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#but i can't lie i mostly watched it for specific characters
gwydionae · 21 days
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Never have I been more grateful that time travel exists in the X-Men universe.
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skrunksthatwunk · 13 days
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why the fuck did i write about birds this fucking sucks. i just found out birds only sleep for a few minutes at a time, hundreds of times a day. do you know what this is going to do to my structure? the logistics of their road trip? this is already like three days late and i've been fighting for my life to get A Plot Like Any Plot That Makes Sense out and now the birds fucking sleep for 5 minutes at a time.
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#i should've just bailed and written another story when i had the chance#i'm not joking i've never fought a fiction piece this hard before. usually because i'm not writing for specific deadlines#and not a piece so big. and not one that's gonna be workshopped. i wanna blow them away but if things keep going the way they are everyone'#gonna tell me the pacing sucks and it feels pointless and the characters feel really confused. I KNOW. I KNOW THAT. FUCKK#i'm the type to do about 15 passes before i let someone see my 'first draft' and i'm just not gonna be able to do that if i want to get it#in time for a workshop. every day i delay is making things harder for my classmates y'know?? but i've been writing like 1k words a day#and it's still not done. GUHH#I DON'T LIKE WRITING THESE CHARACTERS THAT MUCH THEY'RE NOT FUNNY OR ENDEARING AND THAT'S MY LIKE.#MAIN SKILL AND VIBE WITH SHORT STORY DUOS. BUT NOOOO I HAD TO MAKE THEM DIFFERENT CUZ I WAS SICK OF DOING#THE SAME DYNAMIC OVER AND OVER. BITCH THIS IS YOUR FINAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TRIED AND TRUE GETS THE BLUE (RIBBON)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#head in my hands head in my hands head in my hands head in my hands head#going to work on it some more. fuckk#the voices aren't consistent and i'm trying to make it clear that this is toxic bird yuri and not a mother/daughter thing but the maternal#themes are kind of fucking with that but they're important and i don't wanna get rid of them but it feels forced cuz im forcing it#sigh. i'm gonna have to cut the yuri. these two don't work romantically at all. what a waste of time.#i watched the entirety of mnthly girls' nozaki-kun in the past two days while avoiding writing. did you know that? the lengths to which i'l#go? anyway it was fun i appreciate fellow creative agony and i uh never knew how they did screen tones and wasn't expecting that somehow#so i learned something new (hooray). anyway back to. fucking. bird story stuff#i'm so mad i hate these two (<- lying. just pissy) i hate this story (<- mostly exaggerating. throwing a tantrum)#eughhhhhh i just wanna lie on the floor and cryyyyyyyyyy (<- completely deadpan irl. not That upset just kind of sick of shit)#i'm so burnt out and it's only gonna get worse. ughh#why can't someone just come in and write it for meeeeeeeeeeheheuhhh (<- would hate that)
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hanaruri-tunes · 11 months
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Humiliating Leviathan (Levi x reader)
My first try at some smut, so MINORS DO NOT INTERACT. And here are the warnings I could think of: Degradation, crying, masturbation, usage of underwear, usage of sex toys, going down on MC, two dicks (I gotta follow the common agreement that Levi has two dicks haha), snake tongue (again, common agreement), petting, praising
OKAY. I think that's it. Don't hesitate to tell me if I forgot something. I know all those warnings might make it seem hardcore but I promise it's actually quite a cute fic. Subby and pathetic Leviathan is the cutest. PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO LEAVE COMMENTS please please this is my first try at smut in the obey me fandom (if ever, actually) I would really appreciate the support.
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You knocked on his door three times. No answer. Knowing Leviathan he was either passed out in his bathtub after binge-watching an anime or playing games non-stop... Or he miraculously decided to go out somewhere. Probably to buy some merch from a limited-in-time store that has no official website from which Leviathan can order. Although he could definitely find some second-hand merch online he refused to do that. He would go on and on about how buying second-hand isn't supporting the franchise thus he MUST buy it directly from the source.
Seeing how there was still no answer you decided to go in. Usually his door had a spell on it that would send intruders into another random place in the devildom but he lifted that spell for you specifically. You were the only one who could enter at any time without any disturbance.
As you did so, there was no Leviathan in sight. Not in front of his gaming set-up, not in his bathtub, not passed out on the floor. So he's out, huh? You wonder why he didn't invite you or at least warn you that he'll be out today. Usually, especially if it's for a limited time anime café, you're always the first one invited. Well, you probably shouldn't pry but as you're about to step a foot outside his room... You stop. This is a pretty rare chance to look around his room without him pestering you.
It's not like you'll pry *too* much though. Just a bit, for curiosity's sake. (That was a lie you told yourself.) You inspect his figurines more closely. He's mostly into magical girl shows and moe blob shows. How cute of him. But you've always expected that he might have some secret sexy figurines as well. Or else why would he be so protective of some of the packages he orders from Akuzon? He's usually so unenthusiastic and slow when getting out of his room for breakfast or dinner and yet he rushes to the door when it's for a delivery.
After checking some of his drawers you find the fabrics and materials he uses for his cosplays. It's all mostly different hues of pink since he prefers cosplaying female characters- how cute. At one point you also accidentally come across his underwear in one of his drawers, it's all mostly black with some funky colors mixed in from time to time. He even has one of a limited edition HanaRuri-tan underwear collection.
And just as you think that you've struck gold... it's just some old stuff. Probably from some of his past obsessions. That includes precure dvds, aikatsu cards, manga magazines, et cetera. Again all cute shows mostly targeted to young audiences. Really, you can't see Leviathan as anything else than a completely adorable dork. People often don't get him for his specific tastes and hobby but all you see is a pure little guy who's still in touch with his inner child and who loves mostly light hearted shows. Surely anything he might hide won't probably be even THAT bad. Or even if it is... that's still cute in another way.
After looking in all of his drawers, no sign of any sexy figurine, of any sex toy or even erotic manga... This is way too suspicious. But then again Levi is smart, he probably wouldn't dare hide any of this stuff in his drawers knowing that Lucifer frequently comes to his room begging him to clean it, only to start off doing it by himself before Levi hurriedly joins him and kicks him out. If he had to hide something dirty where would he... ... You look under the bathtub. Nope. Too easy? Then...Reaching for his blanket and sheets inside the bathtub, you raise them, uncovering some sort of trapdoor?You slide it open and there's a huge box inside of it. If you had to guess, he used the same spell as the entrance of his room. Except this one always leads to the same space: the place where his hidden box is, wherever that is.
You pull it out, open it and there it is. Almost all of the stuff you had imagined him hiding was in here. Sexy figurines, erotic doujins, even some sex toys. Two in particular were bigger than the others. Fleshlights... But why two? Looking at it closer one's a smaller size and the other one is bigger. Did he get the size wrong the first time he ordered so now he has two of them? But more than that, there was something you really didn't expect to find here. A pair of panties. *Your* panties. You thought that maybe you had just forgotten it while moving back and forth between the devildom and human world but here they were, in Leviathan's precious box.
In some way this awakened something in you, a strange feeling of amusement while you realized that the cutest and purest guy you knew turned out to be a filthy underwear thief who most likely used it to jerk himself off.As you started to think that, a loud noise came from behind you. It sounded like some object had fallen to the floor- ah. Probably Levi who just came back and dropped his phone after realizing what you were looking at. Quickly, you wiped off the amused smile you had on your face before turning back to face him. You faked a look that was a mix of disappointment and worry.
"Levia-chan..."
The poor guy looked frightened, as if the sky had fallen on his head, as if his life was over. Even that pathetic part of him, you found it just so cute.
"Ah... ah... That- uh. I-"
Not even taking the time to close the door behind him, he dropped on his knees in front of you, lowering his head.
"I can explain! S-So please don't- please don't freak out o-or agh, I mean-"
His heart dropped when you walked past him. "It's over." He thought. The friendship you guys had built was done for. There's no way you would ever love him now or even want to look his way. There's no way a kind, beautiful, strong person like you would ever even spare him a glance. No way an amazing girl as pretty and genuine as you would give a second chance to a gross creepy piece of shit like him.
As the worst possible scenarios started to play in his head, he came back to his senses slightly as he understood that you had just closed the door in order to have more privacy in here. You slid his seat in front of him as he was still on his knees, sat down and crossed your legs, taking on a haughty tone. Almost commanding.
"So? You said you could explain but I don't really see what is possibly left to explain here. It all speaks for itself. All this filthy shit and even two fleshlights weren't enough to satisfy your dick so you just *had* to have a go on my underwear, huh? You slutty thief."
As you said that last bit you flicked his forehead that he was trying so very hard to keep fixated on the ground, but it was almost impossible anyway since you had your bare legs crossed right in front of his eyes. You know Levi loves it when you wear short skirts, it's hard for him to not look, even in a serious situation like this one.
"Agh. Well, uh. Ahh..."
After about twenty seconds during which he couldn't come up with anything plausible or even any attempt at an excuse he started to tear up. Completely lost, he lowered his forehead to the ground, bowing and apologizing profusely.
"I'm- I'm so *hngh* s-sorry *hic* please don't hate me. Y-You're right, I'm a pervert but please, I beg you for forgiveness *hic* at the very least please don't ignore mee- *hnghg*"
You felt chills down your spine. Was it horrible of you? While this little baby thought that his entire life was over just because you might hate him, you were just thinking how fucking cute he sounds when he's crying while genuinely in distress. You were feeling conflicted. One part of you wanted to pat his head and raise it, kiss his cheeks full of tears and caress his back while assuring him that you don't really find him that gross or creepy. In fact finding this dirty side of him made you giddy.
And yet, the other side of you wanted to play around with him a bit more before giving him ultimate bliss.
"Levi... Are you serious my darling?"
You gently pressed your heels on the back of his head as his forehead was still stuck to the ground.
"You really think such a lousy excuse will cut it? You know just how outright creepy this is, right? You went out of your way to steal underwear from me so you could rub it all over your dick and cum in it and yet all you have to say for yourself is just "I'm sorry, please don't hate me"? You'll have to do better than that."
Still sniffling, you could feel Levi taking a deep breath to calm himself down.
"Y-you're right. Crying about it won't solve anything. I know just how much of a disgusting lame little fuck I am, it's already a miracle how someone as beautiful and amazing as you even considered me your friend. I've been blessed a-and so honored to be called that. So please, please give me a second chance Y/N. I'll do anything, really."
You took your heel away from him. Full of expectations on what the two of you were about to do if you played your cards right.
"Anything? No way. That's just empty words."
"It's not! I'll really do anything. I'll even be your b- um. B-Bitch if I have to."
You command him to raise his head up, he does. His eyes and cheeks are still wet from the tears he just shed and his face is all red from embarrassment.
"A bitch, really? So you'll even accept corporal punishment? If I tell you to lay down on your stomach on my lap, you'll do it? You'll let me spank you?"
For a split second you see it his eyes, this little fucker really feels like he'll get a kick out of this. "It's not a punishment at all!" He must be thinking. He would love to be treated so poorly by you. In fact, one of his occasional turn-ons was to imagine you degrading him, insulting how much of a perverted little shit he is.
"I- I'll do it. Anything you want to do to me, I'm fine with it so..."
You lightly tap on your thighs two times, telling him to get on. Obediently, he does... and immediately receives a slap on the ass.
"You're supposed to at least lower your pants idiot. Or else it won't even hurt that much."
"A-Ah, yes."
You saw it again. That glint in his eyes. He's excited and is just so barely managing to not display a shit eating grin on his face.
As soon as he does as you told him to, you spank him again. Harder this time. He lets out a little yelp. And as he does you grab his hair with your other hand to pull him up a bit and whisper into his ear.
"You think I didn't notice that? The corners of your mouth keep rising upwards you fucking pig."
Finally he completely gives up on the façade he is trying so hard to keep and lets out a huge unrestrained grin, the kind he has when you hug or kiss him on the cheek suddenly. Looking dumb and genuine, though this time it looks cuter as he's obviously enjoying the pain you're inflicting on him.
"Aaahh. I-I couldn't hide it after all, you're right Y/N. I'm a dirty fucking pig who even enjoys it when you're being mean to me. Bully me, hit me, spit on me. I don't care, if anything I love it. I'm so sorry for not even being able to be properly punished ahh I'm so so sorry~"
He says while not looking sorry at all. Pretending to ignore his stupid monologue you spank him again.
"Slut."
"Hnghh~"
He shudders and keeps grinning widely.
Only does he get a bit nervous when you decide to pull down his underwear.
"Ah- wait! ACk-"
You spanked him again, this time your hand made direct contact with his skin.
"Shut up you filthy bitch. Isn't that what you promised? You even said that you'll be my bitch so that's just what you are right now."
Rapidly the nervousness he had displayed a second ago dissipated.
"Ahhh~ y-yes, I'm your bitch. You can use me whoever you want, I'll even drink your spit if you ask me to ehehe- OW-"
"Quiet. Or- No. Actually, keep moaning. It's cute."
"Ehehe I'm sooo happy you said I'm cute Y/N."
"Master."
"Master~ ehehe..."
He was really digging this roleplay type of set-up you had invented. But while he thought you weren't performing and really wanted to punish him, you on the other hand were truly aware that this is all a sham from your part just to turn him on.
As you continued to spank him a couple more times, you noticed something odd. It wasn't that you felt poking against the side of your thighs since you had fully expected him to get a hard-on. It was that the poking sensation was double.
"... Levi, get up for a second."
"Um, w-wouldn't it be better to continue to punish me?"
Another slap made him yelp.
"Don't be difficult."
And so he did, and you finally realized why he owned two fleshlights. It wasn't that he had the size wrong and had to order a second one, it was that he has two dicks. One on top of another on his crotch, with a pair of balls for each. You can't help but wonder just how much more sperm he can produce than an average "person."
As you closely observe his two rods, Levi can't help but squirm under your gaze. Elated at the amount of attention and your focus on his private parts as his pants and underwear are now out of the way.
"It's weird isn't it? I'm so fucking gross that even my genitalia isn't normal. I'm impressed you can even look at it directly haha."
Silently, you keep staring. Utterly turned on by the many ways you could use this part of him when you'll inevitably fuck eachother. Seeing how you're keeping quiet, Levi keeps degrading himself, obviously wanting the same treatment from you.
"I mean what kind of weird monstruous fuck would have two dicks, right? S-So you can tell me, tell me just how fucking gross and creepy it is..."
He keeps smiling, his face flushed by the titillating humiliation he's feeling by having his cocks out in front of you, the girl he loves the most in the world. So you decide to humor him a bit.
"Hmm... So you constantly hide these? Is it why you always try to wear baggy pants? So people won't notice how much of a creepy fuck you are."
"Y-yeah haha. T-Tell me more..."
He's so docile and pathetic, you can't help but strive for more.
"No. That's enough. Even after a couple of seconds looking at it, it makes me sick of it. I'm bored. Won't you show me how you play with them when I'm not around?"
Leviathan's eyes light up at your suggestion. He can't believe a day would come when you or anyone for that matter would ask him to masturbate in front of them.
"R-Really? You wanna see that?"
"Well, you don't want me to be bored right? And you really reaaaally want my forgiveness for being a gross fuck."
Excited yet mortified, Leviathan takes two of the fleshlights and rummaging through the box, he finds some lube. You watch him start off by filling the two holes with lube, all while both of his dicks are still erect from earlier. You're honestly still amazed at how they look.
Just before Levi sticks his first cock into one of the fleshlights you get an idea.
"Wait a sec. Hand it over."
Obediently, he hands the sextoy over. You spit into it, your saliva mixing with the lube and you give it back.
"Here. Hopefully it'll enhance the experience?"
"Ah- S-shit! Had I known I wouldn't have used the lube at all..."
He looks down, disappointed but still ecstatic. He carefully places the tip of his shaft on the entrance of the toy and slowly starts pushing it in, his dick opening up the walls of the toy as he shudders from the sensation and your piercing gaze. He jerks himself off like that for a little while before you ask him if he's not going to play with his second shaft.
"Well... I can either use the other toy or... I can show you how I do it with your panties..." Seeing how silent you are he retracts his statement. "-JUUST kidding ahaha it's already gross enough to see me jerk myself off so disgustingly with a sex toy, n-no one would like to see their own clothing used like that..."
You smile, uncrossing your legs and leaning in.
"No, that's a good point. Show me how you've been using my underwear all this time you dirty fuck."
"A-ah! Yes... ahaha~"
Taking your panties carefully, he wraps it on his other dick and starts pumping it with his free hand. As he does, he starts explaining.
"A-at first, I would only sniff them but I couldn't resist the urge to use them like this. And now that I've used them too much your sweet smell has completely been overwritten by my disgusting stench so there's no use sniffing it anymore ehehe. That's so fucking creepy isn't? I-I'm such a creepy bastard."
There he goes again, degrading himself while expecting a follow up from you. But you give him none of that this time. Instead, you look at him with anticipation and give him a challenge.
"If you do a good job of putting on a show for me I'll let you go down on me."
The air surrounding him turned to a deep purple as he took on his demon form, his scaly tail wagging around like the one of a dog's. Then he started to pant like a pup as well, elated by your suggestion.
"Ah. Ahh. N-no way? Seriously?! I'll do it, I'll seriously do it. So please watch closely!"
All this time he was on his knees, but now he stood up, making sure you have a close look at his dicks. They were right there in front of your face and you had to hold yourself back from taking one of them into your mouth. He kept mumbling and stammering some intelligible stuff, but you're pretty sure it was something along the lines of "I'll do it" and "look at me."
As he was getting close to release, you could feel him lose himself in the pleasure as his knees looked like they were about to fold from the lack of strength he was putting into them. Probably not used to jerking off standing up, he most likely does it either sitting or lying down like most people. In an effort to keep him standing in front of you, you placed your hand on one of his knees then slowly brought it up, caressing his thighs.
"Do your best to stay standing~ I'll be disappointed if you fall."
"Ah! Yes, of course!"
A literal couple of seconds later, the fleshlight was leaking of his cum and your stolen panties were dripping with his seed. Not only was the quantity overkill but the texture and thickness of the liquid looked quite rich. It was like warm condensed milk. As if on instinct, you placed one of your hands under the dripping liquid, allowing a couple of droplets to land on the palm of your hand.
"Y-Y/N??"
You lick a droplet off, tasting it. Seeing you do that, Levi's knees finally give in and he falls to the ground again, looking at your lips and mouth closely while wagging his tail, overly fixated on how your mouth moves while your tongue is probably pressing those drops of *his* cum on the walls and ceiling of your mouth. Savoring it.
Despite it looking like condensed milk it tastes more like a nectar, sweet and unnaturally good. Is it a special characteristic for a demon's cum to taste sweet and good? Maybe it's to push each other to fall into lust... makes sense. Delicious cum would easily push demons or humans alike to fall deeper into the sin of lust.
"W-wah... I can't believe I just saw you do that. Am I in heaven? N-no that sort of erotic scene would never happen in heaven. Aha I'm so glad I'm a demon and that we're in the devildom..."
Satisfied, you open your legs and raise your skirt.
"It tasted pretty good, surprisingly. But I'm sorry to say mine probably won't taste as good as yours."
Levi crawls towards you like an obedient puppy. He closely looks at the small stain that had formed on your underwear due to his performance. He feels like one grateful and lucky bastard that you're allowing him to do that to you. Frozen for a bit by the sight, he drools slightly before snapping out of it and placing his hands on the side of your underwear. Sliding it down as the stain leaves a bead of your warm liquid behind. Levi looks at it stretch and break as he pulls the panties further down, up to your ankles. You get your feet out of them and kick them to the other side of the room, allowing yourself to open your legs better than if they had stayed around your ankles.
Placing your hand on his head, you gently push him towards you and pet his head.
"Will you start or are you too busy drooling?"
Not making himself be begged any further. He starts by so very gently kissing your clit, it's so soft that you can barely feel it. He wraps his hands around your thighs, preparing himself to eat you out. He's so adorable. As he sticks his tongue out you notice how he has the tongue of a snake. Not that you hadn't noticed before, he would try to hide it from you at first but when you told him that it was so unique and cool he wouldn't try to keep it away from you anymore, boldly opening his mouth when he would yawn or when he was complaining about something. Now there he was using his devious tongue on your sweet spot.
He was greedily tasting you, it made you wonder if you actually tasted as good as he was making it seem. Though you're pretty sure you don't have enchanted cum like demons do. He would sink his fingers into the soft skin of your thighs, feeling you up, probably wishing that you'll let him hump your thighs next if he does a good job at making you feel good. You start to mewl and as you do, you can feel his tongue double down on his efforts, desperate to make you feel better just so he can hear you whimper and cry out his name.
You look down, a bit overwhelmed at how good his tongue is at exploring your insides. You see him looking up at you expectantly, a happy glint in his eyes, full of love for you. It's funny how one moment he begs you to degrade him and the next he asks for praise with his shiny eyes. Appreciative of his efforts, you place one of your hands on his cheek, caressing it with your thumb.
"Good boy Levi."
He wags his tail and his eyes light up some more as he hardens his tongue, pushing it further than you thought he could. You let out another whimper, this time mixing in his name. And as you do, you realize how close you are to climax. You grab his horns and cross your legs around his head, trapping him in front of your pretty pussy. Not that he minds, in fact he wouldn't like it any other way. Feeling you come while you call out his name some more, he suckles on your juices, gladly letting it spread all over his tongue before swallowing it all.
As you let him go, he rests his head on your right thigh, his cheek against your bare skin. He keeps looking up at you in awe at how pretty your face looks just after you've come. He rubs his cheek against your thigh hoping to get your attention back at him.
"Did I do a good job? I can um, I can do other things as well~ Oh if the idea of taking me back as a friend immediately is too gross for you I can keep being your fucktoy for the time being ehehe..."
You smile at him kindly and scratch him under the chin. He wags his tail again and displays his signature wide grin. His laugh is so cute. As he did a good job you figure it's time to stop the charade and let him have a real go at you.
"I wasn't really mad at you by the way."
He lifts his head up from your thigh, eyes wide open.
"Huh?"
"I was just fucking with you, I'm not grossed out or anything. You're still my cute little Levia-chan."
You pat him on the head. His eyes well up in tears from relief.
"R-Really? You won't abandon me?"
"No baby, I just thought this was the perfect excuse to push you to do dirty stuff for me. You're not mad right?"
Leviathan jumps into your arms, crying.
"I'm so grateful that a perfect girl like you would choose *me* to make you feel good. H-Had you not forgiven me, I would even be okay with being your sex slave if you'd like to."
"Don't be stupid, I'll let you be my one and only boyfriend. What about that?"
Levi lets you go, then while still grabbing your shoulders he looks at you, his eyes full of hope.
"Really? You'd allow me? You would take a lame fuck like me as your boyfriend?"
You pull him back in, kissing him on the cheek, near the corner of his lips.
"Don't say that. You're my cute little baby boy. Everyone has an ugly and filthy side to them, but beyond that you're a sweet cutiepie who watches magical girl shows, sews cosplays and easily cries at any sad scene in an anime. I mean, look at me, I just tricked you into thinking that I find you gross and pushed you to jerk off then suck me off. Isn't that objectively pretty terrible of me?"
Levi stays silent for a while before you can feel his two dicks poking at your stomach and pussy.
"N-Now that I know you weren't mad, that was probably one of the best moments of my life."
"Perv."
You kiss him again.
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Was initially planning on making them fuck at the end but it got too long. Though I'm not against making a part two if people like it ahah. AGAIN please don't hesitate to comment, I would love to read your thoughts!
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mdhwrites · 3 months
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Andrias vs. Collector: Who Was Redeemed Better?
Andrias hands down. Not only is it helped IMMENSELY by character consistency with him but it actually functions with what we know of him. Despite literally only ever getting half an episode dedicated to him (he doesn't actually get a lot more screentime than The Collector, especially while as a villain) we understand his motivations, the reasons for his cruelty, why Marcy made him cold and annoyed every time she was even mentioned post True Colors (he did not enjoy torturing Marcy. The literal only claim there is one line from True Colors where he blames her but otherwise, Marcy is fridged SPECIFICALLY to give someone for Andrias to show regret about) and then when shown how far he had fallen from the good man he was, he goes ahead and tries to fix that. First a final act of heroism but then not asking for forgiveness or the like. He is too guilty to need, or perhaps even want, such things and he instead can try to put things right on his own. In the end, we are left with the impression that Andrias WILL continue to tend to Amphibia now until the day he finally dies. It's actually done pretty well for the fact that it's given such little direct attention, especially by the time he's supposed to start being redeemed.
Meanwhile, the Collector's arc only works if you ignore large swaths of the show. His redemption mostly comes down to the idea that he needs to learn morality and that other people can be hurt by his actions but... He already did. In Watching and Dreaming, he yells at Belos controlled Raine specifically about how King will hate him for the nightmares, showing that he understands that his actions can upset people. In S2B, he talked about wanting to play with bones and criticized Belos for potentially murdering the Grimmwalkers, kind of opening up a moral conversation about the nature of Belos' treatment of them while showing his knowledge of death.
Even if we believe he didn't know these things and try to say he was manipulated, we can't. Belos' goal was extremely explicit and back when he was Philip, he had no reason to lie to the Collector. A spell to kill all witches in return for your freedom was the deal. That's pretty damn evil and the Collector could have always said no but instead he's EXCITED for them to be dead in Hollow Mind. All that matters to him then is his freedom, screw anyone else. Then when he is freed, he has neither the archivists or Belos to push him around and tell him what to do. As such: Why the fuck did he make the hunting stars? You know, the roaming stars that turn people automatically into puppets, rendering them to a fate worse than death as they are conscious and aware of what's going on, even as they are entirely incapable of doing anything about it. They are still around MONTHS later. Hexside literally keeps watch for them. If he is just a little guy, why the fuck did he make those in the first place and why are they still around?
None of this is ever addressed though. Instead, the show spends a quarter of its finale, and a decent chunk of the special before it, focusing on trying to redeem him and show him off as a good guy while not having him actually acknowledge the awful, terrible things he did. There's no taking of responsibility like with Andrias. There is no proper refusal of his morality or change in his thinking. Even his attempt to make peace with Belos is flawed because it's still the same all or nothing thinking that we've seen up until now for the Collector. "I do X, I get friend." It's not actually an acknowledgement that other people are complex and have their own free will, it's just a new form of trying to easily get what he wants. Then after her turns people back, which is good, he just leaves. He doesn't do anything to actually make up for what he did or allow him to face a world that he has irrevocably damaged. Instead, he abandons it all. All that responsibility and guilt can just be left behind instead of actually worked on. How is that a show of what he learned? Of him rejecting how he was before? Of him being REDEEMED?
It makes it much less an arc and more something we're told. At least when Andrias powers down to make Anne's final punch on him more effective, we have seen his regret. We have seen his motivations. We have seen as one is pushed into his face and the other torn down. Then we get to see him act on it, allow his conquest to fail, as a willful decision to back down from that evil rather than double down. Then we see follow through with him in the timeskip where he is still simply trying to make up for his sins, even if no one will ever tell him his work is done.
We don't get anything like that with the Collector and that's why he will always be easily worse to me.
======+++++======
Someone shared a Reddit post on this topic in my Discord and I almost posted 95% of this as a comment there. I... I know better than to do that on Reddit though so I decided to just let it be a blog over here.
I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!
I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.
A Twitter you can follow too
And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.
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cosmicwhoreo · 1 year
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For the @kirbyoctournament because why not?
Name: Chancellor Vezzpa
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and her REALLY old chara sheet that I might update one day-
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Her basic gist: Vezzpa is the infamously bitter Royal Chancellor for King Dedede. Mainly in charge of the kingdom's finances, economy and basically whatever else that Dedede finds too complicated or boring to do. She is also probably one of the few people in Castle DDD that takes her job a little too seriously, oftentimes seen carrying around documents and a quill to write on the go if she's not confined in her office all day working.
Apparently, Vezzpa's idea of entertainment is work. And if she's pulled away from at least one document she could be working on, (typically by Dedede or Escargoon in a misguided attempt to get her to loosen up) she gets visibly twitchy and somehow even more grouchy.
And being the terribly stingy glorified accountant for a compulsive buyer that falls for pyramid schemes for a dime, means Vezzpa is often seen and mostly heard chastising her moronic boss for every passion project or new pet monster he buys to deal with his typically minor problems. Threw quite the fit when she caught wind of Dedede ordering an expensive dentist monster when she'd explicitly made sure they had free dental and a dentist just down the road.
Of course, she's usually called a "buzzkill" by the King for her constant nagging. But to say he isn't at least little intimidated by the old wasp and her fury, especially since her quitting would mean he'd have to deal with the confusing, boring important stuff, would be a massive lie. I mean, he'd still tell it. But, he and everyone would know it was a massive lie.
Don't get him wrong; it won't necessarily stop him from ordering monsters, but he does try to be sneaking about it. At least, as sneaky as he CAN be... Why hasn't she quit? Mostly because of a ridiculous amount of pride and ego...
Extra notes: Her character is strictly in the anime universe much like Escargoon-
Is a sucker for nature and has a hobby in botany yes, Dedede fears her but is too stupid to not stop doing the thing that angers her so much Is 39 years old but act like a cranky 65
aroace but doesn't know the specific term because BOOMER
is inspired by Washimi from Aggretsuko, Roz from Monsters Inc and me sitting at my computer watching the kirby anime and thinking "wait how the fuck does anything get done in this castle if their king and adviser fuck around and can't read?"
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krenenbaker · 7 days
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Ikevil Character Song Associations
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These songs are all mostly based on the first impressions and vibes I've got from the characters, so there may be some songs that don't fit as well as they could.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on these choices!
William
Solar Waltz - Cosmo Sheldrake
I’m not sure what it is, but this feels like a very William-esque song to me. The waltz form has a certain poise in the same way that William does, and the lyrics’ themes - though I don't know him very well yet - in my mind, suit him.
“And work they must And work they shall For all the things to grow”
Harrison
Green - Kera & The Lesbians
This one is more based on genre / vibe than lyrics, but they still fit. Harrison feels like he exudes this kind of moderate-tempo, mostly relaxed energy that this song also has.
“Though, yes, it’s true, your smile confuses a few. But I can see how you start grinning your eyes And it says: There’s somethin’ wicked in you”
Liam
Curses - The Crane Wives
Liam’s a bit playful and always presents in a positive manner, despite how dark his internal world is. I see a lot of him and his behaviour in both the instrumentals and in the lyrics of this song.
“Every word I say is kindling But the smoke clears when you're around Won't you stay with me, my darling When my walls start burning down, down, down?”
Elbert
Cement - Nicole Dollanganger
This song feels a bit lonely, and the lyrics focus on the preservation of things a person loves and finds beautiful (even to their detriment), which from what I understand about Elbert… fits him to a T.
“The things you love you put into cement In order to keep them they have to be dead You think that he’s yours but it’s only in your head His coffin is not your arms, his grave is not you bed”
Alfons
Bourbon Street - Jeff Tuohy
Alfons is quite the hedonist, and this song certainly reflects that. It also is rather relaxed in tempo, while still having a drive behind it - much like Alfons himself.
“When I walk the street, people step aside Twirling my cane and smiling wide Some would say I’m a carnal slave I put my hands on what I crave”
Roger
Schism - TOOL
I can’t think of many genres that would suit Roger better than rock. And this specific song just feels like him. Especially considering the (slight) division that there seems to be between Roger and the other members of Crown…
“I know the pieces fit 'Cause I watched them fall away Mildewed and smoldering Fundamental differing”
Jude
Follow Me - Odd Chap, J Fitz
When I see Jude, I immediately think ‘electro-swing’. I just think it matches his energy well! I had a feeling that the lyrics to this one also work well with Jude, though I also am the shakiest on his character, so it may not be the best pick for him.
“I′m reaching out yeah So please come follow Our time is coming So please come follow”
Ellis
All I Do Is Dream Of You - Faultline, dodie
I’m also a little uncertain of Ellis’ character, but this song has a similar gentleness and… thoughtfulness(?) that Ellis appears to show as well. 
“You're every thought, you're everything You're every song I ever sing All I do the whole night through Is dream of you”
Victor
Villainous Thing - Schayfer James
This song could honestly describe the entirety of Ikémen Villains as a game, but seems especially applicable to Victor. It has a surprisingly fun tone, while beckoning you into the darkness at the same time.
“Me and you are overdue for fiendish laughter. Oh dear, let me see those smoky eyes 'cause you're a villainous thing, and we can't have you living a lie”
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naroshinozaki · 1 month
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Ever since i found out, that Hikaru Midorikawa (VA. of Lilia Vanrouge) dubbed some roles in the early Barbie Movies, specificly in Swan Lake, Rapunzel, Nutcracker and Princess and the Pauper, i made it my mission to find the movies online.
The only problem was, that on youtube where only japanese subs from the Nutcracker and parts of the japanese dub in the songs from princess and the pauper.
I also tried to rent the movie, but the only languages available for me where mostly German, English and French.
So i tried Ebay, but only English Versions and one chinese where available.
I was this close to give up, until i stumbled on Yesasia.com. Not only did i find a japanese Version of Rapunzel, but also a taiwanese Bundle with Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, which also includes the japanese dub.
Not gonna lie, i'm kinda exited, because in my childhood i was a huge Barbie fan, specifically from the classic era. And since i love Hikaru's Voice acting, i can't wait to watch a childhood favorite of mine with his voice in it.
A little Funfact: By the way, did you guys also know, that he voiced some characters in the show 'Thomas and friends' in 1984?
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coraniaid · 2 months
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I really do think that the least interesting way to approach any longform narrative written over the course of several years by different writers is to act as if it everything that happens in it must somehow be internally consistent. Especially when we're talking about television writers with an (at best) flexible approach to world building and logical consistency; writers with a clear willingness to abandon previously established facts about the setting if it allows for (what they think will be) a more interesting story in the moment. In such a context it is just not sensible to insist that any late season retcons definitively establish some singular Truth about how the show Really Worked in its original seasons.
Specifically (and I'm aware I wasn't being very vague before) the idea that the (often rather bad) writing of Buffy's later seasons establishes definitive Facts about the world of the first few seasons which, if they contradict earlier claims, mean the original world-building lore we were given must actually have been examples of the in-universe characters being wrong or telling deliberate lies is, I'm sorry, almost offensively stupid. We don't "find out more" about the rules of how the world works in later seasons of the show in a way that implies these rules always existed in some fixed and unchanging state. The world of the show has no such rules because it does not, in fact, exist. What happened is that the later writers of the show (who were mostly different people) had different ideas about what would make for an interesting story (and unfortunately these were mostly worse ideas).
There seems to be a bizarrely popular take online that says you can't really understand the first few seasons of Buffy until you've watched the later ones, as if the entirety of Buffy is a single coherent narrative meticulously planned out from the beginning in advance. But you do all get that that is absurd, right? Yes, sometimes the show frequently changes its position on how its worldbuilding is supposed to work, but that's not because the writers are slowly revealing something they had planned out years earlier and knowingly had characters lie to each other about. It's because they are making things up as they go (which, to be clear, is more difficult and significantly more impressive when done well).
The reason Giles claims in Season 1's Witch to have never cast a spell before is that the writers had no inkling of the backstory they were going to give him next season. You obviously can go back and interpret this as a lie Giles is telling Buffy for some reason, but it doesn't meaningfully improve your understanding of the episode to do this. Similarly, the reason that nobody in the show talks about a "Watcher's Council" until Season 3 is that before Season 3 the writers had no conception of such a thing. It's fun to come up with in-universe reasons for why Giles might not mention the Council, even when meetin a second Slayer, but I think we should admit than when we do this we're engaged in something closer to fanfiction than analysis.
We don't "find out" that the character of Anya introduced in The Wish was probably autistic even before becoming a vengeance demon: the writers just changed their mind about how her character worked and why she acted that way (and indeed in The Wish itself she doesn't act that way at all; Anya being "strangely literal" didn't really take hold as a character trait until the show's fourth season). It is not "revealed" that Buffy tried telling her parents about vampires before the show began and they had her locked up: this is just a particularly stupid retcon that doesn't make any sense if you actually remember the first two seasons (woud Buffy joke with her mom about being distracted by thoughts of "saving the world from vampires" in Bad Eggs if the last time she'd mentioned vampires to her mom she'd been institutionalized?). We don't "learn" that Giles and Buffy were always wrong about people not "turning into" vampires (meaning they were specifically wrong about people like Jesse and Ford, and that Buffy herself is some sort of unrepentant mass murderer): the later writers who imply that this is what happens after all just didn't care about continuity (or what this change would mean for the morality of the show's protagonist's entire reason for being).
You have to watch each season of the show as if it were telling you the truth about its world building as the writers understood it at the time, or none of them make any sense. That is, in fact, how you have to watch most television of this form: there was no long term master plan. There is no singular truth about what "really" happened. The rules of the setting are just subtly (or not so subtly) different from season to season. Nobody writing Season 1 of the show had the slightest idea what would happen in Season 7 and anyone who suggests otherwise is full of shit.
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egg-emperor · 7 months
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Your analysis has been really interesting to read through, but ngl the whole mess around text interpretation has led me to ruminate on the fandom's doings a little. This probably will turn into disjointed ramblings, so please bear with me.
What I think is causing this cognitive dissonance is exactly that cutesy framing of some of Eggman and Sage's moments. Like, I don't believe that Sage was intentionally made to soften Eggman up or something, I believe that he can play the "family" act to keep her loyal to him. However, I won't deny that during my watch of a friend playing it, this specific framing left a slightly weird aftertaste, which I now see is what can easily cause so many misinterpretations of the scenes. Like, for example, the memo with Sage's pronouns. After seeing a lot of talk around the memos in general, what seems to throw people off from thinking that Eggman could be just using this as yet another play into her view of him as her father to keep her loyal is "why does he suddenly care about endearing himself to his own creation when he freely disregarded his previous creations". It can be interpreted in character, but there's just a smidge of off-ness that can be hard to wash out for some.
Not gonna lie, I kinda envy the ability of people like to at least mostly ignore the majority of the fandom's shenanigans and drama, cause I think that also plays a part imo, specifically this weird need to somehow ingratiate Sonic as a series to the mainstream, generally non-fan crowd. Like, the onus obviously should be on the people who misinterpret the text and see what's not there, yet these people also tend to be the loudest. And most non-fans seeing it just assume that's what the fandom as a whole thinks, and that's what the text actually is about. After all, nowadays Sonic is all but advertised as "its a kids game for babies so don't think about the story too much, it doesnt make sense in the end anyway", even by fans trying to genuinely recommend the series sometimes. And you'd think that there'd be pushback against this sort of mentality, but somehow, a majority of the Sonic fandom remains almost... defeatist? Like, either they can't argue to save their lives or just passively accept the misinformation. The people actually doing the analysis and all get disregarded as no-life nerds and are told that "no amount of analysis can make a product worth the money".
It's just... I dunno how or why or when it all started going like this, but at some point, the way people talked about media in general just caused immensely screwed. Discussions only seem to happen when someone wants to further validate their pre-established biases about a thing and it all just feels wrong.
Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to read and consider my analysis.
We seem to feel quite similarly. I'm not a fan of the cutesy framing of certain moments because it's not my thing and definitely makes it easier for fans to misinterpret. The casual fan, especially if they don't catch all context in the memos and apply them to the scenes to notice the undertones and understand Eggman's side of the dynamic, or if they're the kind who that stuff can appeal to and affect emotionally/they'd rather ignore the more unsettling aspects in discomfort, they're going to get it wrong.
I think the cutscenes mostly have the issue of focusing too much on Sage's side of the dynamic over Eggman's. A bunch of most important details of Eggman's side comes from the memos, which is great from the standpoint of being right from his personal perspective and words, so we get to know exactly how he thinks and feels- but not so great for those who won't listen or piece together what they learned from them with the scenes for needed context.
But Sage wasn't supposed to soften Eggman up. In the story he's still a bad guy wanting to do bad, wishing he could get out of Cyber Space to, and Sage appeals because of what she can do for him, how she's crucial to his survival, supports his desire for world domination and shows undying loyalty. The way some moments are framed as cute doesn't take away from it, a unhealthy dynamic can appear as cute and wholesome with unsettling undertones.
Ian Flynn pretty much describes it that way by saying you're supposed to feel happy for Sage but Eggman is a bad person and warming up to it for all the wrong reasons. It's intentionally more complex than what the loudest people who love and hate it are saying. I can see what Flynn means because all the pieces are there in the actual game for me to point out and analyze. They just could've been emphasized a bit more.
All you need is the memo where he talks about liking how Sage is loyal and efficient and accepting the father role because it can emphasize his genius and the pride he can take as her creator, then apply it to every interaction and you can see it. Eggman can play the act to appeal to Sage's desire for that dynamic and praise her actions as a way to further encourage her for her loyalty and efficiency, all for those selfish benefits.
It's how manipulation works and Eggman absolutely can and will play up the part with these conditions for the benefits, he's done similarly in the past. It's intentionally not done in the common verbal and physical abns!ve way like he does most commonly with his other creations, it's more emotionally manipulative. It makes the most sense for how he wants to further encourage her good work and loyalty, not lose it.
I can get why you felt that way. It's part of why I had the wrong idea of Frontiers Eggman's at first and it ruined my first experience playing it. The cute framing of certain moments, combined with fans taking these scenes and latching onto the misinterpretations from the moment it dropped and drilling into your head how they think we should think and feel while ignoring key details that disprove it, made me believe it for too long.
But had I not seen the misinterpretation and paid attention and did my usual analysis, which I closed my mind to in my first playthrough in ignorance, I would've caught on a lot faster. Just like how knowing what I know now after properly analyzing it then going into Final Horizon and avoiding what fandom was saying, made my experience more pleasant and let me think and interpret for myself. The fandom is still mostly to blame.
Yeah, the cute moments can give the wrong idea when you don't have all the context. But the context is in the game to piece together and understand why it's happening in a way that works for Eggman's character. I also think while he is of course playing the act, it's also framed cute as it is because we're seeing it more from Sage's side in the scenes, as it's a very different vibe in the memos where it's actually Eggman's side.
Maybe always being able to see the worst in Eggman (positively and affectionately lol 🥰💜) helps but I only see the memos as unsettling now. His creation starts to appear as more of a person to him so he thinks about how he can use it to his benefit by taking pride in his impressive scientific ability to create something so life-like as an artificial creation over the unimpressive traditional organic way he scoffs at and expresses aversion to.
He says if he created life it'd be "loyal and perfectly effective", which is fucked up thing to look for in your child, and says it's specifically because he's the genius creator/father, giving himself all credit and taking pride in her accomplishments as a reflection of his genius. It's selfish, egotistical, creepy, everything a parent shouldn't do. I can see what makes it unsettling in all his words. So many things are wrong with him I love it 😋💘
I really don't have much of an issue with that memo. It's one of the most misinterpreted but it's simply where he starts to realize that almost the whole time he's been calling her a "she" instead of an "it" like the program she was created to be. He actually starts just five after first mentioning her, in memo 13. He subconsciously sees her as a person and refers to her like such that fast due to how human and life-like she is.
Three memos after he's like wait why am I calling it a she? And wonders whether to call her an it like the program she was created to be or a she like he's seeing her as instead. Then another three after comes the disturbing memo about him creating life, so him establishing whether he's going to call her "she" or not leads to him thinking about how he can take pride and credit in her by establishing himself as her genius creator/father.
It's another of those cases where if context is removed it's more likely for people to get the wrong idea, especially if they're the type to be blinded by the cuteness factor but when you have the context of before and after and considering the important terms of why he values her at all with the she's an impressive life-like loyal and efficient creation and her dad is a genius memo, again it makes sense and is in character.
The "she's the best" line is one of the only parts I'd change, he's far too egotistical to say that about anyone else. It doesn't make sense because the whole reason he values her is what she does for him and the pride he can take in her, literally because he sees himself as the best person ever lol. Just specifying what she's the best of, like of his creations or something would've worked, not making it sound like he's saying in general.
But guess what? Apparently it was changed in Japanese in the translation I saw, to say she was just doing great or something lol. It's a case where I can make sense of it in English as her being the best in a specific area can again give himself credit as the creator as he's intentionally supposed to but the word choice was poor. But every time I felt a line should've been changed a bit, the Japanese version had me covered. XD
Back to the point- it's also important to consider that he's praising her in this memo with the important preface of saying that Sage has been crucial to his survival in Cyber Space and listing the ways she has served him well. It's on the condition of him getting something out of it every time. And in memo 19 we know he wants to take pride in her skill and accomplishments and take credit as her creator, so any praise is self praise.
So I can't be mad at the game, I think even in moments that had some level of cuteness factor to appeal to those into that which certainly worked on them, there was established context that made it work and in character, enough to piece it together and understand it. But some people's minds go blank with the "aww so cute" reaction and desire for it to be simply pure and wholesome so they don't think about it any more to do so.
I've been learning to avoid it just by stepping back from fandom because I'm less interested the more I see the drama and bad takes. Now I only see things if I'm forcibly subjected through someone else putting it on my dash/it's recommended/etc. A large majority of fandom is anti canon and literally admit it so I feel like I don't belong in it as a huge fan of it that enjoys celebrating it in my fan creations and discussions.
It suffers from the simplification and sanitization that modern fandom tends to do now, so they can fit all characters and stories into certain boxes and use them as bases to project fan character traits and concepts onto instead of celebrating canon. It makes it more appealing and mainstream and easier to consume by the crowd that stuff succeeds in appealing to. It's to the point it replaces people's memory/idea of it.
So of course from the outside looking in especially, non fans are going to believe that's what the text actually contains, especially since they get exposure to the fandom's twisting of canon and it's drilled into their heads how to think and feel about it by them, before they've even seen the games themselves. Then they find it hard to shut that out and look at the games alone for what they are. That happened to me with Frontiers.
Then of course you have people acting like the series "is just for babies and inconsistent and not good anyway you shouldn't think too hard about it", as if Sega JP especially haven't shown themselves to be incredibly passionate about the stories and characters they write. It is supposed to be that deep lol. And thinking that deeply is a good thing, as if it's better than just shutting our minds off and consume product.
That's why I've allowed myself to think as deeply as I want about Frontiers. I love analyzing every moment and line down to the last word and detail. Regardless of opinion on the concepts and how they were executed, it was intended to be thought about. I don't think it should be considered micro analyzing and thinking too hard about something ever. I'm looking at it in ways official writers have described it to be anyway.
The mentality is popular so there isn't much pushback. Plus I'm starting to see it in both people who say they don't like the games and those who say they're fans so I feel alienated for wanting to think deeper and seeing there can be more than meets the eye with characters and scenes. While clarification can be important so things aren't misinterpreted quite as easily, it's nice for there to be stuff to think about.
Nobody really wants to debate and discuss now. A majority intentionally oppose learning more about the media or hearing out other people. They take the challenging of one's perspective or a disagreement as an argument and act like it's intended as hate from the other person when that's not the case. They're like "I don't want to change my opinion, nobody can convince me, let me enjoy things how I want", etc.
I myself was a bit ignorant at first on the topic of Frontiers. I was convinced I didn't like Eggman's portrayal but it was all based on what fandom was telling me it was and how to feel when the actual game was actually way different. When I finally took suggestions of new perspectives, then shut fandom out and focused solely on canon with my mind open and willing to analyze it again, I saw it in a new light and enjoyed it.
Now some certainly think I'm a low life nerd, as I've been told "it's nice to be a fan until it "becomes serious" and by people saying they don't care what I have to say as if I have to do exactly what they want- because it's bad to be passionate and wanting to think deeply about something I guess. :P I'd rather be doing that than shutting it down. Canon is cool, analysis is good, being passionate and thinking about stuff is fun.
You really hit the nail on the head with that. I've always enjoyed being open minded, analyzing media carefully, hearing out different perspectives, and having discussions. But I made the mistake myself at one point with Frontiers and I regret it because as soon as I realized I almost became what I was against and changed it for the better, it became a lot more enjoyable again. It's always good to stay open minded!
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werebutch · 2 months
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WSBH chara q’s: (you don’t have to answer all the numbers, just whatever you want to 𖢘)
16/35/51 for Scotch
1/6/55 for Atlas
I LOVE YOU
16. What kinds of people do they have arguments with in their head?
okay i truly think scotch argues with seraph in his head all the time. ALL the time. scotch largely ignores them, and vice versa, because he dislikes them and they know it. seraph is very conflict avoidant lol, and as long as hes not a "threat" they dont care to talk to him about their problems. he probably argues with atlas and jacob (his older brother) too, atlas about more stupid small stuff, and jacob about childhood and life stuff :p
im trying to think of more general groups he would argue with but i cant come up with anything BAHAH. hes not exactly conflict avoidant in the annoying libra way that seraph is, he more just ignores conflict for his friends’ (mostly atlas’) sake. idk if that makes sense LOL
35. What is the smallest, morally questionable choice they’ve made?
hmmm.. smallest? i mean scotch strings eloise along for most of the time pre timeskip. its not a main focus but its definitely important in order to understand scotch as a whole. she and scotch go out for a while, and mid way through that he realizes hes GAY gay. lol. and obviously lying to her about that is pretty questionable after a while. especially since he and atlas have been 👉👌 like the whole time. but she kind of knows. well
something a little bigger would be him encouraging or otherwise turning a blind eye to all the weird stuff atlas is up to. he doesn't know what it's like to be a werewolf, he can't say anything, right? lol.... murder is okay if its a talking dog doing it. scotch enabler supreme. actually when seraph is introduced, he and atlas have a 'joke' (kind of starts being real) about luring seraph somewhere to kill them. obviously doesnt happen and gets abandoned. but i think its important to know about their dynamic LOL
51. What’s a phrase they say a lot?
this guy is kind of goofy. i cant think of phrases rn but he has a specific way of speaking.. you could watch pretty much any old pop punk band interview and kind of get the idea. HAHAH
1. What’s the lie your character says most often?
atlas is a big fan of saying 'its fine' for all situations ever. family in mortal danger? its fine. completely splitting? its fine. arthritis excruciating? its fine. hes one of those people that dont like to deal with the fawning of others unless hes feeling real special. Ends up putting people in more danger a lot of the time. i think eloise is the only fan of communication in this friend group to be honest. i should have made her the main character
he tends to make promises he cant keep as well, but thats more general..
6. What’s their favorite [insert anything] that they’ve never recommended to anyone before?
i have NO idea. i feel like atlas would be a music snob, so maybe his favorite 'super underground' bands. otherwise he'd probably never recommend raw human meat to another human (no matter how much scotch asks -__-).. (he would chicken out anyway)
55. What’s something they’re expected to enjoy based on their hobbies / profession that they actually dislike / hate?
um. so atlas hates working out. he especially hates running, you know, the thing that wolves are known for doing a lot of? unfortunately the lycanthropy came with a side effect of pretty bad arthritis, so that doesnt exactly encourage him. he DOES exercise, a lot since hes pretty much required for his ermm "side job", but he hates it 😸 besides the arthritis it’s mostly because I think it’s silly that he hates it. yay
#ummm a lot of what i talk about with my ocs are the character relationships but thats why i write. i like gossip. its fun. LMFAO#im actually having trouble deciding whether i want atlas to be a killer or not. like regularly killing i mean. hes definitely killed SOMEON#im really inspired by ginger snaps and scream. i dont even like scream that much but it reminds me of how they are. lol#scotch and atlas are pretty different but theres two things i see as themes. they both hate communication (and that causes conflict; so mor#avoiding). and the fact that scotch lives vicariously through atlas. atlas is doing#what scotch thinks is interesting. for pretty much the entire time; scotch likes to beg atlas to turn him. i think scotch sees the lack of#control he has over his life and sees lycanthropy as power. arguably thats why scotch is so attracted to atlas. lol#idk. thats not canon. im just thinking out loud here.#and yk it is power but not freedom. atlas would much rather just be a regular wolf. hunting and shit. but hes got these damn people here lo#but he sees what his life is like being a lycanthrope and hes kinda like. no. im not bringing that onto you. you dont know what youre askin#YOU KNOW? its goofy. i know. but its fun. LOL#if you (a general audience you but it can be you too grins) want to talk about scotch's confusion about his attraction to eloise we'd be#here all day. i think scotch is an egg. i dont know. i truly think theres some vicarious living (again) through her femininity.#and el is trans so he doesnt see her femininity as unattainable to him. you know? i hope that makes sense lol and im kind of projecting on#to him wif dat. to be honest. but obviously in the other direction. BWAHAH#asks#eucyon#thank u for da ask jesse this is so fun ^__^ and exciting that someone remembers their names HAH#after all this talking in the tags what I meant to say is that scotch and atlas both have sick intentions. it’s just that scotch doesn’t#act on them. and atlas does. so. living vicariously. ok
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queseraone · 3 months
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Because it came up on my dash again and now I'm curious to know if your answers to this one will be the same as they were for the top 5 Chenford episodes question (if they are, let's pretend I never asked this).
What are you top 5 episodes of the show in general?
Oooooh Pauli, what a tricky (and good) question!
Honestly I think they're mostly the same? I can't lie to you, I clearly love Chenford most of all. But I love this show in general, so I think there might be a few differences... and for the ones that are repeat answers, there's a bit more to the reasoning.
It's way harder for me to pinpoint specific episodes beyond the ones I love for Chenford reasons, but I love talking about this stuff and found a way!
Day of Death (2x11) - Truly a masterpiece of an episode. It's flawlessly done, from the acting to the cinematography and sound editing. The way we see our characters band together, support each other, just work so well to save one of their own?? They are a family and the care this episode shows that. And then the minimal, almost haunting music that turns to dead silence after Tim finds the ring?? Killer! It locks the audience right into the scene, so we're fully in the moment, like we're experiencing it all along with them. It's all just so powerful and one of my favourite episodes of television ever.
Double Down (5x01) - Okay, okay, I know this is looking a lot like my favourite Chenford episodes list, but I can't help myself! Yes, of course, the Chenford of it all, from Lucy dreaming about the kiss to seeing them go undercover to the HANDS to the kiss to the hotel room to the "do you want to come in" to HIM ACTUALLY GOING IN... it's perfect and I'm forever obsessed. But beyond just Tim and Lucy, the rest of this episode is fantastic too! I love (LOVE) Tim and Angela's conversation. No one can deny that Rosalind was an incredibly compelling character, so seeing her again is practically guaranteed to be good (exception: 5x04, sorry for sorry) and seeing the whole crew involved in so many great ways is just awesome.
Life and Death (4x01) and Under Siege (5x22) - I love both of these episodes for a lot of the same reasons. (Yes, one of those reasons is Chenford, duh). This cast is so special, and I love when we see these big events where they really come together as a team (also evident in 2x11). They are a FAMILY and these are great examples of that. To hurt one of them is to hurt them all.
Shoutout to Daddy Cop (5x13) too! OMG THE FAMILY VIBES, CAN YOU EVEN!?!?!?!?!?! Listen, I truly think I could watch these characters hanging out in Nolan's living room shooting the shit forever, it's so much fun!
Safety (2x07) - This is a fave, even though Tim and Lucy don't interact at all. I LOVE Lucy and Harper working together. It gets off to a bumpy start, but we see the start of a great rapport between them (and Lucy is a total badass at the bomber's house!). And then seeing worlds collide with Angela's security job and Tim/Jackson/the football kid. (The guy Angela's guarding asking if she can do something about collecting the evidence and her immediate "nope" lives rent free in my head). I love this one!!!
Man of Honor (3x10) - First and foremost, I absolutely adore Tim and Angela's friendship, so it's so fun to see so much of that in this episode. I also really enjoy the calls we see this episode — seeing Lucy and Jackson riding together as P2s for the first time, the bank robbery that Nolan and Harper respond to, Lucy and Jackson saving the little girl. Great episode!
Okay, so that's technically top 7 ("top 7" because I guarantee I've missed some other standouts). Truly I just adore this show and this cast and everything, but these are the episodes that are jumping out at me right now!
Ask me questions! 😊
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jeremycollinsstan · 5 months
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in defense of emily's move last night
okay so basically i had the night to think abt it and tbh i rly should be studying and doing work for finals but i can't move on until i've said my comprehensive piece on this.
note: my opinions r not all original as i've watched the know-it-alls and have been occasionally checking the reddit but here are my thoughts:
bruce. emily knows bruce is a polarizing and erratic player. at the start of the episode, she vocalized that its very very hard to make a move with the belos because they are such a fractured group, specifically with bruce being the core of that rupture within belo. it would be completely out of character for her to say something so logical at the top of the episode then, later, do something completely contradictory.
katurah. at the sanctuary, she watched katurah throw bruce under the bus and immediately reveal his lie about the idol. while i don't necessarily fault katurah for doing that, it also showed emily that katurah and bruce were simply never going to work together. if they can't even pull together to tell a single lie, why would she move forward with such an unconnected pair?
women. she keeps the women in the game. side note, i know a lot of people have hated on emily for ratting out the all-womens alliance in the kellie boot episode but in kellie's exit press with rob c, she said that the women's alliance was basically a non-factor and almost no one, at that time, thought it was real so...take that how you will. anyway, this point is mostly speculation on my part and, in all honesty, is likely to be completely disproven in the next episode but there has been a lot of focus on drew + austin + emily as the trio she's most tightly entangled with. however, at the sanctuary, there was a lot of talk about a woman winning the game and big bonding moments between the women. i'm a bit of a edgic tin hatter but why would they keep that in the show if a woman wasn't going to win or if the women don't come together in some way? maybe, because of the reward, emily is now seeing a path forward with dee + julie or even katurah. by eliminating bruce, she keeps the women's numbers up against the mens. **NOTE: this is pure speculation and i'm going to be hella embarrassed when that doesn't happen next week but, hey, a girl can dream, i guess. so much of my survivor watching experience is pure delusion!**
jury management. emily has been jury managing her ASS off. she is leveraging her position as the sole lulu left to disseminate information to people on the bottom and i LOVE it. stephen pointed out that her brutal honesty really worked with jake in last nights episode. she basically told him the information he needed to hear about drew targeting him (which, in turn, strengthened her relationship with jake as he had been desiring both a human and game connection) while also not being the one to make a move either way. she said "i'm in a good position right now so i can't." if anyone else had said that, jake probably would've gotten pissed at them but he understood where emily was coming from as she is the lone lulu left the game. furthermore, it seems from the edit that the jury is giving her sole credit for the bruce move (deserved, honestly) which bruce will probably only echo when he gets to ponderosa as she, seemingly, had been the one to convince him not to play his idol. i think she's been using the adam klein brutal honesty strategy to great effect. shes probably doing it better than adam did it, honestly lmfao. it may blow up in her face if drew and jake come together to compare notes but right now it seems to be working well.
finally, timing. i think that if she pulled trigger on the julie move, it would've been way too early. by getting rid of julie this round, she would open herself up as a target to dee + drew + austin, who probably all see katurah and jake as more of a goat than they see her to be. she would've revealed herself to a) be against reba (which dee is staunchly and vindictively against) and b) the most strategic person of the last three non-reba remaining. if she pulled the move against julie then, at best, for the next round, she could force a tie with katurah and jake but honestly they seem more interested in being the fifth reba than working against the power alliance so that wouldn't be ideal either. i think that by holding back, she's hoping to find and exploit a crack later in the very endgame. whether there even will be a crack remains to be seen.
tldr; i can't say with 100% confidence that financial analyst emily flippen will win the game but i think her move last night to vote out bruce is being way over-hated and i can honestly see a lot of merit and her thinking behind it. she's a logical player and, given the cards she has, i think it was a pretty logical move.
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raayllum · 11 months
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I have a question, in good faith. I just answered a question about my opinion of Season 4, and a big reason I give it a 7.5 out of 10 is that they broke the main couple up off screening a graphic novel.
Now I didn’t go into detail, but this probably takes off a whole point for me, because I don’t feel like we should have to read extra material to understand what’s happening in the main plot line. Is this the first time we’ve ever had to read extra material not for bonus information but an understanding of the main story?
Hello, yes, I love answering questions in good faith. Can't promise that I'll have a satisfactory answer, but hopefully I can provide a not overly long one, for once!
Through the Moon (the graphic novel of which you speak) is the only supplementary material (thus far) that's been released that isn't a prequel, so in that vein, I'd say yes. The graphic novel does explain that Rayla left (and shows her leaving) before the 'reveal' drop at the end of 4x01. She left approximately a month and a half after S3, so right around / on Callum's birthday (which, we didn't know it was his birthday in the graphic novel itself, so that's almost undoubtedly something that got added to S4 for Callum&Viren foils and general heartbreak reasons).
However, to me, and this also due to having friends who watch the show casually, or have not read the graphic novel Through The Moon (TTM)... I genuinely do not think you need to read it unless you don't want Rayla leaving to have been a 'surprise' (which some people like to know spoilers ahead of time, which is fair). Given that there's a timeskip and an arc wrap up (and that we actually got to see them be a cute couple in S3, not just at the last minute) some sort of shift was probably to be expected. All the plot context TTM is given pretty early on in S4, but there are also fun little connections to make as you go on rewatches, for example:
4x01 reveals that Rayla is not only not at the castle, but MIA, and that the boys don't know if she's alive/okay. The context from TTM is that her risk taking decisions were already a concern for him, which can probably be deduced from the show's canon anyway, given that he jumped off a mountain for her.
4x01 and 4x02 also show that rather than being mostly curious about unknown things like before, they actively make him agitated/anxious (Soren's secret keeping, the blank book, trying to decipher the mirror). TTM adds context to this in that Rayla told him she would let him come with her, and then went back on that promise, but canon already makes this clear in 4x01 with "I don't even know if she's alive"; he has no answers about Rayla. That is also undoubtedly one of the reasons he's agitated. However, while her lie is insult to injury, the show never brings it up as a reason he's mad at her; it was always her extended absence: "So you disappeared for two years for no reason at all?" / "Well, maybe you might know that if you'd been here the last two years." Again: the lie isn't an actual thorn in his side (seemingly) so it's a thing from TTM that is omitted, because it isn't emotionally relevant.
Then she shows up and we learn, specifically, that she went to hunt down Viren. Rayla has always been a paranoid ("Sooner or later, we're going to run into someone from 1x06, "There's danger coming, I know it" from 2x01) person with an independent streak. Rayla leaving to kill Viren because she doubts her own abilities, when she spends most of the first few seasons doubting them (particularly in S1 and S3) and fearing failure ("You let him live but killed us all") is also very in character. One of my favourite little details is that Callum struggles to say Viren's name at all ("It's something Lord -- the previous high mage left behind") until Rayla shows up ("So you must have found Viren, huh? Was he dead after all?") because that trauma - Rayla was so sure that she failed that she couldn't trust they were safe - is so intertwined.
A lot of S2, as well, spent hammering in the fact she didn't want to lose Callum (to Soren and Claudia, to his pursuit of magic, to dark magic, to death). Her leaving him behind to protect him is not something that's a big logic leap to make, I think. After all: "It's okay, Callum. I'm not asking you to come with me. Protecting that dragon doesn't just feel like the right thing to do, it feels like the right thing for me to do" (2x07) and "But... I'm not going with you. You and Ezran should take Zym. But I can't leave" (3x08) and her almost confession last but not least: "Callum please, come back! You've got to stay with me [...] I can't lose you like this, you mean too much to me" (2x09).
TTM adds context - the nightmares about Viren ruining the life she still had, and her and Callum's increasing mutual fear of losing each other. They quite honestly don't even break up. Now, I don't think things would've gone well if Callum had gone with her (relationship wise) given their differing priorities in TTM and also how they show love (for Rayla it's protection, for Callum it's togetherness), but the last conversation they actually have in TTM is
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Now, I'm not exactly expecting a casual reviewer to remember and notice all the tiny things, but I am expecting them to remember major plot points, specifically that Rayla really struggles with letting people help her (1x06 and 3x04 both leading to disasters with Zym being in danger because of it) because she doesn't feel like she deserves it, and that she has a tendency to be overly self sacrificial (too many episodes to count).
Her trying to save the dragon in S2 was heroic, yes, but also stood out to me specifically as "This tendency of risking herself is going to be something that she and Callum have to confront and work through, because it is diametrically opposed to them functioning as a long term couple/team". When she wants to stay behind and die for her parents mistakes in S3, the only reason she doesn't stick with that is because she learns that they didn't run, not that she didn't have to die even if they had. So something like this, even if not in so dramatic a way was something that I'd been expecting for a few years now. S4 and Callum's anger at her abandonment is the first time we've seen this tendency be solely in a negative light, in a lot of ways, which is really exciting, and I don't know how much they'll get back together until Rayla has had the epiphanies she needs to.
The biggest thing to me that TTM adds to S4 is that Callum isn't just upset at Rayla for leaving him, but that he's mad at her for leaving without him, specifically. He wanted to go with her, he didn't totally believe in the mission but he wanted to keep her safe, citing "I let you go into the Moon Nexus alone" (earlier in the graphic novel, and not without protest) "and I knew right away I made the biggest mistake of my life. I could have lost you." But again, I expect this sentiment to be something that is far more readily explored in S5, and is also something you can kinda piece together given how often he runs after her in the first three seasons, and him reading what's implied in show and confirmed through TTM to be her goodbye letter because she didn't think she was coming back (4x01 credits):
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TDP official also in the lead up to S4 released the goodbye letter, which we'd never read before, and it broke all of our hearts.
TLDR; to me, TTM isn't necessary unless you want a deeper read on the characters. I expect S5 to give them more of a chance to talk and perhaps explain their own actions in S4 more (again, reaffirming that fear of losing each other, which was the root of his anger and of her leaving) but I don't think TTM is necessary unless you want the specifics. All you need to know is that Rayla left to hunt down Viren and Callum has been very sad about it since. You get all of that within the first couple of episodes. The biggest question that TTM raises that S4 doesn't answer is, if she was so dead set on her mission, how and why did she convince herself it was okay to come back at all, but again: I think S5/S6 will have the answers on that.
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mdhwrites · 1 year
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Are there any characters in toh that you felt they should have never been created?
Or characters that you think would had better the plot, or move the plot forward if they had more focus?
Personally, I think Vee is just there and her existence didn't serve much, her screen time could've been used for smth else.
So the first part of this is… interesting to me. It's incredibly hard to ever say a character should never have been created unless A: them simply existence causes problems with the rest of the canon and the story itself or B: you know their inclusion was doomed from the start. This second one is really hard to be able to clarify though unless you have behind the scenes information and the like because unless they were made to be fridged or be offensive, etc. like that, there are few concepts that are bad from the get go.
With that said, The Collector easily should not have been in the show. There just wasn't time for him or the human realm and S3 has been very clearly struggling with those facts. Since he was also introduced in S2B, it's known that he was made after the shortening was very clear to the crew and they should have cut him and focused on Belos, especially since Belos is the big bad anyways.
The second question just gets responded to with: Raine. Raine and Darius. Honestly, just the coven head rebels in general should have probably gotten an entire episode actually dedicated to them that could have helped sell the threat, give them more personality as an organization rather than feeling like they exist to get around tropes or/and Raeda angst, etc. like that. Then again, quite frankly, with how little they've actually done with Raine outside of "ISN'T IT TRAGIC HOW EDA CAN'T BE WITH HER LONG LOST, TRUE LOVE!?", Raine as a character and their plotline probably could have been cut but it was something Dana wanted from the start of the show and S2A would have mostly not been affected by the shortening so they could have possibly had more of a role. Then again, they were also made to be Eda's long lost love so…
And finally Vee. Vee is… complicated. Honestly, it's hard to talk about Vee without talking about her episode, Yesterday's Lie. After all, maybe there were plans to do more properly with her (and she easily would have had the most interesting part of a season on Earth because of having to give up the identity that made her friends and have a place in the world back to Luz, if that was actually discussed of course) but as is… She's mostly just the one episode and looking cute. Worse yet, almost all the narrative goals are tied to Vee so their triumphs and successes are also tied to her.
Now let me get this out of the way: I like Vee. I think she's incredibly likable, cute, etc. like that. She (and the ClarVee ship) was probably the only reason I wrote anything immediately after Yesterday's Lie's ending left a bad taste in my mouth because it rubbed me the wrong way even on first watch. Her backstory is compelling, explains how she can be shy but also have a backbone when the chips are down and her limited interactions with her friends is incredibly charming, even before the MashVee ship existed.
And I'm not going to argue she shouldn't have existed. Character built for a single episode are fine. TOH actually has a paradox going on that while some characters desperately needed more exploration, like Amity, others very clearly should have been cut sooner rather than later. I mean, what could have been done had they just not spent two episodes of S2 on Gus when Gus isn't important to the narrative in any way and Hexide stopped being relevant to the show after S1? How much did we have to have Huntlow if it meant that Luz, who is one there for Hunter's biggest character moments, literally never speaks to him between Hunting Palisman and Hollow Mind?
But Vee was built for specific narrative purposes and does them well. Quite frankly… Too well. To the point where it creates problems. But that has to do with the narrative goals of Yesterday's Lie rather than Vee herself. The two just interlinked because when you make a character for a single episode, you know their narrative goals and how organically and well they function with those goals is part of evaluating the character.
And the narrative goals of Yesterday's Lie seems to be to have:
A: Given an answer to why no one was freaking out about a child going missing for MONTHS and it does this one quite well just by Vee being a shapeshifter.
B: Criticize Luz and whether or not she actually had any reason to leave which is the one Vee interacts with the most and is also the biggest problem to.
C: To build Camila's character, establish her unending well of understanding since she never judges Vee for even a second, nor Luz's story about the Isles, and then end on a mid-season cliffhanger I have SEVERE issues with but is outside the scope of this blog.
Vee's goals thus are to be able to fill Luz's shoes, which she does naturally, be able to scold Luz about her life and to be able to contrast hard enough against the norm as to make Camila's sympathy shine through. Her slug form and her ability to shapeshift honestly fit two of these three really well by themselves. It was a genuinely elegant and clever concept/implementation that was good for what they wanted.
But then there's Vee's actual character and actions that play into B. And B is… A lot.
Because this is the episode that caused me to turn on Luz in my heart.
It wasn't immediate but there's one line from Luz that really sums up the fact that you have to trust Luz in order to not entirely agree with Vee in this episode. That you have to go off of only Luz's words and not her actions for what her backstory was like. To be able to believe Gus and Willow were the first chances at having friends. That no one ever understood her. That school was always a nightmare for her.
And that line is "Oh no, highschoolers," because that is the second time Luz quite literally ever has that response to ANYONE. In the ENTIRE show. She didn't have any worries about meeting kids in Hexide. She never had worries about trying to hang out with Amity despite Amity clearly hating her. She didn't worry about Amity's siblings, the various villains she met, Eda, King, etc. In general, Luz shows NO signs of social anxiety or any sort of manifestation of trauma in regards to bullying, rejection, etc. like that.
Worse yet is who these people are. They are quickly characterized as atypical people with nerdy interests and chill personalities. They'd be in the anime club or the role playing club or the video game club at school. They are by all intents and purposes, people like Luz. Nerds. Outcasts. Etc. like that. People Luz could have easily befriended. I mean, Vee did and she knows nothing about human society.
Yes, the two also have drastically different personalities but also Masha likes giving tarot readings to her friends. I feel like Luz's passion would just mix and amplify Masha's own passion and the two would literally go hunt monsters together while Vee makes sure they don't do anything stupid. Luz could go on a rant about her philosophies on magic and the faux stoner dude would be enraptured by how wild and imaginative Luz could be.
And this all begs the question of WHY didn't Luz have friends?
Well… Her opening montage, the first real introduction to the character, kind of explains it but not kindle. After all, two of the three events we're shown, and VERY much so her presentations and projects, are about getting attention. About making sure she does something big enough that people consider her contribution the best, regardless of those around her. So she can't match a cheerleader physically? Call that nothing and show a weird trick you know. Wants to make sure people talk about her performance in the play? Opening night, do something that you didn't clear with your director and catches everyone off guard, even if it means going off script and possibly ruining the play.
Even worse is the clubs she IS joining there. After all, why isn't Luz a part of the anime club or something? Or a part of a book club back home? Well… Cheerleaders and actors are more popular. They get more attention. They're special. Nerds, outcasts, etc. I mean… Who wants to interact with those when it means people might look down on you?
And the final nail is that she does finally accept outcasts… So long as they have magic. And the closer she gets to Amity, the less she interacts with Willow or Gus, to the point where they spend close to zero time in Season 2. And why wouldn't Luz want to be with the popular witch instead of people who were only special by having magic in general?
Do I think this interpretation is intentional? No. Vee's friendships were merely to try and add a bit of gray into what was black and white. However, how Luz was introduced wasn't given enough thought to make such pointed questions work. Not when you're forcing the audience to ask these questions with Vee shouting "YOU HAD IT GOOD!"
So how good did Luz have it? Well, there were fellow outcasts in her own town, which appears to be pretty small, so she could have had friends and her mom is a literal saint. S3 would only reinforce this. And she still abandoned it all for three months so she could become a witch.
So… Sorry, but the statement of "If everyone you meet is an asshole, the asshole might be you," does fit sometimes. And it fits for Luz here.
And it's also the worst part of Vee because if Vee didn't exist… I might not have considered these problems. Not so quickly. But Vee being able to contrast Luz, to be successful in the human realm simply because she's willing to actually accept those around her and bend a little, not entirely, to what will make them like her, was one of her narrative goals. One of the reasons she is as she is.
And another time where TOH thinks it's being clever when it's really just shooting itself in the foot because it has never been smart enough to ask the questions it proposes. And it sucks that that's tied to a character who is so wonderfully likable otherwise.
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outlanderalien · 1 year
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Mayuri final arc idea
With the hints that Kubo might be ready to press ahead with the new Hell arc, I started thinking about how Mayuri's arc could be concluded in a satisfying way, this is just an idea I had, I tried to make it feel in character in some way.
I really liked the religious imagery surrounding Mayuri and his Zanpakuto and I'd love for Mayuri's final arc to have Buddhist themes. The point of Buddhism is to reach enlightenment which is achieved through spiritual growth made in each reincarnated life.
I've always liked the idea that despite Mayuri's intellect and ability, he seems very spiritually underdeveloped, immature even, which you could say is represented by his Zanpakuto being a literal baby. When I say underdeveloped I mean that Mayuri indulges in basically every sin imagineable and appears to hold no remourse. Pride, Envy, Wrath, Lust, Greed, etc.
I do like to think that post TYBW Mayuri developed and has become more spiritually mature, there's signs that he treats the new Nemuri with more kindness, but he's still envious of Kisuke, wrathful when his pride is wounded etc. Not much growth, but enough.
What if some time after the events of the TYBW it's a poorly kept secret around Soul Society that Mayuri's zanpakuto has stopped obeying him. It won't enter Bankai let alone Shikai form.
The reason is that Mayuri is at odds with himself and this is manifesting in his zanpakuto rebelling. It is also the end result of years of abusing his zanpakuto, mutilating it, destroying it, etc, and this is just a reflection of how he has mutilated/abused his own soul. He gets by just fine without it, for the most part there's been no need for him to draw his sword, and his talents + skills lie mostly in his genius and inventions. Quietly however he's disturbed by this development, he can't force his zanpakuto to obey him like he used to, and he's too wary of introspection to deal with the core of the issue- his inner conflict.
This started shortly after he created the latest Nemuri. The conflict is one of conscience, specifically that he is (begrudgingly) developing one. He has spent years building his identity as a man without conscience, without morals, which he legitimised by the literal mutilation of his soul (his modifications to the otherwise beneveloent nature of his Zanpakuto), but now as he raises his new daughter with more wisdom and conscience, he finds himself at odds with that uncaring facade.
I haven't considered exactly what will happen in the main body of the arc, but I imagine that in the end, Mayuri will die, and he will do so protecting Nemuri. This will be a clear sign that he has reached a new level of spiritual growth, he chose his conscience over the uncaring facade and sacrificed himself for her sake. As he dies, he watches Nemuri with unimaginable joy as she wields his zanpakuto to kill the foe that got him. The fact that Ashisogi Jizo responds to her means she has become a fully realised soul and his creation has reached a triumphant milestone.
Ashisogi Jizo when wielded by Nemuri takes on an entirely new form, it no longer has any of the modifications Mayuri had made, it emerges in it's original form, how it should've been all along had it not been made monsterous. It is now divine. A symbol of the spiritual growth made. Mayuri dies happy.
In the epilogue it's implied that captain Nemuri intends to carry on Mayuri's work to make souls, quoting her father about how "Nothing is ever perfect, there is always room to improve."
She intends to create a new soul, and this soul will be Mayuri. This becomes her life's work, stating that she will not rest until she returns the zanpakuto to its original master. Some years down the line, Captain Nemuri can be seen walking alongside her ill-mannered and eccentric Lieutenant, Mayu. He doesn't remember who he once was, but Nemuri waits patiently for him to one day return to himself, only this time round he'll be more spiritually mature.
They become literal manifestation of reincarnation, and the struggle to enlightenment. Nemuri is a soul created by Mayuri and so is an extension of his own soul, so any soul Nemuri creates will also have his soul within it, and vice-versa.
So long as one lives the other will continue to exist. Each time they're reborn they become more spiritually mature/powerful.
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thewanderingmask · 10 months
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oh hey is it time to go watch old media until the writer's strike is over
welp here's my list, i highly recommend adding onto it or making your own
sit-coms
Better Off Ted (office comedy about a pretty decent guy who manages the R&D department of your standard big capitalist (evil) company. absurd, sincere, and blessedly not nihilistic.)
Golden Girls (four older women living together. openly touched upon topics like gay people are human beings actually and so are people without houses. and this was in the 80s.)
Murphy Brown (Reporter/news presenter workplace comedy. i like eldin)
WKRP (set in a radio station, this one is a pain to find unedited anywhere because of music licensing nonsense)
Designing Women (i haven't actually watched much of this yet but i heard it's pretty good so i'm listing it here in hopes i'll remember to check it out)
british panel / comedy shows (ok so they're like game shows, except the prizes range from useless to nonexistent, all the contestants are comedians, and nobody really cares that much who wins. ,fair warning though, these are british. so you're just gonna get a certain amount of jokes that are like "yup an old cishet white dude sure did write that")
Would I Lie to You (contestants make ridiculous claims and the opposing team has to guess if it's real or not)
8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown (not "8 out of 10 Cats". not "Countdown". specifically "8 out of 10 cats does countdown". yes this is important)
Taskmaster (five contestants perform a series of increasingly silly tasks to try to score points)
Big Fat Quiz of the Year / Decade (a series of long quiz specials where comedians often fail, intentionally or otherwise, to answer questions)
crime/detective/spy shows (cw copaganda. bc that's the entire genre)
Columbo (did you know it's ALL on the internet archive? for FREE?)
Simon and Simon (private investigators who are also brothers, a bit more on the fun side. pretty good for the 80s, but be warned you're still gonna get some dopey tropes like ableism in certain episodes.)
Rockford Files (ex-convict PI. doesn't like guns, friends with his dad. cynical but can't help helping people most of the time. we love to see it. like the two above, it's older but it holds up)
Brooklyn 99 (much like columbo, everybody already knows this one)
Burn Notice (recent ex-spy stuck in miami tries to get his job back. an unfortunate amount of ogle-y filler shots. I liked the first 4 seasons and low key recommend stopping after it, but everybody's mileage varies.)
and finally, because i know who i a:
cartoons
Motorcity (what if the only answer to an oppressive conformist society was UNDERGROUND TEENS WITH CARS and it looked AMAZING and it was KILLED AFTER 20 EPISODES BECAUSE THERE IS NO GOD)
Storm Hawks (what if the only answer to a returning evil empire was SKY TEENS WITH AIRPLANE MOTORCYCLES, side note this is like the only time i've ever seen stylized 3D animation in a way that just looks? good?? i would love to see more stuff try this kind of direction instead of aiming for anime or realism)
Generator Rex (a teen with TRANSFORMING MUTANT MACHINE POWERS fights alongside a kinda sus organization to try to save others who have transformed into dangerous mutants. i haven't finished this one and im not a fan of the monkey character but dam this show kinda slaps)
Teen Titans (TEEN SUPERHEROES. i have a soft spot for this show. it was my first superhero show as a kid and still mostly holds up as good fun)
Spectacular Spider-Man (spider-man has a lotta cartoons by now but this is up there near the top i feel)
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (it's PRETTY it's CUTE it's FUNNY and only has a few episodes i would outright skip. i stopped enjoying it by the last couple seasons but i still think it's worth a watch if you haven't yet)
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THIS WORLD WATCH THIS SHOW DEAR GODS IT LOOKS INCREDIBLE IT'S SO MUCH FUN AND I LOVE MY IDIOT SONS SO MUCH AND THEN IT PUNCHES YOU RIGHT IN THE EMOTIONS WHEN YOU AREN'T EXPECTING IT-)
and Bluey. watch Bluey.
AIGHT THAT'S IT FOR NOW honestly i could add more to this but my memory ain't that good
✨enjoy✨
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