#i think about Pack redemption arcs sometimes yeah

[transingthoseformers]

Kkkkkk but what if i give them an uninhabited planet to do whatever on? Steeljaw wants a Decepticon homeworld, right? I mean sure it's not good that he wants Earth as it, but surely speaking we can set up a new colony on a different planet without sapient life.

#mmm thinking thoughts about rid #to me this part of his motivation seems super valid #honestly if you dragged these guys off of earth or Cybertron you'd prefer be able to help the. #transformers #tf rid15 #i think about Pack redemption arcs sometimes yeah #Cybertron abandoned them so i say give them a different planet #we know the Alchemor situation doesn't sit right with me so I'm sliightly shattering this rid glass yes yes

[realityescapee01]

Wounds and Scratches

Steo | Stiles x Theo

Theo came back to the pack house, bloodied and wounded. He just came back from an undercover op for the pack. He was able to capture a rogue omega.

He was stabbed to his stomach, slashed on his arm and cut on his palm. He took the omega back to Scott for interrogation. Afterwards, Scott gave him an order to patrol the tunnels.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Scott! He's hurt, send someone else!" Stiles had enough.

Theo is hurt and Stiles goes off on it.

Theo snarled, he struggled to get on his feet. He just got slammed to a wall by their enemy. He was in pain but he was still able to distract the enemy enough for Stiles to lay the mountain ash prison around it.

"Good job, guys."

Scott and them went back to the pack house. Stiles watched Theo bend over a bit, holding his tummy and has a pained expression on his bloody face. Dried up blood from his forehead. Busted lips and a sprained ankle.

Stiles thought back at the bad things Theo did to him and the pack. That is why Stiles thought Theo deserves all the beatings he's taking.

Scott decided to take in Theo despite everything he did. Scott being the kind and giving person he is. Stiles was against it. He doesn't want Theo in. But Scott insisted they could use Theo's skills.

What skills? The manipulative skills? The cunning, the smarts, deceptive skills? Well, yeah, those are useful. Stiles begrudgingly admitted.

So here is Theo in their pack. Being used as a scout, a spy, and first liner. Scott always sends him in first, first to whatever danger they're facing.

It's strange to Stiles because Theo wouldn't put up with those, but seeing as Theo was indeed putting up with all of it, maybe, Theo is doing everything to be better now, to be good, to make up to them, to make up for everything he's done.

Stiles heard all about it from Liam. Theo's redemption arc. Stiles wasn't buying it at first but later on, he started to believe too.

Or maybe the courting of Theo is affecting his judgement.

Oh, yeah, Theo is courting Stiles.

For about 2 months now. At first, Stiles is just playing Theo, but things got shitty for him and he genuinely needed Theo's help.

Like when he's jeep broke down. Theo drove him to and from his FBI internship. Every weekend, when he comes home and goes back to the FBI classes.

The long drives gave them a lot of time with each other. And Stiles found himself enjoying those times.

Stiles found himself chatting and calling Theo at nights after classes too. Sometimes while Theo was in tunnel patrol. To discuss and bounce off ideas from his homeworks of cases; murder mysteries and investigations. And Theo gave him very good insights every time.

Maybe because Theo is one little psycho himself that is why he understands how those criminals think. Stiles laughed on the idea. He is like those FBI agents having a serial killer to talk to and consult cases about.

-+-+-+-

Theo calls him, all wounds and injuries healed up. He is driving Stiles home. Stiles jogs to Theo's truck and they go and get drive thru food. Stiles ask if Theo's okay. He looked hurt really bad.

He's got bandage on his hand. Again.

"What happened there?"

"Oh, I got cut. And I keep getting cut there so it's getting harder and harder to heal." -Theo explaining, trying not to put pressure on it too much while driving.

"I'm fine, Stiles."

Stiles have an idea of what happened. Having seen how hard Scott is using Theo out there. Then he received a chat from Scott to remind Theo about his underground tunnel rounds later tonight. Stiles felt irritated. Theo just recovered and now Scott is on him again with the errands.

-Isn't Liam on tunnel patrol tonight?- Stiles replied to Scott.

-I'm taking Liam with us in the talks. Where are you guys now? Will you be here in an hour?-

-Yeah, we're close. Keep Liam on patrol, let's bring Theo in the meeting-

-Why Theo?-

-It's decided. Just wait for us.-

They are to meet with the new group in town. Invite them to join forces or discuss terms on co-existing in Beacon Hills.

Scott met up with Theo and Stiles on the way to meet the werejaguars. They learned they're all female, a small group of 5. The talks start. Stiles let Scott do his thing while he observed.

"... We don't wanna join forces, we do not wanna stay near the Nemeton, which is basically a signal light to all hunters. Just let us be for a few days, I promise we won't cause trouble."

Their leader explained. Scott huddled with Stiles and Theo.

"I don't know about you, but werejaguars are highly aggressive." -Theo muttered.

"I agree." -Stiles nodded, remembering a certain Kate Argent.

"Yeah, I think so too. I will ask them to leave by dawn. Liam and the others can stay here to watch them until then" -Scott relayed the decision to the group leader. There were some friction but Scott brandishing his alpha status made the leader back down.

"Okay... but... we will only leave if he comes with us."

"What?" -Scott didn't expect a request.

"Him."

"No way." -Stiles strongly disagreed.

The group leader was pointing at Theo. "At least give us some protection. A capable mate for me."

Theo just scoffed. "I'm not up for mating."

"That or we stay as long as we like."

"... How about this." -Stiles proposed. "The real reason you're here is because you're all sick. You plan to steal our herb reserve. Preferably tonight because you know our resident doctor wouldn't be home."

The gang leader took a defensive stance.

"Okay, I'll give you a generous amount of 9 herbs and then you leave tonight. No taking Theo with you."

"What if I don't agree?"

"Well... you have to deal with a true alpha." -Stiles turned his head to Scott, who was half shifted by now.

"It was said this place and your pack is sanctuary to all supernatural beings!"

"Not if you threaten to take anyone away." -Scott said with a growl.

The group leader knew there is no way they'd win. "Fine. Get me the herbs."

After Scott's new recruits arrived with the herbs, the werejaguars left. But their leader really likes Theo, and as she passed him by, she said:

"We'll be 2 towns over, if you change your mind." -plus a hand, slowly gliding down Theo's muscular arm.

"I have my eyes set on someone else." -Theo shrugged the leader's hand away from him.

Theo watched the group leave and looked at Stiles. Having a renewed faith on a chance.

A chance that Stiles actually likes him back. With the human getting all no-way-you're-taking-Theo upset a while ago.

After that, Scott still wanted to send Theo on tunnel patrol duty but Stiles said Theo's driving him home even before Scott got the chance to say it. And so Theo drove Stiles home.

"Hey, Theo. If you like, you can stay here. Liam could use the tunnel patrol experience." -Stiles invited him to stay there to avoid the patrol task.

And Theo did. They went up to Stiles' room and Theo acting all strange.

"Hey? What's the matter?" -Stiles just went about the room as normal.

"...This is the first time for me. Here, in your room."

"What?!? You've never been here?" -Stiles remembered all the pack members whose been in his room. And yeah, this is Theo's first time to be here. "Well, there's a first to everything. You never know, you might be coming here more often in the future."

"W-What?" -Theo didn't expect that.

"Nothing! Nothing." -Stiles blushed. He was just being playful, flirty if you will. Because it's true, if he decides to answer Theo, then definitely, Theo would be in his room more often.

Theo was smirking and shaking his head, thinking of a comeback, but that caught him so off guard that he couldn't come up with one.

"Uhm, I'm gonna head to bed. By the way, use this on your wounds." -Stiles threw him a poultice Deaton taught him to make. Something to make the wounds stay clean for a longer time.

Theo caught it and sat on the chair by the window. He took the gauze off his hand and tended to it. He lifted his shirt and applied the poultice to random cuts on his torso.

Stiles just watched him. He memorized all the spots Theo has wounds and scratches and bruises.

"Well, uhm, Theo, I'm tired, I'll go to sleep, stay as long as you like." -Stiles headed to bed.

As he laid down, he smiled to himself on how things turned. Before, he couldn't stand Theo, but now he can sleep in the same room with Theo present.

The next day, Stiles woke up and Theo was gone, left a message of thanks and that he headed to school.

Theo goes to school on weekends, in a special program to make up for the lost time when he was dragged to hell; and once made, he can go back to school to continue his last sem of senior year.

Stiles thought to give Theo a visit.

He finds him on the lacrosse field. Coach Finstock recruited him.

Theo sensed Stiles and looked at his direction. Stiles waved.

"Bilinski!" -Coach Finstock intercepted him. "What are you doing here?"

"I missed you, coach!" - Stiles attempted to give coach a kiss.

"Ugh!" -Coach Finstock stopped him with a hand to his face.

Stiles knew that way, coach would leave him alone. Theo jogged towards him.

"Hey." -Theo in lacrosse practice uniform.

"You joined?" -Stiles sat in the bleachers.

"Yeah." -Theo stood right in front of him.

"I never knew you like sports. Sports aside from hunting and killing."

Theo laughed at that. "Just to release some aggression."

Stiles just nodded. He looked at the other players. He remembered his lacrosse days back then. And that winning shot he got. It was the fun days. Way before the shit hit the fan.

Stiles stayed to watch Theo practice with the team. He decided to stay even after and play with Theo a bit.

"Fine! But make sure you tidy up the things!" -Coach Finstock let them stay.

"Want a serious match or just for fun match, Stiles?"

"Just for fun." -Stiles gripped the lacrosse stick.

"Okay." -Theo smirked and threw the ball right past Stiles' left shoulder and into the goal.

"Ha! For fun, I said! Not for the Olympics or something!"

Theo laughed. They change places. It's now Theo's time to be goalie.

"Theo, no superpowers!" -Stiles was gearing up for a shot.

"Okay."

Stiles kept licking his lips and aiming and aiming for the goal before actually taking the shot. And of course, Theo caught it. Stiles was mad accusing him of using chimera powers but Theo didn't. Stiles is just really not good at it.

"Okay, that's it. I don't wanna play anymore!" -Stiles throwing the stick down.

"I didn't use supernatural powers, Stiles. You're just really bad at it."

"Just- Forget it!" -Stiles waving his hand off.

Stiles waited for Theo in the lockers. He looked at the seat where they confronted Theo. And where he said: "I came back for you." Stiles didn't really know the gravity of those words.

Theo wanted him. From day one. And there he is right now, feeling the same. He wants Theo now.

He turned his attention to the sound from the showers.

Theo is in there. Naked.

Stiles felt a little panic and stepped out of the lockers. A few minutes after, Theo stepped out too.

"Stiles, are you okay? I smelled panic."

"I'm fine. Let's get outta here." -Stiles walked away. Fast. He wanted to answer Theo but Theo is not asking him the question yet.

"Drop me by the tunnel entrance. I'm on patrol." -Theo said, settling in the passenger seat of the jeep.

"Oh. Okay."

"Stiles? Tomorrow, will you go out with me?"

"Oh? Where are you taking me?" -Stiles smiled. Theo courting him, does this quite a lot, take him on dates.

"It's a surprise." -Theo was smiling.

"You know my anxiety, I don't like surprises."

"I know. But you'll love this."

Stiles agreed. And so their date was set.

The following week, Stiles gradually calling out Scott for using Theo too much. Scott took the use and abuse too seriously.

Stiles would lightly tell Scott to give Theo a few minutes or hours before being sent for work again. Sometimes they'd be out, hanging out, and Stiles would tell Scott to let Liam do the patrols. The kid needs that experience somehow.

Their date night arrived. Theo was driving them in his truck when Scott called. An emergency.

Theo sighed. "I guess date night is cancelled."

"Apparently so." -Stiles confirmed as he gestured for Theo to make that U-turn.

They were called towards the Nemeton and they saw Scott and Liam, shifted, chasing after their enemy of the week. The werejaguar leader came back.

"I warned you." -Scott intimidating the werejaguar. "Why are you back?"

"Nothing much... just some petty reason." -she spotted Theo and Stiles running over to them.

Liam lunged at her but missed. She charged towards Stiles and Theo.

Theo was fully prepared to intercept her but she made a sharp and quick turn towards Stiles.

They rolled over the ground. Stiles tried to wrestle her off but to no avail. She pushed Stiles over the cliff.

"Holy sh-" - Stiles couldn't do anything.

He was falling off the cliff. He could only hold his hand up, hoping to be saved.

"Stiles!" -Theo jumped after him.

Theo caught him and held onto exposed vines on the cliff.

"Tch!" -Theo exclaimed as the vine rope burned through the bandage on his hand. And brutally so onto the wound there. Making it bleed again.

They slid for a little bit more before finally getting caught on bigger vines, stopping them from falling.

Back at the top, Scott and Liam were trying the werejaguar to a tree and then hurrying to help Theo and Stiles. Lowering down a rope to get them back up.

"Stiles! Oh man!" -Scott pulled Stiles into a tight hug once the two was saved. "I was so worried!"

"I was too." -Stiles hugged him as tight, looking at Theo, nodding him a thank you.

They subdued the werejaguar leader, and as agreed -Scott will try to talk to the supernatural beings walking into Beacon Hills, with the goal of peace, and when it is not achieved, the hunters will take care of it- Scott called Chris Argent to deal with the werejaguar.

As they were walking, Scott was going on about checking the old werejaguar hideout before calling it a day.

And Scott wanted to send Theo and Liam.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Scott! He's hurt, send someone else!" Stiles went off.

"O-Okay. Me and Liam would go." -Scott conceded. He felt guilty afterwards, he never checked on Theo. And now only saw Theo's hand. "Sorry, Theo."

"Yeah. Apology accepted." -Theo soothing his wounded palm.

They parted ways. Scott and Liam towards the hideout and Stiles and Theo towards Theo's jeep.

Stiles applied poultice on Theo's palm. "Thanks. A lot."

"No problem. As if I would just let you die on me right there. You owe me a date."

"Well... our sched just freed up."

---

And so, they revisited their original schedule for tonight. The date:

"W-What the-" -Stiles was greeted by tiny lights floating in some enclosure far from the reserve. "What is this? I've never... there were no fireflies in Beacon Hills. Ever!"

"There are now." -Theo watched him enjoy the view.

There were so many. Flying, floating, near the trees too... it looked magical.

"Since when? How?" -Stiles wanted to get to the bottom of this.

"I don't know. Must be a Nemeton thing. Again."

Stiles wanted to ask questions again, but the view was so beautiful, he just accepted that explanation. The Nemeton does make and affect all sorts of stuff.

"Stiles? Can I ask the questions now?"

"Sure." -Stiles waved his hand, eyes fixed on the sea of fireflies in front of them.

"Will you... be my mate?"

"..." -Stiles blinked. A lot of times.

"Stiles?" -Theo was concerned.

Stiles looked back at him. The fireflies are near them now, surrounding them. Making Theo have the background of little lights floating.

Beautiful.

"Yes." -Stiles said.

Theo smiled, ear to ear.

"I was waiting for you to ask that." -Stiles revealed.

"I was waiting for you to be sure." -Theo walked slowly towards Stiles.

Reached for Stiles' waist and pulled him into a kiss.

-+-+-+ (complete) +-+-+-

thank you. more on my master list here

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#steo #theo raeken #imagine #stiles #teen wolf #theo #theo x stiles #stiles x theo #theo raeken x stiles stilinski #caring #helping #tending #steoday #fighting for love

[agearinthevastklok]

Thoughts on AotD

I like that "it's about fear" very much announces the theme of Nathan's own fears of failing and self doubt, which stem from his constant perfectionism we've seen since s1. This is really emphasises in Nathan telling everyone he doesn't know how to write the Song of Salvation and subsequently crossing 'band' off - he is filled with self doubt and fear and is unable to find safety with that. This hits especially hard when you get that "is this the wrong song?" moment that hits so sudden and so hard. I think the "come back" line also really feels full of that fear - his fear is reinforced by loneliness and abandonment and grief and it's so, so powerful when he really becomes vulnerable in that moment.

The entire funeral scene is almost unbearable it felt like way too many things to deal with all at once made 100% more painful because they were ruining the funeral. I wish the bit with Nathan had happened back at their home because I had to keep stopping it just to cope with how much second hand cringe I was getting seeing that all happen in front of all those people at the funeral.

Skwisgaar using his own name/3rd person in speech feels new?

Charles' character seems to have changed quite a bit but I'm obsessed with literally all of his scenes because they pack so much punch. From his speech at the start to his return with the fans, his cool as fuck fight, his final smile - i literally cherish them. "Those are my spiritual savours you're fucking with" knocked the breath out of me.

The character arcs are so good! Nathan's "Life might actually be precious" at the start to realising how to write the Song of Salvation at the end. Murderface putting himself out there to help Charles after being convinced he had no value at the beginning. General Crozier's entire redemption arc.

Also character relationships really do so much here. Toki and Skwisgaar's dynamic becomes far more caring and close with Toki literally looking after Skwisgaar despite still bickering. The whole band getting emotionaly upfront with Murderface about needing him and that beautiful "but you always feel it" line is so so good. Pickles knowing Nathan's order perfectly, their "see you on stage" moment, hugging Toki, being so parental, honestly doing the Most for them all. Nathan's relationship with his parents being still loving and full of supportive words. Toki getting Deaddybear back and Nathan saying "you're one hell of a motherfucker" to Edgar in that fond voice. Murderface honouring Knubbler before the song. Nathan calling the band his family. Hell, even Nathan going from despising the fans to opening his hand to them and eventually thanking them, it's so good. And, yeah, his "relationship to music" bit with the visual metaphor penis, i thought that was good too!

Character confrontations are also really good! I LOVE the bit where Skwisgaar confronts Murderface in that really intense voice- probably my fav bit of voice acting in the whole film. Also Pickles cofnronting Nathan and making him realise why he'd failed his task (with that hilarious "this is weird" commentary from Murderface).

The animation is GORGEOUS - especially in scenes focused on Murderface. There are some very heavily anime-influenced moments which are sometimes beautiful and sometimes a little jarring. Nathan also somehow suffers from some off-model moments a few times.

The artwork is also gorgeous! Backgrounds, stained glass, graphic design, so much beautiful work! Similarly to the animation, there is some very anime-esque scenery I found jarring compared to what MTL usually looks like.

The humour is really great! Knubbler falling down those stairs had me wheezing and the gong breaking is funny both times. Murderface's "like us" funniest joke in the whole movie. "That was upsetting!" made me cackle. Nathan's conversation with Salacia was also very funny but I felt that was at the price of a less dramatic character confrontation.

The amount of 'men in female roles' is so good. Mother Pickles and Sister Toki are doing so much gender for me especially because of how much Pickles just COMMITS to that. "bring mommy his scotch" "you're the absolute best mother" both excellent for my heart. Also "you are the beast daughters of the apocalypse" offers so much gender feeling.

Nathans weird awkward moment during the "your role" bit is very endearing somehow and feels very similar to his sense of humour when he learned he could make a silly voice in the shower

There's some great one-off lines. "Sunshines rainbows marshmallows man" my beloved. "Good rock talk" love that. Nathan's entire realisation sequence at the end calling fans the army of the doomstar and that they're the great reuniting is just very fun final moment stuff. "It's about what we do when we fail" LOVE that as a line esp as they do in fact fail to prevent the metalocalypse and they have to pick up and regroup and try again.

Big whale god my beloved.

I really like how Nathan's voice becomes very breathy and weak compared to his usual growl. For a character who consistently has such presence and power it's such a choice to have his iconic voice be the signifier of his internal weakness. This feels especially interesting when we really see Nathan's raw physical strength when he rips himself from that metal wheel.

Seeing the retreat being destroyed scene by scene was actually very sad!!!! As well as all those Klokateers, especially after Doomstar Requiem

The character deaths hit harder this time around! Knubbler calmly sacrificing himself while Nathan desperately slammed against the barrier not wanting to see another person sacrifice themself for him, that hit hard! Edgar's sacrifice with that "my brother, my love, i'll be with you" was so heartwrenching especially after the "do it all for my brother" in Doomstar Requiem. Even Senator Stampingston has such a visually grotesque, dramatic death I enjoyed that too.

The drowning/near death moment was SO strong, however the jarring animation was particularly notable then and the "or all will die" line seemed ? weirdly unfitting given all dying anyway seemed to be the plan. I LOVE that eerily quiet way they handled nathan doing cpr for so long though

"gear in the wheel of the klok" "go into the water" those song references rock so much i love that.

probably a bad take but I sorta wish the resulting Song of Salvation had been....more??? i guess after the musical diversity of Doomstar Requiem i was expecting something completely next level. it's a good song dont get me wrong and i LOVE the lyrics! i guess i just expected some sort of 10 minute genre-mixing thing to really shake up stuff

I love the final scene I think it really tied off the series in a very strong way

Remember when this was a comedy etc etc

#metalocalypse #army of the doomstar #mtl:aotd

[memoriesoftanalorr]

Some short story, it's based on my Star Wars Jedi Survivor au where Dagan get a redemption arc, later on he's cutting his hair a bit shorter and getting an protestic arm, it's symbolism of letting go the past, probably I'm inspired by that fan art of Tumblr with Dagan shorter hairstyle. So I have an idea that as a teen Kata growing her hair and so Dagan make her a gift, it's his golden hairclip. Also fans on Tumblr get an idea that Kata go to college and becoming a botanist because maybe she's get inspired by Pili Walde, also she's wants to be a pilot and cook as Greez and also she's going to be trained by Nightsister Merrin. I guess she's will be a Jedi as Cal too. And getting something from Dagan as well. She's clever girl. I think she's going to be a child prodigy.

Kata preparing for a new adventure, she's going on her own this time. "Urgh, college. But I wished I could practice more of lightsaber forms and Nightsister's rituals." she sighed. "How about to get some friends your age and learn something new?" Cal encourages her. "But we're going to be apart from each other. I going to miss you guys." Kata sighed. "We're going to send you messages every day. Don't worry." Cal assured Kata. "Alright, I'm going to use the shuttle in three days." Kata nodded. "Are you prepared everything yet?" Cal asked. "Not yet." Kata replied. "It's going to be fun. Think of this as an adventure." Cal patted her shoulder gently. "Yup." Kata giving him a hug. Sometime later. Mantis Crew having dinner. "I'm going to give you some of my best food for you leaving, Kata." Greez said. "Thanks, Greez." Kata smiles. "Wait, she's leaving so soon?" Dagan asked Cal. "She's going to leaving to college in three days." Cal said. "Good luck then." Dagan made a soft smile. " Oh, no! My child going to leave us so soon!" Greez whined. "Oh, come on, Greez. it's not on forever. We're going to meet on the holidays or something." Cal said. "I'm sure that you'll gonna be alright." Merrin said cheerfully. BD make a recording and then make an exciting beep. Kata giggled but Dagan noticed that she's unhappy. Dagan decided to cheer her up. Jedi of High Republic walked away in his room after dinner and took something shinny as his Jedi robes. Kata was in her room. "Kata, can I come in?" Dagan asked. "Yeah, sure." Kata replied. "I think you're not happy about going to college, hm?" Dagan mocked softly. "I just don't want to leave you guys. And I've been thinking--" Kata paused. "What's wrong?" Dagan's icy blue eyes glanced with concern. "I just wondering if Papa would be proud of me as well as you do." Kata lowered her head, she's started crying. Dagan sit down near her. "Of course he would be proud of you. You're grown up so much. I'm really happy to know you, dear." Dagan embraced her into a hug. "Me too." Kata wiped her tears. "I want to give your something." Dagan made a soft smile. "Uhm, what is it?" Kata asked of curiosity.

"Uhm, it's my hair clip. Since I cut my hair. I think you'll would like to have one since your hair growing longer." Dagan laid a golden hair clip into Kata's palm. "It's so beautiful. This hair clip would remind me of you when I'll be away. Thanks." Kata giggled. "You're welcome, dear." Dagan nodded. "How about to get some lightsaber training when I'm get back?" Kata asked. "If Cal and Merrin don't mind that." Dagan responded. "I'm really love lightsaber training with Cal and with you too. I'm learned a lot." Kata spoke. "Good to hear that." Dagan smiled. "But I'm struggling to take my lightsaber with myself, you know." Kata take a deep breath. "I can take care of your lightsaber if you want to." Dagan suggested. "I trust you, Dagan." Kata replied. Dagan kissed her forehead and leaves the room. "Thanks, dear. Now take a rest." "Good night." Kata giggled. Three days later, Kata packed her bag and saying goodbye to Koboh and Mantis crew. "Are you ready, Kata?" Merrin asked. "Yeah. I hope to see you again soon." Kata giving Merrin a hug. "Me too. I noticed you're get a nice hair clip. I love it!" Merrin made a compliment. "Dagan giving it as a gift." Kata replied. "How nice of him. That's looks perfect on you." Merrin touched Kata's face gently. Cal giggled a bit. "Now's my turn hugging Kata." Cal stepped closer to her and giving teenager a hug. "Thank you for encouraging me." Kata said. "Not problem." Cal squeezed into her shoulder gently. "Be a good girl." Greez said. "I will." Kata lean down for a hug. BD made a sad beep. Kata lean down over the droid and strokes him. "I will miss you too, BD." BD 1 jumped on her shoulder and then get back on the ground. Now Kata going to say goodbye to Dagan. "I will miss you, Dagan." Kata rushed towards him with a hug. "Me too, my dear." Dagan hugged her back. After a minute Kata letting him go and giving her lightsaber to him. "Love you all. See you later." Kata get her bag and walked inside the shuttle.

#star wars jedi survivor #cal kestis #dagan gera #nightsister merrin #greez dritus #bd 1 #kata akuna #bode akuna #Uncle Dagie x3

[cancerian-woman]

I think about it sometimes and after going through the posts with "anti Hayley Marshall", "anti Klaus Mikaelson", and "Tyler Lockwood" tags, I formed an interesting opinion. This came from the idea that "The Originals would have never happened if not for Tyler being the reason Klaus met Hayley" and "Hayley got the werewolf storyline Tyler should have had".

And you know what? In a long run, it's good she had that arc. Hayley is pregnant - so the Mikaelsons would have to keep her safe (regardless if they liked her or not). She had a birthright to a pack that needed her help as the only surviving member not touched by the Crescent Curse to save them - then give them a seat to a tension-filled political table. It's good to see she wants peace in New Orleans because it's not just for her - it's for her baby not to grow up like she did (on that note: We should've met Hayley's adoptive parents for closure as a expecting/new mom). And then, she becomes a hybrid after being murdered on her daughter's birthday. She knows damn well her pack hates hybrids and if not for Klaus making her look good, they would have never accepted her. And she then gives the Crescents a magical "copy and paste" of her hybrid abilities through her marriage to Jackson (IMO: For all his meddling, he was the few good things she never deserved). And in response, the pack calls her their "Queen" and fights to help protect Hope (which is hilarious as the werewolves are decimated by Dahlia on more than one account up to Lucien having them killed while they were trapped in their wolf forms). And then, Hayley leaves them alone while she goes on to save the Mikaelsons - leaving them at the mercy of the Hollow. And even better, after watching 3 seasons of old Mikaelson family members and enemies be a threat to Hope (counting Esther as S1's true mastermind) - here's the kicker: The Hollow not only created the Werewolf Curse (and tbh, we should have recognized a witches hand in it since TVD) and it's Hayley's ancestor, whom also played a reason in her being orphaned in the first place!

In one light, you can say everything with the Crescents is her redemption for the Hybrid Pack (because let's be honest: If they knew what Hayley did - she would have never been accepted!)

Remember this:

But in another light, this is a universally, planned long-con of karma. As much as we dislike how Tyler was portrayed in TO, it was to showcase the point: TO was dedicated to make Hayley look good, thus Tyler had to look bad in everyone's eyes. Hayley became what she mercilessly betrayed - which that and her own actions led to her pack losing numbers and not trusting her. And the icing on the cake is that she died a vampire, but not by her own enemies but Klaus's! She'd been kidnapped by her kid, Klaus's enemies found her and ripped her Creacent birthmark from her body, and then her very werewolf natured was bounded away, leaving her a mostly weakened vampire that goes out in a fiery blaze (the elemental opposite of Carol Lockwood's death).

In a cinematic, gross conclusion: Hayley did get her comeuppance.

In gaining significantly after betraying the hybrids, ends with her stripped of her the werewolf heritage she prided herself in (symbolically with her birthmark, literally with the Hybrid Curse). And the people she loved ended up being what put her in danger and led to her death.

So, in retrospect, it's good she got Tyler's potential werewolf plotline - because she would be systematically paying for her crimes in TVD in the most painstaking way possible, gaining only to lose more than she had. And it's ironic because while his death was undeserving, at least Tyler goes out with his werewolf heritage intact.

And that's something poetically satisfying about that.

Well this is an interesting way to look at it. Yeah, the plot of the originals is because of Tyler’s connection to Hayley. Although their existence is due to the Bennett bloodline as most of the things in tvdu are but that’s another topic. I do want to say Hayley’s struggles in her story doesn’t erase the lack of story for Tyler. Yeah, you can look at it as some karma storyline. But most people don’t view Hayley that way. They think she simply deserved better and all she wanted to be was a mom to Hope…..anyways

All of Tyler’s greatest accomplishments we don’t get to see. We don’t get to see how he adjusted to being a wolf. But we do see how he becomes a hybrid and Klaus’ slave. Then later on we learned he became an alpha. We also learned he was helping those wolves break free from their sirebonds. He continues to be some placed in character when the plot needed it versus showing us how he did those things. How did he function as a alpha? What about other Lockwoods? Following tvd’s rule the werewolf curse can be dormant throughout someone’s life. TVD loved taking away characters family members one by one and then moving on from it as nothing happened. This is prominent through Tyler & Bonnie. The other characters are allowed some support but for them we get nothing. Also…writing that these characters have long lasting bloodlines and turning around to kill/claim they were dead is just bullshit?….Personally, didn’t care much for Parkwood but Tyler didn’t even get to have that as an ending relationship. Klaus/Caroline/Stefan all contributed to enslaving &/or villainizing Tyler. Klaro/Kcers can be described as more in your face with it while Stefan/SC was a bit more lowkey with this.

As you said we did get to see Hayley become a werewolf queen. We got to see her struggle and be rejected. Find love, etc. Again all of this to say none of the things she went through can ever erase Tyler’s lack of story and I’m going to pinch in Klaus’ lack of wolf storyline in TO.

however lol. it’s ironic the characters in TVD who came from legacies have zero children or actual connection to the show legacies. Tyler’s been dead for years by then and Bonnie is only referenced when they need a spell that requires Bennett blood. I do want to say what irks me deeply about Tyler’s death is no one beyond Matt reacts to it. What happened to the MFG being friends since they were little kids? It’s a complete disrespect to his character. It’s just as irritating as Bonnie’s funeral in s5.

#Dria responds #tyler lockwood #Tyler lockwood deserved better #anti hayley marshall #bonnie bennett #i mean if u squint lol #anti klaus mikaelson #anti stefan salvatore #anti klaroline #anti steroline #and the constant run around with Tyler’s character intentionally treating him like shit is why Trevino left #i wished kg would’ve took note with that but alas…. #anti legacies

[charmspoint]

As much as I praised Talentless Nana and it’s handling of Nana, trauma she’s recovering from and the redemption she’s undertaking, I do have some problems of how it handles it’s other important character, this funky boy right here.

Lots of ranting and spoilers under the cut.

Now I do like Kyouya a lot. I think he’s a perfect blend of straightlaced serious and fun and quirky. One of his core motivations being making friends, where all of his attempts are at the same time so terribly awkward and so touchingly sincere, makes him potentially a very interesting and relatable character to have on board.

I say potentially because Kyouya himself is very underutilized both in the show and in the manga. I made a meme about it before, remember that. Most of my love for the characters comes from discussing the show with my brother and developing him in my fic, not from the actual story itself.

At first I assumed Kyouya is supposed to be a deuteragonist, an equal to Nana, mostly because of how much he and Nana were and are compared to L and Light (I might talk about that later but for now: It’s a hard comparison to call because ye I can see why but Talentless Nana is more about the characters while Death Note is more about the conflict so it’s mind games aren’t really comparable at all, Nana and Kyouya are more interesting and loveable than L and Light combined, Misa is the best character in Death Note.) But rn I can’t help but feel that Kyouya isn’t so much a deuteragonist as just an overly emphasized extra, maybe a relic from when the author did intend to make Talentless Nana more about the conflict before switching it over to more of a character driven story. Either way at this point I feel like Michiru, catboy Jin and Moe all have more development and backstory than Kyouya and Moe wasn’t even introduced in the anime. When you add to that Mr. bet you thought you’d seen the last of me, it kind of gets ridiculous.

Like there’ve been multiple times in the manga when Kyouya would show up and I’d have this moment where I just remembered ‘oh this guy is here too, he’s a character’, like I’d literally just forget he was in the story because he wouldn’t be there for the longest time and then would randomly show up when it was time to solve a murder. Like the author just remembered ‘oh yeah I’m supposed to use this guy too’.

And it’s really a shame because Kyouya has so much potential and it’s just never explored. Like his whole motivation to find friends? He does! And it’s just sorta…brushed off. Like when he introduced Fuuko to Nana as his friend, with Nana remarking she already met Fuuko here:

Like you can tell he is genuinely super excited to finally have a friend and with a good reason. Despite being technically on the side of good, through most of the story Kyouya is a lot less popular than Nana with their classmates, sometimes even suffering ostracization because they are starting to see him as a conspiracy theorist that ruins all the fun. While they respect him for his intellect they are quick to turn on him and his own awkward and blunt nature doesn’t help here at all. Nana said it herself when talking to Yuuka:

Nana presents herself as a sweet, caring, extroverted girl. She acts cute and clumsy in social situations but is trusted enough to be deemed Leader and her classmates genuinely believe that she is working herself to the bone to protect them. She is also heavily endorsed by Michiru who is the living definition of a cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure. On the opposite end, Kyouya is very stoic, sometimes even scary looking, He gives of an unfriendly air as soon as he arrives, he’s socially awkward, he doesn’t know how to talk to or connect with people, he can be too blunt and insensitive and he seems to have a habit of picking on the most popular girl in school, calling her out for horrible murders. And he seems to be always be proven wrong which cements him as someone overly suspicious, as someone who just has a bone to pick with Nana. As someone unlikable.

So when Kyouya, who’s been rejected by the majority for most of the story despite his best efforts to help, protect and befriend them, FINALLY gets a friend, finally gets someone who fully believes in him and tells him she will follow where he leads, someone who is willing to go through his stoic front because she truly believes he has the right answers and he’s doing the right thing…you’d think that would be given a bit more weight. You’d think we’d see some changes in Kyouya, a bit more focus on him, a story unfold. We don’t, not really. We see Fuuko following him around and helping him and they even get a solo scene together where Kyouya says he will tell her the weakness of his talent but then it…cuts off. Like ooo must preserve the mystery, forget about the fact that we’ve known this character for almost 40 chapters and we are long overdue any new information about him. A good way to develop him is dropped right in our laps but nothing happens with it aside from Kyouya being overexcited to call Fuuko his friend whenever he can, which is admittedly very cute.

That’s not even the worst arc that’s been left dangling for him, remember his missing sister? You know, his biggest motivation to come to the island in the first place? I honestly wouldn’t blame you if you forgot, because that plot is still stuck basically in the same place where it was introduced in like ch 2 or 3 (out of 56 mind you). Like he doesn’t go anywhere with that, at all, we don’t even see him looking for her. When they burn all those bodies Nana thinks about how he might have missed his shot because his sister might have been amongst them, but that’s never confirmed or denied. My absolutely favorite set of panels on that is this one where Kyouya looks like he himself genuinely forgot he had a sister to look for.

Only to immediately be interrupted by some shenanigans. This hint at conflict doesn’t even come to be, like later Kyouya is packing up completely normal and he leaves the island completely normal without any seen resistance or last ditch attempt to look for his sister. It’s like he simply just forgot she existed again. Like at least his wish to make friends is brought up often, I stg Nana mentions his sister more times than he does.

Again, his primary reason for even being involved in this plot, is not given any sort of development or even focus. 

And like when I talk about this I usually say smtng like; Well he and Nana are slowly getting closer and are starting to look like they will form a team so maybe then he will get development. But goddamn Nanao got more development and even a flashback, completely outside of Nana’s knowledge or influence, and he’s been presumed dead since ch 1.

Not to mention that the lack of Kyouya doing much of anything aside from what he’s strictly needed for leaves his and Nana’s relationship very lacking to say the least. Like I get the idea, they are supposed to start out as enemies and eventually grow closer and team up to defeat the real bad guy and that’s a perfectly solid idea, I love these two, I love how they bounce off each other. It sure would be even better if they, you know, actually got closer. Like we barely see them interact outside of immediate rivalry and while the times they work together to discover a killer that isn’t Nana are very welcome, they are also a far cry of what we should have gotten by now. We really get no sense of Nana starting to understand Kyouya better or him starting to understand her better. When he suggests a team up, it’s because that’s what comic book characters did, not because he came to understand her better as a person and grew a trust with her that made him want to start that partnership. And again it’s endearing that he mirrors his actions towards what he sees in a comic book but also…they REALLY needed that level of trust and connection they just never got.

 I really hope that this gets better, especially now that Nana is making moves to confess her crimes and is working side by side with Kyouya instead of against him. I really hope we get more on him , his backstory, his talent, his sister, I’d take his preferred idol at this point. But until that happens it’s really hard not to feel like so much about Kyouya has simply been wasted and neglected by the author.

#talentless nana #munou na nana #kyouya onodera #lucy rants #talentless nana manga spoilers

[shrinkthisviolet]

The Problem with KATAOW S3

(Yep, I’m finally doing it)

Okay so, let me just say that the season overall? Phenomenal. Clearly planned out, not one of those “oh no we need to make another season” seasons, the enemy is defeated in a satisfying way, the characters’ arcs are concluded–

Wait. Hold that thought. Because my problem with this season concerns one person. Or, I guess, one mandrill, since he isn’t a person at all.

That’s right, I’m talking about Hugo/Scarlemagne.

So I didn’t even realize something was off when I first started the season, until I read this fic (it’s an alternate S3, and I absolutely recommend it). The comments gave me pause, because they said that they felt Scarlemagne was acting too passive in S3. I’d just gotten done seeing him and Kipo talking with his “brotherly advice,” so I didn’t understand that.

However, the more I watched, the more I realize that the comments were right. Scarlemagne was a background character, and normally, this wouldn’t be a problem (it’s Kipo’s show, not his), except...this is his redemption season. And they kinda try to one-and-done it in one episode, which I feel does a great disservice to him and the show overall.

His relationship with Kipo is also...gone for some reason?? They bring it up in the 9th and last episodes, but other than telling us “oh hey remember that they’re siblings?” it’s nowhere. As if it doesn’t exist. Which is sad because that could’ve been the key to his redemption.

Kipo only redeems him to form HMUFA (she also wants to do it for their relationship, but that’s not really made clear), but what if she just wanted her brother back? What if HMUFA was important, but not as much as having a family again? Remember, this is the girl who went toe-to-toe with him in last season’s finale and called him out and pushed him until she threatened the safety of her loved ones.

She doesn’t back down, and she initiates change. In a way, regarding her brother, Kipo herself was also made passive, which is a shame–that’s a fundamental misunderstanding of her character.

Scarlemagne’s moral ambiguity is also pretty much gone. Now, in regard to the pheromone thing, that could just be him being tired of arguing about it, which tracks. But the fact that he gives in to Wolf’s reasoning instead of KILLING THE PERSON WHO TORE HIS FAMILY APART AND TORTURED HIM AND IS TRYING TO KILL HIS SISTER? Yeah, no. I don’t care how redeemed Scarlemagne is, he would never give in to an argument like that.

Also Wolf would never make that argument in a situation like this. I get that she’s less hardened and more like Kipo now, but...she calls Kipo her sister. Her pack. Wolf was raised a wolf, at the core of it, and even I, as an older sister, would throw moral compasses out the window to protect my siblings. THAT’S JUST HOW FAMILY IS (in my experience)!

He and Kipo don’t really have any arguments. He doesn’t try to get her to see his perspective, his advice (“make them fear you”) doesn’t come back to haunt her later (especially when she...basically does that twice? Anyone remember that? The writers don’t)...what’s the point of a morally gray villain if they’re not clinging to their reasoning?? Sure, maybe Scarlemagne realizes his dictator impulse was wrong, but he could’ve said something like, “I made a place for myself in a world that was trying to hurt me. All I wanted was to unite the mutes and guide them. I wanted a family again.”

And Kipo could say something like, “That’s not a family. Families don’t mind control each other to keep them in line.”

Scarlemagne: “Ah right, I forgot. They just leave their created children for dead and shame them for ever wanting to use their powers against corrupt people. My mistake.”

Like?? Obviously he went about it the wrong way, but...he thinks his intentions were good (as morally gray villains do), and he was hurt, and let’s face it, Lio’s moral absolutism (critiqued very well in this post) pretty much ruined everything (also that dumb decision to wait around?? Tf??). Scarlemagne doesn’t have to change Kipo’s mind, but...maybe some indication that he’s still in that cage for a reason? That maybe Kipo’s tried to help him before, but he won’t renounce his intentions (only the dictator part)?

Like...COME ON, writers! You can’t even say that moral ambiguity was too much for a kids’ show, because this show has it in SPADES (Lio is forced to reckon with and apologize for his mistakes, as he should, and ATLA/LOK was practically the blueprint for moral ambiguity in kids’ shows).

So I think I’ve covered everything? But I have one last complaint: Hugo’s death.

IT MAKES NO SENSE

I kinda knew it was coming because I spoiled myself 😂 (that’s all I knew though, the rest was a surprise), so I was expecting Mute Emilia to eat him or something as he was flying. That wouldn’t have been great, but it would’ve been better than CRASHING INTO THE SIDE OF A WALL OR SOMETHING

Like...are you KIDDING me?? I know mandrills aren’t super strong, but this is BOGUS in a show where falls like that never hurt anyone (yes, I’m aware that everyone who falls like that is a Mute, but they’ve fallen like that as humans, too. Idk. Plenty of other media has their heroes get up and be fine after falls like that).

Also...he was just starting his redemption!! It could’ve been something awesome!! But they threw it away, and for what?? A moment for Hugo to forgive Lio (Song didn’t really do anything imo, but she was kinda complicit, and I find it weird that she didn’t even apologize?), sacrifice himself in a stupid way, and then just...die??

Nope. I don’t accept it. I refuse. We weren’t shown a gravesite, so I choose to believe Hugo appeared right behind Kipo at the end, all “quit telling people I’m dead!” “Sometimes, I can still hear his voice!” (Screw canon, this is canon now. KATAOW screwed itself over when it didn’t even have the decency to give Hugo a proper death).

Oh also, Scarlemagne passively accepting Wolf as Kipo’s sister is soooo unrealistic I can’t overstate it! I’m just gonna refer you back to the fic series linked above, which handles this so much better. There’s no way Scarlemagne would take a surrogate sister label lying down, that he wouldn’t have an identity crisis (if Kipo can adopt siblings at random, can she disown siblings too?), that he wouldn’t shame Wolf for it, that she wouldn’t have an identity crisis...

Oh also, Kipo herself has problems, as outlined in this post (which includes my reblog of it where I also state my problems with her). I love Kipo as a hero, but...S3 could’ve done more for her.

Maybe I’ll write a fix-it for this season one day. Who knows. But I wanted to get all this off my chest 😂 feel free to debate in the notes and reblogs!

#kipo and the age of wonderbeasts #kataow s3 spoilers #MAJOR S3 SPOILERS #no seriously PLEASE watch the season before reading this it’s actually really good #kipo oak #hugo oak #scarlemagne #wolf #lio oak #song oak #benson #dave

[sepublic]

Musical Car!

           What’s interesting is that the musical has a sign advertising Jesse’s name; Did he stop by the Musical Car at some point and inspire the denizens there with a speech about empathy, and how differences are okay? We know that had to have taken place prior to him, Lake, and Alan Dracula entering the Carnival Car, meeting The Cat, etc. Either way, I’m not at all surprised that someone as open and friendly as him would say such things, especially with an unconventional friend like Lake; And obviously he stuck by his words in the end, didn’t he?

           Lemme tell you though… I was legit disturbed by that raid, as well as seeing those poor denizens get legitimately hurt and injured for no reason at all, and that ONE decapitated dude almost getting wheeled, only to be converted into Simon’s thing; Like, screw you Apex. That’s what makes Simon and Grace interesting; I’ve always imagined the concept of more problematic protagonists for this series, so it’s not much of a surprise to see Book 3 dive into this! Given how much more, well… WORSE Simon and Grace are, pehaps it’s not all-too surprise that their arc was confined to HBO Max, given the even more mature tone set by them and their actions!

           Honestly, those two rapidly switch and range from terrible, nasty jerks I want to punch, to misfits with banter and chemistry, and plenty of comradery; Especially for people they DO care about! It really drives the point home that not every bad person is PURE evil, like they don’t spend every waking moment plotting how terrible they can be, and most don’t even consider themselves as bad! It’s disconcerting, but a good look into their mindset; With Grace genuinely trying to be nice and caring to the kids and not hurting their feelings, but also repeating Amelia’s lies about the train denizens being there for the passengers’ benefit, and… More on that later.

           Also- Glad to see Grace make fun of Simon’s fashion sense and acknowledge it, but at the same time… Either he was ten when he began to wear socks with sandals, AND/OR he was ten when he first met Grace; Presumably on the Infinity Train, although the idea of two individuals knowing one another PRIOR to boarding it is also fascinating! Especially given how Book 2 discussed the idea of fate and pre-determination in one’s paths and all…

           It’s interesting to see that not all Apex kids are against the denizens, like some DO want to make friends with them (albeit in a very invasive manner), but Grace and Simon just shut them down. I have to wonder if they themselves also had a similar moment with Amelia, only to be brutally shut down; And Amelia is objectively worse than those two considering how much higher her number is, and how SHE was the one who started this dumb ideology in the first place (instead of just being taught it at a vulnerable moment in her life like everybody else)!

           What’s worth noting is that Simon has a device that can detect the presence of other passengers, which is both VERY cool and VERY useful; I have to wonder if it’ll detect Hazel in the Jungle Car however. Given the speculation of her being a train denizen, it’d serve as neat, subtle foreshadowing as to her true nature, and I can see the show touching upon this! Also, the aesthetics of that device reminds me of what The Cat would own; Given how she’ll make a return this Book and has had a run-in with at least Grace in the past, I can easily see it being something she’d own. She IS a collector of useful things, after all… And I have to wonder if maybe The Cat was even a companion of Simon or Grace; Or maybe even Amelia! Perhaps the Passenger-Detector was a ‘gift’ from Amelia…

           (I mean, they HAVE to bring her back in Book 3, given how her ideology and actions are a direct consequence of everything that happens, and would fit nicely into her eventual redemption arc. Not to mention it’d give a fascinating insight as to what was going on in her mind when she indoctrinated the Apex.)

           Neat detail seeing the Unfinished Car with those corgi diplomats, and nice joke with that one turtle talking to what’s later revealed to be a phone with a line that’s already cut anyway! Grace breaking her Harpoon Pack makes sense; She wasn’t seen with one in the trailer and posters, and I guess it’d help ‘balance’ things if only one protagonist had a Harpoon Pack; So they can’t just skip over cars on their way back!

           Speaking of a way back; We have a set number of cars leading back to the Mall Car, so in other words we have a way of keeping track of the journey’s progress! It IS worth noting that the cars could always rearrange… It’s interesting to learn that cars apparently don’t move when passengers are inside; I always assumed that sometimes they might’ve and a passenger wouldn’t notice because all the cars look identical from the outside, and also being inside a pocket-dimension kind of skews around with the sensation of what’s going on outside. It’s possible that Simon and Grace actually felt the movement because of the Unfinished Car’s unusual nature…

           Regardless, after that disturbing opening scene it makes sense that One-One is stepping in! Given how he values the passengers more than the denizens (as seen with his second and final interaction with Lake), it makes me wonder how much he actually CARES; Or if he can’t afford to have people ‘breaking equipment’, and/or is mostly doing this to lean the Apex towards becoming better people by confronting them over their actions! At this point, they may end up pushing One-One too much and he’ll have to send in his Steward…

           Getting onto some existential crisis, the cruel thing about Simon and Grace saying that the denizens are made for them is… They’re actually kind of right? NOT that this justifies at all their wanton, senseless cruelty towards the train denizens… But it ties back to Lake’s existential crisis in Book 2, the realization and likelihood that she (and maybe even the Mirror World) was made purely for the character development of people like Tulip and Jesse! One-One himself outright says in the Book 2 Finale that, YEAH; Train Denizens are supposed to stay on the train because their entire purpose, their entire means of creation was just to fulfill what the passengers need!

           …Obviously, using them for raids ISN’T what One-One (and/or whoever made the Infinity Train/the Infinity Train itself) intended… But the disturbing realization still stands that the denizens’ purpose and creation in life is for the betterment of passengers, to accompany them, aid them… In the past, I’ve speculated how some Cars and their inhabitants don’t seem to have much of a personality beyond being a basic caricature to fulfill the ‘theme’ of a car, as well as aiding in passengers’ journeys! And obviously they’re all PEOPLE, but again this ties back into just how real the pasts and worlds of denizens were, as discussed by Mace; The idea that entire histories and cultures have been fabricated, and pre-programmed into the memories of denizens.

           Needless to say, it’s very disturbing… And if Simon and Grace ever change their stance on denizens and even start vouching for them, it’d be a brilliant reversal of their beginning attitudes to have them call out One-One for making sapient people for the sole purpose of serving others; Which could be a dilemma for him given how HE may have been made for the purpose of others! Given how Amelia taught the Apex her ideals, and she was Conductor for a time and thus had rather intimate knowledge of the Infinity Train… perhaps what she says about the denizens being just ‘toys’, made for the passengers, isn’t too far a stretch from the truth; Obviously a dark, twisted, and selfish distortion. But it’s emblematic, reflecting a deeper, underlying issue that could lie with the Infinity Train itself.

           (Especially since Owen Dennis said that One-One and the Infinity Train can be wrong…)

           Given how Amelia made cars with denizens that only ‘turned on’ once a car was considered ‘complete’ (or close to it), it suggests that she knows all about the artificial, pre-programmed nature of denizens because she’s made a few ones; Which when coupled with how she probably tried to make a Fake Alrick, and ultimately realized that a replica would never be the same… Eerily, it lends to the idea that part of what made Amelia realize this at the end of Book 1, was her mindset that denizens are just follow, fake copies of pre-existing things and aren’t even real to begin with.

           THAT is a cruel twist; That the very ideas that founded the Apex and caused our issues in Book 3, were low-key what helped Amelia wake up from her fantasy and realize that she needed to confront her issues! Given how high her number is, it only makes sense that while she’s making progress, she STILL has some more fundamental problems to tackle; Specifically the idea that while denizens aren’t the same or ‘real’ as the original, they’re still people and whatnot!

           All in all, a VERY fascinating watch! Just eleven minutes, but I’m hooked in; Sure this does tie a lot back to previously-established concepts, but what story-driven show doesn’t? It really recontextualizes and makes you think back about what WAS discussed already and how it changes with the more we learn and explore!

#infinity train #infinity train book 3 #infinity train cult of the conductor #infinity train season 3 #infinity train spoilers #infinity train season 3 spoilers #infinity train grace #infinity train simon #infinity train amelia #analysis #spoilers #it spoilers

[blueoatmeal]

So you’ve mentioned that Jamack has killed people and made it clear that Kwat and Harris likely have also done that, care to elaborate on the specifics of it if you have any? I’m actually super intrigued in these frogs and their violent/ugly side.

Oh absolutely. When I was first making my Jamack mix, I found I had too many violent songs and had to add more normal songs to even it out XD

I’ve always been very much into the idea that despite going through a redemption arc and bonding with the protagonists, Jamack is still, and always has been, a ruthless motherfucker

I mean heck, back in April I had this line in an early draft of The Scorpion and the Frog: Jamack looked away. “You don’t have any blood on your hands yet. I didn’t want you to think you did. You should hold onto that while you can.” He looked back. “Until you can get your hands on Scarlemagne, of course. Can you imagine? Having Scarlemagne as your first kill?” He grinned, his eyes bright.

So yeah it’s a concept I absolutely adore. ANYWAY! The Mod Frogs have influences from 1960s Mod subculture and early 1900s mobsters. Iconic mobsters tended to be sharply dressed, snarky, witty, organized, strict, greedy, and merciless. Sounds like the Mod Frogs to me! And IRL frogs are slippery little killing machines! They hunt and eat just about any living thing that they can stuff in their huge mouths. And that’s not an exaggeration! That’s how they’re described in some scientific texts, because it would take too long to list their prey! Along with the usual bugs and such, frogs have eaten fish, snakes, mice, small birds, and other frogs! 

One of IRL frogs’ best strategies for survival is massive amounts of offspring. Which means that their lives hinge on the assumption and acceptance that the majority of their tadpoles won’t make it to adulthood, and that even then, adults get picked off constantly by predators and bad luck

Most species of frog don’t even care for their young. They’re entirely defenseless and most start off eating plantstuff and algae. But once their guts develop enough they’ll eat a wider range including other tadpoles. Yep! They’re cannibals. 

And they don’t have any like, social family structures outside of breeding. While primates, canines, felines, and a number of other animal groups help care for not just young, but sick, injured, or elderly members of their community, frogs do none of that. 

Even the call they make when in danger is thought to be not a warning to other frogs in the area, but to instead startle the predator and/or attract another bigger predator so that they might be released as the predator gets into a fight or runs away. Frogs have very few behaviors that humans recognize as compassionate

Instead, if a tadpole is slow in growing, they might get picked apart by their bigger siblings when they get hungry. An injured frog is dinner, full stop.

So.

With that in mind, we throw in sapience, a record of human morals, and newly intelligent predators prey neighbors, and you get the Mod Frogs.

Are they objectively more “moral” than their ancestors? You could argue it either way! But they’re still pretty chill about killing

They’ll kill for food, obviously; they’re carnivores. They’ll kill mutes who try to hurt them, because they can do that and have a chance at surviving the encounter now. And albeit on a smaller scale, they still kill each other. 

Kwat, Harris, and Jamack have all killed. In battles over territory; you strike hard enough in any fight and that’s a killing blow. And sometimes someone is so big a threat that they’re worth going out of their way to murder. Maybe there’s a personal grudge, or they’ve done something to threaten the whole group. It’s not hard! Toss some toxic sludge in their pond and that’s several generations *snap!* gone. Instantly decimate the Frog population. So you can understand if they’re aggressive about establishing and maintaining their strength and reputation. They can’t afford to have anyone think they’d survive an entanglement with the Mod Frogs

A hypothetical: Cats love fishing, and the pond is perfect for that, but the Timbercats won’t step foot in Mod Frog territory. A while ago some Cats got curious, they went to the pond, maybe they even caught and ate some tadpoles. They look like fish! And the Mod Frogs retaliated. Chased the Cats out, killed one before they could get away, and made a whole production of hunting down the others to set an example. “Don’t mess with us. This is what will happen if you do.” 

And they’ll fight over resources too, not just territory 

Most local mute packs they can handle in a fight. Cats, Hummingbirds. It gets harder with bigger, stronger mutes, especially if they used to be their natural predators. Wolves and snakes? Difficult. So they’re not all show-of-force, they’re diplomatic too, trading off resources for agreements--like mobsters do! “We could either continue to fight or you’ll agree not to hunt here and we’ll trade any guitars we find and even make repairs.” Course, people go back on deals all the time, which again calls for revenge

I’ve gotten very broad, so before I wrap up I’ll at least describe one kill that each of these three frogs have made:

Jamack: Back when he was at a lower rank, he noticed one of his superiors was abusing his position, making Jamack and his coworkers’ lives hell--which wasn’t a problem in itself, and rather typical--so that he could skim the extra profits off the top for himself, and not tell his own superiors--which was strictly prohibited. So he invited his boss out to see something he said he found and wasn’t sure was valuable, and planned to jump him when he got far enough. The older frog turned first though and pulled a knife on him. Said he noticed Jamack was getting too nosy. They fought, and Jamack won by cracking his boss’ head against a pointy rock

Harris: In a turf war, which the Mod Frogs eventually lost, Harris took down a snake on his own. He fled into an alley, where she thought she had him cornered, but he climbed the wall and pushed over a brick chimney that then landed on her face

Kwat: Choked out an invading Newton Wolf. Yeah. Incidents involving Wolves went down 30% for the following two years

Goodness this is morbid lol. Thanks for asking!!!!

#enbyintegrity #Oatmealreplies #jamack #kataow #kipo and the age of wonderbeasts #kwat #harris kataow #oatmealspeaks #death #murder #violence #cannibalism #thank you!!

[teetlesandnimjas]

What if in the explosion the brothers got separated?

This is a villain turtle au- if you don’t want to read it you can scroll past! I know it’s a cliche concept but it was fun! And I like doing my own spin on things.

(Note in this au when they’re mutated they are a little older, young kids, as this idea wouldn’t work if they weren’t SEMI competent. They’re still 13, 14, and 15 in modern times, but when they’re first mutated Mikey is 3, Leo and Donnie are 4, and Raph is 5)

Donnie: got scooped up by Draxum in the end, and works as his assistant first, son second. He has a similar position to Foot Recruit; despite being fully capable of actually being useful, he is treated with little respect and does mundane tasks like running errands and fixing random, broken objects. He is trained constantly but is told over and over again that he is “not good enough” yet. Despite this he puts his heart into everything he does. Broken clock? Sure he’ll fix it and it’s got LAZERS now! This causes him to accidentally make problems, and Draxum thinks that Donnie is “a complete and udder fool” which is further from the truth. Villain Donnie is a lot like canon Donnie personality wise but a bit more serious. He does not approve of Draxum’s use of mystic powers, and resents using them himself. He refuses the axe Draxum tries to give him. Draxum has little regard for what Donnie thinks and does, and therefore has an awful relationship with him. And yknow Donnie’s abandonment and self-worth issues? Yeah crank that up to 11. Basically Donnie hates Draxum and the Mystic City, and the Shredder going rouge is the last straw. “WATCH ME! ILL WIPE OUT THE HUMAN THREAT WITHOUT YOUR STUPID MAGIC! YOU HEAR ME BARON DRAXUM- I DEFY YOU!”

Leo: made his way to New York via Senior Hueso. Originally I was going to have him raised by Hueso but then realized it wouldn’t make a lot of sense- so Senior Hueso picks baby Leo up off the streets but ever the wanderer Leo walks right through the GIANT PORTAL IN THE WALL. From there Foot Brute, attempting and failing to find members for the clan, picks up this tiny, promising turtle off the street. “What is that thing?” “I dunno but he’s cute- and we’re in need of members” “That is an actual child” “so?” And then Leo is raised by his two dad- I mean sensei. I put raised lightly. He was treated better than Donnie but he was never given a lot of attention, and therefore turned to causing trouble to get attention. And not just from his dads, from anyone he can. Causing mischief in the city actually helped him in his training, as he became very skilled at sneaking, fighting, and stealing. He butts heads with Foot Recruit a lot because of his constant need for approval and attention. She finds him genuinely annoying while he just views it as “playful teasing.” That comes back to bite him the butt upon meeting Donnie, who comes along to help make form the Shredder armor, but he does not want to be there. Forced to work together, Donnie gets sick of Leo’s crap real fast but they don’t really hate each other, but in the moment they needed to play it off like they did and therefore gave the impression to the other that they DID hate them. Confusing, I know. Draxum tries and fails on multiple occasions to nab Leo but if he does he realizes it’ll put a major dent in his plans. So he forbids Donnie to speak to Leo. But no one stops Leo from talking to him. But Donnie’s coldness and Leo’s cruel banter really doesn’t help them get along. The moment Shredder goes rogue and the Foot Clan collapses, Leo flees in fear. “What if” this and “what if” that but mostly because he tried to take out Shredder and ruined his clan name. But even on the street, Leo remains the same annoying, much more cruel and dark humored mutant.

Mikey: Got scooped up by the Mud Dogs and taken to Big Mama, dragging only Lou’s glasses with him since even as a toddler he picked up anything shiny he saw. I plan to draw the interaction between tiny Mikey and the Dogs (and how Mikey got his name in this au) but that’s a surprise. Anyways pretty quickly he got entered in the Battle Nexus. Think about the appeal that fight would have! Just a couple years of training and then bam! “Introducing Hakka-gu! Our youngest fighter ever- only 8 years old!” And having natural talent and capabilities he was an instant hit. And he wasn’t treated horribly, after all Big Mama couldn’t risk one of her most profitable champions running away. But he is still treated as nothing but that- a profit, a marketable product. No one calls him his real name anymore, no one cares about him, just his capabilities. When he gets injured it isnt “are you okay?” It’s “is your body okay?” And sometimes he’s treated like an idiot- especially by Big Mama. He was never taught language and has very botched speaking patterns because “intelligence isnt important for a champion.” Well eventually he has enough of that, and through a bloodbath, he is able to escape to New York. Now he’ll get respect- he’ll make them respect him. But he gets quickly spotted by the Foot Clan and Draxum, as he’s in the way. Upon finding out about the plans to wipe out humans, he knows he has to stop them. Who can respect him if THESE GUYS wanna take over the world? He’s not getting mistreated again. But when the Shredder goes rogue he panics- he cant stop it but... he knows who can. He goes crawling back to Big Mama and strikes a deal. A better champion. Better than him. And she takes it, although in the end she makes some... alterations to the deal. But this doesn’t stop his quest for respect, and he ultimately heads back to New York.

Raph: Savage! He’s alone, a young child who doesn’t know where to go. He panics, and rampages all the way to New York. After a good, long, temper-tantrum, he finds himself in an alleyway, climbing into a sewer. And there he eats rats, he sets up a not-so-homely-home for himself. He flashes in and out of his anger, but he is almost always emotional and looking for some sort of control in his life. He gets that through rampages, causing destruction in any way he can. Usually he doesn’t make TOO much of a mess but he’s brought down a few buildings in his time. Eventually, upon seeing a rampaging demon-armor in the streets and seeing 2 figures trying to stop it (at this point Mikey is getting Big Mama) he realizes there are others out there like him. And then begins a struggle for control not over the world, but over himself too. There are times he gains control and although lonely, he knows he must learn. He learns English in flickers, and it isn’t perfect, but he can communicate. He can talk to them. Now he just needs to stop hurting them.

Extra notes:

In this au the only one with their weapon is Donnie. Mikey and Leo are skilled with the weapons they have in canon (the Ōdachi and Kusari-fundo) but they do not have mystic powers. Raph is... well... Raph. He can’t fight with weapons well but he can pack a punch.

Mikey is still a chef and artist, taking a liking to the ability to create, but just like with everything else he “needs to focus on his fights” so he can’t have interests. A kid like Mikey HATES this and any time he can he sneaks away to bake and draw. Usually this is at 2 am.

Leo has anxiety. The minute something not in the plan happens, or a loud noise, or having to talk to someone without a script, he goes into fight-or-flight mode. He often finds that the answer is to fight.

Raph is not necessarily evil- he is an antagonist but he is not evil. He simply has no control and lashes out at everything. That’s why he stays in the sewers. Nothing down there’s moves other than rats, bugs, and the water. But he has to get violent urges out some how.

April is a reporter-in-training in the au, as she never met the turtles until after the Shredder incident. She’s immediately interested in it, as she is everything “supernatural” and she gets dangerously close to some of their fights. I don’t know how they meet yet or if she becomes friends with any of them.

After the Shredder incident, the only thing stopping each turtle from destroying New York is each other. Seriously. They keep getting in each other’s ways because “I want to take over the world, not THEM!”

They all have certain villain stereotypes. Donnie is sort of a mad scientist, Leo is a teasing, monologging villain, Mikey acts like a nut case but has a certain intelligence to him, and Raph appears as a total destroyer.

In the end they get redeemed and find out they’re family, but it takes a while. Mikey is the one to hunt down Draxum, while Leo stalks him. Upon finding this out, having 3 out of 4 looking for each other, they find each other pretty fast. And there’s a big dramatic apology scene with all 3 of them, and at first Donnie thinks they’re conspiring against him and ambushes them but is only met with three harmless turtles who refuse to fight him. They tell him what the deal is and Donnie is shocked. And then he’s pissed. “WHY DIDNT DRAXUM TELL ME!? YOURE LYING! LIARS! NO!” In the end he realizes the truth, but it takes a little “talk” with Draxum. And then Donnie nearly commits murder. Don’t worry they stop him. But there’s no Draxum redemption arc because Donnie would continuously try to commit a felony. April is also somewhere in there and like gives the brothers goodness lessons but idk where that fits in I’m still working this out shajajajajaj

#rottmnt #rottmnt au #villain turtle au #i love theeeeese #also sorry theres no cut i couldnt figure it out on mobile #YOURE GETTING ART SOON! IVE ALREADY GOT MIKEY! #TaNTalks #im sorry

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 253

Wait, Majin Buu’s gonna stop killing people?    Wow, really?

Let’s get this crap out of the way first.   Gohan’s in like Hour Five of his 25-hour session to get super duper powers.  He’s just got to sit there quietly and let an old man pretend to be important.   You’d think he’d be good at this, since it’s just like being in school, but instead he’s frustrated.    You know, you could have just trained over the past seven years and avoided this entirely, so this is kind of the future you chose, Gohan.

Back on Earth, Goten and Trunks are about to try fusing as Super Saiyans.  

I’m not sure why, but Piccolo seemed uncertain that Gotenks could transform after fusion, so he wanted to try it this way to ensure Gotenks would be at his maximum power against Buu.    But before they commit to the battle, Piccolo wants to get an idea of Gotenks’ abilities.  

But Gotenks is still a little shithead, and he decides to fly around the world several times to show off...

And then he lies down on a rock and waits for Piccolo to catch up with him.

Meanwhile, this old couple is trying to flee to the mountains to escape Majin Buu when...

... the wife gets killed by a sniper.    Damn.

Aw, she even packed a teddy bear, that’s awful.

So yeah, here’s these two assholes.    The shooter on the right is named “Van Zant”, and his butler on the left is “Smitty”.   I think these may be names given to them by the dub, I’m not sure.   Basically, Van Zant has decided that Majin Buu’s rampage basically means it’s the end of the world, so he might as well enjoy himself as much as he can while there’s no consequences, and he’s always wanted to try shooting people for sport.  

Smitty is horrified by this, but Van Zant tells him to shoot the old man, and he doesn’t seem to need much convincing.   Then again, he may not have much of a choice.   If he doesn’t play along, what’s to stop Van Zant from shooting him?   Well, I guess he could shoot Van Zant first, but none of those choices sound very appealing.

Anyway, he seems to enjoy killing now that he’s tried it out, and they plan to continue on this way.    I gotta say that I really dig this part of the story.   It’s easy to think of the masses as “innocent victims”, and that they all must be huddling in fear while they wait for someone to save them from Majin Buu, but there’s plenty of other reactions you can have to a crisis like this, and sometimes there’s people like Van Zant, whose first instinct is to go out and make things just a little bit worse than they already are.

As for Gotenks, once Piccolo finds him, he declares that he’s clearly passed the test, and he’s going to kill Majin Buu right now.   Piccolo warns him to stop, but he just won’t listen.    Which is kind of stupid, because he’s wasted so much time showing off that he only has one minute left before the Fusion wears off.

So he goes to Buu’s house to call him out...

Only to split into Goten and Trunks a second later.    The boys panic and bug out before Buu can find out who’s been talking shit.

Mr. Satan convinces him it was just his imagination, since who would be dumb enough to walk right up to Buu’s house to challenge him?    I mean, besides Mr. Satan, which is how he ended up here.

Last time, Mr. Satan tried to trick Buu with posioned candy and booby-trapped gifts, but none of it worked, and now Buu’s made him his live-in servant.   Here, we see Satan reading A Dog of Flanders to Buu.   I never understood the choice of novel here, but apparently it’s a very popular children’s book in Japan, Korea, and the Phillippines, so I guess it makes sense.    Anyway, the book ends with a boy and his dog freezing to death, and Buu finds this hilarious.

Then Buu flies off to go back to killing people, and Mr. Satan plots to kill Buu once again by planting explosives in his house.   I don’t know why he would expect this to work when that exploding video game didn’t, but I can’t fault him for his persistence.

Meanwhile, Smitty and Van Zant joyride through a nearby town and gun down as many people as they can find.    Smitty’s worried that Majin Buu could attack this place at any moment, since “they” say Buu has a house in the area.    He only built that thing yesterday, so how do so many people know about it?   Anyway, Van Zant isn’t worried because he has a bazooka.   Really?   Buu killed 80% of the population, and you think nobody tried shooting him with a bazooka?

Back at Buu’s house, Satan plants the explosives, but he’s surprised when Buu returns early with a dog.  Buu tried to frighten the dog, but he wouldn’t run away, and Buu can’t understand the dog’s speech, so he doesn’t know why the dog isn’t afraid.  So he brought him home to Mr. Satan so he could translate. 

Satan doesn’t speak Dog, but be does notice that the puppy has an injured leg, so he can’t run away from Buu.   So Buu heals the dog to fix that problem.  

Only the dog won’t run away now because he’s grateful to Buu for healing him.    Basically this is the same deal as that blind kid from a few episodes back, only this time Mr. Satan is here to explain it to Buu.

Buu tries to feed his new dog chocolate, but Mr. Satan explains that dogs can’t eat that, so he offers to go into town and buy some dog food...

But, in fact, this is just a pretense so he can get away from the house and set off his explosives.   He looks through a telescope before he presses the button on the detonator...

... and he sees Buu and the dog licking each other, happy as can be.

And so Mr. Satan decides to hold off on blowing Buu up.   There is the dog there, after all, and he doesn’t have to do this right away.   So that means he really will be going to buy dog food.   This seems like a really awkward conversation though.  

Mr. Satan: One bag of dog food, please.

Cashier: Holy crap, you’re Mr. Satan.

Mr. Satan: Yeeeeeeeaaaaah! 

Cashier: What are you doing here?   Aren’t you supposed to be fighting Majin Buu?

Mr. Satan: Well, you see, he’s weak to dog food, so, uh... hmm.

It’d probably be simpler to just karate chop the guy and steal the dog food.   For that matter, there’s probably a lot of abandoned stores now, so he could go looting.

Later, Satan returns with the dog food, and the puppy loves it.  Buu, not so much.   Well, more for the dog, then.    Mr. Satan was frying you an egg, remember?

At this point, Satan just has to ask: Why does Buu kill people and destroy cities all the time.    In the last few hours, he’s found him to be pretty nice otherwise, so what’s the deal?

Buu explains that Bibidi and Babidi both told him that was what he could do for recreation, and that’s basically it.   

He also explains that they “made” him, so apparently even Buu believes that Bibidi was his creator, although I’m still not clear on that.   Maybe the DB wiki was talking out its ass.

Satan tells him not to listen to those guys.  I mean, even Buu admitted that they were unpleasant, but he’s just been doing what they said anyway.   Buu considers this for a moment, and then he asks if killing is wrong.

When Satan tells him it is, he immediately resolves to never kill or destroy again.   Mr. Satan can hardly believe it.

And he’s thrilled.   As the dub puts it, he got this guy to change his ways, and he didn’t even have to punch him or blow him up.   I love this scene, because it’s not just Majin Buu that’s getting a redemption arc here.   In this episode, Mr. Satan may not realize it, but he’s accomplishing in fact what he only pretended to do against Cell.    He marched right up to Majin Buu and convinced him to stop killing people.  It’s a bit anticlimactic, but no less courageous.

And then the dog gets shot.    Whoops.

Because Van Zant decided to go swing by Buu’s house and check it out, maybe take a shot at Buu while he was in the neighborhood.   I don’t know why he’d start with the dog, but he killed an old lady earlier so I can’t exactly claim to understand this dude.

Mr. Satan is just flabbergasted by this.   I think a sniper was the last thing he expected in this situation.

And here’s Buu, just staring at all of this.    What’s going through his mind right now?   A Dog of Flanders isn’t so funny anymore, I’ll bet.

And that’s the Majin Buu Saga.    Next time, it’s about to go down.

#dragon ball #2019dbliveblog #majin buu saga #majin buu #mr satan #bee #smitty #van zant #gohan #elder kai #goten #trunks #gotenks #piccolo

[jbuffyangel]

Walking into my inbox like...

because of this article. LOL Thanks for all the heads up my friends. I didn’t know it existed. Yes, I read it. Yes, it sounds like I wrote it. No, I did not write it. Some wonderful person named Lynsey Neill did. However, it’s possible we mind melded unbeknownst to us. She uses pretty words like “fully realized superhero” too. 

Dear Lynsey,

We should grab a virtual coffee and talk all things L*urel L*nce.

Love, 

Me

Put me down for cosigned. This is actually a really positive article on E1 L*urel L*nce. It articulates a lot of the reasons why I loved LL’s character. I don’t agree with all the points made, but the vast majority hits the nail on the head for me. I was invested in this character for many years too. 

The L*uriver section is particularly stellar:

Ladies and gentlemen, if your boyfriend cheats on you with your sister and in the process she gets killed (or is presumed dead) would you ever think of them the same? Yeah, in that hypothetical scenario, they swiftly and irrevocably become someone you can’t rely on. They aren’t your person anymore, and probably never were. #TeamLaurel

SAY IT FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!!!

My biggest issue with L*uriver was I never wanted to see L*urel kiss Oliver again. Their relationship reminded me of something I really disliked about Oliver - he cheated. Any time he made a move on L*urel I was instantly reminded of the fact that he banged her sister on the regular for years. YUCK. 

However, this section really brings the article home for me.

But they both moved on, Laurel forgave Oliver and they remained friends. For like a season in and a half. A good chunk of season 2 through season 4 they were just indifferent. Sometimes they would get into the occasional screaming match that required popcorn. However, if your relationship with the main character is indifferent, what’s to stop the audience from feeling the same?

Yes, indifference is exactly how I felt about L*urel by the end of Season 4 and Ms. Neil captures why I felt this way perfectly.

As far as Bl*ck S*ren’s redemption this sums it up for me:

All the sane and rational humans maintained that Black Siren was not the Laurel we lost. She was fun and stirred up trouble for our heroes. She had so much potential to just be a character thats unapologetically a bad person. Sure, everyone has their moments, but for the most part we want a ruthless female antagonist who has the face of a dead friend.

The fun of Bl*ck S*ren is she wears the face of their dead friend. All the drama comes from this angle. You run the risk of putting Bl*ck S*ren’s character back to where L*urel L*nce’s character ended by redeeming her: indifference. A character arrives at indifference when the writers A) are no longer invested or B) they’ve run out of story ideas. I think both happened to L*urel’s character. 

Oliver is as indifferent to Bl*ck S*ren as he was to L*urel, which automatically puts her character on an uphill battle. 

The main character rejects Bl*ck S*ren entirely because she is not his L*urel and never can be. The only real tangible connection these two characters have is when Bl*ck S*ren is wreaking havoc on Star City and Oliver is forced to contend with her. He truly does not give a damn when she plays white hat and any interaction between the two plummets. 

So... how is a redeemed Bl*ck S*ren any better than L*urel L*nce? It doesn’t solve the main issue which is the character lacks any real connection to the star of the show.

Bl*ck S*ren playing lawyer and apologizing starts to strip her of the very things that make her interesting. There is no way this character can ever be E1 Laurel. They are simply different people. Any attempt by Bl*ck S*ren feels like an insult to our L*urel. It’s like saying LL is replaceable with a look alike copy cat and the essence of who she was can simply be mimicked. Umm... NO.

Imagine for a moment it was Felicity who was killed off 

(I know I know. The horror but just roll with me for a second). Let’s say an evil version of Felicity exists out in the multiverse. (All evidence to the contrary but let’s fake it for the purpose of this hypothetical.)

If an evil Felicity came roaring into town, murdering people and causing general havoc, would we believe for a hot second she is our beloved Felicity? NO.

Would we accept any world in which this evil version is redeemed and therefore a replacement of the character we lost? OF COURSE NOT. That’s like saying Nazi Oliver can be our Oliver. 

The only point I disagree with Ms. Neill on is I do believe there is a way to fold Bl*ck S*ren into Team Arrow, without losing all of the drama. If Bl*ck S*ren retains her darker tendencies, sarcasm and biting edge, then she can be to Team Arrow what Spike was to the Scooby Gang (before he got his soul back). 

Team Arrow can openly hate on Bl*ck S*ren and shade her all day long. 

Source: @ebett​

Bl*ck S*ren can rip on Team Arrow while being a constant chaos causing unknown element for the team. Yet, they work together because their goals meld. Say for example Felicity and Bl*ck S*ren teaming up to stop Diaz. This can create A LOT of really fun scenes.

Do I think this packs as much punch as evil Bl*ck S*ren? No. I think the best use for the character is to go all in and make her the Big Bad. She’s a powerful meta human who wears the face of a woman Oliver once loved. She can make Oliver’s life a living hell if the writers embraced all the power this character has.

Unfortunately, they are constantly reeling Bl*ck S*ren in by making her a victim or someone who needs to be saved. It’s ridiculous. 

If Bl*ck Siren achieves redemption I have no doubt K*tie C*ssidy will play her in a different way from E1 Laurel or evil Bl*ck S*ren, so the arc itself doesn’t really concern me in any way. It’s more wishing the writers would take the character in another direction I find more interesting. 

Do we need a third version of this character on top of Dinah Drake’s BC? No. The cast is pretty bloated as is and we run the risk of these supporting characters taking up space without having anything to do. This is the reason LL was killed off in the first place. 

It’s not the first time I’ve disagreed with the writers on the characters KC plays and it’s it probably won’t be the last. Worst case, I’ll end up at indifferent again but my hope is the writers can still make this character interesting whether she’s redeemed or not.

#arrow #arrow spoilers #anti black siren #anti laurel lance #anti laurel lance meta #anti black siren meta #arrow articles

[theonceoverthinker]

OUAT 3X08 - Think Lovely Thoughts

We’re nearing the end of the arc and it’s just utter PANdemonium!

Shut up, Rumple! That was funny!

Anyway, to find out why, venture below the cut!

Press Release

Pan leads Henry to a secret cave, where he has convinced the boy that he alone can save magic and Neverland itself. But a showdown between good and evil is about to go down as Emma, Mary Margaret, David, Regina, Mr. Gold and Hook find themselves directly on a path to Pan in an effort to save Henry. Meanwhile, back in the Fairy Tale Land that was, young Rumplestiltskin is given a magical item that could help him make a fresh start with his father – who has been anything but a good dad.

Main Thoughts - Characters/Stories/Themes and Their Effectiveness

Past

This flashback may have one of OUAT’s most mature messages: Sometimes, family can be bad and they need to be cut away from you. There’s no hope of reconciliation and not even a removed heart to blame for it all. Sometimes, they’re just garbage people and trying to keep them in your life will only hurt you.

Malcolm’s abandonemt is one of the most malicious abandonments ever shown on the show. Like, had it not been for Gothel, it would probably be number 1. Malcolm sneers as he tells Rumple he’s the only thing holding him back and then just throws him to the metaphorical wolves. It’s the meanest kind of break up and making it familial just makes it so much sadder.

Present

Our present segment is kind of like “Into the Deep.” Like that episode, its character work is expressed not through more open-and-shut story, but through character interactions in the midst of plot progression. For a series like OUAT, I think these episodes are important because there’s always so much going on and this style keeps up the momentum of the season and of the two I’ve seen, I’ve liked them both!

It’s fantastic seeing everyone come together, flaws and and anger and all. We haven’t reached the “look how far we’ve come moment” yet, but the payoff is starting to emerge. We see bits of hope of reconciliation between Rumple and Neal, Neal forcing Rumple to do right by David, Neal and Killian working together better...yeah, there’s a lot of Neal, and I like that! Neal’s becoming a real favorite of mine and I’m really sad we’re gonna lose him soon.

But honestly, Pan is the true star of this episode again. What makes Pan such a good villain is how well he exploits tropes. He knows what buttons to press to make heroes do what he wants them to. “All heroes are tested.” He knew Henry would go tip over to his side with a line like that. Because Henry loves these tropes so well, Pan has been able to play him like a fiddle and that bit of manipulation is terrifying and fascinating.

Insights - Stream of Consciousness

-”Follow the lead, gents.” Not even being subtle (And I use subtle loosely), are we? XD

-”You’d be better off without him [Rumple’s Papa].” Fuck yeah, he would be!

-Wow, watching this again shows me just how much “The Black Fairy’s” flashback fucked us over. Like, here, Malcolm doesn’t outright detest Rumple, there are just a million things he’d rather do than take care of Rumple. In “The Black Fairy’s” flashback, well, he outright hates Rumple from the second he learns of Fiona’s fate.

-Pan’s influence and manipulation, not over just Henry, but all of the Lost Boys, is incredible!

-I fucking love the Spinsters. They are such sweet old ladies! They offer to teach Rumple and they’re so friendly! Rumple, stay with them forever. Tell Malcolm to fuck off!

-”Names always make things better.” FUCK. YOU.

-”I didn’t think I had any talent.” Damn! That is so sad! Baby Rumple went through a good chunk of his childhood without any real positive reinforcement. Like, I want to say what that does to a person, but we already know and...DAMNN.

-”Your father will always be your burden, Rumplestiltskin.” Honey, you don’t know the half of it.

-OMG! Malcolm did the Rumple laugh! I love this show!

-”But you trust me. Don’t you son?” “I want to.” Holy shit. That line could’ve come JUST AS EASILY out of Rumple and Bae’s mouths.

-Rumple’s family is so freakin’ ass-y with fathers and sons! Gideon, either don’t have kids or have those Belle genes kick themselves into high gear!

-”You suddenly interesting in what I have to say? Thought I wasn’t to be trusted.” Rumple, shut up. Your karma evaporated for a damn good reason! Don’t act hoity toity!

-”No deals, no favors, understand?” YESS KING! This is what I’m talking about with Neal. He’s not giving Rumple a fucking INCH and why should he? I said this before and I’ll say it again. Neal’s death had nothing to do with Emma but EVERYTHING to do with Rumple because Rumple would never be allowed to be sleazy again had Neal stayed alive.

-*Rumple grabs Killian’s sword right from his waist* *Jenna grins like a fucking idiot*

-”Thanks mate.” *A bro nod is exchanged* *Jenna grins harder*

-”You did that for me?” Let’s talk about this line. This fucking line! Neal never had anyone try to save him like this as a kid and now he learns that the Darling family was even more amazing than he ever thought! I love this show!

-”You told her I was dead?” NOT NOW, RUMPLE!

-”It was easier than telling the truth -- my own father abandoned me.” *Jenna cries like a little bitch*

-*Malcom falls* KARMA, BITCH!

-God, Malcolm is creepy as fuck as he remembers Neverland. He looks like he belongs in an asylum.

-”Well apparently, that’s the only thanks I need these days.” *sighs* You don’t get it now, Rumple, but you will in about four seasons.

-”You promise not to be long?” More like, “You promise not to BELONG?”

-“Because you don’t belong.” Holy crap! I wasn’t wrong!

-”Are you okay?” Neal, Emma just did a fucking back flip! You tell me!

-Blocking the moon out to get rid of shadows? Emma, you are a fucking genius! <3

-Is it any coincidence that I’m fucking humming “Brandy” while watching this episode? Damn, Guardians 2 hit me.

-”Oh, it’s for the best, Rumple.” Part of me isn’t sure if that’s the best bedside manner or not. On one hand, Fuck Malcolm with a rusty nail-covered bat. On the other hand, he’s an emotionally distraught child.

-”Pleasure to see you too, Baelfire.” Pan is such a little shit!

Arcs - How Are These Storylines Progressing?

The Mission to Save Henry - “We’re all going back. Together.” I love how everyone is together for the crescendo of the arc’s “climax” (Or one of like, three of them)! As I said before, it really delivers on the payoff promised at the end of Season 2 and the beginning of Season 3.

Emma Accepting Your Parents - “Maybe it’s just you rubbing off on me, but I refuse to believe that.” Until that line was said, to be honest, I was torn between being cynical of Emma for her rigid thoughts on family and her inability to understand the nuance of the situation and prideful in the character development she showed by fighting for her family. But once that line was said, I was on the latter side HARD! Also, this follows Emma’s line of thinking throughout the rest of the episode! She really wants to keep her parents!

Regina’s Redemption - Another small, yet big sign of Regina’s redemption is Regina apologizing for insinuating that Emma shouldn’t have rescued Neal right to Rumple’s face. Good job!!!

Killian’s Redemption - If my arch enemy called me a “cowardly pirate,” I wouldn’t smile. I’d gut him. I’m gonna give Killian points for being better than me in that regard!

Rumple’s Redemption - Rumple’s redemption is handled so well here! He’s still an asshole, almost charging David for the Dreamshade cure, but he’s really cooperating with the group because he knows he’s the center of a lot of bad blood. He’s trying to earn their trust because he knows Henry’s life means more than him being the top dog. And seeing him overcome his internal issues with Pan only to still lose hurts so much as a result!

Favorite Dynamic

The Nevengers and Rumple. Oh My Stars! The group teamup against Rumple was dramatic in the best way EVER. Just...everyone slowly making these points against Rumple as he weakly tries to throw a case for himself together was dramatic, tense, and incredible. All of Rumple’s bad karma comes to a head at the worst possible time and it is GLORIOUS! And the tense peace they reach is just as great! All of that distrust still remains, threatening to shake things up going forward. ”You life so much as a finger to perform magic, you’re gonna spend eternity in this box.” YESSS, Neal! And eventually, Rumple’s honorable decisions are recognized by Emma, Neal, and Regina!

Writer

David Goodman and Robert Hull are today’s writers and after their stellar start this season with “Nasty Habits,” I had high hopes for them. And they did a fantastic job here! Everything comes together very naturally, the dialogue is super en pointe, and the pacing for the packed story is just amazing!

Rating

Golden Apple. What an awesome episode. It’s a great rush seeing the final pieces come together for the grand Neverland rescue, seeing everyone work together as a team and sniping at each other while cooperating, and getting a great and comprehensive flashback at the same time! Also, everyone feels really intelligent and earnest to who they are and want to be, making this episode feel more real. It’s honestly such a great time watching it!

-----

Thank you for reading and sorry again for the smaller review. I got caught up by my backlog after coming home from the con and losing two of my review days, so it looks like you’ll probably be getting four reviews next week. Still, I promise I’ll make something a lot better for next time to redeem myself! In the meantime, I really appreciate your patience with me! <3

Also, thanks as always to the fine folks at @watchingfairytales for putting this project together!

Season 3 Total (76/220)

Writer’s Scores: Adam and Eddy (19/60) Kalinda Vazquez (17/40) Andrew Chambliss (17/50) Jane Espenson (10/30) David Goodman (20/40) Robert Hull (20/40) Christine Boylan (10/20) Daniel Thomsen (10/30)

Operation Rewatch Archives

#ouat #once upon a time #watching fairytales #ouat 3x08 #ouat rewatch #jenna watches ouat

[monkey-network]

‘Change Your Mind’ was a fun, messy anime hoot ‘n holler, I reckon. Is it my favorite episode of the season? Nah, that’s a different episode that I don’t wanna spoil. Is it the best episode of the arc? Nah, that’s still Escapism. But nevertheless, there is quite a lot to unpack that I wanted to express and if I did a play by play of this 44 minute special, we’d be here for several hours and nobody got time for that. And if I continuously jabber on about this in spaced out posts, I’d feel more like a SU Critical blog than I typically am and that’s pretty depressing. So, I’ve packed all my stray thoughts into one package to get it out the way. Spoilers ahead.

Small headscratch, but I question why it’s notably four episodes on the wikis but it’s essentially one episode and should count as one episode. Can’t really see one part without understanding everything else so I’m a bit confused. Then again, I’m not that encyclopedic on media production so it’s no big deal.

I liked Blue Diamond in the first part and this arc as a whole. In spite of who she generally is, Blue was a consistently good character in that her regret and more motherly nature never felt out of place compared what we’ve seen of her initially because her devastation over Pink’s “death” never felt superficial and the times when she got serious were eyebrow raising to me. And her turnaround in this felt reasonable compared to the others for she thought more of Pink/Steven beforehand and looked like she was more aware of how times have truly changed, even when the allusion to abusive families fall flat.... you know, if we were thinking realistic. Eh, Blue best Diamond, if that means anything.

I question why Yellow had what appears to be forced fusions or genuine crystal amalgamates if Diamonds were against fusion. I understand the ones on Earth, but why was she keeping them, probably for some time now, if she has no use of them? Again, maybe they’re born crystal amalgamates. It’s unclear.

I would say deep down I felt cheated that Lapis and Peridot are apparently cool now even when Lapis took everything in the divorce and did the reentering parallel to an Irish goodbye. But I guess dropping the barn counted as an act of apology, and maybe we’ll see them interact more in the future, so plbbt. At least they got to be badass and anime together while looking the part too.

In the back of mind, I forgot that Bismuth was in the episode sometimes. Beyond giving Connie her sword and raking up that star punch, I can’t say she added much to the story.

Speaking of which, wish the Diamond’s Pearls got to partake in kickassery of the sort. Homeworld was surprisingly empty in hindsight.

Loved Rainbow Quartz the 2nd. He’s beautiful and I would gladly get strong for him.

Only one thing bothered me about Sunstone, aside from the sunction cup summon. and it’s with their small arms. I thought those big arms were more for her shapeshifting since Garnet’s known to shapeshift her limbs to be enormous, but they’re always big so... what  value do Sunny’s little arms serve? Least with say, Smokey Quartz or Malachite, their multiple limbs added to their ability but Sunny’s two beefy arms carry most of the way. It’s like adding two dormant legs to the side of a grasshopper. And seriously, what was the point of the suction cups.

Though I love Monty Python reference they added in. That got a huge laugh outta me.

Obsidian was a spectacle, being the first genuinely naked human gem of the series, and the design reminded me a lot of Asura’s Wrath. Though one small detail I wish they had was where Obsidian’s fingers dug into the mech, leaving large dents on the ship, which would’ve hit home the struggle of getting to White as opposed to somehow being able to grip onto the mech’s more or less smooth surface.

Overall I’d say the part between the Diamonds reconciling and finally reaching White was hit or miss if we’re talking writing. Like sacrificing logical flow more for providing the fan service isn’t nothing new, but time could’ve been utilized more for more to go on.

I couldn’t take White as a serious threat anymore, she was just too cheeky and Ebersole sounded like she was really enjoying herself with voiced. I just hope somebody dubbed Glados over her sometime.

Couldn’t take the moment where Steven got his gem ripped out either cuz as hardcore as that was, adding a sound effect sort of killed the tension for me and I laughed my ass off. I’m sorry.

But as much as I loved the scene that was well animated by veteran 2D animator James Baxter, I especially loved the scene where after Pink Steven forms, he turns to White and says, “You should’ve gone for the head.” Snapped his fingers and destroys Homeworld to finally end everyone’s suffering. Like holy shit, that was the best scene in the entire series, hands down.

Plus I like the idea that Pink’s gem... actually fused with Greg’s sperm. *wheezes* I’m the worst

As much I like the idea of White Diamond, having been told off by a child, reforming her viewpoint, being a less coerce being and making the family whole again, the fact that she’s still a mass murdering, mass torturing, mass colonizing, authoritarian Orwellian style villain rubs me the wrong way with how much of a 180 things turned out to be. It’s like if the Beaudelaire siblings immediately forgave and thought Count Olaf was a great person all along after he did that one good thing and then died. But I guess if Steven held White under a small lens of contempt, then it wouldn’t be Steven Universe. What also makes this feel hallow is that.... when you think about it, all this amounted to was the Diamonds doing Steven a solid. They don’t really quit being dictators, they never really claim that Homeworld should change its way, or think White should step down as leader thanks to her perfectionism affecting HW harshly. They’re just nice rulers now... like Kuzco except not as cool. This plot honestly could’ve fallen apart if White Diamond was more reasonable while still maintaining her villainous perfectionism. She was kinda stupid in a way but eh, whatever. Like yeah, she’s shiny... but she’s not

Then again, imagine White Diamond’s current position.

Imagine the sense of losing your entire worldview, ideology, and sense of self to a being the size of your big toe. Imagine everything you’ve built up, potentially taking centuries or millenniums to uphold to sheer excellence, all crumble before you in a instant. How would it feel? To lose your purpose and have nothing to show for yourself beyond your now shrill existence and status regardless of your stature, because you feel that if you were to try again, history could repeat itself but 10x worse. That small being that conquered you, could do it again if tempted and what would you do? What else would you do if you have some semblance that it won’t work out perfectly as before? What else would you do if you’re now capable of fearing something with which you don’t and potentially will never understand? You honestly don’t have anything now, you’re nothing now. So what could work out for you besides smile, wave off your loss with integrity, and feel comfortable knowing that you live another day while understanding now that any day could potentially be your last, given what you know.

You feel me? It’s like that.

And I’ll say that while the Diamonds suddenly having a change of heart can seem off putting, the fact that Steven went through all that shit with his real family just to do so is reasonably sound. Can’t say a redemption arc in the making ain’t all bad if the protagonist didn’t put in work as well. And if Naruto can forgive Sasuke after they beated each other’s ass, I feel that this ain’t too different.

“Change Your Mind“ was a good song, better than the new Crystal Gem extension. A nice cap on the sprite cranberry of an episode.

So it seems like this episode marks the end of Steven Universe. Now it’s time for Steven Universe 2. Because if this wasn’t anime enough... we’re gonna be time skipping, babey. Reasonable enough, this episode messy here and there but I have one counterargument to this, given that this show is five fucking years old.....

I’d be a bitter asshole if I said I didn’t genuinely enjoy this, both initially and on the rewatch. It is an all around entertaining finale and I’m glad it embraced the weeb trashiness in itself like I always knew it would. Funny thing about all this is that we’re going into hiatus and I’m willing to bet that excluding the movie, we’re gonna have the same amount of premieres as last year. But I believe the hiatus won’t matter as much since they certainly gave people quite the show and I can’t help but applaud along.

Now if ya excuse me, I’m off to marathon Kirby Right Back at Ya, an anime I believe is better than SU all things considered. Have a wonderful day.

#su critical #change your mind

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Wonky preliminary thoughts

I watched the episode once this morning then I’ve been various degrees of busy and sickly so the episode is sort of nebulous in my mind but I want to throw down the thoughts I remember thinking this morning... on a second watch I could change my mind. Honestly I don’t even know yet what this post is going to be like. I’m gonna make it up as I go. Let’s find out together.

- It’s a finale baby

Okay I haven’t touched my dash but I know my chickens and I know there’s gonna be wank, because people forget that every year when the finale comes out no one likes it. That’s it, that’s the finale, expectations are high because finales are supposed to be epic so people end up disappointed, some things were predicted 8 weeks prior and people complain that they were too obvious, some things were unexpected and people complain they came out of the blue, some people say Cas wasn’t in it enough some people write down explanations why his part was actually meaningful, you know the drill. This has been a typical finale: Dean makes The Sacrificial Decision (having Death kill him, become the soul bomb...) and things don’t just work the way he expected them to (sometimes positively like with Amara, sometimes negatively like with Michael).

I personally expected Dean to let Michael (although until recently I supposed it could be the original version of him) in since 13x15 (the showrunner’s own meta manifesto relatively to the ‘reverse season 5/reverse Swan Song’ nature of the final part of the season) and that it would be about shouldering himself the task of getting Lucifer killed since 13x20 (where he goes after Loki himself and is not enthusiastic about Sam’s revenge intents against Lucifer), and heck the ‘I let you in but you provide the power but I’m behind the wheel’ kind of speech was something I pictured in a thousand scenarios, so I didn’t get any shocks from that part of the episode’s plot, but I still enjoyed how we got there. And then, Lucifer is dead! *celebration noise coming from the fandom*

- Um okay let’s say you did your best

Okay, the impression I got from my first watch: the script worked, but the episode got wonky in its execution. Not even the special effects (insert a wonky gold star for the trying) but I remember being unimpressed by the sound/music? Is it just me? Like, sometimes the sound choices were too over the top? There were also overdramatic zooms but that’s Supernatural, and Supernatural without overdramatic zooms is like Supernatural without the Winchesters.

I liked the recap montage a lot (what do you think came first, Rowena’s line about the music or the idea of having that line inside the season to use it for the finale recap?). I got a bit sad because there was a lot of Wayward Sisters in it, and it would have been better if the finale came in a moment of celebration for it happening rather than anger and bitterness for the CW’s choices. Something I felt missing from the last portion of the season was Jody, but I was obviously okay with it because she was missing in preparation of her role in the spin-off. If we can’t change the network’s decision, I hope next season is packed with those characters.

Anyway, back to the episode - it was weird at times, you all know what times, let’s just run with it and make jokes.

- But in season 5 they said--

No, the act itself of Michael killing Lucifer wasn’t what was going to kill half the planet’s population. It was that act inside the large picture of that spell-like orchestration that was the apocalypse (seals, horsemen, omens, stuff like that). I would argue the large-scale damage that was expected wasn’t an accidental consequence, but kind of the whole point of the apocalypse. I hate myself for bringing it up, but you know Thanos killing half the people to ~save the universe~ or whatever dangerously ambiguous nazi crap that dumbasses have actually fallen for because Marvel is just that bad and dangerously ambiguously conservative? I think that the archangels kind of were similar to that mindset, making a huge sacrifice of humans to bring ~paradise~ because they were tired or whatever. You know, I know some people don’t think Supernatural is particularly progressive, but in the current media climate not framing the mass-murderous, abusive characters with nazi-coded intents as the actual heroes is apparently too progressive for some, so kudos to Supernatural for not making Lucifer or Michael the hero of the story but to stick to common sense and decency. (I know, this part is not about Supernatural but just me being salty at Marvel, but let me, please.)

- So while we’re talking about this...

I can say that what Supernatural did with Lucifer in season 13, in my opinion, has been really good. I’ve never been afraid they were going to ‘redeem’ him, so I wasn’t worried or bothered by the story throwing the tools of redemption at him. Because not only he didn’t pick them up, he couldn’t see them even if they hit him in the face. He didn’t understand what redemption even means. He kept seeing himself as the misunderstood victim, so instead of bettering himself he just felt sorry for himself, and completely missed the point of a ‘second chance’ or whatever he claimed he was after. So, eventually, it was all a lie. I think Lucifer’s “I’ve changed” attitude was partly a schemed lie (because he’s not that clueless), partly something he was convinced of himself, because he has his head up his ass enough to actually believe he was a poor victim. I think this narrative hits the nail on the head - white male fragility works like that, the men wrapped in toxic masculinity and male entitlement think they’re the victims of a big bad oppression from women and queer people and non-white people. But they’re just pathetic, and when the bubble bursts, all they can do is scream in rage and their ‘nice guy’ persona disappears. Lucifer’s 180° change of attitude towards Jack reminded me of the nice guys who start throwing all sorts of disgusting invectives against women after being rejected. So yeah, I think that Lucifer’s arc this season was sort of relevant, if you want to interpret it like this.

Either way, Supernatural, unlike some other pieces of media, doesn’t actually try to make you sympathize with abusive, violent, misogynistic men (unless they actually show to be self-aware and to seek change, and again you aren’t meant to sympathize with their bad side! Toxic masculinity is supposed to be bad, and slaughtering billions of innocents not justified for any reason, and especially does not make you the hero and the ones fighting to save the people the actual villains! *gasp*). There was even a clear dig at Trump, and I am pretty sure that’s Dabb’s answer to accusations of not being clear enough on the subject...

So yeah, I think this season’s big bad was an allegory for white male entitlement and the ‘nice guy’ victim complex, and Dean stabbed him (I’d say with the help of a Black man, sure it’s actually Michael another villain but momentary symbolism, I guess? Or maybe that just isn’t supposed to be relevant.) I felt someone cheer that was still bitter that Sam killed Alastair. You just know someone out there was still bitter about it. I mean it was teamwork, of course, but Dean provided the power and the stab. Oh, Dean letting Michael in to acquire the power to kill Lucifer (who killed Cas and Sam) as a parallel for Sam’s demon blood usage to acquire the power to kill Lilith (who killed Dean) *insert lengthy reflection here*

- Speaking of parallels--

Someone was irked at the apparent belief across fandom that Dean leaving Sam to the vampires in the cave was ~the codepencency being broken~? (I am not a fan of analyzing the show in these terms that have become so simplified, in case you’re wondering.) And of course now we see that that wasn’t so simple, because Dean makes the same face when Sam disappears with Lucifer and Jack, and Cas tries to stop him, but Dean decides to do the sacrificial decision (did he really expect Michael to keep the deal, really really?). But! (I wasn’t saying that things are still stuck in the 10x23 mud puddle, don’t misunderstand me!) This time it’s not just about Sam, it’s about Lucifer being set on really breaking dad’s toys on a large scale this time. Dean Winchester gives up his humanity to save humanity, because that’s his middle name, and not just to save his brother at the cost of harming the universe. Of course Michael is still on the loose and with a stronger vessel now, but hey, one threat at a time... But I also think there’s something significant with the fact that the last sequence of the episode shows Michael on earth, looking in his element and satisfied about it - to stop Lucifer, Sam, with Lucifer inside, went to hell; to stop Lucifer, Dean, with Michael inside... is on earth. Of course, next season he’ll probably be involved with heaven and whatnot, but I think there’s something significant there, but I’d wait to make much meta about Michael-in-Dean when we actually are shown more about it.

- So, overall?

Overall it was a good finale! Satisfying to have Jack discover Lucifer’s true nature and the nice guy lie shatter, emotional the Jack stuff, powerful that we didn’t see Dean actually getting possessed and Cas seeing it but only Cas being fraught about it, just there, kind of like the narrative was telling us, what do you even expect Cas’ face while losing Dean to Michael to look like? Now, this post is long enough and I’ll need a rewatch and some health points more to analyze the details, but I am sure that I’m going to enjoy analyzing them.

- And what now?

Oh, I expect a lot of fanworks of Charlie and Rowena during the hiatus. It’s probably already started...

Alright, more coherent and hopefully meaningful thoughts coming shortly (...maybe) to your screens ^-^

#my spn thoughts #spn spoilers #spn 13x23 #spn meta #spn

[pinktatertots99]

lightning round - nanbaka fic

thanks to a certain SOMEBODY *you know who you are* I ended up getting like...two...three fic ideas for this so...lets get with it.

also uh, alternate universe where zakuro and ikkaku ended up staying at nanba and being transferred there. also redemption arc.

(also I initially have this as an ikkaku x uno story but it can be seen as some in character analogy or just some platonic fic about them. idk whatever you do boo. lol i'll make something actually shippy with em maybe sometimes.)

synops: with jyugo taking zakuro under his wing it was only fair uno try to help the younger's electrifying partner in crime. how well that'll go well...he had his ways. even with the most seemingly impossible of tasks, uno was the most impossible to stop.

"so you hold it like this..."

"yeah."

"and shoot the ball with it?"

"basically."

zakuro then pushed the stick towards one of the pool balls, hitting it along with multiple others. his eyes widened. "it worked!"

jyugo nodded as he turned to look at him. "I got so much to learn from you."

uno snickered to himself as he watched the two. it was nice seeing jyugo actually try to be some form of help for the younger, especially on his first trip here to the game room. speaking of first trips, he turned to the wall near the entrance, still seeing the familiar inmate that walked with zakuro earlier.

apparently he was apart of some fight at building four from his knowledge, and things were...well, zakuro had a better outcome then him. things didn't go so well at building four and thus his first meeting here was...very intense. especially with musashi.

he may not've known much, but be damned it was the gambler's call to curiosity to figure it out. after all he couldn't read much with him curled in a ball away from the crowd.

"don't." he heard as he was stopped from his pursuit with a warm hand, looking to see musashi 'staring' in his direction. "eh? what?"

"I know what your doing and trust me, you don't want to do this."

shaking his hand out of the other's grip he shrugged. "I have no idea what your talking about."

"i can't see it but i sure know it's exactly what your gonna do when you first met me."

he quirked a brow. "is that so bad?"

"maybe not for someone else but-"

"then relaaaax mushu. we got like, four supervisors and an army of guards outside." as he turned away he felt musashi's hand on his shoulder, grip telling him he was serious.

"don't you have any idea what that guy did?"

uno paused, looking back at the other. "...i get it, really. i do. but trust me, I just wanna get some insight on this guy. can't get much with him sitting in a ball for an hour. consider it, a weakness I have involving this sorta thing."

musashi's grip loosened a bit. "that's gonna kill you you know."

uno smirked. "heh, you have no idea how many times I get told that. i'll be safe." with that he walked off into the lightning ball's direction. he stood infront of him, ikkaku's head rising up to glare at him.

"haven't seen you around this place." uno started, leaning down a bit and offering a hand. "uno. and yours?"

ikkaku continued to glare at him before a hand slowly reached his and gripped it...suddenly uno felt a jolt of electricity course through his body for a few seconds before it stopped. staggering a bit in shock it took the blonde a few minutes to get back to his train of thought as he looked at the other, who was now wearing an unpleasing smirk.

this guy was looking like a definite challenge to uno…then again, that was what the gambler gambled for; a challenge. shaking his head a bit he took a seat near the larger inmate, already playing an almost deathly game with fate.

ikkaku growled as he did, small bolts of lightning crossing around his body in little streaks as if using it as a shield. "take it your not much of a games kinda guy huh?" uno interrogated. ikkaku curled into a tighter ball grumbling. the two sat there with everyone's distant conversation muffled out like elevator music.

"well, we can do other things here too." uno convinced. "not drinking but things like talk..." he trailed off. "...yeah nevermind that I guess." as they sat there the blonde noticed a sudden staticky feel to his hair. pulling out a brush he started grooming his braid, only for the little hairs to pop right back up with every stroke.

"the hell?" he mumbled. ikka rolled his eyes at him, shifting a bit away from the other. the hairs slowly lowered a bit, gaining the gambler's quick eye.

"the static running through me is what's causing your stupid hair to act up." ikkaku stated. "mostly a natural thing. like firebreath over there and his warm body temperature."

"...ohhhh!" uno exclaimed as his eyes widened. curiously he took the end of his braid, putting it to the other. instantly it flared up. moving it away it slowly moved back down again. he did this a few times, amused while ikkaku was less than such.

"so this makes it staticky huh? guess that explains why your hair's so wild."

"hah?"

uno looked at him. "your hair's a mess. there's no sugarcoating it it's a mess. seriously, when was the last time you brushed a brush through it huh?"

the other was taken aback a bit. "wh- WHY YOU-"

"AND your nails I mean-" he replied, taking a hold of ikkaku's hand. "WHAT in the world are you THINKING man?! this is AWFUL. your giving that nail lady in America a run for her money. and I swear if your toenails are the same..."

instinctively ikkaku hid his feet under his pant sleeves. without hesitation uno flipped his pant sleeves up to see them. "OH MY GOD! SERIOUSLY?! I HOPE THE HANGNAILS YOU HAVE AREN'T PAINFUL I MEAN GEEZ! don't you know anything on taking care of yourself?!"

suddenly ikkaku backed off from him a bit. "WHY THE FUCK DO YOU CARE?!"

"because! if there's anything that bugs me is a lack of hygiene-"

"I MEAN IN GENERAL!"

uno looked up at him confused. "I dunno if you know this, but not many people here want me here! I've broken in, beaten up a guard, nearly killed your friend, and your here trying to ... whatever the fuck your doing! just...what the hell is your point behind this?!"

there was silence between the two before uno smirked at him. "...I guess..." he started, ikkaku watching him piercingly. "...just seeing you sitting alone here, I kinda wanted to..."

after a moment of silence he started again. "i gotta knick for making bonds with people. i can analyze them like an open book and, if i find one that wants to change then, i wanna seek it out."

"change?"

"you had the option to stay in your cell and not come, knowing everyone probably hated you, and yet you came."

ikkaku scoffed. "I was forced to. damn supervisor wanted me t' get out. I had no choice."

"yeah but you had other options to go to." uno pointed out. "and yet you came here, with a bunch of people. could've gone ANYWHERE else y'know."

"tch. the guard was taking zak here. pointless to make two trips."

"could've had another guard take you. yet you went along with coming here."

ikkaku grew quiet then. uno smiled, knowing he played this game right. sitting silently for a while though he couldn't help but fidget a bit. the talkative side of him wanting to converse but had nothing on him, or to break the ice further. a light bulb went off in his head however and he quickly took out a pack of cards from his pant pocket, laying them out.

"you ever play solitaire?" he asked. ikka raised a brow. "seen it played online before."

"well then here's your first time playing offline."

he looked confused at him. "seriously?"

"hey I need to chat and it's awkward if we don't do something while I do." he stated, laying out the cards. "besides I love a good match~."

ikkaku looked at him but sighed, situating himself as uno laid out his five cards.

....

"what is he doing?"

"is he mad or something?"

"figures that braid's too tight on his damn head."

jyugo seemed to have been the only one in the group of others who wasn't worried in the slightest. infact he was smiling at it. zakuro arched a brow at him. "is he really this crazy?" he asked him

jyugo hummed before responding with a chuckle. "yeah kinda. but it's also uno just being uno."

#nanbaka #ikkaku x uno #uno x ikkaku #lightning gambler #fanfiction #i made this #the pink one speaks