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#and esp since i used to try and at least pretend to be interested in their stuff when they used to do shit like that
menalez · 10 months
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Can you explain how the split model is harmful?
i can try my best, i’m a little rusty bc i haven’t really touched this topic in quite some time.
speaking as a lesbian who once was closeted, and knows many lesbians who faced similar— the split attraction model simply does not work, is illogical, keeps us closeted + confused longer, and encourages denialism.
the split attraction model separates “sexual attraction” from “romantic attraction”. it argues that people can have sexual attraction in one way and romantic attraction in another. the most common examples are heteroromantic asexuals, aromantic asexuals, aromantic bisexuals, and the like. basically ace/aro on one axis and then a sexual orientation on another (and if it’s a “romantic attraction” then just remove the -sexual and replace it with -romantic, even though the -sexual just refers to the sex ur attracted to and doesn’t mean u necessarily want to have sex or have a libido). the logical conclusions of this is that sometimes someone may be homosexual but biromantic, meaning they’re “romantically attracted” to both sexes but only sexually desire the same sex. in normal speak, that’s either just being homosexual (& telling urself u could totally be able to tolerate a relationship that makes u unhappy bc at least ur with the opposite sex) or bisexual with strong preferences.
firstly, it’s homophobic— under the split attraction model, lesbians can be attracted to men if they’re “biromantic” or if they’re “homoromantic bisexuals” (ie bisexual with a strong preference). gay men can be into women for similar reasons. somehow, you could be gay AND straight at the same time (heterosexual homoromantic / homosexual heteroromantic).
secondly, it literally just confuses you further and keeps you from figuring yourself out. if you’re a lesbian and can’t figure out why men’s bodies repulse you and you feel nothing for men but you toooootally want a boyfriend (ie u want social acceptance and approval) then you can just tell urself ur heteroromantic homosexual or biromantic homosexual! and then u don’t have to accept that ur just a lesbian and can keep forcing urself to fake interest in men. this overwhelmingly will harm gay ppl, namely lesbians, especially since we are raised to revolve our futures around having a husband and kids & male approval the way all women are.
speaking anecdotally here, but i was literally just not into men but was able to tolerate being close to them (neutral on stuff like holding hands or hugging etc) and told myself that meant i’m “biromantic homosexual”, which was a step up from my previous belief that i was “heteroromantic homosexual”. before then i was just thinking i must be demisexual or asexual or aromantic or acespec etc because i simply did not consider the obvious possibility that maybe i’m just not interested in men. this is not a unique experience— many lesbians i know have spent years confused and closeted because they were telling themselves that not liking men must mean being asexual or aroace or whatever else. it keeps us in denial and ignoring our obvious feelings because simply finding a label that fits your current confused state & validating it as an Identity is much easier (& also somewhat fun esp when ur a teen struggling to know ur place in this world)
also a lot of it hinges on the assumption that the average gay person is like hypersexual as hell and it’s just generally not good to pretend like there’s these “separate forms of attraction” the way the SAM does.
i honestly don’t see an actual upside to it, it encourages heterosexuals to delude themselves into thinking they’re “””””queer””””””” because they have commitment issues or don’t want to be in a relationship or because they have a low libido, it convinces others that you can somehow be gay and not gay at the same time, it’s illogical, it encourages gay ppl to remain in denial and be closeted, it just. isn’t good
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travelingneuritis · 11 months
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kinn porsche ep. 9: Double In Paradise
-i liked tawan better as a ghost. “They want to kill me.” “Right now so do i :)” that said, i do not wholly disbelieve tawan’s story; the breakdown b/w him & kinn might have involved several moving parts, one of which could have been blackmail or some other vaguely valid justification. i personally find the whole show more interesting if tawan was once a totally normal guy tainted by his proximity to the theerapanyakul empire: what would that say for porsche’s chances, or kinn’s? i still wanna smack him, but that’s just because he’s a whiny little encumbrance with all the personal charm of a mosquito. 
-wardrobe note! tawan’s been wearing this same white t-shirt for 2 episodes; he spent a night in a cell in this shirt before throwing up in it. yet it remains crisp, glowing, and utterly free of grime or pit stains. i am assuming the actual reason for this is because the costume dept got him a really nice shirt, then steamed or replaced it between takes. but if i wanted to read too far into it, i would interpret tawan’s glowing white shirt as a symbol of his deceit. He claims to be at the end of his rope but he’s ensured he looks spotless, stainless, perfect (and, i’m sure he hopes, perfectly fuckable). esp. coming after the lost-in-the-woods episode where an unshowered kinn gleefully splashed in a muddy creek with porsche, this really highlights both tawan’s duplicitousness and his failure to understand the person kinn is now. (which, ugh, just makes the love triangle that much more tedious.)
-my first watch through, i assumed big was pushing for tawan’s dismissal because he knew tawan had dirt on him; now i feel bad i ever doubted him. it was very brave & handsome of big to offer unasked advice to the 3 jumpiest members of the main family.
-it’s fucked up kinn made porsche be the one to babysit tawan. also, like.... kinda dumb? porsche is new at this shit, and he doesn’t seem to be very good at ignoring a prisoner. which makes him a really, really easy target for tawan’s manipulation. they should’ve made big the babysitter instead!
-arm: “aw poor porsche, he must be feeling threatened, since he’s kinn’s boyfriend now.” pete, wide-eyed: “nooo. reeeally?? gosh,,” 
-thank GOD yok talked porsche out of trying to make kinn jealous by flirting with someone else. much less boring and much more effective to seduce him directly. (even if porsche is only dubiously competent at any seduction attempt that doesn’t involve just like. grabbing kinn’s dick) 
-pete has many fine qualities but subterfuge ain’t one of them. still, vegas now regards him as enough of a problem that he’s graduated to more sophisticated forms of fuckery: pretending at virtue, touching pete’s back, and hoping they’ll meet again in their next lives while haunted-house music plays in the bg. 
that or he took a bunch of edibles before coming to this temple.
-i don’t get why kinn is allowing tawan to negotiate so hard. tawan keeps setting conditions then moving the goalpost, and everyone’s just, like... ok with that? kim would NEVER let this happen, is all i’m saying
-boy, vegas is just a stack of neuroses in a trenchcoat, huh. i think there’s a germ of sincerity in what he says to porsche at the pool: “the main family expects the minor family to be the ones to get our hands dirty, then they suspect us because we have dirty hands.” “if kinn orders you to kill me, at least don’t make me suffer.” ouch, dude.
porsche is calm and non-reactive throughout the scene, his body language reserved but not tense: he’s not holding a grudge, but he’s unlikely to trust or open up to vegas anytime soon. still, vegas isn’t giving up on the lifeline porsche represents just yet. Plan A: Intoxication & Seduction was a flop, but he’s figured out that porsche is a decent enough person that he might respond to other types of appeal.
-blah blah porsche gets caught wiretapping and following kinn around, of course; and tawan accuses him of being the mole among the bodyguards, OF COURSE. god i hate love triangles. luckily, this one’s almost over.
when kinn subsequently orders him locked up, porsche naturally believes this means kinn has lost faith in him. but the look on kinn’s face is not one of betrayal or grim vindication: he looks almost soft as he’s telling porsche he trusts no one. after all of tawan’s theatrics and sultry looks and crotch-sniffing, all it takes from porsche is a single, devastated “kinn” to tell kinn everything he needs to know.
if only porsche knew it too.
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lesbianyosano · 4 months
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manifesting Fukufuku dying in each others arms -> I am losing it slowly anyway thoughts on the newest chapter?
this has been sitting in my askbox since september and im really sorry anwsering took so long, but ive been trying to articulate how the last few chapters/last episode made me feel and im still not sure, because there have been so many bizzare choices made by both asagiri and the ppl behind the anime i still cant wrap my head around it fully (this got stupid long sorry)
starting with fukuzawa, i made a post a while back talking abt how i was assuming he was going to die/why it'd make a lot of sense, and there were really two main reasons for that; 1. he hasnt had anything interesting to offer for the story for a while and 2. his ability actively stops other important characters (mainly atsushi and kyouka) from further developement. the first thing is now gone which im pretty happy with! i love fukuzawa a lot so it's nice to see him finally have a purpose in the main story and im excited to see where it will go (also fukufuku you will always be famous to me <3333333), but the issue of his ability is still very much here. ive seen ppl theorize that all men are equal is just him lying and there is no ability but i honest to god would hate that, bc it would seem like such a shallow twist. atsushi's conflict with the tiger is central to his character so if it suddenly got revealed that a huge reason why he's even capable of using his power is just placebo "believe in yourself" bullshit i think i'd tear my own hair out. so im still thinking fukuzawa may get killed at some point, esp with the position he's been put into now and how much he seems to not want it.
and as for the "chuuya was never a vampire" fiasco, i honestly have no words, it was so unbelievably bad. ik there's been a ton of posts about how "its actually good" bc fyodor's death was caused by his inability to trust, and dazai's belief in his allies is what put him at an advantage, which is nice yeah, but it doesnt change how fucking stupid of a plan that was. if their goal is to kill fyodor, why not do it in that flooded room? fyodor escapes solely bc chuuya gets him out but if he was concious the entire time why not just leave him there? why continue to pretend? im usually not a huge fan of getting angry over plot holes when the narrative and themes are whats more important, but this is just so blantantly stupid. it feels like asagiri just wanted a plot twist for a plot twist's sake. mersault in general is so poorly constructed as an arc (dazai communicating via his heartbeat,,,, give me a break) but at least you'd hope it would end in a way that makes you excuse all of that, and then it doesn't. i think this post sums up how i feel about this than i ever could
and the fact that its december and we are STILL behind the fucking anime asagiri be so for real. it's easy to see now that the constant half chapters and short releases were a deliberate choice to have the anime catch up which i dont love, but fine, whatever. but now??? what the point of half releases? these chapters have been ready for a long time, and there's no way asagiri and the editors and whoever else is involved arent aware of how frustrated the readers have been for years now. the only explanation i can think of is that maybe the manga will have a different arc conclusion and ctheyre trying to idk, make it seem like we're following the anime closely? idk this shit is so stupid
overall this past arc or two have been bad, there are some elements that make them enjoyable still, but there is no theme consistency and overreliance on cliff hangers (that ppl still somehow buy). it feels like there are no stakes to the story, and that's really bad. maybe it's why i was hoping for fukuzawa to be killed alongside fukuchi idk, it'd finally feel like something is changing
on a brief positive note i quite enjoyed fyodors death, weird catholic freak, ofc nikolai is cradling your arm like this. i was a little suprised to see fyodor killed just yet (bc he always needed to die for the story to be able to wrap up eventually), but given the jesus quote, he may as well come back in some way tbh
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dantelionwishes · 3 years
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life is full of ups and downs downs downs downs dow
loredump under the cut. not kidding when I say its gonna be long!
oh shit you actually clicked keep reading thank you for your interest 😭😭😭
YOU KNOW THE DRILL tw // suggestive dont read ahead if youre uncomfortable with the topic of aphrodisiacs! 
MIDDLE SCHOOL 
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before anything, I gotta explain he was born to parents who had an infatuation quirk (makes them hardcore fall in love with you) and an infection quirk (transmits a virus via saliva)  
developed his quirk late, since they usually get it by the time kids are four 
most people knew him as quirkless before the first incident 
in middle school, his class was preparing for a school play, he and his classmate got cast as the main lead prince and princess 
coincidentally, they both had a crush on each other and had a scene where they kissed
technically they weren’t supposed to, since its just a play, but one time they were practicing in private and wanted to try kissing “for real”
so they shared a super giggly cute middle school first kiss but well UNFORTUNATELY FOR HIM HIS QUIRK HAD WELL DEVELOPED– 
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BADABING BADABOOM YOU HAVE AN IMAGINATION USE IT
the only way for the quirk’s effects to go away is to come at least once or pleasuring yourself until it goes away
I DO NOT WANT TO IMAGINE IT BUT. IMAGINE BEING A TEACHER AND FINDING A MIDDLE SCHOOLER WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING TO HER AND AN ADULT IS FORCED TO TELL HER HOW TO MAKE IT GO AWAY LLLLIKE–
rip now that I’m thinking abt it, I don’t even think anybody would even kNOW HOW TO MAKE IT GO AWAY so lets imagine she painfully stays that way until they figure out how to make it stop :^(
there’s a big fight that happens between the teachers, principal, and parents of both parties 
of course the crush’s parents got mad and called their kid a fuckin uhhhhh sexual predator or some shit despite also beING THE SAME AGE AND NOT EVEN KNOWING ABT HIS OWN QUIRK LIKE HELLLO
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obviously an incident like this is going to spread like wildfire but the principal does not want something like this to leak, especially since it was not on purpose and was a total accident 
the other kid’s parents and some teachers did not feel comfortable however, and sato was forced to drop out
but not wanting to spread the gossip about their son’s quirk and the incident, they leave the town and move someplace else
thankfully, the principal gives the sato family his good grades and a recommendation to a decent highschool for the trouble
they’re originally from osaka, but moved to tokyo 
this is where they start taking precautions with sato, basically teaching him to be careful with his saliva 
it was easily taught and learned esp since the mom was already like that around him and others everyday anyway!! she has to take care of her saliva-based infection quirk, after all 
HIGH SCHOOL
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he got enrolled into a regular highschool in tokyo
no hero course, no support course, no business, just a regular ol’ school
if before, he loved surrounding himself with people, this was where he was forced to develop a lonely disposition to protect himself and others
at least his parents were very protective and supportive of him and they were generally a happy family!
but in school, pretending to be quirkless was just as difficult, getting bullied or pitied for having no special abilities 
his excuse for wearing a mask all the time was because his mother had a virus-related quirk, and had to be careful 
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one day his dad was suddenly got really, really sick
the more he had an excuse to wear a mask because he didnt want to get whatever disease his father started to develop 
sato started thinking it could be his mother (but why?) the results didn’t say anything about an unknown virus killing him (which is his mom’s quirk), and that his father really did contract a strong yet very normal disease 
while on his second year in highschool, his father, yozo sato, died 
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apparently, without him knowing anything about his parents, his mother, oba sato, was actually under the dad’s infatuation quirk this whole time
she realised she wasn’t really in love with him when oba had accidentally allowed a drop of her saliva to fall into the meal she was making him, making him sick, and therefore making him weak enough to deactivate his quirk on her 
oba, back in her college years, wanted to marry someone else but yozo, who had a crush on her wanted her to himself, used his quirk to make him fall in love with her 
so in revenge for making her put up with him all these years to the point of marriage and having a kid, she continued to do this to his food 
her quirk doesn’t make anybody sick enough to die, but it made her husband’s immune system weak enough to the point that it contracted a real, serious disease which he ended up dying from instead 
sato only finds out the real story when he graduates from highschool, days right after his graduation the mom confesses it all 
she does say she truly loves him, but can’t stay around him knowing he was technically “unconsensual love”
sato gets reminded of what his quirk does, and true enough, that’s what him and his quirk turned out to be (a sick combination of his mom and his dad) 
they cant bear to be around each other after that revelation and decide to just not see each other again 
COLLEGE YEARS
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he enrolls into an education course, inspired by the kind principal who helped him finish his middleschool-highschool education when it all started going downhill 
sato struggles paying for his college fees esp since he doesn’t exactly have his parents supporting him anymore, nor any contact with immediate family 
he has a lot of part time jobs that go all around the clock, he continues pretending to be quirkless so he gets bullied, and has to deal with all that emotional baggage plus being alone so…….clearly my man is TIRED as hell 
his side job hustles include: convenience store cashier, bookstore attendant, bar bouncer, and rookie gym trainer (he went to the local gym long enough for him to get recommended a job as a trainer)
college was that point where he starts developing a hardcore yearning for a companion because oh my god hes so lonELY (but cant)
ANYWAY SO
there’s this bully guy who always picks on him in college (for being “quirkless” and a loner and overall a fuckin weirdo with a mask)
tbh sato doesnt really give a shit he’s so used to it but he doesnt have his mother as an excuse to wear the mask anymore, this is where he starts forming the “I have bad breath” excuse 
“口臭い” (kuchi kusai) translates to “bad breath” or “stinky mouth” so sato unlovingly gets nicknamed “kusato”
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one day he’s walking around the campus at night and finds the bully with his gang cornering another quirkless student, with plans of assaulting her 
sato was never the hero type, and was about to ignore the commotion as to not get involved, but something in him moved on its own and he found himself face to face with the gang 
he confronts them, but the bully mocks both him and the girl for not having powers to stop them anyway 
SIKE BITCH sato’s able to easily strike the other two guys, knock them off their feet enough to be able to tug the to-be victim aside, telling her to report them, before asking her to run away as fast as she can
none of the guys want that (they’re all students) so they have a full on brawl (and this isnt hero academy, its a totally normal university so I wouldn’t assume these guys had very impressive quirks)
except the main bully actually has a pretty decent quirk (he’s like a kinda half human half dragon with sharp claws, scales, and dragon eyes) and gets to injure sato with his sharp claws, seriously injuring his face
a part of his ear is also sort of sliced off, which is how his mask gets accidentally removed in the process 
the dragon bully grabs him by the collar and starts angrily shouting at him for ruining his night, being able to do all this shit without a quirk and all and all other derogatory speech 
“Well? what do you have to say for yourself?!“ 
Sato stays silent before spitting right into the bully’s mouth 
The bully drops him immediately, about to angrily fuck him up for doing something super fucking gross but WHOOP WHOOP YOU KNOW WHATS BOUTTA HAPPEN the quirk works immediately and the bully is a TOTAL MESS on the ground 
Im going to TLDR this part cos its…obviously nsfw but like: sato fully embarrasses him in public (beside the bully’s two colleges nonetheless) 
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sato stays in the hospital for some time to heal from his wounds 
fortunately, afterwards, the bullies all get expelled 
unfortunately for sato, he also gets expelled for engaging in bad behaviour, and the bully did say what happened to him (and the college principal did not want his…dangerous quirk on campus) so as to lower any incident, all four were expelled 
at least without having to pay for college fees anymore, he could fully focus on paying for food, shelter, and clothes 
minus of course the hospital bills needed to pay plus he got a sick ass scar from it anyway HAHAHAHA BSDJHJRHDHF
ADULT LIFE
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he had a lot of jobs here and there, but was more or less doing best as a trainer at a local gym where people weren’t allowed to use their quirks and strengthen their body regularly 
a few years went by and he eventually shrugged off everything that happened in his final college years but one day someone familiar walked into the gym! It was the fellow college student he saved!!!
she became a policewoman who wanted to get stronger in this quirkless friendly gym and hadn’t given up on her dreams of being a “hero,” inspired by how sato saved her that day
sato never really saw himself as some hero, he was left many nights alone thinking about how easily he could become a villain with his quirk, so hearing that really made him happy 
he trains her as her gym coach and she eventually asks him to join her patrol this small part of the city from a gang that was currently going around doing crimes since he’s good at it anyway, saying she could use some extra hands hehe
so yeah!! he does this side gig with her where he patrols alongside her looking for gang crimes and such c:
AND ONE DAY. [WISTFUL SIGH] ONE DAY. HE FINDS SOMEBODY GETTING MUGGED BY A GANG MEMBER AND SAVES………A CERTAIN MAN–
thank you for reading all the way here!!!
feel free to ask for questions or for any clarifications 😭😭😭!!!!!!
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everythingsinred · 3 years
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Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 18)
Hiya! I'm posting late, on account of my job. Editing these takes about an hour depending on the post and inserting the images takes a little more, but I didn't have a solid block of time to work on it, so I worked on it in pieces and I only just now finished.
This arc highlights Natsume's powerlessness. He's distancing himself from Mikan to protect her, but by doing this, he leaves her defenseless at times. He wants to be there for her but can't because of the corner he's been pushed into, and in his desperation he turns to anonymity.
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Chapter Eighty-One
Hotaru, Natsume, and Ruka are running after them, but are caught by Tsubasa, who asks them what their plan is, exactly. Ruka turns to Natsume, who turns to Hotaru, who pretends she was just practicing her running for the Festival and then the boys started following her for no reason. This comic relief is a badly-needed break from all the bullying and blackmail of the arc so far.
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This arc is full of fun comic relief, but the main plot is so depressing and frustrating that sometimes the comic relief is not enough.
In any case, all three of them know that the others are all working to take care of Mikan, even if she doesn't know it. They're all looking out for her in their own ways, even Natsume who seems to have publicly turned against her. At least Hotaru and Ruka can see the truth: he's still quite concerned about it, but he's in something of a bind now.
The next we see of Natsume, he’s walking with Tsubasa, being spied on by both Hotaru and Ruka. It’s here that we discover that Tsubasa has been transferred to the DA class, but is keeping this secret from Mikan. Moreover, he and Natsume are on a mission to locate Yuka, and they’re both aware that Mikan is her daughter. It’s interesting to know just how much information the DA class has on the other students that the other kids have no clue about. Hotaru and Ruka are shocked by this information, but for us as readers, it also demonstrates just how much work Natsume--and Tsubasa--are putting into protecting Mikan.
All this information is stuff they have to consider on their missions. They want to protect Yuka, because she’s Mikan’s mother, but they have no choice but to pursue and chase after her with raids and attacks. On top of that, Tsubasa is keeping his new ability class a secret, and Natsume has to hurt her with this Luna farce. It’s a lot to put on two kids, not that the ESP or Persona have much issue putting pressure on kids.
For Natsume in particular, it was fun while it lasted, being close to Mikan. He had relished and enjoyed it, and now he has to change pace. He’s willing to, because that’s how he can keep her smiling and having fun, even if he’s not on her team and can’t even be in her inner circle anymore. He’s willing to sacrifice anything for her, but we can see that it’s not any fun for him. Mikan is suffering in sadness, yes, but so is Natsume.
The next thing he has to do only makes things worse.
He confronts Mikan about the rumor Luna made up, about Mikan showing her underwear to the Fuukitai to avoid punishment. It’s obviously bogus: Mikan would never even think to do that, let alone actually do it. He knows that too, because Natsume knows her very well. He asks because he has to.
Mikan avoids answering, brushing it off as none of Natsume’s business, because she is also under Luna’s watchful gaze. So they end up having an argument in front of everyone, both not saying what they really mean, and instead doing as Luna commands, to keep everyone safe. Mikan points out that she isn’t his partner--or anything--anymore, so he should mind his business. Natsume then asks if that means his concern is a bother, and she confirms: yes. It’s a big fat pain.
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It's heartbreaking and frustrating in equal spades.
It’s almost as if Natsume was testing something. Now he knows that Luna must have threatened Mikan in the storeroom. Something sinister happened there, and now Mikan is different, dishonest, mean. That’s not what she’s actually like, and now he’s concerned. Luna’s shadow is spreading and it’s threatening to encroach on Mikan’s light.
Chapter Eighty-Two
Natsume walks off, having heard all he needs to hear.
Luna is causing mayhem and strife to punish Mikan and Natsume specifically for their misbehavior on New Year’s. She wants Mikan to be isolated from Natsume in particular because he’s her number one protector. If there’s a wedge between them, Mikan is easier to target. After all, Mikan’s purpose at the academy is to lure in Yuka, and the more danger she is in, the more likely Yuka is to try and save her daughter. If Natsume is around, threatening Mikan becomes tricky. He’d never allow anything bad to happen to her, hence his desperation and sacrifice in this arc. In order to fulfill their goals regarding Yuka, they need Natsume out of Mikan’s picture.
Of course, despite Natsume’s secret intel being superior to Ruka or Hotaru’s (and definitely to Mikan’s), he’s still not entirely in the know. Yuka being the main target, for example, is information Natsume is not privy to, and couldn’t even imagine. This is a game Natsume is unaware that he cannot win. If he doesn’t distance himself from Mikan, she’ll be threatened, but if he does, she’ll be threatened. In reality, there's no way he can win this round.
Chapter Eighty-Three
Anyway, the Sports Fest doesn’t slow down for the kids’ drama. The athletic meets have begun, and now there is a relay race.
Ruka and Natsume are on different teams for the relay, and this has inspired Ruka to beat his best friend, so he can be number one in Mikan’s eyes for once.
I will talk way more about the “love triangle” aspect of NatsuMikan and the question of choice, autonomy, and agency in Mikan’s essay, because when it comes to Natsume's side of things, he's very much resigned to losing every romantic game, every relay race, every competition. It's no contest. He's not competing. He's withdrawn from the race, now more than ever. He will not participate. He is destined to lose, after all, so why even bother?
And so Ruka wins the actual relay, and Natsume watches as everyone has fun without him, something that he’s been accustomed to before. It hurts more now, undoubtedly, because for a time, he was actually a part of the group. Knowing what it feels like to fit in and have fun with everyone makes it even worse when it’s gone again. He used to separate himself from the rest and suffer all on his own, but now he’s returned to that state.
He hasn’t quite let go, either. His effort and commitment to the Sports Fest, despite all the drama with Mikan and Luna, demonstrate just how much he actually wants to participate. It’s not about having his friends around him. He actually likes being able to have fun, and be allowed to take part in an event with everyone else, even if he isn’t technically by his friends’ sides.
His bad feelings are only exacerbated by Luna, who shows up to taunt him. He shouldn’t worry about Mikan and Ruka, because they’ll be torn apart eventually. Whatever happiness they find right now is temporary. It won’t last, and Luna will make sure of it.
But Natsume loves both Mikan and Ruka, and that does not reassure him at all. He’s selfless, would rather they be together anyway. In a perfect world, maybe she could pick him, and it makes him sad that the world isn’t perfect and he can’t have what he wants, but he’s always at peace with losing. So he’s not at all comforted by the idea that the happiness his loved ones have found will dissipate in no time.
Chapter Eighty-Four
Luna then giggles, because whether or not Ruka and Mikan’s being split apart will result in Natsume’s happiness is another question entirely. She wants to rub it in that even if Ruka is out of the picture, he can never be with Mikan. Joke’s on her though, because Natsume has already come to terms with this the moment he fell in love with Mikan. He hasn’t been humoring ideas of love confessions and weddings and living happily ever after. It’s outside the realm of possibility, because his circumstances do not allow him much happiness at all.
The future seems bleaker than ever, and knowing that Ruka and Mikan are being kept under watch by the school, Natsume keeps an eye on them too. He’s feeling sad and heart-broken too, of course. He’s not perfect. He can’t erase feelings of jealousy or the ache of unrequited love just because he feels it’s his duty to make peace with them. It hurts, but he’ll carry through. That’s what he’s always done.
But people are gossiping about his presence, putting his position in jeopardy. Luna can’t know he’s still hanging around Mikan, even if Mikan herself is clueless to this. Before he can be discovered, he steals someone’s mask, the mask of a boy named Kusami whose hairstyle looks an awful lot like Natsume’s.
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If only he could be allowed to just steal people's identities and not have to face any consequences for it. Alas.
Unfortunately for Natsume, the Borrowing Race is about to begin, and Kusami was arranged to be a participant. He put the mask on to avoid responsibility for his spying, but it’s bit him in the butt now.
Kusami benefits from this, indirectly, since kids who call him moron get the cold shoulder from Natsume, who doesn’t have the same easy-going personality.
It seems nobody actually wants to participate in the Borrowing Race. It’s very personal and vulnerable: you have to borrow a person or item you’d least want to borrow, as dictated on a small piece of paper assigned to you. It’s then judged by some mind-reading alices to test the validity of the borrowed items. The concept of the race functions around embarrassing and humiliating people, so naturally nobody would want to participate.
Natsume has gotten himself into trouble here. He can’t even make a run for it, though he really wants to, because for some reason people are hell-bent on Kusami competing. He’s in the second round, and starts running as he--or Kusami--is supposed to. He gets his paper and although we don’t see what’s written on it quite yet, we can see a focus on Mikan in one of the panels, so we can tell his first thought is to borrow her.
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To confess anonymously in front of the whole school or to not confess anonymously in front of the whole school--that is the question.
And then in a few pages, emboldened by the mask he’s wearing, Natsume runs toward Mikan and grabs her wrist. He’s decided he will borrow her, because maybe she’ll never find out his true identity, and he can be selfish just this once. This could be his only chance ever to be honest about how he feels. He's had to lie and hide it for so long that it makes sense he'd take the first opportunity available to go for it. This is quite possibly the most selfish thing he’s done. If he gets caught, he’ll be entirely exposed.
Unlike Ruka, Natsume can't really win this race. He won't be number one in Mikan's eyes, ever. He can't ever tell her it's all for her. The very best he can do is compete with a mask on. Ruka can try his hardest and impress Mikan and Natsume feels he never will. It's not much of a competition when one person cannot and will not compete.
He runs, despite her confusion and obliviousness, or perhaps because of it.
And just as the fireworks displaying his prompt start going off in the sky, he lets her go and walks away resolutely. There. He’s participated.
“The person you love.”
Mikan is chasing after Natsume, but he can’t be caught. Being caught would ruin everything, and would make his selfish act even more selfish. He shoves the mask back into Kusami’s face, and takes off.
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You'd think he'd be a bit happier to have finally confessed his feelings but he just looks miserable.
Natsume has been very selfish now. He didn’t have to grab Mikan. He could’ve borrowed anybody and lost. Does it matter if he wins? He’s not Kusami. He could’ve just gotten the race over with and run away, but instead he played along, because he wanted to confess. He’s never been so honest in his life. He wants her to know he loves her, even if she doesn’t know who “he” is. And if he gets caught, then Mikan will know for a fact that Natsume Hyuuga loves her, and everything he’s done so far--hyping up Ruka, distancing himself, being cruel to protect her, allowing Luna to cling to him--will have been for nothing. She’ll know it was all a ruse, and then she’ll be open to all sorts of dangers. But he risks it, because he just can’t hide it anymore. He always has to hide, always has to pretend, always has to sacrifice his own feelings for the sake of others. This time, he’ll say exactly what he means, made all the more easier by the fact that there’s a mask on his face.
He’s done something like this before, particularly when he kissed Mikan on Christmas.
And the Christmas kiss is nothing compared to this: an actual love confession. The kiss was just that, and he had plenty of excuses for why he’d kiss her. It wasn’t because he loved her, no way! It was because she kept saying the other one didn’t count. Or maybe he just wanted to know what it felt like. That’s all. The excuses were just another mask to hide behind.
What excuse could he possibly give for a love confession that a panel of mind-reading judges corroborated? If he’s caught, she will know.
All his tiny instances of selfishness are smaller examples of the same idea: he lets himself be affectionate for once. He can say he prefers her with her hair down, or hug her during the SA class labyrinth, or cuddle with her when he’s having a nightmare, just this one time, and then he’ll give up for good. She won’t notice. It won’t have an effect. It won’t have consequences. He’ll give up for good after; he’ll just do this one selfish thing and then never again. But he can’t give it up, and eventually Christmas happens. He kisses her, unloading so much affection into one action, as if he’s trying to just get it over with. He’ll just get all his love out with one kiss and then he’ll be okay to watch her fall in love with anybody else but him.
But he can’t. He can’t stop doing these little selfish things. He can’t suffocate his love and leave it to die, hidden and smothered like a skeleton in a closet. Despite his every attempt to kill it, to hide it, to pretend like it’s not important, it has only grown stronger. He loves her more and more everyday, and the more he loves her, the harder it is to pretend like he doesn’t care if he never gets what he wants.
He wants to be with her. He wants to kiss her and protect her openly. He wants to sit next to her in class and smile with her. He wants to spend time with her and be on her team for school events. He wants to hold her hand and tell her he loves her.
He doesn’t want to give it all up and wreck his own chances.
The longer he’s loved Mikan, the harder it’s been to be selfless like this. The yearning has only gotten stronger, and now it takes all his power to be cruel to her. What used to come naturally, like being cold and distant and insulting her, has become difficult. What comes naturally to him now is to confess his love or hold her hand or be around her.
Despite the fact that Natsume was the only person who seems to have borrowed the correct person for the race, the White team still loses, on account of him not actually being Kusami.
At the end of the chapter, he sits alone, brooding in a tree.
He hasn’t been caught, so his actions have no consequences for now. He can sit there and mourn what could have been. He can’t be with Mikan, let alone confess his feelings. This was just an excuse to live out a fantasy. He wants to be loud about his feelings, not muffle them. But this is Natsume we’re talking about. He never gets what he wants. And in his opinion, he shouldn’t because Ruka deserves a happy ending way more. And Mikan would never love him back anyway. Ruka would be better for her.
This is just another instance of Natsume promising himself that he’ll do one more selfish thing before he gives up forever. But we know he’s bad at keeping his word, and this is no exception.
Chapter Eighty-Five
Before Mikan can confront Natsume about the borrowing race, Luna steps in, covering for him, claiming she was watching with him from the bleachers during the race. She clings to his arm and drags him off, spurring even more rumors that he and Luna are an item.
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She's so violent with him for really no reason.
He tells her to get off, but she reminds him that she’s just done him a favor (though it’s really just a favor to herself). She grabs his hand and holds it tight, and again people get the wrong idea. It’s interesting how such physically painful things come across as romantic to the people around them, who think that Luna is simply holding his hand. Natsume’s persistent look of misery and apathy doesn’t deter people at all from rumors that he’s dating her. After all, Luna is clinging to him with a smile on her face and he’s not doing anything to peel her off, so it must mean they have feelings for each other. Natsume has been so good at hiding his feelings, that nobody--not even the girl he really loves--knows what it looks like when he’s loving and affectionate to somebody. They think he's into Luna, and can't see that what he really needs is help.
Chapter Eighty-Six
Luna has just arranged a terrifying fall for Mikan, knowing she’d use her alice as a knee-jerk reaction to save herself, thus causing others to think she did it for the attention. Mikan could’ve been seriously injured, or worse, and is definitely in trouble now, so Natsume is furious.
He confronts Luna, and the only thing stopping him from hurting her is that he could put Mikan in even more danger by doing so. But Luna is remorseless, giggling that she had no choice but to threaten Mikan. After all, she’s just doing what the principal said they’d do. Mikan should have been put in Persona’s custody in the DA class immediately following the Hana Hime party incident, but Natsume’s sacrifices have allowed her to skate by. Luna is there to observe and punish what she perceives as bad behavior, and anything less than abject misery from Mikan is bad behavior to her.
She warns Natsume: if he really wants to protect Mikan, then he’ll make sure she’s hated. That way, she won’t be in danger.
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Powerlessness.
Natsume can’t go around confessing his love to her with a mask on anymore. He needs to sacrifice their relationship entirely in order to keep her safe. And so he does.
He’s sitting on a bench, surrounded by his classmates. Permy is adamantly defending Mikan. These rumors that Mikan fell on purpose for the attention are obviously stemming from Luna, who has the whole class wrapped around her finger. She turns to Natsume, looking for back-up, but Natsume has been told clearly what to do in order to really protect Mikan, and it has nothing to do with standing up for her against these rumors.
Instead, he says that it’s best not to be involved with Mikan anymore. He doesn’t want to see her or hear about her anymore, and he doesn’t want to associate with anyone who associates with her. He tries to give off the impression that he hates her, that he’s disgusted by her.
Then he sees that she’s been there all along, listening.
This is almost like the scene where he tells her he hates everything about her. He’s doing the hard thing to protect her. He’s lying, willing to hurt her, willing to be the villain, if it means she’s in the light and out of the dark.
But this is different.
Mikan could take it before. She yelled back that she hated him too, just as much, and even though that was a lie, it was still something she was able to say. She could argue and fight. This time she crumbles and runs away.
And he’s different too. Before, he could walk away, resolute and determined. Knowing that she’ll be better off this way was enough for him. He didn’t even look back. This time, he can’t leave things like that.
After all, last time was easier. He didn’t think she actually liked him back then. It would really only hurt him. He knows better now. Mikan cares about him, and it doesn’t matter what shape that care takes. It only matters that hearing Natsume call her worthless brings her to tears now, and that’s enough for him to feel way more conflicted.
This time, he apologizes.
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He doesn't say he's sorry, but he's saying he's sorry.
He finds Kusami, steals his mask once again, never saying one word to a kid who has been generously keeping his secret for him. He runs after Mikan, and when he finally catches up to her, he hugs her.
Wearing the mask while hugging her is like wearing a raincoat in a hurricane. It won’t change anything or protect him at all. In fact, all he’s doing is giving her confirmation that it’s him, but he doesn’t care.
He doesn’t want her to think he hates her. He can’t stand it anymore. He’s sorry and he didn’t mean it.
He hugs her and this is different from his selfish hugs during the RPG or when he was having a nightmare. Those were little stolen moments for him to remember. He could take them from Mikan and cherish them as precious memories, even if she never thought of them again. This one is different. This one is for her, to comfort her, to apologize.
It’s all the things he can’t say. I didn’t mean it. Sorry. I have to do this. I really do care about you, I promise. It’s not real. Luna’s making me do this.
But before she can turn around to look at him, he leaves again.
He knows, because of Luna’s warning, that Mikan’s life will only get harder. He wants to help her, but by helping her, he’s placing himself further from her, making it harder for him to protect her in the future. If he’s distant from her to keep Luna at bay, then he’s not around to protect her from Luna in the storeroom, or during the cheerleading competition.
It’s what one might call a Catch-22. No matter what he chooses, he loses. And the worst part is that so does Mikan.
Conclusion
Natsume isn't an active participant in the last few chapters of this arc, so this is how I'll wrap the meta here. In the next arc there will be much to say about him. The Sports Fest went deep into Natsume's love for Mikan. It's not surprising that his love inspires selflessness. Natsume will always put others in front of himself and the more he loves someone, the more fervent he is about self-sacrifice. The truly beautiful thing about Natsume's love for Mikan is that it inspires selfishness too. And I never mean selfish as bad when I'm talking about Natsume. His love for Mikan is special in that it makes him want things for himself too.
I'm having doubts about being able to post tomorrow, so I apologize for only two posts this week. Expect normal posting next week at the very least! This essay is probably more than halfway through already, though I can't say for sure how much is left. Where I am now in terms of essay-writing is already deep in the Time-Travel Arc and as a result there's entire chapters I've skipped. Like. Seven in a row at times. Yikes. So basically we're pretty far in!
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i actually did think you didn't like sam and cas for the longest time, but it's more than your bias for dean is evident. it took awhile to see through that and understand you are coming at sam and cas out of love and in a fun way and just happen to like dean more. there are a lot of other blogs that make digs at characters (esp sam and cas) in a NOT fun way, but pretend they "love all of TFW" and that's on me for lumping you in with them.
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You know Anon, back when I used to post absolutely NOTHING except for memes, and also had a Sam banner and icon, someone asked me who my favorite character was, and I made it a poll because I was curious how good of a job I was doing keeping my content even. Lo and behold—they chose in order by vote percentage:
Sam
Cas
Dean
Jack
Then as the poll has stayed up ever since, I think Dean and Cas have traded places in the voting (but by now everyone knows Dean is my favorite). But a very large percentage of people did not know Dean was my favorite starting out. I was surprised, because I do indeed love Dean very VERY much. It isn't that I don't like Sam and Cas—but to me, Dean is possibly one of the greatest characters of all time. I could not possibly put into words how much I enjoy his character and all of the reasons why he's touched my heart. There is just no one out there quite like him in my mind. I think my bias for Dean has come through more in recent times—especially since the finale, because I miss him very much and his shitty death gutted (DON'T) me.
I think watching the show, when you look at the story only through one characters' lens, it's very easy to resent the others for not being perfect friends/family/brothers. I have even seen someone voice the sentiment before, "To some degree, to love Sam is to hate Dean, and to hate Dean is to love Sam" (paraphrasing). The thing is, when you genuinely look at your favorite (whether that's Dean or Sam or Cas) and look at their motivations and feelings and actions, it's clear that they love each other very much. That's an unavoidable fact in my mind. Both the best and worst things they've done have been at least partially motivated by the love they have for one another. I cannot, ultimately, dislike Sam or Cas knowing how much Dean loves them. To hate them would be to hate a part of Dean that is innate to who he is—his love for his family—and the choices and sacrifices he has made due to that love. It would be to say that there is something broken inside him that makes him unable to make the right choices about who should and should not be in his life. It would be to say that the foundation of the show, at the center of which is Dean's heart and how people around him are pulled inside of its orbit, is something tainted and unworthy.
It would also be to say that Dean's mistakes are okay and theirs are not, because you will find countless parallel events and threads tying their different actions together in ways that are different but also are often very much the same, if you get their motivations.
I think, for every stan out there of any main character... it would be a good idea to watch through the show trying to see it through a lens besides that of your favorite. I did this with Sam, and I am currently doing a rewatch where one of the goals is to focus on Cas's point of view more. Nothing can give you greater compassion and understanding than trying to step inside someone else's shoes, and having done this is one of the primary reasons I can't bring myself to follow many SPN accounts I have come across on Tumblr, because resentment runs rampant in many places, over characters or ships, and I don't care for that negativity. It's also the primary reason I started this blog to begin with. I wanted to carve out a positive space, where I didn't completely refuse to engage with the characters flaws (god knows fandom won't shut up about them anyway), but a place where I pointed out their flaws only to say those flaws are okay, don't make any one of them more unworthy of love than any of the others. Those flaws (at least—the ones I agree exist... there's a lot of flaws attributed to Sam, Dean, and Cas that I don't agree with at all) are what makes them human (err... or angel, respectively). I am not interested in Mary Sues (and I am definitely not interested in fans who sand down characters into Mary Sues to escape any semblance of their favorite being "problematic"). Just show me why they make the choices they do, even when those choices are broken, and I'm compassionate and I'm fascinated. I dare anyone to do better than the characters did with the cards they were dealt—with the lives they lived.
I can't say I've had the same experience on Tumblr as you with blogs pretending to like Sam and Cas while having a clear bias for Dean... I've tended to see quite a lot more of the opposite or worse. There are, after all, several blogs dedicated to absolutely nothing except trying to spread outright hate for Dean, and there was a time not long ago that you could not even go in the Dean tag without seeing countless ugly posts spewing vitriol about him (that has faded significantly since the show ended). But I think we're all bound to be most wise to the bias against our favorites (hell—I have picked up on someone's dislike of Dean from a gif blog before... and it was later confirmed that I was right). This is also part of what feeds the culture of anti-ism in the fanbase. People watched these characters for 12-15 years, and they latched onto one of them, and they know that character, and in many cases find identity and comfort with that character, and they see that character accused of terrible things that really aren't accurate at all, and the kind of innate human response to that is to want to do the opposite—hate their favorite because they hate yours. I think it's clear that that isn't what we're really supposed to get out of SPN. I don't think the intended narrative is that Dean hates Cas or Sam or that Sam hates Dean or that any one of them is unworthy of love and acceptance or is perfect or is too flawed. People can choose the narratives they want, but I'll continue vehemently disagreeing with them and making fun of them with the tag #don't feed the stans after midnight.
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cminerva · 3 years
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Finally, the reason I started this particular rewatch: The Iceman Job!
Leverage Redemption features several callbacks to this episode so there's gonna be Redemption spoilers. I have a lot of feelings about these people, so read all about it under the cut.
It's been a while since I've watched this one so the plot details are fuzzy. I was thinking why is there just one guard with the truck? and then Nate asks the client the same thing 😂
"Who's the other drink for?" Nate fumbles a bit and it's both endearing and amusing that he instinctively ordered a drink for Sophie and doesn't have an easy answer to explain her absence to the client (or himself).
Nate isn't the only one thrown off by Sophie's absence. Parker is annoying Eliot and Hardison because she can't find a space on the couch that feels right without Sophie there.
Nate goes into dad mode to try to fix that issue: "Eliot, will you please sit next to Parker?" That doesn't work, more squabbling ensues. "We all miss Sophie, we just have to adapt."
Nate gets to nerd out about insurance fraud and Parker gets to show off her impressive knowledge of diamonds.
I love when you can see Nate pulling the plan together in his head. And they're gonna involve Bonanno, yay!
We're just a few minutes into the episode and Nate is already having to remind everyone that they're not going to call Sophie; she asked for space and they're gonna give it to her. They are short a grifter though so he taps Hardison, who is thrilled.
Parker is less thrilled with her proposed role: roper. She imagines violence and honestly, in the scenarios she runs through in her mind, I don't blame her. But this does prompt the first call to Sophie!
Parker hides away in the kitchen and holds a whispered conversation with Sophie, frantically seeking assistance. Sophie is at a bar in London and she delivers some quick advice. (I love Parker's delighted expression when she thinks Jimmy Choos is a dead body Soph stashed in Nate's closet.)
"Don't tell Nate I called."
Oh Hardison. Ohhhh Hardison. That accent 😭 I love that they reference the terrible accent in Redemption and Parker makes up an errand to get out of telling Hardison that yeah, she hated it too.
Give everyone else on the team an award for not breaking character when Hardison dubbed himself "the Iceman". Though Parker is gonna break soon since he keeps claiming her heists as his own to sell the bit.
"Iceman, play it cool. That's just an awful, awful name."
Nate looks very good in the dark suit, esp with the dark shirt and tie. Everyone one this show is attractive but this is the best season for Eliot's hair and Nate has been wearing a lot of dark suits, so they both get extra marks for that.
Nate poses as Sterling for this con and I love it.
Now it's Eliot's turn to call Sophie! At this point he knows Parker has already called, so he doesn't try very hard to hide it from her. He calls to bitch about Hardison but he's also worried about his ability to protect the team when he's relegated to backup and Hardison has developed such an outlandish character. What I love about this call is that we don't hear Soph's side of the conversation, but you can tell she's repeating advice she's clearly given him before.
"Don't tell Nate I called."
"The Iceman cometh." Eliot is gonna kill him.
Hardison went too big and now the Russians have him. He arranges for a phone call and naturally dials Sophie.
"Hardison? Are you calling me in character?" She clearly has a lot of questions about the accent, but immediately realizes that Hardison is in trouble and also realizes exactly who has him and why. "It's the goons. You oversold the part!"
"It's the Russians? I'm going to have to phone Nate!" Hardison has to stay in the character prison he's built for himself, so his version of don't call Nate is "leave it off, crumpet" 💀
"Hey Hardison, I just got an interesting phone call." I love the idea that Nate has been hoping Soph would call him and then she does, only it's to quickly tell him that one of the kids has been kidnapped by Russians. On his watch. So not only is Nate disappointed but now he's in trouble 😂
The rest of the team is now trying to help Hardison, but they need to do all the things he usually does. Nate is particularly flustered, trying to figure out the computer, come up with a plan to help Hardison and also finish the original job so they can help their client.
"Do not call Sophie."
Bonanno!
Eliot is fighting off a hug from Hardison. Stop pretending you don't want to hug that man 😂
Nate finally calls Sophie. She's not surprised to get a call, but she is surprised to see Nate's name on the phone. "Not you too, huh?" "Sorry, what do you mean, me too?"
There's a moment where Nate is on the cusp of saying something important, something that could possibly shift their dynamic. He hesitates and you can tell she's waiting. But instead he apologizes for the team bugging her when she's away and the moment is lost.
So this episode is referenced a couple times in Redemption (Sophie impressed by how much better Hardison's accents have gotten, the Iceman used as an example of when Hardison went too big and got himself in trouble) but the best callback is the trio reaching out to Sophie. In this episode, they need her - as Hardison told her in the last episode, they trust her to make sure they're okay. But she's off on her private journey and they're floundering with their own issues. These issues are not just specific to the con, they're areas each person struggles with and (at least in regards to Parker and Eliot) has clearly turned to Soph for help with in the past.
Parker is afraid she'll hurt someone. She's tasked with being the Roper and Sophie is the one who understands the kind of clear directions she needs to feel safe and in control.
Eliot needs to vent, but he also needs to share his fears with someone and - as the other protector - Sophie understands and is clearly someone he's discussed this with before.
Hardison went too far with his character but Sophie knows every trick in the book and he knows she'll read the situation correctly right away, which she does. She gives him a little grief for his mistake, but it's gentle and kind.
In the first few minutes of Redemption, the tables are turned and Sophie is the one who's not okay, the one who's floundering. She's isolated by grief and the years of retirement that have separated her from the others. Eliot, Hardison and Parker reach out to her via text, trying to make sure she's okay, assuring her that they're on their way to see her. Parker's miss you is so poignant.
The onscreen parallels to The Iceman Job are beautiful, but there's also hints that they've tried to reach out over the past year. One of the creators has mentioned that Eliot was indeed the one most anxious about Sophie when she stopped returning their calls after Nate's death.
In The Iceman Job, Sophie needs the solitude. She's touched that they all want her guidance, but her journey requires distance from the others in order to come back to herself. In Redemption, she's been alone but she hasn't been able to come back to herself and the others have stopped waiting for her to ask for help.
To me this is what makes Redemption so wonderful. It's the ultimate payoff of every tentative step forward and and every bit of grace the team extends to one another in the original series. They weren't just building a team and they weren't just developing romantic bonds for the Nate/Sophie and OT3 units, they were building a real family. And they built one that could survive distance and time and loss.
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thejustmaiden · 4 years
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Jaken = Rin's Dad?
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Okay, is this how a daughter treats their so-called father?
Most definitely not.
Rin and Jaken's relationship clearly screams of your typical sibling rivalry punctuated with cute and silly moments of playful bickering.
Yes, Jaken may technically be her main provider, but that doesn't necessarily equate to him being more of a father than Sesshomaru. If anything, he demonstrates more of a brotherly love towards her. As we all know, parents (which Sesshomaru embodies more based on real life patterns and parallels) will leave their older more capable children in charge of looking after their younger brothers and sisters. In this case, that would mean making Jaken responsible for watching over Rin and protecting her if need be. Ah-Un offers protection, too. Think of it as Jaken as the big brother and Ah-Un as the family dog who are babysitting while Sesshomaru as the parent of the household is away at work or taking care of business. I mean, they literally fit that description to a tee and I'm dying at the accuracy of it all! 🤣👌
[Quick! Someone write up a modern au where Sesshomaru finally gets out to have a nice date night but everything goes wrong in the most spectacular way. Like maybe Rin and Jaken catch a ride on Ah-Un to go spy!]
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I recently revisited some episodes from The Final Act, and I couldn't believe how many moments like this there were where Rin got after Jaken or when she would "put him in his place" so to speak. Obviously, all of it is mostly harmless. I was only surprised by how often it occurred, not to mention how Jaken would just stand there and take it. Towards a supposed father figure, Rin's behavior is downright unacceptable. There's a certain level of respect a child is expected to show their parents/guardians, and that's just not what I'm witnessing here between them. Like at all.
Rather their dynamic has the nature of some sibling relationships like I mentioned above. So I really wish fans would stop pretending otherwise, because based on what we know of father-daughter relationships- healthy ones at least- they don't appear anything like what Jaken and Rin have. If you could please provide me other examples of where we've seen similar portrayals in fiction or in real life, then perhaps I can get on board.
Look, that doesn't have to mean that because Jaken isn't her father then Sesshomaru must be. They can both be her caretakers without necessarily filling that traditional father role. I'm just saying that if we're going to start assigning titles to characters, let's make sure we are accurate and truthful in our assessments. If you're going to label anyone Rin's dad, then it needs to be Sesshomaru. Jaken doesn't have precedence over him in terms of fatherly attributes, that just wouldn't make sense.
After all, this isn't about what you want to see, this is about what Rin very likely sees. It's safe to assume that she views Sesshomaru more like a father than she does Jaken. She knows she's safe with him (broadly speaking lol) and that he'll come for her no matter what. That sense of security and comfort is what a child seeks and what they should always feel in a parent's presence. She trusts and even idolizes him, just as a young and innocent child tends to do with their parents. At that age, parents are perfect and could do no wrong in their child's eyes. Idk about you, but this describes perfectly how Rin is around Sesshomaru.
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Rin adores him and will follow him anywhere- yes, even into danger! That's what the innocence and unconditional love of a child will bring them to do if necessary. Fortunately, at the end of The Final Act we learn Sesshomaru takes Kaede's advice when he realizes that leaving Rin with her in the village is in her best interests. That way she'd be able to lead a more normal and safer life alongside other humans. Remember, Sessrin shippers, that doesn't mean he wasn't still a part of her life and didn't witness her become a young woman over the years right before his very eyes. Therefore, if they eventually do become romantically involved, then most if not all of those gifts had intimate and seductive intentions and it essentially constitutes as child grooming.
I understand from a Sessrin shipper's point of view why it'd be so much easier to claim Jaken as the father. In doing so, they diminish Sesshomaru's role in her upbringing. By refusing to acknowledge the real role he had in helping raise Rin (short periods can be crucial and impressionable too esp. in a child's early years so yes they did assist in raising her not only Kaede), these shippers are better able to justify how their filial-like relationship evolved into a romantic one. So yeah, I get it, if I were a Sessrin shipper I'd probably do the same. It's one of the more plausible arguments available to them, after all. "Let's pin Jaken as the father to fend off antis!" is the best chance they've got, but even so, it's still not good enough. But if you insist Jaken is indeed like a father to Rin, then Sesshomaru is most certainly one too. Who says she can't have two fathers anyway?
The thing is however much you want to deny or downplay what Sesshomaru truly means to Rin and vice versa, nothing will ever change or hide the truth of the matter. Please, stop acting like they're only traveling companions and nothing more. Some of y'all even go so far as to say that they're like strangers. Knowing potentially little about a person is not equal to a lack of love and affection. Making big assumptions such as this to defend your ship is actually doing you more harm than good. Let me elaborate.
According to your reasoning, if that's all Rin ever was to him was a companion and Sesshomaru had no real attachment to her, then what precisely is the basis of your ship? Recall that Adult!Rin doesn't exist yet, thus we have no real idea what she will be like or if she's even alive. So how can you make comments like that but then go on later to say "they have such a unique and unbreakable bond" or "only Rin can be the mother because she's the only human he ever cared for" if all that time spent traveling together didn't amount to much in the first place like you claimed to believe beforehand? Do you see how your rationalizing is confusing?
Contrary to what some of you may think, I'm not just saying all this because I'm an anti and I'm obligated to disagree with you, or whatever other excuse you want to tell yourself. Believe it or not, I'm attempting to give as unbiased and objective of an analysis I can based on widely accepted interpretations of family dynamics, development, and any history we know of.
Of course I respect that at times fans will perceive things differently since that's bound to happen. What's hard for me to wrap my head around however is the unwillingness of some fans- not exclusively Sessrin shippers- to apply basic common sense and sound judgment to their observations and deductions.
Looking at all our facts, then taking the small handful of scenes Sesshomaru and Rin do share together into account, one can logically conclude that their dynamic is akin to one found in a typical parent-child relationship. If you still fail to recognize Sesshomaru as a parent to Rin, then that's fine too. In the end, that won't really change the fact that he'd still take on a role resembling an adult figure overseeing a young child's care and protection. Be it as a vassal, guardian, what have you. Plus, nobody is saying here that Sesshomaru doesn't make mistakes regarding Rin's general well-being, but so do all parents. Overall, I think the majority of us agree that Rin is in good hands. Whether it's in his direct company or in his occasional supervision from his frequent visits to the village.
In other words, it doesn't really matter what exact title you assign him in relation to Rin, as the distribution of power is all inherently the same with any and all adult-child relationships. That bond never changes once you've established it either, seeing as it's a special kind of connection one can only form with a child and a child alone.
I was a teacher for a few years, and speaking from personal experience, you don't need to be a parent, per se, to take on a role of authority in a child's life. I know without a doubt that I could never and will never view any of those kids I taught in a sexual/romantic light later down the road; yes, not even once they become grown-ups who are independent and more than capable of making their own decisions. Those of you who disagree are usually missing the whole point though, because we're not trying to dictate what Adult!Rin can and cannot do like many tend to accuse of us doing. This isn't a question of taking away from her autonomy nor does it fall under "purity culture," which is why people shouldn't continue jumping to these outrageous conclusions and really listen for a change. You're deflecting from the real issue here when you choose to misinterpret what we're saying by ignoring the problem we're actually referring to. You cannot present a valid counter-argument if you persist in twisting our words.
Bottom line: once these kids become old enough to pursue a sexual/romantic relationship, of course they have that right if they're ready. All we're trying to say is you guys ought to stop pushing forward this it's-completely-normal-to-want-to-bang-your-adoptive-dad-since-you're-an-adult-and-can-do-as-you-please agenda and not expect backlash. Ship it if you want, but please stop acting like their romance would be the epitome of a pure and healthy relationship.
Sesshomaru may not wear his heart on his sleeve, but it's foolish to presume he didn't actually care about Rin during their whole time together just because he didn't openly express his feelings until the very end. Surely everybody can comprehend that people handle and process their emotions differently. The way Sesshomaru chooses to is completely valid for the most part, so let's cut him some slack regarding this already.
What I'm trying to get at is that any child whose life you played an influential role in will always be a kid in a lot ways to you even when they're old and wrinkly. Just as they will always picture you as the loved one who guided and protected them when they were most vulnerable and couldn't always fend for themselves. Can't we relate this to children we know personally and apply it accordingly?
Finally, I want to end on this note. Could you kindly take a look at these two images below for a second?
Tumblr media Tumblr media
The reason I ask is because of something I recently read that's relevant to the topic. There was this pro-sessrin tweet I saw that stated Rin trying to take care of Sesshomaru when they first met is what a mom would do for a child, which in their opinion, translates to Rin being more like a mother than a daughter if anything.
First off: are you freaking kidding me????
Seriously, so now children aren't allowed to tend to their sick or injured parents?! Parents are apparently superhuman and shouldn't be offered a helping hand from a child, even if they mean well and want to help their parent who's in pain?? Now this Twitter user was mostly being a smartass, but at the same time, it was evident they genuinely thought they offered a valid enough point that warranted no further explanation or clarification.
Secondly, by saying this Sessrin fans don't seem to realize that in actuality they're contradicting themselves and proving the point we've been trying to make all along. Glancing at the first picture and moving down to the second, the role of the one being cared for and the caretaker is reversed. So then by their own logic, Sesshomaru IS in fact like a father to Rin.
What it comes down to is the names you give to the roles these characters play aren't as crucial as the dynamic they share. The specific characteristics of that dynamic are what define the importance of said role, not so much the name in the role itself. So real father or not, Sesshomaru and Rin clearly mean a lot to each other. Close relationships are defined and solidified by the devotion and belonging they have to one another, not solely by the duration of time spent together and their proximity.
Well, that's a wrap! I hope you guys got something outta this blog, and that you enjoyed or found some portions of it interesting. I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject from this fandom, but only engage in conversation if you plan to be respectful. Thank you!
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Thoughts on mermaid Magnus au
my immediate thought is “magnus and maia brotp!” because like yeah? yeah? maia? marine biologist? magnus? mermaid? yeah? yeah? yeah! so like maia is this aspiring marine biologist who lives by the seaside and she’s always trying to figure out new ways to watch the ocean from afar, since she’s kind of scared of the ocean, you know, maybe especially because she’s a marine biologist and she knows all the weird stuff that lives in there.. anyway she eventually ends up seeing magnus because she was out there staring at the ocean wishing that she’d get to courage to at least snorkel dive or something and oops there is some guy coming out of the water and he DEFINITELY has a tail even if it transforms into legs when he’s on the ground or like smth idk and she’s like “what” and magnus is like “uh” and she’s like “uh” and they’re like “uh”
anyway cue magnus freaking out because obviously a mundane shouldn’t know about mermaids and what the hell does he DO now but maia is just like “wow. that would... solve a lot of my problems” and magnus is all confused and she explains to him that she loves the ocean and wants to be a biologist one day but she’s terrified of the sea, and magnus is like “ah. well. you have to be born a mermaid” and she chuckles like “bummer” and he’s like “...and you’re not freaking out about this” 
so you know, she promises she won’t tell anyone and who would believe her anyway? and he ends up sitting down beside her and she asks questions about what living in the ocean is like and stuff and he answers and eventually the sun is going up and he goes “ah. better go back home while i won’t be seen” and she teases him that he’s not that good at not being seen 
anyway! so the next night they see each other again and she asks him even more questions and he even like, brings some stuff for her to see and shows it to her? you know? and she’s super excited about it and it’s hella cute
and it goes on for like a week or so until one day magnus brings raphael with him (did you REALLY think i wouldn’t bring him into this) because before he wasn’t sure if he could trust maia but after a while has passed and she clearly hasn’t told a soul and is obviously just interested in seeing magnus’ aquatic friends and hearing his stories, he figures it’s safe to bring him too. he just wants to introduce his new friend to his boy and it’s cute
raphael is understandably a little scared because there magnus is, befriending mundanes, and they fucking know how dangerous that can be but magnus is a stubborn unstoppable asshole when he wants to so he figures it’s best if he knows about it than if he doesn’t. but him and maia get along fine. eventually he ends up pointing at the sky and he says “i’ve always been fascinated by that, you know?”
and maia is like “what?” and raphael is like “the stars. we grow up in the deep sea, so we don’t really see them. what you call the ‘sky’, to me, has always been the surface. but then when i broke out... there was more. this huge, untouchable thing, a surface over the surface. and it’s so beautiful” and maia pauses for a while and she’s like “you know, if you are willing to teach me what you know about the deep sea, i can teach you about the stars” 
and magnus huffs like “and what do i get in return?” and she’s like “what do you want to learn about?” and he promptly goes, “the surface”
because magnus is a curious guy and he loves to learn and he’s always wanted to learn about the surface, but he only tried once and he was too scared that he would be found out, especially as he had no idea what mundane culture was like. and maia’s like well that’s easy to solve, i can show you around” and raphael is like no and magnus is like yes and maia is like yes and raphael is like then i’ll come too because he’s not letting magnus just wander around with mundanes
maia is like “it sounds like you are the papa bear in the relationship” and magnus is like “oh, don’t be mistaken my dear, if it were the other way around i wouldn’t let him” and raphael huffs but well, fine
so the following night they hang out some (i’m guessing maia has to bring them both clothes?) and maia shows magnus the town and magnus is in awe because wow there is so much stuff going on at nighttime. he never knew because the beach is relatively secluded, which is why he never expected to see maia there
the next night it’s raphael and maia’s turn to satisfy their curiosity so she teaches him the basics of the constellations and tells him a bit about astrology and like, a basic history of beliefs surrounding the stars and stuff like that. you know? Mundane Sky 101. in return raphael starts teaching her about the deep sea fishes and the mermaid’s knowledge of them as well. and they kinda bond because they are both fascinated by things that are out of their reach in many ways? and it’s like sweet and they smile at each other and stuff
then the next night it’s magnus’ turn, and it goes back and forth like this for a while. until one day magnus tells maia that he wants to visit during the day? see what it’s like and all. and she’s like well okay, i suppose you can... sleep at my place on friday and then we go out on saturday so i can have the day to show you around. and he’s like what is saturday. but they make a deal
raphael lowkey hates it during daytime because it’s so... bright and full of people (autistic raphael babey!) and noise and just, very different from what he’s used to, so he feels a little overwhelmed by it all. but magnus loves it. and it’s during one of their day adventures that magnus meets alec, because let’s be real, alec is just not a nighttime guy
and idk how exactly this would go but they hit it off and like you know. also at this point magnus knows quite a bit about mundane life so he can pretend swiftly and he’s always been smart and good at socializing so they’re like, on equal ground, just throwing this out there. and they get along well and soon magnus is flirting and, to raphael’s horror, alec is responding, so this is something that they all deal with now. magnus makes up something about being from the city and only coming on the weekends to explain why he isn’t around any other day and saturdays kind of become “magnus is going to see alec” time and raphael and maia are kind of just chilling on the corner of the cafe or something, talking
and there’s gonna be some coming out as a literal mermaid angst involved here but idk. maybe to be extra cliche alec goes visit maia saturday night and they get there just in time to see raphael and magnus going into the water and swimming away or something lmao. anyway alec is understandably shocked by the whole thing as his whole world has been tipped off its axis and he’s kind of freaking out but not because he’s like, afraid or something, just because it’s a lot to wrap his head around
so like idk the next morning alec waits for them at the beach with maia? or something? lmao and magnus almost has a panic attack but he tells him that he’s already seen and i guess from there alec becomes magnus’ guide to the mundane world? since he now officially knows. maia and raphael are not gonna leave the two of them together yet but now that he knows he has so many date ideas, things magnus has never seen before, you know. and magnus falls all that much harder because alec just... accepted that and wanted to show him things and it’s cute
and also maia and raphael get to spend more nights alone at the beach talking and looking at the stars and maybe raphael gets to show her things and it’s also cute. and they all fall in love and this is irrelevant but i love the mental image that magnus has a golden tail and raphael has a silvery tail, simply because the colors suit them respectively (even aesthetically, esp gold for magnus) and there is that whole... you know. gold and silver thing. idk i just love this
anyway magnus and alec start dating and so do maia and raphael and everyone is happy and cute and i guess magnus starts spending more and more time as a mundane and no idea how this would happen but fuck it lmao maybe maia and raphael study together and get into college and he gets to actually learn astronomy and she does groundbreaking research with maybe a little help as a marine biologist and idk what’s going on anymore this lore is a mess the end
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thefossilwhale · 3 years
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i want someone besides me and the 2 friends who know all the lore to meet my detective, but i’m too impatient to let you get to know her via fic so i filled out this questionnaire instead. she is veronica and she is so important, here is some stuff about her if you are interested :’)
QUICK READ OF YOUR DETECTIVE
Name: veronica langford
Pronouns: she/her
Sexuality: bi
Love interest: adam
Best friend: morgan
Main skill: science/technology
Secondary skill: combat/physical
Main personality trait: impulsive
Secondary personality trait: sarcastic
Why did they join the Wayhaven PD?: best use of her science skills
Relationship with Rebecca: not great
Relationship with Bobby: ex, finds it hard to be around him
Verda or Tina?: both! but she’s on verda’s branch
Murphy bite?: wrist
Murphy's fate?: captured
Rescue LI or Rescue Sanja?: sanja
GENERAL
Name: veronica “it’s been 3 years and i never gave her a middle name�� langford
Nickname: just veronica. people around wayhaven called her ronny growing up, and a few still do despite her trying to grow out of it. maybe a few people from college and sometimes tina call her v or vee or something.
Birthday: please you all know i am so scared of concrete dates
Age: 26
Pronouns: she/her
Sexuality: bi
Hair color: brown
Eye color: dark brown
Height: 5′10 (178 cm)
Piercings: just one in each ear
Tattoos: something retro sci-fi on her shoulder. not a reference to anything specific, but like a little planetary landscape with a UFO in the background or something.
Clothing Style: casual. lots of tank tops and muscle tees (weather- and occasion-permitting), concert t-shirts, warm colors. flannels and leather jackets. jeans, sneakers, combat boots. think like rocker chick vibes, but cozier and more colorful.
Apartment Style: basic. she really did not plan on living there long and kept putting off decorating because it’d be a waste if she was just going to move out. this rationalization went on so long but since the end of book 1 she has slowly bought a few things to push it towards “cozy,” still pretty sparse though.
STATS
Personality:
Charming | Intimidating
Impulsive | Cautious
Sarcastic | Genuine
Friendly | Stoic
Easygoing | Stubborn
Traits:
Heart | Mind
Optimist | Pessimist
Team Player | Independent
Skills:
Main Skill: science/technology (but mostly science)
Second Skill: combat/physical
By the Book | Bend the Rules
KEY DECISIONS
Reason for joining the Wayhaven PD: best use of her science skills
Murphy bite:  Wrist | Neck | None
Murphy’s Fate: Captured | Escaped
Rescued: Love Interest | Sanja
ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP
Love Interest: adam
Why them?: for veronica it’s kind of retroactive. the way i imagine their True Canon, they don’t have any real romantic moments in book 1, so she doesn’t seriously consider that adam might have feelings for her until well into book 2. (the training scene is when she’s like “oh. ok. i get it now.”) even then it takes a few more chapters for her to really process that, figure out how she feels, and recontextualize everything. like realizing that he loves her and then thinking back on their relationship, knowing that, makes her feel so held (sorry i have no better way to say it) in a way that just makes her want to cry.
to give some actual specific reasons, it’s his dedication and his constancy and hidden care/softness. and his very specific brand of... selflessness might be just left of the word i’m looking for, but hopefully you get me.
Bold, shy, or mixed?: neither! in theory it’s closer to bold, but it’s more just earnest.
What were their first impressions of each other?: disastrous. on top of finding him condescending and unpleasant, there are also a few moments where veronica genuinely wonders whether he’s even a good person. or, like, cares about people. but once she learns the truth of things, a lot of her initial anger gets transferred to rebecca.
adam, with the benefit of knowing what’s actually happening, has a slightly more favorable impression of veronica. yes he thinks she’s difficult and reckless and too emotionally driven, yes she’s making his job absolutely miserable, but he does begrudgingly respect that her accusations are always on the right track and she’s good at her job.
What do they find attractive about each other, mentally or physically?:
for veronica: she loooves his sense of humor. and how much faith he has in the people he cares about. physically, dimples <3. but everything about his smile really. and his nose!
for adam: veronica has a very blunt, unadorned sense of kindness to her that he really loves. the way she is kind before she is nice and values directness. physically, her eyes, they’re deep brown and so expressive.
What do they do to spend time together?: they’re both competitive so anything where they can compete on the same team is fun. (competing against each other is fun too, but also like. exhausting. for them and everyone.) maybe puzzles or other things where it feels like they’re “winning” or solving something together. i have spent an embarrassing amount of thought on veronica and overw*tch esp*rts and she would absolutely make adam learn how to play main tank so they could queue as a tank duo. but most of the time i think they don’t Do specific things together; they just hang out. just talk with each other. perhaps snuggle.
What is their favorite memory together?: in current canon... lol. veronica really just treasures any time adam relaxes around her but those moments always get Ruined. even once they’re well into a relationship, i think veronica’s favorite memory would still be something small like a random time he said something funny and they both laughed together and they were outside and the sky was pretty.
What are their love languages?: acts of service for both of them, but especially adam. veronica... probably lots of words of affirmation and physical touch. they’re both bad at blocking out time for themselves in the first place, so quality time can get neglected especially at first.
How do they handle being apart from one another?: pretty well i think! once they’re in an established relationship at least, before that it’s probably harder. but adam can distract himself with work, and veronica is good at focusing on whatever’s in front of her (whether that’s work or she’s away on vacation or something). if neither of them is too busy, veronica calls every night and they stay on a while, half talking and half just keeping each other company.
Do they argue? How do they handle arguments and disagreements? How do they make up?: i think arguments are fairly rare! yes they’re both insanely stubborn, but they also understand each other pretty well (especially once in a relationship) and are very sympathetic to where the other is coming from. unless both of them are extremely stressed, one of them crumbles when they start genuinely arguing like "i don't want to fight ok, let's take a second."
What does their future look like?: who knows! i haven’t decided whether veronica will turn. i think she probably will, just because i do not want my main pairing for this IF to make me very sad all the time, but like. i’m not fully committing until i see a reason pop up in canon. as of book 3′s final demo, it’s not on her radar at all; she knows she loves adam and wishes they could Talk, but ultimately doesn’t expect or even want a relationship right now (because she doesn’t want to deal with dating one of rebecca’s agents OR with the logistics of being in a committed relationship with an immortal being). it’s just all so foreign to her current state of mind that it’s really hard to say!
Anything else you'd like to share: do you know how hard it was to answer some of these considering veronica wasn’t sure they were even, like, on decent terms for such a large portion of the canon content
BEST FRIEND RELATIONSHIP
Best friend: morgan and farah are essentially joint besties but i’ll go with M
Why them?: i think they appreciate each other’s no bullshit attitude. morgan likes that veronica doesn’t take herself too seriously and respects/relates to the way she tackles problems (quickly, head-on, and without complaint but also without pretending that it doesn’t suck?). veronica appreciates morgan’s bluntness, likes bantering with her, and in general just likes being around people that have quiet/steady presences.
What were their first impressions of each other?: neither of them had much of a first impression honestly. morgan barely thought of veronica at all beyond “she’s annoying,” and kept to herself so much that any dislike veronica had of morgan took a backseat to her dealing with the rest of unit bravo.
What do they do to spend time together?: lots of just sitting in the same room and listening to (low volume) music, veronica spends a lot of time hunting for songs morgan might like. morgan is also her go-to sparring/training buddy. and there are semi-frequent movie nights where veronica shows farah her favorite old shitty B movies, and sometimes morgan will tag along just to sit in the room with them or affectionately talk shit.
Anything else you'd like to share: i’ll talk a little about N! obviously veronica and nate respect, trust, and like each other, but she finds him the hardest of UB to connect with. they’re both people who wear their compassion on their sleeves but keep a lot of their hearts/themselves held back, so they just kind of circle each other, especially since like... nate values politeness and is very sweet in how he relates to people, while veronica values directness and is more jokey/lighthearted to put people at ease. idk how well i’m communicating this; as of the book 3 demo it’s getting easier, but their friendship is still newer/more... nebulous? than the others.
OTHER RELATIONSHIPS (Feel free to go in depth!)
Relationship with Rebecca: so strained. veronica has come to terms with rebecca’s absences throughout her childhood, but there’s newer resentment over... a lot of things, but how she handled the murphy case especially. veronica hates being kept in the dark, and even more than that she hates being rebecca’s priority. it’s difficult to reconcile her childhood and present images of rebecca, and she’s angry that rebecca is so freely and recklessly choosing her, now, to the point of endangering others if she has to, especially when she never felt like rebecca’s choice before. and incredibly frustrated/confused by how often the lines between their professional and familial relationships are blurred and what rebecca actually wants from her.
Relationship with Rook: veronica takes after rook a lot. in stat terms, the only trait they don’t share is stoic, and even then that’s veronica’s least extreme stat. people always told her how like her father she was growing up, and it’s a comparison she took/takes a lot of pride in! she looks up to him based on the stories, but more recently is uncomfortable with the comparisons. veronica would never have even come back to wayhaven if her life panned out as planned, let alone become a detective or joined the agency. that makes her doubt herself, and she feels like that doubt is letting rook down somehow.
rook is also part of the reason her relationship with rebecca isn’t as bad as it could be. she knows that rook loved her, and that he would want his family to be there for each other, so she feels obligated to at least try to make things better. but it’s really hard for her to move past everything to connect with rebecca (which also makes her feel like she’s disappointing rook).
Relationship with Bobby: they were together for a long time and veronica thought she loved him a lot! it was her first relationship, so she wasn’t sure a) what a “bad partner” looked like, or b) how to even be in a relationship or rely on someone in that way. so they spent a lot of time together and had great superficial chemistry, but veronica didn’t have enough experience with not feeling neglected to realize how shallow it was, or notice the red flags when she did occasionally open up. the plagiarism fiasco was a slap in the face, especially because it cost her internships/grad school apps/whatever, i don’t have the details, and forced her to move back to wayhaven after school. she’s still very hurt by it and finds it hard to be around bobby.
Relationship with Verda: due to the above plagiarism fiasco, veronica was pretty depressed when she moved back home, and disliking her job didn’t help. she was extremely jealous when verda was hired and wanted to hate him. but it did not take long for that to crumble into respect/admiration, and eventually into close friendship! verda is a role model for her; they bond over science; they joke easily and have good chill fun. she was really excited to see him piecing together the truth about the supernatural and then devastated to see how he reacted. she feels insanely guilty and thinks it was selfish of her to let him figure it out, but is also cautiously optimistic about making it up to him as of the book 3 demo.
Relationship with Tina: very close! veronica isolated herself when she came back to wayhaven after school, and she is so grateful to tina for being her closest friend and link to the rest of the world during that time. hates keeping the supernatural from her, though. she didn’t like lying to tina to begin with, but she feels even worse about it now that verda knows, and now that tina has clearly picked up on something being wrong but she still can’t say anything.
Relationship with the Mayor: cannot stand him. hates the way he talks about rook, hates the way he talks to rebecca. she cooperates as necessary but doesn’t bother hiding her lack of patience/respect for him.
Relationship with Capt. Sung: basically fine. i think veronica might be a little too casual for him in the way she works, but she always gets the job done so he’s not too bothered by it. (she is ‘bend the rules,’ but more ‘strict rules aren’t important as long as you’re still doing good work’ than the ‘boooo fuck paperwork’ variety. so it’s mostly fine.) she also appreciates him as a minor link to rook.
Relationship with Haley: very friendly, but not super close. they get along great and could make pleasant conversation for hours, but ultimately don’t know each other super well despite the familiarity of growing up together.
Relationship with Elidor: such a comforting presence for veronica during her recovery! she is so grateful, so fond.
Relationship with Tapeesa/Vieno: veronica loves vieno’s cranky-yet-friendly vibe and they get along well! not close, but will stop to chat whenever they pass each other.
Relationship with Unit Alpha: loves their energy. always looks forward to the next opportunity to chat with them, and fully supports any harmless dunking on UB even if she rarely joins in.
Relationship with the Maa-alused: going through the house of mirrors and then coming home for them to appear in her apartment and infect bobby was one of thee worst experiences of her life, and it’s hard for her to get past that + the illness in general. sympathizes with them, and got them to sign the treaty, but is still kind of unsettled by everything that happened and by falk.
Do they have any other important relationships, past or present? (Relatives, friends, etc.?): some vague figures i have in mind but no one i’ve really developed. a couple friends from college, and maybe an elderly couple that lives on her childhood street and used to check in her.
PERSONAL BIO
Describe their personality: her usual demeanor is very warm and casual. sincere but private--she’s pretty blunt and likes to be direct with people, but steers conversations away from personal topics. likes to joke around and doesn’t take herself that seriously. but behind all this, she’s extremely stubborn and won’t shy away from conflict if she thinks you’re in the wrong (which is why she seems like a different person in the first half of book 1. UB is surprised by how like... chill and nice she is once they clear the air). a workaholic, self-reliant and secure but still pretty hard on herself, takes a lot of responsibility for the people around her.
Strengths: so dedicated. honest and trustworthy, has a strong moral compass and can always be counted on to do her absolute best. flexible and intuitive, her brain works really fast.
Weaknesses: cannot compartmentalize or separate herself from a case, throws herself so recklessly into everything (in terms of both physical danger and emotional burnout). doesn’t necessarily hold grudges but has a hard time letting go of hurt, still can’t think objectively about bobby or rebecca.
Where in the world is their Wayhaven?: somewhere on the US east coast idk what to tell you. perhaps a carolina or a virginia.
What is their personal history?: veronica was pretty social and well-liked around wayhaven growing up. she was known as just a really good kid; she was an overachiever and got along with almost anyone. in college, she felt like she was free of something and took a very work hard/play hard approach to life. always doing or going, whether it was for school or work or fun. she really enjoyed life during this time but crashed and burned pretty hard when she and bobby broke up; a lot of her plans were delayed until the plagiarism incident was resolved and she didn’t really have the heart to pursue them afterwards.
a year or so after graduating, she returned to wayhaven with the intention of taking one more year to regroup, and she has been stuck there longer than she meant to be and has kind of hit a wall when book 1 starts.
If they weren't a detective, what would their dream job be?: she was on track to become a biochemist and it was her dream job but then the main plot happened to her.
Anything else you'd like to share: i don’t really know enough to fully explain this, but no OC i love is a cop so like. i think maybe the job she took when she got back to wayhaven was a douglas-esque receptionist role for detective reele’s private office. then reele retired and small town politics + veronica’s history of useful contributions to cases in her downtime at work led to her being pressured to take up the mantle. it’s hard to explain why she’s a detective when she so deeply does not want to be one but i am Trying (or maybe she would have jumped at the chance to do something marginally closer to forensics?? who knows)
RANDOM FACTS
Zodiac sign: aries is what i assigned her when i first made her and i think it suits her! plus it’d be fun for her and M to be twins. this goes hand-in-hand with my birthday commitment issues though
Hobbies: music (she plays guitar and bass and sings a little), running, gaming unfortunately. i could also see her having been into boxing or some martial art but idk what exactly!
Likes: early morning stillness, DIY projects, t-shirts with inexplicable slogans and other weird thrift store finds
Dislikes: overly sweet food or drink, when cold weather lasts too long, being lied to or “protected” from the truth
Drink of choice: something with gin maybe. also feels a great fondness and gratitude for cheap wine.
Starbucks order: i truly know nothing about coffee. is it weird to order black coffee at starbucks
Favorite food: variations on spicy chicken soup! she eats a lot of crockpot meals for convenience and they’ve grown on her, and she has a few different recipes based on whatever she has on hand.
Favorite color: maybe like a rusty orange
Favorite music: she will listen to anything, but her favorite is probably folk rock, or sometimes stuff with soul or old school country vibes. big thief is a good example of an artist she’d be into i think! also was very into the indie music scene in her college town and still follows some of those bands.
Favorite genre (and favorite movie/book/etc): loves old, campy, unselfconsciously optimistic sci-fi. loves star trek tos. also a fan of documentaries of all kinds.
Favorite season: summer
Anything else you'd like to share: a kiss for you reading this mwah
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belphegorbillickin · 3 years
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Okay, but I can definitely imagine Barb/Dia doing that. It seems like quite a possibility. But wasn't dying mc's own fault though? Like,, Barbatos did warn,,, unless he knew this was gonna happen and mc was DUMB AND STUPID enough to show up to everyone like: "hi." and possibly be dumb enough to get killed. Idk lol I forgot this part.
But what you said about Beel, I really like that. I think you even mentioned belphie guilt tripping you in your yandere hcs, and trying to make you completely depend on him?? I like those possibilities. Mammon though,, too soft. Like you said, they've robbed him a lot. He could have had so much potential to be a dark character. Similarly Levi omg.
The brothers are the embodiments of the 7 deadly sins, yet, tbh, I haven't seen too much of this side of them. At least, not like how'd I expect. Leviathan, for eg. Envy. I don't recall seeing his sin playing out anywhere except in the TSL Quiz thingy. I mean, it's been toned down a lot for someone who's the literal embodiment is envy. Idk I just don't feel he's like that? As from what I found: Envy (Latin: invidia), like greed and lust, is characterized by an insatiable desire. It can be described as a sad or resentful covetousness towards the traits or possessions of someone else. The struggle aroused by envy has three stages: during the first stage, the envious person attempts to lower another's reputation; in the middle stage, the envious person receives either "joy at another's misfortune"(if he succeeds in defaming the other person) or "grief at another's prosperity" (if he fails); the third stage is hatred because "sorrow causes hatred".[38]
Envy is said to be the motivation behind Cain murdering his brother, Abel, as Cain envied Abel because God favored Abel's sacrifice over Cain's.
They toned him down a little too much?? If this game has actually been inspired by demons and the 7 deadly sins, they could at least make them similar to the demons, at least in some way. I'm not that far into the game yet, but so far that I've played, I haven't seen much. As for a demon who is the embodiment of envy... I wish to see more. Levi is capable of A LOT.
Similarly, Satan. I sometimes wonder why is he even called the Avatar of Wrath when we hardly see it?? The only time I remember is him losing his calm during the whole body swap event. The fact Satan got mad at us refusing a pact actually made me think that he was the sin "wrath", but idk now. And the way it was said that "every smile is an act", I really like that concept too. But I don't think I've paid much attention to see where it played out. Sigh now Satan simps for cats like,,, please show me your dark/evil side sir.
The way you said Barb and Dia took part in a torture dungeon, I want to see more of that too. If they're demons, wouldn't they have caused SOME sort of bloodshed in a way? Especially if they're the strongest demons. Killing humans, eating them, or I even like to think doing the same to their own race. Torturing... Seems like something that every demon's blood would contain lmao, I'm not answering questions bye.
And I believe so too. The human seems like a pawn... I feel the demons would use humans for entertainment and their own purposes, while keeping up the facade of loving them. It's easy, since demons are manipulative. In that case, losing the human whether by their own hands or not would go like: "Oh well, that's unfortunate. Time for another human."
But if they REALLY did love you, I feel they'd still be manipulative. Like you said. Corrupting/spoiling the human so much to the point that they'd just HAVE to depend on them. I feel they'd also have yandere tendencies, or be "protective". Like, then I feel they really wouldn't want to let you go, despite knowing how much it can ruin your innocence.
I also don't like how everyone is after mc like "uwuwu master". The human is still a weakling despite having pacts, plus, the pacts aren't even demanding the human's soul or anything. I don't get why they let mc walk over them when they are CLEARLY much stronger? If I were a demon I'd do the opposite lmao. Making the human seem as if they are controlling me, but it's the opposite. I don't think a mere pact can change the fact that the demon's stronger,,, esp if the pact didn't demand the human's soul/life/whatever.
Also, thank you! Things got better for me :)) and also,
💫✨💕send this to ten bloggers you think are wonderful. keep the game going 💕✨
Ofc you don't have to do this, but I got this, and it really made me happy, so here ^^
Oh btw in lesson...56 I think?? Just gonna tag this as a spoiler, but where for whatever reason Satan was "Sully" and the angel Lucifer asked him whether he liked books, let me just say I haven't even played it that far yet, but Satan going, "...Every book here is precious."
TOUCHED ME SO BAD LIKE. I DON'T KNOW IT REALLY MADE ME SOFT LMAO HE'S JUST SO okay I'll stop 🏃– 🍹
It's been a while since I've thought in-depth about the whole time traveling thing tbh, but couldn't Barbatos generally see the outcomes of the world?
We went back because they wanted to know who opened it, but considering Diavolo's the ruler of hell who turned Lilith human and Barbatos is basically the ruler of time & practically the universe I believe they already knew Lilith did it since it had to be "blood related" basically.
Barbatos also knows he can stitch together timelines and get of "extra" MCs essentially, so I believe he'd take that into account. I'm not saying MC getting killed was 100% part of the plan, but that they didn't care of MC was traumatized because they knew they could bring them back if necessary.
Imo the real goal wasn't to find out who did it, but to avoid breaking the family's bonds and devotion to Diavolo. The way it worked out was incredibly convenient and "coincidentally" a huge upgrade for Diavolo that kept the status quo and made him look good (or at least better) to Belphie and Beel without making Lucifer choose.
We see that kind of repeat later when Diavolo withdraws from the play because he was worried Lucifer wouldn't be as loyal. That's also why Lucifer gets that warning from Barbatos.
I think a huge part of why Levi's characterization is like that is because not enough people like him enough to tolerate it tbh. Even Mammon and Lucifer stans complain about the other characters hogging screen time and a lot of them admit to feeling bad for other fans. Levi is pretty much always second to last popularity wise.
I think he'd actually be more liked if they focused more on the jealously instead of making almost every interaction otaku/Ruri-chan related, but it's a bit too late now. I really, really hate how they just pretend otaku culture always existed and that's all Levi ever was. Like at least make him have an obsessive personality and be hyperfixated on novels instead of talking manga in an era before Japan even existed. It's so unbelievably lazy and really takes me out of the story.
Another problem is we only really see him interact with family or people that could enact severe consequences like Diavolo & Barbatos or people protected by the exchange program. He never gets a chance to shine or be cunning. The closest we get is things like him purposefully trying to ruin Christmas for random people online in his Christmas card. I think if he genuinely got jealous of MC and some random demon he would summon lotan almost instantly.
It's especially painful knowing what we had & being so excited to get more only for all of that to get dropped.
In an early devilgram, Be You, Satan gets jealous and feels bad about not having much unique to him and Lucifer comforts him in his own way when the others make it worse. Mammon is the most empathetic though ofc. They also talk about horror movies and Mammon says he doesn't find them scary (& the way it's framed sounds honest, idk if it's a retcon or a lie,) and Satan says "I'm sure we've all witnessed plenty of real-life horrors worse than anything in the movies."
Then when Lucifer asks for a time when he was really angry Satan first casually then gleefully talks about torturing a family to death because a kid set him up to get scolded by their parents. Meanwhile the brothers act wary of him and worry about him getting out of control while Lucifer tells everyone to take cover for their own safety with a smile. Satan happily talks about them begging for their lives and says he wishes they saw it too.
Levi also says he hates hearing about people being happy, but likes hearing about the negative things. While Asmo and Mammon are freaking out he also calls Satan cool. Which shows at least a little bit of his envy for once. Satan also says just the aura of his rage is usually too much for humans which is also interesting.
But back to Diavolo and Barbatos, I don't hate how the whole torture thing isn't super open, it makes sense imo, but I would like to see hints of them hiding it. Especially if Satan or even attic Belphie was the one you could go to to learn more about it. If anyone would defy Diavolo for that it'd be them trying to bring Lucifer down with them, or even just Satan rewarding the hunt for knowledge and not understanding the human psyche fully.
Imagine if instead of a paper thin lie about being human we got a Belphie manipulating us by pretending he was locked up because he was against hurting humans and the whole exchange program was a scam? Or at least if he told us things no one else would about Diavolo that were true so we wouldn't trust him and etc. That's the angle I'm going with in my fanfiction at least, the original story is just so lazy and boring imo.
Yeah I'm not a huge fan of how they handled pacts either, especially considering they don't even get MC's soul. It's way too one-sided to the point where I don't believe someone like Satan would ever offer it, even if the first offer was a trick and he'd get your soul or something. I agree on the whole manipulation thing too, like how is it partnership if one side has complete control over the other?
Even just making it so that demons can fight against if they really don't want to do something like harming each other and having it corrupt MC would make it a million times better.
And that's so sweet, thank you! You've made my days a lot brighter too. Not much makes me happier than infodumping and complaining about Obey Me rn lol.
I really liked Satan's line there too, although I did wish he had more a reaction to everything tbh. That whole section felt a bit too easy imo though, like I kept waiting for it to all go to shit or something. I am glad they went back into more story-based chapters too. I hope they keep that trend and expand on it.
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auncyen · 3 years
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So, my thoughts on bd2 so far (still not done) are both spoilery and...a little salty, so under a cut they go.  I’ll get the good out of the way first.
BDII is pretty nice as a return to the brave/default battle system and asterisk system.  The controls are pretty fluid (once I realized I could press zr to unbrave in the middle of commands lol).  Music and visuals are both nice.  THE CHARACTER THEMES ARE DISTINCTIVE AGAIN (I still like BD1′s set the most, but in BD2 I can tell you which theme is which character’s and uh.  I wouldn’t be able to do that with b2nd’s).  “A Hectic Moment” is very fun.
And then like.  Both the story and parts of the game design are baffling to me.  I was not surprised by the prologue feeling dry because.  BD game.  Partially because it was a BD game I half-expected Sloan to defy his death flag parade and simply be forced to retire due to a wound or something similar but ok, he died.  And first chapter made me hopeful!  I don’t care at all for Orpheus (even as “love to hate” he just ends up kind of “meh”) and Anihal and Bernard felt a bit one note at first, but the twist with Castor where it seemed like his flaw was prejudice and then it was oh no backstabber was good.
The maniacal laughter kind of ruined it a bit, but still, good.  (On this note, Castor and ...pretty much every ch. 2 asterisk holder had me thinking for a while that the asterisks handed out by the woman might have been tampered with and were driving people nuts, but at this point, seems firmly not to be a case, Castor was ax-crazy on his own.  Okay.)  And a later flashback about Anihal and Bernard made me regret a bit that the latter had died.
But like also at this point I’m kind of concerned that there hasn’t been any inner party conflict.  Or like.........internal doubts.  Or anything.
Ch. 2 was initially a bit funny for everyone having The Accent but eventually I got properly into it and, yes, all three people grieving a lost child was pretty touching.
Screw those woods though and why is the institute set up like that??? I know this is an RPG but guys.  Guys.  they’re supposed to be brilliant at that institute, at least one person would have set up the bare minimum of a rope ladder so they didn’t have to deal with the nonsense in between floors.
And then there was Folie.  Folie’s dungeon is AMAZING.  Her job is good.
Her boss fight is utter bs when you’re punished for using two different mage jobs and the character in general is just.............idk.  I kind of preferred Mona’s death being accidental because it seems rather odd for someone like Folie who does not seem particularly attuned to others’ emotions to be like “ah yes, let me kill zis little girl and zen all of these people will be emotionally vulnerable for me to give zem my paintings” --yes, I also hated the accent.
I am of the opinion that there is no bad VA in this game (thus far) but goodness, the direction some of them were given.
Ch. 3 was interesting intrigue wise and the reveal with Adelle was GREAT but it also hinged very heavily on this being a BD game, since they made it obvious from the start of the chapter that, hmm, there’s something funny about her.  (Honestly my guess had been shapeshifting dragon, so I wasn’t quite surprised by her saving Martha, though I WAS a little surprised by Martha not SAVING HERSELF BY JUMPING AWAY BECAUSE SHE WAS A FREAKING DRAGOON.)  The party’s surprise at this is dealt with very quickly.  Elvis’ reaction is kind of cute but it also just...........seems to cement that there’s never going to be any inner-party conflict, and there doesn’t seem to be any internal character conflict either, so it’s kind of just.  Guys.  Pls.  Something interesting.
Coming back to world design: this religion feels so dumb and poorly-designed (Martha is in DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE LORD OF DRAGONS BUT ISN’T TRUSTED TO KNOW HIS WISHES???  THE FAIRY TRIALS ARE A ‘TRADITION’ BUT ALL THE DRAGONS ARE COOL WITH ADELLE???) and why is their holy hall full of crumbling walls and is, in fact, the only place I’ve found so far to “smash rock”?  Yes, it has been bugging me.
the highlight of ch. 4 was Lonsdale, because he might not be the most original character concept, but it was interesting to have an antagonist with morals who has a friendly drink with Seth and warning for him at the tavern.  (Also Seth’s piss-poor job at pretending to be just recovered from a cough for all of one sentence.  And, in my game, while wearing heavy armor.)  The low point was finding out how absolutely pointless Adam is.
It’s just....been very mixed and somewhat mediocre with the story, and lbr bd and b2nd both had issues with story too, but bd had an endearing cast that b2nd heavily borrowed from.  The BD2 warriors of light seem very obviously inspired by bd crew but Seth never grieves his lost crew or misses his hometown or shows any uncertainty about the question of him living again.  Gloria welcomes Elvis and Adelle easily even though they’re both clear about working in self-interest and there are never any trust issues even when Adelle’s concealed identity is revealed.
I’m not saying they should have had the exact same issues (esp since Gloria didn’t have any set up for mistrusting fairies) but they don’t have ANY issues.
I may now be at a point where Gloria does have an issue but it’s just kind of...1) there should have been at least a couple tell-tale hints about this sooner, it could have been as subtle as the king of Halcyonia gently suggesting she consider the marriages which would have painted him first as possibly evil, then as possibly just sexist or out-of-touch, and then finally you realize oh he knew and was hoping they could find other solution and trying to get her to consider a future that wasn’t dying (I think he knows.  or at least I hope because if they gotta do this every 200 years then Gloria????? who knows to pass this down????  were you gonna teach your traumatized companions the secrets of being a vestal-lite as you were dying? because you didn’t.) 2) it’s just kinda.  too late.  A part of me is checked out.  I know there is more and that the bd-style tweeest is finally starting, but this was the end of ch. 5 and both the main crew and story just haven’t been that interesting.  If this wasn’t a bd game and I hadn’t gotten impatient enough about wanting to know about one detail that I spoiled myself for it being a fake ending, there is a high chance that I would have watched the credits, gone “well, okay.  that was the game” and just set it aside.
And then maybe a few days later gone “wait they never explained the book was it buried in some request” because there is SO MUCH buried in requests and reloaded the game, but yeah.  I still wanna fill in the gaps of what I’m missing, but I’m probably going to be slowing my pace and I really doubt I’m going to be active in the fandom because none of the characters have really grabbed my interest that hard.
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Text
so now that its been over a year since ive graduated high school id like to tell you all a story that ive been thinking about a lot recently. its a bit long, but i promise its worth it. 
this post gets political, fair warning
for context: i went to high school in a very upper middle class, very white town. everyone i talk about in this story is white. 
trigger warning: mentions of the german political administration during ww2, their tactics, and extreme right politics 
junior year i took ap us history. the class itself was absolutely fantastic, definitely one of the best i took in high school. but we had Quite the assortment of kids...
my high school had this dumb thing called the university program. essentially you applied in 8th grade and it was advertised as this Special Accelerated Learning Program. spoiler alert: it was pretty stupid, all we did was take a certain number of ap classes per year and do x amount of community service. everyone hated it but we all stuck it out cause you got a chord at graduation. so if you were in the university program, you started only being in class with like a variation of the same 75 people. ap us history was one of those classes. 
in our class we had quite the mix: 98% of us were members of national honor society but in addition we had the girl who would go on to be the salutatorian, this one guy who knew more about bitcoin than anyone should, two football players who were actually not assholes, and this really passionately german kid. 
now this german kid, were going to call him s. he was...interesting. he was very very smart (everyone thought he was going to be valedictorian but he wasn't) but he took his ethnicity very seriously. and when i say ethnicity im referring to that period of german history from 1939-1945. s knew far too much about german politics, esp ww2 german politics (if youre picking up what im putting down there) and he often went as far as to “correct” our various teachers whenever germany came up and talk about very radical right ideas. but our apush teacher was a no-nonsense kinda lady and had no problem telling him “s youre wrong” which all of us absolutely Loved.
the other person in our story is one of the not asshole football players. we’ll call him d. he was what you Wished football players were like, nice, funny, almost like a class clown, would no doubt stand up for anyone getting shit talked, talked to everyone in class no matter what their “group” was and he was really smart, but not in an in your face kinda way like s was. 
so anyway. in apush we would periodically have these Round Table Debates, where there were 4 groups: 1 group of jurors who would ask questions and then three teams that were defending their own stance on whatever historical argument we were having. our teacher would sit in the back corner and take shorthand notes on what we were saying, essentially leaving the entire discussion up to us except to tell us when it was time to move on to the next group. we all Loved round table debates because we were all an intelligent group and ended up having really deep and insightful debates and also whichever team won got 5 points of extra credit as did the juror who asked the best questions. about halfway through the year, we had a debate on what to do with the philippines after world war 2 (because they were technically a us colony at that time)
i dont remember what the three different stances were that we were arguing, but i do remember that d was one of the jurors and had asked one of the teams a question. s happened to be on this team and he answered the question. they went back and forth for awhile and things started to get Pretty Heated. we were all watching them intently, not really understanding a good half of what was being said because s had a way of talking in complicated circles that took at least 5 braincells minimum to understand, and all of us being crazy ap students, only had about 2 brain cells each. 
but then, s said something in his usual backwards fashion, and d paused dramatically, staring at s intently and all of us were collectively like o shit. i have never heard a classroom that quiet, you could hear a literal pin drop. we were all waiting for 1. d to decipher what s had just said and 2. see what he was going to say in return. 
several long moments passed. d leaned forwards in his seat, so far that it looked like he was going to tip the desk over, and, looking completely and utterly baffled, opened his mouth and said:
“are you defending e t h n i c   c l e a n s i n g?”
the entire classroom e r u p t e d. cause holy shit, we all knew that s had some, to put it very simply, problematic conservative viewpoints that linked back to ww2 administration germany, but no one had ever called him out on it before (aside from our teacher telling him to be quiet during her lectures). and also this was supposed to be a history role play debate of sorts, the whole point of it was to take on a viewpoint that might not be your own and argue it to the best of your ability. but d knew and everyone else in the class knew that ethnic cleansing was not something that s was pretending to defend for the sake of the debate (public school might be wild but we never touched that topic in a debate setting because our teacher knew that it would make people uncomfortable to argue in favor of), it wasn't even in the prompt sheet, it was something that he had come up with entirely on his own.
so when s started spewing random nonsense as an attempt to backtrack and take back what he had just said, d started shouting back at him about how it was wrong and was halfway out of his seat, fists clenched, ready to literally fight s (if you recall, d was a football/baseball/wrestling guy, at least 6 feet tall, and as far as high school guys go, pretty jacked. he was Scary when he was mad) 
it was at this exact moment that our teacher spoke up (which she n e v e r did during debates). she looked pretty shocked at the whole turn of events (as in, s defending ethnic cleansing, not d almost decking him) (and nothing ever phased her) and said, as calmly as she could muster, “alright. lets move on to the next question.” 
we were all 16/17 year olds. we couldn't vote yet, but we still had very strong opinions. and d knew the implications of s’s opinions, knew that they were hurtful to other people, promoted the hurting of other people, and called him out on it. publicly. in front of our history class, filled with his friends and peers, our teacher, and some of the smartest kids in our grade. 
after that day, s never suggested radical right ideas in class again, and if anyone else had similar ideas, they kept them to themselves. and from that point on d had my complete and utter respect. 
now, im not telling you to almost beat up your classmate in class in front of your teacher and risk suspension, but if someone you know has a viewpoint (especially a young person) that is hurtful or promotes hate/harm to a group of people, dont be afraid to try and educate them. we might be young and the older generations might brush us off, but in a few years its going to be this generation pulling most of the weight in polls. educate your ignorant friends, family members, classmates etc. every little bit helps. and education is the only way that we will be able to promote change. this is not a battle that we are going to win overnight, but that doesnt mean we should ignore it if it doesnt affect us. 
(oh and yes, d totally got 5 extra credit points from that debate)
((if this post offends anyone or is wrong in any way let me know and ill take it down or edit it))
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icharchivist · 3 years
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Sorry if this is a bit random but I'm bored and curious.
How much, out of 10, are you of each spring troupe member?
Like, based on personality, beliefs, uh how you approach things?
I'm not doing a very good job phrasing this... but I hope I made at least some sense. 😅
Feel free to ignore if you want.
ahah don't apologize!! that seems like a pretty fun ask to reply to!
and that's interesting. I adore Spring but i don't know how much i relate to all of them in general, but let's try to untangle some of it.
Just for the notes, i'd go:
Sakuya: 6/10, Masumi: 2/10, Tsuzuru 3/10, Itaru: 8/10, Citron 7/10, Chikage: 5/10
under cut because of general opinions as of why and i try to keep it vague but it may already be more infos about me than you wish to know since i, do tend to look on the more serious sides of things, so, proceed with caution.
Else if we stop there, take care :3c
(Links: Spring, Summer, Autumn , Winter ranking)
Sakuya: 6/10, probably. I think i'm rather cheerful like he can be but i also tend to neglect myself or my opinion or history and stuff so i kinda see that in his attitudes sometimes. I also really feel him on his insecurities and how those are impacted by his relationship with his family, or how much he tries to cheer up others. Mostly point deduced because he's extremely driven and motivated and he doesn't let his issues hold him down and man i wish i had this passion.
Masumi: 2/10 i guess. I don't really relate to anything with him, except maybe that he's a loner at school (though the reasons why is not something i relate about) or the fact he feels a complete disconnect from his parents. I also completely feel him on having difficulties to trust because of what his parents pulled on him when he was a kid, with the lawsuits and all. Man lawsuits leave trauma on kids who knew. I still keep the number low because those are rarely put in focus and i don't relate to the rest of Masumi much at all.
Tsuzuru: 3/10. The stuff i relate to with him is how he tends to step out to take responsibilities for others and the fact he feels like he neglected his whole life and passion by taking those responsibilities. I used to write, since i was a kid up until a few years ago when i ended up stopping because of that, so sometimes thinking about how Tsuzuru relates to that makes me sad. But between how he overcame that, or family driven he can be or no-nonsense type i don't really relate to that and he's too creative for me to relate to him.
Itaru: 8/10. Gamer boy goes brr. I think Itaru is just pretty relatable in general. The school years convincing you to not let people see who you are, the difficulties to trust people, generally having a sympathetic front ready to talk to people you don't really want to be sympathetic to, and else all of the way he relates to his passion and can just, lock himself all night playing a game and spend ways too much time ranking on gacha events. Legit sometimes when he talks i end up finding like, stuff i had said to some of my competitive gacha friends so it makes me laugh. I also almost always have my phone opened on a gacha. His way to love Kniroun is similar to how i love Final fantasy so that cracks me up (esp adding to the fact i had an Arthurian myth hyperfixation as a teen). Similarly: how he feels about merch. He's really relatable on those regards. Also i'm a terrible adult role model "au naturel" but i also constantly ends up in situation where i have to take responsibilities and not be too horrible of a role model. He also tends to see through people a little more easily than not and i can relate to that. I also sucks at physical activities. Point deduced because of his gremlin persona and how hardcore he can be about it.
Citron: 7/10 I relate a bit to how he always intends to light up the mood when he can. He also tends to use that to connect with others while also keeping distances with the things that bothers him, which is mostly the heavy stuff he carries about himself. He is forced in a situation where he has an estranged relationship with his family and a tons of responsibilities because of that and cannot do much to fix it, and the cold head he's supposed to take to deal with it is pretty chilling and relatable. I think also the way he tries to deal with things on his own and refuses to ask for help is also. yeah. He also tends to be pretty observant which helps as well. And he is also a gamer so mood. Wishful thinking but i also hope i can cheer on people as well as he does. Point deduced mostly because he's ways much more cheerful and chaotic than i am and much funnier.
Chikage: 5/10 I know tricky with how much i love him, i don't relate to him that much. But i do relate to the way he buries his feelings and pretends they're not there for exemple, or how he tries to shoulder everything on his own and not let people in or see what he needs. I relate to having a difficult relationship with your siblings although out of the gekkaboys he's not the one i relate to in term of the specifics. Oh right if what he says is true about why he resents his mother and his past (step) dad(s): huge huge relatable here. I also can't say that the fact he is uncomfortable around people who reminds him of his trauma is unrelatable. But mostly i can't relate to how cunning he can be and i struggle to tell a convincing lie on anything else even if my life depended on it. He also has like. so much more issues, Chikage please take care of yourself.
... so yeah reasons to relate to spring i guess: family issues, responsibilities and burying your feelings. I'm sure that's healthy.
and as a person i'm really centered around survival and reflection from the past so this doesn't help the prysm which which i approach those characters dlkfjDFKFDL
anyway take care o7
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hopping off that last ask a little bit just to do a slightly less cracky take: meliorn
so meliorn can speak any language because ✨magic✨ and of course it's a little tricky because again, language isn't an exact science, much less translation, but in short it's like they can automatically have equivalents of a word in their head and reply accordingly. so nuances of the language are lost - which is why they sometimes sound weird or too posh - but communication is very easy
and then of course over time they learn more about the nuances and words that are associated with certain contexts and you know, the whole thing about languages. particularly english in this case as it's the one they use the most but i also like to think that they try to learn spanish and yiddish, like, for real? because they always hear their partners speaking spanish and they know it would mean a lot to simon if they learnt yiddish For Real as so many people look down on the language. especially because raphael and maia are already trying to learn it, so, you know, meliorn can join in
and just like... they aren't pretending to not know the languages but they want to actually learn them from the start, their structure and stuff, not just the words, you know? because learning languages is always so fascinating and shows so much about the culture(s) that language belongs to, and it's really so interesting and enriching and meliorn is in love with the cultural diversity of non-seelies
so it's just soft hours with izzy, raphael, and simon all trying to explain the same concept to him, except they have very different approaches and it soon becomes a mess of arguing that leaves them more confused than they started rudbdjdndi in the end it's usually maia who pulls them to the side while the others are in passionate debate to explain it to them in simpler terms and meliorn is like "oh! i understand now. thank you, bella" and maia has that cute soft smile. it's also funny cuz maia is the least fluent out of them all but it is what it is
and EXTRA soft hours with simon teaching the 3 of them yiddish. it's a little infuriating cuz due to magic meliorn doesn't need to be taught the alphabet, while raphael and maia struggle with that for a bit, since they haven't learnt an alphabet since they were small kids lmao. and meliorn already basically speaks intermediate-level yiddish because ✨magic✨ so it's a bit frustrating, esp cuz rapha definitely has a little bit of a competitive side
but just hhhhhhh meliorn being fascinated by the intricacies of language even if they don't need to learn them, maybe with a pencil behind their ears as they take notes about the subjects and smile softly at each new thing they figure out..... aa
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plush-anon · 3 years
Text
SCOOB! Stream of Consciousness Review
Here we are folks - I finally review the originally cinematic, fully CGI animated Scooby Doo Movie (one year later... I did not queue this as I thought I had last June - damn you, Tumblr. I’m not changing much here, so enjoy as it was intended).
Created by a team who have professed their affection for this mystery team and their meddling dog too, will this be a lush experience fit to satisfy any Hanna-Barbera fan? Or will it be a hot garbage cash-grab, littered with Easter eggs and references that do nothing to hide a meatless mess of outdated memes and shallow character development?
LET’S
FIND
OUT
Below this cut is my entire stream-of-consciousness review on the SCOOB! Movie, as experienced. SPOILER warning here - I’m digging into everything, no plot points spared. 
Here we go~
And we start off with a decent shot of the California coastline (looks like the kids backstory is front and center), some 90s hip-hop synthwave song about California, and OH SWEET JESUS THESE MODELS LOOK TERRIBLE
Ahem
Yeah, this is a problem right off the bat - some of these people in the opening shots look remarkably unfinished - think three shades above “Rapsittie Kids: Believe in Santa” level - and the animation on them is less than stellar. 
On the plus side, we do see a fantastic variety of ages, sizes, and races - there’s a brief blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Sikh man on roller skates playing a sitar - but when the designs look rushed in the opening shots, it’s not a fantastic sign. At least they’re brief, but it’s hard to see if this is a lower level of the film’s style due to rushed animation, or if they didn’t care to polish it up as much, given that it’s maybe a 30 second scene. 
Still, kudos to actually going for variety in the crowd shots. Minus kudos to making most of the clothes look like Play-doh draped over a Barbie doll. I’m not even kidding on that one, the clothes are super basic and barely have any sign of texture or creasing or even fabric/cut variety. Almost reminds me of the first Toy Story movie’s design for human clothes, yeesh. 
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Ahh, our first introduction to Scooby Doo at a Greek gyro food stand. That’s foreshadowing right there folks! 😉
Sadly, he is really weirdly animated in his run sequence - he looks out of proportion as he’s running on his hind legs, and the human animation has really bad consistency - some background characters are really janky, while others actually move really nicely. The characters we immediately focus on seem to be pretty smooth at least, but that’s still very strange.
On a side note: Ruby and Spears Sub Sandwich shop. Nice 😁
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They are reaaaally pushing the super over-the-top dramatic music for a bike cop chasing a dog that stole gyro meat
Why
It’s not even interesting chase music, just generic super-hyped-up chase music
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And now we finally get to see a young Shaggy, standing next to a tie-dye food stand called Casey’s Confections that… sells meat. Hm. Guess WB hasn’t learned after all these years 🙄
Unfortunately, I’m not a huge fan of the kid they got to play him, Iain Armitage. He’s not a bad voice actor by any means, but he just doesn’t sound right for Shaggy. I know that as a kid he’d be much less likely to have a cracking/squeaky voice, but he sounds… it’s hard to pin down a word, but - precocious? Darling? Either way it doesn’t quite match, especially given how Shaggy sounds when he grows up via Will Forte. Just… no connection there. 
I tie it down to the particular vocal twangs and nuances the gang usually has. I’ll touch base on that note later I think, once we hit the teenage versions of the gang, but for now I’m just not feeling it. 
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On the one hand, I empathize deeply with Shaggy and his Spotify’s unsettling ability to pinpoint his insecurities with song choices, and also deeply enjoy that one small gesture where his fingers kind of shake & tighten around his phone while he takes a deep breath to calm himself- it’s a very nice, subtle sign of frustration
On the other hand we just passed two guys with no nipples and an unerring likeness to a Ken doll in those Barbie movies, so I’m distracted by that now
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(between this and Fred’s no-nipples in Happy Halloween SD!, is WB just terrified of giving men nipples in animated movies now? what gives?)
Also distracted by the thrifty lesbians who bought those two shirts that come together to make a heart in the middle, on the store’s 2 for 1 day
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happy pride y’all!
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Finally got context for the two sand piles!
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Very, very sad context, but still! Progress!
Basically Shaggy’s practicing talking to people in order to learn how to make friends, since he either has no idea how, or has never had a friend before. So he’s trying to learn the right way to do it since his own attempts have failed
And him talking to these sand piles not only counts as practice, but he’s using them so that his mom thinks he’s spending time with friends like he told her
Ow :)
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So ketchup leather is apparently a thing that exists
I’m learning so much today!
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Given that Shaggy has no friends at this stage, but he’s still called Shaggy, I’m kind of wondering if that was a mean nickname that everyone called him, but he was just grateful for the interaction/pretended it was from friends, so he kept it 🤔
Actually, take it back, his mother is calling him that. Family nickname, maybe…?
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Shaggy has Blue Falcon (classic) and Dynomutt funko pops
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noice
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Oof, you can reaaaaally hear the age in Frank Welker’s Scooby voice. Can we get Scott Innes back? He sounds almost identical to his performance 20+ years ago :/
Also talking waaaay too much - even SDMI Scooby wasn’t this wordy, and he NEVER shut the hell up 
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Okay wait
So Shaggy met Scooby on Halloween day - then met the rest of the gang hours later?
Huh. And here I was thinking it would have been a few weeks minimum 
Although I have to say there is a lot here to work with, if it paces out how I think it does
Shaggy meets Scooby. Bare hours later, he buys him a collar (instead of his mom? weird) and asks him to stay with him, despite not really knowing him. Then, only a couple hours after that, he finally makes some friends… but only when Scooby is with him. 
Given that it looks like the gang are all around the same age in the same neighborhood, there’s a solid chance that they’ve taken classes together at the same school. If none of them met/knew/made friends with Shaggy then, but only did so AFTER Scooby came into the picture, that might lead to the argument we know about later when they split up; afterwards, S&SD go to the bowling alley, then get abducted by the Blue Falcon, plot continues. This could make it seem like they were only friends with him at the start because he had a dog. 
And the brief scene earlier with the music device shows that he tries to tamp down on his anger/doesn’t really address it - could lead to something more later 
hmmmm 🤔
---
Wait what
These two kid bullies just came out of nowhere, stole Shaggy’s candy… and then started on about how Halloween is only a marketing ploy to get companies to rot your teeth and go to the dentist more, before throwing the bag through a window and telling the two that ‘your blood sugar will thank us for it!’
Are - are these the brainwashed children of a Karen? Is that what I’m seeing?
I mean we could have had a Red Herring cameo, but apparently informing children about candy conspiracy theories is more important :/
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Daphne: It’s Halloween - no one should go home without their candy
FD&V: *none of them have candy/candy bags*
???????
(Wouldn’t it make more sense if the bullies had stolen their candy too? What the hey man)
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I do find it neat that we actually get to SEE the wires the ‘ghost’ uses to fly in full effect - that’s actually pretty cool, and not really something we get to see up close in older Scooby shows. Most of those just have the bad guy randomly flying about, and the wires revealed after the fact 
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Actually, given how FD&V react to this ghost almost immediately… have they already been solving mysteries? It seems like it, given how smoothly they move together to capture him
That’s kind of odd in kids. Like, even in PNSD they weren’t perfectly in-sync on stuff
This then leads to the gang solving mysteries together… in spite of the fact that all Shag and Scoob did was hide in the wardrobe that had the stolen goods, while FD&V captured the dude 
Granted, they do ask Shag and Scoob if they wanna join in and say yes, but that seems like an strange jump after what could have been a one-time deal
I just find that a touch odd - esp when they could have had a five minute scene or so of them wandering around the house, touching on some old SDWAY traits. Heck, show that they’re SCARED in some way, and don’t immediately move to tackle what looks like a murderous spirit at age 8-9 or so. Even just showing the kids learning about each other would be enough, but what do I know. I’ve only watched Scooby Doo everything since I was 4 🙄
---
Ahhhh, and now for the updated rendition of the theme song
Where they’re all still kids doing everything the teenage gang did in the theme song
It doesn’t look as good as the OG, though - kind of like a computer game simulating the SDWAY intro using the PNSD kids in CGI. It’s honestly strange to see, and a little jarring - especially when we then transition to the older teenage gang right in the middle
Like, we don’t get to see you guys age through the song as you’re chased by/catch different monsters? That could have been pretty neat honestly - shows how long they’ve been doing this
Tho I gotta admit, seeing the Spooky Space Kook with his OG sound effects is pretty awesome, brief as it waoH MY GOD FRED WHY ARE YOU HAVING A ROMANTIC BEACHSIDE DATE WITH THE MYSTERY MACHINE 
THAT WASN’T IN THE ORIGINAL AND NO ONE ELSE GETS A CHARACTER INSIGHT SHOT LIKE THIS
WHY
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Huh, looks like Ruby & Spears gave up their subway sandwich shop for a coffee shop
That apparently the gang goes to in order to eat malt shop food
okay?
----
Ah, and here’s where we finally look at the voice acting of the older teenage gang. Buckle up folks, cause I gotta lot to say
We’ll start with Fred, bc honestly? I think Efron actually fits him pretty dang well. He’s got a different cadence from Welker, true, but as far as an update goes? I think he’s a solid fit. Very much in line with the all-American kid that Fred’s kind of been slated as for the past 50 years or so, but updated more for the modern perspective. I call it solid (and possibly a replacement for whenever Welker decides to retire). 
Next? Oof. Velma is, IMHO, the weakest casting. Velma, no matter her voice actress, has ALWAYS had some form of nasal twang to her voice - that’s part of what makes her Velma to begin with, and helps her stand out. Nicole Jaffe, Pat Stevens, BJ Ward, Christina Lange (PNSD), Mindy Cohn, Kate Micucci, Linda Cardellini -heck, even Haley Kiyoko from ‘The Mystery Begins’ and Sarah Gilman from the ‘Daphne and Velma’ movie understood this! They all had that nasal twang to their voice - differing between actresses, of course, but still recognizable as Velma. Gina Rodriguez though? Honestly, it just sounds like she’s acting it straight. Not bad acting at all, by any means - she just doesn’t sound like Velma, and doesn’t seem to be trying to. (Honestly wondering if she was only hired bc she voices Carmen Sandiego in the reboot cartoon for the lolz fun reference! type connection) 
Daphne is sort of similar in voices, but hers is more of a pitch her voice hits - Heather North, Mary Kay Bergman, and Grey Delisle Griffin all have that pitch they hit naturally when speaking. Amanda Seyfried? Does not - in fact, her voice is actually deeper than I was expecting - but it’s not quite as big a difference as it is for Velma. It fits her character type okay, and she does well with it overall.  
And finally, the most controversial one: Will Forte’s Shaggy. 
I’ll go ahead and say this: he’s not Scott Menville levels of bad Shaggy voice acting. If I were to place him on a list, I’d probably put him around Billy West level - kind of sounds similar via vocal tics (voice cracking, likes and zoinks, etc), but his own voice just overtakes the impression he’s seeking to hit. When I hear him speak, I don’t really hear Shaggy; I just hear Will Forte trying to do an impression of Shaggy. 
In comparison: when Scott Innes took over for Shaggy, it was like Casey Kasem’s, just a touch more of a twang to his voice and just a dash over-the-top - but it was still Shaggy, and you didn’t doubt that for a minute.
Same thing for Lillard, but maybe moreso - he was pretty much the most perfect casting for a live-action Shaggy there could be at the time Scooby Doo (2002) was made. Him taking over for Kasem from there made perfect sense: he was honestly the best cast Mystery Inc member of the live-actions, and a lot more recognizable to the general public as Shaggy than Scott Innes was. He could also do different emotions with Shaggy that not a lot of the other voice actors had the chance to do (mainly bc script), so for future stuff they have that flexibility, if they wanted to play around a little more. 
With any luck Forte will get better over the course of the movie, but honestly the casting could have been so much better with Matt Lillard and Kate Micucci. 
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Shaggy Rogers, evading taxes since 2020
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siMON COWELL??!? 
WHAT THE
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WHY?!?!?
ALSO HIS CHARACTER DESIGN STYLE IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF THE GANG WHAT IS EVEN GOING ON?!!?
IS HE SUPPOSED TO BE THE SD CELEBRITY CAMEO
LIKE
IF YOU WERE GOING TO DO A CAMEO FROM AMERICAN IDOL WHY NOT RYAN SEACREST 
HE TOOK OVER FOR CASEY KASEM ON THE AMERICAN TOP 40 WOULDN’T THAT MAKE MORE SENSE
aaauuuggghhh
---
Also he’s there as a potential investor in Mystery Inc as a detective agency
A music industry professional… is interested in funding a detective agency.
Like… did he miss out on Josie & the Pussycats? Is that why he’s here?
----
Wait a minute
Oh noooooo
I know why he’s here
I remember this spoiler
Shit
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And once again, here is your reminder to tell Simon Cowell a great big fcuk you
Only this time it’s for making Shaggy and Scooby feel worthless and saying that friendship is worthless and cannot be counted on for anything worthwhile
Simon Cowell: Professional Dickhead
---
Welp, at least this gives a solid reason why they leave: Simon Cowell was being a professional dickhead, and the gang didn’t really say anything against him or interrupt him on his whole ‘Shag and Scoob are worthless spiel’
Or, well... Daphne stepped up some, but more to say ‘they’re our friends!’ rather than ‘that’s entirely wrong, our friends aren’t worthless!’ Better than nothing, but yeesh
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Ahhh, Takamoto Bowling - the emptiest bowling alley in the evenings this side of Coolsville 
(no seriously, the past few times my dad has taken my sister and me bowling pre-pandemic, no matter the day or time? it’s ALWAYS got more than 6 lanes of people there, what the heck)
Also Scooby wears three bowling shoes, which honestly makes more sense than I thought it would - that pup goes spinning and sliding every which way on a normal floor, bowling alley floors would be like ten times worse
----
here’s a nice little detail - when Scooby sees one of the bowling pins peek out with red eyes and he yells that to Shaggy, Shaggy actually squints and walks closer to see if it actually does have eyes
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aww
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Huh, okay 
Panicked Will Forte Shaggy actually sounds more like a good Shaggy voice than normal talking Will Forte Shaggy
I can dig it
---
Still kind of underwhelmed by the Shag and Scoob disguise scene - wouldn’t it make more sense to have them like, dish up hot sauce or something on a plate that nonsensically makes the robots overheat before they discover their ruse?
Idk, maybe they’re off their game after Simon ‘Dickhead’ Cowell
---
Carlton Way - must be named after Fred’s only other voice actor, Carlton Stevens of PNSD
Also Hanna’s Barber Shop is next to Barbera’s Pizza! Cute.
And… Pitstop’s Pink Perfume ad. Wait, who is that? *assorted googling noises*
...ahhh, Penelope Pitstop from Wacky Races! Who, according to Wikipedia, was revealed to have Greek ancestry in the 2016 Wacky Raceland comic book, having been born on the island of Aegina
Now I’m wondering if we’ll see her in this too, given Cerberus...
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Honestly kind of fascinating to see the gang with a police radio in their van
Also fascinating to see that only main characters are allowed clothing variety and texture/creases/folds
---
it’s actually really sweet to see Fred, upon hearing that Shag and Scoob are likely in danger, immediately makes a 90 degree turn in traffic
---
It looks like they changes Dee Dee’s name a hair - now it’s Dee Dee Skyes, instead of Sykes
It works well for the Falcon aesthetic, so that’s cool
----
Shaggy, after Dee Dee tells them that Dastardly’s trying to kill them: Scoob, someone thinks we’re important enough to *mimes slitting throat*!
Scooby: It’s nice to be wanted.
Excellent! This movie has captured Shag and Scoob’s blasé attitude towards death! Now we’re onto a solid Scooby film :D
Dee Dee: Hmm, I hear that!
And they even have a friend to share in their attitude! Splendid!
----
Christ, I can work photoshop better than Blue Falcon can, and I don’t even know how to use photoshop
I will give major kudos on his costume tho - it maintains the important elements of the OG Falcon, while still updating it with more bird-related aesthetic, like the feathered appearance of parts of his costume, the split cape resembling the tail feathers, and the talon gauntlets & boots. neat!
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Yooo, Dynomutt, I thought secret identities were still a thing with Superheroes, what the hey are you doing giving it out to a duo you literally just picked up behind a bowling alley
Ngl, I’m kinda hoping we get some scenes where Dynomutt messes up a little like in the OG cartoon - this one feels really serious, which is kind of strange
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Okay now I want to see older!Blue Falcon come in for a cameo
Mainly bc I’m getting the feeling that this one is a major dumbass, and not in the fun and friendly himbo kind of way 😑
---
Wait, THAT’S our first look at Dastardly? That’s a bit abrupt, isn’t it?
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Also his ship must be pumping thousands of gallons of toxins into the air, that smoke cloud looks hideous. Forget logging into his mom’s Netflix account like the trailer said, EPA should probably be hunting him for sport with a laser cannon, jesus fcuking christ
---
Honestly kinda want a plane you can pilot like a motorbike now
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Welp, it looks like we have a fun, mustache-twirly, puns-aplenty, loves-to-be-bad kind of villain on our hands folks! This is gonna be FUN AS HECK
---
Eurgh, this scene - the super-stiff-but-stretched-out ‘yeeurgh’ faces really squick me for some reason, but I can’t really pinpoint why
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I have decided I highly dislike the Brian Blue Falcon, or Brian Falcon for short, and would like to see Dastardly tie him to some railroad tracks
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North St for Heather North, and… wait… Funland Carnival? Like where Charlie the Robot hung out?
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Apparently that’s in Romania.
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A very yellow-greenfilter Romania at that.
 Like, I’ve seen blue washes on movies trying to portray evening in the middle of the day so they don’t actually have to shoot at night, but yellow? That’s normally used for deserts and hot days and uhhh 
NOT for evenings in a country with landscape like THIS
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odd
(I mean I guess they got the mountains and trees right, but still. Yellow filters make a place look arid, which Romania is Not, to my knowledge)
----
Dude, Brian Falcon is such an idiot even Shaggy and Scooby, commonly portrayed as the idiots of Mystery Inc, look at him like he’s a moron.
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(They are Not Amused.)
Also Brian Falcon is an absolute coward. That’s new. Even Shaggy and Scooby face off against the robots directly in a Whack-a-Mole game and destroy some. Dude, get your head in the fcuking game already, yikes
--
Woah, Laff-a-Lympics, Wacky Races, Hex Girls, The Banana Splits, Penelope Pitstop, Space Stars, Posse Impossible, and Hong Kong Phooey easter eggs in one shot
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Geezus
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Another nice moment: when cornered by Dastardly, Shaggy moves to stand in front of Scooby to protect him
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---
Dastardly (to Shaggy): I don’t care about YOU. You’re not REMOTELY important!
*proceeds to shoot Shaggy THROUGH the ceiling and up into the highest car on a Ferris Wheel where Brian Falcon is hiding like a man baby*
Welp, so much for a fun and zany villain. Time for this Plush Anon to kill a bitch *cocks shotgun*
I will, too - kudos to the animators for hurting me so badly with the face Shaggy made right before being shot because
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OW
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Ehehehhehe, yess, the infamous ‘Dick’ scene
Dastardly: No, I’m a DICK. With a D!
You sure are, you sack of dildos with a D!
This scene had to be put in on purpose - if this had been released in theaters, I just know the adults would be dying in laughter 🤣🤣🤣
----
Shaggy: Brian, do something! 
Brian Falcon: Like what?
Shaggy: Like, drop some F-Bombs!
love it 😂
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Is it like movie law now, that if there’s an action scene with a Ferris Wheel in the background, it has to fall off and roll down a mild incline like a wheel? Because it kinda feels like it
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Aha! Dastardly said his drats! Perfection.
Now to shoot him through a ceiling to make them matter even more :D
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OOF. 
Well that hurt. 
Poor Shaggy - basically internalizing now that he’s the worthless one and weak link of the group now that Scooby is considered more important
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Holy fcuk I’m crying
Shaggy just broke Brian Falcon down to his deepest insecurities without even trying while talking to him
He even used the words ‘imposter syndrome’ 
Shaggy hon, you’re the best
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Oh hey, Fred, Daphne, and Velma! It’s been a while since we saw you guys again, what are you doing?
Arguing about the metric system and realizing that Shaggy and Scooby reminding them to eat periodically helped them keep a clearer head...
And using the word ‘hangry’.
But then looking through a ridiculously cute photo album of the two and a video the gang took together (the video is honestly really heckin’ cute, 10000/10 would recommend)...
And then getting pulled over so Fred can have a brief ‘oo-la-la’ montage about the pretty blonde cop who honest-to-gods looks like a Barbie doll.
Where Daphne then describes how ugly Dastardly is...
Right before the petite blonde cop who’s maybe like 5’7” at best rips off her outfit to reveal it was Dick Dastardly this entire time, all 7ish feet of him.
And then kidnaps them all along with the Mystery Machine while he makes terribly fun dorky puns
...SO BACK TO SCOOBY AND SHAGGY...
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...where Scooby is making kissy faces in the mirror while wearing his Blue Falcon uniform
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Hrm, that’s not really better is it
We actually see Shaggy reading (OG) Blue Falcon’s autobiography, and making hurt but snide comments about Scooby’s ego
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Which are actually pretty clever tbh
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Cooooooongratulations, Fred Jones! You are now officially a full-on himbo!
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Alas, poor Daphne. While your knowledge of the tropes of your show might have served you well in other places, this was to be a theatrical release once upon a time, and so such knowledge falls to ruin.
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You know, I just realized - we’re never really told HOW the Cerberus skulls work, both in how each skull can be used to find the others,  and, presumably, in releasing Cerberus itself. We’re given a brief glance-over of Scooby’s ancestry (and I mean REALLY damn brief), and a quick mention that these are supposed to be Cerberus’ skulls being stolen, but… that’s it. Nothing else is given. 
Now, I read the first few chapters of my SCOOB! Junior Novelization, and it actually went into further detail about the skulls themselves and what Dastardly’s initial plan was early in the book - open the gates of Hades and obtain the seas of treasure therein. It acted as an introduction both to the climatic endgame we’ll face at the end of the movie, and to Dastardly, who uses the same disguise trick he used as the Barbie cop when he stole the first one in South America. 
(They actually DID plan to use this as Dastardly’s intro, but cut this… 3 minute scene for time. Yeah. See below video for the details - honestly think they should have kept it in. Saves time later and definitely more show than tell, compared to what we got)
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I feel like that would be a better introduction to him than the one we got - hell, it would have fit in quite neatly after the revamped theme song montage. They could have the scene with Dastardly finding/stealing the first skull as an introduction (as above), then have him answer a call or something. Exposit openly “You found the key! Excellent! Now where are we going next?” 
THEN cut to the diner/coffee shop scene we had earlier. We still wouldn’t know exactly what the key was/entailed off the bat, and they could still have FD&V find out on their own - maybe by hacking the little robot instead? IDK.
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The final skull is on Messick Mountain.
Cute.
On a side note, I do love how Dastardly’s ship interior looks - very dieselpunk
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Velma just hacked into Dynomutt… somehow, and I finally get my wacky Dynomutt shenanigans!  Hazoo!
...sadly that was really dang brief. Realistic, yes, but still too brief. 
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Eyyyy, we finally get the whys of why Scooby is needed! … really dang fast. 
Also Fred says Jinkies. 
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Hey, Muttley popped up! In a shrine… to his demise… that we find out he reached when Dastardly pushed him forward into the Underworld to steal the treasure of Alexander the Great in a portal he rigged up… only for both of them to find out it was a one-way deal unless they used the key to be able to come back. The key, of course, being Scooby Doo, descendent of Peritas, Alexander’s dog. 
Eh, workable enough-ish. It’s interesting to see that Dastardly, despite how much he disliked Muttley in the older cartoons, still cares about him to a certain extent. 
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Pfff, Fred’s a poor man’s Hemsworth XD
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Sweet, we’re in ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ now!
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Um
O W W W
You guys really had to do the ‘me or them’ thing with Shaggy and Scooby… and tHeN hAvE sCoObY cHoOsE tHe FaLcONs?!? Just because they said he was important as “the key” and gave him a spandex costume.
Over at least 7 years of friendship. 
Booooooooooooo
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actually no I’m Not Done Yet
This whole scene is a mess.
Like
Shaggy’s turn was really dang fast… but I can still see how he gets to it. It’s at least a day between Scooby being chosen as a pseudo-sidekick and the island arrival, during which Shaggy’s talk with the main adult (who has taken up the mantle of his favorite superhero) essentially confirms his feelings of worthlessness and leaves him to stew for HOURS on end (on top of another adult, Dastardly, who also calls him “not even REMOTELY important” at the carnival before freaKING SHOOTING HIM THROUGH THE CEILING NO I AM NOT OVER THIS). Tie that to a teenager who also believes his only friends have come to think he’s meaningless baggage, and suddenly his entire support system is vanishing underneath him to one of his former idols without ANY sign of hesitation from Scooby’s part (with the exception of the collar scene, but I don’t think that that means the same to Scooby, given how quickly he bounces back)
Scooby tho… hrm. It could be that he’s clinging to the good feelings Brian Falcon inspires in him (by choosing him as the next possible Dynomutt), as a way to overpower how FD&V hurt him, while also building on how he came to love the duo because SHAGGY loved them so much. But the movie doesn’t frame that up… at all?? At least compared to Shaggy. 
Idk, maybe I’m missing something, but this scene is a mess through and through
Boooooo
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Scooby: *tries to leap into Brian Falcon’s arms like he did with Shaggy but falls*
Brian: Uh, what are you doing?
Scooby: Rhaggy never missed. 
Damn straight he didn’t
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oh hey, it’s Captain Caveman
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I was wondering when we’d see him.
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AAAUUGGHH
It’s that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene from the trailers I sobbed over - the one with Shaggy holding Scooby’s collar
Fun fact it actuALLY FADES INTO THE FLASHBACK
THAT WAS NOT A TRAILER THING THAT’S ACTUALLY HERE IN THE MOVIE
OW
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Oh No
Fred is here, alone, after that whole scene with Dastardly saying he had a use for Fred
...while that’s likely Dastardly in a Fred suit (that sounds creepy just typing it), I’m still going to enjoy this brief but absolutely lovely hug Shaggy and Fred share...
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(seriously tho, look at this, it’s a genuinely close, squish-your-lungs-out kind of hug, I love it)
...as well as Shaggy, who's still hurt from his fight with Scooby, immediately gearing up to go help him after hearing Dastardly’s trying to kidnap him.
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Brian Falcon and Scooby Doo now have to take on Captain Caveman in gladiatorial combat in order to claim the final skull of Cerberus
I love cartoons sometimes
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Captain Caveman just put the smackdown on Brian Falcon and punched him into the ground up to his CHEST
Then smacked him so far into a wall he cracked the stone around him!
GodDAMN is this satisfying 😆 altho minor question here: how did he gain the rank of Captain? Do cavepeople have a naval force?
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He just whirled Scooby around his head, then spun him so fast his costume broke off
I may have to look into some Captain Caveman stuff now, that’s fantastic
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Shaggy and Fred - sorry, “Fred” -  just smashed through to the colosseum in the Mystery Machine
And Dynomutt just fired missiles at Captain Caveman to smash him into an Amigara-shaped hole of himself
I REALLY love cartoons sometimes
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Oh No
Just as Shaggy starts trying to apologize, “Fred” kicks him in the back, rips off his disguise to normal Dastardly self, and kidnaps Scooby atop the skull, before revealing he destroyed the Falcon Fury jet
New tagline for this movie? Shaggy Rogers and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day
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...at least the rest of the gang is back together?
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Brian Falcon: *Immediately tries to blame Shaggy for inadvertently leading Dastardly to them, while storming up to get in his face*
Fred: *upon realizing BrianF is blaming Shaggy for everything, without a SINGLE moment’s hesitation, immediately leaps in to defend Shaggy and physically push back Brian Falcon several feet*
We stan one Himbo, theydies and gentlethem
Also?
Velma (sneering): What kind of hero blames other people for his problems? *Walks over to comfort Shaggy with Daphne, while Shaggy looks dumbfounded they’re defending him bc he also blames himself for Scooby’s kidnapping*
This. This right here, is the kind of Mystery gang content I wanna see.
I don’t care how the rest of this movie goes now, this scene right here is ambrosia to the Scooby fan’s soul, and therefore makes this entire movie worth it, outdated memes, lingo, and all
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Cackling rn - Fred and Brian Falcon are in a point-off a la the Spiderman meme 😂
or, more specifically, the post-credits sequence of Spiderverse where they’re arguing about who started pointing first
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It gets better when Velma and Daphne try to pull each other off of their pushing fight, and Velma grumbles “Toxic Masculinity” I’m crying
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WOAH
More super Shaggy stuff here (apart from being flung through a building roof without a scratch) - he pushes apart both groups effortless, and even knocks them back several feet
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If we estimate Dynomutt as… we’ll say 450 since he’s made of metal, Falcon at 220, Dee Dee at 160, that’s about 830 lbs on one side
Then Fred, Daphne and Velma on the other (hmm, 180, 150, 130?) would be around 460 lbs
Dang boi
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Oh honey no, it’s not your fault
But dang if he didn’t get a good message from it, one I’ve done my best to transcribe here:
“I was afraid that... things were gonna change. And they did change. But like, that’s okay! People can grow. But it doesn’t mean that we’re growing apart. Because the one thing that will never change is that Scooby Doo is my best friend! Ten years ago, a little boy made a promise to a stray puppy that he’d never leave him no matter what. And I’m gonna keep that promise! Now it’s time we stopped that mustachioed menace from opening the gates to the {underworld} and letting loose that fearsome {Cerberus}. So what do you say we get out {of here}, and go get my always-snacking, never-lacking, often-napping dog back? Who’s with me?”
Honestly not a bad message for kids. Things will change, people will change, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop being friends. (Obvs real life exceptions apply, but that’s not a bad note honestly)
...shame that that conclusion comes right the FUCK outta nowhere
Like
How, exactly, did he come to this conclusion? WHEN? What inspired him to realize this, what was the impetus for this specific line of thought, that it’s okay for friends to change?
It kinda feels like this should have been either the happy ending speech given after they’ve saved the world, or one at the start of the third act, like if Shaggy arrives when Scooby thinks he’s chased him away and ruined everything, and Shaggy & the gang still save him. And Scooby asks him why he did that - when Scooby tried to change himself to fit what Brian Falcon wanted, instead of treasuring the friend he still had, or maybe why Shaggy reacted the way he did. THEN Shaggy gives the speech we hear, a la:
“I yelled at you because… like, because I was scared. I was scared that... things were gonna change. And they did change. But like, that’s okay! People can grow. But it doesn’t mean that we’re growing apart. Because the one thing that will never change is that YOU’RE my best friend! Ten years ago, a little boy made a promise to a stray puppy that he’d never leave him no matter what. And I mean to keep it!” 
At least that would make a little more sense to me. Again, not a bad speech, but a little rearranging would help to really hit home. 
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Okay, now we’re back with Dastardly in Greece, and suddenly the background people all look MILES better than the ones at the start of the movie. Did they just forget to polish the first two minutes of film, what the heck?
Also, Dastardly’s ship is literally the entire length of the Greek ruins presented o_O
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HOLY SHIT THE SKULLS TURNED BACK TIME AND MADE THE RUINS INTO AN ENTIRELY RESTORED PALACE WITH THE GATES OF THE UNDERWORLD BEFORE THEM
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They’re also colored a very atmospheric neon arrangement that’s surprisingly quite tasteful ^.^
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The Mystery Machine can fly now!!! eeheeheeeheeheeheeheeee
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And so we finally see Cerberus, a massive, towering figure with sharp teeth and pffffffhahahhahaa why are all three heads wearing Spartan helmets
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To its credit, they’re also wearing basic body armor, wrist guards, tail spikes, etc, but the helmets are killing me 🤣 who thought to stick that onto the dog? Did Hades forget to remove the armor after winning the Gods’ Pet Costume Contest, or was it like that horse in the ATV costume - it felt safer so it didn’t let anyone take it off?
Or was this a precaution against Herakles coming back? These are questions - hilarious, hilarious questions 😁
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Awww. Scooby immediately runs to the battered Mystery Machine to rip the doors open for the gang!
And… wait. THIS is where that wonderful hug was in the trailers? I thought that was at the end of the movie when everyone was safe!
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This now does not bode well. But we’ll worry about that later. Time to enjoy this gorgeous wonderful hug of the entire gang, and Shag and Scoob apologizing to each other for fighting 🥰
Yet another scene to make the rest of this movie worth the rest
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(halfway wanna frame this shit and put it on the wall, it’s that lovely)
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Fantastic! Dastardly is now in Hell, where I’ve been wishing him this entire movie! :D
And dang… he actually apologizes to what he believes is a dead Muttley. Who is, naturally, snickering at all of this. The two bicker predictably, but eventually hug and make up, too happy to see each other to resort to old habits. Honestly a nice little scene, all-in-all. 
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Back to the gang and they’re doing the glowy eyes in the dark bit! I actually haven’t seen that in a Scooby movie forever, it’s neat.
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Also Fred is now going full Liam Neeson over his van, war paint and all, using the tire cover as a shield and… holy shit. 
HOLY SHIT
THE ASCOT IS BAAAnnnnnd it’s gone. Boy, that was… short. 
Fred just ran full-tilt at Cerberus, screaming like a mad man, before getting flicked away by its big toe, and losing the ascot and makeshift shield. It punched so hard his facepaint came off
It was fun while it lasted y’all
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Heyyy, Shag and Scoob just came up with the plan, and it’s actually solid! I’m so proud, and so is the rest of the gang! Also willingly going to distract Cerberus while the rest figure out how to close the gate and stuff Cerberus back in
I love my boys 😊
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Annnnd there goes Brian Falcon like the coward he is
To… call his dad? And admit he isn’t a hero.
Only for Dynomutt to point out Shaggy and Scooby are taking him on and are terrified. 
This then cuts to Shaggy and Scooby running around in a chariot and gladiator wear, running back and forth a la the door gag from Cerberus to the OG SDWAY theme
I think I love this movie
(although they’re hinting at Dynomutt being resentful of OG Blue Falcon essentially abandoning him to his incompetent son, and I really wish it had been touched upon more
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that’s actually rather heartbreaking, when you stop to think about it, and there’s a lot that could be done with an additional two minutes of screentime) 
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Huh, another good message for kids: it’s okay to fail and be scared, so long as you keep going and try to do what’s right.
Two good messages for kids in one movie. Not too shabby, on the whole. 
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Brian Falcon just flew in and punched the three-headed dog, then jumped into its mouth as it tried to eat Scooby, resisted the MASSIVE JAW STRENGTH, and got them out of there safe and sound
Finally, something heroic!
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I was wondering where Dastardly and Muttley got off to - apparently they’re off to take a money bath.
Aight
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Shag and Scoob have now convinced the Rotten Robots to turn into bowling balls to knock Cerberus off their feet a la the classic marbles pratfall back into the underworld
That is a sentence I just wrote
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OH FCUK NO
NO
ABSOLUTELY NOT NO
YOU ARE TELLING US THAT AFTER ALL OF THIS - ALL OF THIS - ONE OF THEM HAS TO STAY IN THE UNDERWORLD TO LOCK THE GATE
THAT OCTOBER LEAKER WAS RIGHT WHAT THE HELL
LITERALLY SO
I mean i know its a kids film specifically Scooby Doo so happy ending but what the literal FUCK
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WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGHHH
SHAGGY NOOOO
“Buddy, back when we were kids, you saved me. Now, it’s my turn.”
and he dOES THIS WHILE HOLDING SCOOBY’S HEAD TENDERLY IN HIS HANDS
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AND WHEN EVERYTHING REVERTS IT’S JUST RUBBLE AND RUIN AND SCOOBY’S LEFT SOBBING OPENLY AT NOTHING
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AND THE GANG ALL COME TO CLING AT HIM AND CRY OVER THEIR FRIEND WHO THOUGHT HE WAS WORTHLESS MOST OF THE MOVIE AND THOUGH THAT THE GANG THOUGHT THE SAME ABOUT HIM
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH
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WELP, TIME TO COPE WITH INAPPROPRIATE HUMOR
Shaggy: I yelled at my dog, got him kidnapped, and ended up helping the bad guy to open the gates to Hell. Guess I’ll die. 
Dee Dee: Well actually, this is more Dastardly’s fault because -
Shaggy, yelling as he slams his hand against the lock: GUESS I’LL DIE!!!
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Ah, so the writers wrote themselves into a corner, and the only way out was a Deus Ex Machina (at least, I think I’m using that term correctly…) 
Because to get Shaggy back, a giant statue of Alexander the Great and Peritas appears out of nowhere - literally, since it definitely wasn’t there before - with an inscription Scooby has to read to get Shaggy back.
This would have been a lot more effective if we’d seen it when Dastardly arrived in Greece - maybe even as the marker for where the gate to the Underworld was. Have Alexander facing one way, and Peritas facing the other. You open the gate on Alexander’s side, and come home on Peritas’ side. Having this unfold into the gate gives it more purpose than “magically appears right the fcuk outta nowehere” and you could have a pun with the “backdoor” escape. Everybody wins!
And if that’s too good for ya, how about a brief lingering shot by it at some point as Dastardly flies into Greece, behind where the gate materializes, or directly across from it on the plaza? Maybe have one of the gang kick it after Shaggy leaves, and say ‘This is all your fault! Why would you make something like this?’
It’d still be a magical contrivance, but at least it would make some fcuking SENSE.
(Granted it DID lead to this hilariously ominous shot, so maybe I shouldn’t complain:)
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Velma: I finally figured out what you guys are! You’re the heart of Mystery Inc.
Me: YEAH BABY! *flips over table* I’VE BEEN SAYING THAT SHIT FOR YEARS AND NOW, I’M FCUKING VALIDATED AT LAAAAAAAAST!
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Shaggy: *rips off Dastardly’s face to reveal…*
ALL: SIMON COWELL??!?
Me, choking on food: I’m sorry WHAT?!?!?
Velma: *takes off mask again to reveal*
ALL: DICK DASTARDLY?!?
Dastardly: Drat! No one ever goes for the double unmasking. 
So I was right all along - Simon Cowell truly was a Dick this entire time.
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And so we close on the gang unveiling a Mystery Machine paint job on their official detective agency building, Brian Falcon living the good life as the DJ at their party, the Falcon team gifting a sleek new Mystery Machine to the gang (which honestly looks pretty unique - it’s not the classic, but it is something new that isn’t awful, so kudos there), and the gang on their way to another mystery.
So, at the end of the day is this a good Scooby movie? 
Meh? *waves hand in meh motion* But it definitely had its moments. 
This Scooby film is flawed as heck, no doubt about it - the plot has a MAJOR problem with telling instead of showing, some parts feeling out of order or WAY too short, and of course the deus ex machina ending. I honestly would have loved some more time for their first mystery as kids, where we actually got more character moments/bonding from Fred, Daphne, and Velma as they solved it the more traditional route, as well as not framing FD&V as super duper mystery solvers right off the bat??? 
The stuff with Blue Falcon isn’t AWFUL, per se, but it is ridiculously satisfying to see him get smacked around. Captain Caveman was honestly one of the funniest bits in the movie, same with Dynomutt. 
As far as the character stuff? It all felt fairly natural, progression-wise. Shag and Scoob don’t have this big break-up with the gang - they’re hurt by the literal Dickhead’s comments the gang don’t speak up against, and go to blow off some steam together. Shag and Scoob don’t have this giant blow-up argument - it builds over the film into a hurt spat they both recognize they overreacted to almost immediately. The gang (FDV) go looking for them almost as soon as they leave, and, upon hearing they’re in danger, turn and head towards them to save them, realizing how important the two are to Mystery Inc along the way. They defend each other, help each other, have some of the Best Dang Animated Mystery Inc hugs I ever did see - THIS feels more like the Gang I’ve been waiting for forever to come back to DTV (and in a rough sense, did). While I do wish we’d gotten more screen time of FD&V, what we got wasn’t too bad. 
Weirdly enough, at the end of the day, I’ve actually grown more accustomed to Forte’s Shaggy - it feels like it fits this different style a touch more than I originally thought, and holy hell if I didn’t come close to tears at that ending gate scene, he knocked that one out of the park.  Velma still doesn’t feel much like Velma, but I did get used to it by the end. I kept cracking up at Efron’s Fred, and no complaints on Seyfried’s Daphne.
Jason Isaacs as Dick Dastardly absolutely killed it. Blue Falcon Crew was okay (excepting Mark “The Racist” Wahlburg - it was just him talking, no real effort. You could recognize Wahlburg right off the bat, acting as a goofy douche) and freaking Captain Caveman was awesome. Apparently they combined both Billy West and Don Messick’s recordings for Muttley (awesome!!!), so this may very well be Don Messick’s final role in a Scooby Doo film. 
It got off to a rough start, but ended well enough. The animation was solid, the writing has some unexpectedly clever and funny moments sprinkled throughout, with some pretty fun action sequences on the side. Watching this, I really do believe that the people working on it love Scooby Doo and all things Hanna-Barbera… at least in their own way. 
I ended up buying this instead of just renting it ($5 more, why not) and I am honestly glad I did so. Despite its flaws, it has some great moments with the gang as friends, and I have been Craving That Shit for DECADES
And if these writers/directors ever did another Scooby film? I think I’d be up for giving them a chance - at least so long as we got some more absolutely BEAUTIFUL hugs with the gang
I hope you enjoyed this stream-of-consciousness reaction to SCOOB! (2020)... a whole ass year LATER, admittedly (I didn’t switch my Save Post to Queue, curse my hubris), but hopefully y’all’ve been entertained. Good night everybody!
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