" what would be the point of watching them? Art is in selecting and prioritising what's matters, in making good stories, not simply copying the mundane.

There was so much of an introduction from Maz for the master code breaker - and then another one chosen. And then it all was unnecessary after all. A silly Rose monologue about evils of arms dealing and revenge on the rich, just to erase all that by showing that the rebels shop for their x-wing fighters at the same casino planet… Incidentally, were rebel generals so overdressed because they were planning to go arms shopping here after the battle? I loved the costumes and the jewellery (even hope to buy some replicas) but it was too much for the rebel situation. The casino planet, as Finn noticed, was beautiful - apart from some badly made aliens. And captive animals suddenly released in the wild are not likely to survive, Rose and Finn! Whole "rebels loose all the time" situation reminded me of Blake's Seven, which I find very depressing.

Were Knights of Ren got to? Phasma was easily killed without any chance to do or to say anything important. Characters which don't enrich the story are not necessary. It's not a tv series, time on the screen is pressious.

The sword battle in the Red room was very good and the way Ben killed overconfident Snoke was, I thought, excellent. Although unfortunately we didn't learn a thing about Snoke.

Unlike many critics I liked the humour in TLJ. Luke winking to C3PO, brushing dust of his cloak and saying to Ben something like "see you around" just before he died was good. The red sand planet was hauntingly beautiful. Riding the huge alien beasts was fun to watch althrough that whole part of the story was pointless. I liked Rey in the "dark side" cave but the scene didn't gave as anything apart from feeling weird. What is the dark side about? What is the attraction?

The movie is criticised for paving the way for merchandise to be sold. Rubbish. I wish me and my friends, teenagers in the Soviet Union, had any merchandise to cherish when we watched the Original Trilogy. Instead we had to stop the videotape and take black and white photos to have at least something.

The music score in TLJ was the worst of Star Wars. Especially painful because TFA and Rogue One scores were so good. Almost no unique tracks to listen, just a mishmash of old tunes plus something reminding totally childish Harry Potter music.

Another big problem is the meaning of good and evil. How Snoke got to Ben? Why did Ben chose the dark side? Why Rey didn't? It is good that Luke admits the Jedi Order's flaws to Rey but why didn't he went to the dark side knowing all that? This is a big problem for the whole Star Wars saga. In real life people do horrible things thinking they are doing good. Nobody "chooses evil side". So Snoke, a vilian for the sake of being a vilian, already was a mistake in TFA. I think it was Aristotel who said that confrontation in a story should be between relatives or former friends to keep us engaged. This is why Luke, Leia or Han are needed to oppose Ben. Unless Rey is Ben's cousin after all. An opportunity for a romance (which would bring some necessary viewer engagement) for those two young people, I think, is already lost as nothing even started so far, after two movies.

TLJ is very entertaining to watch but that's not good enough for Star Wars. For Jurassic Park or James Bond, yes. A Star Wars story needs a strong emotional connection with the viewer and the latest doing lots of thinking about "What is Good?" because of what he sees.

All the flaws were very surprising considering that movies are done by groups of people. Could somebody brave point the mistakes and the weak moments to the director? How so many "professional" reviews ignored them and why?

I hope JJ will rescue the ending of this three parter but not in a way in which the ending of Lost was done, ruining the series! And maybe in a few years time somebody will make good quality CGI movies or an Dragon Age Inquisition/Witcher-like choice game, either set in alternative reality or in between The Return of Jedi and TFA. To give Luke, Han and Leia a bit more screen time they deserve and to reestablish the good proper heroes they originally were.

Saying that, I think all movies, games and books should come with a waring "To avoid disappointment, write your own stories" ;)

So here's the list of Star Wars movies in the order I rate them, from the favourite and much loved ones to the less loved.

The Return of Jedi

Empire Strickes Back

Rogue One

Attack of the Clones

The Force Awakens

A New Hope

Revenge of the Sith

The Phantom Menace

The Last Jedi

Still, I think it's the best film series made so far on this planet and any one is far ahead (in my rating) of other sci-fi, adventure and fantasy movies I ever enjoyed watching. Honestly I tried to find other good stoies and other good heroes many times since I was 15. Maybe I will one day.

#starwars #last jedi #review #movies #sci fi #fantasy #cinema #opinion #spoilers

[aion-rsa]

The Best InuYasha Episodes

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This article contains some InuYasha spoilers.

InuYasha is an anime series that effectively mixes together the action and romance genres to tell the entertaining story of Inuyasha, a half-demon on an important mission of redemption. Inuyasha’s journey puts him in the orbit of Kagome, a normal high school student, and an important bond is formed between the two of them.

The demon-slaying anime series comes from the prolific Rumiko Takahashi and lasted for nearly 200 episodes between two series and four films. InuYasha ended over a decade ago and was a major player on both Adult Swim and the channel’s Toonami block, but it’s fallen through the cracks in more recent years. With the recent announcement that a sequel series, Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, is on the way, as well as its recent arrival on HBO Max, there’s been a renewed interest in the InuYasha. To help some of the more uninitiated, here’s a helpful list of some of the best and most important InuYasha episodes.

Season 1 Episode 13: The Mystery of the New Moon and the Black-Haired Inuyasha

“The Mystery of the New Moon and the Black-Haired Inuyasha” is still early in InuYasha’s run and it comes during a fun period where there are still lots of secrets to reveal about the anime’s protagonist.

In this case, the big twist involves Inuyasha’s half-demon nature. Evidently, during the new moon Inuyasha actually loses his demonic abilities and turns into a fully human version of himself, and with black hair no less. This is a huge discovery for Kagome and it marks an interesting period where the two are able to connect on a different level than normal.

Plus, demon spiders are always a solid enemy.

Season 2 Episode 35: The True Owner of the Great Sword!

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Two of the most popular aspects of InuYasha are Inyuasha’s ongoing rivalry with Sesshomaru and Sesshomaru’s tender relationship with Rin. This episode offers the best of both worlds, as its first half delivers some fantastic action that push Inyuasha and Sesshomaru (as well as the Tetsusaiga sword) to their limits.

The second half sees Sesshomaru in recovery mode and marks the first appearance of Rin. Rin’s story is heartbreaking, but Sesshomaru’s revival of her marks a sincere turning point for his character.

It’s now an even more powerful episode considering the premise of Princess Half-Demon.

Season 2 Episode 43: Tetsusaiga Breaks

“Tetsusaiga Breaks” is pretty perfect on every level and finally delivers on many things that the series has only hinted at up until this point. The Tetsusaiga is Inuyasha’s supernatural sword and the idea that it can break has been toyed with, but never actually come to pass. But it happens in this episode as a way to illustrate the raw, brute strength of the demon Goshinki (a reincarnation of Naraku), as he shatters Inuyasha’s legendary blade.

This act is enough to push Inuyasha over the edge and fully become a demon for a brief time. In this form Inuyasha easily defeats Goshinki, but it’s a startling transformation. Between the big events that go down in this episode, Goshinki also eats an entire village of people, which is pretty badass as far as demons go in the series.

Season 2, Episode 51: Inuyasha’s Soul, Devoured

One of the major struggles that consumes Inuyasha’s character is that he’s half-human and half-demon. “Inuyasha’s Soul, Devoured” digs into the possibility that Inuyasha’s demon side will eventually completely take him over and he’ll have no humanity left.

It’s a rare opportunity for InuYasha to tackle some headier material. It also features a particularly awesome moth demon named Gatenmaru that ups the gross factor in the series when Inuyasha and Miroku get trapped in his poisonous cocoon.

Season 3 Episode 82: Gap Between the Ages

“Gap Between the Ages” takes place during an unexpected down time during the dangers of Naraku. Accordingly, both Kagome and Inuyasha return to the modern world and just embrace regular life for a while.

This episode isn’t necessarily important to the story, but it finds such a comfortable groove. It’s a great step forward for Inuyasha and Kagome’s relationship and it’s very entertaining to see Inuyasha’s antics in the modern world, whether it’s mundane activities with Kagome or foiling bank robbers and playing firefighter.

Season 4 Episode 107: Inuyasha Shows His Tears For The First Time

As the title of this episode indicates, this one is a particularly emotional installment as opposed to a more action-packed entry. A twisted series of events leads Inuyasha to believe that Kagome and many of his friends have died as a result of poisoning. This isn’t the case, but the close call really opens up Inuyasha’s eyes.

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Inuyasha entertains some dark thoughts during this time and it’s a surprising change of pace. He commits himself more than ever to keeping Kagome safe. It’s a powerful episode, even if it does figure out a way to have its cake and eat it, too.

Season 6 Episode 148: The Tragic Love Song of Destiny (Part 2)

“The Tragic Love Song of Destiny” first aired as a one-hour special, but the second half is really where everything comes together with a tragic elegance. This is where Inuyasha and Kikyo’s sad backstory is finally revealed. This earlier look into a less hardened Inuyasha is so sweet and it’s crushing to see how all of this falls apart and turns into disaster. At the same time, Naraku’s history and obsessive roots are explained and how this all results in Kikyo’s death and Inuyasha’s curse. It’s a satisfying look into the past and there’s even an appreciated glimpse into Kagome’s introduction. 

It’s a small detail, but the musical choices in this episode also make a big difference. The episode’s ending theme even makes use of the show’s first opening song, “Change the World,” in a poignant musical callback.

Season 6 Episode 162: Forever with Lord Sesshomaru

The bond between Rin and Sesshomaru is one of the sweetest things about this series. She helps humanize the demon in extreme ways and really helps balance out his character. “Forever with Lord Sesshomaru” acts as the ultimate affirmation of their bond.

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Rin is briefly kidnapped by a demon along with a bunch of other children, but the incident results in her choosing to leave with Sesshomaru rather than live with humans. Rin choosing to be with demons over her own kind is a huge turn and speaks to the complex nature of characters that InuYasha is so interested in.

Season 6 Episode 166: The Bond Between Them, Use the Sacred Jewel Shard! (Part 1)

Episodes 166 and 167 of InuYasha are a grueling two-parter that works best as a package, but it’s the first half of the story that makes more of an impact. This episode is pure action and features Inuyasha and company taking demon attacks from all angles. There’s a real apocalyptic feeling to the danger in this episode. Naraku proves several times over why he’s actually an intimidating antagonist. Goryomaru, the monk with a demonic arm, is also an extremely interesting addition to all of this mayhem.

The Final Act Episode 18: The Day of Days

Between both InuYasha and the concluding series, InuYasha: The Final Act, there are 193 episodes and “The Day of Days” falls within the final ten entries. At this point most of the series’ major conflicts have been resolved, so this entry works more to bring peace to Inuyasha and Kagome’s character arcs. The plot largely centers around Kagome’s entrance exam, which doesn’t seem like it would be entertaining, but Inuyasha’s support for her over this thing that he doesn’t understand is really sweet. 

Kagome finally gets love and acceptance here and Inuyasha is also able to let himself off the hook for the longstanding guilt that he feels over the loss of Kikyo. It’s a cathartic episode that looks towards the future in an optimistic way that now hits even harder with the announcement of Princess Half-Demon.

The post The Best InuYasha Episodes appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[aion-rsa]

InuYasha’s 10 Best Episodes

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InuYasha is an anime series that effectively mixes together the action and romance genres into the entertaining story of Inuyasha, a half-demon who is on an important mission of redemption. Inuyasha’s journey puts him in the orbit of Kagome, a normal high school student, and an important bond is formed between the two of them.

The demon-slaying anime series comes from the prolific Rumiko Takahashi and lasted for nearly 200 episodes between two series, as well as four films. InuYasha ended over a decade ago and was a major player on both Adult Swim and the channel’s Toonami block, but it’s fallen through the cracks in more recent years. With the recent announcement that a sequel series, Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, is on the way there’s been a renewed interest in the anime. To help some of the more uninitiated, here’s a helpful list of some of InuYasha’s best and most important episodes.

Season 2 Episode 35: The True Owner of the Great Sword!

Two of the most popular aspects of InuYasha is Inyuasha’s ongonig rivalry with Sesshomaru as well as Sesshomaru’s tender relationship with Rin. This episode offers the best of both worlds, as its first half delivers some fantastic action that push Inyuasha and Sesshomaru (as well as the Tetsusaiga sword) to their limits. The second half sees Sesshomaru in recovery mode and marks the first appearance of Rin. Rin’s story is heartbreaking, but Sesshomaru’s revival of her marks a sincere turning point for his character. It’s now an even more powerful episode considering the premise of Princess Half-Demon.

Season 2, Episode 51: Inuyasha’s Soul, Devoured

One of the major struggles that consumes Inuyasha’s character is that he’s half-human and half-demon. “Inuyasha’s Soul, Devoured” digs into the possibility that Inuyasha’s demon side will eventually completely take him over and he’ll have no humanity left. It’s a rare opportunity where InuYasha tackles some headier material. It also features a particularly awesome moth demon named Gatenmaru that ups the gross factor in the series when Inuyasha and Miroku get trapped in his poisonous cocoon.

Season 2 Episode 43: Tetsusaiga Breaks

“Tetsusaiga Breaks” is pretty perfect on every level and finally delivers on many things that the series has only hinted at up until this point. The Tetsusaiga is Inuyasha’s supernatural sword and the idea that it can break has been toyed with, but never come to pass. Here, as a way to illustrate the raw, brute strength of the demon Goshinki (a reincarnation of Naraku), is that he shatters Inuyasha’s legendary blade. This act is enough to push Inuyasha over the edge and fully become a demon for a brief time. In this form Inuyasha easily defeats Goshinki, but it’s a startling transformation. Between the big events that go down in this episode, Goshinki also eats an entire village of people, which is pretty bad-ass as far as demons go in the series.

The Final Act Episode 18: The Day of Days

Between both InuYasha and the concluding series, InuYasha: The Final Act, there are 193 episodes and “The Day of Days” falls within the final ten entries. At this point most of the series’ major conflicts have been resolved, so this entry works more to bring peace to Inuyasha and Kagome’s character arcs. The plot largely centers around Kagome’s entrance exam, which doesn’t seem like it would be entertaining, but Inuyasha’s support for her over this thing that he doesn’t understand is really sweet. 

Kagome finally gets love and acceptance here and Inuyasha is also able to let himself off the hook for the longstanding guilt that he feels over the loss of Kikyo. It’s a cathartic episode that looks towards the future in a very optimistic way that now hits even harder with the announcement of Princess Half-Demon.

Season 1 Episode 13: The Mystery of the New Moon and the Black-Haired Inuyasha

“The Mystery of the New Moon and the Black-Haired Inuyasha” is still early on into InuYasha’s run and it’s during a fun period where there are still lots of secrets to reveal about the anime’s protagonist. In this case, the big twist involves Inuyasha’s half-demon nature. Evidently, during the new moon Inuyasha actually loses his demonic abilities and turns into a fully human version of himself, and with black hair no less. This is a huge discovery for Kagome and it marks an interesting period where the two are able to connect on a different level than normal. Plus, demon spiders are always a solid enemy.

Read more

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The Best Anime to Stream and Where to Find Them

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Season 3 Episode 82: Gap Between the Ages

“Gap Between the Ages” is an episode that takes place during an unexpected down time during the dangers of Naraku. Accordingly, both Kagome and Inuyasha return to the modern world and just embrace regular life for a while. This episode isn’t very important, but it finds such a comfortable groove. It’s a great step forward for Inuyasha and Kagome’s relationship and it’s very entertaining to see Inuyasha’s antics in the modern world, whether it’s mundane activities with Kagome or foiling bank robbers and playing firefighter.

Season 4 Episode 107: Inuyasha Shows His Tears For The First Time

As the title of this episode indicates, this one is a particularly emotional installment of InuYasha as opposed to a more action-packed entry. A twisted series of events leads InuYasha to believe that Kagome and many of his friends have died as a result of poisoning. This is not the case, but the close call really opens up Inuyasha’s eyes. Inuyasha entertains some very dark thoughts during this time and it’s a surprising change of pace. He commits himself more than ever to keep Kagome safe. It’s a very powerful episode, even if it does figure out a way to have its cake and eat it, too.

Season 6 Episode 162: Forever with Lord Sesshomaru

The bond between Rin and Sesshomaru is one of the sweetest dimensions within InuYasha. She helps humanize the demon in extreme ways and really helps balance out his character. “Forever with Lord Sesshomaru” acts as the ultimate affirmation of their bond. Rin is briefly kidnapped by a demon along with a bunch of other children, but the incident results in her choosing to leave with Sesshomaru rather than live with humans. Rin choosing to be with demons over her own kind is a huge turn and speaks to the complex nature of characters that InuYasha is so interested in.

Season 6 Episode 166: The Bond Between Them, Use the Sacred Jewel Shard! (Part 1)

Episodes 166 and 167 of InuYasha are a grueling two-parter that works best as a package, but it’s the first half of the story that makes more of an impact. This is an episode of InuYasha that’s pure action and features Inuyasha and company taking demon attacks from all angles. There’s a real apocalyptic feeling to the danger in this episode that does the episode a lot of favors. Naraku proves several times over why he’s actually an intimidating antagonist. Goryomaru, the monk with a demonic arm, is also an extremely interesting addition to all of this mayhem.

Season 6 Episode 148: The Tragic Love Song of Destiny (Part 2)

“The Tragic Love Song of Destiny” first aired as a one-hour special, but the second half is really where everything comes together with a tragic elegance. This is where Inuyasha and Kikyo’s sad backstory is finally revealed. This earlier look into a less hardened Inuyasha is so sweet and it’s crushing to see how all of this falls apart and turns into disaster. At the same time, Naraku’s history and obsessive roots are explained and how this all results in Kikyo’s death and Inuyasha’s curse. It’s a satisfying look into the past and there’s even an appreciated glimpse into Kagome’s introduction. 

It’s a small detail, but the musical choices in this episode also make a big difference. The episode’s ending theme even makes use of the show’s first opening song, “Change the World,” in a poignant musical callback.

InuYasha can currently be streamed on Viz.com, Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Netflix.

The post InuYasha’s 10 Best Episodes appeared first on Den of Geek.

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