kryativelogos

[kryativelogos]

Cinder's Racial Ambiguity Frustrates Me (Spoilers for The Lunar Chronicles)

Hi hello long time no post! I haven't had a chance to really consumed any media until just recently so I'm finally back with another review!

Today we're gonna talk about The Lunar Chronicles, written by Marissa Meyer, and published in 2012. I had read this novel back in 2015/2016 when Fairest and Winter were newly released and had the opportunity to reread it (albeit in audiobook form) these past few months. Buckle up babes, I have a lot to say.

I wanna just say right off the bat that in terms of world-building, plot, and even character design, this story still holds up quite well from when I read it the first time. From how each character gets their own time to shine and development, to how they all connect with one another, I loved seeing the major plot unfold and how it concluded so nicely.

But I do want to discuss something that has bothered me from the first time that I read this series and still does after reading it a second time: Cinder's race.

Now you may be wondering, why do we care what Cinder's race is? Well, I'm Asian, Singaporean to be specific. And it would be great if Cinder's race was Asian/Chinese as the website, as the author, and as most people in the fandom believe to be. However, I am skeptical for this to be the case at all.

We don't know what race(s) the Lunars are.

They're an "evolved" race of humans that have magical abilities. Even Meyer herself states that the ethnicities start to blend because it's so far in the future. It's already quite difficult to pinpoint specific ethnic groups just in the royal family.

Queen Channary had olive skin and dark brown hair which could be a myriad of ethnicities and races although I'm heavily inclined to believe that she is/was South/Southeast Asian due to her name being taken from the Khmer dialect found in Cambodia [evidently in the wiki]. Even Queen Jannali was described to have had tan skin and chestnut colored hair, which again, says nothing about her race, but her name was taken from the Aboriginal language [also found on the wiki] so that may count for,,, something. Essentially, following Cinder's lineage, we already have little evidence to support the idea that Cinder is Asian, let alone Chinese.

Cinder's description in the book did not help her case (and I believe Meyer attempted to retcon this later on, like, look at the new covers - she looks so [East] Asian, but then you read the description in the actual book??).

Her first description in Cinder was tan skin, angular body, and mousy brown hair. Mousy implies, light brown. Literally look up "mousy brown hair" online, you'll see a bunch of eurocentric, white women. No Asian that I know, naturally, has "mousy" brown hair unless you dye it or it is heavily sun-bleached (which has happened to me but still not light enough to be considered "mousy", I could have safely called it brown). Cinder was also told by the end of the book, that she was found in Europe. You can see that as someone who's been wanting an Asian MC would be disappointed with finding out that ah, she must be European (and later, more than likely, French). Even if Cinder was Wasian, I believe genetically, the dark hair would have been dominant. I can't say the same for the tan skin since she was outdoors a lot and Asian folks do tan quite easily in the sun and remains tanned for at least 6-8 months.

I would love for Cinder to be Asian, I really would, but all of this evidence just keeps her race too ambiguous personally. I can't seem to get over the "mousy brown hair". If not for this particular descriptor, I would 100% believe Cinder to be Asian. But because we don't even know Channary or Jannali's race with only their names as some kind of clue to Cinder's background, we will never know for sure.

I don't think it helps that a majority of fanart I see of Cinder has very eurocentric features, which draws me back to her thinking she's French/European. It also bothers me that while Winter and Iko get rather well-written descriptions of what they look like (aka black), we can't seem to get one good description, showing some form of Asian representation that I'm sure many of us are grasping at straws for, of the main character of the series. So many of us are still hoping that Cinder is Asian simply because she's living in New Beijing (which I will be making another post at some point about how I, personally believe, is a poorly designed/created city in terms of world-building) but she's literally adopted from Europe (Luna if you wanna get technical, see the first point).

I know my points are kind of moot and there wasn't much warrant for me to go on a tirade about a fictional character created in 2012. But this is important to me as a WOC, as an Asian girlie who so wants to connect to a character that looks like me, that was written to look like me; but I feel cheated and the ambiguity makes it hard for me to fully love Cinder as much as I love the other characters (if anyone is asking, my favorite characters are Winter and Scarlet). If anyone else has thoughts about this or has something to prove to me once and for all that Cinder is Asian. Please send it my way.

PS I wish I had a physical copy to directly quote the book, but again, my second reread was through audiobooks, so I can't reference pages at all atm. Sorry about that TuT Hopefully I can get my hands on a copy from the library soon so I can edit this post with direct lines.

#the lunar chronicles #lunar chronicles #linh cinder #i just want cinder to be asian is that too much to ask ToT #marissa meyer

[kryativelogos]

The Young Six's Elements

Hi hello! Since MLP G5 is coming out soon, I thought it’d be fun to explore and discuss the Young Six’s elements from G4! This may or may not be long based on how you look at it. I would also say spoilers but guys, this show ended nearly 3 years ago.

Let’s get something right off the bat, these elements will be different from the Mane 6′s for two reasons: (1) the Pillars had different elements from the Mane 6 which leads me to believe they are stemmed from one another but not 100% identical and (2) that based on the colors from S8E26 when they pulled out the artifacts, Gallus isn’t- magical, not in the old-fashioned way that Twilight or Starswirl is at least. So I will be coming up with “new” elements that encompass the Young Six’s character while staying true to their predecessors. I also want to focus on the idea that each of these groups had an underlying goal, the Pillars were protecting a ‘primitive’ time for ponies, while the Mane Six were focusing on relationships between ponies and later extending out to other species. I want to believe that the Young Six’s goal would be to strengthen relationships between different species and unifying them under friendship based on how they’re all different species themselves and are connected to the rulers somehow.

Gallus - Guidance Gallus glowed purple, which means he is most closely related to Twilight (Magic) and Starswirl (Sorcery). Which might not make much sense here since again, while he is considered a magical creature, most creatures in the MLP universe are considered as such (and honestly the definition of what is and isn’t a magical creature is a completely different discussion all on it’s own). But because Twilight’s strongest magic is ✨The Magic of Friendship✨ I’m going to run with that. In S8E22 Gallus’ fear was being closed in / tight spaces, which I personally believe this to be physically closed in but also metaphorically closed off from people around him. In S8E15 Gallus explains that there really isn’t much of a family at home and that he really believes he found his family in the Young Six. So I picture him as both the leader of the Young Six because of Twilight’s and Starswirl’s own status of their groups and also that he values family the most. I want to also add that in the future (S9E26), he also becomes a guard for Twilight’s Kingdom. I believe that because of this, Gallus is basically ‘the head of the family.’ He is the supporter, the protector, and therefore is the one that would want to guide and help others around him to the best of his abilities. He even showed this while helping Silverstream conquer her own fears in S8E22. Gallus is the element of Guidance because while every-creature is capable of learning and making mistakes on their own, having someone there to help and just support them is always something nice.

Ocellus - Inspiration Ocellus glowed white, therefore closest to Mistmane (Beauty) and Rarity (Generosity). Ocellus’ fear (S8E22) was being feared again - as a species - and being “ugly and hideous” because she looked like Queen Chrysalis. However, the beauty Mistmane represents is not skin-deep, it’s the beauty within a person and Ocellus learns to love herself as a ‘reformed’ changeling - you can see this in S8E1 when she tries to pretend to be a dragon and pony to blend in and learning to just be herself and share her talent to help in the best way possible (see S8E2 + E9 at least). Her generosity comes from her love of learning and studying, giving her time and love to help the other students study and share the information she learns with others (S8E22). I see this as almost being a mentor or tutor, and giving your time for others is the greatest form of generosity in my opinion. This is why I believe Ocellus’ element would be Inspiration because as a changeling she is inspiring others through teachings and also sharing her past with others, and potentially shapeshifting into other creatures to show them all what they can be.

Silverstream - Curiosity I think Silverstream’s might just be the easiest one to explain. She shares characteristics of Laughter (Pinkie Pie) and Hope (Somnambula). Silverstream's past involves the Storm King and hid all her life underwater, so the problem here is she doesn't know anything above the water until the King's defeat (see MLP: the Movie). So when she is above the surface, she's constantly interested in everything (see S8E22 where she gets excited over plumbing) and wants to learn about everything. She gets excited over everything (see S8E2 for excitement over stairs) and this is a really good tie into laughter as part of her core characterization. Hope is also a really indicator for Silverstream because she and the rest of the hippogriffs really believed that staying underwater was the safest way to keep from the Storm King's rule. It wasn't until his defeat did the hippogriffs ever had a sense of hope of being able to live back on land. Curiosity is Silverstream's element because of her desire to learn.

Yona - Courage Yona is honest (AJ) and strong (Rockhoof), we didn't even need to know her elemental predecessors to know that. However, while her development as a character really isn't all that deep, we do see a softer side is S8E22 and S9E7. In S8E22, Yona can be seen terrified of spiders, but instead of just conquering her fear by smashing the spiders, she takes that extra step to befriend them instead, asking them for help to get out of her current situation. In S9E7, Yona is worried about embarrassing Sand Bar at a dance (I can't remember the name of the event sorry). She goes out of her way to learn everything 'the pony way' so she can fit in better. While this whole thing makes sense, it strips away Yona's identity of being a yak and that the dance was adapted to suit all creature. It takes real courage to step out of your comfort zone to change for someone, but also more so to just be yourself. Seeing that in Yona in both scenarios and also seeing how she can admit that she's scared of flying/falling (S8E1/2?) takes real courage. Because of her honesty, I think she wouldn't be afraid to speak her mind - or hesitate - and in that sense can also be quite courageous especially if it's something they don't want to hear (see basically every episode where there are consequences to not telling the truth). It takes courage to step out of the comfort zone and I think Yona really encompasses this idea.

Smolder - Integrity You may be wondering: Yona and Smolder have their elements backwards! Not quite, and here's why: Smolder's elemental predecessors are Flash Magnus (Bravery) and Rainbow Dash (Loyalty). I think it was a fun addition how her element is strongly tied to dragons (see S7E16) since the beginning and it's a nice touch. Smolder is the roughest of all six members and while she shares a lot of personality traits with Rainbow Dash (like being cool) she's also very honest with herself. In S8E22, Smolder's fear isn't really a fear and more of a wake-up call to herself. She likes cutesy things. She admits it and even joins the cheerleading team which is considered a more feminine sport (S9E15). I think it's really interesting how she also evokes characters to be more true to themselves such as Garble (S9E9) and even Rainbow Dash (S9E15). With these ideas in mind, I think Smolder's element is integrity for the sole reason that she is just really good at making people realize that there is no reason not to be true to yourself. She sees how other creatures perceive dragons, and does her best to allow characters like Spike and Garble be the dragons they want to be (liking pony-things like sewing and pillows S2E21 and S9E9 for Spike and slam poetry for Garble S9E9). How these tie to her predecessors is as such: it's brave to be yourself in a world (or in this case, species) that may not appreciate the full you, and it takes a loyalty to stand by your side while you admit to yourself who you truly are.

Sand Bar - Patience Finally, we have Sand Bar. Sand Bar was the hardest and yet easiest of the six to come up with an element. He has the least character development and also not a lot of personality aside from being very chill and being a really good ally to the other creatures. Because of this, I think he is the element of patience. His predecessors are Healing (Meadow Brook) and Kindness (Fluttershy), and both are key in being patient. This pony took his time with the other creatures, sharing his culture and making them feel welcome. He went out of his way to find Yona and listened to her, making her feel better by letting her know how he felt (S9E7). It was interesting to see the juxtaposition between Yona and Sand Bar, since Yona is very impulsive while Sand Bar is a 'go-with-the-flow' type pony and this just confirmed the idea that he is very patient, especially if he [romantically] likes Yona of all creatures. Aside from that though, there isn't many other eps I can reference that can support this decision. FINAL THOUGHTS--- So with everything said and explained, overall I think these elements are really necessary for both friendships but also could be helpful for them to be ambassadors or something along those lines to their kingdoms or go around helping stop feuds among kingdoms. The idea that these elements could be used to stop evil through artifacts is also something that could be further explored into although there's not much I could look into since there wasn't much information about all of them to begin with. One final thing, this is all just my interpretation and obviously can be up for debate, I only ask that if you do want to counter or even bring more evidence to the table that you do it kindly. I thought about this for a long time and tried my best to provide references as much as possible, so please respect that! Other than that, thank you for reading up to this point, I hope you enjoyed it and maybe sparked some conversations!

#my little pony: friendship is magic #mlp elements #mlp fim #mlp friendship is magic #my little pony

[kryativelogos]

Snow White’s Deepest Desire

was not actually, to be pretty. It was to be taken seriously. Here’s why:

We don’t know what Snow’s life looked like before the movie begins, but we see that she’s been snooping in Regina’s castle for a while - did she still live in the castle? It’s hard to tell, but that’s besides the point.

In the movie, the Magic Mirror explains that the shoes gave the wearer their deepest desire - for Regina it was to be pretty, and so the audience assumes that that is Snow White’s desire as well. However! I believe it’s her desire to be listened to for a couple reasons.

When Snow first wakes up from crashing into the tree by the M7′s hideout she has no idea who the girl is in the mirror. This means two things: she never imagined herself pretty and therefore we can assume that she was comfortable in her previous body. We do see a change in how people react to her though. The dwarves were willing to help Snow find her father and her reaction was clearly surprised. When she asked initially it almost came off as asking a lot from the M7, so this to me felt like she’s asked for help often but nobody volunteered.

Then when she shows what she truly looks like to Merlin her remark wasn’t “you wouldn’t like me if I looked like this” it was “you wouldn’t help me find my father if I looked like this.” Snow had no problem being in her body, but she enjoyed the way people would respond to her because she was “dainty.” If you recall in the village seen with Arthur, people would give her things and respond to her when she was thinner, but once she took off her shoes people ignored Snow and the guards didn’t believe her.

I believe the reason why she could take off her shoes wasn’t because Snow was sacrificing her beauty, but she was ok with people sneering at her for the sake of Merlin who at that moment trusted to listen to Snow no matter what she looked like. Her desire wasn’t physical, it was something that other people needed to see for them to see her for her. Snow’s inner beauty came out but that was it. She could take off the shoes because she had no problem with her size nor being looked down upon because of it, if it meant to save her friend it didn’t matter. And honestly, I really just love this movie - it’s too bad the ads botched the true theme.

#red shoes and the seven dwarfs #red shoes merlin

[kryativelogos]

Everyone is Sleeping on Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarves

I recently watched this cute little movie and before I get into it please note that I watched the English dubbed version, I’m not sure if there is like a regular Korean version but if there is - I’m sure that there are some small translation errors in the movie, so maybe the message is different in Korean. This one will be super short~

The message is simple: Don’t Judge a Book By It’s Cover - it’s such a common message that even Disney tries to showcase in Beauty and the Beast but honestly fails to do so. What I love about this movie is that it’s so on the nose about it. Snow White always loved herself from the beginning, from the moment we meet her she’s aware of her strength and throughout the movie she was confused and shocked about her appearance but never thought that she was any more than what she originally was. She knew that people viewed and reacted to her differently because she was thinner but she never lost sight of who she really was. I loved that Regina and the Mirror were always shocked that she could take off her shoes because of her selflessness - like she’d rather have Merlin see who she really was before she would let him die. The internal conflict between Snow and Red was just back and forth, how she wanted to be herself but maybe being beautiful would mean people would take her more seriously. Merlin learned to love the true Snow White - her personality and look past her weight - which ended up breaking the curse. He believed she was beautiful inside and out and honestly it’s such a good message to kids everywhere. I mean look at Regina, she was beautiful but had the ugliest personality. It was just ahhhhhhh - that is all thank you.

#red shoes merlin #red shoes and the seven dwarfs #i'm going to go watch it again thanks

[kryativelogos]

Lukanette is the Ideal Ship (for now) Here’s Why

Hi before, anyone gets mad at me - I still think Adrienette is endgame, but with the information we have right now, I’m really rooting for Luka atm. I’m not hating on anybody’s ship, ya’ll can ship whoever you want with whoever you choose. This is just an analysis considering the plot and the characters within the show. So this post is strictly analytical and I’m going to do my best to keep the bias down to a minimum.

We all know Luka was created as a love triangle for Marinette. Like the first time we’re introduced to him (Captain Hardrock, S2Ep13) Alya was already all up in Marinette’s business meaning the show wanted us to consider him as a love interest. I mean she was infatuated with him the moment she saw him, she straight up stammers like she did with Adrien. We also see him making fun of Marinette afterwards, which is similar to when Adrien laughed at Marinette during the umbrella scene (Origins PII, S1Ep26). There a few more key similarities between the two main love interests which is just more confirmation that this was intentional. The show wanted more drama in our superheroes civilian lives because let’s be honest, Marinette stumbling around trying to get Adrien’s attention was getting a little old.

Now let’s actually talk about why I believe Luka is better suited for Marinette (again, for now, because we all know Adrien and Marinette were made for each other). We’ve all read the fanfictions, Marinette is just overall clumsy and shy irl vs her superhero persona, this isn’t something that can be fixed overnight. Confidence needs to be built up from the inside out and I really think Luka does a really good job of bringing that side out of Marinette.  She has great confidence in herself around Luka, but she freaks out about her designs not being good enough around Adrien (Mr. Pigeon, S1Ep6). In the Silencer episode (S3Ep6) you can see Luka constantly looking at her during rehearsal and praising her designs. Although Adrien does this in Mr. Pigeon, this is the only time it happens, and he’s been around her designs quite often - Style Queen (S2Ep23) and Reflekdoll (S3Ep9) to name a few - while Luka has only been around Marinette once, you can already tell that he’s not just being polite like Adrien. Confidence is something she lacks around Adrien, and maybe it’s because all he ever does is be polite around her and not so much genuine. Luka has said outright that she’s amazing (Captain Hardrock, S2Ep13).

Ok maybe that’s just semantics and poor line choices, so let’s talk about Luka’s confession:

"You are an extraordinary girl, Marinette. Clear as a music note, sincere as a melody. You have been the song I hear in my head since we first met. I won’t let anyone hurt you."

I swear if someone ever said that to me I would have lost it. Like, I would not know how to cope after that, forget Adrien, I want this kind of poetry in my life at all times. Regardless, this isn’t about me, this is about Marinette. This woman just stands there blushing, she knows that he likes her now, but she can’t get over Adrien, which is understandable, she’s liked him for so long. His confession just kinda shows that he’s ready to support her forever, and that’s really all he can do because clearly she’s still hung up on Adrien (Desperada, S3Ep13).

Here’s my issue with this, do we ever really hear why Marinette likes Adrien so much? For me, I have to separate the fanfiction from the show because I recall in so many fanfictions about why Marinette likes Adrien but do we ever get a reason in the show? Let’s look at the umbrella scene again, what made him so attractive in this one moment? Was it him saying he was trying to be a good friend? Was it the umbrella? Or, hear me out, his looks? We can’t tell for certain, all we know is, after given the umbrella, she’s completely in love with him. I fear that this is a toxic relationship though; throughout the show we can assume that Marinette has stalked Adrien (Copycat, S1Ep9) and has documented everything about him (Animaestro, S3Ep4). This obsessive behavior can come off as creepy irl and honestly our oblivious cinnamon roll is just vibing and only recently figure out that she liked him (Puppeteer 2, S3Ep12). She’s so nervous about being the perfect person around him I feel like she’s completely forgotten that he’s a person with feelings too. In fact, in the same episode, Marinette goes on a whole soliloquy about how perfect he is. I don’t think Marinette really can share her reasons for liking him and that’s a problem in itself.

Luka also complements Marinette very well. Our girl loves to get jittery and excited, she’s impulsive and just ready to take the initiative (as long as it’s not around Adrien). Her high-strung energy requires someone to be her rock and keep her centered. Luka proves to be a great supporter in Heart Hunter (S3Ep25) when Marinette is overwhelmed with emotions. He just stands there and let’s her cry, which I don’t think she would ever be able to do around Adrien. He also proves to be observant as a superhero (Desperada, S3Ep13) which is something that even Chat Noir sometimes can overlook. He knows even as a hero that he’s the support and Ladybug needs him for that reason.

Luka is really out here just trying to be supportive and I love the headcanon that he knows who Ladybug is because he can tell it’s Marinette’s voice, but that’s besides the point. Adrien is sort of being forced to the side because the show wants to dramatize the love life, which is understandable (I mean, who watches the show for the hero stuff, nah, we here for the romance). Like Kagami says, she’s gonna have to make up her mind eventually (S2Ep21) and I think the way the show is going, she’s currently siding with Luka given that Adrien is with Kagami (Miracle Queen, S3Ep26). I would love to see how the romance pans out in the end, because I really believe that the only reason why we’re here is because Adrien can’t make up his gd mind, and he’s honestly doing the same thing but with Ladybug - as in he’s not even considering other people or acknowledging them because he’s put Ladybug on a pedestal but can’t go through the same obsessive lengths like Marinette since she’s pretty good at hiding her identity, he’s got the Ladyblog and that’s it. (If ya’ll wanna talk about how oblivious he is hmu)

If you guys have any inputs feel free to have a discussion down below! I do sound a bit biased in this, but I hope my analysis explains why. As always this was just a fun post, so please don’t judge me based on this! Thanks~ 

#lukanette #miraculous ladybug #this show is a mess rn but i love it so much #i mean look at my cosplay acc and tell me i'm not obsessed #check out kryativelyrics if you wanna hear a snippet of the piece i'm playing for my cmv #i'm sorry for the plugins lol

[kryativelogos]

tl;dr : Scarlemagne Deserves at Least SOME of our UwUs (spoilers for S2)

I just finished watching Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts’ second season and gosh, Hugo is such an interesting character to consider. Like wow, they really exposed this guy (and Lio), hard. This post will break down his past, why he ended up going bananas (haha- get it?), and potential routes for this character in a future season. WARNING: Long-ass post ahead... again

The mysterious Scarlemagne is first introduced in S1 as this Victorian/Elizabethan-era (sorry, I don’t really know my history beyond SIX) loving, piano-playing mandrill who was controlling humans and trying to basically take over the world. In the first season, we only see him as a bit crazy and with no reason behind his want for world domination, as most villains do. We get hints of a history between Kipo’s dad and a-once-known-as Hugo, but aside from that, we know next to nothing about our main antagonist. In terms of S1′s Scarlemagne, I saw him as calculative and clever, he had a backup plan and was teetering between a composed civilian and instinctual animal. Because of all the foreshadowing, I was glad to find an episode in season two (2) that delved into Hugo’s story with Lio (specifically Ep8, although throughout the season there are clips of the two’s history together).

In S2, we find out that Scarlemagne was once one of the last non-mutated animals in the world named Hugo. Lio and his wife, Song, were his caretakers and experimented on him to discover and isolate the gene that caused the animals to mutate. As Hugo grew up, he learned how to read and play the piano by Lio and Song. The couple loved Hugo as if he were their son and honestly, they really wanted what was best for him.

However, it was unclear how long Lio and Song had mutated Hugo and how long he was used as a milking machine by Dr. Emilia. These two scenes were strictly a montage to the audience and that’s why I believe we need to cut him some slack (just like how Kipo did in this season). If we’re going off of Hugo’s point of view, we need to consider that he was in a box for his entire life before escaping to the surface. Since we don’t know how long it was before Dr. Emilia discovered Hugo, I can only assume that there was simply enough time for him to learn/read about the old ages when monarchs were still a thing. He may have a larger vocabulary, but socially, I believe his mental age has got to be no more than 14 years old. I say this because his behavior during his time with Lio and Song (such as when he was playing the piano before he got caught) was still respectful, open to learning about the surface before it came crumbling down, and he was caring - especially with the unborn Kipo. That means he wasn’t introduced to distress until after Dr. Emilia had found him.

Even after Dr. Emilia started abusing him, he was still visited by Lio (as seen in the montage - Song was most likely busy with managing her own mutations and Kipo) but these visits were limited. Meaning that Lio was no longer teaching, and more there to provide accompaniment and comfort. Therefore, if he was still mentally at 14, he certainly did not grow to experience any sense of negative emotions aside from Dr. Emilia; even then, he shut out most of those emotions and kindly did this for Dr. Emilia for the sake of Kipo and her family - his family. So without learning that humans could be “bad” or had mixed emotions aside from loving - thanks to Lio and Song - Hugo grew up incredibly ignorant of the “outside world” and believing that humans had his best interest at heart. This is apparent when he defends humans once up on the surface and generally shy/awkward when he meets the goth apes. Again, this is because of his literally sheltered childhood where he lacked the social interactions he needed to develop as he grew up.

So because of all this, when Hugo notices not only that Lio left him behind, but didn’t look for him, didn’t trust him to hold Kipo, and even gave her his own blanket, the anger and all of these pent up negative emotions come rushing back tenfold. In terms of character, I think the way he received the news was very appropriate for the show. He didn’t know how else to think. So going off of the one book he was obsessed over and just trying to cope with the betrayal, Hugo goes off to make sure nobody ever feels left out again by forcefully uniting all of the mutes and turning the tables on the humans that he once trusted. Hugo took advantage of what he was given to try to make means of what he was feeling in his heart. I mean throughout the last two episodes you can see Kipo really getting through to him, but I believe that he was/is so full of grief and anger that he pushes away that lost feeling of being loved as a defense mechanism so he could never get hurt again.

In the final episode of season two (2) Scarlemagne was carted away with the TimberCats and was genuinely astonished that Kipo would willingly sacrifice her sanity to save mutes. This is a foil to when Lio left Hugo behind. Leading up to this point, Scarlemagne had pegged all humans to always think of themselves before anyone else, so when he finds out a human would go out of their way to help a mute, aka someone like him, he doesn’t know how to compute. I think in a future season the show could really work on a redemption arc with this character. Scarlemagne is still socially ignorant - he doesn’t understand what complex emotions are, and if Kipo was already starting to open up his heart this season, I don’t see why she won’t continue to try to help him in a future season. My only hope is that Kipo won’t take what her dad said to heart, that Scarlemagne will never change, and that she’ll continue to be as stubborn as ever to help those in need.

The other route I can possibly see happening is Scarlemagne turning into a mega mute, as in, no longer humanoid and going complete animal. This would be an interesting route to take since we do see a progression of him going slightly more insane by the end of the season. We have to also consider that the formulas given to Hugo were the same given to Kipo and Song, who both turned into mega mutes that lost their sanity. If this were the case, however, I feel like two consequences would occur: (1) any character development for this character from that moment on, would be wasted (2) progression of the plot may become stale given that there is no longer a clever antagonist and solely an enemy that needs to be taken down, which can be a hit or miss with the audience and the show becomes more or less one-dimensional. So in my opinion, a redemption arc, though cliche, would be a much better route to take, although I wouldn’t mind seeing how the plot changes if they choose to do something like the latter.

What do you guys think? I’m always up for discussion - and as always this was just a fun post, so please don’t judge me based on this! Thanks~

#kipo netflix #kipo and the age of wonderbeasts #scarlegmane #i use uwu as a term of appreciation don't think too deep into it

[kryativelogos]

Aisha/Layla’s Wack Love Life (spoilers for S3+)

I’m on a Winx Club roll right now, but I do plan on making a post about Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. ANYWAYS. I just finished rewatching S6 and I can’t really remember if people thought S6 was good or bad but that’s not what I wanted to talk about for this post (although if people are interested I can discuss some of the things I liked and disliked about it) I’m here to talk about Aisha/Layla’s love life that I wish the show took better care of. (NOTE: I will probably be using both Aisha and Layla’s name interchangeably, please realize they are the same person and I am only switching them based on the season I am talking about. For reference, I am using Layla for S3-4 and Aisha for S5+)

I’m going to split this analysis into four parts, the first three will be about the boys they introduced throughout the show to be Aisha’s love interest and my personal opinions about them. The final part will just be final thoughts about what was appropriate for the show plot-wise and their compatibility with Aisha. So yes, warning, this is a long-ass analysis.

NABU: Introduced in S3 as the mysterious Ophir who was stalking Layla for like three (3) episodes before actually talking to the girl. He was arranged to marry Layla and was initially upset over the idea, thus stalking to figure out who the heck this girl was. He lasted for technically a full season before dying in S4, sacrificing himself to stop the Wizards of the Black Circle. I personally really liked the development that Nabu and Layla have throughout the season. From being completely upset over the idea of spying to apologizing and realizing that they had real chemistry. I learned to really love this couple in S4 because as the season goes on and there was the ridiculous drama between Andy + his band vs the specialist, there were small clips that showed that Nabu and Layla still loved each other very much. In one episode after the girls have a fight with the specialists, they walked away from each other, but Nabu and Layla looked back as they split off in (I’m sorry, I can’t think of the episode atm but if I find it, I’ll add it in). Between all the couples, I found Nabu x Layla (and Helia x Flora) to be the least problematic and understanding couple, even going out of their way to help Riven fix his relationship with Musa. He supports Layla in her passion of dancing, and he doesn’t get jealous. Like the man lets his girl go and dance with another guy because he doesn’t dance but he loves seeing Layla dance. He straight up says “Oh, I don’t dance, but Layla would love to.” (again I can’t give you the exact episode but when I rewatch it - since it’s my favorite season - I’ll update this post) I can’t tell you how sad I was when he died. I understood Layla’s pain when he died and the fact that the girls didn’t really sympathize as much as when Tecna “died” to get her enchantix in Ep16 was so annoying. I will even go as far as to say they killed off the most competent man out of the main love interests. He was by far the most impressive between all the men; his magic clearly made him superior but he wasn’t arrogant nor had a leadership complex. Nabu was really out here just trying to support his girl and I was here for it. If there was a boyfriend I would want from Winx, it would be Nabu. His sacrifice is the first hero-death and I’m pretty sure the only hero-death in the show (this may be wrong, I haven’t watched S8). Now, I know there’s a lot of hope for this man in the sense that the direct translation when Morgana says she’ll watch over him until he wakes. I don’t think this will happen and I’ll explain why later on.

ROY: Introduced in S5 as a protector?? of Andros, where he helped the Winx club navigate around the ocean in a yacht. I don’t really have much to say except he was very kind and sympathetic. He was constantly praising Aisha and was capable of supporting the club when necessary. I appreciated him in S6 despite his competition with Nex for allowing Aisha to enjoy herself. Although it was apparent that there was a rivalry between the two, I really liked how he backed down to let Aisha have fun and not be so pissed off of Nex which was common earlier in the season. This was also annoyingly one of those “nice guys finish last” though since he ends up literally vanishing after Nex and Aisha are “confirmed” a couple. This was frustrating because I really liked Roy as a character, he was supportive like Nabu and there was so much development the show could have introduced to him. There was a lack of personality which I think is why they moved away from Roy and more towards Nex. To add, “the nice guys finish last” is such a poor message to send out to kids; having a jerk as your boyfriend who only softens to you, is such a gross depiction of how men should behave and removing Roy solidified the show’s preference to “bad boys” being better boyfriends. 

NEX: Introduced in S6 with Thorin. I don’t really know the plot-reason for bringing the “red boys” into the show aside from finalizing Daphne and Aisha’s love interest, which is probably why I disliked the two so much from the start. This guy was just as bad, or worse, than Riven in S1. I absolutely despised how he treated the girls, how competitive he was, and the fact that Aisha called him out on his BS only “turned him on.” This being the only thing going for him, he was obnoxious and wanted to show off around Aisha thinking it would make him look better compared to Roy. The only soft thing I noticed throughout the entire show was in S6Ep24 when Aisha went into the Legendarium and he was “scared.” Like, dude, if that was the only time you were concerned about her safety, your character was very poorly written. I know that maybe in S7 there would be more development in his character, but I honestly don’t recall much about the boys in that season at all. So I’ll stick with his behavior in S6 for this analysis.

FINAL THOUGHTS---

I think removing Nabu was a really dumb choice. I also believe that the show thought that Roy was too similar to Nabu, so they nerfed him and introduced Nex. Nabu was too competent and had too little drama for the show’s liking and therefore removed him. I do think that plot-wise Nabu’s sacrifice was a nice touch, however after realizing that the show just wanted a hard reset on Aisha’s love life, I believe there were better ways to do so. Nabu brought out Layla’s soft side, and lead her to live a happy life with an arranged marriage (which in irl, I know of many couples who live happy lives with their arranged spouse). I personally believe that Nabu and Layla were the best couple because they lived like a regular couple irl, they grew to love each so much more organically than Nex. They considered their future together on Earth and were ready to settle down. But with the other boys, I could not see Aisha ever talking about settling down or considering a future together. I didn’t mind Roy being the next potential boyfriend seeing as he wasn’t forceful with his approach to getting to know Aisha. He was gentle with her, and even though he didn’t know her past with Nabu, he was taking it slow with her and giving her space. They had chemistry and although it didn’t last very long, it disappointed me that the show really made Aisha shallow and only noticed Nex for being better athletic-wise and not personality-wise. That being said, I will never ship Aisha and Nex. Aisha clearly disliked him in S6 and yet she tolerated him as he laughed at Roy (S6Ep15) when he messed up and hardly did anything for her. So not only did they make Nex a jerk, but also Aisha so one-dimensional that she let all of the things that she initially called him out for, to slide. I think, the show did a poor job of showing Aisha mourning for Nabu with the exception of S5′s Ep1, Ep7, and Ep8 which is only 3/26 of the episodes, and some of the girls (*cough* Stella in S5Ep8 *cough*) hardly mourned for him at all. Compatibility-wise, Nabu, for me, is and always will be the best choice. Nex, can like, go do more pushups or something. Plot-wise, there was no plot. Nabu’s death moved the storyline to make Nebula a better queen, but aside from that, this whole romance thing was just to make sure all the girls had a partner that “worked” in the show’s favor. Nex will really need to step up in S7+ if he is to ever be like Nabu in that he was supportive, kind, and let Layla be herself around him; because all I see is that Nex is solely attracted to Aisha’s badass side - the side where she’s sporty and athletic, whereas when she was with Nabu she was able to dance - which was her secret passion - and considered settling. Please treat my girl well in S8 nwn

If you guys have any inputs feel free to have a discussion down below! I do sound a bit biased in this, but I hope my analysis explains why. As always this was just a fun post, so please don’t judge me based on this! Thanks~

#winx club #winx aisha #winx layla #winx #layla x nabu #winx nabu #please don't hurt me i'm just highkey frustrated

[kryativelogos]

Why Stella is the Worst Winx Member (spoilers for S5)

Ok so I was rewatching the Winx Club because I’m in such a creative deficiency stump right now, and I just wanted to rant on how and why Stella is a poorly written character from S5.

If you don’t know, Stella is the princess of Solaria and is the only daughter of “divorced” King Radius and Queen Luna. (I put divorced in quotation marks because in S5 Stella wishes for her parents to get along, does that mean they’re happily married again? I wish I knew). Despite that, she is an only child who has always gotten what she wants. This being the case of “only child syndrome” I have found Stella to be spoiled and insensitive in many cases during the season. Her want to be a stylish fashion designer has been the cause of leaving the club in awkward and uncomfortable situations in more than one occasion. 

For example, In Ep 9, Stella creates several outfits during Wizgiz’s class, wanting attention and thinking she could get away with it. Stella refused to pay attention in class and when Flora complimented her designs, she demanded her to “tell [her] everything [she] liked about [her] designs.” When this falls through and the girls stop paying attention to her, she calls Brandon insisting for him to come over since it was an “emergency.” She dragged her boyfriend out for a spontaneous fashion show while he was in the middle of his own training to find her giving students stilts and literally blinding attires unfit for the general public. I cannot stress how frustrating it must’ve been for both Brandon and the girls to have to deal with Stella and even when Brandon tried to give her the truth about her clothes, she throws a fit and refuses to listen to his advice. This happens on another occasion in Ep 14, when she makes a carrot dress and nobody likes it. So when Brandon tries to support her and give it to her straight, she thinks he’s being un-supportive. Literally, during her debut with the carrot dress he was on stage with her to present the gown and he told the truth which is invaluable in a relationship. If that’s not support, idk what is. Then, in Ep 20, Stella decides it’s a good idea to make a dress during a mission. That dress causes Flora to get captured by a bird and is put in unnecessary danger. Of course, the girls save her, but you know what Stella didn’t do?? A P O L O G I Z E. Flora straight up just laughs it off like a bad joke.

Stella also doesn’t like to listen to her friends. In Ep 22, Stella clearly has her priorities mixed up and decides to go shopping (where she cuts to the front of the line) in which Tecna warns her to stop before she breaks the machine. But nooOoooo, Stella continues to demand clothes from literally every clothing line in the world and when she breaks it, she gets huffy and is disappointed that the machine broke. So not only did she break what is probably a very expensive piece of machinery, but also inconvenienced the customers she rudely cut in front of. For me, the most annoying part of the whole ordeal is that none of the girls reprimanded her for not listening and for breaking the machine.

If there’s one girl who’s character did not develop but in fact, worsened, it’s Stella. She is careless and doesn’t care how other people feel unless it affects her. At least with the other girls they learned to be better people (I can discuss these later if someone is interested) but Stella has not only gotten more selfish but irresponsible with her powers. You can chalk it up to her parents being split and spoiling her to let her forget about her parents no longer being together, but she is an adult now, and I know that as you grow up, especially with the support system she has with the club, you’d think she would’ve learned something. I can also argue that in the earlier seasons she was not as obnoxious and that even with her parents split up she never caused any harm in her endeavors to be a fashion designer. The fact that this is one of her only characteristics of her character during the season, it’s hard to acknowledge the good things she has done during the show. I mean, yeah, she thanks Brandon in Ep 23 for telling the truth, but that really doesn’t excuse the other things she has done, apologies and thanking someone are two different and important things to say to him (and others for what she has done).

If you guys have any thoughts, I’m totally willing to discuss. This is a rant, and honestly just a fun post, so please don’t judge me based on this lol

#winx club #rant #winx stella #winx #please don't hurt me i'm just highkey frustrated