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extemely-thoughtful-person · 3 years

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On The Possible Students, Staff, and Ideals of Royal Sword Academy

Before you read this, just know that I don't hate heros. They stand for some good morals at times and they have their moment to shine. What I don't like is the character flaws that don't get resolved towards the end of the film.

I'm was bored, Okay?

With the recent conclusion of chapter 5, we were given a lot of new grounds to to explore and new information to apply and expand for the world building of Twisted Wonderland. The most important thing I believe chapter 5 has done is set the stage for what is to come in the future chapters. With the VDC, we got to take a quick glance at not only the students of RSA, but also it's Head President, Ambrose the 63rd. But, now with the chapters conclusion, what should we expect from the people of RSA in Chapters 6 and 7? Are the students any good? What kind of lessons are taught by the teachers? Is the overall morral of the academy is good or bad?

There are a lot of things we still don't really know about them, so I'm gonna try and figure out more about them through sources of current information and other things that we should be looking at. (Though there is a high chance that everything I'm saying is not going to happen, as everytime I make any kind of prediction, it never happens.😑)

Now, there are two things we need to look at before we actually start guessing what the school is like: the base of inspiration of RSA, and what we know from what we were given in the game.

Starting with the inspiration of RSA. The school is basically the twst base for all Twisted Disney protagonists, like the princes, princesses, heros, and their sidekicks. Basically, if a villain based character attends, or attended NRC, then their protagonist counterpart attends, or attended RSA. Simple. Because these are two rival schools, I have no idea who thought it was a good idea to build two academies that want to rip each other to shreds on the SAME F*CKING ISLAND!!! I feel really sorry for the town that's separating the two schools, because a lot of battles must take place there during the school year.

But back to the point, these RSA students are going to be based on the Disney protagonists, which is actually very important to note. This is where we dive into the films that the characters are based off of.

Disney inspiration

The old Disney films are some of the best pieces of animated art ever to hit the big screen, and I'm positive many of you reading this grew up with these movies. They always make up some part of your childhood. But, unlike you all, I never got to experience all of the Disney magic as a kid. There were only two or three original animated films that I ever got to see: Cinderella (the one I've seen a dozen times), Pinocchio ( the one that gave me nightmares), and Beauty and the Beast (I only ever saw this movie once or twice). There were certain movies from the famous Disney collection I was never allowed to watch, however: Aladdin, the Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, Hercules, and a lot more. Now that I'm older, and have the resources and time to watch what I've been missing, I'm starting to realize why I was never allowed to watch those movies as a kid.

Now, I'm sure you all thought this way at one point: as a little kid, you've always cheered on the protagonist, you've always said that the good guy is good and the bad guy is bad. You see the situation as black and white. One person stands for something great, while the other wishes to harm others for personal gain. You vote for good, you hate the bad. And in the end, the bad guy gets punished while the protagonist emerges victorious, loved by everyone, and always rewarded with a happily ever after.

However, as you get older, the line between good and bad starts to blur. You begin to realize why the "bad guy" is doing what they're doing, and starting to see that the "good guys" aren't always making the right choices. You start to see there is more to the people involved than them just being good or bad. Ever notice that the protagonists look more or less the same? Their always thin, white, royalty, or heros (not all of them are white, but I'm trying to prove a point.) They always have a charm that makes them stand as protagonists, but when brought together, they look more or less the same. They even have similar personalities to an extent.

The villains on the other hand are much more diverse with design, they have a unique appearance and personality that sets them apart from the "good people". Some are larger, others are taller, a few are very charming and manipulative, while others seem more comedic. They have a wide range of personalities and designs that make them recognizable to the audience. But there is also something else you begin to see as you become older, their motives. Not all of them have the worst intentions in mind. Many of them were wronged for being different. Some even fell from grace by suffering tragic events. Now, I'm not saying everything they do is right, and they still did awful things that merit some kind of punishment, but you start to see why they do what they did. You start to understand them more, and sympathize with them. Not every villain is good, however. There are some cases where the wrong doer gets what they deserve, but there are cases where they didn't deserve what they got.

Flipping to the protagonists, not all of them are great. And, again I'm not saying that to hate on them, but you need to remember, they may be the protagonists, but are they really doing the right thing? There are a bunch of times where the hero is dumb and stupid and replies on others to do everything for them because they're innocent princesses who are good and pure and don't need to do anything because they're perfect. Sounds like a Mary Sue, but sad to say, there are Disney protagonists who fit this description (looking at you Snow White). But not every protagonist is dumb, on the contrary, but their actions are a bit on the selfish side of things. Heroes like Ariel and Hercules made selfish choices for the sake of ✨LOVE✨, but in all honesty, they should've known better. Others hammer on the villains for self enjoyment, and when the villains bite back, they never once considered that the situation was partially their fault. The only thing they can say is " Op, this guy's messed up. Time to beat his @$$!" And then proceeds to kick them all the way to Hades (Sometimes literally in this case). And these characters are supposed to be role models for children! Now the good news is not every protagonist is like this, there are actually a few very good ones who mean well, still have flaws that make them relatable, and are rightfully rewarded.

My favorite example of this is Mulan. She wants fight on behalf of her father, works hard to pass the trials of war, and comes back in the end even though she was left to die. The villains she faced were blood thirsty and wanted to conquer more land and take lives. The Huns die in defeat, while Mulan is called a hero. In this case, the formula for good and bad makes sense and puts the characters in the right positions.

But sadly, there are cases where the villain gets wronged by the good guys, goes bad, and then gets punished because they were bad and wrong, and the "good guys" are always right even if they do something that's questionable. This is what we're focusing on, because 1: we have yet to see Mulan in TWST, and 2: because this case makes up at least a good portion of the movies used in the TWST universe. The movies listed here are in the TWST verse, and are what I consider to be in this category: The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Snow White, and Hercules.

The RSA we know so far

Now basing the interactions we received from the VDC, we have met what I like to call the Snow White Package of students from both schools. On the "hero's" side, we've got Neige, our Snow White, and his seven dwarf companions (I'm not going to name them all, because so far, their names are irrelevant.) On the "Villains" side, we've got Vil Schoenheit, our Evil Queen, Rook Hunt, our huntsman, and Epel Felmier, our adorable poisoned apple.

Now from what we're shown, Neige is a young, talented actor and influencer at the rank of number 1. He's also a bit naive and seems to trust others way to easily. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but this can become a problem. I wrote in a theory about Neige failing the VDC that everything is decided for him, and that he's controlled by the people he agrees to help. There are two things to take away from this if this is true.

Firstly, how he responds to the situation. If he's naive about the whole thing until someone points it out to him, then that would make sense. But it would make even more sense if he is already aware of what's going on around him, but he continues to act nice and pretends that he's not bothered by it, when infact, he is.

This leads to the second point, his unique magic. Though we haven't gotten a formal name or power, I believe that his unique magic is called, "Sing with me" Which gives him the ability to get others to sing and dance along with him when ever he preforms. The base of inspiration for this magic would be Snow White getting the animals to sing along with her, and help her with whatever she's doing, (read: do things for her). As for why, his awareness that he's being controlled subtly plus the fact that it bothers him is given away from the fact that he can subtly manipulate people to sing and dance along with him wether they like it or not. Basically, it would make sense for him to be able to manipulate others as he is manipulated on a daily basis.

The dwarves don't hold any importance right now, but if my theory about Neige's unique magic is true, then that would explain the shaky performance given at the VDC. The dwarves probably didn't rehearse very well, if not at all, so a unique magic that can make someone sing along with someone else regardless of whether or not they heard the song before would explain it.

As for Vil, well, he reminds me of Mega Mind. He always wanted to do something great, but he was always categorized as a player for the Villain role at a young age and was never given the chance to prove himself capable of the hero's role. His unique magic isn't just a reference to the Evil Queen, but also a manifestation of what he doesn't want to become, but was always the roles he was set as in front of the camera: a curse. Something unwanted, an obstacle, a disposable, selfish person who only wants to get in the way of the protagonist. What makes this so sad is that he was never given the chance to be something else, something better. People would always categorize him as the bad guy and never give him the opportunity to something greater. It's no wonder he hates the role so much. He wants to survive till the end instead of constantly being defeated.

What they could be

So, what about the rest of the students of RSA? (Besides Chenya. He's cool. I like him.)

Comparing the depressing and traumatic lives of the NRC students, the RSA students... well, it really depends. I could be wrong about this, but...

They could have two sides to them. One side that shows the world that they are the best, that they are successful and they always win. That their lives are perfect and that anyone who wants to be successful must follow their example.

The other side shows what's really going on on the inside, away from the adoring public. And that...is that their lives aren't perfect at all. They have trauma, or bad experiences that they try to cover up with a facaude that hides their true emotional pain. What other things could come out of this side?

A desire...no, a need to try and make their ideal images a reality. To show the world that they are right and they are perfect. That anyone who doesn't agree with them are wrong. They feel the need to cover up all of their pain, and continue on the path that the world sees them taking, the path that the world believes is the path of betterment. They are desperate to prove that they are perfect and successful in any and everyway. And they work together to support each other, making it easier for them to handle their pain and move on.

NRC doesn't, or didn't have that support. But unlike RSA, they aren't desperate to prove that their way of life is perfect, they're more focused on their individual futures, goals and objectives. They are more independent and creative on their own lives and march to the beat of their own drums. When a fellow student is doing something, and helping them benefits the assistant, then they will help, not for the sake of kindness, reputation or perfection, but for the purpose of getting themselves closer to their goals. This isn't a bad thing, but if you try to bring others down so that you can go up, then that isn't good.

But they don't have the same support system RSA has, meaning that instead of sharing their pain to make it easier, they are forced to bottle it up. And we all know how well that ends up going sooner or later.

But that leaves the question: Why does NRC want to beat RSA in the Magift tournament? Or anything else, really?

There are a few reasons. One, for honor's sake, of course. You'd definitely want to beat the people that won last year... and the year before that... and the year before that...

But this is a better reason for wanting to win besides just petty feuds and honor: personal goals and agendas.

Think about it. If a well assembled and trained team managed to beat a seemingly flawless academy's team that's been victorious for almost a century, then that would put you on a pretty high pedistal. You would be incredibly famous and popular. New opportunities would open up for you and your teammates. You could meet your goals and your dreams a lot faster and easier. And your life would improve greatly.

But, do you know what that means for the losing side?

That they were wrong. That they don't always win. That their lives are flawed. That the path they follow doesn't always guarantee success. That they aren't the best example to follow. RSA and it's reputation would decease considerably if they lost to their rival school, making NRC the better academy, making them the perfect academy. This means only one thing for RSA...

They can't afford to lose. Even if it means using tactics that involve questionable actions.

Like CHEATING.

That's right. I just accused the very popular and professional academy RSA of an act as large as cheating. Why? I must have some pretty solid evidence for them to do such a nefarious act. And I do.

Firstly, the fact that despite the constantly changing students and staff, RSA has won the inter school Magift tournament for 99 years in a row. That's a pretty weird fact. It must mean that either the players are really good, or they staged it with tactics that are against the rules.

Second, think about the next chapter. This theory about cheating would fit in perfectly with the character story arch for Ignihyde. I believe that the next chapter is going to be about fitting in. Belonging somewhere. Idia and Ortho are our protagonists. Both are charecters who like games. I imagine Idia having family issues with his cousins constantly playing games with him and Ortho as kids, but Idia always seems to lose to them because the cousins or family members change the rules of the game so that it turns in their favor. They do this for their own amusement and to make themselves feel like winners while Idia and Ortho are always left out of the fun, and called the losers. The Shroud brothers are cast out, only to discover later that they were playing a game that they could never win because it was always rigged against them. And this makes them mad. Idia vows to go above and beyond to be better than them in every way and to win fairly for once. Besides losing against his relatives, what else do you think he lost? Any chance for friends, his brother's life, maybe more. And he is not about to lose anything else ever again.

He works and studies hard and in the end he ends up winning, but also going a little bit to high at the same time. He maxes out on technically and magical power making him better than his competition, but also putting him in his own class of competition. This makes him feel nervous and unworthy of those who are higher than him, and distant from those beneath him. So he's basically drifting in the space between earth and mars.

If he ends up competing in the tournament, only to discover during, or worse yet, after the tournament that the game was rigged against them again, that they were never going to win anyways again, then the flashbacks would race over him with the speed of a bullet train, and he would snap. Hard.

It would make things worse if Ortho was also there and they both Overblotted together. It would be our first match against two dangerous Overblot victims, and it would be all RSA's fault.

Not only that, but it would send an even more dangerous message to the people than the one RSA sent at the VDC about not needed effort to accomplish your dreams. It would be: In order to succeed, do whatever it takes to win. Remember Kronk's New Groove? Where the little kid cheats so that their team can win that competition? Yeah. We would see the same thing happening here. This is a very dangerous way of thinking because that means that if you're crafty enough, then you can win anything and get whatever you want. Not only that you don't have to work hard, but you can take the easiest way and cheat your way to the top.

And how would that sit with the parents of the mages attending RSA? The school teaching their students, their children, that cheating is the only real way to win? That lying and stealing from those below you is the only way to succeed in life?

"But wouldn't NRC be the most likely school to pull a cheat move in the tournament? Heros don't cheat."

...(*pulls the wallpaper back and peeps a concerned face through*) ..."ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?!"

Because last I recall, I've seen numerous cases where the hero manages to outsmart the bad guy, pull out a trump card to cheat the system and do whatever the heck they want, and get away from the consequences of their actions because they are protagonists who are ment to win from the start. I can think of an example for all three of these, and all examples are from the movies twisted into twisted wonderland.

Aladdin outsmarted Jafar and Jafar turned into a genie and got trapped in a lamp for the rest of time. Alice angered the Queen of Hearts, but managed to escape the consequences of her actions. (Who was right or wrong in these scenarios isn't the point. What they did is.) And Hercules pulled the "I'm a god" trump card out of his back pocket at the last possible second to throw Hades off and get away with Megera's ghost. (This last scenario about Hades losing against a trump card and losing his temper afterwards is a great example of what could happen at the Magift tournament.)

And HOLY COW!!! I thought Crowley was the one who needed an interview about questionable morals, because if RSA was caught cheating against their rivals, who are completely oblivious to the fact that they were being played this entire time for a century, then it would make the students of NRC look like saints compared to their competition.

So wouldn't cheating be a terrible idea? If they got caught the consequences would be dire. But they've been getting away with it for almost a century now.

It's a risk they're willing to take to protect the reputation of their perfect academy.

But does this look perfect to you?

Thanks for reading!!! I stayed up really late to get most of this down sacrificing valuable sleep! Have a great day!!!☺️☺️☺️☺️

Eh... sleep is for the weak, anyways...zzzz.

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alternativemiraculous · 3 years

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A rather long explanation of why I don't like the Bee. Aka why I think making clones would be a better power.

Aaaah. The Bee. That nice yellow comb. Such a nice design I have to say. I remember that time, years ago, when I was still a newbie, when we didn't even know the Fox was a necklace... what a time.

When there were only seven Miraculouses, theories were vastly common. People looked up symbolism and made theories or just decided cool abilities to write with. Then Sapotis, in Season 2, changed the picture. The Zodiacs were revealed and people lost interest because instead of (then) four unknown Miraculous, there were like fifteen to do research for. I understand why some people use common abilities for Miraculouses tho, it's perfectly fine! It's just, I prefer more complex abilities.

I'm a writer, I've been writing Miraculous things for four years. And you all realise how much I like writing about the Miraculouses.

Yeah, so the Bee, there were many theories. I did have a theory that it would be paralysation, but not in a venom sense. It would've been crystalised honey and it could only paralyse an arm or a leg or something. I didn't like it that much so I started searching. Some people gave her flying, building things or even mind-controlling; but what I liked was this one: cloning.

Why?

It makes sense. Bees, along with ants and wasps, are known for their social structure. Bees in particular have some "roles", and they're known for that. What comes to mind is the concept of coordination, at least for me. Worker bees, abundance, collaboration, all that. A cloning power would require someone to have lots of spatial vision, body control and coordination, especially considering my headcanon where the Bee's clones replicate the main Bee's moves.

It made sense. Back when Sapotis was released, many of us noticed something: Marinette's first idea wasn't using the Fox. It was using the Bee. I admit it was such a vague thought, tho. "If the Sapotis clone themselves, maybe Marinette thought about a cloning Miraculous right before realising it would take too much time?".

It is versatile enough for me to write. My criteria for Miracupowers is that they can't make fights too easy. Cloning can facilitate many things, but it can be useless, misused, not needed, and very hard to control. And, most importantly, you can do many things with it. Distract someone? Yeah. Block a street? Probably. Fight support? Totally. Someone has to do a thing in two different places? Oddly specific, but it totally can happen.

So yeah, my version of the Bee functions like the Double Cherry from Mario 3D World. I admit I took ideas from that concept. I find it nice to write and versatile enough to make fights interesting.

But then, the actual Bee appeared. And I hate it. So much.

For me, it doesn't make sense. Since when are bees associated with subjection? However, if we look at the French concept, this makes more sense... kinda. In French, it is the Miraculous of Domination. Queen bees are associated with domination. But I don't really think domination and paralyzing go in hand. It's just... I don't like paralyzation for the Bee, especially since I'd prefer worker bees instead. And, as many have noted, domination works better with wasps! And the new Bee holder is wasp-coded. Canon Bee should be the Wasp Miraculous.

Why tf did Marinette think of one (1) paralyzing opportunity to fight an entire army of Sapotis? If someone has an idea then please tell me because I literally do not understand why they made Marinette doubt there.

It makes fights too easy. Bee totally paralyzes someone for five minutes... and, I guess, and adult user can paralyze eternally? This is totally OP and, unlike the Cat, it doesn't have any consequence. Cat is totally OP, but at least it cannot be abused like that because... people die. But the Bee totally can. Just bring the Bee. Paralyze the Akuma. Boom. No conflict. Unless very specific situations like Kagami's last Akuma which used a tweak of the same power. What do you do with paralysation? You paralyse things... and that's all? Is there any fight application aside from paralysing the villain?

I will never never never work with the canon Bee lmao. I find it so unoriginal and unfitting.

So my Bee represents Cooperation and for someone to be a good holder, they have to have a very developed spatial vision and body coordination to operate properly with their clones, as they imitate anything they do. So they should be a fast thinker and have strong visualization abilities in order to move the clones properly and learn how to fight with them. I think someone like Max would be a good Bee, because he has an amazing maths capability and probably, or at least I headcanon, lots of physics knowledge. So he could plan fastly how to move in order to execute his plan (overall Max is a very nice holder, I think). Or maybe someone like Nath, who is used to drawing movement so he probably has a developed spatial intelligence. And probably sporty people are good, but they'd have to have a strong concentration so maybe Kim and Alix are rather funny. So yeah, Bee!Max and Bee!Nath can work, at least with how I headcanon them both.

Alt!Bee is probably my most solid Miraculous and I feel like I will never change the cloning idea lmao. So yeah miss me with the Rat having it :)

By the way, I hate the Rat too! Why does it have two abilities? Multiplication, which is its concept, AND shrinking. I understand why, don't get me wrong, it's just that Multiplication and reduction could perfectly be different things. And I hate how clones do whatever they want. Does the holder control them? If so, how? Is there a limited number of clones? I headcanon four clones (because Miraculouses are 5-themed, which all the five minutes shit, so 4 clones + holder makes a team of 5) that imitate the holder's movements. I really would like some clarification, especially on the controlling part lmao.

So yeah, I think my rant ends here?

If you've read all of this, I love you. Please comment something. I'm begging you.

#bee miraculous #wasp miraculous #rat miraculous #ml salt #miraculous #ladybug #miraculous ladybug #miraculouses #miraculous box #chinese miraculous box #alternative bee #alt!bee #canon bee #canon!bee #ml headcanon #ladybug headcanons #ladybug headcanon #alternative miraculouses

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kitkatopinions · 3 years

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The more I think about Ren's new semblance ability and the scene with the Ace Ops, the more I hate it. Long post full of crit ahead.

No one else is discovering new semblance abilities in tense situations other than Jaune, who discovered his one ability. Llike, maybe the Fall of Beacon would've been stressful enough people would be discovering new abilities? And Weiss doesn't count, because her ability was treated like just another glyph, only this one is special. Whether getting new powers is experience and skill based, or trauma based, long time hunters like Qrow and James should have way more abilities than they do, and the Ace Ops and Winter all should have at least two powers. CRWBY is very choosy about how and when they use their ill defined rules about auras and semblances.

Ren is in control of this power right after getting it, and chooses to use it on the Ace Ops and Winter, but not Yang or Jaune. This implies that Ren doesn't read their emotions because that's a breach of privacy, but feels free to not only breach the Ace Ops privacy, but talk about it out loud. Because trust is for friends, and so are basic boundaries. It would make sense to me for Ren to use his new powers on Jaune and Yang as well, since he's doubting everyone’s capabilities and strength right now. But whatever. Why would we need to know how they feel?

But on that… Why do we need to know how the Ace Ops feel??? We as an audience already know Marrow is sad and doubting his place, Harriet is angry incarnate, Elm is also angry, and Vine seems fine. This doesn't do anything for the story except let Ren try to divide them more than they already are, during the worst time possible. Sure, while Salem's at Atlas's doorstep and literal children are probably dead, tell one of the members of the most elite team of Atlas graduates who were just tasked with a vitally important mission to ditch his position. Winter seemed fully convinced by Jaune actually having a good plan, so Ren figuring out a new power and turning into a mood ring didn't do anything. Also, Ren doesn't just tell them what they're feeling, he also reads their motivation and where they belong at the same time. Because 'Harriet angry' apparently translates into 'Harriet is incredibly torn up about Clover dying and trying not to feel it!' And 'Marrow sad' apparently means 'Marrow no longer fits in with this group and is actually a good person!'

And then Ren reads Winter's emotions and sees that Winter is feeling everything. So like… Okay. Are the Ace Ops Tinkerbell in the Peter Pan book? Only able to feel one emotion at a time? Harriet isn't angry and sad, she's just so angry it's all Ren can see! And Vine isn't sad, or angry, he's just (presumably) calm. But Winter is feeling all the emotions equally. Which of course, means she also doesn't belong here.Most adults feel more than one thing at a time, by the way. Idk why this makes Ren think Winter is special and different, rather than him wondering how the Ace Ops can only be displaying one emotion.

Ren also tells the Ace Ops the reason they fail is their terrible team work, since they won't admit they're friends, despite the fact they fought amazingly as a team at the start of the last season. Everyone jot that down. Strategy, planning, experience, knowledge of each other's skill set, and common goals all mean nothing. The only thing that can make you a fully functional team is friendship. We're ignoring the fact that Blake and Yang scoffed at the idea of working outside of their duo, never mind that the group literally drew their weapons on Qrow in V6 and demanded he do what they want or leave. Never mind that Yang and Ruby are currently fighting, Yang and Blake are apparently fighting, Yang and Ren are fighting, and Ren and Nora have been distant, cold, and frustrated with each other for one and a half seasons now. They still haven't had any problems fighting as a team because underneath it all, they're friends! In a normal, fun romp anime or cartoon, I might be able to be okay with this. But isn't RWBY marketing itself as a hopeful grimdark? Or at least, aren’t they saying this is a more mature, nuanced tone than the fun romp that only hinted at more darkness in the early seasons? You can't have 'morally gray characters that drift between ally and antagonist’ just lose because they aren't admitting they’re friends in even a hopeful grimdark. And it’s not strong plot for the most powerful graduates of a strict military school who have been on the field for at least a couple years (except maybe Marrow) lose to the first year drop outs THEY HELPED TRAIN because they're hiding their feelings for each other. I'm sorry, I thought this was a show where skill and consequence mattered.

On top of all this… We all know that portraying women of color - specifically black women - as constantly angry and hiding her emotions is a racist stereotype, right? I don't mean 'having a black women displaying anger is racist,' but again, the show had Ren sense her emotions and figure out what's wrong with her, and she was only angry, and Ren decided she's hiding her feelings behind a wall of thick anger. Elm is the same way, even going so far as to try and attack Ren. And it's not just this instance. They've been overwhelmingly angry since the end of volume six. Whether or not CRWBY thought this through, they should've done a google search that could've let them know not to do it. Vine is almost as bad in being the stoic, calm, at peace, Asian. I'm only holding off on calling him just as bad because I don't know for sure that green represents peace or calm.

Don't get me wrong, there were things I liked about that scene. Ren choosing to act and do what he could was a great choice, he clearly took what Jaune said to heart, and decided inaction due to doubts and fears wouldn't help anyone. I hope this doesn't mean the end of Ren doubting things and challenging the team (since his concerns are very valid and weren't solved,) but I like that direction. Winter really shined in this scene. I just wish the writers would put as much care and complexity into Harriet, Elm, and Vine. And the main star of this scene in my opinion was Jaune. He didn't fight the plan to blow up the whale, only requesting that they be allowed to go in ahead and try to rescue Oscar and laying out the benefits. I love this. Jaune isn't asking her not to do her job, he's not doubting that it has to be done, he's not blaming her for it, and he's accepting that if they go in, they may become part of that sacrifice. But he's trying to save a friend that's important to him anyway. I think this might be the best I've ever liked Jaune, actually.

But the cons of this scene, in my opinion, severely out weigh the pros.

#rwby criticism #rwby critical #rwby crit #RWDE #rwde content #I know this is pretty severe #the rest of the episode isn't bad!#although ruby weiss and blake doing nothing was weird and bad #May Marigold Whitley and Jaune are the stars of this ep #I just kept thinking about this scene and realizing things I didn't like #it was like the Hobbit all over again

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mammonslefttoe · 4 years

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One Brain Cell Theories: Chapter 17 & 18

There are a few things that may confirm my suspicions and the new chapters have reinforced it.

SPOILERS AHEAD, please click at your own risk and any input/more theories are welcome! I’m going to try and make this a series.

This is also a relatively long read so grab some snacks! We diving in boys!!

(This is one of my many theories. One day, I’ll be able to write down what’s happening in my head.)

TLDR; HUNNY we have to talk about the other human

A few things to remember before I dive in:

Solomon has a pact with Barbatos. Solomon has a ring of wisdom and is known to make a pact with larger and more powerful demons. We all know he lowkey wants a pact with Lucifer.

Lucifer told us not to trust Solomon in Chapter 2

There’s a possibility Barbatos has tried to poison us with tea, a Mandragora blend. Mandragora has the potential to be fatal, one of the most notable symptoms are hyperactivity and hallucinations.

When Barbatos sent us back in time, we found out he is extremely OP. He even has the power to look into the past and future.

Okay now onwards to the only viable explanation I can think of: Barbatos and Solomon are scheming a takeover. (or this really is a messed up “prove yourself” challenge from Diavolo)

Let’s begin to when shit started to get real.

A sorta shortened (?) recap of everything that has happened thus far, please feel free to skip if you don’t need it:

After almost confessing your love to Lucifer and dying in the process Belphie comes down the stairs and its the big reveal, everyone essentially gasps in shock. Beel, Belph, and MC run away to Luke’s joint only to get busted by Dia & Barbatos and they drag away Belphie to throw him in jail for treason (and its implied he gon’ die). Lost and afraid, Beel and MC run back to the House of Lamentation. There we have a really heartfelt scene with all the demon boys and we are determined to storm into Dia’s castle and solve the situation.

Arriving at Dia’s castle, the pair say they were expecting us. Lucifer stood up to Diavolo & he says please, LOUD AUDIENCE GASP. No matter how much we try to reason, the only way Belphie will be released is if MC goes back into the past alone and figure out who actually opening Belphie’s door. No reason is truly given to this. Diavolo explains that Barbatos has multiple abilities, some of this includes viewing the past & future and, most importantly, time travel.

As we continue to Barbatos’ room, he is super happy (and creepy) but gives us a very dire warning - do not interact with the past in any way or it will alternate the current timeline. This includes speaking to anyone or being involved in any type of action. If we want to come back to the present, we have to go through the same door that we end up entering through. Then off we go and we land in the middle of Mammon’s room with ALL OF THE BROTHERS sans Lucifer and Belphie. And things go haywire.

As we are running to go up to the attic, we are forced to hide in Lilith’s room, where we have a flashback (or hallucination) of playing hide and seek. Flashback Levi reminds us to go find Belphie. During this time, it is revealed that MC may have been the one to open Belphie’s door and tldr; Belphie kills MC.

As we lay dying, we are somehow saved by Lilith (our long lost aunt twice removed apparently) and we are outside of our own body...in another one. Dia and Barbatos stroll in saying they knew this would happen & Barbatos did us a favor and revived us using an alternate timeline MC (what). Everyone is pumped we have like 1/10,000,000 genes related to human Lillith and this is their closure.

Everything seems to be looking up and MC patches things up between Belphie and the other brothers. They throw her a joint party with Diavolo’s birthday party & give her the sweetest gifts. At the end of Chapter 18, Belphie creates a pact with MC.

This is all fine and dandy but...is it really?

A few things really popped out during these two recent chapters:

Belphie is by our side the entire two chapters. Whether this is supposed to signify a new start or something else, it isn’t entirely clear.

Beel and Belph are the only ones that text us during this time. Belphie texts us after every chapter moment.

Solomon runs into Belph and MC while shopping, randomly asking Belph if he plans on making a pact with MC. Then brazenly offers to make a pact with him instead. Belph refuses vehemently but looks at MC for a reaction. Solomon notices this.

As Belph gives us a gift of himself (lol same), he mentions how he’s doing this for us and not because of Lilith.

In the game itself, there’s a completely different game style. MC has more options to speak and the dialogue options have become more brazen. Almost as if...this is a different personality (or could signify MC is more comfortable with them in general). It felt off playing the last two chapters though, for me at least.

Now onwards to the theory: Solomon is our main antagonist.

In Chapter 2, we are formally introduced to Solomon, the other exchange student. Although the interaction is rushed, we can sense out two things: he’s insanely smart and he’s already comfortable around demons. As he runs off to class, MC runs into Lucifer and we learn a bit more about this mystery boy.

Apparently, Solomon is a wizard and has a ring of wisdom, which makes him incredibly dangerous. He has pacts with more than 70 demons (I think the exact number was 78 but I might be wrong). Among these demons are Asmodeus and Barbatos. At the end of Lucifer’s explanation, he adds that MC shouldn’t trust Solomon.

Historically and culturally, Solomon is most known as the “Wise King.” He is also regarded as a fantastical figure, someone who is known to have powers over both angels and demons.

“According to the Rabbinical literature, on account of his modest request for wisdom only, Solomon was rewarded with riches and an unprecedented glorious realm, which extended over the upper world inhabited by the angels and over the whole of the terrestrial globe with all its inhabitants, including all the beasts, fowl, and reptiles, as well as the demons and spirits. His control over the demons, spirits, and animals augmented his splendor, the demons bringing him precious stones, besides water from distant countries to irrigate his exotic plants. The beasts and fowl of their own accord entered the kitchen of Solomon's palace, so that they might be used as food for him, and extravagant meals for him were prepared daily by each of his 700 wives and 300 concubines, with the thought that perhaps the king would feast that day in her house.”

Additionally, he was given a ring, known as the “Seal of Solomon,” which gave him the ability to trap demons under his control.

A magic ring called the "Seal of Solomon" was supposedly given to Solomon and gave him power over demons or Jinn. The magical symbol said to have been on the Seal of Solomon which made it efficacious is often considered to be the Star of David. Asmodeus, king of demons, was one day, according to the classical Rabbis, captured by Benaiah (my note: Benaiah is a human, he was a soldier that helped Solomon rise to power) using the ring, and was forced to remain in Solomon's service. The Seal of Solomon, in some legends known as the Ring of Aandaleeb, was a highly sought after symbol of power. In several legends, different groups or individuals attempted to steal it or attain it in some manner.

And this is a potential plot in our story.

MC is, of course, the main protagonist of the story. We typically are. But there was never a clear antagonist. Or maybe he was playing along with our situation, a wolf in sheep's clothing?

We all know Levi’s strangely long anime names are a strange foreshadowing of the future. We have:

Though all titles seem to have a connection with our current plot, I’m going to focus on the first one, which seems to have the most implications regarding our current situation. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the second image with the two titles might be a backstory for Barbatos but that’s another story that I cannot fully prove yet. The third title also refers to a legend regarding Asmo and Solomon.

The first title seems...has quite obvious implications when recounting the events of chapters 15 - 18. Halfway through our journey, here we are, thrust into an alternate timeline, alone and scared but we end up making a pact with...our sixth demon? And this isn’t just a regular demon, this is one of the deadly sins. So now we have 6/7 demon brothers under our power, some of the most powerful demons in Devildom. It’s alarming how quickly MC is able to gain the trust of these demons, effectively creating pacts in the course of...maybe a few months?

What alarms me the most is how fast Belphie turned from, quite literally, killing us to making a pact with us in a course of 3 chapters. This brings me to my first suspicion in SoloBarb’s plot: This timeline is the only timeline where MC is able to make a pact with Belphie. All other timelines do not reflect this. This placement was 100% intentional from the start.

It is a known fact that Barbatos is able to view time and its events. It’s revealed this extends to alternate timelines when saving MC. If he is this powerful, wouldn’t he be able to simply look back in the past and find out who opened Belph’s door without the need for MC? This would be the easiest and most direct solution.

SIDENOTE: Keep in mind, part of the reason Barbatos could not stop the Belphie situation from happening is due to Diavolo’s restriction. Barbatos states that “Diavolo has forbidden him from using his powers freely.” HOWEVER, it then leads to the question: who really has the most control over Barbatos, Diavolo or Solomon? Traditionally, when pacts are made, it means that the demon is completely under the control of the individual but does it outweigh an authority figure? In my opinion, Solomon technically has the most power fo Barbatos. Solomon’s pact with Barbatos = a magically restrictive bond while Diavolo’s rule over Barbatos = a matter of respect of authority. There is no physically restrictive bond Diavolo has on Barbatos.

Also considering how cunning Solomon is, he could have easily manipulated Diavolo into this entire plan as well.

In addition, Solomon’s strangely direct question, asking Belphie if he was going to make a pact with MC, was alarming. It was as if he was proving his own theory: the demon brothers will make a pact with MC and never him. He seemed almost satisfied with this answer and didn’t seem to protest against it too much. Couple this with Solomon’s constant approval when MC makes pacts with the demon brothers during her stay, its...disconcerting.

Omg he even says “If you change your mind” what kind of creepy

If we consider all of this, it truly does seem as if Solomon is our potential antagonist. It seems to me that everything is pointing at him. He’s quiet enough for us to overlook and disregard as a side character, though he seems to have a certain unnerving edge to him. My god, the demons are even wary of him. If that wasn’t the biggest tip-off, idk what is.

Also physically, we have yet to hear his entire backstory in the game or have a chapter dedicated to him. So far, in terms of side characters, we have ample interaction with Diavolo and Luke (still waiting on Simeon) but no deep dives into Solomon and Barbatos. (Which means >.> we’ll get them in later chapters)

This brings me to the next question: so how is MC a chess piece in his plot?

Hey, remember that RANDOM moment Solomon lent out his power during Diavolo’s house party. AND NO ONE QUESTIONED IT. Honestly, what the hell was that all about?

In regards to this, why did he do this? Some answers include: he did it for shits and giggles, he wanted to test out the theory of us having powerful magic in our bloodline, or he wanted a test run. Yeah. You heard me. A test run.

Prior to this, MC was unable to truly summon a demon on their own. The most she could do was give out a pretty strong verbal command and the demon (Mammon lol) must carry it out. However, MC cannot fully utilize the pact’s potential due to her lack of innate magic ability.

This is both an affirmation and leverage for Solomon’s situation. On one end, it’s confirmed that MC has huge magic potential and can properly use it when needed. On the other end, this can be a bargaining tool for the future...

Which could lead to a large plot development: Once MC gains all seven pacts (c’mon, it is going to be impossible to not make a pact with Lucifer), what will they use it for?

MY PREDICTION: Solomon will attempt to manipulate MC into his control. Magic is powerful in this game but so are humans. A human was the reason Lilith was going to be punished by God. Solomon, a human, has power and control over 70+ demons. Belphegor was set on destroying only the human world. MC has pacts with the, arguably, the strongest demons in Devildom who are also formerly fallen angels.

From what I’ve seen so far, nothing is more powerful than a pact. And nothing is more powerful than human manipulation.

What will he use MC’s powers for? ...I have a sneaking feeling it might be to overthrow Diavolo based on Solomon’s cultural legend. Solomon famously has power over Asmo, the king of demons. Of course, we know the Asmo in our game is not the king but Diavolo is. Obey me! has a funny way of interpreting these legends in a unique way. Who knows if they split up Asmo into two different entities.

but who tf really knows what’s going on

BUT

I guess we’ll have to see what happens in later chapters. Of course, this is all really a far fetch theory but there seem to be so many underlying connections to Solomon in the game. I mean ffs, he’s the only other human here and he’s SOLOMON. The very character itself is so suspicious.

THIS ENTIRE THING COULD ALSO BE A MESSED UP CHALLENGE FROM DIAVOLO

OR SOME CRAZY HALLUCINATION CAUSED BY BARBATOS GIVING US THAT SUS TEA BLEND

But tbh who really knows what’s happening. The only confirmed thing is that we’re still on this alternate timeline (that MC totally messed up) and we haven’t returned to our OG timeline. lucifer please pick me up I’m scared

If you made it this far, you are SUCH A TROOP. I hope this actually has a consistent flow and it makes sense. If you have any questions or observations I didn’t include please feel free to message me! I’m open to discussion!

A big s/o to wikipedia for the quick info on Solomon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon#Seal_of_Solomon) and a thank you to @the-orizon for the screenshots & amazing info! Love you!

635 notes · View notes

imo-chan-imagines · 4 years

Text

『 Haikyuu!! Week 2020 | Day 3 』

· Sept. 27th → Irresistible Force ·

Characters: Karasuno team

Prompts: A. favourite team + B. crossover/AU

Tags/warnings: Haikyuu!! (anime), PG, fluff, crack, a teensy bit of angst (because who doesn't love a sad superhero backstory), headcanons, AU, superheroes, HaikyuuWeek2020

A/N: Again, I love all the teams and didn't want to pick, but life is cruel, so here I am. This is headcanons about my fav team (Karasuno) in an AU (superheroes). I was thinking of a Hero Association, kind of like in 'The Boys'? But less corrupt... Maybe more like in 'One Punch'? I think you get me.

All of my Haikyuu Week 2020 posts will be SFW, but I have NFSW content on my blog if that butters your biscuit. Feel free to check it out! Thanks for reading! Please enjoy ♡ Imo~

Karasuno / Superhero Association AU

☆ Sawamura Daichi ☆

Powers: nigh invulnerability, super strength, enhanced healing

If he's not the ordinary cop that somehow befriends the heroes I was tempted then he's definitely the leader of the superhero group

Kind of like Superman in the old-school Justice League, just not as OP lol

Looks damn good is spandex those thighs *sweats*

Cape!! so ✨majestic✨

Probably wears dark-ish, neutral colours with a dash of blue

A bit serious. Not the kind of hero to go around making quips all the time, but will make light of his own suffering like Captain America

Takes younger heroes under his wing like the true Dadchi he is

Strong moral compass. Unbreakable

Won't hesitate to lay down his life for others

Who am I kidding. He's basically Captain America with a cape

Poster-boy for the Hero Association

☆ Sugawara Koushi ☆

Powers: telekinesis

A soft, pearly aesthetic with his suit, hair and skin. Lots of white and silver

A favourite among the ladies he's just too pretty, damm it T T

Very plucky and adorable

People in the vicinity will literally faint when he goes all serious to concentrate and use his powers

Has a duo move with Daichi where he literally throws him like a missle YEET

Has the most followers on Twitter and TikTok and his fans can be pretty nuts

Has a perfume line named after him and models for the adverts

Will smile like an angel right before bringing a building down on top of you fuck, I find this one really funny

☆ Azumane Asahi ☆

Powers: regeneration, enhanced stength

Kind of like Wolverine or Deapool but, like, much, much softer on the inside uwu

Wears green and black

Messed up big time back in the day and dropped off the grid out of guilt some people died :(

Was convinced to come back when his old teammates finally found him again because they needed his help in a crisis

Literally shed tears of relief when heroes and citizens alike welcomed him back instead of hating him mah heart *sniffs*

Can withstand seemingly anything and fully heal within a matter of days

Doesn't know the full extent of his powers himself. How exactly do one test it? 🤔

Still has to psych himself up for a fight, though big softy, really

☆ Shimizu Kiyoko ☆

Powers: electrokinesis, flight

Powers like Storm from X-Men, and kicks ass like Wonder Woman

Refuses to wear a revealing suit, but looks bomb af anyway

Kiyoko = absolute queen

One of the most powerful heroes, but doesn't throw her weight around unless she's kicking bady-guy booty

Stella gynamast, and has mastered several martial arts

Can literally throw a guy three times her size, all without any strength powers Tanaka: 👁👄👁

Somehow has perfect hair all the time secret superpower??

Is active on the political stage as a human rights activist, headlining women's rights yes, yes yes

Will strike you with lightning for sexual harassment

Comes up with really good mission plans

Is a soothing balm for Tanaka when he loses it

Black and gold aesthetic✨

Asymmetrical cape! super fashionable

Poster-girl for the Hero Association

☆ Tanaka Ryuunosuke ☆

Powers: fire generation and manipulation

Tanaka brings the heat literally

A bit of a chaotic-good, but what's new there?

Can get out of control if he loses his focus, so his friends have to keep him grounded Kiyoko is a literal angel when that happens

Kiyoko: Sun's getting real low...

Bonus points if you get the reference

Is terrified of hurting innocents if he gets out of control

It rarely happens, but if he loses his self confidence, his powers don't seem to work

Shouts cringy lines at the villains before roasting their asses lmfao

Wears a black and orange flame-retardant suit, and actually looks pretty fine in it 😌👌

Literally head over heels for Kiyoko just imagine it. Biggest hype man

☆ Nishinoya Yuu ☆

Powers: animal metamorphosis, enhanced speed

Think Beast Boy from 'Teen Titans', but less green he's more likely to be yellow or orange, lmao

Handy in lots of different situations. Very versatile

Incredibly cheeky and joins in with Tanaka's cheesy jokes and one-liners

Absolute maniac, but the people love him, especially schoolkids lmao

Has his own energy drink flavour, and he's STOKED about it

Yellow and black suit, kind of like his hair

Has a surprisingly large following of fans

Laps up the attention, but it doesn't really go to his head

Quiet and serious when he's on a mission/fighting

☆ Hinata Shouyou ☆

Powers: self replication, super speed, levitation

His powers took a while to properly manifest, which left him feeling isolated as a teen

Was pretty lost until Ukai helped train him

Got into a fight with Kageyama in an alleyway when he first met him MET HIM IN THE STREET, LMAO

Argues with Kageyama a lot at headquarters, but they work together like a dream when taking down bad guys

Has a heart of literal gold precious baby

Is contantly amazed when he helps significantly

Was inspired to become a hero by his idol, the Little Giant and it's his dream to inspire someone else 😭😭

Uses his replication ability to confuse the bad guys ULTIMATE DECOY

Levitates around the room when he's excited like Aang from ATLA, hahaha

Wears an orange, white and yellow suit with little wings on his heels cuuuute

☆ Kageyama Tobio ☆

Powers: water/ice generation and manipulation, breathing underwater, superhuman reflexes

I was tempted to give him fire/ice powers like Todoroki, but I didn't want to detract from Tanaka

Has problems focusing his powers, and can be quite turbulent in the heat of battle

Finds it hard to work well with others initially, but really makes an effort

Has hurt people close to him by accident before and never wants to do it again it would tear him apart

Becomes a power duo with Hinata when Ukai helps train them, even though they don't seem to get on well at first

Broody boi on the surface, but a cinnamon roll deep down

Wears a dark blue and deep purple suit that has fins to assist in underwater escapades which are his forte

Freezes Hinata's feet to the floor when he pisses him off or anybody's feet, tbh

Can dodge almost anything because of his reflexes don't ever try to punch him. You'll look stupid

Is surprised by the number of people in his fan club especially the number of women asking to marry him??

☆ Tsukishima Kei ☆

Powers: telepathy, superhuman intellect, mind control on weak-willed individuals

Prefers to outwit his enemies rather than getting into a brawl

But his self-designed gadgets and tech help him out if he has to a bit like Tony Stark, wink wonk

Sometimes makes you question if he's really a hero or not Tsukki, please

Doesn't take orders well

Baits villains by insulting them and getting the better of them with his words it's hilarious

Comes up with good plans, but improvises well with whatever he's got

Probably wears suits over his spandex most of the time fancy shmancy

Is prepared to die to protect Yamaguchi waahhh

☆ Yamaguchi Tadashi ☆

Powers: invisibility, force fields, teleportation

Susan Storm with added teleportation, lol

Often finds it hard to value his powers because they're not as visually strong and impressive as other people's

Rather than squaring up to a battle, he often has to 'hide' from it by literally going invisible

But he gradually becomes aware of how vital his powers can be, and learns to control them and make them as advantageous as possible

Is a highly important and valued member of the team

Soft bean that gets nervous and throws up before a fight

But he's hella determined and won't back down

Honestly, just wants to protect Tsukki and make him proud PROTECT HIM

☆ Yachi Hitoka ☆

Powers: size manipulation

She can shrink and enlarge herself and objects she touches at will, including other people

Sometimes shrinks really small to avoid social situations she doesn't want to be in samez, honey

The clumsiest and least experienced on the team

But she tries her best, gradually getting to grips with her powers

Sometimes uses her powers by accident, like when she's nervous

Once touched a watermelon slice on the refreshment table and accidentally blew it up to the size of a car Hinata, Kageyama and Noya fully dug in with their faces 😭😭

Nearly passed out when Daichi, the literal god of the Hero Association, told her she had great potential

Don't worry, Yams teleported and caught her

☆ Ukai Keishin ☆

Powers: laser vision, metal mimicry

The has-been hero who lost his enthusiasm for hero-ing and retired some years ago

Was really cool back in his hayday. Big hot-shot with a fan club

Has been working as a convenience store attendant to pay the bills and is bored out of his mind but refuses to admit it

Was convinced to get back in the game when he found Hinata and Kageyama fighting, both struggling with their abilities. He broke up the fight and agreed to coach them

Doesn't do much of the flashy hero stuff anymore, but will occasionally get stuck in when he's needed must protecc his children

Is only, like, ten years older than the other heroes, but they treat him like some fossilised sensei out of Natuto, or some shit

Tbf, he has the back problems of one 😭😭

☆ Takeda Ittetsu ☆

Powers: power absorption

Transferred from being a hero to hero management after having having issues with the effects of his powers he has a conscience :(

He felt guilty and responsible for permanently taking the powers of others, even if they were criminals

It was like removing a piece of their souls it kind of broke him

These days, he makes sure nobody knows about his powers, so it can't be used against him

He helps in any other way possible

He would only use his powers again in dire circumstances he knows he'll eventually have to

Is generally chipper and good natured, though

If he was ever captured by a villain, they'd probably send him back because he talks too much omg, hahaha

Helps gather info for the team and direct them on missions and in fights

Gives bomb inspirational speeches ✊

57 notes · View notes

serrj215 · 4 years

Text

Please Pass the Tofurky

"I want to be alone" Raven said those words so often Beast Boy often joked it was her catchphrase. Raven normally relished solitude. It was a break from the constant emotional noise pollution her abilities picked up. It was a chance to put her mind in order and add new layers of control. Peace, quiet, a fresh stack of books to read, what more could demoness ask for? Thanksgiving this year meant just that. The tower all to herself. Fate had handed her exactly what she wished for. "Alfred are you sure about this?" Robin said over his cell phone. "Yes I know it's Thanksgiving but he has never made a big deal about it before." He was pacing back and forth through the empty common room. "Wait he wants to meet her?" he said a touch of panic creeping into his voice. "He's dying isn't he?.....I am not trying to be funny Alfred, this just doesn't sound like him. " Robin just continued pacing as Alfred on the other end tried to help him understand. After a few minutes Robin agreed "Okay the leer jet at Sullivan field tomorrow...okay….it's going to be good to see you too." With that he hung up and stood there, just letting the last few minutes sink in. He was going home for Thanksgiving and the closest thing he had to a father wanted to meet his girlfriend. "This is so...normal" he said looking back down at his phone. Starfire jumped at the chance to meet Robin's family literally. It was a good thing they were on the roof when Robin told her because she grabbed him and leapt into the air with joy. She was fully prepared to fly them both to Gotham right then and there. Until Robin told her "Um Star my family already went to the trouble of sending the plane." "Oh I do not wish to be the rude. We will take the plane. Oh this is so wonderful! I feel like I am going to emfnar!" It was a good thing that they did take the plane. Starfire packed so much Robin wasn't sure even she would be able to carry it. She was still gushing as they left the tower, and probably all the way to Gotham city. She assured Raven as they were leaving that when she returned that they would have the "girl talk" and she would tell her everything in great detail. Cyborg ended up visiting/rescuing the Titans East. He got the call sitting in the driver's seat of the T-Car running another set of performance tests. "Hey Sparky we need a little favor." Bumblebee said through the car's audio. "We need? or YOU need?" He said as he was checking the computer's diagnostics. "And you never need little favors, you call me when you need to pull off something nuts." "WE! Volunteered to do a charity Thanksgiving dinner." "That’s nice, you're not getting Grandma Stone's Pumpkin pie recipe" He said flatly. "That says in the family" "Victor Stone, are you proposing?" Cyborg looked up from the readout on the console to the small speaker glad that this was not a video call. He cleared his throat. "Cute Bee. Okay Thanksgiving Dinner, what do you need from me?" There was a long silence making Cyborg think that the call had dropped until Bumblebee said quietly. "To cook it?" Another long silence this time it was Cyborg that had gone quite. "Cyborg you there?" "Let me get this straight" He stared too calmly for what he was just asked. "You volunteered to make the biggest meal of the year, for how many?" "Maaaybe 200." she said quietly "and then expect me to go across the county to cook it for you with two days notice?" "Oh course not, It's just that…" "What!?" he shouted back. "None of us know how to cook! I mean we thought Speedy could but all he knows how to make is chili and hot dogs!" "You live with these people! How can you not know if any of them can cook?" Cyborg spat out. "What the hell have you been eating all this time!?" The augment continued. Cyborg spent the next hour explaining what they would need to have when he got there. You had never seen someone be so passionate about explaining the difference between a dutch oven and a slow cooker and insisting he would need both. Beast Boy was going east as well to see the Doom Patrol. It was a bit abrupt. Raven had found a note he had left on the kitchen table.

Dudes,

The DP asked me to come home. Will be back Monday.

Sorry won't be able to share the parade and Tofurky this year.

Beast Boy.

Raven looked at the hastily scribbled note. She could almost feel the disappointment on it. She knew that Mento didn’t ask for anything, he ordered it. That the only reason that Beast Boy followed was some sense of family loyalty and it being the holiday. Still a long weekend without video games, puns and stankball. She was going to call that a win. By Thursday morning Raven was in an empty tower. At first it was everything she could have hoped for, the empty common room was perfect for her morning meditation. Cyborg had left the fridge full, so there was no argument what was going to be for breakfast or lunch. She was able to finish the novel she was reading and start the next book in the series. All in the most glorious quite. "It's too quiet" Raven said to herself as night settled in. She didn’t believe her own ears. Sitting on her bed she pushed away the book she was reading. She just re-read the same page for the 4th time. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. Raven's eyes closed tight she tried to focus on her breathing, trying to slow the a new creeping panic. She didn’t understand, she had been alone before, and for much longer, just she had never felt alone here. This was her home this was different, the Tower didn’t feel right without the familiar presence of her friends. It was cold and alien, like she was in a strangers house. It was a horrible realization that as much as she coveted solitude, there was always the comforting auras of the others nearby, now…she couldn’t help but wonder if this is what it was like to suddenly go blind or deaf. There was something missing and... In her mind there was a sudden flash of bright green. Raven shot bold upright almost falling off the bed. Before she could process this a small envelope slid under her door and then the sound of rushed footsteps. "Beast Boy?" she said to the empty room. He was supposed to be across the country, but it was definitely him. Raven couldn't help it. She was actually glad that someone, even Beast Boy, was in the tower. Raven got up quickly snatching the small square of paper. She opened it and read. Ms. Raven

Your presence is requested in the ops room for a Thanksgiving dinner.

Formal dress is not required but will not be discouraged.

Thank you.

Garfield Logan. Raven looked at the invitation. "Garfield Logan?" She asked herself. It was not often that she heard his real name. She knew that he didn’t really care for it but looking at it on the paper it wasn’t a bad name. This wasn't like the scratched out note he left when he left, she could tell he tried to make the letters neat, he even spelled 'presence' correctly. Raven looked back and forth between the note and her door. Wondering if this was some sort of elaborate prank. I mean this was Beast Boy. But curiosity got the better of her, and it led her out the door to the ops room. "What is this?" She asked as she entered. The couch was pushed over to one side. In its place was a long table set with a white table cloth In the center of the room. There were several covered dishes and a basket of bread, Two place settings in the middle of the table across from each other. The biggest surprise was Beast Boy himself. He was wearing a white button down shirt, with a black vest and dress pants. He had even tried to run a comb through that mess of green hair. He looked up at her from arranging the different dishes. "Happy Thanksgiving." He said softly not sure how she was going to react. "Beast Boy, what are you doing here?" She approached the table. "What about the Doom Patrol?" "I changed my mind." he said sheepishly and quickly turned his attention to the food. " We got a ton stuff here I hope your hungry."

She could tell he was holding something back. Despite the smile on his face he wouldn’t meet her eyes. Still this was quite a feat to set this all up on his own. The food, his look, setting up the room, then Raven remembered the invitation.

"Will all this keep for a few moments?" Raven asked, referring to the table.

"Ah Yea." Beast Boy said, slightly confused. Raven quickly left to go back to her room. Leaving Beast Boy to fiddle with the table not sure what was going on. When she returned she was waring Deep blue sleeveless floor length gown. Her hair was pulled back, and she wore small gold and ruby stud earrings.

"I think this feels more fitting." She said as she came back into the room. "Wow." Beast Boy breathed out his jaw hanging open. "Don’t get used to it. " She glanced at him "But since you did put in the effort. " "I just didn’t think you had anything in your closet but blue capes." Beast boy said unable to take his eyes off of her. It was Raven. The dark blue the way the dress flowed like her cloak even in the red accent of the earrings, it was still her but she was breathtaking. "Starfire found this for me, under the mistaken impression that there will be a ball sometime soon."

Shall we eat?" "Ah,..Yes..ya" He said, pulling out the chair for her. They were both seated.

"So where do you want to start?" Beast Boy reaching for a one of the casserole lids.

"How about with the truth?" She said folding her hands together. "Beast Boy what are you doing here?"

"Eating sweet potatoes?" a stiff smile on his face.

"Empath. Beast Boy I know there is something your holding back"

Beast Boy sat there looking at her chewing on his bottom lip. His eyes met hers again.

"You sure that we can't just eat green beans and not talk about this?"

Raven just sat there and stared at him. She knew that her patience would win out over his impetuous nature. They sat there looking at each other for a few moments. Or for 26 years depending on the perspective.

"The house was empty." Beast Boy whispered.

He picked up his fork needing to do something with his hands. "The mission comes first." The words came out practiced. As if he had said that phrase a thousand times before. "I got to the Manor and no one was there. The place was dark, I found a note on the door. It said I was late. Something came up in the Andes. "

"Beast Boy I-"

"No, you know what's really funny, I thought it was a joke, like a surprise party or something so I went in anyway and ran over the whole house calling them, checking every room. They were gone the jet was gone. " A the moment she could see him trying to hold back the tears. "But the best part, the fridge was empty! No Turkey defrosting for the big day, no potatoes, just some bread a peanut butter in the pantry."

"So you came back here."

"I made a sandwich first, but yea." He wiped his eye with the back of his hand. "Thanksgiving is supposed to be about family and I wanted to be with family, they knew that and used that to get me to come home, and put me to work." his eyes fell to the empty dinner plate in front of him. "I am sorry Beast-" her voice froze for a moment. "I am sorry Garfield."

This snapped his attention back to her. He had gone years without hearing his real name. He remembered hating it, but in her voice, it was different.

"Rae, I am the one that should be sorry. I mean I know you were probably loving having the tower to yourself. I half expected you to see all of this, ask me to stay quiet and go back to your room."

"Too much of anything, even quiet and solitude is not a good thing." I guess I have gotten used to this place, the people in it." She looked up at him. "I missed my family. Thank you for coming home."

The blood rushed up into Beast Boys face. This was like a dream, she looked amazing, and she was here with him, alone.

"Well we have food. Oh! there is a replay of the Parade on Tv we can watch, or we co-"

Raven reached across the table and put her hand on top of his. "We could just talk some more?" She said.

The both stared at each other until for a moment. "Yea okay…I would like that." His voice shook a bit. Raven puller her hand away, he Immediately missed it.

"Where is the tofurky?" she as she cautiously started to take the lids off the dishes.

"Avoid the brown one on the end."

"Thank you."

They ate, and talked, and talked some more. It was one of those conversations that took on a life of its own. It was early Friday morning before they gotten up from the table and he walked Raven back to her room.

*****************************************************************************

So its July, how about a Thanksgiving story? This was in the draft pile asked my wife to pick on and this is what she picked. Besides some Fall would be welcome with this 100+ degree heat.

#BBrae #bbrae fanfiction #Serrj215 Original #thanksgiving #robstar #(just a touch)

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volturialice · 4 years

Text

Spork Haven chapter 22: outlandish fucking statue

welcome to spork haven, where I spork the EL James fic you’ve never heard of

previous chapter | next chapter | contents

previously on Spork Haven:

actor!Edward and murder witness cello student ex-hotel maid!Bella got ready to go to an awards show! and that was it that was the entire chapter

SADDLE UP CHUCKLEFUCKS, THIS CHAPTER IS GREAT. like, I legitimately mean that. a lot of stupid shit goes down and it is absolutely bonkers and thoroughly entertaining. this is the reward I deserve after putting up with the last few dead boring chapters. chapter 22 has restored my faith in this story’s ability to be wildly, audaciously stupid all over the place, like the shitting hippopotamus of stories.

chapter 22 begins with Bella and Edward getting into the car to get to the airport to get on the studio’s private jet to fly to a different airport to get into a limo to get to the awards ceremony. okay, so maybe it’s not fun right off the bat. just hang on a sec.

on the drive, Edward notices Bella’s lack of delicious, suck-able earrings. she tells him she lost one, and he tells her he found it in her room and has kept it as a trophy. now he can’t stand the sight of her disgusting, shamefully naked ears, declaring that she should be wearing

so he makes Mike pull over at a Tiffany’s. I’m not even kidding. they’re on their way to an official event and he insists they need a pit stop to go jewelry shopping. Tiffany’s should really have a drive-thru for occasions like these.

Bella is not allowed out of the car for security reasons, so Edward takes Jasper to Tiffany’s instead. honestly at this point I am so checked out that nothing would please me more than a sharp left turn into Edward/Jasper territory, but alas, the most we get is Edward calling Jasper

and telling us how bitter and jealous Jasper is as Edward casually drops twelve grand on a single pair of earrings.

Edward makes sure to tell us how clueless he is choosing earrings, in case we needed to be reminded of what a good ol’ fashioned Red-Blooded Hetero™ he is. he’s so out of his depth here, among all this

don’t worry ladies, this hunk of oozing testosterone has never seen a diamond or a sparkle in his life

he quickly picks a pair of earrings called the “Victoria Double Drop,” which is as close as this story will get to having Victoria in it. oh well. on second thought it’s probably for the best that way, seeing as how in f!fty sh@des, erika made Victoria a head of Human Resources.

back in the car, Bella opens the

causing Edward to feel such varied emotions as

and

but of course Bella loves the earrings and puts them on right away.

I...assume we’re supposed to be impressed with Edward’s generosity and largesse and thoughtfulness here, but. do I even need to point out that if he were actually a thoughtful and considerate boyfriend, he would have spent more than two seconds picking out a gift for Bella and done it, oh, maybe a day or two before the black tie event as opposed to in the car on the way there?

Edward, Bella, and their retinue (Emmett, Jasper, and Edward’s movie’s director, Chris, who is completely unimportant to the story but still here for some reason) board the jet, which is decorated in

Ed and Bella sit down on the couch, causing Edward to have a flashback to the time he had a threesome with two beautiful flight attendants on the same couch last year.

like actually. that’s an actual thing in the actual story. flight attendant threesome.

Edward catches Bella eyeing him during his fun little reverie and has a moment of panic

wait, was that a joke? was that a...fun reference to canon?

...gosh,

if only it were in a better story

anyway. after the plane ride, the gang meets up with Taylor and gets into some

to head to the read carpet. once on said carpet, they pose for “the fucking press corps” in a paragraph where erika hilariously mixes up flashbulbs and flashlights, making it sound like everyone on the red carpet is playing flashlight tag.

Bella gets a lot of attention from the press and seems uncomfortable with it, causing Edward to wonder if it was a good idea to bring a shy person who’s spent the last six months in hiding from murderers to such a high profile event. ya fucking think?

they talk to a bunch of people Edward hates and drink a glass of champagne

remember kids, champagne is gay. this post brought to you by Beer Hets™

Ed and Bella sit down for the ceremony, and guess whomst is one of the award presenters? that’s right, the delectable old vain blonde hussy herself.

and just when I thought Safe Haven!Bella couldn’t possibly get any stupider, I’m proven wrong.

not to get all Serious And Analytical here, but Safe Haven is an amazing example of erika’s patented “write a heroine so unbelievably fucking dumb that all of the creepy male love interest’s abusive, controlling actions seem justified” method.

Tanya opens the Best Actor envelope with

and pauses for

and surprise, surprise, Edward has won. the audience dissolves into

then Edward goes up to collect his award, and we get one of my favorite paragraphs of all time, which I have here preserved for you in its entirety:

yes, that was 5 “fucks” in...two? sentences

then Edward and Tanya have to do a photo op in front of a “lit to fuck board.” Tanya makes some catty remark about Bella and Edward snaps at her that Bella is “the future Mrs. Cullen, if you don’t mind.”

quick sidebar, are we sure an adult wrote this? like are we sure it wasn’t a ten-year-old? have we double-checked? like are we totally certain?

ok then.

Edward and Bella make their way to the after party, where they drink more champagne (gay) and something finally dawns on Edward

no, and no official, televised, US-based event would serve her in the first place. I can’t wait for the next chapter, in which all these characters serve 60 days in jail for supplying alcohol to a teenager.

then Bella starts to feel dizzy, so Emmett takes her to the ladies’ room while Edward poses for more pictures. place your bets now on whether she’s poisoned, pregnant, or both! my money’s on “both” but I wish it was just poison. that would be way more fun.

and indeed, some type of skulduggery seems to be afoot, because when Edward joins Emmett to lurk outside the ladies’ room, Bella still hasn’t come back after five whole minutes! Edward and Emmett share a glance

I’m sorry erika but literally what is the point of describing them like that if they aren’t going to fall in love?? can you fucking read, erika? can you read the phrase “dark burning eyes”?? can you read that last sentence aloud and then honestly sit here and tell me it’s not the gayest thing since gay sliced bread?? hmm? can you???

after this epically, gloriously homosexual moment, Edward bursts into the ladies’ room, surprising all the ladies who are engaged in activities like

you know, the more of el james’ work I encounter, the more I’m convinced that she has never actually met another human woman and that her only source of information on womankind is stock photos.

Edward rushes through the women’s restroom, checking every stall, only to find that—alas—horror of horrors—Bella has disappeared! oh, the humanity!

he fights “the nausea that’s threatening to erupt all over the fucking floor,” and there the chapter ends.

predictions: chapter 23 will begin with Edward projectile vomiting all over the women’s room. then it turns out that Bella is totally fine and was just taking some Me Time in order to laugh alone with a salad.

best “fucks”

“a complete fucking delight”

“every fucking muscle”

“a fucking house on fire”

“pouty fucking lip”

“secretly fucking pleased” (bella)

“fucking elegant” (bella)

“fucking blinking” (the Tiffany’s salesgirl)

“fucking flashy” (earrings)

“fucking animated” (bella)

“one of the biggest fucking mouths in Hollywood” (tanya)

“completely fucking oblivious” (bella)

next chapter: salt fucking peter

#spork haven #twilight fanfiction #anti e.l. james #alcohol mention //#if I had to guess I think this chapter has the most 'fucks' of any chapter #it's a good one lads #we're BACK baby #unsafe for work text //

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lobster-mobster-aq · 4 years

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I Don’t Like Midoriya Anymore, and it’s Not Even His Fault

Hot take under the cut or here.

Spoilers ahead if you aren't caught up in the manga.

Good ol’ My Hero Academia. Everyone’s favorite anime mimicking American superhero tropes, (I do believe I hear the Tiger and Bunny fandom screaming in the distance). I’ve watched the show, I’ve read the manga, I know about some of the spin off light novels, I’ve read Vigilantes, (it’s okay) I’ve seen the movies. For the most part I’ve enjoyed the series. But my feelings with the main character have gotten…mixed to say the least.

Midoriya, used to love him. Barely contained writhing ball of emotions. But now…now he kind of annoys me. Literally you could have any other character on the page and I would be more invested. I would prefer an arc about Mineta at this point. It’s not that I hate young Midoriya, I just find any story that has him at the center boring. I thought long and hard about why. Was I just tired of him? Are his traits fine in moderation but eventually get boring? Is his character arc the problem? Why, why do I dislike his character now?

After minutes of soul searching, I decided it was the hair…

Sorry, that’s a joke some of you will get. The real reason, I’ve decided, is mostly how the story has developed around him. It’s not even his fault. I think if I met him in real life…okay he would probably annoy me but to be honest most people in real life annoy me so that doesn’t explain why he annoys me as a character. Let me put it this way, if there was a slightly different story around him, he wouldn’t annoy me.

There were two things going for young Midoriya that made him an interesting character. One, he still felt like he had a ways to go to control his OP power. Instead of feeling like he was the most powerful character, so it was inevitable that he was going to win every fight, there was a real sense he had to work hard at it. He even lost some fights. Two, pretty much every single arc furthered his development. Nearly every single arc felt important to the way his power and character were developing. This is what made his story so compelling. But I kind of feel like these two aspects are faltering.

I can’t help but feel now that Midoriya has fallen into the traditional protagonist problem. His whole shtick about trying to be a good hero and not feeling good enough is just annoying when he is so enormously powerful. Before it felt like he still had a long journey ahead of him but now… I was excited to see how he grew into a person and how his quirk developed. Now I’m just kind of waiting for him to finally get to the final showdown. I feel like I’ve seen all the growing that Midoriya has in him, everything after this point is just killing time. Oh, he has more quirks. Okay cool. Didn’t really need them but whatever. He won this fight too? Honestly, I’m just kind of surprised it took him that long. The reason I’m still reading the manga is because I’m still enjoying everything else that’s going on, I’m just not too fond of how the story seems to be, for lack of a better word, hero worshiping Midoriya now.

Horikoshi said that the series was only supposed to be 20 volumes long. It’s possible he just meant that the plot he had took longer to write than he realized it was going to, or it meant he’s been adding stuff. I’m inclined to think it’s a combination of the two. This isn’t a smooth transition, just a fact I want people to be aware of when I get into my next points.

For me, it all began with the Shie Hassaikai arc. The arc that was specifically designed to show that Midoriya was the one meant, the one destined, for One For All. This is the arc where it all began to feel like the story was starting to bow at the feat of Midoriya. Where the plot began to bend around him to please him. Let me explain.

It has started to feel like Midoriya’s character arc is wrapping up. His arc feels like it should have ended fairly shortly after the whole Shie Hassaikai arc…but the plot as a whole doesn’t really feel like it’s slowing down. Yeah, maybe this current arc in the manga is the last one. I can see that. It’s big, it’s climatic, it feels like it could be an ending, so maybe I’m getting worried for nothing. The details of everything else around this arc, the other character arcs, small details in the plot that don’t feel like they could be wrapped up, it just seems like there’s supposed to be more after this.

For the most part, the Shie Hassaikai arc is pretty good. It doesn’t start to get annoying until the end. I know I might start some arguments here. Mirio should have been the one to defeat Overhaul. That’s right, I said it. The momentum of the entire arc fell flat when it was Midoriya. I will even grant you there would have been no way to make it look as epic as when Midoriya punched the daylights out of Overhaul but plot wise it would have worked so much better if Mirio had been the one to do it. But, I hear you say, Mirio was all beat up and stuff, he couldn’t have done it. Need I remind you that Eri can literally heal people. The problem with Midoriya with this arc is that it wasn’t fitting, emotionally for him to defeat Shie Hassaikai. The emotional development of the other star of this arc, Mirio’s, was ruined with Midoriya defeating Overhaul. Here we go, here is the hypothetical change I would make.

Eri never goes back after she and Mirio take off after Mirio’s fights Overhaul. They make their way outside, to only run into the fight again, because the fight has been taken outside. Overhaul and Midoriya are fighting, but, oh no, Overhaul notices Eri and rushes over to Mirio. Eri activates her quirk, and while this doesn’t give Mirio his quirk back, he is now healed. He punches motherfucking Overhaul in the face, Eri’s quirk does the thing that it did in the show/manga anyway (keep in mind that was what actually took him out, not Midoriya’s punch) and so we’re all good. I know that Mirio already “proved” himself. Already sacrificed to show that he was a true hero, but it just would have been more satisfying if he had been the one to defeat Overhaul with Eri. He had so much more reason to feel like this was his fight, it felt like Mirio’s fight, not Midoriya’s. When Midoriya defeated Overhaul, it felt like the story was just having Midoriya do it because, well, Midoriya is the main character. He needs to fight the bad guys, and he needs to win.

Fast forward and we’re in the hospital now. Midoriya is offering Mirio his quirk, an action that slaps harder now because there’s better reason for Midoriya to feel that Mirio would be a better owner of One For All. How it stands in cannon, it just doesn’t sit right. Not only was Midoriya the one that wanted to punch Shie the first moment he saw him, he’s also the one that took him down. After all that if feels strange that Midoriya would feel unworthy. It was a little annoying, that that was Midoriya’s responds. If Mirio had been the one to take out Overhaul though, those emotions would make perfect sense. Nothing screams “I’m a worthless superhero,” like someone without powers doing what you couldn’t. It would have turned Midoriya’s actions from, OP guy who just feels bad because one dude doesn’t think he can hack it to, yeah okay, Midoriya totally has a legit reason to think that Mirio is way more capable to take on the legacy of One For All.

There were exactly two moments in that arc that showed that Midoriya was the right person to take on One For All, and one of them was not when he punched Overhaul. Being a hero means being willing to sacrifice for the sake of others. Punching Overhaul in the face was not a sacrifice for Midoriya. Punching assholes in the face is Midoriya’s favorite pass time. It’s a hobby at this point.

One moment was when he first ran into Overhaul and Eri. He was desperate to help Eri right then and right there. He didn’t care about saving form or not causing a scene. He cared about helping a little girl who was clearly terrified. The second moment was when he offered One For All to Mirio. Midoriya wants nothing more than to be a hero, so the fact that he was willing to give One For All to someone he thought would use the quirk better, once again speaks of his heroic nature. Having Midoriya be the one to defeat Overhaul distracts from those two moments. It makes it seem like the reason he’s worthy is because he beats up bad guys good.

It also radically changes the scene where Night Eye seems to finally accept Midoriya. Why would Night Eye, after Mirio was the one to defeat Overhaul, believe Midoriya should be the one to hold One For All? How did Midoriya change the outcome? Why was it Midoriya’s determination that changed things? It would have suggested at a future for Midoriya that only Night Eye could see. It would have hinted at the incredible things Midoriya was going to do and give exactment to the kind of hero he was going to become. Instead of it being, oh, Midoriya punches so good he changed the future. Once again, it would have redirected the focus to Midoriya’s mind and heart, instead of his ability to fight.

Those few fairly small changes would entirely shift the focus on Midoriya’s progress and why he’ll be such a great hero. A better focus, more about the content of his character instead of how OP he is. It also still leaves him room to grow as a character.

The before discussed change would not only better Midoriya’s character development, but I feel make the arc better as a whole. Even if Midoriya’s character wasn’t bothering me, I would still like to see those changes because of the way all the characters would be affected by that change. There’s only one other fairly small change I would make to the series, and pretty much it would only be to turn Midoriya’s arc into something I wasn’t bored and annoyed by. Like I said earlier, it isn’t Midoriya who is annoying me, it’s the way that it feels like his arc has ended, and that more power and abilities keeps being dumped onto him to try to hide the fact.

This change is much more streamlined. During the duel training arc he loses. That’s it. If the Shie Hassaikai began Midoriya’s tendency to feel like a character had finally become OP and never loses a fight, the duel training arc confirmed it. It felt like Midoriya should have lost here. When a character, especially in a fight with stakes like the ones in the duel training arc, loses control so much it feels kind of cheap when they still win anyway. Yes, I know, objectively speaking the team from class A had more power, but having Midoriya lose control of his power and that be the reason his team lost? It would have been a way to give Midoriya more power, without it feeling like it was just extra. Midoriya loses control, and because of that the class B team is able to win. That would have even added to the whole, winning by unheroic means thing that Shinso and Monoma had going on.

Those two, fairly inconsequential, changes (at least when it comes to the way they will change the plot as a whole) would be all it would take to change Midoriya from feeling like a character who has finished their arc and is now just killing time, to someone who still had to develop before he could call himself the best hero ever. As it stands right now I kind of feel like, as far as fighting ability goes, Midoriya is already there. I know not everyone feels this way, but it is the way I feel. If you don’t like it you can, I don’t know, write your own article on a blog no one’s ever going to read.

And post script, yes I know that your average action shonen protagonists have all the same problems but a zillion times worse. This isn’t about them.

#bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #midoriya #midoriya izuku #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers

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positivelypetty · 5 years

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A REALLY long rant on the Joint Training Arc.

Okay, so since the Joint Training Arc is basically done, I thought I would share my various opinions and adress certain issues that A LOT of people had with this arc.

But, before we get into the actual rant, I think I should distinguish the difference between an opinion, criticism and just plain antagonism.

Here is an example of just misinformed toxicity:

This is just being TOXIC!!! You can’t shelter these horrible comments by saying “it’s just an opinion.” Please don’t act like after 4 years of really enthralling writing, he’s now the worst writer ever. Instead, explain why you don’t think this was the best story choice, instead of being clearly misinformed. It’s nothing absolutely terrible, but just a simple example on how people can be so demanding and completely inconsiderate to the creator.

“Forbidding” Horikoshi from writing is actually ridiculous. He WROTE AND CREATED your “precious sons” that you love so much. So, if you claim that the manga is now utter trash because it doesn’t personally cater to you, please abandon or take a long break from the manga/anime to maybe clear your head. Thank you.

We don’t need any more toxicity in this fandom than we already do.

Now with that said, let’s talk about the arc! (Also keep in mind that these ideas spurred from Reddit so, I decided to expand on it)

1-B vs 1-A situation:

I've been reading a ton of comments too, the good, and the bad and it's fine, everyone has their opinions and that's cool, but for me, it didn't seem it was about who won or lost, it was more about how each class was taught. And this boils down to both Vlad and Aizawa.

Vlad has obviously been pushing his students and their quirks to the max in regards to working in teams. This shines through in all of the fights they all work together very well and know the strengths and weaknesses of each other as well as their enemies. They go into a battle with a plan and are ready to execute the plan flawlessly.

Whereas Aizawa I believe has pushed for more individualist thinking style, and I think this comes from his basis of fighting villains. No one will come to save you, you have to be able to handle yourself whether escaping or defeating. He doesn't coddle his students, and he does push them to the brink as well. What's interesting is Class A has had more hands-on experience. With Aizawa’s teaching style I think they sometimes have a harder time working with one another and they can fall apart with their teamwork. HOWEVER their real-life experience has taught them that the best-laid out plans can not go as plan, and they are able to utilize their 'individual' thinking to fight regardless of a plan falling through.

I found it really interesting and I think there's value in both ways of thinking for Vlad and Aizawa. For Class B, they will have to learn how to abandon a plan that's not working and strategize on the fly, and Class A will have to hone their teamwork for long-running battles.

And let's be honest, these are just kids, pushing their bodies and minds to the limit, I don't find Class B to be 'trash' just because they lost, they still fought hard and worked better together in the long run then Class A. Class B didn't have any dead weight with their battles, everyone was utilized and contributed to all their fights. People are so set on who “won” or who “lost” the battle, that people overlook everyone’s overall individual quirks and techniques. I personally believe that many of the 1-B students were amazing and are forces to be reckoned with. It’s just that 1-A knows how to handle themselves when things don’t to go to plan rather than 1-B (as mentioned before) which gave 1-A the upper-hand in most of the battles, but I can definitely name a few fights where Class A's members were carried by their team.

Now to address the Shinsou thing:

To everyone who was PRESSED that Shinsou didn’t win....

What do you expect from Shinsou? I feel like people were overestimating him. Even with those cloth bindings and his quirk. All you need to do is shut your mouth, grab his cloth bindings (at best he has a few months training) keep focusing on him,restrain him, and boom you're done.(I obviously know it’s not that simple, but basically) I love Shinsou, I really do, but he’s basically Aizawa (I love Aizawa too don’t get me wrong). Aizawa mentioned that it took FIVE YEARS for him to truly master his quirk, and even though since this is the younger generation, so he’ll probably get the hang of it sooner, how long as he really been “training” his quirk under Aizawa? Definitely not long enough for him to go 1v1 with someone who is a close combat fighter. (It really isn’t that shocking that Deku won, he could probably win without Black Whip). Don't get me wrong Shinsou has improved MONUMENTALLY but not to the extent of 1-A who has direct experience in fighting villains. I just think people are mainly mad that 1-B lost is as because they think Shinsou won’t get into the Hero Course. Like chill. One of the main reasons 1-A won in the first match was because of Shinsou, so I think that proves that he is MORE than capable to get in to the Hero Course.

The whole OP Deku thing:

First off, I honestly don't expect him to ever match All Might at his prime in terms of consistent pure raw strength. Deku isn't a giant man of pure muscle, so I don't think he'd be able to go 100 and maintain it like All Might could. Deku is more of a person of different techniques and strategy, rather than brute force. Like, I don't know if Deku is going to be throwing punches that can blow away a city block.

That being said, each generation is getting stronger. Like, Endeavor will be surpassed by Todoroki by the time he graduates (if it even takes that long). Iida is already faster than Gran Torino. In the very beginning of the manga, they mentioned Deku will be the strongest holder of OFA, since it gets stronger each generation. Deku will have formidable rivals if the other strong students also reach their full potential. Hell, those rowdy kids we saw at the makeup exam already had really strong quirks at their young age. Generational power creep means that everybody around Deku will get way stronger than the current pros.

I understand the sentiment that Deku doesn't need more quirks, but Deku's quirk development was already approaching a plateau in terms of being able to fully control what power he could handle. He'd just work on his technique and slowly get stronger and stronger. Sure, he's gonna eventually be able to punch/kick hard enough to shoot himself around in the air, but we've already seen that stuff (plus Bakugo does that too). I know Horikoshi is creative and will develop some cool moves for Deku, but Deku's struggle to control OfA was mostly over. All he had to do wast master OFA steadily and he’ll be good. More quirks means that he may unlock more quirks when he's able to use more %. So instead of reaching 30% and just being X amount stronger physically, he may unlock a new tool to try and master/incorporate into his combat toolkit.

If this is a negative turn for the story, we won't even be able to tell until many, many more chapters are released. We may look back and decide that this was a bad move, but we shouldn't assume that's the case when it was literally introduced TWO WHOLE CHAPTERS AGO. (even though I don’t think it was a bad move AT ALL)

What I hope to see in future Arcs:

I think what fans would really enjoy and we could all use some real Deku character development. Deku’s my favorite character, but I feel like people can’t connect to him as much as someone like Todoroki, because his lack of emotional development. He’s indeed way more confident then he was in the beginning, I still feel like he has low self esteem. Someone needs to tell him that he’s worthy of this mega powerful quirk. ( he needs it 😭)We know so much about him, but rarely see him living his day to day life outside of training, costume updates and the occasional villain attack. Last time we got anything close to development in was only told through Aoyama's development.

These next few chapters will definitely give us something, but only as it relates to One for All. I'd honestly like to know Deku's thoughts about his situation, he seems determined that's for sure. Does he feel stressed, uninformed, unprepared, scared...resentful? We can infer a bunch, I'd just like to see him talk to All Might, Bakugo or his mom about it.

In Conclusion:

Honestly, to me,It never seemed to matter who won or lost any of these matches people were gonna complain regardless. When Class A wins they call it predictable and when class B won they say call it BS or plot amor. Even when it’s a draw people got upset saying Todoroki was disappointing. Some people wanted the matches to be fleshed out over a couple of chapters rather than rushed, then a few weeks later complained that it was taking to long. Bakugo wins his match quickly and those same people lose their minds about how they wanted the match to be longer. People complained about Horikoshi not letting the girls shine in battle after the second match, but conveniently forgets Tsuyu was the MVP of the first match and Kendo and Mushroom girl made 1-B win the second match. (AND WE’RE NOT GONNA FORGET HOW URARAKA AND MINA DOMINATED THE MATCH)Then you have the people who say all of 1-B is worthless and then Juzo and Tetsutetsu prove otherwise. Now we have people think Deku is OP but in this new chapter it seems that he much has a limit to using these other abilities but I’m sure that won’t stop the myriad of complaints. Every week the same people come to see the spoilers and complain based off of a fragmented non-contextualized summary of the chapter and wonder why they enjoy the chapter itself less. Maybe going into a chapter with a negative outlook will do that. The part that irks me is that virtually everyone whose binge-read this arc seems to enjoy it only seems to be us week to week readers with a issue. Either way I hope the discussion going into the next arc are far more level-headed constructive than they have been.

I think this will be one of the arcs that played out better once it was animated. Individual panels maybe favored over the anime, but overall pacing will surely favor the anime. Waiting week in and week out, over analyzing every short chapter has really done no favors for fans and Horikoshi.

#mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #deku #midoriya izuku #bnha #mha 213 #mha 214 #mha 215 #mha 200-215 #mha 216 #thanks for coming to my ted talk #yall are so annoying #i stg #rant #anime #manga #manga spoliers #bnha spoilers

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yjwhatif · 5 years

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Into the Breach reflection

Of the finale 3, episode 24 was my favourite. Why? Because I LOVE the Outsiders - the following of a young team on a mission taking charge of themselves really gives off major season 1 vibes - something which we lose in S2 (which is fine because it was so different). I have really enjoyed the focus on the Outsiders for the second half of this season - so much so I was a little disappointed when they fall into the background after ‘Elder Wisdom - especially because I wanted to see more of Ed on the team and doing the hero thing. (Why? 1 - because I didn’t expect him to be in S3 at all. 2 - I didn’t expect him to play as much a role as he has. And 3 - until he said the words “I want in”, I had absolutely no idea that he would end up joining a team - I honestly thought he’d just stay civilian helping out from the meta facility... but I digress. 😬)

For this episode they return and they brought Vic with them - it was great to finally see him owning his new abilities (watching live - that definitely felt like a long time coming.) I loved that first scene with them all in the bio ship, that text message established so much - it set this mission to be happening simultaneously with the Orphanage mission, Gars relationship with M’gann - which doesn’t seem to have been strained too badly after the truth about the Anti-light stuff, and also that Vic can intercept text messages - all with one text message. I also like the idea that no one seems comfortable with the fact that Vic totally has access to all their messages - which is actually quite funny (they all put their phones on airplane mode when Vic’s around).

Vic grows a massive amount in this episode, which makes up for what felt like a lot of moaning (again this is how it felt watching live - but it definitely didn’t when binge watching without the breaks each week). My favourite moment of his is when he sticks with the team to help - wanting to repay Violet after all the times she’s helped him. This illustrates how small gestures can have lasting effects - violet probably has no idea how much she helped Vic - she just followed her instincts, but for Vic, she saved his life and lead him to a new more meaningful purpose - not to mention the new family he now has - with the team and his father. This episode made my love this version of cyborg - it’s taken awhile but I can finally say I like his character now - he’s going to make a great addition to the Outsiders.

This kinda brings me to my first nitpick of this episode and that is - where was Ed?

Now nobody probably cares about this except me - but it really bugs me when a character is missing from a scene (especially when it’s my new favourite character) and there is no mention as to why that is or where they are. Narratively, I understand why he’s not there, as he needs to be on the ship to teleport into the pit, but all I needed was a little acknowledgment to the fact that he was on the ship - literally Beast Boy could have said it when talking to Vic, “dude, you don’t have to come with us, you can stay on the bio ship with Ed.” That’s all that was needed. Rant over, back to positives.

BART IS FREAKING HILARIOUS! Seriously where has he been all season - I laughed so hard at that bit with the Klamulon costume, he has such a fan boy face going on - it’s adorable. Everything he does in that scene brilliant and perfectly funny - also, I can’t help but think that M’gann was secretly thrilled to have Bart off covert ops, because my god he makes so much noise on that mission. He perfect and I want more of him next season!

It was nice to see a bit more of Jaime and the scarab - who was also hilarious - always thinking of number one. I liked seeing how the pit affected Jaime the most - that moment when he’s crying out in the armour, then the scarab shutdown and he’s screaming in his civvies - it was heartbreaking, you can really hear the level of pain change in his voice which is powerful. It also acts as a reminder (at least for me) that Jaime isn’t meta and is the most vulnerable in this situation - which emphasis how things are since Blue is one of the most powerful of the young heroes.

I was very happy to see Ed get his own heroic moment of leaping into danger to try and help his team, it really shows how he’s grown from the angry 14 year old who just wanted a cure, to a hero wanting to help an protect other. More of him please!

But I do have another nitpick and that is - where is Ed? (You may notice a theme to my nitpicking). But seriously, he is not in any of the cutaway shot during the fights, yet everyone else is - why?

Anyway - I thought both fights made for good viewing and it was nice to see characters other than Halo get all bloodied up - the BB-Granny fight was brutal but really proved how strong Gar is through never giving up. This whole season had really developed his character and made him into his own person - rather than M’ganns adopted brother who provides comic relief. One thing I didn’t like was his swollen eye - it was really off putting and I felt needed some colour adding to it.

Then we come back to Vic who leads everyone to victory by freeing the team and violet and thereby ensuring the release of everyone under control. I love love love rainbow power Halo and her standoff against Granny - I do hope this means she stops getting killed/injured, because now she isn’t limited to one power at a time, she should not be getting into those situations anymore. I can understand and forget all the previous times, but no more thank you.

All in all, I think you can see how much I loved this episode - it was fun, full of peril and provided an interesting yet unexpected wrap up to the Anti-Life Equation threat, which I enjoyed a lot. One thing I haven’t mentioned is the infinity inc. stuff, and that’s because I didn’t care for it - I couldn’t understand the point in them for this season as they fell kinda flat for my liking - hopefully they’ll be more important in S4.

Also, a last thing I’d liked to have seen is the weapon on the Orphanage catching up with the Outsiders on earth after Vic leaves - since that first text acts as a bookmarking moment and the weapon reaching them would provide another, whilst adding more suspense for the audience - but that’s just my thinking.

(Sorry this was so long winded - I can’t write anything concisely, even if I do plan it out - something else always comes to mind. Anyway, thanks if you have for reading.)

#young justice #yj outsiders #young justice outsiders #yj3 #yj #yj season 3 #review #thoughts

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makeste · 5 years

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1)Makeste, been reading over your latest all for one/one for all theory post, and while I think it’s intriguing, I was a bit confused over how you seemed to think that (SPOILERS POTENTIALLY) if One for All really is a more benevolent take on All For One’s Quirk- literally the same power, but used in a different way more befitting of a hero, then that meant Deku couldn’t still be All For one’s potential offspring anymore. For me, your theory actually seemed to inform this perspective, and now I

(note: once again I’ve taken all of the asks and merged them all together for greater readability, so here’s the rest.)

...and now I think it’s even more likely that deku could be a secret son and heir to All For One.

(...actually, I’m putting the rest of the ask and my response under the cut -- this got way longer than I intended lol.)

One thing that’s common amongst those ‘gifted’ with multiple quirks is that to even be capable of holding more than 1 power set, you need to have your body modified to be able to withstand the strain of more than one quirk- and thus differing bio-energies and mutations needed to properly utilise them clashing with each other within your body- if your body’s not capable of handling the pressure, it’s hinted that the damage could potentially result in a similar situation to someone eating more than 1 devil fruit in One Piece I.e you’re geography(in that you are now literally part of the landscape in the immediate area, floors and walls included, which must be hell for Ujiko to mop up afterwards) however, there are three exceptions to this- Giganto, All For One and Midoria, all of whom can wield multiple quirks, apparently in harmony with each other without suffering the negative side effects that the rest of the populace must go through to be even capable of doubling their own powers, never mind that it’s mostly involuntary and unwilling on most of the participants.

All For One goes without saying, since his body is hinted to be naturally capable of housing a ridiculous amount of Quirks, perhaps as a side effect of lacking his own ‘true’ power, but Giganto is another story- he’s the only other one we’ve seen to be capable of holding multiple powers naturally, but it’s hinted this is only because his quirk or his body structure lets him absorb/endure whatever damages normally result for wielding multiple quirks at once, and he’s still somewhat affected by the strain of it anyway. His mind is capable of rational thought, making his own decisions depending on the situation, and holding memories of his past life, all things none of the Nomu can preform- however, in exchange, it’s clear that what mind he does have isn’t very bright, as he’s easily manipulated by ujiko using just a recording of All For One’s voice, acts in a animalistic fashion, ignores social conventions like wearing clothes, and seems to have lost his humanity in exchange for overwhelming strength, ensuring he can never be a part of normal society, even though he doesn’t actually look that weird compared to some other mutations we’ve seen walking about in broad daylight.

In contrast, Midoria, despite only being capable of wielding 20% of One for All, is already starting to utilise and adapt the various powers within the quirk without any mental or physical drawbacks, beyond the teething problems of suddenly developing a new power that has different requirements to his current move set, and his fear at going though changes no-one else has, whereas All Might, even after mastering the physical aspect to its ultimate limit, never even had a hint that he could do more than just punch creatively. Part of this may be the whole spiritual thing, part of it may be that the quirk’s ‘physical’ development wasn’t exactly ready for use in that manner, but frankly, I think it means Izuku’s body is somehow, despite being naturally quirkless, suited for using multiple quirks, allowing him to wield different interlocking powers without losing any of his sanity or humanity, unlike Giganto, but exactly like somebody else.

I think I once wrote up a little mini- statement about how Izuku was more fitting as a Good Counterpart of All For one than All Might, who was simply too opposite of the symbol of evil to have any point in common beyond the role as an opposing symbol of peace. Having the exact same power as his father, and in fact being able to wield that power to the fullest extent beyond what even his mentor or the previous generations of heroes could, precisely because of his inherited genes being from someone naturally predisposed to absorb and utilise multiple quirks at once without suffering any side effects only deepens that connection between the two.

In fact, if Izuku is his son, then it means that he technically inherited his uncle’s- the ‘first’ wielder- recessive genes, being skipped over entirely by the genetic lottery just like his long-dead, yet still resurrected uncle was compared to their shared family member’s power, which wouldn’t be the only thing Izuku has in common with the siblings. Izuku’s analytical mind allows him to understand a lot about the conditions and limitations behind any quirks he witnesses in action, allowing him to formulate counter strategies like we saw in Miro’s spar, or even utilise those very same quirks to his advantage later. All For One Demonstrates a similar analytical appreciation towards quirks, though his come with the intent of understanding the power and the reasoning behind whether or not it would be beneficial for him to steal it for himself, his subordinates or turn his person of interest into a nomu. They both seem to have a mind and body capable of wielding greater strength than those around them through multiple abilities, and it seems that as Midoria gains greater control over his varied abilities, he somehow gets mentally closer to All For One, though only AFO seems to be aware of this, perhaps due to his greater expertise with their ‘shared’ quirk. Actually, if Izuku is indeed his son, and your theory is correct, then that means Izuku went through the world’s most convoluted method of inheriting his parent’s quirk, going through 10 generations and a childhood of alienation to get to the same starting point as his peers.

But yeah, to sum up, the fact that Izuku is so ‘normal’ now, despite gaining a power that we’ve seems physically and mentally ruin anybody else who had it, save one other, makes me think that Izuku may still be connected to All For One on a far deeper level than anybody else realises. Which of course means that Izuku gets the angst of being the son of his greatest nemeses, harbouring the soul, mind and powers of his greatest nemeses, and potentially being alienated from every hero in the world of the extent of this connection gets out, and everybody starts seeing him as All For One 2.0, or a means of the Symbol of Evil resurrecting himself inside a fresh, healthy young body to build his empire again. Angst for days, Boy!

okay, so let me start by saying that I’m not quite sure where this idea (which I’ve seen before) comes from that it takes a specific type of body to handle multiple quirks? from what I recall, the only evidence we’ve seen of that that is All Might’s explanation in chapter 59 about some people being unable to “bear the load” of receiving quirks from All for One. but I thought that was more about them having quirks forced on them than anything else. I got the impression that it was a very invasive and violent thing to do to a person -- basically an assault on their minds -- and that that was what messed them up for the most part. though I could be wrong about that.

one thing I want to note is that you mentioned Gigantomachia as an example of someone who can withstand multiple quirks, but I believe that was a mistranslation on JBox’s and Mangastream’s parts. Viz’s translation, which makes more sense to me, is that Gigantomachia is so strong that he was able to serve as All for One’s bodyguard even without having multiple quirks.

so yeah. I think the clashing translations caused a lot of confusion in this regard, but my current understanding is that Machia is so feared because he has ridiculously OP strength, speed, stamina, durability, etc. even without being modified like the Noumu. he’s just that fucking strong on his own, which is what makes him so impressive.

that being said, how to explain this... my interpretation is that the All for One quirk basically is the ability to withstand multiple quirks (in addition to the whole “granting” and “stealing” thing). like, that’s part of the power. it grants you the ability to handle unlimited quirks. I don’t think DNA or genetics or anything are a requirement for it. while Horikoshi does put a surprising amount of thought into having “realistic” limitations and provisos for his quirks, they’re all still basically magic to some degree. Hawks has feathers that he can telepathically control with his mind. Tokoyami has a sentient shadow that he can partially control and he can use it to fly and it can rip shit apart. Todoroki can produce ice out of literally nothing. Kuroiro can physically interact with the color black. quirks are fucking bonkers and I think we have to bear that in mind to some extent. so while All for One does no doubt have its own specific rules and caveats, I would think it’s still something that still falls under the somewhat phoned-in logical reasoning of “you have this quirk, so your body is now magically capable of handling all other types of quirks regardless of the physical nature of said quirks” with all other logic basically being handwaved accordingly.

I mean, Monoma is also capable of handling multiple quirks, holding at least four at once with no side effects whatsoever, and there doesn’t seem to be anything particular special about his own body. kid’s a goddamn twink. and yet he can “withstand” the strain perfectly fine and even has near-perfect control of his newly acquired quirks pretty much immediately upon borrowing them. he can jump from Kirishima’s hardening to Bakugou’s explosion hands in a split second and turn them off and on at will with no physical repercussions. there’s no scientific explanation for it other than it just being How His Quirk Works. I’d imagine it’s much the same for Deku. the fact that he has multiple quirks now isn’t necessarily an indicator that he must be genetically related to AFO, but what is does indicate is that he most definitely has the same quirk as him, or something very near to it.

none of this means that he can’t still be AFO’s son, mind! but the reason I don’t think it’s likely is because in my view it would come off as a bit clunky. like, from a writing perspective, it’s kind of overkill to have not one, but two overly convoluted explanations for something when just one would suffice. “Deku is AFO’s secret son” and “Deku has the same power as AFO” are both major plot twists each requiring a certain suspension of disbelief in the sense of “so you’re telling me that this kid just happens to be...” like, that’s a lot of coincidence to swallow. and past a certain point, it kind of shifts this from being a story about an ordinary kid who had a turn of fortune one day that turned out to be the start of something epic, into a story about The Son Of The Most Powerful Man In The World, Who Was Always Destined To Defeat Him And Just Never Knew It. which is also a perfectly fine story to tell! but the two ideas do kind of clash with each other, so if your goal is to tell the latter one, it doesn’t really make sense to try and insert elements from the former as well.

lol I don’t know if any of this is making sense. but basically what I’m trying to say is that I think it’s better writing to just pick one or the other. either he has this power because he’s AFO’s son, or he has it because it was passed down to him through OFA. there’s no need for both, and it makes an already complicated story even more complicated. that’s where Game of Thrones started shooting itself in the foot in its later seasons. destiny and twists of fate and such are awesome, but you have to be careful not to go overboard with it or it starts to feel forced. Deku can either be Harry Potter or he can be Luke Skywalker, but both is kind of pushing it. to borrow your phrasing, it would indeed be “the world’s most convoluted method of inheriting his parent’s quirk.” and this is just my own personal preference, perhaps, but I think the story flows better and feels cleaner if it’s just one or the other.

anyway so those are my thoughts thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. sorry for shooting down your very thought-provoking ask!! or at least it feels like I did, sob. but I do enjoy this kind of plot discussion a lot, and it’s also a particularly good way of passing the time while we wait TWO! WHOLE! WEEKS!!! for the next chapter sob so there’s that too, lol.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #midoriya izuku #all for one #one for all #gigantomachia #makeste reads bnha #bnha meta #asks #long post #is the 'read more' cut actually working??#I've edited the post twice and it seems like it keeps disappearing #well whatever

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sailor-cresselia · 5 years

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The Great Ex-Aid Rewatch: Eps 07-08

...so I guess I’m liveblogging my notes now. This is a thing that’s happening.

Eh. It’ll let me keep easier access to them if I do this, so I might as well.

You wanna know something that’s driving me up a wall with regards to the early OP? Kiriya is entirely in white. Like, Emu is in his red pants and yellow shirt under his coat, and at least Hiiro and Taiga get to have their darker pants and shirts underneath their coats, but Kiriya is in just white. It’s super disconcerting.

...actually, Taiga’s ‘action’ shot of him twirling his gashat looks like it could have come from his episode zero special, since he’s clearly wearing dark purple scrubs under the white coat, and it’s in that same alley that they had him doing the simulation in. Huh.

But Kiriya. White leather jacket. White, normal length pants. Super disconcerting.

–––

I love how sometimes, like here on the beach against the two collabos bugsters and ‘the black ex-aid’, you can tell that those transformation cutscenes are actually happening!

Like, sometimes after a Brave level up sequence, you’ll see him stepping down and putting his arms down from his door-opening pose. And here we have Ex-Aid dropping down from mid-air, now wearing the Gekitotsu Robots armor. It’s a nice touch.

–

…okay, so. It’s not just an issue with Google Translate that keeps turning ‘bugster’ into ‘bug star’ when materials for Ex-Aid get auto-translated. Toei does it themselves. The English sub-heading on the report Kiriya reads to Jungo says ‘Grade confidential report of the bug star virus infection by Ministry of Health’. I’d thought it might be G.Translate having issues like it does with names, but apparently not. (How many ways can the auto-translate try to write gashat? Who knows? It’s about as many different ways as it can try to write Emu’s name.)

Speaking of this scene… Kiriya used to wear normal clothes!

Well, he used to wear non-floral buttonups, anyway. And intact pants, though they were still rolled up to a capri length, the same way his tattered jeans are. The shoes are the same, and he’s wearing a regular labcoat – and properly, he’s using the sleeves and everything!

–

So. Parad. As anyone who has seen my writing knows, I hecking LOVE Parad and all the potential he brings to the table.

In Episode 3, he showed up to tell Graphite to chill, and dared Taiga to collect all the gashats. He and Graphite teleported out – right after Graphite told Parad that he’s weird – and Emu showed up chasing the patient of the day.

Episode 7. The Lazer vs. Genm Black Ex-Aid fight. Kiriya launches a finisher, a veritable storm of arrows. KUROTO AIN’T DOING SO HOT. He’s getting hit by a lot of energy arrows, right up until Parad NYOOMS in behind the smokescreen of fire.

Like, literally zooms into frame – not even a teleport, there’s a motion blur that’s in the shape of his silhouette there.

He holds up ONE HAND and blocks the remainder of the arrows.

And he smirks. Didn’t seem to even really be bothered by the fire and energy hitting against the general area – because it wasn’t hitting him. It was all being blocked just before it made it to him.

He bought Kuroto enough time to get out of there before the smoke cleared, and Kuroto was already detransforming when Parad stepped in.

(…oh man, the attack was still ongoing at that point… If Parad hadn’t interfered, Kiriya might have accidentally killed the guy he was trying to expose a few years early.)

So. With that said…

Parad clearly has shielding abilities, and as far as I know, none of the other bugsters have that.

Graphite has his fire attacks, and Lovelica has his. Er. Mind control. (Because of course the otome game has mind control.) But Poppy gets free transformation between her bugster and human guises, and the other two seem to need a bugvisor to either stabilize or access their ‘monster’ forms, despite being the other two complete bugsters.

Parad, who is technically ‘incomplete’, never came directly after the Riders until he had his Gashat Gear Dual.

What could he have done if he had an offensive skill?!

And doesn’t it just make sense that, without a fully realized game of his own, Parad gets most of his makeup from Emu? Because whether you place him as originally being the bugster from Mighty Action C or from Emu’s original idea for Mighty Brothers… neither of those games were finished. They were a demo or hadn’t moved past the concept stage, respectively. He doesn’t have a defined source material to draw powers from.

So, the bugster that would eventually be known as Parad, whether we say he was really there like he claims, or if he’s just… using Emu’s memories as if they were his own, still gets most of his identity from an eight-year-old.

One who, not long after being infected, was hit by a car.

It makes sense that his imaginary friend would have the ability to stop that, doesn’t it?

Emu and Parad do share the drowning imagery, after all. We see it more with Parad, but… down the road, when Emu is describing how scared he was after being hit? They use that same drowning shot, but with eight-year-old Emu. After it was used for Parad.

–

Back on track to episode 7, there’s also how, at this point, Parad has just jointly ruined Kiriya’s credibility and protected Kuroto’s identity as The Dark Ex-Aid. Kiriya, Hiiro, and Emu have all seen him in the vicinity of/being not-Genm, and Taiga saw him with Graphite in episode 3.

So, after he teleports away here, all four of our main riders have seen him in association with the bugsters, and have seen him teleport. AKA, they all know he’s a bugster.

They just have no idea who he is yet.

–––

Episode 8

So, the first half or so of the episode is pretty much standard fare – patient, bugster, Taiga being a dick, etc.

When Emu asks if Taiga’s holding the patient hostage in order to get his and Hiiro’s gashats? Taiga doesn’t answer.

Because he’s not holding him hostage. Taiga fully intends to destroy the bugster whether or not they show up – but he’d prefer to get the gashats first. Two birds, one stone. This is a simpler way to get them all at once.

–

You know, I’m still not sure if Zero Day, when numerous people were lost, is the same day as when Saki died. What Hiiro says implies it was, but we never really get a good description of when it happened. It’s clearly around the same time, since in Episode Zero, Kuroto said that they would ‘stop propagating the virus for now,’ after it was already a forgone conclusion that Taiga wouldn’t be able to save Saki. But does that mean that there were numerous other people who died that same night? I’ve never been able to tell.

(At least ep 4 finally showed me the confirmation of when Kiriya blackmailed his way into getting a Driver – three years before the show, and thus two years after Zero Day. Jungo died on Zero day in an ‘accident,’ so Kiriya had been living with that guilt, and with knowing about the bugster virus, for two years before he first confronted Kuroto. Interesting.)

–

Parad: (To Kuroto) Okay, so, I know you designed the protogashats and all, and they’re super powerful, which is awesome. But why the hell are you still using that thing? You’re gonna kill yourself.

…Hm. When Parad starts off, saying how the protogashats are powerful, he’s looking at his game, and smiling. When he mentions that Kuroto’s using one, he starts to set his game aside. When he says that it’ll destroy him… he turns and looks directly at Kuroto. With an incredibly judgemental look.

Learn from Taiga and Kuroto’s examples, kids. Don’t use protogashats.

(For the record, Excite’s translation of the line is “you’ll end up destroying yourself”, and RTA’s is “it will ruin your body.” Those are… slightly different implications, guys.)

… Kuroto why is your phone ORANGE.

–

Taiga: Oh, good, you two showed up after all.

Emu: I’m just here to save the patient.

Hiiro: I’m here to kick your ass, Hanaya.

Taiga: The one to get all the gashats… will be me.

–

…hold on.

Hold on a minute.

Taiga wanted to be the only Kamen Rider so that nobody else would have to suffer the way he did. But there was – theoretically, anyway – only the one protogashat when he was first active. They only ‘recently’ were able to get ten – and Taiga’s been out of the loop for five years. We were told about the ‘collect all ten’ aspect by Poppy, who’s been allied with the MoH and ‘good’ Kuroto.

Taiga… was dared. By Parad, who was with Graphite.

Would Taiga be using this same method if it weren’t for Parad? Would he be trying to take all the gashats by force if it hadn’t been told to him by the guy who was with his arch-enemy?

Yes, he doesn’t want anyone else to be a Rider. But nobody else seems to care about the collect ‘em all aspect they’ve been told about – Kiriya went for Giri Giri Chambara because he needed LEGS, but it was also about 50% incidental. Hiiro is dead set on being the only rider because he doesn’t think anyone else is qualified. Not to say he’s wrong, since he is the only one of the four who’s supposed to be here, but he’s also being an ass about it. Emu would just very much prefer that nobody die, thanks.

Would Taiga be so concerned with getting all of the gashats to keep the others out if he hadn’t spoken to Parad?

–

Hiiro has a lot less… skill as a Rider than the other four, doesn’t he? If a tactic he’s trying doesn’t work, he doesn’t try something else – he just keeps trying the same one again. I know that’s probably a surgeon habit – do it the same each time, to minimize the chance of error. But these ‘operations’ are anything but standard. Each and every other one of the Riders is able to improvise. Hiiro picks up on it a little more, by the time we hit the 20’s, but never to the extent of the others.

Here in ep 8, he tries using a boosted attack with the Doremifa Beat turntable – scratching it once or twice, and trying to use the sword beam. Over and over. Taiga dodges each and every attack. Everyone else varies their techniques, even just a little. Taiga’s always made good use of the multiple modes of his assorted firearms. Genm has his assorted OP weaponry – currently, Shakariki Sports and the Bugvisor’s chainsaw mode. Once Kiriya gained actual limbs, he’s damned good with the scythe mode and the bow and arrow mode of the Gashacon Sparrow. And Emu. Well, Emu is Emu, and has made good use of the Gashacon Breaker’s sword and hammer modes since day one, as well as the energy items and general genre savvy with regards to who they’re fighting.

I think it’s a little telling that during fights where nobody is being particularly targeted, Hiiro is often the first to go down. Kiriya spent episode 6 unconscious in the hospital because Kuroto singled him out for a beat down in episode 5, and that’s the only reason he was the first out of the ep 5 fight. Then it was Hiiro, and then Taiga.

Either Hiiro withdraws first out of safety concerns, as in episode 3, or he goes down first, as seen here in episode 8 against Taiga.

–

And then here comes the curveball. Once Taiga’s beaten Emu and Hiiro, we get a mirror conversation both there, and with Kiriya and Kuroto on what it means to use a Gamer Driver.

Taiga throws Hiiro for a loop, one that’s not helped by Emu having exactly zero idea what he’s talking about.

Kuroto throws Kiriya a nice little distraction, to keep the heat off of himself.

–

Learn from Taiga and Kuroto’s examples, kids. Don’t use protogashats. And DEFINITELY don’t use them like Graphite!

#kamen rider ex aid #sailorcressy says #mmm yes delicious speculation

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gothfield-official · 6 years

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Who Neopolitan is Based on (UPDATED)

Ok so a while ago my friends and I came up with this theory and I feel the need to update it with more proof. If you haven't read the original theory then strap in bc it's kind of wild. (Also I tried to upload this to r/rwby but evidently I’m still shadow banned for no reason so guess I’ll die?)

So everyone in RWBY has some sort of fairytale/classic literature ties to them. Obviously there's Ruby as Red riding hood, Weiss as Snow White, ect. Some of the connections aren't very deep, for example Roman's connection to Romeo Lampwick seems to be only in character design and the basic characteristic of being a criminal. However, there are a few characters who's fairytale backstory we don't know yet. And among them is Neopolitan.

Before I go into this I want to make it clear I'm not going to consider the "Neo is Mary Poppins" Theory. It's pretty much only predicated on the fact that she has an umbrella and many people seem to think this has been confirmed. The only thing Neo is, in canon, based on is the ice cream.

So, if she's not based on Mary Poppins, then who is she based on?

Frankenstein's Monster.

Now, I know Frankensteins monster is about the furthest thing aesthetically to Neo, but the connections are there.

But first, a bit of background for reference: Let's go back to the episode in volume 3 where we're introduced to how Cinder got her motley crew. Pay attention to who's introduced. First we hear Cinder, then we see her recruit Emerald, then Mercury, then Roman (albeit we only hear her recruit him). We even see her forcing Adam to join her and he's not as closely linked to her group as everyone else. But who do we not see? Neo. This leads me to believe that Cinder never recruited Neo, or even had the need to.

In addition to this, while Neo is almost always seen with/associated with Roman, in the first episode he doesn’t have her with him and has to hire second rate mercenaries to help him rob the dust shop. Granted, it’s a small job but considering how much we see Neo with Roman afterward, it is odd for her not to show up. It's especially odd since Cinder shows up to help at the end of the fight, which is the role Neo fills in all other battles. I speculate that Roman didn’t find Neo, nor have they known each other for a very long time (they met some time after the events of episode 1)

Then we have Neo's connections to Frankenstien's monster, which, as I said before, seems as aesthetically antithetical as possible. However, that's only if you get caught up in the big discrepancies.

My first and main piece of evidence comes from Neo's name itself. Neopolitan. Neapolitan is an ice cream made up of 3 different ice creams. 3 parts, one whole. Frankenstein is a monster made up of many different humans. Many parts, one whole. Admittedly this sounds really stupid but it also makes a lot of sense.

We also have the fact that Neo never speaks. In the first half of the book "Frankenstein", the monster cannot speak. Granted, the monster does learn to speak through observation and study, but putting that aside for a moment consider that the lack of speech as abnormal and an imperfection. Imperfect because the monster, and Neo, both were created by men trying to play god. Imperfect men with imperfect creations.

Going back to aesthetics, consider the fact that Frankenstein is, in almost all interpretations, stitched together, clearly abnormally looking from the outset. Now, consider Neo, with her two tone hair that's split exactly down the middle, her heterochromatic eyes that inexplicably change color, and her overall doll like appearance. Both are very abnormal, even in the context of RWBY, no one else has two toned hair like Neo's, or eyes like hers.

The prefix "Neo" means new. Frankenstein's monster is a "new" form of man. The fact that her name is often shortened to Neo puts emphasis on the meaning and it's importance.

Homunculi are very similar to Frankenstein's monster. Interestingly, homunculus means "little man" Neo just happens to be the shortest character in RWBY by far.

So Neo has clear connections to Frankenstein. The next question to answer then, is who created her and why? My answer is from a person who has no canon interaction with Neo so far. Watts.

We learned in volume 5 that Dr. Watts is a disgraced Atlesian doctor and scientist. I find it very telling that Watts was able to get himself booted from Atlas, considering we know their science gets very morally grey (see the soul transfer machine in volume 3). Ergo, Watts must have being doing so really fucked up experiments. Perhaps fucked up enough to grab Salem's attention.

Watts is the odd man out in Salem's group. Cinder, Hazel, Tyrian as well as Emerald and Mercury, are all capable and used for their fighting skills. Watts, meanwhile, has shojo legs. He's not exactly the fighting type, so why does Salem keep him in her inner circle? Experimenting. Watts is making Salem a weapon, a living weapon, Neo.

With all that in mind the theory as applied to the story goes like this:

Watts was most likely disgraced for doing human experiments, gained Salem's attention, and began to work for her and continue his own research in human and other unethical experiments.

Watts creates Neo. Admittedly im not sure who she’s made out of (literally or figuratively) but we speculate it could be Cinder, Emerald and Mercury, since her semblance includes parts of Cinder (illusion shattering to glass) and Emerald (illusions). Obv Merc is just a guess since we don’t know his semblance yet (I also say it's the 3 of them because there's 3 ice creams in Neapolitan, so 3 people would make Neo). I assume Salem’s dark magic is involved in some way as well. Her hair could also be a clue as to who she's based on, however we haven't seen any characters with bubblegum pink hair yet.

Watts may have also used the same technology behind the soul transfer machine to transfer people’s semblances into Neo to make her more OP. the whole reason they tried to use the STM in the first place was to transfer Ambers powers to Pyrrha, not her soul. It would make sense if Watts attempted the same thing. (It also makes sense that Watts would have been involved with the STM, considering it's an Atlesian human experiment and ethically dubious.)

On the OP thing, something I didn't mention earlier is that Neo’s has a lot of powers. Clearly she can create illusions, which have a physical presence seeing as how Yang shattered the one she used in V2 Ep4. Also, many people have noted that during the Yang and Neo fight, Neo’s eyes switch when she’s about to attack. Then there’s also her teleportation at the end of that fight once Raven shows up. Suffice to say Neo has a lot of powers, more powers than anyone else in the show save for maidens.

It makes sense if she got all her powers either through the parts of others that were used to make her (i.e: Em, Cinder, Merc), through the STM, or a combination of the two.

Salem gives Neo to Cinder, most likely to test her ability in combat as well as test Cinder's ability to control her. While it does seem like Neo would be an important asset to have as a human weapon, Salem still needs to test her, she and Watts could probably duplicate their results or literally stitch her back together if they needed to. Not to mention that Neo is a flawed prototype (remember, she can't speak) so Salem wouldn't see her demise as much of a loss.

So there you have it. I think it's a pretty good theory and leaves a lot of interesting paths for reintroducing Neo to the story and for the story at large. Lemme know what you guys think, and if you have any idea where Roman fits into this, bc admittedly I haven't figured that out entirely either tho my inclination is that he's like the fire prometheus gives to man that they then depend on? Idk but ill update this if I figure it out.

#rwby #rwby theory #neopolitan #Neo rwby #rwby predictions

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