#but uh. he was a major villain for like 3 arcs. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ladygwyndolin · 2 days

Note

You're clearly a great fan of Murcielago's villain protagonists, but what are your opinions on the antagonists?

well you can't send me an ask like this an expect me not to rate each of them individually, but i assume you knew this. crafty, glasses! I'm gonna rate the primaries here but I'll rate the secondaries next. Only up to Silver Scent.

Arc 0: Unnamed Serial Killer

Cringe loser, no swag, no style, unmemorable, no standards. Died in an accident. 0/5.

Arc 1: Tasuku Iimura

Just kind of a big brute, somewhat sad backstory but doesn't really bring anything to the table. This arc isn't really about him though. 1/5.

Arc 2: Hyoue Satori

Total patsy. Basically irrelevant as his only real contribution was bankrolling a cooler, sexier villain. 1/5.

Arc 3: Takeru Asagi

We're starting to get somewhere. He's still fairly meh, but his MO and backstory are way more interesting than the previous villains and his genuine care for his daughter gives him a bit of heart. OFC, he pales in comparison to how amazing a character said daughter is, but I'll give him a point for trying. 2/5.

Arc 4: Gold Marie

LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOO!!!!!! I LOVE GOLD MARIE. Absolutely horrible and irredeemable monster, twisted in fun and unique ways, tragic backstory, gay, disgusting, and, well. Y'know. She's got. uh. well. Anyway, one of the best in the series, no question. 5/5.

Arc 5: The Rainy Day Killer

Hands down the most terrifying villain in the entire series and it's not even close. I get the creeps just looking at him. It takes a lot to be a monster in a world as monstrous as Murcielago's, but boy oh boy does he do it. Great backstory, too. Gonna give him a 4/5 just because of how SCARY he is.

Arc 6: Marie Misaka

Meh. This arc is more about Kuroko herself being the villain rather than this chick, so she barely gets any screentime and doesn't have much to offer. 2/5 cuz there's some implied gay shit at least.

Arc 7: Toukichirou Higaki

Mostly a vehicle for more interesting side characters. His fighting style is cool, but his ultimate goal of dying in battle doesn't have any real weight to it. Pretty forgettable. 2/5.

Arc 8: Shin Tatewaki

Boring villain from a boring arc. 1/5 cuz i think his scar looks cool.

Arc 9: Cobalt Conrad

A very solid mad scientist archetype. I think his relatively friendly and calm demeanor persisting throughout both arcs he's in is great and I like that he came back as a villain in the first place. His ultimately plan is pretty simple and I feel like more could be done with him, but given that we haven't seen the last of him I think there's a chance we'll get new stuff from him too. 4/5.

Arc 10: Kurono

YEAH BABY YEAH BABY LET'S GO!!!!!!!!! I LOVE KURONO!!!! Cool split personality ghost with probably the best fight in the entire series (due to the fact that Kuroko is hilarious throughout it) and sympathetic motivation make her extremely memorable. A lot of people rank Master Swordsman as their favorite arc, and while it's not my personal pick, scenes with Kurono make me understand exactly why so many people love it. 5/5.

Arc 11: Rose Marie

Best boy with one of the best arcs. I looooove TTDUP and how fucked up it is, and this weird conjoined cannibal queen is what makes it work. The second most unsettling villain after the rainy day killer as well. Easy 6/5, I would love if we got more villains like him in the future.

Arc 12: Comedy Writer

Easily the least threatening major villain and thus one of the least interesting. This is another arc where Kuroko eclipses the actual antagonist by a significant margin, so his only real noteworthy moment is when Kuroko kills the shit out of him. 1/5.

Arc 13: Hazuki Sendou

Gross. Loser. Doesn't deserve Zenpachi. Keep that in your pants, loser. 1/5.

Arc 14: Yuusuke Arima

A deeply tragic and sympathetic villain, and one who we get to know as a person far more than most other villains. Serial killer or not, I just felt really fucking bad for this guy. Not huge on his sudden double evil turn at the very end so I've gotta dock him a point for that, but I'm overall a fan. 3/5.

Arc 15: Mineko and Ayako

Honestly it was tough for me to decide which one of these two was the "main" villain so I ultimately decided to just go with both of them because hey, it's my list. My verdict is that they did literally nothing wrong and should not be held accountable for any crimes whatsoever. 5/5.

Hopefully that answers your question!

#murcielago #murcielago manga #rachel ranks

4 notes · View notes

aethergalaxias · 1 year

Text

ninjago crystallized rewrite (kinda)

UGH so i guess i deleted that post i made where i asked people about complaints they had about crystallized??? so here i am making a brand new post instead. please kill me

spoilers below!!!

harumi

give her a consistent character please. please. please. ple

redemption arc?????

im giving her a redemption arc instead of keeping her evil because i think thats what the writers were aiming for,,, it just didnt turn out well :/

also i feel like keeping her as a villain would be way easier so i wanna do the opposite >:)

no llorumi. get away. die

in this version shes only working for the overlord because he brought her back to life and she doesnt want to die again

a lot less cruel; shows genuine regret over her actions

still doesnt like lloyd, but willing to work with him to get rid of the overlord

refused to explode the ninja in ep 14 which led to the overlord replacing her with clouse (yes. clouse is here) as his second in command

some shit happens with pythor and harumi finds out that he freed the great devourer. harumi gets pissed and decides to betray the overlord

instead of lloyd escaping on his own harumi helps free him and they escape the temple together. emotional conversation ensues. harumi officially leaves the council and becomes an ally

shes down fighting with the main gang during the climax instead of at the overlord’s floating island thing

after helping to rebuild the monastery she pulls a garmadon and goes off on her own to go on a journey of healing and self-reflection or whatever

or she goes to jail and then goes on a journey of healing and self-reflection or whatever. consequences babeyyyyy

i mean i could also just keep her as a villain

i feel like that would be a lot easier. not rewriting a lot here since keeping her evil takes way less effort than giving her a legitimate redemption arc

getting rid of all the scenes where shes like “noooo dont kill lloyd D: possible redemption arc?? oh no wait nvm im evil again” shes just consistently evil now

lloyd doesnt take her with him when he leaves the temple she just jumps out after him. because she is insane <3

uhhh idk what to do with her at the end. she either dies or goes back to prison

problem one fixed. onto the next one.

oni lloyd oni lloyd oni lloyd

it was built up to be this huge thing and we got like five seconds of him??? unacceptable. where is my boy??? let him be angry and go feral and destroy stuff he deserves it

while escaping the council lloyd goes partial oni. he only realizes this once he ends up in the river, which ends up freaking him out, which ends up with him being unable to revert back to Normal Human Form. not full oni at this point hes just got like. the horns and fangs and stuff

(he stays like this until the final battle because why not)

(he stays like this AFTER the final battle because why not)

lloyd is like “oh no im a monster :( what have i become :( this is horrible :(“ until garmadon tells him to stfu and starts training him

(training goes better in this version since lloyd’s stuck with the oni traits which leads him to be a little more accepting of them)

episode stuff happens. yea h

uh uh overlord “kills” garmadon, lloyd goes batshit and turns full oni, Fucking Murders the overlord, crap now hes lost control of his oni form oh no. garmadon is freaking out, garmadon turns into an oni, the elemental dragon shows up, cool epic battle, lloyd regains control, yayyy happy ending cue the music

post battle he still keeps the horns and stuff. its part of his acceptance arc or whatever. im a very big fan of creacher lloyd okay

problem two fixed. man i am killing it

um uh those were my two major problems i guess i’ll just put minor stuff here

nya doesnt get her powers back. consequences for being turned into the ocean. sorry bbg 😔 no more elemental powers all the ninja are average human beings except for zane who is still a robot

“bbbut then howd the merlopians get the message that they needed help???” idk power of friendship. someone sends them an email. nya just yells it really loudly. general Bad Vibes or smth

nyas still a ninja bc like you dont need elemental powers to be a ninja. or something inspirational like that idk

pixal stays as samurai x because nyas too busy being an epic girlboss

the elemental dragon IS the og 4 ninja. they had an awesome magical girl transformation or whatever. dw they turn back to people afterwards just without their powers

clouse should be there. clouse needs to be there. clouse is revived as part of the council and becomes a major antagonist

lloyd legitimately thought his friends were dead in that one episode??? and then he found out they werent and he was like oh ok cool :D ??? anyway now theres a scene after nya and wu rescue him where hes like hhhhhhow the fuck. are you alive i thhought you all got murdered and then he has like 50 emotional breakdowns at once bc i! like! suffering!!!!!!!

wu’s wing mechs are actual dragon wings because garmadon got wings therefore wu should also get wings. i think thats only fair

wu DIES. he falls off the temple and DOESNT land in the water and the newspaper kids DONT find him. sorry dude its for the greater good (lloyds character arc again)

the new ninjas actually do stuff. they are helpful!!! annoying but helpful. also they dont get turned to crystal right off the bat wtf writers

vania gets lines. and a cool emotional fight with her father

lloyd’s problem with his father learning empathy is less focused on the fact that he’s part oni and more focused on the fact that he was literally brought back as a violent destructive overlord hellbent on murdering his son and conquering ninjago

i get rid of the birthday card line. like i get the significance behind it but you could have picked literally anything else??? turned the emotional moment around real fast

also lloyd and garmadon get a better reconciliation arc instead of just arguing Forever

minipix gets a name goddammit. she literally saved their lives and they’re like “oh yeah minipix 7 is a good name” what the hell. why 7. are there 6 other minipixes who've saved your ass from exploding?? yeah i dont think so

that is ALL I HAVE RN ill probably come up with some other stuff later

16 notes · View notes

lmaowh-at · 5 months

Note

top 5 WORST MOVIES EVER!!!

Uh oh um. So I gotta say that I'm not that much of a cinephile or a hater when it comes to movies because I watch the vast majority of them with friends and that improves my watching experience greatly. That being said I think I do have 5 movies that I have beef with (might be controversial)

1. Starting off with BATTLE ROYALE (2000) I don't care this movie sucks and I have a personal vendetta against it. I was 15 years old, watching and overanalysing squid game because I liked it, enjoying life, when my dad came to me and started full on SHITTING on the squid and saying how it SUCKS BALLS AND ASS and that it's a CHEAP COPY OF BATTLE ROYALE and that he's disappointed in me because I'm such a smart girl and I'm enjoying such a trash show. So I was really angry because wtf he tore my hyperfixation apart and so I watched battle royale out of spite and God......... I did not enjoy it in the slightest and I still harvest nothing but negative feelings towards it. From what I can remember the characters were Nothing, the action was disappointing, the point was made 10 minutes in and the rest was filled with nonsense. I don't care for the themes of this movie and I don't want to make sense of them. I was just angry at my dad for saying I'm stupid and then directing me to a movie that doesn't even have a single character with a compelling motivation that i care about and shoves relationship talk in the middle without it being rewarding in the slightest.

2. Queen Margot 1994. Sorry I'm trying to enjoy the story without incest porn in the middle but this movie doesn't let me

3. Thor the dark world... Thor is my favourite avenger and ragnarok is my favourite mcu movie so I don't like the direction of this one very much. I just think that Thor and Jane don't work in the first two movies and basing Thors entire motivation on her when the relationship is not very compelling in the first place is not a good recipe for a movie. Loki felt much more like the main character and I already forgot who the villain and what the plot was. Ragnarok is the only good Thor movie 😔

4. Ummmm red white and royal blue??? Idk I went into it thinking it would be at least funny but it was so shallow and cliche and had the most overused gay archetypes and character arcs and the politics were funny in how they sucked and the main couple just reminded me of Charles and Navarre for some reason and it made me very sad and angry because they had NO CHEMISTRY WHATSOEVER!!!! And. Yea. That's it I guess

5. Ok this is gonna be veryyyy controversial but I did not like the ragad movie at all for the simple reason that I do not see how ragad can be performed in a different medium. Stoppard may have directed it but Roth and Oldmas performances were so unenthusiastic and it lacked what made the actual play so great. I don't know. Maybe I'm missing something but I really don't like this movie and this letterboxd review really sums it up for me

#im sorry i have memory issues so all my complaints are very vague as i dont remember half of what happens in these movies already #also yea. dont come at me for ragad #ask

2 notes · View notes

lizalfosrise · 7 months

Note

Rise who are your favorite AK antagonists? Personality, aesthetics, story, gameplay, whatever metric you want to use.

Ahh, there's so many!

Most Reunion commanders of course but especially:

Crownslayer - seeing that artwork of Crownslayer on the hill of Chernobog rubble as a promo near launch then in that intro in-game was instantly 'wow i hope we get them that outfit is stylish- wait what do you mean she's an antagonist AHHH THAT'S NOT GONNA WORK OUT FOR HER! STOP!' (Lo and behold, clownslayer bullying) She just keeps getting fucked over progressively worse as things go on... W - The Character Of All Time. Starting off like 'oh sick ch1 boss design- hang on she SMOKEBOMBED AWAY!? NO DEATH ANIMATION ALLOWED HAHAHA HOW FUNKY! "KILL YOU LATER" alrighty!' and then uh yeah, Chapters 2&3 happened. Boy was that fucked up. But then we got to see her plans unfurl prior to Darknights Memoir which solidified her as Fucking Incredible. I finally understood the Hype about her banner on CN. Character I simply resonated with so strongly at that point. Phenomenal major player in the main story. Is she bound to meet a violent end? I feel like it'd be a neat and tragic mirror to the end of Arc 1 if there was an Amiya/W face-off eventually. FrostNova - Yelenaaaaaa....... Perish in Frost is gonna end me all over again honestly. Very important bnuyu. Listening to Lullabye repeatedly lately; in memoriam, and an attempt to memorise the lyrics in anticipation. Personally it's kind of amusing that she gets the True Rng attacks with her Black Icicles. Genuine, authentic russian roulette gameplay. Crisp design, that pale ice-blue is a nice touch.

Non-Reunion:

Mandragora - my wonderful soggiest poor little meow meow dripping mud n dirt n blood everywhere <3 Ain't she great! Now that Yato can go visorless, a Masked slot is available! Make it so, Hypergryph. Sometimes self-care is skewering Victorians to instil fear as catharsis for trauma-inducing abuse that more-or-less ended one of her lives that she crawled out of like a more bedraggled version of Kill Bill's The Bride. Unhinged, justifiably-founded but now-disproportionate revenge is just fun. Wear your wrath like a mantle. Anyhow it's as gutting as intended that she's the one that most cared for her troops and the Taran peoples; for overturning the Victorian nobility and their policies. So it'd be nice to see an actual return after they let her vanish in Londinium. Also HornDragora excellent dynamics Ya - Ohohohohoho. Hypergryph really love making characters just for me~ They deserve to burn Yan to ashes, absolutely. Not the traitor bitch-in-chief Sui. Oh, you're mad that you got betrayed by the insects whom you taught to kill gods? Really now? That bastard pulled a Zaaro and wants to be the last one standing, to curse Yan with his rebirth and outlive those He betrayed. Fuck that. Ya is essentially bleeding out after being woken from stasis by the shitforbrain Shanhaizhong idiots yet doing all the cool wuxia villain shit in a heartbroken rampage to bring Sui back simply for Them to burn the world and die together as kin once more. Wonderful! And though I don't recall if Fire Emblem: Awakening did have that same exact dynamic between Grima and the Grimleal, I adore that scenario of 'hey you fucked me over in order to have the end of the world summoned for you BUT guess what? You die too, bitch. No world domination for you filth either!' (Heroes recently gave us the true Laser-Guided Karma moment with that) They carved away specific slivers of time for Their pocket dimension home to keep Their cherished moments away from humanity and got woken up by nobodies, for little of purpose. YA01, what a legendary codex tag. The boss gimmick was an interesting way of doing the clone tactic but damn those additional spawns if you let Them move too far forward. Overall I like Them a normal amount, see. Pancho Salas - This guy was ridiculous, what a goofy Bond villain parody. Lovely action film setpiece of a map fending off his armoured missile boat and those waverider casters from a chewed-up luxury yacht in an artificial sea. Taking his boat down only to face the absolute brick wall of an anchor-wielding seadog with a metal arm, damn. Dossoles Holiday was much more fun than expected even with its Deep Water/Tides mechanics. Kaschey - Not exactly a favourite, but. They made a very good punching bag of an Actual Evil Bastard. That scummy method of self-propagation allowing him to be all "Ursus is MY plaything and I shall continue to grease its wheels with the blood of all those my Glorious Empire shall oppress!" was one hell of a reveal to throw into that interlude, huh? And that colour palette he maintains across his victims - the austere, harsh grays and black against white with dashes of crimson: it's the bloodstains amidst the Ursus Tundra echoing his presence. That's a sublime and careful coordination, yet more of Hypergryph's mindful consideration and planning behind characters, behind lore themes & motifs. Zumama, during Great Chief Returns - I CAN BEAT GAVIAL'S STRENGTH WITH MY ENGINEERING I PROMMY, GODDAMMIT (can't, lmao) Tomimi, during Great Chief Returns - I CAN KEEP GAVIAL WITH ME IN ACAHUALLA FOREVER I PROMMY, GODDAMMIT (can't, lmao. Gets tail-spanked, lmao) Jetpack Thief/Jetman from IS2 simply because the Arts Drones are more of a threat than his dumb arse. Stall, he hops into flight when we're given Anti-Air Defense tiles boosting ranged atk, and when he lands you should have a burst dps melee ready to grind him. One of the safest Floor 3 bosses if rngesus has allowed it. IS3's Pathshaper gets a shout here too for being a hilariously-deletable non-event of a Floor 3 boss.

On the more passive antagonism side of things would be ones like:

Degenbrecher (all sides knew it's just a stalling game where Enciodes is far more antagonistic towards the Very Shitty Clan Leaders & Great Elder, yet Sharp actually held out sparring with her) The Last Steam Knight (a warping of conviction and duty beyond death that defends a final bastion "You are not permitted to stain MY Victoria! Trespasser!") Dusk ("Hey what the fuck are you looking for me for? Get in the painting idiots. Wait, you lot have too much trauma to deal with that? Lame. Why's my annoying big sister here too?!") Ho'olheyak (she's not evil, and not the arc's villain, just as she said; but her manipulation of various parties during Dorothy's Vision/Lonetrail and taunting of both Saria and Muelsyse was enough for us to find delightful)

#arbellas-bakery #arknights #finally #kept you waiting huh #long rambles cut short and it's still a long post

6 notes · View notes

videogamelover99 · 2 years

Text

BSD Characters as Enneagram Types

Kyouka

Pinning Kyouka down is hard, cause...she's a child. She's very passive, but she also did not have agency from a very early age. Still, I would put her as Type 9: The Peacemaker.

Type 9s have aspects of many of the other Types. Still, Kyouka's wants have always been simple: a place where she can belong where she doesn't have to hurt anyone, boiled tofu, toys, a peaceful day out with her friends. She's very protective of Atsushi because he represents that stability she seeks.

Kouyou

So, uh, Kouyou was pretty easy to pin down XD. Type 2: The Helper.

She's very protective of the people under her, especially Kyouka, and she is extrememly protective of the organization as a whole, staying in the PM so that she could keep it the way Mori made it: with as minimal bloodshed in its ranks. She's also very posessive, and has to learn to let go of Kyouka in order for her to be happy. She goes behind Mori's back in order to give Kyouka closure about her parents. She wants to do good for the people she cares about, but sometimes has a hard time understanding what that is due to neglecting her own needs.

Chuuya

My boy Chuuya Nakahara is a Type 8: The Challenger.

Sorry, this one's not negotiable XD. Please it feels like this article was written for him wow.

Like I've said before, Chuuya does not let anyone's opinion sway his actions, for good and for bad. He has a hard time rethinking his choices, hesitating when hesitation and thoughtfulness is very much needed, but others' thoughts down sway him the majority of the time. He's firmly set in his beliefs.

His chronic allergy to vunerability fucks up his life a lot though: "Thus, Eights are often extremely industrious, but at the price of losing emotional contact with many of the people in their lives. Those close to them may become increasingly dissatisfied with this state of affairs, which confounds Eights. (“I don't understand what my family is complaining about. I bust my hump to provide for them. Why are they disappointed with me?”)" Oops is that the Sheep arc I hear? Half of the problems between Shirase and Chuuya could be solved if Chuuya just. Explained the truth of what happened. But that would require him to be vunerable, and that if Shirase still rejects him, even with the truth? It's why it takes Adam, a third party, to set the record straight in SB.

Mori

Mori, a villain you can't help but love (for me, at least XD). I pin him as a Type 3: The Achiever.

Mori needs to leave a mark on the world. Be it for his country, or Yokohama, or the Port Mafia, Mori does whatever it takes to uphold what he considers the "greater good". He also cannot handle making mistakes, so he denies them, in front of others and himself. (Remember, the "optimal solution"?) He forces Dazai out of the PM, realizes he Done Fucked Up, but cannot admit it to himself. His jealousy toward people he, deep down, he knows are superior to him in some way, we can see through his animosity toward Fukuzawa.

Part 1

#bsd characters as enneagram types #part 2 #bsd meta #bsd #bungou stray dogs #mori ougai #nakahara chuuya #kyouka izumi #izumi kyouka #ozaki kouyou #I'll do more characters once i figure them out

37 notes · View notes

cina-full-moon-xanadium · 2 years

Text

are you guys asking if im gonna rewatch new gen ultra bc. you wanna see my thoughts through a liveblog or something? well to go for it briefly:-

Ginga: Not as huge into this as others but I REALLY liked what it was going for and in retrospect how different it was to other Ultra productions and stands out as very memorable and distinct because of that. Everyone always talks about how this is back when they had no budget but literally I never noticed aside from the re-used Kaiju suits (which is a thing in every New Gen Ultra anyway). And uh that one goofy Dark Zagi sequence in da movie. Otherwise it's very visually stunning between Ginga himself and the consistent nature-based sets. Taro sequence in the last episode is the best thing ever made. Solid series, highly recommend!

Ginga S: Find it a little bit lame because it's very clearly made in response to fan complaints that Ginga wasn't like every other Ultraman (I especially don't like Hikaru becoming a military boy and that defining him in every re-appearance) but there's still a lot to love here and there's definitely some standout episodes like Gan-Q. Would find this one of the hardest Ultra series to recommend of the ones I've seen, but if you're already interested then yeah sure it's pretty harmless

X: BEST BEST BEST BEST SHIT EVER. WATCH THIS FUCKING SHOW. Maybe the funniest thing for me to say when it's not even top 3 for me but god if it doesn't feel like it sometimes, this is basically THE way to do a modern update of Ultraman and keeps a very strong balance between episodic plots, interesting character development & focus and a serialised plot and themes. Cannot recommend enough if you're interested in Ultraman

Orb: My first Ultraman so I've got a bit of a soft spot... like Ginga I'm not as into this as others but it's ultimately a very good show, and quite unique among Ultraman in how it sets up its characters (we basically never see the defence team outside of one representative; the main character is a distanced loner). It also has Juggler in it which, like, yeah; Juggler! Definitely recommend this one

Geed: BEST BEST BEST BEST SHIT EVER. WATCH THIS FUCKING SHOW. If your sensibilities are more attuned to Kamen Rider stories when it comes to Toku then this will be right up your alley as it shares in common a similar backstory for the hero's powers and is in general much more on the superhero side of things than the sci-fi anthology that Ultraman usually is. It's hard to get into exactly why without major spoilers but it's a wonderful series with a very charming cast that you can't take your eyes off. I was very excited for this one when I started Ultraman and I definitely wasn't disappointed. Highly recommend

R/B: Fucking fantastic! This one I feel gets overlooked quite a bit and gets treated as a bit of an oddball, but it's wonderfully weird and has so much going for it. It's a much more comedic take on Ultraman and very meta on the entire idea of what it means to be Ultraman, all wrapped around a very lovely focus of family and an honestly pretty fun plot as well. The first arc's villain is Kuroto Dan if he was toned down to be a lot more bearable and then the second half's can be a bit slow but has a fair bit to say. Just super recommend

Taiga: I unfortunately couldn't get into this one. Definitely a lot I think it wants to say about the nature of aliens integrating with humans and all the dynamics that contains but I just never found any of the characters terribly compelling enough to get into it... I fully admit I might have been giving it a harder time than it deserved though, and @biomic has recently had a LOT of good to say about it in their liveblog and I recommend you go to them if you want to know its strengths. Not one I can recommend personally, but it's one of those shows that seems to either hit hard for you or doesn't; so I can't say to avoid it or anything like that

Z: BEST BEST BEST BEST BEST SHIT IN THE WORLD WATCH THIS FUCKING SHOW GO TO YOUTUBE RIGHT FUCKING NOW!!! My experience with this one might have a bit of bias due to enjoying it along with everyone due to the simulcast but MAN what a fucking good time with all the strengths of X and more. Really went from a show that was pretty fun but due to unfortunate things behind the scenes could have gone so wrong but absolutely kept things steady to be a consistently great show with a lot to say. Can't recommend enough watch this thing right now it's literally officially subbed on youtube for free

Trigger: Did not like this show at all unfortunately, I find this easily the weakest of all the Ultraman shows I've seen and it definitely doesn't seem like there's a lot of people willing to stick up for it. It's one of those shows that's difficult to find anything to enjoy and you're left just scrounging for SOMETHING to like which you'll forget the moment the show is over. Really wants to be Profound and hit in a similar way that the show it's imitating - Tiga - did but can barely even dream of succeeding. Absolutely can't recommend this show for a second

Decker - It's only been three episodes but I'm finding it surprisingly solid stuff, and can certainly recommend you watch along too! Just a decent Ultraman show with a solid cast at this point. It's literally only been three episodes so I can't say anything more but it's hard to see this going terribly wrong and that at minimum it'll be decent. Recommend, it's on youtube officially with subs for free!

11 notes · View notes

clownao · 2 years

Note

Hello! No pressure to answer, but out of curiosity, what were your plans for dealing with Terasaka in Which Partner? I've always been curious, cause I got the impression based on your posts that Chiba was going to do something different during the Island Arc. Once again, no pressure to answer, and sorry if this question bothers you!

Hi! Omg I'm actually so stoked that you sent a Which Partner ask in our year 2022, it makes me super happy that people still think of that fic! :DD Thank you for the ask!

Honestly at this point I'll just go with the full spoilers route XD Note that 14yo me was absolutely ridiculous with plot and was religiously following Miraculous Ladybug's way of plot and development (...which now that I look back, it's not the best, is it?). So uh keep that in mind :P (even though 14yo me thought the plot was a banger)

Island arc happens as usual, Chiba and Hayami fail the shot, half the class falls ill, they go to the hotel to confront Takaoka etc etc. Chiba and Hayami don't use their miraculouses to do stuff because technically Ladybug and Black Cat are only supposed to be active in Kunugigaoka and they don't want to jeapordize their identities.

Nagisa goes and fights Takaoka, Chiba tries to help him just like he did in canon (with no miraculous). Nagisa manages to win the fight although Kayano was close to exposing her tentacles to defend him (little NagiKae for my soul :3), and both Chiba and Hayami were considering risking their identities for Nagisa. It all seems calm until Kochou manages to fly his akuma to the island (the Kochou plot is even more convoluted the last I checked lol).

Takaoka is akumatized and is therefore back to his full strength. Takaoka seeks revenge on all of 3-E due to the humiliation he suffered. He goes crazy and starts destroying the cockpit and raises up debris to crush the students. Karasuma attempts to help, but alas he’s still recovering from the poison gas. A piece of debris crushes Chiba, Sugaya, Karasuma and probably a few others. They all try to lift the debris but they’re not strong enough. Meanwhile, the class is in a panic. Something needs to be done IMMEDIATELY. Chiba makes eye contact with Korosensei and knows what he has to do- he has to transform.

Major plot point 1: Chiba exposes his identity

Chiba transforms into Black Cat and uses Cataclysm to destroy the debris and save his class. Also uhh for plot’s sake akumatized Takaoka isn’t looking in his direction so the villains don’t know. Everybody is naturally shocked, and Hayami especially. Hayami almost goes through a crisis right there (her classmate and friend is her superhero best friend and crush) but forces herself to fight the akuma first. She sneaks off and transforms, her identity is not revealed.

At the scene, there are two guns (the ones ChibaHaya used against Gastro). The first is with Karasuma, the second with Chiba/ Black Cat. Takaoka grabs Karasuma’s gun and everyone is instantly alarmed. Guns haven’t appeared in akuma battles before. BC and LB duel with Takaoka for a bit. LB is fully aware BC is Chiba, but BC doesn’t know why LB is here (she probably comes up with some excuse later).

Takaoka is a particularly tough akuma bc 1) he’s naturally strong already, imagine being supernaturally strong 2) Kochou is exhausted from flying that akuma and isn’t able to control his akuma as much (Kochou might want miraculouses but does he want to kill innocents?). Korosensei and Karasuma can’t really help as well because their only gun was taken by Takaoka. Takaoka excels in close combat so their hope lies in BC’s gun.

In the middle of the fight, Takaoka shoots BC in the head and he falls down. Everybody is shocked.

Major plot point 2: Chiba dies (temporarily)

A hysterical LB grabs BC’s gun and tries to shoot the akumatized item, but misses. BC, losing consciousness, thinks LB looks like Hayami due to similar shooting pose (he forgets about this later).

Takaoka gleefully laughs about how he killed BC. LB is horrified and going through a silent panic attack in front of everyone. How can she save the day when Chiba just died in front of her and she missed THE shot again?! Everyone notices her turbulent emotional state (in particular Nagisa) and shout encouragements. This keeps her going. Korosensei shouts out advice, and Karasuma’s well enough to provide distractions. Meanwhile, BC just lies their silently in his pool of blood (lmao), his ring beeping away because he used his Cataclysm earlier.

LB goes all bloodlust and fights against Takaoka. She summons her Lucky Charm, which gives her a pistol (the type that Hayami is skilled at using). LB finally shoots the akumatized item and defeats Takaoka. LB is drained as hell and once she cleanses the akuma, she immediately rushes to BC. The rest of the class hurriedly restrain Takaoka before checking on BC / Chiba.

There’s an emotional scene in which LB breaks down in front of an unmoving BC (note that she lets her guard down bc she’s in front of her friends and classmates, she probably wouldn’t do that if they were strangers). LB focuses on using Miraculous Ladybug to heal him, which miraculously works!! BC is alive, but just barely. BC is about to transform back, which Hayami doesn’t mind, but LB isn’t supposed to know. BC shakingly stands up and claims he’s fine, and he and LB part ways. LB hurries away and comes back as Hayami. Once LB leaves the scene, BC immediately collapses and transforms back (he’s trying to be strong in front of LB).

Everybody’s gathered around a weak Chiba. Plagg used his and his owner’s energy, and combined with LB’s powers, they managed to save Chiba’s life, but now Plagg and Chiba are both completely exhausted. Plagg trusts Hayami to take care of him and Chiba and asks her to feed him cheese. Of course, it’s because Plagg knows she’s Ladybug, but it also makes sense to everybody else because she’s Chiba’s best friend.

So the class now knows Chiba is BC and he Risked It All For Them. Hayami doesn’t know what to do because BC doesn’t know LB knows, plus she would reveal herself if she tells him he knows. So Hayami keeps it all to herself.

This is the beginning of Hayami’s trauma and long-lasting guilt complex in true MLB Chat Blanc fashion (🤡). After the fight, Hayami’s in a daze. She sends Tikki to be with Chiba so she can help him regain energy faster with her healing powers. Karasuma immediately takes Korosensei (who’s in his ultimate defence form) to try and kill him, so the only adult who knows what she’s going through can’t comfort her. Hayami is isolated (damn, I was so mean to her 😭) and terrified from earlier events. To make things worse, during her Miraculous Ladybug earlier, Hayami focused so much on BC that she didn’t heal herself, so Hayami now has a myriad of bruises and scratches on her body (that would usually be healed post-fight).

Everyone’s exhausted, so they sleep. Hayami can’t sleep. She goes to the hotel washroom and finds Irina there. We get an Irina-Hayami scene that is actually quite precious to my heart. Irina doesn’t question Hayami’s wounds (remember she’s playing the piano downstairs during the whole fight) and takes care of them. Like Hayami, Irina can’t sleep. Hayami can’t fully tell Irina what happened but she does confide in her a bit. (I forgot whether I make Karasuma and Irina realize their identities but I think I planned to make it ambiguous at this stage)

On a lighter note, people start debating whether to ship BC with LB or Hayami lmao, and Yada knows of Hayami’s crush on BC aka. Chiba. Chiba accidentally overhears Yada saying to Hayami “I didn’t know who would be better for you, him (BC) or Chiba..” and Chiba thinks his crush Hayami likes someone else lmao (very MLB bs of me, I know).

Later, LB starts going through a self sacrificing arc during akuma fights bc of Island arc events and BC is having NONE of it. They address the self sacrificing and work together instead of throwing themselves out to save the other.

Chiba also made a great risk bc his entire class knows his identity and they can’t be akumatized. Except in my fic outline, a ton of them do get akumatized anyway and they never reveal BC is Chiba lol (there are a lot of plot holes).

Also according to my notes, I was planting foreshadowing as early as Ch 2. I think Island arc was one of the main plot points I came up with initially? Also I forgot where I put the foreshadowing so I had to reread lmao. Oh no the cringe XD

Chapter 2: Plagg scowled. "I'm not like you, lucky bug. I bring bad luck. Sometimes, my holders just…" Plagg choked a bit. "You know, die. That's why… that's why I can't get too attached to them."

Chapter 5: It is, Plagg agreed mentally, green eyes trained on the screen as he gobbled down the last bits of cheese. A bitter feeling stabbed him through his chest, as he remembered the past holders he had looked after, the countless Black Cats vowing to protect their Ladybug with their life-

Chapter 9: But, Plagg wasn't as shallow as he seemed. He was concerned, because in the history of the duos of ladybug and cat miraculous holders, there had to be one that was more self-sacrificing. That was usually the cat, being madly in love with the ladybug. Sometimes, they even died to save their love's life. But this time, it was Ladybug who liked Black Cat. The entire scenario was flipped over.

So yeah lol, Island Arc supposedly marks the midpoint of the romcom saga my 14yo self was dead set on. Thanks again so much for the ask and for an opportunity for to finally talk about Island Arc spoilers :DD

And ohh it’s not a bother at all! I had a blast trying to remember what I wanted to do lol (ahh, nostalgia..) <3

#ask box #answered #anon #chibahaya #which partner #chiba ryuunosuke #hayami rinka #hayachi #miraculous ladybug x assassination classroom #if you ask more i might be able to reply lmao even if the main plot is wack af

9 notes · View notes

thedeadhandofseldon · 3 years

Text

The Anti-Mercer Effect

On the Accessibility of D&D, Why Unprepared Casters is so Fun, and Why Haley Whipjack is possibly the greatest DM of our generation.

(Apologies to my mutuals who aren’t in this fandom for the length of this, but as you all know I have never in my life shut up about anything so… we’ll call it even for the number of posts about Destiel I see every day.

To fellow UC fans - I haven’t listened to arc 4 yet, I started drafting this in early August, and I promise I will write a nice post about how great Gus the Bard is once I get the chance to listen to more of his DMing).

Structure - Or, “This is not the finale, there will be more podding cast”

So, first of all, let’s just talk about how Unprepared Casters works. Because it’s kind of unusual! Most of the other big-name D&D podcasts favor this long, grand arcs; UC has about 10 hours of podcast per each arc. And that’s a major strength in a lot of ways: it makes it really accessible to new listeners, because you can just start with the current arc and understand what’s going on!

And by starting new arcs every six or seven episodes, they can explore lots of ways to play D&D! Classic dungeon delve arc! Heist arc! Epic heroes save the world arc! Sportsball arc! They can touch on all sorts of things!

And while I’m talking about that: Dragons in Dungeons, the first arc, makes it incredibly accessible as a show - because it lets the unfamiliar listener get a sense of what D&D actually is. (It’s about telling stories and making your friends feel heroic and laugh and cry, for the record). If I had to pick a way to introduce someone to the game without actually playing it with them, that arc would definitely be it.

And I’d be remise not to note one very important thing: Haley Whipjack and Gus the Bard are just very funny, very charismatic people. Look. Episode 0s tend to be about 50%(?) those two just talking to each other about their own podcast. It shouldn’t work. And yet it DOES, its one of my favorite parts, because Haley and Gus are just cool.

And a side note that doesn’t fit anywhere else: I throw my soul at him! I throw a scone at him - that’s it, that’s the vibe. The whole podcast alternates between laughing with your friends and brooding alone in a dark tavern corner - but the laughs never forced and the dark corner is never too dark for too long.

Whipjack the Great - Or, the DM is Also a Player!

I think Haley Whipjack is one of the greatest Dungeon Masters alive. The plots and characters! The mechanical shenanigans! The descriptions!

Actually, let’s start there: with the descriptions. (Both Haley and Gus do this really fucking well). As we know, Episode 0 of each arc sees the DM reading a description - of a small town, or the Up North, or the recent history of a great party. And Haley always strikes this tricky balance - one I think a lot of us who DM struggle with - between giving too much description and worldbuilding, and not telling us anything at all. She describes people and events in just enough detail to imagine them, but never so much they seem static and unreal - just clear enough to envision, but with enough vagueness left to let your imagination begin to run wild.

While I’m thinking about arc 3’s party, let’s talk about a really bold move she made in that arc: letting the players have ongoing control of their history. Loser Lars! She didn’t try to spell out every detail of this high-level party’s history, or restrict their past to only what she decided to allow - she gave them the broad outlines, and let them embellish it. And that made for a much more alive story than any attempt to create it by herself would have - but I think it takes a lot of courage to let your players have that agency. Most Dungeon Masters (myself included) tend to struggle with being control freaks.

And the plots! Yeah, arc one is built of classic tropes - but she actually uses them, she doesn’t get caught up in subverting everything or laughing at the cliches. And it’s fun! In arc 3, there really isn’t a straight line for the players to follow, either - which makes the game much more interesting and much trickier to run. And her NPCs are fantastic and I will talk about them in the next section.

Above all, though, I think what is really impressive is how Haley balances mechanics, and rules as written, with the narrative and rule of cool - and puts both rules and story in the service of playing a fun game. And the secret to that? She’s the DM, but the DM is a player, and the DM is clearly having fun. Hope Lovejoy mechanically shouldn’t get that spellslot back, but she does, and it’s fun. The changeling merchant in Thymore doesn’t really make some Grand Artistic Narrative better, but wow is it fun. And she never tries to force it one way or the other - the story might be more dramatic if Annie didn’t manage to banish the demon from the vault, but it’s a lot cooler and a lot more fun for the players if Annie gets to be a badass instead - and the rules and the dice say that Annie managed it.

Settings feel like places, NPCs feel like people, and the narrative plot feels like a real villainous plot.

Anyway. I could go on about the various ways in which Whipjack is awesome for quite a while - she’s right, first place in D&D is when your friends laugh and super first place is when they cry - but I’m going to stop here and just. Make another post about it some other time. For now, for the record I hold her opinions about the game in higher esteem than I do several official sourcebooks; that is all.

Characters - Or, Bombyx Mori Is Not an Asshole, And That Matters

Okay, I said I would talk about characters! And I will!

Just a general place to start: the party! All of the first three parties are interesting to me, because they all care about each other. Not even necessarily in a Found Family Trope sort of way, though often that too. But they generally aren’t assholes to each other. The players create characters that actually work together, that are interesting; even when there’s internal divisions like SK-73 v. Sir Mr. Person, they aren’t just unpleasant and antagonistic all the time. Listening to the podcast, we’re “with” these people for a couple hours - and it isn’t unpleasant. That matters a lot. (To take a counter-example: I love Critical Role, but the episode when Vox Machina pranked Scanlan after he died and was resurrected wasn’t fun to listen to, it was just uncomfortable and angering and vaguely cruel).

All of the PCs are amazing, and the players in each arc did a great job. If you disagree with me about that, well, you have the right to be incorrect and I am sorry for your loss. Annie Wintersummer, for one example: tragic and sad and I want to give her a hug, but also Fuck Yeah Wintersummer, and also her familiar Charles the Owl is the cutest and funniest and I love him. And we understand what’s going on with Annie, she isn’t some infinite pool of hidden depths because this arc is 7 episodes and we don’t have time for that, but she also has enough complexity to be interesting. Same with Fey Moss: yeah, a lot of her is a silly pun about fame that carries into how she behaves, but a lot of how she behaves is also down to some good classic half-elven angst about parenthood and wanting to be known and seen and important. (Side note: if your half-elf character doesn’t have angst, well, that’s impressive and also I don’t think I believe you).

There are multiple lesbian cat-people in a 4-person party and they both have requited romantic interests who aren’t each other. This is the future liberals want and I am glad for it.

Sir Mister Person, the human fighter! Thavius, the edge lord! Even when a character is “simple,” they’re interesting, because of how they’re played as people and not action-figures. And that matters a lot.

In the same way: the NPCs. There really aren’t a lot of them! And some of them come from Patreon submissions, so uh good work gang, you’re part of the awesomeness and I’m proud of you! The point being, the NPCs work because enough of them are interesting to matter. It’s not just a servant who opens Count Michael’s door, it’s a character with a name (Oleandra!) and a personality and history. They’re interesting. Penny Lovejoy didn’t need to be interesting, the merchant outside the Laughing Mausoleum didn’t need to be interesting, but they ARE! And Haley and Gus EXCEL at making the NPCs matter, not just to the story but to us as viewers. I agree with Sir Mister Person, actually, I would die for the princesses of the kingdom. I actually care about Gem Lovejoy of all people - that wouldn’t happen in an ordinary campaign! That’s the thing that makes Unprepared Casters spectacular - and, frankly, it’s especially impressive because D&D does not tend to be good at making a lot of interesting compared to a lot of other sorts of stories.

And, just as an exemplar of all this: Bombyx Mori. Immortal, reincarnating(?), and described as the incarnation of the player’s ADHD. I expected to hate Bombyx, because as the mom friend both in and out of my friend-group’s campaigns, the chaos-causer is always exhausting to me. And yeah, Bombyx causes problems on purpose! But! She is not an asshole.

And that’s important. Bombyx goes and sits with the queen and comforts her. Bombyx gives Annie emotional support. Bombyx isn’t just a vehicle to jerk around the DM and other players; Bombyx really is a character we can care about. To compare with another case - in the first couple episodes of The Adventure Zone, the PCs are just dicks. Funny, but dicks. Bombyx holds out an arm “covered in larva” to shake with a count, and robs him of magical items, but she also cares about her friends and other people! She uses a powerful magical gem to save her fertilizer guy from death! Yeah, Bombyx is ridiculous, but she’s not just an asshole the party has to keep around for plot reasons; you can see why her party would keep her around. And one layer of meta up, she’s the perfect example of how to make a chaotic character like that while still being fun for everyone you’re playing with, which is often not the case. And I love her.

The Anti-Mercer Effect - Or, “I think we proved it can be fun, you can have a good time with your friends. And it doesn’t have to be scary, you can just work with what you know”

The Mercer Effect basically constitutes this: Matthew Mercer, Dungeon Master of Critical Role, is incredible (as are all of his players). They’re all professional story-tellers in a way, remember, and so Critical Role treats D&D like a narrative art-form, and it’s inspiring. Seeing that on Critical Role sets impossible standards - and people go into their own home games imagining that their campaigns will be like Critical Role, and the burden of that expectation tends to fall disproportionately on the DM. And the end result, I think, of the Mercer Effect is that we get discouraged or intimidated, because our game isn’t “as good as” theirs. (And I should note - Matt certainly doesn’t want that to be our reaction).

So the Anti-Mercer Effect is two things: it’s D&D treated like a game, and it’s inspiring but not intimidating. And Unprepared Casters manages both of those really freaking well. Because they play it like a game! A UC arc looks just like a good campaign in anyone’s home game. They have the vibes of 20-somethings and college students playing D&D for fun because that’s who they are (as a 20-something college student who plays a lot of D&D, watching it felt like watching my friends play an especially good campaign). They’re trying to tell a good story, sure, and they always do. But first and foremost, they’re trying to have fun, and it shows, and I love the UC cast for it.

And that’s the other half of it: it’s inspiring! It’s approachable; you can see that Haley and Gus put plenty of work into preparing the game but it also doesn’t make you feel like you need hundreds of pages of worldbuilding to run a game. Sometimes a cleric makes Haley cry and she gives them back a spell-slot from their deity! That’s fantastic! It’s just inspiring - listening to this over the summer, when my last campaign had fallen apart under the strain of graduation, is why I decided to plan and run my new one!

That quote from Haley Whipjack that I used as the title for this section? That’s the whole core of this idea, and really, I think, the core of the podcast.

The Mercer Effect is when you go “that’s really cool, I could never do that.” But Unprepared Casters makes you look at D&D and go “wow, that looks really fun. I bet I can do that!” And I love the show for it.

And I bet a lot of you do too.

#unprepared casters #bombyx mori #haley whipjack #long post #this is really rough but I don't have time to keep working on it and it's already a month later than intended

85 notes · View notes

greenhappyseed · 3 years

Text

Things are getting dark in the BNHA manga, so I wanted to return to brighter times and do a post on Inko Midoriya and her many parallels with All Might. Their interactions are some of my favorites in BNHA, not as a ship (although I am multi-ship friendly) but as two adult humans with little in common and no overlapping life experiences that nonetheless become co-parents because of deep empathy and one determined kid with a knack for bringing people together. The canon Inko-All Might interactions are short, but they occur at critical points in the story and touch on almost all major themes of the series.

The main chapter where All Might and Inko meet starts with them depicted as adversaries, facing off for a fight. #1 hero vs mama bear! Except...they don’t actually fight. They talk through what they each want for Izuku and come to a mutual understanding. These characters really see and trust each other in a way that contrasts with the Todoroki “watch me” story. Before I dive deep, check out the difference between the beginning and the end of Chapter 97, because this art is everything:

Ok, now for the good stuff.

1. In a story about succession and what we owe future generations, Inko is All Might’s predecessor with respect to Izuku. If Nana Shimura gave him OFA and made him a hero, Inko gives him a second life and unofficially-but-actually-officially makes him a “dad.”

2. Much like how All Might can’t be the sole pillar supporting society, Inko can’t be the sole pillar supporting Izuku. The difference is that we watch Inko arrive at this conclusion in the span of one chapter while All Might and, uh, society, aren’t there yet. When Inko truly sees how much Izuku is driven to become a hero, and how much he NEEDS something she can’t give, she starts to back down. Unlike Endeavor, she knows her son’s future is not about her.

Izuku wants this so much he won’t stay with Inko and will “go wherever”.... and it’s almost like All Might will follow to help Izuku be that hero...

3. Speaking of, allowing Izuku to move out at 15 and having All Might “raise” him is an incredible sacrifice on Inko’s part. She’s unexpectedly “retiring” as an active day-to-day parent and letting go of the one thing she spent her life building and protecting. Trusting your life’s work in someone else’s hands is really, really hard, but she does it. (Can All Might?)

After the Overhaul arc, we see Inko acknowledging the progress Izuku has made, which includes All Might by extension (because she’s clearly thinking about him too). Seeing how Izuku can grow without her, Inko is slowly getting comfortable with her decision to “retire.” (Can All Might?)

4. Inko’s weight gain parallels All Might’s weight loss in that both characters neglect themselves to help others (parenting and hero-ing) and they PARTICULARLY ignore themselves when worrying about Izuku.

5. Izuku, Inko, and All Might all seem to know when people need a little saving. Starting with Inko...when All Might flexes into his iconic muscle form and performs dogeza (and then poofs down to his true form), he’s not merely apologizing — he’s showing deference to Inko. She has power over All Might AND she’s not sold on the bloody reality of her son becoming a hero, even if she supports his dream. From here, she could block the next symbol of peace. She could take away the child All Might loves. She could extract whatever she wanted from the longtime #1 hero. Just think about what some other, less charitable characters might do.

But Inko doesn’t take anything from All Might. Instead, Inko sees how much Izuku and All Might need each other (I mean, LOOK AT THEIR FACES when they think she’s saying no!!!). She moves to reassure All Might that Izuku needs him, that she doesn’t hate UA (even though she railed against the school minutes earlier), and that she doesn’t want an big, heroic sacrifice. Inko trusts he will help Izuku “walk a path” different from his bloody one. She just wants a happy child, and All Might is integral to that because these 2 boys are a bonded pair. Izuku lives for All Might and All Might lives for Izuku. All for one and one for all, united we stand divided we fall. Inko sees how deeply All Might respects and cares for Izuku, to the point that the next symbol of peace is secondary (unlike Endeavor, who is invested in Shoto carrying on his legacy above all else).

Oh hey, 200 chapters later, it turns out All Might IS willing to follow Izuku anywhere, because he just can’t be apart from his boy. And, after Inko and All Might built mutual respect in Chapter 97, we see in Chapter 309 that All Might is not afraid to cry in front of Inko and show his real concern about Izuku. (He doesn’t cry in Chapter 97, but he readily lets the waterworks flow in Chapter 309.)

Now, we don’t see Inko’s reaction to All Might beyond the second panel below, but we know she previously decided to trust the boys despite her own fears. It’s not out of character for her to trust them again. In fact, it’s kinda sweet to see them both reassure her [while still clinging to their dumb plans, sigh]. Izuku makes clear he’s not intending to sacrifice his life, and All Might won’t let Izuku go alone. Of course, both of these promises will be...challenged...in chapters 310+, but the intent is there and that’s all Inko can ask for (I mean, that was all she originally asked of All Might in exchange for her consent — no sacrifice + “look after” Izuku.)

Finally, note how All Might stands throughout the scene, projecting a large, protective presence because it’s his turn to give back. Izuku extends his hand to his mother; All Might extends his height above them both. For all of 309 he’s high above Inko and Izuku; in 97, he’s shown equal to or below Inko except the brief moment he looms over them just before kneeling to the floor.

6. Inko and All Might only interact twice in the manga, but both times are critical turning points between acts AND both times are shortly after encounters with villains — Shigaraki/AFO in particular. The first is in the immediate aftermath of Kamino and All Might’s retirement (literally, All Might retires at the beginning of Chapter 96 and he meets Inko at the end). The second Inko-All Might interaction is in the immediate aftermath of the war and jailbreak (Chapter 309). At a meta-level, Inko’s character page is at the end of Chapter 94, right after we see Izuku & Shigaraki with AFO saying “it’s your turn.”

Interestingly there are TWO earlier near-interactions in canon. The first is in the School Briefs light novel, taking place just after the internships/Stain arc and before final exams. TL;DR: There’s a Parents Day at UA that involves a villain kidnapping 1A’s parents (spoiler: it’s really a rational deception by Aizawa and the parents are in on it). But things go awry and Inko nearly falls into a fire pit for real. A playing-the-villain-but-actually-in-his-true-form All Might swoops in to save her, of course! Afterwards, Inko runs over to thank him, thinking she’s talking to a local theater actor. :)

Lastly, in Chapter 70, right after Izuku runs into Shigaraki at the mall, Inko and All Might are both near Izuku at the police station. However, neither one speaks to or acknowledges the other, and the art doesn’t even show them together. The closest we get is the bottom right panel:

Despite both All Might and Izuku knowing about these two near-meetings, neither one tells Inko. My head canon is that they do this to avoid embarrassing her — she’s obviously terrified when All Might visits her home, so All Might saying, “we’ve met but you didn’t know” would be impolite. Likewise, if she at all remembered All Might from the police station, she doesn’t say so. Kindness all around!

I don’t know if it’s likely, but I’m really hopeful that a “found family” with most (all?) of these characters will happen in the end (maybe with Shigaraki too??)....I enjoy them way too much!!

#bhna #mha #my hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #all might #mha all might #mha inko #bnha inko #bnha all might #bnha meta #inko midoriya #midoriya inko #yagi toshinori #mha toshinori #toshinori yagi

293 notes · View notes

cringesideblog · 3 years

Text

here’s my dnf playlist and a complete song by song track-list and why I put them on it.

heatwaves- on here for very obvious reasons. i don’t think I need to explain. but here are some lyrics anyway. “Sometimes all I think about is you, late nights in the middle of June.”

Jenny- again this is kinda obvious. “I wanna ruin our friendship, we should be lovers instead, I don’t know how to say this, cuz you’re really my dearest friend.”

TALK ME DOWN- this one just has the best friends pining for eachother vibe. “I wanna sleep next to you, and that’s all I wanna do right now.”

Dark paradise- kinda has dream smp vibes. but also you could argue heatwaves vibes. “Everytime I close my eyes, it’s like a dark paradise.” “There’s no relief, I see you in my sleep.” “There’s no release, I feel you in my dreams.”

Sweater weather- yeah you know why. you absolutely know why. “All I am is a man, I want the world in my hands. I hate the beach but I stand, in California with my toes in the sand.”

Drop the Guillotine- idk man just vibey. give it a listen you’ll get it. it’ll click. “You sure know how to drop that guillotine on me, though you would never wanna see me bleed.”

Can I call you tonight?- thats on their only for of communication being through the phone huh. (major heatwaves vibe) “powers out and I can’t turn the fan on, so can I call you tonight? trying make up my mind, just how I feel.”-“I hear your voice on the phone, now I’m no longer alone.”

Lemon boy- oh my god this song. geogre do be seeing dream as his lemon boy. “I helped him plant his seeds and we’d mow the lawn in bad weather.”

Yellow- DREAM IS LITERALLY GEORGES YELLOW SHUT UP RIGHT NOW. “Look at the stars, look how they shine for you.” “For you I’d bleed myself dry.”

Like you do- first of all I love this song, second, this has dream being a little too attached vibes. The whole song is just them. “Lost in the blue, they don’t love me like you do, those chills that I knew they were nothing without you, and everyone else they don’t matter now. You’re the one I can’t lose, no one loves me like you do.” “Since I met you, all the gloomy days just seem to shine a little more brightly.”

I saw you in a dream- mega heatwaves vibe. “When I’m awake I can’t switch off,” “I saw you in a dream, you came to me. You were the sweetest apparition, such a pretty vision.”

Maybe you’re the reason- did someone say pining best friend who doesn’t know that they’re in love ? this song. this song right here. “I keep looking for something, even though I know that it’s not there. Maybe you’re the reason. And anytime I try to figure it out, you’re the only thing I can think about.”

The king- DREAM SMP VIBE. “You like me, well obviously, so why you tryna leave when you know that I’m the king?” “Other lovers give you no luck, cuz I’m the only one who’s made you fall in love.” “Playing with your heart cuz you gave me the throne.”

Sweet- an adorable song truly that actually fits them so well. “Watching the, video that you sent me- you know that I’m obsessed with your body, but it’s the way you smile that does it for me.” “It’s so sweet, knowing that you love me.”

Apocalypse- um okay here me out, apocalypse au?? yeah i know it’s cute as shit you’re welcome. “Your lips my lips, apocalypse.” “When you’re all alone, I will reach for you, when you’re feeling low, I will be there too.”

Fear of the Water- don’t come for me this ones kinda sad, beautiful song though. “If this was meant for me why does it hurt so much, and if you’re not made for me why did we fall in love?”

Dreaming of you- two words, heat. waves. but also yeah good song for them in general. “Want you all the time, and now I’m dreaming, dreaming, dreaming, dreaming of you.”

Wires- uhhhhh dream smp vibe, dream villain arc n all . “If he said help me kill the president, id say he needs medicine.” “He said that I should take it in, listen to every word he’s speaking.”

Midnight love- it’s girl in love so, you already know how it issss. “I know I don’t want to, be the one that you run to, when you’ve got nowhere else to go, when you need some love.” “I always give in to give you it all.” “I can’t be your midnight love, when your silver is my gold.”

The beach- SUCH A HEATWAVES SONG JUST LISTEN. “I feel it burning me, I feel it burning you.” “I think I can see the beach, I know what’s underneath. I need you here with me,”

Cherry flavored- the neighborhood just.. they have a dnf vibe. “Cherry flavored conversations with you got me hanging on. Down to earth from all the waiting. Take me somewhere beyond.”

Pretty boy- geogre is a pretty boy. point blank period. “Even if my heart stops beating, you’re the only thing I need with me.” “Pretty boy, you did this with me boy.” “As long as I got you, I’m gonna be alright.”

Bad idea- girl in reddd... but like imagine them casually hooking up and not knowing their in love tho. also I feel like they would definitely think that their relationship is a “bad idea” bc they’re stupid. “It was a bad idea, to think I could stop, was such a bad idea, I can’t get enough.” “Darling your so pretty it hurts.”

Line without a hook- ICONIC!! dream definitely does not think that he deserves george. “You can hold my hand if no ones home.” “All my emotions feel like explosions when you are around” “Oh baby I am a wreck without you.” “She’s a, she’s a lady, and I am just a boy. She’s a, she’s a lady, and I am just a line without a hook.”

Say you hate me- mega dream smp vibes as of recently. with the whole removing geogre as king. “I guess that your friends where right, from the start when they thought that I was a bad guy.” “Can you just say that you hate me? Or that you will never love me?” “Never meant to make you leave, never meant to make you cry.”

Cherry bomb- reminds me of how dream cheated on fundy with geogre. “I’m too close to crushing, and I’m too close for comfort I’m rushing.” “I ask how shes so mellow, she tells me her shades are in yellow.”

This side of paradise- I mean, like, kinda heatwaves vibes, but also just them. “Ask me why my hearts inside my throat. I’ve never been in love I’ve been alone.” “If you’re lonley come be lonley with me.”

Linger- geogre literally has that boy wrapped around his finger and I can’t not see it in this song. But when you look into it HELLA dream smp vibes, lyrics can be switched for either perspective here. “You know I’m such a fool for you, you got me wrapped around your finger.” “I thought the world of you, I thought nothing could go wrong, but I was wrong,”

august- i don’t know what is but this song is for them. it just is. “To live for the hope of it all. Cancel plans just in case you'd call” “So much for summer love, and saying “Us” Cause you weren't mine to lose”

I was an island- i just love the idea of them being hardasses and not thinking they need anyone until the other comes into their life and rocks their world. kinda dream smp vibes “I was a fighter, and I was so brave, but I lowered my sword when you held me and swore you’d stay.” “I was a wolf, dear, apart from the pac But you answered my cries in the dead of the night and told me that you had my back,”

Golden- k this one feeds into the “you’re literally the sun in my sky I’m not worthy” feel “I know you were way too bright for me I'm hopeless, broken” “I know that you're scared Because hearts get broken” “I can feel you take control Of who I am and all I've ever known Loving you's the antidote”

Strong- ummm okay but the “we’re better together” dynamic is them “I’m sorry if I say I need ya, but I don’t care I’m not scared of love.” “when I’m not with you I’m weaker is that so wrong? Is it so wrong, that you make me strong.”

Fly out west- the whole, I need to see you, you’re all I think about, stuff gets me. also heatwaves vibe. “Well tell me do you know? You’re all I dream about. Take it from me I’m too dumb to recognize your doubt.”

Cruel summer- them and summer, you dig? “I don’t wanna keep secrets just to keep you.” “I love you and that the worst thing you ever heard?”

Nothings gonna hurt you baby- I put this one on here because of how protective dream is over geogre “Nothing’s gonna hurt you baby, as long as your with me you’ll be just fine. Nothings gonna hurt you baby, nothings gonna take you from my side.”

Cardigan- young love, the kind of lover that makes you feel like you are the most important thing in the world to them “when you are young they assume you know nothing, but I knew you-“ “and when I felt like I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed, you put me on and said I was your favorite.”

Cry baby- them being in that weird stage where they recognize that it might be more than just senseless flirting and they might have feelings but also being paranoid that they’re the only one with feelings uh- “I can taste it my hearts breaking, please don’t say it. That you know, when you know.” “I know I’ll fall in love with you baby, but that’s not what I wanna do baby.”

Speak now- literally the fundy dream wedding. i rest my case. “I hear the preacher say speak no or forever hold your peace.” “Dont say yes runaway now.”

I love you so- this song is cute on the surface but kinda sad once you look into it. it’s kinda about a codependent love that isn’t going well. “I gotta get away and let you go I gotta get over, but I love you so.” “You were cool and I’m a fool so please let me go.”

In conclusion I’d really appreciate if you could check it out :) <3

#haha playlist go brr #Please I beg of you go send it some love it genuinely think that all the songs fit them so well #also this might get updated as I listen to more music and discover new songs that fit them #but please #pleaseeee #go like it :)#that would be nice of u <333 #dreamnotfound #georgenotfound #dreamwastaken #dnf #Spotify #heatwaves

487 notes · View notes

hamphobicbasil · 3 years

Note

Could u elaborate about the dsmp story being bad? Not a rabid/brain dead fan, just genuinely curious and I enjoy reading people's rants lolol

oh you dont know the floodgates you just opened

a few things:

1. despite not liking the creators of the dsmp anymore, I don't actually hate most of them. [the ones that are particularly unsavory fall outside of this of course] so all that I'm saying i truly mean in a critical sense towards the story, its also just all purely my opinion as someone who enjoys fictional and fantasy stories and who like criticizing works to see what it does well and what it doesn't do well

2. for clarification I'm going to use the c![name] to indicate when I'm talking about the characters. Don't get me wrong, I think its annoying too but its the only way I'm gonna be able to write this thing without getting something across the wrong way yknow?

3. I stopped watching the streams after November 16th, [save for one Techno one but I closed out after a particularly bad story beat lol] and so all information coming afterward is all second hand from either me seeing people on twt talk abt it or people dming me. All i really know is up to dream's imprisonment and some stuff past that.

4. This is mostly aimed towards the "main" story, so stuff abt the badlands, eggpire, and whatnot are briefly mentioned.

anyways uh, i'll try to be brief but also include enough information to get why i feel the way i do on some stuff across

A. Performances Alright obviously these people are all streamers, so obviously they might not be the best actors, and hell no one is even asking that of them. However, when you're telling a story that's based on the audio with the visuals kinda coming to a second, it's gotta be pretty strong. I will say, some of the best actors in my opinion are Wilbur, Tommy, and Tubbo. I would include Ranboo but I never watched any of his story bits or story streams so I can't say much. Wilbur and Tommy are excellent in selling their character's emotions and feelings, when I watch the stream I don't feel like I'm watching an rp but an actual thought-out story yknow? And one of my favorite Tubbo examples was in the Hog Hunt video whenever Techno attacked him, he sounded genuinely afraid and I believed everything his character was feeling.

However, unfortunately, not everyone is gonna be that good. And I'm gonna say it; Dream and Techno have to be the worst out of the entire cast. I understand Techno's whole character is this monotoned badass, however, when really emotional moments hit I feel like he never lets that fall, and a lot of intense moments just ring hollow. And I'm sorry but Dream's attempts at being intimidating leave me laughing whenever I watch them. It feels like he watched that one scene from The Marriage with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johannson and said "Oh this is what good acting looks like! Just yelling." His whole "I don't give a FUCK about Spirit!" speech isn't as great as people keep making it out to be. And whenever he tries to act coy when being a villain it feels like a guy reading the script for the first time, a bit like he's trying too hard. I have more problems with his character but his portrayal certainly doesn't help.

Everyone else is fine, and I don't feel strongly either way about a lot of them.

B. The "Lore" Okay first off, I can't be the only one who thinks it's silly that people are calling the dsmp's story "lore" when it's not, it's the fucking story. Lore indicates backstory to either the world or the characters, which a lot of the streams don't really pertain to. This is a really petty section but god it's a weird pet peeve of mine.

Other than the misusage of "lore" vs "story", the actual lore and world-building of the world are so lackluster that new elements can be introduced whenever and it often feels cluttered or not well thought out at all. And here's the thing, I feel like if the writers sat down just for a few minutes to establish world rules and general history, a lot of this could be solved! but so much is made up on the spot that it starts to feel like they're grabbing at straws to keep people invested, trying to reach that next high and intense story beat without actually earning it.

C. The Egg / Eggpire This is a pretty minor note since I was only invested in the Egg storyline for a little bit, but god it's so underused that it's almost embarrassing. Bad has provided this super interesting antagonistic force that's infecting the SMP, can control people, and who one of our main character is immune to, and it's just never used or even talked about again? Now I understand if he wanted to keep it to a side storyline only, however, to introduce this borderline eldritch creature and force within the world and then never have it dealt with is so weird.

D. The Writing Oh boy this is. kinda a big one. Now I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty obvious I have a bias for the Wilbur writing over the current team [that consisting of Dream, Quackity, and Tommy mostly]. I don't this his writing is perfect by any means, the characters constantly bringing up traitors got obnoxious after a while, and writing Hamilton but in Minecraft really isn't the modern Shakespeare or anything. However, I think his exploration of characters and plot progression was a lot more thought out and well planned, like he actually had two brain cells behind the story yknow? The current team I think fails to be as emotional or even impactful, things happened too fast and my god was everything drowned in angst for so long.

Don't get me wrong, you gotta have your characters face hardships to make them reach their goal believable, but some of the shit they put the characters through just felt like too much. From c!Tubbo's constant comparison to c!Schlatt [who btw, fucking ordered his death and kept him from his friends in a nation he felt trapped in] and on a side note, i kinda really fucking dislike the "c!Schlatt dad!!" au's or the au's where c!Tubbo inherits some of Schlatt's features, it would be like c!Tommy getting a c!Dream mask after his exile, it's feels so weird yet people eat that shit up for some reason.

But god, did c!Tommy get the brunt of it all and in retrospect after his final death, it kinda feels really fucking gross. Now obviously, I'm not trusting any of these people to write decent mental health representation, but c!Tommy's PTSD and how it was explored was just degrading. [Specifically the scene in that one Techno stream where he saw the final control room from the first war, and had a flashback / panic attack where he started calling out for c!Dream. I understand this is an actual thing people with PTSD will experience, but it felt so fucking stereotypical it got on my nerves. I actually had to close out of the stream because it made me feel sick, fiction shouldn't leave you feeling that way.] And don't get me started on how they basically reused the formula from the previous arc. [Problem introduced -> Tensions rise as things start to fall apart -> Big confrontation -> Exile -> Return from Exile -> Blowing up L'Manberg, again.]

And speaking of characters-

E. Character Arcs, or the lack of them In my genuine opinion, some of these characters' arcs are so disappointing. Especially c!Tommy's. I'm not one to believe that he was a "selfish" character or anything, however, his goals were simply set on his discs and maybe c!Tubbo, he didn't have much outside that. However, L'Manberg gave him something to care about, he gave up his discs for it and he fought for it tooth and nail, I think it taught him to open up to others and trust more. It was a great character arc for him to have, seeing him still fight even after his first exile alongside c!Wilbur, to return safely to the nation that he and his found family had built.

But then his second exile happened, and I feel like all of that was undone.

c!Tommy's exile genuinely pisses me off for so many reasons. It's not that characters can't have their low points after reaching a major change or feeling like they've "completed" their arcs or anything, but it's more of the fact that it seems like he's never going to heal that feels like a spit in the face, especially to people who might have had setbacks like that before. Progress isn't linear, sometimes things happen and you get knocked back down, it can take a while to get back up, but I don't think c!Tommy's character is ever going to be allowed to get back up. From c!Dream, who pretty much was a constant abuser in his life, killing him then reviving him, and his still fractured relationship with c!Tubbo, which by the way I have a had time believing they would still be friends after all that happened, it feels like he can never get a win and it's generally kinda a shit way to treat your characters who have been abused. Of course, not all abused characters are going to get happy endings, I'm not trying to dictate that they all should, but c!Tommy deserves one and the fact that it's so obscure feels shitty.

Side note: we still don't have a canon reason to give a shit abt the discs. Like I'm sorry but without some sorta connection to the MacGuffin why should we give a shit about him getting them other than "he wants them lol". Like hell, I would even accept the classic "they were the last gifts from his parents" or something, but we still don't have a reason.

c!Tubbo also lacks a fulfilling arc as well, from someone who started out as a yes man, he has progressed a bit into having his own interests first, but besides that sometimes his character makes me so. depressed. He's easily one of the most pushed around and hated characters within the story, all for being a kid who didn't know what to do and he's in the same vein as c!Tommy; these kids can't get a break. Also, his anti-violence beliefs morphing into the "lets kill c!Techno lol!" bit was so out of place and without proper build-up it was like. what. And now he's building nukes?? god c!Tubbo makes me so sad because he's kicked around constantly and never given a chance to grow.

Another small note, I also don't really enjoy c!Techno at all. Besides the previously stated reasons of lack of emotions when they're really needed, I find his character to be weirdly pretentious. He talks as if he's constantly been betrayed and hurt but I personally, don't see it? Like, I think one of the main examples was the Pogtopia vs. Manberg war, yknow he wanted to end the government but they just reinstated it after they won = c!Techno upset. But this doesn't make sense to me because why did he think otherwise? The entire time c!Tommy had talked about taking back their nation and starting again, so the fact that c!Techno suddenly thought there would be a sudden change is, to put it bluntly, kinda fucking stupid. I don't want to say that he "plays the victim" or anything because that feels a bit harsh, but his character feels so far up his own ass that I can't enjoy him.

I have a major grip with c!Dream as well, but that's getting it's own fucking section.

F. L'Manberg This is a quick note before we get into the, forgive me for this, endgame, of this entire rant, since the next two sections are tied together. But god, L'Manberg makes me upset because it feels like they gave up on it.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that it is supposed to be c!Wilbur's "unfinished symphony", the thing that destroyed a once charismatic and widely loved man, his attempt at power that utterly ruined him. But the fact that it just got blown up in the end after everything and left to rot felt like such a waste of time. From the first war, to Pogtopia, to even c!Tommy's exile, it all felt fucking worthless in the end, and the story is actively closer to how it was when it started now more than ever. I wished it was actually allowed to exist and continue to be a peaceful place in what is a chaotic world, but no it was just snuffed out because why dedicate to this concept of finding others you can band together with and feel safe. fuck that noise apparently?

G. The Villains Now villain-wise, I'm only talking about c!Dream [during the first war], c!Schlatt, and c!Wilbur. And believe it or not, this is actually mostly positive.

Now I'm not gonna lie, c!Dream as a staring antagonist wasn't bad actually, he posed a genuine and threatening opposition to L'Manberg, even if we didn't know his real intentions or motivations as to why he was against it. He's lucky in this sense because he didn't have to be good, he had to be passable. If anything, he felt more like an anti-hero than a tyrant or traditional villain, and my god do I wish he kept this theme going forward.

Now quick disclaimer, I don't like JSchlatt as much as the next guy, he's an adult man who should know better than to joke about some sensitive topics and act the way that he does. But the one thing I'll ever give him is that damn, was he a good actor for his character.

Now here's the thing, c!Schlatt wasn't particularly deep at all. He had no real motivations behind his exile of c!Wilbur and c!Tommy other than getting competition out of the way, had no reason to act the way that he did and yknow? that's fine. The reason why he worked was from his performance alone, he was actually intimidating. When he came onto the stream and was doing his typical bad guy stuff, it was actually intense to see what he would do. Whenever he would almost catch c!Tommy back in Manberg, whenever he would begin to pressure c!Tubbo, it put you on the edge of your seat and it felt like everything would change at the drop of a pen. He's a villain to be a villain, and this works out because he's just charismatic and well put together enough to make it interesting, even without the backstory or motives.

c!Wilbur however, is much more tragic, and the best villain of the story. He essentially was the "mentor turned evil" trope and it felt terrible watching him descend into madness, unable to trust barely anyone except for c!Techno and c!Tommy. Hell, in the end I think he still cared about them both, despite losing everything. Sure, he blew up L'Manberg, but there was still a smidge of the old c!Wilbur in there made everything he did feel melancholic. His death at the hands of his father after achieving his final wish was chilling, and something I still think about.

Until yknow, Ghostbur came back way too soon to let people feel his loss as a character within that world. And then he got revived, pretty much-undoing everything that moment meant for his character lol.

And then there's the worst one:

H. Dream. I'm going to be completely honest, c!Dream is one of the main reasons why I dislike the current dsmp stuff so much. Outside of his actions as a person, the way Dream decided to write his character as this overpowered madman of the dsmp really just. destroyed any intrigue that he could've had. Perhaps this is from my growing dislike towards him, manifesting into a bias towards his character, but god I cannot fathom why people try to insist he's interesting when he has as much depth as a fucking puddle.

And here's the thing, I'm not even entirely against c!Dream being a villain, hell I think he would've been great as an anti-hero if anything. Make him sympathetic but not through c!George to get your precious "DNF" points or anything, but show him actually caring about the people within the dsmp, including c!Tommy and c!Tubbo. This would make his rival status with them just a bit more complicated, sure they're enemies, however, he doesn't want to hurt or kill them, and there's still a level of friendship there that keeps them bonded when things get super bad. This could've been super interesting to see, the first villain of the story receiving a sorta redemption arc then descending into madness as he started to fixate on being a god. This is all how I feel personally, but god do I feel like it would've been better than his current character, and hell would've worked with how he was during the Pogtopia arc, before the war that is. I'm not trying to tell Dream how to write his own character, but there are so many other ways he could've done the madman seeking to become god rather then. whatever the hell we got.

Because instead, we got this power-mad asshole who does things... because he can? And that's one of my major issues: he tries to surround his character in mystery to make him "intriguing" but it's kinda like c!Techno, it comes off as pretentious. Not only that, but you cannot keep waving around this mystery of a backstory without ever actually revealing it. I know the story isn't over, but c!Dream is effectively at his lowest point, now would be the time to reveal his backstory. But no just keep it in the dark and keep everyone guessing, that's totally fun and not at all tiring and annoying. (sarcasm, if anyone needs it)

And back to his performance, he doesn't sell this aloof, cynical and strategic warrior that has perfected the blade or some shit, he comes off as some angry guy yelling on reddit. which i don't need to tell you, isn't intimidating. It feels like he's trying to have c!Schlatt's intimidation combined with c!Wilbur's depth, but instead he's like a little brother who's trying to hard to mimic his older brother and is kinda embarrassing himself.

but other then that i dont feel too strongly abt the dsmp lol

but seriously, these are the main complaints I have abt the story tbh, I could probably talk about more but I wont because man. this is probably gonna get me in trouble if any of the hyper-dsmp fans actually read it.

#wow this is long #txt #anti dsmp #anti dream #dsmp crit #dsmp critical #yeah im tagging it i dont give a shit #dream crit #dream critical #the story is shit yo!

66 notes · View notes

meoproject · 3 years

Photo

Big Nostalgia 3: “Existential Crisis: The Game” aka Final Fantasy IX is my favorite of the whole series, and Kuja is my favorite “major” villain of the series. It’s been like 15 years since the last time I drew Kuja, make that as you will, I guess.I wanted to find some old art to compare, but I wasn’t really into keeping backups back then, and I think deviantart deleted the shit I had in storage with its revamp. I might have some original inks but since I don’t want to spend 2 weeks going through papers just for this one piece of art, I’m not, uh, going to.

Anyway. FFIX. It’s my favorite, proooobably because the world in that game is just … *chef’s kiss*. It feels really detailed, but not over-explained, and I can imagine the world having plenty of unfound secrets still, a world I would love to explore. And the characters of FFIX are mostly delightful. Sure, they’re mostly like FF class archetypes – you got a black mage, thief, white mage/summoner, monk, knight, etc. – but sometimes it doesn’t really need to be that more complicated. The characters have nice arcs, and I love their interactions. Regrettably, the character focus is really uneven (you could write Quina out with minimum effort and the plot wouldn’t suffer! Amarant needed more content!) and while I don’t really bother “"hating”“ fictional characters unless they’re offensive or really poorly written, Eiko grates on my nerves like no other character does. On the flip side, IX also has some of the coolest and/or more likeable characters in the whole series, so it’s not all bad.

This piece is pretty obviously based on FMV where Kuja flexes on Brahne.

pet peeve: both fanworks and official works after IX often depict kuja as quite short, but in IX he is described as tall several times, and in the character lineup he is like half a head taller than steiner who is 190 cm. STOP BEING COWARDS, GIVE ME LANKY TALL KUJA.

and my IX hot take: dark messenger is better than one-winged angel

#final fantasy ix #final fantasy 9 #kuja #fanart #blood #art

56 notes · View notes

flange5 · 3 years

Note

I have approximately zero idea about what Guardian is about, but I am unexpectedly extraordinarily invested just from the gif sets that you reblog, with exactly zero context. I may not know what’s happening, but the way these beautiful people gaze at each other I can *feel* it. Damn! What’s going on and how do I actually watch it?

THAT GAZE IS EVERYTHING IN THIS SHOW. They sell it so hard, and it's hard not to be ride or die with them basically from the moment they see each other in Episode 1. The show has a couple of phases, basically a monster of the week phase early, with character development and relationships building in the background, then major plot emerges and sort of overtakes Monster of the week, and then BIG CONFLICT, punctuated by a couple of digression arcs, some more compelling than others.

I'm going to put this behind a cut because I got excited. Anon I'm so excited for youuuuuuuu.

Okay, so you have that well-dressed man in waistcoats, suits and glasses:

This is Shen Wei, upstanding professor with some secrets and a lot of capacity for pining. i'm not going to say a lot about him except he's delightful and I don't want to spoil anything. I think 2/3 of the show's budget went to his wardrobe and I think it was a good call.

Also he wears these arm garters, that ... shouldn't look that good but. Anyway, this is my favorite pair, so.

The more casual guy with an oral fixation (those damn lollipops), motorcycles, and a lot of insouciance is Chief Zhao Yunlan

He's the head of a secret government task force/police force of people whose job is basically to investigate mysterious crimes, (think X-Files), especially ones where powers might be involved, with the added understanding that the gov't knows about people with powers but the average person doesn't, and there are tricky diplomatic issues involved bc one faction of them aren't really allowed in Haixing (where our characters live). He has issues with authority and is very competent. He is also a slob, and his deputy chief and roommate is a cat who roasts him regularly.

Most of his team is powered but he's vanilla human in the show. There’s a strong found family element to the team which is pretty great.

Okay, so it's on both YouTube (ep 1) and Viki (ep 1)with English subs. I've also seen downloadable files, I think on DW.

I will tell you RIGHT NOW that the first episode feels like a fever dream, largely bc there's a lot of bonkers exposition in the first 10 min and then basically every major character introduction is like a punch in the face. Part of the reason the exposition is so wild is that the censors had to change a lot of major characters’ backgrounds so they aren't ghosts anymore, so they're uh. descendants of aliens, and that's why they have powers that definitely aren't supernatural. This will be mentioned in the first 10 minutes and never come up again.

After the first episode, basically the episodes move into MOTW format, but, since the town they live in is apparently 6 blocks long, a lot of the characters they run into in these episodes come back or are still around, which I like--it feels a lot more organic than a lot of episodic shows where people show up for an episode and then disappear forever.

The CGI is terrible, costuming all over the place, most of the villains look like conceptual rejects from Hot Topic, and YET IT IS SO COMPELLING. The two main characters stay with you and honestly make the show.

I hope you like it and come talk to me about it! It's not a huge fandom but a nice one!

#guardian #anon I'm jealous you get to watch it for the first time #but also #it's super rewatchable #don't stop when you see the puppet #you'll know

14 notes · View notes

anime-and-manga-rants · 3 years

Text

Why I Believe Deku Fails as a Character (Part 2 of 3)

SPOILERS FOR THE MHA MANGA (OFA reveal, last completed arc, Chapter 307)

...

Not only were we robbed of a compelling character with a mental illness — which we so desperately need in the media — but we were also robbed of anything about Deku that could make him an interesting character in other ways.

Now, a compelling character should have a quirk (not a Quirk) that separates them from the rest of the characters (because who likes when all the characters all act the same?) and makes them more relatable. Everybody’s got something about themselves that sets them apart from their friends and families. It could be a dialogue quirk — common examples would be someone who references movies constantly or never uses contractions — or just a habit they have that nobody else has. In Deku’s case, it’s his muttering and his hero analysis notebooks.

However, one of the first rules of good writing that a writer will be taught is the phrase “show don’t tell.” And it’s good advice, for the most part. (Some things are better left told, but that rant isn’t relevant to this one, so I’ll hold back on that.)

For Deku, his mumbling is never really shown to us. Yes, it’s shown through the word “mutter” that appears on screen whenever he’s muttering, but that’s actually telling. We don’t ever get to decide for ourselves that Deku mutters a lot. No, the show decides for us, telling us to believe he mutters often and talks too much by the way it always accompanies his muttering with the word “mutter” surrounding him on screen or in the manga panel. He certainly does talk a lot, but it’s ruined by the fact that the anime/manga constantly needs to tell us that he talks a lot.

The reason why showing rather than telling is so important is because the audience needs to be able to figure out aspects of the plot or characters on their own. If they’re simply told everything, they aren’t going to believe it. If the author tells you that Person A hates Person B, but A never shows any animosity towards B through their dialogue or actions, the audience won’t believe it. (Think of the tip from Billy Wilder, which tells screenwriters to make the audience add up two plus two— don’t give them four. Give them two plus two, let them do the math themselves, and they’ll love you forever.)

This is mostly a nitpick, yes. Still, it’s a blatant example of when showing (and not telling) is necessary. In this case, the telling ruins it, and by telling, it negates the unique aspect of Deku’s characterization that would’ve helped make him a more realistic — and therefore more relatable — character.

Which brings me to another point: what about his hero analysis notebooks?

I mean, hell, he’s got thirteen of those things. By now, he should be able to look at a villain’s Quirk and, in the matter of a minute or two, come up with a plan to take that villain down.

Those notebooks could’ve made Deku such a unique character— with thirteen notebooks worth of analyzing already in his repertoire, he should be able to analyze Quirks like there’s no tomorrow. And people, too. Wouldn’t it have been so interesting to see Deku be able to just look at someone and know what they’re planning, thinking, or feeling?

(As a questionably relevant side note, there are accounts of people who have experienced traumatic things such as abusive households who have told stories of how they can look at people and instantly know what they’re thinking. It’s a defense mechanism to prevent themselves from provoking someone, because they knew if they accidentally provoked their past abuser, they would face the consequences. See? It could all tie together.)

And if that seems like it could make Deku overpowered, it really doesn’t have to. There isn’t a single overpowered power you can give to a character that will, without fail, make them overpowered. At least, not at first. We just need a character to earn their overpowered-ness, because we love a character who earns their strength over time. You just have to give the power drawbacks in whichever way makes sense and actually impacts the character.

Deku with All For One’s Quirk, one of the most overpowered Quirks in the anime/manga to date? Using multiple Quirks at the same time makes him pass out from exhaustion. Using too many at once could give him permanent brain damage like what you see with the Nomu. Having a villainous Quirk like AFO makes his bullying even worse as a child, leading to permanent self-esteem issues that keep him from ever wanting to use his Quirk to begin with. (Last one courtesy of Shinsou’s backstory!)

Deku with seven Quirks courtesy of One For All, the other most overpowered Quirk in the anime/manga? Same thing as the first two examples in the paragraph above. Or the burden of having to carry out the wills of the eight users that preceded him, all of whom have differing opinions on Deku’s best course of action for any given battle. The previous users never had to so readily accept him as their successor. Why not have them reject Deku for deeming him too soft to do what’s best, or any other reason?

Deku with Overhaul’s Quirk? Uh-oh, looks like he accidentally killed a classmate the first time he used it, and now he’s forever afraid of it. But, uh-oh, if he wants to be a hero, he has to use it. Or what if the Quirk only works on organic matter, meaning it’ll only work on people or plants? That would kinda suck.

See? No power is automatically overpowered unless you make it that way.

Maybe Deku can analyze anything if given enough time, but he can’t exactly sneak off in the middle of a fight to come up with the best strategy. This could be quite reasonable, considering Deku would have been able to think long and hard before writing anything down in his hero notebooks. And all his training could culminate in the main climax of the series, where Deku creates and executes the perfect plan in a matter of seconds thanks to his analyzing skills.

Or what about All For One, the big bad of the series? (You can argue it’s Shigaraki too, but in the recent chapters, it’s made obvious that AFO is actually controlling him. Therefore, AFO’s the guy Deku should ultimately be putting a stop to. He is essentially Deku’s fated enemy in terms of Quirk backstory, after all.)

What if AFO turned out to be the one person Deku couldn’t analyze, couldn’t read at all, because his face is so disfigured that it’s impossible to tell what emotions he’s experiencing through facial expressions? What if AFO was such a masterful manipulator that Deku couldn’t read the tone of his voice because AFO purposefully kept it unchanging?

The extreme fear that Deku could experience just by being unable to tell what AFO was thinking could make AFO into such an intimidating villain. He’d be the one villain that Deku just might not be able to best, and the audience would fear for him, like they’re supposed to do.

And, at least for me, I haven’t been fearing much for Deku. As of Chapter 307, it looks like he’ll be fighting Muscular again. But where exactly are the stakes of this fight? Sure, it’s a good way of showing how far Deku has leveled up after the time skip, but we already know he’s going to win. I mean, he beat the guy in season 3. He better win, or what the hell, right? It would’ve been much more impactful to have him lose against Muscular the first time and come back again in Chapter 307 to kick his ass.

It’s just... Deku always seems to win. His first major loss that comes to mind is his fight with Todoroki, but the loss only proved how good of a person Deku was. His second fight against Bakugou couldn’t even be considered training— Deku had nothing to lose. And what about Deku’s arms? Again, as of Chapter 307, it looks like he can still use them perfectly fine despite absolutely destroying them in his fight against Shiggy. What was it that doctor said? If he keeps abusing them the way he has, he’ll paralyze himself? Sure, he said two or three more times, but Deku was abusing the hell out of them again and again just to make Shiggy take any damage with his regeneration Quirk. Doesn’t seem like his arms are even slightly stiff at the moment. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think so.

I don’t know. It just seems like nothing goes wrong for Deku unless it doesn’t have any truly negative effect on him. His fight against Shigaraki is an exception, I suppose, but it was also the fault of every other hero who failed to stop Shigaraki from freeing AFO and the villains from all of those prisons. Whenever it’s just Deku, it seems like he never really loses when it would actually mean something if he did.

This is another flaw of Deku’s characterization, but it ties into my second point about Deku’s analyzing skills, too.

Creating a foil for Deku in AFO by making AFO unreadable would help give the conflict some oomph, if you know what I mean. Because, currently, AFO is really only Deku’s foil because of his Quirk and because he wants to take OFA. If Deku was portrayed as a master analyzer...

Think about it— All For One, the master manipulator with AFO, up against Izuku Midoriya, the master analyzer with OFA.

This is the fancy-schmancy dichotomy that we could’ve gotten. The heightened tension that would’ve made Deku’s story so much more interesting to read/watch, that would’ve made me wait for each new chapter on the edge of my seat.

But, once again, Deku’s potential to be an interesting character is wasted.

Horikoshi could have made him interesting with his muttering if he hadn’t shoved it down the audience’s throat.

And while he had set up for Deku to be a master strategist, he didn’t follow through, making Deku seem pretty stupid for having so much experience in analyzing and yet having so little to show for it. Because Horikoshi does try to show it, but only when it doesn’t matter, like when Deku analyzes the fights for the sports festival up in the stands. Why not have him do it when it matters, like when he fights against villains at the USJ or when he fights Shigaraki in the more recent chapters?

Not to mention the fact that he missed a fantastic opportunity to make All For One more of a villain. (Because All For One is kind of a sucky villain at the moment, considering it just seems like he’s a villain because he wants to be. Sure, there’s a little snippet of why AFO does what he does, but it’s subpar at best.)

Honestly, I just wish Horikoshi had done a better job with Deku like he did with Bakugou. But he didn’t, unfortunately, and that’s what makes Deku fall so flat.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #mha analysis #bnha analysis #deku #mha deku #bakugou katsuki #bnha shinsou #shinso #my hero manga

28 notes · View notes

shatmonster · 3 years

Text

since everyone seems to be very divided on what season this is on the smp, heres my take on it

according to twitter it seems like most would agree that the prison finale was the end of season 2. i personally disagree. if we look at the big plots of the server i feel like the thematic storylines are better cleaned up within 3 seasons.

the first season would be the very start of the smp and the joining of tommy and the start of the disc saga. this seasons main plot would be the creation of lmanburg and would culminate in the lmanburg revolution. the conclusive finale would be the war against the greater dream smp and the ultimate independence of lmanburg.

from here we can clearly separate the incoming events into the next season. in my mind, the elections are the start of season 2 with the opening plot being wilbur deciding to hold a democratic election as this introduces new themes, new characters, and new arcs. of course, events would ensue, quackity runs, schlatt takes over as the big villain of the season, the previous being dream, and the conclusion is the 2nd war against schlatt in which he dies in the van, wilbur blows himself and lmanburg up, and technoblade spawns the withers.

the beginning of season 3 marks the beginning of tubbos presidency. this creates a fresh era for lmanburg with the rebuilding of new lmanburg and the new president and his cabinet, especially the conflicts within the cabinet and the upcoming butchers army. now this seasons main plot is the tommy exile/tubbo vs tommy arc. this season is clearly separate because it presents a new idea/conflict to the audience, the division of and contention between tommy and tubbo. this season is spent doing character work on these individuals, as individuals. the previous seasons were focused on big actiony plots and big evil villains (not that this season doesnt, cough dream cough), but this season switched it up and focused on the characters. of course then we get to the community house and doomsday and thats where i thought we were ending the season, ya know another big explosion to tie it all up. but that is not the case.

dream has other plans and decides to end the disc saga a few weeks after doomsday. the prison finale is the ultimate ending to an underlying plot that has been going on for seasons, since the very start of the server. of course theres not enough plot in between doomsday and the prison finale to constitute this as the conclusion to a season 4, so it kinda gets shoved in as a secondary finale, which isnt unheard of in regular tv (think midseason events before the usual break in airtime during the winter). littered throughout season 3 was talk about necromancy and resurrection, so it makes sense they would set up season 4 with the potential wilbur resurrection plot. this would also allow wilbur to come fully back to the story after taking a well deserved break from the chaos for a season. ig snowchester and the nukes are uh a thing happening too?

not only has resurrection been sprinkled in to season 3, but, my prediction for the big villain of season 4 (maybe season 5 if they keep a slow pace), is starting to grow recognition among the storyline. the crimson egg is such a good season 4 villain. its crept in the shadows for the entirety of season 3 as the best unseen villain the smp has had yet. i already made a post detailing the potential of the egg plot here, if you want to read but, the point of this post is just to separate the story into clear seasons

tldr: the smp has 3 seasons so far each divided by major plot/arcs. the first season being the start of the smp, the start of the disc saga, and the lmanburg revolution. season 2 is the lmanburg elections and technoblades introduction to the server. season 3 just ended with the prison finale and included major plotlines of tommys exile and doomsday. and the start of season 4 sets up wilburs resurrection and the crimson egg villain.

#dream smp #tommyinnit #tubbo #wilbur soot #dreamwastaken #technoblade #mcyt #just seen twitter saying this is the end of season 2 and damn thats a lot of events to fit into 2 seasons #i just think it divides better into 3 coherent seasons :)#also feel free to add to this/debate me id love to hear other thoughts on the matter #shat post

33 notes · View notes