#we're just gonna have some shenanigan arcs now

[bonefall]

How are we feeling at the book finale? Because outside of the Sunbeam girlboss moment telling Berryheart just how bad of a family she was AND maybe possibly foreshadowing her rejecting Nightheart, I think we miiiight get some more Dark Forest cats than planned before :D (also I may be wrong but- didn't Podlight have children? Would he even be eligible as Medicine Cat in BB?)

Podlight's totally eligible in BB! He has no canon children and I didn't give him any. In BB there's also an interesting quirk in that Podlight is notoriously Mistystar's... not EXACTLY a good-for-nothing grandson, but a bit of a "fratboy" working through daddy issues. Is is extra funny for this cat to be a villain lmao.

Also: Better Bones RiverClan Family Tree

Anyway... my thoughts on the spoiler thread's ending. Mostly negative, unfortunately. I am really hoping that a lot of this is misrepresentation.

I've enjoyed every book of ASC that's come out so far, but if this thread is accurate, this is going to be the first one that I actively dislike. It sounds like there was a serious nosedive in quality.

ON THE ENDING; Park Cats, and The Berryheart Gathering.

Park Cats.

It is profoundly frustrating to me that we had TWO traveling books in this arc. Do they not know by now that traveling books are widely detested for a reason??

Frostpaw and Nightheart were AWAY FROM THE CONFLICT for most of this book, what the fuck?

The plot barely advanced at all. There's been one major conflict in this entire arc, the invasion of RiverClan, and we are 4/6ths of the way through without any other major battles. This is boring.

Riverstar is a major character through this bullshit, now with a magical perfect connection to Frostpaw through plot convenience so he can give her tutorial tips, because GOD FORBID we have a more grounded story for once. I'm so sick of DOTC fanservice. Was a super edition not enough?!

And speaking of Riverstar's Home, they pretty clearly ripped a lot of inspiration out of it. Frostpaw and Nightheart go on a journey with random human-related shenanigans before finding a cardboard cutout of a culture

I'm not gonna lie guys. I do not like the Park Cats. I HAVE TO SAY; It's a step in the right direction

They are not demonized. They are treated as good and legitimate. They are seen as having wisdom and living peacefully.

This is Good. This is Fine.

(im still kind of mad they needed riverstar to come save them back in riverstar's home, like every non-clan culture does apparently, but HOKAY fine ok it's fine)

.....butt.

They're boring. guys, they have one thing that is unique to them, and it's meditation. They live in perfect peace and harmony. there's nothing there.

It's easy to be a perfect, peaceful society if you have no conflict ever.

IF THE SPOILER THREAD IS ACCURATE, we don't see them address strife, how they DO handle disputes, what DOES happen when a cat engages in "criminality," or even really see what their spiritual beliefs are besides "meditating"

And that's why the idea of Frostpaw taking away a good lesson from living with them strikes me as so hollow. WHAT is she taking from them? JUST vague, quiet meditation?? Why couldn't Riverstar just magically teach her that?

It also bothers me that this culture is exactly the same as it was in Riverstar's Home. It's in stasis. Nothing has changed, nothing has grown, they haven't picked up new customs. They don't even seem to have their own history besides remembering that Riverstar showed up generations ago.

It's not a culture, it's a plot device.

I swear, I'm really trying to like them, but RH left this really sour taste in my mouth and them showing up again in this book has only made me more frustrated.

I AM happy that we're going to maybe start trying to address the violence of Clan Culture, but it is coming in the middle of a book where nothing fucking happens, and they're starting to fumble the bag on the xenophobic radicalization that I'd been praising in the past few books

And by that, I'm referring to...

Berryheart's Gathering

through the books so far, I've been praising the slow rise of tension coming from the radicalized members of ShadowClan.

I think the way that Berryheart and her little Concern Club had been slowly escalating in their bigotry and violence was (and remains) unironically fantastic.

We had started off with it just being a group to "discuss the issues," which evolved into active bullying and harassment, progressed into attempted murder, and we left off on the idea that Berryheart's Hate Group was planning something with RiverClan's murder party.

And we are reaching a turning point in that arc, the payoff of a long and well-laid escalation, with...

normal democracy.

berryheart and her supporters approach puddleshine reasonably with their concerns and intent to call for a vote to depose tigerheartstar. doing the thing the fucking code addition was made for

This comes AFTER Sunbeam has a Girlboss Moment telling off Berryheart for being a bad mom in front of the whole gathering and everyone claps, mind you, so this is clearly supposed to be the narrative's big "oooo consequences for Berryheart" moment

So anyway Berryheart brings up that they want tigerHeartstar deposed, and then Puddleshine's like "haHA THIS WAS A ROUSE"

"Actually I only told you i agree to point out how this code addition can be exploited over a disagreement with ONE issue!!!!1"

i just...

im......

would Brokenstar training babies be One Issue? Would Bramblefake being a bully to his entire clan be One Issue? Would Leopardstar allowing Tigerstar to take over RiverClan be One Issue?

One Issue....

And MIND YOU I'm Pro-tigerHeartstar, actually, but the WHOLE fucking point of the rule is that you can depose someone who is not acting in the best interest of the Clans. Fym ONE ISSUE??

IT'S A BIG ASS ISSUE!

So anyway Berryheart is embarrassed in front of everyone, tigerHeartstar tells the group, "You're going to support me or get out of my Clan"

All of her supporters fall in line, but Berryheart chooses exile.

So Berryheart and her group isn't punished for the hate crimes, it didn't lead to anyone getting actually hurt, this faction of cats just settled back down and Berryheart alone was exiled for political opposition to occupation.

not the hate crimes

GOTTA STRESS

The hate crimes did not cause lasting damage, the radicalized group did not cause any violence at this gathering

Berryheart is exiled for political opposition to occupation.

The consequence she faces for the hate crimes was simply not having her son Spireclaw back her up because she caused trouble for Fringewhisker. Like it's on the same level as being a bad in-law and not ATTEMPTED MURDER BASED ON BIGOTRY

And tigerHeartstar, jesus christ

His consistent trait has been becoming unreasonable WHEN HIS FAMILY IS THREATENED. WHY are we tossing this out the window now?

I REALLY REALLY hope that the spoiler thread is misrepresentation, and tigerHeartstar didn't ACTUALLY exile her but said something like, "this is what we're doing. don't like it, leave. you don't have the votes"

SO FOR NOW; I'm going to reserve judgement on what the writers are doing with tigerHeartstar.

This seems like the exact sort of thing that may be worded in an inaccurate way

But that said,

I'm beside myself with disappointment in this turn of events. Why is this about legitimate political proceedings? Why did they make the CULMINATION of this arc about bigoted violence and radicalization a legitimate, peaceful attempt to use the process THEY JUST ADDED, FOR THIS EXACT PURPOSE?

Anyway, then it ends on a cliffhanger

Podlight claims to be the new medcat, pointed out as just being a political maneuver, to appoint Splashtail as the new leader.

Frostpaw watches on in shock and thinks about how bad it is that a murderer is now in charge of RiverClan, and how no one would believe her if she told them all now

I sure hope the next book contains something worth reading. like a fight or something. in the battle cat series. in the arc where theyre trying to say something about violence.

#ASC Spoilers #Thunder Spoilers #there was also sunbeam stuff. she was the highlight of this book just. btw #her stuff is good but it's not the main conflict #and I think the plot is a lot more important #ugh #disappointing. #I'll fix it. but still

[evankinard]

okay I promised my full deranged buddie s7 spec so walk with me here

imagine we start the season, its a couple weeks/months after the bridge collapse, and bobby and athena have just left for their cruise. cut to buck and eddie and buck seems kind of sad/dejected for some reason but no one knows why and eddie is riding the high of starting dating again and taking his shot with marisol. then chris drops the bombshell that he's dating on eddie and asking him for advice and eddie starts panicking because what the hell does he know about women he very spectacularly ran off the last two and the night's still young with marisol. so he goes to buck, because its chris and buck always has the answers with chris and anyway buck may suck at keeping a girlfriend but he's good at the dating part and he has natalia now and he seems so sure about her so clearly he's doing something right. and buck says yes, of course he's gonna say yes, it's chris, but while chris is asking all these questions about love, and dating, and how do you know when you really like someone and what do you do when you like someone like that, buck is answering them but the weird kicked puppy air keeps clinging to him and he sounds wistful if nothing else. and toward the end of the episode, he admits to eddie that him and natalia broke up. he dodges the question of why no matter how anyone asks throughout the rest of the season.

the rest of the cruise ship arc goes by and then its ep 100 and HOWEVER it happens (maybe its tommy, maybe its anything else I actually have no spec for this part) buck starts questioning his sexuality or just plain going "why the fuck not clearly I'm doing something wrong with the way I've been going about dating maybe its the fact that they've all been women" and starts thinking about dating men. he talks to eddie about it and eddie starts feeling some type of way but tries to be supportive anyways (and then immediately goes to bobby and begs for a transfer which is why bobby tells him he can't tell him how to feel about the job. jk but i actually have no idea where that line fits into any of this or what its about so we're ignoring it). eddie and marisol are still doing perfectly fine and going on casual dates atp.

then ep 5 rolls around, which looks like a pretty shenanigans filled episode, so it could mostly have nothing to do with the rest of the plot or it could have some of that underlying tension festering between buck and eddie, especially with a name like "you don't know me"

now starting with episode 6 I'm not totally decided where this spec plot would go but it can go a couple different ways. if episode 6 is the bachelor party episode only and there's no actual wedding the tension could just keep building OR there's actually gonna be a Moment. maybe nothing happens or maybe they get drunk and wake up in the same bed but even if they do they immediately start freaking out or avoiding each other and not acknowledging it. either way, the wedding will happen. it will be chaotic and insane and beautiful and by the end of the night buck is standing in his sad little corner watching everyone when hen or maddie comes up to him and he will finally admit that the reason why natalia broke up with him was because she knew he's in love with eddie. maybe eddie's also looking back at him or maybe he's glowing, twirling marisol around on the dance floor.

ORRRRRRR

nothing actually happens between buck and eddie after buck comes out. eddie and marisol break up sometime before the wedding/bachelor party for seemingly unrelated reasons. the bachelor party and wedding go off with several hitches but none involving buck and eddie's relationship. and then the next morning they wake up in bed together à la chandler and monica getting together in Friends.

#are there several holes in every single aspect of this #yes but mind your own business #the entire purpose of this post is so that I have all of my delusions in writing either to clap or point and laugh at once the season start #911 spoilers #lmao #911 abc #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buddie #911 speculation #weewoo brainrot

[elbdot]

I'm just catching up with your Pokémon comics, and I was wondering if we're ever going to ever see El confront her dad in a future comic? Who of the Kalos gym leaders is her dad anyways? =0

Aaaahhh I know a lot of people would be eager to see a confrontation between El and her Dad, but tbh I don't have any plans for including this type of scenario in any of my scripts yet :'D I'm not sure where I'd place such an arc in my timeline or IF I want to bring it up at some point... but as of right now I don't have anything planned, sorry!

About his identity, El's Dad isn't actually working as a Gym Leader in Kalos, he's working in a neighboring region. El's mom is Kalosian and wanted to stay in her home-region, thus El grew up in Kalos while her Dad visited whenever he could. I was debating for a long time if I'd make Kabu from Galar fill out this role but to be honest I'd probably have more freedom and much less trouble if I came up with a unique character of my own, before I accidentally make any Kabu-fans mad :'DD

And again, I haven't decided yet if we're ever actually gonna see him in the comics. For now my head is just filled with the Gladion-Arc and slice-of-life shenanigans I DESPERATELY want to get back to once the current arc is completed

#MAN I will have so much on my plate to draw for this Arc once the dub is out oh my god JGFDGJGFHKJG #I will try to find and use some more MAGIC TRICKS to lessen work and make panel creation more efficient #els alolan adventures #mod #reply

[princess-of-the-corner]

Actually, since we're talking about Lila, where would she and Felix fit into To Bee a Bat?

OKAY SO LIKE

I have decided to rewrite Season 5 /in general/ but most of these changes are going to apply to To Bee a Bat and any other AU I make that's diverging in a way where we can keep the plot points of Season 5.

Felix's plots are going to make him a lot more sympathetic. First using that 'he didn't hand over the Miraculous in Strikeback, he lost them trying to kill Gabriel' thing. Then Emotion isn't genocide but another murder attempt. With actual development for him and Kagami where they don't just. Magically connect? In theory they're a decent idea but in Canon? Hot mess.

So Felix would more legitimately get a redemption arc and be with the Miracuclass. I think I mean that in full, since we're killing Gabriel. So he and Amelie move to Paris because she has custody of Adrien now and they don't want to take him away from his support group/Hero Team right now.

Which then lets him easily do the 'Class trip to Gotham' thing to be part of those shenanigans.

Lila is up in the air!

I think either way I'll still have her yoink the Butterfly somehow, but I'm also like. Toning her back because that's a child. She's not gonna be some big evil.

But it's unknown whether she's in the class or not, and if her lies have been exposed or not.(But even if she hasn't gotten caught, she no longer has as many people on her side because I 100% have Mari explain how she knows Lila is a liar and the behind the scenes drama to Alya instead of everyone having negative iq points).

I think some of this depends on if I want to have her as a threat and in what way? Is she going to be a background 'oh Lila's causing more Akumas back in Paris so Mari and Adrien have to disappear from their class trip sometimes' thing? Or is she going to be a more tangible threat like 'brings the Butterfly to Gotham and makes Akumas here'?

#to bee a bat

[howlingday]

Question: What 3 things do you really want changed from each volume

And what 3 things do you want to see in volume 10

And please share it with everyone you know have entertaining answers.

Ooh, that's a good set of questions. But three per volume seems a bit much for me, so I'll just do my big three for all volumes.

Starting off, and people are gonna get mad at me for saying this, but give us more Bee action from Volume 7. Specifically, during the election night. Seriously, you could have SHOWN us instead of telling us they're going out. Give us some episodes of Blake and Yang out at the club AND Jaune, Weiss, and Oscar going to the movies. Give us the shenanigans, the hijinks, ALL OF IT! If you really cared about this ship as much as you say you do, CRWBY, you need to prove it with more than just hand holdings and forehead touches. Give us CHEMISTRY! Not Yang throwing a fucking tantrum on Blake's behalf.

Khm... Sorry. BMBLB keeps getting me riled up with how bad it was.

Okay, next on the list, let's get some more JNR coping. Get them talking. Actually, let's get everyone interacting more. Pyrrha's death was felt by everyone, and it wasn't just her, but RWBY was cut down to just one person. Have them all talk to each other. Don't summarize it to just one post dinner conversation in Volume 6. I understand the plot is important, but let's actually take a breather. And swinging back around to BMBLB, let's have them talk about the fact they murdered the guy. Like, they looked him in the eyes as he died and we're supposed to expect they feel nothing from it? What the hell is that?!

Okay, one more and I can stop getting mad over things that already happened. How about we get an actual episode of Oscar, and not just him getting beaten up and tortured and forced along the way. It seems like he's just... there... not doing anything unless the plot calls for it. Have him make a joke about wanting to be a farmer, or something. Since Volume 5, it's just... He's basically that one girl from that David Cage game. The one about her having a ghost living inside of her? He exists for no other purpose than misery and to give Ruby someone to make out with by the end of the series.

Okay, Rosegarden is getting me riled up this time, but whatever.

Overall, though, despite my many gripes, I can take the series as it is. Could it have been better? Yes, it could, but there's no such thing as a perfect series. Even Avatar: The Last Airbender has some spots in it, but everyone agrees that it's the best show that was ever made.

Okay. Now for something better. What do I expect from Volume 10? Well, first and foremost, THAT IT'S NOT THE LAST VOLUME! Don't try to rush this out and Game of Thrones us, CRWBY! Give us an actually decent series finale WHEN IT'S READY! Just have Volume 10 be its own thing and then work on the finale later.

Second, let's get some shots of the family at home. Taiyang, Willow, the Belladonnas, the Arcs, all of them. I want to see some actual family moments and not just Yang giving Ruby a hug. Show us Nora and Ren and Oscar being bros with Jaune again, or at all. MAKE ME BELIEVE THEY'RE ALL HAPPY.

And last, and this is a big one, make sure Teams SSSSN and CFVY aren't a bunch of assholes. It's simple. It's efficient. It's bare. Fucking. MINIMUM. The novels left a bad taste in my mouth because the only decent person in them were Velvet and Yatsuhashi.

And yeah. That's what I've got. Until then, here's hoping both CRWBY and you all KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

#rwby #my thoughts #my answer #my answers #my critiques

[aroacehanzawa]

THANK YOU FOR RBING WITH YOUR THOUGHTS especially the last line.

i really do miss when bsd stayed in its own genre, and I KNOW before someone comes at me that sometimes you gotta do a little exploring, a little swaying. but not like this. i just dont enjoy the manga anymore because it's so far from what i fell in love with. and again before someone says oh then why are you reading it and complaining if it makes you so mad😤😤😡 IM NOT EVEN READING IT. I CHECK THE LEAKS AND I GO YEAH THIS IS STILL JUST FYODOR AND DAZAI NOT DYING. also because i care about the characters and i still want to see how the whole thing is resolved cuz guess what im not gonna just stop reading it after i invested 3 years of my life into it.

anyway yeah. as i said. whagever.

ME TOO.

The thing is that bsd has always been something more than just silly detectives vs port mafia shenanigans, but it managed keep this larger world contained in a way that made sense in the story. For example the book, which is practically a deus ex machina device, still had its place and function in the story - francis wanted it to bring back his daughter, and even the usage of the page to frame the agency was logical.

Even the more high tech stuff like the eyes of god surveillance system was well played - not only did we get a funny ace attorney moment of francis interrupting the courtroom and buying the software, it actually became plot relevant in the cannibalism arc to locate fyodor and early doa arc to find mushitarou. (and francis's death fakeout was actually good, because it wasn't overdone yet, plus we got a nice and fun redemption arc for him)

But then we're suddenly getting a bunch of new ability weapons like fukuchi's sword and prison realm one order and idk. what else have we had. Time manipulating cat lady who was practically used as an off-screen human ability weapon for dazai's convenience and then immediately killed off with no name no dialogue no character #feminism.

All this while it seems like asagiri completely forgot about the part where atsushi is somehow a beacon towards the book, but that isn't too surprising because it feels like asagiri has forgotten about the role and personality and agency of the characters in general. The thing that drew me into bsd in the first place was its sincere focus on the human experience, the way that each chapter and mini arc seemed to have something to say about the overarching themes of finding a reason to keep living and a place to belong. Now i feel like the last time we got to see any of this kind of commentary was with tachihara's arc, or briefly with sigma, but it still feels too shallow.

And like you said there's nothing wrong with a little exploring and a little swaying, in fact i think the whole premise of bsd is that it allows for so much exploration, but to me it feels like the potential that bsd held in the beginning is just not being met anymore. Or rather we're just not heading in the direction we could've been going in.

Atsushi and his implied connection to the book like i mentioned earlier. The order of the clock tower that has been teased since agatha's introduction and some sporadic mentions/implications of its existence since then. Dazai and fyodor's unknown first meeting (this is why i also don't like them killing off fyodor just like that because we still don't know anything about him BUT the way we've ended up in this inexhaustible loop of dazai wins fyodor wins dazai wins fyodor wins i also don't see any way out of it unless one or both of them die so. asagiri just look at what you've done)

idek what i'm trying to say here i'm just really frustrated because i've invested so much of my time in following bsd and it's like as a reader i'm not even getting anything out of it.

anywya read orv for good plot and characters and worldbuilding and literally perfect storytelling and respect for the reader

#bsd

[pastafossa]

hey pasta! I don’t know if someone has asked this already but is TRT gonna go into Born Again or end at season 3?

So that's where I'm not sure! The current outline is as such:

All Major Arcs (including Cyrus James/Project Beagle fallout arc and psychic abilities arcs): scheduled to wrap up a bit after the end of S3 so that Matt and Jane's arcs/development neatly dovetail together. This will mark the official end of TRT's main fic.

Special Additional Arcs (chaptered fics not attached to main fic but still TRT canon, taking place after end of main fic) in no particular order: Endgame/The Snap arc, Spider-Man: NWH arc, Spoiler Removed arc, tentative She Hulk Shenanigans arc.

Oneshot Arcs: various domestic fluff arcs, interactions with major MCU events, a 'What Their Life Is Like When Old Cause GD It They're Going To Live To Old Age And Will Have Rocking Chairs' arc, a SINGLE take it or leave it 'What If?' fic of something funny with a possible daughter cause damn I had this idea for a hilarious scene and it won't leave me alone

Now, those are what are planned in the outline, and the main event with Project Beagle tie-ins and plotlines and all of that is something I'm still planning to end just after S3 because I really do want to have a finish line for that, and I feel like dragging that all out for Born Again wouldn't work for the... events that are going to happen, without saying too much. Once that's wrapped up, that's when you're going to see TRT finally marked as 'complete' on AO3, though there'll be more fics set in that universe (see special additional arcs and oneshot arcs) that I'll mark as in the Devil and Hound series along with drabbles on tumblr.

Once we're past that official endpoint and those special arcs, though, things get fluid and murky since when I was outlining all the major plotlines, there was no Daredevil: Born Again, nor was Matt even in the MCU officially (which is why Spider-Man pops in way sooner in TRT than he meets Matt in the MCU) and I specifically set up Jane's plotline to bookend with Matt's so their growth twined together and they both finally found peace around the same time. Outside that, I'd planned some shorter chaptered stories in the series post-mainline TRT like the Snap arc that I may now adjust (since it sure is looking like Matt was left behind for the snap) but nothing on the level of TRT's main plotline which is absolutely massive and took me years to fully outline and construct before coming back from hiatus in 2021 and pumping out chapters (Happy six year anniversary to TRT on Sept 15!).

ALL THAT BEING SAID.

I do have plans to write stuff for TRT's take on Born Again because I'm 100% married to writing for Matt at this point and there's no possible way I won't want to do something once I'm being fed Charlie!Matt scenes again. I'm not sure what those plans are just yet - I kinda wanna wait and see what happens in Born Again in case it sparks something. But I also want to make sure that no matter what I do, there's some sort of strong original plotline so that, much like mainline TRT, we'll be able to weave in and out of canonical events (especially since things like the Snap or a wedding or Jane and Matt's friendship with Peter will alter canon). I don't think I'm going to do something quite as huge as TRT's main plotline again, mostly because it takes a TON of time and work, and I'm planning to take the original TRT elements and morph them into an original series fit for publishing (different enough that I can leave TRT up for everyone to read, cause at this point the fic's part of DD fandom culture and I have no plans to take that away) which will also take a ton of time. But I'm definitely rattling my brain around, looking at different plotlines I could do knowing what I know about the ending, hunting for loose ends or canonical threads that I can weave in with TRT's world and create something new!

Then again, I never would have said I'd make something as massive as TRT before I started, either, so who knows.

So in short: YES, there will be TRT events for Born Again even if it's not as elaborate as TRT! I just have no idea what those will be yet. Fortunately, TRT mainline's only a little over halfway done so I've got time to plan!

#the red thread #daredevil: born again #if authors and characters are sometimes like marriages then me and matt and jane have rings #all of the mainline stuff i had was basically planned to wrap up just after season 3 and that's still going to happen #with additional but much shorter chaptered fics planned to explore MCU events through a TRT lens #as well as some domestic fluff stuff and exploring what their relationship looks like as the MCU moves forward #so I was always planning to do *something* in a way #but honestly i didn't expect for there to be a born again #and certainly not as much stuff with matt as is happening #so i didn't really have anything SUPER huge planned unless a movie did something big that sparked an idea (think the snap) #and now i'm like OH MY GOD THE SHOWS THERE WILL BE SO MUCH #and i have a feeling i'll have a lot to work with that might stir some creativity! #it just probably won't be as elaborate as TRT cause gd i love it but it's a ton of work #and i want to get a variation of it published which will also be work since i need to change a mountain of details #but yes i do plan to write stuff for born again set in the TRT universe! just need to see what gets sparked unless i bump into something #that inspires a plotline #a bit like i did with the idea of red threads

[tobiasdrake]

Episode 24: The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya, Part 5

Been dreading this one because I really liked the confrontation at the end of Part 4 and some individual scenes have been neat but for the most part this arc has been extremely gross.

Also, had to change the shady piracy website that I'm taking my screenshots from. We're watching the show on Crunchyroll but we have to do "Someone in the extended family has a subscription and we all share" shenanigans for all of our streaming services so nobody knows who had the Crunchyroll password and I can't get it on my computer.

Yuki has a cat now. I wonder if she'll get to keep it. I would love to see Yuki transition from stoic robot with no furnishings to stoic robot who is a cat person now.

Her apartment filled with just that one kotatsu and also a scratching post, cat tree, cat tunnel, and food dishes.

Sitting at the kotatsu with a book open on the table, reading with a cat in her lap. Petting its head mechanically; The same exact motion on repeat like a metronome. "Kitty," she says aloud in her emotionless monotone.

In any case, we got through this shooting session without more Mikuru grossness so I'm hoping Haruhi learned something from yesterday's meltdown and reconciliation. I mean, this is still happening:

But that's still gonna happen. Haruhi gonna Haruhi.

I just. Would really like to see character growth come out of this gross arc.

Shamisen is amazingly verbose and capable of a complex understanding of language.

I want to keep him. I desperately want to keep him. Can we keep him? Please tell me we get to keep him.

I will trade this character for him.

Aww, we're sending Shamisen with Kyon. That's a shame. I was all set for Cat Ladybot Yuki.

At this point, the only reason I feel confident that those guys aren't another Haruhi Thing (TM) is because that's not her genre. XD

Part of me thinks it's for the best that Haruhi doesn't read medieval fantasy and didn't make a world with dragons and shit. But then I remember that she did make a world with reality-bending data aliens. Being as sci-fi nerd isn't any better than a fantasy nerd in this regard.

Who's up for a religious schism!?

Mikuru offers a conflicting interpretation of Haruhi to what Itsuki's been saying. Itsuki believes that, in the event three years ago, Haruhi created the universe. That, essentially, all things in existence are only three years old. There is no past beyond that point, which meshes with something Mikuru told us early on.

It's impossible to travel back in time beyond three years from today, for reasons unknown. This would make sense if there is no past, as Itsuki speculated.

If the universe sprang into existence fully formed from the timequake three years ago then it would be impossible to travel beyond the timequake.

The computer bug came to our time from a parallel reality 208 million years ago, according to Yuki. In order for that to be true, there must have existed a period of time 208 million years ago.

This doesn't disprove Haruhi creating the universe in the timequake. She could have created time retroactively. But it does mean that the nonexistence of time beyond the timequake cannot be used as evidence to prove that Haruhi created the universe, because time does exist beyond the timequake. Mikuru's organization can't reach it, but the Data Integration Thought Entity's awareness can.

Which, itself, makes sense since it's already been established that the aliens have a better grasp of time than the time travelers do. In any case, it seems likely that the world existed before three years ago.

As Yuki clarifies, Mikuru instead believes that the world was always like this but Haruhi has the ability to discover strange and mysterious things. There were always aliens, but Haruhi's abilities simply drew them in, basically.

I don't think that's correct either. Kyon brings up that all of the espers spontaneously developed their abilities and awareness of Haruhi during The Event Three Years Ago, which is fairly significant proof that the world was altered. Yuki's counterpoint... sucks?

"Maybe he lied."

I mean, sure, but if we go down that rabbit hole then maybe Haruhi has no powers and Yuki's just been using her alien magic to fake all of it this whole time. Anyone can be lying about anything, Yuki. That's a bad argument.

Obviously something happened three years ago because all three of them agree on that. Yuki, Mikuru, and Itsuki have all independently testified that some fucking shit went down three years ago that brought them all here.

I've already made my argument against Itsuki's interpretation. A decisive argument against "The world was always like this" is Mikuru herself. You could say that the extradimensional bug always existed, and Haruhi's logo simply drew it to her. You could say that the Celestials are a natural phenomenon that are simply being stirred up by Haruhi's emotions. You could say that Shamisen is actually a talking cat because of reasons, that simply crossed Haruhi's path.

But Mikuru Beam is pretty hard to equivocate. Haruhi gave Mikuru the ability to shoot a photon laser out of her eye, which she did not previously possess. (The time loop also comes to mind.) So. No, Mikuru. The world was not always like this. Haruhi is doing shit.

The most plausible explanation is the alternative one that Itsuki first introduced. The one where Haruhi did not create the world but did remake it. Her power simply erupted one day and expanded across the universe like Devil Homura's Labyrinth.

I get the point they're making here about the complexity of belief. Like a proper religion, at the end of the day, it is difficult to draw any factual conclusions about the true esoteric nature of Haruhi Suzumiya. But I think, if you look deep enough, there are sufficient pieces to draw suppositional conclusions, at least - but those may vary from person to person.

We'll never truly know.

Okay, I'm loving the idea of Mikuru and Itsuki's factions being hostile to one another and the inter-group drama that such an idea would create. Especially since we all have to play Nice Happy Club Friends in front of Haruhi.

Religious schism and political intrigue in my slice-of-life show about goldfish scooping with the local cosmic horror? Yes please.

But I feel a little uncomfortable with the idea that *gestures at Mikuru* ALL OF THAT was stuff Mikuru went along with because she's trying to honeypot Kyon.

It feels like they're trying super hard to salvage what they've done with Mikuru and are instead making it worse.

That said, what I do like is that we didn't have any more gross Haruhi Molests Mikuru jokes in this whole episode. Itsuki's mad at Kyon for not fixing the "Haruhi's movie is warping reality" problem but I'm satisfied that Kyon and Haruhi's meltdown did result in changed behavior, at least for now.

She's still an asshole.

But at least she's backed off of the sexual harassment that these episodes had dialed up so high. So that's something.

Oh hey we're FINALLY having the lunch conversation that was promised all the way back in episode 6. Kyon's finally going to break the rules and leak everything to Haruhi.

And just like Yuki promised: Haruhi doesn't fucking care what you think, Kyon. In fact, she thinks you're making fun of her. Good job.

#the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya #haruhi suzumiya #yuki nagato #mikuru asahina #itsuki koizumi

[lightwarriorinc]

/post/190330484060 "the post-canon AU I’ve made in my head in which they fight some more and work out their differences and Fighter gets help and BM actually tries to be a better person [...] and ughhhhh I could go on for days" (slides you a $20) please go on for days

(pockets the $20) BOY HOWDY HERE WE GO

Firstly I need you to imagine me getting pulled back into 8BT like a guy getting yanked off a stage with a cane by this ask ok

Secondly...ah. My boys. Here we go

(Probably needless to say for how old 8BT is but spoilers for the whole thing below)

This is one of many post-canon AUs that I have. So 8BT is cyclical right? Just like FF1 it ends where it begins. And none of the (main) characters really grow or change over the course, and that's part of what drive the comedy home, the subversion not only of typical fantasy-RPG-genre characters, plots, and tropes, but the outright aversion of the usual narrative expectations. Characters usually have an arc, but the LWs only tease arcs (see: the couple times BM starts to imply that he' gonna turn good, Thief continuing to steal after he has no real reason too, etc.).

But what if they did have arcs tho.

The Temple of Fiend Revisited kinda fucks Fighter up. For the first time, he's without Black Mage for a long time, and everything's going to shit, and he even ends up having to face BM in battle and gets killed by him. He gets revived by Sarda but still. Dude's frequently breaking reality with how upset he is.

After the LWs run off to try to take credit for saving the world, and that ends up not happening thanks to WM making sure the DWs get all the credit, the LWs are kinda like. Well. We're done. See ya

Thief goes to prepare to rule Elfland. RM runs off to go start his last members of secret sects club or whatever. BM tries to get away from Fighter again but Fighter's just like wait what. No. Get back here

But still...something is off for Fighter. He's fine! They made it out alive and intact! He's with his best buddy again! He should be fine! But BM crossed a line with killing WM, even if it was by accident. And he started killing the other LWs too. And for some reason even though his friend is the nicest and sweetest guy in the whole world Fighter can't get that pain and those images out of his head. BM notices that Fighter seems a bit off, but he brushes it off. It's always something with that guy.

But Fighter starts noticing how callous and mean BM is being with everyone they run into. The rose-colored glasses start to lose their tint. And more and more Fighter's speaking up with "shouldn't we help that guy?" or "was nuking that entire orphanage really necessary?" And BM gets fed up with him and is like LOOK. THE OTHERS ARE GONE. WE DO THINGS MY WAY NOW AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT YOU CAN LEAVE.

And Fighter goes Fine. And leaves.

And it's the hardest and most painful decision of his life. But he wants to be a Hero, and he can't do that when BM's constantly undoing all his good deeds. Even if he's not really smart enough to connect all the dots, he at least knows now that he's better off alone.

But BM? BM is not better off alone. At first he's ecstatic, he never thought he'd be rid of Fighter and his shenanigans, but he is! He's finally alone! He can nuke all the orphanages he wants! He can be the evil, brooding, villainous wizard he was always meant to be without having to worry about his idiot meat shield giving away all their money or accepting some stupid 'save the world' quest or throwing cereal all over the kitchen floor or whatever!

He promptly goes out to his first solo fight and gets beaten to a pulp.

Yeah...he stuck with Fighter in the first place because he needed a meat shield. In the end, he's just a squishy wizard who misses most of his attacks. But that's okay! He doesn't need Fighter, he just has to change tactics! Be sneaky and deliberate and gain some experience with the weaker enemies in Corneria before he gets back into the swing of things!

Jump cut to BM sitting in the rain like a sad puppy missing Fighter for much more than his damage soaking. He misses sharing a tent with him, he misses watching him cut down enemies in battle, he misses his warmth and talking comics with him and listening to insane sword-themed rants and his cooking (Fighter was gonna give up the blade to be a short order cook, you can't tell me he doesn't cook for the team) and his impromptu hugs and how he seemed to care for him despite the cruelty of the rest of the world and why did he leave?!?!?! WHY?!?!?

So cue both of them getting help. And they both get help from the same person.

Fighter goes to the White Mages' Guild because they heal people who are hurt and he's hurt. And maybe he can pick up another magical companion! He ends up running into WM and they chat a bit, and WM's happy that Fighter got out of his abusive friendship, and she gives Fighter a bit of advice about moving on, but Fighter can't find another companion there and he ends up sulking away to try to throw himself into his heroism.

And BM ends up running into WM as well, and she braces herself for another round of dealing with him but he's just oddly quiet and talks about how he's totally not missing Fighter, and she's like 'good, and you better stay away from him because he deserves someone who's a lot nicer to him and who will support him in his efforts to improve the world and not a mean, stinky little jerk like you', and BM just suddenly gets something in his eye and runs away. And WM checks the Guild for mold and carbon monoxide leaks because there's no way that just happened.

But that's the kick in the pants that BM needs. Of course Fighter left him! He thought BM was nice until he realized he wasn't and then he left. So was their friendship just a result of Fighter's overbearing stupidity? Is BM just better off pretending like none of this ever happened?

Or is there a chance that he could get Fighter back...?

By being...k...kh...kuh-iii....kuhhhiiinnnd??? Ugh. He just threw up a little bit.

In the next couple weeks, BM just happens to bump into Fighter a couple times. And Fighter jut kinda tries to brush him off, and BM is like...trying to be nice in the only way he can. Which is, he's trying to imitate Fighter.

"Yeah uh...I was thinking...maybe it is, like, a good thing that...the world exists. Maybe I shouldn't have learned all those apocalypse spells. Maybe I should've put my time into, like...I dunno. Feeding the poor or whatever. Or like. Volunteering. Yeah. There's gotta be some use for a dark wizard down at the community garden or something."

And Fighter's like. Huh. What

And eventually...he figures he's gotta give BM a chance. That's what he does. He's a good person deep down, and if his former best buddy has really turned over a new leaf, then he wants to encourage that! So he keeps an eye on BM, and watches as BM slowly starts to build a repertoire of being nice.

He watches BM go to pop some kid's balloon, hesitate, and then turn away. He watches BM stand still for a really long time at a store till before pulling out some extra money and paying for the guy behind them. He watches BM open a spellbook on a hot day and spontaneously teach himself an ice spell to help keep them both cooled off. They start hanging out more and more and they slowly start to get along again.

And then somebody tries to take advantage of their kindness. And BM get PISSED. Chases them away, throws a couple fireballs at them, and spits some nasty words. Wheels around and yells at Fighter, what's the point of being nice if we're just gonna get pushed around by assholes like that all the time?!?!?!

And Fighter just smiles and thanks him for protecting him from that guy, since without people protecting each other like that, there would be no goodness left in the world.

BM is still evil deep down. He doesn't like being nice, doesn't like helping people, doesn't really like the world. And Fighter is still good deep down. But they understand each other a lot better, and they're nice to each other, and they take care of each other. Not many people are happy to see that lovable dork Fighter hanging out with stinky mean little BM again, but it's evident that something about them has changed, and they're happy together.

#8 bit theater #8bt black mage #8bt fighter #this is only one post canon au that i have but it is my most saccharine sweet #and even tho i know it's not totally realistic or in character it is a happy place for me #i also like to imagine at one point in their friendship/romance/whatever they end up becoming going forward fighter tries to be evil #and ends up either crying five minutes into it or becoming scarily good at it #but yeah. ty for the ask

[silvertsundere]

Silver Talks AniManga (20/08/23)

aight some things I wanted to mentioned in this week's post

no zom ep since something else aired in it's timeslot so the ep got pushed to next week

watched this week's bleach episode, kenpachi's since he's my fav guy (fav out of everyone is yoruichi), and while I was sad there was no sakuga it was still very cool

black clover is close to ending but is moving from WSJ to Jump Giga which means it'll take a billion years to end now (1 to 2 years according to my buddy mega) so now I'm not in a rush to catch up to it anymore yay

Anime

Pokemon Horizons Ep18

extremely good episode, one of the best so far easily even. even if I'm still not very on board with having pikachu around again, just cause he's so marketeable, it was still very good and a nice change of pace

Atelier Ryza Ep8

that was a nice episode, pay off for ryza helping out various people in the previous episodes and getting to show the assholes of the village that she isn't all talk. only 4 eps left so they're absolutely not gonna finish the game's story so I wonder if they'll announce a cour 2 or it'll just be a "hey check out the game if you want to see more ;)" type of thing

Manga

Blooming Love Ch11

yoooooo so true brother go off anyway cute chap, as usual, not a lot happened but it had some good scenes

Dandadan Ch118

it was quite the long battle but it's finally over. it was a really good arc overall, with vamola's backstory and everyone getting power ups and getting their time to shine in battle, the end with reiko leaving cause of okarun's love was nice too. no chap next week but that's ok, yukinobu deserves the rest

Kaiju 8 Ch92

this is the fight I was looking forward to the most and it was everything I wanted and even more. there's still gonna be one more chap but it's just gonna be the final blow and it wrapping up so counting it as basically over already

Tokyo Underworld Ch50

that was pretty bad, they finally had the director do something instead of just being that worm thing, only for her to be this super powerful executioner and healing all of the good guys, only for her to get 1 shot and die right away anyway. p bad deus ex machina moment

Blue Box Ch113

excellent chap, they'd always teased that kyo had like someone before and made it seem like it was hina and I was certain it was too, but it's nice to see it was someone completely unrelated. also very good to see hina getting over this, this fast instead of it becoming a thing that keeps coming back for a billion chaps, good job miura

Sakamoto Days Ch131

that was a fun chap, p sure it was the first one focusing on sakamoto's daughter? it was p sure seeing her dragging the deer along for shenanigans. a nice cooldown chapter after all the recent tension

Akane-banashi Ch74

in true sports manga style we're getting a couple of comedy chapters to release some of the tension that built up from the competition, it'll be nice to see akane get back in her groove and get over her loss

Ayakashi Triangle Ch140

it turns out that the big power up for matsuri that's been teased for all this chapters was... her going back to wearing a fundoshi??? I mean it makes sense cause if you remember earlier in the series when she switched to girl panties it took a while to get used to and she was less effective and stuff but I still didn't see this coming at all lol

#silver talks animanga

[bleachbleachbleach]

I feel like there was another scene -- I think it was in one of the movies? Where Hitsugaya and Mayuri seemed to have a weird rivalry thing going on, which cracked me up then, and your post about the bount arc cracks me up now; im gonna have to go and rewatch that episode at least 😂 it's like the anime staff decided these two NEED to beef and I support them for it

Oh gosh, I am RACKING my brain to remember this movie scene. Normally my brain is a steel trap for inconsequential blorbo scenes and I simply forget everything else, but I got nothin'--clearly once we're done with our anime rewatch we'll have to do yet another movie rewatch!

In the meantime, I'm taking this ask as an opportunity to GUSH AT LENGTH about one of my favorite scenes in the entire anime, my second-favorite captain's meeting, a scene that involves stellar moments for Mayuri, Hitsugaya, Kyouraku, AND includes bonus Byakuya????? Made for me.

Top Scenes: That One Meeting Where Mayuri Hates Hitsugaya Specifically For Some and/or No Reason

Okay, to set the stage a little: At some earlier point, Hitsugaya gets put in charge of some kind of Bount operation. This is separate from Renji already having been sent to Karakura, and Rukia also having been sent to Karakura on yet another separate detail.

By "in charge" I mean he delegates this to a slate of officers, which he carefully chose according to the parameters "Matsumoto and whoever was around, I guess": So it's Matsumoto, Yumichika, Hisagi, and Kira. Of these, Yumichika dis-invites himself, and Hisagi and Kira definitely should not have been deployed to the Living World, because they have no captains and definitely have shambles they probably should be unshambling, but whatever.

Through no real fault of the VC’s own and all the fault of "this is not at all the level of response this mission required," the Bounts find their way to Soul Society. The Bounts, who are very efficient, go CLEAR TO KUSAJISHI to foment an uprising.

Matsumoto reports back to Hitsugaya, and Hitsugaya, in the absolute weirdest possible way, recruits Renji to this Bount-finding agenda. (Hisagi and Kira go back home to do some unshambling, I assume.) Lots of very entertaining bullshit happens, Byakuya out-weirds Hitsugaya because heaven forbid he ever be upstaged in that regard, there's a lot of running and very little accomplishing, and the Bounts literally just walk into the Seireitei.

So, in perfect fairness, if Hitsugaya's charge was to keep that from happening, he legitimately did a horrible job and Mayuri's speaking truths here:

It's a true critique, but is it a fair critique? Probably not, because this never should have been just Hitsugaya's job in the first place. That's absurd! But that's also how the Gotei works, so sure, I'll throw my vote in with Mayuri.

Buy why does he bring it up at all?

Mayuri

Not that he's alone in this sentiment, but I feel like Mayuri is the pinnacle of "let's keep this meeting moving so we can all get out of here." He hates all of these people and spending time with them is unstimulating and pointless. From that maybe you'd think he'd constantly be calling out his colleagues' failings, but what does that really do but extend the meeting? So I think it's fascinating (read: hilarious) that he goes out of his way to criticize Hitsugaya here, especially since he does so by comparing Hitsugaya's failure to Soi Fon's success.

Criticizing Hitsugaya is important enough to him that he's willing to implicitly praise Soi Fon in the process!! And even though they're poisonbuds, Mayuri's gotta hate Soi Fon, too. She's too straightforward and down-to-business, and has no curiosity for the sake of curiosity. So his hatred of Hitsugaya here is on some entirely different level here. And for what? The crime of being square?? (Yes.)

I don't think it actually has anything to do with Hitsugaya having failed this Bount task. These guys barely cared the Seireitei got invaded last week; they don't seem to care all that much more now. Plus, Mayuri's already had his fill of Bount shenanigans and is one of the reasons the Bount made it to Soul Society in the first place. He knows this. He knows that this accusation could easily be turned back on him (and it is). BUT IT'S STILL WORTH IT, JUST FOR A SHOT AT PUBLICLY HATING HITSUGAYA.

It's so worth it that the meeting legitimately moves on and Byakuya offers a slate of extremely useful feedback with regard to Kariya's abilities, blah blah.

But Mayuri don't care:

LOOK AT HIM. LOOK AT THAT LITTLE FINGER. HE'S BENDING FORWARD JUST SO HE CAN LOOM OVER HITSUGAYA.

THERE'S JUST

A WHOLE

THING

HAPPENING HERE.

Maybe Mayuri dislikes Hitsugaya because Hitsugaya is the designated "tensai" of the Gotei and Mayuri feels threatened by that, but I don't personally buy that. I've seen people discuss Hitsugaya being a "genius" as a translation for "tensai," and associating the genius with like, MENSA shit or whatever. But "tensai" is more about talent for/potential in some specific thing, not just IQ or book-smarts. I don't think Hitsugaya would particularly excel at labwork in the 12th. I mean, he'd probably be very hirable. But Hitsugaya's actual talent happens to be strong interpersonal skills when it comes to one (1) ice dragon and, concomitantly, being a quick study of developing and controlling large quantities of reiatsu. Which are very impressive but not impressive (or threatening) to Mayuri, because why would he care about any of that? He would not. (I personally think Hitsugaya gets more interesting to Mayuri post-TYBW, because wtf is up with that bankai, but this is the Bount Arc, baybeeeee!)

Idk, I guess I have difficulty believing that Mayuri gives enough of a shit about Hitsugaya to hate him specifically, which is why I find this scene so entertaining. Because he clearly does hate him specifically. It's just that there's no reason here, no set of proofs and measures. HE JUST HATES HIM. XDD And I am very satisfied by this.

Like, I'm 100% on board with the idea that Mayuri hates Hitsugaya specifically because they have to stand next to each other in these meetings, and repeated proximity in the context of meetings Mayuri detests just rubbed off on whatever object happened to be closest, and that object was Hitsugaya. Love it, no notes.

Hitsugaya

Hitsugaya, for his part, doesn't actually disagree with Mayuri's critique:

This is one of the things I really enjoy about Hitsugaya: He tends to be straightforward about his failings, but in a very self-possessed way. He doesn't try to defend himself here, but also isn't self-flagellating about it. He's just like, this is an objective assessment and I'll own that. He's not going to wallow--just take the L and move forward. (Whether this holds for Hinamori/Aizen-related things, ymmv, but that's inescapably personal.)

He's consistent about this through the arc, too--Matsumoto apologies to him for the way the Advance-Advance Team mission went, and he tells her that since he's the one who deployed them, any blame is his, not hers.

But back to this scene: His affect is in diametric opposition to Mayuri's here--Mayuri hyperpersonalizes the critique, but while Hitsugaya might respect Mayuri's talents and intel, but it's not like Mayuri's personal opinions are worth anything to him. Because Mayuri's opinion of him doesn't matter, Hitsugaya doesn't take this personally. He doesn't respond to Mayuri--just to Yamamoto.

I mean, he definitely looks annoyed by Mayuri:

But tbh I think that's more because he finds Mayuri generally irritating, and he--like everyone else at this meeting, EVEN KOMAMURA, YAMAMOTO'S #1 FAN, LOOK AT HIS FACE--doesn't want to be at this meeting any longer than he has to be, not because Mayuri has personally insulted him in any way that matters.

On the other hand, the second bonkers thing about this meeting is that Yamamoto either 1) agrees that Hitsugaya fucked this shit up, and needs to be fired from this project, or 2) has decided that it should not have been relegated to the docket of one single Gotei captain to begin with--but admitting this shows weakness so he cannot.

Whatever the reason, Hitsugaya is relieved of his duties, and this part does perhaps upset him in ways that Mayuri didn't. He's definitely surprised by it.

But after this, he also... doesn't seem to meaningfully change the way he's been working the Bount issue? Because even though Yamamoto says every division is going to work solo, from there on out, Hitsugaya is still somehow in charge of dealing with an attack on the 7th (because Komamura is guarding Yamamoto for some reason); is actively getting intel from/collaborating with Renji and Isane; and at some point is like, "shit, I didn't ever give the 11th any orders" because Zaraki's not around. Even though he is not in charge of any of those divisions or any of those people and explicitly got fired from having to be in that role! And, one assumes, is still vaguely in charge of the 5th because he's been doing their paperwork and Hinamori isn't even mentioned in this arc. Because orders or no orders, SOMEONE's gotta do it.

Kyouraku

Kyouraku spends this whole arc poking Mayuri with a stick, and I'm here for it. I just think Kyouraku always has such an interesting affect--playful, but in an aloof way, and in this case certainly not a loving way. I feel like he definitely interacts with Mayuri the way a much older entity would see Mayuri's whole yappy dog routine here:

I like Kyouraku for a lot of reasons that I won't enumerate in detail here, but he's always very generous toward Hitsugaya, and I have fondness for him for that.

Like, Kyouraku is old as dirt and has seen and done some shit, and Hitsugaya is very much not, and has also seen and done comparatively little. But from the vantage point of his thousands of years, Mayuri and Hitsugaya still come across very differently, and this shows in the way he treats them.

Kyouraku still gets bemused and/or a little jaded-aloof by some of Hitsugaya's life choices (I'm thinking about the scene at the beginning of the reigai arc where Hitsugaya is super mad about Matsumoto failing to report in on time, and Kyouraku and Ukitake are just like "lololol"), but he regularly calls Hitsugaya by his title, even though there is absolutely no reason whatsoever why he would need to, and he steps to Mayuri here. I just think he's neat.

#i did not remotely try to keep this brief #i'm posting it at midnight on a friday so what does it matter? XD #but the tl;dr version is 'i love that mayuri hates hitsugaya specifically for some reason' #and my favorite version of his story is the one where mayuri hates hitsugaya specifically for NO reason #hitsugaya doesn't value mayuri's opinions anyway #also kyouraku can be a very nice man #hitsugaya toushirou #kurotsuchi mayuri #kyouraku shunsui #bount arc #bleach anime #asks #no brain just bleach

[misakialter]

Omega And Season 1

This is a "Everyone Dropkick Misaki Before They Don't Stop Talking" post. So I'm gonna open up by saying thank you for reading if you're here to listen to me.

Anyhow...

Not content with giving it some time of the day on my Media Thread on Twitter yesterday, I wanted to fully go off about Saint Seiya Omega (The First Season) because it sure is a series I did not expect to like as much as I did in spite of it having some serious shenanigans which are so hard to get behind.

To know what I'm talking about in case you don't know about it, here's a quick summary:

The series is about a group of warriors serving under the reincarnation of Goddess Athena who strive to protect the world against great evils who wish to take Earth for themselves or even destroy it.

Set after the main series as a sequel, our story tells the tale of Koga, the new bearer of the Pegasus Cloth, who was raised by the current Athena herself, Saori Kido. After her kidnapping by the powerful god known as Mars, his journey is set into motion and along his upstart Bronze Saint companions are pitted onto a grand scale battle for the survival of Earth with all odds stacked against them.

They are some key aspects it shares with it's predecessor but unlike other series who are perfectly content on tidying up what already works, Omega instead pitches brand new things, for better or worse, to see what sticks.

Omega and Legacy

Right of the bat we tackle gracefully the involvement of the previous main cast while also not diminishing the role of the past protagonist and previous Pegasus, Seiya, the only one who remains a little more of an active participant. They are mostly absent with a good excuse from the story's part, but also offer a passive involvement as mentors to the new generation of Bronze Saints, so they are not wasted. They also play a huge part on the legacy and lore the series are set in through their connections through the villian and their confrontation with them.

I mention it here because this is part of the foundation of this world, something that makes everything tick and have a place, making much of the original series feel appreciated without needing to pave the way so hard to the new one as to spit in the face of it. It's something that a sequel series often tends to miss with, instead of properly reading the room.

The series also makes sure to play with said expectations of the original lore and play with it — There's deadass a fight which is a copypasted homage but the outcome is different PRECISELY because of it's context. It can be safely said that nostalgia is weaponized by Toei in a rather interesting manner compared to other sequel series.

This is probably one of the strongest aspects of the series on a fundamental level so whenever it does something like say, the Sanctuary Arc again, it doesn't feel eye rollingly whack we're doing this again on yet another series because there's more than enough to avoid it holding up entirely by nostalgic feelings.

Of course, now that we're getting to the plot, we're starting to see the more obvious cracks in the armor.

Omega and Storytelling

Let me tell you a horror story in one sentence:

WEEKLY SCHEDULED ANIME EPISODES ON THE 2000s

So you know, it's felt in a lot of places, here included.

Our first episode leaves a good hook for the series which is soon a little muddled in the following ones. Key introductions for some characters are made but the decision of having the Palaestra, a school of Saints, might sound way too much of a generic setup, followed up with a tournament too.

Fuckiiiinnnn uuuuuuhhhhhh—

— And then it's thrown away almost immediately. The deceptively generic first few episodes kick into gear eventually and now we meet Aria — a character who is gonna remain super important this season — broaden the scope of the conflict, get to see EXACTLY how dire this is, increase the amount of intrigue and deliver a lot of promise for the future of this sequel.

...

What you just experienced here is the first sudden peak this series felt like having.

Continuing with the road trip, we suffer a bit of filler, a bit of inconsistency, and it takes a while until the ideas begins to flourish. It's clear that the format is unfit for the things they wanna do in the series, and as they cannot find ways to stretch things, plotlines can become dormant or episodes take a bit before they stop feeling just okay. And thus, much like the characters in the series in terms of power ups, it bursts sporadically into some truly spectacular heights.

Koga (To an extent), Aria, Eden, Sonia, Soma, Mars and some of the Gold Saints' development prove to be constant highlights of the story and promises that are delivered on with extreme efficiency and are set up as early as they are introduced, which feels like a reward to one's faith into these ideas and are probably your reasons to stick by.

That is not to say that is free of sin and makes it easy to do so: The element mechanic being quickly dropped, some fights kinda blend with the rest and are just serviceable, the aimless nature of the roadtrip that could've made it drag on, the lack of focus on some of the main characters I hadn't mentioned (To the point Haruto is like, disappearing between episodes sometimes) and so on, so forth. They are notable points which hold the story back, and it truly doesn't fix it as it keeps going.

As we segue into Omega's own Sanctuary Arc, it does everything in it's power to do good on it. While not perfect, this last portion of the season shines as brightly as it can and peaks the hardest — To the point of making me feel A LOT. Like it got me for real.

And even as we got the finale the series closed off spectacularly, and in a way so definitive I could confidently list my feelings about it. So even as I list the drawbacks, I find myself highly hesitant to call it a bad season overral, especially because I had fun. Mid feels like also selling it short. But objectively, it's not like I can call it the best thing ever.

It is very well able to fool me into doing so, however, and that is the biggest compliment I can give it.

Omega and Presentation

And that's the biggest compliment I can give it I guess.

As I said before, the curse of being a weekly means that it's cursed with being animated weakly. Some key episodes get to pop off with fantastic shots and amazingly detailed drawings but there's also moments of low budget where a still drawing gets zoomed in and stock footage is reused. The writing has to carry a lot of this but a lot of this is also not helping a ton unless it's a very important moment in the story. So much like it, it stays middling until it peaks.

The action is also the reason why the armors were redesigned into these new, simpler and smoother looking ones, the intention was to make it look good in motion, and it does! But it's not as often exploited as it can be.

Here's the thing:

The reason why the classic Saint Seiya was fine with the bulk was mostly due to there not being a need for dynamic and smooth flow with such static but to the point action — They ARE metallic armors after all — And yet it still made a point to change up the designs when bringing it to an Anime to something easier and modern looking, to put it into motion which was a necessity.

With Omega this core idea is a hit or miss. I like the armors, but at the same time, these characters do not feel armored. Some fans are outright aleniated by them but in my honest opinion, the issue with it is more about the fundamental usage being heavily underplayed when that was the whole point, and not so much the fact that they look like this, considering these are STILL neat looking designs especially in this artstyle and in motion. Getting the job done is at least something they accomplish fine.

Either way, let's end up with an amazing positive: The OST. Dear lord, the music was fucking fantastic in every way. The tracks it borrows from the original are done great justice while new tracks fit the scale of the story perfectly, and it is hardly misused or jarring. It doesn't reach the peak of Saint Seiya's original soundtrack but it is an incredibly worthy successor, giving Omega a standout identity on that aspect. And when they made a second opening after their rendition of Pegasus Fantasy for the first... CHRIST, now THAT'S understanding your series.

...Oh, I'm still talking about the music, not Omega as a whole, don't worry. Don't want to give you a heart attack after all.

Omega and Saint Seiya

When you have to follow up an original work, especially a classic to many, you're set up with some insane expectations. Not being able to deliver them is also kinda crushing, it can be disappointing to give it any sort of chance. Change, new ideas, different stories, all become taboo if you cannot find your footing or appropiately pitch them with conviction.

A sequel series is a difficult thing to make, let alone have it stand out on it's own.

And I fully believe Omega managed to pull it off with this season... After falling down the stairs for a couple times IT'S NOT PERFECT GUYS IT'S JUST A SILLY LITTLE THING IT'S OKAY IT KILLED NO ONE UNLIKE THE NETFLIX SHOW.

To it's detriment it's one of the most unique amongst the sequels to Saint Seiya and the one whose best ideas shine through spectacularly in spite of all it has to go through to commit to the good ones. Objectively it's got some notable weaknesses getting in the way but beyond animation, it was personally fun to experience and I do not regret it in the least when the worst it could offer me is Mid™ rather than a complete waste of it's potential.

Overral, the series stumbles, but does not fumble. I had a lot of fun with it no matter what the issues were. I am ready for whatever the fuck is supposed to be at Season 2.

And as always thank you for reading, hope it was fun.

Later!

#saint seiya #saint seiya omega #season 1 #wolf haruto is a deviantart oc (affectionate) #ranting #BURN COSMO OF MY HEART #mid can be peak sometimes #seiya still goat mc #kurumada could never

[voidendron]

This week's team shenanigans were

Amusing to watch, to say the least skjddjdj

To start, Snorks did HM Dread Fortress (we decided to reclear all the HMs on that team so my new co-tank can get the practice in) on Tuesday

It honestly went pretty well. I've been letting Troy main tank so he can get the practice in and I just point him in the right direction, and he's really been improving over the time he's joined us

Anyway, we did have some wipes on Neffy cause im gonna be honest, I totally forgot the HM mechs for her and wasn't directing Troy very well. HM seems harder than NiM???? Cause that damn droid is nonstop and we split up for too long once cause of it

Draxus was. Well, Draxus. That fight drags on no matter what mode it is. Grob'thock resulted in an oopsie when someone decided to reflect their fire and promptly forgot to step out of it before their reflect wore off and they immediately died while Gham laughed - cause she'd literally said just seconds before to step out after three stacks if reflecting

Also surprise! I'd decided to try sin tank for the first time in that op, and got informed that I'd be cheesing arcing assault so I could hold her the whole time

Uh. Needless to say the healers hated me the first few times I was figuring it out ksjajshssj. I may or may not have gotten 9 stacks at one point- >.>

I ALSO might have forgotten very briefly how to tank six-finger phase, and that "briefly" was just long enough for an orb to murder someone and wipe us. So YEAH OOPS. But once we got all the kinks worked out we cleared her which meant the team could move to DP :D

Dusty also got pinned by a wall by the reaches and promptly died to them. ...twice. we teased him about it the rest of the night jsjsshsbd

Nothing too exciting happened in DP on Wed, though I did learn sin HURTS on Tyrans. I'll bring a vanguard for him from now on, tyvm >:(

I also accidentally learned how to cheese Bestia stacks sksjdjdb. I'd shrouded so it wouldn't hurt as much before Troy could swap with me, then got really confused why I didn't get stacks

(someone: "Oh did u shroud it?" Me: "THAT WORKS???")

So I just ended up cheesing all of them while Troy dealt with adds (I'd accidentally left two-cloaks on after Brontes the day before, so was able to get every one). That made it soooo much easier why didn't I sin tank before 7.x what the heck

For TLM, we lost a tank so the leads asked if I'd be willing to tank for it. We're currently in NiM DP

My co-tank wanted me to learn how to tank doubles. Ow. Just.

Ow.

If I'm not spot-on with my cooldowns I'm dead the damage they put out is insane

Iirc first pull ended in me immediately getting deleted because I wasn't expecting THAT much damage whoops sjdjxhdb

But we got it in the end even with two DPS fills and a tank who'd never tanked it in NiM!

Also. Tyrans is. SO much easier as a tank than DPS???? We get like double the time to get simplification to the right tile it's insane

we did make it to Calphy, too!

...dusty murdered the tanks when he got the red circle in the group right after Inevitability cause he was juuuuust far enough away from boss that the healer baiting didn't get it and he got it instead ajskdl;sdjl;j

But now.

The Real Funny Raid

Sheeeesh is doing NiM SnV

City boss was. Yeah.

Let's just say we had to force ourselves to learn Smart Paths so we WOULDNT pull the droids. First few times we did we regretted it, so we learned quick jsjdfbhfhf

At ops chief, Shiba (on engi) managed to pull aggro for a split second. He was IMMEDIATELY deleted by Terminate at like full health. Jesus fuck it must hurt in NiM

First pull on Olok we left a droid in the room and took the elevator

....it killed three people through the floor, including a healer. Yeah, we didn't leave anything alive in the room before going downstairs the next pull

Gham also laughed at me. I was playing sniper and a shady customer knocked me back right after my entrench wore off, interrupting my cull. My disgruntled "well that was RUDE >:( " paired with the view she got of me getting knocked was apparently really funny

Warlords resulted in both the best and worst clear i think I've ever seen

Everyone but Dusty and our fill healer were standing with Sunder, the last boss up, suuuuper close to dead. Dusty did what he could to damage him, but since he'd oops bubbled the previous The End, the next one killed him

So that left our operative healer

In a last ditch effort to survive so he could try to keep attacking, he popped evasion/blow for blow

Sunder smacks him and kills him

...BUT ALSO DIED HIMSELF

Sunder literally reflected himself to death on a healer 🤣

vc was HOWLING with laughter when the achievments popped as the healer died

(And of course it was one of the few times I didn't stream so I couldn't clip it 😭)

We got a pull in on Styrak, too

Spectator, jokingly: "pull all the groups"

Eric, tanking: "o ok" *proceeds to do just that as the rest of the group panics*

Spectator: "wait no why"

(We DID manage to kill all of them without any deaths but please. Never again jsjshssvdv most people had 0 DCDs after that)

But now... the Styrak prog begins

#swtor #oliver vs ops #operation: dread fortress #operation: dread pallace #operation: scum and villainy

[elfdragon12]

Permission to see a list of stuff you like about mtmte or stuff you feel could’ve been explored such as trailbreaker’s character arc or the framing concerning chromedome and rewind?

I mean, it's not like I have an actual list, but...

Just about every character concept.

Like, back when I made my first "IDW1 Chromedome is actually an awful boyfriend" post, I got some anon messages, defending his behavior towards Rewind saying "they talked about it"... They spoke about Chromedome pushing Rewind 2 once... And then everything was just about immediately back to lovey-dovey couple stuff.

Speaking of Trailbreaker... It wasn't actually much of an arc, was it? He's a drunk. Gets into a bit too much trouble because he's a drunk. Megatron permanently fixes his FIM chip. He has a job now... And then he gets killed. Also, while I appreciated Rodimus trying to manipulate the time shenanigans to save Trailbreaker, it felt like the strength of emotion he had for Trailbreaker was kind of out of nowhere? Unless there was a camaraderie outside of MTMTE/LL that was developed and I haven't read it yet.

Skids's friendship with Swerve. Despite being told they were best friends, we didn't exactly get much of it, did we? We got so much more of Skids and Nautica.

Anything of the six month time skip. Like, when did Rodimus decide to have a medic attend to Red Alert? Because, last we saw him, his head was separated from his body and Ultra Magnus was saying it was for the better to leave Red Alert like that. Fort Max becoming the new Duly Appointed whatever. Like, a LOT happened off panel.

I would have liked to have seen more hints of resentment stewing over Megatron becoming co-captain. Like, everyone in the mutiny was right, but pretty much what we saw was Megatron being a stern leader. I mean, it's great that Megatron gets to have a second try at being the kind of revolutionary leader he wanted to be and achieves saving the people in the alternate timeline... But there is so much glossing over the damage he's responsible for to the people on the Lost Light alone. "He's actually not that bad once you get to know him", yeah, tell that to Bluestreak. Who was a part of the mutiny. But we're just gonna gloss over that, aren't we?

Anything of the characters really developing their bonds with each other. Cyclonus and Tailgate were covered and we got a nice moment between Skids and Nautica, but I really wish we could have seen more of the crew be, well, a crew.

... That is honestly my real complaint with the series. There was a lot of opportunity for character exploration, but it was mostly about the trouble the crew stumbled into.

--As an aside, it would be interesting to have seen Fort Max in the situation with the mutiny. I'm sure Max would be one of the first in line to rip into Megatron (remember, while Megatron didn't tell Overlord to go to G9, it was because of Megatron that he went there). However, considering his history as a warden and the Overlord incident, I can't imagine that he would really sign off on a full mutiny. (Also, Fort Max is clearly better at command than Getaway, so I don't think Getaway could handle that perceived competition.)

#ask #gennethapang

[redwyverndht]

Episode 30: (SPOILERS) ft. the key to Ghost Game

TL;DR: I get that people want plot and villains and big fights, but if you look beneath the surface of the episodic shenanigans, there's clearly a goal for each episode, and I really hope it can be more appreciated instead of the usual "where's gulus?" "where's the plot?" "where are the villains?" But there's more than that!

^ me chewing over whatever the fuck my brain is overanalyzing this week

General thoughts

I hate bETSUMON I HATE BETSUMON I HATE BETSUM-

Somehow, without giving them a bulge, they made Betsumon very, VERY hateable!!!!!! Hate them!!!!! That might've had to do with the fact that Gammamon is babey and must be protected at all costs

Can I also just say that Meicoomon's existential ennui felt like a slight dig at tri.? Just me? lol (sorry tri fans)

Is it just me or this ep's theme felt very… ominous?

The first thing Gammamon said ever:

"I am Gammamon"

And we're now reaffirming that Gammamon is Gammamon but... are they??? Gulus is THERE, it really recontextualizes the phrase. It feels like that's the ethos of Gammamon's arc... Maybe this IS why they dumped all the budget and promo on this one. (Also, we all love Gammamon :D)

It also felt like the all-star ep we had with Morphomon a while ago: very, very high quality animation, they went above and beyond for this week's animation! I particularly loved Gammamon's expressions, they really went above and beyone to make them cute (and heartwrenching! :( )

I loved it! Awesome ep :D

also monster disco is the best ED so far don't judge me-

I have lots of thougts today!

A structure: The Partner Ethos

Since we got Canoweissmon, we've got the thesis of each character very firmly stated. There haven't really been many "character focus" episodes like we're used to -they're more "relationship centric", kinda like 02. But this episode, THIS EPISODE, along with Tethysmon's evolution and last week's, the charaacter focused episodes are mounting onto each other...

Did you want crests? Well, I'll do you one better: characterization! Every partner has a specific "ethos": a phrase that (imo) describes their motivations and points of view.

Gammamon: "I am Gammmamon, Hiro's brother" Angoramon: "I will protect and get closer to Ruli" Jellymon: "I don't know how to expresss my affection to Kiyoshiro"

Out of all of them, Jellymon is the one I can't exactly pin-point BUT GUESS WHAT? Next ep seems to be Kiyoshiro-centric! And I hope we're getting that thesis from them!

The Reptile in the Room

We're all waiting for Gulus, aren't we? In my opinion, this episode cemented my theory that Gulus is gonna try and take Gammamon out of the equation, whatever that might be. (AAAAAHHH-) They haven't appeared yet because, as Gulus stated, it isn't time yet. It's kinda meta tbh, because it both isn't time in-universe (why), but it's also not time yet narratively speaking…

There's also the case for Lamortmon, too! What are they gonna do???? How tf are they gonna deal with a murderous Angoramon if when they dealt with them in the beginning they only survived because of Zubamon ex machina!!!12!"1!1 (i'm losing it help-)

I get that people want plot and villains and big fights, but if you look beneath the surface of the episodic shenanigans, there's clearly a goal for each episode, and I really hope it can be more appreciated instead of the usual "where's gulus?" "where's the plot?" "where are the villains?" I also want them!!! But (I think) they're cementing strong bases for each digimon and partner, and even though it looks like nothing is happening, each episode contributes something in characterization and/or background lore details.

It's not perfect, for sure, there are lots of times where I would've loved acknowledging past episodes (digitamamon, ajataramon, and this ep I wish they explained some stuff i assumed like how betsumon's powers work and what happened to meicoomon, the conclusion was kinda brief for a problem of this caliber), and there doesn't seem to be an active path. But some of these things feel intentional, rather than bad writing. Like they're not the main point. In retrospect, Ghost Game seems very calculated and thought out, but who knows what will happen next? Only time will tell, because Toei sure won't!

#digimon ghost game #digimon #am i the only one??? #am i going insane??? #there's a structure!!!

[daily-rubbersoul-redux]

Sumi had her hands shoved into her pockets as she waited in the alleyway that afternoon.  This... would be it.  She would end this, here and now.  She just... hoped he would actually show up.

“Greetings Yukikara.” 

She turned her head towards the direction of the voice, perking up a bit when she saw it was coming from Nathan, note in hand.  “Hey.” She pulled her right hand from her pocket, giving a wave.  “Glad to see you’re doing well.”

“....I’ll cut to the chase.  What do you know about, well.... Everything that has been going on with me?”  He had more of a clue now than previously, considering that his memories had slowly been returning to him since the... incident a few days ago. But even still... It felt like some crucial clues were missing.  Not to mention that whatever had done this to him was being completely silent, despite his best efforts to get anything out of it.  

Sumi sighed, averting her gaze a bit.  “I gotta admit, not much.  I’m... Not the smartest.  But even so... I think I know a way to stop it.  One that doesn’t involve violence, or anyone else’s help.  On that’ll make things right.”  She turned to fully face him.  This was it.  The one thing she could do to help.  A determined look in her eyes, she straightened her posture, and throwing forward her arm to point at Nathan.  “Alright, listen up! I have a proposal for you!  If you give Nathan back all of his memories, even the ones that were from when you were in control of him, and leave his body so he can have his life normally again, then...

I’ll let you inhabit MY body instead.  Cause you want to be perfect, right?  So if you agree to this, you’ll have brains AND brawn.”  

What? ....No, she wasn’t talking to him.  She was talking to... 

“Yukikara, what are you doing?  Do you even know if this thing is capable of leaving my body?  And even then, do you not have a sense of self preservation at all!?”  This was insane... To do this for someone that had been so cruel to her previously... Did she actually sustain some sort of damage to her brain when she got attacked a few days ago?

Sumi’s face held the same determined look as she gave Nathan as a smile. “Nah, this is just the best thing for everyone.  Best thing I can do alone, anyways.  And I can’t trust anyone else to handle this, at least in a way that’ll lead to a happy ending.”  

Before he could even open his mouth to respond, however, Nathan once again felt himself being thrust out of control of his body.  

It would be a strain, but the creature wanted a chance to negotiate before they made a decision.  “I have to admit, that offer IS quite enticing... Not to mention that I do find you to be interesting...”  He brought his hand up to his chin, contemplating.  “But I must ask... What do you get out of this?  I would think you would not do this without good reason, no? Besides, as far as you know I will simply do the same to you that I did to him.”

“Yeah, I know.  I can’t exactly force you to leave my memories be and stuff, but... I feel that this is the best thing I CAN do in the situation.  Plus.... Lets just say I have a gut feeling that something else is going on.  Cause... You had no reason to get me to the hospital that other day.”

He seemed taken aback. “How exactly... were you aware that that was me?”

Sumi grinned. “Easy, there’s no way that Nathan would be able to carry me.  And I know that you’re stronger, so... I’m not THAT dumb, heh.”

He contemplated for a few more seconds.  The deal seemed good, and in all honesty.... He was curious about that odd person who had attacked Yukikara.  “...Fine then, I believe we have ourselves a deal.”  Without hesitation, he grabbed onto Sumi’s arm, and.... 

Within a matter of seconds, Nathan once again found himself in control of his own body.  And....

Oh.

O h .

He..... He needed to process this.  All of this.  Oh dear lord.

Sumi, meanwhile was.... huh, actually, she felt about the same.

“....Once I gain enough of my power back, I am going to need to speak through you in order to apologize to Kanpeki.”

She jumped a bit, not expecting to just have... A voice in her head now.  “Oh, uh, sure I guess? But.... Why?”

“.....It seems he was not the only one being manipulated in all of this.”

[ARC: END]

#anticlimactic? maybe lol but #this arc is just a springboard for the next majot one for sumi anyways :] #heehoo anyways #we're just gonna have some shenanigan arcs now #i hope u r prepared for what will essentially be dumb shit + character interactions #anyways #if people want it i'll explain what actually happened to nathan in all of this #plus like maybe the original ideas for the arc n stuff too #[actual lore?] story post #[rebellious musician] sumi yukikara #[not good enough] nathan kanpeki #[true perfection] nathan(???) #gonna have to give creature a new tag #i'll wait till it's real name is revealed lol