#this whole arc pushed me to my limit

[annalycheee]

thinking about this a little too much 🫶

#unordinary #unordinary john #unordinary arlo #jarlo #this whole arc pushed me to my limit

[vinillain]

Wakfu THE GREAT WAVE manga synopsis

Ohhhh he's about to have a whole mental breakdown arc

Anyway here's my theory (S4 spoilers ahead)

АНЕМ

In order to defeat Toross Mordal in the s4 finale, Yugo consumed the stasis Toross had trapped him in in order for his body to utilize it as a weapon

Something which Toross remarks on with "Be careful Yugo, try not to get a taste for it." Or "don't get comfortable using it so much."

I think Yugo is now tied to Toross some how by using his Stasis. The hands on the cover representing control of how Toross will influence Yugo’s decisions. Or even manipulate him, with those “disturbing visions” being like nightmares in a way?

My other idea that could tie into the first or be it’s own thing, is that Yugo is suffering from stasis poisoning. (Hence why he’s connected to Toross and is having visions due to his influence) The only reason he hasn't had any withdraws of negative affects so far is because of the Eliatrope dofus, but let's say the twlevian leaders (who ToT confirmed would turn their backs on Yugo likely due to the power he carries) or a malicious force were to force Yugo to let go of the dofus, which would then in turn allow the stasis inside of him to kick in full gear causing him to get sick or corrupted.

And this is more me reaching but if Toross is directly involved then just his stasis then he could be trying to manipulate Yugo and er-go Adamai to be a Nora+Efrim 2.0. But l'm more leaning towards the stasis poison.

This panel really got me... How worried Adamai is for Yugo who clearly hasn't slept at all and is not in a good mental state. With what might be wakfu or stasis veins buldging out of his face and (maybe wakfu tears?) in corrupted looking eyes.

Yugo who's supposed to be this powerful king who has all these weapons that's the Twelvians want, being reduced to a vulnerable state with power he likely can't handle, which imp will definitely lead to the destruction of twelve.

Like Ogrest, having such an unstable powerful being left so vulnerable or susceptible to manipulation (and especially if he falls into the hands of the malicious) will be a recepie for disaster. (cough cough say Toross or a political leader)

And on top of this Yugo has YEARS of unresolved trauma and issues he never properly dealt with. Combine this with a ton of elements I think this is going to be THE breaking point for him. He gets pushed to a point that causes him to snap, maybe someone he cares about dies or something tragic happens to him while he is in this state, and that will cause him to accidentally kickstart the great wave.

(Waven trailer https:// m.youtube.com/watch?V=SC2kutCxxrg)

Likely using Lokus, he will be pushed far past his limits with the stasis poisoning and pressure from the twelvian leaders + who knows what else and years of suppressed trauma which in a moment of great weakness in his suffering will cause him to catalyst the great wave. How exactly it builds up to it is beyond me but I believe the great wave manga will fall down a route like this. His intentions are good. But he’s in such a horrible state he isn’t of sound mind or at the least is unable to control his powers.

Anyway can't wait for him to go through the horrors…... again... it's only been four months since the end of s4 by the way... might make my analysis more detailed when my phone isn't at 3 percent .

#wakfu #wakfu yugo #eliatrope #wakfu season 4 #wakfu adamai #king yugo #queen Amalia #wakfu saison 4 #wakfu s4 #ankama #Krosmoz #analysis #theory #wakfu Amalia #amalia sheran sharm

[sugarpasteltmnt]

IN HIS DEFENCE YOUR HONOR, HE IS JUST A SILLY BOY

I'll just drop a little art here, keep doing what you're doing, you're doing amazing! You write so well and I can only imagine the effort it takes to pull out these chapters, so please take care of yourself too!! I've already absolutely word-vomited how much I love your work and hyukin I'll do it again-

The way that all of the brothers react to Leo is just so believable and heart-wrenching and oh my goodness poor Raph give the poor boy a break- The recovery arc that hopefully will come is gonna be a long journey (Probably more Dr. Delicate touch than Dr. Feelings slapping some of that self-sacrifice out of Leo-). Also, the sibling sense needed to make both of the climatic scenes in your fics during the Thanksgiving parade is just great, I swear it's like that sometimes though.

At the start of chapter 22 he isn't Void he's Leo. He is coping with these events as Leo. Only when he realizes that it's all real does he slip back into the Void mask. We as readers can see the literal struggle between Leo and Void through his ninpo, as it seems like (correct me if I'm wrong, or don't lol) it burns the krang infection, it seems like the only thing that can actually hurt the infection. Leo is extremely damage-resistant to the point that even nonconsensual amputation isn't really an issue to him but ninpo seems like the only thing that can genuinely hurt him. Even if I'm completely off with this whole rant, it's so cool to see how the story unfolds, trying to figure out the limits of your universe is an amazing experience.

Every time you update I feel so glad that I can see the story unfold in real time. I can't wait for the next update, but don't feel like you need to push yourself for this fic, you're doing great, especially with the quality of what you write! Maybe it's a little repetitive at this point, but really I find it absolutely unbelievable what you are able to do and I admire your ability to write such convincing narratives.

Anyways, please take the silly boi :D

THANK YOU YOU'RE SO SWEET!!!! it makes me so so so happy to hear that you're enjoying both perspectives, because it's very fun to write and i love to explore what everyone might be feeling ;w; and i'm having a LOT of fun exploring Ninpo. I'm a little sad we didn't get more of since the show ended right after the Shredder fight, but I like to think that there's nothing like it-- something unique just for them 🩵

AND THANK U FOR THE FANART AHHH 🩵😭💞💘💗‼️

#listen Leo's pain tolerance is very High but he is weak against the comfort Ninpo brings him #get beat with kindness nerd (affectionate) #kashdajh thank u again this was very sweet ;w; #TNV Final Chapters Spoilers #TNV asks #The Neon Void #The Neon Void TMNT #TNV TMNT #The Neon Void fanart #TNV fanart #fanfic fanart #rottmnt fanfiction #tmnt fanfiction #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #ROTTMNT #save ROTTMNT

[ceruleanwhore]

So I’ve seen a lot of posts talking about the potential for canon Ted x Trent in the finale, but there’s an angle or two I haven’t seen examined yet that I’d like to discuss here. What I am referring to is mainly why the writers chose to have Trent be the one to support Colin through his arc, coming out and everything, instead of using Keeley, who is canonically bi and was in a sapphic relationship during Colin’s arc. They didn’t need to have another character come out and everything for the sake of supporting Colin through his arc, and yet they chose to do so anyway, and I do think it’s important that they chose Trent specifically. I think it’s also important to acknowledge how limited lgbtq rep has been in media and how already, just by having Keeley and Colin be written as they are, this show has gone far beyond most others. Likewise, it should be acknowledged how having that role in Colin’s arc would have been genuinely very good for Keeley’s own character arc and how well it could have tied into some aspects of her relationship with Jack, so it’s not as though using her for that would’ve just been a cheap cop-out. The fact that they didn’t do that indicates to me that they have something specific and even better in mind.

When you keep that in mind, suddenly the signs are everywhere that this could actually, genuinely happen in canon - Trent’s red string bracelet, Ted’s comment about Sleepless in Seattle, Trent meeting Ted’s mom, etc. My whole thing with this pairing is that, when I look at it, especially in s3, there’s so much there that I genuinely believe they’d already be snogging if it was hetero and in a different show. In this context, I can only see Trent coming out and Ted “I was a straight man” Lasso making that movie reference as our indication that they bat for the other team, as it were, and yes, this can be something other than friendship.

The other thing I would add is that in the mom episode we get open acknowledgment that Ted’s biggest problem is how he runs around helping others but can’t accept help from anyone else for himself. I would then point out that the only time he’s received the same huge, self-sacrificial type of help he gave Beard with prison and everything is what he got from Trent Crimm revealing an anonymous source and then leaving his entire career to show his support and respect of Ted. Yes, a lot of the others around him have supported and helped Ted in different ways but I think it’s huge that Trent is the only one who’s done so on that level. I would also add that Trent has supported Ted multiple times while being one of the only characters to do so without ever acting against him. Beard stole his car, Nate turned on him, Rebecca was plotting against him and using Leslie to do so, etc., and yet Trent from the beginning was skeptical at most and never really acted against Ted. Beyond that, I also think that the first article Trent wrote about Ted in s1 is hugely indicative of Trent’s potential compatibility with Ted.

For one thing, Ted talked quite a bit in s1 about curiosity and went on that whole speech with Rupert in the darts game about how he values it but how so few people are genuinely curious - but Trent is. Trent shows up to write about Ted, skeptical but curious enough to pay close attention and allow his view of this other man to shift and to not be clouded by biases. I think the truth element is also huge - Ted’s ex wifey couldn’t accept his communication style and got an override from their therapist to force Ted to be outwardly truthful in a way he wasn’t comfortable with, and yet Trent clearly demonstrates his ability to accurately discern the truth from Ted without ever pushing him in such a way. Trent over and over again respects boundaries, never pushes people to share beyond what they’re comfortable with, and still gleans the truth from what he does see and hear, which is exactly what Ted needs.

Lastly, I’m not here to go off ragging on tedbecca and tbh I wouldn’t be mad if it did happen, but I want to talk about why I just don’t see it happening in canon real quick. First and foremost is that she’s the only other character than Ted’s ex (is her name Michelle? I genuinely can’t remember and that’s the only reason why I’m not using it) who uses ‘Oklahoma’ with him, and I don’t actually see that as a good thing. This is especially the case ever since it came out that Michelle(?) is now dating the therapist she and Ted saw who had them start using that in the first place, since that new relationship calls all the therapy she and Ted did into question.

Also, it’s not just that Rebecca used to be plotting against Ted, it’s that from s1 e1 on she’s been using him in one way or another to get back at or one up Rupert. Whether it’s working against him in s1 or then really trying to get him to win, especially with that one game against West Ham in s3, she’s just continually trying to use Ted as a tool against another man. What’s more damning is that when she does start to show interest in men who are not Rupert, it’s never Ted- Ted’s just there to bring her biscuits and engage in occasional attempts at girl talk, which really fits into the trope of a token gay best friend. I think they do have a good, solid relationship and, like I said, I won’t be mad if they do end up together, but I don’t see them as being set up to be in a romantic relationship.

But yeah, I think that’s all for now lol

#ted lasso #tedependent #tedtrent #ted x trent #trent crimm #ted lasso s3 #ted lasso meta #tedependent meta #tedtrent meta

[epickiya722]

Every time I see someone say they don't find Midoriya interesting, a piece of me just fades away. I know he doesn't look it, but he's batshit crazy. He is a damn wild card.

EVEN BEFORE OBTAINING OFA.

All Might decided to give OFA after seeing this kid do something crazy (running ahead to save Bakugou from the Sludge Villain... defenseless).

After that, for training, what does Midoriya do?

CLEAN A BEACH!! Keep in mind, he is just a scrawny kid. And then one morning, he just decides "I'm about to do something wild".

He climbs up a pile of trash, and just screams into oblivion with a war cry, shirtless just as the sun is rising.

That's just the beginning!

Kid has punched a robot the size of a building, attempts to fight an obviously dangerous villain with broken bones.

Later during the Sports Festival, he manages to make a new friend with Icy-Hot Princey boy who holds a grudge (I mean rightfully so, but this ain't about him) by breaking his bones and screaming at him and could have got himself killed in doing so. Oh wait! Rewind! Before that, Midoriya goes through an obstacle course race without using his quirk and just being calculating.

AND GETS FIRST PLACE before kids with quirks that can boost their speed!!

After that arc, he faces a whole serial killer!! He gets told not to run off and guess what? He does it anyways!

You know what, let me just list things he is and has done the best way I can because when I say this kid is not what he seems, he is not what he seems.

Doesn't listen, "I do what I want because it's right even though I'll get yelled at for it". Okay, this kid is impulsive sometimes.

Puts up with Bakugou and calls this explosive kid "Kacchan". Who in the hell gives that boom-boom gremlin a cutesy nickname and not once get told to stop using it? Midoriya damn Izuku, that's who.

Wears t-shirts that says other pieces of clothing like "blouse" and "tank top". WHERE DID HE GET THEM?!

Can mimic All Might's face and voice!

Has to be told to keep his emotions in check because they affect OFA, his strongest emotion being anger. And when he's angry, just beg for mercy. Just get on your knees and hope he doesn't break your face or something and embarrasses you. (Muscular got it twice as he deserves!)

Faced an ASSASSIN.

Somehow managed to still move like it's nothing after being shocked by KAMINARI and after that, headbutting through Todoroki's ice wall (by accident). (Class 1A VS Deku fight)

Midoriya is intelligent, he's observant. He's able to work how the function of someone's quirk just by watching. He was able to figure out how Stain's quirk worked and how he's using it. Stain, the Hero Killer.

On that note, he uses his knowledge to incorporate that in his own moves and how he can work with OFA. Midoriya is creative.

Even though he knows the risks, he sometimes pushes his body to the limit and breaks his bones and sometimes still wants to fight despite his body being damaged at that time.

Tried to talk down Dabi the same way as he did with Todoroki and honestly, he deserves some credit for that. It didn't worked, but he tried talking to DABI. Dabi is something else.

There's probably more I missed, but I'm just saying Midoriya Izuku is just more than that sweet round freckled face. And you wouldn't think with that face he would have the body he does. He used to be a scrawny kid. But now? He is a pint-sized powerhouse!

Do not take him lightly. He needs to come with a warning label!

Look, if he's boring to you, fine. I don't care. Didn't write this post to convince you.

I wrote this post to express just how I feel about him.

I know some people are put off by him because "he's the protagonist, he gets a lot of the spotlight".

But that's not stopping me. I mean, Miruko is my number one tied with Midoriya and she shares a lot less focus than he does! To me, a character doesn't have to be minor or a major one to be liked. I look past that role and see their other qualities and in the case of Midoriya, I like his qualities enough for him to be an interesting character to me.

Which is rare for me because my favorites often be the minor characters, characters that don't get as much screen time and aren't as popular. Even for BNHA! A lot of my favorites are characters that haven't spoken in the manga since forever!

(For goodness' sake, I know I'll sound salty for this and I do adore the other characters! The Todoroki's got a whole arc and even an origin to how their whole mess started dating back to when Enji and Rei met! And we still don't know Midoriya’s dad whereabouts! WE KNOW HAWKS' BACKSTORY!! AND WE STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT HISASHI LOOKS LIKE!! Midoriya barely has had focus for how many chapters this whole ongoing war arc now? Just saying, even though there's a lot of characters, let's not act as if Midoriya gets the spotlight all the time.)

That's just me now.

(Don't even reblog and say something like "Okay, I see your point, OP, but I still think he's boring." Or argue why he's boring to you. Don't even come into my inbox with all that. Again, I do not care.)

#just kiya's thoughts #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #midoriya izuku #izuku midoriya #deku #it's appreciate midoriya hours folks!! #💚🐇👊

[co-mixed]

Why Boom Still Can’t Get Buffy Right

My love for the Buffyverse is concrete but it has its limits. Yesterday I had a very unpleasant experience finishing yet another unimpressive Buffy run, courtesy of Boom Comics. It’s always disappointing to me because Buffyverse has so much potential and untold stories. It’s a goldmine that is constantly held back and simply can’t find its footing in the comics medium. Why is that? 

Boom’s been rather relentless in trying to make Buffy work. Several years and runs later, there’s still no big WOW story that can attract readers and viewers alike. Not just that, but even seasoned buffy fans don’t seem very interested in continuous attempts at rebooting the Slayer tale. You can blame the word reboot (it does tend to scare people) but the real reason is still Boom’s inability to deliver a good captivating story.

Boom had tried reinventing Buffy, sending her back to school, developing alternate realities and futures. But in every iteration, Buffy and the Scooby Gang were plagued with the same mistakes over and over again. 

Hey, I’m not sure what I am, so bear with me here 

The characters from Buffy are some of the most well-developed characters out there. Each one has a point of origin, a story, and a final form. We love them because we know them. And we know them extremely well. 

Let’s take the fan-favorite, Spike. We’ve seen his whole afterlife and even bits of his life. We know how he became William the Bloody, then Spike, a neutered vampire, and finally, an ensouled champion. We know how, and more importantly, we know why. 

I’d hate to throw in one more why but there is a reason Spike exists in the show, and we know it. 

When you read Boom comics, it feels like writers stick him into every arc just because they like him. He brings nothing to the story, he has no soul or chip yet chooses to join the scoobies. That does not look like the Spike we know. That guy was in s2-s4, not s5-s7. That’s the guy from School Hard or the one who got the Gem of Amara and happily marched to kill Buffy. 

But there’s nothing stronger than the author’s desire to make things ‘right’. Hence this spike lookalike joining the team every time. 

The funny part is, I can very well imagine a soulless chipless Spike who’s not a monster. If Dru sires him and never sees him again, if she never introduces him to Angelus, if he keeps on writing his bloody awful poetry only forever. He probably would’ve turned out like that poor librarian guy whose glasses Dru broke or like Harmony who still tried to be decent. But it’s the writer’s job to explain it, to write it into the story, not just throw a character into a book and see whether they swim or go down. They will always go down. 

Spike is only one of the issues here. In the show, both Kendra and Faith exist to show us the perfect (according to the council) and the fallen slayer. Two possible realities for Buffy. They have their own arcs (well, Faith does) but the show is strong because supporting characters serve a purpose. Just like the people we meet in real life always serve a purpose for us. You might believe that one character pushing the development of another is cruel, but that’s still how good stories are made. That’s still why Buffy is popular 20 years after the show’s finale. 

Kendra and Faith did that for Buffy in the show. In the Boom comics they just exist. They show up for no reason and they just hang around. You can take them out of the story and nothing will change. At one point in the initial reboot there were three slayers at the same time, and that felt more like a fix-it fanfic than a quality comic book. Unfortunately, some slayers have to die and some have to turn evil. Besides, without her rebellious personality, Faith is meaningless.

I have one more bone to pick. I know that Buffy and Angel (still the OTP of the show!) are a complicated matter to many modern writers. And readers, and viewers. There’s no place to hide from the creep factor and even though I will defend this ship till the day everyone finally agrees with me, I can’t deny its presence. But that doesn’t mean you get to discard this ship and separate Buffy and Angel into different books. One doesn’t exist or grow without the other. There is no Buffy in love with a vampire without Angel. There is only Vampire. Slayer. Dead vampire. 

Without Buffy, Angel is not in LA helping the helpless. He’s in New York eating low rats. Before trying to launch two separate books, how about Boom launches one good one, that provides background, even if revised and adapted to the modern days? 

I always worried what would happen when that b*tch got some funding

All this chaotic mess with the characters determines the stories Boom puts out. They tend to have an interesting start but by the time issue 3 comes out, it’s either Camazotz flying around Sunnydale, a giant crab taking over the main street, or whatever the hell Silas was (a soul eater?) Didn’t care for him much. Not even when we were evil. 

More often than not Boom writers suffer from the same disease that plagued Dark Horse comics – scale. Just because you can do anything doesn’t mean you should. Comics allow you to draw literally any kind of baddie but you are playing within a specific world, and suspense of disbelief only goes so far. Besides, in the show, it all grows gradually. You go from the Master to the First evil. In the comics… seriously, what the hell was Silas? 

From what I’ve read so far, Boom knows how to ask interesting questions: 

What if Buffy went to school today?

What if Willow took over as the slayer? 

What if Buffy was older? 

Those are all good what ifs but Boom has a problem following through. They don’t know the answer to this question and it feels like they’re making it up as they go along. If I’m being honest, it even feels like they wrote random ideas on pieces of paper, through them in a hat, and started pulling each time they hit a wall. 

Characters show up for now reason (hi, Tara from the latest run), they don’t feel like themselves, and the saddest part – none of it feels like you are getting your favorite show back. 

These characters deserve better than that. 

And there’s not a one who can say this ended well

At this point, I don’t know if Boom wants Buffy comics to succeed. I don’t mean to be this dramatic but every time someone mentions comics, fans think Dark Horse. Not because they are still considered canon, but because they had a connection to the beloved show. Boom comics don’t give you that, so you can’t look the other way when writers don’t deliver. It’s just how it works. 

I keep thinking what Boom can do to get out of this vicious circle. And I do believe there If they want to successfully play in the Buffyverse, they have to seriously up their game. It’s not impossible either. I mean, Something is Killing the Children is being released by the same studio. And what is that if not a more gruesome version of Buffy? So it’s not exactly magic. It’s doable. 

Personally, I still hold out hope that someone would dare explore the terrifying bloody past of the Whirlwind. Wouldn’t that be fun and gory? I’d like to see deep well-thought-through stories of past slayers. I’d happily read a well-illustrated comic run based on In Every Generation. And if we have to go back to Buffy variants, why not reinvent her story? But before we get to that, we’d have to work through every step of every character. Get them to where we want them, and start with a story that we want to tell, from start to finish. From her first day as a slayer to her last one (she didn’t have to empower the potentials after all).

That, of course, requires a lot of work. And if Boom isn’t ready to put in that kinda effort, they could just move from season 5, introduce a new slayer, and watch how her adventures unravel.  

Buffyverse is a hell of a property and there are too many stories waiting to be written. I’m probably still gonna give it a shot whenever Boom comes up with something new. I just hope I won’t have to write yet another long read complaining about it. 

#buffy comics #buffy x angel #buffy summers #buffy the vampire slayer #buffyverse #buffy x spike #buffysource #comics #comic books #long reads #boom buffy #boom comics #btvs #btvs comics #kendra young #faith lehane

[kimwxler]

I think my biggest problem with Izzy's death (aside, from, you know. Izzy is dead) is that it felt completely disconnected from the rest of the story. So many things in this episode felt like they had branched from an alternate universe season 2, or maybe a planned season 3 and they'd just squeezed the ending to that in. Which may actually be what happened; why they'd think it was a good move, I have no idea.

In the death scene, Izzy said things about needing Blackbeard to exist because it was both of them, that he had been encouraging Blackbeard to exist for years, etc. That's interesting and everything but where is it in the text? You can extrapolate from season 1 that some of this may have been happening, but then instead of expanding on it in season 2 to make Izzy's apology really hit hard, they went in a completely different direction. Season 2 Izzy wasn't preventing Ed from being himself and he didn't seem particularly invested in Blackbeard existing. In episode one, he had been pushed to his limits and tried to get through to Ed as a friend, and when he couldn't try with Ed anymore he focused on protecting the crew and mutinied. Then he spent episodes 4-7 trying to move on and strengthening his bonds with the crew, and only started interacting with Ed at all in the last few episodes. Ed, similarly, has been trying to figure out what he wants and who he wants to be. Where exactly is the emotional impact in Izzy ~finally~ encouraging Ed to just be Ed when the last episode had a scene where Izzy encouraged Ed to follow the feeling he had when he threw his leathers away, and then Ed went off to try and become a fisherman?

Izzy's death representing the death of the Blackbeard role and also the golden age of piracy, etc, is fine I guess. I'm not going to pretend I'd like it but if it had been set up as those arcs driving the season for Ed and Izzy, that's a different story. But looking at what actually happened in Season 2 and the Ed/Izzy arc in it, it was more about grappling with what had happened in the first two episodes. So following from that arc, what does Izzy's death symbolize? Ed being free from accountability and guilt over what he did to Izzy?

Don't get me wrong, that's not what they were going for at all. I actually don't think it symbolized anything and was just (unsuccessful and badly done) emotional manipulation, which is what happens all the time with characters dying. But it really does make Izzy's death far more upsetting, and not in the weirdly enjoyable way that you can love a tragedy. They went so far with Ed's actions in the first two episodes, and at the time I loved it! But it's become clear that OFMD doesn't really have the emotional range to handle a storyline like that. So they just didn't, for the most part.

So now we have a story arc where Izzy got mutilated repeatedly, got shot, got his leg amputated, attempted suicide, started to heal and move on and form meaningful connections outside of Ed while adjusting to his disability, and then dies. While spending his entire death scene apologizing to and reassuring Ed, and while the whole crew he'd been bonding with just sort of stand around looking vaguely sad. And mind you the timeline of this whole season has been like two weeks.

#izzy hands #ofmd s2 spoilers #our flag means death #i actually have a lot more to say and some of it is specifically about how much ed's character got screwed over #but this post is long enough already

[mayfay]

Hardening Analysis

To preface this, this will be my first proper analysis of a canon character, so be patient with me here. Also Kirishima Did Not cooperate on this one. 2 days and multiple hours of digging and research for Just this.

To start with a brief overview, Kirishima has a transformation quirk called Hardening that allows him to “harden” his body. This is usually indicated by his body becoming a series of flat edges, with incredible durability and strength added on. When pushed to the extreme in his “Unbreakable” form, sections of skin rise up and overlap each other as well as gain “cracks” all along his body resembling the metamorphic cleavage lines of some minerals. Another aspect that should be brought up is that his quirks limit is based on stamina drain. The “harder” he becomes over more area, the greater the drain on his stamina. Damage to these hardened areas also eats into his stamina pool, though it seems like by training his quirk he becomes more efficient and has a larger stamina pool to drain from (as evidenced by his growth between the Sports Festival and the Overhaul arc).

Now this all seems like it lines up very well. No inconsistencies, no strange happenings to pick at, just a simple consistent transformation quirk. Well Guess What! I Got his ass! There is More to Hardening and I have Found it!

First off there are some minor inconsistencies. For one Kirishima's Unbreakable form has raised skin all over his body, and yet this doesn’t cause him any damage and goes away after de-transforming. Also the lines that appear during hardening aren’t given any explanation, they’re just there and act to highlight how far hardening has spread. More damningly is the Overhaul arc though. In it Kirishima fights Rappa, who severely damages him, to this point that he’s missing a large section of arm. However that section doesn’t experience Any bleeding, whereas the wounds on his slightly hardened face do. And after the fight ends? Kirishima Just had a large section of arm torn off and doesn’t have access to Any healing quirks, and yet he Lives. He lives and doesn’t have Any physical therapy afterwards. No lasting damage, no bleeding out, Nothing.

So how? How does he do it? Well the only explanation I can think of that doesn’t require a bunch of coincidences is if “Hardening” comes with an extra healing aspect to it. But wait! How the hell does “Hardening” = Healing?! Well what if Kirishimas quirk Wasn’t Hardening. What if it was something incredibly similar but with far different mechanics? What if he had, for lack of a better term, “Crystallization”. More specifically what if Kirishima's quirk allowed for some measure of control over the atoms in his body. The ability to change them into a more crystalline pattern and Keep them there.

This would certainly explain some things. First off keeping everything together would cost energy, which his quirk processes his stamina to produce. And as crystalized sections are hit? As an outside force tries to Shatter him? His quirk would fight back, Forcing the atoms to stay put and unbroken. This kind of power would take energy, energy that would need to be taken by the quirk in the form of his stamina. If Kirishima had simple hardening this likely wouldn’t be the case, damage simply hurting him rather than eating away at his limit. His healing is in a similar situation. Regular Hardening wouldn’t grant any form of recovery, but if his quirk is forcing everything into predetermined shapes then inconsistencies would need to be patches, inconsistencies like wounds. Of course this would eat away at his stamina pool and we can’t risk the damage from outpacing his healing. If that were to happen then sections of Crystallization would need to be dropped or the whole body might fracture. How to combat this? Well if the body is forming crystal structures, it would be ridiculously easy to simply shave off sections if too much force to counter is applied. By shaving off sections of damaged tissue the underlying sections would be exposed, but could be quickly crystalized in specific areas to limit bleeding until de-transformation when the stamina pool can be safely drained for emergency healing. Of course this implies that Crystallization also redirects damage across crystalized sections to prevent internal damage, but considering the hits Kirishima takes throughout the series that’s not really up for debate (barring his Whole body crystalizing, but that would take stupid amounts of energy and the lack of blood from the arm wound during the Rappa fight indicates crystalized sections don’t operate as fully as they do when de-transformed).

Crystallization also explains some more minor inconsistencies, specifically his strength and overlapping skin in Unbreakable form. The strange skin formations could be Crystallization increasing the area's volume, but not having the required space. This could be handled by “lifting up” and overlapping over other sections of skin, creating the effect seen in Kirishima's new form. The strength aspect has ties back to the “reset-healing” aspect of Crystallization. By “resetting” his muscles they would spring back, causing the associated movement. This would cause a massive increase in speed and strength at the cost of potentially damaging the muscle. However, when combined with the healing portion of Crystallization this damage from hysterical strength would be healed up without trouble, and potentially even leave the muscle Stronger than before seeing as micro-tears in muscles cause an increase in their strength.

Now of course while this Seems like an upgrade from Hardening, and it certainly Is, there are some weaknesses Kirishima's quirk brings with it. The first one would be that Crystallization offers little protection against more elemental powers. Don’t get me wrong, he would certainly be better at taking a hit than a random passerby, but powers like electricity or mental quirks would still have some level of effect. This is actually supported in canon as the One(1) non-physical quirk Kirishima goes up against is one called Meatball, which immediately incapacitates him. Now this isn’t Entirely fair seeing as this was meant as a moment to make Bakugo shine and Meatball directly counters Crystallization (even more than it would Hardening), but it’s worth bringing up.

The second and equally important weakness is that the body was Not built for straight edges, and that has consequences. The first one is very hypothetical, seeing as I don’t believe Crystallization goes to far below the skin when possible, but if the lungs were to crystalize they would be Far less effective at delivering oxygen. Specifically the alveoli are a small circular portion of the lungs that’s responsible for oxygen distribution to the lungs, and that circular shape is to maximize how much is distributed. By crystallizing they become all sharp edges, reducing oxygen efficiency. At first this low oxygen would simply cause cells to produce energy without oxygen, known as anaerobic respiration, which produces lactic acid. Lactic acid sets off nerves like Crazy, which is that burning sensation you feel when exercising. As things intensify though Kirishima would begin to suffer from oxygen deprivation, which has a variety of symptoms but most notably includes wheezing, disorientation, and confusion. Very similar to his state after the Rappa fight, though that’s explained by the adrenaline crash and likely concussion.

Now the second major body weakness due to Crystallization I found was in the eyes. See, the eyes are circular for a reason, mess with that and light reflection gets wonky. More specifically, while flattened (as seen in the Rappa fight) the outermost sections of eye, known as the cornea, would reflect light further back instead of where it’s supposed to, leading to farsightedness. And the cornea isn’t the only part away from the iris, you also have what’s known as the anterior chamber. Flattening this chamber causes its own issues, but most notably its been found that prolonged flattening of this specific region causes damage to the organs in the eye. Now this Would be handled by Kirishima's healing aspect (further supporting its existence), it does mean that prolonged transformation risks worsening vision if healing can’t keep up.

Now every quirk comes with natural mutations to better handle it, but Kirishima is quite lacking in this department. The only major mutations I could think of is potentially thicker skin to give Crystallization more to work with, a larger mouth/lungs to more efficiently take in oxygen when fighting (especially if Crystallization affects the lungs), and some sharper teeth. Now the teeth could very easily be a vestigial mutation from a family member, but it could also be an expression of his Crystallization, with his teeth being permanently crystallized. This would result in them being far harder and sharper than average teeth of a similar shape, and potentially slowly train his quirk over time as it keeps up the mutation.

Some quick side notes that didn’t easily fit in elsewhere. Thanks to how hardness is measured, how much flakes off when scratched, Kirishima's quirk keeping everything together when possible means that he would have a Much higher hardness than his skin would naturally have, even while transformed (so “Hardening” in a sense) (he would also be highly resistant to fire for a similar reason, as heat wouldn’t be able to vibrate the atoms to damage or melt him as planned). He also displays some control over his hardening on the bus to USJ when he sharpens his fists rather than bulks them up, something I never caught him doing in battle when it might harm someone. It’s also worth pointing out that higher Crystallization levels might be an indicator to the quirk to up the healing in that area, rather than being an automatic process. This is most supported by the fact that while the arms were heavily crystallized and suffered no bleeding, his face was only lightly crystallized and Did bleed.

#quirk analysis

[raayllum]

I'm torn with Claudia. The humane part of me wants her to stop walking her dark path before she destroys herself completely and find some measure of peace. The fucked-up part of me wants to watch her to lose it and go on the warpath and cause lots of chaos. Is that last one wrong to hope for?

Not at all! I do think we'll see her warpath arc next season, since as Ezran stated/foreshadowed

We all want peace and we all want love. But violence tests us. In a twisted way, it converts us to its cause. Because pain and loss feel so terrible inside, you want to hate. You want to hurt someone else.

Given that Rayla cut off her leg and the trio cost her the chance to save her father's life (since if/when Viren survives, I don't think Claudia will know for a while), I think she'll start chasing Revenge. (Which may lead to even more fracturing with Terry, as "I always believed in you because you had a reason" but we shall see...) And then maybe Soren and Viren will work together to try and bring her home, but maybe only in s7 - so who knows?

But yeah, I don't think ever wanting characters to go through "negative character development" or "fail" means we don't like them or don't understand/sympathize with them. Too often, I think, fandoms can have a tendency to moralize, well, everything, but in this case the choices writers make regarding their favourite characters, i.e. "This Bad Thing happened to Character A so therefore the writers hate them / are punishing them."

And don't get me wrong, I've definitely seen shows where a writing team just did not know what to do with a character, so they just heaped tons of pain on them and/or under utilized them, and who is shown on screen with discussed/processed trauma vs who isn't is definitely a discussion worth having, because none of that exists in an apolitical or aracial space.

However... by no means is the "punishing" angle what's happening all the time, either. What I think it comes from is like, some base assumptions and also a lack of literary understanding for some key aspects I'm gonna do my best at articulating clearly:

1) Operating under an assumption that if you like a character you should only want 'good' things for them, and for them to be a 'good' person, because you are also a 'good' person. This doesn't seem super moralized on the surface, but it explains a lot about "how could anyone like that villain" or offense to "how could anyone want that character to fail" and it's like, idk how to explain that failure and therefore conflict and tragic figures are Just Interesting, Brenda, even if they aren't your personal cup of tea. (I say, as a diehard Macbeth and literary Judas enjoyer lmao.)

2) Ignores catharsis and tragedy as elements of storytelling / as its own desirable genre. Sometimes, you want to watch a thing where you know the whole time everything is going to go horribly wrong for certain characters, or all the characters, and that's what's fun about it. The desirable outcome for every story or character is not a happy ending, nor are all characters or stories built for a happy ending, either. It can be upsetting, of course, when a character we like doesn't get the (happy) ending we hoped for, but that isn't necessarily always the same as a bad ending, y'know? Substantially bad things happening to a character doesn't always mean a narrative hates them; a focus on them is still a focus.

All of this to say: I don't think it's wrong at all to want, or be interested in, Terrible Things happening to a character. It's a thought experiment like any other, and pushing characters to their limits, revealing how they respond under intense or painful experiences - whether than pain is physical, emotional, or something else entirely - is fun and interesting. There's a reason there's are entire genres for Horror and Drama and tearjerker films after all.

Like I've been waiting and wanting for Claudia to snap and become a fully fledged villain since S2 because it was very clear to me just how much she was already Skewed in S1 and S2 made it clear to me that, unlike her brother, she would not be getting on a better path any time soon. Sometimes mess and hurt and mistakes is more interesting than healing, and sometimes it's the opposite (and those things aren't mutually exclusive either).

Like going into S6, I want everyone to Fail so badly (except, arguably, Claudia - who still isn't going to be getting what she actually Needs - and Aaravos, who's going to get exactly what he wants). Watching how characters and their relationships can fall apart, how their own consistent flaws and patterns, can lead them to make awful but understandable mistakes? That's my shit. And getting to see how they do, or don't, come back from that in the season, and in season 7? Chomping at the bit, I'm so excited.

I also don't think that hoping for another end, though, is worse than being excited for a tragic end, because while tragedies are about sadness, they are also - at their core - about Hope that maybe it won't end badly this time. If a tragedy cannot provide catharsis to a viewer, for some reason, then they are still fulfilling their purpose in nurturing hope and indignation in the face of perceived unfairness - that a character could try so hard and still be doomed; that we ourselves often take on tasks that feel insurmountable, that we can take on what looks like a losing battle and still, somehow, win. And maybe we don't - maybe they don't. But tragedies, if nothing else, teach us resilience and the merit of telling a story when you already know how it ends, and the skill of it lies therefore entirely in the execution (sometimes literally).

Basically: hope for whatever you want for whatever character you want, even, or especially, when it's 'bad'. It's what we've always done for a reason.

#thanks for asking #tdp claudia #the english major strikes again #lordjarman #tragedy enjoyer #tdp #the dragon prince

[trainsinanime]

Okay, I apologize, but I don't understand all these complaints about Ladynoir and Adrienette. The problem here is not whether people like Adrienette or not, but that everyone portrays Adrien purely as an accessory to Ladynoir. Maybe I'm surprising someone with this, but Adrienette is no less important than Ladynoir; it's just that their interactions are more frequent due to the "Monster of the Week" formula, while Adrien's appearances on the screen are limited to show how Gabriel isolates him. And now all of this is starting to be resolved.

To be honest, I have many questions about your reasoning. You mentioned complex feelings between them, but the problem is that there are none. Chat Noir simply decided to move on (we saw how he started distancing himself from his feelings after the illusion in "Jubilation," and in "Elation," he even explained why). His pushed behavior towards Ladybug has always been portrayed as a character flaw, considering that it sometimes led to negative consequences, which was character development. Ladybug also decided to move on as a result of everything that happened in "Elation." Therefore, there can't be any romantic complications between them at the moment.

I also don't see the show ever stating that they cannot be together because they don't know each other's secret identities. It's more about the fact that they cannot be together because Gabriel is trying to prevent it. Let's not forget that there are other couples with secret identities in the show as well.

In any case, I believe that going the Adrienette route is the right path. Going the Ladynoir route would be a step back due to a series of circumstances depicted in canon, which puts both characters' development in a corner at this stage (I could elaborate, but it would turn into a whole article). It's also not a bad thing that, despite everything happening in the second arc of the story, Ladynoir won't be together until the reveal. After all, they are still the same people. The way the Love Square is treated in the fandom, as if LS is just "Ladynoir and friends," can be quite tiresome. The hints that it will start with Adrienette were there from Season 1. It's as if people couldn't imagine that progress in romantic relationships would happen outside of Ladynoir, and now they're genuinely surprised by the outcome.

I apologize if my response seemed rude. I didn't intend to be rude. I primarily wrote that because I was surprised that you expected the collapse of Adrienette within three episodes. I understand that everyone was expecting the reveal, but it's based on the assumption that their romantic progress had to happen as Ladynoir.

Hi, thanks for the response, and don't worry, I don't think it's rude at all. That said, I disagree with parts of it.

I think you misunderstand a key part of what I was trying to say (I probably could have worded it better). I don't think either Adrinette or Ladynoir are better. I don't think "romantic progress has to happen as Ladynoir". My point is that before season 5 (even before Kwami's Choice), I thought romantic progress would involve both sides somehow. Because that is how the show has worked so far.

You're saying that post-elation, there are no complex feelings between Ladynoir. That is exactly my problem: There should be complex feelings between them! But then there just aren't any. It's very anticlimactic that both of them just go, "oh well", and move on. Frankly, between you and me, I think it's boring.

But perhaps more importantly, I think it's weird. Their feelings have grown and changed and deepened so much over the school year that lasted eight years, and that's it? They can just move on like that? It's not causing them any sleepless nights where they're wondering about their feelings? That is very surprising to me.

Aside: Chat Noir moving on from Ladybug is not good character development. For one, his crush on her was never actually a problem in itself, just the way he went about expressing it, and even that only rarely. Even if it were a problem, "moving on" isn't actually character growth. Adrien doesn't learn anything new or change his behaviour now that he's in love with Marinette, she just reciprocates his feelings. He's still the same guy as before.

Anyway, back on topic: The Love Square never used to be "Adrinette plus some other stuff", and it didn't use to be "Ladynoir plus some other stuff". It was a finely tuned balance, where the things happening as Ladynoir mattered as much as the things happening as Adrinette, but nothing was ever just a simple mirror. Adrinette grow closer, Ladynoir grow closer. Ladynoir fight and reunite, Adrinette have their own issues to solve. And most importantly, Adrinette was impossible because Ladynoir was standing in the way, and Ladynoir was impossible because Adrinette was standing in the way.

(By the way, the show actually did specifically say that they can't be together because of secret identities. Ladybug specifically told Chat Noir she can't be with him because there's someone else, in Glaciator. Adrien told Plagg and Marinette that he can't be in love with Marinette because he's in love with Ladybug, in Weredad. I'm not sure why you blame Gabriel.)

Season 5 threw that whole thing completely off balance, by literally just deleting Ladynoir for two episodes. If they had done the same thing the other way, e.g. if they had a two-parter instead where Adrien and Marinette decide they have to be in costume at all times and then started dating as Ladynoir, and then just forget about Adrinette, that would have had the exact same problems.

#miraculous ladybug

[fyregrayfong]

overall thoughts on tdp??? Now that you’re done watching, which season/story-line/character (besides our iconic queen General and Aunt Amaya 👑) was your fave? Any moments throughout that you really felt or really spoke to you?

The dynamic of characters in this show is so interesting. The theme throughout the whole show is something that resonates with me because it's how I live my life. Despite what you hear about a certain group of people you should have an open mind. This is just some of my thoughts and opinions on some of the characters. There might be spoilers so read at your own risk.

I love Seasons 1-3 and if it wasn’t for the wedding preparations and scenes with Amaya. I wouldn’t have watched season 4. I felt like the whole season was complete filler. The series could’ve ended at the 3rd season and be solid. Season 4 didn’t really get my attention compared to the previous seasons. I hope the story picks up in season 5. I just need more Amaya 😭 lol

Callum starting as a kid who doesn't know where he belongs because he isn't a fighter or have anything useful to help the kingdom. He is the stepson of the king. Turns out he is a mage and he instantly knows that he wants to be a good light mage and nothing like what his former crush, Claudia is. Speaks on his character and reminds me a lot of his mom.

Ezran, such a baby doll, is quirky and awkward. Has a difficulty talking to people and has a special connection with animals. He has a kind heart and sees the good in people. He doesn't allow outside comments deter his judgement on a person. He reminds me so much of Antonio from Encanto. He is a fave for sure. He is a type of King that I would love to see in the real world.One that rules with kind and compassion instead with a drive for power or holier than thou.

Rayla being a moonshadow assassin. While Rayla claims to despise humans, on the inside she doesn't truly hate them. She doesn't see them as lesser beings than herself, unlike the rest of the elves. It causes this inner turmoil on her belief as a moon shadow assassin verses her morals. She constantly checking her morals and doing better. Willing to put her life on the line to do the right thing.

Claudia, her development was scary, I know there's some good but she continues down this dark path, that its sad. I was so hoping that she would run away with Soren. I really hope there is some way she can redeem herself in the upcoming season but I feel like she's so far down the rabbit hole that it's too deep a hole for her to come out of. The reason why I say Claudia's development is scary s because she knows she is becoming darker. Each season she is at a point where she pushes that morality further. She crosses that limit and instead of realizing ok that's enough. She knows it's bad and accepts it with no regret. Only to surpass it again the next time. There is nothing that will stop her to get what she wants.

Soren, at first I didn't care about him because he was this jerk who constantly picked on Callum, but Soren definitely grew. The first season I feel like the creators wanted us to see Soren as this idiot jock that heavily relies on his physical strength. It also didn't help that Viren and Claudia also treated him as such. As the series goes on he is so much more than that. His development throughout the series is one of the best, imo. He has this emotional intelligence that came to a surprise. He does have silly moments where he acts first but then he realizes his mistakes and changes. When Soren realized how he was manipulated by his dad. He went against his dad. This is so hard to do. He loves his dad and his sister so for him to renounce his loyalty from his family and follow the crown. Then on top of that having to go to war and the person you're fighting is your own father and sister. That hits the heart in more ways than one. His redemption arc is honestly chef's kiss. Soren is a good boi.

Amaya, my my my Amaya. She is wife. Once she appeared on the screen I had heart eyes immediately. Like I was already shopping for rings! I think I have a thing for strong stoic types who are really big softies. She's both an immovable object and an unstoppable force in battle. Amaya is thoughtful, honorable, compassionate and smart. Brutal, driven and capable. Pragmatic and adaptable. Her character design and fight choreography is stylish af. I could watch her fight it's like watching a dance. Her shield is honestly really cool and interesting design. Even though she's a tough person that flips switches so fast once she's with her nephews. She turns into this big softy that is so adorable and honestly is why I fell hard for her. She has a heart of gold and isn't afraid to jump into the line of fire to protect the people she loves. Her nephews, Gren, Janai, her soldiers, her kingdom. I could go on about Amaya.

Bait, Bait is the best. I can't get over him. He has a range of emotions and is the bestest boi. He deserves all the tarts.

Bonus:

I can't get over the fact that Amaya threw Bait in a perfect spiral throw. Bait is beauty. Bait is grace.

#tdp #callum #callum tdp #tdp ezran #ezran #claudia tdp #soren #tdp soren #tdp rayla #tdp claudia #tdp amaya #tdp bait #general amaya #Amaya #the dragon prince

[suffersinfandom]

gifset by seraph-novak

So there’s a critique of this scene (and Ed in season two as a whole) that I haven’t been able to shake. The post went into how the whole mermaid sequence was ruined by the rest of the season -- about how this beautiful scene was, put in the context of Ed’s behavior in the rest of season two, an ominous rebirth of a villain. The writer couldn’t see Ed as a protagonist finding the will to live; they saw a monster getting another chance to terrorize his victims.

I really hate that. I’ve already typed way too much about how I don’t think that Ed is abusive or that the Kraken Era was all that bad, so of course I disagree with any take that characterizes Ed as a monster. But do you know why this post stuck with me?

It made me unreasonably sad.

There’s a danger in over-identifying with characters (and I do think that a lot of the tension in OFMD fandom comes from over-identification), but it’s so easy for me to understand what Ed’s going through in the first three episodes of season two. I’ve been there. Judging by this post, many of us have been where Ed is. 

We’ve struggled to live while we’re drowning. We’ve been trapped and hopeless and desperate for a reason to keep going -- for someone to give us hope that things can be better. 

And we’ve also hurt people in our despair. 

When I was in my Kraken Era, I was a sick college student who’d been fighting depression since middle school. I’d just escaped a “friendship” with someone who (I can admit in retrospect) abused me mentally and emotionally, and I had no other friends because that person had effectively isolated me. I was alone and I was convinced that I was a fundamentally unlovable person who had no right to exist. 

I pushed the few people I had around me away. I isolated myself from my mother as much as I could while living in her house. I cut off communication with my online acquaintances (who would later become good friends) and didn’t speak to anyone at school. For a while, I was so focused on my pain and self hatred that I barely thought about other people. It was an intensely selfish and self-centered existence, and I hurt my mom and everyone who could’ve been a friend. When you're in that desperately hopeless, depressed mindset, you don't care about hurting people because your own pain is so all-consuming. If anything, you want to hurt others so they'll give up on you in the same way you've given up on yourself.

It’s different from what Ed did, of course, because he’s not me and I wasn’t a pirate captain with the lives of a crew in my hands. The harm I could cause was severely limited by my lack of power, but I still caused it. I was still trying to isolate and cut ties and push away anyone who could’ve helped me even when I desperately wanted help. I wasn’t a good person.

Watching Ed go through a self-destructive arc that’s immediately identifiable, deeply personal, and so well done was incredible, and seeing the show support him instead of demonizing his behavior? I have no words for the way I felt during season two’s run. 

OFMD makes Ed a sympathetic character who’s worth loving even when he’s at his lowest. It gives us a lead who fucks up when he’s in the depths of his despair and it doesn’t pity him or wave away his problems or make a monster out of him. It doesn’t even have his romantic interest save him! Instead, it lets Ed save himself when he realizes that there’s still hope and love out there. 

This show reminded me that we’re not monsters even if we’ve hurt people. It told me that recovery is possible, and so is forgiveness. It asked me to keep loving Ed through his entire arc, and in doing that, it forced me to love the parts of me that I’m still working on as well.

So I know that I shouldn’t be bothered by people who see season two Ed as an irredeemable monster who gets an undeserved second shot at life, y’know? But even though I’m a decade and a half out of my own Kraken Era, I’m still in a perpetual state of recovery. There’s always a persistent doubt -- a suspicion that there’s a fundamental flaw in me that no amount of therapy will fix -- and that doubt latched onto some random person’s conviction that Ed is a monster. It says, If Ed will always be a monster, what about you?

And I know that voice is wrong because it’s always been a liar. I know that it doesn’t matter that some portion of the fanbase turned on Ed in season two because that man isn’t real and he’s not me. I know that, for people who haven’t experienced something that was reflected in Ed’s arc, it might be difficult to sympathize with him (and with real life people who blow their lives up in their despair). 

There will always be people who don’t understand or can’t empathize with that kind of desperate hopelessness, but there are also many, many people who get it… and some of those people were clearly in season two's writer’s room. Some of those people are in this fandom.

I guess what I’m getting at is this: I hope that, if you saw yourself in Ed’s early season two story, you know that you’re not a monster and you’re not a villain in someone else’s story, no matter what anyone else says. I hope you know that you’re worthy of love. 

I hope you know you’re not alone.

#ofmd #me typing things #edward teach #cw suicide #tw suicide #look i just have some feelings okay #i love ed teach #i love being forced to like myself more because of ed #our flag means death #mental health

[dotthings]

It's time for certain brosonlies to stop lying.

My old twitter is gone but I have the archive and I've had enough with this nonsense so I'm going to share a summary of what I was thinking about SPN and S9, on twitter, January 8, 2014.

Here's what I brought to the table at the time:

The brothers are close but how can their rifts and conflicts heal without change or growth, and not advocating for the bro bond to go away, advocating for more character development and less toxicity

Not about the brothers working separately, but the characters having more insight about themselves, how they treat each other, others around them, "instead of the show mashing the same button over and over presented as if it's new"

Yes they will still fight monsters

The repetitiveness at this point in the story (S9) was turning some fans off the story

Pointed out how this repetitiveness and toxicity harmed Sam's story not just Dean's. Sam robbed of agency, Dean shut in to being Sam's caretaker, the reliance on hurt Sam and dying Sam over and over.

There was more growth in early seasons. S1 Sam and Dean were getting to know each other again after being separated for years, this made for a strong arc and conflict and growth in S1

Questioning why others in the conversation were so against character development and growth, especially given the first few seasons felt more dynamic in that regard, and why character development is something treated as inappropriate and out of place in some areas of the fandom

Stories need contrast. If they get mired in the same dynamics over and over that harms the story

Sam and Dean do in fact have other story points besides just each other, why not develop those a little more

The mis-use of the label "codependent" for things that are, in fact, things people do for their family, or extended family, anyone they love, while Sam and Dean do have some aspects that veer into an unhealthy zone, given their background of trauma. But doing things for people you love are not on the show, or in life, confined only to blood ties

Pointing out that people don't get cured of codependency. It abates, it becomes manageable, it's not that the unusually close nature of Sam and Dean's bond will go away

But keeping them stop-gapped isn't great storytelling.

Dean's domesticity isn't demeaning, and Dean being caretaker isn't demeaning. The domesticity and showing Dean's nurturing side is part of fleshing out the character. However if he is limited to solely a caretaker role, that's limiting

Expressly saying that Dean's caretaking of others not just Sam is also an issue--if his entire role is caretaker, whether for Sam or for his friends, that's limiting the character.

Pushing back against the idea that Dean only cares about Sam

Dean's lack of self-worth, Dean believing his only worth was looking after Sam

That the fandom insistence that Dean's only role should be to look after Sam is not in fact Dean-positive and if the canon reinforces that, it's a problem

The way canon wasn't going deep enough to address the strains on the brother relationship. It was showing the rifts, but not really addressing it at the root causes

Brought up how most TV shows are structured and paced where normally there'd be more balance and how SPN's structure was limiting the story and character growth and the characters--for Sam and Dean. Not just Dean.

This is what brosonlies keep characterizing as me being rude, me attacking, me trying to push my DeSTieL AgEnDa, me being insane.

All because I had the temerity to treat Dean as a whole person instead of thinking his entire function in canon should be to spoon feed wounded and sick Sam, and because I had valid concerns about stop-gapping for both Sam and Dean, Sam being depicted again again as helpless and lacking agency, and Dean's role being narrowed, and where I even full on said, it would be a problem if Dean were confined to the caretaking role with anyone else he loves too.

I barely even go here any more but sometimes I remember how much I dislike the brosonly lane. How they target fans just for treating Dean as a whole person. How they resent you if you treat Sam as a whole person too. Because deep down they want eternally helpless sick wounded Sam so Dean can tend to him. They hate on shippers but the way this lane continues to treat both brothers, as characters, all for the sake of their fanon ship obsession, is still terrible. And very little has changed in 10 years.

They still hate character development. They still are so obsessed with their fanon ship that they don't even see Sam and Dean as fleshed out characters, they favor Sam, but even Sam gets chewed up and disregarded and lost in the maw of their shipping obsession. Nothing Matters But the Bro Bond. Sam and Dean who.

Feel free to discuss any of my old points about S9 if you'd like. I will be blocking and deleting any hateful or trolling comments.

#dot trolls fandom

[mdhwrites]

Question on What TOH Episode is its 'True Colors'?

Someone in my Discord told me about someone with the hot take of Hollow Mind being more shocking and disturbing than True Colors which... Sure. I do know I've heard people want to take swings at True Colors with TOH episodes though and I'm kind of curious about the one people think is the TOH equivalent.

The two I can really think of are King's Tide or Hollow Mind, partially because both feel like season finales. Hell, this did make me wonder if Hollow Mind was meant to be the original S2 finale which would have meant making Luz's angst arc EVEN LONGER. Also potentially meant half a season to an entire season was meant to be spent between Hollow Mind and King's Tide and... Boy that's a thought that just continues to fuel me saying TOH wanted fives seasons, not three.

Not that I think either are anywhere near as good mind you, not that it should be shocking to anyone to hear that. Hollow Mind has the big twist villain reveal and wants to be resolving things like True Colors did by having stuff like the Grimmwalker reveal but the problem there is the lack of patience on TOH's side as it already told us Belos' secret in Elsewhere Elsewhen and the fact that no one who isn't a part of the fandom could never have even heard of a Grimmwalker before now. Not when its foreshadowing is a foreground element for five seconds during the S1 finale. Not only that but while so much wolrdbuilding in Amphibia explains things like the toads taking control through brute force but being bad at holding onto power, Hollow Mind is actively shooting TOH's worldbuilding in the head.

Then there's King's Tide which has the big clash of armies, actually facing the bad guy and losing, and resolution on... Really just the elements that were set up between King's Tide and Hollow Mind. There's no series long pay offs like with Spranne against the world leading to the transformation or the fact that Polly is a baby having the reveal of her legs. It also fails in its own setup because while yes, King being able to pull the Collector out makes logical sense, dramatically it should have still taken King's blood. Otherwise, the fact that they have spent half a season getting rid of Amity's glove is entirely pointless except for false stakes. It actively makes previous episodes worse because you understand how pointless they were, INCLUDING HOLLOW MIND since its main moment of pathos during the B plot is about making Luz not be able to go home, even though the fact that they need to use Titan's Blood for that is really stupid.

There's also just a lack of depth from both episodes. There's nothing nearly as good as Andrias' backstory clashing with logic so as to make him make his twin mistakes during the episode. There's no push and pull of Sasha's fantasies and her desire to keep what she wants intact versus the fact that she is in a lot of pain. No moment of utter tragedy like Marcy's reveal.

Is any of this horrifying? Not really because there's no giant, creepy monster but it hits a lot harder and is a lot more tragic than anything TOH ever threw out because the whole series has built up to these moments of tragedy. They're horrifying both in their inevitability and in how much you want them to have gone a different way. They're joyous because when moments of victory come up, they're using the strengths we understand with each of these characters to manage it, as well as exploiting emotional weaknesses.

Or, you know, you could gut your entire world's history and worldbuilding for the sake of trying to claim your villain is interesting. Or have Luz only win by having a glyph act in a way that we've never seen it act before nor makes any thematic sense with its limitations. Or, just to jab at the finale too because Titan Luz SHOULD be compared more with this transformation, not Amphibia's S3 powers, you can give Luz a powerup that symbolically means nothing and comes out of complete nowhere, instead of one that symbolizes in so many ways how connected to this world Anne is and the growth she has undergone to deserve this transformation.

And for anyone curious: YES, watching True Colors, and even being able to easily come up with a pitch ONLY for changing this one episode to make Amphibia have been a satisfying, two season series, does make me just more annoyed at the excuses I hear thrown around to try and say TOH is better than Amphibia or deserves more of a pass on its writing flaws even while people demonize parts of Amphibia's writing.

*sigh* I actually hadn't originally planned to go hard on the analysis in this but like I said yesterday, True Colors is living rent free in my brain now for just how amazing it is and I definitely also heard people trying to call Hollow Mind and King's Tide the True Colors of TOH and just... No. TOH doesn't have the writing quality or the patience to even have a True Colors. Not when an episode like True Colors only comes from someone who genuinely was ready to set all the dominos into place for a payoff that big and satisfying.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #amphiba

[astroboots]

Hi!! Hope you're having a great day Cici!💕

I just saw your latest reblog and I couldn't help but want to know more on what's going on in these two scenes🙈😩💕

Ch 10 was one of my absolute favourites and genuinely had me grinning the whole way through!💓

Ok ok, so! We obviously Know what cielitos thinking here, and ig I can more or less guess what starks thinking but what about Miguel!?! To his knowledge he totaaaally had her fooled, so imagine his surprise when he sees her at stark tower !!!with the man stark himself!! And acting all buddy buddy too!!😳

Yeah this scene had me h o w l i n g👹🙈🥰🤡it was SOOOOO GOOD! And yes once again, I ask for Miguel's thought process here and a little bit of starks too if it's not much🙈 cause to stark I can't help but think all this must be awfully hilarious😂I just know he was having so much fun pushing Miguel's buttons 😂😂 man was low-key third wheeling with all the tension between cielito and Miguel😂

And yeah that's it!! I hope you're doing well and remember to take care of yourself!, especially now that EYEM's over, please get some rest and treat yourself to lots of nice food!💕you deserve it!!💓

DVD COMMENTARY ASK GAME

Boy oh boy am I happy that you picked this paragraph out of everything.

The thing with that scene is that because it's from the limited POV of cielito we didn't at all get to see what was going on with Miguel there and it's always been my biggest regret! Cause in the actual scene as I imagined it and told both TWP and my husband as I was writing it is that from Miguel's perspective. He had smoothly broken into the penthouse, undetected by Stark's sophisticated surveillance system, dismantling each boobytrap and foreseeing each detection device and rendering them harmless. Remember that he's also (when he wants to be) graceful and can move silently and quickly despite his large size. So imagine that this man has gone through ALL OF THAT! undetected by Jarvis, and he's just about to enter the room where the arc reactor is when he picks up Cielito's familiar voice with his spideyhearing and just FREEZES!!!

All of a sudden he's crawling all the way back into the main foyer, not giving a fuck about being detected because: WHY IS SHE HERE!!!

and the scratching noises that Cielito hears on the ceiling? Yeah that Miguel, claws coming out to angrily scratch at the ceiling (not because he needs those to crawl up there) but because they come out when he's emotionally excited and this man is SEETHING! when he sees Stark flirt with her and her NOT REJECTING HIM WTF?!?!?!

It kills me that I wasn't able to show that scene from miguel's pov cause this whole sequence had me howling when I was imagining it.

As for the second scene and Stark's "Are you single" comment.

Our spideyman's immediate thought is: DOES SHE LOOK SINGLE TO YOU ASSHOLE!!??!??!!

Because here's the thing. Cielito is not nena, she's not his wife. He knows that on a logical level. But emotionally? He can't help but treat and see her as his. his to protect, at least. And it's hard to see another man flirt with the woman you love and were married to for years, a sleaze nontheless (which in Miguel's eyes, Stark is sleazy) waltzing in there with those lame lines and his wife is INTERESTED?! are you fucking kidding me!?

The thing with jealousy is that I think it comes from a place of insecurity. And I think Miguel himself finds it a shock at how jealous he is. I don't think Miguel was very jealous with nena, why would he be? He was very secure in that relationship. He knew that his wife didn't really have eyes for anyone but him (in the same way that he wasn't interested in other women besides her), they were very devoted to each other, so there was no point in him being jealous. But with cielito? He can't help but love her, and for him, in this moment of time, when he sees this stark guy flirt with her and HER CONSIDERING IT, he realizes that oh... Miguel's devotion and love for her might not be reciprocated-- and the green jealous monster in him is out in full force.

As for Stark? Stark's just having the time of his fucking life! this is hilarious to him. His inner thoughts is basically: "Man this guy is making it easy, this is so fucking funny!"

Especially because he's figured out that Miguel is obviously smart and capable, smart and capable enough to breach his entire security system and to bring a guy down so easily just by making him jealousy that's a payback too sweet and funny not to do.

#DVD COMMENTARY ASK GAME #💌 ask

[shiraishi--kanade]

I don't remember if you've done it before, but could you talk about your url? Like where did "shiraishi kanade" come from? Is it implying like smth like kanade being a shiraishi sibling or smth like that? :0 or parallels?

I'm not caught up on all the stories so idk if they've ever met but I wanna hear about how you imagine their interactions and dynamic if that's OK! Or about their parallels if that's what it's about. Or both if you feel like it HAHDHA /nf

Oh this is such a nice question to receive honestly!

There's not much thought behind shiraishi-kanade as much as me just mashing two of my favourite characters' names together, seeing how it sounds and then also discovering it is by some miracle not taken yet. It flows much nicer than yoisaki-an, no?

That said I absolutely love Shiraishi sibling Kanade hcs/fics as well so you're not far off! I have an AU of my own where Ken and Yuka are Kanade's foster parents until (or if 👀) her dad gets better because in that universe child protection services are a little bit more sensible. Mashing a depressed teenager who misses her family more than anything and blames herself for her dad's illness, another teenager with abandonment issues who unbeknownst to her just lost a member of her family and also has a very idealised idea of an older sister, a grieving foster dad and an absolutely shocked by all of those circumstances mom together goes about as well as one might expect (not at all, but they all heal and learn).

That said I absolutely love Kanade and An parallels, they very much have some! They're both musically gifted, both of their families had musician dads and non-musician moms, both of them have taken on the legacy of the ones who are no longer able to carry it, both are hard workers to the point of pushing themselves beyond their limits, but because of different circumstances and different upbringings they react to it completely differently. They also differ in a way that Kanade appears utterly selfless but in truth has a selfish streak inside her, accounting for her saviour complex; on the other hand, An who is brash and outspoken on the outside has a very vulnerable and selfless heart. Their arc go a little bit against each other (learning to truly care about people Kanade claims to want to save & An learning to accept her own feelings, including the ugly ones) but then are also similar in some ways that my mind is too hazy to recall right now. And also, grief. A whole load of it. They're such an interesting pair to spin and rotate in my mind.

That said they actually haven't properly met in canon, of which I've expressed my grief extensively. They are aware of each other's existence because of the Hermit event (where this Kanade untrained is from) and have seen each other perform a couple times, but unfortunately nothing more than that. Which is a pity! They would make great friends in my opinion. Which is also why I have more than one shuffle au where they are teammates.

#jay rambles.txt #jay gets asks.txt #jay's character analysis #kind of? #thanks for the ask this is incredible