#their Quirks are Compatible it’s Adorable and Badass

[gemstarstarlight]

What are your thoughts on Bakugo from BNHA?

I’m glad you asked! 😊😂

I will say that I got about halfway through season five of Boku no Hero Academia before dropping it, not because it was particularly bad, but simply because my hyper fixation was mostly done.

But man, Bakugo is such an interesting character to me. At first, like many people, I didn’t like him, because he was a really mean awful person who was only obsessed with becoming the top hero. But the more the show goes on, the more you get to see the worldview that he lives in that lets him think his actions are justified, how that worldview had been supported because of how he was raised and how the people at his middle school school treated him, and then the slow breaking of that worldview once he started attending UA.

That is the most interesting part - it’s not just Midoriya that becomes better than him. He has a (one-sided) rivalry with Todoroki and often has setbacks because he can’t work with a team or learn how to people well. He’s put in situations where he cannot save himself and is forced to depend on other people, whether he wants to or not. And he’s forced to deal with the repercussions of his actions, even if some of those actions (such as All Might’s retirement) were not really his fault.

We see Bakugo as a character, and then we see that character break down. On a fundamental level, everything Bakugo believes about the world is turned upside down and viciously denied to him until he is unable to refute the truth: he’s not the best in the world, his actions have consequences, and he cannot do this whole hero thing by himself.

And then…he changes.

Not fundamentally, he doesn’t turn into an entirely different person. I have no doubt that Bakugo will always be abrasive, brash, rude, and generally not an easy person to get along with. But, now he knows. He is continuing to make choices that revolve around repairing relationships and learning to work with people better. He still has the same goals and hopes, but he is adjusting to a world that doesn’t revolve around him. He is growing. Not turning into someone else entirely, but growing into a mature version of the explosive hero he was always meant to be.

In addition to Bakugo’s character being interesting, I love how it is so clearly influenced by people who hold him accountable, but still care about him. Bakugo had neither of those things when he was in middle school. He was just allowed to wreak havoc, and was surrounded by followers, but not people who cared about him. He had no friends, no mentors. No wonder he thought he was the center of the universe, nobody attempted to enter his.

And then he came to UA. In addition to having teachers that would not tolerate his serious antics and dealing with a harsh dose of consequences, Bakugo made a friend in Kirishima. A real friend, one who clearly cared about him and tried to see the best in him. I’m sure it was written on purpose that Bakugo’s first friend had a hardening quirk that could face explosions easily, and a personality that was relentlessly positive in the face of Bakugo’s intense need to shove other people away. Kirishima dragged him to social events, called him out on his bad behavior, and yet was still a supporter and teammate who genuinely liked him and wanted to be his friend. And this isn’t a rescuer relationship: Kirishima draws on Bakugo as inspiration when he struggles with his own insecurities. And, of course, Kamino needs no mentioning. The commitment and love Kirishima shows to Bakugo is commendable and amazing to watch. And it is essential to Bakugo’s healing.

I truly believe that Bakugo would not be able to change and become a better person if he hadn’t had someone who unconditionally loved him, and yet still drew boundaries and called him out on bad behavior when necessary. That, along with a community of teachers and mentors, who finally use their authority to tame his wild behavior while trying to understand him and support his good points, is what triggers the changes in Bakugo.

And I think that is a necessary thing for everyone regardless of if you have a “difficult“ personality or not. People that will unconditionally love you and accept you, but will call you out if your behavior crosses a line. That is how people grow, and that is why I love Bakugo as a character. 

#bakugo katuski #asks #I also love that he’s almost certainly aroace/demi #it will never be confirmed in the show but the fact that he has no reaction of any kind to anyone #while many of the other characters have very strong reactions to people they consider attractive #Just makes me think that he’s certainly on the ace spectrum somewhere #Also can you tell that I ship KiriBaku? Because yes I am also obsessed with our spiky shirtless hard boi #Friends to lovers where they both learn to be better humans because of each other and they are each other’s foils and growth points #is one of my favorite dynamics #also it’s definitely sunshine himbo x grumpy smartass and I love that for them #as a QPR or as a romance #im obsessed with kiribaku and I’ll support it till the end #their Quirks are Compatible it’s Adorable and Badass #bnha bakugo katsuki

[slightly-nerdy-rambles]

TTA Oneshot: Spiraling

01/12/20 Edit: Added a couple lines to help clarify things

This story follows "Starlit Flight" from this year's Robstar Week (that's 2019 for those of you reading this in the future). You don't have to read it to understand this one, but for those who have, when I was writing it I was kind of struck with the thought of "What would the other Titans think if they saw this going on out the window?" and found the resulting mental image hilarious. Then I remembered that death spirals are a thing (don't worry if you don't know what those are, it's explained in the story), and so of course I had to write about that because I am a giant animal nerd. Timeline-wise, this takes place not too long after Trouble in Tokyo, and maybe a week or two after "Starlit Flight."

On the "animal nerd" note, this story also serves to indulge a headcanon I have wherein Beast Boy actually knows a lot about animals, having studied them both to better use his animal forms and out of personal interest. His knowledge is somewhat touched on in the previous oneshot, but it doesn't come up often because he's usually too busy messing around or coming up with wild ideas for things to really bring it up.

(This oneshot is crossposted on fanfiction.net, as part of the Moments series)

Spiraling

It was an ordinary enough night in Titan’s Tower. Cyborg and Beast Boy had settled in for a long – and noisy – Smash Bots gaming marathon. Raven had settled in with a steaming mug of tea and an old grimoire she was studying, and years of practice allowed her to drown the boys out as she worked. Silkie had curled up against her at some point, and as Raven flipped pages and took notes, she would occasionally reach down to give him an absent stroke on the head.

For a while, that odd disjointed rhythm – the flashing lights on the screen, the mechanical grunts of virtual robots beating the snot out of each other and shouts of their players exchanging smack talk, the sedate scent of herbs and lavender – filled the common room.

Then Robin and Starfire fell past the window.

Cyborg cut himself off mid-sentence with a panicked yell. He practically threw his controller to the ground and ran up to the big bayside window, Beast Boy following close behind. Their commotion snapped an otherwise-occupied Raven to attention.

“What is it?” she asked, making her way to the boys with long strides.

Beast Boy peeled his eyes away from the window for just a second to glance at her. “Raven!” he shrieked. “Quick, you gotta phase through the window and… Oh, wait, never mind.”

He watched as Starfire shot back up past them, her hands tightly grasping those of the team leader.

Cyborg scratched his head. “Shoulda known Star had it under control. What were those two doing anyway?”

The three of them watched as their teammates… continued flying. Starfire pulled Robin along in arcs and twists, going so high that it was hard for the others to see them through the angle of the window.

One more arc and they were suddenly in another freefall, but this time the others realized it was intentional. Starfire drifted back a foot or so, grasped her partner’s hands, and gently pulled them into a slow spiral. They rushed past the window again, and the faint sound of laughter just managed to drift through.

Beast Boy’s face lit up, and he cackled. “I can’t believe it! They’re doing a death spiral!”

That grabbed his friends’ attention, and they turned to him. “A… death spiral?” Cyborg asked skeptically.

Beast Boy was grinning like an idiot now, and he backed away from the window to address the other two. “Trust me, it is every bit as adorable as it is badass. See, when eagles are courting, they kind of…” he clasped his hands together to demonstrate, “lock talons and go into this spinning freefall. I think it’s for like testing their compatibility or something? But anyway, that is totally what Robin and Star are doing right now! I mean, just look at them and tell me that isn’t a couple thing!”

Cyborg frowned thoughtfully and glanced back out the window, just in time to see his teammates fly back up. “…Huh. I guess Robin really is a birdbrain.”

Raven shook her head. “Interspecies relationships are weird.”

Beast Boy let out a longing sigh and rested his hands against the window, watching the couple as they continued their nighttime dance. “Man, I wish I had a cool flying girlfriend.”

Silence. He looked back at Cyborg and Raven to find them staring at him.

“…B, you can fly.”

Beast Boy rolled his eyes. “Well, yeah, by turning into a bird or something. Which isn’t exactly romantic unless I somehow find another shapeshifter to date.” He considered that line of thought for a moment.

“…Although that would make it even more of a death spiral.”

Raven just shook her head again, though she glanced back at the window with the tiniest hint of a smile on her lips. “I’m going back to studying,” she said, turning back toward the couch.

Cyborg lingered a little bit longer, looking out as well. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "A courting ritual, huh?" he said to himself before letting out an I'm so teasing Robin for this chuckle and returning to the couch as well.

Outside, the couple of the hour were drifting past again. Starfire happened to catch Beast Boy looking her way, and he could swear he heard a soft “Eep!” as she froze in place for a moment before disappearing with her partner.

A little smile quirked at the side of his mouth. Well, he still thought it was cute.

********

On Tamaran, they called it bak’nor. A partnered flight, in which said partners wove around each other and followed one another through arcs and dips and dives as they saw fit. It was reserved for lovers, who buoyed themselves and each other with the warmth of their bond and transformed the joy of flight into an intimately shared experience.

For many, bak’nor was how they announced to their neighbors an intent to marry.

It was a little different for the two of them, of course. Humans, at least in this part of the world, held a more drawn-out courting process than on Tamaran. Partnered flight suited this “dating” stage well, as it turned out. The dance itself also had to be modified, since only one of them could actually fly.

That was all right. Exposing each other to new experiences, and tweaking them as needed, had always been a rather exciting quirk of their relationship.

In any case, Starfire and Robin were laughing as they descended the Tower’s stairwell.

“I did not even realize we were flying that low,” the former admitted, swallowing her mirth. “I cannot imagine what they must have thought we were doing!”

Robin shot her a grin and a playful jab in the side. “Considering how you reacted? I’m not sure I’d want to know.”

A light blush made its way to Starfire’s face. “I panicked! It caught me by surprise, that is all.”

She cast him a pleading look with that, as if begging him to forgive her for the abrupt end of the flight, but it dissolved as they both descended into giggles again. There was no room for regrets in bak’nor.

By the time they reached the common room, they had managed to regain their composure. Raven seemed to be studying a book of some sort, but she spared them a glance in silent greeting. Cyborg and Beast Boy, just finishing a round of Smash Bots, turned as they approached.

Beast Boy grinned and pillowed his head on his hands. “Sooo, how was your flight?”

Starfire kept her smile even. “Very pleasant, thank you.”

Cyborg smirked and waggled his eyebrows. “And should we start planning the weddin’ now, or…?”

There was a beat as Beast Boy snorted out a peal of laughter. Now, not so long ago (and likely even now, under different circumstances), that comment would have earned a solid round of furious blushing, stammering, and unnecessary denial from Robin.

So the two boys were a little confused when all he had to offer was a light blush. He took his girlfriend’s hand and muttered “Told you,” to her before leading her off to the kitchen to continue their conversation.

Robin and Starfire were even more confused when Beast Boy turned back to Cyborg and said, “See? Totally a death spiral.”

#Teen Titans #Robin #Starfire #robstar #Beast Boy #Raven #Cyborg #writing #fanfiction #Moments series

[vincent-marie]

A Look Back on TREASURE PLANET

So recently I rewatched TREASURE PLANET for the first time in about fifteen years and… I'm not gonna lie, it's still my personal favorite of the 2D Disney animated features from the early to mid-2000s.

Let's be real. Of the 2D features Disney released around that time period, TREASURE PLANET is one of the more solid films. ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE had some interesting ideas and some really nice design work and animation, but it really needed to be at least two hours long if it wanted to flesh out the characters and the world-building without requiring supplementary material (like a special edition of Disney Adventure magazine). Hardly anybody remembers BROTHER BEAR was even a thing, and the less said about HOME ON THE RANGE, the better. (Seriously, that movie wasn't even worth the Steve Buscemi cameo.)

The only other film of that era that has really held up was LILO AND STITCH, and I'll admit it's probably a better film than TREASURE PLANET. It took more risks in terms of character, setting and originality, and emotionally it leaves more of an impact. (That scene when Nani sings to Lilo makes me cry like a baby every time.) My only problem with it is it always felt like two entirely different movies collided with each other and it never felt like they really meshed well. Otherwise, I agree with most fans that it’s a good film.

Also, of course, there was the excellent THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE, which was just such a huge departure from Disney’s normal schtick and trying something more Tex Avery-esque, only for it to be a perfect storm instead of a total crash and burn. That is much to be proud of.

Going back to TREASURE PLANET, I can understand that most folks walk away saying it’s an "okay" film. I, however, am not one of those people. I've had a real soft spot for this movie ever since I saw it, but now I appreciate this film for additional reasons.

Namely, the animation and effects work. Holy crap, is this movie gorgeous! It's like watching Don Bluth's ANASTASIA, except I don't have to feel guilty about historical inaccuracies. (Now it’s just scientific inaccuracies, but STAR WARS gets away with that all the time.)

Directors John Musker and Ron Clements had apparently wanted to do a sci-fi retelling of "Treasure Island" since before they started working on THE LITTLE MERMAID. With that in mind I do feel like this movie would have fared better with critics back in the early 90s during the Disney Renaissance. However at that time they would not have had such elaborate and detailed CG effects within arm's reach. There's something I really enjoy about the use of 3D backdrops so that they may do sweeping camera movements, and that's not even getting into the lighting effects to establish atmosphere.

What's more, there are a lot of subtleties to the character animation that I never appreciated until now. You could just pick one character and focus on him or her during the whole movie and find a lot of fun little quirks in their dialogue or walk cycles.

Admittedly, much of this film’s appeal probably depends on how much of an animation fan you are. In my case I was watching John Silver’s animation and I suspected that Glen Keane was probably in charge of animating him (as there are moments when Silver looks so much like Ratigan). Those suspicions were confirmed during the end credits and I was delightfully geeking out about it.

It’s also easy to see where this film might not have had a lot of mass appeal. Most of the focus on the story is on Jim Hawkins and his daddy issues, which by the early 2000s was already a cliche of a character arc. And it’s not helped by the fact that Jim himself is... well, kind of on the bland side as a protagonist. There’s not a lot about him that makes him any more or less interesting than any other teenage male lead. But for what it is I think the movie did fine at establishing and building the relationship between Jim and Silver, which does have its warm and comforting moments. For both of them.

And at least the film is straightforward with its plot and characters and it’s not a structural mess like HERCULES, a previous venture by Musker and Clements.

Something I’ve noticed over the years is that TREASURE PLANET has a little bit of a cult following. I distinctly remember this one time when I was taking a storyboard class in college; we were assigned to do a “Master Study” assignment by recreating the key story frames in our favorite scene in a favorite animated movie. One of my classmates picked the scene when Jim is brought home to the inn by the police and embarrasses his mother. I recall being so impressed, and even a little envious, that she got the character design style down to a T. (If you’re wondering what movie/scene I picked for my Master Study, I picked the Big Ben scene from THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE.)

Then, of course, some friends and I suspect that TREASURE PLANET might have fared better if it had been released a bit later, more towards the height of the Steampunk craze. It’s not quite what I would call “Steampunk”, as it takes place in a sort of alternate universe version of the 18th century and not the Gothic era, and most of their transport is solar-powered and not steam-based. Nevertheless it’s easy to see how fans of Steampunk could find it appealing, with its mostly earth-tone color pallet to evoke the painted illustrations of the classic novel it was based on. Also that combination of a pre-20th century aesthetic with out-of-this-world science fiction elements is pretty much, in my opinion, what makes Steampunk so much fun to play around with. Also, a robot made out of copper. End of story.

In terms of why this film didn’t do so well when it was released, I suspect what stunted its success was the marketing. I could be wrong, as I was actually living in Honduras at the time of the film’s release, but we got some TV stations from Denver, Colorado. I remember a lot of the TV spots spent most of their time highlighting the goofy comic relief moments with Morph, and there was a real emphasis on the presence of B.E.N., even though he's in less than one-third of the movie. In other words, the film's success might have been partially sabotaged by a marketing team that seemed to think if you don’t take your film seriously at all that will somehow draw in the crowd.

Although speaking of the comic relief characters, I actually don’t mind them that much. I always thought Morph had a lot of cute, funny moments that weren’t too obnoxious. As for B.E.N., I kind of have mixed feelings for him. On one hand, the directing team made better use of Martin Short’s improvisational skills than PEBBLE AND THE PENGUIN or WE’RE BACK! ever did. But on the other hand, does B.E.N. have to be so loud and shouty? However, while B.E.N. is a real screw-up, he’s not so much to the point where I want to see him get smashed with a sledgehammer. He’s generally likable, not at all loathsome, and just annoying enough, but not TOO annoying.

However while we’re still on the subject of B.E.N., I’d just like to add that the CG animation on him is really nice. Making him 3D gives him a sort of sense of solidity compared to his hand-drawn humanoid compadres, and to top it off his animation isn’t at all stiff or feels like the CG is holding him back. There is some really expressive squashing and stretching going on with his dialogue. It’s so subtle in places that you’d probably miss it if you’re not looking for it. A lot of CG animation studios at the time like Pixar and Dreamworks had not quite mastered squashing and stretching themselves, so kudos to Disney for pulling it off so well.

Now if I may indulge a little on why I remember this film fondly, my favorite characters were always Dr. Doppler and Captain Amelia. They are both fun and engaging on their own, but together they are weirdly adorable. Granted, I've always thought them getting together at the end was a bit rushed, but I still totally buy it.

(What I don't buy is that they'd be so eager to have kids after Doppler showed such annoyance and revulsion towards that toddler alien girl at the beginning. I get that the creators wanted some visual shorthand to indicate that they're an official couple, but they could have just been wearing wedding rings or throw in a little more of them dancing together.)

Part of the reason I love these characters on their own is the casting. I was already familiar with Emma Thompson from Ang Lee's adaptation of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, and her character of Eleanor Dashwood was very quiet and reserved. You can imagine my disbelief and delight hearing her play an assertive, witty badass as Amelia. (As if I didn't already think Amelia’s design was cool.)

As for David Hyde Pierce, I had only occasionally watched FRASIER growing up, but when I saw this movie I was familiar with him through some other memorable voice acting roles, particularly that excellent Season 8 episode of THE SIMPSONS, “Brother From Another Series.” In other words, I already knew him to be funny, snarky and charismatic.

While I'm on about the casting, I feel like there's a totally wasted opportunity to have these two characters in a room together, say, before the black hole scene, exchanging witty banter to show how compatible they are in a casual setting. It’s a shame that Emma and David didn’t record their dialogue together, because with her being an accomplished writer and with his skills at improvisation, there could have been some good verbal combat by way of “Much Ado About Nothing-Meets-Frasier.”

But looking back, I remember I immediately loved Captain Amelia just on principal. As a kid I never really gravitated that much to any of the Disney princesses. I can’t really describe why, but it was mostly how they were marketed as just looking pretty and (arguably) kind of passive in their own stories. Not to mention how when Disney Princess became a brand, they really amped up the girly cutesy-ness to their preexisting images. Not to say there’s anything inherently wrong with cute or feminine things, but it really made me feel like a weirdo who somehow wasn’t fit to be called a girl.

Captain Amelia, on the other hand, had her own style of femininity by wearing a classy, more masculine captain’s uniform along with thigh-high high-heeled boots (that she has no problem running in). She had a no-nonsense attitude, she was focused and cool-headed in a stressful situation, she was downright snarky and took crap from no one. In other words, she was the type of woman I wanted to be when I grew up, and to this day she is my favorite Disney Lady, bar none.

And while I’m at it, I’m just going to add that I’ve always found Dr. Doppler more attractive than your standard Disney prince. Besides his character design looking like a canine version of Roger from 101 DALMATIONS, he just always seemed like he’d be fun to get a coffee with.

Well, that’s about all I really want to talk about regarding TREASURE PLANET. It’s a shame it’s not remembered by more people as it does have some really good elements to it, but in some regards I can kind of see why it wasn’t a huge critical success. If you haven’t seen it already I recommend checking it out as it’s a pretty solid standalone film that doesn’t need supplementary material and covers all the bases with the plot and some fun character moments here and there. If you’re an animation fan I cannot stress enough how you really need to watch it, or even rewatch it, because, again, the animation and effects work is just a real feast for the eyes.

#treasure planet #disney #animation #review #captain amelia #dr. doppler