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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 2 years

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I'm so excited for the new event omg i can't wait to see the story! Speaking about the new event, i saw a lot of twitter threads with users already criticizing Rollo because he's based from Frollo since he's 'pure evil' even though twst is based from villains, so i was wondering what's your opinion about this? aaa sorry if this seems too sudden or anything Raven, but i'm just really curious and confused because of the immediate dislike after the abema stream

***CONTENT WARNING: I will be going into detail about the Hunchback of Notre Dame (both the original novel and the Disney animated adaptation of it). In order to have this discussion, I will be touching on sensitive subject matter such as religion, rape, genocide, war, ableism, abduction, murder, lust, and racism (more specifically, stereotypes of the Roma/Romani culture).

Please note that although I have done my best to educate myself on topics brought up in this post, I am not a historian or Roma/Romani myself. I am speaking from the perspective of a layman.

My intention in making this response is not to cause controversy, but rather to explain what is going on and, hopefully, educate others on the origins of Hunchback. ***

The original Hunchback of Notre Dame is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. Hugo lived during a period of great change, and he had written Hunchback of Notre Dame with the intent to bring awareness to the importance of Gothic architecture. During his time, many Gothic structures were being torn down and replaced or neglected rather than preserved. And, indeed, this is reflected in the writing. There are several expansive and lengthy passages that describe the setting and its buildings. Hugo’s novel turned the Notre-Dame de Paris into a national icon and renewed interest in the restoration of Gothic art, making Hunchback an iconic piece of French historical fiction.

The original Hunchback of Notre Dame is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. Hugo lived during a period of great change, and he had written Hunchback of Notre Dame with the intent to bring awareness to the importance of Gothic architecture. During his time, many Gothic structures were being torn down and replaced or neglected rather than preserved. And, indeed, this is reflected in the writing. There are several expansive and lengthy passages that describe the setting and its buildings. Hugo’s novel turned the Notre-Dame de Paris became a national icon and renewed interest in the restoration of Gothic art, making Hunchback an iconic piece of historical fiction.

Claude Frollo, the Archdeacon of Notre Dame, serves as the story’s main antagonist. He is first introduced to us as a pious and kind man, who raised his own younger brother, Jehan, after they were both orphaned. Frollo would also save the abandoned baby Quasimodo out of genuine mercy. Throughout the story, Frollo slowly becomes disillusioned and engages in several vices in pursuit of his own goals (intense lust, attempted rape, attempted abduction, attempted murder, etc.). Frollo becomes obsessed with a French Romani woman, Esmeralda, and when she rejects his advances, Frollo orders Quasimodo to kidnap her. Frollo also later attempts to rape Esmeralda and frames her for stabbing another character, promising to help her escape from the gallows if she reciprocates his feelings. Hugo’s Frollo is a villain with nuance, depicted as a caring and holy man that spiraled downward into madness due to his own lust and disappointment in his brother (who succumbed to sin).

Disney produced its own interpretation of Hugo’s novel in the 1996 animated film of the same name. The Disney version still contains many of the dark themes explored in Hunchback, albeit toned down from the original and with a lot of alterations. Frollo maintains his status as the main antagonist and still engages in many of the same behaviors as his novel counterpart. However, Disney took the liberty of eliminating many of the minor characters from the book and instead giving their traits and actions to Frollo. This can, quite understandably, alter public perception of the character.

Disney’s Frollo is a public official (a judge) who manipulates Quasimodo and insults him for his disabilities, convincing the hunchback that he is totally unworthy of love. In fact, this Frollo was initially disgusted with baby Quasimodo and tried to kill him, only changing his mind when reminded of the many statues and/or higher beings watching him and judging his sins. Animated Frollo also displays overtly racist views regarding the Romani people, referring to them as being beneath him, implying he thinks of them of ants/insects, claiming that they aren’t capable of “real love”, accusing them of witchcraft and sorcery, and expressing a desire to eliminate them.

Note that, in the book, prejudice towards the Romani people is indeed a part of the setting, though not exclusively, nor explicitly, the sentiments of Frollo. The writing itself indirectly perpetuates Roma stereotypes; for example, Esmeralda in the novel is not Romani at all but a white baby kidnapped by Romani people. Many characters in the world of Hunchback also hold racist beliefs. Sister Gudule believes that the Romanj cannibalized her child. and it is another judge (NOT Frollo) that accuses Esmeralda of witchcraft. Interestingly, the novel version of Frollo was also accused of sorcery by the locals.

Something else to be cognizant of is that Disney’s Hunchback came out during the company’s Renaissance period. During this time, many of their villains were NOT made to be sympathetic (as modern Disney villains are); they’re usually very clearly defined as evil regardless of the source material for their movies.

And then we come to 2022, in which Disney’s hit mobile gacha game, Twisted Wonderland, has recently introduced a character, Rollo Flamm, inspired by Frollo (of the Disney movie).

***NOTE: To avoid confusion, when I speak of “Frollo” moving forward, I mean the Disney version, NOT the original Frollo from the novel (unless explicitly stated).***

The Controversy

While it is true that Hunchback is a work of historical fiction, the ideas it contains are reflective of those in the real world. Racism is still very much a thing, and prejudice such as the sentiments that the characters (in the novel) and Frollo (in the Disney movie) express (thinking the Romani are untrustworthy thieves, blaming them for his own desires, saying that they tempt people to sin, etc) persists to this day. For this reason, some people may be uncomfortable with and alarmed by Twisted Wonderland “glamorizing” Frollo and his views by making him appear more palatable as a cute anime boy, Rollo.

I believe (as my asker has said) that the controversy originated on Twitter via threads made by Romani TWST fans worried that others are now “simping” for Rollo. Again, he is a character twisted from Disney’s Frollo, a man who is very clearly racist, self-serving, and a villain--and with the nature of Twisted Wonderland being to deconstruct our understanding of villains, it comes with the fear that Rollo’s characterization may garner him, and thus Frollo, sympathy.

Some acknowledge that they know that Rollo is not a 1:1 or a copy paste of Frollo, but are still concerned about how Rollo will be portrayed due to his inspiration’s racist origins. After all, Disney, one of the big names attached to Twisted Wonderland, does NOT have the best track record when it comes to accurately representing minorities (especially for their older films).

This last point is just speculation on my part, but I think that part of the issue is that, unlike the Great Seven, Frollo being venerated in Twisted Wonderland’s revisionist history feels uncomfortably “real”. The Great Seven are all villains too, but they also all have some kind of fantastical quality or magic to them (like Scar being a talking lion or Ursula being an octopus mermaid). This puts a degree of fantasy and separation between THOSE villains and us in reality. Meanwhile, there is nothing magical about Frollo. He’s visceral and grounded and represents hatred that is out there in the real world, as well as how some racists are seen as public figures of great importance.

The latest on this is a Kotaku article that dropped with (as per usual) the very clickbaity title “The Disney Villains Game Is Having A Horny Racism Controversy” to get attention with the topic is still hot on Twitter. (EDIT: You’ll need to Google the article yourself to find it; Kotaku has locked the link so that if I try to share it, it will redirect you to an entirely different article.) This has only further fanned the flames, as fans on one side cry out against Kotaku and fans on the other side feel validated by the article.

The “Verdict”?

Firstly, it’s important that we listen to the people crying out about this situation, especially if they are Romani themselves. They are the ones who are hurt when media misrepresents them, just as it would be the case for the Chinese if TWST dropped a twisted Mulan, for Native Americans if TWST dropped a twisted Pocahontas, etc. If Romani people are saying they are not comfortable with Rollo, the feeling is warranted and they have a right to speak out about it.

At the same time, I think that we don’t have enough information about Rollo himself to come to a definitive conclusion about HIS character and personal beliefs. It’s still way too early into the masquerade event for anyone to have a read on him, and a lot of the current speculation is based on information about Frollo, not a ton about Rollo. I have yet to play the event myself, but the only thing I’ve seen which may hint at Rollo being iffy is him grimacing and using a handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose around Malleus. People have pointed out that Rollo may be insinuating that he thinks Malleus smells bad (implying that he is racist towards fae), or that this act mimics Frollo creepily sniffing the handkerchief of a Romani woman, Esmeralda, in the movie (whom he would later witch hunt). Even so, this action hasn’t been fully explained yet. I’ve also seen that Rollo covers his mouth and nose in many different scenarios, not strictly about Malleus. For example, when Rollo remarks that NRC as a whole is a boisterous bunch, when he remarks on his classmates not listening to him, etc. Rollo also does not cover his nose and mouth during every single instance when he interacts with or speaks to Malleus; the handkerchief thing may very well just be something Rollo does to express or to hide distress. So far, Rollo hasn’t done anything too overtly egregious to condemn him for.

In short, it’s unclear how much of Rollo borrows from his inspiration, Frollo. Not even our main boys at NRC are entirely the same as their inspirations, otherwise you’d have Leona (who has a backstory closest to his Disney counterpart) committing fratricide. It would be premature to pass judgment on Rollo now when we know so little about him and instead judge him based on only what we know of Frollo, but I’d understand it if people still had wary skepticism at this point (because I certainly do).

On Literary Devices & Personal Thoughts

I’m honestly shocked that TWST made a twisted Frollo at all considering how dark the original material and character is. But personally? I’m less concerned that the character exists at all and more concerned about how the character will be handled. I think that Rollo poses a lot of questions for the event’s story, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out--but I’m also a little on edge, because while TWST has been pretty good at not completely redeeming the characters and forcing them to grow into their own person(s), but that doesn’t mean they won’t mess up moving forward. There’s also the possibility that fan content may overstep boundaries, because fans can mess up too.

On that note, I actually think it would be an interesting conflict if Rollo really did discriminate against fae. Leaving this trait out, even if it is a negative one, would sanitize his character and could make it come off like TWST is straight up ignoring the racist roots from which his inspiration comes or intentionally trying to sweep it under the rug to make Rollo more likable. But carrying over the unsavory traits to Rollo would make him a mirror to Sebek, a character notorious for discriminating against non-fae. It would give Twisted Wonderland a chance to address the issue of racism, which wouldn’t seem that out of place given that the main story has covered other dark subjects, and that we have been given hints of a human-fairy war in Twisted Wonderland’s history. It would be a case of art imitating life, but using its advantage of being fiction to safely discuss, explore, and send a message that racism is BAD and the issue is complicated. (Then again, TWST events are never that serious, which is why I’m concerned about how the event story will treat Rollo’s character.) That said, I’m going to reserve my final judgment until the full event is out.

As I’ve said in my Sebek analysis, I typically don’t take issue with “problematic” things like racism being used as literary devices, as their inclusion doesn’t automatically equate to support of it. Plenty of other works do this, such as Animal Farm utilizing animals as an allegory for overthrowing a dictator while simultaneously commentating on and condemning totalitarianism (a staple in the dystopia genre). One could argue that Lord Farquaad in Shrek is also hateful towards others (fairy tale creatures)—and the discriminatory Farquaad is clearly painted as despicable. On the flip side, I understand that problematic content can also be manipulated to send negative messages. This is true of wartime propaganda which aims to alienate the masses from other races. This is not the fault of the content itself for existing, but of the ones controlling how the content is used.

It’s not the presence of problematic content that is the issue, it’s how that content is presented in works. We can recognize that X is racist while also realizing that a work can exist to criticize, comment on, and critique racism in the real world. For example, Sebek is racist to humans, but his racism is never treated like a positive thing by his peers. Others tell him off or order him to apologize for being rude, or even make fun of him for his beliefs and racist behavior. For an even broader example, look at us. We are literally a fandom that enjoys characters based on bad guys, but we can still love them while not approving of the terrible things they do and say. Rather than assume something is bad from the get-go, it would be wiser to judge works on a case-by-case basis and to examine the “problematic” content in the context in which it is presented before deciding for yourself what you believe in.

The whole basis of TWST is that its world is one where villains are revered in-universe, but we as the players are cognizant that the Great Seven (and Frollo by extension) are BAD PEOPLE. This parsing and differentiation is crucial. Very few of us go into TWST thinking “these people are good and they are in the right”, we go in knowing that we aren’t meant to idolize them, and the twisted characters are entirely new characters from the ones we saw in Disney movies. They are not one and the same as the Disney villains, so if someone chooses to treat them as separate from their inspiration, that’s their prerogative—just remember to respect those that do take offense to the character as well.

What’s Next?

The devs have made a conscious decision to include a specifically Frollo inspired character into this event, so I hope that he MUST play some kind of role that no one else can replace and not just because “oh, well it fits the aesthetic” (which would be a BIG yikes). I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Rollo’s inclusion will actually be for something meaningful…! But I guess we’ll have to see what comes out of Glorious Masquerade and pray that, whatever does come our way, it doesn’t perpetuate stereotypes and hatred of the Romani people. TWST’s events have never taken themselves too seriously (just take a look at the dramatic buildup but campy ending of Endless Halloween Night), but I feel like this is an instance in which they really should 💦

My final words would be to please treat this situation and the new character with sensitivity and an awareness of the history behind his inspiration. Thank you, and do remember to be kind to one another!

#Rollo Flamme #twst #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #notes from the writing raven #question #tw // racism #tw // religion #tw // genocide #tw // abduction #tw // murder #tw // war #tw // obsessive lust #hunchback of notre dame #tw // rape #tw // ableism #Rollo Flamm

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ravenouscultleader780 · 1 year

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COTL : Planning on Making my Own COTL AU Very Soon(In Celebration of TROTOF DLC Update coming soon hopefully this Month or April) OCs Included(Sketch Drawings Only)

Hello Fellow Cultists, Well i've been pretty M.I.A for a while, so im not dead and am really excited for The Upcoming Major Update for COTL titled Relics of The Old Faith(with 4 Brand New Structures Coming in it aswell!) and I've been also seeing inspo on Tumblr by searching for cotl AUs and some of them are Amazing & Even Interesting with The Lore of This Game's Characters, Including NPCs aswell! so I've have decided to Plan my own Cult of The Lamb AU(It's Nameless for now) but The Plot is Simply a Epilogue or Possible Prediction for ROTOF's Postgame Story(What If The Bishops can be Resurrected, Reborn as Smol Followers like Narinder has and with Lamberina(My Lambsona OC who's introduce soon) along with Her Faithful & Loyal Followers try their best to Help Nari & His Sibs get along by doing Family Therapy and with Lamberina struggling to Reform each Smol Bishop(or Baby Bishops in this Case) along with Meeting New Friends and Discovering New Locations along her Journey.

This Will Feature Followers in my Own Cult(I have Currently Created 2 Completed Saves both Spared Narinder) and will even have my iwn OCs and Maybe Bring Back Ratuu as a Bonus. But For Now I'll do some Refs for Each Character(And Insert my Good Friends from Discord into the background as Cameos or Easter Eggs, Maybe even Family Members)

As for The Ships that will be involved, Obviously Narilamb will be in this only difference is Lamberina is a Sweet & Sour Lamb(don't mess with her when she's angry or messing with her Sweet Nari or Other Spouses) Next to That will be SozoxHelob(Better Ship than Sozolamb and Makes Sense that their both Insects) and Finally There will be a Bishop x Follower OC Ship in this mainly Leshy x OC type ship(cuz after playing each save, i noticed out of all the bishops Leshy goes easy on you, hence why he's the youngest and he's a pacifist i.e doesn't cause any plagues on your cult like famine or illness/plague sickness to any of your followers or even makes your loyal followers fight against you. he's such a sweet pacifist bush boy i love him) so of course any follower in lamb's cult would easily befriend him possibly even one of the reformed bosses like Barbatos or his Henchman Amduias even.

And There will be a Bonus Part to Revive Ratuu(Since he deserves better and even M.M/COTL's Official Twitter made it Canon that the Knucklebones gang doesn't matter for ratuu vesseling the red crown they love him no matter what he does! which is super sweet and wholesome to me) with Red Shady Fox Included.

and Finally Here is The Cast List(so Far) in this AU.

Starring :

Lamberina(Lamb)

Narinder(TOWW)

Leshy(Rebirthed)

Heket(Rebirthed)

Kallamar(Rebirthed)

Shamura(Rebirthed)

Sozo(Revived, Hence he's OD sadly, is dating Helob)

Helob(Sozo's Husband)

Side Characters :

Followers-Oldor(Horse or Donkey?), Aquamarine(Blue Cat), Turquoise(Blue Cat), Samantha(Purple Blood Moon Batdemon), Opal(Frog), Tay(Blue Wasp/Bee), Barbatos(Female Dune Worm), Valefar(Dig Worm), Slaughter(Scorpion), Chilli Dog(Hedgehog), Amanda & Armillo(Twin Sib Fennick Foxes), Stella(Female Snail) & Plumsweet(Female Unicorn)

OCs : Prya(Red Cat), Carrie(Pangolin), Athena(Crow), Benjamin/Benny(Crow), Cobb(Deer Skull) & M3gan(Nightwolf), Natasha(Nightwolf)

End of Cast.

This is pretty much my 1st big COTL Based Project Im doing in countdown to the update(in celebration of the Game's 1 yr anniversary this August! but that's later down the line) and maybe i will use this AU as a Main Blog Post if i stop my Journal Diaries of my Saves In-Game.

Hope you all like this post, comment down below of what you think of my W.I.P of my 1st attempt COTL AU and maybe add inspo for adding new Bishop OCs as a Concept Villain or Villains in the Storyline.

This will have it's own Seperate Blog all dedicated to This AU soon but the 1st few Chapters will be posted on this Blog first as a First Attempt.

Goodnight yall

Edit : "So I decided i'm more of a Pencil Sketch Artist and will Draw Some Ref Sketches of The Main Characters, OCs and The Smol Bishops soon(maybe I'll start Either Tonight or Maybe Tomorrow) just a small quick change.

#COTL #COTLAU #OCs #COTL relicsoftheoldfaithhype #cotl spoilers

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jazy3 · 3 years

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Free Guy Review

!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

If you haven’t seen the movie Free Guy (2021) stop reading right now! Drop what you’re doing and go get yourself a ticket! You’ll thank me later!

I loved this movie! I saw it this weekend for the second time because it’s that good! I first saw the trailer on YouTube a while back and then when theatres reopened a few weeks ago I saw the trailer again and my interest was piqued. I had high hopes for this movie based on the fun looking trailer, the premise, the cast, and the sense of fun and escapism that the movie seemed to embody and it did not disappoint. It’s always nice when you have high hopes for something and it meets or exceeds your expectations.

Free Guy is just such a fun and joyous movie. Never taking itself too seriously, packed with lots of heart, cool cameos, full of gaming and pop culture references, and it’s fueled by a unique concept that is well executed. There are just so many things I loved about this movie! It was a ton of fun to watch and the actors clearly had a blast making it. During the movie I kept trying to figure out where I knew most of the actors from but couldn’t place them. When I got home, I googled it and I instantly realized why. The roles are just so different and the actors embody their characters so completely you lose yourself in the film and get completely sucked in. I was honestly so surprised when I figured out what I knew most of the actors from because the roles that they’re known for are so different from their characters in the movie. Their appearances, established ages, and even the accents are so different that I literally did a double take, but that’s what makes the movie so good! Because the main actors obviously didn’t need the paycheque they were just there to have fun and it shows. I think if the situation had been different and the actors involved had been desperate for money or took the role for some other reason it wouldn’t have worked. The film would have come off as cheesy, forced, cringeworthy, or just plain bad. Free Guy is none of those things. The film stars Ryan Reynolds as ‘Guy’ a bank teller in a video game called Free City, Jodie Comer whose best known for playing Villanelle in Killing Eve as programmer Millie Rusk and her avatar Molotov Girl, Joe Keery whose best known for playing Steve Harrington in Stranger Things as programmer Walter ‘Keys’ McKey, and Taika Waititi whose best known for playing Viago in What We Do in the Shadows as the Head of Soonami Studios and the film’s main antagonist and villain Antwan. Rounding out the cast are Utkarsh Ambudka as programmer Mouser and Lil Rel Howery as Guy’s best friend and bank security guard Buddy. In a nutshell, Free Guy is about a bank teller named Guy who finds out he’s a non-playable background character (NPC) in an open-world Grand Theft Auto style video game called Free City. Guy becomes the hero of his own story after meeting Millie, the girl of his dreams, and winning fans all over the world by racking up points by being the good guy and helping others. After leveling up and helping Millie escape a dangerous situation in the game, Guy wins her over and she falls for him thinking that he’s another player. But when the world that Guy knows and all of the people in it are threatened, he teams up with Millie to save his friends before it’s too late. In the real world, Millie enlists the help of her former programming partner and best friend Keys in a race against time to stop their code and all of the sentient characters from Free City from being deleted by Antwan the developer who stole their code when the game’s sequel launches. I love that the movie had a unique premise and didn’t overcomplicate things. There are so many movies that I’ve gone to see over the last few years with such excitement only to be disappointed. For example, I loved Wreck It Ralph, but was so disappointed by its sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet. The trailers made it seem like it would take the premise of the first movie and move things into the online gaming world, and I was excited for that. Instead, the sequel left the premise of the first movie behind entirely and way over complicated the plot and the end result was extremely cheesy and disappointing. Free Guy’s strength is that it’s a self-aware movie made by self-aware people who are excellent at what they do. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously, nor should it, and that allows the story to flow and the characters to feel real and genuine. The movie achieves that perfect balance between being entertaining and telling a cohesive and important story because while the movie never takes itself too seriously the people behind it are serious about what they do. This was very clearly a passion project for all involved, especially Ryan Reynolds, and it shows! As he’s spoken about in interviews and on Twitter, Reynolds called on a lot of his friends to be in Free Guy and help him out and the end result was fantastic! I loved all of the cameos! The Chris Evans cameo was by far the funniest and the Alex Trebek cameo got me right in the feels. When I saw the movie in theatres me and everyone else in the theatre gave a collective “awww” when he appeared on screen. Enlisting real YouTubers to show up as fictional versions of themselves to talk about Blue Shirt Guy’s popularity was a nice touch and you’ve also got blink and you miss it voice cameos by John Krasinski, Dwyane The Rock Johnson, Hugh Jackman, and Tina Fey. Channing Tatum appears as the avatar of player Revenjamin Buttons which for the most part was hilarious. One of my few criticisms of the film is that they went a bit overboard the avatar’s antics as Guy and Buddy are attempting to leave and it got bit a cringeworthy. But I know other people found it hilarious so to each their own. I love all of the little details and references in the movie. Just listing them all would be a post in itself. If you’re someone that loves pop culture references and Easter Eggs this is the movie for you. The characters are fun and believable, and you get attached to them quickly. The actors commit completely to their roles which is makes the humour, romance, and heartfelt emotion of the film work. You buy it. 100%. Something that I absolutely loved was that the characters felt realistic and that the dialogue, attire, and settings for each character really felt authentic. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched a movie or TV show and walked away thinking, “The person who wrote that clearly never meet a kid, teenager, or twenty something in their life! That was so unrealistic.” The slang’s all wrong. The dialogue is so eloquent everyone sounds like they did Shakespeare in the Park last summer. You walk away thinking, “What the hell was that? No one talks that way!” What I loved about the characters in Free Guy is that they felt like real people you could actually run into or walk past on the street. I’ve read in interviews that in addition to the written dialogue the cast did a lot of ad-libbing and improvisation and the end result is both hilarious and relatable. The dialogue feels real because it is. The big exception to this of course is Antwan who is altogether off the wall and ridiculous. Antwan is such an outrageous, absurd, vulgar, and cartoonish character. He’s so fun to watch and the actors clearly had a lot of fun with his scenes! I’ve read that a lot of his lines with Keys and Mouser were improvised and I believe it. When he goes all Jack Nicholson on the servers? Lord. He’s such a great villain to watch. The characters that are established to be in their twenties like Millie, Keys, Mouser, and the other employees at Soonami Studios talk, act, and dress like they’re in their twenties. The actors that are in their forties are styled to look like they’re in their thirties and honestly, they’re in such great shape it works! I mean I was honestly shocked to find out Taika Waititi’s real age. I love how the costuming really fits each character and allows you to learn more about them. Keys’ clothing is your typical gamer chic which makes because as we learn from his interview with Millie coding is his life and what gets him up in the morning. From Mouser’s clothing we learn that he’s a sports fan, but also isn’t afraid to take risks like with that blazer ensemble he wears in his final scene at Millie’s apartment.

Millie’s clothing shows the contrast between her and her avatar Molotov Girl, and Antwan’s ridiculous coat enhances the overall wackiness of his character. Guy’s clothing tells us something too. He wears the same thing every day until he meets Millie in the game at which point, he starts deviated from his Free City programming and chooses a different blue shirt. I also really love that they put thought into why Keys needs to wear glasses. Something I noticed on rewatch is that Keys is far sighted which is why he has his glasses on when he’s looking at his laptop or computer and sometimes when’s talking to other people, but not when he goes to see Millie at her apartment or when he goes to get them coffee at the end of the movie. Another interesting aspect of Keys’ character that I noticed on rewatch is self-confidence is really something he struggles with in contrast to Millie and Mouser who are very confident. Millie is a genius programmer and Mouser is excellent at what he does, and they are both very confident in their coding abilities, but Keys isn’t despite being every bit the genius that Millie is. At the beginning of the movie when they first notice the issue with Guy Mouser jokes that Keys needs to be better at his job. In response Keys meekly says he thinks he’s pretty good at his job and trails off at the end. Mouser is just joking around, but because Keys lacks self-confidence comments like that hit him hard. Mouser is moving towards his own desk as he talks so he doesn’t notice how self-deprecating and uneasy Keys’ response is. In the interview from the indie games conference that Millie plays for Keys at his apartment, he brushes off the interviewers comment that he’s a genius and says Millie is the real genius because she created the AI engine and he just wrote the code to make it work. Later on, when Keys helps Millie get into the stash house, she calls him a genius and he tells her that as he’s currently sitting on a toilet stealing user code he doesn’t exactly feel like one. Millie responds offhandedly that he never does, but luckily, she knows better. When Keys realizes that Millie was right, and that Antwan did steal their code and their game worked he tells Millie they need to celebrate because once everyone sees their build she’ll be celebrated and she could win a noble prize. Both Millie and Keys are geniuses in their own right. The game wouldn’t have worked without both of their skills and Guy wouldn’t have come to life without both of them working together. Millie’s AI engine made his sentience possible, but Keys is the one who gave him hopes and dreams so that when he met Millie in the game, he came alive. When done right the settings we see tell the story just as much as the characters do and I love how realistic the settings in Free Guy look. The floor at Soonami Studios where Keys and Mouser work looks like a real office and I love that the desks have clutter and personal effects on them like real cubicles do and that they show Keys taking a box of his stuff with him as he leaves. The lobby with the moving water videos and Antwan’s massive but largely empty office fits perfectly with the obnoxious, zany, and over the top character that he is. I also love the contrast between Keys and Millie’s apartments and how those settings tell us a lot about each character and where they are in their lives when the film starts. When Keys comes home from work to find that Millie has broken in, we see that he lives in a stylish one bedroom apartment with an open concept kitchen full of stainless steel appliances, a large living room centred around an expensive wall mounted TV and entertainment system, with his computer and gaming station set up in the corner. On the walls we see artful clusters of black picture frames, through a partially open door we see a bedroom off to the side, the apartment is full of black and white furniture including a plush couch and nice lamps, and features a textured silver accent wall. All of which makes the fact that Millie managed to break in even more impressive because it is clearly an expensive apartment in a nice building. Keys’ style is minimalist and upper scale and based on what we learn about the events that took place before the start of the movie this indicates that Keys got the apartment and all of the nice stuff in it using the money he received when Antwan bought his and Millie’s game. In contrast, Millie lives in a bachelor apartment and spends her time in coffee shops ordering one single black coffee over four hours. This tells us that she kept her original apartment that she had from before the game was sold and is living off the money she got from the sale while she spends all of her time trying to find the proof she needs to win her lawsuit. When we see Millie’s place, we find that it’s cozy, full of plants, throw rugs, quilts, and comfy furniture. She’s got a bike in the corner, you can see her bed from the centre of the room where she’s got her computer and gaming station set up adjacent to the coffee table and the rest of the living room furniture. Her kitchen is smaller and full of wooden cabinets and her bathroom door has DIY multicoloured square panels on it. Keys and Millie’s apartments are very different and through these settings we see the contrast between where these characters are in their lives, their wealth, and their personal style. The song ‘Fantasy’ by Mariah Carey is featured heavily in the film and is guaranteed to get stuck in your head in the best way! Jodie Comer’s cover of it is amazing! It fits the moment where Guy makes it to the island that is Millie and Keys’ original build and shows it to the world perfectly. This movie made me appreciate Mariah Carey’s music in a whole new way and I can’t be the only way. After watching the movie, I went looking for the song on Apple Music, wound up listening to the Mariah Carey Essentials Playlist, and I’ve become obsessed. I knew some of her hits, but after listening to her music more I get why people love her so much. Her five octave vocal range is amazing, and her music is just so fun to listen to. The film has a really great soundtrack overall and I’ve had many of its song on repeat since I saw it. Something I really loved about this movie and the reveal at the end that Keys is in love with Millie and is desperate for her to notice, but she’s been oblivious the whole time is that they don’t do the supposedly nice nerdy guy whose really a jerk trope. So many movies do this where you have a nerdy male character whose unluckily love, looked over, or his love is unrequited, and we’re supposed to root for him because he’s a quote “nice guy”. But really, he’s not. He’s a jerk who feels slighted because a woman in his life doesn’t love him back or notice him and he feels as if she owes him something. The scene at Millie’s place where Millie tells Keys he looks cute when he brags, and Mouser encourages him to tell Millie how he feels is super frustrating to watch but it’s so important to Keys’ character. He asks Millie out for coffee and when she turns him down to jump back into the game, he doesn’t make a big deal about it even though Mouser wants him to. Instead he gets up and goes and gets her a coffee anyway. She goes to tell him her order, oblivious to the fact that he’s memorized it, he tells her he remembers, and goes to get the coffee anyway much to Mouser’s and the audience’s dismay. This is big because Keys clearly doesn’t want to be walking down the street by himself to get coffee. He wants to be getting coffee with Millie so that he can tell her how he feels to see if she might feel the same way, but when she turns him down he goes and gets the coffee anyway because he truly loves and cares about her and he values their friendship enough to put his own feelings aside and suffer in silence rather than lose her and what they’ve built. So, he takes the opportunity to get some air rather than continue to sit there in disappointment. Which is why he’s so confused when Millie runs after him and calls out to him from across the street. He doesn’t understand what she’s doing there. She turned down his offer to get a coffee and he already knows her order so why is she there? I love that they chose to make that scene non-verbal. I think if Millie had come out and made some big declaration of love it would have felt cheesy and overdone. But her running after him and silently communicating through her smile and body language that she understood and that she felt the same way was perfect. It was subtle and beautiful and perfectly acted. It also felt realistic to the characters because in real life when you’ve known someone a really long time and you’ve spent a lot of time with them you don’t always need words to convey what you mean. What Millie wanted to express in that scene was so big and so all-encompassing she couldn’t find the words to say everything that she wanted to say so she didn’t. She just stood there and smiled knowing that being the genius that he is he would understand. It’s like Keys says in their interview, words will fail you, but code never does. His coding worked and now she understands so rather than try and say it all and fail she just looks at him and smiles to show him that she finally gets it. She finally understands what he’s been trying to say to her all this time. And you can see the exact moment Keys realizes why she’s there. The moment where he goes from being confused as to what she wants to realizing that she saw the video and she knows how he feels and that she wouldn’t be standing there smiling at him like that if she didn’t feel the same way. When I watched the scene the first time around, I was anxiously clutching my nachos the entire time because when Keys ran towards her my immediate thought was, “Oh my god he’s gonna get hit by a car and they’re never gonna get to be together! Oh my god!” But then he didn’t get hit by a car and Millie ran out to meet him and for the first time in their relationship she met him halfway and they kissed and it was beautiful! I think because Free City had so much violence in it that’s where my mind went and I’m very glad they didn’t go that route. One of my only criticisms about the movie is that I wish they had stayed on Millie and Keys just a little bit longer. They kiss and embrace and then very quickly they cut to black. I wish they’d linger on that moment just a little bit longer because I love those characters so much and in the scene that follows where Guy and Buddy are reunited we see them hug and then walk away together to start their new lives and I wish we’d gotten just a bit more time with Millie and Keys. I also really loved the parallel between the different kinds of relationships within the movie and how platonic relationships are just as important as romantic ones. The reveal at the end about Guy being Keys’ creation and a love letter to Millie and her realizing she’s been loving Keys vicariously through Guy and them finally coming together and being on the same page is beautiful because from the very beginning the movie is full of clues, hints, and foreshadowing that all comes together at the end. Meanwhile, we see the friendship between Guy and Buddy and how important that friendship is to him because it’s something that he created on his own. His love for Millie is born out of the programming that Keys gave him, but his friendship with Buddy is something that Guy created all on his own of his own volition. Which is part of what makes Buddy’s death on the bridge so tragic. I cried when Buddy disappeared. Reynolds and Howery play their characters with such sincerity that his death pacts an emotional punch you don’t expect. I love that the security guards at Soonami are so moved by Buddy’s heroism and are so captivated by what’s happening with the live stream that Millie is able to sneak past them into the server room and stop Antwan from destroying what’s left of the game. Something else I noticed on rewatch is that during the final battle after Millie gets booted from the game and Guy has to fight Dude on his own the glasses he’s wearing are very similar to the ones Keys wears in the movie which I thought was a cool nod to Guy being Keys’ creation. This really is a movie in which you find something new every time you watch it. For instance, the second time around I noticed that the foreshadowing that Keys is in love with Millie, but she’s oblivious to it because she’s so focused on the game was really well done. In the video from the indie game conference that Millie plays for Keys at his apartment when asked by the interviewer about their chemistry Millie responds first and says that their friends, their relationship is completely platonic, and laughs off the idea that they have chemistry. In contrast Keys falters and is silent and then eventually says meekly that they’re just friends. Millie is looking ahead at the interviewer and to the side away from Keys as she’s laughing and so she doesn’t see Keys’ reaction. At the end of the apartment scene after Millie breaks in to ask Keys for his help, he tells Millie he cares about her and he almost says something else. It feels like he’s about to say, ‘I love you’ but then he catches himself and instead tells her that she needs to leave. When Keys visits Millie’s apartment to tell her that she was right and they’re sitting on the couch he reaches out and puts his hand on her knee and then snatches it back when he realizes he’s gotten too close. He wants so desperately to be closer to her and in his excitement, he gets closer than he normally would before realizing that putting his hand on her knee in that close proximity is not a platonic gesture. Millie is so caught up in the realization that Guy, the person she’s fallen in love with, is an AI and not a real person that she doesn’t notice. My heart broke for Keys in that scene as he realized that Millie had fallen for Guy and kissed him and was so upset about it and meanwhile, he was right in front of her desperate for her to see how much he cares. It must have just wrecked him to go home that night and realize that Guy was based on the lovelorn character he created and that Millie had fallen in love with his creation while at the same time being so oblivious to his real world affection for her. In the scene at Millie’s apartment after they’ve gotten the server from Antwan and Mouser encourages Keys to say something, I noticed on rewatch just how weak and meager Keys’ attempt to ask Millie out is. He stumbles his way through asking her to get a coffee and trails off at the end so it’s no wonder Millie doesn’t clue in that he’s trying to ask her out. And in Keys’ defence he sent her a whole video confessing his feelings for her and all of the little things he loves about her and then told her to watch it and he has no idea if she did or not. We the audience know that Millie only saw half of it, but Keys has no idea if she saw none of it, part of it, or all of it. He knows she got Guy to remember, but she’s also sending him mixed messages. One minute she’s saying he’s cute when he brags and the next, she’s turning him down for coffee to talk to Guy. From the outside it’s so obvious that Keys is in love with Millie, but she doesn’t see it because she’s always looking the other way, not paying attention, so caught up in the game, and too focused on their work to see what’s right in front of her. On rewatch one of the big things I noticed is that Keys is always on the edge of telling Millie how he really feels but he always stops himself because she brushes him or the idea off and because he’s scared of what will become of their work and their friendship if she doesn’t feel the same way. It’s a huge leap. If Millie doesn’t feel the same way it’s going to make their relationship incredibly awkward and could potentially destroy their partnership so Keys decides it’s better not to say anything or only hint at how he feels rather than run the risk of ruining everything. Something else I noticed on rewatch is that in the interview they give Keys says he thinks of himself as an author and that code is what gets him up in the morning and that he loves the ones and zeros of binary because words can fail you and let you down but code never does. At the end of the movie when Millie goes to talk to Guy in Free Life he tells her that he loves her and while he knows that’s his programming he’s realized that he’s a love letter to her and that somewhere out there in the real world is the author. Such a great callback. All in all, I can definitely say that Free Guy has been my favourite movie so far this year! Definitely my favourite movie of the summer. I went to see it twice in theatres and I’ve never done that for any other movie before. I’ll rewatch them at home sure, but I’ve never actually paid money to see something twice on my own. I’m very excited to see the sequel and my hope is that it will be just as good as the first. Until next time.

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cruelfeline · 3 years

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I came across another one of those unfortunate Twitter posts that portrayed Entrapta as this helpless girl taken advantage of by Big Bad Hordak, and after shaking my head in disappointment, I went back to the canon and assessed a couple of scenes. Namely, two scenes that are very similar in their design and choreography, yet show very different things about the characters involved.

They’re quite interesting in terms of showcasing who, exactly, is vulnerable and who is not.

Observe!

Let us first look at this scene with Entrapta and Hordak, back in Signals, when Entrapta first expresses interest in Hordak’s work. This is a scene that, to some, may seem like a moment where Hordak, seeing an opportunity, resolves to “take advantage of” Entrapta’s excitement and supposed naivete in order to gain access to her talents. He certainly seems to exude a predatory air here, circling her while she talks.

Really watch this scene, though. Watch what happens when he moves around her, sizing her up, playing the villain. Watch what she does.

Nothing. She does nothing. Well... not nothing, exactly. She continues on about how incredible portals are, obviously, but what she doesn’t do is react to Hordak himself. She doesn’t shrink away. She doesn’t cower. She doesn’t even turn in place to keep up with him as he circles her, giving no sense that she’s allowing herself to “be led.”

She pays him absolutely no mind, gesturing and emoting at no one as she remains caught up in her own thoughts and realizations. He’s appearing predatory, yes, but she’s not acting like prey. She’s confident. She’s in control of herself and of her immediate surroundings.

Even this moment where it seems like she’s beginning to follow him...

...turns out to be part of another show of body language that has nothing to do with reacting to Hordak and everything to do with her own excitement.

Nothing in this scene gives the impression that Entrapta is losing ground to Hordak. Nothing makes it seem like she’s losing any sort of control, or that she’s in any sort of vulnerable position. She is entirely enthralled in her own interests and completely unaffected by Hordak’s attempt at a predatory assessment.

There is no real portrayal of her as concerned, cowed, or otherwise dominated by Hordak. Rather, the scene suggests that she is very much ready to hold her own in any interactions with him.

Now! Let us switch over to our sister scene: Double Trouble revealing the truth to Hordak in Destiny Part I.

Right off the bat, we see that Double Trouble has Hordak’s full attention, unlike what Hordak had with Entrapta. From the start of the conversation, Hordak is completely focused on them. They have his attention, and so they have control.

And as the conversation goes on, Double Trouble begins their circling... and Hordak follows.

He visibly turns in place to follow Double Trouble as they languidly move about, and this further conveys that they have control over him. Double Trouble decides where Hordak faces. They decides where Hordak aims his focus.

Watch: it continues. He turns his head...

...then his whole body as Double Trouble leads him along with coveted Entrapta-info.

And while Entrapta was interested in the information Hordak had about portals, the air of the scene was different: she wasn’t under his thrall. She didn’t relinquish control and signal as much by moving her body to keep up with his. She stayed in place, caught up in her excitement but very much in possession of herself. In control.

Hordak is no where near as grounded as she was, as unaffected.

Even when he stops moving upon Double Trouble starting on their second circle, his stillness isn’t a mark of assuredness, of a lack of care about what’s happening around him. There is no easy inward focus, akin to Entrapta’s. Rather, there is an attempt at delaying an emotional break very much provoked by Double Trouble’s masterful reveal.

Hordak is deeply affected by what is going on around him, whereas Entrapta was not.

And last (but certainly not least), we have this final confirmation of who is in power here: Double Trouble ignores personal boundaries and goes so far as to lean on Hordak’s shoulder before delivering their final, brutally cutting words. This is not only indicative of their current social power by way of body language; it is indicative because Double Trouble feels assured enough of their own safety to do it. They know that Hordak is beaten: so frozen by the need to keep distressed emotion hidden, that he will not move to harm them.

Then Double Trouble leaves, Hordak no longer needs to hide said emotion, and... well. Good bye to the Fright Zone.

Anyway! The same basic set up: one character circling another. But each situations tells us such different things about the circler and the circlee. And while some people seem determined to paint Entrapta as the vulnerable victim and Hordak as the controlling predator, these scenes provide us with very much the opposite assessment.

It’s an interesting comparison, isn’t it?

#entrapdak #hordak #entrapta #double trouble

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silenceinternalmonologue · 3 years

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A Review of Loki (2021)

[The following is an exact transcription of Twitter user @/diolesbian ‘s thread linked here . They gave me permission to cross-post their thread on my Tumblr. Keep in mind that this review is fairly long and quite critical of the series. I agree with this review wholeheartedly, and would be welcome to discuss it with anyone else.]

Loki is a character who has died many times, but his own series may be his most brutal character assassination yet.

1. Loki’s role in the series. Instead of tackling Loki's most villainous state of mind in Avengers 1, the series literally speedran through his development in the subsequent films, after which they almost entirely halted his character progression.

Because this series was set right after Avengers 1 it had the responsibility of developing Loki further in place of The Dark World and Ragnarok. In Episode 1, this development was kicked off by having Loki watch a reel of some of his defining moments in the MCU, allowing him to see his future all the way up to his death in Infinity War. Sadly, this scene ended up being the most development he received in the entire series. And arguably, this isn’t even true development but more like a speedrun of his character up until that point, serving as a simple tactic to explain why he wouldn’t be acting all dictatorial and murderous during his own series. As soon as he had been made “good” (read: docile) enough to follow along with the plot, his agency was completely thrown out. From that point on, the series wasn’t about Loki making things happen but about things happening to Loki.

Loki was supposed to be the main character, but he wasn't the protagonist in this story. In fact, he was more of a side character than we’ve ever seen him be in the MCU before, perhaps excepting IW and Endgame.

A protagonist is by definition someone whose important decisions affect the plot, whose development is followed most closely by the audience, and who is opposed by an antagonist. Loki exhibited none of these traits in this series. Especially the latter half of the story, he was reduced to simply reacting to the revelations around him, such as the reveal that the TVA members were all variants and that Kang was the true mastermind behind everything. He never truly involved himself or acted based on any of these plot points, and hardly played a key role in what was supposed to be his own story. Even in the films, where Loki is a side character, he makes choices which impact the plot to a larger extent. He almost seems more like a background character in the role of protagonist than in the parts he plays in the films.

2. The antagonist. The TVA could have worked as the perfect setting for Loki to have a new arc. It’s a thematic antithesis to who we know Loki to be. But when this Loki turns out to not be who the audience thought he was the TVA’s thematic significance falls apart as well.

In Episode 1, the TVA’s Agent Mobius enlists the help of Loki the Variant to pin down a greater foe who we are told is another, more malicious version of Loki. Order and chaos meeting in the middle, teaming up to take down an enemy, who even happens to be the protagonists’ literal evil self: that works, it sounds promising. But this dynamic is soon undermined when Loki leaves with Sylvie. Still, the benefit of the doubt is easy to grant here: a story about tricksters is bound to contain twists. But by Episode 3 the series is halfway done and the TVA has been appointed as the main antagonist again: we’ve now established villains three different times. And then the Cloud Monster At The End Of Time is introduced, and finally Kang. In other words, the Loki series has no consistent antagonist, no one to pit its main character against. And this is where we once again miss out on an enormous aspect of Loki’s potential characterization.

Protagonists are always defined by an antagonist, whether a purple Titan, a flat tire, or themself. Loki is not given anything to define his morals, motivations, or development in opposition to and this is a huge oversight. Especially given the fact that Loki has taken on the villain’s role in the past: how is the audience supposed to know that the “bad guy” is now a “good guy” if there’s no “even worse guy” to stand up against?

3. The plot. A plot should show off its MC’s strengths and match their personality. The Loki plot hardly relied on his presence at all, he didn't play a key role. The story had so little to do with Loki that it seemed as though he has barely any impact on “his” narrative.

One of the most central conflicts in the Loki series doesn’t involve him at all: it’s between Sylvie and the TVA. This plotline was a good concept overall, but its main problem is that it’s practically the only conflict in the series. Loki himself, as mentioned before, isn’t set in opposition to anything or anyone. And thanks to his relationships with Sylvie and Mobius being weakened by conflicting storytelling devices, he appears to be in a bubble by himself away from the rest of the cast for much of the story. First he follows Mobius around, then Sylvie, then he wanders aimlessly in the void before following Sylvie once again and learning that Kang is a Really Bad Guy who he should be opposed to even though by this point he has interacted so little with the story unfolding around him that the audience doesn’t even understand why he should be choosing to play the hero.

The plot and the characters both suffer by being so incredibly unrelated to each other. A series, especially an MCU one, should tell an overarching narrative through the perspective of its main character.

In the beginning of the series, when Loki was still getting his bearings in the TVA, this lack of decision-making was more understandable, especially since some of his skills were still being shown-- he discovered Sylvie was hiding in nexus events, and he made the choice to leave Mobius and follow her. But by the latter half of the series he still hasn’t had much impact on the story or taken any actions of his own, and simply allows plot points to happen to him. Just because the Loki series had to introduce the TVA and Kang didn’t mean it had to forgo telling a story about its protagonist. If Loki’s story had been intrinsically tied to the overarching plot points, if his choices had been some of the primary factors determining how events ended up taking place, the series would have succeeded in every aspect. But instead Loki is pushed aside by the plot of his own series, a plot which subsequently ends up coming across as largely hollow and pointless due to its lack of character drive.

4. Loki’s arc. One of the main reasons MCU Loki is loved is for his excellent character development across his films. TVA Loki was extremely lacking in that aspect and chances to take his character in interesting new self-aware directions were thrown away without much thought.

Throughout the MCU, Loki is on a journey with many highs and lows. He goes from a bitter and disheartened prince standing in the shadow of his brother, to a self-loathing Jotun bent on destroying his own people in a desperate attempt to win his father’s love, to a half-mad partially mind-controlled dictator with delusions of grandeur fueled by his own insecurity, to a prisoner wondering what there is left for him to lose, to a savior of Asgard’s people finally coming to accept his place in what is left of his family, to a tragic sacrificial victim who knew he had to die so the true hero might live on. That’s a hell of a journey, incidentally shown in less than TWO HOURS of screen time, and the prospect of TVA Loki embarking on an equally stimulating one, this time told over the course of over four hours and shown from his own perspective the entire way through, was exciting. But as it turned out, this relatively simple expectation went completely unmet.

For a story trying to say so much about individuality and self-acceptance, the Loki series seemed to pass by every obvious opportunity to tackle those questions.

Sylvie’s introduction seemed like a good idea at first: Loki would be able to literally bond with himself and learn to accept who he is that way, and forays could be made to explore what Loki’s personality could have been like if he grew up under different circumstances! But aside from a scene or two in Episode 3, this was not how things ended up going. Loki didn’t come to any grand or important conclusions about his identity, he didn’t choose to act differently, all that happened was a vaguely-worded confession of pseudo-romantic feelings which was cut off in the middle, made no sense, and weakened the narrative in a whole host of other ways explained elsewhere. Loki’s encounter with other versions of themself in the Void was similarly meaningless: Loki didn’t end up expressing or demonstrating a single thing he learned from meeting all of those alternate selves, despite the fact that there was potential for massive self-discovery there.

Less than 2 hours of MCU screen time portrayed Loki more coherently than this entire series. Loki is loved because of how much he changes, and it felt like he didn’t in this series. He started off lost and stayed that way throughout the entire plot.

By the end of the series, it was impossible to identify who Loki had become. He said he didn’t want a throne, but it was not obvious why not. He looked sad to be betrayed by Sylvie, but never expressed what that meant to him. He seemed afraid once Kang was unleashed, but why? Why did he care about the Sacred Timeline? What were his motivations? Throughout the series the answers to these questions became less and less obvious, culminating in the final episode which ended without a single moment of reflection or explanation as to who Loki had become. He wasn’t a villain, but only because he wasn’t murdering people. He was in some capacity a hero, for… being against Kang, probably, but once again with no explanation as to why Loki had decided to feel that way. He never seemed self-assured in his heroism, as if he hadn’t chosen the role for himself. Again, making one’s own choices that shape the narrative are what differentiates a protagonist from a side character, but Loki did not do that in this series.

5. Loki and Sylvie’s relationship. Loki and Sylvie had the potential to be a powerful duo representing the process of self-acceptance but instead they were reduced to a strange pseudo-romance.

Despite Loki’s many developments in the films, he never truly liked himself. He has been known to act extremely confident and self-righteous at times, but this is merely the opposite side of the coin containing his self-loathing and insecurity. Having him literally meet and subsequently befriend himself in Episode 3 was a move towards developing this aspect of him and potentially teaching him to finally accept himself as he truly is, but this buildup was all shattered in Episode 4 when the relationship is portrayed to have romantic undertones. Instead of a powerful struggle to accept oneself, the relationship between Loki and Sylvie becomes a twisted thing which is memeable at best (selfcest LOL amirite?) and outright damaging to both characters and the very concept of loving oneself at worst.

Ultimately, Loki and Sylvie's relationship didn’t add anything to either character’s development and actively detracted from what could have been a touching story.

Romantic love is extremely different from self love; romantic love has connotations including dating conventions and sexuality which are impossible to ignore and in this case serve as a distraction. And on top of ruining a potentially powerful storyline, this strange relationship makes both Loki and Sylvie seem out of character. Loki is once again one thousand years old and he has never even had a true friend, so why would he possibly fall for someone after knowing them for only two days? Meanwhile in Sylvie’s case, Loki’s “feelings” for her cause the audience to pay more attention to her romantic life and gestures rather than her actual character and motivations.

6. Loki’s Sexuality and Gender Fluidity. Loki’s sexuality and gender has been shown in several comic runs, and the series was advertised as featuring this representation as well. But due to several fundamental errors and problematic storytelling this also fell flat.

Sylvie’s introduction filled many fans with hope regarding the portrayal of Loki’s identity. In the MCU neither of their LGBT identities had ever been touched upon, while the series introduced a female variant of Loki and explicitly stated their sexuality. But this portrayal soon unraveled, most notably in Episode 5, in which many other Loki variants were shown but not a single one besides Sylvie was non-male. On top of that, when TVA Loki mentioned Sylvie and referred to her as “a woman Variant of us”, the other Lokis agreed that that sounded “terrifying”. Why should a genderfluid being be afraid of a version of themselves presenting as a different gender? It read as both fluidphobic not to mention strangely sexist.

The pseudo-romance between Loki and Sylvie only aggravated the situation. Not only did the nature of the “relationship” seem to follow heteronormative storytelling tropes (falling in love after a couple days of knowing each other, one party being reduced to a love interest, valuing romantic love above any other type, etc) but it also seemed distressing and offensive to many genderfluid people. A romance between a male and a female Loki, one of which doesn’t even call herself by that name, seems to be implying that an individual becomes someone else when merely presenting as a different gender, which of course isn’t at all the case. The writing wasn’t necessarily malicious here, but it was certainly ignorant and potentially even harmful. The opportunity was there to translate Loki’s powerful comic representation into the framework of the MCU, but this attempt did not succeed.

7. Loki’s characterization. Loki is a chameleon, but there are certain traits fundamental to his character. These traits were either ignored or actively mocked in the series. The audience already knew “what makes a Loki a Loki", but the series threw that knowledge away.

Episode 1’s premise of stripping Loki of everything he is used to was an intriguing setup to ensure the discovery of the core of who Loki truly is. The only problem was that this truth didn’t end up being found at all. Mobius made fun of Loki’s most defining traits, such as his habits of lying to manipulate people and acting out of a place of insecurity, which seemed to be a signal for the narrative to forbid Loki from exhibiting any of those traits from that point on in any way. This reduction in Loki’s character was reflected in everything, from his lack of humor (in the films he’s even funny while he’s taking over the world!), the underpowered way in which he fought against Sylvie (he’ll use magic to dry his clothes, but fight with a damn vacuum cleaner?) to the way that he wore the same boring outfit in every single episode-- it may sound shallow, but clothes are important when presenting a character. Every one of Loki’s looks in the films said something about him and his state of mind, and sadly that bland TVA outfit seemed to convey that Loki really was nothing more than a subservient pawn in what was supposed to be his own story. Ironically, the writing stripped Loki of everything that made him Loki, and left us with nothing but a Jotun-shaped void to be swayed by the whims and wills of the characters and plot devices surrounding him.

8. Loki’s past and abilities. This series could have elaborated on aspects of his character which had been teased at in the films and theorized about by fans, but ended up being a disappointment in this aspect as well.

Aside from Loki’s characterization and development, something else the series ignores is much of his canon story in the films. Since Thor 1, a truth that always overshadowed Loki was his Jotun heritage. He struggled with it up until the time of his death, clearly visible in his relationship with his foster family. It’s understandable that Loki was supposed to be independent from Thor in his series, but that’s no excuse for completely ignoring this central part of who Loki is. It doesn’t matter how much he goes through or how much his circumstances change, this feeling of unbelonging sits deep in Loki’s core and should have been both explored and explicitly discussed in the series. A series all about Loki was the perfect opportunity for him to finally confront and explain his relationship with his heritage, and potentially come to terms with it as well. And this isn’t even to say how cool some more insight on Loki’s Jotun inheritance could have been-- hypotheticals aren’t the point of this review, but it would have been fascinating to see Loki reacting adversely to heat like he has been hinted to in the past or even using his ice powers like he did in Thor 1.

Loki's magic was tragically underused. It felt like he was stripped of all of his magical powers even after his TVA chains had been removed, and this was never explained.

A second huge oversight is his magic. His powers are all over the place in this series. They were always a bit vague in the films, but this series was the opportunity to set that right and explain exactly what Loki was capable of as a sorcerer, especially now that the MCU has embraced magic more than it had ten years ago. But instead, Loki showcased an inexplicable lack of magic use-- again, the vacuum cleaner fight can be presented as evidence. There is a single scene in which Loki says that he learned his magic from Frigga, but no information is given as to how much he learned or why he doesn’t always favor spells. His power levels are incredibly inconsistent (he forgoes using magic when first confronted by the TVA, but is later shown using telekinesis to save himself from being literally crushed to death). And, strangest of all, there is a scene in which he tells Sylvie that he “can’t” enchant living beings. Loki, the millennium year old Trickster sorcerer god, who can hold an Infinity Stone with his bare hands, reanimate Surtur in the Eternal Flame, and trick the average person using illusions with ease, can’t cast a little enchantment? And if so, why not? The series offered precious few explanations concerning Loki’s magical abilities and instead only raised more questions. And in this way, Loki is once again relegated into the background and left with not a single shred of any new characterization or development.

Loki contains multitudes, but the series reduced him to two dimensions.

This isn’t to mention every other facet of Loki’s story that could have potentially been explored to great success in this series-- his torture and subsequent partial mental influence at the hands of Thanos just before the events of Avengers 1 is one obvious example, as is his youth on Asgard, as are his suicidal tendencies (people don’t tend to survive falling off the Bifrost, and he knew that when he threw himself off of it), plus infinite other facets of him. Of course, it was both necessary and more interesting for this series to be its own story rather than one which lingered on past films-- but that’s not to say that none of these plot points should have come back, at least subtly, to play a role in this story. Plot points exist to be brought back later, not completely ignored. Otherwise a story may as well be written about a completely original character.

#loki #loki 2021 #loki disney+#loki discussion #loki discourse #loki spoilers #lokius #loki x mobius #loki x sylvie #sylki #marvel #marvel discourse #loki review #mcu loki #loki series #loki season finale #loki season 1 #loki ship

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boytouya · 3 years

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Can I please request an ftm reader who's in a relationship with tomura? where has a tik tok where he posts about jokes, dead memes, food. Hot topics in Japan, screaming randomly seeing a little frog at the Park all while speaking English so basically live stream where reader consumes all types of hot wings and sauces where the viewers see the LOV while seeing the mystery famous tomura shigaraki brings jugs of milk and laughter. Would tomura learn English to understand his bf tik tok? As readers fanbase they hear language barriers which is why reader can get away with it.

𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫

a/n: if anyone is fluent in japanese please let me know if i wrote something wrong or used the wrong tone!

Warnings: me using unreliable sources for japanese, brief mention of shig’s childhood

You didn’t want to consider yourself an influencer. Sure, you had over four hundred thousand followers, some of which loved to dm you random things, ask questions about personal life, and seek out advice. You even had a Japanese following, probably because you taught phrases to your viewers every once in a while and it had peaked their interest. And okay, maybe you worked on a brand deal or two. But you hated the idea of being labeled as an influencer. You were just a man doing what he loved, cracking jokes about your favorite subjects, telling stories, sharing recipes, livestreams showcasing your favorite places in Japan. Your boyfriend, leader of the League Of Villains, Tomura Shigaraki, only knew broken English. It was often taught at a young age, but because of his childhood he never got to fully learn the subject. Plus, with barriers to his memory, it made it harder for him to understand your TikToks. Every Friday you take the time to teach him common phrases, though! He still liked every video, tuned into every livestream, and let you use his phone if you needed two of them. You never planned things out, you just went with what called out to you for the day.

Your last TikTok livestream had been a wild one, you were rambling about your spice tolerance when someone in the chat had mentioned trying the Hot Wing Challenge. It blew up overnight, and you woke up to your twitter chiming with excitement over such a simple suggestion.

That led you to where you were now, blinding yourself with a ring-light and setting up Tomura’s phone. You tried your best to hide anything that gave away your own, along with your roommates’, whereabouts. After doing so you adjusted your shirt and started your live, smiling at the camera. The chat rolled in whilst you struggled to read questions. After a failed attempt at reading them out loud, you pick up the plates beside you and hold them up to the camera.

“You guys wanted me to try it,” You hold up multiple different sauces, one of which has a skull and crossbones over it. Surely you’d be paying for this later when you need to use the bathroom. “They all ship at different times.”

Behind you, a raspy voice asks a question that the audience can't translate, but they put pieces together as you laugh and shake your head. You respond with "Damare!” (Shut up!) before making a show of putting way too much sauce on a drumstick and sinking your teeth into it with faux aggression. You chew quickly, hoping that the faster it’s gone the less it’ll obliterate your taste buds. It doesn't necessarily taste good, and even if you like spicy food it isn’t exactly satisfactory on the tongue. You must be making a funny face because there’s two more sets of laughter behind you, and the chat is moving much faster than before.

There are five levels and five different drumsticks, so only four more to go. A voice that doesn’t belong to Tomura, but a cheery teenage girl, almost breaks the sound barrier as she chants “Skip it! Skip it! Go to the last level!”

Curse Toga and her influence. She was a popular guest (though it was her voice only), lots of people had commented how they loved her when you made a collaborative TikTok with her, and she had a huge impact on your viewers. The chat that had just been telling you you needed to every wing had now jumped to telling you to move onto the spiciest level, just because Dracula incarnate had just told you to.

“Fine!” You grumble, picking up the smallest drumstick and pouring a generous amount of ‘Blair’s Ultra Death Sauce’ on the small wing. The moment you let it sit on your tongue you regret it, forcing yourself to swallow and tapping the table aggressively. “What the fuck? What the fuck?!”

Your nose is runny, tears fall from your eyes and you make the mistake of rubbing them away with your palm. Shooting up from your seat with a groan, the only thing you can say is “Water! Tsumetaimizu! (Cold water)”

Your skeleton nearly jumps from your body when Tomura (or at least you think it’s him, you can barely tell from squinting your eyes in effort to remediate the burn. He hands you a glass of milk with maniacal laughter. There are people in the chat bullying him for his laugh, calling him cute, and freaking out because they think they recognize him.

“Manuke, (Dumbass)” Tomura laughs mid sentence, the milk slightly spilling onto his fingers as you rush to grab it from him. “You should see your face right now.”

You chug the glass down, wondering if squeezing some into your eyes would help with the burn. You force them to fully open, watching as every member doubles over with laughter. Of course they’d laugh at the suffering of others.

“Our eyes match,” Tomura says quietly. Then, he picks up your half eaten drumstick and takes a bite, making a high noise in the back of his throat. You get ready to laugh in his face and call him a moron, but he doesn’t seem phased at all. Quite the opposite, really. “Totemo oishii desu (It’s very tasty).” He says with a smirk. You’d kiss the stupid look off his face if there wasn’t sauce on his lips and an audience of nineteen thousand.

#🥞. shiggy #tomura shigaraki x you #shigaraki x male reader #bnha x male reader #mha x male reader #bnha x trans reader #x trans reader #shigaraki x y/n

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kiribakuhappiness · 3 years

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How do you deal with the hate comments you get?? (Not that I think the last ask was particularly hate or anything) but I never see hate stuff on your blog or in your comment sections either. I feel like I see tend to get them a lot abd sometimes I don't know how to handle them :( love your work!!! Sorry if this is rude to ask...

Not rude at all - but there's a lot to unpack here, so I’m really sorry if I ramble or go off on a few tangents in my answer!

The short answer is: I don't deal with hate comments.

The medium answer is: It depends on the type of 'hate' that I’m receiving.

The longer answer is this:

I have been really lucky (I think) to have been able to grow a little community on this blog of similar, like-minded people who enjoy the same things that I do (Tsundere characters, characters that can help show more representation in the Alphabet Mafia community, dumb boys who deserve to just be dumb boys, etc). I've rarely received any hate comments since my time here on Tumblr, and I think there's a lot of reasons for this.

1.) If someone comes rearing into my Ask box just LOOKING for a fight (ie, random death threats from Anons, homophobic comments, an obvious attempt to bait me into some kind of long-winded debate, etc) I simply just do not deal with it. Those people (especially Anons) are just looking for a reaction out of you. They want you to get upset, to post some long rambling defense, to be snarky and rude back to them, that's what they want.

But at the end of the day, I don't owe any of them a response. Hell, I don't owe anyone a response if I don't want to answer something.

But I answer Asks because I like talking with people, and getting all amped up and excited over the same things, that's part of the fun of creating and sharing that creative work online and being an active part of the fandom. I LOVE hearing from the people that follow this blog (even if I don't always get the chance to respond to all of them) because I know that they're happy or excited enough to hit that Ask button and send me a message, and that makes me feel good to know that I was able to get them so pumped up!

But those Anons aren't looking for that kind of connection. Most of the time, they’re not even looking to have a mature discussion, even if that’s how they come across at first. They're looking to hurt. To ridicule and make fun of, to make me and my followers feel bad or low. And, most of the time, the people who are sending that hate are young. So young. Like... way younger than what you might be picturing in your head right now.

So when I get the really bad hate - the hate that makes your skin feel hot, the hate that spikes your blood pressure, the hate that makes you start typing in a blind rage because you want to hurt them just as much as they've just hurt you - then they've already won. And I'll be damned if I let myself be led by the hand right into a losing battle.

So I simply do not engage. I don't reply with some snarky comment thinking I'm oh-so clever, I don’t reply in a holier-than-thou manner because I think I’m just so much better than them, and I don't reply with a long rambling post about why they're wrong and why they're childish and why they're hateful because that in itself is a hateful act, and I have far more important things to be spending my time and my energy on than fighting with a random on the internet and fueling that (quite frankly, pointless) hatred.

When I don't respond, the anon grows bored. Why send hateful things into someone's Asks if they aren’t even going to showcase it to all of their loyal followers? The reason you don't see hate on this blog is because I simply do not allow them to sink their roots into this soil. I pull them out like weeds and refuse to let them grow here.

I also don't respond because, while I may be able to take a death threat or a homophobic slur with gritted teeth and a roll of the eyes and keep on going about my day, some of my followers may not be mentally or psychologically equipped to see such rude backlash. They range from pre-teens to adults, and when they choose to follow me and my blog, I see it as a responsibility on my end to shield them from that unnecessary hatred. There's no need for them to see such toxicity, and so I act as a stubborn guard blocking the front gates. This temple is for relaxation, for laughter and excitement and love, and I'll protect it until the day that I decide to send that last post and go off to do something else with my life.

2.) Another reason that I believe that I don’t get much hate on this blog is because I don’t cross-platform my content. Does this lower the visibility of my work? Sure. I don’t have a Twitter, or a Youtube, or a TikTok, or an Instagram. This blog is just that - this blog on Tumblr, with a link to my AO3 for my writing. And while that limits my audience and perhaps bottlenecks my views, the safeguard it brings from distancing from toxic mindsets that tend to leak into the more problematic social media sites is well worth it, in my opinion.

I don’t write these stories for kudos and hits. I don’t write these stories to push out as much content as possible, to gain a following as quickly as I can, to reach the entirety of the fandom. I don’t want that. I want to write stories to get better at writing, I want to write about the boys because I crave more gay representation and quite frankly I am obsessed with Bakugou as a character and how much fun it is to write from a Tsundere mindset.

If other people happen to find my work and they like it too, then that’s so awesome! But the extent of my dedication to this blog is just that, my own dedication to something I love and something that brings me joy.

3.) The final reason that I think why I don’t get a lot of hate comments or hurtful asks is because I put a lot of pride and effort into my fics. When I write a piece of work that contains heavy levels of smut, I work really hard to make them realistic, to make the characters motives and emotions clear and concise, to showcase a healthy depiction of what it means to be sexually attracted to and/or engage in sexual activity with someone that a person cares very deeply about.

I see a lot of smut centered around the bnha fandom, and there’s nothing particularly wrong with that, in my opinion, but sometimes I do see things that I personally feel are a little tactless. They’re not handled well, or they promote toxic behaviors, or it really is incredibly self-indulgent and sometimes grossly ignorant.

However, just like with the hate that I sporadically receive in my Asks, it’s of my own personal belief that if I see something I don’t like or don’t agree with on the internet, then I simply do not engage with it. I don’t give it the attention that it so desperately wants to get out of people, I don’t give it a platform to grow on, I refuse to allow it to think that it has the upper hand anywhere in the situation.

I am entirely in control of the things that I promote on this blog, and I take that responsibility very seriously. It’s why I refuse to reblog art if it’s so obviously not being posted by the original artist (there are SEVERAL kiribaku blogs I have seen gaining popularity recently that simply post art from other artists without any credits or any permission). I have even seen several of my own mutuals reblogging art from those particular blogs, and so I find it incredibly important to be diligent in which accounts I reblog art from.

That being said - I’m not perfect. I’m a human being behind this account, a singular entity the runs the entirety of this blog, ever growing and learning and working every day to be better than I was the day before, and sometimes I make mistakes.

Sometimes I reblog stolen art, and need a follower to nudge me in my inbox and let me know that it’s stolen and where to find the original art, so that I can take the responsibility of deleting the stolen post and reblogging the original content to show support for the original artist. Sometimes I write something in a fic that (to me, from my own experiences) I might not consider to be harmful or inappropriate, but that might be damaging in a way that I may have never considered before because I had grown so used to receiving that kind of treatment myself that I fail to see its toxicity on my own, and so when people come to me with genuinely helpful constructive criticism, I feel it is my duty as a writer to be level-headed and humble enough to admit that perhaps what I have grown so accustomed to is just that - behavior I’ve simply grown accustomed to - and to then take a good hard look at that example and make a decision about whether I want to change it or not.

The important thing to remember is that we’re all entitled to our own opinions and feelings, but that we’re also individually responsible for the way that we react to these types of circumstances.

Becoming defensive, becoming enraged, becoming aggressive, becoming jaded - these things don’t do anything but make a situation worse.

That’s why I love Bakugou so. fucking. much. He IS all of those things. Defensive. Easy to anger. Inherently aggressive. And Horikoshi is teaching him through many trials and errors why those types of behaviors will be his inevitable downfall, why falling into the pit of ‘you hurt me, so I must hurt you back’ leads only to repeated failure and internal anguish, why you will forever be forced to run in place and can never continue to grow and move forward if you’re so busy ignoring the reality that we are all humans, that we are all flawed, that we all experience the same emotions, even if we don’t agree with them or think that they’re justified.

The reason I love Bakugou’s character so much is because he is so deeply flawed, he is told time and time again that he is the epitome of a villain, and yet he refuses to accept that. He refuses to believe that he is anything other than the greatest hero-to-be, and he’ll push his bruised ego and damaged pride aside time and time again to relearn what has already been so solidly ingrained into his being, to continuously be watching and listening and learning while still whole-heartedly remaining unabashedly true to himself, to know that he came to this amazing hero school and is being taught by these incredible heroes “not to learn what he can do, but to learn what he can’t do.”

So, to wrap up this entirely incoherent rambling mess of a response that you no doubt didn’t care to read about, I deal with hate the same way that I deal with everything else; circumstantially, and with as much empathy as I can possibly muster.

If it’s random hate just looking for attention and wanting to hurt, I refuse to give them a stable platform to stand on or an audience to be subjected to. I force them to go somewhere else, cause it’s no fun to hit someone over and over again who refuses to ever hit back. If it’s in regards to my fics, I think I work really hard to provide healthy representation work for this fandom, to showcase the characters in not only challenging situations but also how they can realistically overcome them, and to create an environment where love can be seen as just that, love.

Whether it’s with Bakugou and Kirishima learning how to recognize their own weaknesses and become better people because of them, or whether it’s with Bakugou and Hikaru discovering that experiencing love and relenting in trust doesn’t make them weak but in fact makes them infinitely stronger than they will ever consciously realize, the end result is always the same. I just want to share stories, hopefully ones with positive messages, that make people feel things and maybe might teach them a lesson or two along the way.

I hope this somewhat answered your question anon! Sorry it’s so long and jumbled but is anyone really surprised anymore? When you ask me a question like this, just know I am always going to go off on a long tangent :,D

If you’re ever experiencing a situation where you feel harassed or unsafe or you want advice on how to properly handle a situation, please feel free to reach out to me, and we can work together to try and come up with a mature, responsible solution!

Happy reading!! xx

#dealing with hate #there I go rambling again oops sorry ahaha #personal #asks

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dunwallraven · 3 years

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Eren rants

So I just had a little discussion with one of the AOTnR staff on twitter, over Eren’s villain status in the Requeim fan ending in general. And it made me realize something very important. Something about why I disdain Isayama’s chapter 139 that much, and why I hate Eren’s characterization in 139 with a passion.

It’s not because Eren has become a mass murderer. While I do like him in season 1-3, like he doesn’t look bad he’s a determined madman, blah blah blah. But the fact that I liked him post time-skip the most is proof that I liked him as a character precisely because of he went down the slippery slope, and I was excited to see his final fate, what he would do, what he would become. I was thrilled to see him being broken by his own doing, and I revel seeing him suffer (pls ref to the “eren crying and apologizing to fez-kun” scene in chap 131 just in case, that one was sweet).

And yes, when I read Chap 139 I was fucking pissed. I used to thought that it was because I aligned with the Yeagerists and that ending basically proved Eren wrong, proved me wrong, and made me lose face, but that was shallow and dumb, to much self-inserting is bad for your sainity really - what truly pissed me off was how Isayama made a half-assed attempt at trying to mellow down Eren’s villainy, by making him sympathetic, by making Armin (pretend to) comfort him.

Eren has always been wrong. While I would blame Yams for writing that “unwinnable scenario” and making everyone so damn extreme, mass genocide is always wrong. So Eren is indeed a villain, ever since the Marley arc. A villain protagonist with a heart, perhaps. But whiny ooc villain that cries over Mikasa marrying another guy, and gets comfort from Armin? LMAO hell no. Basically Isayama had decided to make Eren a villain in Marley arc all the way to most of the rumbling arc, but then he decided “nope it’s time to stop”. Yes, it stopped the rumbling, it probably relayed the information of genocide is wrong, it has political correctness, but storytelling wise it’s an ass pull. Why can’t we make things throughout? Make the villainy continue, make him destroy everthing, and everyone he had loved and sworn to protect. Then make him realize that he truly is no different from the outside world he destroyed, make him realize that he is indeed the Devil of Paradis. Finally make him break, knowing that he is now the greatest hypocrit and sinner of all world, and that he killed most of his friends; make him suffer from nightmares and guilt, because he achieved the rumbling, he will be hailed as hero of Paradis, against his own wishes. Tell you what, for a sin with a scale like that, death is just a way to escape punishment. The greatest punishment is to LIVE, in glory that he doesn’t want, in fame that he wishes he could deny, in misunderstanding; every morning he sees the rising sun he is reminded of his friends who could never see the sun again, and every night when he sleep he sees the countless people he had killed in his dream, his friends included, while he can speak nothing as they show disappointment and accuse him of betrayal and evilness. Oh the sufferings! it could be so great. All the while he had to pretend to be fine because Paradis people don’t understand the guilt. Isayama wanted a parallel between Eren and Reiner? THIS is the exact parallel that we could get if Eren managed 100% rumbling. In the end, if Yams want to write about what the world is like after a couple centuries, just says that history books now praise Eren as the savior of humanity and mentioned fucking nothing about the sins he commited. THIS WILL BE THE PERFECT IRONY.

I will use a quote of Nietzsche to end my rant here. "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." That is Eren, a man who became the villain of his own story, if Isayama could handle the writing.

Oh, by the way, if you disagree with what I said, it’s fine. I’m just a twisted person with a thing for suffering and violent destruction of beautiful things, afterall. Just forget aobut it. Have a nice day!

#AoT rant #attack on titan #eren yeager #eren jeager

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amphtaminedreams · 4 years

Text

Farewell to Spooky Season, AHS Style: Lookbook no.12

Hi to anyone reading,

Happy belated Halloween!

I capitalise it because if I'm gonna recognise any day as sacred, it’s the spookiest one of the year! Halloween 2020 obviously hasn’t been as exciting as usual, parties and club nights being banned has meant there’s been far less opportunities to dress up, but I still managed to get out for the night before they announced the upcoming second lockdown and do a couple of spooky movie nights (and carve a pumpkin!)!

I originally intended for this lookbook to be last minute halloween costume inspo but I was lazy and didn’t manage to get it out on time-a lot of these looks minus the makeup and maybe an accessory or two could work on any day or night out so I thought I’d go ahead and post it now anyway. Celebrating the fashion moments of American Horror Story is something I’ve wanted to do for a while; it’s probably not the first show you’d think of for sartorial inspiration but Mr. Ryan Murphy has fucking fantastic taste in stylists and the first five seasons of AHS in particular, which I’ll be focussing on in this post, have given us SO many amazing looks. The man may be guilty of many things-subjecting us to the character of Will Schuester, trying to turn Richard Ramirez into a thirst trap, embarrassing everyone who raved about how good Scream Queens was when he wrote season 2-but costume related laziness is not one of them. We see more consistency in a Ryan Murphy character’s wardrobe than we do in their story arcs and I respect that because honestly, as much as I love joining in when it comes to ripping into his ability to cohesively bring an AHS season to a close when it airs, I’d probably be the same; if you put Lady Gaga in front of me and told me to write her lines I’d probably end up getting overly invested in what her character was going to be wearing in the scene too.

So! Enough Ryan Murphy bashing from me! I’ll get on with it! Starting with 3 season 1 inspired looks:

Murder House: Elizabeth Short, Tate Langdon and Violet Harmon

-striped jumper from caitlinlark on Depop, kick flare jeans from ellagray-

When it comes to reflecting on season 1 of American Horror Story, all I can say do is thank the internet overlords that Tumblr has moved on from the romanticising school shooters and wearing normal people scare me tops phase to instead collectively taking the piss out of the “GO AWAY, TATE!”, “YOU’RE ALL THAT I WANTTT! YOU’RE ALL THAT I HAVEEE!” exchange.

In terms of fashion *moments*, whilst season 1 doesn’t stand out as much as the seasons that come after, Violet and Tate’s wardrobes did give birth to a bit of a 90s grunge renaissance with their oversized knits and faded jeans and layering of textures. It did also give us good costumes in the form of Alexandra Breckenridge’s Moira O’Hara and Mena Suvari’s portrayal of the Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short; unfortunately, I didn’t have a slutty maid costume lying around so I did the best I could at giving the outfit Elizabeth wears when she makes that fateful visit to the Murder House a modern, more party appropriate update.

In terms of season rankings, Murder House isn’t my favourite. It starts off really great but lulls a bit towards the end and I could never get behind Violet and Tate as a couple because you know, one of them is a school shooter who sexually assaults the other’s mum, and that’s a hurdle that I think most couples might struggle to get over irl. That being said, it was the season that started it all and showcased some of the most innovative writing and directing on TV, and it opened up a spot for horror on primetime television which as far as I know was kind of unheard of before then. Back when I first watched it, I had no idea what to expect not only because I’d never seen horror in a serial format but also because it seemed to be able to get away with the kind of storylines you’d expect network executives to fire people over. It introduced us to Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters and Denis O’Hare who would go on to make the show what it is today and more importantly, through Jessica’s glorious portrayal of Constance Langdon, provide us with an endlessly versatile meme format for this trying time.

Asylum: ‘60s Lana Winters, ‘70s Lana Winters, and Sister Mary Eunice McKee

-afghan coat from louisemarcella on Depop, red AA skater dress from julietramage, pink gingham co-ord from zshamim-

I think we can all agree: Asylum would’ve been a perfect series of television if it wasn’t for the completely unnecessary alien storyline. Like, I get that they fit in with the whole good vs. evil theme as a kind of non-biblical alternative to the idea of a higher, all-powerful being but there was already so much going on that it just wasn’t needed. Aside from that, I think the general consensus amongst watchers of the show is that Asylum has the best writing of any season and I think I’d tend to agree. It’s not my favourite because it’s too depressing to rewatch but if we’re talking the first time round, this is the series that had me hooked. Lana Winters?

Iconic.

Sister Mary Eunice? Iconic. The Name Game? Iconic. Remember when you couldn’t go a day on Facebook without seeing that one photo of Naomi Grossman as Pepper used as the go to “what I really look like” photo in one of those “expectation vs. reality” style posts on your newsfeed? Those were simpler times.

Because this season was mostly situated within the hospital, we didn’t get that many proper outfits but when we did, they were stunning; if I had to state my absolute favourite AHS character of the entire show I’d probably go with Lana Winters and the part her wardrobe played in her characterisation would 100% play a part in that. The late 60s/early 70s was such a wonderful period for fashion and through her character we get to see both of those explored a little. Of course there’s also *that* Sister Mary Eunice scene with the red slip dress and suspenders too which yes, could be a perfect halloween costume, but I also strongly believe should be a perfectly acceptable outfit for any day of the year.

Coven: Misty Day, Madison Montgomery, and Zoe Benson

-chiffon dress from rags_to_riches on Depop, pinstripe corset from hanpiercey, and tennis skirt from mollie_morton-

I hate to be a basic bitch but I have to say it: Coven is my favourite season of American Horror Story. Once you get over the complete waste of Evan Peters’ acting capabilities that resulted from the *choice* to have him play Kyle, the unnecessary rehash of the Evan/Taissa pairing from season 1 in what I can only assume was an attempt to capitalise on the popularity of the questionable Tate/Violet relationship, and the subsequent sacrifice of any interesting character arc we could’ve foreseen for Zoe Benson beyond her obsessing over a resurrected, non-verbal frat boy, it’s a perfect season. A supreme (heh) balance of horror, humour, and character drama, as well as the stunning aesthetics and forever quotable dialogue, make it my go-to season if I’m ever considering a rewatch. And if you disagree, let me jog your memory with the most mainstream (not to get all “normal people scare me” and suggest AHS is not a mainstream show, I literally just mean in the sense that even those who have never watched the show will have seen this) reaction GIF set any FX show has even spawned:

Buzzfeed employees had a field day, Emma Roberts enthusiasts (I mean me) finally saw her cemented as the pop culture icon Scream Queens has since showed us she deserves to be (because not enough people have seen Unfabulous, Nancy Drew or Scream 4) and the gays everywhere rejoiced at the year’s worth of meme fodder they’d been provided with. It was Madison Montgomery’s world and we were truly just living in it.

And the fashion! I mean, Stevie Nicks meets 21st century teenage witches! Come on!

Freakshow: Dandy Mott, Maggie Esmerelda and Elsa Mars

-olive green satin skirt from morganogle on Depop, headscarf from tonijordan, platform sandals from elliefewt, PVC skirt from bethpin_, corset top from sadieflinter, beret from house_of_erotique, flame detail platform boots from mad_rags_vintage-

When people talk about the declining quality of AHS, they usually point to Freakshow as the beginning of the end, but I have to completely disagree. I wasn’t a fan the first time round but on rewatch it’s probably the most emotional season of them all; no, there aren’t as many “horrifying” moments as in other seasons and Elsa is probably Jessica’s worst performance (which is still an incredible one by anybody else’s standards), however it makes up for it with the most sympathetic bunch of characters yet, and on the flip side, also one of the most amusingly depraved with Finn Wittrock’s Dandy Mott. Fans usually argue that the season went downhill once *SPOILER* Twisty the Clown was killed off but for me, he really primarily served as the catalyst for the far more interesting devolution of Dandy, who, imo, is the show’s strongest villain to date, rivalled only by Bloody Face. Then there was the episode Orphans too which made me cry buckets, the sole AHS episode to do so.

We got a lot of great fashion content in this season too: the theatrical opulence of Elsa Mars’ wardrobe, “Maggie”’s nomadic fortune teller costumes, and all those twee suits we saw Finn Wittrock in. Highly underrated if you ask me. It seems an odd choice for me to use Elsa’s Dominatrix look as an inspiration for one of my looks here when we have that Life on Mars performance outfit and all the extravagant robes Jessica got to waltz around in for reference buuuut I didn’t really have anything to do the vibrancy of either of those justice so I went with the black leather option which is much more me. Am I saying I moonlight as a dominatrix? Maybe. Lol, no. I wish. It’s not for lack of trying. WHERE ARE ALL THE GENUINE TWITTER PAYPIGS AT!? Your girl wants to insult creepy men and get some new clothes out of it xoxo

Hotel: Hypodermic Sally, Liz Taylor, and The Countess

-silk white bralet from xlibby_maix on Depop-

Hotel is another season that I liked a lottttt more upon rewatch, once I knew I was okay to tune out the (completely predictable and utterly nonsensical) Ten Commandments Killer storyline that so much of the season initially seems to hinge on. I love Chloë Sevigny but the fact that her and Wes Bentley’s wooden John and Alex Lowe are positioned as the protagonists at the expense of the far more interesting Liz Taylor, James March and Hypodermic Sally really does a disservice to what is an otherwise great season upon initial viewing.

The visuals this season are magnificent and I think if I had to pick one character’s wardrobe to steal from the entire cast of AHS characters, it would be The Countess (a toss up between her and Misty Day tbh, so I kinda just settle for low-key channelling both). No fucking idea where I'd wear any of her clothes to but I’d make it work. Liz Taylor and Hypodermic Sally have some amazing looks too-there’s just honestly so much to choose from; that being said, this post wouldn’t be complete without a specific ode to the vampire goddess Elizabeth Bathory, who is everything I want to be in life minus the murderous qualities:

Everything. EVER-Y-THING. LOOK AT HER!

Lady Gaga is really a fucking goddess isn’t she. And people were claiming before they’d even seen it that she couldn’t act? A patriarchal society doesn’t like women that can do it all. Just saying.

Anyways!

That’s it for now! I hope you enjoyed the post if you did read til the end! Sorry I couldn’t get this out before Halloween, I was typing and Picmonkey-ing madly from 2 in the afternoon on the 31st but I taking fucking forever to get ready and had to abandon all hope of getting it out on the day by 4PM. I’ve got so much content planned and it sucks because a couple of them are lookbooks which now feel completely redundant given we’re heading into a second lockdown, but maybe I should just do it anyway? The grunge inspired moodboard I just did seemed to get a good reception too so I’ve got some more of them planned.

As always, hope everyone is keeping well, and feel free to inbox me with any suggestions, queries or even just to say hi if you need someone to talk to! I check here quite a lot so I should see it. Lots of love to everyone in this time!

Lauren x

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scientistowengottlieb-newtkelly · 4 years

Note

Thoughts and feelings about Pacific Rim 2?

you sure you wanna open up that particular can of worms?

movie review time! be warned i'm not in a good mood as i am shaking in pain, however this review would have been scathing regardless. and none of this is to say pacific rim is perfect, it's not, but... aye, i have no words for the world of difference there. oh wait! i do:

so. first and foremost, i hate it. as both a movie and a sequel. did i find it entertaining? yes, mildly, so i suppose it did its job, however the only thing that keeps me watching it is because, simply, it's part of the pacific rim franchise whether we like it or not. therefore, i squeeze as much salvageable content from it as i can, such as how one might analyze the precursors, how we are to view hermann and newt as characters pre-, during, and post-uprising, what we are to expect from drifting (though this one i take with a grain of salt, there is a whole other rant preserved for the joke of an attempt to develop that shit within the movie)

one of my biggest issues with pacific rim is really simple: it plays out like DeKnight did not watch the first fucking movie or was scrolling through twitter while doing it and decided he'd make a cash grab since the first one was relatively popular. "haha the kaiju were going for mount fuji the whole time!!" bitch no they weren't!!! why the fuck did they end up anywhere near sydney, australia, then!!! why did they turn tail on places like manila and san fran instead of heading straight for japan!!! WHY DID THE ONE THAT WAS IN JAPAN NOT SUCCEED, THERE'S NO WAY WITH THOSE MARK 1 JAEGERS THEY'D HAVE BEEN ABLE TO REASONABLY FIGURE OUT THEIR PLAN AND WHERE THEY WERE GOING IN TIME TO STOP THEM!!! newt literally lays out what they are doing in the first movie and they completely ignored that!!! not to mention, if the destruction from elements found in mount fuji would have been enough to terraform the earth, WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST FUCKING DO THAT WHEN THEY WERE SUPPOSEDLY ON EARTH AGES AGO??? THERE WERE VOLCANOES WITH THOSE SAME ELEMENTS BEFORE RIGHT NOW, VOLCANOES ARE NOT A RELATIVELY NEW THING EARTH CREATED SUDDENLY AND I WOULD IMAGINE NEITHER ARE THOSE ELEMENTS!!! IT MAKES NO SENSE!!! and.... okay the fucking drones. how did those bitches make breaches??? we know the breach is some result of precursor/kaiju technology, apparently they know the breach's atomic structure as hermann said in the first movie, but how tf some kaiju organs and tech from earth only is ALL it takes to open a breach... illudes and confuses me... why were no more breaches made by the precursors once they realized how long and how many resources it was taking to kill the humans off??? if it's??? shit they could do with simple earth materials + their own biology??? they could have ended things much faster??? shit just doesn't add up, idk, that was Vague and Annoyed Me

and the jaegers.... were....... strange? the fight scenes were so underwhelming, i could count on one hand the number of maneuvers—NOT SCENES, MANEUVERS—i thought were badass and moved well. their fighting was confusing and paced really weird and some of the moves they pulled... don't... work like that... like some of those scenes were just hand-to-hand combat but in big robot form and they didn't sit right with me at all.

and the characters......... oh my word, the characters. look: i love jake pentecost with all of my heart and soul and john boyega's beautiful acting just barely saves the movie from its poor writing. i do love him as a character. but can someone explain to me why in the world they thought it was a good idea to make the only black guy a black market thief/runner, deep-record criminal with daddy and authority issues, and who they dare try to play off as some kind of lazy??? they made him every stereotype they could and said "yeah let's go with that". i'm- aaaaaaaaaaaaaa and what was with the child soldiers??? ROBOCOPS?????? mako....... character assassination at its worst........ my baby......... but the movie was paced so GOD DAMN POORLY I GOT BORED AND LITERALLY MISSED HER DYING THE FIRST TIME I WATCHED IT. and i couldn't tell you the names of half of those poor damn kids, i really couldn't. and can i also say they killed off one of the only two darker skinned kids?? like y'all???? the other darker skinned kids (one of the children i can't remember the names of because it was uttered ONCE in the entire movie or some shit) didn't even GET characterization. my whole heart goes out to her and those other underdeveloped fucks. speaking of...... i am ashamed about jules. from the movie that brought us the mako mori test, they threw in a girl simply for the sake of some shitty, awkward, and unexplained love triangle between jake and White Angst without much else to put to her name. she deserved better. amara was... a decent shot, but very hit or miss because of the writing. i, personally, am very neutral about her leaning towards liking her, but i know people who swing love and who swing hate. liwen was like,,,, they tried really hard to make her unlikable at the beginning because "oh no, she must be the villain! GOTTEM plot twist!!!" and then suddenly she's no longer. threatening everyone except newt. idk i feel like they leaned to heavily one way and i got whiplash when she's actually another but there was nothing to... portray that. at all. i do like her character, and that says a lot because they got me to sympathize with a capitalist without actually regretting it later, but there could/should have been More there. she was powerful, though, in multiple different aspects, and we saw that from her CONSISTENTLY and i 😳🥵👀💕 mako mori test pass for her

now, let's talk about hermann (and by extention, newton, however he'll be getting a section all his own the rat bastard). that man is one of the single instances of decent cross-movie characterization i saw in the whole god damn film. the idea that he takes on newton's roles, that he is more outspoken for himself, that he is just slightly more unhinged after his drift with newton: THAT is on point. he's himself, you can see it, you still know that he's hermann with ever step, but there's something that has shifted in him in those 10 years and it's good without being too much. the "i still get nightmares" scene, the way he presents himself, that scene gives me chills because god bless burn gorman and his acting ability. every face and intonation of his voice is just wonderful and i think his performance was great for what he was given. king shit.

the biggest disappointment of my life came in the form of a kaiju vest wearing bitch at work. at his corporate job. as a boss. for a tech company that undermines all of his and, frankly, hermann's work over their lifetimes. 10 years older and exaggerated to the teeth. newton "move you fascist" geiszler. let me preface this by stating for all to see that i do not hate the idea of newton being the villain. story wise it was a bold move and there was something possible there. BUT THE IMPLICATION THAT ONE OF THE MOST OBVIOUSLY NEURODIVERGENT CHARACTERS IN THE WHOLE FUCKING FRANCHISE, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THAT HE HAS BEEN CHARACTERIZED AS HAVING A "BORDERLINE MANIC PERSONALITY" AKA HAVING ONE OF THE MOST DEMONIZED MENTAL ILLNESSES OUT THERE, ENDS UP ACTING AS THE GOD DAMN VILLAIN OF THE STORY IS A HOT GARBAGE TAKE WHEN YOU FACTOR IN THINGS LIKE POOR WRITING NOT MAKING IT CLEAR WHETHER OR NOT NEWTON IS EVEN IN CONTROL OF HIS OWN FACULTIES AND THE VAGUENESS OF "WILL HE BE 'REDEEMED' OR NOT" BEING UP IN THE AIR LIKELY NEVER TO BE CANONICALLY FUCKING ANSWERED BECAUSE BECKHAM AND DEKNIGHT SHAT OUT A MOVIE THAT BOMBED IN THE BOX OFFICE. we aren't even gonna TALK about the fact that this bitch got AWAY with it despite not even acting in a remotely stable way comparable to himself in the first movie in the 10 years he supposedly dropped off the map from all of his friends because, clearly, hermann hadn't seen him or he wouldn't be so excited with a picture of the two of them on his desk, nor would he have to tell newton about his idea for rocket thrusters with kaiju blood fuel because he would have simply written to him about it. for some strange reason people see his ass show up decked out in a suit he wouldn't even wear for Stacker Fucking Pentecost and a behavior of "Haha Gotta Listen To The Boss" and think "ah, yes, well, time changes a person. THIS BITCH HAS APPARENTLY BEEN LIKE THIS THE WHOLE TIME, YOU THINK HE GOT A JOB WITH LIWEN LOOKING AND ACTING LIKE HE DID BEFORE AND THERE WAS A SHIFT OVER TIME? NO, HE HAD TO HAVE CHANGED IN A SPLIT DECISION AND LIED ABOUT HIMSELF THROUGH HIS TEETH AND NO ONE CONTACTED HIM, OR WAS WORRIED ABOUT HIM, OR DECIDEDLY THOUGHT "YOU KNOW, HE MAY BE EMBOLDENED THAT HE SAVED THE WORLD, BUT I THINK SOMETHING LIKE THAT WOULD HAVE THE EXACT OPPOSITE EFFECT ON HIM AND HE WOULD DO HIS BEST TO AMPLIFY HIS CURRENT STANDING TRAITS. LISTENING TO AND KISSING THE BOOT OF AUTHORITY FIGURES? DIVORCING HIMSELF FROM HIS WORK WITH KAIJU XENOBIOLOGY THAT EVEN HERMANN PICKED UP? TO BECOME THE THING HE HATES? AND FOR WHAT? MONEY? FAME? BITCH WHO ARE YOU?" unreasonable. ridiculous attempt to do this just for a plot twist that was underwhelming at best. i've decided to stick to the fan theory that he was not in control 99% of the time but literally that movie causes such a hellfire path to appear in my wake as i think about it because i know people who don't take it like that and think newt wants what's happening because "haha horny kaiju man" and i wish to scream at the top of my lungs because this is exactly WHY you CANNOT spare ANY EXPENSE to the GOOD, PROPER, INTRICATE directing and writing of a character who is neurodivergent and also ONE OF THE CENTERS OF NOT JUST THE MOVIE YOU'RE WRITING, BUT THE FUCKING MOVIE AFTER THAT. i could go on but i sincerely don't fucking want to, despite how long i've been waiting for someone to willingly hear me out on all of this. all i'll say is if by some miracle they are greenlit for a third film and deknight's working on it and i see ANY sign of a bury your gays end for newt, i'm going to commit the first hate crime against a cishet white male.

to end, the only valid kaiju in that movie was the mega-kaiju, i don't remember the appearance or the names of the three that got through the breaches but the mega-kaiju could kill me and i'd die happy 🥰 beautiful design, that scale comparison when it came face to face with newt? amazing, chills, *chef's kiss* there are exactly two things i liked about uprising and that bitch is one of them.

sorry if this isn't what you wanted, but as i said i am in a bit of a bad mood and have been curled up in bed trying not to think that i'm dying and i've repressed all of this for a couple months now and very few people have actually heard PORTIONS of my frustration so. here it is.

#rowboat speaks #i'm gonna go puke now #or just. fall asleep on the bathroom floor or something.#pacific rim #pacific rim uprising

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theonceoverthinker · 4 years

Text

Why Clover Isn’t Going to be a Traitor

So, @fairgame-is-endgame made a great post this last night debunking some of the more ludicrous pieces of evidence as to why Clover’s is not a traitor. It’s an awesome post and if you’re a Clover or Fair Game fan, you’re gonna want to check it out.

This is a continuation of sorts because as opposed to taking down the minute details being honed in on as evidence of why Clover might be a traitor, I want to compile the evidence presented by the show and secondary material (Ex. Amity Arena) that show strong signs that whatever Clover’s character direction will ultimately be, it won’t be as a traitor to the larger group fighting against Salem (And possibly not even against Ironwood).

So, what is my goal here? To reassure my fellow Fair Game friends that we’re not headed straight for a pitfall? To give the haters a piece of my mind? To speak into the bottomless chasm that is the Internet as a means of dealing with my fandom-based RWBY loneliness? ...A little bit of all of that, if I’m being honest. In any event, I don’t post a ton of analysis pieces, but this is something I feel strongly enough about to give voice to, so let’s see how it goes!

Everything’s under the cut because this is fairly long!

1. The Clover/Robyn scene from 7X5

If Clover was ever going to be set up as a surprise antagonist, it was going to start to show itself in this scene -- a scene that pits Clover against a character he views in an antagonistic light that didn’t end up being a misunderstanding -- more than any place else.

And it did the exact opposite.

I mean...it did a little, even with the context of Clover and Ironwood’s true goals. Clover is pretty cold to her under his veneer of carefreeness and stops Ruby as she even tries to relate to Robyn (Perhaps that’s out of a fear of Ruby telling her too much, or perhaps it’s just a sense of distrust, but that will probably be revealed soon enough). I’ll walk with you that far and admit to some slight shadiness. But I’m going to argue that that only goes to a certain point, and a small point at that by highlighting the biggest takeaways of that scene.

The scene between Clover and Robyn tells us a few things.

-Clover and Robyn’s opening dialogue, tone, and animation make it very clear that they’ve met before, but are not on good terms with each other. This is further communicated by Clover’s adamant refusal to disclose information to Robyn about the supplies. Now, I’m going to argue that in Clover’s defense, it just makes sense that when faced with a frenemy (That’s being kind) who is looking for information he has no desire or order to give to her (As we’ll learn later, Clover is a by-the-book guy), that he be in no hurry to tell her what’s going on. Additionally, while he lies to her face about his intentions, he’s very clearly speaking in a way that communicates that something IS going on that he cant speak of (His vocal inflections show that he clearly doesn’t expect Robyn to believe that the tower is getting a checkup, but hopes that it will be enough to shut her down for a bit), giving her that much information to work with at least until she gets elected.

-Clover’s not especially excited about the prospect of Robyn being elected onto the council, but he still wishes Robyn good luck in the election. Not only that, but the facial expressions he gives her, the tone in which his words are said, and the fact that he delayed his return to the van just to do so heavily imply that it’s a genuine wish. Granted, we later learn that this may only be for reasons amounting to the fact that she’s not Jacques Schnee, but still, he knows she wants to help, and while they don’t get along, he’s receptive to that desire.

-Robyn trusts Clover enough that she reasons that asking for him to disclose information is a worthy pursuit (She does so twice) before attempting to attack the group. Otherwise, she’d have gone after them the moment they stepped out of the van. Since Robyn’s a character we’re supposed to end the scene having trust in, the fact that she does have lingering trust in Clover leaves the impression that we should as well.

All in all, while we don’t know a lot of tangible information pertaining to what they are to each other at this point in the story, we do get a surprisingly large emotional understanding here of their complicated dynamic. We know Robyn is correct in how the people of Mantle deserve to be informed of these goings on, but also why Clover is right to keep his mouth shut until the time comes to reveal all, and I think the attention to this dynamic paid here shows that both of these characters have their hearts in the right place.

2. Amity Arena Card (And Its Follow Up Twitter Post/Introductory Loot Drop)

There are two things I want to point out about this description that I want to touch upon here.

First, “there’s nothing subtle about what the Ace Ops leader Clover is about.” Now, that’s not to say he has no hidden depths to his character (It would really suck if there wasn’t any more to him), but I feel like these few words communicate a lack of secrecy as to his values, personality, and alignments. Can having all three of these things be positive still amount to a villain? Sure -- you can kind of say that makes him like Hazel in that regard -- but I think my next point will solidify that’s not the case.

Second, I’m gonna make this one short and sweet. There is no way to basically say that ‘this new character (Clover) is going to kick a beloved protagonist’s butt (Qrow’s butt) and that will be a good thing for said protagonist,’ and then have that new character end up being a baddie. While my knowledge of the game is a limited since I don’t actually play it, I did do some research today, looking at various cards for both protagonists and antagonists, and they overwhelmingly geared the framing of these card descriptions towards a more hero-focused outlook on the characters. Basically, this game is not about to cheer for a hero like Qrow to be defeated by someone who will turn out to be a villain, if for no other reason than it’s a poor choice for the game’s long term posterity.

But just in case that card’s second-to-last line left anyone with lingering doubts about its intentions, the RWBY Amity Arena Twitter page was kind enough to elaborate on it!

I feel like that wink emoji should be doing my work for me here. If there was ever a doubt as to the intention of the wording, this tweet should clear it up. Clover is so clearly being shown by the Amity Arena card as a positive influence on Qrow’s life, and in a way that implies that that’s not about to change anytime soon.

Like, if they wanted to convey ambiguity as to Clover’s moral alignment, they could’ve just said something along the lines of “Who knows,” or “Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” In the world of Remnant, ambiguity is a force more powerful than the Light and Dark Gods combined, and one that knows no shortage of uses! But no, they literally spelled out that line’s intended meaning, with inflections and a winky face to boot!

I’m not going to try to go into detail about all of the little intricacies of this reward card, because someone already did it for me! I direct you to this AMAZING analysis by @scathing-eyes where she highlights both what this single message has to say about Clover and Fair Game at large.

3. Introductory Card on Twitter

Thank you so much to @homokinetic for linking me to this card!

If you’re trying to depict a shady character or even one who you have twisted intentions for, this is not the description you use for them. Here, we’re not given soft and vague allusions to Clover’s allegiances that could imply sinister motives. We’re told flat out that Clover acts in the best interests of Atlas and does things by the book. I mean honestly, that second point should de-trigger any alarm bells because Salem...doesn’t really have a book. I mean, she has goals, but as to how they get done? She doesn’t care! But Clover and Ironwood care about doing things by the book because they feel like those rules, for as flawed as they are, are what will keep the world from succumbing to chaos (Whether they’re right or wrong...look, I love these two, but they are flawed -- not evil, but flawed). Salem, on the other hand, worships the idea of chaos since it makes her goals that much easier to fulfill.

I think the line “tries to bring out the best in people” is also important. Salem’s forces gain strength by exploiting the worst qualities in people, and Clover stands in stark contrast to that philosophy by focusing on nurturing their best qualities. This is well communicated in the series with his actions towards Qrow and the introduction to the routines and options that the new Huntsmen now have access to. Not only that, but those means of nurturing come down to themes of unity and order (Showing Qrow the benefits of working with others and taking pride in his accomplishments, showing the new Huntsmen the positive ways they can impact Atlas, encouraging them to take a night to refresh their spirits), literally the very outlooks on life that Salem seeks to obliterate in order to ensure that humanity will be destroyed again. Just in terms of philosophies, Salem’s team and Clover are so fundamentally different in ways that just aren’t compatible. It’s not like Clover and Qrow where their differences complement each other and can mutually benefit the other. There is no way that Salem can benefit from posing a figure that inspires the endurance of the better qualities of the human spirit in a position of power.

4. The Overall Lack of Narrative Sense in Making Clover a Baddie

Clover is a character meant to foil and relate to Qrow. That’s not even an opinion. Everything from their contrasting semblances to their scenes together cement that as an absolute fact, and whether you ship it or not, their connection just can’t be ignored.

All that said, while Clover is an important part of this duo (Duh), it’s Qrow who is the focal point. Qrow is the character we’ve spent four seasons with and watched him struggle and develop through his journeys. So it’s fair to say that the impact of Clover and Fair Game on his character (Again, whether romantic or platonic) will be something that will significantly impact the direction of Qrow’s character going forward.

The next logical question, of course, is as follows: What’s the narrative point of Clover being a baddie for Qrow’s character? @skybird13 wrote a fantastic post about the overwhelming benefits of a genuine Clover as opposed to the redundancy of a Hans-esque traitor Clover storyline. You should absolutely read this post, but I’m going to quote the segment that spoke to me the most.

“I think the most surprising thing RT could do with Clover’s character at this point is to let him be exactly who he seems to be. Should he have his backstory and his secrets and his own demons to deal with? Absolutely. I would love to see that. But when it comes to Qrow’s trust in others, I think that has been pulverized enough throughout the series. Putting him through it again serves no narrative purpose except to send him right back into the tailspin that he’s currently digging himself out of which, in all honesty, isn’t great writing.“

And yeah, I have to ask: What point would another stab at Qrow’s trust do? If Qrow was meant to be a character who would face a tragic end, then why didn’t he back in Volume 6, when it would’ve been infinitely more appropriate? He literally lost faith in the person he dedicated his very life to. Why show Qrow recovering from his low point and building him up in Volume 7 just to tear him down? Unlike a character like Ruby, someone young and idealistic who watches the conventions of trust and goodness in her life crumble before her eyes over and over again and grows from it as she discovers new things about herself and others, Qrow has already had a lifetime’s worth of those ideals crashing and burning, and we’ve already seen the results of that growth, both on the high and low ends of his viewpoints on life, but especially the low points. What is the point of returning him there that couldn’t have been more naturally done but one volume earlier?

The Conclusion

...I’m bad at ending things. But I know I’ve made my case, and I’ve made it about as well as a case like this can be made.

Rooster Teeth, through both its primary and secondary means of storytelling, have made a strong case for a Clover who will remain loyal to the betterment of Remnant, regardless of the path he personally chooses to get there (Joining Robyn vs. Staying with Ironwood). For them to change gears after all this setup and make Clover an ally of Salem would be frankly nonsensical after all of this careful buildup.

Could it turn out that I’m wrong? Of course, but despite the suspense in my heart, I can’t help but trust RT here. Maybe that’t the result of that bop of an intro. Maybe it’s the prospect of my new ship becoming canon. But I don’t think that trust -- while based in emotion -- is baseless, and if RWBY has a theme, isn’t it to have a perspective like that?

So here’s hoping the Clover is just another instance of the payoff of trusting love!

#clover ebi #rwby #fair game #qrow branwen #fair game hcs

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miximax-hell · 4 years

Photo

Happy Goku Day, everyone!!

I checked and, miraculously, I still have followers on this blog. In fact, I’ve gained some since the last time I posted, for some reason! I’m not going to question it, though. Just... bless. But, hey, long time no see! As usual!

This time, I’m going back to my roots. The first drawings I posted on this blog were meant to show my love towards original Raimon, and it’s never a bad time to remind you all that I still adore these kids. Especially now that my friend @dust-monsters-under-my-bed has reminded me of them. Go check her art, btw! She’s not very active on Tumblr, but you can find her art on Twitter right here: https://twitter.com/rachelmonart

Anyway, she’s watching Inazuma Eleven for the first time and she’s made me think again about how much love these kids deserve, BECAUSE THEY SURE GOT NONE FROM HINO. DAMN YOU, HINO. So, today, let’s talk about the one and only IE character whose feet are classified as mass destruction weapons, who decided to borrow power from someone who will make you all question me, my logic and my tastes: Yamhan (or, as he is known in the west, Tiencha), THE FUSION OF YAMCHA AND TENSHINHAN FROM DRAGON BALL.

Introducing ShoYamHan! More on him under the cut.

So, first of all, how have you all been? I suppose many of you, like myself, are being told to stay at home to fight this situation. I salute all of you who do your best to stay safe and not help spread anything. It’s a very necessary fight, even if it can be boring at times. Many of us have friends or relatives fighting on the frontline, though (unless you yourself are the doctor or nurse friend!), and we hopefully know that staying at home is a small price to pay.

As for me, I got a job in December and lost it last month, so... yeah. It’s not been great. Still, something I’ve been working hard on for a while should be released soon and that’s so exciting! MY NAME WILL FINALLY BE ON SOMETHING’S CREDITS AND I CAN’T WAIT FOR IT TO BE UP.

But, anyway, back to business!

Rachel suggested I talk about the reasons behind this particular miximax, and considering it makes for a perfect parallel with my first posts, where I talked about the reasons behind Max’s and Kageno’s miximaxes, I’m all up for it! But, this time, I will have to do something new: explain WHO THE HECK YAMHAN IS. So let’s start with a picture of this handsome devil.

As most of you hopefully know, this project is about miximaxing Inazuma characters with video game characters. No anime, movies or anything else. Only and exclusively video games. Dragon Ball has probably spawned all those things, but it started as a manga, so you’d be right to think it most definitely does not qualify for this project. And, indeed, Dragon Ball doesn't. What DOES qualify, however, are Dragon Ball characters exclusive, or first introduced, in a video game. And that’s exactly the case we’re dealing with here!

Growing up, I loved Dragon Ball games. Even before I watched the show properly, in fact! I would go to my friend’s house, who was a fan of the show, and we'd play the Dragon Ball Budokai games nonstop with absolutely zero regrets. Those were some great times. And once I came to know the source material, the game that blew my mind the most was Dragon Ball Budokai 2. Was it the best one? Not necessarily. Is it my favourite? Not by a long shot. Still, it was the most creative! Most games follow the story of DBZ, which, obviously, is always the same. But Budokai 2 wasn’t afraid to do new things. Its story mode resembled a tabletop game and it was more than happy to deviate from the source material in some really fun ways; most notably, with exclusive fusions.

Budokai 2 introduced us all to Yamhan, the fusion of Yamcha and Tenshinhan, two long forgotten characters in the series, as they (and especially poor Yamcha) didn’t do anything especially relevant past... well, past the original Dragon Ball. As a champion of the unloved, that blew my mind. There were other fun things in Budokai 2, but what fascinated me and stayed in my thoughts for years to come was Yamhan. It was just such a cool concept. Two underdogs who had fallen into obscurity fusing to create a much greater warrior!

Of course, Yamhan isn’t the only videogame exclusive characters in Dragon Ball. He isn’t the first, nor the last. Yamhan isn’t the strongest, nor the weakest. But I haven’t played FighterZ nor Fusions (yet), nor pretty much any game that wasn’t on PS2 or GBA. And even if I had, I doubt Android 21 or any of the HUNDREDS of combinations available in Fusions would captivate me and my imagination as much as Yamhan did back in the day. Yamhan was a fusion, which is something that has always fascinated me to begin with. I MEAN, THIS ENTIRE BLOG IS ABOUT FUSING CHARACTERS, SO I THINK IT’S PRETTY OBVIOUS LMAO But he wasn’t just one among hundreds. He was this very specific, never-seen-before, cool as heck and usable fusion. Like, wow. That was wild for me. Sign me up, man.

But, you know, I try not to let that sway me too much. Of course, I wouldn’t likely pick a character I hate for a miximax, but, still, my preferences aren’t everything. And choosing Yamhan begs a question that I have already alluded to: if Yamhan isn’t the strongest game-exclusive DB character out there, then, why him? Well, the answer to that is related to the biggest problem posed by the sheer concept of miximaxing with a Dragon Ball character:

Power escalation.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Goku is, pretty much, the strongest character that has ever played the lead in any manga, and one of the strongest fictional characters ever, period. By the end of the Dragon Ball Super anime, he has EXCEEDED THE POWER OF MANY LITERAL GODS AND IS (or has been) A CANDIDATE TO BECOME ONE. You may prefer One Piece, or Naruto, or anything else, but few things reach the astronomical, reality-bending scope of Dragon Ball. Not to say DB is the best series--I’m just saying that it’s so out of control at this point (and I love it). But, of course, the stronger Goku is, the stronger the villains need to be, and Goku ends up becoming EVEN stronger than said villains. Rinse and repeat dozens of times until you can make an entire universe disappear by raising your hand.

Now, imagine applying that out-of-this-world power escalation to a context where the power balance isn’t so outrageous. For example, Inazuma Eleven.

Goku wriggling in his sleep is more powerful than Zeus, and an accidental sneeze would smash all of Ixal Fleet to smithereens. Do you see what this would do to the balance? It would ruin it completely, as anyone who miximaxed with Goku would be immediately a one-person army able to defeat ANY opponent--and if the opponent were to be EVEN GREATER than Goku, well, the rest simply wouldn’t stand a chance. Ever. Remember: the point of this project isn’t to create perfect and unbeatable players, and I’m not trying to prioritize anyone or make them noticeably stronger than anyone else just because I happen to like X more than Y. That completely ruins the tension and the fun (and my attempts to create justice in this unfair universe). The point is to come up with a balanced team full of players with strong points, but with flaws, too, that complement each other when they play together against stronger enemies.

So, if we go with Dragon Ball, and I love Dragon Ball WAY too much to not include it in this project in some way, we have to be careful and avoid overdoing it. Balance is key. And now that you know why I didn’t just choose the fusion between Beerus and Whis or something crazy like that, I’ll move on to explain what makes Yamhan a very interesting option. I SWEAR THERE ARE SOME ACTUAL REASONS.

First of all, the very concept. You know, Yamcha and Tenshinhan fused to created Yamhan, and now, Shourin is fusing with a fusion. That’s just... hecking cool. I won’t lie--my preferences towards Yamhan didn’t tip the scales towards making this happen, but my preferences towards FUSIONCEPTION totally did. XD But there’s more, thankfully.

From the very beginning, I knew I wanted a fighting game character to miximax with Shourin because it fits his theme best. I’m not big on fighting games, though, so it was quite tough. Especially because just any fighting game wouldn’t do it. Shourin is a martial artist. As I mentioned at the very beginning of this post, his feet are his weapons. His entire body is a weapon, really. If I were to suddenly miximax him with some character who wields a sword or an axe, for example, it would be a complete disservice to Shourin. Original Raimon members don’t have much going on for themselves, and I’m going to cut or ignore the ONE thing that makes one of them special? Not in a zillion years. Shourin needs to fight with his body. That, of course, cuts many characters already: pretty much the entire roster of Soul Calibur, many members of Mortal Kombat, many from games like Skullgirls (which I still want to try to represent here in the future, because @lumaga worked on it and it makes me happy just because of that), etc. For a very long time, I considered someone like Ryu, from Street Fighter, but then it hit me: I have never played Street Fighter and I don’t want to include him just because I know what a Hadouken is. It’d be... cheap. And fake. Thankfully, as I also mentioned earlier, I played LOTS of Budokai back in the day and I am an actual fan, so I don’t have to pretend to know what the heck I’m talking about. XD And, thankfully, most of the characters in DB games fight with their bare fists and legs, so they perfectly fit my needs. Yamhan is, of course, no exception.

Now comes my favourite reason to choose Yamhan and not, well, literally any other DB game-exclusive character. And that reason is style.

Remember that power escalation thing I mentioned earlier? Well, it’s epic, but it comes with a big disadvantage: power ends up becoming much more important than skill. Early Dragon Ball was very focused on fighting styles. There was an ongoing feud between the Turtle School and the Crane School, who taught different martial arts to fight in different ways, and there was a big plot involving which one was superior. It wasn’t just about who was strongest, but about who fought better. With time, that disappeared, though. Even though battles became flashier, aerial and more spectacular, they were much more indistinct. Sure, there were gimmicks like “heh, I have a tail and I will sometimes hit you with it,” or “I will try to hit your face with the palm of my hand instead of my fist for some unspecified reason,” but that isn’t... much. You just see very fast people avoiding equally as fast punches to the face. And Goku, the main character, only shows some style when he adopts a fighting pose BEFORE fighting. Once the punches start flying, it’s all a race to see who can hit the other the hardest in the gut to make them spit blood. Cool nonetheless, but still.

Ironically, though, it’s two of the least relevant characters who never really lost those styles that made them unique when they were first introduced to the series. And those are, of course, Yamcha and Tenshinhan.

Yamcha joins the Turtle School and learns techniques as classic as the Kamehameha, but he had his own style way before that, based on attacking and tearing enemies apart like a wolf would. This is best represented by his signature move, the Rougafuufuuken or Wolf Fang Fist. He never drops this style, but instead builds up on it through his training to make it even fiercer.

Tenshinhan has different things going for himself. First of all, he is a hybrid between a human being and a civilization known as the Three-Eyed People, which grants him powers such as growing extra arms from his back or dividing in 4. Not just moving so fast that it looks like there’s four of him, but ACTUALLY dividing into 4 separate bodies. In terms of skills, he was a Crane School student, but when he realised the wrong of his master’s doings, he decided to start training and developing on his own. Basically, a path that mirrors Yamcha’s, but both lead to unique fighting styles unlike anyone else’s in this universe. And, most importantly, none of them depend on appendixes that are always there, like the aforementioned tail, so they totally work for us here!

Shourin is a proper martial artist. He wouldn’t want to make himself crazy strong as much as he would like to refine his technique and learn new moves and tricks. Martial arts are about discipline, self-control, skill and protection. He would take a cool-ass combo based on a wolf’s moves over earth-shattering strength any day of the week, hence why the fact that these two have so many techniques to offer is so appealing.

Finally, and probably least, is the design idea that immediately came to my mind when I thought of a miximax between Shourin and Yamhan. Historically, I have had to work with characters like Fudou, who are usually mostly bald and they miximax with someone with hair, thus making for some very... difficult things to figure out. But the idea of miximaxing Shourin, who is mostly bald, with Yamhan, who is ALSO mostly bald, was just golden and too good to ignore. And the fact that Yamhan has three eyes GIVES ME AN EXCUSE TO ADD A THIRD CROSS-SHAPED EYE ON SHOURIN’S FOREHEAD. IF A MIXIMAX BETWEEN BALD PEOPLE WAS GOLDEN, THIS IS OUTRIGHT PLATINUM.

Shourin would've probably looked a lot less like a joke if he had had hair covering his entire head or if I had at least given him proper eyes... but that would no longer be the Shourin I love. Not to mention that it’s very likely that Shourin willingly shaves his head to begin with (even if the ponytail ain’t doing him any favours--but that’s just Inazuma logic, so let’s not look too much into it), just like Tenshinhan or Krillin do, so he would probably be happier to keep that, uh, advantage. Relative advantage, but still.

As a side note, though, we can’t forget the balance. When Yamcha and Tenshinhan fuse, they undoubtedly become the strongest human being in the DB universe, overcoming the one who is usually strongest: Krillin. A fusion is always greater than its parts individually, and Yamcha and Tenshinhan aren’t so far away from Krillin to begin with, so that’s not even a question. Regardless, they still don’t have that overwhelming and surreal strength from other characters, so we still don’t get into absolutely OP territory. Yamhan is strong enough to provide Shourin with a power that can make a real difference without completely putting him above everyone else.

Sadly, Yamhan doesn’t really have a backstory, as he’s a game-exclusive character that, honestly, was probably only there for a laugh. That means there is no deep connection between them. We can, however, make obvious connections between Shourin, an aspiring martial artist whose dream, as stated in IE2, was to study at Manyuuji (Kogure’s school) for their focus on martial arts, and is now trying to become stronger to protect what he loves, and two skilled warriors who have been training nonstop under different masters and on their own for basically their entire lives to keep becoming stronger and more skilled in order to defend what’s precious to them and, simply, to be the best version of themselves they can be. Upon seeing such dedicated warriors and artists, Shourin would undoubtedly want to learn from them and, if necessary, borrow their strength too.

Or he might just fanboy and ask for their autographs, honestly. I sure as heck want Yamcha’s. And his baseball card.

#Shourin #Shourinji Ayumu #Inazuma Eleven #Inazuma Eleven Go #Inazuma Eleven Ares #Inazuma Eleven Ares no Tenbin #Inazuma Eleven Orion #Inazuma Eleven Orion no Kokuin #miximax #mixi max #original Raimon #settei #reasons behind the miximax #info

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cannibalisticapple · 4 years

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I have fallen into the Sprinkles Cult by @corndog-patrol and was going to send an ask about it, but then this happened instead. I don’t know how this happened, I don’t even know if it’s in the Villain!Mic AU or the canon universe or what.

Maybe this is set in all the AUs, in all the many different multiverses both hero and villain, civilian or not, Quirked or Quirkless.

ALL HAIL SPRINKLES

The first time Hizashi thought something might be off was when he came home to find a pentagram drawn on the floor in what might be blood.

Now, Hizashi lived in a pretty bad neighborhood so it wasn’t too weird that someone might break into his apartment and draw the symbol of a satanic ritual. Actually, this wasn’t even the first time this exact thing happened (which was a weird story for another day).

Unlike last time though, the people who broke in hadn’t ransacked his place to steal stuff. Also, the lingering smell of vanilla-scented candles pervaded the area, indicating they’d actually been lit this time, with a touch of rotten eggs. It confused him because when he checked his fridge he didn’t even have any eggs. Confused, he went to the remains of the candles sitting at the ends of each point of the pentagram.

“Do you think these things can go bad?” Hizashi asked Sprinkles while scratching his head. The lovely soft ginger-brown cat mewed, blinking her big, sparkly eyes with an innocence that gave him no answers but still filled him with warmth and reassurance. Aww, how could he ever feel sad when he had Sprinkles around? Thank goodness the people who broke in hadn’t hurt her!

With that thought he decided to rekey his locks just to be safe. Who knows what satanic cults would do to a sweet cat like Sprinkles? On his way to the store he dropped the five used candles in a random dumpster, figuring it’d be safer to get rid of them.

oOoOo

The second time he felt something might be going on was when he was going through his drawers.

He’d been rooting through his “leftover” drawer for something to wear, having already uprooted most of his closet and the other drawers. Nothing had really stuck out to him today, so he’d turned his attention to the bottom right drawer which he rarely touched. The “leftover” drawer was full of clothing that had fallen out of favor for whatever reason, like having to rid of the usual paired garment. He should probably clean it out sometime.

He picked up a shirt for a band that made his nose wrinkle (seriously, how had he ever liked those guys!?), and that’s when he saw it. The bright yellow stars against the purple fabric caught his eye immediately, his face lighting up with delight.

“That looks perfect!” he exclaimed, tossing aside the band shirt to pull out the starry-patterned garment. His excitement soon fell though as he realized it wasn’t a cool shirt, but some sort of... Actually, he wasn’t sure what it was? When he held it up it unfolded a bit, revealing a large rectangle of fabric. It had a sort of curve to the center, and holes near each end of the rectangle.

He turned it around with a frown, puzzled. “Is this one of those hair towel things?” he muttered uncertainly. He’d seen some special towels for sale designed to easily wrap your hair after showers. It didn’t feel like a towel though, the fabric not exactly water-absorbent. The two holes also seemed to point away from that being the case.

Glancing at the drawer as if hoping it would provide some form of answer, he was then surprised when it kinda did. There was another starry-patterned thing there, a little smooshed from being stored under all the clothes. When he pulled it out it almost instantly popped into its regular shape, revealing a wizard hat. A very small, cute wizard hat.

“Heh, this is kinda cute,” he said to himself with a small smile. Pausing, after a long moment he put it on his head and twirled to look in his mirror. Alas, the hat was too small for his human head and looked more silly than fun, his shoulders slumping in disappointment as he sadly removed it. Darn, Hizashi loved getting to dress up in silly looking stuff.

More importantly though, he still had no idea what the other thing was, or even where they came from. As he looked at them in disappointment he heard a familiar meow from the doorway, and turn to find Sprinkles blinking up at him with big sparkly eyes. “Hey Sprinkles,” he greeted with a big smile.

A bit of inspiration struck him, and he trotted over to plop the hat on her head. It fit perfectly, her ears disappearing inside and making him crow in delight. “Hah! That looks great, Sprinkles!” he cheered. “Like it was made for you!” He paused then, his gaze returning to the mystery fabric still in his hand. Hold on, maybe, just maybe...

Curiosity piqued, he removed the hat and tried to pull the mystery garment over her. Sprinkles was surprisingly patient with his attempts to dress him, even as he covered up her head in his attempts to pull it on. It seemed like it might not work, but then her head popped through the bigger hole and she blinked up at him with another happy mew.

Hizashi had to pause then, hands flying briefly to cover his mouth. “Oh my gosh,” he whispered. After several long seconds he gingerly reached out and pulled the tip of her tail through the hole on the other end. It popped through and immediately puffed up to its regular fluffiness, and his hands immediately returned to cover his mouth with a small squeak.

Eyes flicking to the hat, he pried one hand from his mouth to slowly reach out and pick it up, quickly depositing it on her head. His hand flew back as he gave another squeak, his eyes lighting up.

“Oh my gosh!” he repeated in a high-pitched squeak, voice breaking just slightly. Sprinkles just mewed, all sparkles and sunshine as she stood there in all her magical wizard glory.

Hizashi covered his mouth as he gave a muffled squeal, doing everything to keep his Quirk from slipping through. “It’s like it was made for you!” he squeaked out. Sprinkles was just so cute like this, it was almost like magic!

That night Sprinkles got a lot more love than usual, and given how much he usually fawned over her that was saying a lot.

(In the end, he forgot to wonder about where the stuff came from.)

oOoOo

The third indicator something was off was when he posted a picture of Sprinkles.

At first posting a picture of her in the wizard costume to his Twitter seemed like the obvious thing to do. How could he not share her adorableness with the world? Sprinkles was so cute in the wizard outfit! It captured the absolute innocence and cuteness that was the essence of Sprinkles! And all 43 pictures turned out great!

But seconds before hitting the “Tweet” button with three of the cuter photos he’d hesitated, a sudden doubt overtaking him. What if Sprinkles might be too cute? What if some jealous soul saw that picture of Sprinkles, and became so entranced by her adorableness that they decided to kidnap her? He’d already had satanists break in with egg-scented vanilla candles!

In the end, he decided not to. The risk was just too great.

But he couldn’t not show off his kitty, she was just too cute! So he decided to post a more neutral picture of her au naturel instead, settling on a picture of her sitting on the kitchen counter next to a bowl of ice cream. In his opinion it highlighted the sparkly quality of her eyes quite well, and was reasonably cute, but not might-get-her-kidnapped cute.

He added a caption “It’s all too sweet!” and hit send, and then muted his phone for the rest of the night. Using electronics too close to bedtime would make it that much harder to go to sleep after all, and even a handful of notifications would keep him up.

The next day, he unlocked his phone and almost fell off his chair when he saw all the likes and retweets he’d gotten. The picture had gone viral overnight, his account exploding with thousands of new followers. It overshadowed all his other posts.

Best of all though? Shouta had liked it.

He would later apologize many times to his landlord for breaking the window with his resulting squeal.

oOoOo

The fourth indication something might be off was tax season.

“I hate tax season,” Shouta said flatly when he showed up to his apartment for a romantic dinner. “I want to never see a tax form again.”

“Huh, doesn’t UA have fancy accountants to handle that?” Hizashi asked, genuinely surprised.

“Our accountants are busy handling all the finances involved in the constant reconstruction around the training grounds.” Pause. “And also replacing all the robots destroyed in training.” Pause. “And furniture destroyed in the dorms.” Pause. “And all the explosions from the Support Department. Apparently there’s been more than usual this year.”

“Yeah, they sound busy,” Hizashi agreed with a frown. “Well, if they’re that bad, you can leave it here!”

“You’d do my taxes?” Shouta snorted, but Hizashi shook his head.

“Not me. I hate doing them probably even more than you, yo!”

“Ah. So, you hire an accountant to do them? Wouldn’t it cost extra to hire them to do mine too?”

“Nah, no need! Sprinkles takes care of it.” That made Shouta pause, turning to look at him with the most adorable wrinkle between his eyebrows.

“Sprinkles...?” he repeated slowly, and Hizashi bobbed his head with a grin.

“Yep! She’s great at it! I’m sure she’d be willing to handle yours too.”

“Sprinkles,” Shouta repeated, again, still looking so adorably confused. “Sprinkles does your taxes.”

“Uh-huh! She’s doing them right now!” He gestured behind them, and Shouta twisted around on the couch to look. On the floor next to the wall sat Sprinkles, a bunch of papers spread around her paws and a gray blazer draped over her back.

“...Hizashi,” he said after a moment. “Does Sprinkles actually do taxes?”

“Yeah! She’s got a degree in it, see?” Hizashi pointed to the wall, proudly beaming as Shouta stared at all the framed diplomas and degrees hanging there bearing her name. Sprinkles was such a smart kitty!

“...Hizashi,” Shouta said after a long moment. “When, and where, did Sprinkles get degrees?”

Hizashi opened his mouth to answer but paused as the question registered. “I... don’t know,” he said, his own eyebrows furrowing. “She just... does?” He frowned slightly as he watched Sprinkles meow at one of the many forms, lightly pushing it around with her paw.

oOoOo

The biggest sign that made him think something was going on though, was probably when he went to the basement.

“Where is that kitty?” he muttered worriedly as he walked down the long, winding hallway, only the torches on the walls lighting his way. Sprinkles had pulled a disappearing act, common for most cats but not for Sprinkles. It had sparked concerns she might have been kidnapped by one of her thousands of Tumblr followers, sending him into a panic. He’d practically torn his apartment apart looking for Sprinkles before finally opening the heavy wooden door to descend the stairs.

He shivered as he looked at the cold stone walls, the torches’ fire doing nothing to help warm the space. The basement was just so dank and cold, and the thought of her being down here made his heart pang with concern. The basement was no place for a cute, fluffy cat like Sprinkles!

...Actually, come to think of it, since when did he have a basement? He’s pretty sure the lease only mentioned the apartment. And on that note, why was the door hidden in the back of his closet behind a poster?

He could worry about it later though. Right now he needed to find Sprinkles. He could see faint, flickering light at the end of the hall, signaling a doorway into a room. Hizashi perked up and picked up his pace a bit, eager to finally reach the end. He really hoped Sprinkles was there, he’d been walking down this hall for ten minutes now!

As he got closer the lights grew brighter, as did the faint smell of smoke, vanilla and rotten eggs. His nose wrinkled a little bit at the last one, but he pushed forward. “Sprinkles?” he called almost tentatively as he reached the doorway, and stopped.

Several people in soft-looking sweaters sat huddled on the floor around a pentagram, turning to look at him almost as one. Vanilla-scented candles littered the floor, casting flickering glows all over the cat towers, toy mice and sporadic assortments of human bones on the floor. It left most of the room dark, but he could see another person by the back wall holding an axe as they stood before a woman strapped to a torture rack.

Hizashi stared, his eyes slowly roving over the people crowded around the pentagram, over the pictures of Sprinkles printed on their shirts. Over the woman strapped to a torture rack in a shadowy corner with another woman holding an axe. To the large poster of Sprinkles’s face on the other back corner, partially lit by a wide beam of light from some unknown source. To the poster next to it, even more clearly illuminated with the title “WORDS OF OUR SAVIOR” and a paw and hand print.

BE SMART

BE LOVING

BE BABY

BE SPRINKLES

Hizashi stared, just absorbing it all. And, slowly, his eyes returned to the center of the room.

To Sprinkles, in the center of it all, in her adorable little wizard costume in the middle of a pentagram.

“Wha...?” Before he could do anything the people surged forward, lunging and tackling him to the ground. Hands pinned his limbs and he opened his mouth to scream but someone shoved a toy mouse in his mouth, effectively gagging him. The hands pinning him quickly pulled him up as the cultists tied him up with a ball of yarn, wrapping it around him several times to pin his arms to his sides.

As they dragged him into the room he spit out the mouse, coughing and hacking. “Hey, what—oh my gosh, ew, my tongue feels nasty! Can someone get me water or something? Please?” His cries went ignored, dragged to a cage in a different shadowy corner and shoved inside. Hizashi grunted as he hit the bars, scrambling to sit up as the door slammed. “Hey—”

“All hail Sprinkles,” the cult chanted monotonously, and returned to their original positions. Sprinkles just blinked at him, her eyes looking extra sparkly in the candelight, and mewed. Hizashi’s line of sight was broken though, someone stepping in front of the cage.

“What’s going—SHOUTA!?” His voice rose to a startled squeak as he recognized his boyfriend crouched in front of him, beautiful messy black hair and scruff and everything. He wore a purple sweatshirt—surprisingly vibrant for the man—with the picture of Sprinkles and the words “SPRINKLES CULT PRESIDENT” printed above it.

For a moment they just stared at each other, neither of them speaking.

“All hail Sprinkles,” Shouta said, and gave a thumbs up with a tiny little smile with his tongue sticking out.

At that moment Hizashi sat up in bed with a startled gasp, finding himself face to face with Sprinkles’s big, blinking eyes.

“Mew,” she meowed, and he melted with a smile, reaching out to hug her.

“Come here, you!” he chuckled, rubbing his cheek against her as she happily headbutted him. “I just had the craziest dream! There was a cult for you in our basement and everything, it was so weird!” Sprinkles just mewed, and he laughed. He paused then, sniffing. “Sprinkles, do you smell rotten eggs?”

Sprinkles mewed, and he shrugged it off. Eh, probably just his imagination.

oOoOo

The next morning inside the coffee shop he stared at Shouta’s shirt, bright eye-searing purple with Sprinkles emblazoned on it, and just slowly raised his eyes.

“Shouta?” he asked slowly. “Where did you get that shirt?”

“Dunno. I just woke up in it.”

“And you’re wearing it because...?”

“Didn’t feel like changing.” Shouta just calmly drank his coffee, ignoring Hizashi’s stare.

It occurred to Hizashi, then, that there were many things he didn’t know about Sprinkles. Like what she did while he was gone, or how she knew how to do taxes. Or why she appeared in his apartment the same day that someone broke into his house for the first time to leave a demonic pentagram carved into his floor, all the furniture around it lying on its backs or sides as if knocked over by a great force of wind.

........Eh, Sprinkles was too cute to be evil. He’d worry about it later.

oOoOo

Somewhere in Musutafu, a sparkly-eyed cat in a wizard costume sat next to a phone open to Tumblr, blinking down at the screen. The follower count slowly ticked upwards, and with it so did the power accumulating in her body, steadily feeding off the adoration of her fans.

She blinked, eyes sparkling just a bit brighter.

“Mew.”

ALL HAIL SPRINKLES

#sprinkles #yamada hizashi #corndog-patrol #all hail sprinkles #sprinkles cult #My writing #erasermic #present mic #this is unedited and long so it's probably rough #you have been warned

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thejolteonmastertj · 5 years

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The LOV Being Portrayed A Certain Way Started In Season 3

Relevant to the current My Hero Academia manga arc.

Discussion & manga spoilers past the keep reading link.

TR: Some discussion of trans/homophobia.

So some people have discussed how the League Of Villains (LOV, otherwise known as the Villain Alliance), are being written like the heroes of their own Shonen manga in the recent chapters, as discussed in this post by bloodycarnations, and by Khorale in this post.

I highly recommend that you read their posts first if you had not already.

But this didn't come from nowhere, in fact, the league has been gradually easing into this motif, to us as viewers, very particularly ever since AFO’s final stand.

There were no hints at the league being portrayed this way while Shigaraki was still under the shadow of AFO as far as I can tell, which I find very interesting.

The first possible clue came right after AFO told Shiggy to leave and fly out of the nest. It starts during AFO’s fight against All Might.

Its a really small detail, but it’s notable because the heroic motif continues to build over time. After Deku, Kirishima, and Iida grabbed Bakugo, there is a moment where the league is at a loss for what to do.

But the way it was written is what I’m paying attention to here. Usually, villains in anime aren’t portrayed as having a good teamwork environment. In fact, these same villains, specifically Magne and Spinner were already shown having a squabble during the training camp arc over whether or not to kill Deku. The squabble resulted in them being pinned down by the heroes while they were busy arguing.

But this time it's subtly different, they are genuinely and wholeheartedly cooperating on-screen for the first time (without threatening to kill each other like they were in the USJ arc, or merely hanging around and being annoyed by each other during the training camp arc). While Deku & crew are getting away with Bakugo, Compress and Spinner have a brief panicked exchange: (Dub dialogue used)

This is bad, who can do distance?

Kurogiri and Dabi, but they’re down!

Then Magne steps in with a plan:

You two, come here.

And then the three of them creatively apply Magne’s quirk to throw Compress towards Bakugo... I just want to emphasize that Magne literally threw him, like, way up in the sky, and they did it willingly (it would have worked too if Mount Lady had not got in the way). What they did requires a lot more trust and cooperation than anything else they had been shown doing before.

This level of cooperation continues to be highlighted in the Yukaza arc.

First, Magne gets killed off, as we know, but this line and her whole speech is very notable.

This establishes something that will continue to be reaffirmed at different points in the manga. This isn't a normal villain organization where the leader calls all the shots. Notice how while Magne goes through her whole tirade Shiggy does nothing to object to or interject into anything she says. This is a mostly democratic group where Shiggy grows to respect the wishes of his comrades as well as his own. They are (slowly) becoming a team.

There are a few other villains in Anime I could think of who operate in a similar manner, but most of them arguably also fall into the villains-as-the-heroes motif, such as the villains in Nanoha A’s (Nanoha season 2). Villains like those from the Nanoha series also, however, tend to have noble goals... but resort to villainy out of desperation. Huh.

Then there is this contrast between the Yukaza and the LOV even Shiggy himself, as well as Overhaul eventually brings up.

Shiggy acknowledges the disposable nature of being a Yukaza underling. Although whether he is referring to Magne’s value as a skilled fighter or a person or both is up for interpretation, he is using Magne’s name in contrast to “small-fry yukaza human shields.”

Whatever Shiggy’s intentions behind this particular line are, the contrast itself is clearly there. The Yukaza members are disposable, and this is shown multiple times through the arc, especially when the heroes start fighting the villains. The LOV on the other hand, clearly would not use each other as meat-shields in the same way, based on their emotional reaction to Magne’s death.

Overhaul takes note of this when Shiggy attempts to make peace with and form an alliance of sorts with the Yukaza.

This is a similar contrast which drove Natsu from Fairy Tail episode 6 (the main character) into a righteous rage upon seeing a villain kill their fellow villain.

Heroes/main-characters protect their friends, villains are backstabbers.

The Yukaza from this arc, the QLA from a later arc, and many other villains in manga/anime also differ from the LOV and other villains-as-heroes groups (like from the Nanoha series) in terms of affection. Toga here is shown putting a handkerchief over Twice’s broken mask, accepting and assisting in correcting his panic caused by mental illness/trauma.

And then we have the elephant in the room.

The LOV members are progressive in terms of not just mental health issues, but with LGBT+ issues as well. When Overhaul misgenders Magne, a Trans woman, Twice stands up for her.

We need to address something else first though. It’s not uncommon for villains to be LGBTQ, and historically this cliche stems from homophobia because the association of gay and gender-non-conforming people with villainy backed up the idea that gay people are villainous/bad irl. The uncensored Japanese version of Sailor Moon had several gay villains, even Pokemon used to dress up Jessie and James in gender-non-conforming outfits all the time.

But here’s what’s different.

1) Times are changing, LGBT+ people are becoming more accepted, particularly among young people in Japan (Sorry I can’t provide links, Tumblr keeps marking my posts as spam when I do that, but follow @JusticeKazzy_ on twitter for more info! The Japan Times published an article titled: “More in Japan identify as LGBT as social awareness grows, study finds”. A YouTuber known as ‘That Japanese Man Yuta’ also did an interview video on it back in 2015).

Negative portrayals of LGBTQ+ people are becoming less common... it obviously hasn’t gone away, but things are improving in the uphill battle. Horikoshi made it a point to also establish another canon Trans character, Tiger, a heroic character who would play a role in the battle vs AFO not long before Magne made her first appearance.

I think Horikoshi did that intentionally, not to soften the blow of Magne’s death (if he did have that intention in mind, it didn't work) but actually in order to establish that being an ally in this world is a positive attribute, a heroic attribute even, in contrast to Overhaul’s callous treatment of Magne’s identity.

2) In the past, when LGBT+ people were portrayed as villains, most writers did not bother researching the significance of misgendering or dysphoria... nor were these concepts attempted to be portrayed in a sympathetic manner. (Horikoshi obviously neglected to do research on bad LGBT+ tropes in media, but that’s not the point of this post).

In any case, the League Of Villains aren’t just a team, the individual members are all established as progressive, and accepting of each other’s identity and who they are. Spinner readily called Magne by her preferred feminized nickname, “Big Sis Magne,” even while they were arguing during the training camp arc.

Nobody in the League ever misgenders Magne, only Overhaul did that.

Then the rest is history, this all led up to the League’s current manga arc where they beat up on Nazis, the QLA & crap. Other villain groups in the manga are being used as key tools in order to emphasize the LOV’s heroic attributes by way of contrast.

Based on Khorale’s post linked above, it’s possible that Shiggy’s development as a compassionate leader actually started before AFO’s arrest, we just did not start to see the results until later.

AFO had been encouraging Shiggy to act on his own for a long time...

... but will that turn out to bite AFO back eventually? Where, exactly, is Horikoshi going with this set-up?

Who knows honestly, but I’m super excited to see!

#bnha spoilers #tj overanalysis #bnha #my hero academia #league of villains #shigaraki tomura #magne #twice #bnha twice #toga himiko #compress #bnha compress #Spinner #bnha spinner #bnha meta #dabi #bnha dabi

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